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| Ukrainian Easter Basket (Holidappy) |
Eating sumptuous meals of meat, dairy and egg and beautifully decorated houses, was the order of a typical Ukrainian Easter celebration, but amidst the on-going crisis these celebrations are likely to be marred with grief, fear anxiety and uncertainty.
In Ukrainian, Easter is called Velykden which means The Great Day.
With a population of up to 40 million people, Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe after Russia. Eastern Orthodoxy is the majority religion in the country with between 65.4 percent to 76.6 percent of the population practising / identifying with it which accounts for between 27.8 million to 34.8 million people. According to the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), the level of religiosity in Ukraine is highest in Western Ukraine (91 percent) and the lowest in Donbas (57 percent) and Eastern Ukraine (56 percent).
2019 statistics showed that 82 percent of Ukrainians were Christians out of which 72.7 percent declared themselves to be Orthodox, 8.8 percent Greek Rite Catholics, 2.3 percent Protestants and 0.9 percent Latin rite Catholics. Other Christians comprised 2.3 percent.
Orthodox Easter falls a week after the conventional christian easter, meaning this year their Easter will be on the 24th of April as opposed to the conventional that falls on the 17th of April. This is because the Orthodox Church uses a different calendar called the Julian calendar which was originally designed by Julius Caesar in 45BC, basing a year on the time it takes the sun to go around the earth. The conventional calendar is Gregorian, created by Pope Gregory in 1582 to fix some of the shortcomings in the Julian calendar. Also in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Easter must take place after the Jewish Festival of Passover.
The Easter season begins with Great Lent; which is 40 days of reflection, fasting and praying which starts on Clean Monday also known as Pure, Ash or Green Monday which refers to believers being cleansed of their sins during the lenten season. It is also known as Wet Monday and ends on Lazarus Saturday which celebrates the raising of Lazarus at Bethany.
Orthodox Easter Traditions
On Easter Sunday, families go to church and greet each other saying, 'Khrystos Voskres' which means Christ is Risen, and 'Volstynu Voskres' - which means Indeed He Is Risen. The celebrations begin with a blessing in church of a special food basket. Depending on the schedule of the church, the blessing can also take place on Saturday night before the Easter Sunday.
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| Easter baskets ready for church blessing (Olena Senteno: Bilingual Kids Rock) |
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| A priest blessing the Easter baskets (Suburban Grandma) |
The following food items are a mandatory contents of the basket; and can add other food stuffs if you so wish, for example fruit and vegetables etc.
Pysankas, which are nicely decorated hard-boiled eggs. They are symbolic of new life.
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| Kiwi Pysanky (Pysanky.info) |
Paska, which is sweet egg bread with raisins, elaborately decorated with a braided cross and rosettes. It symbolises the joy of the new life given to us by Jesus Christ.
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| Paska (Korena In The Kitchen) |
Meat Products
This consists of sausages (mostly garlic ones), ham and smoked bacon. The Ham is symbolic of the great joy and abundance of Easter. It can at times also be lamb or veal.
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| Ham (Picante Cooking) |
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| Sausages known as Kielbasa (European Specialties) |
Horseradish roots or horseradish with beets is symbolic of he passion and death of Christ.
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| Horseradish (Panning The Globe) |
Dairy Products
Cottage cheese or farmer cheese has a bland taste which reminds believers of the moderation they should cultivate in their lives.
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| Cottage Cheese (Cupcakes And Kale Chips) |
Butter - often shaped into a lamb or a cross reminds believers of the goodness of Christ and the importance of sharing with others.
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| Butter (Suburban Grandma) |
Salt - reminds believers of their commitment to follow Christ and to do his word.
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| Salt |
The blessing ceremony is attended by all members of the family including parents, children, grandparents, grandchildren. The Food in the basket is then eaten for breakfast alongside other delicacies specially prepared of that day like mashed potatoes, gravy and desserts like cheesecake and meringue tortes.
Perhaps this year's Easter for the Ukrainians will bring with it hope that God is still with them regardless of the war and instability in their country.
