The celebration of Easter occurs each year, usually between March 22 and April 25. This celebration has its earliest roots thousands of years ago when our ancestors believed that a goddess was responsible for the return of spring each year. To make sure that the goddess of spring comes back, people held festivals in her honor. Today, Easter is the name of a religious festival which signifies the rebirth of Christ.

 Easter, called Velykden (“Great Day”) in Ukraine, is the Ukrainian Orthodox Church's most important holiday. The celebrations combine modern innovations with ancient traditions to make the holiday one of the most enjoyable of the year.

Velykden was also the word used for the spring equinox. After Christianity, this became a celebration of Christ’s Crucifixion and Resurrection.

Easter is at the end of the Lenten season, which covers a forty-day period. There is a long-standing tradition of being austere and temperate during Lent. Amusements are discouraged. Extra efforts are made to follow the Church regulations of fasting and abstinence faithfully.

The last Sunday before Easter (Palm Sunday) is called Willow Sunday (Verbna nedilia) in Ukraine. Palm Sunday takes its name from Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem where the crowds laid palms at his feet. On this day pussy-willow branches are blessed in the church. People take them home and place them around religious pictures, statues or other objects. They remain there for a year until the next Willow Sunday when they are replaced by newly blessed willow branches. This ritual held a magical intent in pagan times. Possessing medicinal properties, the willow tree was considered a holy tree, since in spring it was one of the first in the plant world to show signs of life.

The week before Easter is known as "white, clean, illuminating, or grand week, Passion Week, or willow week." Its days are devoted to physical and spiritual cleaning. During this time an effort is made to finish all work before Thursday, since from Thursday any work is forbidden. Holy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper, which was held the evening before the Crucifixion. Friday in Holy Week is the anniversary of the Crucifixion, the day that Christ was crucified and died on the cross.

Easter begins with the Easter matins and high liturgy, during which the pasky (traditional Easter breads) and pysanky and krashanky (decorated or colored Easter eggs) are blessed in the church. After the matins all the people in the congregation exchange Easter greetings, give each other krashanky, and then hurry home with their baskets of blessed food (sviachene). The usual greeting during Easter is “Christ has arisen!” to be responded with “Truly arisen!” instead of saying “Hello”. As people greet each other they will kiss each other on the cheeks.

During the Easter season in Ukraine the cult of the dead is observed. The dead are remembered on Maundy Thursday and also during the whole week after Easter, especially on the first Sunday following Easter Sunday.

Ukraine is famous for its decorated Easter eggs.

With the advent of Christianity, the symbolism of the egg changed to represent, not nature's rebirth, but the rebirth of man. Christians embraced the egg symbol and likened it to the tomb from which Christ rose.

Old legends blended folklore and Christian beliefs and firmly attached the egg to the Easter celebration. One legend concerns the Virgin Mary. According to it Mary gave eggs to the soldiers at the cross. She entreated them to be less cruel and she wept. The tears of Mary fell upon the eggs, spotting them with dots of brilliant color.

Another legend tells of when Mary Magdalene went to the sepulcher to anoint the body of Jesus. She had with her a basket of eggs to serve as a repast. When she arrived at the sepulcher and uncovered the eggs, the pure white shells had miraculously taken on a rainbow of colors.

Pysanka is often taken to mean any type of decorated egg, but it specifically refers to eggs created by the written-wax batik method. Several types of decorated eggs are seen in Ukrainian tradition, and these vary throughout the regions of Ukraine.

All but the krashanky are usually meant to be decorative (as opposed to edible), and the egg yolk and white are either allowed to dry up over time, or removed by blowing them out through a small hole in the egg.

Ukrainian pysanky are not meant to be eaten. They are typically given to family members or respected outsiders. To give a pysanka is to give a symbolic gift of life. Furthermore, each of the designs and colors on the pysanka is likely to have a deep, symbolic meaning. There are several thousand different motifs in Ukrainian folk designs. The custom of decorating pysanky was observed thoroughly. Legend says that as long as pysanky are decorated, goodness will prevail over evil throughout the world.

Superstitions were attached to the colors and designs on the pysanky. One old Ukrainian myth centered on the wisdom of giving older people gifts of pysanky with darker colors and/or rich designs, for their life has already been filled. Similarly, it is appropriate to give young people pysanky with white as the predominant color because their life is still a blank page. Another Ukrainian superstition insists that girls should never give their boyfriends pysanky that have no design on the top and bottom of the egg; the baldness on either end signifies that the boyfriend will soon lose his hair.

Easter Egg Games play an important part in Easter sports. The rules of an Easter Egg Roll are to see who can roll an egg the greatest distance or can make the roll without breaking it, usually down a grassy hillside or slope

The most honored Easter bread is the round-shaped paska. Every homemaker wants her paska to be the best and the biggest. Thus while baking it she performs various magical gestures and incantations to insure its successful outcome. During the preparation the homemaker has to think good thoughts. While the paska is baking no one is allowed to sit down in the house or make a loud noise. A successfully baked paska bring great joy to the family. The antiquity of the paska as a ritual bread is evidenced not only by the rituals performed during the baking, but also by the decorations that adorned this holiday bread. The top of the paska is decorated with symbolic signs made of dough such as a cross, rosettes and pine cones (symbols of fertility), entwined with a braid or spirals (symbols of eternity). Most of these decorations are remnants of an ancient pagan religion tied to the cult of the sun and bread.

One can fulfill religious commendments or not in any case Easter is a good break in everyday activity, an opportunity to see friends and relatives and just to have a good time.

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