Maundy Thursday signs and customs. Signs for Maundy Thursday

It is important to know well what customs, prayers, and traditions accompany Maundy Thursday. It is believed that on this glorious day, which precedes Good Friday, every believer is obliged to part with all his fears, problems, worries and sinful thoughts. You should not carry this “load” on your shoulders on the bright holiday of Easter. How to get rid of all problems? What should you do on Maundy Thursday?

Thursday of Holy Week has great magical power. On this day there are many different signs and, of course, rituals.

Immediately after waking up on Maundy Thursday, each family member must wash himself with silver, that is, from a silver coin or spoon. According to legend, such washing gives a person not only good health, but also beauty. On Maundy Thursday, the sick are washed with silver coins borrowed from neighbors. The strongest silver coin is the one that was stolen. Such a coin is not spent, but treasured: it is used to treat people, bewitch them, and tell fortunes with it.

Cleaning the house on Maundy Thursday. Every Orthodox Christian faces the task of purifying himself. You should achieve cleanliness in your home, body and soul. It is necessary to take all the rubbish out of the house, collect trash, cobwebs, everything that has been stored for many years in hidden corners and is waiting for its finest hour. If an item has not been used for 12 months, then it is time to throw it in the trash or give the item to people in need. This procedure will help remove all the negativity from the house that has accumulated over a long time, and also prevent evil spirits from loosening “their hands and tongues.” Please note that garbage accumulates where littering occurs. And in an uncomfortable house, where it is dusty and weedy, negative thoughts begin to arise, scandals, squabbles, and angry words appear. People forget about love for their neighbors and lose faith.

Swimming before sunrise on Maundy Thursday. To stay happy and successful until next Maundy Thursday, you need to cleanse your body. You need to swim before sunrise. This early morning, the water in the reservoirs is saturated with beneficial power. Ablution on Maundy Thursday will lead to the fact that accumulated fatigue, anxiety will go away, and pain will be forgotten. Before ablution, you need to say a prayer, your words of gratitude for what you have now, you need to repent. Before the sun dawns on Maundy Thursday, according to what customs require, we get into the shower and imagine that the water is not just washing the body, but taking away with it a whole series of troubles.

While bathing, you need to read a spell to attract good luck. It is necessary to say: “Water, water, flow, pour, cleanse my face, cleanse my body and cleanse my soul, fill me with beauty and health.” After this, bathing ends with pouring cool water over yourself from a ladle.

On Maundy Thursday you need to bake Easter cakes and Easter cakes. The main custom of Thursday of Holy Week is associated with baking Easter cakes. From the very morning, all housewives put the dough “so that it rises.” And towards evening, after reading all the necessary prayers, they begin festive baking. Popular beliefs say that by how the Easter cakes turn out, you can judge how the whole year will go until next Easter. If Easter cakes turned out lush and tasty, then next year will bring only joy. But if baking fails, then the year ahead will be difficult.

Signs on Maundy Thursday

According to folk superstitions, on Maundy Thursday every housewife must do a thorough cleaning of the house. After all, popular wisdom says that “there is no good in dirt.” This means that if you meet the approaching Easter holiday in a dirty home, then you can’t expect anything good from the next year. After Maundy Thursday you can no longer clean the house - the remaining days before the Great Day must be spent in strict fasting and prayer.

Beliefs strictly prohibit giving anything from home on Maundy Thursday. Even if a neighbor comes to you for salt, find a reason to refuse her, otherwise, along with the salt, you can give her prosperity and peace from your home.

On Maundy Thursday, you need to bring from church the so-called passion candle, which helps in the treatment of a variety of diseases. On the same day, Thursday salt is prepared - ordinary salt is baked in the oven, and then consecrated in the church. This salt has amazing healing properties.

On this day, housewives prepare Easter eggs, painted eggs, Easter cakes and Easter eggs. The appearance of Easter cottage cheese on the holiday table is not accidental. Since ancient times, milk and dairy products, along with bread (Kulich), were revered as sacred, sacred food. Our ancestors endowed milk with healing properties and associated it with concepts such as strength and fertility.

On Maundy Thursday, a person can ask otherworldly forces about his future. To do this, they took a candle brought from the evening service, lit it and went to the attic (one of the brownie’s habitats). You had to stand there for a while and wait for the home spirit. If a shaggy brownie appeared, then this promised wealth to the family, but if a bald one, then the owners would live in poverty.

One could ask the devil about the future. You had to go into the forest, sit on a birch (a tree associated with the souls of the dead and female demons) or aspen (a cursed tree), take off your pectoral cross and call the forest spirit. It was believed that the goblin would definitely appear on Holy Thursday and answer all the questions of the daredevil who dared to talk with the evil spirit.

Conspiracies on Maundy Thursday

Conspiracy for beauty

This conspiracy is read on Maundy Thursday before sunrise and when reading, they bow low on all four sides.

"I'll get up
Servant of God (name),
At the clear dawn,
I'll bow first
To a beautiful star,
I'll wash myself with dew,
I'll wipe myself with a girl's braid.
Be my white face
Whiter than white light,
Scarlet cheeks are redder
Red sun,
Eyes are brighter
A clear month.
My eyebrows be
Blacker than black earth,
So that the guys are all
As one,
Word couldn't
I don't mind saying
Take your eyes off me.
I would like everyone
She was whiter and sweeter,
More desirable
And more beautiful.
My word is molded,
My business is tenacious.
Key, lock, tongue.
Amen. Amen. Amen."

A conspiracy to prevent husband and wife from separating

On Maundy Thursday, twist one thread from two spools and place it across the threshold. When your husband steps over the thread, tie it in the middle with a knot and hide it somewhere. When tying a knot, say:

"Servant of God (name) and I,
His thread
Twisted together
Tightly rolled.
Like a knot on this thread
It won't come undone
So he is never with me
It won't part."

Maundy Thursday conspiracy for quick marriage

To get married soon, an elderly woman needs to wash herself with cat’s milk on Maundy Thursday, saying:

"How everyone pets cats
And how cats cling to everyone,
So do my suitors
They won't let you pass.
Now and forever
And forever and ever.
Amen."

Plot on Maundy Thursday to make girls like a guy

In order for girls to like a guy, you need to read this plot on Maundy Thursday while washing your face:

"Water off my face,
Well done bride.
How people love water
So would I girls
Appreciated and loved.
Amen."

Plot on Maundy Thursday to make guys like you

In order for guys to like a girl, on Maundy Thursday they buy a mirror, without taking change from the purchase, stand between two trees, look into the purchased mirror and say:

Like the whole world
Looking in the mirror
To your reflection
He admires
So guys would look at me
We admired
They treated me kindly
And kissed
Yes, vying with each other to get married
They were rushing towards me.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.

Maundy Thursday spell for good luck and happiness

To end your misfortunes and failures, wash your house with holy water on Maundy Thursday. When you finish cleaning, read this plot:

"Cleansed on Maundy Thursday
All Mother Earth,
Cleansed on Maundy Thursday
And my soul
. How to walk correctly
The sun and moon across the sky,
In your own circle
Turn to the Eternal,
That's right
Will turn to me too
Happy share
And fate.
Now and forever
And forever and ever.
Amen."

For all Christians, Easter is one of the most important holidays, which is why believers prepare for it so carefully and for a long time. The most active preparation begins a week before the Great Holiday. This period is called Holy Week. This is a very difficult week: the time of the strictest fasting, when basically you can only eat raw food and the time when pre-holiday chores begin.
One of the most important days of the week is Thursday. Christians call him “Pure”. There are a number of specific traditions that believers will have to observe on Maundy Thursday 2017. Signs, customs and all rituals that people perform on this day are always aimed at cleansing the house, as well as the body and soul, from sins. As has been the custom for a very long time, religious traditions are intertwined with folk customs, and therefore the list of things that are best done on Maundy Thursday is quite long.
In 2017, Christians will celebrate Easter on April 16, so Maundy Thursday falls on the thirteenth of April.

Temple Services and Last Supper

It is on Thursday that special services begin in churches dedicated to the trials that Jesus Christ had to endure. Believers go to church, where they confess, receive communion and listen to the story of how the Last Supper took place.
As it is said in the New Testament, the Savior gathered twelve of his disciples at one table. Jesus said that one of those nearby would betray him and for this he would receive a reward equal to thirty silver coins.
And then one of the most devoted disciples, Peter, answered Jesus. He said that he would never betray his mentor. But the teacher answered him that even before dawn and the roosters crowed three times, Peter would deny not once, but three times.

Also at the Last Supper, the Savior gave all the disciples a sip of wine, saying that it was his blood. And then Jesus broke off a piece of bread for everyone and said that it was his flesh. That is why the church gives parishioners Cahors and prosphora. But, besides visiting the temple, there are also traditions that must be observed on Maundy Thursday 2017; signs and customs must also be known.

Cleansing with water

People believe that water on this day becomes as healing as on Epiphany, and that it will help wash away sins and can even cure many diseases. It is believed that in order to be healthy, you need to take a bath early in the morning and wash your face with clean running water. It's better if you do this before the sun rises. Moreover, the water must flow, that is, you need to wash yourself in the shower or tap, or douse yourself with water from a basin.

Previously, girls, in order to be not only healthy, but also to remain young for a long time, washed themselves on Thursday morning with water in which they had previously kept silver objects all night. People believed that such a ritual also helped protect against the evil eye, so small children were bathed in such “silver” water.

spring-cleaning

On this day it is customary to cleanse not only the body, but also the home. Moreover, cleaning should not be routine, but general. Be sure to wash the floors, clean the carpets, pat the blankets, and wash all the doors and windows. Previously, houses also had whitewashed ceilings, walls and tinted frames. Believers should carry out such global cleaning on Maundy Thursday, because for a week after this it will be impossible to engage in this type of physical labor. Cleaning, which is carried out on other days of Holy Week, is considered a sinful act.

People believe that if you move furniture while cleaning, as well as sort through small things and rearrange everything to other places, then happiness and prosperity will come to the house. Popular signs say that on Maundy Thursday there are always objects that were lost, and also that if you put coins in a bucket of water for washing windows, you can attract good luck and finances. However, it is worth considering that it is better to pour such water under the tree, and then it will grow well. And the coins that were used must be placed in any clean corner in the house for six days. You cannot wash floors with water and coins; you can only wash windows or doors.

Folk custom on Maundy Thursday to attract finance

In addition to the fact that people cleaned up the house, it was also customary to count money. People believed that finances would increase if they counted all the funds in the house three times a day. The main thing is that a person does this when he is alone. Also, a person should not tell anyone that he is going to, or has already performed such a ceremony.

Folk rituals

Previously, girls not only washed on Maundy Thursday, but also cut the ends of their hair. It was believed that if this was done, the hair would grow faster and the braid would become thick and beautiful.
And to protect themselves from the evil eye, people collected Thursday salt. For this purpose, the most common additive to dishes was used, which was collected and charmed in a special way. After this, the salt was kept in the house and used when a person had any problems. However, it is worth considering that the church does not approve of such rituals.

What is the best way to spend Maundy Thursday for believers?

What exactly to do on Maundy Thursday, each person must decide for himself. Believers on this day pay more attention to spiritual cleansing, and people who do not go to church most often simply clean up.
It is worth remembering that immediately after Thursday follows Good Friday - the saddest day of fasting, when you cannot eat anything and you need to pray fervently. Therefore, many people already start baking Easter cakes or coloring eggs on Maundy Thursday. But this can only be done after the cleaning is completed. If you believe the experience of our ancestors, if you do everything the other way around, the eggs will be poorly colored and the cakes will be crooked.
Maundy Thursday should not be spent in despondency. This day must be celebrated with joy in the heart, because the Great Holiday is approaching. You also need to enjoy cleaning, otherwise the house will not be cleared of negative energy. And of course, you need to start the day not with chores, but with prayer. It’s better for her to end this day.

Every year the Orthodox world prepares to joyfully celebrate one of the main Christian holidays - the Bright Resurrection of Christ, called Easter. Before this, the so-called Holy Week (week) takes place, each day of which has a specific name. The traditional question of what date Maundy Thursday is in 2018 according to the church calendar worries users today.

Easter customs of Holy Week

To begin with, we note that on each day of the week that goes before Easter, it is customary to perform certain actions.

On Monday, the best thing to do will be to pre-clean your home and prepare it for the Easter celebration. On this day, unnecessary things accumulated after the winter were thrown away.
Tuesday was considered a favorable day to begin preparing food for the holiday table. At this time, our great-great-grandmothers made medicinal potions, which they later used to treat their family for various ailments.
The housewives carried out the main cleaning on Wednesday. In addition to thoroughly cleaning the floors, it was necessary to wash the dirty laundry of all family members.
In addition to continuing the general cleaning, on Maundy Thursday the main focus was on health and everything connected with it. It was necessary to take care of both the physical health and the state of the soul of the believer. An important task for housewives on this day was the preparation of the main dishes of the holiday: Easter cakes and Easter cottage cheese. By the way, for the entire week following the holiday, it was believed that before eating, you must eat a piece of blessed Easter cake, and then start the main meal.
Good Friday was considered a day when it was customary to reflect on the suffering of Christ. On this day they preferred to do nothing. However, in some regions Easter cakes are still baked on Fridays. Our ancestors also swept the corners of the house with a dry cloth. It was believed that such a talisman would help cure diseases of the lower back and legs if a rag was applied to the sore spots.
On Saturday, Easter eggs are painted and painted, pies with different fillings and cookies are baked. This should be done in a good mood, discarding negative thoughts and emotions. In the evening you are supposed to go to church, and with the beginning of the all-night service you can bless Easter treats.
Bright Sunday should be dedicated to festive prayer (on this day priests do not conduct funeral services for the dead, and if it is necessary to hold a funeral service for the deceased, it is supplemented with Easter rituals). Bells can be heard ringing from everywhere, and instead of the usual greeting, people exclaim, “Christ is risen,” and answer, “Truly he is risen!” After the solemn service, people sat down at the festive table, because Lent ended on Easter.

Why Maundy Thursday is so important

According to Christian teaching, Maundy or Maundy Thursday is an important day because it was then that Jesus Christ gathered his disciples for the Last Supper to be with them and teach them for the last time. Demonstrating the principle of love for one's neighbor, Christ washed the feet of the future apostles and invited them to share bread and wine - his body and blood. Thus, Jesus for the first time performed the rite that the church calls the Eucharist or communion, and which Christian believers are obliged to perform. At the same time, the betrayal of Judas occurred, the arrest of the Lord, and at night he was sentenced to death.

A large number of rituals and traditions are associated with this day, many of which go back to the times of Slavic paganism. Traditionally, the belief in omens for Maundy Thursday 2018, which also comes from Ancient Rus', continues to exist. The most common of them are as follows.

You cannot borrow household and kitchen utensils on this day, otherwise prosperity will leave your home.
After cleaning on Maundy Thursday, they no longer sweep the floor in the house until the end of Bright Week.
This day is considered the time when swimming in open water will benefit the body and give health and strength.
Seeing an old person in the morning is a sign of failure, and young people are a sign of family happiness. A good option would be to meet a dog - it will also bring you good luck.
Cutting your hair means cleansing yourself of sins over the past year. Girls and women were advised to do this to make their hair thick and silky. It was recommended that newborns over one year of age have their hair cut for the first time.
Another sign - a monetary one - was that at dawn, noon and sunset you should count all the money that is in your house. Such “accounting” helps preserve banknotes over the next year, but it needs to be done so that no one sees.

Rituals

First of all, of course, Maundy Thursday can take on human sins and must cleanse the human body with the help of water. In order to preserve their beauty for a long time, girls and women also washed themselves with rainwater from silver dishes. A gold ring can replace it, but the water must be rainwater.

It is believed that water on this day, although it does not change its polarity like Epiphany water, has properties that can heal the body and soul. To do this you need to swim before sunrise. It is better, as noted above, to do this in an open body of water, but today most of our compatriots wash off the negativity in a bathhouse or bathroom. Before swimming, say a prayer and ask for your health. At the same time, let your thoughts program you to feel good.

Maundy Thursday is known for carrying out such a ritual as making medicinal Thursday salt. Our ancestors also used it as a powerful amulet for people and domestic animals, capable of protecting them from damage and the evil eye. This salt was made in the oven, adding wood ash to it. For treatment, it was placed in the patient’s food and drink.

In modern conditions, city dwellers prepare salt in a frying pan by mixing table salt and rye flour in equal proportions. While the salt is fried in a frying pan until brown, it is stirred clockwise with a wooden spatula and the Lord's Prayer is read. Then Thursday salt should be blessed in the church along with Easter cakes and colored eggs. This amulet is kept in a linen bag tied with red thread in the house until next year.

Since the celebration of Easter among Orthodox and Catholics is celebrated at different times due to differences in the church calendar, the dates of Holy Week and Maundy Thursday will also be different. For all Orthodox Christians in 2018, Easter will come the day after the Feast of the Annunciation - April 8, and Maundy Thursday will accordingly fall on April 5.

Clean Thursday 2018: signs and customs associated with this day are rooted in various folk beliefs. In Rus', special attention has always been paid to this day of Lent. It falls in the period before Good Friday, when nothing can be done. Therefore, for every housewife, Maundy Thursday was a time of active action in different directions.

In Rus', people always woke up on this day even before the sun rose. And not because I didn’t want to sleep, but because there was a lot to do before the first rays of sunshine. In particular, you need to start by washing your face with cold water, this is believed to preserve the cavity and beauty.

Features of Maundy Thursday

April 5 is the date of Maundy Thursday 2018, but it is extremely easy to calculate this date yourself every year. This is the last Thursday of Lent and the last day before Easter Sunday. In the old days, the house was always cleaned on this day, and it was general cleaning that was carried out. It was necessary to wash the doors and windows, wash the bed linen, bedspreads, curtains, and tulle. You can prepare ingredients for the holiday table.

Rituals for Maundy Thursday begin during the cleaning process. If you add small change (money coins) to the water, you can bring financial stability and prosperity to your home for a whole year. You need to throw a handful of coins into a bucket of water, where the washcloth comes from. Then wash the doors and windows with this water exactly in the specified sequence. After this, pour the water under a young tree in the yard, and put the change in a bag and hide it in a secluded place. You need to plan your day so that you have time to clean up. If everything cannot be done on Thursday, then cleaning needs to start earlier. From Good Friday onwards, cleaning the house is strictly prohibited.

Last Supper on Thursday

Modern customs for this day have little connection with what actually happened to Jesus Christ and his disciples on Maundy Thursday. Jesus gathered with his disciples for dinner and offered to share bread and wine with him. During the conversation, he said that he knew that one of the students would betray him. Another disciple, Jesus said, would deny him.

It was during this meal, sharing bread with his disciples, that Jesus said that this body was his. Dividing the wine and passing the cup around, he said that this was the blood of the New Testament (new commandment). The blood that Jesus Christ will shed on Good Friday to atone for human sins.

Signs for Maundy Thursday:

To protect yourself from diseases and the evil eye this year, you will need to put something silver in the water on the eve of Thursday. In the morning, get up before dawn and wash your face with this water, and also wash your children.
Water on Maundy Thursday heals and also cleanses sins.
Cleaning the house on the day described is also a tradition for good luck. Water will protect the family from adversity and dirt.
When cleaning on Maundy Thursday, you can find things that were lost long ago.
Count all the money in the house. This ritual is done in secret from everyone by the person who manages the finances in the family. He must collect all the money and count it at dawn, noon and sunset. It is important that no one catches you performing this ritual.
You can also prepare Thursday salt. You will need to ask three friends for salt, and then mix it in a clay pot. In case of illness, this salt is added to the dishes of a sick person to alleviate suffering.
Another way to prepare Thursday salt is to buy a new pack and pour it into a frying pan. Fry while saying a prayer. If the salt crackles loudly in the frying pan, it means the house has been damaged. You need to fry the salt until it completely calms down. Read “Our Father” all the time.

These are the signs you need to remember for Maundy Thursday 2018. The traditions of this day include mandatory cleaning, as well as personal bath procedures. All other signs, including washing with silver water or counting money, are at your discretion. Good preparation

Great Thursday of Holy Week is the name given to the holiday in church scripture, which is colloquially called Maundy Thursday. It is from this day that large-scale preparations for Easter begin. What kind of day is this and what biblical event caused its appearance? What can and should be done on Maundy Thursday? What signs and customs are associated with this day?

history of the holiday

As the Gospel tells us, it was on Thursday evening that Jesus gathered all his disciples for the Last Supper. In order to show them an example of humility and love for one's neighbor, Christ washed the feet of each of the apostles with water, and then shared bread and wine with them. Thus, the Lord established the rite of Holy Communion, which is still performed not only by the Orthodox, but also by Catholics and representatives of the Lutheran Church.

Due to the fact that Maundy Thursday is inextricably linked with Easter, since it always falls on the seventh week of Lent, it is not difficult to determine what date it will occur in 2018. It is simply necessary to subtract three days from the date of the Resurrection of the Lord. We receive the following information:

Maundy Thursday traditions

Despite the fact that on Maundy Thursday morning and evening services are held in cathedrals and churches, on this day you are allowed to do a lot of things around the house. In particular, to restore order. After all, it is believed that if you don’t clean up on this day, the family will spend the whole year in quarrels. Even in churches, cleaning and cleaning of church utensils is carried out between services.

After putting the house in order, housewives traditionally begin preparing dishes for the upcoming Easter holidays. They bake Easter eggs, dye eggs, prepare jellied meat, and bake meat in the oven. But, due to the fact that fasting is still ongoing, you cannot even taste the cooked food.

Since ancient times, another tradition of this day in Russia has been the preparation of the so-called Thursday salt, which has healing powers. It is either baked in an oven in a linen bag, or slaughtered until dark in a frying pan. Salt is stored for a year and used as needed. There are many options for using Thursday salt as a talisman if something is not going well in the house. Here are a few of them:

To prevent children from getting sick, add a little salt to the water while bathing.
Peace and tranquility in the house can be found if salt is poured in small quantities under all beds.
If an unwanted guest came into the house, salt was quietly added to his food.
A bag of salt placed under the pillow will help reconcile the spouses.
To cleanse the house of negative energy, salt is added to the water used to wash the floor.

On Maundy Thursday, parishioners always tried to take the candles lit in the church home. The flame of the so-called “passion candle” was used to burn a cross on the ceiling beam between the inside and outside of the house. According to legends, this cross is supposed to protect the house from various evil spirits entering it.

Church service on Maundy Thursday

In churches and temples on Maundy Thursday, two services are performed: morning and evening. The latter, in its form, is the morning of Good Friday and is considered the longest in the annual cycle.

During this service, which is called “The Twelve Gospels” and begins at eight o’clock in the evening, passages from the Gospel are read, which describe the last days and hours of Christ’s life on earth: from the moment of Jesus’ conversation with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane to the crucifixion and burial .

The entire service in the temple is performed with lit candles, which are held in the hands of parishioners and clergy. At the end of the service, the candles are not extinguished, but taken home. They try to preserve the sacred fire in lamps until the day of the Resurrection of Christ.

Signs, customs and rituals of the holiday

Many customs and beliefs on this day are associated with water. Firstly, our ancestors tried to swim or simply wash themselves before sunrise. It is believed that this gives strength and health.

Secondly, after cleaning, dirty water should be poured outside the house and even the yard. After all, the negative energy that has accumulated over the year can negatively affect the life and health of family members. It is best to pour such water where no one walks and where nothing grows.

Thirdly, women who cannot arrange their personal lives should go to the river at midnight of this day, go into the water up to their waists and ask the Lord for marriage.

Even on the day when Maundy Thursday comes, you can:

find long lost things,
to bewitch the betrothed,
attract wealth to the house, three times a day, counting all the money in the house,
cut hair.

I would like to dwell on the last point in more detail. They say that if you cut your hair on this day, you can be cleansed of the sins that have accumulated over the year. Also, a haircut on Maundy Thursday will help make your hair more beautiful and voluminous. In addition, on this day it is recommended to cut the hair of a child who is one year old for the first time. At the same time, do not throw away the cut hair, but save it and use it as a talisman.

Maundy Thursday for the Orthodox is a day of cleansing of soul and body. The day when you can once and for all get rid of the disease that destroys the human body. The day when the heavens open, allowing every sinner to ask the Lord for everything he needs.