MY EASTER IN GREECE

        A wonderful group of young people along with parents and leaders are leaving this Thursday for Greece along with their beloved Choral Director, Lee Mabe, who was recently named Lexington’s “Citizen of the Year.” 

        I have had the privilege of traveling to Greece three times and each time the experience has been awe-inspiring.   In the late 1990s we took a great group of folks to Greece to follow the journeys of the Apostle Paul.  This trip came to mind since we left right after Easter and the kids are leaving this Thursday, Maundy Thursday.  It was on our trip in the 90s that I learned the Orthodox Calendar is often different that the Western Calendar, so rather than being in Greece on Easter Sunday, the youth will experience a second Palm Sunday this Sunday, April 8.  Last year, 2011, Easter was actually observed by both traditions on the same day, April 24, but this year and the year we went, they are different.   Both traditions use the same formula for calculating Easter, “The first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox,” but the churches base the dates on different calendars.  Western churches use the Gregorian calendar and Eastern churches the Julian calendar.  It’s actually even more complicated because the two traditions differ in their definition of the vernal equinox.  Western churches use a fixed date, March 21, and Orthodox churches set the date according to the actual equinox as observed along the meridian of Jerusalem, site of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection. All of this is very confusing, but the bottom line is that the youth will experience two Palm Sundays this year and the year we went, we experienced two Easters—and that is what I want to tell you about!   My Easter in Greece. 

        We were visiting the island of Rhodes on Easter Eve and learned that the Greek Orthodox Easter celebration was scheduled for that night.  We arrived around 11:00 p.m. and found hundreds, well over a thousand, people surrounding the Greek Orthodox Church.  There was no way that all of those people were going to get inside the church and most of us didn’t even attempt to go in.  After all, we were told, the action takes place outside the church.

        Precisely at midnight deep in the sacred chambers of the old church, a single candle, the Christ candle was lit by the High Priest.  All of the other clergy wait.  Following an ancient liturgy (Greek Orthodox are called “Keepers of the Tradition” and scholars say they may come closer to early worship in the church than any other tradition), the High Priest emerges carrying the candle with great pomp and ceremony. 

        Outside the church everyone is anxiously waiting.   We have been given candles and we wait and watch the entrance of the church.  As the first member of the clergy emerges (beginning with the lowest and ascending in importance and rank) a wave of anticipation swept through the crowd and you could feel the excitement, much as when the first members of a football team emerge from the tunnel before a huge game. 

        There were a number of the old priests, dressed in black with long, flowing beards, but they were preparing the way for the big man, the High Priest, who finally emerged carrying the lighted candle.  The crowd momentarily erupted with joy but then quickly was hushed as the High Priest prepared to make the most significant and explosive pronouncement of his life.  There was a dramatic pause, the crowd held their collective breath and then, then the High Priest thundered “Christos Anesti!”  (Christ is Risen)

        The crowd exploded with the response, “Alithos Anesti!”  (He is risen indeed!)  Then the crowd cheered, but it more than a cheer, it was a joyous, thunderous, exclamation of celebration and victory!   Jesus is alive!   Then people began to sing.  They sang and sang as the old priests lit their candles from the Christ candle and then proceeded to light the peoples’ candles.  As each Candle was lit, the affirmation “Christos Anesti” was shared. 

        That night a perfect stranger who no more could speak English than I could speak conversational Greek shared the light of Christ and said, “”Christos Anesti!”  “Alithos Anesti” I said in return and I turned to light the candle of another stranger who at that moment, became a brother in Christ. 

        The goal of every family was to keep the candles burning until they made it home and then the children would light the candles on the table that would be filled with a joyous feast—yes, they would feast throughout the wee hours of the morning.

        I have always recalled that experience as one of the most powerful spiritual moments of my life.  A long way from home, on a Greek island far away, I experienced the power of the Risen Christ and shared his light and love with strangers.  My hope and prayer is that these young people who travel to Greece will also find Christ’s light and love.