Ukrainian Easter Reflection

Very soon people around the world will celebrate Easter. For Ukrainians, as well as for many residents of Canada, this is a great and important religious holiday. The war in Ukraine, unfortunately, has brought serious changes to the lives of Ukrainians. The festive mood now borders on sadness and sorrow, and in the church people light candles primarily for peace and for those who are now defending our country from the occupiers.

I would like to share with you some traditions and customs of celebrating Orthodox Easter in Ukraine and in particular in our family. It all starts with a very important day which is the last day before the beginning of Lent. It is called Forgiveness Sunday and on this day, people congratulate their loved ones and ask them for forgiveness for possible offenses and grief them may have caused. It is not necessary however to formulate your specific guilt, you just need to say “Forgive me”, to which the other responds “God will forgive and I forgive you.” 

Then Lent begins which is considered strict and lasts forty-eight days. For those who find it difficult to fast due to health or hard work, the church allows deviations from these strict restrictions.

The entire week preceding Easter in Christianity is called Holy Week. During these days, we remember the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, his crucifixion, his torment and suffering, death and resurrection. Believers try to spend the days of this week in prayer, without quarrelling or complaining. Special services are held in churches, and all rituals are dedicated to preparing for Easter.

The Thursday before Easter is called Maundy Thursday. It’s origins date back to the early church and is in remembrance of the Last Supper. It was at that time that Jesus demonstrated humility by washing the feet of his disciples and taught them about loving one another. On this day, in the Ukraine, it is customary to clean the house, throw out all unnecessary things. It is considered better to give unworn clothes to those in need; the rest of the clothes should be washed. You should also tidy yourself up and many people visit the bathhouse with family or friends on this day. It is believed that by cleansing ourselves and our home, we get rid of fear and negativity. Immediately after Maundy Thursday comes Good Friday. This is the most mournful day for Orthodox believers, as it is the day of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In Orthodoxy, on this day, many believers refuse food and even water, and they are also not allowed to do housework or to have fun. On this day, many people go to church to worship. This day should be spent in sorrow and thoughts about the fact that Jesus Christ accepted suffering to save humanity.

My mother, like many Ukrainians, prepares for Easter and bakes Easter cakes. Traditionally, there should be a lot of them so as to treat as many people as possible. Now there are many recipes for Easter cakes, but before, everyone had their own favourite family recipe, passed down from generation to generation. The housewives approached the baking itself very responsibly. It was believed that the dough for the cake should be kneaded only in a good mood and with a prayer for the health and well-being of loved ones.

We also paint eggs before Easter. The egg is a symbol of fertility and eternity, rebirth and new life. Bird eggs are painted in different colours, but a special colour is red, which symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ. For painting, plant dyes are usually used, such as onion peel or beet juice, or turmeric. Among the varieties of Easter eggs, Pysanka is very popular and loved by people. This is an egg on which beautiful symbolic patterns are painted using wax and dyes.

The oldest Pysanka known appeared in the tenth century, but eggs were also painted in pre-Christian times. This is evidenced by the symbols in the form of a month, stars and crosses, which at that time were not associated with Christianity. Later, Christian and pagan traditions mixed and among these patterns appeared the religious symbols known today. Some examples are the inscription Christ is Risen, hearts and various patterns that differed depending on the region of the country.

The only Pysanka museum that exists in the world is located in the city of Colomiya in Ukraine. It contains all the Pysanka from different regions of Ukraine, where they were painted. The museum building itself has an interesting structure, shaped in the form of a large egg. The museum also contains exhibits from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania. There is a porcelain egg from France, stone eggs from Israel, as well as decorative eggs from Denmark, China, India, Canada and other countries. The museum presents more than 12,000 exhibits, with its oldest Pysanka being 500 years old. According to UNESCO, the Ukrainian Pysanka is recognized as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity and this is a great achievement for Ukraine.

On the evening before Easter Sunday, all Orthodox churches begin a service that lasts all night. Many people stay in the church until the morning to fully participate in the mystery of the Easter service. In the morning people gather in the church yard and bring baskets with beautiful Easter cakes, painted eggs, and sweet red wine. Everyone, without exception, stands in a large row or circle and places their baskets in front of them and then light candles.

After the service, the priest and his assistants come out into the gathering. The assistants carry a bucket of holy water and the priest sprinkles each person with it, says a prayer and blesses them for health, happiness and success. Following this, everyone joyfully congratulates each other and say the words “Christ is risen” and hear in response “He is risen indeed.”

Then people return home or visit their relatives, bringing them their cakes and painted eggs. There is a tradition when everyone treats each other to a piece of their cake and then hits the Easter egg on another egg. The egg that does not break is put separately as it is considered the strongest and can be used more than once to the delight of adults and children.

On Easter Sunday the fast ends and everyone who observed it can enjoy the festive food and drink aromatic red wine. I had a tradition, after the service and consecration, to immediately go to visit my parents in the city of Korostyshev so to be able to congratulate them, exchange cakes and painted eggs. Dad often served his homemade wine at the table, and Mom treated us to a domestic rabbit stewed in sour cream sauce which was very tasty.

I remember with special warmth and trepidation how our family celebrated Easter in Slovakia, where my sister, her children and our parents fled after the war began. While there, on Easter Sunday, we took our holiday baskets and went in search of an Orthodox church. It was not too far from the village where we were staying with our Slovak friends. We arrived early in the morning and the church door was locked. Of course, we were upset and had no choice but to return home. We left the village, but after driving a short distance, I suggested trying our luck again.

When we drove up to the church for the second time, to our greatest joy, the church opened its doors to us. There was no one inside except the priest and his assistant. When we told him where we were from and how we ended up in their church, the priest was very moved and decided to conduct a service for our family. In gratitude, we treated the church ministers to our Easter cake and a couple of coloured eggs.

I truly believe that some power from above did not allow us to despair and go home without experiencing the joy of the service and meeting these wonderful people. I am very glad that in Canada, as in many other countries, people celebrate Easter Sunday and this gives me a feeling of closeness and joy from past pleasant memories. May this land and the people who live here be blessed. May good triumph over evil and wars cease on our land. May the Easter holiday bring joy and hope for the best to each of us.