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• 04 / 21 / 2009

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With the phrase "Christ has risen", Russian orthodox followers in Havana city celebrated last Sunday the most important date in their liturgical calendar.

This is the first time that the Our Lady of Kazan church, inaugurated by Cuban President Raul Castro on October 19th 2008, celebrates the occasion.

The Easter ceremony lasted some four hours and was presided over by newly-arrived Father Viacheslav, who finished reading a letter from the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, His Holiness Kiril.

The priest reminded the audience that few churches, even in Russia, had enjoyed the privilege of the presence of a future patriarch both at the laying of the first stone and at its sanctification.

Viacheslav also thanked the numerous Russian parishioners who attended the event, as well as the performance of the choir, made up of some 40 voices, which sang works from the ritual repertoire, composed in ecclesiastic Slav.

Easter marks the moment when, according to Christian tradition, Jesus, crucified by the Romans, rose from the dead during the third day and went to Heaven.

And, though every four years approximately, the Catholic and Orthodox festivities coincide, they usually are celebrated one or two weeks apart.

Easter is a moveable festival, meaning it is not fixed in relation to the civil calendar Easter falls each year on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25 inclusive (April 4 and May 8 in Eastern Christianity), following the lunar cycle

Source: Radio Rebelde