Easter
After the rising from the dead, in Bucovina, Oltenia, Muntenia and a little less in Transilvania, in order to receive the easter, the people who have not been to the church must purify themselves by washing with water in which a red egg, a white egg and a silver coin have been placed. This way they burrow the red of the egg – vitality. The people from Muntenia and Oltenia put the eggs and water in a bigger bowl and wash their face and the people from Bucovina are accustomed to rubbing the egg against their face to make sure they receive the redness. The coin is put for abundance and brilliance and the egg is for fertility and fruitfulness. Only after this ritual, the family can sit at the table.
If by the Great Thursday the housewife hadn’t had time to prepare the foods, tradition allows her to finish the preparations during the Rising from the dead Saturday. After she is finished she can fill the Easter basket which the head of the family will take to the church.
Customs differ from area to area, the people from Bucovina and Moldova having the most complex and pompous formula. In the basket at the top the matzoth, the decorated eggs and the “old woman” are placed (old woman – a matzoth in a spiral shape, baked in a special form which leaves room for only one egg). Under these offerings are placed horse radish and garlic, spices and sugar, basil, incense, bacon and sausages.
From the Easter table mustn’t miss: red eggs, pot cheese, green onions and radish salad, lamb stake, matzoth filled with cheese or sour cream or even chocolate.
Because it’s a good thing to have a new piece of clothing on the Easter, girls and young wives start to sew shirts for them and also for their parents, brothers, husbands or children, with about two weeks in advance.
Saturday night, when all the cleaning and preparations in the house are done, the steak, the pies and the cakes are put on the table, in the clean room. After they clean and dress the new clothes, the people take a bowl with matzoth, eggs and steak and go to the church, where the aliments will be sanctified.
Only the ill old men and little children remain at home, as it is said that who can go to the church on Easter night, but he doesn’t do it, will get ill. A fire is lighted near the church and it will be kept for all the three Easter days. In some regions, when the roosters announce the midnight, the man who watches the fire shuts with his rifle, calling the people to the church. The bells are also ringed at midnight.
During the Holy Easter, in the villages in the south of Suceava, different sweets are prepared, especially “old women”, a pound cake made out in different shapes. The filling is made out from nuts, Turkish delight and raisins. The “old women” are taken to the Raising from the dead service.
In Bucovina, during that day the girls go out at night to the belfry and wash the tongue of the bell with water, water which they use Easter morning to wash their faces to keep them beautiful all year round and as people run to the church when they hear the bells so they hope the young men will run to them. The head of the family dresses in a custom holiday costume, takes the basket to the church as early as ten in the evening and guards it from potential pranks from the men living in the village. It is also a custom to take a live roster to the church as alms for the dead without candles. The roster doesn’t have to be black, because a black bird is only given at a funeral.
The customs in Campulung Moldovenesc differ due to the complexity of the symbol and the faith in the miraculous powers of praying and sanctifying foods. Sunday morning the faithful go to church’s yard and form a circle carrying lit candles and wait for the priest to come and sanctify the foods in their baskets. Every one has a basket in front of them arranged according to the customs of their ancestors. In the baskets covered with a napkin woven in a specific way according to the certain area they’re in are placed on a plate the symbols of joy for the whole year: poppy seeds (which will be thrown in the river to drive away drought), salt (which will be kept for wealth), sugar (which will be used every time the cattle are ill), flour (so as the harvest will be rich), onion and garlic (so as to keep safe from insects). Over this plate are placed the matzoth, bacon, cheese, decorated eggs, money, flowers, dried fish, horse radish and cakes. After sanctifying this basket the Easter tradition carries on in the family.
In Sibiu there is a custom to decorate a tree, a little like Christmas. The only difference is that instead of globes people use decorated eggs (empty on the inside). The tree may be placed in a nice vase and so the charm of the holiday increases with such an ornament.
In Calarasi, during the raising from the dead service, the faithful bring in the Easter basket, for blessing, red eggs, pound cake and white rosters. The rosters are bred especially for this tradition. They announce the coming of midnight: an ancient custom which says that when the rosters sing, Christ is reborn. The luckiest is the man whose roster sings fist. It is a sign that year there will be riches in his house. After the service the rosters are given to the poor.
A very beautiful custom is kept in Maramures, in Lapus. Morning, on the first day of Easter, children (up to the age of 9) go to their friends and neighbors and announce the rebirth of Christ. The host gives each of them a red egg. As they leave the children thank for the gift and wish the hosts “Happy Holidays”. Each holiday the threshold of the house must be first crossed by a boy, so as to keep the house safe from discord all year round.
In Arges among the candy prepared for the Holy Easter the ring-shaped biscuits with eggs are counted (they are called so because making them 10-15 eggs are used for 1kg of flour). Each householder strives to prepare such a delicacy, which is also the symbol for abundance.
In Banat, on the first day of Easter at breakfast, it is custom to incense the food. Then everyone at the table gets a spoon of Easter (wine + sanctified bread). The menu of this meal contains boiled pork bone, white eggs and traditional foods. After this the meal is continued with lamb roast.
In Tara Motilor, during the Easter night, stew is received from the church, taken to the cemetery and guarded against boys. And if the stew is not guarded properly and the stew is stolen, as a punishment the ones who were supposed to guard must throw a feast. At the feast will attend be attended by the “guards” as well as the “thieves”. If the ones who tried to steal the stew fail, they will have to throw the feast.
People hold lighted candles during the religious mass and only put them out when they return home, after they enter the house and make crosses. These Easter candles are kept for the times of danger, when they will have a protective function.
n gratitude for the dead, packages containing red painted eggs and pies are placed on the graves and candles are lighted.
At home, people first taste the anaphora and then sit to the table. They first eat some of the sanctified aliments and only then the rest. In some regions, rabbit or fish meat is first eaten, believing that these animals will confer to the people some of their agility. The shepherds and the other persons who are away from home on Easter day eat willow or apple tree buds instead of anaphora.
On Monday and Tuesday the married couple go to their relatives, bringing them “pasca”, announcing them Christ’s revival. Usually, the younger people go to the oldert ones.
Se spune ca cine se naste de Paste, când se trag clopotele, va avea noroc în viata.
It is supposed that a child born on Easter, at the time when bells ring, will be lucky all his life.
The man that dies on the Easter day or in the next week is blessed, his soul heading straight to heaven, as the skies are believed to be opened at this time. On the Easter day one must not sleep, because it is said that he will be sleepy all year long. Also touching salt directly is not recommended, a belief stating that the hands of the one who does it will transpire during the summer.
It is said that three candles burn in the sky during the three days of the Easter.