Posted on: Saturday, April 30, 2005

EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH

By The Rev. Dr. Nicholas V. Gamvas

Holy Tradition (written with a capital "T") encompasses the beliefs of the Orthodox Church, which are set forth in Holy Scripture, the writings of the fathers, the liturgy of the church, and through oral transmission through the ages.

An example of Holy Tradition is that Joachim and Anna are the parents of Mary the Theotokos. Their names do not appear in the Bible, but have been handed down to us since the beginnings of Church history.

Orthodox traditions (written with a small "T") are defined as pious customs — they are things that we do, not things that we believe. There are many examples of pious traditions in the week from Palm Sunday through Pascha, the feast of the Resurrection.

An Arabic tradition is to hold candles decorated with flowers for Palm Sunday along with palm branches. Greek tradition is to hold crosses woven from either palm branches or bay leaves on Palm Sunday. Slavic tradition is to receive pussy willow branches on Palm Sunday. These are adaptations due to climate in the country of origin.

In Greek tradition we greet each other with "kali anestasi" or Good Resurrection on Great and Holy Friday.

In the Russian tradition, the faithful carry home the "Thursday Fire" — the candles that we hold during the reading of the 12 Passion Gospels on Holy Thursday night. The flame is used to light the lampada in the family's icon corner, where it remains burning for the whole year.

On the other hand, the Greek tradition is to take the Paschal light home instead. After the Resurrection service, the faithful do not blow out the candles, but hold them during the entire Paschal divine liturgy. Every time the troparion "Christ is risen" is sung, or the celebrant exclaims "Christ is risen!" everyone in the congregation lifts their candle high as they sing or respond with "Indeed, he is risen!" After the service, the faithful take the fire home to light the lampadas in front of their icons. At mealtimes, the candle is lit as the family sings "Christ is risen."

The red egg that the celebrant presents to the faithful at the end of the Paschal divine liturgy is also a tradition. The egg represents Christ in the tomb. Breaking the egg is symbolic of the Resurrection.

Slavic families and some Greek families observe the tradition of bringing a basket of food to be blessed after the Paschal divine liturgy. The basket usually contains bread (made with eggs and milk), cheese, meat, eggs, butter, salt, and other foods that the family plans on having for their Paschal celebration. There should also be a lit candle, symbolizing the light of Christ.

All of these traditions and customs are good — as long as they do not replace Christ himself who died for us and has risen for our salvation.

The Rev. Dr. Nicholas V. Gamvas is dean of Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific.