ABSTRACT
As befits the most important day in the Greek Orthodox calendar, Easter traditions are rich and extensive. Greek American customs include Lenten fasting, tsoureki, or Greek Easter bread, and red Easter eggs used in games. After the late Saturday night service, families break the Lenten fast with mageritsa soup (a thick soup made from lamb innards, rice, lemons, and herbs) followed on Sunday afternoon by a feast of roast lamb. Some communities engage in lesser-known Easter customs, such as igniting large, loud, homemade “Greek bomb” fireworks at midnight on Easter morning. Although it is technically illegal to make the fireworks, young men adamantly maintain the tradition and believe it to be based on the scriptural reference to making a joyful noise. When lambs are slaughtered for Easter, ritual butchering practices include the orientation of the lamb’s head to the east, cutting a cross-shaped incision on the animal’s throat, and using a fresh sponge soaked with lamb’s blood to make the sign of the cross over the family’s doorways.
