Sunday, March 31, 2013

"Christ is Risen!" Easter Greetings in Many Languages

The Resurrection of the Christ,
an Orthodox icon.

It is Easter night in Finland, and I just came from the Easter Midnight Mass aka Easter Night Service. It was a beautiful event in a small local church. Soon comes the Resurrection Morning, and the sun will rise. So it's time for Easter greeting. I want to do it in an "Orthodox way".

In the Orthodox Church, Easter is called Pascha. According to Wikipedia, "the Paschal greeting is an Easter custom among Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Christians, as well as among some Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians. Instead of "hello" or its equivalent, one is to greet another person with "Christ is Risen!", and the response is "Truly, He is Risen" (compare Matthew 27:64, Matthew 28:6-7, Mark 16:6, Luke 24:6, Luke 24:34). In some cultures, such as in Russia and Serbia, it is also customary to exchange a triple kiss on the alternating cheeks after the greeting".

Related to this tradition, Leo Tolstoy's great novel Resurrection (1899) includes one of the most beautiful love scene in literature. Chapter 15 tells how boy (Nekhludoff) and girl (Katyusha) are in the church on the Easter night. After the Easter Night Service, they kiss each other three times in the morning twilight of the churchyard. At the same time, they say (girl): "Christ is risen", and (boy): "Truly, He is risen!" This innocent, traditional "Easter kiss" is actually their first kiss. Tolstoy writes: "There is a point in the love between man and woman when that love reaches its zenith; when it is free from consciousness, reason and sensuality. Such a moment arrived for Nekhludoff that Easter morn."

How beautifully written! God is love and where there is true love between two people, there is God in their midst.

Here is the Paschal greeting in 34 languages:

Albanian (Tosk): Krishti u ngjall! Vërtet u ngjall!
Arabic: المسيح قام! حقا قام!
Armenian: Քրիստոս յարեաւ ի մեռելոց՜ Օրհնեալ է Յարութիւնն Քրիստոսի՜
Belarusian: Хрыстос уваскрос! Сапраўды ўваскрос!
Bulgarian: Христос възкръсна! Наистина възкръсна!
Chinese: 基督复活了!确实复活了!
Croatian: Krist uskrsnu! Uistinu uskrsnu!
Czech: Kristus je vzkříšen! Vskutku je vzкříšen!
Dutch: Christus is opgestaan! Hij is waarlijk opgestaan!
English: Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
Estonian: Kristus on üles tõusnud! Tõesti, Ta on üles tõusnud!
Finnish: Kristus nousi kuolleista! Totisesti nousi!
French: Le Christ est ressuscité! Vraiment Il est ressuscité!
Georgian: ქრისტე აღსდგა! ჭეშმარიტად აღსდგა!
German: Christus ist auferstanden! Er ist wahrhaftig auferstanden!
Greek: Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ανέστη!
Hebrew: המשיח קם! באמת קם!‎
Hindustani: येसु मसीह ज़िन्दा हो गया है! हाँ यक़ीनन, वोह ज़िन्दा हो गया है!
Hungarian: Krisztus feltámadt! Valóban feltámadt!
Italian: Cristo è risorto! È veramente risorto!
Japanese: ハリストス復活!実に復活!
Lithuanian: Kristus prisikėlė! Tikrai prisikėlė!
Macedonian: Христос воскресна! Навистина воскресна!
Norwegian: Kristus er oppstanden! Han er sannelig oppstanden!
Polish: Chrystus zmartwychwstał! Prawdziwie zmartwychwstał!
Portuguese: Cristo ressuscitou! Em verdade ressuscitou!
Romanian: Hristos a înviat! Adevărat a înviat!
Russian: Христос Воскресе! Воистину Воскресе!
Serbian: Христос васкрсе! Ваистину васкрсе!
Slovak: Kristus z mŕtvych vstal! Skutočne z mŕtvych vstal!
Spanish: Cristo ha resucitado! Verdaderamente, ha resucitado!
Swedish: Kristus är uppstånden! Ja, Han är verkligen uppstånden!
Turkish: İsa dirildi! Hakikaten dirildi!
Ukrainian: Христос воскрес! Воістину воскрес!

My home church where I attended the Easter Midnight
Mass. Both my parents' funeral services has been held
in the same place. This church is build in 1827 by Russian
state (at the time, Finland was a part of Russian Empire).

6 comments:

  1. Dear Tembo-san -^^-

    Kristus nousi kuolleista! Kittos! Thank you for this eye opening article, now I know Easter does NOT mean Choco eggs and them bunnies are gone! Let me try and processmy thoughts + summarize this article.

    *Ahemm hemm hemmmm* Easter is about one girl and one boy a-kissin' in some church a long time ago and after that they went home and each melted some KitKats and made round choco eggs. Then they hid them for each other to find but some pesky rabbit came by and dug them out. Girl was angry and chased it down a rabbit hole and up a bean stalk. There, she met Jack who told her to 'Go back! Go back!' and up she went again! She reappeared out of the rabbit hole again but whoaaaa... holy cow.. she was in Youtube and in Teisuka-san's channel! And typing some kind of comment right here, right now! Happy Easter, bro!

    Hehe.. sorry I meesed up your so serious blog-entry -^^- As you can see, the cold medicine had messed up my brain even more lol

    - Kunoichi Da Bonnie

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    Replies
    1. Dear 'Kunoichi Da Bonnie-chan', -^^-

      "Totisesti nousi, 実に復活!" Kiitos, arigatou for your nice comment. I really appreciate it. So glad to see you on my blog after long time. You "cooked up" an original and unique story. Haha. My crazy sister! :D

      Belated Happy Easter greeting to you! I hope you are feeling good right now, I mean: cold is over, yes? Be well, and take good care of yourself, dear Bonnie-chan. Mata atode aimashou! ^^

      Best wishes from sunny Finland,
      Tembo

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  2. Hi Teisuka,

    Thank you for this beautifully written blog, which tells us a lot about the important occasion for Christians. And the picture of your local church is so nice, so picturesque! I love your quotation from Tolstoy's novel Resurrection, it was truly classic, describing the first kiss between the boy and girl, both innocent. Christ is Risen! 基督复活了!Hope you're feeling the love from Jesus and enjoying your week! Blessings to you, my friend!
    Bao

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    Replies
    1. Hi Bao,

      确实复活了! ^^ Thanks a lot for your comment, my friend. Indeed, I enjoyed the Easter week. Somehow I feel this was the best Easter for many years. I hope you had a nice time as well. God really love us, and this beautiful festival reminds us for this truth.

      I am glad to hear you love that quotation from Tolstoy's novel Resurrection. It is really great and touching novel. I read it one year ago, and I am still impressed. :)

      Blessings to you and your loved ones, my dear friend!

      Teisuka

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  3. Christ is Risen Truly He is Risen The Lord. Blessed Pascha

    ReplyDelete