Churches Everywhere Were Celebrating The Easter Promise!

                                                                "From Darkness To Light"! 

Rabbits Everywhere Were Preparing For Easter!

 

Above Photos By MarashGirl©2022

HAPPINESS ON EASTER . . . AND EVERY DAY . . . IN ARMENIAN AND ENGLISH!

Greeting on Easter Day:  KRISDOS  HARYAV  Y  MERELOTS!  Christ has risen and conquered death!

Response:  OHRNYAL EH  HAROUTIOUN  KRISDOSI!  Blessed is the resurrection of Christ!

And if you can read Armenian, here it is in the original:  

                                      Քրիստոս Յարեաւ Ի Մէրէլոց:

                                      Օրհնեալ է Յարութիւնն Քրիստոսի:

Thank you, Uncle Paul, for teaching us this important Armenian Easter salutation while we were still young 'uns . . . and for teaching us the true meaning of Easter! 

                                                                                                    Above Photos By MarashGirl©2022

A Hyacinth Blooms In Newton Corner Commemorating Holy Saturday . . .

 

                                                                                                Above Photo By MarashGirl©2022   

Krisdos Haryav!

Քրիստոս հարյա՜վ ի մեռելոց: Օրհնյա՜լ է Հարությունը Քրիստոսի: Krisdos haryav y merelotz -- ohrnyal e haroutioun Krisdosi! "Christ has risen and conquered death -- blessed is the resurrection of Christ!" Thanks, Rahmetlī Olsun Uncle Paul, for teaching us children how to praise the Lord in Armenian on Easter Sunday!

Krisdos Dznav Yev Haidnetsav!

"Krisdos Dznav Yev Haidnetsav!" If you're Armenian, you know that this is the manner in which Armenians greet one another on Christmas. And if you're Armenian, you know that this . . . "Ohrnyal Eh Dznoutioun Krisdosi!" . . . is the Armenian Response to the Armenian greeting on Christmas. Translation from the Armenian: Greeting on Christmas: "Christ is born and has been revealed unto us." Response to Greeting on Christmas: "Blessed is the birth of Christ!" Years ago, Uncle Paul, Daddy's older brother, tried to teach us kids the Armenian greetings appropriate for the various Armenian religious holidays. Invariably, we would interchange the Christmas greeting and response (which you see recorded above -- yes, Marash Girl still remembers that greeting) . . we would interchange that Christmas greeting with the Easter greeting, "Krisdos haryav y merelotz!" "Christ has risen and conquered death!" (Marash Girl will record the response to that greeting on Easter!) Rather than being mean and chastising us with a sharp correction, Uncle Paul (born in Marash) would laugh and ask, "How can Jesus be risen from the dead when Jesus has just been born?" N.B. Above image has been borrowed from the internet. Thanks to whomever posted it!

The Return of the Easter Baskets

This Easter Sunday mystery gets curiouser and curiouser.  When we returned home on Easter Sunday early evening, we went up to work on the third floor, and when we came downstairs for supper, there were the two Easter baskets full to the brim with Easter goodies -- nothing missing -- inside of our house on the front hall table.  Yikes!

Who Would Steal Easter Baskets?

A desperate Easter Bunny must have stopped by Marash Girl's front porch yesterday morning, soon after she had put out a grocery bag full of treat-filled Easter baskets in preparation for her trip to her grandchildren's home for Easter dinner.  "Old Marash Girl went to the porch to gather the baskets of treats; But when she got there, The porch chair was bare, And so the poor grandkids had none."  Not so, however; Marash Girl would never allow her grandchildren to be disappointed on Easter, and so Marash Girl and Marash Boy scurried around to the local shops to gather up whatever Easter goodies and baskets they could find on Easter Sunday morning, and yes, they found baskets, and filled them with those Eater goodies.  But who would take a bag of treat filled Easter baskets from a small dead-end street in Newton Corner on Easter Sunday morning?  Only an April Fool!

P.S.  And speaking of April Fools, it's snowing outside -- the trees and grooves of the houses on the street all covered in white as I write this P.S.

Krisdos haryav y merelotz -- ohrnyal e haroutioun Krisdosi!

Krisdos haryav y merelotz -- ohrnyal e haroutioun Krisdosi!

Christ is risen and conquered death . . . blessed is the resurrection of Christ!

So Armenians greet each other with joy on this holiest of days.

Playing the Armenian Easter Egg game in Southern California on Easter morning!  Photo by Marash Martha

Getting Ready for Easter!

Now that you have those eggs dyed blood red (yes, blood red symbolizing the blood of Christ as the soldiers stabbed Christ as Christ hung dying on the cross), you must refrigerate the eggs to keep them fresh for Easter.  On Easter, you and your guests will play the age old Armenian Easter egg game which symbolizes Christ's breaking through the tomb and conquering death.  The game will be described in tomorrow's blog, so stay tuned!

Onion Skins for Easter?

What?  Onion Skins for Easter?  Well, not exactly.  But we Armenians couldn't have Easter without onion skins.  It is the onion skins boiled in water that create a deep red dye.  Nope. Not red onion skins.  Brown onion skins!  (Who would have guessed?) Once the water turns red, you can remove the onion skins, and boil fresh eggs in the now crimson water, leaving those eggs to steep in the dye after the eggs have been boiled.  Or, alternatively, you can boil the eggs in the now red water with the onion skins remaining in the water with the eggs. (The egg shells are less likely to crack.)  This will result in boiled eggs which are deep red in color with an abstract design created by the skins with which the eggs were boiled.  Either way, the eggs are now ready for the Armenian Easter Egg game.  More on that tomorrow!

GATHER YOUR ONIONS SKINS WHILE YE MAY!

Have you started gathering your onion skins yet?  You'd better get to the grocery store and beg the fruit and vegetable man to scour the bottom of the onion bin for you!  Why?  Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Celebrating Easter in Takoma Park

A Note on Easter Dinner

So there we were with 18 folks, some meat eaters, some vegetarians, some vegan, some omnivorous. Some grownups, some kids, some never grownup, some always kids.    So what in the world would you make for dinner? 

But first we had to go to church.  After all, it was Easter Sunday!  So off we trouped, walking the three blocks past the park, with no thought to the kitchen at home.  When we returned, we found Karoun in the kitchen, elbow deep in preparations for the preparations for Easter dinner!  Adding Aline and Raffi (future chef/caterers) and Marash Girl to the fray, we prepared something for everyone!  Roast leg of lamb for the serious meat eaters, roast turkey for the less serious, Armenian cabbage salad with mint and thinly sliced red and green peppers, olive oil and wine vinegar (with a hint of garlic)  (no feta cheese for those who had aversions to animal products in any form), only purple cabbage salad (Marash Girl's creation) with tamari and olive oil and wine vinegar (with a hint of garlic) for those who did not like green cabbage, boulghour pilaf made with fried onions and V-8 juice (for those who had aversion to animal products), lentil pilaf made with fried onions and water (for those who had aversion to animal products and wheat), roast leg of lamb with plenty of garlic (for those who had aversion to vegetable products), roast turkey with plenty of whole onions (for those who had aversion to red meat and/or garlic), sautéed onions cooked with sliced mushrooms (for those who had aversions to any of the other offerings), cheese and Armenian Cracker Bread for those who had aversions to everything else.  Guests brought dessert (cheese cake) and there was always ice-cream for those who couldn't or wouldn't eat cheese cake.  And, of course, coffee, decaf coffee, tea, herbal tea, lemonade, and water for those who would eat none of the above!

Needless to say, Marash Girl is still cleaning up!

N.B.  This post sounds a lot like the letters Auntie Lydia Vartanian Kricorian would write to Grandma Jennie, detailing the scrumptious meals (without the reason for the individual offerings) that she would create for her guests -- meals far more elaborate than Marash Girl would ever think of preparing!

Christ Has Risen!

Brown Onion Skins (not Red) Color Armenian Easter Eggs Red

Amazing . . . an all natural dye made from BROWN onion skins, skins that typically get thrown into the compost heap . . . brown onion skins which when boiled in water turn the water blood red and dye  white eggs red, (all natural, of course,) an exercise Armenians practice every Good Friday.  If you want your eggs to be decorative and not simply a deep red, hard boil the eggs by adding them to the "onion-skinned" water and simmer 'til hardboiled.  The result? Lovely decorations on the surface of the hardboiled eggs which are now dyed red.

There's a sermon here.  Can any of you give it?

On Good Friday . . .

A while back, Jet Blue Airlines put out an ad that announced the following:  
Paradise for Half-Price.  Marash Girl started thinking about that.  Exactly what would paradise at half-price cost?  What does paradise cost anyway?  Simple.  Faith in Jesus Christ.  An acceptance of "the way, the truth and the life".  Not just the mouthing of words, but living the words, living the life, with the engine that runs life, Jesus Christ living within our soul.  So what would half-price be?

Luke 23:39-43New International Version (NIV)

39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at Him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Christ is Risen!

Քրիստոս հարեաւ ի  մեռելոց:

  Krisdos haryav ee merelotz!   Christ has risen and conquered death.

Page from an Armenian Illuminated Manuscript

Օրհնեալ է  Հարություն Քրիստոսի:

Orhnyal e haroutioun Krisdosi!   Blessed is the resurrection of Christ!

Have you gathered your onion skins yet?

Better hurry!  There won't be many onion skins sitting on the bottom of the onion bins as Easter is approaching.  Folks who are in the know dye their eggs with the all natural dye made from boiling onion skins and then boiling the eggs in that same water with the onion skins (still in the water).  The onion skins cushion the eggs and prevent them from cracking, and further decorate the eggs by mottling the surface of the egg shells.

Marash Girl rustles through the onion bins at Trader Joe's searching out the  already
loosed onion skins prepararing to celebrate Armenian Easter.   Photo by Marash Boy.

See  marashgirl.blogspot.com/2014/.../what-you-havent-started-saving-those.html

Still thinking about Easter . . .

Marash Girl remembers the first Armenian hymn she ever learned as a child, (perhaps the only one?)
taught her when she was very young by her Uncle Vartan (Rev. Vartan Bilezikian).  Here it is . . .

Allelujah, allelujah; hisous noren bidi ka, bidi ka . . .
ալելւոյայ, ալելւոյայ: Հիսուս նօռեն պիտի զա, պիտի զա
Allelujah, allelujah; hisous noren bidi ka.
ալելւոյայ, ալելւոյայ: Հիսուս նօռեն պիտի զա:

It came in handy yesterday when the priest at St. Gregory's Armenian Apostolic Church in Springfield, Massachusetts, (the church in which Marash Boy and Marash Girl were married), asked the congregation what Easter meant to them!  Marash Girl could answer, Հիսուս նօռեն պիտի զա:


Translation?

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Jesus is coming, is coming again!
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!  Jesus is coming again!