Eastern Orthodox Easter is being celebrated Sunday
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Sunday is Eastern Orthodox Easter, the most Holy Day of the year, which is celebrated globally by more than 300 million Orthodox Christians of multiple ethnic jurisdictions, including Greek, Serbian, Carpatho-Rysyn, Ukrainian, Romania, Antiochian, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, Macedonia and Albania.
The reason for the different dates for Orthodox Churches is that they calculate Easter according to the Julian calendar, while the western churches use the Gregorian calendar.
Services are celebrated with afternoon and evening vespers with the traditional Holy Friday Lamentation service where the flowered "Tomb of Christ" (Kouvouklion) is carried outside as parishioners hold lighted candles and begin a processional around the entire church.
The culmination is Saturday Midnight Resurrection services where at All Saints, the congregation sings out "Christos Anesti," Christ Has Risen" with the bell tower proclaiming the traditional Easter hymn.
Following a 106-year tradition, the All Saints Greek Orthodox Church's Philoptochos baked 400 loaves of Greek Easter bread (Tsoureki) and 550 dozen Greek twist cookies (Koulourakia) for parishioners and the public.
On Easter Sunday, a feast follows the Lenten fast where most households enjoy roasted leg of lamb, or whole lamb on a spit, stuffed grape leaves (dolmades), pastichio plus the traditional multicolored Easter eggs, Tsoureki bread, baklava and plenty of homemade wines.
"It's truly the best traditional family holiday filled with customs, heritage, and memories as we join in prayer and toast the blessing of the Resurrection, and to the health and good fortune of our fellow man," a spokesperson noted. "We pray for peace. We pray for the Ukraine."