From: aklilu w (akliluw@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Apr 17 2009 - 19:50:03 EDT
Orthodox Christians to celebrate Easter
The Patriot-News A husband and wife celebrate the Orthodox Easter last year.
Friday, April 17, 2009
On Sunday, area Eastern Orthodox churches will celebrate Christ's resurrection. The holiday comes one week after thousands of midstate Christian churches of the Western rite celebrated Easter.
The Orthodox Easter is based on a decree of the Council of Nicea in the year 325, said Christopher Radanovic, the vice president of St. Nicholas Serbian Eastern Orthodox Church in Oberlin.
"Pascha, or Easter, must be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon of the vernal equinox and always after the Hebrew Passover," he said. "This maintains the biblical sequence of events of the crucifixion and resurrection."
Here is a look at other area Orthodox Churches that will celebrate Easter this weekend:
Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 1000 Yverdon Drive, Wormleysburg.
Holy Annunciation Macedonian-Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Church, 705 N. Front St., Steelton.
Holy Ascension Orthodox Church, 256 N. Second St., Lykens.
Holy Apostles Orthodox Church, Mechanicsburg.
Mary Klaus, The Patriot-News
Orthodox Christians preparing for Easter
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April 17, 2009
By Carrie Napoleon
Post-Tribune correspondent
» Click to enlarge image
The Rev. Alex Novakovic (right) conduct the Holy Thursday Liturgy at St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville.
(Andy Lavalley/Post-Tribune)
"That's our sacrifice," she said. "We try to keep the tradition from generation to generation."
Orthodox Easter is surrounded in tradition and ceremony including the decoration of Christ's tomb with white flowers today, Good Friday for the faithful.
"This all goes way, way back. We've kept our traditions and our faith," she said.
During Good Friday services, parishioners will carry a symbolic shroud of Christ around the church three times in a funeral procession before placing it in the decorated tomb.
Popovich said the church community celebrates the significance of the holiday through its traditions.
A midnight resurrection service Saturday includes a celebratory procession around the church. Services continue through Wednesday when Easter season ends with the ascension of Christ into Heaven.
Popovich said ceremonial traditions have been passed down for generations and are ingrained in her faith.
"It just makes me proud to be Orthodox," Popovich said.
The Rev. Alexander Novakovic, pastor of St. Elijah Serbian Orthodox Church in Merrillville, where Popovich is a parishioner, said it's important for the faithful to express their identity in the Orthodox Church by participating in the rituals of the season.
"It's not tradition, it's faith. We don't look at this as an event, we look at this as a moment of salvation," Novakovic said.
Orthodox Christians mark Good Friday in Jerusalem
Fri Apr 17, 10:40 am ET
JERUSALEM – Orthodox Christian clergymen and pilgrims are marking Good Friday in Jerusalem's Old City, at the site where they believe Jesus was crucified on this date two millennia ago.
Protestants and Roman Catholics marked Good Friday last week. But members of Orthodox Christian churches follow a different calendar.
Black-robed Greek Orthodox clergymen held wooden crosses as they entered the courtyard outside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Armenian priests also held Good Friday prayers at the ancient church, which is shared by different sects.
Tradition says the church was built on the site where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.
Christians believe Jesus was crucified on Good Friday and resurrected on Easter Sunday.
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