REFLEKTOR / SPOTLIGHT
CHRIST IS RISEN Victory of faith and life
It can often be heard among the faithful that Easter is the holiday of holidays and that no other Christian holiday compares, regardless of how great and significant it might be T he joy of Easter and its cele- bration may seem romanti- cally exaggerated, but when we consider that it is essen- tially based on the fact of the triumph of life over death, or the key promise that Christ gave (and fulfilled) to his followers, then the joyous story of decorated eggs and chocolate bunnies takes on a whole new dimension. But Easter becomes even more interest- ing when we contemplate its importance during Serbia’s past, or – to be precise – in the medieval past of Serbian lands. Perhaps best testifying to the importance of Easter is the fact that Serbian rulers, like Emperor Stefan Dušan Nemanjić
(1308-1355) – to mention just the one at the very top of the hierarchy – chose Easter as the date of their coronation, or the date when they would baptise their firstborn son and heir to the throne. And so it was that Dušan the Mighty crowned himself emperor of the Serbs and Greeks in Skopje on Easter, 16 th April, 1346. Ac- cording to medieval beliefs, Easter is the holiday when the otherwise well-guard- ed “gates” between heaven and earth are opened, with the grace of God literally pouring out onto believers. According to a general belief that’s particularly strong- ly supported by the Church, a ruler who receives the Holy Sacrament at that time receives the most powerful support in fulfilling his obligations. That which is represented by a corona- tion for a ruler is represented by a bap- tism or wedding for a layman, and East- er is indeed the holiday when Serbs most like to marry or baptise their newborn children, following the longest Lenten period in the Christian calendar. Fast-
ing, prayer and personal convictions are certainly an important part of the Easter tradition among Serbs, though a particu- larly important element is represented by investing in historical objects linked to key events in the life and martyrdom of Christ... It is on Easter Sunday itself that we cel- ebrate the act of the resurrection of the Son of God. We celebrate his victory over death. Easter is the holiday when Jesus breaks the shackles of death and is res- urrected. That’s why Easter is the holi- day of holidays. It is also known by the term Passover, which refers to the an- cient Jewish holiday celebrating the mi- raculous deliverance of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery during the time of Moses. Apart from praying for his ex- ecutioners with the familiar words “Fa- ther, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Jesus also said the follow- ing words while he was being crucified on the cross: “My Father, why have you for- saken me?”
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