Holy Friday In Serbia, Eggs Colouring In Progress
Nebojsa Kocic | E-Mail: n.kocic@inserbia.info
3/5/13
Orthodox Christians are observing Holy Friday, the most sorrowful date of the Christian calendar commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
On this day, Orthodox believers observe a particularly rigorous period of fasting in commemoration of Jesus’ sufferings and his death on the cross. They abstain from every kind of food subsisting on bread and water, and in Serbia, as most important thing, eggs colouring is in progress.
SPC Patriarch Irinej issued his Easter message, to call on all believers to, by standing with God, remain standing with their soul and heart with the suffering Serb people in Kosovo and Metohija, and in all regions where the Orthodox are suffering because their name, and their faith in Christ.
As you probably know, red egg, called “čuvarkuća” (keeper of the house) in Serbia, is believed to protect the house and it’s inhabitants from evil. When you color eggs in red, first egg that is colored is considered to be “čuvarkuća” . We will share with you ways of coloring the eggs naturally, with ingredients that you may find in your kitchen or garden.
So, to have a properly colored RED eggs, firstly, you peel of the onions, enough to cover the amount of eggs you want to color, and put them together with onion peel in a pot. When they are cooked with peel, you will get nicely colored red eggs, actually, a bit darker red, almost brown, but, that egg is considered a truly Easter egg. And remember, first egg pulled out is the ”keeper of the house”. But, if you really want your eggs to be red, put frozen raspberries or cranberries in pot.
If you want to color your eggs GREEN, take nettle. The procedure is same as with onion peel. Put nettle with eggs and let it boil. YELLOW eggs are usually colored with celery or chamomile, PURPLE eggs you get when you add wine or red onion peel, and BLUE eggs are colored with red cabbage or blueberries. If you have these ingredients, it’s a real fun to color eggs. Plus, it’s naturally done.
This year, Orthodox Easter is celebrated on May 5th.
