LYNDORA — A month after Easter was observed by most Christian denominations, Orthodox churches in Lyndora and Butler will mark the culmination of Holy Week Friday night.

Orthodox theologians call Easter a “feast of feasts” and a celebration of celebrations. This feast is celebrated on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox and the full moon and is the most important feast of the year for Orthodox Christians.

Saints Peter & Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Church, located at 21 Evergreen Road, will mark Good Friday on Friday night with a 6 p.m. Great Vespers and Burial of Christ service.

At the Vespers service, the first chants of Vespers take congregants back to the events that took place on Calvary. In the middle of the church stands a cross, which worshipers come to kiss.

On Saturday, dubbed Holy Saturday, congregants commemorate the burial of Christ and His descent into Hades. It is the day between the Crucifixion of the Lord and His glorious Resurrection. It is a day of watchful expectation, in which mourning is being transformed into joy. The day embodies in the fullest possible sense the meaning of joyful sadness, which dominates the celebrations of Great Week. 

Pastor Yurii Bobko, pastor of Saints Peter & Paul, said there will be a blessing of paschal, or Easter, baskets, at 5 p.m. Saturday on the second floor of the Ukrainian Hall.

On Sunday, Holy Pascha or Easter Sunday, starting at 8 a.m. there will be nocturnes, resurrection Matins, procession and resurrection divine liturgy, followed by the blessing of the paschal baskets.

St. Andrew Orthodox Church, 201 Penn Ave., will have 7 p.m. Matins of Holy Friday service Friday night.

St. Andrew will have a 6:30 p.m. Saturday blessing of the baskets followed by a 7 p.m. paschal service. There will be a 10 a.m. paschal service on Sunday.

St. Anthony Orthodox Church, 400 S. Sixth Ave., Butler, will have a 4 p.m. Vespers service and 6:30 p.m. ?Matins of service Friday.

Saturday will see a 10 a.m. Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil the Great and a 10 p.m. midnight service, culminating for congregants with an 11:30 p.m. Pascha service.

St. Anthony pastor Rev. Martie Johnson said, “Easter for us Orthodox is the midnight Mass or Pascha. For Catholics, Christmas is the Midnight Mass. Easter for us is like Christ's funeral.”