Christ is Risen! Paschal Printable

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen! Paschal Printable is a great way to get into the Pascha season spirit!

I created this printable to highlight just a few of the hundreds of languages and dialects that are used to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. Last year and the year before I had printables with a lot of different languages proclaiming Christ is Risen! but this year, I wanted to change it up and go for a little bit of a sleeker look that would be beautiful as a part of any Pascha or Easter decoration display.

Now, if you are Orthodox- you know we have a while to wait to celebrate as our Pascha falls on May 5 this year, over a full month later than western Easter next weekend. But I wanted to get this out so anyone can print this and share it with others or use it as part of your Easter decor, especially those looking for some last minute decoration ideas!

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Want to know a little bit more about Pascha and being an Orthodox Christian? Here was my take from last year's printable post (my daugther was born on Holy Saturday last year- she decided to jump the gun and get here early so she could be a part of the celebration!):

Pascha, or Easter Sunday for the Orthodox, is a fabulous celebration in our church (my husband and I are Orthodox Christians, and we attend a Greek Orthodox Church). On Holy Saturday night we host a candlelight Resurrection midnight service that is truly moving. Sometime after midnight, our candles are lit, the church bells ring, and the whole church erupts into song- it’s incredibly beautiful and moving.

After the service, the Lenten fast is over- and a bunch of hungry worshipers head to the fellowship hall (or straight home) to feast on the dairy and meat products they have abstained from for the last 40 days (I have had a pass the last two years from full fasting as I was pregnant and nursing). Everyone is joyous- they kiss each others cheeks, share wine and food, and loudly proclaim “Christ is Risen!” to which the person they are greeting will reply “Truly He is Risen!” (in the original greek: “Khristós Anésti!” “Alithós Anésti!”)

The Orthodox church isn’t only Greek- and neither is this wonderful proclamation. Until Pentecost, the joyous celebration continues in every language.

As a relative newcomer to the Orthodox festivities, I find this part very challenging- because I don’t speak anything but English (and Spanglish). I used a list I found online to create this art of numerous translations of “Christ is Risen!” including Russian,  Celtic, Spanish, and the original Greek. These are spelled in the most phonetic way possible for many of the languages, so you might know of different ways to spell them.

This year we are celebrating Pascha on May 5, over a month after Western Easter. I could write a whole post about the differences in calendars, but as this is a craft blog, I'll leave it to the experts. Check it out here.

For more information about the Orthodox Church, please visit here.