• Home
  • Our Shop
  • About Us
    • About MKB
    • Our Shop
    • MKB Board
    • Editorial Board and MKB Administrators
    • Our Contributors
    • For Bloggers: Join MKB
    • Books and Products from Our Members
    • Cultural Resources
    • Contact Us
  • Product Promotion Services
  • Blog Hops & Series
    • Holidays Around the World
      • Martin Luther King Day
      • Chinese New Year
      • Purim
      • Passover
      • Easter Around the World
      • Ramadan
      • Hajj (Eid al Adha)
      • Rosh Hashanah
      • Day of the Dead
      • Diwali
      • Hanukkah
      • Christmas in Different Lands
    • Heritage Months
      • Black History Month
      • Women’s History Month
      • Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month
      • Middle Eastern and North African Heritage Month
      • Hispanic Heritage Month
      • Native American Heritage Month
    • Blogging Carnivals
    • Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop
    • Global Learning for Kids
  • Resources for Raising Global Citizens
  • Privacy Policy

Multicultural Kid Blogs

For families and educators raising world citizens, through arts, activities, crafts, food, language, and love.

Celebrating Pascha – Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions

March 31, 2017 by Julie Yeros

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Celebrating Pascha - Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions | Multicultural Kid Blogs

Growing up in the United States, my Easter traditions included colorful eggs, the Easter Bunny, an egg hunt, an Easter basket, going to church, and spending time with family. Then I married a man from Greece and learned about Pascha – the most important observance in the Greek Orthodox faith – and its special Easter traditions.

The Date

Most years, Western Christian churches and Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on different dates- based on different calendars.  The Western churches use the Gregorian calendar (the standard calendar for much of the world) while Orthodox churches use the older, Julian calendar.  This year, however, they fall on the same day – April 16.  That won’t happen again until 2025!

RELATED POST: Priecīgas Lieldienas – A Latvian Easter

Holy Week

The celebration of the Greek Orthodox Easter starts on Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter.  Churches are decorated with palm branches and have daily morning and evening services.

Holy Thursday is the day for dying eggs.  Eggs are a symbol of renewal, and they are dyed a deep red color symbolizing the blood of Christ.  It is important to make enough for the egg challenge played after the Easter feast. (More on that later!)  Traditional baked goods such as koulourakia (Easter cookies) and tsoureki (an Easter bread) are also prepared or purchased. 

© Can Stock Photo / viperagp

On Holy Friday, churches decorate the Epitaphion (a cloth icon representing the dead body of Jesus Christ) with spring flowers. After the evening service, the Epitaphion is brought out of the church and paraded with the local band.  The church chanters chant religious psalms while the church bells toll mournfully, simulating a funeral procession for Christ.

On the morning of Holy Saturday, food preparation begins for the feast the following day.  Children receive new clothes, shoes and special candles called labatha from their godparents. The candles are usually white, pink, or light blue and decorated with ribbons.

Celebrating Pascha - Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions | Multicultural Kid Blogs
Our girls loved receiving their labatha sent from Greece.

The Easter service takes place at midnight.  As the congregation holds unlit white candles, the priest brings out the Holy Light chanting, “Christos Anesti” (Christ is risen) and the worshippers reply, “Alithos Anesti” (Truly, He is risen).  The flame gets passed from person to person until the church and outside the church are filled with light, creating a beautiful sight. After the service, it is time to go home and eat magiritsa (an Easter soup, traditionally made from lamb offal) and break red eggs, symbolizing the end of the forty-day fast.

Celebrating Pascha - Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions | Multicultural Kid Blogs

Tsougrisma, the traditional egg challenge, is something all ages look forward to playing.  Holding your own egg, you lightly tap the end of it against the end of your opponent’s egg.  The goal is to crack your opponent’s egg, without cracking your own. The player who cracks the eggs of the other players is the winner and is believed to have good luck for the coming year.

On Easter Day, families gather to celebrate – roasting lamb on the spit, enjoying traditional side dishes, drinking wine and ouzo, singing and dancing.  Easter Monday is a national holiday and is typically spent relaxing and enjoying all the leftover food.

Celebrating Pascha - Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions | Multicultural Kid Blogs

My husband and I have enjoyed merging and sharing the traditions of both Easters with our own children.  Sometimes on the same day and sometimes weeks apart.  However YOU celebrate, Happy Easter!

More Pascha Resources

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, Multicultural Kid Blogs receives a small commission.

  • Catherine’s Pascha – A Celebration of Easter in the Orthodox Church by Charli Riggle.  A beautiful story told from the perspective of a young girl determined to stay awake for the midnight service.  The reader is taken on a wonderful journey as she shares her experience celebrating Pascha.
  • Catherine’s Pascha website has an abundance of information, recipes, egg dying tips, crafts, and lots more!
  • The Lucky Egg by Anna Prokos.  A young boy anxiously awaits his favorite part of Pascha – the egg cracking game, while learning the story behind Easter and some special Greek traditions.
  • Where are the Easter Eggs? by Sujatha Lalgudi.  A fun Easter counting book from 1-20.
  • Jojo’s Easter Egg Hunt by Sujatha Lalgudi.  Teaching kids to never give up, Jojo goes on his first Easter egg hunt.
  • Traditional Greek Easter Recipes from My Greek Dish
  • Print our FREE Venn diagram eggs for comparing Easter traditions around the world.  Suggested books and links to learn about a variety of Easter celebrations are included.

Series on Easter around the world

Easter is approaching, and once again we are excited to take you on a tour of the world and how it celebrates Easter! Explore the diverse traditions of Easter with us, and don’t miss our series from last year or 2015. You also will enjoy this wonderful overview of global Easter traditions. Find these posts and more on our Easter Around the World Pinterest board:

Follow Multicultural Kid Blogs’s board Easter Around the World on Pinterest.

March 27
Turning Dutch on Multicultural Kid Blogs: The Netherlands

March 28
Kori at Home: 8 Polish Easter Traditions and Customs for Kids

March 29
Hispanic Mama: Fun Easter Resources for Your Bilingual Kids

March 31
Globe Trottin’ Kids on Multicultural Kid Blogs

April 6
All Done Monkey

April 7
Living Ideas

April 10
Russian Step By Step

April 11
Pediatrician with a Passport

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
The following two tabs change content below.
  • Bio
  • Latest Posts
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Julie Yeros

Creator at Globe Trottin' Kids
Julie Yeros is a National Geographic Certified Educator and the creator of Globe Trottin’ Kids – a global learning website for kids and educators.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Instagram profileMy Pinterest profile

Latest posts by Julie Yeros (see all)

  • The Anne Frank House – A Museum With a Story - June 22, 2018
  • 10 Fun Facts About Greece - December 18, 2017
  • Celebrating Pascha – Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions - March 31, 2017

Filed Under: Children's Activities, Christianity, Easter, Greece, Learning About Culture, Printables Tagged With: culture, diverse children's books, Greek Orthodox, Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions, Greek traditions, Holidays Around the World, margiritsa, Pascha, world religions

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

Trackbacks

  1. Make an Easter Kite to Learn About Bermuda - All Done Monkey says:
    April 7, 2017 at 6:01 am

    […] March 31 Globe Trottin’ Kids on Multicultural Kid Blogs: Celebrating Pascha – Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions […]

  2. Honor the Egg « Lisa Lewis, MD says:
    April 12, 2017 at 5:54 pm

    […] Globe Trottin’ Kids on Multicultural Kid Blogs: Celebrating Pascha – Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions […]

  3. Russian Orthodox Easter Differences says:
    April 16, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    […] March 31 Globe Trottin’ Kids on Multicultural Kid Blogs: Celebrating Pascha – Greek Orthodox Easter Traditions […]

Follow Us!

Follow Us on FacebookFollow Us on Google+Follow Us on TwitterFollow Us on PinterestFollow Us on RSSFollow Us on Instagram

Anti-Bullying Resource FREE Download

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Grab Our Button!

grab button for Multicultural Kid Blogs
<div class="multicultural-kid-blogs-button" style="width: 200px; margin: 0 auto;"> <a href="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/" rel="nofollow"> <img src="https://multiculturalkidblogs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/button-take-3.jpg" alt="Multicultural Kid Blogs" width="200" height="200" /> </a> </div>
Multicultural Children's Book Day Co-Host

Archives

Copyright © 2023 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT