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Spotlight |
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Easter Celebrations on Crete |
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Cretan warmth and generosity is legendary at any time of year, but at Easter, the nature of local hospitality enters a whole new stratosphere. On Easter Sunday, many people hold ‘open-house’ barbecues, and you’ll find feasting and dancing in village squares all over the island. If you are visiting the region at this time and you are lucky enough to receive an invitation from a Cretan family, don’t be shy—it’s an opportunity not to be missed! Preparations for the Easter festivities start in Holy Week—the last week of Lent. Here we describe some of the main customs and rituals that take place in the Rethymnon region. On Palm Sunday, churchgoers are presented with crosses made from palm fronds. These are placed into icon stands until the following year. Holy Tuesday is traditionally the day to start baking the customary Easter breads, and on Holy Thursday eggs are boiled and dyed red to signify the blood of Christ On Good Friday , in the evening, townspeople in Rethymnon assemble at Four Martyrs Square for the start of the Epitaphios procession. The Epitaphios (Christ’s funeral bier), which has been elaborately decorated with flowers, is carried through town in a solemn procession, accompanied by people scattering rose petals and chanting. On Holy Saturday the mood in town lifts, and excitement starts to mount. Late in the evening people make their way to their favourite churches for Mass, equipped with candles. At midnight, churches are momentarily plunged into darkness: then, with the announcement ‘Christos Anesti’ (Christ has risen), the priest lights the unlit candle of the nearest member of the congregation (this is said to symbolise the Light of the World). Light from the candles is passed on from person to person, church bells ring out and town erupts to a cacophony of firecrackers…. |
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CARRYING YOUR CANDLE HOME When leaving church after Midnight Mass, people take great care to try and protect their candle from the wind (in a modern twist, you’ll see often see make-shift shields made out of plastic cups). The aim is to get the candle home without the flame going out, and to use the smoke from the candle to mark crosses above the entrance to the house. |
TAPPING THE EGGS On Easter Day, on practically every table in Greece you will find a basket of eggs that have been dyed red. Each person holds their egg and taps the end of it against somebody else's. The person left with the last un-cracked egg is said to be lucky. If doing this with your own eggs, make sure they are hard boiled. It might be a bit messy otherwise…. |
BURNING THE JUDAS DOLL Most villages on Crete will have some form of bonfire on Easter Day. In some villages (particularly in the Sfakia region), there is the custom of burning an effigy of Judas in the church grounds or in the village square. In Loutro, on the South Coast, the gallows for Judas on the beach is particularly gruesome! |
Roast Lamb, Wine, Music and Dancing…. |
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 For
most Cretan households it would be inconceivable not to have
some form of lamb on the menu during the Easter period.
Traditionally, the Lenten Fast is first broken shortly after
Midnight Mass by eating Mayeritsa (soup made of lamb innards,
rice and lemon). By mid morning, preparations are underway for
the big feast and a whole lamb is roasting on a spit. The task
of turning the spit to ensure even cooking is no longer as
arduous as in days gone by: Cretans, ever pragmatic, now use a
variety of motorized contraptions to automate the process. As
the lamb becomes cooked, strips are torn off and passed to
members of the ‘pareia’ (company). The skin and kidneys are
prized as delicacies and will be offered to honoured guests. |
Those vegetarians amongst you who are invited to an Easter party
needn’t despair, however. Along with the lamb, you will find
mountains of salads, dips, and home-made cheese and spinach pies
—all to be washed down with lashings of wine and raki.
 In
the afternoon, the party really gets going. In the distance, one
can hear the occasional sound of frolicsome gunfire. The music
is cranked up, and if you have never had a go at traditional
Cretan dancing, now is your chance—in fact, unless you can claim
a serious medical condition, you won’t be excused from
participating! |
| Pashmina Delafonte | |
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