Easter in Crete 2012

Cretan Easter week

MEGALI TETARTI - HOLY WEDNESDAY April 11th. A special service at lunchtime, so that worshippers can be blessed with oil. All household chores must be finished on this day.

MEGALI PEMPTI - HOLY THURSDAY April 12th. Communion services start at 6am. Today octopus is cooked and dolmadakia made with vine leaves. At lunchtime the women dye the eggs red to symbolise the blood of Christ, they are kept until midnight on Saturday. The priest reads parts of the 12 gospels and after the fifth comes the symbolic crucifixion of Christ. A cross is put in the middle of the church, the priest carries the effigy of Christ and the children carry big beautifully decorated candles.

MEGALI PARASKIEVI - HOLY FRIDAY April 13th. The bells ring the death knell. The unmarried girls decorate the ‘Epitafio,’ (a piece of furniture made of wood, like a table.) The men place the Epitafio in the centre of the church at midday. Many villagers still drink vinegar today, and children wash their hair in water steeped in the blossoms of bitter oranges. It is a day of rest for women and the men are forbidden to play cards. In the evening men take the Epitafio around the parish. In the villages they go to the cemetery.

MEGALI SAVATO - HOLY SATURDAY April 14th. The services start in the morning, the church is filled with flowers. In the villages men slaughter the kid ready for Easter Sunday. Children make a Judas (like our Guy Fawkes). The women make Kalitsounia with Mizithra.

KIRIAKI TIS LAMBRIS - MIDNIGHT SERVICE OF EASTER - SATURDAY/SUNDAY. Starts at about 11pm. The church lights are switched off and when the priest says, “defte lavata fos,” the people go to light their candles. Later the people take their lit candle to their homes and make the sign of the cross on their front doors before going in. The Priest circles the church three times then says, “CHRISTOS ANESTI!” Children burn the Judas and people go home to celebrate the breaking of the fast with a soup called, ‘Mayiritas’, made with offal and the red eggs. The words “Christos Anesti,” are responded to with, “Alithos Anesti.” Christ has risen,” It is true he has risen.”

GREEK EASTER SUNDAY April 15th. The end of a long fast. Traditionally, families meet up and go to their original villages from all over the world for the festival.