Similarities & Differences

This time of year those of us with Greek heritage get asked numerous times "When do you celebrate Easter" "Why does the Orthodox church celebrate Easter at a difference time sometimes" "Are you Christian" because we are Greek Orthodox.  We are Christian, Orthodox Christian... We typically celebrate Easter on the same day every 4 years, the rest going 4 weeks behind, 3, 2 then 1 week behind(typically) Without going into too much detail, we must wait for Jewish passover to come before we can celebrate Easter, & we also go by the Julian calendar opposed to the Gregorian calendar.  Here is a nice article to helps explain the differences between the two churches & why they're divided now:  http://www.goarch.org/ourfaith/faithandlife/pasch.pdf

When I was younger, it was always a little difficult, friends would treat me different because I was different than they were & I didn't celebrate Easter the same day they did, even though I DID celebrate it, the exact same way as they did, just on a different date at times. We would have our church services in Greek most times, but the concept behind the services were & are the exact same as theirs were/are. The older I got, the more I appreciated my differences & how blessed I am that I get to celebrate both days.. Easter is my FAVORITE holiday ... its so beautiful, special, sacred, time for forgiveness, renewal & rebirth.  Granted to technically don't truly celebrate this day as the 'true' Easter/resurrection day, because today was my Palm Sunday, it's still a blessing to me to enjoy all of my friends' beautiful posts on social media about this amazing glorious holiday & how special this day is for them & I'll get to do the same for me, as well as the rest of my Greek family & friends this coming Sunday.  In the end, as long as the message is passed & the true meaning of this day has gotten across, that is all that truly matters; no matter what day it is celebrated, Christ is amazing, He is Risen & he is GLORIOUS! <3 Happy Easter to everyone who celebrated today!!

Happy Easter

These sweet beauts that hold such a special place in my heart. <3