Holidays!
In Australia my family continue to keep the tradition of celebrating Greek Easter. This is one of my favourite festivals. We go to church on most of the days during Holy Week. We also dye red eggs. On Easter Saturday we go to church at eleven thirty. We bring candles from our god parents which are lit by the holy light. The flame gets passed from the Priest to all the people. The Priest talks till midnight and then we all say Χριστός Ανέστη (Christ has risen) and then the other person responds Άληθος Ανέστη (We know). After church we all go back to our grandparent’s house. We have a special soup called αβγόλεμονο. We also crack red eggs (below is the instructions on how to make them). The winner is the one who’s egg isn’t cracked. The red on the eggs stand for Jesus’ blood and it’s an egg because eggs symbolise rebirth and eternal life. Some traditional Easter dishes are αβγόλεμονο, another special soup with all the leftover bits of animals that have been slaughtered eg. livers, brains and hearts and τσουρέκι (tsoureki) a cake eaten on most Greek celebrations. Tsoureki is slightly varied for each festivity. On New Year’s Day, there’s a coin inside and on Easter, there’s red eggs in it.
How to make Red Eggs
- First you get some eggs.
- You then mix a special red dye with some water.
- Boil the eggs in the red water.
- When they are ready you can decorate them, put them in the tsoureki or just leave them on their own.
- On Easter you crack the eggs.
History Behind the Red Eggs
The red colour of the eggs represent Jesus Christ’s blood. The eggs themselves symbolise the sealed tomb and also mean eternal life and rebirth. This is also why have chocolate Easter Eggs on Easter.
Poem
As the moon emerges from behind the church a light brighter than the sun grows stronger,
the holy light thousands of candles hold,
as we arrive back at the house we savour our special soup and cherish the terrific tsoureki,
we laugh as blood red eggs collide,
Χριστός Ανέστη!
What is your favourite festivity?
