Christ Is Risen!

Christ Is Risen! Indeed He Is Risen!

We had a wonderful time with the rest of our Holy Week.

Friday morning Tuba and Papa went to the morning service. All of us went for the 4:00 service. The service is the burial of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Every image and object we see, every step we take, is part of our solemn mourning for the death of Christ. We remember the very devoted man who took down the body of Jesus, he anointed it with oil, and then he "wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb." After the service we had a quick dinner and visited with some friends before heading to the 7:00 service. It's a beautiful service. Flowers decorate the tomb of Christ. It's a candlelight service and we sing hymns. We process around the church building with the tomb of Christ and pass under it as we re-enter the church. This symbolizes our passing from death to life.

Saturday morning's service symbolizes the day in between Christ's crucifixion and His resurrection. The mourning of death is being transformed into the joy of everlasting life. The priest scatters bay leaves and sprinkles holy water as we remember the victory over death. After the service we come home and try to rest for the day. We kept Busy Guy up until 3:00 and then we all laid down for a nap. Everyone slept 3 hours....except Mr. P who laid in his bed (with no toys or books) and didn't sleep a wink! After our nap we assemble our Pascha basket. Orthodox fast from all meat, dairy, wine and oil for Lent. We put salami, cheese, deviled eggs, chocolates, etc. in our basket. Of course since I'm pregnant I didn't do the fast this year and little kids do a modified version of the fast.

Our Pascha service starts at 10:00 pm. We get the little boys in pj's and Tuba in his spiffy clothes and head out. The service is the day of all days! Jesus has risen from the dead. The church is dark and as the priest carries a lit candle to us we sing "Come receive the light from the unwaning light, and glorify Christ, who has risen from the dead." The priest exclaims "Christ Is Risen", and we respond "Indeed He Is Risen". The liturgy is over about 12:30-1:00. We head downstairs to our fellowship hall and celebrate as a church family. We eat our Pascha basket food. Mr. P was asleep about 10 minutes into the service and Busy Guy went down about 11:00 pm. We set up beds for the boys in one of the Sunday School rooms and then take turns staying with them as the service goes on. Of course Tuba stood front and center the whole time:) We got home about 3:00 am. This is a first for us...as we usually get home as the sun is coming up!

Sunday morning we slept until about 8:30 when the kids all got up. We ate a yummy breakfast and then lounged around for awhile. Our big Pascha celebration started at 2:00 pm. There was a huge kid's fair with a bouncy house, face painting and all kinds of games. The feast was delicious....roast beef, ham, lamb, chicken and all the yummy side dishes too. The boys had so much fun. We got home just in time for bed at 7:00. Everyone slept very well:)