Observance of Passover

It is recommended to read the essays "Feasts and Holy Days of the Lord" and "New Year, Passover, and Other Symbols" in Essays 1 of THOTH for further understanding of the Holy Days which He commanded we keep "for ever and ever." Also the Satsang Passover, 4/9/90, has a complete explanation of the symbolic significance of Passover.

God commanded Passover to be kept on the evening (the end) of the fourteenth day of the first lunar month (Eve in the Calendar of God). Because it begins at the end of the fourteenth day, Passover also goes into the beginning of the fifteenth day, which is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Passover starts at 6:00 PM (or sunset). All the leavened bread (with yeast) and baking yeast should be out of the house by this time.

Everyone gathers together at 5:30 PM around the HOSH table (preferably round). The food which is to be eaten for the Passover meal is prepared before this time and placed on the bottom shelf. Included are the Passover crackers or bread (any type can be used that is unleavened), and several HOSH necklaces which will later be hung on the outside doors. Someone reads Psalms 100 and then, with instruments, all move around the table singing the HOSH mantra (kirtan, also see this related Satsang). We are offering this food (bread, the body of Christ) to the Lord, in which the leavening (sin) has been removed, so we may experience the ecstasy of the wine of being One with Him. We offer it as a Prasadam (food, or the body of Christ in offering to God).

At 5:50 PM we all stop singing the HOSH mantra and face the center of the table. We perform the Reminder as a group, the modified standing version, following the leader as he recites each verse (the modified standing version is used as there may not be enough space for the full Reminder - the leader should know how the standing version is performed, or contact the Mission for instructions).

After the Reminder is done, we all sit around the HOSH table, in a circle facing the center, recite and sing Samgacchadvam, and then meditate for thirty minutes. After this is completed, the leader recites "The Divine Path" and the collective meditation is finished.

To complete the service, the Satsang Passover is read aloud to remind all of the meaning of Passover, its symbolic significance, and why God commanded to keep it Holy.

The HOSH necklaces (or any kind of HOSH sign) are then put on the door frames, in place of the blood of the lamb. The reason that the blood is no longer necessary is that the Lamb (Christ) has already paid for our sins. So it is no longer necessary to put the blood on the door posts. Now the Lord looks for the HOSH sign as a sign of obedience to Him. The HOSH signs can be taken down the next day, after the Passover night is finished.

The food is eaten, in joy, together as an offering to the Lord (Prasadam).

The seven days following the Passover make up the Feast of Unleavened Bread (for more information, read "Feasts and Holy Days of the Lord" in Essays 1 of THOTH).