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This colorful and silent procession makes its way to the church. The men carry “pasky” on their shoulders, while women carry baskets filled with a variety of foods such as sausages, bread, salt, Easter eggs, butter, etc., to be blessed. The services or “Voskresna Utrenia” begin in the church. The elders of the community carry the “Plash- chennytsia”, a representation, on cloth, of Christ in the grave. Everyone follows with lit candles. It is a beautiful service which represents Christ’s three days in the grave and His glorious resurrection. The children become impatient during the Resur rection Liturgy following the “Utrenia”. There has been a lot of ceremony and praying this morning and no food. At last the services are over. The people assemble in front of the church with the wealth of food they have brought to be blessed. The priest blesses the food, peo ple wish each other good things for the holiday, and everyone goes home. The head of the household is the first to enter his house. “Chrystos Voskres!” — “Christ is Risen” are his first words. Everyone assembles around the table where the family shares the blessed food. Children gather egg shells and throw them upon the roof. This is to ensure a good chicken crop. After breakfast, young people gather in front of the church to begin “hailky” — traditional spring dances. The older folks of the community sit by the church and reminisce. The oldest person in the village is a woman who still remembers the days of panshuna (serfdom), but she doesn’t want to talk about that too much. Young boys climb to the belfry and ring the church bells until one’s ears hurt. When the sun calls it a day and the early spring wind still has a hint of winter in it, people go home to the warmth of their houses. Only the young continue their singing because they have waited for this holiday for such a long time. Monday is called “Wet Monday” and every girl is fair game for a good dousing with water. Sometimes girls gang up on boys and then everyone gets wet. There’s lots of shouting and screaming and laughing — all in good fun. On Tuesday, or the third day of the Easter holidays, warm food is cooked. The first two days of Easter, ovens were not lit and food was eaten cold. Right after church on Tuesday, everyone goes to the cemetary. Families gather around the graves of their loved ones and the priest offers a short service over each. People leave Easter food on the graves in the belief that the dead too want to participate in the festivi ties. A lot of the food is also given to the village poor. I remember Easter such as this in my own village in the Podolia region of Ukraine. (English translation from Ukrainian text. Author un known.)
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