by Areti Vassou
Easter Blessings
Easter in Greece is mesmerizing… you see in Mediterranean climate, flowers are blooming at the beginning of April and create a unique Spring scenery.
Why I love Easter in Greece
Let’s start with the beauty of flowers in the Greek countryside. Have you ever find anywhere else so many and different kinds of flowers during Spring? I have traveled all over the planet and nowhere else have I seen such combinations.
There is a good reason that tourists are returning several times after their first visit in Greece. The first time tourists are impressed with Greece’s islands and Archaeological Museums and Legacy. But the flower’s scents and colors ( and of course great food) stay with them and most of the times unconsciously lead their decisions to choose Greece for their Summer vacations, again, and again, and again!
Who can resist to this beauty?
Couple Photography in Greece
A good friend of mine (and an exceptional photographer) was looking for worth-to-capture locations in Greece for a photography project. The first option in my head was: “Athens, of course!… The Lady of Saronic Gulf.”
And Monika had already under her pillow this idea. So it was no surprise for me, when I finally saw at the Couple Photography Portfolio on her website, that Athens is one of her top choices. Hey, have a look:
Fiorello Photography: “A pre-wedding photography by the sea is always the perfect choice for a young couple! Martina and John are ready to dive into life’s deep sea.
Young love… when you are so much in love that your whole soul is full of your other half! Martina and John got to know each other during summer vacations… when your spirit is free for adventures and open to meet new people.” Continue reading…
Photographs Keep Memories Alive
When I was young I had no idea how important it is to keep memories alive through photographs. Now I regret that I hadn’t pay more attention to find a professional photographer and invite him/her to some of the most important events of my life.
Photographs keep memories alive
I wish I knew better, then… I wish I could have now plenty of photo albums full of my life memories via a professional photographer. I didn’t know then, that I could hire a Personal Photographer for family events or even personal events and of course for family trips. That is the reason that I am never into the family pictures… because I am behind the camera.
From now on, I will hire Monika for the pleasure of letting myself be actually part of my Memory Photo Book. I will make her my personal storyteller!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BhKchfAhNmw/?hl=en&taken-by=fiorello
Easter Sunday Table
So, today (Great Thursday) many families in Greece are making preparations for the Easter Sunday table. We have several traditions like easter cookies, red eggs and tsoureki. In our home, we are not so fond of eating meat so we are preparing a vegetarian menu for Easter Sunday table.
The blog Maninio has become my number one vegetarian recipes bank. Thanks to Pinelopi’s patience people like me ( who do not eat meat) can enjoy mouth-watering food. So today we are preparing the meals for the following 3 days, and this is what we are cooking for 12 people:
- Hash Browns with Sun-dried tomatoes ( we are potato lovers)
- Mushroom Bean Vegan Burger with Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Thank you, Pinelopi for this)
- Salad with Spinach and Orange
- Traditional Lebanese Tabbouleh
- Arabic Hummus
- Falafel with Chickpeas
- Baked Tofu with Vegetable Rice and Basil
- Greek Spinach Pie
- Beetroot Salad
- Lettuce & Avocado Salad
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake
Happy Easter from Ideadeco Team
About Greek Easter
Easter, also called Pascha (Greek, Latin) or Resurrection Sunday, is a festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion by the Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD. It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent (or Great Lent), a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance.
Most Christians refer to the week before Easter as “Holy Week”—it contains the days of the Easter Triduum, including Maundy Thursday, commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper, as well as Good Friday, commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus.
In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension.
Easter and the holidays that are related to it are moveable feasts which do not fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars which follow only the cycle of the sun; rather, its date is determined on a lunisolar calendar similar to the Hebrew calendar. The First Council of Nicaea (325) established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the council.
No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. It has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary.
Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, as well as by its position in the calendar. In most European languages the feast called Easter in English is termed by the words for Passover in those languages and in the older English versions of the Bible, the term Easter was the term used to translate Passover.
Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include sunrise services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church, and decorating Easter eggs (symbols of the empty tomb). The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection, traditionally decorates the chancel area of churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide.
Additional customs that have become associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades. There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally. Source: Wikipedia.
Easter Etymology
The modern English term Easter, cognate with modern Dutch Ooster and German Ostern, developed from an Old English word that usually appears in the form Ēastrun, -on, or -an; but also as Ēastru, -o; and Ēastre or Ēostre.
The most widely accepted theory of the origin of the term is that it is derived from the name of an Old English goddess mentioned by the 7th to 8th-century English monk Bede, who wrote that Ēosturmōnaþ (Old English ‘Month of Ēostre’, translated in Bede’s time as “Paschal month”) was an English month, corresponding to April, which he says “was once called after a goddess of theirs named Ēostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month”.
In Latin and Greek, the Christian celebration was and still is, called Pascha (Greek: Πάσχα), a word derived from Aramaic פסחא (Paskha), cognate to Hebrew פֶּסַח (Pesach). The word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt.
As early as the 50s of the 1st century, Paul, writing from Ephesus to the Christians in Corinth, applied the term to Christ, and it is unlikely that the Ephesian and Corinthian Christians were the first to hear Exodus 12 interpreted as speaking about the death of Jesus, not just about the Jewish Passover ritual. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek and Latin Pascha. Source: Wikipedia.
Credits:
- Cover photo: PicJumbo Stock Photos
- Editing: PicMonkey
- Social media posts: Fiorello Photography
- Couple Photos: Fiorello Photography
- Recipes: Maninio
- Historic sources: Wikipedia
- Etymology: Wikipedia
- Flowers Photos: Ideadeco
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