Day of Eternal Joy

The oldest and most solemn of Christian holidays, the Resurrection of Christ, is a symbol of triumph of good over evil, of spirit over matter. Resurrection is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, guaranteeing the realization of hopes and the nourishment of love.

By Dragana Tasić

The holiday of holidays – Easter – is the day of greatest triumph since the world began. Christianity sets out that on the third day after being crucified (Good Friday), Christ defeated death by rising from his grave! Through this act, he has extended the possibility of salvation and life eternal to everyone from the time of Adam and Eve through the end of the world! Christ’s triumph over death has opened the door of the kingdom of heaven to all people.

Easter is also the only holiday with no fixed date. The reason is that Christians, since ancient times, have never agreed on the date to celebrate Pascha (Easter).

When Christianity was recognised in the Roman Empire in the early 4th century, the issue of when to celebrate this oldest Christian holiday was considered, among other disputes. The first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church, held in Nicea in 325, also dealt with the paschal dispute. The date for Easter can be reduced to four main points: Easter is celebrated after the vernal equinox; Christians do not celebrate Easter when the Jews celebrate their Pesah (Passover); Easter is celebrated after the full moon and is always celebrated on a Sunday. To meet these four conditions, certain mathematical and astronomic calculations are used to find out when Easter falls in any particular year.

Calendars

The issue of different calendars is a very ancient one. Nearly every civilisation has had its own system of calculating time, its "calendar". One of the oldest is the Egyptian (lunar) calendar, while other calendars were created by the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Jews, Muslims….

Christians did not conceive their own system of calculating time; they joined the existing civilisational milieu of the Greco-Roman world, that is the Roman Empire, which already had its own calendar. Christians simply accepted the calendar under which they lived, the Julian calendar. This calendar was called "old style", and was named after Julius Caesar, who reformed the existing calendar because it was inadequate (by reducing or extending some magistrates’ term of office, various political manoeuvres could be effected, to the extent that towards the end of the Republic there was total confusion in this respect).

Caesar’s reformed calendar – the Julian calendar – was conceived by Egyptian astronomer Sosigen. The calendar year had 365 whole days, and once every four years a day was added to that year (leap year). The system of twelve months was retained – the uneven ones had thirty-one days, while even ones had thirty days (with February having twenty-nine days, and thirty days in leap years). Seven-day weeks also remained in place. The calendar was implemented in 45 BC, and since then, January 1 has been celebrated as the first day of the new year. A year later, the seventh month was renamed "July" to honour Julius Caesar, while some fifty years later, the eighth month was renamed "August" to honour Emperor Augusts. All the months of the year were given their present names, their sequence and their number of days on AD 8.

This calendar, too, failed to resolve difficulties surrounding the precise calculation of time, because a whole "extra" day accumulated after 128 years. This resulted in moving the Christian holidays, so that a change of rules caused animated discussions among learned theologians. This resulted in another reform of the calendar.

On Saturday, eight days before Christ’s resurrection, a miracle occurred – the resurrection of Lazarus, which served to affirm the words of Christ: "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live!"   On that day the children – "the lambs of Christ following their shepherd" – dress up with little bells around their neck, and with their grandfathers and grandmothers and parents, they celebrate the holiday called Lazarus’ Saturday, in remembrance of the joy the children of Jerusalem experienced upon meeting Christ.   On that day green willow tree branches (vrba) are blessed, which lend the holiday its name – Vrbica.

The new calendar was conceived by astronomer and University of Padua professor of medicine Luigi Lilio (also known as Aloysius Lilius). The Roman Catholic Pope Gregory XIII issued a bull in 1582 announcing a new calendar, which was to be called the Gregorian calendar in his honour (also known as "new style"). The Gregorian calendar is, in fact, a modification of the Julian calendar, but, it, too, is not quite precise: three days must be omitted from calculations every 400 years.

The introduction of the Gregorian calendar also failed to achieve unity in the Christian Church. The calendar was not immediately accepted by all the countries of the West. The first to implement it were Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, and England was among the last.

In the Orthodox Christian world, the Church (Julian) calendar and Paschalion is maintained by the Church of Jerusalem, the Russian, Serbian, Georgian-Russian and by the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos. The Gregorian calendar and Julian Paschalion is maintained by the Church of Constantinople, the Church of Alexandria, the Church of Antioch, the Romanian, Bulgarian and Greek Churches, the Church on Cyprus and the autonomous Churches dependant on the Patriarchate in Constantinople. The Finnish Orthodox Church has fully recognized the Gregorian calendar and Paschalion.

Easter matins

While the church bells chime on Easter matin, the priest and his flock walk around the church three times. He stops before the closed door of the church, burns incense over the people and the church door, as the "Christ is Risen" troparion (hymn) is sung. Bearing the cross and the Gospels, the priest then enters the church, passes through the royal doors (the central section of the altar partition), and enters the altar. The royal doors are left open throughout Easter week. The people follow the priest into the lit-up church. The Resurrection Liturgy is officiated – the most joyful celebration of the year. The believers approach to receive the Sacrament, the fast ends. The first thing eaten is usually an Easter egg.

Easter eggs

From time immemorial and throughout the world, the egg has been a symbol of rebirth, nature and life. Numerous myths mention the egg as the source of life and the world. The Chinese tradition, for example, has it that Chaos was shaped like an egg; after 18,000 years it opened and the heavy elements became the earth and the light elements became the sky. According to a Finnish folk epic, the whole world originated from one iron and six golden eggs.

Many legends offer different interpretations of egg-painting custom. One story establishes a link between a red-painted egg and when Mary Magdalene, the myrrh-bearer, travelled to Rome to visit Emperor Tiberius. As a token and a gift, she presented him with a red-painted egg and greeted him with the words "Christ is risen!" Easter eggs are dyed and decorated throughout Passion Week, and most often on Good Thursday or Good Friday. This is a holy act to be approached with piety and sanctity. It is customary to paint the first egg red. The colour red symbolizes the Savior’s innocently shed blood on Golgotha, but at the same time it is also the colour of Resurrection, the colour of blood that means life. The first egg to be painted is kept in the household thought the year; it is called čuvarkuća (house guardian), stražar (sentinel). It is credited with protective powers – it protects household members, livestock and crops from disease and evil.

Milan Tucović

The eggs are dyed with other colours as well: yellow is obtained from different types of leaves, tree bark and roots; brown is obtained from walnut juices; green is obtained with the help of nettle seeds and eggplant roots.

The "Pero" Gallery   The "Pero" gallery organizes 11th auction of painted Easter eggs in Belgrade’s city assembly on April 20, 2006 at 19h.   The event will be attended by 37 artists with Vlada Veličković, Milan Tucović, Danica Basta, Aleksandar Cvetković, Cvetko Lainović, Boban Ilić, etc among them. In addition to the attendance of our artists, Swiss artist Syzi Balkert and German artist Hartmut Elbbrecht will also take part.   This year, for the first time there is the possibility of participating in the auction via direct internet webcast at the www.pero.co.yu.

Women have from ancient times cultivated the art of dying and decorating Easter eggs, which is something that requires skill, talent and patience. Such skills were transferred from one generation to the next. The most beautiful eggs were intended for those closest to us – members of our household, children, friends as well as distinguished guests. This is why one may frequently find – in addition to zoomorphic, floral, and geometric motifs –inscribed names and the initial letters of Easter felicitations. Special artistic effects can be rendered in egg decorations by using pointed wax, by dipping a pen into wax or by applying the renowned batik technique (wax is applied on the surfaces intended to remain intact, and following the painting process the wax is melted and removed thereby leaving a white surface). The custom of giving eggs on Easter gives joy to both those who give and those who receive. Let Easter holidays pass in peace, health and joy!

Milan Tucović

CHRIST IS RISEN! INDEED HE IS RISEN!
	Milun Vidić