| Hello
Delaware Kiwanis: We shall not have Kiwanis meeting until Easter. For our people
it`s a good time as they will have many free days. Now we make some meetings for
church. We have many meetings. Our service for young people getting grow. I would
tell a little about the Easter in Ukraine. We shall have Easter in a week. Easter
in Ukraine the big holiday We have many traditions and all people use easter traditions.
On the Sunday before Easter, which is also called "Willow Sunday" branches
of the willow tree (called loza) are blessed in the Church and given to the faithful.
. The week before Easter is called "white, clean, illuminating, grand, Passion
Week or willow week." Legend says that the first real Easter egg was given
to the Roman emperor
Tiberius by Mary Magdalene soon after Christ’s ascension.
Mary went to Rome to preach, and followed the custom to bring the emperor some
gift. Wealthy people usually gave jewels and poor people brought to the emperor’s
palace whatever they could. Mary gave the emperor a humble white egg saying, “The
Christ has risen!” The emperor expressed his disbelief, “Nobody can
rise from the dead ….. this is as hard to believe as it is to believe this
egg can turn red!” At once the egg became red, and since that time eggs serve
as a symbol of Christ’s resurrection, the victory of life over death. Following
supper on Passion Thursday and until Easter morning it was forbidden to eat meat
or dairy foods The Resurrection Mass was always eagerly awaited. Following the
Mass the people greeted each other in the traditional way, by kissing each other
three times. This is called "chrystosuvania" After mass, in the wee
hours of the morning, the Easter baskets are blessed. The Easter basket is the
pride and joy of the family. People judge the mistress of the house according
to the way her Easter basket looks, what it contains, and how it is decorated.
A willow basket is lined with an embroidered cloth (or, here in the States, filled
with green plastic grass), and is filled with a sampling of Easter foods.
The
Easter basket should contain: Paska (3)
Pysanky
Krashanky (dyed
hard boiled eggs in a variety of colors, but there must be a
red one)
Salt
Pepper
Butter
(often a butter lamb)
Lard
Cheese
Horseradish
Ham (or other smoked
meat)
Salo (pork fat)
Kovbasa (sausage - a small ring)
Various seeds
(e.g. sunflower, poppy) During the Easter season in Ukraine the cult of
the dead is observed. The dead are remembered on Maundy Thursday and also during
the whole week after Easter Paska (Ukrainian Easter Bread)
The
most honored Easter bread was the paska and the preparation and baking of paska
was considered one of the most important tasks of the year. People believed that
the future could be predicted, depending on how this holiday bread turned out.
Every homemaker wanted her paska to be the best and the biggest, therefore while
baking it she performed various magical gestures and used incantations. The dough
for the paska was kneaded in a trough which rested on a pillow so that the bread
would be light. During the preparation the homemaker had to maintain pure thoughts.
While the paska was in the oven no one was allowed to sit or make a loud noise
for fear it would collapse in the oven. In some regions of Ukraine the man of
the house stood guard in his front door lest someone enter and cast an evil spell
while the paska was baking. A successfully baked paska brought great joy to the
family. Wrapped in a rushnyk (ritual cloth), or placed in a basket, the paska
was carried to church by the master of the house to be blessed in a ceremony following
the Resurrection Mass on Easter morning. Other foods such as cheese, butter, salt,
pork fat, horse radish, eggs, pysanky (Ukrainian Easter egg), ham, sausages, as
well as various seeds were also brought to church for the blessing. Immediately
after the ceremony the family would hurry home to share the blessed paska and
thus begin Easter breakfast. The top of the paska was covered with symbolic signs
made of dough such as a cross, solar signs, rosettes, leaves, pine cones and sometimes
even birds and bees. Most of these decorations were remnants of an ancient pagan
religion tied to the cult of the sun and bread. The top is decorated by dough
ornamentation in the form of an ornate cross. From: Lora Pavlenko [mailto:kiwanis_ua@yahoo.com] |
