Holy Week - signs and what not to do? Do's and Don'ts on Passion Week.

The last week before Easter is considered Holy - in 2017 it is April 10-15, and all the days in it are great. Therefore, there are not only Great Saturday, but also Great Monday and Great Tuesday. Let us consider in detail what cannot be done and what can be done during Holy Week.

Fast

Throughout Holy Week, when Christ was approaching his death on the cross, believers observe the strictest fast. You can not eat meat, fish, eggs, dairy, vegetable oil. In Holy Week 2017, you can’t sing, dance, you need to go to services and cleanse yourself as much as possible for the bright holiday of Easter.

Household affairs

Every day of Holy Week was set aside for some household chores.

So, on Maundy Monday, it was necessary to finish all the work in the dwelling: carefully clean the house, wash everything, clean and touch up what was needed. You can also decorate the willow. According to popular belief, if household members are whipped with this decorated willow, then health will be all year long!

Maundy Tuesday was devoted to finishing work with clothes: washing, ironing, darning.

On Great Wednesday, the last rubbish was taken out of the house, eggs were prepared, and everything necessary for the preparation of colored eggs (pysanky).

Maundy Thursday: swim ...

The fourth day of Holy Week is called Maundy Thursday. There are many traditions and beliefs associated with this holiday. Everything you do on this day will help you to be healthy, happy and financially secure all year long!

On Maundy Thursday, according to tradition, you need to swim at dawn. Get up before sunrise and take a swim. Water at this time has healing properties - it washes away damage, illness and sins. The Gospel says that on this day Jesus Christ washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper, showing an example of brotherly love and humility.

… Get a haircut

Wednesday - it's time to change your hairstyle. It is believed that along with the cut strands, all evil, as well as the evil eye and ailments, go away.

Visit the temple to confess and receive communion. This will help cleanse the soul from sins. On Maundy Thursday, a fire is lit in the churches, which must be carried home. It is believed that such a candle keeps the house from misfortunes and fires throughout the year. On Thursday, it is customary to bake Easter cakes and paint eggs.

…Give away old stuff

If you properly tidy up the house, joy will come to it. Don't forget to get rid of the trash. It is not customary to give old things to other people on this day - so that well-being does not leave your home, send everything to the trash can.

… Do not lend

Do not lend money or lend kitchen utensils to neighbors or relatives. In order not to experience financial difficulties for a whole year, count all the money that you have.

… Knead the dough

Make a cheesecake. Napeki Easter cakes and color the eggs. To succeed, while cooking, try to maintain a good mood - think only about the positive. It is believed that before kneading the dough, you need to pray, cleanse your soul and space, otherwise Easter cakes will not work.

Good Friday: Strict Lent

On Good Friday, fasting conditions become even stricter. You can not do anything around the house, sing, dance, listen to music. Nothing should be eaten in memory of the sufferings of Christ. In the evening, during divine services, the Shroud is carried out in the church.

Great Saturday: preparing an Easter feast

Great Saturday is the most troublesome day for housewives, you need to prepare everything for the Easter feast, on this day they continue to paint eggs. According to signs, if an egg with a painted shell cracked, it should not be thrown away, but should be lowered into the river.

And now, after Lent, when the soul and body are ready to receive the joy of Salvation, Great Sunday comes - Easter Day on April 16, 2017.

Before bright Easter, you will have to meet the Holy Week (we will tell you what you can eat on the days before Easter in the article). But what can you eat every day during this period?

Now we have to deal with this. For believers, this week is very important. During this period and until Easter itself, Christians pray and read the Bible. They remember Christ, who came to our Earth to cure us of various diseases, and left this world for our sins.

The fact is that throughout the week before Easter, not everything is allowed to eat. These 7 days are considered the most severe. Starting from the first day and ending with the seventh, every day is considered Great. On an important week, believers keep the strictest Fast.

Holy Week- this is a kind of memory of the last time of the transfer of our savior and his terrible torments. During this week, people are rethinking their lives. Someone decides to repent, someone is just thinking, and someone is praying earnestly. For everyone, this holy holiday means something different. This week the soul is cleansed of sinful thoughts. That is, abstinence occurs not only in food, but also morally. On Holy Week, one cannot be angry and swear - this is a great sin, just like eating meat with wine.

What Not to Do on Holy Week

Great Monday. Finished everything repair work around the house, removed construction debris, took out old, unnecessary things.

Great Tuesday. Finished repairing clothes, sewing, cutting, darning, ironing and the like. The melt water collected this year was used to wash livestock to protect them from diseases.

Great Wednesday. At night, from Tuesday to Wednesday, they took water from a river or well into a large jug or mug, and made the sign of the cross three times. At two o'clock in the morning they watered themselves with this water, leaving a little at the bottom, signing themselves with a cross three times. Clean clothes were put on a wet body, and the rest of the water was poured under a tree or bush. This meant the birth of a washed body and, according to signs, protected from diseases for the whole year.

Maundy Thursday - or Maundy Thursday. Clean Thursday in 2017 falls on April 13th. Maundy Thursday or Maundy Thursday is the fourth day of Holy Week, the strictest week of Great Lent.

Symbolic meaning has bathing on Maundy Thursday, on this day you need to wake up before sunrise and have time to swim.

It is believed that in this way, as in Epiphany bathing, a person washes away all sins from himself, and all ailments and illnesses will bypass him.

On Clean Thursday, you need to go to church for confession and communion. On this day, according to customs, it is customary to do a general cleaning at home before Easter. It is after going to church on a clean Thursday that you need to clean the house.

You need to clean up very carefully, not superficially - you should wash all the objects in the house, including the ceilings. There is a sign that if it is good to clean the house on a clean Thursday, then the whole next year the house will be clean. Again, cleanliness in the home will reflect the inner purity of the soul of a believing Christian.

In addition, it is necessary to wash all textiles and prepare traditional Easter food: Easter cakes and colored eggs.

Passion Week Notes

It is on this day that you can get rid of many sins and improve your life. Following Easter signs and rituals, you can change your destiny for the better for the next year.

Here's what I know...

“If you want to be healthy all year round, by all means, swim before sunrise.” - Try it yourself and you will see that, indeed, this morning the water takes on wonderful healing properties. This water can wash away everything, the sins that have accumulated over the year.

Do not indulge in laziness, but rather get up early on Maundy Thursday and wash yourself white in the shower, in the bathroom or in the bath before dawn. If you cannot believe in the power of the magical Thursday water, then there will be no harm, purity is for the benefit of everyone - both bodily and spiritual.

There is a true sign - if you do a general cleaning on Clean Thursday, you will get a lot of joy for it.

In addition to the fact that the house will become clean, there is also such a religious moment here that religious people do not clean up for six days after Maundy Thursday.

Moreover, there is popular belief that by starting a general cleaning in the house, you receive as a gift from the Lord the opportunity to find your favorite and necessary items that seemed to be lost forever.

It has long been believed that if during Maundy Thursday all the money in the house is counted three times, then they will not be transferred to the family during the year. Counting money should be done early in the morning, at noon and at sunset. This should be done in secret not only from strangers, but also from all your household members. Only then will the performance of this ancient rite be useful.

And here is money conspiracy on Maundy Thursday. If you wash the doors and windows with water in which a trifle is placed, then throughout the year your cash income will grow by leaps and bounds!

Conspiracy words to say when throwing a bucket or basin of water with a handful of coins:

“Money, drive - don’t transfer, grow, multiply, don’t get to the enemy!”

and any other prayer that you know well. After all the doors and windows in your house are washed, remove the change from the water and put it in a far, but previously washed, corner of your house or apartment for a week. Pour water under any tree.

Place any silver item in a container of water overnight. And in the morning, on Good Friday, wash yourself with this water, and during the year no evil spirit will be afraid of you.

If in your house there is a baby under the age of one year, then such a procedure is especially indicated for him, since he cannot yet protect himself with the help of holy prayer. Therefore, we must take care of its protection.

Thursday salt can be prepared in two ways:

The first way: go to three neighbors or friends, and ask them for a handful of salt, then mix it, preferably in earthenware, and use it as needed. It is said that added to the food and drink of a seriously and even terminally ill person, thursday salt can help to cure him.

The second way to prepare Thursday salt is as follows: pour a pack of salt into the pan and fry it, stirring constantly, while reading “Our Father”. You will feel the readiness of the salt yourself.

Following Lazarus Saturday, when Jesus resurrected his friend Lazarus, and the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem, when the people rejoicingly met the Son of God, Passion Week (week) begins.

This period is not included in the forty-day Great Lent: the days before the Bright Resurrection of Christ, Orthodox believers remember the last days of the life of Jesus Christ, which were full of suffering, as well as the death and burial of the Son of God.

Believers, first of all, symbolically share the hardships that the Almighty endured before he resurrected. Therefore, this period is the most severe: it requires maximum abstinence from one's own passions.

When is Holy Week in 2018

This year, Holy Week begins on Monday, April 2 and ends on April 7, Holy Saturday.

What Not to Do on Holy Week

These days it is necessary to protect yourself from bad thoughts, not to commit bad deeds, not to allow your own stupidity, heartlessness. It is also necessary to try not to be rude and not to get angry at the people around you, not to be led to provocations.

It is better to avoid big fun, holidays and noisy parties. Holy Week is a period of great sorrow.

What to do on Holy Week

This is the time of the most strict abstinence from everything bad that a person does. You must try to be kind and courteous to the people around you.

Also during this period, it is necessary to carefully prepare housing for the holiday, clean the apartment. However, it is necessary not only to clean the room where you live, but also to fully prepare spiritually for the Bright Resurrection of Christ: pray a lot, confess, take communion.

Holy week by day

The week starts with Holy Monday. It is on this day that the preparation of the house for the holiday begins. The living quarters must be freed from old and unnecessary things.

Good Tuesday is dedicated to the purchase of products that will be used on the holiday.

On Holy Wednesday, you need to wash your clothes, carry out a thorough wet cleaning in the apartment.

Thursday is called Clean - this is the time when you definitely need to take a shower, because the water on this day has special properties. On Thursday, the cleaning of housing should be completed, after cleaning it is possible only next week. In addition, eggs are dyed and Easter cakes are baked on this day. Also, on Maundy Thursday, nothing is given from home.

Good Friday is the day of the greatest compassion, at this time, having atoned for human sins, Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross.

On Great Saturday, housewives prepare festive Easter, Easter cakes, paint eggs, if they did not have time to do it on Thursday. After these products are carried to the church to consecrate. On Easter night from Saturday to Sunday, services are held in churches.

Fasting for Holy Week

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, lean food without vegetable oil is allowed; on Thursday and Saturday, you can eat lean food cooked with vegetable oil. On Good Friday, those who keep a strict fast abstain from food completely.

This year, the Annunciation holiday falls on Great Saturday, therefore, despite the fact that fish is usually allowed on the Annunciation, in 2018 on April 7, this product should be refrained from.

Immediately after the end of Palm Sunday, the last week before Easter begins, which is called Passion. Each day of this week is called the Great - since it was on these days that events took place that were of particular importance in Orthodox Christianity: The Last Supper, the betrayal of Judas, the crucifixion of Christ - and then - his Resurrection. Therefore, every day has its own, special, and even mystical meaning.

Let's take a look at what can and cannot be done these days before Easter, and what signs and traditions exist.

Do's and Don'ts during Holy Week

Great Monday. They completed all the repair work around the house, removed construction debris, and took out old, unnecessary things.

Great Tuesday. Finished repairing clothes, sewing, cutting, darning, ironing and the like. The melt water collected this year was used to wash livestock to protect them from diseases.

Great Wednesday. At night, from Tuesday to Wednesday, they took water from a river or well into a large jug or mug, and made the sign of the cross three times. At two o'clock in the morning they watered themselves with this water, leaving a little at the bottom, signing themselves with a cross three times. Clean clothes were put on a wet body, and the rest of the water was poured under a tree or bush. This meant the birth of a washed body and, according to signs, protected from diseases for the whole year.

Maundy Thursday - or Maundy Thursday. Clean Thursday in 2014 falls on April 17th. Maundy Thursday or Maundy Thursday is the fourth day of Holy Week, the strictest week of Great Lent.

Bathing is of symbolic importance on Maundy Thursday, on this day you need to wake up before sunrise and have time to swim. It is believed that in this way, as in Epiphany bathing, a person washes away all sins from himself, and all ailments and illnesses will bypass him.

On Clean Thursday, you need to go to church for confession and communion. On this day, according to customs, it is customary to do a general cleaning at home before Easter. It is after going to church on a clean Thursday that you need to clean the house.

You need to clean up very carefully, not superficially - you should wash all the objects in the house, including the ceilings. There is a sign that if it is good to clean the house on a clean Thursday, then the whole next year the house will be clean. Again, cleanliness in the home will reflect the inner purity of the soul of a believing Christian.

The custom for Pure Thursday is the preparation of Thursday salt. Each member of the family must take with clean hands a handful of salt and pour all the salt into common pot. Every time the house is cleaned, salt should be added to the water to wash the floors. It is believed that this custom will help improve the atmosphere in the house.

After the grand cleaning carried out on Maundy Thursday, houses are not swept and cleaned according to customs until Easter itself.

Pure Thursday 2014: signs

The most famous sign on Maundy Thursday is to count money three times - in the morning before dawn, at lunchtime and at sunset. It is believed that in this way money will not be transferred in the house.

Another one of the signs of Pure Thursday is associated with Easter baking - if the treat turns out to be heavy and loose, then the believer will have to wait for the same year.

On Maundy Thursday, children's hair and women's hair ends are also cut - it is believed that from this they will grow better and be lush. Women who are unhappy in their personal lives are ordered to go waist-deep into the river on the night of April 17, 2014. It used to be that such a woman would soon meet her betrothed and her personal life get better.

Clean Thursday 2014: conspiracies

On Clean Thursday, you can conspire on good income. To do this, you need to throw a handful of coins into the water that you are going to wash the apartment while saying: “Money, move - don’t transfer, grow, multiply, don’t get the enemy!”. On this day, they completed the cleaning in the house - they washed everything clean.

Mopping started from the threshold and ended in the farthest corner of the house, the water was taken out into the bushes or flower garden. It was considered obligatory on this day before sunset to wash with silver-plated water - this gave strength and beauty. To do this, they put a silver coin or a spoon, or other silver utensils in a mug or bowl of water, let it stand in the sun, and then washed.

After washing the house, walking with church candle in the corners and after reading “Our Father” three times, they began to prepare the dough for Easter cakes and paint the eggs.

Good Friday - or Good Friday. A day of mourning and silence. Bells were not rung in churches on this day, and in houses it is impossible to rejoice - otherwise there will be grief all year later. it was also not customary to eat and drink before dinner - honoring the crucified Christ and his torment on the cross.

Holy Saturday. She also intended to spend the day in final preparations for the celebration of Easter. You can’t have fun, have fun on this day, you need to spend the day in prayer. The one who did not go to bed on the night from Saturday to Sunday, health and wealth awaited.

Signs of Holy Week

So Holy Week many signs have long been associated with the people, especially with Thursday and Friday. So, on Maundy Thursday they prepared salt in a special way: they took a large table salt, crushed in a clean rag, then - calcined on the fire, crushed again and sieved. It was believed that according to signs, such salt cleanses the energy of a person and protects against diseases. Painted eggs were eaten with Thursday salt for Easter.

On Maundy Thursday, money was attracted to the house. To do this, they carried out such a ceremony: they put a handful of coins in the water for washing floors and slandered “Money, get drunk - don’t transfer, grow, multiply, don’t get the enemy!” After that, they washed the floors with this water backwards - from the threshold to the far corner. A handful of coins from a bucket were placed in this far corner, and water was poured under a bush or tree. It was also believed that the more furniture was moved in the room during cleaning, the richer the house would be.

Accept on Good Friday - no less.

• A loaf of bread baked on Good Friday heals all diseases and never gets moldy.
• On Good Friday, in no case should you pierce the ground with iron; whoever does this will be in trouble.
• If washed clothes are hung out to dry on Good Friday, bloodstains will appear on them.
• If you transport bees on any day other than Good Friday, they will certainly die.
• If you endure your thirst on Good Friday, then no amount of drinking will harm you for a whole year.
• Rings consecrated on Good Friday protect the one who wears them from all diseases.
• Easter muffin saved from one Good Friday to the next prevents whooping cough.
• Only parsley sown on Good Friday gives a double harvest.
• Weaning babies from the breast on Good Friday - the sign says that the child will be strong, healthy and will live happily.
• If it is cloudy on Good Friday, then the bread will be with weeds.
• If it is dawn on Good Friday, then the wheat will be grainy.

And on Good Friday, twelve candles were brought into the house from the church and allowed to burn out completely: it was believed that this would bring prosperity and happiness to the house.

From 2 to 7 April in Orthodox tradition Holy Week is celebrated in 2018, what cannot be done at this time has been discussed quite strictly. But not everyone knows this, and often violate the vowel and unspoken rules. To prevent this from happening, we will tell you exactly what you can’t do during these seven days.

What not to do during Holy Week 2018?




In Holy Week, all believers adhere to dry eating. This means that other than animal food, any cooked food is prohibited. All food should be consumed fresh and raw, pickled or salted. Of the ready-made breads, only baked bread is allowed. Can't sit on dinner table more than once a day, the meal may already be in the evening when the sun sets.

So you can eat from Monday to Thursday. Friday is required to completely refrain from any food. On Saturday, you can already eat ready-made meals, but many believers also try to starve on this day. Read about what else you can eat on Holy Week.




It is logical that it is forbidden to do anything that brings fun during Holy Week: sing, dance, visit any entertainment establishments, celebrate holidays, birthdays and weddings. It is also better to refuse marital intimacy at this time.

In addition, it is believed that at this time you can not refuse people when they turn to you for help. Of course, if they do not ask for something immoral, illegal, or something that could harm others.

What can and should be done during Holy Week?




Monday: We start cleaning the house. We throw away large garbage, old broken things.

Tuesday: On this day, you need to finish work related to clothes: wash everything, iron it. We buy food for the holiday table.

Wednesday: We clean the floors, we beat the carpet. We take out the last garbage from the house. Cooking eggs and everything you need to color them




Thursday : Maundy Thursday gets its name from the ancient folk custom- on this day they bathed in various reservoirs, purifying themselves not only spiritually, but also physically. On this day, they put things in order in the house, do a general cleaning. If you have a baby at home, you can time the first haircut for this day. Water on this day has healing power - you must swim.

On Maundy Thursday we start cooking festive table, paint eggs. In the morning we bake Easter cakes, in the evening we cook Easter.

Friday: You can not do household chores and wash. It is forbidden to have fun, listen to music. You can not eat anything, remembering the sufferings of Christ.

Saturday: If you do not have time within a week, you can finish cleaning and dye the eggs. On this day, we prepare a festive table. Traditionally, on Saturday, painted eggs, Easter cakes and Easter cakes are brought to church to be blessed. Before leaving for the service, festive treats were put on the table in order to break the fast when they came home.

Holy Week is starting soon, what you can’t do and what you can do at this time, you now know and can avoid actions that are not welcome in the Orthodox tradition.