Customs of Pascha

[Suzannah]

Since the dreaded Easter Bunny will raise it's wiggling nose out of its hole again this year, as always, I thought it would be fun to start a thread about non-religious ethnic customs of Pascha from Orthodox people of different ethnic backgrounds...okay, so maybe it's not you who is Greek, but your Church in general....


Please share your non-religious customs for Pascha time, ie. handpainted eggs, and so forth if any!

 

[Philip]

Does spring-cleaning count? With my wife, it takes on a near-religious status.

 

[Suzannah]

It only counts if you participate! LOL!

 

[Momzilla]

At our house we periodically burst into song...

The bunny, the bunny, whoa, I love the bunny
I don't love my soup or my bread, just the bunny
The bunny, the bunny, whoa, I love the bunny
I gave everything that I had for the bunny.

I don't want no health food when it's time to feed
A big bag o' bunnies is all that I need
I won't eat no green beans, and I won't eat tofu
That stuff is for sissies but BUNNIES ARE COOL!

Gotta love Veggie Tales.

 

[Matrona]

I won't eat no green beans, and I won't eat tofu
That stuff is for sissies but BUNNIES ARE COOL!

ROTFL!

At my parents' house, I have a pet bunny. He has dark brown fur and his name is Tyler. He is, indeed, quite cool.

My parish is primarily converts, and since I've only been around for one Pascha, I'm not really sure what kinds of Pascha traditions we have among our members.

However, I know one popular tradition among Orthodox is to dye eggs red. Each person gets one Pascha egg, and we hit our egg against another person's, until only one is left unbroken, and that person is the winner. As the story goes, St. Mary Magdalene was evangelizing a pagan emperor. Mary held up an egg and declared that the Christian God could turn it red, and it did exactly that--it turned red right in her hand.

And of course, one of our favorite traditions is being able to get palms and Easter lilies for huge discounts in Western countries.

 

[Momzilla]

I should probably add that "The Bunny Song" quoted above is about a chocolate bunny.

 

[Oblio]

Don't make me quote the Troparion to the Pascha Bunny

 

[Sergius_Lucius]

It seems that Russian Paschal customs consist mostly of food We bake special cake called kulich, piramidal curd dish called... guess how... pascha and of course eggs (traditionally you boil them with onion hull to dye). Priest blesses all this at church after the service.

http://www.mega.kemerovo.su/WEB/IMAGE/18'-12-1.JPG

During Paschal week churches' bell-towers are open for everybody and you can pull the bells.

At the Great Friday you bring the candle that you held during the service of 12 Gospels to home burning (use special small lantern) and, if you don't care about your white walls, make with the fire a cross (simple +, not three-bar) on the upper doorpost (to do it accurately cut the cross out of a sheet of paper, soak it in water, stick on the doorpost and draw the candle near). Hmm... I think if you manage to do all this you can bear the title of Real Russian Orthodox

BTW, could you, please, explain me who's that Easter Bunny you always mention?

 

[Sergius_Lucius]

Don't make me quote the Troparion to the Pascha Bunny

He has risen from the hole, I guess?

 

[Oblio]

Ahhh pascha
I feel my cholesterol going up as we speak

 

[Oblio]

He has risen from the hole, I guess?

Bug's has risen from the hole,
trampling down Sam the pest.
And upon those watching many laughs ...


With apologies to Mel Blanc

 

[Matrona]

BTW, could you, please, explain me who's that Easter Bunny you always mention?

The Easter Bunny is a kind of western tradition. Parents tell their children that the Easter Bunny will come to the house on the night of Easter and leave them candy. The children wake up on Easter morning and find a basket full of candy just for them. (Of course, it's the parents that actually do this--they fill a basket with fake grass and put candy in it the night before.) It's just fun for kids.

Oblio made a reference to Bugs Bunny--I don't know if they have Bugs Bunny in Russia, but he is a popular cartoon character over here, he's been popular for over fifty years. Bugs Bunny lives in a hole underground. Yosemite Sam tries to hunt down Bugs, but Bugs always manages to outsmart him.

 

[Sergius_Lucius]

Thanks, Matrona!

 

[Suzannah]

ahhh...but you see in the wild, wild west of America, he takes on a much more ominous and frightening appearance...here he is!!! All Hail the Wicked Bunny, complete with horns


Now you know why this Bunny worship is such a dangerous thing...

Truthfully Sergey, there are people in the west who think this is "pagan" and we should not do this.. .but its so much fun for the children...and there is nothing more loveable than a bunny!

 

[countrymousenc]

Noooooooo!!! A jackalope!

 

[Suzannah]

Noooooooo!!! A jackalope!

You knew I had to do it...I must tell the truth about these "pagan" customs of Americans!!!

You know that in Ireland, all bunnies lay green eggs right????

 

[countrymousenc]

You knew I had to do it...I must tell the truth about these "pagan" customs of Americans!!!

ROTFL!

You know that in Ireland, all bunnies lay green eggs right????

Why of course they do! Is there any other color?


Hmmm.... I'm beginning to think that fasting makes everybody a little punchy!

 

[Photini]

Those bunnies look like they have reindeer antlers.....

 

[Suzannah]

They do! They're called "jackalopes"...we go jackalope hunting out here...late at night...with small flashlights and burlap bags...

 

[countrymousenc]

Those bunnies look like they have reindeer antlers.....

That's because you get jackalopes by crossing jackrabbits and antelopes.