Skip to content
  • Image
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Podcasts
  • Email
  • Contact
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
  • Features
  • Comment
  • Store
The Arab Daily News

The Arab Daily News

Original news, features, opinions from Chicago to Jerusalem

  • About
    • About
    • Our Writers
    • Subscribe to Ray’s Columns
    • Book Store
    • Contact
    • Submit Book Reviews, Press Releases
    • Advertise
    • Privacy Corrections Policy
    • Profile on Ray Hanania
    • Submit Press Release
  • Features
    • Food
    • Book Review
    • Humor
    • Movies
    • Travel
  • Arab Stores Targeted
  • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Community Network Page
    • Arab Heritage America resources
    • Directory
      • Groups & Organizations
      • Mosques, Churches
      • Restaurants
      • 2008 & 2014 Arab Media Directories
    • National Arab Heritage Month
    • Video: Chicago Arab History
    • Video: Photo Array of Chicago Arabs
    • Overview of Arabs in America
    • Hanania standup comedy
    • Arabs on the Titanic
    • Obituaries
  • Podcasts
    • Arab News Ray Hanania Radio
    • Ray Hanania on Politics Podcast
    • Podcast Info
    • Hanania Podcast intro
    • Live Arab Radio
  • Your Views
  • Hanania on Tiktok
  • Toggle search form
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12 American Arabs
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd American Arabs
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action American Arabs
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022 Activism
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast Arab News
  • State Rep. Cyril Nichols interviewed on live Arab American radio in Detroit with host Ray Hanania Friday Dec. 9, 2022
    Nichols discusses need to improve Arab-Black relations in Chicagoland American Arabs
  • Voting sticker issued to voters in Cook County elections in 2016. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Gov. Pritzker Announces Six Appointments to Boards and Commissions — no Arabs included American Arabs
  • Closure notice posted on the doors and windows of Arab American businesses during Mayor Lori Lightfoot's closure of Arab owned stores in June - Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania
    Pritzker again ignores needs of Arab businesses in latest appointments Activism
  • Arab American Democratic Club (AADC) official candidate endorsements for the November 8, 2022 General elections.
    Arab American Democratic Club issues endorsements for Nov. 8, 2022 Cook County Illinois elections Activism
  • Arab Democrats urge NO VOTE on Gov. J.B. Pritzker re-election bid Activism
  • Assyrian American GOP issues endorsements in Nov, 8, 2022 elections
    Assyrian American GOP group endorses candidates in Illinois Activism
  • Abdullah Hammoud, elected Mayor of Dearborn Nov. 2, 2021. Photo courtesy of Abdullah Hammoud Facebook Page
    AHRC’s 2022 Spirit of Humanity Gala a Great Success American Arabs
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts Arab World
  • Rep. Cyril Nichols to be feted by supporters at fundraiser Saturday Oct. 22 Activism
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri Activism

Middle East Orthodox Christians observe Easter

Posted on April 5, 2015June 12, 2019 By rayhanania No Comments on Middle East Orthodox Christians observe Easter
SHARE ...
          
 
  

  • Tweet

Orthodox Christians, mainly from the Middle East or Mediterranean region, closely follow the same traditions as Catholics and Protestants, but in a fundamental origin that has been preserved over the two millennium. The Orthodox Easter observations and celebrations begin a week after mainstream Christians leading up to this year’s important Easter date, Sunday April 12, 2015

By Ray Hanania

Damascus Gate entrance
Damascus Gate entrance

As an Arab Christian from Palestine growing up in America, I’ve always celebrated both the traditional Christian Easter and the traditional Middle East Orthodox Easter that often but not always begins one week later.

Sometimes, the two holidays occur on the same date.

But Orthodox and mainstream Christians share a strong commitment to this holiday because it is essentially the most important religious event in their lives, even more so than Christmas which marks the birth of Christ and has a dichotomous calendar, too, first for mainstream Christians and a week or weeks later for Orthodox Christians.

What is Easter? Easter symbolizes the true beginning of Christianity because it was the crucifixion of Jesus and later his resurrection from the tomb where he was placed that launched the religion, not his actual birth.

Jesus was a Jew and grew to become a Rabbi. Born in Bethlehem in a manger that his traveling parents, Joseph and Mary, found when the birthing process began, Jesus later was raised in Nazareth and then preached throughout what we religiously call the Holy Land but that has been distorted by the political machinations of mankind in political boundaries, called Canaan, Judea, Palestine, and recently Israel.

Copia desde la Crucifixion dibujada hacia 1540...
Copia desde la Crucifixion dibujada hacia 1540 por Miguel Angel Buonarroti para Vittoria Colonna. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

His teachings caused fear among the Jewish religious leaders of the time who protested to the Roman occupiers. He was arrested, tried by Pontius Pilate and then crucified in part to satisfy the fears of the Jewish religious establishment at the time.

His message of peace and love and the promise of another life by following the One True God resonated with many Jews in Judea, especially as they witnessed the corruption of their religious leadership under the Roman occupation.

Jesus was Crucified at a location that we know as Golgotha which was near the ancient city of Jerusalem, just outside the old walls. Golgotha refers to a stone looking face on the rocks nearby that looks like the face of a skull. Golgotha, an old abandoned stone quarry at the time outside of the Walls of Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate and on a mountain area called Mount Moria that includes Jerusalem, is often called Calvary by all Christians. Although the precise location is believed lost to time, we know that Jerusalem’s location has been fixed along with Mount Moria and Damascus Gate. Although Golgotha was outside the original wall, it was enclosed in Jerusalem later, in what is now the Christian Quarter of Jerusalem, when it was expanded.

But it was the Roman’s who actually inadvertantly preserved the location of the Crucifixion when they erected a small temple to one of their Gods, the Temple to Venus, on the spot where Jesus was crucified after the began noticing that “Christians” — a new term for those who believed in Jesus “The Christ” — were flocking to the location.

English: Traditional place of crucifixion of Jesus, in the holy sepulchre. The old city of Jerusalem. עברית: מקום צליבת ישו בכנסית הקבר, Original Image Name:מקום הצליבה בכנסית הקבר, Location:ירושלים (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Roman Emperor Titus destroyed the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. And a successor, the Roman Emperor Hadrian (Emperor from 117 AD to 138 AD), ruled over the continued destruction of Jerusalem. Hadrian believed in erecting small Temples of his Roman Gods to replace the Jewish sites. One of those was a small temple he erected to commemorate the larger Temple of Venus in Rome, on the spot outside Jerusalem, they would hide the location. But in fact, the temple marked it for eternity. (Some historians assert the Temple of Venus was actually built by Hadrian to honor the Roman God Jupiter. Hardian erected several including one over the Temple Mount, a hexagon which many believe is today the foundation of the Dome of the Rock.)

Centuries after the crucifixion, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built at the presumed location and around the small Roman Temple by the Roman Emperor Constantine (Constantine I or Constantine the Great; Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Augustus) who ruled from 306 to 337 when he died.

English: Jerusalem, Church of the Holy Sepulch...
English: Jerusalem, Church of the Holy Sepulchre Deutsch: Jerusalem, Grabeskirche (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Constantine I was the first Roman Emperor to convert to Christianity. Much of his inspiration came from his mother, St. Helena, whom he funded lavishly and tasked with finding Christian relics that had been scattered by the earlier Roman and Jewish persecutions of Christians. St. Helena built the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, and the Church on the Mount of Olives, where Jesus was entombed and rose from the dead three days later.

(One of Constantine the Great’s daughters, Helena, later became the wife of the Emperor Julian, Emperor from 361 AD to 363 AD, and helped continue the Christian beliefs. There is often confusion because of the repetition of family surnames so often.)

So strong was the belief of Constantine the Great and his mother, Helena, in Christianity, that the Emperor allowed his mother to place one of the Nails from the Cross of Jesus in his helmut and one in his saddled on his horse. In the early days of Christianity following Jesus’ crucifixion, relics of his death were cherished and kept and moved from believer to believer. In 327, St. Helena returned to Rome with the remnants of the Cross used in the crucifixion of Jesus which are displayed till this day in the Basilica of the Crucifixion, which was her original Palace in Rome.

English: Altar of Calvary (Golgotha), Church o...
English: Altar of Calvary (Golgotha), Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The early Christians were Jews who did not convert but who expanded their Jewish beliefs to include Christian inspired stories about Jesus and his life. They dominated the new “Christian religion” for the first 75 years after the crucifixion. But by the year 135 AD, the majority of the Christian leaders were Greeks as the religion moved to Antioch and to Damascus and began spreading through the Mediterranean later under the shepherding of Constantine and his mother and successors.

Ever since, there have always been close ties between Christians and Jews because of the conversion and because of the sharing of religious beliefs.

The rise of Islam in the Arabian peninsula and its spread throughout the Middle East, and the wars over control of the Holy Land, sparked great animosity between Christians and Muslims, although after a period of Muslim persecution (where Christian sites were converted to Muslim sites), the Ottomans in what is today Turkey, accepted Christians and Jews as “People of the Book” and ordered that they be respected and treated fairly.

The rise of Zionism at the end of the 19th Century and its militant calls for the destruction of non-Jewish presence in the Holy Land, called “Palestine” by Romans from the time of Constantine, created a conflict and renewed persecution by the new State of Israel (1948-?) of Christians and Muslims living there.

Today, Christians continue to celebrate Easter under the brutal military occupation of Israel’s modernday army, terrorized by Israeli soldiers who have confiscated Christian, and Muslim, lands in order to force the expulsion of non-Jews and make the land “Jewish only.” Israel has been building illegal Jewish-only settlements in Palestine, confiscating Christian, and Muslim, lands and oppressing non-Jews in the hope that they will flee.

The persecution of Christians by Israel remains a part of the Christian liturgy, a religious protest against the persecution of Christians which should remind all Christians that they remain victims of persecution around the world.

Bulgarian orthodox Easter Eggs.
Bulgarian orthodox Easter Eggs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today’s Orthodox Christians observe 40 Days of Lent (which begins on Clean Monday) prior to Easter, and fast from Palm Sunday until it ends the night before Easter, called Lazarus Saturday). On Easter, Christians break their fast and celebrate with a feast that usually includes Lamb, rice, vegetables. Orthodox Christians decorate eggs, as do other Christians, to symbolize the Birth of Jesus, but Orthodox Eggs are colored Red, reflecting the colorization process used in ancient times, Henna, a reddish dye.

Orthodox Christians greet each other on Easter with the “Paschal Greeting” phrase “Christ has Risen!” to which a person responds, “Truly, He has Risen!”

Ironically, and despite the intense persecution of Christians by modernday Israel today, Easter and Passover often occur at the same time. Orthodox Christians refer to the Paschal Greeting, or the paschal celebration. Paschal is believed to possibly be a derivative of the Hebrew word Pesach, or Passover, an important Jewish holiday that was still observed by many early Christians following the Crucifixion.

Orthodox Easter egg photo
Paschal Red Orthodox Easter Egg Photo by NapInterrupted

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
rayhanania
rayhanania
Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster at The Arab Daily News
RAY HANANIA — Op-Ed writer, author, radio host, podcaster

Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.

Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).

Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.

Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.

His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.

Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.

Click here to send Ray Hanania email.

Follow RayHanania on Gettr.com, the uncensored Twitter Ray Hanania on Gettr, the new Twitter
rayhanania
Latest posts by rayhanania (see all)
  • Israeli-push behind effort to ban Tiktok in the United States - January 19, 2023
  • Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12 - January 18, 2023
  • CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd - January 12, 2023

  • Tweet

SHARE ...
          
 
  
 
          
 
 Tweet 
American Arabs, Bloggers, Christian & Muslim, Commentary, Editors Picks, Palestine & Jordan, Ray Hanania, religion, Spotlight Tags:Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Church of the Nativity, Constantine, Crucifixion of Jesus, Easter, Easter Eggs, Good Friday, Hadrian, Helena, Holy Land, Jerusalem, Orthodox Christians, Palm Sunday

Post navigation

Previous Post: Podcast: Aftab defends Mayor Emanuel; Sonia Khalil on her election
Next Post: Armed attack Inside the Jordanian Department of Intelligence, baffles Jordanians

Related Posts

  • Photos from the Town of Beit Lahia in Northern Gaza, 06-28-17 by Photographer Ahmad Hasaballah.
    Photos of life at Beit Lahia in Gaza Ahmad Hasaballah
  • Effective PR would easily flip American public opinion on Palestine American Arabs
  • Maureen Abood details her love affair with Lebanese food American Arabs
  • Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Courtesy of Peace Now
    Israel to build 1,800 illegal Jewish settlements to block peace Israel
  • IMAGINE Heaven as a State of Consciousness American Arabs
  • Pope Francis Condemns Fake News, This American Addresses Media Omissions Arab World

More Related Articles

UNESCO stands up to Israeli bullying on Jerusalem Arab News
A Muslim’s Christmas American Arabs
Rania Abouzeid wins Polk Award for journalism American Arabs
Rush Darwish hosted his live radio show from the Arabesque Festival in June 2010 when Richard M. Daley was mayor. Photos by Ray Hanania Chicago Sun-Times owes Rush Darwish an apology American Arabs
USS Liberty, Outfront Media and The First Amendment American Arabs
Jack Shaheen was one of the celebrities honoring former White House Dean and Journalist Helen Thomas at the 2011 Images and Perception Conferences hosted by activist Siham Awada Jaafar in Dearborn. Photo courtesy of Ray Hanania American Arabs mourn passing of author Jack Shaheen American Arabs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • OPINION COLUMNS
  • Tiktok.com/@RayHanania
    Israeli-push behind effort to ban Tiktok in the United States
    January 19, 2023
  • Ghassan Rubeiz
    To what extent is Hezbollah responsible for the current crisis in Lebanon?
    January 17, 2023
  • Image from Rashid-al-Din Hamadani's "A Compendium of Chronicles. Image courtesy of Wikipedia
    Why allow religious extremists to re-define Islam in the West?
    January 10, 2023
  • CAIR Executive Director and co-founder Nihad Awad
    This Thanksgiving, let’s use our Blessings for good
    November 23, 2022
  • NEWS
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Citgo Gas Station and Quik Mart at 3759 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago ordered closed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot because a street gang member with an AK-47 killed someone in front of the store. Only Arab and Muslim stores are being closed by the Mayor
    When Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot targeted Arab businesses in 2021 and 2022
    January 4, 2023
  • NEWSWIRE
  • Arab Democratic Club Feb 12, 2023 Forum & Brunch flier
    Arab Democrats host forum for Chicago and suburban candidates Feb. 12
    January 18, 2023
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) announced Dr. Manal Fakhoury has been elected to the position of Chair of the National Board of Directors, and that attorneys Spojmie Nasiri of California and John Floyd of Texas have joined the organization’s National Board.
    CAIR Announces Dr. Manal Fakhoury as New Board Chair, New Board Members Spojmie Nasiri and John Floyd
    January 12, 2023
  • AHRC Executive Director Imad Hamad
    AHRC: Honor Dr. King Day with Civility, Unity, and Action
    January 11, 2023
  • Stand up For Human Rights website, United Nations
    UN experts condemn Israel’s ‘sadistic’ punitive measures against French-Palestinian rights defender Salah Hammouri
    October 19, 2022

Creative Commons License
All work on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Do not edit original work. Give credit to the original source.

  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Ad-Pantry-essentials.jpg
  • ZiyadBrandLogo-2016BlackRedBackgrnd.jpg
  • 08-09-21-Ziyad-Sices-Ad.jpg
  • BOOK REVIEWS
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib, book cover. Photo courtesy of Cune Press
    Stories My Father Told Me by author and artist Helen Zughaib
    November 1, 2021
  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • Hussam al-Mayman, The Mayman Show, podcast Arab News
    Arab News launches third season of The Mayman Show podcast
    December 15, 2022
  • Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    Interlink 2022 Cookbooks Make the Best Holiday Gifts
    October 24, 2022
  • Comedian Ramy Youssef courtesy of his Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ramysfaceboo/
    “Ramy” cable series melds Arab world reality with every day American life
    October 22, 2022
  • The Ray Hanania Radio Show Live Wed 5 PM EST in Detroit, Washington DC, Ontario and on Thursday in Chicago. Watch the program live at Facebook.com/ArabNews
    Second Season of “The Ray Hanania Show” Arab American radio launches April 6
    April 4, 2022
  • American Arab CHamber President HassanNijem accepts the Proclamation from Chicago Ald. Roderick Sawyer at the Chamber dinner March 30, 2022
    Chicagoland celebrates Arab American Heritage Month
    March 31, 2022
  • New-iTunes-1400-x-1400-The-Ray-Hanania-Show-Podcast-Icon-300-x-300.jpg
  • powerpr300x300ad.jpg
  • Podcast-iTunes-Logo-Chi-City-Hall-1985.jpg
  • The-Kings-Pawn-Book-300-x-300.png
  • terroristbookcover-300-x-300.jpg
Arab News Newspaper Logo
Read the Arab News, the leading English language newspaper in the MIddle East

Follow Ray Hanania at Gab.com, MeWe.com and IDobbinate.com, the alternatives to Facebook and Twitter Censorship.

Click here to get information on The Ray Hanania Radio Show and its podcasts

Copyright © 2023 The Arab Daily News.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme