“Incessant rain throughout Holy Saturday Night in Melbourne did not dampen the spirits of tens of thousands of Greeks who attended midnight mass for the Resurrection, chanting ‘Christ is Risen’ and taking the Holy Light home to break the fast.
Greek Australians gathered in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, and across Australia to celebrate the holiest of events on the Eastern Orthodox calendar, the Anastasi, or Resurrection. Anastasi connects all the Diaspora through faith, and for those who are less bound by faith, Pascha is a symbol of our continuous link to our Byzantine past and key cultural traditions.
Despite the constant rain, the Anastasi took place inside the church, creating an intimate communion. Those huddled under umbrellas outside waited eagerly for the Holy Light, and once received, all began to chant ‘Hristos Anesti’ (Christ is Risen). It was a particularly impressive sight.
“Because of the rain, we weren’t expecting people. And yet, many thousands came. This is impressive, but the most impressive thing is that they stayed outside the churches while it was raining,” said a police officer to Neos Kosmos, who was on duty at a church in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
There was a smaller crowd at the Evangelismos (Holy Church of The Annunciation of Our Lady) in East Melbourne, Melbourne’s oldest Greek church, whose foundation stone was laid in 1900, by the Greek Community of Melbourne.
The church in Victoria Parade is the second Greek Orthodox Church erected in Australia after The Church of Holy Trinity in Sydney.
Neos Kosmos journalist Fotis Kapetopoulos said the lower turn out due to the rain created an “intimate and very moving experience”.
“Tonight was magic, it was very moving to be able to be in the church and wait for the light and sing in unison, usually we are outside as most people are, as it is impossible get into the church,” he said.
Most of the post-war Greek migrants from surrounding Collingwood and Fitzroy and Lonsdale Street – once centres of Hellenism – moved to the south-eastern suburbs and north-western suburbs of Melbourne in the late 1960s to the mid 1970s.
Melbournians, Alex, and Felicity Pyrlis and their two children Cleo and Harry were in Brisbane. Pyrlis said he looked up Neos Kosmos to find St George in West End.
“It was great, we loved it, we felt part of the diaspora, connected, in a balmy Brisbane night we all felt connected, even though we know no one from the community here,” Pyrlis said.
“Christ is risen from the dead…” resounded in the heart of Sydney
“Christ is risen from the dead…” was heard in the “heart” of Sydney at the Church of The Resurrection of Christ in in Kogarah. Archbishop of Australia Makarios presided over the Divine Liturgy, and he was accompanied by the Kogarah church’s head, Theophileste Bishop of Magnesia, Christodoulos with other clergy in attendance.
From the front of the church on an erected platform, the archbishop announced “Christ is Risen” to those gathered to celebrate the holiest day in the Orthodox calendar, the Resurrection of Christ, Anastasi.
The NSW Minister of Multicultural Affairs, Sport, Small Business, and Property, Steve Kamper, represented the premier of NSW, Chris Minns. Also in attendance were the General Consul of Greece in Sydney, Ioannis Mallikourtis, with his partner, as well as, Former Dow chairman and chief executive Andrew Liveris, now President of Brisbane 2032.
Archbishop Makarios, in his message, talked of the “joy and hope that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ signifies for all Orthodox.”
He urged everyone to keep the “joy of the Resurrection in their lives” and try to “spread happiness and hope” to those around them.
“Where there is a lack of joy, God is absent, as is the experience of Resurrection ” he said. The archbishop also noted that the Resurrection is a direct challenge to logic, and that is a discussion for theologians and academics, “what is important is how the Resurrection of Christ is experienced.”
“I see the Resurrection of Christ in the Greek immigrants in Australia, who have worked hard and progressed, and many succeeded across many fields,” Makarios said.
He then said that the Resurrection has meaning also for those who are struggling, “like those parents striving to bring bread to the house and secure a future for their children.”
“I see the Resurrection of Christ in the patients in our hospitals and in the faces of the elderly in our nursing homes.
“I see the Resurrection of Christ in the students in our schools, fighting for a better tomorrow, and in fellow human beings struggling with mental health and loneliness,” Archbishop Makarios continued.
He ended his sermon by urging all to “keep the joy of the Resurrection” in their life.
“Christ is Risen, my brothers and beloved children! Happy Birthday!”.
Today, Easter Sunday, Greeks across Australia are partaking in the tradition of gathering with loved ones to indulge in the lamb cooked on the spit, an array of Greek dishes, filling homes and backyards with laughter, the clinking of wine glasses and continue to celebrate in the “hope and joy” Easter provides. For many it is an opportunity for create memories, strengthen familial bonds, and rejoice in the spirit of the Resurrection, as a momentous occasion for all Hellenes and especially the Greek community in Australia.
