Fasika (Ethiopian Easter) in Ethiopia ፋሲካ
Fasika is the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo celebration of the Resurrection of Christ. It is the most important religious holiday of the year, more central even than Genna (Christmas). Fasika comes after the 55-day Hudade (Abiy Tsom) fast, the longest fast in the Ethiopian church calendar.
The word Fasika comes from the Greek pascha, through the Aramaic pasha and the Hebrew pesach (Passover). Many Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches use a similar word for Easter.
Fasika is a movable feast computed on the Eastern Orthodox Paschal cycle, the same calculation used by the Coptic, Greek, Russian, and Serbian churches: the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox, counted on the Julian calendar. It usually falls in April, occasionally in early May, and sometimes coincides with Western Catholic and Protestant Easter and sometimes runs a week or more later.
Hudade: the 55-day Great Fast
Fasika is preceded by Hudade (also called Abiy Tsom), a 55-day fast that begins eight weeks before Easter. Observant Ethiopian Orthodox Christians eat no animal products and no dairy through Lent. Many also limit eating to a single meal after 3 pm. The fast deepens through Holy Week and reaches its strictest point on Siklet (Good Friday).
How Ethiopians celebrate Fasika
The Saturday midnight liturgy
The faithful gather at church around 6 pm on Holy Saturday in white netela, carrying tapers. The service builds through the night with chanting in Ge'ez, drumming on the kebero, and processions inside the church compound. At midnight the priest proclaims "Kristos tensia em mutan" (Christ is risen from the dead), the church lights come up, and the assembled answer with the kiss of peace and ululations.
Many worshippers leave the church around 3 am and walk home in the dark to break the fast.
Doro wat at the family table
The fast-breaking meal is the largest single meal of the Ethiopian year. The centerpiece is doro wat, a slow-cooked spiced chicken stew with hard-boiled eggs and berbere, served with injera. Many families slaughter a sheep, a goat, or even a calf in the days before Fasika; the cuts are shared among neighbors and the poor. Tibs (sauteed beef or lamb), kitfo (minced raw beef seasoned with mitmita), tej, and tella round out the table.
The Easter greeting
Through Easter week Ethiopians greet each other with the call and response: Kristos tensia em mutan ("Christ is risen") answered with Bahake tensia ("Truly he is risen"). The greeting is exchanged in homes, on the street, in offices, and across the Ethiopian diaspora over phone and video calls home.