Sunday, May 01, 2005
Kristos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Christos Voskrese!
So, I just got home from our Pascha/Easter service. It was 1130 till 3am and then refreshments! I nearly fell three times during the service, falling asleep and losing my balance. The Paschal service is very much a light-in-darkness theme, but not sad. A dark church, except the little lights for the choir to read by and the street lamps from outside. It's hard not to fiddle with the candle and make little designs with your thumbnail. Finally it is 12 o'clock and Father ...... lights the candles of the front row. Eventually it passes all the way back. A major risk with my hair down, btw. The little chapel is lit with a plethora of tiny ineffectual lights and the Father leads our procession outside. We circle the church three times, chanting and trying to protect our little candles from the inconstant wind. After re-lighting a few(four) times we give up and the less skilled of the congregation (my dad remarks that if we smoked, we'd know how to cup a flame better, but alas.) gather before the church doors and recieve a flame for the last time. A short ceremony(repeated a few times, becoming a longer ceremony) before the entrance into the church which is lit and decorated with flowers and a basket of red eggs.
A myriad of repetitions later, each time slightly funnier than the last as we got more and more tired, we took communion and broke fast. Dismissal, each of us leaving the chapel with a red egg and a piece of prosphora. The coffee hour was filled with baskets of food, and after the Father had blessed them we all gathered 'round. Mostly it was a collection of the tradtional sweetish bread I have no name for, more red eggs, and feta. There was lamb and more sausage than I'd ever seen outside Solvang. I tried a bit of kielbasa, and although it was goodish I guess I'm just not a sausage person.
Just like Palm Sunday seems to be the start of spring- a clean, fresh, airy holiday full of light and life- Easter is a light in the dark of night. But even the darkness is friendly and hopeful, as if it's existance is just a promise that light will come. To-morrow(or to-day, if one wants to get particular) we are going to try and get to the Agape service. I hope we can go. There was more that I wanted to say but it will have to wait. I just hope that this came out coherently. That would be amazing. It's nearly 5am so I should head to bed.
Also, Lisa it's your birthday! Happy Birthday Lisa!
Kristos Anesti, Kyrie Eleison. -- G 'Bye, Sonya -- . ( 1.5.05 ) .
So, I just got home from our Pascha/Easter service. It was 1130 till 3am and then refreshments! I nearly fell three times during the service, falling asleep and losing my balance. The Paschal service is very much a light-in-darkness theme, but not sad. A dark church, except the little lights for the choir to read by and the street lamps from outside. It's hard not to fiddle with the candle and make little designs with your thumbnail. Finally it is 12 o'clock and Father ...... lights the candles of the front row. Eventually it passes all the way back. A major risk with my hair down, btw. The little chapel is lit with a plethora of tiny ineffectual lights and the Father leads our procession outside. We circle the church three times, chanting and trying to protect our little candles from the inconstant wind. After re-lighting a few(four) times we give up and the less skilled of the congregation (my dad remarks that if we smoked, we'd know how to cup a flame better, but alas.) gather before the church doors and recieve a flame for the last time. A short ceremony(repeated a few times, becoming a longer ceremony) before the entrance into the church which is lit and decorated with flowers and a basket of red eggs.
A myriad of repetitions later, each time slightly funnier than the last as we got more and more tired, we took communion and broke fast. Dismissal, each of us leaving the chapel with a red egg and a piece of prosphora. The coffee hour was filled with baskets of food, and after the Father had blessed them we all gathered 'round. Mostly it was a collection of the tradtional sweetish bread I have no name for, more red eggs, and feta. There was lamb and more sausage than I'd ever seen outside Solvang. I tried a bit of kielbasa, and although it was goodish I guess I'm just not a sausage person.
Just like Palm Sunday seems to be the start of spring- a clean, fresh, airy holiday full of light and life- Easter is a light in the dark of night. But even the darkness is friendly and hopeful, as if it's existance is just a promise that light will come. To-morrow(or to-day, if one wants to get particular) we are going to try and get to the Agape service. I hope we can go. There was more that I wanted to say but it will have to wait. I just hope that this came out coherently. That would be amazing. It's nearly 5am so I should head to bed.
Also, Lisa it's your birthday! Happy Birthday Lisa!
Kristos Anesti, Kyrie Eleison. -- G 'Bye, Sonya -- . ( 1.5.05 ) .