The Easter Season at
St. Mary’s Assyrian Chaldean Catholic Church, located in
Campbell, California, is the time of year which is loved by
all in the church community from small children to the
elderly.
It all begins on
Palm Sunday. Every year at
St. Mary’s, we have our traditional bazaar consisting of
customary meals such as hareesah and ashereshteh to an
assortment of pastries like peerokh and nazoogeh. Another
seasonal pastry is the traditional paskah with beautiful
decorations on the top of the cake. During this celebration,
families and friends come together to eat lunch and dessert,
participate in a raffle, and spend time with one another
whether it is eating a meal or working one of the stations
in the bazaar.
Four days later, on
Holy Thursday, there is a
Holy Thursday mass where boys from the ages of four to ten
can participate in the reenactment of The Washing of the
Disciple’s Feet.
On
Good Friday, the church
is filled to capacity in order to mourn the death of Jesus
Christ. As tradition goes, members of the community bring
flowers and place them on a carriage creating a bed of
flowers for our Lord Jesus Christ to be taken to his tomb.
During the Good Friday Mass, Father Yoshia blesses the cross
with our Lord, and two men carry it around the church in
order to remember the death of our Lord. Following the
carriage is a picture of the Virgin Mary and the alter
serves symbolizing the friends and family of Jesus.
Resurrection (Easter):
At our church, there are two different masses in which
members may choose to attend. There is a midnight mass on
Saturday and the regular Sunday mass. Both masses consist of
the same readings, songs, and prayers which are beautifully
prepared and presented. After mass, children of all ages
bring hard-boiled eggs from home and compete to see who has
the hardest egg within the group. This season brings
families together and our community in as one big family
sharing the holidays with one another.
