9ο Δημοτικό Σχολείο Χαλκίδας Γιάννης Σκαρίμπας

Easter is the most important holiday for Greeks.

All religious people fast before Easter. Clean Monday is the first day of Easter lent. It is the day that puts an end to the carnival festivities and marks the start of a seven-week period during which Orthodox Christians prepare themselves for Easter.

Clean Monday is a public holiday so everyone has the chance to celebrate it. On this day, people organise excursions and picnics and celebrate the day by eating traditional food such as taramosalata  (a fish roe spread), lagana (a special kind of flat bread) and shellfish.  The dessert of the day is halvas which is tahini-based.

During the seven-week period of lent Orthodox Christians abstain from meat, fish and dairy products. Fish is allowed only on March 25, the day on which the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary is celebrated as well as on Palm Sunday, the Sunday preceding Easter.

Easter holidays start for students and teachers in Greece on Lazarus Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday. The feast celebrates the resurrection of Lazarus of Bethany. It is customary on Lazarus Saturday to plait elaborate crosses out of palm leaves which will be used on Palm Sunday. Children go from house to house and sing the carol of Lazarus. Then on Palm Sunday the Greek Church celebrates the Entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem following His glorious miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. People of Jerusalem welcome Jesus with displays of honor and shouts of praise. Because of the fact that Palm Sunday is a big feast the consumption of fish is allowed.

Holy week is a period during which a lot of people in Greece go to church and the majority of them fast. Every evening from Palm Sunday until Good Friday there is an Evening service which a lot of people attend.

On Holy Thursday, Easter preparations begin with women dying eggs red and baking tsoureki (Easter sweet bread) and Easter cookies. Church services on this day include a symbolic representation of the crucifixion and women stay in church mourning throughout the night.

Good Friday is a public holiday in Greece since it is the holiest day of the year. Starting early in the morning, women decorate the Epitaph with flowers. The Epitaph procession begins at around 9pm. and a large number of people take part in it.

Holy Saturday is the day on which men prepare the lamb for Easter Sunday. Women cook mayiritsa (a soup with kid offal and intestines) which is eaten after the midnight service. Then people go to the midnight service to celebrate the resurrection of Christ.  Everyone attends the service holding a white candle. Children hold a special kind of candle which is given to them by their godfather or godmother as an Easter gift and is called labada. After the service people go home and break the lent by eating mayiritsa soup, red eggs, tsoureki and Easter cookies.

On Easter Sunday, Greeks prepare a lamb on the spit and while it is being roasted they listen to Greek music and prepare the rest of the Easter dishes which include salads and pies. The Easter table is set and families sit around it to eat, drink wine and celebrate. They also choose a red egg, try to crack the other red eggs and the one whose egg is not cracked is the winner.

For Greeks, Easter Sunday is the most important day of the year. It is, of course, a public holiday.

Easter Monday, which is also a public holiday in Greece, is a day of celebration, especially when Saint Georgios is also celebrated on this day. April 23 is Saint Georgios’ Day. When this day falls in the period of lent , then Saint Georgos’ Day is celebrated on Easter Monday. A lot of people in Greece are named Giorgos (George) so people visit friends and relatives who celebrate their name days.

People go back to work on Tuesday. However, schools start 6 days later. Easter holidays for Greek students and teachers last for 16 days!