Father Theophan blesses Pascha baskets. Courtesy/Father Theophan

By Father Theophan
Saint Job of Pochaiv Orthodox Church
Los Alamos

I’m taking a break from pottery for a while. This week is Holy Week for most Orthodox Christians. Easter was celebrated by the western churches a few weeks ago, but we “easterners” are still waiting.

First delegated to the Patriarch of Alexadria to compute, the date of Pascha (and Easter) is: the first Sunday, after the first full moon, after the vernal equinox. It is still computed the same way, both in the East and West.

So why is it sometimes the same, and other times as much as five weeks off?

It’s not just so that Eastern Christians can get their candy on sale, although it is a perk, I will not lie.

The vernal equinox, as an astronomical event (the sun being directly over the equator of the earth) drifts a bit over time. The Church fixed it at March 21, but in actuality it is currently March 20. On the Julian Calendar (which many, if not most Orthodox follow) the equinox is April 4.

If there is no full moon between the two dates, March 21 and April 4, Easter and Pascha will coincide. If there is, Pascha can be more than a month later.

Ah, the vagaries of the planets!

Often western churches will have “sunrise services” Easter morning. They move their regular worship earlier, often to 8 a.m. or so. The Orthodox faithful in years past did this so much, they were so anxious to celebrate the Resurrection, that they celebrate it as early as possible Sunday morning.

Our service starts at 11:30 Saturday night, so that we are celebrating the Divine Liturgy and receiving communion in the earliest hours of Sunday morning. We are breaking the fast and blessing Pascha baskets at two and three in the morning. If the Great Fast has been faithfully observed, the feast is that much better!

The word “Easter” comes from and Old-English name of a pagan goddess whose feast fell in the month of April. “Pascha” derives from the Hebrew word for Passover; Christ being seen in a sense as the perfect Passover lamb.

But to be fair, both Easter and Pascha are celebrating the same thing: the joyous resurrection of Jesus Christ, the miracle surpassing all other miracles. The Orthodox faithful rejoice with other Christians who celebrate the Resurrection. It has given us all a path and an eternal hope.

This week we will have services every day in the church, commemorating the last days of Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry and his death and resurrection. The services sound in a solemn key until Saturday when they resolve into the exultant refrain of “Christ is Risen!”