The Feast of the Glorious Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ is one of the five major feasts of the Armenian Church.
The Mystery of Easter is the mystery of Jesus Christ, His Holy Blood was shed and His Rising from the dead was for mankind. The Son of God should incarnate, be subjected to tortures, be crucified, buried and the third day raise from death (Ps 15:9-11, 29:4, 40:11-13, 117:16-17, Ho 6:2-3).
Following the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ, His body was taken off the cross and placed into the tomb and the entrance to the tomb was closed by a large stone. The soldiers were ordered to watch the entrance to the tomb. After three days, the three women who had followed Jesus from Galilee, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the Mother of James and Joseph and the wife of Zebedee, brought spices and perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus. They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb, so they went in but they didn’t see the body of the Lord. They stood there puzzled about this, when suddenly two angels dressed in white appeared and said to them, “Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here, he has been raised” (Lk 24:5-6). The women returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven disciples and the people. According to Peter, more than 500 people saw Christ, who had risen from the dead.
Christ rose from the dead, He destroyed Death and granted eternal life.
“I am the Resurrection and I am the Life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (Jn 11:25).
The Resurrection of Christ became the basis of the Christian doctrine and faith. “If that is true, it means that Christ has been raised from death, then we have nothing to preach and you have nothing to believe” (1 Co 15:13-14).
Christ died for the salvation of mankind and by His Blood took away the sin in the world, so that we should inherit eternal life.
On Easter Sunday, the Andastan Service (the blessing of the four corners of the world) is conducted in the Armenian Church, and during Holy Mass the faithful greet each other, conveying the great tiding: “Christ is Risen from the dead/ Kristos Haryav ee Merelotz” and receive the reply: “Blessed is the Resurrection of Christ/ Ornyal e Haroutyoun Kristosi”
At Easter we traditionally dye eggs red as a symbol of a fruitful life, salvation and joy. St Gregory of Datev considers the egg to be the symbol of the world, the shell of which is the sky, the membrane is the air, the white is the water and the yolk is the earth. Dyeing eggs red symbolises the salvation of the world by means of the Blood of Christ.
The Armenian Church celebrates the Easter Feast on the first Sunday following the full moon of the vernal equinox, with 35 days moveability, during the period from March 21 –April 26.
