Easter in Santorini. Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Clearchos Kapoutsis CC BY 2.0Greek Easter is the most revered time of the year for religious Greeks as they fast for forty days, go to confession, and attend long church liturgies.
On Holy Week, liturgies intensify and run for hours and hours. Also called Passion Week, the gospels read in church tell of the Passions of Christ, the painful days that led Him to the Cross and then to Resurrection.
Holy Monday begins the Greek Easter Holy Week with a liturgy commemorating the blessed and noble Joseph and the fig tree which was cursed and withered by the Lord.
The evening liturgy begins with the Hymn of the Bridegroom: “Behold the Bridegroom comes in the midst of the night…beware, therefore, O my soul, lest thou be borne down in sleep…and lest thou be shut out from the Kingdom…”
The Tuesday of Holy Week liturgy commemorates the parable of the Ten Virgins. It is about ethical preparation and wakefulness. It is at this time that the banksnewspsaltis, or cantor, along with the choir, chants the centuries-old Troparion of Kassiane, a hauntingly lovely song written by Kassiane, a Byzantine nun.
