Stahlke Adoption

I'm Back; Ukrainian Easter

It's been two weeks since I last wrote a post, due to my Holy Week duties at church and then spring break for the children. My father and sister were in town during spring break, which was a wonderful way to visit with the two of them, allow the kids to further bond with their grandfather and aunt, and give me some much-appreciated help with childcare. Jonathan worked full-tilt at Concordia last week, since the semester is almost over and his grading, teaching, and committee commitments are heavy right now.

Unlike most years, Easter for the Western and Orthodox churches landed on the same day this year. So on Saturday, April 7, we shopped for items for our Ukrainian Easter dinner and placed them in a basket for blessing. The centerpiece of the basket was a tall loaf of sweet bread, sprinkled with powdered sugar, which is called "Paska" (the same root as the English word "Paschal"). We also included a bottle of salmon, some Ukrainian sausage, colored Easter eggs, flowers, a salt shaker, and a candle. Luda and Lena decorated the handle of the basket with ribbons and bows, and we found a yellow towel with a floral pattern to drape over the foods. The girls also tied their hair up with ribbons, and even got me to sport a high pony-tail like theirs.

At 6:00 pm, we joined about three hundred other people in the parking lot outside the Ukrainian Orthodox church where the children attend Ukrainian school. Everyone stood in a very large circle with their baskets on the ground before them. It was a cold windy evening, and much of the time was spent keeping the burning candle in the basket from blowing out. The priest, followed by several assistants and altar boys, first walked around the circle swinging a censer over all the baskets. The incense smells so good! Then the priest walked a second time around the circle sprinkling the baskets as well as the people with holy water. We left for home and ate our food there, supplemented by "Vareniky" (dumplings filled with meat, cheese, sauerkraut, or potato) and blintzes filled with cream cheese. I'm hoping in future years to also serve decorative butter that we've seen in the stores--it's carved in the shape of a lamb, which symbolizes Christ.

The main Easter service in the Ukrainian Orthodox church starts around 10:00 pm and lasts for several hours. With our schedule on Sunday mornings at Trinity, we haven't been able to attend the Orthodox service yet, but sometime in the future we hope to go.

posted by Stahlkes @ 10:09 AM