It’s interesting to see how important Easter is to Cypriot life and culture. As we were shopping on Wednesday, the store was playing hymns – in English – on their sound system. Imagine being in European equivalent to WALMART and hearing Christ the Lord is Risen Today.

There are Easter displays everywhere – the city actually puts them out. And most of them have a clear religious message. Admittedly many people are C&E Orthodox, but when they do it, they take it seriously and joyfully. My pharmacist is a practicing Orthodox believer – his store is closed today. Yesterday when I dropped by he openly greeted me with “Kalo Pascha (Happy Easter), Father!”

On Sunday people will greet each other with “Kristos Anesti!” It’s something that has to be experienced. It’s just as powerful this year as it was last year.

Yesterday was Maundy Thursday and there were services at all the churches, and the mourning bells began ringing after dark. Around 7PM about one-third (just over 20 people) of my congregation came to the house for the NCC’s traditional lentil soup supper/Maundy Thursday lamentation – it’s an oral recitation of John 13:18-25 based on The Living Last Supper that focuses on the words “Lord, who is it?”

It’s now Friday morning…Good Friday. Some of the Orthodox churches have already had their early morning services. Later today they will begin the visitation of the epitaphion (the decorated funeral shrouds), and then following tonight’s Good Friday service they will have a bonfire that burns Judas in effigy. Tomorrow they will prepare for their Easter service, which begins at/around 11PM and ends and midnight. From there they’ll go home for a light supper of soup and a savory cheese pastry called Flaunas. Then after sunrise they will begin roasting lamb (souvla), which along with other dishes, will be the centerpiece for the end-of-fast feast.

Many businesses are closed already this morning – the rest will close by noon and will not reopen until Tuesday morning. Monday the restaurants and street cafes will be full as people just enjoy the day.

Today we have a Good Friday Lamentation at 12:30PM, and our Easter Service on Sunday…which will be even more formal than usual. Afterwards it’s up to the mountain village of Kakopetria (Bad Rock) for lunch with friends at a taverna.

It’s interesting because this is where the cultural split begins to affect our congregation – many of my Cypriots will attend today’s service but then leave Nicosia for the family-village: Lythrodontas, Dali, Filani…just to name a few. Some are “lucky enough” to be from seaside towns like Paralimni or Protoras.

These are major generational family reunions – essentially you’d better be dead if you’re not there. They’ll stay all weekend – attend church Sunday as an extended family – and spend the rest of their time socializing with family and friends. So my congregation will essentially be North Americans and Europeans (with a few from the Africa, Asia, and the Indian sub-continent) for Easter.

Well, I have to get ready for today’s service. Hope everyone’s holiday/holy days have started off well. And from a small congregation here at the far edge of the eastern Mediterranean: “Kalo Pascha kai Kristos Anesti!!”

(‘Father’) Terry Burns is a PCA minister and member of the Presbytery of the Blue Ridge. He is ministering WAY out-of-bounds as the Pastor of the independent Nicosia Community Church in Cyprus. He writes an occasional dispatch for the folks back home. Email him at [email protected]