This year we are unable to gather at the cathedral to have our Paschal food blessed. Below is a brief order of blessing that can be done at home before the home meal on Pascha day. Sing the following three times:
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.
After having finished singing, the head of the family reads the following prayer for the blessing of meat:
O Lord Jesus Christ our God, look down upon this flesh meat and sanctify it, as thou didst sanctify the ram which faithful Abraham brought unto thee, and the lamb which Abel offered unto thee as a whole-burnt offering; likewise also the fatted calf which thou didst command to be slain for thy prodigal son when he returned again to thee, that as he was counted worthy to delight in thy good things, so we might also delight in those things that are sanctified and blessed by thee for the nourishment of us all. For thou art the true Nourishment and the Giver of good things, and unto thee do we send up glory, together with thy Father who is without beginning, and thy most holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
All family members: Amen.
Then a second prayer at the Blessing of Cheese, Eggs and “kulitch”:
O Master, Lord our God, Creator and Fashioner of all things: do thou bless this curdled milk and also these eggs, and preserve us in thy goodness, so that, partaking of them, we may be filled with thy gifts, ungrudgingly bestowed, and with thine ineffable goodness. For thine is the might, and thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.
All family members: Amen.
If holy water is available, these can be sprinkled while saying: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.