The Greek Easter
Greeks make “koulouria” and “tsourekia” (Easter cookies and sweet bread), and on Holy Thursday they dye boiled eggs. The eggs are mostly dyed red, to represent the blood of Christ.
Holy Friday, or Great Friday, is the most sacred day of the Holy Week, when the people mourn the crucifixion and death of Christ. Young girls dressed in white decorate the Epitaphios which is a wooden funerary bier and symbolizes the death of Christ.
Great Friday or Black Friday is the sadest day of all. Throughout the day across Greece, you will hear the slow, sad ringing of the church bells. Great Friday is the strictest day of fasting
At 9pm, people gather at their local churches and quietly follow the Epitaph holding candles and strong men carry it from the church around the neighborhood to the closest square.
Holy Saturday. Greeks go to the church to celebrate the “Anastasi” (Resurrection) Mass in the evening. The faithful people bring candles (“lambathes”) to the church, which are lit exactly at midnight with the “Holy Fire” from Jerusalem when the priest says: “Christos anesti!” (Christ has risen!), and everyone replies: “Alithos anesti!” (He truly did!).
After that the people do back home to eat “magiritsa”, a thick soup made with lamb and lettuce, in order to stop the 40day fasting with a “light meal” before Easter Sunday comes when people gather around a fire and roast an entire lamb to eat and break the red eggs.
Dyed Eggs are a Symbol of rebirth and new life and in Greece they are traditionally dyed red to represent the blood of Christ. Nowadays, people have been influenced from Western Christian traditions of colourful Easter eggs, so some more colours have been added and dying the eggs nowadays is just as fun as cracking the eggs to see who wins. The winning egg is kept untouched for 40 days, which is the exact amount of days that Greeks say the Easter prayer.