I realize I am a little late. Sorry! I have been busy with school and breaks from school and life in general. I will try to get you caught up this week on the things that have been going on this past month. I had spring break during the last week of March and traveled to Poland. I also attended a wedding and celebrated Easter...sort of.
Easter in Romania was actually this week and not last week, as you probably celebrated. That is because Romania is primarily orthodox and they celebrate Easter a week later than everyone else. Easter is a very important holiday in Romania and it's even considered more important than Christmas. See, there were even Easter lights up in the city
I didn't learn everything about Romanian Easter, but I did learn a few special traditions that orthodox Romanians observe. On good Friday people usually attend mass and walk around the church and under a table three times to signify Christ's suffering and death. On Saturday all orthodox Romanians attend midnight mass. (I am much more a fan of this then early sunrise services, for the record). I attended midnight mass with a few friends just to see what it was like. Literally everyone goes and police are out in force to direct traffic. The subway also runs at special times so everyone can get to mass.
The mass is held outside and unfortunately it was raining, but we made it through. The main goal of the mass is for people to receive light from the priest. So everyone brings candles. The priest sings some kind of liturgy and everyone sings an Easter hymn. The light is passed around the whole crowd, and at this point most people leave and the rest of the mass is finished inside the church.
One really special thing about Easter in Romania is the greeting that everyone uses during this time. You can say this to anyone and everyone you meet: Hristos a inviat and they will respond with: Adeverat a inviat, which means Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Although sadly most people in Romanian do not understand what Christ's resurrection really means, it is exciting and makes it so much more real to be able to say that to everyone you meet.
The rest of my Easter wasn't that exciting. I had Chinese with some friends and attended midnight mass, out it. One thing I really missed, and will make sure to get once I am back in the US, is a giant brunch with french toast, eggs, bacon, etc. Now I'm hungry.
Easter in Romania was actually this week and not last week, as you probably celebrated. That is because Romania is primarily orthodox and they celebrate Easter a week later than everyone else. Easter is a very important holiday in Romania and it's even considered more important than Christmas. See, there were even Easter lights up in the city
I didn't learn everything about Romanian Easter, but I did learn a few special traditions that orthodox Romanians observe. On good Friday people usually attend mass and walk around the church and under a table three times to signify Christ's suffering and death. On Saturday all orthodox Romanians attend midnight mass. (I am much more a fan of this then early sunrise services, for the record). I attended midnight mass with a few friends just to see what it was like. Literally everyone goes and police are out in force to direct traffic. The subway also runs at special times so everyone can get to mass.
The mass is held outside and unfortunately it was raining, but we made it through. The main goal of the mass is for people to receive light from the priest. So everyone brings candles. The priest sings some kind of liturgy and everyone sings an Easter hymn. The light is passed around the whole crowd, and at this point most people leave and the rest of the mass is finished inside the church.
One really special thing about Easter in Romania is the greeting that everyone uses during this time. You can say this to anyone and everyone you meet: Hristos a inviat and they will respond with: Adeverat a inviat, which means Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Although sadly most people in Romanian do not understand what Christ's resurrection really means, it is exciting and makes it so much more real to be able to say that to everyone you meet.
The rest of my Easter wasn't that exciting. I had Chinese with some friends and attended midnight mass, out it. One thing I really missed, and will make sure to get once I am back in the US, is a giant brunch with french toast, eggs, bacon, etc. Now I'm hungry.
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