Today Armenians celebrate the Holy Easter.

This year the mothers’ day is followed by another favorite and meaningful holiday, Saint Resurrection or as people used to call it Zatik (Easter) which falls on April 8.

Easter (Zatik) is the favourite and the most anticipated holiday in the Christian world. Everybody greets each other on this day: “Christ has arisen"-“Blessed is the resurrection of Christ". The Saint Resurrection of Christ symbolizes the awakening of nature and is celebrated between 35 days on the first Sunday after equalization of night and day in spring. It is interesting that the word Zatik is etymologized as “holiday”, “joy”. Connected with the greatest symbol of the holiday the word Zatik also means “detach”, “liberate” the seasons and colors of nature; and one of the favorite traditions of Easter, that of painting the eggs in different colors, is associated with this meaning. The colorful egg of Easter conveys the symbol of eternity.

During the Lenten fasting season of 40 days before Easter, Armenian families put lentils or other sprouting grains on a tray covered with a thin layer of cotton, and keep it in a light place of the house until Easter when sprouts appear. These green sprouts, symbolizing spring and awakening of nature, are the “grass" on which people place colored eggs to decorate the Easter table. To the present day, Armenians have preserved the beautiful biblical lore which refers to red eggs and cheorek (sweet bread): “When Christ was crucified, his mother took some eggs and bread wrapped in the shawl. When the Mother saw her Son crucified and his arms bleeding, she knelt down and cried. The Mother’s tears and Son’s blood dropping on the shawl colored the eggs and bread. Then the Mother put the shawl on her head. Since that day people began coloring eggs red on Easter day and women began wearing shawls when visiting church.

 Another beautiful tradition of Easter is the hanging of “Aklatiz” over the chimney of the house. “Aklatiz” is a union hung on the belt of a geezer-doll, and there are feathers pinned on the union which symbolize the weeks of Great Lent. On Saturday evening, on the eve of the Easter, people pull out the last feather and in the morning begin the festive celebration and happy mood lasts till late at night.
On Easter Armenians decorate festive tables with various delicacies of Zatik, such as rice with raisins, fried greens, fish, unleavened bread, colored eggs, dried fruits and raisins and the cake “Zatik”. On the day of Saint Resurrection the Armenians organize also family pilgrimages. The next day of Easter is Memorial Day which is happy Memorial Day as compared with the others. After the morning ministry of the Memorial Day people visit the graves of their relatives and organize small feast sharing the happiness of the day with their relatives.