The burning of Judas or the Lambratzia tonight on Holy Saturday evening is one of the most important customs of our country for Holy Week.
In her statements to KYPE, the scholar of tradition Anna Tselepou stated that from the depths of our tradition, the specific custom is recorded in the villages and cities of Cyprus in the courtyards of our churches.
From an early age, young children carry wood to a safe place in the courtyard of the church to light the fire. Woods small as well as large with the name " kuzali “, as he said, that will have a long fire on top of each other and on top of the mountain with the wood the effigy of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Christ ready to be burned.
As he said “around eleven o'clock in the evening the fire will be lit and the faithful will go to the church and around the fire to wait for the Risen Christ”.
The priest with the Gospel will leave the church at 12 midnight on Saturday and in front of Lambratzia he will ask the villagers if they are all there and begin the Christ is Risen.
The fire will burn and many fireworks have been lit around in recent years. In earlier years it was improvised firecrackers. He also added that an important custom that is worth mentioning for this evening is that in this specific fire the young men and women who wore " martaki ", the March 1st bracelet with the assurance that now they won't get burned by the sun.
The people of our country create customs that we must keep alive, Ms. Tselepou concluded.
Source: KYPE
