Theological meaning of a religious procession on Easter. Why is the Procession needed?
“You should not give treats to pets from the Easter table”
On Sunday, April 8, Orthodox Christians celebrate the holiday of Easter Sunday. Easter is celebrated on the night from Saturday to Sunday in different ways: some go to church, while others simply set the festive table at home. Even children know that on this day they should congratulate loved ones with the words “Christ is Risen!” However, behind the external attributes many people forget true meaning holiday. Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin told how to celebrate Easter correctly.
– After graduation Soviet era Easter is perceived by many as a secular holiday: colored eggs are considered the same symbols as tangerines on New Year. But if a person did not comply Lent, is it even possible for him to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection?
He needs to try to understand the meaning of the holiday. Even if someone has not fasted, he can celebrate on Easter, but the main thing in celebration is participation in worship, meeting with Christ. This holiday reminds us that you can enter the Kingdom of God only if you believe in Christ. The other paths do not lead out of hell; a person is doomed for eternity if he is not a Christian - as it were a good man he was not.
This is the point: Easter is completely not tolerant, not politically correct and not inclusive - after all, Christ was resurrected in order to give people the only way to eternal life. This is the main thing, not tables and not visiting people, especially not drunkenness and not entertainment. If you don’t have the strength to come to the service at night, you can come in the morning, but without the service the holiday loses its meaning.
For most people, Easter ends with dinner on the night from Saturday to Sunday or with Sunday breakfast - the Easter cake is eaten, the egg is broken, you can return to ordinary life. How does the church recommend spending Easter?
On this day, after the service, people either relax or go to visit. Many come to the temple on the evening of the first Easter day when the solemn Vespers are celebrated. This day is well suited to ask for forgiveness from those you have offended, or from those who have offended you. It would be good to renew relationships with people with whom they were senselessly lost. You can visit sick, lonely people, for example, in a nursing home or orphans. All 40 days during which Easter is celebrated are good for good deeds.
It is necessary to find agreement around Christ - an unbeliever husband must be sanctified by a believing wife, she leads him and strives to lead her entire family to Christ.
– After the Easter Liturgy, are all the restrictions of Lent lifted? Are intimate relationships between spouses allowed again?
Yes, after returning from the temple you can eat meat and dairy. This applies to all norms - the fast is over, which means you can return to marital relations.
– A topical question about wine for Russian people: we know that Cahors should be at the Easter meal. Does it need to be consecrated?
People often bless wine; this is allowed, but not required. It can be used - for the glory of God. But it is important not to overdo it when celebrating the end of Lent: an extreme degree of intoxication never, including on Easter, does not make a person beautiful.
– Sometimes pet owners ask: is it possible to treat a cat with an Easter egg, and a dog with a piece of ham? Wouldn't this be sedition?
This should not be done. Sanctified Easter eggs- this is a shrine; Even the shells from them are not thrown into the trash by pious people, but are saved to be burned later, and the ashes are poured, for example, under a tree. Therefore, animals should not be given Easter food.
How are they going? church services for Easter
On the morning of Holy Saturday, which this year falls on April 7, services begin in churches. After it, from noon to one o'clock in the afternoon until six to eight o'clock in the evening (the schedule can be checked in a particular temple), believers bring Easter cakes, Easter cakes, colored eggs and other food for the Easter table to be blessed.
At half past eleven in the evening the Easter Midnight Office begins - the priests take the Shroud (the canvas depicting the position of the body of Christ in the tomb) to the altar and place it on the throne. There she will remain for 40 days - until the Ascension of the Lord.
Before midnight the bells solemnly ring, and at midnight the royal gates open and the Procession. At its end, the priests sing the troparion: “Christ is risen from the dead!”
This is followed by Easter Matins, after which everyone celebrates Christ - kisses three times, gives each other colored eggs and says: “Christ is Risen!” - “Truly he is risen!” Starting from three in the morning on Sunday, you can also consecrate Easter food; the consecration will continue during the day - from 11-12 to five-six o'clock in the evening, as well as on Monday and Tuesday.
When can you start breaking your fast? After the end of the Divine Liturgy, which ends around three in the morning - four in the morning.
Folk customs
Despite the fact that Easter is a religious holiday, and the church does not approve of superstition, many Orthodox Christians continue to believe in the secrets of their ancestors. For example:
If a girl wants to get married this year, during the church service she must say to herself “The Resurrection of Christ! Send me a single groom!”
A baby born on Easter is predicted to have fame and a great future.
A person who dies on Easter is considered to be marked by God - he immediately goes to heaven. They bury him with red paint in his right hand.
A piece of Easter cake can be crumbled to the birds - they will bring good luck and wealth to the house.
There are many stars in the sky on Easter night - a sign of frost.
The shells from colored eggs can be put in an amulet and worn together with a cross - as a talisman.
«
Elder Jonah of Odessa
Unfortunately, many of today's Christians, and even some of the priests, do not know the gracious power of the Orthodox Procession of the Cross, do not understand its meaning and significance, both for each individual person and for the world in general. Moreover, the word “peace” here can be read both “for peace - against war”, and in the understanding of “the whole world”, as the entire land, country, city, area in which it is held.
It has long been noted - and our pious ancestors took advantage of this - that after the procession with a prayer service, there were good harvests, unfavorable weather conditions stopped: the Lord brought rain after a drought, or, conversely, the sun came out and the continuous rains that threatened flooding stopped. Moreover, miraculous healings occurred, both of the participants and 
those for whom they prayed, epidemics and outbreaks of plague stopped. During military invasions, our ancestors also resorted to the help of the Procession of the Cross - with a conciliar, repentant prayer, they asked for forgiveness of sins and intercession from God's Heavenly Powers.
Where the religious procession took place, the area is sanctified. If we had open spiritual vision, we could see how space is literally cut by the Procession of the Cross, everything sinful and evil disappears, and the entire area is literally filled with God’s Grace.
Modern elders say that “ While the religious processions are going on, the Lord will not allow war" And recently reposed in God Elder Jonah of Odessa (+2014), shortly before his death, said that “ Ukraine will be saved by religious processions". Here is a topic for reflection - are Processions of the Cross necessary, how to treat them, whether to participate in them - at least a little, as they say, everyone is capable of - or can participate - be greeted warmly (after all, the Savior Himself, the Mother of God, the Saints on icons, banners, and invisibly stand), feed, place, if necessary, for the night, etc. And if local, one-day religious processions have such power and beneficial significance, then what is the use of multi-day ones, such as “Kamenets-Podolsky - Pochaev”, “Bravilovo - Pochaev”, “Toplovo - Feodossia”, etc.? After all, here a Christian already enters into a kind of feat - he endures bad weather, everyday inconveniences, his own imperfections, which will certainly manifest themselves, learns to see his neighbor, and not just himself, learns humility, prayer, and trust in God's help.
Bishop of Kamenets-Podolsk and Gorodotsky Theodore in 2007, before the start of the Pochaev religious procession, he said the following words: « The procession of the cross is a spiritual feat, a feat that presupposes faith, and therefore reveals to the believer the possibilities and the world that opens up through this feat.” And he also said, admonishing the crusaders: “The joint prayer that you will perform during the pilgrimage journey is, perhaps, the most important thing that will be performed during your six-day journey to the Pochaev Lavra. A pilgrimage is not tourism, it is an internal spiritual feat, invisible to others, but understandable to those who commit it. In this invisible spiritual feat, the main thing is and remains prayer.”
Vladyka Pochaevsky Vladimir said: “You look at the Procession of the Cross, and you understand that our Faith is alive. With this blessed, hard work they glorify God, and it must be said that the Queen of Heaven has always covered them and continues to cover them with Her veil... The path to the Kingdom of Heaven is thorny, we are weak, we fall, we rise, we fall again, we rise again... The procession of the cross depicts the path of a Christian to the Kingdom of Heaven, through his personal labor, good deeds people are trodden for themselves the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. Prayer services on the road serve to strengthen us; prayer is a conversation with God. The Lord says whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive. That’s why they express their desires and requests, and the Lord hears them. It must be said that prayer in the Procession of the Cross has special power. Previously, with the procession of the Cross, they went out into the fields, asked for the harvest, for rain, and the Lord gave it to them through conciliar prayer. Before they had time to return home with icons and banners, it was already raining.
So, during this procession of the Cross, one can observe that some people receive what they ask for: the sick are healed, the weak are strengthened, those who have some weaknesses leave them, they say goodbye to them. We see great miracles happening."
Indeed, the main thing in the Procession of the Cross is prayer. Prayer asks for help, without it there is no way, we ourselves are very weak. And the Crusaders also know that during the procession of the Cross, Heaven is literally open, God listens to their prayers, healings take place, wonderful help in the fight against passions, in some everyday needs, and helping family members for whom they pray.
Therefore, if there is prayer, there will be patience, and grace-filled help, and an elevated, joyful state of spirit. Yes, this is a kind of feat, and carrying your cross after the Cross of Christ, and the Lord allows you to endure calluses, heat, and cold. But by giving the cross, the Lord also gives strength to bear it. With His help, everything is arranged and overcome, and all that remains is a feeling of satisfaction and happiness, and one desire - to repeat everything again.
In order to understand what the Procession of the Cross is, you need to go through it. And those who go through the procession of the Cross at least once will strive to go through it again, and again...
And this applies not only to multi-day, but also to one-day religious processions - prayer, patience, grace, help, and healing.
For example, we can talk about the miracle of healing that occurred after participating in the four-day Procession of the Cross, which was held in Dnepropetrovsk before the Feast of the Entry into the Temple Holy Mother of God in 2015. The last, fourth day - deteriorating weather conditions, where there is snow, where there is ice, slippery, cold, wind, and ahead - more than twenty kilometers of road - from Pobeda, through the South Bridge, through Pridneprovsk, Ksenyevka to Odinkovka. And, precisely on this day, Grandma Eva came from a nearby village to participate in our penitential process. As it turned out later, with sore, swollen legs, and a chronically sore lower back, since, at one time, for a long time worked as a milkmaid... And now they call from her with gratitude - her legs stopped hurting, the swelling went away, and the most amazing thing - the back pain that had been tormenting her for so many years stopped, the pain in her lower back went away! She says, “I walk and am surprised myself, “nothing hurts, God’s grace miraculously healed me!” And she also admitted that for the next three days, before the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple, she, and those close to her, heard a fragrance clearly emanating from her.
I would also like to add on my own behalf that even if this healing had not happened, the patience and willpower of this old grandmother - when she was offered to leave the route earlier, so as not to force herself, because how difficult it is, and even the boots are slippery, she would not agree, “I’ll get to the end,” all the participants remembered this move. But the Lord did not leave her without His attention! You know, as I once said St. Amphilochy Pochaevsky (+1970) , when he was asked why some people are blessed and others are not. - It all depends on patience than more people endures, the more grace he receives! So in our case, the Lord confirmed the truth of the words of His saint, showed us that He is close, nearby, and is always ready, according to our faith, to come to our aid.
L. Ochai
01.01.2017
The Velikoretsk religious procession is called the most famous and most difficult pilgrimage route in Russia.
Six days, 150 kilometers. On foot, behind the found icon.
The image was found in 1383, on the banks of the Velikaya River. It is there that the icon goes from Kirov, and then goes back, a different way.
This is what they write in dictionaries: “Until the 20s of the 20th century, the image of Nikolai Velikoretsky was in cathedral Vyatki, where the religious procession began. After the destruction of the cathedral, the icon disappeared. From the 30s to the 90s of the last century, the Velikoretsk religious procession was prohibited, but believers, despite the ban, went to the holy place all the years. In 1999, the centuries-old tradition was revived, and in 2000, by decree of Patriarch Alexy II, the Velikoretsk procession was given the status of an all-Russian procession.”
There were 90,000 pilgrims this year
Thus, a list of the found icon travels to the Velikaya River.
Once upon a time, the religious procession was carried out on water, so there is a photograph.
Now tens of thousands of people make this journey along the roads of the Kirov region. This year there were 90,000 pilgrims.
For what
I'm not exactly a religious person. Still, people walk this path with prayer. And maybe I just feel warmth from that “Orthodox side.”
We are greeted by an epic-looking monk. He leans on his staff and looks seriously. Does not say anything. But the sensations, of course... Worse than face control.
There is a mobile storage room nearby. I hand over half of my backpack and look around. There are tents. These are the pilgrims who arrived earlier. I also find buckwheat porridge and sweet tea - everyone is fed before the journey. Well, thank you!
I'm going to the monastery. People are gathering. In the old days they would have said: “people are flocking.” People are very different: young and old, rich and poor, men and women, children. I saw a big Izhevsk boss in the crowd; in addition, the director of the Izhevsk yoga center; in addition, foreigners - Germans, Serbs, Ukrainians. Here is a woman who came from Odessa. It is difficult for her to stand - age. Sits on a bench. “How will you go?” - I say. “With God's help. As much as I can."
They bring out the icon. A prayer service begins, an akathist is sung to St. Nicholas, with whom we will have to walk this path. Festive, solemn. The sun is burning, but I don’t think about difficulties. I'm ready, but with rather youthful enthusiasm.
Governor of the Kirov Region Nikita Belykh and Metropolitan of Vyatka and Slobodskoy Mark deliver welcoming remarks. I don’t see them, but only hear that the religious procession is an act of love: “Go not for yourself, go with love: share a place to sleep, feed the hungry - this will be your cross. What are we st O them if we can’t give anything to anyone?” The crowd is buzzing, and I can discern the last words: “On a good journey, to the Velikoretsk Icon, the miraculous power of which shone forth more than six centuries ago!..”
The procession of the cross is an act of love: do not go for yourself, go with love
A huge river of people spills onto the streets of Kirov. An Orthodox religious procession of many thousands is going past Sovetskaya, Lenin, and Rosa Luxemburg streets, past the signs “Rolls and Sushi,” as well as “Spare Parts to Order.”
Nearby there is a man with a hangover - shaking, smelling, of course, of fumes. The eyes are cloudy, there is a plastic bag in the hand. On the other side is a mother with four children, one of whom she is pushing in a stroller. I saw her the next day, and then again. It seems they have gone all the way.
An hour and a half later, the first stop was at the Trinity Church. A prayer service is being served. After it, many pilgrims line up to venerate the icon.
Having read that at rest stops I urgently need to lay out rugs and lie down to save up my strength, I’m already unfolding, but some girl tells me that over there there are dry closets, and there they hand out water, and all this may not happen for a long time. I run for water, go to bed again to “save up strength,” but, to be honest, I can’t imagine how it’s possible to walk 150 kilometers in six days.
I, of course, feel like a kind of pioneer on a mission.
We've been walking all day. We were afraid of the cold and rain, but no - the sun is shining. It gets hot, and when we walk uphill on the asphalt for an hour and a half. This, perhaps, was the first difficulty. Talking is not blessed. During the procession, pilgrims read prayers, an akathist to St. Nicholas. Some do it quietly or silently, and sometimes entire groups begin to sing.
This is so unusual for me that I increasingly begin to think: “What am I doing here? Who signed me up here anyway?” The situation is complicated by the fact that giving up easily was never part of my plans. And somewhere in the rows a friend is walking with her friend. How can I get off on the first day? Well, I go, I listen, I look, I remember those who told me before the move: “You will definitely pass. There is no doubt." Let's see.
Meanwhile, the heat is intensifying. Suddenly we see: a battery of water bottles is stacked on the road. Maybe a thousand pieces. Pilgrims take one for themselves and pass the bottles further along the rows.
Let's go, we'll be patient. The first rows are almost running. I walk quickly, so I also walk with my backpack right behind the singers.
Finally we enter the village of Bobino. This will be our first overnight stay.
I noticed that, despite six o’clock in the evening, the houses were closed and the windows were curtained. They say that in last years there are a lot of people walking around, everyone is noisy, everyone is looking for accommodation for the night, sometimes too persistently, so now you can spend the night with locals only by prior arrangement.
I was also somewhat discouraged by the new sensation. I've come a long way. The hard way. You need to get a diploma somewhere, and someone will tell you: “Well done, pioneer and excellent student Olya! Here’s a badge for you too, and let’s clap!” You can go home and go to bed. But nothing like it. No one is shocked, no one applauds. Expectations are not met. Obviously there's something different here. Some internal border needs to be pushed back.
We manage to spend the night in a large army tent.
But you need to get dinner, and you also need to bring a heavy bag from the storage room - there is a sleeping bag, toothpaste, a mug and a spoon. The soldiers distribute food - buckwheat porridge, soup and delicious herbal tea. However, everything is delicious.
The temple in Bobin is small, nice, and stands on a hill. While I was rushing about arranging everyday issues, the service ended. But there is still a line to see the icon. I also found myself in front of her.
It's clear and warm outside. I would like to stay in this place some more, but other pilgrims are already pushing me away. I go for water, for which there is also a queue.
At rest stops, people willingly share their impressions and talk about themselves
Communication is easy to build here. Still at the same time. You don’t talk much while you’re walking, but at rest stops people willingly share their impressions and talk about themselves.
Here is a man from Moscow. He's going for the ninth time. Well, I ask, is there a result? Yes, I haven’t smoked for two years now. There are other results, but they are very personal.
Here is a woman from Kirov. Her daughter is due to give birth in a week or two: “I’m going for her to make it easier for her.”
I go to bed at 21:00. 17 kilometers covered. Experienced pilgrims say that tomorrow is the longest and most difficult trek.
Get up at 2:00, leave at 3:00. The church has its own schedule. Meadows and forests. Moon and forests.
Pilgrims can also carry the icon. Men, of course. It’s best if three come at a time.
We go, we hear prayer singing - here and there. I somehow got used to it, I listen.
First stop, I lay out the mat in a minute and immediately fall asleep for 40 minutes.
It's hot, it's hard to walk. And morally too. Time has slowed down and for the second day now it has stood still at one point. All life consists of you going, going, going, going. It is unknown when this path will end. Maybe in six months?
Divine services are held at every stop. And I, who at first used the time to sleep, began to come closer to the icon. Since she continued to walk in the front rows, she was in time for the beginning of the prayer service. And gradually something began to change, on its own, without tension. It was as if warmth and protection, peace and tranquility appeared. This can be called in one word - grace.
At approximately 10:00 we approach the village of Zagarye. Ten in the morning is not so much, but it means that we have been on the road for seven hours, and we still have to go and go until eight in the evening. I only dream of sitting down somewhere and nibbling on my crispbread and energy bars. A man by the road sells water, I manage to buy a bottle. Finally Zagarye. The same closed houses with curtained windows. On one, to be sure, there is an inscription: “Do not go behind the gate: the owners are not at home.” But we don’t come in. We hobble on.
U big house in front of the church there is a local man standing, smiling, inviting him to enter, and I see: not all, but some of the pilgrims are turning away. Well, I turned - a turn, another turn - I find myself on a large area in front of the house.
And I see a table set with a three-course lunch. A woman invites you to eat. The other one helps her.
The family - of their own free will and on their own - prepared food, medicine, showers, and boiling water in two huge vats for the pilgrims
The family - of their own free will and on their own - prepared for the pilgrims: food (two types of soups, pilaf, porridge, tea, coffee), medicines, toilets, showers, boiling water in two huge vats, drinking water(six new taps especially for pilgrims). And, of course, she didn’t ask for money for it.
Oleg and Tatyana and, obviously, the mother of one of them - three people - vying with each other, they invite: settle down, relax, this is the way you are going!
And here, friends, I start crying, naturally shedding tears. I never expected that there could be such powerful support around an unknown corner. It was so hard to walk. I stand with this soup and cry.
Trying not to philosophize, I go and sit down with my lunch under the sea buckthorn tree.
And Oleg and Tatyana in response to our question: how can we thank you? - they only ask to pray for their daughter, so that everything will be fine with her; thank God, she has now entered the university she wanted.
“I,” I say, “Oleg, will never forget you now.”
The path of the second day is really difficult. It is also difficult, it seems to me, because you have to walk through abandoned villages, see strong houses where there is no life.
At the end of the day, the first calluses appear on my feet. Legs and shoulders hurt.
They say that the best shoes are wool socks on bare feet plus sandals. But actually, I was also prepared: orthopedic insoles plus all-terrain volunteer sneakers (thanks to the Olympics in Sochi!), and then I walked for two more days with my lungs rubber boots and these same wool socks.
We arrive for the night in the village of Monastyrskoye.
I go to the temple, the bells ring, right at the entrance. It's like a portable belfry, or something.
You’re so tired that you feel like you’re in another dimension, a little dazed. In addition, there is nowhere to sit, only on the ground (the so-called “seat”, which is attached below the lower back, was very useful). Pilgrims can be recognized by their gait: they waddle like ducks. And also about green legs: medicine generously waters them with greenery at rest stops. More than 35 km covered.
The organizers make sure that people are fed. At least once a day - hot food, tea, boiling water. They also try to spend the night in large army tents. Plus dry closets. Even if at some times there is something missing, and there are huge queues everywhere (the number of pilgrims increases every year), you still feel a kind attitude. And you feel great gratitude. Thank God for everything! And in the queues, as I already said, there is an opportunity to communicate, find out who is coming from where, who is coming for the umpteenth time, and how everything was in past years. You can also get support there: come on, sister, you will get there with God’s help. In general, I was on the move without any company, without interlocutors, or rather, on this journey there was a different Interlocutor, and this opportunity to communicate with people - at rest stops, in places where we spent the night - brought us closer and made us one force.
Then it turns out that some pilgrims even ended up in a bathhouse. Lucky ones!
I settle down again in the common tent. Nearby is a man of about 60, in dirty shoes - on his and on my rug. The trousers are also dirty. I say: “Now you will dirty both yourself and me.” And I stand, towering above him. How can we even sleep next to each other?!
A woman gets up from the mat opposite: “What are you talking about?!” Yes, this is my grandfather. Look how good he is! We’ll all get settled now.” He speaks with love. The grandfather is offended: “We have two daughters like her, 34 and 42 years old.” - “What are you, this one is very young. What, twenty years old, are you?” “Yeah,” I say. - Like this". “Ugh,” the grandfather turns away. - There’s no one to even talk to. Greenery!"
In the morning they both ask me how I slept, if everything was okay. "Yes talking. - Excuse me". I move on and think how good it is that I managed to tell them these two words.
I'm starting to notice that life is structured differently. Forces are distributed according to completely different laws
I'm starting to notice that life is structured differently. Forces are distributed according to completely different laws.
You come, settle in for the night, and at 21:00 it’s as if they turn you off, you fall asleep immediately, without dreams, on the floor, on the rug, and ultimately in any company.
I notice that I don’t have any problems getting up at two in the morning and going out at three in the morning.
That my back ached before the move, especially after physical activity, but here there is no hint of pain.
Every now and then I hear that “Nicholas the Wonderworker leads the newcomers by the hand” (option: “carries in his arms”). Maybe so. I feel protected. Among many, many thousands of people. Protection, of course, was quite visible: all the days of the journey, doctors, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the police with dogs were with us.
But it is absolutely clear that some other power source is turned on here.
We walk through the mud. We go through forests, meadows, fields. Everyone carries backpacks, some pilgrims carry children. Every day we travel for about sixteen hours.
I suddenly start thinking about the soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, about the infantry. We are going - we know where, we know that in a few days we will board trains and go home, but what about them? You walked, and it was unknown when it would all end, and it was unknown whether you would be alive. How did they endure, where did they get strength, how did they save themselves, how did they strengthen their spirit? You begin to understand a lot, or rather, to feel it in your gut, when you walk like this for several days with a backpack under the scorching sun, in the rain, through the mud. I also remembered barge haulers on the Volga.
Lonely temple in the village of Gorokhovo. Church of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God. Soviet at the temple complicated story. And the village is almost gone. There are no residential buildings nearby.
They say that services are held here three times a year, during religious processions.
There is a source nearby. You can take a dip and get some water.
There is a service in the temple. And outside there are strong men and several pots of buckwheat porridge. One of these contains 50 kg of cereal. They feed us and give us tea.
I want to say about the atmosphere of the course. One of the most common words- "Sorry". Outbursts of anger, if they do occur, do not find continuation and do not result in quarrels. General internal concentration and goodwill are stronger than irritation. There is a woman with a child in line at the source. He is capricious, screaming, and the woman, obviously thinking that she is using a pedagogical technique, encourages her: “Can you be even louder? And what else?” The child starts up. The mother smiles joyfully for some reason. Finally one of the pilgrims says: “Sorry, but I already have a headache, to be honest.” And the mother begins to yell at this woman, but then, stopping short, she hurries to leave, along with the child, without waiting in line. This contrast is very noticeable here, in use. In “ordinary life”, I think there would be a scandal. And here it’s simply inappropriate to sort things out like that.
There is a special atmosphere here: one of the most common words is “sorry”
There is a big stop in Gorokhov. You can be on time for work, and relax and sleep. And move on with new strength.
Towards evening we enter the village of Velikoretskoye - this is where the icon was found many years ago. From this moment the holidays of the soul begin.
Here's a shot from above. Pilgrims approach the temple after walking a path of 80 kilometers.
I decided to put up a tent myself (thanks to the GTO, it was not for nothing that I passed the tourist standard). I settle down right next to the walls of the monastery, and a tent city instantly springs up around me. You will spend two nights here. More precisely, one and a half.
Pilgrims are an unpretentious people. Someone will spend the night on the floor in the temple (it turns out this is allowed), and someone will sleep in red sleeping bag on his steps.
I'm going to look around. A festive fair is already waiting for us - candy-lambs, linen dresses, human-sized nesting dolls, health products. But herbal tea is simply poured from a huge samovar, and the boy with great feeling reads poetry about this very samovar.
The film crew of the Kultura TV channel is also here, making a film about the move.
In Velikoretskoye I went to confession for the first time. Of course I was worried.
When my turn comes, I realize with horror that I am turning on the journalist, or rather, he turns on himself without asking: “Yes, father, I heard you, but here’s another question...”
It was midnight (many thousands of people confess to priests in the church and on the banks of the Velikaya River), the priest, Father George, could barely stand on his feet, and was also selflessly looking for words for me. I surprised you with my progressive outlook on life. He surprised and supported, reassured. And he blessed.
I don’t want to leave, although we’ve been awake for almost 24 hours. I see the same woman from Odessa whom I met on the first day. Maybe she came here to Velikoretskoye on something. She smiles at me: “Well done for getting there.”
The Liturgy begins. A girl from the pilgrims comes up and says that she can’t stand anymore: “Can I lean on you?” That’s how I remember this service: I’m standing and a girl kneeling next to me is holding my hand. And through the open doors you can see how the morning begins.
After communion I go to the tent and immediately fall asleep.
There is a great celebration in the village - we celebrate the appearance of the Velikoretsk Icon of St. Nicholas. The icon was installed on the banks of the Velikaya River - where it was found. There are both pilgrims and local residents, and those who came here for this day - from Kirov, from the region, from everywhere.
By the way, today is Pushkin’s birthday. This is also a holiday for me. I celebrate with a large mug of soldier's porridge.
By the way, I noticed several times that you ask: “If only the rain would stop, and I would go get some porridge,” and the rain stops and resumes as soon as you return to the tent. Or you ask for things to go a little easier, and your strength increases. Such quiet conversations.
I'm going to the river. The consecration of the water has already taken place, and pilgrims are rushing to take a three-time plunge.
There are changing rooms, but there are long queues, so many people get naked in front of honest people, near the bushes.
And again I think, as on the first day, about how close everything is to us: the religious procession, and Lenin Street, and modesty, and lack of Christ, especially if in peace. Young people, and even respectable women, throw off their underwear, and also provoke the police, who maintain order, and laugh. The young policeman blushes. “Yes,” I say, “you have work today.” He smiles and shrugs his shoulders: they say, anything can happen.
I swim too. So my shirt, brought from India, went to hallowed waters Velikaya River.
Maybe here, in Velikoretskoye, for the first time there is a feeling of a path traveled, a job accomplished. My own internal heat. Neither a diploma nor a badge is needed anymore.
Some pilgrims end their journey here - this is called “getting off the road.” Everyone chooses a cross according to their strength. But still the majority moves on, completing the circle. Moreover, the way back is easier, it seems to me.
Going out at two in the morning is not a problem at all now. Even a little earlier we line up by the road and wait for the icon. A woman comes up to me and asks: “Girl, when is the train to Vorkuta?” I look like she’s in a hurry to explain: “Well, of course, you’re wearing a Sochi jacket.” (Indeed. I mentally send another greeting to the Sochi-2014 Organizing Committee: excellent equipment, and the jacket also folds into a soft, very comfortable pillow.) It turns out that there is such a train “Sochi-Vorkuta”, and many pilgrims arrived on it.
We arrive in the village of Medyany at 14:00. The canon is read. I’m passing on a note with names that are dear to me - for your health.
And again I feel it - grace, as if my soul is straightening up.
But people are tired, hungry (including me) and, having barely completed the service, they run to large vats of pea soup. Yes, there are also crazy pilgrims. Saving face when you really want to eat is another challenge.
I will never forget the girl Vika, about twelve years old. She helped pour the hot soup
I will never forget the girl Vika, about twelve years old. She helped pour the hot soup. Pilgrims, adults, surrounded her and all reached out with their dishes. It was hot, she meekly took mugs, bowls, buckets, filled them with her hands trembling from tension (heavy, hot!) and brought them up. And there were only more people, and they were all very hungry. At some point she whispered: “I don’t have time!” There were tears in her eyes, but she didn’t cry, she just froze for a second and again rushed to the hot vat of soup.
Vikulya, even if you don’t read this, may everything always be fine with you. You are a fighter. That day, many were touched by how innocently and honestly you carried out your work.
In general, then a woman, also from the distribution, saved her and put her on milk, which was intended only for small children.
And one old woman said: “Was it worth going to such a distance, getting blistered feet, enduring all this, if, just then, we again turn into...” And she didn’t finish.
At 19:00 we go to Murygino. This is no longer a village, but an urban settlement, asphalt roads, five-story buildings. It's a completely different feeling. Some of the pilgrims are accommodated in the school, and there is also a first-aid post, where I hobble on sore feet. But nothing - neither everyday difficulties, nor calluses - can overshadow the joy, which, it turns out, grew every day. And it continues to grow.
A temple under construction in Murygin. There is an incredibly beautiful iconostasis, it seems porcelain. As always, there is a large queue to see the icon of St. Nicholas. Lots of locals. I’m standing nearby, and I have one feeling: I came with this icon.
I pitch a tent on the bank of Vyatka. Tomorrow is the last day of the move.
Rise at 2:00, leave at 3:00, after prayer. By 9:00 we are already approaching Kirov. You have to walk around the city all day.
Another battery of water bottles. “Who should I thank?” - we ask. We hear: “Thank God”
In front of Kirov there is again a battery of water bottles. And some man. We ask whom to thank. Smiles: “Thank God.”
We walk across a large wide bridge. The wind rises so much that it begins to blow away. Pilgrims' rugs, bottles, and scarves fly away. For me, the “wind bridge” is one of the most powerful, joyful stages: there is space, freedom. New forces appear on this bridge.
We walk, and the ringing of bells accompanies us everywhere. As a reward for perfect prayer work, for everything that has been accomplished.
In the temples through which pilgrims pass, they try to feed everyone tastier. The grannies from the Church of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia (they, the grannies, are all right there - kind, very sympathetic) roll out pickles, vinaigrette, kvass, porridge, tea, pea soup, fish soup, and squash caviar. Feast on the mountain! I settle down on the rug with this luxurious lunch and remember how a cup of soldier’s porridge helped us out after a long difficult march.
We walk, walk, walk, again on the asphalt. An hour or two. It's hard again, it's hot. Residents of Kirov took to the streets and greeted them. Let's go.
The last fifteen minutes are no longer even a move, but a flight. When you fly, you know that there is only joy ahead.
And finally, at about four o’clock we arrive at the Trifonov Monastery, where we left almost a week ago.
Closing prayer service. Vladyka Mark blesses everyone and hopes to see you in next year.
After the service we go into the cathedral, fall on the floor and fall asleep for 20 minutes. We can barely stand up, everything hurts - legs, back, shoulders.
And there is also a font there. Orthodox chants can be heard again in the queue. A handsome, stately man stands out, I noticed him while he was still walking: he walked and sang - in such a voice and so soulfully that there was no doubt: this is a priest. It turned out that a programmer from Moscow, Alexey, was going for the fourth time. Amazing people, completely new to me. Well, as a journalist, I asked him to tell me about himself. And he wrote to me:
“What a joy it really is to walk together with brothers and sisters in faith. Because that’s where God is next to us.”
“Once, an acquaintance of mine, a rather elderly man who had seen a lot in his life, asked why I was going to the religious procession. And I tried for a long time to answer this question for myself. There were a lot of answers, and all of them were different. The religious procession sanctifies the ground on which people walk, and the people themselves. And Elder Nikolai Guryanov said that Russia would be saved through religious processions. Some people go to pray for their loved ones; many go to ask the saints for something in their lives. In 2012, when I returned from the water and sewage system, I had already vowed not to come here forever. But then, about six months later, my heart ached sadly, I again wanted to see people, see the beauty of the Vyatka lands, and enjoy the spiritual triumph. I don't know what's going on inside me. At that moment you want to sleep, your legs hurt, and you can’t wait for good weather, because it is either too hot, or too cold, or too damp, or too dry. You don’t really have time to pray; on the way you read prayers completely incompetently and inattentively. You don’t experience inspiring grace, nor do you experience any emotional disturbances. There is only one goal - to endure and reach. But only then do you realize that you are actually returning home a different person, unaccustomed to the usual routine of life along with all the mental rubbish. Only then does one realize what happiness it really is to walk along a dusty road with brothers and sisters in faith and endure minor difficulties. Because that’s where God is next to us.”
The pilgrims gradually disperse, and the temple becomes quiet. Candles burn softly, semi-darkness. The icon we had been following all these days returned to its place. During this time, she gathered thousands of people around her, and now you can stand alone...
Afterword
The procession of the cross is a practice. You practice kindness, humility, and the ability to overcome yourself
The procession of the cross is a practice. That's what I think you're practicing.
Non-malice, non-traumatic communication.
The ability to love.
The ability to overcome oneself, to deal with difficult things simply. You sleep on the ground, on the floor in the temple, you learn to walk like a duck, because everything hurts.
You humble your anger and pride - you don’t suppress it in yourself, but you let it go without effort. Very often the word “Sorry” is uttered here, as I already said. And you spread this feeling - peace and joy - like a wave, and catch it from other people. The procession on the sixth day is very different from what it was on the first.
I remember everyone with whom I had the opportunity to communicate, and I remember everyone with warmth.
Katerina from St. Petersburg says that you come back from a move as if you were coming back from a war—a war with yourself.
There are those who are going for the 19th time. I asked: you know that it will be so hard, how can you walk again? Craving, they say. Pulls. And then, we don’t know anything. Every time something new opens up here.
Basically, of course, the people here are pious. Children, along with adults, sing akathists and know all the prayers.
Well, you seem to float, return to this faith into which you were baptized many years ago. And much is still incomprehensible, you don’t know much, some things cause bewilderment, but, invariably, if you want it even a little, you do spiritual work, you feel peace and joy - God’s grace.
What else do you practice?
The ability to trust.
Ability to work for the long term. Now we need to be patient in order to achieve our desired goal.
In general, this is a very powerful spiritual and physical test. The first two days I just hung around with thoughts: “How did I get here?” And then, on the third day, I began to listen, quietly sing along, participate in prayer, and create my own conversation with my Interlocutor.
A procession of the cross is an open worship service. Worship in nature. The road to living faith. Not to the one where “the priest is a thick forehead,” but to that energy, to the true force that controls everything. An opportunity to feel yourself among life.
This is also an opportunity to see your country: people in the most different manifestations; nature, its power and beauty.
And in the finale, I would also like to add the words that I wrote a few days before the Velikoretsk religious procession.
And yet the main thing that I know now is that I have to go anyway. Just move your legs no matter what happens. It happened - and you moved. Go.
Not so long ago, we all followed the events of the All-Ukrainian procession of peace, love and prayer, which became a real testimony to the faith of our people. However, perhaps not everyone knows how the tradition of such moves appeared among the Orthodox, what its meaning is and its Old Testament origins. Let's try to find out.
Not a flash mob or demonstration
What is important to know? Procession of the Cross(not to be confused with the Crusades) is not called any popular procession, otherwise it could be confused with a demonstration or some kind of flash mob. Even external attributes, presence icons, crosses, banners cannot be a guarantee that he is exactly that.
Firstly, such a procession always has absolutely specific goal, reason (we will talk about them a little lower). Secondly, it must be performed only with the blessing of the archpastor, the bishop. Thirdly, such a procession must be led by a legally ordained priest or the same bishop.
But this is also, let’s say, just organizational, formal signs moves that are not at all responsible for their success. The main thing that should be present at such a procession of believers is a common spirit of prayer, unity of faith, mutual love and respect. Without them, any such “action” threatens to turn into an ordinary walk, or even - which is much worse - into a magic trick. Let us emphasize that what is important here is not only a prayerful, but a community spirit, and one that is peaceful towards everyone, even enemies.
Why do people come with crosses and icons?
So, we can say that such church moves are a type common prayer. Of course, then the question involuntarily arises: why go out into the street, make some kind of processions, if you can pray in church? The answer to it is the same as to the question: why are fasting and bowing necessary? We do this when we want to add some kind of sacrifice to our prayer so that it is heard.
Is the religious procession a manifestation of one’s faith? Perhaps from the outside this is exactly what it looks like. But main goal it certainly isn't. Its goal is to invoke God's grace, first of all, on all people, believers and non-believers, on the place where they pass: the city, the country and, ultimately, the whole world.
In addition, through such prayer solemn processions, natural elements are sanctified: fire, water, air. Previously, people better understood that any natural disasters are not just abstract environmental problems, but the wrath of God for our sins. That’s why they made such popular processions to beg the Lord for mercy.
The crusaders carry crosses with them (which is why it is called a procession), icons, and banners. Banners are sacred church banners that should not be confused with state ones, since the power of Christ is “not of this world.” The very first to carry a lantern (as a sign of the Gospel light, enlightening the whole world).
The cross is the main banner of Christians, a symbol of victory over death, a testimony of faith. Therefore, a move without him is, of course, unthinkable. Through the icons the saints themselves, the heavenly host also invisibly takes part in it. Sometimes, on the day of remembrance of a saint or his glorification, on special occasions, processions are also carried out with the relics of the saints of God.
Old Testament types
The very first prototype of such a procession of believers, perhaps, can be the forty-year campaign of the Israelites through the desert in search of the Promised Land. Most shining example The effective force of such popular processions is the capture of Jericho. The Book of Joshua tells about this (Joshua 5:13-6:26).
In a special revelation, he was ordered to walk around this city for seven days with the Ark of the Covenant, while blowing the trumpets. The ark was carried by the priests, the soldiers walked behind. On the seventh day, the Israelites blew their trumpets and shouted loudly and with one voice, after which the wall of Jericho collapsed and the city surrendered.
Also, the Jews on the Feast of Tabernacles had a tradition of a seven-day solemn procession around the almemar (a place in the synagogue) with palm branches. Another vivid prototype can be the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant by King David to Jerusalem, in which the entire people of Israel participated “with shouts and the sound of trumpets.”
John Chrysostom and the establishment of tradition
During the Savior’s earthly life, an example of a procession of the cross could be His solemn entry into Jerusalem. Then all the people greeted Him with the words “Hosanna!” and laid palm branches under their feet. We know that already in the first centuries in the early Christian community there was a tradition on Easter day to symbolically, following the example of the myrrh-bearing women, walk around the temple with candles in hand.
This can be considered the beginning of a tradition, but the rank (order) itself did not yet exist. Then, it is known that the newly discovered relics of the saints were carried over in the same solemn manner by the entire community. These processions took place at night and were accompanied by general prayer in the form of singing hymns (psalms). They were called lithiums (not to be confused with their modern form) or lithiums. They served as the beginning of the modern religious procession.
The authorship of the first rite is traditionally attributed to St. John Chrysostom. At first they were created in opposition to the Arians - the saint did not want people to participate in their Sunday pleasure meetings. Then, during the time when Chrysostom lived (IV century), a series of natural Disasters. So from a simple pious tradition they moved into general church practice, where they became entrenched.
Procession of the Cross in Rus'
These solemn processions with the participation of believers came to Rus' along with Christianity from Byzantium. Let us remember that baptism itself Kievan Rus was preceded by a large campaign of people to the Dnieper River in response to the call of Prince Vladimir. Also, the glorification of the first Russian saints, the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, and the transfer of their relics in 1115 was accompanied by a nationwide church procession.
Prayer processions of the people became so widespread in Russian lands that Holy Synod He was even forced to pass a resolution banning spontaneous moves. The heyday of the popularity of the religious procession tradition in Russia occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. Even then they took part royal families. The most striking example is the glorification of St. Seraphim of Sarov in 1903. Then from one hundred to three hundred thousand people took part in it, including Emperor Nicholas II himself and his family.
It is also difficult to overestimate the role of repentance moves for the history of the Russian state. They repeatedly saved not only Moscow, but also other significant cities from pestilences, fires and military invasions, thanks to which the images of the Mother of God became so famous here, especially Vladimir, Tikhvin, Kazan and many others. It’s not for nothing that the same Seraphim of Sarov said that “Russia will be saved by religious processions.”
Types of prayer processions
There are many types of procession according to different criteria. According to their duration, they are divided into one-day and multi-day. Depending on the time of commission there may be:
- annual(set, for example, on Easter and Epiphany);
- emergency, or disposable(committed for a specific reason).
Depending on the reasons, they are divided into:
- festive, or solemn- performed in honor of a specific holiday;
- thanks- in gratitude for God’s help and mercy on some occasion, these also include the procession in honor of the consecration of the temple;
- propitiatory- a type of common prayer at the beginning of an important church or state event;
- repentant- processions of believers carried out in times of national disasters (famine, war, epidemics, earthquakes, etc.) with a request for deliverance from them.
Unusual movements of modern times
Today there are many new types of unusual church processions, which, of course, have the same power if performed with faith, and not just with the intention of surprising. It is worth at least mentioning that already in our century such a variety of them as godfather years . The shrine (relics or icon) with prayer is transported by plane or helicopter over long distances.
Besides air, began to be implemented much earlier and aquatic. Such a religious procession is especially convenient for remote, hard-to-reach places. An unusual phenomenon can be called biker movements with icons and banners, in which even priests take part. Today they are also gaining popularity children's prayer processions, especially with prayer for peace. They are also a clear testimony of faith.
But in the monastery of Optina Monastery, an unusual prayer procession also takes place every day, in which... cats take part. This video can be viewed here:
IN Orthodox churches There is always a religious procession on Easter. This solemn procession symbolizes the path of the church towards the good news of the resurrection of Christ. It is held annually on the night from Holy Saturday to Easter Sunday. The clergy and believers walk around the temple three times, and then, standing at its porch and hearing the good news of the Resurrection of the Savior, they enter the open doors of the church, where from that moment the Easter service begins.
The solemn church procession began to be called a “procession of the cross” due to the fact that at the beginning of the procession there is always a clergyman who carries grand cross. At the heart of this tradition is the belief in the power of communal prayer performed during processions of the cross. Such processions look very solemn. They are led by clergy who read prayers and carry religious relics: a cross, icons and church banners depicting biblical scenes (gonfalons). And after the holy fathers come the believers.
The history of religious processions dates back to the birth of Christianity. And if initially only a religious procession was performed on Easter, then over time, after the end of the persecution of Christians, this custom became widespread and firmly entered into the rites of Orthodox services. Nowadays, almost all significant events of church life are accompanied by a solemn Orthodox procession.
Since ancient times, religious processions have been held:
- in honor of church festivities;
- when transferring the relics of saints, as well as other religious shrines;
- during various natural disasters, epidemics and wars, when people asked God for protection and salvation from the troubles that befell them.
It is known that the church history of Rus' itself began with the procession of the cross to the Dnieper, when the people of Kiev were baptized. Orthodox Christians in Rus' often held processions not only in honor of church holidays, but also in the event of various disasters, including natural disasters. For example, they walked around fields with icons during periods of drought, as well as villages and cities during terrible epidemics.
In the chronicles there is a mention of one of the first mass religious processions, which took place in the mid-14th century, when Rus' was attacked by a pestilence, from which the inhabitants of Pskov suffered the most. Then Archbishop Vasily of Novgorod, carrying the cross and holy relics, accompanied by the clergy and townspeople, made a procession around the city. Together with the clergy, almost all the local residents who were still standing took part in the procession, from the elderly to the babies carried by their parents in their arms. All the time while the procession was going on, the priests and believers prayed, loudly calling out in hundreds of voices: “Lord have mercy!”
For a long time, only a walking procession with the participation of clergy and believers was recognized as a religious procession. However, over time, thanks to technological progress, with the blessing of the clergy, non-canonical flight or air religious processions began to be performed.
During the Great Patriotic War, on December 2, 1941, a plane with a miraculous list flew around Moscow Tikhvin icon The Mother of God on board (according to other sources, it was an icon of the Kazan Mother of God). After this, the capital was saved from the enemy attack.
Easter procession: rules and symbolic meaning
Initially, the religious procession took place only on the day of the Holy Resurrection of Christ. From time immemorial, this procession symbolized not only the church going towards the Savior, but also the fact that before the news of the resurrection of Christ appeared, everyone was forced to wander in the dark until He showed everyone the way to the Light. Therefore, the Easter religious procession, although quite short, is arranged very solemnly, and participation in it is very important for any Christian.
The church service in honor of the Resurrection of Christ begins exactly at 00.00 hours on the night from Holy Saturday to Easter Sunday. Shortly before midnight, a solemn Easter procession takes place in all churches.
Despite late time, the procession passes under the incessant ringing of bells. The clergy and worshipers walk around the temple three times, each time stopping in front of its main entrance. The first two times the church doors are closed to the parishioners. The moment when people stand in the darkness of the night in front of the locked temple doors has great symbolic meaning. The Church recalls how Christ’s contemporaries, before his resurrection, also stood in darkness before closed entrance into the cave where the Savior rested, as if before the closed gates of heaven.
Around midnight, when the religious procession again, for the third time, glorifying the Holy Trinity and the risen Son of God, approaches the doors of the church, they solemnly swing open, revealing light to all those praying in the darkness of the night. Thus, the church seems to open the heavenly gates of paradise for people and show the way to them. After which the entire procession enters the temple, which symbolizes the path of the myrrh-bearing women who entered Jerusalem in order to tell the apostles the good news of the Resurrection of Christ. The myrrh-bearing women, who did not know about the Resurrection of Christ, came to his tomb on the third day in order to rub the Savior’s body with precious oils. And only when they came to the entrance to the cave where, as they thought, Jesus Christ rested, the women learned about the miracle that had happened, after which they headed to Jerusalem to tell everyone about the resurrection of the Son of God.
The fact that the doors of the temple open to believers only for the third time has a deep theological meaning. Jesus Christ rose on the third day, so the Easter procession must go around the temple three times.