Bright Easter Week - seven days of the celebration of Easter. Bright week - the week after Easter
Sunday of Christ is over, but believers for some reason continue to greet: "Christ is Risen!"
Major Orthodox holidays have days of forefeast and afterfeast - a period before and after the holiday itself, when its echoes sound in the service.
The afterfeast of Easter, the main Christian holiday, is the longest - 38 days.
Considering the day of the holiday itself and the day of giving, the Orthodox celebrate Easter for 40 days.
This is how long the Savior stayed on earth before His ascension.
Of this period, the first week after Easter, the Bright Week, stands out.
On all days of this holiday, we greet each other with the words "Risen!" - “Truly he is risen!”, By which we profess our faith in the resurrection of the Lord, we exchange red eggs, which symbolize new life.
The word "Passover" is translated from the Hebrew as "deliverance."
Christian New Testament Easter is the day on which our transition from death to imperishable life, from earth to heaven, took place.
By His resurrection, the Lord opened the gates of paradise to people, gave them great joy and hope.
The Savior rose again on the night of the third day after the death of the cross, Himself, by the power of His Divinity. In the night the earth shook, an angel descended from heaven and rolled the stone from the door of the coffin-cave.
At dawn, the women, taking with them fragrant ointment, went to the tomb to anoint the body of the deceased Savior. They saw a stone rolled away from the door of the tomb, and angels who announced to them the resurrection of Christ.
The myrrh-bearers hastily told the apostles about this, but they did not believe it.
However, John and Peter still ran to the tomb and saw the folded burial clothes in the empty tomb.
When the weeping Mary Magdalene came to the grave, the risen Christ appeared to her.
On the same day, other myrrh-bearers, Peter, the Evangelist Luke, and other apostles, besides Thomas, saw Him.
But above all, according to Holy Tradition, the resurrected Jesus appeared to His Most Pure Mother.
So the celebration continues:
* after the end of the Easter week, the Church continues to celebrate Easter, but with less solemnity, until the Ascension of the Lord, i.e. 32 more days;
* The total number of days of celebrating Easter is 40 - exactly as long as Christ appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection.
WHAT IS POSSIBLE AND WHAT CANNOT FOR EASTER:
When can you break your fast at Easter?
Conversation (the first fast meal after the end of the fast) on Easter is usually performed after the Liturgy and Communion. If you attended the Liturgy at night, then after the night service you can start the festive meal. If you come to the Liturgy in the morning, then in the same way - after communion - you can break your fast. The main thing is to approach everything with a sense of proportion. Do not overeat.
If for some reason you cannot meet Easter in the church, you can start breaking your fast around the time when the festive Liturgy ends in the churches. Why is the Church good in this regard? We fast together and break the fast together. That is, we do everything together. This is what the modern world lacks so much - community.
How to properly spend Easter day?
Are there things that cannot be done?
On this day, one should not be sad, walk gloomy and quarrel with neighbors. But just remember that Easter is not 24 hours, but at least a whole week - Bright Week. In the liturgical plan, the Resurrection of Christ is celebrated for seven days.
Let this week be an example of how we should always behave in society, among people.
How should you spend Easter? Rejoice, treat others, invite them to visit, visit the suffering. In a word, everything that brings joy to your neighbor, and therefore to you.
What can you eat at Easter and can you drink alcohol at Easter?
On Easter, you can eat and drink everything, the main thing is to do it in moderation. If you know how to stop in time, you can treat yourself to all the dishes, drink wine or some spirits - not to the point of being intoxicated, of course. But if you find it difficult to limit yourself, it is better not to touch the alcohol. Rejoice in spiritual joy.
Can I work on Easter?
More often than not, the question of whether to work or not does not depend on us. If you have a day off on Easter Sunday, that is, of course, very good. You can visit the temple, and meet with loved ones, and congratulate everyone.
But it often happens that we find ourselves servile people and, according to the work schedule, are forced to work on Easter. It's okay if you work hard. Maybe you can be sad about this, but no more than five minutes! Obedience is obedience. Do your work on this day in good faith. If you fulfill your duties in simplicity and truth, the Lord will surely touch your heart.
Can I do homework for Easter? Cleaning, knitting, sewing?
When we read somewhere that there is a ban on homework on a holiday, we should understand that it is not just a ban, but a blessing that we spend this time in attention to the Lord, the holiday and our neighbors. So that we do not get hung up on worldly vanity. The ban on working on Easter is not canonical, but rather a pious tradition.
Household chores are an integral part of our life. You can do them on a holiday, but only by approaching this wisely. In order not to spend Easter doing spring cleaning until nightfall. Sometimes it is better, for example, to leave unwashed dishes in the sink, than to be annoyed with household members who have not washed the dishes after themselves.
What does it mean if a person died on Easter?
Is this a sign of God's special mercy or a punishment?
If a believer dies on Easter or on Bright Week, for us this is indeed a sign of God's mercy to this person. Folk tradition even says that the one who died on Easter enters the Kingdom of Heaven without ordeals, that is, bypassing the Last Judgment. But this "folk theology", dogmatically, each person will be judged and will answer for his sins before the face of God.
If an unbeliever dies these days, then I think it means absolutely nothing. Indeed, even during his lifetime, the Resurrection of Christ was not for him a sign of deliverance from death ...
Is it okay to go to the cemetery for Easter?
Such a tradition has never existed in the Church. She was born among people during the Soviet Union, when a person was deprived of spiritual communion and removed from the Church. Where else was it possible to meet with the afterlife, about which the Church speaks and with faith in the existence of which the authorities fought so fiercely? Only in the cemetery. No one could prohibit going to their relatives' graves.
Since then, it has become a custom to go to the cemetery on Easter. But now, when the churches are open and we can go to the Easter service, it is better to go to the cemetery to visit our loved ones on other days. For example, on Radonitsa - on the day when, according to tradition, the Church commemorates the dead. Get there early, put the graves in order, sit quietly nearby and pray.
How should you greet each other on Easter?
The Easter greeting is angelic. When the Myrrh-Bearing Women came to the Holy Sepulcher to anoint the body of the crucified Christ with incense, they saw an Angel there. He announced to them: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?”, That is, he told them that the Savior was resurrected.
We greet our brothers and sisters in faith on Easter with the words "Christ is Risen!" and we reply to the greeting: "Indeed he is risen!" Thus, we tell the whole world that for us the Resurrection of Christ is the basis of life.
What is customary to give for Easter?
For Easter, you can give your neighbors any pleasant and necessary gifts. And it will be good if there is an Easter egg, decorated or red, for any gift. The testicle as a symbol of the testimony of a new life - the Resurrection of Christ.
The red color of the Easter egg is a memory of the legend according to which Mary Magdalene presented an egg to Emperor Tiberius for Easter. The emperor told her that he did not believe that a person could be resurrected, that it was as incredible as if this egg suddenly turned red from white. And, according to legend, a miracle happened - in front of everyone's eyes, the egg turned red, like the blood of Christ. Now the painted egg is a symbol of Easter, the Resurrection of the Savior.
What to do with the shells from the consecrated eggs and the stale Easter cake?
Godly tradition tells us not to throw away with the rubbish what is consecrated in the temple. All this can be burned, for example, on a personal plot, and the ashes can be buried where people and animals will not trample it under their feet. Or put it in the river. Or, having agreed in advance with the minister in the temple, bring the shells there: in each temple there is a so-called "unsupported place."
MEMORIES OF THE SLEEPING ON EASTER DAYS
Easter is a time of special and exclusive joy, a holiday of victory over death and over all sorrow and sorrow.
The Church, taking into account the psychology of people, separates the days of celebration and days of sorrow. The joyful exultation that the Church communicates to believers at Easter is separated from the mood of sadness that accompanies the commemoration of the departed.
And the current custom of visiting cemeteries on the first day of Easter is contrary to the most ancient ordinances of the Church: until the ninth day after Easter, the commemoration of the dead is never performed.
On Easter and throughout Bright Week, for the great joy of the Resurrection of Christ, all funeral services and memorial services are canceled in the Temples.
The first commemoration of the dead and the first funeral service takes place on the second week, after Fomin's Sunday, on Tuesday - Radonitsa (from the word joy - after all, the celebration of Easter continues). On this day, a funeral service is served and the believers visit the cemetery - to pray for the dead, so that the Easter joy will be passed on to them.
Is it possible after Easter to go to the cemetery and put things in order at the graves, before the memorial days?
After Wednesday, Bright Week, you can already go to the cemetery to clean the graves of your loved ones after the winter before the Radonitsa holiday.
In the event of a person's death, and death on Easter is traditionally considered a sign of God's mercy, then the funeral service is performed according to the Easter rite, which includes many Easter hymns.
You can commemorate at home, you can also submit notes, but there is no public commemoration on Easter days in the form of a requiem.
If the anniversary of death falls on the time of Easter and Bright Week, the commemoration is postponed for the period starting from Radonitsa.
The first and third weeks of each month are considered rotten, bad or young. Since Easter in 2018 will be April 8th, it is celebrated in the first week of the month. This will be followed by a festive week called Bright Week. And after it comes the rotten week, which will last from April 16 to 22. This time is associated with many folk signs and strict prohibitions.
Which week is considered rotten before Easter or after: when is the rotten week after Easter?
There are four calendar weeks in each month of the year. Successful and unsuccessful periods for various kinds of affairs replace each other. The people call the first and third week of the month young or rotten, which means that it is not suitable for many household chores. The second and fourth weeks, on the other hand, are considered good or old.
The third week of the month is considered the most unfavorable. It is with this period that many popular beliefs and prohibitions are associated. For example, it is believed that the absence of rain at this time indicates drought throughout the month. And the wounds received during a bad week will heal and fester for a long time.
At this time, it is strictly forbidden to perform the rite of baptism, otherwise the child will not be bypassed by serious ailments and ailments, and recovery will be difficult and long-term.
The name of the week is often conveyed to the properties of the products used at that time. For example, housewives do not like to salt cabbage in a young week; it may simply rot. It is recommended to do this in the old week, then the sauerkraut will come out delicious and crispy. The same goes for harvesting vegetables. If you put potatoes, carrots or cabbage in the cellar in a bad week, they will not store well, quickly wither and rot.
In 2018, Easter falls on April 8th, which means it falls on the first week of the month. Therefore, the most unfortunate rotten week will come after it from April 16 to 22. However, it is preceded by a joyful and cheerful week of Bright Week.
Which week is considered rotten before or after Easter: Easter holiday week
The whole week after Easter is considered a holiday and is called Bright Week. Since Easter symbolizes the victory of life over death, it is customary to spend the festive Easter week in festivities, receive guests and treat them at a magnificently laid table.
It is believed that the departed also rejoice at the resurrection of the Son of God and at this time are invisibly among people. Therefore, on Holy Week it is strictly forbidden to yearn and grieve for the dead. All thoughts should be light, and actions should bring only joy.
But joyful events on Bright Week are especially pleasing to God. According to folk signs, a person born at this time will be granted good health and long life. And acquaintance of young people can lead to a happy marriage in the future.
According to legend, on Easter week the resurrected Savior wandered the earth, accompanied by his disciples under the guise of beggars, in order to test people and reward according to their deeds. Therefore, at this time it is customary to especially greet the poor and the poor, to give them generous alms.
During the week, women were strictly forbidden to do household chores, and men were forbidden to do hard work in the house and on the ground. Fasting is not recommended on these days. With all his might, a person should try to bring joy to his body and soul.
Since the Apostolic times, the holiday of Christian Easter has lasted seven days, that is, the whole week, and therefore this week is called "Bright Easter Week". Every day of the week is also called Bright - Bright Monday, Bright Tuesday, etc., and the last day is Bright Saturday, writes RIA Novosti.
On Easter Week in churches, Easter services are held every day. Morning and evening prayers are replaced by the chanting of Easter hours.
After each Divine Liturgy, a festive procession is performed, symbolizing the procession of the myrrh-bearers to the tomb of Christ. During the procession, worshipers walk with lit candles.
The royal doors in the iconostasis (separating the altar from the main space of the temple) remain open during the week as a sign that on these days the invisible, spiritual, Heavenly world is opening up to the faithful. Open Royal Doors - the image of the Holy Sepulcher, from which the Angel rolled the stone. Throughout Bright Week, they do not close even during the communion of the clergy, and only on Saturday before 9 o'clock they will be closed.
Throughout the entire Week, all the bells are supposed to ring every day. According to tradition, any layman can, with the blessing of the abbot, climb the bell tower and ring the bells.
On Bright Week, one-day fasts are canceled (on Wednesday and Friday).
Since the day of Holy Easter, believers greet each other with the words of Easter joy: “Christ is risen! "Truly he is risen!"
Before the feast of the Holy Trinity (on the fiftieth day after Easter), prostrations are not performed. There are no weddings and funeral prayers on Bright Week. Funeral services for the departed are performed, but more than half of them consist of Easter hymns.
On the Tuesday of Bright Week, a special celebration takes place in honor of the Iberian Icon of the Mother of God.
On Friday of Bright Week, the memory of the icon of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Spring" is celebrated (according to tradition, on this day, after the Divine Liturgy, the blessing of water is performed, and if local circumstances permit - a procession of the cross to reservoirs or water sources).
Throughout Bright Week, a special bread called artos stands near the open Royal Doors. This custom has been established since apostolic times. It is known that after His resurrection the Lord repeatedly appeared to His disciples. At the same time, He either ate the food Himself, or blessed the meal. In anticipation of these blessed visits, and later in memory of them, the holy apostles left the middle seat at the table unoccupied and placed a piece of bread in front of this place, as if the Lord Himself was invisibly present here. In continuation of this tradition, the Fathers of the Church established the laying of bread in the church on the feast of the Resurrection of the Lord. On Saturday of Bright Week, after the Divine Liturgy, the artos is solemnly blessed and a special prayer is read to shatter the artos. After that, pieces of this sacred bread are distributed to the believers. Then this shrine is given to the sick or to those who cannot be admitted to Holy Communion.
The worshipers, having received a part of the artos after the Liturgy, keep it throughout the year (usually by cutting them into small pieces and eating them on an empty stomach, especially during illness).
On Saturday of Bright Week, for the first time after Easter, the Royal Doors in churches are closed.
On the eighth day after Easter, as the end of Bright Week, a special celebration follows, called Anti-Easter, which means in translation "instead of Easter" or the second Easter.
On the eighth day, the Holy Church also remembers the appearance of the Risen Lord to the Apostle Thomas, who refused to believe in the Resurrection of Christ. On this day, the Lord again appeared to His disciples, especially to the Apostle Thomas, in order to convince him with His wounds that it was with Him that all the witnesses of His Resurrection met.
Finishing the bright celebration of Easter with the week, the Church continues it, albeit with less solemnity, for thirty-two more days - until the Ascension of the Lord. This entire period (40 days after Easter) is considered the Easter period, and the Orthodox greet each other with the greeting “Christ is Risen! "And the answer" Truly Risen! "
Usually this holiday falls on spring days, when work on personal plots becomes relevant. An especially acute question arises: how to plant your own beds and potatoes, if it is forbidden to work on church holidays? Is this really so, we will try to figure it out in our article.
Historical summary
Many are sure that the bright holiday of Easter appeared only about two thousand years ago, when the death of Jesus Christ was recorded. But this is not entirely true, initially Easter was, and now it is for the Jewish people, as a symbol of liberation from Egyptian slavery. The protagonist was Moses, who led the Jews through the opened waters and freed them.
Considering that Jesus was a Jew, he also celebrated this holiday, but after death, and then the resurrection, Easter became the main celebration that was celebrated in honor of the rebirth of Christ. It turns out that Easter is celebrated in almost half of the countries of the world, but each in its own way.
Can I work on Easter?
Any priest will say that if you need to go to work or there are urgent matters, then even work on church holidays will not be considered a sin. After all, the most important thing is to think about God. But many are wondering what can be said about working on a personal plot. The answer can be heard about the same: if there is an urgent need, then you should not postpone, but fulfill and pray, asking the Almighty for this forgiveness.
On Easter, you should not do household chores, but you should devote yourself to spiritual revival, prayers, Bible study, and helping those in need.
Most likely, the ban on working on church holidays is due to the fact that in those distant times the peasants worked a lot, they had practically no days off, so the big holiday was an occasion to take a break from hard work. Yes, and in ancient times, people with some kind of fanaticism related to traditions and customs. And according to them, on the Easter holiday, for three days, one had to rest, celebrate, have fun and turn their prayers to God.
Now the population of the country has a completely different work schedule, so sometimes there is no time to do business, except on weekends. And if he still gets on a big holiday, then what to do?
If you have your own priest, to whom you always turn for help, then in case of an urgent need to perform summer cottage work on the day of Holy Easter, you should ask for his blessing. If he blesses this, then you can safely start work.
Urban residents who do not have a summer residence do not have such a question. But the clergy recommend not to work on the holiday at least until noon, but to devote time to reading spiritual literature or prayers.
On Easter day, it is advisable to go to church, to celebrate this bright holiday with your family, putting painted eggs and Easter cakes on the table.
The day after Easter, it is not forbidden to work, it just so happened that if it is celebrated for three days, then you cannot work all this time. But this is not at all the case. On the second day, you can safely go to the garden and do the necessary things. During witchcraft actions in your flower beds and beds, it will not be superfluous to ask God for a good harvest.
But, if you look at the customs of the Jews, they don't even work on Saturday, not to mention the big church holidays. For example, on Easter, some do not even bake bread, but then what can we say about doing other things.
Easter signs
In addition to the ban on working on these holidays, there are also some signs associated with this day:
- If a child is born on this bright holiday, then without a doubt he will be happy and successful.
- Being born on a festive week gives excellent health.
- If the cakes are badly cracked during the baking process, then your family happiness is in danger of failure.
- If on this day you hear the cuckoo crowing, then it is worth waiting for a replenishment in the family soon.
- Cook for an unmarried girl promises her a quick wedding.
- It is necessary to start the day of the bright Sunday of Christ with a cake and painted eggs, which were previously consecrated in the church.
In conclusion, we can only say that to work or not to work on the second day after Easter, everyone must decide for himself, the main thing is that God should be in your soul and heart.
But just as after the Nativity Fast comes the joyful holiday of Christmas, so the holiday comes on Easter, and it is considered impossible to express all the joy of Resurrection in one day, and Bright Week is celebrated all week, and then another 32 days - until Ascension. The intensity of the festivities is gradually decreasing, but the first week after Easter is still, according to tradition, riotous.
This year, Bright (otherwise - Easter) week falls on the period from 9 to 15 April. It lasts, as already mentioned, seven days, starting from Easter and ending on Fomin's day. All seven days it is customary to ring the bells every day, in addition, festive crusades are performed. Many churches on Bright Week allow everyone to try their hand at the belfry - to ring the bells "to your taste." Therefore, the bell ringing, as a rule, fills the entire district from morning to evening. All days of the week are called bright, and services are performed according to the Easter rite.
Photo: Natalia Feoktistova, "Evening Moscow"
According to Orthodox canons, the Royal Doors are open in all churches throughout the entire Bright Week. This is symbolic: they are open because the risen Christ opened the way to heaven for believers. It has long been believed that a person who died on Bright Week will certainly go to heaven.
Throughout Bright Week, artos, a special bread, is displayed at the temples. It is stored until next Easter and is given in pieces to the sick. In general, during the whole week it is customary to do charity work, to do as many good deeds as possible, to treat loved ones with food, and especially to those who find it difficult to give generous alms to those in need.
You may be surprised, but there are bans for this week too! For example, on Bright Week it is forbidden ... to fast! If, say, during the year, regardless of your fasts, you observed fasting on Wednesday and Friday, now this is not possible, but you need to forget! This explains another name for the week - Continuous.
The second prohibition has to do with mood. On the Bright week, one should not be sad and sad. Or you can go on a visit, rejoice, give each other gifts, treat with Easter painted eggs, Easter cakes. The most important thing: according to tradition, on the first day of Bright Week, grandchildren should go to their grandfathers and grandmothers and take them food, and the godchildren should congratulate their godfathers.
Many signs and traditions are associated with the bright week. So, according to popular beliefs, a marriage committed on Krasnaya Gorka - that is, on Bright Sunday, will be very strong and long. In addition, the "folk rules" prescribed to people:
■ on Monday and Tuesday of Bright Week - swim or douche with water;
■ on Wednesday - refuse work (the one that you don't need to do);
■ on Thursday - remember the dead;
■ Sunday - Antipascha. This is Krasnaya Gorka - the best time for marriage.
Holidays for this week look like this:
■ Martyr Matrona Thessalonica.
■ Martyrs Manuel and Theodosius.
■ Iberian Icon of the Mother of God.
■ Monk Martyrs of the Fathers of David-Gareja.
■ Shuya Icon of the Mother of God.
■ The Cathedral of the Venerable Fathers who asceticised on the Divine Mount Sinai.
■ Kasperovskaya Icon of the Mother of God.
■ The MonkMartyr Mark, Bishop of Arefussia, Martyr Cyril the Deacon, and many others who suffered under Julian.
■ Venerable John Climacus, Abbot of Sinai.
■ Saint Sophrony, Archbishop of Irkutsk.
■ Icons of the Mother of God "Life-Giving Source".
■ Commemoration of the renewal (consecration) of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos at the Life-Giving Spring in Constantinople.
■ Icons of the Mother of God of Pochaev.
■ Venerable Mary of Egypt.
■ Venerable Euthymius, Archimandrite of Suzdal, miracle worker.
■ Reverend Titus, the miracle worker.
■ Icons "The Key of Understanding", "Sweet Kissing", of the Mother of God.