Christu Uyirthezhunnettu!

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Indian Girl Midnight Mass.jpg Chachaji’s beautifully kind comment inspired me to post this “aww-inducing” picture for Easter. It’s from the BBC, it’s a year old and it captures this moment I am contemplatively marinating in perfectly. This is the caption it had last year:

A young Christian girl holds a candle during Easter celebrations at midnight mass in St Mary’s Church in Secunderabad, India.

When I was her age, my little sister and I would have been attired similarly (to her and each other!) in fluffy Easter dresses, tied with bows, trimmed with lace. My dress would have been a different color if on Good Friday I had had the honor of “guarding” Christ’s tomb while holding a basket of flowers as a myhrr bearer, dressed in pure white.

In a few hours, I’ll be holding a white candle at a midnight service as well, though since I am not Catholic, it is never called “mass” (that’s what mutineer Vinod avoids, not me). Easter liturgy in the Greek Orthodox church is a thrilling experience; pure darkness will be illuminated by one, ten, and soon a thousand candles (in large cities like this, yes) which glow and move as the faithful make the sign of the cross, while singing “Christos Anesti” (Christ is risen).

I’ll tell you more if you’re interested, but for now, I must go get ready. Only amateurs show up at the Cathedral at 11pm thinking they’ll get to sit, not when it’s standing room only by 10:30. It’s going to be a very long night, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. To all who were thoughtful enough to wish me a Happy Easter, here and elsewhere- thank you. I’m lucky to know you.

The Holy Fire.jpg

Armenian Orthodox clergymen hold candles at the Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the burial place of Jesus Christ. [BBC]

54 thoughts on “Christu Uyirthezhunnettu!”

  4. Happy Easter, I’m off to mass in a few hours and even though I’m no longer religious, it still hold similar memories of childhood and familiarity.

  6. My favorite service is the Easter Vigil service. The Lutheran Seminary at Gettysburg used to run one, I don’t know if they still do. The service began across the street, and you processed from total darkness into the church and had the first half of the service in near darkness. A minute before the church bells would ring for midnight there was utter stillness and silence in the church, and then, as the bells tolled above, the entire church burst forth into music. The entire front row of the church was given bells to clang as loudly as possible and the organ fired to life. The lights came on, and the black cloth covering the altar and the pulpit were ripped off to reveal the white Easter linens underneath.

    It was such a thrilling service to attend.

    I should find out if they are still doing the service and attend it.

    For me, the more drama in the festivals the better.

  7. Happy Easter Anna! When you have moment will you tell about Orthodox and Catholic Easter in India? Why do the two calendars so seldom coincide?

  9. Beautiful picture, and a happy holiday to all who are celebrating.

    To the poster – white light and purity? yikes.

  10. I still remember my childhood days at St. Stephen’s Hospital in Delhi when all the kids would do a candle lit procession to one of the main Gardens for an early morning Good Friday service.

  12. Christos aneste!!! Glad we’re all synced up this year, you’all don’t have to have IST Easter.

  14. Happy Easter Macacas! I didn’t go to church as I was working today. Jesus understands that I work in the Middle East and will let it slide; and I’ll drink to that…

  16. Anna,

    Sad to see that your ancestors were among the weak-minded who were converted. I would never have thought. Happy Easter!

    Apu Nahaseemapetilon

  17. Happy Easter Anna to you and your family. I wish the weather was more Easterlike and not Christmaslike but we had Easter weather for Christmas so we may as well have Christmas weather during Easter 🙂

  18. Uh, I can’t tell if the Apu post is a sarcastic one (can everyone just start inserting sacrasm tags in their comments?) but can someone block his ISP if it’s not? I just got really pissed off.

  22. Does anyone know if there are any universities in the U.S. affiliated with one of the the Orthodox Churches? The reason I ask is because in honor of Easter I have devised a cunning plan to determine once and for all which religion is the correct one: an early-season college basketball tournament!

    Game 1: Notre Dame v. BYU

    Game 2: Yeshiva Univ. v. Univ. of Michigan-Dearborn

    Game 3: Bob Jones Univ. v. Cal-Berkeley

    Game 4: Maharishi Univ. v. (insert Orthodox school here)

    If there isn’t an Orthodox school the slot will go to Southern Methodist, but I think it would be unfair if the Protestants got two spots.

    Speedy

    Speedy

  24. cute girl, but bad pic.. she’s not smiling..

    I didn’t think you were supposed to smile in pictures in India. Beyond that, SHE IS AT CHURCH. After a rather somber week. At midnight. What do you expect?

  25. Speedy- Truly hilarious.

    Sonia- 🙂

    JoAT- This weather is INSANE. I had to wear mukluks to church last night. What a picture THAT was.

    Real McCaca- Impressive! 😀

    Anandos- Who you callin’ late with that IST b.s.? 😉

    Happy Cadbury Mini-Eggs day! And remember– tomorrow, everything at Godiva is 50% off. 😀

  26. That is a pretty picture.

    Amen to that! And if you hadn’t told us, I’d have been willing to swear that was you, Anna, twenty-some years ago! I only worried that she might have been holding the candle a bit too close to herself.

    “Christu Uyirthezhunnettu!”

    Akka-moloo, thanks for this lovely pic, the flickr update, the post, and especially the title [as well as all your other (always well-contexted) Mallu-propisms] and for sharing your Easter with us like this.

  27. Happy Easter Milady, and happy Easter to all the Mutineers.

    Hey Hive mind, does someone and well-traveled and knowledgeable about art want to help me out with a question? A couple of years ago I did a whirlwind trip in Europe and in a matter of days I saw the Musee D’Orsay and the Vatican. In one of these places I saw an amazing painting in a smaller gallery. I an see it on the wall very clearly–when you walk into this room the painting is on your right, on the left hand side of the wall. It’s a side profile of two men hurrying across a field, all deeply lit up by the rich golden colors of an “off screen” dawn. Their faces are haggard and tired looking, but there is a look of astonishment barely bordering on hope on them now. I feel like it was described as being a painting of two apostles rushing to the tomb of Jesus after hearing about the resurrection. I found it deeply moving, and would like to find out more about it. Any help at all much appreciated.

    It’s become my internal icon for Easter, and if I had it, I would link to it as an Easter card for you, so Happy Easter.

  29. Saheli, the painting in question is by Eugène Burnand. It’s called “Les disciples Pierre et Jean courant au sépulcre le matin de la Résurrection.” And it is, indeed, at the Musée d’Orsay.

    Hope that helps.

  32. Thank you very much!!

    For you, anything. You’re a good egg (oops…wrong thread…).

  33. Mr. K:

    Mad props on the DEEP art knowledge. And thanks to Saheli too for mentioning that painting– I’ve never seen it before but now i’m thinking about getting the poster. 🙂

    Speedy

  34. cute girl, but bad pic.. she’s not smiling..

    Sadaiyappan: Pallu Kaatakudathu. Every child from the Greater Edison Metro Area(which includes Secunderabad) knows this:-|

    Happy Easter all…. BTW, is the literal translation of Uyirthezhunnettu “lives” or “has risen” ?

  35. Happy Easter Anna. Did you know this is one rare Easter as both Catholics and Orthadox are celebrating Easter on the same day?

  36. BTW, is the literal translation of Uyirthezhunnettu “lives” or “has risen” ?

    I would think that it’s the latter, just because every version of the Orthodox greeting I’ve come across is a translation of “Christ is risen/Truly, he is risen”, which is what we said verbatim over and over again yesterday morning at church. When we sing the Easter hymn, it’s “Christ has risen, from the dead/And by his death has trampled death/And to those in the tomb he has granted life”, not “Christ lives…”. Additionally, the Nicene creed states “and he rose on the third day according to the scriptures”, so the inclusion of the verb “rise” is significant and necessary, IMO. Could be wrong, though. I’m not Razib. 😀

    Jacob, Happy Easter to you, too. I did know that this was one of those rare years when our celebrations coincide.

  37. I second Anna @ 36. Though I used to be a victim of regular corporal punishment from my Mallu tutor in school as my results weren’t too great, I’ll gladly assume the vacant position of Mallu Munshi on SM and gloat over you ABDs anytime 😀

  40. Christu Uyirthezhunnettu!

    I thought Yesu was more commonly used than Christu in Malayalam and Tamil? Is that a wrong assumption?

  41. I thought Yesu was more commonly used than Christu in Malayalam and Tamil? Is that a wrong assumption?

    No, ANNA’s mom agrees with you. Which is probably why she went with “Christu”. 😉

  42. #29 Mr. Kobayashi: I am utterly amazed. Utterly.

    Ain’t nothing to it Pritha. Saheli’s memory was lucid, and it triggered a memory of my own, which was readily confirmed.

    But thank you.

    Now if only I knew something practical…

  44. Simple, Manjusuthu. You place both feet in buckets of wet cement. Let dry.

    Have a friend drop you off at the Brooklyn Bridge. One leg at a time, climb over the railing. Now, let go. You’ll feel an onrush of wind, followed by an onrush of water. Don’t panic as this is normal.

    The stains should float away in seven to ten days. What the East River doesn’t scour away, the fishes will take care of.

  46. Saheli, the painting in question is by Eugène Burnand. It’s called “Les disciples Pierre et Jean courant au sépulcre le matin de la Résurrection.” And it is, indeed, at the Musée d’Orsay.

    Wow…that is some pretty impressive recall. Unless you are an art historian.
    Happy belated Easter, everyone.

  47. All’s fair, Anna; you might call us early.
    Anyway, I’s gonna have me some Cadbury eggs.

  48. One of you little darlinks asked:

    Is the Godiva thing true? I can’t find any info on this! I’m crazy about chocolate – please help, ANNA!

    Yes, it is true. I called the boutique in Georgetown and All EASTER candy is half-off, commencing today at Godiva (also, it’s time to stock up on Cadbury Mini-eggs, which freeze well and are similarly half-off, though at less glamorous locales). I should have been more specific, but something tells me that you are all chocolate lovers the way I am a chocolate lover– who gives a shit about a pastel foil wrapper covering something shaped like a bunny…IT’S CHOCOLATE. Yum.

  49. Wow…that is some pretty impressive recall. Unless you are an art historian.

    Everybody knows that Kobayashi is a competitive eater and world record holder. That leaves him lots of time to hang out in museums.