RED EGGS DAY! 

Thursday 17 April 2025 was a day of feverish activity.

The Thursday in Holy Week is a very spiritual and solemn day as we commemorate the Last Supper, the Passion of Christ and His Crucifixion.

But in Greek Orthodox homes it’s also a day of prepping for the happiest day of the year – the Resurrection on Easter Sunday.

We had an egg-dyeing workshop at our church hall to master the art of perfect red eggs!

It is also known as Kokkini Pempti (Red Thursday) – the day Orthodox Christians dye their eggs red which symbolises the blood of Christ shed for us and our salvation.

Real hard-boiled eggs dyed red are an integral part of our Pascha traditions.

We also have fun with these gorgeous rich red glossy eggs which can be decorated with gold or whatever you fancy- it’s an Easter Sunday game called Tsougrisma, meaning “ egg cracking”.

It is traditional at Greek get-togethers with family and friends and in Greek Orthodox churches at the end of the midnight Holy Liturgy service, to crack red eggs at Easter, symbolising Christ’s resurrection.

This game starts with two people tapping or knocking red eggs together. The goal is to crack your opponent’s egg—without cracking yours, of course!
It is traditional for the eldest member of the family to start it off
With the first tap, the players say, “Christo Anesti” (Christ has risen).

The player whose egg does not crack moves to the next person who has an intact uncracked egg. With this tap, the players say, “Alithos Anesti” (Indeed, Christ is risen).

The person who lands up with the uncracked egg at the end of the game wins, and, it is believed, will have good luck for the following year.

This much-loved traditional game has deep symbolism in our Easter celebration as well.

The egg shell symbolises the tomb where Jesus was placed after His death and the cracking of the egg signifies His resurrection from the dead and exit from the tomb.

The deep red color denotes the blood of Christ. And of course, the egg itself, symbolises eternal life.

The red egg or any egg serves has a deep religious significance for us as it is an emblem of the resurrection, and over time the various decorated Easter eggs were globally recognised as a symbol of the most special day on the Christian calendar—Easter, the event that gave us the promise of eternal life.

According to some followers of Eastern Christianity, the tradition of painting eggs red on Holy Thursday is all down to Mary Magdalene.

According to legend , Mary Magdalene, some time after the Resurrection of Christ, went to Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome and courageously told him that Christ had risen from the dead after three days and was the true Messiah.
According to the rule of the time, everyone visiting the Emperor was supposed to bring him a gift.
Rich and influential people, of course, brought expensive gifts whereas the poor offered whatever they could afford.

Mary Magdalene took an egg to the Emperor’s palace and handed it to Tiberius Caesar with the greeting: “Christ is Risen!“

When she finished her story Tiberius then challenged Mary saying that if all her words about Jesus were true, then the white egg would be turned into a red egg.

Suddenly the egg turned red leaving Caesar totally dumbstruck and utterly perplexed.

This incident is depicted in the iconography of the Russian Monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane in Jerusalem.

The Monastery was built in 1885 by Tsar Alexander II for his mother. The remains of Princess Alice of Greece, mother of Prince Phillip, were interred there in 1988. 

Inside the church of the monastery just above the Holy Altar is a large painting which depicts Saint Mary Magdalene in front of Tiberius Caesar handing him a red egg.

The choice of red “the colour of life and victory” bears a long history and dates to ancient Mesopotamia, where early Christians stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Jesus.

Many Greeks carry on the ancient tradition of placing the first red egg at the home’s iconostasis (the place where our icons are displayed for home prayer.)
 

Red eggs are without a doubt the perfect expression of an Orthodox Easter.

( Text and photos: Pepe Sofianos) 

Source for Mary Magdalene from Greek Reporter. 

Close-up egg photos: Public domain