Lazarus Saturday
Lazarus Saturday in many Orthodox churches traditionally is the day that we do our final cleaning for Pascha. We have Liturgy in the morning and then a small lunch and then we work. Some people stay at church all day.We have several things going on that day. First we have Divine Liturgy. We wear white because of the resurrection of Lazarus from the dead. This also reminds us that we will also rise from the dead one day.
Then we eat. We have been fasting since the previous day in order to receive Communion. This is a discipline set up by the Church in response to the needs of the people. St. Paul touches upon this in one of his Epistles.
Some people prepare the palm and pussy willows for Palm Sunday. In the Russian churches we also use pussy willows because in some parts of the world, they are the only thing that is blooming at this time of the year. It is a practical matter. The Church is very practical.
Other people clean. We clean the temple the best that we can. We also clean the items that we use for services. This is our major cleaning of the year.
Our altar boys did a great job of cleaning. I say "boys" because I am talking about our young altar servers who have not reached adulthood yet. Reader Joseph and Mr. Albert are also alter servers, but it is inappropriate to use the term "altar boys" when referring to them. Mr. Albert was not involved in the cleaning, but he was probably helping to get the food ready for Pascha.
The children this year painted eggs. We hope that many of them will continue the craft when they have children of their own. Some of the eggs end up in our Pascha baskets.
