Jesus un-nailed from cross during Greek Easter celebration

Heads were bowed in reverence as a wooden Jesus was un-nailed from the cross April 6 at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Lorain.

The removal takes place each year as part of the Greek Orthodox Church’s Easter Celebration.

The Rev. Michael C. Gulgas, who leads the church, 2000 Tower Blvd., said the ceremony is more than just commemorating the journey of Jesus Christ from the cross to the tomb borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea.

“We are there, we are with him,” Gulgas said before the service began. “He did it for us. So

together, we share in his death and resurrection to the new life.”

The un-nailing was just one part of the hour-long service.

Before the figure was removed, Gulgas read from the story of Jesus’ crucifixion from the Gospel of Matthew.

After the figure of Jesus was removed, it was wrapped in a white sheet held by altar boys Spyridon Gulgas and Michael Nicolaou, then placed on the altar.

Next, they paraded a shroud around the church in a procession, then placed it into a large wooden tomb decorated with flowers.

“It’s like we’re reenacting it during the service,” Gulgas said.

This is a common practice in the Greek Orthodox Church which celebrates Easter, the time when Christians believe Jesus was crucified then rose from the dead, at a different time from most other forms of Christianity.

The Rev. Jon Magoulias, a Greek Orthodox priest at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Modesto, Calif., writing for usa. greekreporter.com, said the difference in when certain denominations celebrate the holy holiday is due to a change in calendar.

Orthodox churches still follow the Julian Calendar, whereas the rest of Christianity follows the Gregorian Calendar named for Pope Gregory XIII, Magoulias wrote.

Also, Magoulias notes there also is a difference in the way the holiday is calculated; with Orthodox churches following the “Nicene formula,” which says the Pascha, or Easter, “always follows the Jewish Passover.”

Gulgas said rituals like these are important because of the connection it brings between parishioners and the journey of Jesus.

“It’s important because it’s like the idea that we’re there; we’re part of it,” he said. “He died for us and we’re sharing in that death and resurrection.”

KEITH REYNOLDS — THE MORNING JOURNAL Fr. Michael Gulgas, center, holds a wooden Jesus wrapped in a white sheet after it was removed from the cross April 6 at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 2000 Tower Blvd. in Lorain.