What kind of holiday is the day of the Spirits: meaning, signs and traditions. Whit Monday. The history of the holiday What does the holiday of spirits day mean

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G. Mikheev. Whit Monday. 2003
Type	folk orthodox, in a number of countries the state
otherwise	Day of the Spirit, Ivan da Marya, Seeing off the mermaids
also	Monday of the Holy Spirit (Christ.)
Set	Probably has ancient pre-Christian roots
noted	Slavs, most Christians of the world
In 2012	May 22 (June 4) in the Russian Orthodox Church
In 2013	June 11 (June 24) in the Russian Orthodox Church
celebration	festivities, take out the Trinity birch outside the village
Traditions	work ban
Associated with	11th day after Ascension and 51st after Easter (Great Day)

Other holiday names

Holy Spirit Day, Spirit Day; Spiritual Day, Rosigry(ukr.); Trinity(Voronezh); Name Day of the Earth(Vyat.), Earth birthday girl(tamb., sib.); Seeing off the mermaids(Ryazan); Mermaid, Ivan da Marya, Brezzhyny(Belarusian); Rusaje (Serb.); Pentecost(Christ.); Monday of the Holy Spirit(theologian).

Church version of the origin of the holiday

The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles on the day of Pentecost is described in the Acts of the Holy Apostles (Acts). On the fiftieth day after the Resurrection of Christ (the tenth day after the Ascension), the apostles were in Jerusalem, “Suddenly there was a noise from the sky, as if from a rushing strong wind, and filled the whole house where they were. And divided tongues appeared to them, as if of fire, and rested one on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."(Acts).

Russian traditions

It was widely believed that on Spirits Day, before sunrise, Mother Cheese-Earth reveals her secrets. Those wishing to recognize them, having prayed to the Holy Spirit, went to “listen to the treasures”, dropping their ears to the ground. According to legend, earthly and underground secrets are revealed only to the true righteous, pious people. The Eastern Slavic tradition is characterized by the belief that the Earth on Spirits Day is a birthday girl, because “on this day it was created” (also see “The Earth is a birthday girl” on Simon the Zealot).

On the name day of the Earth, "all herbs and flowers rejoice." On this day, it was forbidden to plow, harrow, drive stakes. In many places, on the Spirits of the day, they made a religious procession around the fields. In the Vyatka province, a custom was recorded to feed the earth - the "woman's holiday". Married women, mostly elderly, went to the field, where they spread tablecloths on the ground, laid out food and had a meal. From time to time, the meal was interrupted and women with songs carried some of the food they brought across the fields. The oldest woman "feeded the land": putting pieces of food on the ground, carefully covering them with a small layer of soil and saying - "Birthday Earth, give us a harvest."

In Ukraine, it was customary to consecrate wells on “Bogodukhiv Day” (it was believed that it was in them that mermaids were most hidden). After the liturgy, the peasants went in procession to the wells to sprinkle them with holy water. First, the priest consecrated the rural public well, and then went to the private ones. The owners, who wanted to get rid of the "evil spirits in the house", put up a table at the gate, covered it with a tablecloth and put bread and salt. Having recited the prayer, the priest went into the house, sprinkled the walls, and then all the buildings - "so that the mermaids do not disturb the courtyard."

In folk-church culture, there was a particularly strict ban on working on Spirits Day, as well as on the day of the Annunciation. In modern Russia, this day, like Monday, is almost always a working day.

Thunderstorms are often associated with Spiritual Day in folk tradition. It was also said that the weather on Spirit Day gives a forecast for the next 6 weeks. The Germans have similar signs: “If it rains on the Day of the Holy Spirit, it will rain for seven Sundays in a row” (Day of the Holy Spirit in Germany is celebrated for two days - Sunday and Monday), “Raw Day of the Holy Spirit is a rich Christmas".

Sayings and signs

From the Spirit of the day, not only from the sky, but even from under the earth, warmth comes. The Holy Spirit will warm all the white light. Until the Holy Spirit, do not remove the casing. Ukrainian Before the Holy Spirit, do not throw a casing, but according to the Holy Spirit in that very casing. Do not trust the heat until Spirit Day. The day of the Holy Spirit will come - it will be in the yard, as on a stove. And the siverok is cold until Spirit Day. Chill girl-seedlings, and she asks God for a chill after the Spirit of the day. Live until Spirit Day, and it will be warm. Belarusian On the Spirit, the chain and dry. Czech Na Svatý Duch do vody buch! (On the Holy Spirit in the water boo!)

The whole cathedral is having fun, the falcon (that is, the holy spirit) / eunuchs / is rolling towards us. For the descent of St. The spirit is developed by birch trees, wreaths are thrown into the water; if it sinks - unfortunately, swims - for good. "As taken by the holy spirit." "I will do it with the spirit." The light of the flesh is the sun, the light of the spirit is the truth.

Notes

Literature

Agapkina T. A.Slavic Antiquities: Ethnolinguistic Dictionary/ Ed. N. I. Tolstoy; . - M .: International relations, 1999. - V. 2. - S. 157. - ISBN 5-7133-0982-7.
Diak. Mikhail Zheltov Spirits Day // Orthodox Encyclopedia. Volume XVI. - M. : Church-Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia", 2007. - S. 372-374. - 752 p. - 39000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-028-8
// Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.
Zimina T. A.. Russian ethnographic museum. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved???.
Maksimov S.V.. - St. Petersburg. : Association of R. Golike and A. Vilvorg, 1903. - 529 p.
Skurativskiy V. T. Didukh. - K. : Osvita, 1995. - 271 p. - ISBN 5-330-02487-0(ukr.)
Fursova E.F. calendar rituals. Part 2: Customs and rituals of the summer-autumn period. - Novosibirsk:, 2003. - 267 p. - (Ethnography of Siberia). - ISBN 5-7803-0116-6

Links

// Russian Ethnographic Museum

Categories:

Holidays alphabetically
Holidays
Russian folk holidays
spring holidays
Passing holidays
Folk Christianity

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

Synonyms:

Whit Monday.

The fifty-first day after Easter, or the first Monday after Trinity.
Whit Monday(the day of the Holy Spirit, Earth-Birthday) is an Orthodox holiday celebrated on the first Monday after Trinity. The Monday following Pentecost is a feast day in honor of the Holy Spirit. This holiday was established by the Church "for the sake of the greatness of the Most Holy and Life-Giving Spirit, as one is (from) the Holy and Life-Giving Trinity", in opposition to the teachings of heretics who rejected the Divinity of the Holy Spirit and His consubstantiality with God the Father and the Son of God.
On this day, the church glorifies the Holy Spirit - according to Christian ideas, the "giver of life", supporting the Universe in its existence; in his person, God, according to believers, "pours grace on his children." This holiday was established in order to affirm the divine essence of the Holy Spirit and its unity with the other two hypostases of the Holy Trinity - God the Father and God the Son.

Shortly before His suffering on the Cross, Jesus Christ, speaking with His disciples, promised them that after His departure He would send them the Comforter. "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Comforter, that he may be with you forever" (John 14:15). In Greek, the word "comforter" means someone who helps you, being next to you, side by side, this is a faithful protector in the hour of trouble. So what kind of Comforter does the Lord promise to send? "But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you" (John 14:26), Jesus explained.
Indeed, already after the Resurrection of Christ, ten days after His ascension to heaven, on the day of the celebration of the Old Testament Pentecost, the descent of the Holy Spirit took place.
“When the day of Pentecost came, all of them (that is, the apostles, other disciples of Christ and the Mother of God - M. G.) were unanimously together. And suddenly there was a noise from heaven, as if from a rushing strong wind, and filled the whole house where they were. And tongues appeared to them, as if of fire, and rested one on each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance" (Acts 2: 1-4). Pilgrims who came to Jerusalem from all over the Roman Empire to celebrate Pentecost were shocked not only by an unusual phenomenon, the noise "as if from a rushing strong wind", but also by the fact that these simple-looking people - the disciples of Christ - suddenly spoke in different dialects . And some of the eyewitnesses of these unusual events, mockingly, began to say about the apostles: "they drank of sweet wine" (Acts 2:13). And then the Apostle Peter "lifted up his voice and proclaimed" that it was the Lord who had poured out His Spirit on all flesh. Peter's sermon was so convincing, because Peter spoke filled with the Holy Spirit, that many people repented and were baptized that day. Thus began the spread of the Church of Christ - first in Jerusalem, then in Judea, and then throughout the world. And the feast of Pentecost, from the moment of the descent of the Holy Spirit, has already become the birthday of the Church of Christ.
Even in the Old Testament, people were given a revelation about God, as about the unity of three Persons, three Hypostases. This happened when the Lord appeared to Abraham in the unity of three "men", three Angels at the "oak grove in Mamre" (Genesis 18:1-14). But only in the New Testament were these Three Persons of God revealed to people. The descent of the Holy Spirit revealed to the world the fullness of God, all the Three Persons of the Trinity. The festive icon, which on the Day of the Holy Spirit is brought to the center of the temple, just reflects the event of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles sitting in the Zion chamber.
According to the Church Charter, for fifty days after Easter, until the Day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, bows are not made. But at the Great Vespers of the Trinity, which is served immediately after the Divine Liturgy on the Trinity, the three touching prayers of Basil the Great are read on knees, in which the faithful confess their sins before the Heavenly Father and, for the sake of the great sacrifice of His Son, ask for mercy; they ask the Lord Jesus Christ to grant us the Holy Spirit to enlighten and strengthen our souls; and, finally, in the third kneeling prayer they pray for the departed.

The service in honor of the Holy Spirit begins with the great evening of Trinity Day (Trinity) and continues on Spirit Day. On Monday, at the end of the Divine Liturgy, the birch trees that adorned the temple during the Trinity are taken out of the church. Believers break off branches from consecrated trees, carry them home and place them near the icons. The Sunday of All Saints (All Saints Week) begins on Spiritual Day according to the church calendar.
On Spirits Day, a wooden image of a dove, a symbol of the Holy Spirit, was hung from the goddesses. Russian people believed that in the evening on the Trinity, the Holy Spirit descends to the earth, “spreads over the fields”, and appears in houses. According to folk beliefs, he had a creative power. The special veneration of this holiday among Russians is associated with ideas about the earth. The peasants believed that on this day the earth is a birthday girl, "all herbs and flowers rejoice," therefore it was strictly forbidden to touch it: plow, harrow, plant vegetables, dig, stick stakes. In a number of places on Spirits day they made detours of the fields with a procession of the cross. In the Vyatka province. there was a custom to feed the earth during the so-called "Indian" holiday, the participants of which were married women, mostly elderly. Having gathered together, they went to the field, where they spread tablecloths on the ground and laid out dishes on them, arranged a meal. From time to time, the meal was interrupted: women with songs carried pieces of brought dishes across the field. The eldest of them performed a ritual action - "feeding the little fellow". Putting pieces of food under the top layer of soil, which was carefully lifted, or on the ground and sprinkled with earth on top, she said: "Birthday Earth, give us a harvest." It was widely believed that on Spirits Day, before sunrise, Mother-Cheese-Earth reveals its secrets. Those wishing to recognize them, having prayed to the Holy Spirit, went to "listen to the treasures", dropping their ears to the ground. According to legend, earthly and underground secrets are revealed only to the true righteous, pious people. Representations associated with the land celebrating the name day on this day were also reflected at the household level. Peasants of the Vyatka Province. it was believed that on this holiday it was necessary to walk barefoot on the earth, eat and drink just as desirable on earth.
According to the folk calendar, Spirits Day was included in the cycle of Trinity-Semitsk holidays (see Semik, Trinity Saturday, Trinity), being its final stage.
Among the people, this holiday was considered a difficult day; it referred to a dangerous period of time, when otherworldly forces most actively invade human space. In a number of regions of Russia, Spirits opened the Mermaid week; beliefs were widespread here, according to which, from that day on, mermaids begin to walk on the earth, to whom the properties of evil spirits were attributed. In Tsarevsky Astrakhan province. Spirits Day was considered the most dangerous, because it was the last day when mermaids could roam freely in human space; on this day they were escorted out of the villages. Therefore, the peasants considered it unsafe to visit the forests alone - a mermaid can tickle, and swim - a mermaid can drown. In some places, the dead were commemorated; who died not by their own death; according to popular beliefs, they also had to do with evil spirits. In the Kostroma province. on Spirits Day, sorcerers began to make perezhina - magically transporting the crop to their barns.
Spirits Day, as the last day of the celebration of Semik-Trinity, was considered as a time of purification of the human soul from idle revelry and living space from evil spirits. It was believed, for example, that this day is “like fire, the evil spirits roaming the earth are afraid of,” since “during a church service ... a sacred fire descends from heaven, which incinerates evil spirits.” Elderly women on this day made herbal powder, with the help of which they "cast out demons", i.e. treated various diseases. In the Kaluga province. the next day after the Trinity festivities and games, it was supposed to go to the holy well, throw a change into the water, pray and wash with holy water in order to pray and wash off that sinful and unclean thing that they had come into contact with the day before; holy water was taken home, and funeral food was left at the well.
According to folk signs, frosts stop only after Spirit Day; they don't happen until autumn. "Do not believe the heat until the Spirit of the day!", "The Holy Spirit day will come - it will be in the yard, like on a stove", "The Holy Spirit will warm the whole wide world!".

Day of the Holy Spirit or Spirits Day - a holiday dedicated to the third incarnation of the Triune God, which is celebrated annually on the next day on Monday, after the Holy Trinity, the correspondent of the "Access" news agency reports.

The Holy Scripture says that on the 50th day after Easter, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples of Christ. The Holy Spirit gave them the opportunity to speak in different languages and heal the sick so that they could preach the Word of God and spread the new faith in different countries.

The third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit - was revealed to the world in a visible way on the 50th day after Easter: noise from heaven, wind, fiery flames. In honor of this phenomenon, a holiday was established.

TRADITIONS AND CUSTOMS

Spirits Day, like many other Orthodox holidays, has pagan roots. Before the beginning of summer, before the adoption of Christianity, in Russia they celebrated the birthday of Mother Earth, the breadwinner of the peasants. Therefore, folk customs and traditions forbade touching the ground.

In the old days, it was believed that on this day the Earth was pregnant with a future harvest, and if the integrity of the earth's cover was violated, it could be seriously harmed. Therefore, on the Holy Feast of the Spirits, it was forbidden to dig, plant, in a word, perform any actions related to work on the ground, even stick stakes into it.

On Spirits Day, women traditionally performed the ritual of feeding the earth. In the evening, they spread tablecloths in the field and arranged a festive dinner: they laid out small pieces of food on the field, sprinkling them with earth on top. People believed that by "feeding" the earth, they increase fertility.

On this day, it is also impossible to sew, wash, clean, and so on.

On the day of the Holy Spirit, the Orthodox took consecrated birch branches from the temple, which they placed at home next to the icons. This custom has survived to this day. Some believe that on this day the souls of the dead flock to the earth, who sit on birch branches.

SIGNS AND BELIEFS

On Spirits Day, they predicted the future. From the branches and grass, the girls wove wreaths and threw them into the water: if it floats - fortunately, it drowns - on the contrary.

According to folk signs, what the weather will be like on Spirits Day, it will be the same for the next six weeks. In the old days, it was believed that summer began on Spirits Day.

Running on Spirits Day is a bad omen - you can run away from your fate. And if you walk barefoot in the dew in the morning on Spirits Day, you can bring happiness closer.

PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

Soul Holy! Fill the whole universe with yourself, and give life to everyone, move away from the bad people, I humbly pray to you: do not disdain the impurity of my soul, but come and dwell in me and cleanse me from all sinful filth. Yes, with Your help, I will live the rest of my life in repentance and doing good deeds, and so I will glorify Thee with the Father and the Son forever and ever. Amen.

The material was prepared using information from open sources

Spirits Day is the colloquial name for a large church holiday among the Orthodox, designated in the church calendar as the Day of the Holy Spirit. In 2018, it is celebrated on May 28, although it is impossible to say in advance what date it will be for the Orthodox without knowing the exact date of the Holy Easter Holiday.

This happens because this is not a calendar date, but the 51st day counted from Easter Sunday. This is the day after the feast of the Holy Trinity, which is always celebrated on Sunday and celebrates the three hypostases of the Triune God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Monday after the Holy Trinity is dedicated to the Holy Spirit - the Third Hypostasis of the Triune God. On the 50th day after, which in 2018 fell on April 8 - Holy Trinity Day, and it will be May 27, and the Day of the Holy Spirit, or Spirits Day, respectively, will be May 28, on Monday.

Orthodox Spirits Day

Christianity is a religion in which there are several confessions, and each of them may have its own rules in celebrating important religious dates. For Catholics, the Day of the Holy Spirit in 2018 is celebrated together with the Trinity, and there is no separate holiday in Catholicism. The Orthodox world glorifies the Third Hypostasis of the Triune God in a separate dedicated day. What date the Orthodox Spirits will have a day is determined by the annual calculation of the Easter holiday, which is carried out according to the lunar calendar.

Trinity is the 50th day, on which, according to Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit appeared to the elect in the form of visual manifestations, and they were noise, wind and fiery flames.

On this day, the Third Hypostasis of the Holy Trinity appeared on Earth to give the disciples of Jesus Christ the ability to spread the Word of God. In order to bring the truth and the new faith, which was the only correct one, to the pagans and representatives of other religions, the Holy Spirit gave them:

abilities to give healing and grace to the sick and suffering;
to preach in different languages (languages of all countries of the world) in order to bring the truth to the lost against their will;
the gift of prophesying and foretelling events, converting people in need of spiritual perfection to their faith;
the opportunity to bring light for the enlightenment of the spiritually blind and to reveal to them the grace of God.

At the moment of the descent from heaven of the Holy Spirit, 11 apostles of the Christian faith, who were in the Zion Upper Room, were martyred for their sermons. They were executed in different countries where they carried out the mission entrusted to them.

John the Theologian, who remained to spread the Christian Faith, died within the allotted time, but before that he did a lot to strengthen Christianity and strengthen the faith.

Two millennia later, as every year of the New Era, in 2018, Orthodox people consider this day not only the birthday of the Church and a memorable date when the Saint descended from the firmament to the apostles of the faith. This is a symbol of true faith, which remained with people, and accompanied them in good and difficult times, while rulers, human generations and states changed on Earth. This is a great Christian holiday in Orthodoxy, which is celebrated by all true believers. With 50 and 51, many signs and beliefs are associated with the post-Easter days.

And, since the Orthodox had an early Easter in 2018, Spirits Day will also be celebrated early - May 28. And to determine what date, it is enough just to count 50 days from Easter Sunday.

Do's and Don'ts on Holy Day

The Holy Church was sympathetic to many pagan traditions and legitimized them in church canons. Among the Slavs of the Spirits, the Day was considered the Day of the Earth-nurse, so it was forbidden to disturb her on the day of veneration by any means. Agricultural work was strictly prohibited, and even sticking spears into the ground during a military campaign or battle was considered a huge sin.

This, according to the beliefs of the ancestors, could not only deprive the future harvest, but also harm the breadwinner of the peasant - the land.

On this holiday, the Slavs themselves nourished the earth - they laid a festive dinner in the field and sprinkled pieces of food with soil to increase fertility. During the period of accession, this rite was replaced by the custom of going around the already plowed fields with the Procession of the Cross. He was supposed to call God's blessing and grace to Earth, to give the workers a rich harvest. Not only agricultural work was forbidden, but also any household chores.

On Spirits Day, as before, believers are not allowed to wash or clean, and even more so to sew, knit and cook food. You can’t even run, so as not to run away from what was destined by fate and the will of God.

Instead, it is considered mandatory:

to commemorate with a kind word not only the deceased relatives and friends, but also those who perished or died in a foreign land without a cross, repentance and funeral service;
walk barefoot through the dew at dawn to meet happiness, and wash yourself with cold water from a well or river;
collect a healing bouquet of flowers and herbs, and dry it to treat the sick for a year (this custom is now being replaced by the purchase of bunches of grass and greenery, which are brought into the house on Trinity, and earlier this greenery was also collected and dried for medicinal purposes);
put a candle in the church for the repose of the souls of all the deceased, whom they only managed to remember;
take birch branches in the Temple, consecrated the day before, on the Trinity, and place them near the icons so that the souls of the dead can descend on them.

Today, the clergy do not see any particular sin in the fact that a person has to work on this day, especially in the city, where people have nothing to do with the earth. However, every believer should attend a church service and pray in honor of the holiday. This is the day on which the birch was especially revered. Wreaths were woven from it and thrown into the water, guessing at the betrothed

With birch branches, young people chased mermaids and other evil spirits on the banks of the rivers. They also decorated huts, gates and icons to give the opportunity to hide from immodest eyes to the souls of the dead, who on this day descend to earth to visit the living.

In 2018, this day will come on May 28, the Monday after Trinity, which will be the 27th - on the 50th day after Easter. On the Day of the Holy Spirit, you definitely need to get together with your family at a richly laid table or go out into nature to pay tribute to the traditions of the pagan ancestors, which their faith has preserved and preserved.

On the Monday after Trinity, the Orthodox Church celebrates Spirit Day. This year, the date of the holiday falls on May 28. The Catholic Church celebrates it the day before, therefore, it coincides with the celebration of the Trinity.

Spirits Day carries a special meaning for the Orthodox. On the holiday, they also honor certain traditions, adhere to rituals, and believe in omens.

On Spirits Day, even in modern times, unusual traditions are honored

The New Testament says that on the 50th day from Easter, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples of the Lord, endowed them with the ability to speak different languages, heal, and prophesy. They received such gifts to tell about Christianity all over the world, to carry the Word of God.

The holiday has pagan roots, because some of its traditions are completely unrelated to Christianity. For example, some believe that on Spirits Day the name day of the land pregnant with the harvest is celebrated, therefore land work is prohibited on the holiday. On such a day, you need to rest and pray.

On Spirits Day there are unusual traditions. For example, in the evening a group of women goes out into the field and “feeds” the land. Food was laid out on it so that there was a rich harvest. Women also led round dances, sang, attracting good luck. At dawn, they began to listen to the earth, consecrated wells, birch branches.

There are many interesting signs on Spirits Day.

The people say:

after a rainy Spirit day, the weather will be warm, many mushrooms will appear in the forest;
these days they woo, on the Pokrov - they play weddings so that the married life is happy.

Most women dream of children, and in order to get pregnant, they not only listen to the recommendations of doctors, but also observe certain traditions, customs on holidays, and rely on the help of higher powers. For example, on Trinity days they drink a decoction of thyme, put Trinity bouquets consecrated in the temple near the beds. Girls bake pies, buns, distribute to the poor, pray in churches.