Easter

Χριστοσ ανεστι!

A voice, the source sometimes hidden behind the iconostasis, intoning the gospels in Greek, from time to time answered by a choir. Children playing, talking, mostly unchecked by their parents. People, holding candles (long hair is dangerous!), walking in and out all the time. Some are talking, once or twice someone goes out in haste to answer a mobile phone call, some sing along with the choir.

The Greek Orthodox Easter celebration I attended last Saturday in Utrecht was a good example of the Orthodox tendency towards piety and ritual, as opposed to the Western (both Protestant and Catholic) culture of scholarship and interpretation. No sermon, no explanation, but rituals, processions, and an affirmation of faith. The act of kissing the gospels is more important than being present during the rest of the service, which consists mainly of recitation of said gospels. Indeed, the number of people inside the church dropped markedly after this ritual, so that when at the end the remaining faithful went forward to receive communion, I felt quite alone in the back.
Quite in line with this general approach, almost all of the service was in Greek, even though probably about as many of those present understood Dutch as understood Greek. Only the Creed and the Lord's prayer were repeated in Dutch, as these were to be spoken along by the community.

This celebration seemed to have more characteristics of a social gathering than the traditional Calvinist church service that is my benchmark. It was, of course, still a service, but in such a way that walking in and out, and even talking, albeit softly, did not seem disturbing. It left, I think, more space for individual approaches, and would be very suitable for the modern Dutch, if it were less easily identifiable as a ritual.