Holy Week Calendar: the meaning of the days before Easter. Holy Week - the last week before Easter What do the days before Easter mean
The last day before Easter is Great Saturday, the eve of one of the most joyful and bright days for an Orthodox Christian of the year. Find out what signs and traditions should be observed on the eve of the holiday.
Easter Day
Saturday before Easter is both mournful and joyful. Condemned and executed in , Jesus Christ still lies in the tomb. It was on Saturday that the Apostle disciples obtained permission to remove the Savior from the cross and bury him in a burial cave in the garden of Joseph.
But, despite the fact that Jesus has not yet risen, the atmosphere of Holy Saturday is filled with the eve of a miracle, pre-Easter joy. After all, everyone who has read the Bible knows that Jesus conquered death on Easter Sunday, descended into Hell, saving the righteous from his torment.
Saturday is the last day of Lent. This time is considered sufficient to prepare for Easter and cleanse your soul from sins. Saturday is the end of preparations for the holiday.
Jerusalem hosts an annual descent of the Holy Fire. This event attracts many pilgrims. According to an old legend, the year in which the Holy Fire does not descend will be the last before the Apocalypse. In fact, the modern celebration is just a staging of the event after the resurrection of Christ.
What not to do on the Saturday before Easter
Quiet- so they also call the Saturday before Easter among the people. This means that it is impossible to make noise, sing and dance, listen to music and have fun in other ways, otherwise you will have to cry for a year. Birthdays, weddings and other celebrations are best rescheduled. Laugh on Quiet Saturday - you will have to cry for a year.
Refrain from clarifying the relationship and foul language, otherwise a year awaits in scandals. Fasting is not only restrictions on the menu. The church does not approve of sexual relations, even between married spouses who want to conceive a child. Those who kept a strict fast on Good Friday can drink alcohol - they ate only bread and water. A little red wine is allowed to maintain strength.
Most of the household chores, trades - under the ban. You can not needlework, hunt and fish, as well as slaughter livestock and poultry. Repair or construction is better to postpone on weekdays. Since Good Friday, the ban on working in the garden, cleaning, washing continues. Old people say that you can’t even wash yourself, but this ban is now practically not observed.
On Great Saturday, one cannot refuse those who ask. But giving something from home, borrowing is also not worth it - lose your well-being. The dead are not commemorated, but it is allowed to visit the graves for cleaning.
Easter Eve Traditions
Holy Saturday is sometimes called Dyeing, when it is supposed to paint eggs and bake Easter cakes. The tradition varies by region. In some localities, dishes for a feast for Easter are prepared on or Good Friday. The main thing is that at least one egg is red - the color symbolizes the blood of Christ.
On Saturday, you can decorate the house with fresh flowers, leaves and branches. At a minimum, you can purchase a bouquet to decorate the holiday table for Easter. This symbolizes the rebirth of life, the awakening of nature after a winter sleep, a new beginning. This tradition has been around since pagan times, when Easter was the celebration of the arrival of spring.
Remember that Great Lent is still observed on Saturday. Those who follow it drink water, eat bread, fresh vegetables and fruits. You can break the fast after the service in the church and the procession, which begins exactly at midnight. But from three in the morning until sunrise on Easter, you can’t eat.
On Holy Saturday, Easter baskets are collected with products that are planned to be consecrated in the church. It must contain Easter cakes and colored eggs, the rest of the products are at your discretion. Traditionally, the baskets are covered with embroidered towels.
As in Forgiveness Sunday, it is customary to forgive and ask for forgiveness from relatives and friends, to put up with those with whom they are in a quarrel. Be sure to distribute alms near the temple, treat the poor with Lenten dishes. If you honor the tradition of Easter gifts, it is better to buy them on Holy Saturday.
Signs for Holy Saturday
The weather on Holy Saturday determines what the summer will be like. Clear, warm - sunny and hot. A cloudy day portends a rainy and cold summer.
If a dyed egg consecrated in the church is thrown into water and washed with it, it will be possible to maintain health and youth until old age. This must be done on Saturday.
The sleepless night before Easter is the key to happiness. The one who is awake will be protected from diseases, receive a rich harvest, become a successful hunter, and be happy in marriage. It is better to defend the All-Night Service in the temple, but you can also pray at home.
If a child was born on Holy Saturday before Easter, he will never have to suffer because of trouble. All troubles bypass those born on the eve of a bright holiday. They are lucky, have good health, always achieve their goals.
Holy Saturday is a time of prohibitions and restrictions. This is the last day of Great Lent, filled with anticipation of a bright Christian holiday. Many signs and customs are associated with it, and happiness awaits those who observe them.
Holy Week is the last days before Easter, the path of suffering, the death of the Savior on the cross and his Bright Resurrection. Read more about this in our article!
How to spend Holy Week?
About how to properly spend the Holy Week, how to live it to the fullest, correspondents of the portal asked famous priests.
Archpriest Valerian Krechetov, confessor of the Moscow diocese:
Empathize with the Savior
Archpriest Valerian Krechetov
The time of fasting, which was given to a person to achieve repentance, ends on Friday of the sixth week. The whole meaning of the feat of repentance performed, as the holy fathers say, is the purification of the heart.
Both John the Baptist and the Lord Himself began their sermon with the words: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand". And when, as it is said in the canon of Andrew of Crete, “the prophets have already fainted,” the Church prepares a feast, showing the last days of His life, when the Lord suffered for our sins. As God, He knew everything that would happen, but as a man He asked for compassion: “ And he said to them: My soul is grieving to death; stay here and stay awake” (Mt 26:34).
It prepares us for the feast of Easter and shows that there is no other way to the resurrection than through the cross and suffering. Therefore, ordinary people said: "The Lord endured and commanded us."
The divine services of Holy Week call on a person to empathize and sympathize with the Savior.
The first three days are supposed to be re-read all four Evangelists as a reminder of what the Lord has created, and we crucify Him with our sins. And although this is addressed, as it were, to the Jews of that time, it applies to every person who crucifies Christ with his sins.
On Holy Week, if possible, it is advisable to visit the church more often, especially on, and on the eve of Wednesday evening. In the morning, believers co-present at the Last Supper and take communion, and in the evening the Gospels of the Passion of the Lord are read. Next comes the crucifixion of the Savior, the burial and the already beginning joy of Bright Saturday.
The angels were the first to know about the resurrection of Christ, as well as about His birth, therefore the Church sings: “ Your Resurrection Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven. And vouchsafe us on earth with a pure heart to glorify you". Why is it said "with a pure heart"? Because it is believed that a person cleansed his heart as much as possible by fasting for this bright day.
Holy Week is a precious time
Holy Week services are the best services of the whole church year. I don't think people have created anything better than the Passion Services. This is the most beautiful, the most profound, the most talented, the most divinely inspired of everything born of human genius.
If these services are performed reverently, if a person tries to participate meaningfully in them, then they will transfer him to the reality that appeared on earth two thousand years ago, help him, together with the saints, together with the Mother of God and the apostles, to go through the path of Christ's suffering and meet the Light Christ's Resurrection.
If a person tries to delve into them, he will be able to overcome space and time and become a participant in the gospel events. If you sincerely, with faith and love participate in these church services, then you will definitely feel the whole Gospel in a new way, you will realize yourself a Christian in a new way.
In addition, these services, like any work of art, act not only in a rational way - on the human mind, they act directly, figuratively speaking, on the human heart. By participating in them, a person realizes something, but even more he feels that his faith opens up that spiritual reality that exists outside of time and space. The sacrifice of Christ, His suffering and death, His victory over the forces of evil, over death, the triumph of His resurrection - all this belongs to the spiritual world, which is outside of time and space. And through church services we can join this reality.
So much is a mystery that we cannot understand rationally. This is natural, because the spiritual, Divine world is above us, it does not fully open to our mind, is not subject to it. And he opens his heart. If this happens, it becomes a great achievement in our life. We will understand later, not immediately, that there was nothing higher in our life. And there can be nothing higher than life with Christ, than the opportunity to find Christ and be with Him. Therefore, Holy Week is a precious time.
Of course, one can always be with Christ, and one must always be. But it is very difficult for a fallen man. Our heart is not capable of this, it seems to be exhausted, it cannot purify itself, it cannot prepare itself to always be with God. And here the Lord Himself takes our heart into His hands, leads with His powerful hand and does the work that we should have done ourselves, but have become unable to do it. The Church leads us into a powerful procession to Christ, into life with Christ, so it is much easier to come closer to Christ during the divine service, to feel ourselves together with Him than in solitude.
The circumstances of our life are such that they prevent us from participating in all services. At the St. Nicholas Church in Kuznetsy, we try to serve two services a day: to double the largest services so that all family members can replace each other and participate in these events, not even services.
Each day of Holy Week, as well as the account of these days in the Gospel, is a path to the suffering that took place on Golgotha. Our very journey through the days of Holy Week is similar to the path of passion that the Lord Himself walked.
Here we see how the Lord came to Jerusalem, then left and came again, spoke His last teachings to the people and disciples. Services make us companions of Christ, His hearers. Good Thursday comes to mind, ... It seems to me that comments are not needed here and even impossible. This is so beyond words that, as the service says, "every mind is amazed." It is better to come to the temple and participate yourself.
It is very important that these services are performed slowly, that everything is clear, that they reach the heart, that participation in suffering with Christ unites the entire community, people and clergy, that this is a common procession with Christ.
Archpriest Vladimir Shaforostov:
Don't let yourself live this time in a relaxed way
Archpriest Vladimir Shaforostov
Holy Week is a special time. These days cannot be lived in a relaxed way, as if Christ was not crucified for our salvation.
Unfortunately, many tend to take everything from life, forgetting about the main thing. Rejecting Christ, not responding to the divine love of the cross, people deprive themselves of grace-filled joy and the meaning of life. Let me remind the readers of the portal "Orthodoxy and the World" about the so-called Pascal's wager: a person who believes in Christ wins eternal life if he is right, and does not lose anything if he is wrong; the unbeliever wins nothing if he is right, and loses eternal life if he is wrong.
He rightly remarked that: "God is not so much grieved by the sins we have committed, as by our unwillingness to change."
During the days of Passion Week, everyone who wants to be a faithful disciple of Christ must do everything possible to renounce sinful desires, to put prayerful communion with God above all else.
Do not demand love for yourself, do not hurt your neighbor, but it is better to endure for the sake of Christ and try to live these Great days so that the content of our life is genuine service to God and neighbor.
It is important not only to “defend” the service and remember the sufferings of the Savior, but to prayerfully sympathize, to be crucified with Christ. May God give us all the strength to save and multiply all the light that is given to us by grace, and to overcome the sin that removes us from Christ the Savior.
Archpriest Igor Fomin:
Embrace the spirit of worship
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In order for Easter to become a real holiday, it is advisable to spend Holy Week in the temple and soak up the spirit that the Church gives to believers in worship.
It is necessary to move away from time, from our 21st century, mentally at least go back to those days, to feel what the Lord experienced for us. Every day of this terrible week is dedicated to any day of the week before the resurrection of Christ, before our salvation, and is very important. So if we spend these days in the temple, with attention and awe, then Easter for us will be a logical conclusion to Holy Week.
If it is not possible to stay in the temple these days, I could advise a synopsis for people of faith. The Orthodox synopsis contains gospel readings for each day of Passion Week.
These days, we need to pay special attention to those who are close to us. It is imperative to do good deeds that would confirm our faith in Christ crucified for us.
Archpriest Kirill Kaleda:
Daily Gospel Reading
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Prepare for Holy Week. Preparing for Holy Week is Great Lent.
It is probably impossible to feel Holy Week without this preparation. Each day of this week is devoted to experiencing the events that took place almost 2,000 years ago. And therefore, it is necessary to read the Gospel every day in order to experience these events together with the Church.
Of course, prayer is necessary, because we do not just remember some historical event, we prayerfully participate in it. Therefore, it is impossible to spend Holy Week without prayer. Especially without church prayer, because it is in church prayer that we experience these days so important for our salvation in a special way.
If it is not possible to attend services this week, then daily reading of the Gospel is necessary. We can read the gospel at home, in transport, and at work, if this does not interfere with work.
Priest Andrei Lorgus, Dean of the Faculty of Psychology of the Russian Orthodox University named after the Apostle John the Theologian:
Feel the atmosphere of holy days
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The best thing to do during Holy Week is to visit all the services. To be at the last and then at all - that is, on Thursday morning and evening, and for the removal of the shroud and burial, on Great Saturday, and on Paschal Matins and Liturgy, and most importantly - on Paschal Vespers.
In order for Holy Week to bring maximum benefit, in order to reveal the beauty and meaning of church services, one must attend all the services. It would be nice to add to this all possible participation in cooking at home. Prepare gifts, paint eggs and much more.
If it is not possible to go to services, then you need to read the Gospel, the relevant chapters, read the study Bible in order to understand.
Much can be done to feel the atmosphere of those days. There is everything for this now: books, films, radio, and television. Of course, if a person has the time and energy, you can take part in some kind of charity work, and go somewhere to social institutions, and visit your own friends and family, relatives in need of help, help with something for Easter, buy something.
You can do a lot, but still this week is better to devote to yourself, your soul. Dedicate to repentance and insight into the meaning of what is happening. If a person is only becoming a church member, that is, he is just beginning his church path, then, of course, study, study and study. And slowly master the tradition. If a person already knows all this, then he can somehow devote himself to visiting those in need and doing something good.
In Holy Week, it is better to concentrate, and not be scattered on a hundred things. It is better to postpone what can be done at another time. Do not plan fuss, help yourself to maximum concentration, contribute to inner composure.
Archpriest Maxim Kozlov:
So that life does not swallow life
Holy Week is the time when everything reaches its maximum. Therefore, the subtlety is not that you need to specially come up with something special for her, but you just need to try what is important to do in ordinary life, to do here to the degree of maximum development.
On the one hand, we will need, firstly, the most profound and responsible awareness of our participation in the services of these days, which, of course, we really do not want to miss. It is clear that people who study or work will not be able to be in all services. But still, most of us have the opportunity at home or on the road, in transport, to proofread excerpts from the Triodion of the Holy Week Lenten Service, which have been published many times.
Of course, there are days in which you need to make every effort to get to the services. Think in advance, reschedule the test, negotiate with the boss, take a day off. This is the Great Thursday Divine Liturgy, when we are all called to take communion. , with the following of the Passion of Christ, with the removal of the shroud.
Often people miss Holy Saturday Divine Liturgy. They say that by this time there is no strength left, but in fact there is not enough internal understanding that you need to be in this service. This is the service with which, in fact, Easter begins. Which is such an amazing transition from the peace of death to the peace of the Resurrection of Christ.
Of course, on Strastnaya, everyone who does not have any absolute obstacles should try to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.
Attending worship services to the maximum extent for yourself should not become something lulling. Our services are amazing. But you gotta try not to bring it in sentimental feelings about. It's over co-presence.
It is very important these days not to forget the people who are around us. It is known that by the end of the post we are all tired. But we know that this happens, and, accordingly, we must be prepared for the fact that we can easily break loose, deprive each other of the opportunity in the world to approach Easter. This is something that needs to be looked at very, very carefully.
If you are asked to help clean up the house for Easter, then, of course, you need to help. But it will be very good if this “help to clean up” is not instead of a service, but together with a service, say, instead of our own sleep and something else that we allow ourselves to do. We must try to expand our personal activities as much as possible from these days. But, of course, in every family there should be, especially if there are small children, compromises. Someone will go to one service, and someone to another. Somehow it is necessary to alternate, to agree on how to let go of each other.
And the last. Life in the Church of a church person is rich and varied. In addition to life, it has life. In the life of each of us there will be pre-Easter preparations. For some, this is concern for gifts, for others, preliminary care for Easter dishes, which we all will be waiting for in one way or another. But don't make it a priority. Well, Easter as curd food should not be more important than Easter as Christ's Resurrection. Let it be in some hierarchically correct place in life.
Archpriest Maxim Pervozvansky:
During Holy Week, be in the temple
Archpriest Maxim Pervozvansky
Since Holy Week is the culmination of the entire church year and the period when all the events that took place in the last days of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ are remembered in churches, I would strongly advise you to spend as much time as possible on being in church.
All services of Holy Week are structured in such a way that we do not miss a single one of them.
At the Sunday evening service, Matins is usually already served with the chant "Behold the bridegroom comes at midnight" and the Gospel is read.
The morning of the next day is devoted to the stay of the Lord in Jerusalem in the period between him and the passions.
Holy Thursday services are celebrated on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.
Thursday evening - Holy Heel Matins and the reading of the Passion Gospels.
On Friday, three divine services are served in the churches - these are the royal hours, vespers with the removal of the shroud, and matins with burial.
Then, of course, the Divine Liturgy and Holy Saturday services.
It should also be noted that people make the mistake of trying again during Holy Week to confess in great detail, to think again about their sins. You don't need to do this. Previously, in churches, sometimes they even posted announcements that one should try to confess before the celebration of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, and starting from this holiday, for those who confessed during Great Lent, one can take communion even without confession.
Therefore, my main advice is to attend as many services as possible and take communion at least on Maundy Thursday and Easter.
Prepared by Natalia Smirnova, Maria Abushkina, Alexander Filippov
Have you read the article Holy Week - how to spend it?
The week before Easter is called Holy Week. Every day of this week is important in its own way and holds a secret meaning.
What does each day mean?
Monday is the start of Holy Week. On this day, it was customary to get rid of everything old and bulky. Everything not needed was thrown away or given to the poor. The premises were being prepared for the celebration of Easter, and it should be bright and spacious so that the Holy Spirit could enter it without barriers.
Tuesday is shopping day. Housewives with their husbands go to the market and buy everything they need to celebrate Easter. Arriving home, the women began to prepare medicinal infusions - on this day they come out especially healing and help better. Men are strictly forbidden to even touch any ingredients.
Wednesday - for washing, cleaning and scraping floors. Carpets were hewn with great care. On this day, it was possible to perform a special ritual against bodily ailments. Water was taken from the well, poured into a mug, which was baptized three times and covered with a new towel, it was possible to use just a clean one. Next, I had to get up at two in the morning and pour water from a mug on myself. If liquid remained in the mug, then it should be poured under a tree or bush. You do not need to wipe off the healing water, immediately put on everything clean. It is important to have time to carry out the ritual before three in the morning. Old people believed that after such a procedure, the body seemed to be reborn.
Thursday - on Great Pure Thursday it was customary to cut babies after a year, since before a year a haircut is considered a sin. On this day, cut hair became thick and strong. The girls also tried to change their hair. Livestock was also not left unattended, a piece of wool was cut off for the health of the animal.
In the old days, housewives always prepared Thursday salt. It was easy to cook, for this they took ordinary salt and heated it in a pan until a characteristic shade appeared. Each member of the family took a pinch from the frying pan and put it into a bag, which they carried to the temple for consecration. After that, the salt became medicinal.
This day is called clean, as it was possible to wash away all the sins acquired during the year. To do this, it was necessary to get up before dawn and take a dip in the river or any other body of water. In this way the body was cleansed, and communion was taken for the soul.
In the process of washing, it was necessary to sentence:
“I wash away what they let loose on me, what my soul and body toils with, everything is removed on Maundy Thursday.”
Silver items were dipped into pre-prepared water from Maundy Thursday until Easter itself. In the morning, women washed themselves with such water, after which the skin became smooth and fresh.
Those who longed to get married also looked forward to Maundy Thursday to perform their ritual. The unmarried were supposed to wash their faces, wipe their faces with a new towel, and on Easter give it along with colored eggs and Easter cake to the one who asked for alms. According to legend, this ritual brought the wedding day closer.
Traditionally, on Maundy Thursday, they continued to clean the house, but the floors were no longer ground until Easter itself. The kids went to the yard in search of juniper branches, bringing them into the house, they set them on fire and fumigated everything they could: living quarters, a barn, a barn. Juniper smoke is healing in itself, especially on a day like this.
By this day, preparations for the festive table are already in full swing, eggs are painted, Easter cakes and honey gingerbread are baked, and even closer to the evening, Easter preparations begin. Another sign of Thursday - if you want money to flow, count it three times on Clean Thursday. According to the ancient custom, the door and ceiling were burned with a candle in the form of a cross. This was considered protection from evil spirits.
The sick or those who could not give birth were supported by giving passionate candles into their hands, which helped with their strength.
Friday - she is Good Friday, on this day Jesus Christ was martyred so that none of us would die, but have hope for eternal life. The saddest day.
- Easter cake baked on this day will not work, and Easter will be sour and tasteless.
- However, it was possible to sweep the corners, such rags also had healing properties.
- Suppose your lower back hurts, which you strained, it is enough to bandage it with a rag, and you will be saved.
- If you wipe your sick feet with a Friday rag after washing, then they will definitely calm down.
Saturday is the last day before Easter, when everything is almost ready. The last preparations for the holiday are underway, eggs are being painted, non-perishable dishes are being prepared. By evening, the whole family gathers in the temple, those who wish stay until the morning, the rest, leaving alms to the poor, return home. In the morning, the whole family had to gather at a common table to take the traditional morning meal. Usually breakfast was symbolic, but by lunchtime a real feast began, which continued for another week.
Knowing how to behave during Holy Week, you will have a chance to adequately celebrate the feast of Holy Pascha.
Holy week before Easter, what can you eat every day?
Holy Monday
On Monday, you can eat raw vegetables and fruits, as well as bread, honey and nuts. It is recommended to eat once a day - in the evening.
Good Tuesday
Just like the previous day, raw fruits and vegetables, honey, nuts and bread are allowed. It is advisable to eat only in the evening.
Passion Wednesday
You can also eat bread, vegetables and fruits, cold raw food without oil.
Clean Thursday
On this day, it is allowed to eat hot vegetable food with vegetable oil twice a day.
Good Friday
On Good Friday, generally refrain from eating.
Holy Saturday
On Saturday, you can eat hot vegetable food once a day, but without oil.
Easter Sunday
Folk signs and rituals
In order to have money in the house, you need to collect all the available cash in a pile on Clean Thursday and count it three times.
According to popular beliefs, on Maundy Thursday you need to draw water and put a silver item in it, and on Friday morning you need to wash yourself with this water. It is believed that after this ritual, health and money will come to you for a whole year.
One of the strictest prohibitions on Good Friday is that nothing can be washed on this day.
On Friday in the Great Week, you should do without the use of shovels and pitchforks in the household.
If kitchen utensils (especially a plate) accidentally break on Friday, this is a quick happiness and great luck.
If you get drunk drunk on Holy Sunday, the whole year will pass as if in a dream.
If on Easter day you hear a woodpecker knocking, very soon you will have your own home.
Easter signs
It was believed that the ringing of bells on the day of Christ's resurrection was endowed with truly magical powers - by striking the bell, believers asked for a good harvest, peace and harmony in the family, and the girls for a handsome and rich groom. If a person spoke his request from a pure heart, then it certainly came true.
In Rus', every year on the day of this great holiday, jugs of honey, called kanunchiks, were placed near the icons in every house. The owners lit candles in them and commemorated relatives and friends who had left this world, so that they too could rejoice that Christ had risen.
After the holiday, on Easter week, these jugs were taken to the cemetery and left on the graves of the dead. They also took three red Easter eggs with them to the cemetery and, having said “Christ is Risen” on the grave, they crumbled eggs for birds.
As soon as the bells began to ring on Easter Sunday, people crossed themselves and said three times: “Christ is risen, and my family will be healthy, my house of wealth, my field will be harvested. Amen".
It's good for Easter (and the whole Easter week) to ride a swing. This is the ritual of fanning. They say it blows away all sins.
If on Easter night you scoop up water from a spring or river, then, according to popular belief, it will have special power.
So, the one who first sees the sunrise on Easter will not know troubles all year.
Girls, in order to get married, had to say to themselves during the church service on Easter: “The Resurrection of Christ! Send me a single fiancé!"
If a child was born on Easter Sunday, then he will become a famous, famous person. The one who was born in the Easter week will have good health.
Great people who can even change the course of history are born not just on Easter Sunday, but also at noon and wearing a shirt.
Death on Easter is a special sign. The person who died on this day is marked by God. His soul will immediately rush to heaven, to the saints. The deceased is buried with a red testicle in his right hand.
Church Services on Great (Holy) Saturday
In all Christian churches on this day, the service begins in the morning and lasts all day, turning into a solemn Easter matins.
In the center of the temple on a dais is the Icon of Jesus Christ, lying in a coffin, decorated with flowers. This icon symbolizes the Shroud, which was used to cover his body. Canons are sung, glorifying Christ, who conquered death.
Easter basket on Holy Saturday
Traditionally, on Holy Saturday, housewives collect an Easter basket. Painted and painted eggs, Easter cakes, cottage cheese Easter are placed in it.
Also, baked pork, a piece of butter and salt are traditionally placed in the Easter basket. Salt symbolizes the energy of life, oil - prosperity, and pork - fertility.
Great Saturday - the time of Christian repentance
On this day, believers try to realize their sins and find peace of mind. You need to try to forgive all the offenses and ask for forgiveness from those to whom you have offended. Holy Saturday is a day of helping the needy and poor people.
Since Lent only ends on Sunday, it is recommended to eat only bread, raw vegetables, fruits and water on Saturday.
Signs on Great Saturday
Weather-related notes:
*If there is a clear day on Holy Saturday, this is a dry and clear summer.
* If there is bad weather on this day, summer promises to be cold and cloudy.
Holy Saturday - what not to do?
You can’t eat the dishes that you cook for Easter, because Great Lent is still going on.
On Good Saturday, you cannot wash, sew, iron things, do cleaning, work in the garden, in the garden, do hard homework, such as chopping wood, doing construction.
Do not do needlework.
It is impossible on Great Saturday to swear, swear, offend loved ones, laugh out loud, have fun, sing and dance - this is a great sin.
Alcoholic beverages are not allowed, only a little red wine is allowed.
It is worth refraining from intimacy.
You can visit the cemetery on this day and clean the graves - you can, but you should not make a commemoration.
It is best to devote this day to rest, reconciliation and prayers.
Saturday before Easter - what can you do?
As mentioned above, Easter services in churches begin on Holy Saturday evening. If you can't attend the vigil, stay up anyway. On this night, be sure to light a candle in front of the icon of Jesus Christ and pray.
It is believed that if you don’t sleep on the night from Saturday to Sunday, then you can attract happiness for the whole year, because it is on this night that happiness “wanders” among people, and it is very important not to oversleep it.
The main rite of Holy Saturday is decorating and coloring eggs, baking Easter cakes. Please note that in the room where the dough rises, you can not swear, swear and talk loudly. Easter cakes should be prepared in peace and love.
Holy Saturday is a day of reconciliation, kindness and forgiveness. Be sure to ask for forgiveness from relatives, friends, relatives. Make peace with everyone with whom you have quarreled. And do not forget to give alms to those in need, and prepare Easter gifts for loved ones.
Remember that on Great Saturday you cannot celebrate birthdays, celebrate weddings and various celebrations.
On Great Saturday nothing can be taken out of the house. The people say that you can give away your well-being and prosperity.
Easter greeting. What should you say at Easter?
Priests in churches greet all parishioners with the words: "Christ is risen!" To get the answer: "Truly risen!". This is how we greet each other at Easter.
Greeting with the words "Christ is risen!" expresses joy similar to the joy of the apostles when they learned about the resurrection of Christ.
- Seven days before Easter. How to behave?
- The most important things and rituals in the week before Easter.
- How to celebrate Easter?
- umnye-sovety.ru tell about the Holy Week before Easter - day by day
Today we'll talk about what to do on Holy Week before Easter. After Palm Sunday, an important moment for the Orthodox begins on Monday - Holy Week. Great Lent is ending, and in these last 7 days for many, there is an opportunity to give their souls a chance to be cleansed, to spend this time in repentance, thinking about their sins and strict abstinence.
Holy (Terrible) week - we cleanse the soul, body and everything that surrounds us
After Palm Sunday, on Monday, we begin to restore order in our house. What must be done?
- Wash the windows and wash the curtains, thereby opening the way for Holy Easter to your home.
- Give unnecessary things to the poor, get rid of everything that is broken, spoiled. Especially do not feel sorry for cracked dishes.
- In the old days, walls were whitewashed during Holy Week, but nowadays it will be enough to do a general cleaning. Look in every locker, in every corner, remove dust and throw away everything you don't need. Wash the shades on the lamps. Clean pans and pots. Let your home breathe cleanliness.
- Launder clothes, put away winter clothes, put summer clothes in order, repair shoes.
- Get rid of harmful insects - cockroaches, bedbugs, ants.
Cleanliness in the house should ring.
Wednesday - expel bodily ailments
On Holy Week on Wednesday, a ceremony was held to get rid of bodily ailments. For it, you need to draw water from any source into a glass jar or earthenware jug, put it on the table under the images. They were baptized three times, read the Our Father and covered the dishes with a new handkerchief or a clean towel. At two o'clock in the morning they read a prayer again and were baptized three times, then they poured holy water over the body. A little water was left and poured under a tree until 3 o'clock in the morning. It was believed that the body washed in this way, got rid of all the sores and, as it were, was born again.
What to do on Maundy Thursday
Before sunrise, you need to wash your hair, swim and put on everything clean. Mentally at this moment ask the Lord on Maundy Thursday to help wash off what your soul is toiling about. At this moment, the heavens open and requests sincerely addressed to God will be heard and fulfilled. Forgive your offenders and debtors, and all the negativity that you wear on yourself will be washed off - the evil eye, damage, slander.
After bathing on Maundy Thursday, the beauties cut the ends of their hair so that the braid was thick and grew to the waist. Babies, who by this time were one year old, were sheared for the first time, and a piece of wool was cut from the cattle so that they would not get sick and be fruitful.
If a girl cannot find her betrothed in any way and wants to get married, have a strong family, then the towel that she used on Maundy Thursday, Easter Day and give to those who ask for alms at the church along with Easter cake and Easter eggs.
It was on this day that all actions related to cleaning, washing, ablutions ended. It was forbidden to sweep the floor and make rubbish, and it was forbidden to give something from the house.
In a clean house and with pure thoughts, a sacred action begins - baking Easter cakes and dyeing Easter eggs.
On the Power of Thursday Salt
Many rites on Holy Week were associated with Thursday salt, which had great power.
Each family member picks up a handful of salt and pours it into a paper or linen bag. This salt is then sacredly kept and applied. when you need to be cured of an illness, cleanse the house of filth, and the garden and cattle from the evil eye.
Day of Sorrow - Good Friday
This is the day of the strictest fast. Even water is desirable to refuse. They said that if you don’t quench your thirst with water on this day, you won’t experience it all year, and any drink will be good.
On that day, Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross, martyred and atoned for all our sins. For all Christians, this day is the most mournful and sad, spent in prayers and abstinence from food and water. On that day, you can’t laugh and have fun, otherwise you will have to cry all year.
On Good Friday, you can’t pick the ground, so as not to invite trouble, you can’t plant anything, you can’t wash.
On this day, it is good to wean a baby from the breast - it will be healthy, happy and rich.
On this day, it is good to give alms or make a donation for the good of your neighbor.
Signs of Good Friday
On this day in the morning they looked out the window.
- We saw a man - you will be lucky for three months.
- I saw an old woman - to illness.
- Young - all troubles will bypass.
- We saw a whole family - to peace in the house, to reconciliation.
- Dog - to longing.
- Cat - for profit.
- A bird is a new acquaintance.
- Disabled, crippled - to death.
Holy Saturday was spent in labor and completion of all pre-Easter affairs. You can bake Easter cakes and make Easter, paint eggs, prepare for the holiday of the Bright Resurrection.
In the evening they go to the church for an all-night service.
"Christ is Risen!" “Truly Risen!”
On Bright Sunday, wash your face with Thursday morning water. This rite is for wealth and health.
All family members should greet each other with the words "Christ is risen!" "Truly risen!" Relatives and friends kiss each other, kissing, husband and wife - without prying eyes, in order to avoid separation.
Upon returning from the church with consecrated products, crossing the threshold, say three times: "Easter in the house - evil spirits from the house."
Then sit down together at the festive table. First they eat what they have consecrated. Then meat dishes - sausages, jelly, aspic, and finish the meal with a sweet Easter or Easter cake. Peel and cut one of the eggs consecrated in the church into as many pieces as there are family members at the table.
On Bright Sunday, people go to visit, invite guests to their place, rejoice and have fun, exchange treats, give gifts, serve to the poor and suffering. On this day, you can not frown and swear. Remember the One who gave his life for you, and be grateful to HIM.
If there are food left on the Easter table, in no case should you throw it away or feed it to animals and birds. Better bury it or lower it into the river.
Easter is followed by Bright Week, 7 days of joy and prosperity.
Eat and drink, be merry, but know your limits!
