Easter Sunday

The morning of the Easter Sunday (Sunday of Pascha) starts with the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great and the gospels are read in all languages as a gesture towards international peace and friendship. Then the Easter celebration starts in every house. The main dish of the day is the spit-roasted lamb, which has been prepared the day before, and the traditional Greek dish kokoretsi (made of the skewered pieces of the organs of the lamb -- liver, heart, kidneys -- wrapped tightly in its small intestines, seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano and roasted over a slow-burning open fire). Others follow different culinary customs. They eat roast lamb cooked in the oven, stuffed with rice, pine seeds and raisins.

As soon as the Greeks sit at the table, they tap their eggs against their friends' eggs and the owner of the last uncracked egg is considered lucky. Then they exchange wishes and the feast begins in earnest. In the afternoon of the same day, we have the Easter Vesper, also known in Greece as the Vesper of Love. During the Afterfeast of Pascha, which lasts for 40 days, Orthodox Christians greet each other by saying Christos anesti, to which they reply Alethos anesti ("Indeed, He has risen").