Eastern Orthodox feast of feasts · Sunday, May 2, 2027
Orthodox Easter
Pascha is the feast of feasts: a long Lent, a midnight service filled with candlelight and a joyful cry of “Christ is risen!”
Say it like a neighbor
Christos Anesti!
Say: khris-TOS ah-NES-tee · “Christ is risen!”
Alithos Anesti! Truly, He is risen!
Orthodox Christians answer “Alithos Anesti!” (ah-lee-THOS ah-NES-tee), which means “Truly, He is risen!” In English, “Christ is risen!” and “Indeed He is risen!” are used. The greeting is exchanged for forty days after Pascha. You do not have to be Orthodox to say “Happy Easter.”
May 2
Pascha begins in the dark. Tap to follow the midnight service and pass the light.
When is Orthodox Easter (Pascha)? Key dates and days to know
Main day
Main day
Orthodox churches calculate the date of Pascha using the Julian calendar, so it often falls after Western Easter. In 2027 Western Easter is March 28 and Pascha is May 2, five weeks later. Great Lent begins on Clean Monday, 48 days before Pascha, which is March 15, 2027. The main service is held late on Saturday night, so the celebration begins on May 1.
What is Orthodox Easter (Pascha) and what does it mean?
Pascha is the Orthodox name for Easter, the greatest feast of the Orthodox Christian year. It celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and is often called the “feast of feasts.” The word comes from the Hebrew Pesach, or Passover, because the Resurrection is remembered at Passover time.
Orthodox Christians prepare for Pascha with Great Lent, about seven weeks of fasting, prayer and charity, followed by Holy Week, which retraces the last days of Jesus’s life. The Resurrection itself is celebrated at a service on Saturday night, and for the forty days that follow, believers greet one another with “Christ is risen!”
Eastern Orthodox churches (Greek, Russian, Serbian, Romanian, Antiochian and others) and Oriental Orthodox churches such as the Coptic and Ethiopian churches all keep Pascha on this date in 2027.
How is Orthodox Easter (Pascha) celebrated? Customs and traditions
Great Lent
Orthodox Christians fast for about seven weeks before Pascha. The traditional fast avoids meat, dairy and eggs, and on many days also fish, olive oil and wine. Practice varies by person, parish and health, and children, pregnant women and people who are ill are not held to the strict fast.
Holy Week
The last week brings daily services, including the evening Bridegroom services, Holy Thursday’s remembrance of the Last Supper, and the solemn services of Great and Holy Friday. In many churches an embroidered cloth called the epitaphios, covered with flowers, is carried in procession.
The midnight service
Late on Holy Saturday the church goes dark. Shortly before midnight a single candle is lit and the priest sings, “Come receive the light.” The light passes from candle to candle until the whole church glows, and then the Resurrection is proclaimed: “Christ is risen!”
The candlelit procession
Before the announcement of the Resurrection, worshippers walk in procession around the outside of the church carrying candles. When the doors open, bells ring and the joyful service begins.
Red eggs
Eggs dyed deep red are a hallmark of Pascha. Red recalls new life and the sacrifice of Christ. After the service, people crack their eggs against each other’s, saying “Christ is risen!” and answering “Truly, He is risen!” The person whose egg stays whole is said to be lucky.
Breaking the fast
After the long fast, families gather for a feast, sometimes in the early hours of the morning and sometimes at midday. Greek families often serve magiritsa, a soup, after midnight and lamb on Sunday. Slavic families bring baskets of foods such as eggs, paska and kulich breads, and meats to be blessed.
Agape Vespers
On Sunday afternoon many parishes hold Agape Vespers, an evening of love, where the Gospel is read in several languages to show that the good news is for everyone.
Being a good neighbor on Pascha
Tap each one as you go.
Orthodox Easter (Pascha) in Houston: how neighbors can take part
Greek Orthodox worship in Houston since 1917
Houston is home to Greek, Coptic and other Orthodox communities. Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Montrose, part of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, organized Houston’s first Greek Orthodox church in 1917 and remains a center for Orthodox worship, education and Greek culture.
St. Mary and Archangel Michael Coptic Orthodox Church publishes a full Pascha week schedule of prayers and liturgies each year.
Each parish sets its own times, and many welcome visitors to Holy Week and the midnight service. The 2027 schedules had not been posted when we checked, so please check with the church.
Orthodox Easter (Pascha) events in Houston
Houston parishes set their own times. Please check with the church before you go. Visitors are generally welcome, and a quiet, respectful presence is appreciated.
Questions neighbors ask about Orthodox Easter (Pascha)
When is Orthodox Easter 2027?
Orthodox Pascha is Sunday, May 2, 2027. Many Orthodox churches use a different calendar to set the date, so it is five weeks after Western Easter on March 28.
What do you say at Pascha?
The greeting is “Christ is risen!” and the reply is “Truly He is risen!” In Greek, the greeting is “Christos Anesti!”
What happens at the Midnight service?
Worshippers gather late on Saturday night in a dark church. The priest lights candles and the light is passed from person to person as the congregation proclaims the resurrection. Families break their Lenten fast afterward.
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