ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN PASCHA SERVICES START TONIGHT.

Byline: HOLLY J. ANDRES

Staff Writer

VAN NUYS -- "Christ is risen; truly, he is risen" will be repeated joyously by members of Orthodox Christian churches at services beginning late tonight.

Pascha, an Aramaic word used by Orthodox Christians for the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, has arrived after an eight-day prayerful journey, which began March 31 with the Lazarus Saturday service.

Memorializing Jesus' last public miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead to the Last Supper and the resurrection, Orthodox Christians have attended services each day to remember the last days of Christ's spiritual work on Earth.

"This is the feast of feasts for us. It is the focal point of our year. Everything leads to Pascha," said the Very Rev. Timothy Baclig from St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church in Van Nuys. "This feast is a tremendous experience that gives people hope and reveals the plan of God."

The Antiochian Orthodox Church follows a certain formula, as do Greek and Russian Orthodox churches, to determine the Sunday when Pascha is celebrated. Most years, Pascha doesn't coincide with churches that follow the Western date, such as Roman Catholic, Lutheran or Anglican churches.

Pascha is always celebrated on the Sunday that comes after the first full moon on or after the vernal equinox, but also after the Jewish observance of Passover has begun.

The Antiochian Orthodox Church has the distinction of being the first church whose members were called Christians. This venerable church has its roots in Antioch, now called Antakya, in southern Turkey, and was founded, it is said, by the apostles Peter and Paul. The current headquarters of the Antiochian Orthodox Church is Damascus, Syria.

The congregation of St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church, whose services use 95 percent English, will participate in the ancient and dramatic pageantry of the Pascha service tonight beginning with a candlelight procession from a darkened church sanctuary out to a starlit sky.

"We go around the church and stand at the front doors. The congregation is singing the Paschal Canon. The priest pounds on the door and there is a dialogue with someone who represents Satan behind the doors," Baclig said.

"When the doors finally open, everyone sees the lights are on and the candles are lit. And the chandelier is swinging. Why? Because that signifies that an earth-shaking event has happened."

The potent audiovisual experience of the Resurrection service also includes the church's icons' doors being opened, when they are normally shut, and a bay leaf-strewn floor, from the morning Saturday service, that signifies the presence of a king, Jesus.

"You can't enter the church and not see that something spectacular has happened. All of the things we see are all there to exemplify that the Resurrection was life-changing. The message of Pascha is focused on Christ's victory over darkness, death and sin," said Baclig, who was a convert to the Orthodox Church and will celebrate 25 years in the clergy next year.

Tonight's service will tug at the heartstrings of member Riad Aftimos, who is from Damascus. The congregation at St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church is made up of people whose home countries include Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and some Eastern European countries.

"It is a little bit nostalgic for me here on Easter. People live close together in that part of the city (Damascus) so it's like we're one big family. This service (there) is so packed with people that many have to stand outside the church," said Aftimos, who has been in the United States for seven years.

"The only difference between the service here and there, besides the language, is that it is longer there. Maybe I feel closer to God there, but I am proud to be a part of the community of first Christians."

Strolling bands play in the street in Damascus during Holy Week, with sad songs on Good Friday, and they also play on the Monday and Tuesday after Easter. People dress up for church services because they respect that church is a holy place, said Aftimos.

Christians in Damascus dye hard-boiled eggs for Pascha, but Easter baskets are an acquired custom from Europe, and, as Aftimos charmingly put it, "What does the bunny mean?" On Easter Monday, the custom is for people to put flowers on loved ones' graves and pray for the resurrection of the dead.

Tonight's service at St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox includes the Paschal sermon written by St. John Chrysostom, who was from Antioch. This sermon is always used at Orthodox churches for Pascha.

Red-dyed eggs will be handed out at the end of tonight's service. The congregation will hold a breakfast about 2 a.m. Sunday. People whose ancestry is from Eastern Europe will have their Easter baskets -- baskets filled not with chocolates, but with meat, cheese, bread and wine -- blessed.

Sunday morning's service is called the Paschal Vespers of Agape (Love). The Gospel will be read in as many languages as the congregation knows, including English, Arabic, Greek and Slavic languages.

Services of the Glorious Resurrection -- Holy Pascha, 11:30 p.m. today, St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church, 16643 Vanowen St., Van Nuys. The Paschal Vespers of Agape, 11 a.m. Sunday. Call [phone] or see www.stmichaelvannuys.org.

holly.andres(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

The Very Rev. Timothy Baclig leads St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church in the drama of Pascha.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer