Sunday, 16 April 2017

This is Easter Sunday for the Orthodox Christian Church. The Orthodox and the Western christian churches have different dates for Easter and one of the reasons for this is because the two churches follow different calendars. The Christian Orthodox Church continues to follow the Julian calendar when calculating the date of Pascha (Easter). The rest of Christianity uses the Gregorian calendar. There is a 13 day difference between the two calendars, the Julian calendar being 13 days behind the Gregorian.

In the classroom: Learn more about the Eastern Orthodox churches. The Orthodox custom is to dye Easter eggs a deep red color. Ask the children why. Answer: The red represents life, victory and the blood of Jesus Christ.

At Greek-Orthodox Easter parties, a game called tsougrisma is commonly played using the red dyed eggs. Find out how to play tsougrisma.