MOSCOW — Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II wished health and happiness to millions of Orthodox Christians as believers yesterday marked Easter, the holiest day in the Orthodox calendar.

The Russian Orthodox Church, all but banned under the Soviet Union, has experienced a major resurgence since 1991, with an estimated two-thirds of Russia's 144 million people believed to be observant.

"Let the joy of the Easter holiday touch every heart. Let this joy give you strength and courage to withstand all hardships and troubles," the patriarch said. Parts of his address were broadcast on Russian television.

Orthodox churches use a different calendar than the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches, which celebrated Easter on March 27.

At the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, thousands of believers gathered for midnight Mass, including President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov.

In Jerusalem, hundreds of pilgrims joined a handful of local Christians in celebrating Orthodox Easter in Christianity's holiest site, where tradition holds that Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified and buried.

Worshippers celebrated peacefully despite plans by Palestinians to protest the participation of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Irineos I, a central figure in a land dispute in Jerusalem's Old City.