{"id":344,"date":"2011-04-24T11:13:51","date_gmt":"2011-04-24T18:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/?p=344"},"modified":"2012-03-09T15:17:24","modified_gmt":"2012-03-09T23:17:24","slug":"ukrainian-easter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2011\/writing\/ukrainian-easter\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian Easter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It`s a day of reflection for me, as our family is under the weather and not attending church this year. We`ll have Easter dinner and admire the pysanky <\/em>(Ukrainian Easter eggs) my grandson and I made.\u00a0 He did one based on a short film he`s almost finished (more on that in a later post) and I attempted a simple traditional design. A little shaky,\u00a0 but fun trying.<\/p>\n

Now that I`m writing my grandmother and mother`s memoir, my thoughts turn to the past. Growing up, Easter in our family was the holiest of days. My mother would prepare an basket by first laying a cross-stitched cloth in it, then filling the basket with Paska (a rich yeast bread with raisins and saffron), kybassa (garlic sausage), a square of butter with a cross on top formed from whole cloves, colored eggs and a candle, which would be lit during the church service when the baskets were blessed.\u00a0 The Ukrainian Greek Orthodox mass was sumptuous, with the priests wearing their finest cassocks made of gold embroidered brocade. The choir would sing, Christ is risen, <\/em>over and over again and the congregation would join in.<\/p>\n

Afterwards, there`d be dinner either at our house or out at my uncle`s farm. My mother`s whole family would be there–what was left of them–as well as the priest, and sometimes my godparents.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Everything my mother knew how to cook seemed to appear like magic on the table that stretched through the living room and into their bedroom. They often had to dismantle their bed and do some furniture arranging before the makeshift tables (long slabs of plywood on sawhorses) could be set up.\u00a0 After a hearty meal accompanied by many shots of whiskey (for me apricot brandy and seven-up), my family sang old Ukrainian folk songs. What I wouldn`t give to relive one of those days again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It`s a day of reflection for me, as our family is under the weather and not attending church this year. We`ll have Easter dinner and admire the pysanky (Ukrainian Easter… <\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[88,4],"tags":[114,113,112,44],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-writing","tag-pysanky","tag-ukrainian-easter","tag-ukrainian-greek-orthodox","tag-writing-memoir"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LuVB-5y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7122,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2026\/writing\/what-does-love-have-to-do-with-it\/","url_meta":{"origin":344,"position":0},"title":"What Does Love Have to Do With It?","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"15 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Love in My Stories What does love have to do with it? I\u2019ve been thinking a lot about that, while I\u2019m preparing to launch A House Full of Strangers, my first collection of short stories, set in Winnipeg in the 1940s and 1950s. The book launches online on May 9th\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"what love has to do with it","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Easter-dinner-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C955&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Easter-dinner-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C955&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Easter-dinner-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C955&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Easter-dinner-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C955&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Easter-dinner-1-scaled.jpg?fit=1200%2C955&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1368,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2013\/life\/nostalgia-redux\/","url_meta":{"origin":344,"position":1},"title":"Nostalgia Redux","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"7 \u0422\u0440\u0430\u0432\u043d\u044f, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"These days, I\u2019m feeling rather nostalgic. Dictionary.com defines nostalgia as \u201ca wistful desire to return in thought or in fact to a former time in one's life, to one's home or homeland, or to one's family and friends; a sentimental yearning for the happiness of a former place or time.\u201d\u2026","rel":"","context":"\u0423 "Life"","block_context":{"text":"Life","link":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/category\/life\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Ukrainian Easter service at St. Mary's the Protectress, Winnipeg, Manitoba","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.dianastevan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/church-service-300x218.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":916,"url":"https:\/\/www.dianastevan.com\/uk\/2012\/uncategorized\/life-lessons-in-the-garden\/","url_meta":{"origin":344,"position":2},"title":"Life Lessons in the Garden","author":"Diana Stevan","date":"7 \u041a\u0432\u0456\u0442\u043d\u044f, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was a young girl, I watched my mother plant red salvia and white allysum on both sides of our front walk.\u00a0 At the time, I didn't appreciate what else she was planting. 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