Thanks to Easter, planned for years ahead, believers can easily determine the exact date of the celebration of the main Orthodox celebration - the Holy Resurrection of Christ. So, in 2019, Easter falls on April 28th. Therefore, in all Orthodox churches on the night of April 27 to 28, a solemn service will begin.
The liturgical charter of the Orthodox Church defines only a few special holidays, which are served at night. The Easter of Christ is the main triumph of the Church; the worship on this day is the most magnificent. It with all its composition invites a person to feel joy from an amazing event - the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ
Easter service begins
Easter service begins in the late evening of Great Saturday. This usually happens at 23:00 or half an hour before Sunday. At this moment, in the center of the temple there is a tomb on which the shroud rests. The Shroud is a special shrine - the plate, decorated with patterned threads, depicting the situation in the tomb of the Savior. It is in front of this shroud that the service of the midnight church takes place. A priest in the center of the church reads the canon from the service of Great Saturday, which is called the "cry of the Most Holy Theotokos." All troparia of the canon reflect the great sorrow of the Mother of God about the crucifixion of her son and God, but at the same time the texts reflect the great saving feat of Christ, who corrected death and destroyed the bonds of hell. At the end of the reading of the canon, the shroud is entered by the priest into the altar, and the midnight office is approaching the end.
Easter procession and worship
At the end of the Midnight Office, all believers expect the onset of 12 a.m. and, accordingly, the Resurrection of Christ. The Easter celebration itself begins with the clergy singing at the altar of Stichera, in which the rejoicing of the angels who saw the resurrection of Christ is narrated. After singing the stichera three times, the choir picks up the chant and all believers make an exodus from the church to the procession, during which the singing continues. The liturgical text indicates that pilgrims must accept and praise Christ the risen "pure heart."
After the believers walk around the temple, everyone stops at the entrance to the church. The doors are closed, after which the clergy, in turn, with the choir begins to sing the troparion of Easter, "Christ is Risen from the Dead." According to the performance of the troparion, verses open and the believers enter the temple - a bright Easter morning service begins, the main text of which is the Easter canon.
The Easter canon is sung especially solemnly by the choir. At the same time, singing is accompanied by censorship and cries of the priest to the people: "Christ is Risen!" All believers answer that Christ is truly risen. At the end of the canon, the choir sings the exapostillarium of Easter and solemn Easter stichera, during which Christ begins at the altar and among believers in the central part of the temple.
At the end of the matins, the choir sings Easter hours - a short worship service that tells about the event of the resurrection of Christ.
