Saints Day of the Forefathers of the year. Lives of the Saints

At this time of year we see our neighbors celebrating Western Christmas and many of us may be thinking: why can’t we celebrate Christmas on the same day as them? Today's Sunday gives us the answer...

As if anticipating the emergence of such a question, the Holy Orthodox Church begins to prepare us for the great day of the Nativity of Christ through the Nativity Fast. As we approach this day, the Church celebrates the last two Sundays before Christmas in a special way and emphasizes their significance with names slightly different from ordinary Sundays. Two weeks before Christmas we celebrate the Week (i.e. Sunday) of the Holy Forefathers. The Sunday immediately before Christmas is called the Sunday of the Holy Fathers.

How were the Holy Forefathers different and who were they? The word “forefathers” means exactly that: our first parents. Our most distant ancestors were Adam and Eve, and they were followed by the biblical patriarchs Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others who are mentioned in the Bible. What was special about them? Adam and Eve were the first people to sin, but they were also the first to repented. They repented for their sins all of my life.

The common denominator of all the Forefathers was their faith in the true God, Creator of this world and everything visible and invisible, as we sing in the Creed at every Divine Liturgy.

The Holy Forefathers very strictly and faithfully adhered to all the laws that God sent them: they never compromised their faith due to surrounding circumstances. They firmly believed that the truth was the truth, and the lie was a lie, regardless of what most other people did and thought. In other words, the Holy Forefathers did not follow the human teaching of “political correctness”! It was not always easy for them, but they never compromised their faith.

Christianity has always been and always will be a struggle. Moral and spiritual values ​​never change. Good always remains good, and evil always remains evil. People often forget or don't pay attention to the fact that God is outside of time. Time exists only for mortal beings and will end someday, but God's laws are timeless and therefore eternally valuable.

In the Holy Gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ says: “I did not bring peace to earth, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). The sword is a symbol of struggle - mainly spiritual struggle. We have to fight all our lives, and the hardest fight is within ourselves. But before we start fighting, we must know whether we are on the right path? Therefore, we should not blindly follow what the majority of the society around us is doing. In ancient times, the great Greek philosopher Socrates said: “The majority is never right.” All revolutions were based on this principle - how to govern and lead the majority.

And so the Holy Forefathers showed us many bright examples of how we should be and how to think: firstly, that the Lord God should be very real for us, and not abstract, and secondly, that in the light of this we need to check our surroundings us society. In this way we can see how much Western Christianity has lost its focus on God and life in God. Western Christians have unfortunately lost their true understanding of God. The image of God in Western Christianity has gone from bad to worse and is very far from the truth. Just think: what in the environment has eternal value these days? There is only one spiritual emptiness or distortion of everything divine all around.

The human worldview in the time of the Forefathers was not much different from our days, but they themselves held fast to their faith and did not compromise this faith just because the majority thought differently. They held on to faith and for this the grace of God strengthened them.

Let's think about this, dear brothers and sisters, and try to follow the example of the holy Forefathers, because... We are now in a similar position. We can respect the beliefs of our neighbors, but we must not compromise our own. Our Orthodox faith has the best examples and deep roots in our Forefathers, whose memory we brightly celebrate today. Amen.

Archpriest Igor Grebinka

line-height:normal;background:white"> The Sunday of the Holy Forefathers is the penultimate Week before the Nativity of Christ. The Sunday of the Holy Forefathers falls between December 24 and December 30 (new style).

Forefather (Greek) - one of the Old Testament saints revered by the Orthodox Church as executors of the will of God in sacred history before the New Testament era. The forefathers are the ancestors of Jesus Christ according to humanity and thereby participate educationally in the history of salvation, in the movement of humanity towards the Kingdom of Heaven. The forefathers include primarily the Old Testament patriarchs (Greek ancestor, forefather). The Church honors ten Old Testament patriarchs, who, according to the Bible, were models of piety and keepers of the promise even before the giving of the Law to Israel and were distinguished by exceptional longevity (Gen. 5:1-32).
In its song in honor of the holy forefathers, the Church cries out: “Come, let us praise the assembly of the forefathers - Adam the forefather, Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
The main preparations for the feast of the Nativity of Christ are the services of the last two weeks, dedicated to the remembrance of the ancestors of the Savior and all the Old Testament righteous who awaited His coming. One of the weeks is called the Week of the Holy Forefathers, and the other is the Week of the Holy Fathers. The name "forefather" only indicates that this Week precedes the Week "father".
In the service of the forefather and father, the greatest attention is paid to the prophet Daniel and the three youths as foreshadowing the Nativity of Christ in the fiery cave, which did not scorch the “Maiden’s Womb.” On Forefather Week there is a separate canon for the forefathers. And on Sunday the father dedicated a troparion to the prophet Daniel and the three youths. The forefather and father of kontakion, ikos and ipakoi are dedicated to them in the Week. On both Weeks, a special Apostle and Gospel are read at the Liturgy, and a special prokeimenon is sung (Sunday Apostle, Gospel and prokeimenon are canceled).

Moral and dogmatic content of the chants of the services of the Week of the Holy Forefathers and the Week of the Holy Fathers.

After the fall of the universal Adam, a stream of corruption and sin spilled over the earth. The “mediastinum of sin” was carried away by man into the afterlife. The souls of the dead descended into prison (Greek - hell, Hebrew - Sheol), as if in conclusion, having been bound in earthly life by the bonds of sin and involuntary slavery to the enemy of the human race - the devil. Even those who lived righteously on earth were bound by the “bonds of sin,” for they also did not have enough strength and feelings necessary for heavenly life: their spiritual powers were not prepared for heavenly communion with God.

normal"> Man was left with a vale of weeping and sighing for the Deliverer and Liberator from the slavery of sin and the devil. “Stretch out your hand (God),” this is probably how the Old Testament man cried, “do not leave us, lest the death that thirsts for us, and Satan, who hates us, devour us, but come and draw near to us, and have mercy on our souls.” The promise that the Deliverer would come, Christ, given by God to Adam, was preserved in the tradition of his descendants. But Christ the Savior did not come to earth soon. It took many, many centuries to prepare humanity to receive Him. And this is understandable. Man was created as a freely rational being and could be saved by God only through his own voluntary desire. The Lord prepared humanity for salvation: before Abraham - through the forefathers, and after Abraham - through the chosen people of Israel.
About the coming of the Savior, many “legal images and prophetic prophecies were announced in advance.” The prophets of the people of Israel, starting from Moses and ending with the “seal of the prophets” Malachi, prophesied about Christ the Savior. “By manifesting the images of Your ineffable incarnation, You have generously multiplied your visions and breathed in prophecies.”
God, pronouncing His judgment on Adam and his descendants, also predicted the struggle that would take place between the seed of the serpent (the devil) and the seed of the woman. If the first is understood as all people who work for the devil through sin, then the second should be understood as the best descendants of Adam, the forefathers and fathers of antiquity, who with their righteous lives opposed the “seed of the devil” - the sinful part of humanity. They lived with immutable, living faith and expectation of the appearance of the Divine Messenger. Humanity could only accept Christ by faith. And the first thing Christ demanded from people was faith (Heb., ch. 11). Long before the Nativity of Christ, humanity, in the person of the forefathers and fathers whom the Church sings in its hymns before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, showed the good fruits of faith. “By faith (Greek: “in faith”) God justified the forefathers,” says the kontakion of the Week of the Forefathers. Since many of the forefathers did not belong to the chosen people, Christ through them betrothed the pagans to Himself in order to subsequently call the pagan peoples to His Church. Christ “exalted them (the forefathers and fathers) in all nations,” for from their lineage came the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who without seed gave birth to Christ.
The Savior had to be born bodily on earth. How important physical birth was is proven by the fact that the Gospel begins precisely with the genealogy of Christ. Although the birth of the Savior was miraculous, unmarried, it came from the Mother, and the blessed Virgin and Mother could not help but have Her ancestors. “The law of heredity, like any law, strict and inexorable, is sometimes terrible in its consequences. A person has to suffer all his life - from childhood, from the cradle for the sins of his ancestors, to suffer from diseases acquired by them, vicious inclinations. But this same law also It is very beneficial for the human race. It consolidates all the good things acquired by man, consolidates it in descendants - and not only consolidates, but also develops, improves. This law makes one race, one even a people good, honest, even holy, another - bad, worse. , at least".

White;">This is especially clearly visible in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, in the forefathers and fathers of antiquity, from whom Christ descended in the flesh - all of them were distinguished by a high and righteous life. Here, “the first Adam, venerable by the hand of the Creator (through creation)” is praised, the forefather of all; his son Abel, who brought gifts “with his noblest soul,” “which God and the Lord accepted of all”; “a fiery aspiration is sung in the world to the Creator, for in immaculate life and spiritual love “Wonderful Enos will truly please.” He relied in the Spirit on the invocation of the Lord of all and God with his lips, tongue and heart." And Enoch, "having pleased the Lord, reposed in glory, appeared better than death, becoming God's most sincere servant." God, seeing the nobility and simplicity of Noah's character perfect in everything, " made him the main leader (ancestor) of the second world." The father of believers is Abraham, the example of meekness and humility is Isaac, the example of patience is Jacob, humility and chastity is Joseph, the merciful Boaz, the devoted Ruth, the courageous David, the wise Solomon, the unfortunate Rehoboam, the pious Hezekiah, the repentant Manasseh, the righteous Josiah and many other Old Testament righteous people. This is how piety was passed on from one righteous man to another on earth before Christ. From such pious ancestors came the Most Holy Virgin Mary, who achieved the highest holiness and purity and served the great mystery of the saving Incarnation. The Virgin Mary was prepared for holiness and a high destiny even before Her birth by the feat of the righteous life of previous generations of Old Testament righteous men, forefathers and fathers, for through them the appearance into the world of Christ saving people was mysteriously foreshadowed, “calling out all that is in the world.”line-height:115%;Times New Roman" new="" roman="">
The closer the time of Christ's coming became, the stronger was the faith and expectation of the righteous of the Old Testament. The three youths, who were in the flame, overcome the fiery element by faith, thinking only about the God of their fathers. And the prophet Daniel, being thrown into the lion's den, tamed wild animals by the power of faith. Christ was not only the expectation of God's chosen people, but also "the expectation of (all) tongues." Finally, when “the prince from the (tribe) of Judah became poor, the time has come (already) in the tender time the hope (hope of the peoples) Christ will appear” - “prophetic preaching, sayings and visions - the end of the coming (began to be realized).”
“Behold, the time of our salvation is drawing near, prepare in the den, the Virgin is approaching to give birth. Bethlehem, land of Judah! Show off and rejoice, for from you our Lord has risen. Hear the mountains and hills, and the surrounding countries of Judea, for Christ is coming, may he save man, his created." “Now the hope of tongues from the Virgin is coming, Bethlehem, receive Christ! For He who is incarnate comes to You, We go, opening to me.”

Troparion to the forefathers, tone 2:

Background:white;"> By faith you justified the forefathers, / from the tongue of those you gave the Church: / they boast in holy glory, / for from their seed there is blessed fruit, / without seed, Who gave birth to You. / Through those prayers, O Christ God, have mercy on us.

Sedalen of the forefathers, tone 8:
Let us all singly praise Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, / the meek David, Jesus and the twelve patriarchs / together with the three youths who extinguished the fiery flame with spiritual power, / rejoice, - crying out to them, - the charm valiantly denouncing the foolish king, / and pray to Christ / the remission of sins to grant to those who celebrate your holy memory with love.

From the 8th song of the canon by the forefathers on the Sunday of Saints, the forefathers:
Today we commemorate the honorable fathers of those who exist from all eternity, / Adam, Abel, Seth, and Noah, / and Enos, and Enoch, and Abraham, / Melchizedek and Job, Isaac and the faithful Jacob, / may the creature, crying out, bless the Lord / and exalts it to all ages.

source www/vsetsaritsa.ru

In the penultimate week before Christmas, the Orthodox Church celebrates Sunday of the Holy Forefathers .

Forefathers are called all the Old Testament righteous people who were saved by faith in the coming Messiah-Savior, a host of Old Testament saints revered by the Church as executors of the will of God in sacred history before the New Testament era. Among them are the Holy Fathers - the direct ancestors of Jesus Christ; their memory is separately honored in the last week before Christmas. Thus, through the Nativity Fast and the glorification of the first righteous, we prepare for the greatest holiday - the Nativity of Christ, when the coming of Christ, which they expected, took place.

With Adam and Eve, the line of Old Testament patriarchs began, who were models of piety and distinguished by exceptional longevity. The first was Adam, the second was Seth - the third son of Adam and Eve. Methuselah is famous among the patriarchs. He lived for 969 years, and his name is still associated with longevity. Methuselah died before the Flood, after which only the last (tenth) Old Testament patriarch Noah and his family remained alive.

The Flood is God's punishment for the moral fall of humanity. Noah was a righteous man, so God saved him. Even before the flood, Noah appealed to many people to repent of their sins. While on the Ark, he worked tirelessly, caring for all living beings who found salvation on his ship. At the end of the flood, the ark arrived at the mountains of Ararat, where Noah made sacrifices to God, and God blessed him and his descendants by concluding a Covenant with Him (a series of moral laws). Noah represents the image of the new man saved in Christ. The Apostle Peter calls Noah a preacher of righteousness and in his salvation from the flood he sees an indication of the possibility of spiritual salvation through baptism.

Many of Noah's descendants are revered among the forefathers. Among the descendants of his first son was Abraham, the ancestor of the entire Jewish people. The story of the genealogy of Jesus Christ begins with it.

Today, remembering all the Old Testament righteous, the Church sings:
“By faith you justified the forefathers, / from the tongue of those the Church was promised: / they boast in holy glory, / for from their seed there is blessed fruit, / who gave birth without seed. / Through those prayers, Christ God, have mercy on us.”

Troparion, tone 2

	Holy forefathers in Paradise. XIX century

Moral and dogmatic content of the chants of the services of the Week of the Holy Forefathers and the Week of the Holy Fathers.

After the fall of the universal Adam, a stream of corruption and sin spilled over the earth. The “mediastinum of sin” was carried away by man into the afterlife. The souls of the dead descended into prison (Greek - hell, Hebrew - Sheol), as if in conclusion, having been bound in earthly life by the bonds of sin and involuntary slavery to the enemy of the human race - the devil. Even those who lived righteously on earth were bound by the “bonds of sin,” for they also did not have enough strength and feelings necessary for heavenly life: their spiritual powers were not prepared for heavenly communion with God.

	Icon of the Holy Forefathers in the Church of the Holy Forefathers in Hebron.

Troparion to the forefathers, tone 2:

By faith you justified the forefathers, / from the tongue of those the Church was promised: / they boast in holy glory, / for from their seed there is a blessed fruit, / who gave birth to you without seed. / By those prayers, O Christ God, have mercy on us.

Sedalen of the forefathers, tone 8:

Let us all singly praise Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, / the meek David, Jesus and the twelve patriarchs / together with the three youths who extinguished the fiery flame with spiritual power, / rejoice, - crying out to them, - the charm valiantly denouncing the foolish king, / and pray to Christ / the remission of sins to grant to those who celebrate your holy memory with love.

From the 8th song of the canon by the forefathers on the Sunday of Saints, the forefathers:

Today we commemorate the honorable fathers of those who exist from all eternity, / Adam, Abel, Seth, and Noah, / and Enos, and Enoch, and Abraham, / Melchizedek and Job, Isaac and the faithful Jacob, / may the creature, crying out, bless the Lord / and exalts it to all ages.

(www.portal-slovo.ru; wertograd.narod.ru; illustrations - nikolski-sobor.narod.ru;
www.cirota.ru; foto.mail.ru; palomnic.org).

Temple of the Holy Forefathers in Hebron.

27th Sunday after Pentecost, holy forefathers. Voice 2.

St. Spyridon, bishop Trimifuntsky, miracle worker. St. Ferapont of Monzensky.

The Sunday service of Octoechos is performed together with the service of the holy forefathers (see in the Menaion on December 11).

Note. If the Nativity of Christ happens on Saturday, then the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers occurs on December 12, and the Week of the Holy Fathers (aka before the Nativity of Christ) on December 19 (see Typikon, December 11).

Calendar notes:

The Sunday service is connected with the service of the Holy Forefathers. The order of connection is indicated in the Typikon and in the Menaion on December 11.

Order of readings, according to the calendar:

At Great Vespers“Blessed is the man” - all kathisma.

On “Lord, I cried” stichera for 10: Sunday, tone 2 – 6, and forefathers, tone 8 – 4. “Glory” – forefathers, tone 6: “Who was before the law...”, “And now “- dogmatist, voice 2: “Pass away the lawful shadow...”.

Entrance. Prokeimenon of the day.

At the litany of the stichera of the temple. “Glory” - the forefathers, voice 1: “Shown with rays...”, “And now” - the Resurrection of the Theotokos, the same voice: “Behold, Isaiah’s prophecy has been fulfilled...”.

On the poem there are Sunday stichera, tone 2. “Glory” - the forefathers, voice 3: “The Council of the Forefathers...”, “And now” - the Resurrection of the Theotokos, the same voice: “Without seed from the Divine Spirit...”.

According to the Trisagion - “To the Virgin Mary...” (twice) and the troparion of the forefathers, tone 2: “By faith you justified the forefathers...” (once).

At matins on “God is the Lord” – Sunday troparion, tone 2 (twice). “Glory, even now” is the troparion of the forefathers, the same voice: “By faith you justified the forefathers...”.

Kathismas 2nd and 3rd. Small litanies. Sunday sedals.

Polyeleos. "Angelic Cathedral..." Ipakoi voices. Sedalen of the forefathers, tone 8: “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob...” (twice). “Glory, even now” - the Mother of God of the Menaion, the same voice: “Thankful praise...”. Sedate and prokeimenon - voices. Sunday Gospel 5th. “Having seen the Resurrection of Christ...” According to Psalm 50: “Glory” - “Through the prayers of the apostles...”. Sunday stichera, tone 6: “Jesus is risen from the grave...”.

Canons: Sunday with irmos for 4 (irmos once), youths (see in the Menaion, in the service of the forefathers) for 4 and forefathers for 6.

Bible songs “We sing to the Lord...”.

Catavasia “Christ is born...”.

According to the 3rd song - ipakoi of the forefathers, voice 2 (once).

According to the 6th song - kontakion and ikos of the forefathers, tone 6.

On the 9th song we sing “The Most Honest”.

According to the 9th song - “Holy is the Lord our God.” Exapostilary Sunday 5th. “Glory” - the luminaries of the forefathers: “Let us praise Adam...”, “And now” - the Theotokos Menaion: “The great Sun...”.

“Every breath…” and psalms of praise.

On the praises, stichera for 8: Sunday, tone 2 – 4, and forefathers, the same voice – 4 (with refrains: “Blessed art thou, O Lord...”, “For thou art righteous in regard to all...”; the first stichera - twice). “Glory” - to the forefathers, tone 7: “Come, all of you, truly triumphant...”, “And now” - “Most blessed art thou...”.

Great doxology. According to the Trisagion - the Sunday troparion: “Risen from the grave...”.

Before the 1st hour on “Glory, and now” – the 5th Gospel stichera.

On the clock is the Sunday troparion. “Glory” is the troparion of the forefathers. Kontakion of the forefathers only.

At the Liturgy blessed voices - 6 and the forefathers, song 3 - 4.

At the entrance - the Sunday troparion, the troparion of the forefathers. “Glory, even now” is the kontakion of the forefathers.

Prokeimenon – Song of the Fathers, tone 4: “Blessed art thou, O Lord God our father...”, verse: “For thou art righteous in regard to all...”.

Alleluia - the forefathers, tone 4: “Moses and Aaron in His priests...”, verse: “I call upon the Lord...”.

Apostle and Gospel - Weeks of the Forefathers.

Note. On the Sunday of the Saints, the Forefathers, according to the Charter, read the Apostle of the 29th Week (Col., 257 readings) and the Gospel of the 28th Week (Luke, 76 readings). See also note 5 December.

Communicated - Sunday: “Praise the Lord...”; and the forefathers: “Rejoice, ye righteous...”

Note. "Egd a y having been A et Ned e la holy y x pr A father, left I follows e adoption And you're holy A go to that Ned e liu and e m pr e waiting on Friday O to the end e ria" (Typikon, December 11, Markov's chapter).

See: Menaia-December. M., 2002. Part 1. pp. 406–421.

According to the first verse on “Glory, and now” - Theotokos Sunday, 2nd tone: “Everything is more than meaning...”.