Easter in Russia: Пасха

Orthodox Easter (Пасха) falls on May 5 this year.  Recall that a couple posts ago I explained that the Sunday before Easter is called Вербное воскресенье (“Pussy willow Sunday”) – in Russia, pussy willow branches replace the palms that are carried by the faithful in the West.

In Orthodox Christianity, Easter is the high point of the liturgical calendar.  The faithful arrive at church in the late evening on Holy Saturday and process in the dark, circling the church three times with priests and deacons and acolytes and a choir.  Then they enter the church, lights and candles are lit, the priest proclaims several times «Христос Воскресе!» and the faithful respond each time, saying «Воистину Воскресе!» — “Christ is risen!”  “He is risen indeed!”  The monogram «ХВ» is symbolic of Easter.

     

Here are three Russian Easter greeting cards.  Bright matryoshki (see the pussy willows?) and eggs adorn one, a peasant boy with a large decorated egg appear on a second one, and on the third pussy willows encircle a table covered with a ручник (“ruchnik,” an embroidered towel) laden with eggs, a monogrammed paskha and a tall kulich.

The egg is symbolic of Easter, just as it is in the West.  Traditionally, Russian eggs are dyed by being wrapped in wet onion skins, giving them a rich rusty-red color.  Other eggs are decorated with dyes and wax.  These are called крашение яйца or писанки (decorated eggs), and are a beautiful folk art.  Friends would greet each other with the Easter acclamation, exchange kisses, and play at бить яйца (“striking eggs”), each knocking an egg against the other’s.  The person  holding the unbroken egg wins.

At the other extreme from eggs wrapped in onion skins are Russian Faberge eggs, jeweled eggs made of precious metals, decorated with enamel and gems, some with intricate mechanical movements.  These eggs were masterpieces of the jeweler’s art.  They were produced by the House of Faberge between 1885 and 1917.  Most were miniatures, popular as gifts at Easter, but the most famous ones were the larger “Imperial” Faberge eggs made for Alexander III and Nicholas II.  Forty-two of these have survived.

There are two traditional Russian Easter dishes – the Easter dessert called пасха (paskha) and the sweet, tall Easter bread called кулич (kulich).  Paskha is a cheese-egg-sugar-vanilla-raisin concoction, usually molded into a pyramid and decorated.  Kulich is a sweet bread, like challa, baked in a tall, round shape, and iced and decorated.  After weeks of Lenten fasting, these are especially delicious treats.

This painting by Boris Kustodiev pulls the story together.  Kustodiev was a stage designer and prolific painter and a member of the World of Art movement in early 20th century Russia.  In his “Easter Greeting” (1912), a couple exchange kisses and they hold eggs ready to knock.  On the table are a plate of colored eggs, a silver bowl of black caviar, a paskha, and a stunning tall kulich.

Here is a link to a performance Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Russian Easter Festival Overture” by the New World Youth Symphony Orchestra.  It’s a stunning piece of music, written in the late 19th century as part of the Slavic Revival in the Russian arts, and incorporates many Orthodox liturgical musical themes.

By the way, the Russian name for Sunday is воскресенье, an older spelling variant of воскресение, the Russian word that means “resurrection.”  They are both pronounced exactly the same.  It’s a reflection of the strength of the Russian faith that theology-laden name of the day of the week endured even during Soviet times.  And, by the way, scholars are still arguing about the proper translation of the title of Tolstoy’s famous 19th century novel, «Воскресенье».  Most translate it as “Resurrection,” but there are a few researchers out there fighting to have it called “Sunday.”  And some say that Tolstoy saw the two as one and the same thing.

Христос Воскресе!  Christ is Risen!

Воистину Воскресе!  He is risen indeed!

Joe