Teacher Georgeta Oprea-Serban

“Sf.Ilie” Secondary School, Toplita,

Romania

TRADITION AND EASTER CUSTOMS AT ROMANIANS

The biggest, most important, the holliest and the merriest holiday over the year, or so the Romanians say, is Easter Holiday or the Lord’s Resurrection, because in this day ‘Christ has risen from the dead giving life to those from the tombs’, and He saved those alive from sin and gave them peace in the name of God.

The holiday is at the beginning of spring, the most beautiful and most pleasant season, when everything in nature comes to life. Romanians wait forward to this holiday, after a long fasting, with great joy and they are looking forward at the same time to having their homes clean and all the preparations done as much as possible.

It is known that Easter at Romanians is a holiday that unites the family and it is an occasion of joy and happiness, on one hand because Christ has resurrected, on the other hand because our sins have been forgiven and we begin a new cycle of life.

The Big Friday • The Big Friday (or the Black Friday) is the day in which

Jesus Christ has been crucified on Golgota Mountain• He was praying in the Ghetsimani Garden when he was

caught, arrested, judged by Jews and Romans, crowned with thorns, beaten and offended.

• He carried His Cross till the top of Golgota Mountain, where He was crucified between two thieves.

• In Romanian religion, in the Bog Friday, one keeps , no food or drink is allowed, in order for them to clean

their sins.

The Easter SaturdayThe Easter Saturday symbolizes ‘the rest’ of

Christ’s body in tomb. In the evening, lights are lit in churches, announcing the time for all the believers to prepare themselves for the symbolic guard from the Resurrection night. In the middle of the night, the service of the Saint Easter is celebrated , a service that starts at 12 at night, the moment when everybody circles the church for three times, as a symbol for the long road that Jesus had to cross up to Golgota.

The Sunday of Resurrection

In the Sunday of Resurrection, the custom is that people dress in new clothes, a symbol for the cleaning of body and soul, in order for them to go to the Ester Service; in the morning cold water, a silver penny and a red egg are put in a kettle and people wash their faces in order to be blushed like an egg, strong like the penny and to be rich.

For Christians, the significance of Easter has been given a special connotation, because the word ,,Paşte’’ means man’s passing from death caused by sins to that eternal of sacrificed love, as Jesus Christ, the Savior is an example.

One of the most significant Easter symbols are red eggs, whose color reminds us of Christ’s blood, that poured on the cross for humanity’s salvation. The legend says that, at Christ’s crucifixion, the Virgin Mary placed a basket with eggs under the cross in order to reconcile the soldiers that guarded Him. These eggs have been blooded with the Savior's blood, hence the tradition to paint the eggs on Easter.

As a tradition, Christian families eat on Easter lamb and they clash red eggs.

‘Pasca’ ( a kind of sweet sponge cake), red eggs and the other foods are sainted, because the fasting of almost seven weeks is over. The Christians take Light from Light, they say ‘Christ has risen’ and answer ‘Indeed He has’- words that are said for 40 days, till Christ is ready to ascend.

The lamb symbolizes The Savior Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself for people’s sins and died like an innocent lamb.

Eggs symbolize the alive tomb of our God, that opened when He resurrected from the dead.

The traditional Romanian Easter meal

• Drob de miel

(Lamb tripe)Borş de miel( Lamb sour soup)

Sarmale în foi de varză Friptură de miel

(Meat rolls in cabbage) (Lamb stew)

Sweet sponge cake Traditional cake

Traditional religious sayings:

“Hristos a înviat din morţi,

Cu moartea pe moarte călcând,

Şi celor din morminte

Viaţă dăruindu-le!”