In all countries celebrating Easter, this bright day is celebrated with festivities. The traditions of the celebration of Russian Easter gradually take over some customs from Europe, but many of them still remain unchanged.
Easter service
It is the church service that informs about the solemn beginning of the holiday. In Russia, service begins with the coming of God's Light, the symbol of which is the fire from Jerusalem. Every year, blessed fire is delivered to Russia from the Church of the Resurrection of Christ and is lit in the temples of large cities.
At midnight, a procession around the church takes place, in which its participants greet the risen Christ by singing and ringing the bells. Then all the participants in the procession enter the temple, where divine chants will be held until morning.
Holiday greeting
During the holiday, people greet each other with the phrase: "Christ is Risen!" and the answer to it: "Truly Risen!". It is believed that the younger should begin the greeting towards the older generation. It is also customary to kiss three times.
This long tradition is called christianization and comes from the apostles, who thus hastened to share with each other the good news of the holy resurrection of Christ.
