The beginning of Holy Week is associated with a very strict limitation in food. Those who are fasting even try to drink as little water as possible. If the fast is not observed, a hunger strike can harm the body, and there is no particular point in it. But respecting and recognizing the demands of the church, it still won’t hurt to make adjustments to the diet. Eat fresh fruits and vegetables, drink clean water. Of course, alcohol is out of the question.

On this day, you can start cleaning your pets’ homes, as well as inspect the refrigerator (there are recommendations to completely remove all food from it, wash it thoroughly and put it in fresh food). You definitely need to buy feed for livestock and poultry so that there is enough for all the holidays.

Tuesday

On this day, house cleaning begins, but before sunrise it was necessary to feed all the living creatures with milk from ground flax and hemp. If this is not possible, you can use clean water. This tradition helps preserve the health of livestock and poultry. If there is no household, there is no need to relax. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the house will need to be put in perfect order, the windows washed, sorted through things, thrown away everything unnecessary, washed, ironed. If you have been planning to buy a rug or new curtains for a long time, this day is ideal for such purchases.

Wednesday

On this day it is customary to remember the dead. The family gathers at the table, the housewives set the table with 12 dishes according to the number of apostles. Food should be lean. Traditionally, a bar of soap and salt were placed under the roof at night. It was believed that if you take a bath with it on Maundy Thursday, you can protect yourself from illnesses and misfortunes for the whole year. Salt was carried to the service and blessed.

Thursday

This day begins long before sunrise. Obligatory ablution with prayer will only bring health. Water cannot be drained. It is advisable to give it to animals or simply pour it out onto the street. Salt is blessed in the temple, and then it is used to clean the home. By this time, the room should already be cleaned. Scatter the salt in the corners, read a prayer, and then sweep it away with an old broom and throw it away along with it. To protect against evil eye salt is sewn into a canvas bag and hung in the right corner near front door. Easter cakes are baked on Maundy Thursday and eggs are painted for Easter.

Friday

Good Friday should be spent in humility. On this day you cannot swear, raise your voice, it is advisable to limit yourself in food. You can't clean the house either. But boys and girls are allowed to tell their fortunes before Easter.

Saturday

On this day, all pre-holiday preparations are completed. Food is being prepared, and in abundance, because after Easter you won’t even be able to go near the stove for three days. Believers go to the evening service, which flows into the all-night vigil. Those who sleep at night can bring misfortune upon themselves. Of course, this is if the reason is disrespectful.

Sunday

After consecration in the temple, you need to clean one egg and divide it among all your loved ones. When everyone has gathered at the table, the meal should begin with Easter cake and colored eggs. This will need to be done throughout the weeks after Easter. You shouldn’t behave provocatively at the table, you shouldn’t talk or laugh loudly, and even more so you shouldn’t start conflicts.

We are sure that the information will be useful to you. For Easter to become a moment of spiritual cleansing, remember that celebrating the holiday not according to the rules is a great sin, the punishment for which can be very severe.

On this day, a lot of tidying begins. The house is cleared of old, bulky things.

Tuesday

Groceries are being purchased for Easter. Women cook medicinal infusions. Men should not even touch herbs, tinctures, powders.

Wednesday

This is the day of washing and all sorts of wiping. On Wednesday, it is advisable to thoroughly wash, scrub the floors, and beat out the carpets. On Wednesday of Holy Week, a special ritual against any bodily illness was remembered. It was necessary to scoop up water with a mug from a well or from a barrel on the street, or draw water from a river. After crossing ourselves three times, we covered the mug with a clean or new towel, and at 2 a.m., after crossing ourselves three times again, we doused ourselves with this water, leaving a little in the mug. Afterwards, clothes were put on the wet body without drying, and the water that remained in the mug was poured onto a bush or flowers for up to 3 hours. They say that a body washed in this way is reborn.

Thursday

Maundy Thursday advised cutting your hair for the first time one year old child(before one year of age, cutting your hair was considered a sin), and girls were given the ends of their braids so that they would grow longer and thicker. All livestock were also advised to have their hair clipped for health and well-being.

On this day, Thursday salt is prepared: it is heated in a frying pan, and the salt becomes medicinal properties. It is advisable to consecrate this salt in the Temple.

Maundy Thursday is traditionally called “clean”, and not only because on this day every Orthodox man strives to be spiritually cleansed, to take communion, to accept the sacrament established by Christ. On Maundy Thursday, the folk custom of cleansing with water was widespread - swimming in an ice hole, river, lake, or dousing in a bathhouse before sunrise.

There are many traditions associated with this day. On Maundy Thursday they cleaned the houses, washed and cleaned everything. It was customary to collect and burn juniper branches to fumigate homes and stables. It is believed that healing juniper smoke protects humans and animals from evil spirits and diseases.

There was also a belief that eggs laid on Holy Thursday and eaten on Easter protected against illness, and the shells of eggs buried in the ground in a pasture reliably protected livestock from the evil eye.

Starting from Maundy Thursday we prepared for festive table, painted and painted eggs. According to ancient tradition, colored eggs were placed on freshly sprouted oats and wheat.

On Thursday morning they started baking Easter cakes, babas, small products from wheat flour with images of crosses, lambs, doves, larks, as well as honey gingerbread cookies. In the evening they prepared Easter.

Everyone in the family should take a handful of salt and pour it into one bag. This salt is removed and stored, and it is called “Thursday salt”, i.e. Maundy Thursday. You can use it to treat yourself, as well as your family and friends. This salt is used to make amulets for the family, livestock, garden, home, etc.

On Holy Wednesday and Maundy Thursday, it was customary to wash all domestic animals with water melted from snow - from cows to chickens - and burn the salt in the oven, which, according to folk beliefs, gained from this healing properties. In some villages, at midnight on Maundy Thursday, women were also ordered to douse themselves with water to protect themselves from illness.

If you wash your face before dawn on Maundy (Clean) Thursday, you need to say: “I wash away what they put on me, that with which my soul and body toil, everything is removed on Clean Thursday.”

On Easter morning they wash themselves with water left over from Maundy Thursday. It’s good to put a silver thing or a spoon in it, or maybe a coin. Wash for beauty and wealth.

If a girl cannot get married, she needs to give the towel with which she dried herself on Maundy Thursday to people on Easter, to those who ask for alms, along with dyes and Easter cake. After this, they soon get married.

There was also a custom of burning crosses on doors and ceilings with a candle to protect the house from the invasion of evil spirits. Passion candles were given to seriously ill people or those suffering from difficult childbirth; they have healing powers.

From Maundy Thursday it was forbidden to sweep the floor in the house until Easter.

Friday

Cooking on this day is going well. We continued to bake and prepare for Easter. “Angels help,” say pious people.

On Friday they will sweep the corners with a rag; this rag will help get rid of lower back pain if you tie it around yourself. The same rag is used to wipe your feet in the bathhouse after washing so that your feet don’t hurt. Ash taken on the Friday before Easter will help cure alcoholism, black shaking, the evil eye and mortal melancholy.

Saturday

The last (quiet) tidy. You can also paint eggs. On this day, common holiday dishes are prepared. On Saturday they brought colored eggs, Easter cakes, Easter cakes and other items to church to be blessed. And before going to the service on Easter night, they left a treat on the table so that later they could break their fast. True, they ate little by little - only symbolically, after which they went to bed. But late on Sunday morning the real feast began, which lasted all week.

Of course, everything preparatory work: cooking and painting of eggs must be completed before Easter.

EASTER AND EASTER WEEK

It was believed that the ringing of bells on the day of Christ's Resurrection was endowed with truly magical powers - by striking the bell, believers asked for a good harvest, peace and harmony in the family, and the girls for a handsome and rich groom. If a person said his request from the bottom of his heart, then it would definitely come true.

In Rus', every year on the day of this great holiday, jugs of honey, called kanunchiki, were placed near the icons in every house. The owners lit candles in them and remembered their relatives and friends who had departed from this world, so that they too could rejoice that Christ had risen. After the holiday, on Easter week, these jugs were taken to the cemetery and left on the graves of the dead. They also took three red Easter eggs with them to the cemetery and, saying “Christ is risen” at the grave, crumbled the colors for the birds.

As soon as the bells began to ring on Easter Sunday, people crossed themselves and said three times: “Christ has risen, and my family will have health, my home will have wealth, my field will have a harvest. Amen".

It’s good to go on a swing on Easter (and throughout Easter week). This is a ritual of fanning. They say it blows away all sins.

If you scoop up water from a spring or river on Easter night, then, according to popular belief, it will have special power.

So, the one who is the first to see the sunrise on Easter will not know troubles all year.

To get married, girls had to say to themselves during the church service on Easter: “The Resurrection of Christ! Send me a single groom!”

If a child was born on Easter Sunday, he will become famous, famous person. Anyone born on Easter week will have good health. Great people, who can even change the course of history, are born not just on Easter Sunday, but also at noon and with a shirt on.

Death on Easter is a special sign. A person who died on this day is marked by God. His soul will immediately rush to heaven, to the holy saints. The deceased is buried with a red testicle in his right hand.

After the morning service, you need to get home as quickly as possible and start the festive meal: the faster you do this, the more successful things will go.

And in order for the baby to grow strong and strong, on the morning of Easter Sunday he must be placed with his feet on an ax and said: “As steel is strong, so be you strong and healthy. Amen.”

If your baby is slow to develop, walk him barefoot on a wooden floor at Easter. And his teeth will erupt faster, he will walk on his own legs sooner, and he will speak sooner.

The willow brought during Palm Week was used to fan the children's room, thereby driving out misfortunes and illnesses.

It is a good omen to hear a cuckoo on Easter - this foretells an addition to the family, and for young girls - an imminent marriage.

Our great-grandfathers always crumbled a piece of the blessed Easter cake to the birds, thus invoking good luck and wealth.

Bad omen It is believed that if a candle goes out during the Easter service in the church, but if it burns out before the end of the service and the person puts it out himself, then this is good.

On Easter and throughout the week following it, the church did not marry newlyweds - being distracted by worldly holidays was considered a great sin.

On Great Holy Day, or as it is also called Clean Thursday, every housewife arranged it in her house. general cleaning and washed all the dirt clean. People say that holidays do not come to a dirty house.

If you are constantly experiencing difficulties with money, be sure to give a coin to a beggar at Easter - you will not know the need for the whole year.

The girls brought beauty on this day - blessed red Easter Egg They put it in water, and then they washed themselves with this water.

Couples in love were sensitive to kisses on Easter. It was considered a bad omen to kiss on the threshold - it promised separation. Also, if you hear the croaking of a raven during a kiss, then the lovers could soon separate. But if the kiss took place under a tree, then this promised a joyful life.

Mothers protected their children in the following way: starting from Easter and throughout Easter week, the babies were first given a piece of blessed Easter cake on an empty stomach, and then only fed the rest of the food.

And so that there is peace and harmony in the family and no one quarrels with each other, the Easter meal must begin with the whole family and everyone must first of all eat a piece of Easter cake and eggs that were blessed in the church.

A woman who is having trouble getting pregnant should put an extra plate next to her on Easter, put a piece of Easter on it with the words: “Kulich for the kids!” After the meal, this piece was crumbled to the birds.

At Easter, as well as at the Annunciation, birds were released into the wild as a sign of spring freedom. When releasing it, they made a wish - it was believed that the bird was a heavenly creature, and she would pass it on to the Almighty.

Candles bought for Easter in the church were kept all year - they blessed the young, placed them near the seriously ill, and used them to drive away evil spirits from houses.

Throughout Easter week, older people, combing their hair, said the following words: “Send me, Lord, as many grandchildren as there are hairs on the comb.”

The remains of wax from Easter candles were stored until next Easter - according to folk signs this served as a talisman for the house from fire, and for the family from curses.

A husband and wife must hit colored eggs against each other at breakfast on Easter Sunday; the one whose egg does not break will be the “head” of the family all year.

If your child is capricious and whiny, parents should definitely go to church on Easter to atone for their sins.

To prevent the harvest from being damaged by hail, drought or rain, peasants buried Easter egg shells in the ground on Easter.

It was considered a bad omen to oversleep the morning service on Easter - this prophesied failure.

If during Easter week you saw a deceased relative in a dream, this means that next year no one in the family will become seriously ill or die;

If someone in the house was dying, then in church on Easter Sunday they had to try to take the Easter egg from the hands of the priest. When leaving the church, you need to go up to the icon of the Mother of God and call her with you: “Mother Mother of God, come with me to my home. Spend the night with us, heal the slave (name of the patient). At home, it was necessary to feed at least part of the egg brought to the patient. Then, according to popular belief, he will not die this year.

And, of course, people paid attention and noticed the weather on this bright holiday.

Good weather at Easter was considered a harbinger of a hot summer, cloudy weather meant a cold, dry summer; - If many stars were visible in the sky, this meant that there would still be frost; - According to popular belief, if all the snow has already melted on Easter, it means the harvest this season will be rich. - Heavy rains during Easter week also foreshadowed a prosperous year. - A thunderstorm on Easter week was considered a sign of late and dry autumn; - Seeing a colorful sunset on Easter was considered an excellent omen and promised great luck.

Our ancestors firmly believed that the events that take place on Easter are full of special divine meaning. The people had many beliefs and signs for Easter and the week before Easter, the veracity of which was not even questioned.

HOLY WEEK (week before Easter)

Monday

On this day, a lot of tidying begins. The house is cleared of old, bulky things.

Tuesday

Groceries are being purchased for Easter. Women prepare medicinal infusions. Men should not even touch herbs, tinctures, powders.

Wednesday

This is the day of washing and all sorts of wiping. On Wednesday, it is advisable to thoroughly wash, scrub the floors, and beat out the carpets.

On Wednesday of Holy Week, a special ritual against any bodily illness was remembered. It was necessary to scoop up water with a mug from a well or from a barrel on the street, or draw water from a river.

After crossing ourselves three times, we covered the mug with a clean or new towel, and at 2 a.m., after crossing ourselves three times again, we doused ourselves with this water, leaving a little in the mug. Afterwards, clothes were put on the wet body without drying, and the water that remained in the mug was poured onto a bush or flowers for up to 3 hours. They say that a body washed in this way is reborn.

Cut hair

On Maundy Thursday it was advised to cut the hair of a one-year-old child for the first time (cutting it before one was considered a sin), and for girls to cut the ends of their braids so that they would grow longer and thicker. All livestock were also advised to have their hair clipped for health and well-being.

Thursday salt

Painted eggs

Starting from Maundy Thursday, they prepared for the festive table, painted and painted eggs. According to ancient tradition, colored eggs were placed on freshly sprouted oats and wheat.

On Thursday morning they began baking Easter cakes, babas, small products made from wheat flour with images of crosses, lambs, doves, larks, as well as honey gingerbread. In the evening they prepared Easter.

To have money

Melt water

From April 2, 2018 comes Holy Week (week), the end of which is great holiday The Holy Resurrection of Christ is Easter, which falls on April 8th. During the week, the Church and believers remember the last days of Christ's earthly life, His suffering, crucifixion and burial. The services of Holy Week are filled with a special spirit of prayer.

What not to do during Holy Week 2018:

All days of Holy Week are called Great. On these holy days neither remembrance of the dead nor prayer chants, nor the memory of saints. The week is dedicated to the last days of Christ’s earthly life, His suffering – “passion”, crucifixion, painful death on the cross for the sake of our salvation.

The Holy Church calls us to leave everything vain and worldly this week. Fasting these days is especially strict, prayer is intensified. We try to keep all household chores and meetings to a minimum. Silence, prayer, good deeds and attending worship services - this is how we should spend these days whenever possible.

When to take communion during Holy Week, when to go to services: advice from a priest

At a minimum, one should receive communion in Maundy Thursday, Saturday and Easter.

The first three days of Holy Week are celebrated with the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. These days it is quite problematic to attend all services.

But starting from Wednesday evening, you need to be constantly in church: on Wednesday evening, be in church, on Maundy Thursday, to partake of the most pure Body and Blood of Christ, which He commanded us to receive for the healing of soul and body, for the remission of sins and eternal life.

On Holy Saturday, every Christian also needs to take communion.

Attending worship services provides an opportunity, piercing space and time, to be partakers last days earthly life of the Savior coming to death. Empathizing with Him, follow Him with reverence.

What to do if you can’t go to services during Holy Week

For those who cannot attend church these days, you can: find readings for each day of Holy Week in the Gospel synopsis; at any free moment, read excerpts from the Triodion of the Lenten Service of Holy Week.

Prayerful communication with God these days should be above all else. Holy Week prepares us for the holiday of Easter and shows us the way to the Resurrection. This path goes through cross and suffering. And it is important that pre-Easter preparations: taking care of gifts, Easter dishes, cleaning the apartment do not overshadow the main thing - waiting for Easter as Christ's Resurrection.

Fasting for Holy Week 2018: what you can eat by day

Holy Week this year lasts from April 2 to April 8. During these seven days, you need to especially fast.

How to eat in Holy Week 2018 - nutrition calendar by day.

Holy Monday

You can eat on Monday raw vegetables and fruits, as well as bread, honey and nuts. It is recommended to eat once a day - in the evening.

Holy Tuesday

Just like the previous day, raw fruits and vegetables, honey, nuts and bread are allowed. It is advisable to eat only in the evening.

Holy Wednesday

You can also eat bread, vegetables and fruits, cold raw food without oil.

Maundy Thursday

On this day you are allowed to eat hot plant foods with vegetable oil twice a day.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, refrain from eating at all.

Holy Saturday

On Saturday you can eat hot vegetable food once a day, but without oil.

Easter Sunday

Holy Week 2018: what to do, traditions

Monday - first day of Holy Week

On Monday of Holy Week, a big cleaning of the house began. Everything unnecessary and bulky was taken out. Old things were thrown away or given to poor people. The room had to be light and spacious so that the fresh wind would fill it with the Holy Spirit.

Tuesday of Holy Week before Easter

We shopped on Tuesday necessary products to celebrate Easter. When necessary, women prepared medicinal infusions. But men were not supposed to even touch herbs, their powders, or infusions.

Wednesday in Holy Week - third day

On Wednesday of Holy Week they washed, washed, cleaned and scraped (the floors). The carpets were thoroughly removed from dust.

Wednesday of Holy Week was expected for a special ritual against bodily ailments. They scooped up water from a barrel or well with a mug. They were baptized three times and covered her with a new towel (or just a clean one). We got up at two o'clock at night, crossed ourselves three times again, and doused ourselves from the head. A little liquid was left in the mug. They didn’t dry themselves, but immediately put clean clothes on the wet body, and watered the flowers or a bush on the street with the remaining water (you need to have time before 3 o’clock). It was believed that after such a ritual the body was reborn.

Maundy Thursday in Holy Week

On Maundy Thursday during Holy Week before Easter, one-year-old children had their hair cut for the first time. It was a sin to cut them before they were a year old. To make their hair healthy and beautiful, thick and long, girls cut the ends of their braids. Livestock was also not ignored, and a tuft of wool was also cut off for health and well-being.

Housewives on Thursday during Holy Week always prepared Thursday salt by calcining it in a frying pan so that ordinary salt would acquire healing properties. Each family member took a handful from the frying pan and poured it into a bag. Then they consecrated it in the Temples. Thursday salt is healing. It heals ailments, protects the family, home, livestock, and garden from negative energy.

Maundy Thursday was called “clean” and they cleansed the body with water before sunrise, dousing themselves, and bathing in ponds. They also cleansed themselves spiritually, which was the main thing on this day. Everyone received communion and accepted the sacrament established by Christ.

On Maundy Thursday they washed themselves before dawn, saying:

“I wash away what they put on me, what toils my soul and body, everything is removed on Maundy Thursday.”

For female diseases, women were advised to douse themselves with water prepared in the evening at midnight on Maundy Thursday.

From Maundy Thursday, silver items were placed in the water, which was prudently left until Easter. Girls and women rinsed their faces in the morning. It was believed that such a procedure would give the skin freshness and smoothness, and bring beauty and wealth.

Unmarried people also looked forward to Maundy Thursday. After washing, they wiped their face with a new towel, and on Easter they gave it along with colored eggs and Easter cake to those who asked for alms. The ceremony brought the wedding celebration closer.

According to tradition, on Maundy Thursday of Holy Week, all household members continued to restore order in the house. But the floors were no longer scrubbed until Easter.

The children brought juniper branches, which were used to fumigate all the rooms in the house and the barn. Juniper smoke is healing. He protected people and livestock from evil spirits and illnesses.

Eggs laid on Thursday were saved and eaten on Easter. They buried the shells in the ground in their pastures so that the animals would not be jinxed.