Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 3, 1993 TAG: 9304050246
SECTION: RELIGION PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
DIFFERENT TRADITIONS, SAME GOD
I t's that time of year when Dawn MillTer's kids are liable to ask, "Which is the real Easter?"The question comes up because the Millers - who worship at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church - often celebrate Easter later than most other Christians.
This year they'll celebrate one week later - April 18 - although the holiday sometimes is moved back even farther.
"I tell them both Easters are real," Miller said, and that the children's other Christian friends are celebrating the same event.
Her children, ages 7, 5 and 3, are "still in the Easter bunny stage," she said, and don't yet require a complex explanation of the differences in Christian practice. Nor are they required to participate in some of the season's rituals, such as fasting, that they cannot yet understand.
But, for her older daughter, "I explain that we celebrate after the Jewish people have Passover."
That tradition dates back almost 1,700 years, said the Rev. Nicholas Bacalis, the priest at Holy Trinity.
At that time, a council was held between the competing seats of power in the church represented by Rome in the West and Constantinople in the East.
Though the churches remained split - accounting for the existence of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches of today - the council was able to decree agreement in some areas. One of those was the formula for setting the date of Easter.
The Council - which also produced the Nicene Creed that is still used by numerous Christian denominations - decided that Easter would be celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon after the first day of spring. That was to hold true with one additional provision - the celebration must follow Passover.
The idea was to remain faithful to the Gospel account of a Thursday evening meal, generally believed to have been a Passover celebration, that preceded the Friday Crucifixion and Sunday Resurrection.
Eventually, the Western churches - including Roman Catholicism and most of the Protestant denominations - dropped the prohibition against celebrating Easter before Passover. The ban remains a tenet of the faith in the Eastern Church, which includes the Greek Orthodox.
Miller said that while she teaches her children to celebrate the distinctions of their faith, she also wants them to "accept that it's OK for their friends" and others to believe differently.
That's a change from the way she was reared, Miller said, in a Greek neighborhood of Philadelphia where "everyone else was wrong and we were right," in matters of religion.
She laughs now when she explains that as a child she even thought that "other Christians must be put in some separate part of heaven" from the Orthodox.
The Greek Orthodox limit participation in Holy Communion to baptized members of the faith. But Miller says the church - and the Holy Trinity parish, in particular - makes even nonmembers feel welcome.
Her husband of 10 years - who grew up as a Southern Baptist - regularly worships at the church, she said, although he has not undergone the formal initiation process into membership.
The Holy Trinity congregation does include members who were not reared in the faith, Miller said, many of whom are now expert in its traditions and practices.
Among those distinctions is the church's strong emphasis on the "feast of feasts" - Easter.
"This is the event" of the church year, Bacalis said.
From the beginning of Lent through Easter Sunday and continuing 40 more days until Ascension Sunday - almost one-third of the church calendar - the Greek Orthodox focus on the Resurrection.
Although parishioners may vary in their adherence to a strict meatless regimen throughout Lent, most will try to adhere to some fasting discipline, Bacalis said.
During this time of repentance and spiritual renewal, two additional weekly services - on Wednesdays and Fridays - are added. It is a period when the priest encourages his flock to focus on forgiving others as they believe Christ forgives their sins and to de-emphasize the material side of their lives.
During Holy Week preceding Easter Sunday, the church is open for services every day.
"We try to walk step-in-step with Christ during Holy Week," Bacalis said, recalling every part of the biblical account. The commemoration really begins on the Saturday before Palm Sunday, when services focus on the account of Jesus' resurrection of Lazarus.
Palm Sunday, as in the Western churches, celebrates Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. Wednesday emphasizes repentance and features an anointing with holy oil.
Thursday services include the recollection of the Last Supper.
Friday is the most solemn day, perhaps, when the Crucifixion is remembered. The body of Christ is removed from the altar cross, wrapped in a shroud and laid in an elaborate flowered bier.
The culmination of the week's events comes on Saturday.
An early service is held specifically for children and others who may not be able to attend the later midnight service. There is a special Communion service and an Easter egg hunt for the kids.
The big event, however, comes in the middle of the night.
Just before midnight, with parishioners spilling out of the nave, the church will be completely darkened. At midnight, the priest enters with one flickering candle and announces that "Christos Anesti" - "Christ is Risen."
The light is passed from candle to candle among the parishioners, symbolically "taking the light to all," Bacalis explained.
An Easter afternoon service is celebrated in eight languages - Greek, English, Slavonian, Latin, German, Spanish, French and Lebanese - again symbolizing the universality of the Easter message, Bacalis said.
About 20 percent of his 400-member congregation is of non-Greek ancestry, Bacalis said. Many of them are of Lebanese extraction.
Despite the liturgy's emphasis on universality, there still can be misunderstandings.
While she was a student at Virginia Tech, Miller said, she couldn't see how Easter could be "just another Sunday" for some of the other girls on her hall. For her, the holiday always meant a trip home for the most significant religious and family event of the year.
And her religion confused other Christians. "They ask if you are Jewish or if you have Christmas," Miller said.
"Sometimes it's a hard thing to get across to people."