Holy Week- follows after Palm, the seventh and last week before the Great Day (Easter), lasting six days; it begins on the Monday and ends on the Saturday preceding Easter Sunday.

Throughout the week, preparations were underway for the main holiday: tables, benches, benches, windows, doors were washed. They whitewashed the stove and even the walls. They scraped, washed the floor, shook out the rugs, washed the dishes. From Thursday to Saturday, cooking took place at the stove and in the yard: housewives baked Easter cakes, painted eggs, baked meat; the men set up swings, prepared firewood for the holiday, etc. The villagers tried to be laconic. As throughout Lent, loud street singing was avoided, and there were no street games or round dances. According to Bulgarian beliefs, the observance of traditions was monitored by the Samovils. According to Slavic beliefs, before or after the Great Day, ancestors return to earth, where they remain for some time.

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Holy Week Holy Week is a special period in Christianity. This is the last week before Easter, following Palm Sunday and established in memory of the suffering and martyrdom of Jesus Christ. This week is also called: Holy Week, Holy Week, Terrible Week, Great Week, Great Week, Red Week, Red Week, Holy Week, White Week, Clean Week. The last six days of Great Lent are dedicated to memories of the last days of the Savior’s earthly life, His suffering, crucifixion, death on the cross, and burial. This week is especially honored by the Church. This week is called Great because during this week great and supernatural miracles and extraordinary deeds of our Savior took place. In Christianity, all days of Holy Week are called “Great” - Great Monday, Great Tuesday, etc., the epithet “Passion” is also used. According to ancient custom, Holy Week begins on Sunday and ends on Saturday. During Holy Week, the Last Supper, the presentation to the court, the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ are remembered. Divine services during Holy Week are given special significance. During Holy Week, fasting is especially strict. The path of Holy Week is the path of fasting, confession and communion. Every day of Holy Week is filled with sacred meaning. In just one week, Jesus Christ learned the price of human love and betrayal, life and death. At the beginning of Holy Week he entered Jerusalem, in the middle he was captured and given over to suffering, and at the end of the week he was crucified. The course of the church service changes depending on what event occurred on a certain day of the week preceding Easter. Every day of Holy Week is great and holy, and on each of them special services are held in all churches. During Holy Week, the Orthodox Church does not celebrate the days of its Saints, does not commemorate the dead, and does not perform such sacraments as weddings and baptisms. This is the week before Easter, each day of which is great and holy. Orthodox Christians spend this time praying fervently and practicing strict abstinence. Let's look at each day separately. Palm Sunday On Palm Sunday, the Savior entered Jerusalem in order to preach there, be captured and suffer. Jesus Christ knew what was ahead of him and made a conscious sacrifice for the sake of the one he loved most in the world - for the sake of man. The inhabitants of Jerusalem accepted Jesus as a prophet and greeted him with palm branches in their hands. In Slavic countries they decided to replace them with willow branches. On this day, people consecrate willow in churches. From Monday to Wednesday, Jesus Christ preached in Jerusalem. Knowing that his earthly life was coming to an end, he tried to put as much information as possible into the ears of his listeners. Maundy Monday On Monday we remember the story of the fig tree on which Jesus found no fruit and withered it. This barren tree symbolizes souls that do not bear spiritual fruits in the Kingdom of God - true repentance, faith, prayers and good deeds. On this day, we also remember the biblical Joseph, the son of Jacob, whom his brothers sold into slavery in Egypt, as a prototype of the suffering Jesus Christ. Joseph was brought out of prison and placed in charge of Egypt. Vegetables, fruits and bread are allowed. Great Tuesday On Great Tuesday, we remember Jesus’ denunciation of the Pharisees and scribes, as well as the parables He spoke in the Temple of Jerusalem: the tribute to Caesar and the resurrection of the dead, also the Last Judgment and the end of the world, the ten virgins and the talents. On this day they eat hot food without the presence of vegetable oils in the food. Great Wednesday Wednesday of Holy Week is the day on which Christ was given over to suffering. On Wednesday, two important events take place: the repentant sinner Mary of Magdala pours precious myrrh on the feet of the tired Jesus and receives forgiveness, washing with tears and anointing the feet of Christ with precious myrrh, thus preparing Him for burial. On Great Wednesday, Christians remember with sorrow the decision of Judas Iscariot to betray his Teacher for 30 pieces of silver. This day is significant for the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts and the cessation of great prostrations. Maundy Thursday On Maundy Thursday, Christians remember four events: 1. On Thursday, the Last Supper takes place, during which Jesus Christ gives his final instructions to his disciples and foreshadows his imminent death and resurrection. 2. The Lord washing the feet of his disciples 3. The Savior follows into the Garden of Gethsemane, where he prays and reminds the apostles that they cannot sleep that night. 4. But the apostles fall asleep, and, betrayed by Judas, Christ falls into the hands of Roman soldiers on the night from Thursday to Friday. Christ suffers yet another betrayal: frightened Peter denies his teacher in front of the soldiers. Maundy Thursday is also called "Thursday" Good Friday - Good Friday Good Friday is the day when Jesus Christ was tortured, tried and crucified on the cross. After several hours of unbearable suffering, Christ dies crucified on the cross. This is the most mournful day of Holy Week, the day of sadness and the strictest fasting. There is no liturgy celebrated on Good Friday. Services are dedicated to the crucifixion and death of Christ. There is no liturgy, and Christians hold burning candles - a symbol of the greatness of the Lord. According to custom, alms are given to the poor; it is customary to distribute various food products to poor people. Even for those who did not fast during Lent, the priests strongly recommend that they refrain from eating fasting food and alcohol this Friday. Holy Saturday On Saturday, faithful disciples bury the body of Jesus Christ. Saturday is the most mysterious day of Holy Week. While the body of Christ lies in the tomb, his soul descends to hell, where it forgives the ancient prophets and righteous people who lived before the birth of Jesus. Hell groans with anger as Christ establishes his authority even in the kingdom of the devil. There are only a few hours left until Easter - the great day that marks the victory over death. On Holy Saturday one should prepare for the onset of the Resurrection of Christ. After the morning service, Easter eggs, Easter cakes, and Easter cakes are blessed in all churches. The priests dress in light clothes and conduct the liturgy. On Saturday the Holy Fire descends in Jerusalem. After Holy Saturday comes the Easter holiday. Holy Week for Christians For a Christian, Holy Week is a time of strict fasting and repentance. The church fathers prescribe spending this time in prayer and abstinence, visiting church, attending services, and confessing sins. Being present during Holy Week at church services, which present all the events of the last days of the Savior as if taking place before us, we mentally go through the entire majestically touching and immensely edifying story of the suffering of Christ. The Holy Church calls us this week to leave everything vain and worldly and follow our Savior. The Fathers of the Church composed and arranged the services of Holy Week in such a way that they reflect all the suffering of Christ. The temple these days alternately represents either the Upper Room of Zion, Gethsemane, or Golgotha. The Holy Church surrounded the services of Holy Week with special external grandeur, sublime, inspired chants and a whole series of deeply significant rituals that are performed only during this week. Slavic traditions During Holy Week, true believers are recommended to reflect on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, on the events of the last days of his earthly life. Russian people fulfilled the precepts of the Orthodox Church: they prayed, observed strict fasting, tried to attend church all week, behave with dignity, during this time it was forbidden to have fun, sing songs, or laugh. Throughout the week, preparations are underway for the main holiday of Easter: houses, courtyards, gates, and wells are being cleaned up. Previously, the stove and even the walls were whitewashed. It is believed that Holy Week is a time of rampant evil spirits. According to Slavic traditions, before or after Great Day, the ancestors return to the earth, where they remain for some time. During Holy Week, many rituals of a cleansing and protective nature were performed. Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday. Customs dictate that you wake up before dawn and begin to cleanse yourself and your home. Folk traditions call this day “Maundy Thursday”. Accordingly, believers at this time strive for both spiritual and physical cleansing. According to legend, candles lit in a church and brought into one’s home bring happiness. On Maundy Thursday, according to Russian custom, it was necessary to wash the entire house: floors, ceilings, walls, doors and windows, clean icon frames, dry everything that had been stored in chests all winter, burn old straw beds, throw away old shoes, clothes, take out all garbage, thoroughly wash all the dishes in the house. After Maundy Thursday and until Easter inclusive, the house was no longer cleaned or swept; this prohibition was explained by the fear of covering the eyes of Jesus Christ lying in the tomb with dust. On the same day, ritual ablutions of people were common, which were supposed to cleanse a person from sins, give him health and beauty. They were usually carried out at sunrise, before the birds woke up, when the water was still “unstained by anything.” Ablution was carried out on a river, pond, lake or at home. People tried to enhance the magical effect of water by performing various additional ritual actions. Thus, silver coins, which, according to legend, had cleansing properties, were thrown into the water prepared for ablution, as well as into a natural reservoir. On Maundy Thursday, according to custom, eggs were painted, Easter cake was baked, and Easter cake was made from cottage cheese. According to the peasants, Kulich had to be baked on Thursday, since on this day Jesus Christ broke bread and gave it to his disciples to eat with the words “this is My Body.” On Good Friday - the day of Christ's crucifixion on the cross - all work was prohibited. On Holy Saturday, Easter cakes, Easter cakes and colored eggs were blessed in churches. Great Saturday ends Great Lent. You need to go to church and bless the prepared Easter cakes and other Easter food. No food is allowed until the end of the night service. After the procession ends, Great Easter begins

Other names

Clean, Scary, Good Monday

The week of preparation for the meeting of the Holy Resurrection begins. On this day they washed and whitened huts and cleaned livestock. Anyone who sincerely fasts on Clean Monday (does not eat or drink the whole day) will, as they said in the Vitebsk region, successfully find bird nests in the summer. Gomel Poleschuks avoided keeping anything unclean (from food) in the house on this Monday and Tuesday, so that people and beef (cattle) would not be spoiled. The peasants said about this day: “From Great Monday to Great Day, it’s a whole week, the women have their hands full!” .

In the Kherson region, on “Living Monday,” large commemorations for ancestors are held - “Dead Great Day.”

Clean Tuesday

On Tuesday of the last week of Lent, in the villages of the Tula province, flaxseeds and hemp seeds are collected from bins, pounded in a mortar, and then juiced milk is prepared from them with water. All this is done in the morning, before dawn. All domestic animals are given this milk at dawn as a precaution against future diseases. The main condition here is: men should not know this matter, otherwise it will be useless. From the observations of old women, it is known that if an animal does not drink juicy milk, then no good can be expected in it; it is then either sick or enchanted [ ] .

Holy Wednesday

On Holy Wednesday, cattle are doused with snow water.

In Belarus, on the eve of Maundy Thursday, bread, salt and soap were placed under the roof. With that bread, they drove the cattle out of the barn for Yuri, the salt was later used as a remedy for the evil eye, and with soap the next day before sunrise they washed themselves in the bathhouse in order to be clean (healthy) for a whole year. If the bread taken out froze overnight, it was assumed that the spring bread would also freeze.

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, depending on the region, was called: “Navsky Great Day” (Ukrainian), Wooden Thursday (Belarusian), Zhilnik (Belarusian)

Before sunrise (“until the crow ransomed his children”) the whole family must take a bath so that illnesses and illnesses do not persist throughout the year, and during the day they remove the water and hang out winter clothes to dry. From the memoirs of a Voronezh peasant woman: “Maundy Thursday means swimming. We got up early in the morning, before dawn, before sunrise. Grandmother boiled water in succession, woke me up early, before sunrise, and began by washing my hair. She washed my hair - she read “Our Father” once; she washed me up to my waist - she read “Our Father” a second time; and the third time she reads “Our Father”, when she washed my legs and everything below the waist. She read “Our Father” three times and finished: “Send, Lord, health to me and my child.” Then I washed myself. She didn’t throw this water away, she gave it to the goats to drink. The goats drank it with pleasure. Everyone washed before sunrise. Maundy Thursday was not celebrated. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were considered strict days. Everyone was at home, the village was quiet. The nights were dark and eerie.” They bathed, did laundry, washed everything. The pig was also slaughtered before the sun, its fat was considered healing.

In the Kiev region, Podolia and the Left Bank, “Maundy Thursday” is Navsky Great Day (Nav, other Russian - deceased, other world). According to old beliefs, God releases the souls of the dead from the “other world” three times a year: the first time on Maundy Thursday, the second time when the rye blooms (probably on Semik), and the third time on Spas. Mythological stories about the emergence of the dead on Holy Thursday have been preserved in Northern Russian and Ruthenian (among Lemko) materials [ ] [ ] .

On the Russian-Belarusian border, in the east of Belarus and in the western Russian territories, large community bonfires are burned on Holy Thursday.

Good Friday

They said about Friday during Holy Week: “whoever fasts this Friday will be saved from enemies and robbers” [ ] .

Czechs and Slovaks tried to wash or swim in river water before dawn on Good Friday. It was believed that this would bring health. Housewives carried kitchen utensils and agricultural tools to the water, and bathed livestock. They believed that on this day water turns into wine. On Holy (“White”) Saturday they blessed water and sprinkled it on the house, outbuildings and yard in order to protect their property from evil forces.

Holy Saturday

In the west of Polesie, Poland, Slovenia, the ban on sleeping during the all-night vigil was motivated by the threat of crop failure: they believed that the owner, who fell asleep/lying down on Easter night, would lose rye, wheat and flax, the fields would become overgrown with weeds, etc.

Merman's treat

It was believed that the merman lay on the river bottom all winter and slept in deep sleep. By spring, he - pretty hungry from hibernation - wakes up, begins to break the ice and tortures the fish to death: to spite the fishermen. That is why they try to appease the angry river commander with treats. After this, he becomes more accommodating and accommodating and begins to look after the fish himself, lure large fish from other rivers “for the prince’s bread,” saves fishermen on the waters during storms and untangles their nets [ ] .

Sayings and signs

see also

Notes

1. , With. 161.
2. , With. 267.
3. , With. 102.
4. , With. 54.
5. “Rusalna nedzelya, yich three: great day, on Trinity and on Christmas Day.” See: Tolstaya S. M. Polesie folk calendar - M.: Indrik, 2005 - P. 216.
6. Kvetná nedeľa // Tradičná ľudová kultúra Slovenska
7. , With. 230.
8. , With. 163.
9. , With. 603.
10. , With. 209.
11. , With. 257.
12. , With. 88.
13. Thursday candle // SEM
14. Wiping away the fire // REM
15. Thursday bread // REM
16. Thursday salt // SEM
17. Veres // REM
18. Kholodnaya V. G. Thursday salt (undefined) . Russian ethnographic museum. Archived from the original on August 21, 2011.
19. Footnote error: Invalid tag ; no text specified for BC footnotes
20. , With. 621.
21. , With. 604.
22. , With. 231.
23. , With. 51.
24. People habits and beliefs
25. , A. Korinthsky believed that in the old days Holy Week was dedicated to Perun, and in his honor bonfires were lit on the hills., p. 213, 222.
26. , With. 642.
27. , With. 214-215.
28. , With. 214-215.
29. , With. 459.
30. , With. 457.

Literature

• Koster / T. A. Agapkina // Slavic antiquities: Ethnolinguistic dictionary: in 5 volumes / under general. ed. N.I.Tolstoy; . - M.: Intl. relations, 2004. - T. 3: K (Circle) - P (Quail). - pp. 620–6271. - ISBN 5-7133-1207-0.
• Agapkina T. A. Mythopoetic foundations of the Slavic folk calendar. Spring-summer cycle. - M.: Indrik, 2002. - 816 p. - (Traditional spiritual culture of Slavs. Modern research).
• Easter /

Holy Week (week) is a special time of Lent. In fact, he himself The ost, as a period of our deep repentance, is completed, and now a new stage begins. During Holy Week, day after day, we remember the last days of our Savior’s earthly life. And we have the opportunity to be witnesses of these Gospel events, to follow Christ.

Events of Holy Week

Maundy Monday

Holy Saturday

This is the last day before Easter.

In the morning: clock, pictorial, vespers, liturgy of St. Basil the Great.

After the hours and ceremonies, Vespers is celebrated with the Liturgy of Basil the Great - the last of the year. The most famous moment of this service is the reading of fifteen proverbs from the Old Testament, which contain prototypes of the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ and prophecies about the coming of the Kingdom of the Lord and the New Testament Church.

At the liturgy during the Great Entrance, instead of the Cherubic Song, an amazing hymn is sung: “Let all human flesh be silent.”

It is interesting that in ancient times, on this day, the baptism of catechumens (people who wanted to receive Holy Baptism) also took place, who prepared for this day throughout Lent. This tradition no longer exists, but the memory of it has been preserved in the order of worship on Great Saturday: instead of the Trisagion (“Holy God ...”), “Be baptized into Christ” is sung and the Apostle about the power of Baptism is read. And after the Apostle, instead of “Alleluia”, seven verses are sung, composed of psalms containing prophecies about the Resurrection of the Lord with the refrain: “Rise up, O God, judge the earth.” During this chant, the clergy dress themselves in white robes and dress the throne and altar in the altar. Then, in a white vestment, standing in front of the Shroud in the center of the temple, the deacon reads the last, 28th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew about the event of the Resurrection of the Savior - this Gospel is read only once a year. At this moment, the sorrow of Holy Week ends and the joy of Easter begins.

Days of Holy Week

Divine service

Liturgical features of Passion

• Nikolay Zavyalov.
• Hermogenes Shimansky.
• Priest Mikhail Zheltov.

Iconography

• . PHOTO GALLERY

Holy Week, or Holy Week, is the last week before Easter, dedicated to memories of the last days of the Savior’s earthly life, His suffering, crucifixion, death on the cross, and burial. This week is especially honored by the Church. “All days,” says the Synaxarion, “are surpassed by the Holy and Great Pentecost, but greater than the Holy Pentecost is the Holy and Great Week (Holy Week), and greater than the Great Week itself is this Great and Holy Saturday. This week is called Great not because its days or hours are longer (than others), but because during this week great and supernatural miracles and extraordinary deeds of our Savior took place..."

According to the testimony of St. John Chrysostom, the first Christians, burning with the desire to relentlessly be with the Lord in the last days of His life, during Holy Week intensified their prayers and intensified the ordinary feats of fasting. They, imitating the Lord, who endured unprecedented suffering solely out of love for fallen humanity, tried to be kind and lenient towards the weaknesses of their brothers and to do more works of mercy, considering it indecent to pronounce condemnation in the days of our justification by the blood of the Immaculate Lamb, they stopped all litigation and trials in these days , disputes, punishments, and even released for this time from chains prisoners in dungeons who were guilty of non-criminal crimes.

Every day of Holy Week is great and holy, and on each of them special services are held in all churches. especially majestic, adorned with wisely arranged prophetic, apostolic and evangelical readings, the most sublime, inspired chants and a whole series of deeply significant, reverent rituals. Everything that in the Old Testament was only foreshadowed or said about the last days and hours of the earthly life of the God-Man - all this the Holy Church brings together into one majestic image, which is gradually revealed to us in the Divine Services of Holy Week. Remembering in the Divine Service the events of the last days of the Savior’s earthly life, the Holy Church watches every step with an attentive eye of love and reverence, listens attentively to every word of the Savior coming to the free passion of Christ, gradually leads us in the footsteps of the Lord throughout His entire Way of the Cross, from Bethany to Skull places, from His royal entry into Jerusalem until the last moment of His redemptive suffering on the cross, and further - until the bright triumph of Christ’s Resurrection. The entire content of the services is aimed at bringing us closer to Christ through reading and singing, making us capable of spiritually contemplating the mystery of redemption, for the remembrance of which we are preparing.

The first three days of this week are devoted to intensive preparation for the passion of Christ. In accordance with the fact that before his suffering Jesus Christ spent all his days in the temple, teaching the people, the Holy Church distinguishes these days with especially long Divine services. Trying to gather and focus the attention and thoughts of believers in general on the entire Gospel history of the incarnation of the God-man and His ministry to the human race, the Holy Church reads the entire Four Gospels on the clock during the first three days of Holy Week. The conversations of Jesus Christ after entering Jerusalem, addressed first to the disciples, then to the scribes and Pharisees, develop and are revealed in all the hymns of the first three days of Holy Week. Since in the first three days of Holy Week various significant events took place that are most closely related to the passion of Christ, these events are reverently remembered by the Holy Church on the very days on which they took place. Thus, the Holy Church these days relentlessly leads us following the Divine Teacher, with His disciples, now to the temple, now to the people, now to the tax collectors, now to the Pharisees, and everywhere enlightens us with the very words that He Himself offered to His listeners in these days. days.

Preparing believers for the Savior's suffering on the cross, the Holy Church gives the Divine service of the first three days of Holy Week the character of sadness and contrition for our sinfulness. On Wednesday evening, the Lenten Divine service ends, the sounds of weeping and lamentation of the sinful human soul fall silent in church hymns, and the days of another mourning begin, permeating the entire Divine service - weeping from the contemplation of the horrific torment and suffering on the cross of the Son of God Himself. At the same time, other feelings - indescribable joy for one’s salvation, boundless gratitude to the Divine Redeemer - overwhelm the soul of a Christian believer. Mourning the innocent sufferer, mocked and crucified, shedding bitter tears under the cross of our Savior, we also experience inexpressible joy from the knowledge that the Savior crucified on the cross will resurrect us, who are perishing, with Himself.

Being present during Holy Week at church services, which represent all the events of the last days of the Savior as if taking place before us, we mentally go through the entire majestically touching and immensely edifying story of the suffering of Christ, with our thoughts and hearts “we descend with Him and are crucified with Him.” The Holy Church calls us this week to leave everything vain and worldly and follow our Savior. The Fathers of the Church composed and arranged the services of Holy Week in such a way that they reflect all the suffering of Christ. The temple these days alternately represents either the Upper Room of Zion, Gethsemane, or Golgotha. The Holy Church surrounded the services of Holy Week with special external grandeur, sublime, inspired chants and a whole series of deeply significant rituals that are performed only during this week. Therefore, whoever constantly attends services in church these days apparently follows the Lord, who is coming to suffer.

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week are dedicated to the recollection of the Savior’s last conversations with his disciples and people. On each of these three days, the Gospel is read at all services; all four Gospels are required to be read. But whoever can, must certainly read these passages from the Gospel at home, both for himself and for others. Instructions on what to read can be found in the church calendar. When listening in church, due to the large amount of reading, much can escape attention, but reading at home allows you to follow the Lord with all your thoughts and feelings. When you carefully read the Gospels, the suffering of Christ, coming to life, fills the soul with inexplicable tenderness... Therefore, reading the Gospel, you are involuntarily transported in your mind to the scene of events, you take part in what is happening, you follow the Savior and suffer with Him. Reverent reflection on His suffering is also necessary. Without this reflection, being present in church, hearing, and reading the Gospel will bring little fruit. But what does it mean to meditate on the sufferings of Christ, and how to meditate? First of all, imagine in your mind the suffering of the Savior as vividly as possible, at least in its main features, for example: how He was betrayed, judged and condemned; how He carried the cross and was lifted up to the cross; how he cried out to the Father in Gethsemane and on Golgotha ​​and surrendered his spirit to Him: how he was taken down from the cross and buried... Then ask yourself why and for what purpose He who had no sin, and who, as the Son of God, endured so much suffering , could always abide in glory and bliss. And also ask yourself: what is required of me so that the Savior’s death does not remain fruitless for me; What must I do to truly participate in the salvation purchased at Calvary for the whole world? The Church teaches that this requires the assimilation by mind and heart of the entire teaching of Christ, the fulfillment of the commandments of the Lord, repentance and imitation of Christ in a good life. After this, conscience itself will answer whether you are doing this... Such reflection (and who is not capable of it?) surprisingly quickly brings the sinner closer to his Savior, closely and forever in a union of love connects him with His cross, strongly and vividly introduces him into the participation of the one who what happens at Golgotha.

The path of Holy Week is the path of fasting, confession and communion, in other words, fasting, for worthy communion of the Holy Mysteries on these great days. And how can one not fast in these days, when the bridegroom of souls is weaned (Matthew 9:15), when He Himself hungers at the barren fig tree, thirsts on the cross? Where else can one lay down the burden of sins through confession, if not at the foot of the cross? What better time to receive communion from the Cup of Life than in the coming days, when it is given to us, one might say, from the hands of the Lord Himself? Truly, whoever, having the opportunity to begin the Holy Meal these days, evades it, deviates from the Lord, runs away from his Savior. The path of Holy Week is to provide, in His name, help to the poor, sick and suffering. This path may seem distant and indirect, but in fact it is extremely close, convenient and direct. Our Savior is so loving that everything we do in His name for the poor, sick, homeless and suffering He takes personally to Himself. At His Last Judgment He will demand from us especially works of mercy towards our neighbors and on them He will establish our justification or condemnation. Keeping this in mind, never neglect the precious opportunity to alleviate the suffering of the Lord in His lesser brethren, and especially take advantage of it during the days of Holy Week - by dressing, for example, a needy person, you will act like Joseph, who gave the shroud. This is the main thing, accessible to everyone, with which an Orthodox Christian in Holy Week can follow the Lord who is coming to suffer.

There is less than a week left until Easter. The last days are called Passionate or Great. During this period, the Church is immersed in the Gospel and remembers the last days of the Lord on earth. Pravmir has prepared a calendar for this Week.

• Click to view full size image. Print version in A1 format - download (archive in .zip format)

Maundy Monday, Maundy Tuesday, Maundy Wednesday

Holy Week begins on Holy Monday, and Holy Monday begins on Sunday evening. First - Vespers, closing the feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, and then - a new day, Matins on Monday.

For three matins in a row, the Church will glorify Christ, the Bridegroom of the Church, with a quiet and gentle troparion, which throughout the year is heard only at Midnight Offices:

Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, / and blessed is the servant, whom the vigilant will find: / but he is not worthy, but the despondent will find him. / Take care therefore for my soul, / not to be burdened with sleep, / lest you be given over to death, / and be shut out of the Kingdom, / but rise up, calling: / Holy, Holy, Holy art thou God, / Through the Theotokos have mercy on us.

(Valaam Monastery Choir) download

(Women's choir. Disc “Time of Fasting and Prayer”) download

Your palace. Bortnyansky Download

• IN Monday of Holy WeekI remember the Old Testament character - the chaste Joseph, a prototype of Christ, and the Gospel story about the cursed fig tree. Church tradition says that the withered fig tree is an image of old Israel, which did not bear fruit. To emphasize the tragedy of this symbol, the Church suggests recalling almost the entire 21 chapters of Matthew (vv. 18-44), including the parable of the evil husbandmen.

On the first three days of Holy Week, the last Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts of the year is celebrated. If you did not have time to attend these services during Pentecost, try to fill this gap!

• Hymns of Holy Week. Maundy Monday
• Maundy Monday: The Beginning of Great Days (+ audio + video)
• Holy Fathers on Great Monday

IN Maundy Tuesday I remember the parables of the Savior about His Second Coming, about the ten virgins and about the talents.

• Maundy Tuesday: The Bridegroom Comes at Midnight (+mp3 + video)
• Holy Fathers on Maundy Tuesday

Great Wednesday is the day of betrayal. It is in memory of the betrayal of Christ by Judas that we fast on Wednesdays throughout the year. On the same day, the Church remembers the woman who washed Christ’s feet with myrrh.

On Tuesday evening, “Behold the Bridegroom...” is sung for the last time. On Wednesday morning at the last time the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated and the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian is read. There will be no more prostrations except before the Shroud until Pentecost.

• Hymns of Holy Week. Maundy Tuesday

On Wednesday evening the last big confession takes place; there will be a lot of people there, so it’s better to try to confess in advance.

In many churches there will be no more confession until the end of Bright Week.

• Great Wednesday: today Judas betrayed Christ
• Chants of Great Wednesday
• Holy Fathers About Great Wednesday
• Great Wednesday: If you loved Him, why did you sell Him like a runaway slave?

Holy days

On Maundy Thursday, the Church remembers the establishment of the Sacrament of the Eucharist at the Last Supper - the last meal of the Savior with his disciples. On this day, all Orthodox Christians partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

The Liturgy of Maundy Thursday according to the rite of St. Basil the Great is celebrated in conjunction with Vespers, so be prepared for the fact that the service is long.

After the Last Supper, Christ, showing His humility, washed the feet of the disciples, which was also reflected in the liturgical practice of the Church. The rite of washing the feet is performed by the bishop after the Liturgy. He washes the feet of the twelve priests in the image of Christ. In the twentieth century, the ritual was not performed in the Russian Church. It was restored only in 2009 by Patriarch Kirill.

In the evening of Maundy Thursday, Matins of Good Friday is celebrated - one of the longest and most beautiful services of the year, known as the “Twelve Gospels”. It recalls the Passion of the Lord from the prayer of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane to the placement of His Body in the Tomb.

• Maundy Thursday: Last Supper of Christ
• Holy Fathers About the Great Fourth
• Holy Thursday Service of the Twelve Gospels
• The same Last Supper

CUSTOMS

There is a folk custom on Maundy Thursday to prepare for Easter: cleaning the house, baking Easter cakes and painting eggs. It's better to do this in advance. Between two services, even if you manage to take time off from work for that day, it is better to pray and rest. It is completely unacceptable to miss the services of the main days of Holy Week for the sake of the pre-holiday bustle.

• Easter cakes at the Sokolovs'
• Royal Easter (raw)
• Easter cake
• Easter cakes: proven Easter cake recipes
• About one secret of the Easter table
• Easter cakes against Easter

Good Friday

The day of Good Friday itself begins early in the morning with the service of the Royal Hours. The Gospels of the Passion of the Lord are read again. In the middle of the day (usually around two o'clock in the afternoon) Vespers is performed with the Removal of the Shroud. If you are working, you may find it convenient to walk to the nearest temple during your lunch break.

By the way, lunch is not allowed on this day, nor is breakfast - day is strictly fast.

• Hymns of Good Friday. Let us bury the Lord...
• Good Friday: Christ died on the cross
• Holy Fathers About the Great Heel
• Canon on the Crucifixion of the Lord and on the lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos, read at the Shroud
• Holy days on Mount Athos: Good Friday and Easter in the Vatopedi Monastery

Holy Saturday: Let all flesh be silent

In the evening, in the parish churches, Matins of Great Saturday is celebrated with the Burial of the Shroud - a long and bright service, around the Shroud richly decorated with flowers. You can already feel the approach of Easter in the air.

In some churches and monasteries (Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Danilov Monastery) The burial of the Shroud takes place at night. Liturgically this is more correct, but physically it is not easy to endure such a service, especially since the Liturgy begins immediately after it. Some say that the most convenient thing after the Removal of the Shroud is to rest longer, come to the night service at 23.00, which will last up to 3-4 hours, and after that rest for 3-4 hours before the start of the Liturgy of Great Saturday in any parish church.

Liturgy of Holy Saturday- also a very long and solemn service, replete with Old Testament readings - proverbs. The mood is already Easter: the proverbs repeat the motif of miraculous salvation (the exit of Israel from Egypt, the salvation of the prophet Daniel and his friends in fire), symbolizing the liberation of humanity from hell and death by the Sacrifice of the Cross and the Resurrection of the Savior, the Gospel of the Resurrection of Christ is read. The priests change from purple Lenten to white festive robes.

This service calls for silence and peace, for this Saturday is the day of rest when the Lord Himself rested. Instead of the Cherubic Song, the troparion is sung: “ Yes is silent any flesh man and let him stand with fear and trembling and let the insignificant earthly thing in himself think: the King of kings and Lord of lords comes to sacrifice and be given as food to the faithful.” Instead of “It is worthy to eat” - irmos 9 of the canon of Great Saturday: “ Not cry Mene, Mati, seeing in the tomb, You conceived Him in your womb without seed, the Son: for I will arise and be glorified and exalt with glory, unceasingly as God, magnifying You with faith and love.”

• Holy Saturday: the last day before Easter
• Holy Fathers on Holy Saturday

After the liturgy begins blessing of Easter cakes, eggs and paskas- usually in the courtyards of temples. It is customary not only to consecrate food for oneself, but also to leave some in the church - for the clergy, altar servers, singers - and donate to the poor.

• Bless and eat?

On Holy Saturday, one is supposed to read the Acts of the Apostles in churches all day, or at least the last hours before the Easter service.

And the Easter service begins with the reading of the canon “Lamentation of the Most Holy Theotokos” at the Midnight Office, after which the Shroud is taken to the altar. Easter Matins begins - the first service of the Holy Resurrection of Christ.

Holy Week (April 6 - 11), so named in memory of the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, is the week of the strictest fasting, the time when we prepare for the holiday of holidays - Easter, the Bright Resurrection of Christ (April 12). Each of the days of Holy Week was called Great - this emphasizes both the unusualness of this day for people and the greatness of what the Savior did for us.

“The Passion of Christ” is the name given to the events of the last days of Christ’s earthly life; the fact is that in the Church Slavonic language the word “passion” can mean “suffering”, and it was this meaning that gave the name to this very important period for all believers. Twice a day, morning and evening, intense services are held in churches, passages from the Gospel are read, immersing us in the tragic events of those days: the last communication with the disciples, the betrayal of Judas, the unrighteous trial, Calvary, the Crucifixion, death on the Cross and burial. During Holy Week, fasting is especially strict; believers try to observe it strictly - in order to feel the meaning and feat of Christ. The purpose of Holy Week is to bring people as close as possible to understanding what Christ did for us, to spiritually prepare people for the joy of the Resurrection of Christ.

Holy Week Calendar

Maundy Monday (April 6). The first three days of Holy Week are dedicated to remembering the conversations of Jesus Christ with the people and disciples. On Holy Monday, during the service, they remember the barren fig tree, withered to the roots - as an image of a person perishing in unrepentance. An event that occurs only once a year also occurs on Maundy Monday. On this day, the Patriarch reads prayers for the beginning of the rite of world-making. Myrrh is a special mixture of vegetable oils, fragrant resins and fragrant herbs (50 substances in total), which is used during the Sacrament of Confirmation (performed after Baptism), as well as during the consecration of new altars in the temple. Myrrh is cooked during the first three days of Holy Week and is accompanied by the reading of special prayers. The cooked myrrh is blessed by the Patriarch on Maundy Thursday. Every baptized person remembers that immediately after the Sacrament of Baptism was performed on him, the priest anointed his forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, chest, palms and feet with myrrh, while saying “The Seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” During this Sacrament of Confirmation, the Gifts of the Holy Spirit are imparted to a person. So, the myrrh, which will then be used at the baptism of new members of the Church and at the consecration of new altars in churches, begins to be cooked on Maundy Monday, the first day of Holy Week.

Maundy Tuesday (April 7). On this day, the Church remembers the parables told by Christ to his disciples shortly before the suffering on the cross. The Savior revealed spiritual truths to His disciples, putting them in the form of a parable - a short allegorical story taken from ordinary life. The fact is that Christ’s disciples were simple people, and the parable, on the one hand, is easy to understand and remember, and on the other, it contains the deepest spiritual meaning and illustrates Divine laws using examples of our earthly, everyday life. So, during the service on Holy Tuesday they remember the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents and Christ’s story about the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment. Together, these Gospel readings call believers to spiritual vigilance, to ensure that we do not “bury” the talents given to us, and, finally, to ensure that we do not get tired of doing works of mercy. The Lord says that the Kingdom of Heaven will be inherited by those who feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and welcome the wandering. Because, says the Lord: “Just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did it to Me.”

Great Wednesday (April 8). On the third day of Holy Week, during the service, they remember how in the house of Simon the leper, where Christ came to visit, a sinner washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and poured precious ointment on His head. In those days, they not only anointed royalty with myrrh, but also anointed the bodies of the dead before burial. Thus, the sinner, without knowing it herself, prepared Christ for burial. On the same day, Judas Iscariot went to the high priests and asked them what they would give if he betrayed Christ. The high priests offered Judas “thirty pieces of silver, and,” as the Gospel says, “from that time on he was looking for an opportunity to betray Him.” In addition to these passages from the Gospel, on Great Wednesday, during the Liturgy, the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian is read for the last time, with three great bows. From this day, until the Feast of the Holy Trinity, bows in the temple are canceled, and this has a deep meaning. Bowing to the ground shows that we humans have fallen to the earth through sin. And the abolition of prostrations during the Divine Service emphasizes that the Lord has atoned for our sins and reminds us that the Resurrection of Christ became a prototype of the future century.

At the evening service on Wednesday, believers try to confess.

Maundy Thursday (April 9). On this day, the Church returns us to the Last Supper. An event that occurred before Christ was taken into custody. The Last Supper is the last supper, the meal of Christ with His disciples on the eve of His suffering on the cross. During the service in the church, they remember four gospel events that happened on Thursday. The first event is Christ washing the feet of His disciples before the Last Supper. This washing was a sign of Christ's deepest humility and His love for His disciples. During this same supper, as it is said in the Gospel, “the devil had already put into the heart of Judas Iscariot” the idea of ​​betraying Christ. And Jesus, seeing the heart of the traitor, spoke about this at the evening, as if giving Judas the opportunity to stop. This gospel episode is also spoken about during the service.

The third event that we remember during worship is very important for every believer. The fact is that it was during the Last Supper that Christ established the Sacrament of the Eucharist. The Greek word "eucharist" means "thanksgiving." In Christianity, the Eucharist is the Sacrament of communion of the Body and Blood of Christ, the Sacrament of grace-filled (that is, perfect through the influence of grace), unity of the believer with God. Established by Christ during the Last Supper, the Sacrament is still performed in every church during every Divine Liturgy. Many believers try to take communion on Maundy Thursday.

And finally, the fourth gospel event that is remembered during the Liturgy on Maundy Thursday is the prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus knew what was ahead of Him, “His soul was grieved to death,” and, as the Gospel says, He prayed “until he sweated blood.” This prayer of Christ is often called “the prayer for the cup,” because, appealing to God the Father, Christ asked that, if possible, “this fate would pass from Him”: “Abba Father! All things are possible for You; carry this cup past Me,” - but then he added words of complete humility before the future fate and the will of God the Father: “However, not as I want, but as You want.”

These four most important gospel events are remembered in churches on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week during the Divine Liturgy.

During the evening service on Maundy Thursday, twelve Gospel passages are read, telling about the suffering of Christ's death on the cross, and the words of Christ on the cross, His crucifixion and burial are remembered.

According to a long-standing Orthodox tradition, during the reading of the twelve Gospels, believers stand in the temple with lit candles. And then, after the service, this light is brought home, and a cross smokes on the window frames and door jambs. This custom dates back to the Old Testament Passover. Believers who come to the temple on the evening of Maundy Thursday prepare in advance to bring the candle home unextinguished, placing it in a special lamp for this purpose.

Maundy Thursday is also called Maundy Thursday. On the one hand, this is a day of spiritual cleansing - on this day everyone tries to confess and take communion, but on the other hand, this refers to the everyday side of our lives. It is on Maundy Thursday that believers try to prepare their home, their clothes, Easter cakes and Easter for the Great Bright Resurrection.

Good Friday (April 10). The most mournful day in the church calendar, it was on Friday that the crucifixion and death of Christ on Calvary took place. The Divine Liturgy is not served on Good Friday, since on this day the Lord Himself sacrificed himself.

For six long hours the Lord suffered painfully on the cross, redeeming with His suffering all humanity from slavery to sin. Christ's death on the cross took place according to the Gospel at the ninth hour (about three o'clock in our time). Therefore, it is at this time that the shroud is taken out in churches - a sewn image of the crucified Body of the Savior taken from the Cross. The shroud is taken out of the altar and placed on a specially prepared table in the center of the temple - the tomb, and then the clergy and all worshipers bow before it.

The shroud is in the middle of the temple for three incomplete days, reminding us of the three-day stay of Jesus Christ in the tomb.

On Good Friday, before the removal of the shroud, no food is eaten at all; this is the day of the strictest fasting of the year.

Holy Saturday (April 11). This is the day when “let all flesh be silent,” that is, it is a day of internal concentration, when we are in a state of spiritual anticipation of the Resurrection of Christ. Holy Saturday is the day the body of Jesus Christ remains in the tomb. As you know, the handsome Joseph took the body of the Savior from the Cross and, wrapping Him in a shroud, laid him in the tomb. But, while His body was in the tomb, with His soul the Lord on that day descended into hell, where, awaiting salvation, the souls of all the dead languished, even the souls of the saints who lived before Christ. Jesus Christ descends into hell - this is called the “descent into hell” - and brings out the souls of the righteous from there.

On Holy Saturday, the Liturgy of Basil the Great is celebrated (it is served only a few times a year), during which biblical prophecies are read before the shroud. As is known, long before the birth of the God-Man, the prophets predicted the coming of the Savior into our world, and that by His Death on the Cross and His Resurrection He would redeem us from the power of sin and death.

During the Divine Liturgy of Good Friday there is an amazing moment - the priests changing from black to white. This is a symbol of the fact that “Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by death and giving life to those in the tombs.” The meaning of this chant, sung in churches on Easter, is as follows: By His deed on the cross and death, and then the resurrection that followed death, the Lord transformed human nature and opened the path of resurrection to all people. This means that from now on there is no place for mourning in the world.

A special sign that the Resurrection of Christ and His victory over death took place is the miraculous ignition of the Holy Fire in the Cave of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. This ignition of fire occurs without human effort, but only through a prayer read by the Patriarch of Jerusalem to a huge crowd of believers. The very event of the descent of the Holy Fire occurs every year on the day of Holy Saturday and is one of the visible evidence of the presence of Christ in our world.

All the days of Holy Week, in parallel with intense divine services, preparations are underway for the meeting of the Risen Christ. On Saturday, everyone strives to bless Easter cakes, Easter cakes and brashno (that is, meat and eggs), so that later, after the festive Easter service, they can break their fast. The consecration of food itself means that we receive a blessing to accept it.

April 12 - the long journey of Holy Week is behind us, the Feast of Holidays, Easter, and the Bright Resurrection of Christ are coming!