Easter was considered by the residents of Tsakistra as the most important Christian holiday. The villagers would emotionally participate in the Passions and Resurrection of Christ, the grieve during Jesus’ march towards Calvary, as well as in the joy of His Resurrection.
The preparation for Easter would begin in the morning of Lazarus’ Saturday. On that day, the children would visit all the houses of the village and sing in honour of Lazarus.
On Palm Sunday, every family would take a bunch of olive tree branches and would leave it there for forty days so that it would become blessed.
For the entire duration of the Holy Week, the children would gather logs at the foreyard of the Church to burn Judas. At the same time, housewives would thoroughly clean their houses so that they could celebrate the great holiday.
On Good Friday, the decoration of the epitaph would take place by the girls of the village who would previously gather flowers.
The Sequence of the Resurrection would begin on the night of Holy Saturday and mainly at the time of the Paschal Vigil, at twelve midnight and in the presence of all the village residents.
On Sunday morning, at eleven o’ clock, the Vespers of Love was sung. When the Vespers ended, one of the villagers would stand on a pedestal and sing the song of the Resurrection. Next, the villagers would go back home and enjoy a rich meal which consisted of roast meat, “flaounes” and red-painted eggs. In the afternoon of the same day, the villagers would gather at the small square of the village to play various traditional games, dance and sing. |
