Thread: Easter

I will be arriving in Moscow on Easter Sunday. Question, is Easter celebrated in Russia as it is in US? Should I be expecting an Easter Dinner/Celebration at my hosts home? Should I take her an Easter Gift? I've never met her and do not know what to expect. Thanks.

Do you know when their Easter is? I mean, the Orthodox calendar is a couple weeks different from ours.

Originally Posted by chaika

Do you know when their Easter is? I mean, the Orthodox calendar is a couple weeks different from ours.

That is true. But sometimes Easter can be on a same day and for the Catholic and for the Orthodox believers. That case was last year.
This year Easter (Orthodax one) is celebrated on May the 1st.
I don't know how is it in Russia, but we here in Serbian dye eggs in red before Easter.

Originally Posted by Vlacko

Originally Posted by chaika

Do you know when their Easter is? I mean, the Orthodox calendar is a couple weeks different from ours.

That is true. But sometimes Easter can be on a same day and for the Catholic and for the Orthodox believers. That case was last year.
This year Easter (Orthodax one) is celebrated on May the 1st.
I don't know how is it in Russia, but we here in Serbian dye eggs in red before Easter.

Funny, in Norway we dye them yellow

Russian easter is nice.......(Note to egg discussion: In Sweden, they are coloured every ¤%#%& color there is...)

And why do they have a bunny, in America. Rabbits don't lay eggs!

Originally Posted by Zhenya

And why do they have a bunny, in America. Rabbits don't lay eggs!

The bunny is the symbol of the ancient fertillity rights that easter celebrates, this is also why there are eggs. You see easter is not a Christian celebration at all. Easter is from the word "Ishtar" a Middle Eastern god of fertillity also known as "Isis". This celebration goes was back long before the apostate church in Rome adopted it in 325AD at the Council of Nicea, as a matter of fact there was quite a lot of contention over the adoption of this day as it was forced upon the various peoples under threat of excommunication or even death.
So happy easter all!

Nice to know.....any thoughs about the "pascua, p

[quote=Zhenya]Nice to know.....any thoughs about the "pascua, p

пасха comes from the hebrew word pesah. (псх)

Originally Posted by chaika

пасха comes from the hebrew word pesah. (псх)

Which refers to "passover"

Originally Posted by Zhenya

And why do they have a bunny, in America. Rabbits don't lay eggs!

The Cadbury Bunny does!

Originally Posted by Vlacko

I don't know how is it in Russia, but we here in Serbian dye eggs in red before Easter.

Here is the same and some people also cook the easter cakes.

Not to be argumenative, but as Christians we believe that Passover was from when the Angel of death passed over the Israelites houses (otherwise if he had stopped at them, their first born son would have been killed. The angel knew that if there was blood on the door to pass over b/c they were true believers in one God and not believers in the Gods of Egypt) This was during the time of Moses and the Egyptian pharoah Rameses.
Cool ab. the red eggs! What color(s) are they in Russia? What are Easter cakes? Are they normal 8x8 or 9x9 sweet round cakes or is it a flat cake? Do you decorate them?

im going to go out on a limb, and say that their cakes are all different tasty shapes and sizes. then again, i'm not from Russia.

Russian Easter cake is called kulich or pascha. It is more like a sweet dry bread with bits of fruit in it. It is baked in a coffee can sized pan so that rises into a tall tower. The top can be sprinkled with powdered sugar or is iced with a white sugar icing and sprinkled with colord tiny dot candy. It can be served with the Pascha cheese which is a combination of soft farmer's cheese, sugar, eggs, cream, lemon peel, ground almonds and raisins. This is pressed into a mold that looks like a pyramid and decorated with candies or dried fruits to form the Russian Orthodox cross and the abbreviation for Christ has Risen ХВ.

I don't know what those cakes should look like. We don't celebrate Easter in my hood. Despite that, I have seen a bunch of rather amorphously looking cakes at the baker's accross the street - some old ladies were buying them - I assume those were the cakes.

Originally Posted by nat

Should I be expecting an Easter Dinner/Celebration at my hosts home?

Difficult to answer. I think you shouldn't. Most Russians aren't religious and consequently don't celebrate Easter, so I wouldn't bet on any special dinner - to most Russians Easter is just a normal day. But of course some families are religious and celebrate Easter. If you don't really know if they are religious or not, don't bet on a special dinner - I think 9 Russians out of 10 aren't religious. Some people aren't religious but they will be eating the cakes nevertheless, but there won't be any special dinner as such. On the other hand, you may expect a special dinner because you're their guest! (Not that Easter Sunday is the reason, you're the reason.)

Should I take her an Easter Gift?

Just take a gift. Not a specifically Easter gift, just a gift. The kind that you could present both on Easter and on any other day. If they aren't, religious gifts won't go down well (but of course most people are polite and will accept any gift)

JB: Thanks for describing the cake in such detail. I have only now just relaized I saw one of them in a movie once and wondered what they were eating. It sounds wonderful!

You can find recepies for it online. I don't make the cake because it is too much work and easier and cheaper to buy it at the bakery. But you won't see it in the bakeries until the day before Orthodox Easter. This Sunday is not Easter in Russia.