Easter in Moldova

My first Easter spent here in Moldova has come and gone and I have experienced many new traditions and got a much deserved vacation from teaching. On Friday, I got home from school at 9am since I only teach first period on Fridays, and the house was filled with the smell of delicious bread. My host mom had been up since 4am making the different types of bread that are tradition here for Easter. I got a sample plate of the breads at lunch time and it was very delectable. You can’t beat the taste of freshly baked bread!

bread table

On Saturday, I spent the day dyeing eggs in the garden with my host sister and my host aunt who was visiting from Italy. It was the first day in months that I can truly say was a sunny day. I took breaks from dyeing and just close my eyes and felt the warm rays on my face, like a lizard perched on a rock, taking in the sun…..or Bebe, my dog, when she lies in the sun by the sliding glass door. It felt so nice.

dyeing eggs with my host sister, Valeria

When I asked what our plans were for Easter, I was told that we would head to church at 11:30pm and return after 4am. Apparently at 4am, after the church services are over, the priest will bless your basket of bread, eggs and food that you bring with you and once it is blessed, you are free to go home and this blessed food will be eaten on Easter morning. I took a little nap after dinner and tried to get some rest since I knew that I would have a long night ahead of me. My host parents didn’t go to church; it was just my host sister and my host aunt and I who went.

There werent a lot of people at the church when we arrived, and the service started at midnight. The service began with candle lighting that spread throughout the church and everyone helped light their neighbor’s candles. (My host dad had told me earlier in the week that a lit candle was flown from Jerusalem to Moldova and that all the churches had lit a candle from this candle, which I thought, was pretty cool). After all the candles had been lit, we all went outside and walked around the church building, in the brisk night air for four times, then we returned inside the church for the rest of the service. There was a lot of praying and a choir of women who sang throughout the night. At first I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it, standing in the church for four hours….yeah, that’s right, STANDING. They don’t have pews in the churches here so everyone stands but there are a few chairs for the elderly and man did I start to envy the babas (elderly women) in the chairs around 1:30am. My back started hurting and it began to get increasingly warm in the church as more and more people arrived, so we decided to go outside to get some fresh air. My host aunt asked if I wanted to go home, and I told her no. I was determined to get through this….and plus, if we left, we wouldn’t have any blessed food to eat on Easter and I didn’t want to be the one to blame for that.

lined up and waiting for blessing

The closer it got to four in the morning, the more people started arriving. I wish I had a head count because it seemed like the whole village was there in this tiny little church. I saw a lot of my students from school and talked to them and then before we knew it, it was time. The church bells rang and it was four o’clock in the morning and everyone grabbed their baskets of food and rushed outside on the lawn of the church. My host aunt found a spot to stand and everyone had formed a circle outside the church. They then carefully placed their baskets of food out on the lawn on towels and arranged the food as they pleased and put the candles next to it and waited for the priest to come out and bless the food. When the priest came out of the church, there was a procession with a large cross and the women singing followed. First there was a large basket that two men carried around to everyone and people placed money in the basket. After this, the priest used tree branches which looked like a small broom and dipped them into holy water and then blessed the food and the people with the water. I didn’t expect to get doused with holy water but it was fun and my host sister seemed to take the brunt of the dousing. After everyone had been blessed, another large basket came around and everyone put some bread and/or food into the basket and this would be donated to those who cannot make it to church for whatever reason, whether they be poor or elderly, so everyone in the village could eat the blessed bread/food on Easter. This really touched me. My host aunt had a plastic bag filled with bread/food that my family donated and the family standing next to me cut a huge chunk out of one of their large circle loaves of bread to donate. I liked seeing how each family had a different basket of bread, decorated how they felt and there weren’t two that looked alike.


walking home from church at 4am, cold but happy


We arrived home around 4:45am, very tired and immediately went to bed. I woke up at 7am because I had to catch a bus at 8am (I decided to go to the LDS church in Chisinau for Easter services since my host family would be visiting their family in another village). I was still kind of groggy after my 2 hours of sleep. I first washed my face with two eggs, which is an Easter custom here in Moldova. One egg is a plain egg and one is dyed red and there was also some coins in the bowl of water that the eggs were in. This is a symbol of abundance, health and luck for the year to come. After this, I ate breakfast with my host mom and dad since my host sister and aunt were still asleep. I expected to have a big Easter dinner, like back in the states, but here we had a big Easter breakfast. I first drank a shot of holy water that was from a monastery nearby and then we ate the bread that was blessed at the church, along with hard boiled eggs, chicken, lamb, salads, cheese and veggies. The greeting here in Moldova on Easter is “Hristos a Inviat!” (Christ has risen!) and the response is “Adeverat a Inviat!” (He truly has risen!). My host father greeted me this way when I sat down to breakfast and when I responded correctly, he smiled and it felt like I had passed the test.


eggs to wash face with



bottle of holy water



hard boiled eggs



dyed eggs, candy and blessed bread