Easter Sunday 2019 Photopost (Part 1)

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Our Easter Sunday photopost is usually the shortest of the series which begins on Palm Sunday; I suppose by that point, the photographers are just as tired as the clergy. Nevertheless, we have enough submissions to make two this year, for the first time since I took over as editor. Many thanks once again to everyone who sent these in!

In the Antiochian tradition, there is a ritual at Paschal Orthros called “Hajma”, in which the faithful light candles from a Paschal Candle in the still-dark church and process around outside the church. At the door, the priest proclaims the Resurrection account from the Gospel of St Mark, and the people join in singing the Resurrection Troparion. The priest then turns to the closed doors, striking it three times, and says “Lift up your gates, o you princes…The King of Glory shall enter in.” The sacristan, from inside the church, asks “Who is this King of Glory?” The priest then responds with another part of Psalm 23 (“The Lord strong and mighty, the mighty in battle.”), and this exchange is repeated twice more before the gates open, and the faithful enter the now fully-lit church for the rest of Orthros. This is called “hajma”, from the Arabic verb “to rush”, as the people hurry into the church after proclaiming the resurrection.