Photos: Bohdan warchomij.
Perth’s Ukrainian Catholics celebrated Easter according to the Julian calendar on May 5 at St John the Baptist church in Maylands.
The Holy Week ceremonies included the reading of the 12 Gospels on Holy Thursday and the veneration of the burial shroud and tomb of Jesus on Good Friday.
Parish priest Fr Wolodymyr Kalinecki said it was another excellent Easter. “The church was packed for Easter,” he said. “It was very moving to see people praying and reflecting on spiritual things.”
Fr Kalinecki, who also celebrated his birthday on Easter Sunday, said the burial shroud of Jesus was an important symbol for Eastern Catholics.
“[After] bringing out the shroud of Jesus, we process around the Church and we place it on the special grave, or tomb, that has been prepared,” he said.
“Then on Saturday we have the Resurrection matins, where we come to the Church and we say prayers in front of the tomb and the priest removes the burial shroud of Jesus.”
The priest then places it on the altar, where it remains until the feast of the Ascension, forty days later.
After the liturgies on both Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, Fr Kalinecki blessed numerous baskets of food for parishioners.
“In the basket are all the things we were fasting from during Lent, such as meat, milk, cheese, and eggs,” Fr Kalinecki explained.
A large loaf of bread called the Artos, a Greek word meaning ‘Lamb of God’, is also blessed at Easter.
On the following Sunday, known as St Thomas Sunday in the Eastern Church, the Artos is cut into small pieces and distributed to the congregation.
In 2014, for the first time since 2011, both Eastern and Western Catholics will celebrate Easter Sunday on the same day, April 20.
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