Well, merci a lot, Monique. The fact is that my “erudition” is what you see on the screen of hours of online (mostly) and library research. As a nonfiction writer all my life, it’s that preparatory stage that is so engaging: I love finding appropriate images, adding hotlinks to a certain person or place reference – and then figuring out how to assemble it all as a spot of story-telling. All the while trying not to step on pious toes. As for the resemblance between the Giotto and Byzantine representation of the same scene: the fact is that, chronologically, the Byzantine (Eastern Christian)”version” preceded the Western Church’s”version” by a few eras. So Giotto, and other medieval painters in the West, began their account of the Noli Me Tangere moment by referencing the Byzantine, and then moved on into the Renaissance. Something like that. I’m happy to be set straight if need be.

Thanks, dear Helen. Yes, that was what has made MM so vital to me too – her humanity, lived to the nth degree of her, and our, spiritual potential.

Hmmm, yes, that red of the red egg: belongs to a pagan colour-chart, perhaps, as befitting the association of egg with rebirth etc. which is how the pysanka, or painted egg, became a Christian symbol among Ukrainians since forever… But scarlet also is the colour of Roman Catholic priestly vestments. “This bold colour signifies passion, blood, fire, God’s love, and Jesus’ suffering. It is most typically worn on Palm Sunday, Pentecost and when the Sacrament of Confirmation is performed.” As for Ukrainian/Greek Catholic clergy, “Red for feasts of Martyrs, the Nativity fast, and also Pascha in some regions (color of martyrs blood, also color of divinity and royalty).”

And the Orthodox Church? “While there is no hard-and-fast rule, white does tend to be the preferred color at funerals and services for those fallen asleep. That applies both to Greek-Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. Some Ukrainians, however, prefer red vestments at funerals and services for those fallen asleep. This seems to reflect a custom found far back in Ukrainian history: the Cossacks used to carry a special red cloth with which to cover the face of a deceased Cossack. To add to the confusion, some Russians like to serve at least the first half of the midnight Paschal service in red vestments (and then change to white for the Divine Liturgy – I saw this done in Saint Petersburg in 1988; the main celebrant was Metropolitan Alexis, who became Patriarch of Moscow a little later and whose funeral has given rise to the present discussion). If one asks why this should be, the usual response is a fable about some vestments which Tsar Nicholas II gave the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin and which were opened later than they should have been.”

One can also find the bizarre custom of changing vestments after each of the 12 Gospels on Holy Thursday night, as if this was some sort of liturgical fashion show. I have no idea how that got started, and no wish to find out.

And so it goes.

Fr. Serge