Press Release
PERTH AMBOY – As the sun sets this Friday, April 06, the church bells will be silenced in Perth Amboy at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Christian Church as they mark the beginning of the Burial Service of Christ being removed from the cross on their Good Friday. A solemn candlelight procession will take place around the church with a burial shroud adorned with an embroidered icon (picture) of Christ’s burial and placed in a tomb inside the church. The stage has been set for the movement which will culminate with the Sunday Pascha (Easter) Service celebrating the joyful Resurrection of Christ from the tomb.
This year, the Orthodox Christian Church, the sister branch of the original Church of Christ which was split off from by the Roman (Western) Church in 1054, celebrates Easter on April 08. The variation has differed over the centuries due to the calculation of the date of Pascha (the liturgically correct term for ‘Easter’).
The explanation of the calculation difference is that Pascha happens the first Sunday following the first full moon following the vernal (spring) equinox, which is assumed as the invariant date of March 21. This was established by the First Ecumenical Council, held in Nicaea in AD 325.
The differences arise because:
1. The Orthodox use March 21 on the Julian (Old) Calendar, which differs by some 13 days from the Gregorian (New) Calendar. If a full moon occurs in this interval, the Paschal dates will be off by quite a bit.
2. The full moon is determined not by observation, but according to tables that say when it is according to the year in a cycle. The Orthodox have a different table than the Roman Catholics (and, consequently, the Western Protestants).
The differences have nothing to do with observing Pascha after Passover. The first Nicaean Council explicitly de-linked Pascha from Passover, which, due to Jewish rabbinical decisions could move from year to year. The Council wanted to free the Christian Church from this variability.
Orthodox Pascha will be celebrated at St. John the Baptist Orthodox Christian Church, 145 Broad Street, Perth Amboy, according to the following schedule:
Good Friday, Friday, April 06: 9 a.m., Royal Hours; 3 p.m., Lamentations of the Mother of God in Front of the Tomb, 7 p.m., Candlelight Procession and Vespers Burial Service.
Holy Saturday, Saturday, April 07: 9 a.m., Liturgy of Holy Saturday and Annunciation, 7 p.m., Resurrection Matins with Candlelight procession.
Pascha (Easter) Sunday, Sunday April 08: 9 a.m., Joyful Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection followed by the blessing of baskets on the parish lawn.
Celebrant for all services will be the Reverend Father Michael Chendorain, pastor. All services will be in English with some Church Slavonic being used for traditional hymns. Responses will be sung acapella by the church choir, under the direction of Professor George Hanas.
Father Michael and the parish family of St. John the Baptist cordially invites both Orthodox Christians and the public to share in this awesome and moving weekend celebration by attending these traditional services. Experience an Easter service like none other and join us in the proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead!
