PASCHA-ÏÀÑÕÀ-EASTER
Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling death by death,
and on those in the tombs
giving Life!
In the Byzantine Tradition, we still use the most
ancient designation to refer to the Feast of Christ's Resurrection- "Pascha." Pascha" is simply the Aramaic form of "ha Pesakh", Hebrew for "The Passover". (Aramaic was the language used by Jews in Israel during
the New Testament period-Hebrew was the liturgical language reserved for prayer.) Thus "Pascha" would have been the word used by the Lord Jesus, the holy Theotokos, the illustrious Apostles,
etc. Thus when we refer to "Pascha" or "Pasch", linguistically
we retain the theological connection between the Christ's Easter Resurrection and Passover. (In Ukrainian, there is the wonderful practice of referring to "Easter" as: "Velykden' "which means quite simply: "The Great Day".)
Passover is a celebration and anamnesis of God's liberation of the Jews slavery and delivering Israel
from the Plagues and through the Red Sea. Thus ancient Israel's 'passing over' from death to life, from slavery to freedom is the antitype and an
historical instance recapitulated in the Christ's "passing over" from death to everlasting life and his
liberating of sinners from death and the redeemed from Hades.
Nadhrobne: The Service at the Tomb
The Paschal Service on Easter Morning begins with "Nadhrobne",
the Service at the Tomb.
The Faithful arrive at 5:00 am and enter the Temple as if Entering the Tomb.
All is dark, lit only by those candles surrounding "the Tomb".
The "Tomb" consists of the Icon of Burial (in Ukrainian, the "Plashchenytsia") laid upon a bier shaped
stand set in the middle of the Sanctuary.
On the Icon of Burial is placed the Book of the Gospels. As the Faithful arrive and await the Pascha, quietly
but intense with anticipation, they arrive to the continuous reading of the Acts of the Apostles, begun
after the Vigil Service of St. Basil on Saturday evening.
Again we sing the Irmoi from the Kanon of Jerusalem Matins, especially that of the Ninth Ode where from
the depths of Hades, from beyond Death and the Grave, Jesus answers his Mother's Lamentations with those
haunting words of Consolation:
"Do not lament me O Mother, seeing me in the Tomb,
the Son conceived in the womb without seed,
for I shall
arise and be glorified with eternal glory as God
I shall exalt all those who magnify you in faith and
in love."
With the singing of this hymn, the Priest takes up the Icon of Burial and bears it into the Altar, placing
it upon the Holy Table.
Then all lights are extinguished. All candles are put out. All lamps are blown out.
Then we wait in utter darkness...
for Light...
for Life...
for God.
The Rite of Holy Light
From the depth of utter darkness and deepest
night, Light suddenly appears, brought out from the Altar by the Priest vested all in White.
The Holy Doors of the Iconostas are thrown open! The Deacon Doors, likewise, thrown open! These will be
left open throughout the Paschal Celebration and throughout Bright Week (even when
there are no Divine Services going on.)
The Faithful rush forward to receive the Holy Light of Pascha, symbol of the Resurrection of the Messiah
of God. "Come, O ye Faithful, take light from the Light that never fades. And glorify the Christ who is Risen
from the dead."
(Tone 5)
This Holy LIght is passed on from the Altar to all the
Faithful until the entire Church is filled with light, each person radiant in Paschal Light.
The Procession of the Myrrh-bearing Women
With Candles lit, the Clergy lead the Faithful in Procession,
three times around the Church building.
Thusly, we symbolically follow in the footsteps of the Myrrh-bearing Women, who despite all and in defiance
of danger, death, and despair, went out in search of Jesus' body. As the Holy Scriptures recount:
"When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala,
Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices with which to go and anoint Him. And very early the
morning on the first day of the week, they went to the Tomb, just as the sun was rising. "They said to one another, 'Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the Tomb?' " (Mark
16:1-3)
We emerge from the interior of the Church into the darkness of the night.
We follow the Lantern holding the Holy Light
held high by a Server. Behind him comes the Cross and the other Processional Icons of the parish. Then
proceed the clergy holding the Icon of the Resurrection and the Gospel.
As we walk, we sing continuously the refrain: "Angels
in heaven, O Christ our Saviour, sing of your Resurrection, enable us here on earth, to glorify you with
a pure heart."
The bells from the Tower begin the ring. With increasing intensity, they ring continuously during the
threefold procession. "Christ has released the world from it's ancient
bondage and its former terrors, and the whole Church rejoices triumphantly in His victory over darkness
and death." (Archbishop Kallistos of Diokleia)
At the Hypakoe of Resurrection Matins we sing the Hymn of the Myrrhbearers:
"Before the dawn, Mary and the women came
and found
the stone rolled away from the Tomb.
They heard the angelic voice: ' Why do you seek among the dead as a man
the One who is everlasting Light?
Behold, the clothes in the grave.
Go, and proclaim to the world: that the Lord is
Risen.
He has slain death, as he is the Son of God, saving the human race.' "
Likewise is chanted the Ikos verse of the Kondak:
"Before the dawn - as urgently as if in daylight - the women came with their spices
to the Tomb, looking
for Him who existed before the sun was even created.
That very Sun had come to set in a grave!
They cried to each other,
'Bring your fragrant ointments, friends, and let us anoint that life-giving body which has been laid in
a tomb. His is the body which raises the fallen Adam.
Let us go! Let us hurry like the Magi; let us fall before Him in adoration.
Let us offer myrrh to Him
as He lays there wrapped, not in swaddling clothes,
but in a shroud. Let us shed our tears and cry to
Him:
Rise up, O Lord, give Resurrection to the fallen!' "
At the Royal Doors as at the Entrance to the Tomb
After the Procession of Triumph, we arrive
at the Royal Doors, the central front doors into the Church where the Procession stops, just
as the Myrrhbearing Women stopped at the Entrance of the Tomb. There they were met by Angels who proclaimed
to them Christ's Resurrection.
So too, here, the Priest first proclaims: "Christ is Risen!" "Khrystos Voskres!"
And the Faithful respond: "Truly, He is Risen!" "Vo istynu Voskres!"
Now the Priest intones the Paschal Tropar, the principal Hymn of Easter:
"Christ is Risen from the Dead, trampling death by death.
And on those in the Tombs giving Life!"
In between the Paschal Tropars, the Priest sings the Paschal Versicles (Psalm 68) :
Let God Arise. Let His enemies be scattered. And let those who hate him, flee before His Face...As smoke vanishes, so let them vanish. As wax melts before the fire...So let the wicked perish in the presence of God,
but the Righteous rejoice... This is the
Day that the LORD has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it...Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit...Now and ever, and for ages of ages. Amen!...The Christ by appearing in Hell, broke down the
Doors of Hell and shattered its Gates - Liberating those Captives therefrom.
So likewise, in symbolic fashion, the Priest at this moment strides up to the Royal Doors, which stand
closed and locked.
He hammers the Royal Doors in three resounding blows with the Hand Cross!
The Royal Doors are thrown open wide. And the Faithful
enter Triumphantly into the Temple, now brilliant with each candle and lamp radiantly lit and the all of
the Doors of the Iconostas opened for this Feast of Feasts - just as the Just were lead triumphantly by
the Christ from Death into Eternal Life and just as Israel passed over from death into Life, through the
Plagues and the Red Sea.
Christ is Risen!
Resurrection Matins
We enter into the Church, now brilliant with Light, just as the Tomb was made brilliant with the Angel who
announced
the Resurrection to the Women. The Deacon begins with the Great Litany of the Resurrection:
That the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, may grant us triumph and victory over the temptations of our
visible and invisible enemies...
That we may crush beneath our feet the Prince
of Darkness and his powers...
That He may raise us with Him and make us rise from the tomb of our sins and offences...
That He may fill us with the joy and happiness of his holy Resurrection...
That we may merit the grace of entering into the chamber
of his divine wedding feast and rejoice beyond limit, together with His heavenly attendants and the host
of Saints glorified through Him in the Church Triumphant in heaven...
Then entire congregation sings the Paschal Kanon of St. John of Damascus. It is composed of a series of Hymns,
known as "Odes", which correspond to the 9 Biblical Canticles, and which interpret them as they pertain
to the Resurrection of the Christ.
Each Odes is made up of an "Irmos" (the principal thematic hymn which establishes both the metre and the
melody of the Ode. The Irmos is followed by several verses (the "Tropars"). Each Ode is concluded by a
final "Katavasia" hymn. "Katavasia" means the "Descent". Members from the both the
North and South Kirilos (in the Latin Church something like the scholas of the 2 side chancels) literally
descend into the centre of the Sanctuary. There they form a single united choir to sing together the Katavasia.
During each Ode, the Deacon leads one of the priests to incense the Church and Faithful. During the incensation,
the priest, loudly proclaims, "Christ is Risen!" over and over again. The Faithful respond in kind and
incessantly: "Truly He is Risen!"
During the 9th Ode, the deacon alone does the incensation and proclaims, "Christ is Risen!" Between the
Odes, the Little Litany is taken, each being concluded with the appointed Resurrectional ecphonesis.
The Paschal Kanon of St. John of Damascus (selections):
"O, day of Resurrection! Let us beam with festive
joy! This indeed is the Lord's own Passover, for from death to life, from earth to heaven, Christ has led
us, as we shout the victory hymn: 'Christ is Risen from the Dead! '
"As we gaze upon our dazzling Christ: Behold his Rising - a brilliant flash of light divine! Let all Creation
dance in celebration! For Christ has risen: Christ our lasting joy!
"Yesterday, my Christ, they buried me with You; Today
I rise with You! Yesterday Your partner in death was I; tomorrow, O my Saviour, let me share the glory
of your realm!
"Hell's captives saw Your endless loving kindness; they fled with joy to You their Light; Look, behold
our Christ triumphant who burst the tomb with glory!
"Devoted women followed after You bearing fragrant spices to anoint You; and though they mourned You first
with many tears, their gloom was turned to joy in finding You their living God!
They spread the News to all Your friends, O
Christ, the joy and gladness of the Mystic Pasch!
"Our feast today is death's own death! Hell is shattered! A new and lasting life begins!
Following Matins, we celebrate the what in the Latin Churches is termed "Lauds"--the Paschal Service of Morning Praise. The Psalms of Praise appointed for Sundays are Psalms 148, 149, and 150.
The Psalm verses are interwoven with the Resurrection Stikhera hymns, such as:
"Today a sacred Passover is revealed to us. A new and holy
Pascha. A mystical Pascha. Pascha which is Christ the Redeemer. The Great Pascha. A Pascha which has opened
for us the gates of Paradise. A Pascha which sanctifies the faithful.
"Pascha of beauty! The Pascha of the Lord! Pascha! Pascha ransom from affliction.
"Pascha, let us embrace each other joyously.
Let us call "brothers" even those that hate us and forgive
all by the Resurrection!"
The Kiss of Peace
After the Service of Morning Praise, the Kiss of Peace of Exchanged with great solemnity and joy on this
the Great Day. During the Paschal Season, instead of the usual formula used for the Kiss of Peace ("Christ
is amongst us." Rx: "He is and will be."), we use the Paschal Greeting: "Christ is Risen!" Rx: "Truly He
is Risen!"
The Paschal Sermon of St. John Chrysostom (excerpts)
"...Come, then! Let us all enter into the joy of
the Lord! You the first and you the last, receive alike your reward. You rich and you poor, dance together.
You with self-control and you who are weak, celebrate this day. You who have kept fast and you who have
not, rejoice today. The Table is Richly laden: enjoy its Royal Banquet. The calf is fatted, let no one
leave hungry.
"Let no one mourn their poverty, for the universal
Kingdom has been revealed. Let no one weep because they have fallen again and again; for forgiveness has
risen from the grave.
"Let no one fear death, for the death of our Saviour has set us free. He has destroyed it be enduring
it. He has sacked Hell by going into it.
"Hell is angered because it has been frustrated. Hell
is angered because it has been mocked. Hell is angered because it has been reduced to nothing. Hell is
angered because it is now imprisoned. He seized a body, but instead it discovered God. It seized earth
and behold, it encountered heaven! It seized what it saw and was overcome by what it did not see! O death,
where is thy sting? O Hell, where is thy victory?
"Christ is Risen and Hell is annihilated! Christ
is Risen and the evil ones are cast down.
"Christ is Risen and life is liberated! Christ is Risen and the tomb is emptied of the dead: for Christ
being Risen from the dead, has become the leader and Reviver of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be
glory and power forever and unto the ages of ages. Amen!"
The Divine Liturgy of Pascha
After the Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, we begin the
Divine Liturgy at the Trisagion (the beginning of the Liturgy of the Word, where we use the festal:
All you who have been baptized in Christ, Have put on Christ. Alleluia
This Baptismal Hymn replaces the Trisagion on Great Feast Days
because such Feast Days were the occasion of holding Baptisms. In our parish, we sing this hymn in Old
Church Slavonic, then Ukrainian, then English.
After the Paschal Prokimen Psalm is sung, the Reader intones the Apostle Reading.
"In my earlier work, Theophilus, I dealt with everything Jesus had done and taught from the Beginning
until the day he gave his instructions to the Apostles...and was taken up to heaven. He had shown himself
Alive to them after his Passion by many demonstrations: for 40 days he had continued to appear to them
and tell them about the Kingdom of God..." (Acts 1:1-8 )
The New Testament cycle of readings begins on Pascha with
the reading of Acts of the Apostles. Wherefore the nomenclature of the New Testament Reading in the Byzantine Tradition
as: "The Apostle Reading" or "The Apostolic Reading" . (In the Latin Churches, the closest equivalent would
be "Epistle Reading"). Itis chanted from the midst of the congregation, in the centre of the Sanctuary facing
the East.
The Gospel is then proclaimed. The Paschal Gospel is always: John 1: 1-17 (the Johannine Prologue, which
is the New Testament's equivalent of the Genesis Creation account: "In the Beginning..."
In the Slavic usage, it is common to read the Gospel in
as many languages as time and clerical ability will allow.
Over the years at St. Elias, the Gospel was proclaimed in English, Ukrainian, Old Slavonic, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, Romanian, German, Italian, etc.
Blessing of Paschal Food
The Artos (Greek for Bread) is a loaf baked especially for the Paschal
Services and is blessed at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. It is yet another symbol of the Risen Messiah, who
is the Bread of Life, coming down from heaven (John 6:35ff.) The Artos is set on Analoy and place before
the Holy Doors of the Altar throughout Bright Week.
The Artos, like the Resurrection Icon, is carried in the daily Paschal Processions of the Cross. On Bright
Saturday (often transferred to Thomas Sunday, following the reading of a special prayer, it is broken into
pieces and distributed to the Faithful.
In the courtyard, when all have taken the places, the Easter Baskets are blessed.
They contain all the food from which the Faithful have been abstaining during the period of the Great
Fast in preparation to celebrate the Great Day.
They contain such traditional items as:
sausage and other meats (recalling to us the Heavenly Banquet, the proverbial Fatted Calf and the richness
of God's great mercy); cheese and other dairy products (the Resurrection inaugurates the entrance into the Promised future
Kingdom, of which Israel, the Promised land of Milk and Honey, is an historic antitype; eggs (both the edible hard-boiled variety and the decorative, dyed "Pysanky" ( the decorations and depictions of
the Easter Eggs are "Gospels in colour", proclaiming the Good News of the Resurrection and Divine love
for humanity); horseradish mixed with blood red beets whose colour
and taste recall the bitterness of the Passion and humanity's enslavement to sin;
salt, for the Faithful being the Salt of the Earth {Matthew 5:13; and Paska Breads, decorated with a Cross and the Paschal Kerygma. Christ Himself is the Bread of Life
come down from the Heavens.
The butter is often carved into the shape of a Byzantine Cross or a Lamb (recalling Christ, the Lamb of
God, which taketh away the sin of the world) and decorated in patterns depicting the Cross, using cloves,
which are themselves Cross shaped.
A candle is placed in the Easter Basket, denoting the sacrality
of the Festive Meal. A special cloth embroidered with "Christ is Risen!" and other Paschal symbols is used
to cover the Basket.
Children (and anyone they can get to do it with them) play the
game of Krashanky (Êðàøàíêè), where they hit each other's Easter Egg to see whose cracks first. For those of you who
are new to this, be careful to ensure that it is the hard-boiled eggs that are used and not the beautifully
coloured but very fragile Pysanky!
Hayivky Dances
On Pascha or Thomas Sunday, it is traditional in Churches
of Ukrainians to hold the "Hayivky Dances". Performed by the parish children and young people, these dances
can trace their history to pre Christian spring dances.
These served to foreshadow the Sacred Dancing of King David before the Ark of the Covenant.
In the light of the Gospel Truth, deconstruction of the Hahilky's pre-Christian origins reveals the metaphysically
original and existential meaning of these spring dances as celebrations of the New Life revealed in the
Resurrection of Christ and offered to all humanity and all Creation.
The circular movement symbolize the Eternity of Life, which
is Christ Risen from the dead, He who is glorified together with the beginningless Father and the all-holy
and life-creating Spirit, unto the ages of ages or "cycle of cycles".
The Sermon of St. John Chrysostom, proclaimed at every Pasch says: "You rich and you poor, dance together."
In the Paschal Ambo Prayer, we hear that on account of the Resurrection the Earth is clothed and the meadows
are in flower! At the Lauds of Pascha, we sing: "Praise Him with timbrel and dance!" In the Ninth Ode,
we sing:"Shine, Shine O new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has Risen over you! Sing, dance, and rejoice
O Zion!"
And in the IV Ode, we sing: "Before the Ark symbolic,
God's forbear David danced and leaped. But we God's holy people, our eyes see all symbols now fulfilled.
For this God's joy and gladness dance within us, for Christ has risen in His Might!"
Water Monday and Water Tuesday (Ïîëèâàííèé ïîíåäiëîê)
Another Bright Week tradition is Water Monday and Water Tuesday, when after Divine Liturgy, having exited
the Temple, the young people (and young at heart) energetically throw water on each other. This practice also has its sociological roots in Ukraine's pre-Christian history when pouring water upon
each other was a rite of purification.
Yet again, as properly deconstructed, the ontologically prior
meaning become clear: it is a symbolic reminder of the Faithful being Baptized in Water and the Spirit.
As we sing during the Divine Liturgy of Bright Week, in place of the Trisagion:
All You who have been Baptized in Christ have put on Christ. Alleluia!
On Bright Monday, after Divine Liturgy, the most ancient of Processions
are held. Clergy and Faithful process around the Temple. They stopping at the four corners to proclaim
the Resurrection Gospel to the four directions - cf. the Great Commission of the Risen Lord to "Go, therefore,
make disciples of all nations; baptise them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..."
On Bright Tuesday, after Divine Liturgy, the Paschal Procession is made to the Church cemetery for the
celebration of "Radonitsa".
We process carrying with us the Paschal Foods (blessed on Pascha).
After a short Paschal Memorial Service, we have a Paschal and Festal Meal right there in the cemetery
- sharing the blessed Paschal bread, wine, meat, etc.
The Procession winds all through the cemetery, lead by the Processional Cross, incensations, etc., singing
the Paschal Tropar & Versicles. - passing by every grave.
The priest may greets every single person buried there by name and
announce to them: "Christ is Risen!"
On Thomas Sunday (the Sunday after Pascha and the end of
Bright Week), the Artos is again blessed (it is blessed once on Pascha and then again, with a different
blessing, on Thomas Sunday). Then it is brought to the "Sviatchene" the Holy Paschal Meal, wherein the
entire parish community participates.
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