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Orthodox Easter (Pascha)

When is Orthodox Easter, or Pascha, in 2027, why it often differs from Western Easter, and how the midnight service, the red eggs and the greeting “Christ is risen” are kept.

Next date

Sunday, 2 May 2027

In brief

  1. I.Pascha is the Orthodox name for Easter, from the Hebrew Pesach, Passover.
  2. II.It is the greatest feast of the Orthodox year, the “feast of feasts”.
  3. III.Its date is calculated with the old Julian calendar, so it is often later than Western Easter.
  4. IV.It follows a strict Great Lent of fasting from meat, dairy and often oil and wine.

Chapter I

What it celebrates

Pascha celebrates the same event as Western Easter: the resurrection of Jesus. Its name comes from Pesach, Passover, because the Gospels place Jesus’ death and resurrection at that feast, and Christians saw in him the Passover lamb.

The Orthodox churches of Greece, Russia, Serbia, Romania, the Middle East and elsewhere calculate the date with the Julian calendar, keeping the method used across the Church in the first millennium.

Chapter II

How it is kept

At midnight between Holy Saturday and Sunday, churches are plunged into darkness. The priest brings out a single flame, which passes from candle to candle until the whole congregation holds light. The people process around the church and the priest proclaims “Christ is risen!”.

After the service, often around 2 or 3 in the morning, families break the long fast with eggs dyed red, lamb, special breads such as the Russian kulich, and cheese. Cracking red eggs against each other is a favourite game.

Chapter III

Around the world

In Greece fireworks and church bells greet midnight. In Jerusalem the “Holy Fire” is lit in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Holy Saturday and carried by plane to Orthodox countries. Ethiopian and Eritrean churches keep their own Easter, Fasika, after a fast of fifty-five days.

Questions people ask

Why are Easter eggs red?

Red stands for the blood of Christ and for the joy of new life. A popular story says Mary Magdalene told the emperor Tiberius of the resurrection and the egg in her hand turned red.

How do people greet each other at Pascha?

One says “Christ is risen!” and the other answers “Truly he is risen!”, in Greek, Slavonic, Arabic and many other languages.

Sources and further reading

  1. Toronto Metropolitan University, “2027 Calendar of Religious, Indigenous and Spiritual Observances”
  2. Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Easter”

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