Holy Week’s enduring customs and rituals

Greek Orthodox Easter’s liturgical rhythm begins with the Great Lent (or “Sarakosti”), a play defined by a 40-day accelerated and some carnal and spiritual mentation for the Resurrection of the Lord. This mentation intensifies during Holy Week, when radical be religion services, accelerated and get acceptable for the Easter feast.


In the meantime, the Saturdays of the Souls – and peculiarly that of Saint Theodore, the archetypal Saturday of Lent – specify the living’s narration with the deceased. The last Saturday of the Souls aft the Resurrection is Rousali (or Arsali), falling connected Pentecost, which marks the “birthday” of the Christian Church.
This ongoing connection with the departed is shaped by springtime customs and Easter rituals associated with fertility and prosperity.

Funerary rites are intertwined with fertility rituals that purpose astatine the continuation of life

These traditions are rooted successful past beliefs whereby the dormant are the superior “spirits” of vegetation. As such, the earth’s quality to carnivore effect and the eternal rebirth of quality are seen arsenic mostly babelike upon them.
The conception of periodicity – of decease and rebirth successful quality and clip arsenic a rhythm – was prevalent successful traditional societies, arsenic galore know. So, the people calendar was aligned with the yearly rhythm of labor, chiefly cultivation tasks, and the very essence of the “celebration” is based connected the opposition betwixt festive, ineffable clip and the mundane everyday.


In agrarian societies, galore events person a magical, purifying, fertility-related and protective character, intended to ward disconnected evil that threatens vegetation and production, but supra each quality wellness and life.
Such magico-religious events centered decease and resurrection, peculiarly during the carnival play (“apokries”) oregon successful the spring – such arsenic the “Kalogeros” successful Thrace, the mock ceremonial of the Leidinos effigy successful Aegina, the flower-adorned revelers of Pilio oregon the ritualistic dances performed astatine Easter and connected the feast time of Saint George, the visits to gravesites by euphony ensembles, the communal feasts and festivals, and sundry customs stretching backmost to pre-Christian times, are expressions of humanity’s perpetual effort to power the process of nature’s regeneration and unafraid a bully harvest, while astatine the aforesaid clip serving arsenic expressions of spiritual faith, grant and respect for ancestors – the dormant – and Mother Nature.


Funerary rites are intertwined with fertility rituals that purpose astatine the continuation of beingness – an unending struggle and reflection connected beingness and death. Humans die, while quality is endlessly, explosively, reborn, particularly “in spring, successful May, successful summer, when the branches blossom and the plains turn green…”


Easter, besides known arsenic “Lambri” (or Luminous), and its wealth of customs and rituals, is an intersection of Christian and past ritualistic practices and the quintessential symbol of life’s triumph implicit death, the “feast of each feasts” and the “festival of each festivals.”


In Greek culture, from the past myths of Adonis and Persephone, where decease is defied oregon overturned, to Christ rising from the dead, from figures such arsenic Zafeiris, Leidinos, Lazarus and the Mayopoulos, to different spring rituals, anticipation for life’s victory implicit decease is expressed and enacted done performances, dances and songs.


From Lazarus Saturday until the Resurrection, Greece’s people civilization unfolds a affluent series of customs that blend Christian religion with symbols of spring. The travel from mourning to joy, from decease to life, is expressed done rituals, songs, flavors and shared experiences that strike a heavy affectional chord with the Greek radical and uplift them. These days signifier a continuous ritual passage, starring from sorrow and the remembrance of decease to the joyousness of the Resurrection and the rebirth of life.


Lazarus Saturday is, successful a way, the herald of Holy Week, customarily marked by a procession of young girls carrying small baskets adorned with flowers and singing carols astir Lazarus’ resurrection and the joys of spring. Housewives would reward the children with eggs that they would spell connected to overgarment reddish for Easter, and buns known arsenic “lazarakis.”


On the pursuing day, Palm Sunday, the Church recalls Christ’s triumphant introduction into Jerusalem. In Greece, the faithful person thenar branches from the church, usually woven with thenar oregon laurel leaves. These branches are kept successful the location passim the year, often placed down spiritual icons, arsenic they are considered blessed and endowed with protective powers.


As Palm Sunday gives way to Holy Week, the temper becomes somber and pensive connected Holy Monday. Homes are thoroughly cleaned and tidied up, courtyards are whitewashed, and families marque their last preparations for the large celebration. In traditional agrarian societies, cleaning the location was intimately tied to the thought of renewal: The house, similar quality itself, had to welcome spring and the Resurrection successful a freshened state.


One of the astir diagnostic customs of Holy Week is the mentation of the sourdough starter connected Holy Wednesday. During the Sacrament of Holy Unction astatine church, some the radical and the dough are blessed, often on with definite items such arsenic flour, brackish and eggs, so that they whitethorn get special power. Housewives “refresh” the starter, preparing the caller blessed dough that will beryllium used passim the year for baking bread. In Crete, a akin customized is observed connected Good Friday.


Holy Thursday is simply a very important day. The Easter eggs are dyed during the morning, typically reddish to symbolize the humor of Christ, but besides beingness and fertility much broadly. The Easter breads, cakes and biscuits are besides prepared connected the aforesaid time successful galore parts of the country, with the tsoureki (sweet braided breads) oregon koulouria (cookies) being decorated with reddish eggs and intricate dough designs. In the evening of Holy Thursday, radical spell to religion for the Service of the Twelve Gospels. Fires are lit outdoors astatine the aforesaid time, which children leap over, sometimes burning their “March” charms. Elsewhere, connected the aforesaid day, radical stitchery wood for their occurrence astatine home. Similar customs successful different regions are intended to thrust distant fleas, bedbugs, and different harmful oregon bothersome insects.


The women spend the nighttime of Holy Thursday successful the church, keeping vigil beside the Crucified Christ. Throughout the night, they decorate the Epitaphios funerary bier with seasonal flowers and sing the “Lament of the Virgin,” a well-known people τραγούδι which, successful some places, is besides sung by children arsenic they spell from location to location for small offerings, overmuch similar carols.
It is important to enactment that women are astir intimately associated with – and transportation retired – the bulk of the rituals during this period. As bearers of caller life, they are traditionally entrusted with mediating the transition to the different world. The grief of a parent mourning the nonaccomplishment of her lone son is conveyed with profound strength successful mundane life, while besides uncovering almighty look successful lit and the arts.


Good Friday is simply a time of mourning; the astir ceremonial time of Holy Week. Women and girls bring flowers to the church, where the Epitaphios is lavishly decorated. They bash not work, navigator oregon sweep when assuming this work and they observe a strict fast. Even Greeks who are not regular churchgoers will be connected Good Friday, travel the funerary procession oregon visit the gravesite of loved ones. The work and procession of the Epitaphios are the main events of Good Friday. The faithful travel the procession holding candles, while religion bells toll mournfully.

The candles from the Epitaphios were traditionally kept astatine the location icon stand. In times of rain, lightning, oregon hail, radical would airy these candles, believing they could calm the storm. Sailors, successful particular, would take them connected their journeys arsenic extortion against tempests. The flowers connected the bier are besides considered blessed and galore worshippers take a fewer location to spot successful their icon stand, where they tin ward disconnected evil and cure illness. In some parts of the country, ritual bonfires are lit during the procession of the Epitaphios.


In Serres, arsenic well arsenic successful different regions, women spot an icon of the Crucified Christ astatine the threshold of their homes during the procession of the Epitaphios, and adorn it with flowers, candles, and incense. They acceptable a sheet beside the icon, where lentils oregon barley had been planted a fewer days earlier and person since sprouted into caller greenery.

It is simply a customized that harks backmost to the past “gardens of Adonis.” Adonis, a symbol of spring that rapidly withers, was honored done the show of an effigy laid connected a funerary bier decorated with flowers and greenery.



Evangelos Karamanes is simply a folklorist and ethnologist, and probe manager astatine the Athens Academy’s Hellenic Folklore Research Center. This story archetypal appeared successful Kathimerini’s nutrient supplement, Gastronomos.