Christ is Risen!
Felicia Skene recalls the Easter celebrations on one emotionally-charged night in Athens
The paschal greeting on the island of Santorini, Greece.
© Christos Klearchos, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0 generic.
A glimpse of the Easter celebrations on the Greek island of Santorini, back in 2009.
Introduction
Felicia Skene, remembered today chiefly for her work in prison reform, lived for a time in Greece. Seven years into her residence there, she published a record of her impressions of Greece and Turkey (from which Greece had recently won independence), which included a justly celebrated description of the Easter night celebrations in Athens.
AS midnight approached, the Archbishop, with his priests, accompanied by the King and Queen, left the Church, and stationed themselves on the platform, which was raised considerably from the ground, so that they were distinctly seen by the people. Everyone now remained in breathless expectation, holding their unlighted tapers in readiness when the glad moment should arrive, while the priests still continued murmuring their melancholy chant in a low half-whisper.
Suddenly a single report of a cannon announced that twelve o’clock had struck, and that Easter day had begun; then the old Archbishop, elevating the cross, exclaimed in a loud exulting tone, ‘Christ is risen!’ ‘Christos anesti,’ and instantly every single individual of all that host took up the cry, and the vast multitude broke through and dispelled for ever the intense and mournful silence which they had maintained so long, with one spontaneous shout of indescribable joy and triumph, ‘Christ is risen!’ ‘Christ is risen!’
At the same moment, the oppressive darkness was succeeded by a blaze of light from thousands of tapers, which communicating one from another, seemed to send streams of fire in all directions, rendering the minutest objects distinctly visible, and casting the most vivid glow on the expressive faces, full of exultation, of the rejoicing crowd.
