Lazarus Saturday

The Saturday Before Palm Sunday; 

The Eastern Orthodox Church marks a Holy Day on the day before Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday is this coming Sunday.
For the Eastern Orthodox Church, the day before is referred to as “Lazarus Saturday”.

The raising of Lazarus from the dead is one of the last actions of Jesus described in the Gospel of John before the events of Holy Week.
The Eastern Orthodox Church observes what they call “The Great Lent” as 40 days of fasting leading up to Lazarus Saturday. The final week of what many other Christians call Lent is a separate time for Orthodox Christians and Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday Sunday are feast days.

I like the concept of Lazarus Saturday.
We could use such a holy day this year. Even amidst so much loss and pain and uncertainty, there are marks that life overwhelms death in Christ Jesus.
The Orthodox Church observes the feast of Lazarus Saturday by breaking a special kind of bread in shapes resembling the shapes of people. The faces of the spiced bread are decorated with almonds or cloves and the bread is wrapped in cloth resembling burial cloth. There is music and sometimes dramatic performances and even something like caroling from door to door. Children are given cookies and eggs and candy.
I think that this year, 2021 I may observe a modified “Lazarus Saturday”.