Christians call the Bright Resurrection of Christ the Great Day, Easter. The Easter holiday itself is not included in the twelve-year holidays, since it is "a holiday of holidays and a celebration of celebrations." He cannot stand alongside other holidays and be comparable to them. Easter comes every year at different times - within 33 days: from March 22 (April 4) to April 25 (May 8), on any Sunday during this period.
Passover originated as a family Jewish holiday of nomadic tribes. Later, the so-called Old Testament Passover began to be associated with the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, liberation from the Hebrew verb "Pesach" - "exodus, deliverance." Often they also refer to the Assyrian word "pasachu" - "to appease", the Egyptian "pash" - "remembrance" and even the Greek "paschain" - "to suffer."
The Passover custom of sacrificing a lamb turned into a reminder of how the Jews marked their doors with the blood of a lamb so that their houses could be easily distinguished from the dwellings of the Egyptians punished by God. The meat of the sacrificial animal was to be eaten standing up, hastily and with a staff in hand. This ritual symbolized the readiness for a hasty flight. Before Easter, the remnants of leavened bread were collected and burned, only desalinated bread (unleavened bread) was baked. This meant cleansing from the old leaven, renewal and moral purity.
Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox and full moon, that is, no earlier than March 22 and no later than April 25 (old style), or no earlier than April 4 and no later than May 8 (new style).
The Gospels tell about the joyful event of the Resurrection of Christ. The immensely grieving Mother of God and Mary Magdalene went to the tomb at the late hour of Saturday. And then there was a great earthquake and the Angel of the Lord came down from heaven and said: “He is not here. He is risen."
A heavy stone rolled away from the coffin, The white angel rolled away the stone.
Where is despair and anger now
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Your dark and insane powers?
Where the Body of the Lord lay, Shining pure marble slab, And the earth itself did not hold
By death, the death of the trampling Christ …
(N. Pavlovich)
Easter night in Russia has always become a wonderful, majestic sight. People filled the temples, gathered around them. Finally, the first bell of the great bell rang out. The worshipers lit candles and waited for the priests in light vestments, with a cross and icons to leave the church in order to walk around the church in a procession and, as it were, approach the Savior's tomb sealed by the doors of the church. The procession of the cross stopped in front of the closed doors of the church, and the priest began to sing a joyful Easter song: "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling death with death and giving life to those in graves", that is, Christ rose from the dead, conquering death with his death and giving life to those who were in coffins. In response to this joyful song, the doors were thrown open, the procession entered the church, filling it with joyful singing. The priest was burning the church all the time and passing by greeted people: "Christ is Risen", to which everyone answered: "Truly He is Risen." Everyone, like brothers, hugged and kissed three times, in the joy of the message of the Resurrection they forgot grief and insults.
Christ is risen!
Everywhere the gospel is abuzz.
From all the churches the people are knocking down.
Dawn is already looking from heaven …
Christ is risen! Christ is risen!
The snow cover has already been removed from the fields, And the rivers are torn from the shackles, And the nearby forest turns green …
Christ is risen! Christ is risen!
The earth is waking up
And the fields dress
Spring is coming, full of miracles!..
(A. Maikov)
At the Easter service, the Word of St. John Chrysostom is read, imbued with love for people and giving everyone hope:
“And all who are pious and God-loving - let them enjoy this kind and light celebration.
The Lord accepts the last and the first on this day with equal joy.
Diligent and lazy - let them have the same fun.
Let no one cry about their sins - because on this day God gave people His forgiveness.
If anyone has labored or fasted, let him receive a reward today.
Let no one on this Easter day weep about his misery because a common kingdom has appeared.
May the rich and the poor rejoice at each other on this day."
Here is how historians described the solemn divine service in Moscow on Easter night, which was performed in the Assumption Cathedral, in the presence of the Tsar, who gave the imposing and solemnity to this ceremony with his grandeur:
“The Gospel was read only by the saints and the protodeacon according to the articles, and at each ending they struck with an iron hammer at the“candia”- a small metal whitish vessel (still kept in the sacristy of St. Sophia Cathedral). After each blow to this candia and the messenger bell on the belfry, all the bells were bustled. Consecrated Easter, cheese and butter. Streltsy lieutenant colonels were assigned at the door of the cathedral, who were obliged to ensure that only those who were dressed in gilded caftans entered the cathedral. After reading the holy stichera, the sovereign applied to the images presented to him by the clergy, and made kissing on the mouth with the elders, and the younger ones were bestowed on the hand and endowed with red or gilded eggs, or chicken and goose, or wooden, chiseled, painted on gold with bright colors with the image flowers, birds and animals. Then the boyars came up to kissing the royal hand by rank, first the elders. After Matins, the Sovereign went to the Cathedral of the Archangel to “confer with the parents,” that is, to worship their ashes. In the court Cathedral of the Annunciation, he consulted "by mouth" with his confessor and also bestowed other eggs on him. In the same way, he did the same upstairs, that is, in the palace, he consulted with the boyars who remained “to take care” of the royal family during the sovereign's exit to the cathedrals. In the golden chamber, the spiritual authorities especially praised Christ, after which the king marched to congratulate the queen with the children. With them, he usually listened to Mass in one of the palace churches, and towards the late Mass he went to the Assumption Cathedral in all regalia. After this mass of all the courtiers, not excluding all kinds of masters, the tsar made happy with his high attention, allowing them to be handled."
Many years ago, on the first day of Holy Easter, the tsar went to prisons and said to everyone who was serving time there, the following words: “Christ has risen for you too,” and endowed everyone with either a new fur coat or a shirt, and sent them food to break the fast: “The best in terms of hot, and to them and the rest all in terms of boiled, in terms of lamb, in terms of ham. And porridge from buckwheat and pies with eggs and meat, which is more decent. Yes, for a person to buy bread and two-money roll. The more meek and less guilty criminals were given three cups each, and the rest - two, and even one cup of honey. At that time, the beggars were fed in the golden chamber of Tsaritsina.
Returning home after matins, everyone admired the rising sun. Children usually sang a song directed to the sun:
Sun, little bucket, Look out the window!
Sunny, take a ride
Red, dress up.
The Easter holiday itself was often called among the people the Holy Week, or, simply, Holy. The word "week" should be understood here in the outdated meaning - "Sunday"; week - from "do not do, do not work." Subsequently, this word began to mean the entire seven-day period, or, in Church Slavonic, the week, and the non-working day was called Sunday - in honor of the Resurrection of Christ.
Coming home from church, believers break their fast, celebrate the holiday and the end of Lent with abundant and tasty food and drink.
The whole family gathered for Easter. Preparing the festive table ahead of time. In the center of the table were Easter cake, cottage cheese Easter and, of course, Easter eggs, which have their own, special story.
Easter red symbol
Many Christian holidays have their own symbol: Christmas has a tree, the Trinity has a birch, the Transfiguration has an apple … The holiday of Holy Easter has a red egg.
The story of the Easter egg is usually attributed to the events at Calvary. In one legend, it is said that the blood from the wounds of the crucified Christ flowed down to the round pebbles lying under the cross, and then they turned into red eggs. Another legend says that Easter eggs are miraculously changed tears of the Mother of God, who wept at the feet of the crucified Son.
The appearance of the red egg in the Christian rite is often associated with another tradition: Mary Magdalene, healed by the Lord from evil spirits, was the first to see the risen Savior. She went to carry this good news and teaching of the Lord around the world. Once she came to Rome to the emperor Tiberius. According to custom, when everyone came to the emperor, everyone had to bring some gift. Mary Magdalene had nothing, and she brought one egg to the palace and handed it to Tiberius with the words: "Christ is risen." The emperor did not believe and said: “How can someone rise from the dead. It's just as hard to believe as it is that a white egg can turn red. " As he spoke these words, the color of the egg in Maria's hands changed and it turned bright red. Since then, Christians have developed the custom of giving each other colored eggs during Bright Week with joyful words:"Christ is risen", to which the answer followed: "Indeed he is risen," and people kissed three times.
Various beliefs and superstitions that exist among many peoples are associated with the red egg.
In some localities of Russia, it was believed that such an egg contributes to fertility, so on Easter they buried it in a tub of wheat grains, and these grains were saved for sowing. In a fire, a red egg was carried around a burning building, believing that this would rid the neighboring buildings of the fire.
Lithuanians have an original way of divination: before releasing sheep from the barn in spring, they lay several eggs on the doorstep, and if none is broken, then the flock will be whole all summer long. An egg of a black hen, according to one of the beliefs, saves a herd from wolves.
Under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich they painted swans, goose, duck, chicken, pigeon and even tiny robin eggs. The tsar presented the confidants not only with natural, but also wooden eggs. They were covered with gilding and then painted with red patterns.
In the 18th century, porcelain, crystal, metal eggs with enamel appeared. And in 1884, Alexander III ordered the court jeweler Karl Faberge an Easter egg for his wife Maria Feodorovna. Since then, it has become an annual tradition for the royal family.
Like any big holiday, besides lasting a week, Easter is filled with various games and entertainment. Egg games are one of my favorite pastimes. According to an old tradition, it was necessary to hit the opponent's egg with a sharp or blunt end of a colored egg. If it cracks, you lose. The task is to win as many whole eggs as possible.
Swings were a traditional Easter pastime. Swings for children were arranged in almost every yard. A public swing was also built. In the central square, pillars were dug in ahead of time, ropes were hung, boards were attached. The girls rocked them with the guys and sang songs:
On Holy Week
We hung up the swing.
First repent
Then you get married.
There is a swing on the mountain
I'm going to rock.
Today I'm taking a summer walk
I will get married in winter.
100 great holidays. Elena Olegovna Chekulaeva