Easter Celebrations 2013

                                      "Христос Воскрес"  

  Easter or 'Velekden' (the Great Day) as is called in Ukraine begins well in advance of the actual Easter Sunday service.  I guess it really begins with spring cleaning because the house and yard must be immaculate.  Then the graves of loved ones need to be weeded and cleansed of winter's debris.
 Although there are workers in the cemeteries who do general cleaning the individual graves are the responsibility of the families. Part of the cleaning includes replacing the flowers on the graves with new ones. This is big business here with people spending a good portion of their salaries and/or
pensions on artifical flowers, because most people feel obliged to place flowers not only on their immediate families graves but also on those of  their grandparents and aunts and uncles.

The next special occurence is that of the blessing of the willow. The pussy willow, with it's emerging catkins or buds is used because it is usually the first plant to show signs of springs revival and this time is first and foremost a celebration of spring.
On the Sunday preceding Easter Sunday a service is
held in the  church to bless the 'willow' or 'шутка'
as it is called in Ukrainian.

 After being blessed the pussy willows are used in a variety of  ways. Immediately after the service ends the people lightly strike one another with  the branch to share the life giving force in the willow with the person being struck. They are also placed around the home to protect the family from evil and tragedy and are also placed on the graves along with a lighted a candle to let the deceased know that Easter is soon approaching.

The next specific event is the blessing of the Easter basket. This is a basket of food that is eaten on the 

Sunday morning after Easter service. In the past this took place before the church service on Sunday  morning but because of the great number of people in the cities wanting their baskets blessed they begin the blessing on Saturday evening.  The basket must contains 'Pysanky' or decorated eggs and 'Krashanky' or colored boiled eggs, 'Paska, and Babka' which are Easter breads, ham, sausage, salt, cheese, butter  and the root of the horseradish. Some people include other foods such as pastries and even wine. 

In a recent news item, the government estimated that the average household will spend around 1000 Hr. or about $125.00 this year on food and flowers. (The average pension is still under $150.00 a month)

On Easter Sunday morning the people gather at the church starting shortly after sunrise for Easter service followed by the continuation of the baskets being blessing.
After the service the people greet each other with 'Христос Воскрес!' or 'Christ is Risen' and they reply with 'Воістину Воскрес!' or 'Indeed he has Risen'.
They then return home where they have Easter breakfast by sharing the contents of the basket with their family.  Later in the day they once again go to the cemeteries where they lite a candle and offer a prayer to remember the dead. They will often leave some of the contents of the baskets on the grave for the deceased.



Another common practice that takes place on the Monday following Easter Sunday, that of  'Обливаний Понеділок' or wet/ water Monday.
Young men, usually unmarried boys, and go around town, carrying pails of water, and dousing any girl they see with the water.  This is an ancient ritual that is suppose to pass the health giving powers of water to the girl.

Another thing that is usual, throughout the year, especially here in western Ukraine is that when people pass by a church or chapel they will stop and cross themselves. This is done by both the young and old and it's not unusual to see groups of young people walking down the street, stop their conversation, cross themselves and carry on with what they were doing.  I can remember my father would cross himself when passing a cemetery where a relative had been buried.

"Воістину Воскрес!"