The Feast of the Holy Resurrection is the most important triumph of the Orthodox Church. The Easter of Christ is the triumph of life over death, the triumph of good over evil. On Easter week (Bright Week), special services are held in temples.
The feast of Easter has a celebration of 39 days. Celebrations in honor of the risen Savior end on the 40th day, when the Church celebrates the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the time of the Easter celebration is marked by certain Easter "inserts" in all services. However, at the Bright Week (Easter Sunday), services are especially solemn and "Easter."
The services of the Bright Week are held at the opening of the royal gates (this practice gives special solemnity to the church service). The open royal gates of the altar symbolize the fact that after the Resurrection of Christ, the doors of paradise are open for every person.
The main feature of Easter week services is the service of the Easter season. Thus, Vespers and Matins are served precisely by Easter, and the usual first, third, sixth and ninth hours are replaced by short Easter hours. Unlike the regular clock read by the psalmist, the Easter clock is performed by the choir. Under the vaults of the temple there are chants glorifying the risen Savior.
The Easter liturgy also has its own peculiarities. All of them are associated with amazing Easter celebrations. So, the liturgy is preceded by three singing of the troparion "Christ is Risen" (such a beginning of divine services according to the charter continues until the Ascension of Christ). Further troparia is repeated several times alternately with special Easter verses. At the Liturgy, Easter antiphons and readings from the Holy Scripture sound, telling about the miracle of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
One of the main and especially solemn features of the Easter liturgy on the Bright Week is the procession of the procession around the church with icons, banners and artos (bread that is consecrated in front of the royal doors and distributed to believers at the end of Easter week). During the procession, the choir sings the Easter canon against the backdrop of the solemn Easter bell ringing. The priest reads the Easter Gospel Conception.
All the services of the Easter week are especially solemn, because they are called upon to make their visit evoke the tenderness and glee of the heart of the believer in memory of the wonderful event of the Resurrection of Christ.
