Overview

Easter, Paștele, is the biggest feast of the Romanian Orthodox year, bigger in spirit than Christmas. Families gather, churches overflow at midnight and, for weeks afterwards, people greet each other with a sentence about the Resurrection instead of "hello". Orthodox Easter usually falls on a different Sunday from Western Easter; in 2027 it is on Sunday 2 May, with Good Friday on 30 April and Easter Monday on 3 May. If you spend it with a Romanian family, here is what happens and what to say.

  • Paștele

    Easter

  • Paște fericit!

    Happy Easter!

The weeks before

Many Romanians keep Postul Mare, the Great Lent of about seven weeks before Easter, eating no meat, eggs or dairy. Food that fits the fast is called de post: a bean soup, vegetables, fish on some days. Fasting is personal; nobody will expect it of a guest, but you may notice the family eating simply until Easter.

The last week is Săptămâna Mare, Holy Week. It begins after Floriile (Palm Sunday, when people bring willow branches home from church) and runs to Holy Saturday, the eve of Easter. Its most solemn day is Vinerea Mare, Good Friday. During the week the eggs are dyed, traditionally red, and the cakes are baked.

  • Postul Mare

    the Great Lent before Easter

  • de post

    suitable for a fast (no meat, eggs or dairy)

  • Floriile

    Palm Sunday

  • Vinerea Mare

    Good Friday

The night of the Resurrection

On Saturday night the family goes to church for the Înviere, the Resurrection service. Just before midnight the lights go out, the priest comes out with a lit candle and calls Veniți de luați lumină! (come and take the light). The flame passes from candle to candle until the whole crowd, often standing outside the church, holds lumina. People carry it home still burning. You do not need to be Orthodox to go; dress modestly, bring a candle and follow your hosts.

At midnight the priest says Hristos a înviat! (Christ is risen!) and everyone answers Adevărat a înviat! (Truly He is risen!). From that night, this is the greeting: you say it instead of "good day", and you answer with Adevărat a înviat!, for forty days, until the feast of the Ascension.

  • Înviere

    the Resurrection, and the midnight service

  • lumina

    the Easter light, the flame from the church

  • Hristos a înviat!

    Christ is risen! (the Easter greeting)

  • Adevărat a înviat!

    Truly He is risen! (the reply)

Tapping eggs

The Easter meal starts with ciocnitul ouălor, tapping red eggs. Two people each hold an egg. The first says Hristos a înviat! and taps the tip of their egg against the tip of the other's; the other answers Adevărat a înviat!. Whoever's egg stays whole taps the next person. Usually the older person, often the host, taps first. Losing is no shame, and you get to eat your egg.

  • ciocnitul ouălor

    egg tapping

The Easter table

After the eggs come the dishes of the day: drob, a lamb and herb loaf; a sour lamb soup, ciorbă de miel; roast lamb, friptură de miel; and two sweets, pască, a round cake filled with sweet cheese, and cozonac, the braided sweet bread you may know from Christmas. Expect to be offered more of everything, as at any Romanian table.

  • ouă roșii

    red eggs

  • drob

    lamb and herb loaf

  • ciorbă de miel

    sour lamb soup

  • friptură de miel

    roast lamb

  • pască

    Easter cake with sweet cheese

  • cozonac

    sweet braided bread

Key Romanian vocabulary

RomanianEnglishUsage note
PașteleEasterAlso Paști; "de Paște" = at Easter
Hristos a înviat!Christ is risen!The greeting for forty days after Easter
Adevărat a înviat!Truly He is risen!The only right answer to the greeting
Paște fericit!Happy Easter!Said before and after the day
Învierethe Resurrection serviceSaturday night, at midnight
ouă roșiired eggsDyed in Holy Week, tapped at the meal

What to know as a learner

Learn the greeting and its answer before Easter, and practise them out loud: you will hear Hristos a înviat! from neighbours, shopkeepers and the bus driver, and answering Adevărat a înviat! without hesitating is a small moment of belonging. Wish the family Paște fericit! when you arrive, bring something sweet for the table, and let them show you how to tap an egg. For the rest of the church year, see the article "The Orthodox calendar" under Culture.

Further reading