My Big Greek Easter

Holy week & Easter were celebrated all over Greece recently & I was blessed to experience it in person by being right in the middle of it all, here in Athens. The Orthodox Easter is the country's most important "religious" holiday. The traditions bring family, friends, & generations together for the most sacred & celebrated of all holidays in Greece. Their festivities start with a 40day fast, culminating with Holy week which starts on Palm Sunday. On Holy Thursday, traditionally the special red eggs, which symbolize the blood of Christ & renewal of life, are colored. Good Friday or Great Friday, is the most sacred day of Holy week here, & is considered a day of mourning. All flags on government buildings are set at half mast to mark the mournful day. Women & children go to church to decorate the "Epitaph/Bier of Christ" or tomb of Christ, with flowers. The morning of Good Friday Jesus burial is reenacted at the church & in the evening the "Procession of the Epitaphios of Christ" takes place. The decorated coffin is carried through the streets by the faithful dressed in mourning clothes weeping. This takes place in every city & village throughout Greece. On Easter Saturday morning preparations start for the festive dinner of "the night of Resurrection". Just before midnight, people gather in the churches & squares in the city, holding white candles which will be lit with the "Holy Light", which is believed to be brought from the Church of the Holy Sepluchre in Jerusalem. It is distributed by the priest to all in attendance. At midnight the church bells ring & the Priests announce "Christos Anesti!"...Christ is Risen! Everyone in the crowd responds "Alithós Anésti"....Truly He is risen! The people then leave the churches & squares to gather in the homes of family & friends. The candles they carry are placed in each home & burn throughout the night symbolizing the "Light" returned to the world. The celebration continues with the cracking of the red eggs, which is meant to symbolize Christ breaking from the tomb. They also partake in the resurrection table meal where traditional foods are served with celebrating into the night & early Easter Sunday morning.

On Easter Sunday the Easter table is prepared and the festivities continue. The Easter meal is truly a feast with the traditional main dish being lamb, served in honor of the Lamb of God who was sacrificed and rose again. A whole spiced lamb is roasted over a charcoal fire & is the most traditional of Greek Easter foods. The Easter Sunday celebration lasts through the day while visits are made to family & friends & the feast is shared with every guest. (below is a picture of our Easter lamb!)

Sophia & Dimitris, our good friends here in Athens & brother and sister in Christ, took us to the market to show us how they pick out the lamb & then we were invited to their family's home to share Easter Sunday dinner with them, celebrate our Risen Savior & fellowship.  The meal was absolutely delicious! We experienced all of the Greek Easter Holiday down to the lovely dinner with family & friends. I am so grateful to have been able to experience what many only read about. My prayer is that the people of Greece would not only celebrate the Risen Savior during the traditional Easter/Holy holiday, but that God would, by His Spirit, pour out a spirit of wisdom, understanding & revelation in the knowledge of Jesus here in Greece. And that His light would shine in Athens & throughout Greece, so that people's hearts here would comprehend His love & longing for a relationship with them & be forever changed. Please continue to be in agreement in prayer for the people of Athens & of Greece. That they would experience the risen Jesus in a real, tangible & personal way that would bring hope, joy & freedom to their lives. 

   Christos Anesti!
 Love & Blessings, 

~Tracy~