In Orthodoxy, there are several holidays that are dedicated to the donation for remembrance of the dead. Notable among them is the Blessed Easter. Blessed Easter – is an old folk holiday.
The date of its celebration varies from year to year depending on the date of the Christ`s Resurrection. This holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday or on the eighth day after Easter - this day is dedicated to an imaginary meeting of the living and those dead ones.
People call this holiday - Monday of Dead or Easter, Blessed Easter, Passage. Blessed Easter is widespread in Moldova and Bukovina.
There are certain popular beliefs that explains who are blessed. People think that they were the descendants of Sita, son of Adam. Blissful humans are living at the edge of the Earth, after the big waters. They say that they are tender, gentle, and obedient to the Lord, good and pious people. They are incapable of doing evil, they live modestly, follow all Lents.
They do not keep track of time and do not know when there are holidays.
They fast the whole year that round, come Easter, get to know about this event when they see that on the water begins to float eggshell. According to legends, eggshell becomes whole again when it arrives in their country.
Blessed Easter is a religious tradition associated with the cult of the dead. This holiday is not a part of the church canon or a public holiday.
The holiday appeared even in the pre-Christian period. During the spring holidays, there are the rituals of remembrance of the dead. There is a belief that the dead could unfavourably or positively affect people lives: to cause drought or to provoke a good harvest, they could apparently send sickness or health, misfortune and good luck. One of the stages of preparation for this holiday is to do cleaning on the cemetery and to make order on the graves.
People pay a special attention for preparing of the memorial gifts. Such gifts include kalatch, candle, matches, painted egg, biscuits and obligatory a towel or other loomwork.
Memorial gifts are put on the table in the evening, people light up candles for "the dead so that they will know that they coming to them". In the morning, people go to the cemetery with wine and funeral gifts.
Bypassing the graves, priest consecrates the memorial gifts, which are then distributed among the children, friends, family and the poor.
This day Moldovans dedicate to the memory of the dead, visiting their graves. Coming people to the cemetery on the Blessed Easter believe that deceased relatives are on this day with them.
