A daily study of the Network’s diverse faiths
Orthodox Easter Monday (Lundi de Pâques Orthodoxe, Orthodoxer Ostermontag, Ortodoks andre påskedag, Lunes de Pascua Ortodoxo, Bright Monday). Many Orthodox churches around the world observe Easter Monday and in countries such as Greece it can be a day for relaxation or for reflecting on the events of Holy Week. As fasting and the time of mourning are over, joyous meals may include: lamb, spanakopita (spinach pie), dolmadakia (stuffed vine leaves) and loukoumades (doughnuts). Bright Week (Pascha Week, Renewal Week, Διακαινήσιμος Ἑβδομάς) in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic Churches is the period of 7 days beginning at Easter and continuing up to but not including the following Sunday (Thomas Sunday) and is considered to be one continuous day for the celebration of the Resurrection. At the end of the Divine Liturgy on Bright Monday to Bright Saturday there is normally an outdoor procession 3 times around the church, at which the Icon of the Resurrection and the Artos loaf of leavened bread impressed before baking with a seal of an icon of the Resurrection and blessed during the Paschal Vigil, are carried. Bright Week begins the liturgical season of the Pentecostarion, the period of 50 days that began on Pascha and continues until Pentecost, one of the Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church, on 20 June with its Afterfeast on the Orthodox Whit Monday the following day. In Egypt, the ancient Pharaonic festival of Sham el-Nessim (شم النسيم, smelling the breeze), marking the beginning of spring, is celebrated on the Coptic Orthodox Easter Monday, normally including outdoor meals with feseekh (fermented mullet), which must be from a trusted source.
Kalashtami. On the Ashtami Tithi 8th day after Purnima (full moon) Hindu devotees rise before sunrise, bathe, fast, perform rituals for their ancestors and worship Lord Kaal Bhairav, the God of Time and a fierce form of Lord Shiva born to bring an end to the burning anger and temper of Lord Brahma. Thus, 12 times a year they seek Bhairav’s divine blessings and forgiveness, visiting His temple in the evening to offer special prayers, some devotees keeping an all-night vigil. It is considered auspicious to recite Kaal Bhairav Katha, which explains why this incarnation of Lord Shiva came into being, and chant mantras dedicated to Lord Shiva to remove all suffering, pain and negative influences from one’s life. Dogs are offered milk, curd and sweets, as a black dog is considered to be the vehicle of Lord Bhairav. Offering food to Brahmins is considered rewarding.
Prayer We bow to Shiva, the supreme reality, and call to the inner Self as we seek protection and safety. We ask for inner potential and strength to fill our lives with positive energy. We seek to find forgiveness from the Lord for all the sins that we may have done in this life or in the past, and to purify our souls and drive out the negativity in our lives. Om Namah Shivaya
St Philip the Apostle (Φίλιππος,ܦܝܠܝܦܘܣ, San Felipe Apóstol, Philippos) (d80). Feast Day for the Disciple of Jesus from Bethsaida who connected Him to Andrew and Peter, who were from the same town. Philip was among those surrounding John the Baptist when the latter first identified Jesus as the Lamb of God and Philip first introduced Nathanael (Bartholomew) to Him. Philip bore a Greek name and was a link to the Greek community, advising Andrew that certain Greeks wished to meet Jesus. Philip preached in Greece, Syria and Phrygia and in Hierapolis, through a miraculous healing and his preaching, he converted the wife of the proconsul, who was so enraged that he had Philip and Bartholomew tortured and then crucified upside-down. Philip preached from his cross. and as a result the crowd released Bartholomew from his cross but Philip insisted that they should not release him and he died a martyr on the cross. Regarded as a Disciple in Islam. The relics of Philip the Apostle are now at his major shrine in the crypt of Basilica Santi Apostoli, Rome and his emblem is the Latin cross. Venerated in Anglicanism, Catholicism, Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism. Feast Day with St James the Apostle 1 May Anglican Communion, 14 November Eastern Orthodox Church with the Translation of Relics 31 June, Armenian Church 17 November, Coptic Church 18 November. Patron of Uruguay, San Felipe Pueblo, Cape Verde, hatters, pastry chefs.