“If in this life alone we hope in Christ,
then we are the most miserable of all people!” (1 Cor. 15:19).
It would seem that the meaning of Easter - as we usually call our main holiday- fairly transparent. Alas! Experience tells a different story. Here are just two of the most typical examples.
Lesson in one "Orthodox gymnasium". Wanting to reveal the level of knowledge of children, I ask: “How did Christ and the apostles celebrate Easter?” - A reasonable answer follows: “They ate Easter cakes and colored eggs”! There is nothing to object to! How about adults?
Easter night breaking fast in one church. Indeed, we eat eggs and Easter cakes (and not only). “Suddenly” an important idea comes to the mind of an already middle-aged chanter, and he turns to the priest (with a theological education) in bewilderment. “Father! Here we all sing and sing "Christ is Risen!" And we call the holiday "Easter"! So after all, the Jews celebrate Easter, but they do not believe in Christ at all! Why is that?!"
This is no exception: that what since childhood, we perceive at the household level, as a kind of beautiful ritual, it seems to us for granted and does not require study.
Let's arrange an "Easter lesson" for ourselves and ask: what associations does the Easter greeting "Christ is Risen!" give rise to in our minds? - "Truly Risen!"
Night procession with candles, - everyone will immediately answer, - joyful singing and mutual kisses. Food familiar from childhood appears on the home table - red and painted eggs, ruddy Easter cakes, vanilla-scented curd Easter.
Yes, but this is only the external paraphernalia of the holiday, a thoughtful Christian will object. - And I want to know why our feast of the Resurrection of Christ is usually called the Hebrew word "Easter"? What is the connection between Jewish and Christian Passover? Why did the Savior of the world, from the day of whose birth humanity counts the New Era, must surely die and rise again? Could not the all-good God establish New Union (Covenant) with people differently? What is the symbolism of our Easter service and holiday ceremonies?
The historical and symbolic basis of the Jewish Passover is the epic events of the book of Exodus. It tells about the four-century period of Egyptian slavery, in which the Jewish people, oppressed by the pharaohs, lived, and the wonderful drama of their liberation. Nine punishments (“Egyptian executions”) were brought down on the country by the prophet Moses, but only the tenth made the cruel heart of the pharaoh soften, who did not want to lose the slaves who built new cities for him. It was the defeat of the Egyptian firstborn, followed by the "exodus" from the House of Slavery. At night, in anticipation of the exodus, the Israelites celebrate the first Passover meal. The head of each family, after slaughtering a one-year-old lamb (lamb or kid), anoints the doorposts with its blood (Ex. 12:11), and the animal baked on fire is eaten, but so that its bones are not broken.
“So eat it like this: let your loins be girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staffs in your hands, and eat it with haste: this is the Passover of the Lord. And this very night I will go through the land of Egypt and strike every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man to cattle, and I will execute judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. And your blood will be a sign on the houses where you are; and I will see the blood and pass over you, and there will be no destructive plague among you when I strike the land of Egypt” (Ex. 12:11-13).
So on the night of the first spring full moon (from 14/15 of the month of Aviv, or Nisan) in the 2nd half of the 13th century BC, the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt took place, which became major event Old Testament history. And Easter, which coincided with deliverance, became an annual holiday - a memory of the exodus. The very name "Easter" (Heb. P e sah- “passage”, “mercy”) indicates that dramatic moment (“the tenth plague”), when the angel of the Lord who struck Egypt, seeing the blood of the Paschal lamb on door jambs Jewish houses, passed by and spared the firstborn of Israel (Ex. 12:13).
Subsequently, the historical character of Easter began to express special prayers and a story about its events, as well as a ritual meal consisting of lamb meat, bitter herbs and sweet lettuce, which symbolizes the bitterness of Egyptian slavery and the sweetness of newfound freedom. Unleavened bread reminds of hasty gathering. Accompanying the Easter homemade meal are four cups of wine.
The night of the exodus was the second birth of the Israeli people, the beginning of its independent history. The final salvation of the world and the victory over the "spiritual slavery of Egypt" will be accomplished in the future by God's Anointed One from the family of King David - the Messiah, or, in Greek, Christ. So at first all the biblical kings were called, and the question of who in their row will be the last remained open. Therefore, every Easter night, the Israelites waited for the appearance of the Messiah.
Performance: "Heavenly Easter"
“With all my heart I wished to eat this Passover with you
before my suffering! I tell you, don't eat it for me anymore,
until it is accomplished in the Kingdom of God” (Luke 22:15-16)
The Messiah-Christ, who came to deliver all people from the spiritual "Egyptian slavery", takes part in the Jewish "Passover of expectation". He completes it with the fulfillment of the Divine plan inherent in it, and thereby abolishes it. At the same time, the nature of the relationship between God and man is radically changing: having fulfilled its destiny temporary Union God with one people becomes "old" ("obsolete"), and Christ replaces them new - and eternal! –Union-Covenant co everyone humanity. During His last Passover at the Last Supper, Jesus Christ speaks words and performs actions that change the meaning of the holiday. He Himself takes the place of the Paschal sacrifice, and the old Pascha becomes the Passover of the new Lamb, slain for the cleansing of people once and for all. Christ establishes a new Paschal meal - the sacrament of the Eucharist - and speaks to the disciples about His imminent death as an Paschal sacrifice, in which He is the New Lamb slain "from the foundation of the world." Soon He will descend into the gloomy Sheol (Hades) and, together with all the people who were waiting for Him there, will make a great Exodus out of the kingdom of death into the shining kingdom of His Father. It is not surprising that the main prototypes of the Calvary sacrifice are found in the ritual of the Old Testament Passover.
The Passover lamb (lamb) of the Jews was "male, without blemish" and was sacrificed on the afternoon of Nisan 14. It was at this time that the Savior's death on the cross followed. The executed should have been buried before dark, so the Roman soldiers, in order to hasten their death, broke the legs of two robbers who were crucified with the Lord. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he had already died, and they did not break his legs.<...>. For this happened in fulfillment (of the words) of Scripture: "Let not his bone be broken" (John 19:33, 36). At the same time, the very preparation of the Passover lamb was a type death on the cross Savior: the animal was "crucified" on two cross-connected stakes, one of which ran along the ridge, and the front legs were tied to the other.
This deepest relationship between the old and the new Pascha, their concentration (the abolition of one and the beginning of the other) in the person of Jesus Christ explain why His feast Sunday retains the Old Testament name Easter. “Our Passover is the sacrificed Christ,” says the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 5:7). Thus, in the new Easter, the final completion of the Divine plan for the restoration of the fallen ("old") man in his original, "heavenly" dignity took place - his salvation. “Old Pascha is celebrated because of the salvation of the short-term life of the Jewish firstborn, and the new Pascha is celebrated because of the gift of eternal life to all people,” St. John Chrysostom so succinctly defines the relationship between these two celebrations of the Old and New Testaments.
Easter is a forty-day holiday
The Day of the Bright Resurrection of Christ - as “holidays and a celebration of celebrations” (Easter hymn) - requires special preparation from Christians and therefore is preceded by Great Lent. The modern Orthodox Easter (night) service begins with the Lenten Midnight Office in the church, which then turns into a solemn procession, symbolizing the myrrh-bearing women walking to the Savior’s Tomb in the predawn darkness (Luke 24:1; John 20:1) and informed of His resurrection in front of the entrance to the tomb. Therefore, the festive Easter Matins begins before closed doors temple, and the bishop or priest leading the service symbolizes the angel who rolled away the stone from the doors of the Sepulcher.
Joyful Easter greetings end for many already on the third day, or with the end of the Easter week. At the same time, people are surprised to accept Easter greetings and embarrassedly clarify: “Happy Easter?” This is a common misconception in the non-church environment.
It should be remembered that the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ does not end with Bright Week. The celebration of this greatest event for us in world history continues for forty days (in memory of the forty-day stay on earth of the Risen Lord) and ends with the “Pascha Giveaway” - a solemn Easter service on the eve of the Feast of the Ascension. Here is another indication of the superiority of Easter over other Christian celebrations, none of which is celebrated by the Church for more than fourteen days. “Easter rises above other holidays, like the Sun above the stars,” St. Gregory the Theologian reminds us (Conversation 19).
"Christ is Risen!" - "Truly Risen!" We greet each other for forty days.
Lit.:Men A., prot. Son of Man. M., 1991 (Part III, ch. 15: "Easter of the New Testament"); Ruban Yu. Easter (Holy Resurrection of Christ). L., 1991; Ruban Yu. Easter. Bright Resurrection of Christ (History, worship, traditions) / Nauch. ed. prof. Archimandrite Jannuary (Ivliev). Ed. 2nd, corrected and supplemented. SPb.: Ed. temple icons Mother of God"Joy of All Who Sorrow" on Shpalernaya St., 2014.
Y. Ruban
Questions about Easter
What does the word "Easter" mean?
The word "Passover" (Pesach) literally translated from Hebrew means: "passing by", "transition".
In Old Testament times, this name was associated with the exodus of the sons from Egypt. Since the ruling pharaoh resisted God's plan to leave Egypt, God, admonishing him, began to consistently bring down a series of disasters on the country of the pyramids (later these disasters were called "Egyptian plagues").
The last, most terrifying disaster, according to God's plan, was to break the stubbornness of the pharaoh, finally crush the resistance, induce him, finally, to submit to the Divine will.
The essence of this last execution consisted in the fact that among the Egyptians all the firstborn were to die, starting from the firstborn of cattle and ending with the firstborn of the ruler himself ().
This execution was to be carried out by a special angel. In order that he, striking the first-born, would not strike along with the Egyptian and Israeli, the Jews had to anoint the jambs and crossbars of the doors of their dwellings with the blood of the sacrificial lamb (). And so they did. The angel, seeing houses marked with sacrificial blood, bypassed them "side", "passed by." Hence the name of the event: Easter (Pesach) - passing by.
In a broader interpretation, the Easter holiday is associated with the Exodus in general. This event was preceded by the offering and consumption by the entire society of Israel of Easter sacrificial lambs (at the rate of one lamb per family; in case this or that family was not numerous, it had to unite with its neighbors ()).
The Old Testament Paschal lamb represented the New Testament, Christ. Saint John the Baptist () called Christ the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world. The apostles also called the Lamb, by whose blood we are redeemed.
After the Resurrection of Christ, Easter, among Christianity, began to be called the Holiday dedicated to this event. In this case, the philological meaning of the word "Easter" (transition, passage) received a different interpretation: the transition from death to life (and if we extend it to Christians, then it is also a transition from sin to holiness, from life outside of God to life in the Lord).
Little Easter is sometimes called Sunday.
In addition, the Lord Himself is also called Easter ().
Why is Easter celebrated if Easter was celebrated even before the birth of Jesus Christ?
In the days of the Old Testament, the Jews, following the Divine will (), celebrated Easter in remembrance of their exit from Egypt. Egyptian slavery was one of the darkest pages in the history of the Chosen People. Celebrating Easter, the Jews thanked the Lord for the great mercies, good deeds, associated with the events of the period of the Exodus ().
Christians, celebrating the Easter of Christ, remember and sing of the Resurrection, who crushed, trampled death, gave all people the hope of a future resurrection into eternal blessed life.
Despite the fact that the content of the Jewish Passover is different from the content of the Passover of Christ, the similarity in names is not the only thing that connects and unites them. As is known, many things, events, persons of the time of the Old Testament served as prototypes of New Testament things, events and persons. The Old Testament Paschal lamb served as a type of the New Testament Lamb, Christ (), and the Old Testament Pascha served as a type of the Easter of Christ.
We can say that the symbolism of the Jewish Passover was realized on the Passover of Christ. The most important features of this representative connection are the following: just as through the blood of the Passover lamb the Jews were saved from the damaging effect of the destroying angel (), so we are saved by the Blood (); just as the Old Testament Easter contributed to the liberation of the Jews from captivity and slavery to the pharaoh (), so the Sacrifice of the Cross of the New Testament Lamb contributed to the liberation of man from slavery to demons, from the captivity of sin; just as the blood of the Old Testament lamb contributed to the closest unity of the Jews (), so the Communion of the Blood and Body of Christ contributes to the unity of believers in one Body of the Lord (); just as the consumption of the ancient lamb was accompanied by the eating of bitter herbs (), so the Christian life is filled with the bitterness of hardships, suffering, deprivation.
How is the date of Easter calculated? Why is it celebrated on different days?
According to Jewish religious tradition, in the days of the Old Testament, the Passover of the Lord was celebrated annually on the 14th day of the month of Nisan (). On this day, the slaughter of Easter sacrificial lambs took place ().
From the Gospel narrative it follows convincingly that the date of the Cross suffering and death chronologically corresponded to the time of the Jewish Passover ().
From then until the completion of the Lord Jesus Christ, all people, dying, descended in souls into. The path to the Kingdom of Heaven was closed to man.
From the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, it is known that there was a special area in hell - the bosom of Abraham (). The souls of those Old Testament people who especially pleased the Lord and fell into this area. How contrasting was the difference between their state and the state of sinners, we see from the content of the same parable ().
Sometimes the concept of "Abraham's bosom" is also referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven. And, for example, in the iconography of the Last Judgment, the image of the "bosom ..." is used as one of the most common and significant symbols of Paradise dwellings.
But this, of course, does not mean that even before the Savior's crushing, the righteous were in Paradise (Christ's victory over hell took place after His Cross Suffering and death, when He, being in the tomb with His body, descended by Soul to the underworld places of the earth ()).
Although the righteous did not experience those grave sufferings and torments that fierce villains experienced, they were not involved in the indescribable bliss that they began to experience after being released from hell and elevated to Glorious Heavenly villages.
We can say that in some sense the bosom of Abraham served as a type of Paradise. Hence the tradition to use this image in relation to the Heavenly Paradise opened by Christ. Now everyone who seeks can inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.
At what point in the service on Saturday does Holy Week end and Easter begin?
On Saturday evening, usually an hour or half an hour before midnight, as the rector decides, a celebration is celebrated in the churches. Despite the fact that in separate manuals the following of this service is printed together with the following of Holy Pascha, according to the Charter, it still belongs to the Lenten Triodion.
The Vigil before the Pascha of Christ emphasizes the importance and significance of the expectations of the coming Triumph. At the same time, it recalls the vigil of the people of God (sons) on the night before their departure from Egypt (we emphasize that it was with this event that the Old Testament Easter was associated, which represented the Cross Sacrifice of Christ).
In the continuation of the midnight office, censing is carried out around, after which the priest, raising it on his head, takes it (Facing to the east) into (through the Royal Doors). The shroud is laid on, after which censing is performed around it.
At the end of this service, it happens (in commemoration of how they went, with aromas, to the Sepulcher of the Savior), and then Paschal is already performed.
At the end of the procession, the faithful stop with reverence in front of the gates of the temple, as if before the Sepulcher of Christ.
Here the rector initiates Matins: "Glory to the Saints...". After that, the air is filled with the sounds of the festive troparion: "Christ is risen from the dead" ...
In the Orthodox environment, there is an opinion that if a person died on the day of Easter, then his ordeals are alleviated. Is this a popular belief or church practice, tradition?
We believe that in different cases such a "coincidence" can have a different interpretation.
On the one hand, we understand well that God is always open to man with His () and (); it is only important that the person himself strive for unity with God and the Church.
On the other hand, we cannot deny that on the days of the Main Feasts of the Church, and, of course, during the Paschal Celebrations, the unity of believers with God is manifested in a special way. Let us note that on such days churches (often) are filled even with those Christians who are very far from regular participation in church services.
We think that sometimes death on Easter can testify to a special mercy for a person (for example, if a saint of God dies on this day); however, considerations of this kind cannot be elevated to the rank of an unconditional rule (this can even lead to superstition).
Why is it customary to paint eggs at Easter? What colors are allowed? Is it possible to decorate Easter eggs with icon stickers? How to deal with the shell from the consecrated eggs?
The custom of believers to greet each other with the words "Christ is risen!" and giving each other colored eggs dates back to ancient times.
Tradition firmly connects this tradition with the name of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Marina Magdalene, who, by the way, went to Rome, where, having met with Emperor Tiberius, she began Her own with the words “Christ is Risen!”, Giving him, at the same time, a red egg.
Why did she give the egg? The egg is a symbol of life. Just as life is born from under a seemingly dead shell, which is hidden until time, so from the tomb, a symbol of corruption and death, the Life-giver Christ arose, and someday all the dead will rise.
Why was the egg given to the Emperor by Marina Magdalene red? On the one hand, red symbolizes joy and triumph. On the other hand, red is a symbol of blood. We are all redeemed from a vain life by the Blood of the Savior shed on the Cross ().
Thus, giving eggs to each other and greeting one another with the words “Christ is risen!”, the Orthodox profess faith in the Crucified and Risen One, in the triumph of Life over death, the victory of Truth over evil.
It is assumed that in addition to the above reason, the first Christians dyed eggs the color of blood, not without the intention of imitating the Old Testament Easter rite of the Jews, who smeared the jambs and crossbars of the doors of their houses with the blood of sacrificial lambs (doing this according to the word of God, in order to avoid the defeat of the firstborn from the destroying angel) () .
Over time, other colors became established in the practice of dyeing Easter eggs, for example, blue (blue), reminiscent of, or green, symbolizing rebirth to eternal blissful life (spiritual spring).
Nowadays, the color for dyeing eggs is often chosen not on the basis of its symbolic meaning, but on the basis of personal aesthetic preferences, personal fantasy. Hence such a large number of colors, up to unpredictable.
It is important to remember here: the color of Easter eggs should not be mournful, gloomy (after all, Easter is a great Holiday); in addition, it should not be too defiant, pretentious.
It happens that Easter eggs are decorated with stickers with icons. Is such a "tradition" appropriate? In order to answer this question, it is necessary to take into account: an icon is not a picture; it is a Christian shrine. And it should be treated exactly like a shrine.
Before the icons it is customary to pray to God and His saints. However, if the sacred image is applied to the egg shell, which will be peeled off and then, perhaps, thrown into the garbage pit, then it is obvious that the “icon” can also get into the trash along with the shell. It seems that it is not long before blasphemy and sacrilege.
True, some, fearing to anger God, try not to throw the shells from the consecrated eggs into the trash: they either burn it or bury it in the ground. Such a practice is permissible, but how appropriate is it to burn or bury the faces of saints in the ground?
How and when is Easter celebrated?
Easter is the oldest church holiday. It was established back in . So, Paul, inspiring the brothers in faith to a worthy, reverent celebration of the Day of the Resurrection of Christ, rivers: “cleanse the old leaven to be a new test for you, since you are unleavened, for our Pascha, Christ, was slain for us” ().
It is known that the early Christian united under the name of Easter two adjoining weeks: the previous day of the Resurrection of the Lord and the next. At the same time, the first of the indicated weeks corresponded to the name "Easter of Suffering" ("Easter of the Cross"), while the second - to the name "Easter of the Resurrection".
After the First Ecumenical Council (held in 325, in Nicaea), these names were forced out of church use. For the week preceding the day of the Resurrection of the Lord, the name "Passion" was fixed, and for the next - "Light". The name "Easter" was established behind the Day of the Resurrection of the Redeemer.
Divine services during the days of Bright Week are filled with special solemnity. Sometimes the whole week is called, as it were, one Bright Holiday of Easter.
In this Christian tradition, one can see a connection with the Old Testament, according to which the feast of (Jewish) Passover was connected with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which lasted from the 15th to the 21st day of the month of Nisan (on the one hand, this holiday, celebrated annually, was supposed to remind the sons of the events of the exodus of their people from Egypt; on the other hand, he was associated with the beginning of the harvest).
In the continuation of Bright Week, worship is carried out with the open - in commemoration of the fact that, through the Resurrection, victory over and death, he opened the gates of Heaven to people.
The giving of Pascha takes place on Wednesday of the 6th week, in accordance with the fact that before His Day, the Lord Risen from the Sepulcher, walking the earth, showed himself to people, testifying to His Resurrection.
In total, until the day of giving Easter - there are six Weeks: the first - Easter; the second is Fomina; the third - holy myrrh-bearing women; the fourth is about the relaxed; the fifth is about the Samaritan woman; the sixth is about the blind.
During this period, the Divine dignity of Christ is especially sung, the miracles performed by Him are remembered (see:), confirming that He is not just a Righteous Man, but the Incarnate God, Who Resurrected Himself, correcting death, crushing the gates of the kingdom of death, - for our sake .
Is it possible to congratulate people of other faiths on Easter?
Pascha of Christ is the most solemn and great Feast of the Universal Church (according to the metaphorical statement of the holy fathers, it surpasses all others by the same church holidays how much the brilliance of the sun surpasses the brilliance of the stars).
Thus, Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene, visiting Rome, greeted the pagan emperor Tiberius precisely with this proclamation. “Christ is risen!” she told him, and presented a red egg as a gift.
Another thing is that not every non-believer (or atheist) is ready to respond to Easter greetings (if not with joy, then at least) calmly. In some cases, this kind of greeting can provoke irritation, rage, violence and anger.
Therefore, sometimes, instead of an Easter greeting of this or that person, it is appropriate to literally fulfill the words of Jesus Christ: “Do not give shrines to dogs and do not throw your pearls in front of swine, so that they do not trample it under their feet and, turning, do not tear you apart” ().
Here it is not bad to take into account the experience of the Apostle Paul, who, by his own admission, while preaching the faith of Christ, tried to adapt to the circumstances and psychological condition people, being to the Jews as a Jew, for the sake of gaining the Jews; for those under the law - as under the law, for the sake of acquiring the under the law; for those who are strangers to the law - as a stranger to the law (without being, however, himself a stranger to God's law) - in order to gain strangers to the law; for the weak - as the weak, for the sake of gaining the weak. For everyone, he became everything in order to save at least some of them ().
Is it possible to work and clean on Easter days?
It is customary to prepare for the Easter holiday in advance. This means that the work that can be done in advance is better done in advance. Work that is not connected with the Holiday and does not require immediate execution is better (for the duration of the Holiday) to be postponed.
So, for example, the ancient Christian monument “The Apostolic Ordinances” gives a firm indication that neither in Holy Week, nor in the Paschal (Bright) Week following it, “let the slaves not work” (Apostolic Decrees. Book 8, ch. 33)
However, there is no unconditional ban on any kind of work at all during the Easter period, regardless of the circumstances.
Suppose there are many types of professional, official and social activities that require the indispensable participation of one or another person, regardless of his desire and from.
This kind of activity includes: law enforcement, military, medical, transport, fire fighting, etc. Sometimes, in relation to this kind of work on the Feast Day, it is not superfluous to recall the words of Christ: God's God» ().
On the other hand, exceptions to work can occur even when it comes to such daily tasks as cleaning the house, washing dishes.
Indeed, if during the Easter holiday the table is filled with dirty plates, spoons, cups, forks, food waste, and the floor is suddenly flooded inappropriately with some kind of drink, all this will need to be left as is until the end of the Easter celebrations?
What is the tradition of consecrating bread - artos?
On the Bright Day of Easter, at the end of the Divine (after the ambo prayer), a solemn consecration of a special one takes place - a (literally translated from Greek, “artos” means “bread”; in accordance with the meaning of the name Easter (Pesach - transition) as the transition from death to life , in accordance with the consequence of the Resurrection as the Victory of Christ over and death, the Cross crowned with thorns is imprinted on the artos, a sign of victory over death, or an image).
As a rule, artos relies on opposite the icon of the Savior, where, then, it remains in the continuation of Bright Week.
On Bright Saturday, that is, on Friday evening, the artos is shattered; at the end of the Liturgy, on Saturday, it is distributed for consumption by the faithful.
As in the continuation of the Bright Holiday, believers eat Easter in their homes, so during the days of Bright Week in the houses of God - the temples of the Lord - this consecrated bread is presented.
In a symbolic sense, artos is compared with the Old Testament unleavened bread, which was to be eaten, in the continuation of the Paschal week, by the Israel people, after they were freed by the right hand of God from Egyptian slavery ().
In addition, the practice of consecrating and preserving the artos serves as a reminder of the apostolic practice. Accustomed to eating bread with the Savior, during His earthly ministry, they, according to Him, gave Him a part of the bread and laid it down at the meal. This symbolized the presence of Christ among them.
This symbolic line can be strengthened: serving as an image of Heavenly Bread, that is, Christ (), the artos serves as a reminder to all believers that the Risen One, despite the Ascension, is constantly present in, in accordance with the promise: “I am with you all the days until the end of the age »().
Easter of Christ. How many days are celebrated?Easter- the most important and solemn Christian holiday. It takes place every year in different time and refers to mobile holidays. Other movable holidays also depend on the day of Easter, such as:, (Pentecost) and others. The celebration of Easter is the longest: for 40 days, believers greet each other with the words " Christ is Risen!» - « Truly Risen! The Day of the Bright Resurrection of Christ for Christians is a time of special celebration and spiritual joy, when believers gather for services to glorify the risen Christ, and the whole Easter week is celebrated " like one day». Church service almost completely repeats the nightly Easter service throughout the week.
The Passover Event: An Excerpt from the Gospel
christian holiday of easter- this is a solemn remembrance of the Resurrection of the Lord on the third day after His suffering and death. The very moment of the Resurrection is not described in the Gospel, because no one saw how it happened. The descent from the Cross and the burial of the Lord took place on Friday evening. Since Saturday was a day of rest for the Jews, the women who accompanied the Lord and the disciples from Galilee, who were witnesses of His suffering and death, came to the Holy Sepulcher only a day later, at the dawn of that day, which we now call Sunday. They carried incense, which, according to the custom of that time, was poured over the body of a dead person.
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and another Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord, who descended from heaven, approached, rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it; his appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow; fearful of him, the guards trembled and became like dead men; The angel, turning his speech to the women, said: do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus crucified; He is not here - He is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly, tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead and is ahead of you in Galilee; you will see him there. Here, I told you.
And coming out of the tomb hastily, they ran with fear and great joy to tell His disciples. When they went to tell His disciples, and behold Jesus met them and said: Rejoice! And they, coming forward, took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them: Do not be afraid; go tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me” (Matthew 28:1-10).
Easter celebration in history. Why is Sunday called Sunday?
From the Christian holiday of Easter comes the modern name of the day of the week - Sunday. Every Sunday of the week throughout the year, Christians especially celebrate with prayer and a solemn service in the temple. Sunday is also called little Easter". Sunday is called Sunday in honor of the resurrected on the third day after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And although Christians remember the Resurrection of the Lord weekly, this event is especially solemnly celebrated once a year - on the feast of Easter.
In the first centuries of Christianity there was a division into easter godmother and Sunday Easter. Mentions of this are contained in the works of the early Church Fathers: the epistle of St. Irenaeus of Lyons(c. 130–202) to the bishop of Rome Victor, « A word about Easter» saint Meliton of Sardis(early II century - c. 190), the works of the saint Clement of Alexandria(c. 150 - c. 215) and Pope Hippolytus (c. 170 - c. 235). Easter godmother- the memory of the suffering and death of the Savior was celebrated with a special fast and coincided with the Jewish Passover in memory of the fact that the Lord was crucified during this Old Testament holiday. The first Christians prayed and strictly fasted until Easter Sunday - a joyful remembrance of the Resurrection of Christ.
At present, there is no division into Easter of the Cross and Sunday, although the content has been preserved in the liturgical Rule: the strict and mournful services of the Great Thursday, Friday and Saturday end with a joyful and jubilant Easter service. Actually, the Easter night service itself begins with a mournful midnight office, on which the canon of Great Saturday is read. At this time, in the middle of the temple there is still a lectern with a Shroud - an embroidered or painted icon depicting the position of the Lord in the tomb.
What is the date of Easter for the Orthodox?
The early Christian communities celebrated Easter at different times. Some together with the Jews, as Blessed Jerome writes, others - the first Sunday after the Jews since Christ was crucified on the day Passover and rose again the morning after the Sabbath. Gradually, the difference in the Easter traditions of the local Churches became more and more noticeable, the so-called " easter dispute» between the Eastern and Western Christian communities, there was a threat to the unity of the Church. On, called by the emperor Constantine in 325 in Nicaea, the question of a single celebration of Easter for all was considered. According to church historian Eusebius of Caesarea, all the bishops not only accepted the Creed, but also agreed to celebrate Easter for everyone on the same day:
For the consonant confession of the Faith, the saving celebration of Pascha had to be celebrated by everyone at the same time. Therefore, a general resolution was made and approved by the signature of each of those present. Having finished these things, the basileus (Constantine the Great) said that he had now won a second victory over the enemy of the Church, and therefore made a victorious feast dedicated to God.
Since that time, all local Churches began to celebrate Easter the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox. If Jewish Easter falls on this Sunday, then Christians postpone the celebration to the next Sunday, because even in, according to the 7th rule, Christians are forbidden to celebrate Easter with Jews.
How to calculate the date of Easter?
To calculate Easter, you need to know not only the solar (equinox), but also moon calendar(full moon). Since the best experts on the lunar and solar calendar lived at that time in Egypt, the honor of calculating the Orthodox Paschalia was given Bishop of Alexandria. He was to inform all the local Churches annually about the day of Pascha. Over time it was created Paschalia for 532 years. It is based on the periodicity of the Julian calendar, in which the calendar indicators for calculating Easter - the circle of the Sun (28 years) and the circle of the Moon (19 years) - repeat after 532 years. This period is called great indiction". The beginning of the first "great indiction" coincides with the beginning of the era " from the creation of the world". The current, 15th great indiction, began in 1941. In Russia, Easter tables were included in the liturgical books, for example, the Followed Psalter. Several manuscripts of the 17th-17th centuries are also known. entitled " Great Peace Circle". They contain not only Paschalia for 532 years, but also tables for calculating the date of Easter by hand, the so-called Five-Fingered Paschalia or " hand of Damascus».
It is worth noting that in the Old Believers, knowledge has been preserved to this day, how to calculate the date of easter by hand, any mobile holiday, the ability to determine what day of the week a particular holiday falls on, the duration of Peter's fast and other important information necessary for the celebration of worship.
Orthodox Easter service
Throughout the Holy Week preceding Easter, each of which is called the Great Day, Orthodox Christians serve and remember the Passion of Christ, last days earthly life of the Savior, His suffering, crucifixion, death on the Cross, burial, descent into hell and Resurrection. For Christians, this is a particularly revered week, a time of especially strict fasting, preparation for the meeting of the main Christian holiday.
Before the start of the festive service, the Acts of the Apostles are read in the temple. Easter service, as in ancient times, takes place at night. The service begins two hours before midnight with Sunday Midnight Office, during which the canon of Great Saturday is read. sea wave". On the 9th ode of the canon, when the irmos is sung " Don't cry for me, Mother”, after incense, the Shroud is taken to the altar. Among the Old Believers-bezpriests, after the third song of the canon and the saddle, the word is read Epiphanius of Cyprus « What is the silence».
After the Midnight Office, preparations for the procession begin. The clergy in brilliant robes, with a cross, the Gospel and icons, leave the temple, followed by those praying with burning candles; three times they go around the temple salting (according to the sun, clockwise) with the singing of stichera: “ Your Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and grant us on earth with pure hearts to glorify you". This procession is reminiscent of the procession of myrrh-bearing women to the tomb in the deep morning to anoint the Body of Jesus Christ. The procession stops at the western doors, which are sometimes closed: this reminds again of the myrrh-bearing women who received the first news of the Lord's resurrection at the door of the tomb. “Who will roll away the stone from the tomb for us?” they wonder.
The priest, after shaking the icons and those present, begins the bright matins with an exclamation: "Glory to the Saints, and to the Consubstantial, and Life-Giving, and Inseparable Trinity." The temple is illuminated by many lamps. Priests and clergymen sing three times troparion holiday:
X rt0s resurrected and 3 dead death come to death 2 and 3 grave life gifts.
After this, the chanters repeatedly repeat the troparion when the priest proclaims the verses: “Let God rise again” and others. Then the clergyman with a cross in his hands, depicting an angel who rolled away a stone from the doors of the tomb, opens the closed doors of the temple and all the believers enter the temple. Further, after the great litany, the Paschal canon is sung in a solemn and jubilant chant: Sunday day”, compiled St. John of Damascus. The troparions of the Paschal canon are not read, but are sung with the refrain: "Christ is risen from the dead." During the singing of the canon, the priest, holding the cross in his hands, incenses the holy icons and the people at each song, greeting them with a joyful exclamation: “ Christ is Risen". The people answer: Truly Risen". The repeated exit of the priest with censing and greeting "Christ is Risen" depicts the repeated appearances of the Lord to his disciples and their joy at the sight of Him. After each song of the canon, a small litany is pronounced. At the end of the canon, the following morning light is sung:
P0tіyu ўsnyv ћkw is dead, tsri and 3 gd, three days is wax, and 3 dama raises 1g and 3z8 aphids2, and 3 celebrates death. Easter imperishable, world salvation.
Translation
King and Lord! Asleep in the flesh like a dead man, You rose three days old, raising Adam from the death and destroying death; You are the Easter of immortality, the salvation of the world.
Then laudatory psalms are read and stichera are sung in praise. They are joined by Easter hymns with the refrain: "May God rise again and scatter against Him." After that, while singing the troparion "Christ is risen", the believers give each other a fraternal kiss, i.e. “They are Christed”, with a joyful greeting: “Christ is Risen” - “Truly Risen”. After singing the Easter stichera, there is a reading of the words of St. John Chrysostom: Whoever is pious and God-loving". Then the litanies are pronounced and the dismissal of Matins follows, which the priest performs with a cross in his hand, proclaiming: "Christ is risen." Next, the Easter Hours are sung, which consist of Easter hymns. At the end of the Easter hours, the Easter Liturgy is performed. Instead of the Trisagion, at the Paschal liturgy, “They are baptized into Christ, put on Christ. Alleluia." The apostle is read from the Acts of St. apostles (Acts 1, 1-8), the Gospel is read from John (1, 1-17), which speaks of the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, called in the Gospel "the Word". In some parishes of Old Believers-priests there is an interesting custom - at the Easter Liturgy, the Gospel is read simultaneously by several clergy and even in several languages (repeating each verse of the Gospel several times). So, in some Lipovan parishes they read in Church Slavonic and Romanian, in Russia - in Church Slavonic and Greek. Some parishioners recall that Vladyka (Lakomkin) read the Gospel in Greek on Easter.
A distinctive feature of the Easter service: it is all sung. Temples at this time are brightly lit with candles, which the worshipers hold in their hands and place in front of the icons. Blessing after the liturgy "brashen", i.e. cheese, meat and eggs, is given to believers permission from fasting.
In the evening, Easter Vespers are served. Its feature is the following. The rector puts on all the sacred clothes and after the evening entrance with the Gospel reads on the throne the Gospel, which tells about the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Apostles in the evening on the day of His resurrection from the dead (John XX, 19-23). Divine service on the first day of St. Pascha is repeated throughout the entire Paschal week, with the exception of the Gospel reading at Vespers. For 40 days, before the feast, Paschal troparia, stichera and canons are sung during the service. Prayer to the Holy Spirit: "To the King of Heaven" is not read or sung until the feast.
Kontakion for the holiday
More and 3 in the coffin of deathless death, but destroying the power of the year, and 3 resurrected ћkw victor xrte b9e. proclaiming joy to the wives of the mrwn0sits, and 3 their 1m ёpclwm world gifts, and 4 the fallen ones were given resurrection.
(Translation: Although you, Immortal, descended into the tomb, you destroyed the power of hell and, as the Conqueror, resurrected, Christ God, saying to the myrrh-bearing women: “Rejoice.” You gave peace to your apostles, you give resurrection to the fallen).
In the incoming and outgoing bows, instead of "Worthy to eat"(up to the giving of Easter) the irmos of the ninth song of the Easter canon is read:
With veti1сz sveti1сz n0vyi їєrli1me, thank God gDнz is on you. lyky nn7e i3 fun1сz сіНne, the same chctaz beautifulz btsde, њ vostanіi rzhctva yoursw2 (bow to the earth).
(Translation: Illuminate, illuminate (with joy) the new Jerusalem; for the glory of the Lord has shone over you; now triumph and rejoice Zion: and You, Mother of God, rejoice in the resurrection of Your Born).
Traditions of celebrating Easter among the Old Believers
The Old Believers of all accords - both priests and bezpopovtsy - have largely common traditions for celebrating the Holy Resurrection of Christ. The Old Believers start breaking the fast for Holy Easter at a meal with their family after the church service. In many communities there is also a common church meal, at which many believers gather. On the day of the Resurrection of Christ, special dishes are put on the table that are prepared only once a year: Easter cake, cottage cheese Easter, colored eggs. In addition to special Easter dishes, many traditional Russian delicacies are prepared. At the beginning of the Easter meal, it is customary to eat the food consecrated in the temple, then all the other dishes.
On Easter, it is customary to celebrate Christ - to congratulate each other on the great holiday and exchange colored eggs, as a symbol of life, kissing each other three times.
painted in red onion peel the egg used to be called krashenka, painted - pysanka, and wooden Easter eggs - eggs. The red egg marks for people the rebirth by the blood of Christ.
The other colors and patterns used to decorate the eggs are an innovation that in many priestless communities not welcome, as well as thermal stickers with the image of the face of Christ, the Virgin, images of temples and inscriptions. All this “printing” is usually widely presented on store shelves in the pre-Easter weeks, but few people think about the future fate of such a thermal sticker - after it is peeled off the Easter egg, it, along with the image of Jesus Christ or the Virgin goes straight to the trash can.
There are a number of differences in the celebration of Easter within the non-priestly agreements. So, in some non-priest communities of Siberia, Easter cakes are not baked at all and, accordingly, they are not consecrated, considering this a Jewish custom. In other communities, there is no changing of clothes, changing of dark clothes and scarves to light ones, parishioners remain in the same Christian clothes that they came to worship. Common in the Easter traditions of the Old Believers of all accords is, of course, the attitude to work during Bright Week. On the eve of a holiday or Sunday, Christians work only until half of the day preceding the holiday, and it is a great sin for the Old Believers to work throughout the Easter week. This is a time of spiritual joy, a time of solemn prayer and glorification of the risen Christ. Unlike the Old Believers-priests, in some priestless concords there is no custom for the mentor to go around the houses of the parishioners with Christ glorification, however, each parishioner, if desired, can certainly invite a mentor to sing Easter stichera and a festive meal.
Happy Easter holiday- the most favorite holiday since childhood, it is always joyful, especially warm and solemn! It brings especially much joy to children, and every believer tries to serve an Easter egg, Easter cake or sweets, especially to a child.
On the bright week in some non-priest communities, an ancient fun for kids is still preserved, to which adults join with undisguised joy - rolling painted (unsanctified) eggs. The essence of the game is as follows: each player rolls his egg along a special wooden path - a chute, and if the rolled egg hits someone else's egg, then the player takes it as a prize. Souvenir gifts are usually laid out not far from the gutter. In the old days, such competitions could last for several hours! And the “lucky ones” returned home with a rich “harvest” of eggs.
For all Old Believers, regardless of consent, Easter is Feast of Feasts and Celebration of Feasts, this is the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, this is a great triumph, an eternal holiday of angels and archangels, immortal life for the whole world, imperishable heavenly bliss for people. The atoning sacrifice of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, the blood shed by Him on the Holy Cross delivered man from the terrible power of sin and death. Yes it will" Easter is new holy, Easter is mysterious”, glorified in festive hymns, continue in our hearts all the days of our lives!
Resurrection of Christ. Icons
In the Old Believer iconography there is no icon of the Resurrection of Christ, because the moment of the resurrection of Jesus was not seen not only by people, but even by angels. This emphasizes the incomprehensibility of the mystery of Christ. The image of Christ familiar to us, in snow-white robes, coming out of the coffin with a banner in his hand, is a later Catholic version, which appeared in the churches of the Russian Orthodox Church only in post-Petrine times.
In Orthodox iconography, the icon of the Resurrection of Christ depicts the moment of the Savior's descent into hell and the removal of the souls of the Old Testament righteous from hell. The plot "The Resurrection of Christ - Descent into Hell" is one of the most common iconographic plots.
The general idea of the Paschal image of Christ in hell is consonant with the theme of the Exodus of the people of Israel from Egypt. As Moses once freed the Jews from slavery, so Christ goes to the underworld and frees the souls languishing there. And not only liberates, but transfers them to the realm of Truth and Light.
Churches of the Resurrection of Christ
most famous Church of the Resurrection of Christ is an Church of the Holy Sepulcher(Jerusalem Church of the Resurrection of Christ).
Since it was erected on the site of real historical events Crucifixion, Burial and Resurrection of Christ, then, according to Christians, could not be repeated in other places. Churches of the Resurrection of Christ in Russia were built in the name of the Resurrection of the Word, or Renewal, that is, consecration after the restoration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, completed in 355 under St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine the Great.
Several temples in honor of this holiday have been preserved in Moscow, one of them is Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Assumption Vrazhek. The first mention of the temple dates back to 1548. It was a wooden church that burned down in a great Moscow fire on April 10, 1629. In its place, by 1634, an existing stone temple was built. For almost two centuries the temple stood unchanged, in 1816-1820 the refectory and the bell tower were rebuilt.
One of ancient temples in Kolomna it was consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of the Word. On January 18, 1366, the holy noble prince Dmitry Donskoy and the holy princess Evdokia (monastic Euphrosyne) of Moscow were married in this church. The temple was rebuilt several times. In the 1990s it was returned to the parish of the Assumption Cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church.
During the time of the Golden Horde in Kolomenskoye Posad was erected, mentioned in the cadastral books of 1577-1578. At the beginning of the 18th century, a temple was built in its place with the main altar in honor of the Resurrection of the Word and an altar church in the name of St. Nicholas. In the early 1990s, this one of the oldest and most beautiful churches in the city of Kolomna, the administration handed over to the community of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church. The main temple holiday is now celebrated on December 19, in honor of St. Nikola "winter", and among the people this temple is still known by many as the temple of the Resurrection of Christ.
Old Believer Churches of the Resurrection of Christ
February 1, 2015 in the Rogozhskaya Sloboda, the temple-bell tower of the Rogozhsky cemetery was held. Thus, he had a historical name. It was in the name of the Resurrection of Christ that this temple was consecrated on August 18, 1913, after it was erected at the expense of philanthropists in honor of granting freedom of religion to the Old Believers. In 1949, the temple was consecrated in the name of the Assumption of the Mother of God, and remained in this position until January 31, 2014. The initiative to return the historical name to the temple was put forward by the primate of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church at the Consecrated Cathedral in 2014.
The Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church belongs to the current one (Moscow). This is the first Old Believer church of the Pomor community (the 2nd Moscow community of Pomor marriage consent), built after the 1905 manifesto on religious tolerance in Moscow. The history of this temple is very long-suffering. Now the restoration of the temple is being continued at the expense of the community members, while services are being held.
Also in Lithuania, in the city of Visaginas, there is the Church of the Resurrection of Christ of the Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church.
Christian Passover and Pesach among the Jews (Jewish Passover)
In 2017, the Orthodox celebrate Easter on April 16, and the Jewish holiday Pesach (Jewish Passover) falls on April 11–17 this year. Thus, many attentive Christians ask the question: Why in 2017 the Orthodox celebrate Easter with the Jews? Such a question comes from the 7th canon of the holy apostles, which literally sounds like this:
If anyone, a bishop, or a presbyter, or a deacon, celebrates the holy day of Pascha before the spring equinox with the Jews: let him be deposed from the sacred order.
It turns out that allegedly this year all Orthodox will violate the 7th Apostolic Canon? In the minds of some Christians, a whole " ecumenical tangle”, when in 2017 Orthodox, Catholics and Jews celebrate Easter on the same day. How to be?
To resolve this issue, you should know that disputes about calculating the day of Easter in the Orthodox Church, in fact, ended with the approval of the Orthodox Paschalia for First Ecumenical Council. Easter tables allow you to calculate the day of Easter calendar, that is, without looking at the sky, but with the help of calendar tables, cyclically repeating every 532 years. These tables have been compiled in such a way that Easter Satisfied Two Apostolic Rules About Easter:
- Celebrate Easter after the first spring full moon (that is, after the first full moon after the spring equinox);
- do not celebrate the Passover with the Jews.
Since these two rules do not unambiguously determine the day of Easter, two more auxiliary rules were added to them, which, together with the apostolic (main) rules, made it possible to determine Easter unambiguously and compile the calendar tables of Orthodox Paschalia. Auxiliary rules are not as important as the apostolic ones, and besides, one of them began to be violated over time, since the calendar method for calculating the first spring full moon, laid down in Paschalia, gave a small error - 1 day in 300 years. This was noticed and discussed in detail, for example, in the Collection of Patristic Canons Matthew Blastar. However, since given error did not affect the observance of the apostolic rules, but only strengthened them, shifting the day of the celebration of Easter a little forward according to the dates of the calendar, in the Orthodox Church it was decided not to change Paschalia, approved by the fathers of the Ecumenical Council. In the Catholic Church, Paschal was changed in 1582 in such a way that the auxiliary canon, which had lost its force, began to be fulfilled again, but the apostolic canon of not co-celebrating with the Jews began to be violated. As a result, Orthodox and Catholic Easter diverged in time, although sometimes they can coincide.
If you look at the two apostolic canons cited above, it is striking that one of them - about not co-celebrating with the Jews - is not quite strictly stated and requires interpretation. The fact is that Passover celebration lasts 7 days. Orthodox Easter, in fact, is also celebrated for 7 days, throughout the entire Bright Week. The question arises: what does do not celebrate with the Jews"? Do not allow the coincidence of Bright Sunday with the first day of the Jewish Passover? Or should we take a more strict approach and not allow the imposition of Bright Sunday on any of the 7 days of the Jewish holiday?
In fact, by carefully studying Paschalia, one might suspect that before the First Ecumenical Council, Christians used both the first (weak) and the second (strong) interpretation of the apostolic canon. However, the fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, when compiling Paschalia, definitely stopped at the first interpretation: Bright Sunday should not coincide only with the first, main day of the Jewish Easter, but it can coincide with the subsequent 6 days of the Jewish holiday. Such was the opinion of the First Ecumenical Council, clearly expressed in Paschalia, which the Orthodox Church still adheres to. Thus, in 2017, the Orthodox do not violate the 7th canon of the holy apostles about celebrating Easter with the Jews, because Christian Easter does not coincide with the first day of Jewish Easter, and on other days such " overlays are not forbidden, especially since there have been similar cases before.
New Paschalists and their teachings
In our time, in 2010, several members of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church questioned the patristic interpretation of the apostolic canon on Easter and decided to reconsider this issue. Actually, only one was involved in the revision A. Yu. Ryabtsev and the rest just took his word for it. A.Yu. Ryabtsev, in particular, wrote (we quote his words in part, omitting obvious conjectures):
… Often our Passover coincides with the last days of the Jewish Passover, which is celebrated for seven days, and the first main rule for calculating Passover is violated… In modern practice, we sometimes fall on the last days of the Jewish Passover.
A.Yu. Ryabtsev suggested banning the coincidence of Bright Sunday with all 7 days of the Jewish holiday of Easter and celebrating Orthodox Easter according to new rules he himself proposed. Supporters of this doctrine began to be called " neopaschalists" or " New Easter eggs". On May 1, 2011, they celebrated Easter for the first time under the new rules in an ancient cave temple on Mount Tepe-Kermen in Crimea. After the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 2011, which condemned the celebration of Easter according to new calculations, the New Paschalists separated into a separate religious group that still exists today. It includes only a few people. There seems to be some connection between this group and G. Sterligov, who also expressed the idea of changing the day of the celebration of Orthodox Easter.
In Christianity, when believers celebrate the day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Easter
According to the Bible, the son of God Jesus Christ was martyred on the cross to atone for the sins of mankind. He was crucified on a cross erected on a mountain called Golgotha on Friday, which in the Christian calendar is called Passion. After Jesus Christ, along with the others sentenced to death on the cross, died in terrible agony, he was transferred to a cave, where they left his body.On the night from Saturday to Sunday, the repentant Mary Magdalene and her minions, who, like her, accepted the Christian faith, came to this cave to say goodbye to Jesus and pay him the last tribute of love and respect. However, when they entered there, they found out that the tomb where his body was located was empty, and two angels announced to them that Jesus Christ had risen.
The name of this holiday comes from the Hebrew word "Pesach", which means "deliverance", "exodus", "mercy". It is connected with the events described in the Torah and the Old Testament - with the tenth, most terrible of the Egyptian plagues that God brought down on the Egyptian people. According to legend, this time the punishment was that all the first-born, born to both humans and animals, died a sudden death.
The only exception was the houses of those people who were marked with a special sign inflicted with the blood of a lamb - an innocent lamb. Researchers argue that the borrowing of this name to designate the feast of the resurrection of Christ was due to the Christian belief that he was innocent like this lamb.
Easter celebration
In the Christian tradition, Easter is celebrated according to the lunisolar calendar, so the date of its celebration varies from year to year. This date is calculated so that it falls on the first Sunday after the spring full moon. At the same time, emphasizing the essence of this holiday, Easter is always celebrated only.Easter celebration is associated with a lot of traditions. So, it is preceded by Great Lent - the longest and strictest period of abstinence from many types of food and entertainment throughout the year. It is customary to celebrate the onset of Easter by putting painted Easter cakes on the table and, in fact, this is the name of a curd dish in the shape of a pyramid with a truncated top.
In addition, painted boiled eggs are a symbol of the holiday: they are considered a reflection of the legend about how Mary Magdalene presented the emperor Tiberius with an egg as a sign that Jesus Christ was resurrected. He said that it was impossible, just as an egg cannot suddenly turn red from white, and the egg turned red in an instant. Since then, believers have been painting eggs red at Easter. It is customary to greet each other on this day with the phrase “Christ is risen!”, To which the answer is usually “Truly risen!”.
Easter is the main event of the Christian world, dedicated to the miraculous Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the victory of life over death.
The date of the holiday changes every year, since the day Easter is calculated according to the lunisolar calendar, based on the frequency of visible changes of the Sun and Moon.
About what date Easter is for Orthodox Christians, about the traditions and customs of celebrating it in Russia, read in this article.
When is Orthodox Easter
What date Easter will be in 2019 is calculated as follows: this important Christian holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after March 21, the day of the vernal equinox. If this full moon falls on a Sunday, the holiday is a week later, on the following Sunday.
Since Orthodox Christians use the method of calculating the date according to the Julian calendar (according to the old style), Easter for them comes on Sunday, April 28, 2019.
Traditions and customs of celebration in Russia
On Great Saturday before Orthodox Easter in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, at a particularly solemn night service, the Holy Fire is brought to the faithful, miraculously appearing in the Holy Sepulcher and symbolizing the resurrected Jesus Christ.
In Russia, the ceremony is broadcast on live, and a particle of the Holy Fire is delivered to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior and other churches in large cities by special flights.
All-night vigils - services on Easter night are held in each Orthodox Church. During the service, exactly at midnight, the faithful make the Procession - a procession around the temple with a large cross, icons and the singing of the prayer canon.
Easter greeting
Immediately after the night service and on the first day of Easter, Orthodox Christians joyfully greet each other: “Christ is risen!” - "Truly Risen!" and kiss three times. According to tradition, the youngest in age should greet first, and the eldest should answer.
Easter bells
Another Orthodox Easter tradition is to ring the bells during non-liturgical hours on Bright Week, the week following the festive Sunday.
The bell towers are open to everyone, and everyone can ring the bell, of course, with a blessing.
Festive meal
The holiday is preceded by a time of abstinence - Great Lent, which ends with breaking the fast.
On the holiday table Orthodox Christians must have Easter cakes consecrated in the church, painted eggs and cottage cheese Easter.
Easter cake - high rich yeast bread with the image of a cross. The tradition of obligatory Easter cake is associated with the apostles, who, after the Ascension of Christ, left a piece of bread on the table, symbolizing the presence of Jesus at the meal. In Russia, Easter cake is poured with white icing and the symbols XB are written - Christ is Risen.
The egg during the Easter meal symbolizes the Holy Sepulcher and the Resurrection - on the outside it looks dead, but inside it contains nascent life.
The custom of Christians to give eggs to each other comes from the tradition of a red-colored egg, which Mary Magdalene presented to Emperor Tiberius with the words "Christ is risen!". Easter eggs can be dyed different colors, but it is red that is traditional - it symbolizes the blood of the crucified Christ, life, the sun and fertility. In Russia, eggs are dyed with onion skins to give them a red color.
Cottage cheese Easter is a special sweet dish made from cottage cheese with raisins and candied fruits in the form of a truncated pyramid, reminiscent of the Holy Sepulcher. It is prepared mainly in the northern and central Russian regions.
Folk festivals and games
Easter festivities in Russia began on the first day of the holiday and could last a week or longer. On Krasnaya Gorka they led round dances with songs, swung on a swing, wooed and played Easter games.
Traditional Easter games are egg rolling and cue ball.
Egg rolling is a Slavic Easter game that consists of rolling eggs from a small hill or simply on the ground or floor. At the end of the slide, various objects and toys are placed. The player whose egg touches the object takes it as a prize.
Rolling eggs among Christians is a symbol of the stone that rolled down before the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the Holy Sepulcher. They are rolled on the ground to make it fertile.
Cue balls - two people take colored eggs and beat them three times - they "Christen." The cracked egg goes to the winner.
The Sunday of Christ is over, but for some reason the believers continue to greet: “Christ is Risen!”
Major Orthodox holidays have days of pre-feast and after-feast - the period before and after the holiday itself, when its echoes sound in the service.
Afterfeast of Easter, the main Christian holiday, is the longest - 38 days.
Taking into account the day of the holiday itself and the day of giving, the Orthodox celebrate Easter for 40 days.
So much the Savior stayed on earth before His ascension.
Of this period, the first week after Easter, Bright Week, stands out.
On all days of this holiday, we greet each other with the words “Rise!” - “Truly He is risen!”, with which we confess our faith in the resurrection of the Lord, we exchange red eggs, which symbolize new life.
The word "Passover" in Hebrew means "deliverance".
The Christian New Testament Easter is the day on which our transition from death to incorruptible 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 resurrected on the night of the third day after death on the Cross, Himself, by the power of His Divinity. At night the earth shook, an angel descended from heaven and rolled away the stone from the door of the coffin-cave.
At dawn, the women, taking with them fragrant myrrh, went to the tomb to anoint the body of the deceased Savior. They saw the stone rolled away from the door of the tomb, and the angels who announced to them about the resurrection of Christ.
The myrrh-bearing women hurriedly told the apostles about this, but they did not believe.
However, John and Peter nevertheless ran to the tomb and saw folded burial clothes in the empty tomb.
When weeping Mary Magdalene came to the tomb, the resurrected Christ appeared to her.
On the same day, other myrrh-bearing women, Peter, the Evangelist Luke, other apostles, except for Thomas, saw Him.
But first of all, according to Holy Tradition, the resurrected Jesus appeared to His Most Pure Mother.
And so the celebration continues:
*at the end of the Paschal week, the Church continues to celebrate Easter, but with less solemnity, until the Ascension of the Lord, i.e. another 32 days;
*the total number of days of the celebration of Easter is 40 - exactly as much as Christ appeared to His disciples after the Resurrection.
DO'S AND DO'S FOR EASTER:
When can I break the fast at Easter?
Breaking the fast (the first fast meal after the end of the fast) on Easter is usually performed after the Liturgy and Communion. If you were at the Liturgy at night, then after the night service you can start the festive meal. If you came to the Liturgy in the morning, then in the same way - after Communion - you can break the fast. The main thing is to approach everything with a sense of proportion. Don't overeat.
If for some reason you cannot celebrate Easter in the temple, you can start breaking the fast at about the time when the festive Liturgy ends in the temples. How good is the Church in this respect? We fast together and break the fast together. That is, we do everything together. This is what the modern world lacks so much - commonality.
How to spend Easter day?
Are there things that cannot be done?
On this day, you can not be sad, walk gloomy and swear with your 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 you, visit the suffering. In a word, everything that brings joy to your neighbor, and therefore to you.
What can you eat on Easter and can you drink alcohol on 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 strong drinks - not to the point of being very intoxicated, of course. But if you find it difficult to limit yourself, it is better not to touch alcohol. Rejoice in spiritual joy.
Can I work on Easter?
Most often, the question of whether to work or not does not depend on us. If you have a day off on Easter Sunday, this is, of course, very good. You can visit the temple, and meet with loved ones, and congratulate everyone.
But it often happens that we turn out to be forced people and, according to the work schedule, are forced to work on Easter. There is nothing wrong 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.
Is it possible to do homework on Easter? Cleaning, knitting, sewing?
When we read somewhere that on a holiday there is a ban on homework, 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 fuss. The ban on working on Easter is not canonical, but rather a pious tradition.
Household chores are an integral part of our lives. You can do them on a holiday, but only by approaching this wisely. In order not to spend Easter doing general cleaning until the very night. Sometimes it is better, for example, to leave unwashed dishes in the sink than to be annoyed at household members who have not washed their dishes.
What does it mean if a person dies on Easter?
Is this a sign of God's special mercy or a punishment?
If a believer dies on Pascha or Bright Week, for us this is indeed a sign of God's mercy towards this person. folk tradition He even says that the one who died on Pascha enters the Kingdom of Heaven without ordeals, that is, bypassing the Last Judgment. But this is “folk theology”, dogmatically, after all, every 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. After all, even during his lifetime, the Resurrection of Christ was not for him a sign of deliverance from death...
Can I go to the cemetery on Easter?
There has never been such a tradition in the Church. She was born among people in times Soviet Union when a person was deprived of spiritual fellowship and removed from the Church. Where else to meet afterlife, about which the Church speaks and with faith in the existence of which the authorities fought so cruelly? Only in the cemetery. No one could forbid visiting relatives at the graves.
Since then, it has been customary to go to the cemetery on Easter. But now that the temples are open and we can go to Easter service, it is better to go to the cemetery to relatives on other days. For example, on Radonitsa - on the day when, according to tradition, the Church commemorates the dead. Arrive there early, put the graves in order, sit quietly nearby and pray.
How should we greet each other at Easter?
Easter greeting - angelic. When the Myrrh-Bearing Women came to the Holy Sepulcher to anoint the body of the crucified Christ with spices, they saw an Angel there. He announced to them: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” That is, he told that the Savior had risen.
We greet our brothers and sisters in faith at Easter with the words "Christ is Risen!" and we answer the greeting: “Truly 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?
On Easter, you can give your neighbor any pleasant and necessary gifts. And it will be good if any gift has an Easter egg, decorated or red. The testicle as a symbol of evidence of new life - the Resurrection of Christ.
The red color of the Easter egg is a memory of the tradition according to which Mary Magdalene gave the emperor Tiberius an egg 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 white egg suddenly turned red. And, according to legend, a miracle happened - in front of everyone, 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 of consecrated eggs and stale Easter cake?
A pious tradition tells us not to throw away with the garbage what is consecrated in the temple. All this can be burned, for example, on personal plot, and bury the ashes where people and animals will not trample on it. Or put it in the river. Or, having agreed in advance with the attendant in the temple, bring the shells there: in every temple there is a so-called "impregnable place."
COMmemoration of the dead on the days of EASTER
Easter is a time of special and exceptional joy, a celebration 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 the days of sorrow. That joyful exultation that the Church communicates to the faithful at Easter is separated from the mood of sadness that accompanies the commemoration of the departed.
And the current custom to visit cemeteries on the first day of Easter contradicts the most ancient institutions of the Church: until the ninth day after Easter, the remembrance of the dead is never performed.
On Easter and throughout Bright Week, for the sake of 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 memorial service is performed on the second week, after Fomin Sunday, on Tuesday - Radonitsa (from the word joy - after all, the celebration of Easter continues). On this day, a memorial service is served and believers visit the cemetery to pray for the departed, so that Easter joy is passed on to them.
Is it possible to go to the cemetery after Easter and clean up the graves until 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 the death of a person, 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 a public commemoration on Easter days in the form of a memorial service is not held.
If the anniversary of death falls during Easter and Bright Week, the commemoration is postponed for the period starting from Radonitsa.
