Fasika 2027: May 2

What is Fasika?

Fasika (ፋሲካ), also called Tinsae (ትንሣኤ, “resurrection”), is Easter in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo churches. It is the most important feast of the church year and a public holiday in Ethiopia and Eritrea. It ends Abiy Tsom, the 55-day Great Lent.

How the date of Fasika is calculated

Fasika moves every year. The Ethiopian church calculates it with Bahire Hasab (ባሕረ ሐሳብ), a traditional system of calendar arithmetic, and the result always falls on the same Sunday as Eastern Orthodox Easter. In the Gregorian calendar that is between early April and early May. It is often a week or more later than Western (Catholic and Protestant) Easter, and occasionally on the same day.

Because Fasika moves, every feast and fast that depends on it moves too: Nineveh, the start of Abiy Tsom, Debre Zeit, Hosanna, Siklet, Erget (Ascension) and Peraklitos (Pentecost). The dates on this site are calculated from Fasika for every year.

Holy Week and the Easter vigil

The week before Fasika, Himamat (Passion Week), is the most solemn of the year, with long services every day and a stricter fast. On Saturday night the faithful gather at church for a vigil that lasts until about 3 a.m., when the priests announce the resurrection: Kristos tenseʾa emmutan (“Christ is risen from the dead”).

Breaking the fast

After the vigil families return home to break the fast, usually with doro wat, injera, eggs and dairy, often the first animal products in eight weeks. Later on Sunday many families slaughter a sheep or share in an ox bought together by neighbours, and visit relatives with greetings and gifts.

After Fasika

The 50 days from Fasika to Peraklitos (Pentecost) are a season of joy: the usual Wednesday and Friday fasts are not kept. Erget (Ascension) falls 39 days after Fasika, on a Thursday.