Father Bartholomeos Hakobyan, the spiritual pastor of the Nubarashen Holy Martyrs Church of the Araratian Patriarchal Diocese, in a conversation with “Haykakan Zhamanak”, explained in detail the meaning of the holiday and the necessary steps that should be taken before Easter and after it…
According to him, the spiritual is more important than Easter preparation. this is for a person to approach the holiday transformed, as Jesus Christ died and rose again. Through it, a person is able to strengthen his faith. Next is Christian training. a person starts this as early as 48 days before, that is, when Lent begins and the mind and body are cleansed…
“During Lent, a person ate only Lenten dishes, and already on the Resurrection Day it becomes permissible to eat everything. On March 30, in the evening of Candlemas, when the Holy Liturgy is served and the Avetis is passed that Christ is resurrected, it is considered an incomplete Lent and a situation outside of Lent, during which it is allowed to use eggs, fish, that is, pre-monthly dishes, that the next day, the person will participate in the liturgy itself and fully come out of Lent,” he says…
And if a person has not followed Great Lent, can he celebrate Holy Easter? Priest Hakobyan answers: “It is desirable for a Christian to fast and live that life, because Christianity is not just a religion of words, deeds are important. Apostle James says: faith without works is dead. From that point of view, it is important that every Christian lives by the word of Christ. A section of our society does not fast, but it is not like we are blaming”…
According to the priest, one of the festive Easter dishes is pilaf with chickpeas, dyed egg, fish and vegetables, which is accepted according to tradition. At the same time, he notices that it’s not like putting meat on the table is a big sin or a mistake…
“For years, fish, egg and wine have been served on the Resurrection Day, the rest of the dishes are folk traditions. Whether it is meat or something else, there is no need to look for a religious tone in it. Of course, it is important for a Christian to keep these symbols, but it is not necessary to focus on the symbols,” he advises. Elaborating on the recommendations of the listed dishes, Father Bartholomeos Hakobyan says…
“Tradition tells that Mary Magdalene, visiting Emperor Tiberius in the first century, propagates Christianity by presenting an egg. And according to the custom of that time, the emperor could not be visited without a gift. Tiberius refused to believe in the Resurrection of Christ and exclaims: “How can someone rise from the dead…
It’s as impossible as if this egg suddenly turned red.” It is at that moment that the egg turns red, invoking the truth of the Christian faith. This brings the emperor to faith. Translating each letter of the word fish from Greek means Jesus Christ, “the son of God is the savior”, that’s why it has been the symbol of Christians for many years…
Christ took the bread and the wine and gave it to the disciples, saying: “This is my body and my blood, drink it, you will do this for the forgiveness of your sins” and giving the wheat as an example, he said: “A grain of wheat does not give new life until it dies.” Thus wheat also became part of the Easter symbolism. Bread is made from wheat, and the lancet, which is used during the liturgy, is made from elsewhere.
On Holy Easter, people celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and in this context, the church considers the common custom of visiting the grave on that day to be wrong. It is also wrong to think that if there is a new sleeper in the house, then the egg should not be dyed, or the pilaf should be without raisins…
“Christ’s shed blood is for both the dead and the living. It is not a sign of banning mourning. Regardless of whether there is an old or new sleeper in the house or not, the egg gets dyed. In general, it is painted red, this is symbolic, but if it is also in another color, it is not necessary to see a religious tone in it…
Going to the grave is not allowed, because the church always urges Christians to go to the grave and pray for the dead on the day after the Feast of Tabernacles. On the day after the holiday, the advice is passed on to the sleeping ones, we pray for the peace of their souls,” he says…
It is not allowed to work on the Easter holiday, notes the spiritual pastor of the Holy Martyrs Church of Nubarashen of the Ararat Patriarchal Diocese. Also, you can’t get married, and baptism is done every day, except for the day of Christ’s crucifixion…
“God has given a commandment, saying: keep Saturday holy, we Christians give greater importance to Christ’s resurrection, which happened on Sunday. We started celebrating that day. Sunday is the word kyurake and means a holiday dedicated to the Lord, that’s why you can’t work on that day, a person should take care of the needs of his soul”…
On the feast of the Holy Resurrection, the believers pray to each other with the message “Christ is risen from the dead” and answer: “Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ”.
