Two Easters: Copy editor Meghan Mahoney describes the ways she celebrates Western and Eastern holiday traditions.

Easter is the most important holiday of the Church calendar for Christians. It’s a feast day in the Church, and my family certainly celebrates that. We have the assigned candy baskets, of course, one for each of my many siblings, and we often take the fake plastic grass from the bottoms of the baskets and take turns piling it on top of each other and chasing each other around. We’ve done that since there were just three of us siblings, and now there are eight of us, so it’s been going on for a long time! But besides the candy, the food is something that brings us all together. We try to have lamb on Easter, if we can, and we always make a big brunch with deviled eggs, fruit, homemade hummus and pita, and lots of other goodies. Making food together and eating together is one of the main ways that my family celebrates, and I’m so glad I’ll be able to participate in that at home this Easter. Easter is the most important holiday of the Church calendar for Christians. It’s a feast day in the Church, and my family certainly celebrates that. We have the assigned candy baskets, of course, one for each of my many siblings, and we often take the fake plastic grass from the bottoms of the baskets and take turns piling it on top of each other and chasing each other around. We’ve done that since there were just three of us siblings, and now there are eight of us, so it’s been going on for a long time! But besides the candy, the food is something that brings us all together. We try to have lamb on Easter, if we can, and we always make a big brunch with deviled eggs, fruit, homemade hummus and pita, and lots of other goodies. Making food together and eating together is one of the main ways that my family celebrates, and I’m so glad I’ll be able to participate in that at home this Easter.

However, in addition to celebrating the Western Church’s Easter, I also hope to celebrate Easter (also known as Pascha) with the Eastern Orthodox, which takes place on May 2nd. I was planning on taking part in Holy Week and Paschal Liturgies last year, but then the pandemic hit and I wasn’t able to experience my first Pascha. However, I’m hoping to be able to celebrate that this year! I hope to be able to have both my old traditions with my family and some new ones with my friends this year, and I can’t wait.