What legend is associated with the date of the celebration of the Epiphany. Feast of the Epiphany (Theophany) according to the Orthodox calendar

Commemoration of the dead on Easter days - how is it carried out? Is this approved by the Orthodox Church? Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko will answer these questions.

Commemoration of the dead on Easter

Archpriest Alexander Ilyashenko, Rector of the Church of the All-Merciful Savior b. Sorrowing Monastery, Chairman of the Editorial Board of the site:

- this is the most main holiday in a year. 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.

Therefore, on the day of Easter, it is not supposed to go to the cemetery and perform memorial services. If someone dies, and death on Pascha is traditionally considered a sign of God's mercy, then the funeral service is performed according to the Paschal rite, which includes many Easter hymns.

To visit the cemetery, the Church appoints a special day - Radonitsa (from the word joy - because the Easter holiday continues) and this holiday takes place on Tuesday after Easter week. 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.

Visiting cemeteries for Easter began only in Soviet times, when churches were closed. People who felt the need to gather, share the joy, could not go to churches that were closed, and went to the cemetery at Easter instead of going a week later. The cemetery, as it were, replaced the visit to the temple. And now, when the temples are open, so this tradition of the Soviet era cannot be justified, it is necessary to restore church tradition: to be in the temple on Easter day and meet a joyful holiday, and go to the cemetery on Radonitsa.

It must be remembered that the tradition of leaving food, Easter eggs on the graves - this is paganism, which was revived in the Soviet Union, when the state persecuted the right faith. When faith is persecuted, heavy superstitions arise.

The souls of our departed loved ones need prayer. From a church point of view, a ceremony is unacceptable when vodka and black bread are placed on the grave, and next to it is a photograph of the deceased: this, saying modern language- a remake, because, for example, photography appeared a little over a hundred years ago: this means that this tradition is new.

As for the commemoration of the dead with alcohol: any booze is unacceptable. V Holy Scripture the use of wine is allowed: “Wine gladdens the heart of a man” (Psalms 103:15), but warns against excess: “Do not get drunk with wine, fornication is in it” (Eph. 5:18). You can drink, but you can't get drunk. And I repeat again, the dead need our fervent prayer, our pure heart and a sober mind, alms given for them, but not vodka.

How are the dead remembered on Easter?

Many people visit the cemetery on Easter, where the graves of their loved ones are located. Unfortunately, in some families there is a blasphemous custom to accompany these visits to the graves of their relatives with wild drunken revelry. But even those who do not celebrate pagan drunken feasts on the graves of their loved ones, so offensive to any Christian feeling, often do not know when it is possible and necessary to commemorate the departed on Easter days.
The first commemoration of the departed takes place on the second week, after Fomin Sunday, on Tuesday.
The basis for this commemoration is, on the one hand, the memory of the descent of Jesus Christ into hell, connected with St. Church Charter create the usual commemoration of the dead, starting with Fomin Monday. By this permission, believers come to the graves of their neighbors with the joyful news of the Resurrection of Christ, hence the day of commemoration itself is called Radonitsa.

How to commemorate the dead?

Prayer for the departed is the greatest and most important thing that we can do for those who have departed to another world.
By and large, the deceased does not need a coffin or a monument - all this is a tribute to traditions, albeit pious ones.
But forever alive soul the deceased feels a great need for our constant prayer, because she herself cannot do good deeds with which she would be able to propitiate God.
That is why prayer at home for loved ones, prayer at the cemetery at the grave of the deceased is the duty of every Orthodox Christian.
But commemoration in the Church provides special help to the deceased.
Before visiting the cemetery, you should come to the temple at the beginning of the service, submit a note with the names of the deceased relatives for commemoration in the altar (best of all, if this is a commemoration at the proskomedia, when a piece is taken out of a special prosphora for the deceased, and then as a sign of the washing of his sins dipped into the Chalice with the Holy Gifts).
After the Liturgy, a memorial service should be served.
Prayer will be more effective if the one who commemorates this day himself partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ.
It is very useful to donate to the church, to give alms to the poor with a request to pray for the departed.

How to behave in a cemetery?

Arriving at the cemetery, you need to light a candle, make lithium(this word literally means increased prayer. To perform the rite of lithium in commemoration of the dead, a priest must be invited. A shorter rite that a layman can also perform is given in the Complete Orthodox Prayer Book for the Laity and in the brochure How to Behave in a Cemetery, published by our publishing house).
Then clean up the grave or just be silent, remember the deceased.
It is not necessary to eat or drink at the cemetery, it is especially unacceptable to pour vodka into the grave mound - this offends the memory of the dead. The custom of leaving a glass of vodka and a piece of bread “for the deceased” on the grave is a relic of paganism and should not be observed in Orthodox families.
It is not necessary to leave food on the grave, it is better to give it to the beggar or the hungry.

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Why you can’t go to the cemetery on Easter, the priest’s answer to this important question amazes many believers. Oddly enough, but many do not even know that Easter is in terms of Orthodox religion, going to the cemetery is completely wrong.

This is even considered a great sin, because, a bright holiday, the first, in a series of subsequent forty public holidays, you need to spend among your family and in the circle of close relatives who are still alive. Easter is, first of all, the feast of the living. What not to do in

Where did the ban come from

It must be said that the tradition of going to the cemetery on Easter appeared among believers in Soviet times. Then, as you know, religion was banned, traditions were not passed down from generation to generation, and often there was simply no one to turn to for advice on what and when to do the right thing. Consequently, during this period, people who believed in God tried to somehow preserve traditions: as best they could.

In order to somehow celebrate Easter, people strove to visit the cemetery on this day, so that they could calmly share their joy there with already deceased relatives. At least they won't hand over the KGB and write a complaint. But, now, when religion is again held in high esteem and every person who reaches out to God has the opportunity to learn about everything, ask, observe the rituals correctly, one should remember that Easter is Holy holiday, this is a holiday of living people.

On Easter Day, the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead is celebrated and on this day it is necessary
think only about something good, rejoice. Rejoice in the fact that Jesus Christ has risen and thereby proved that there is no death, there is only a transition to eternal life, to the Kingdom of God. Easter is precisely the celebration of life, but not of death. Over the next few weeks, there will be a special day for this when you need to go to the cemetery with the good news. But this is not done on Easter itself.

When to go to the cemetery in honor of Easter

Why you can’t go to the cemetery on Easter, the priest’s answer has already been received. Now consider exactly what day is specially in church calendar allocated to go to Easter with the bright news of the Resurrection of Christ. Here we are talking about Tuesday, the second Tuesday after the holiday. That is, not on Easter week, but immediately after it. It's a big memorial day for Orthodox year, it even has its own special name - Radonitsa or Radunitsa. In some countries, this day is an official holiday. options, .

We must also understand that for us the people who lie in the cemetery are dead, but for Christ every soul, regardless of whether the body lives or not, is alive. So, there is no big difference for the Lord with what a person wants to be christened: with a living relative or a dead one, in principle, does not exist.

About church canons

It should be noted about why you can’t go to the cemetery on Easter, the priest’s answer is that strict prohibitions on church canons here, of course, does not exist. If a person wants to think about the dead people and commemorate them on Easter, then no one will forbid it. But here it should be remembered that, if possible, it is better to postpone the commemoration until a day specially allocated for this.

In some sources today you can find information that the custom of going to the cemetery on Easter appeared long before the October Revolution. In tsarist Russia, many ancestors lived in the countryside, the roads there were bad. The temple, as a rule, was built next to the cemetery. So, in order not to go far to the same place twice, many immediately after the Easter service went to the graves of their ancestors to lay a painted egg there and congratulate the deceased relatives on the feast of Easter. Many believe that the tradition of visiting the cemetery on Easter has developed in this way.

All the same, if you read modern church literature or talk with a priest, it will be noted there that on Easter itself you should not go to the cemetery. This holiday is not a day of sorrow, you need to rejoice and have fun on Easter. Moreover, now, after a long Great Lent, this can finally be done. It is worth remembering that already on the second Tuesday after Easter, there will be Radonitsa Day. It is on this day that you need to go to the cemetery to inform the deceased relatives, friends and relatives that Christ is Risen from the dead. Excellent way.

Why you can’t go to the cemetery on Easter, the priest’s answer suggests that it’s best to postpone this trip until a special memorial day. I would like to remind you that in the cemetery, according to Orthodox tradition, no need to carry food: dead people, in which only the soul is alive, human food is not needed. However, you can take a painted egg with you to the cemetery as a symbol of Easter and eternal life after death.

The question is often asked: is it possible to go to the cemetery on Easter? Regardless of how we feel about church holidays, whether we are believers or not, we need to gratefully honor and remember our deceased loved ones.

However, on the bright holiday of Easter, which is celebrated on April 28 in 2019, there is no tradition to visit the graves of deceased relatives.

Is it possible to go to the cemetery on Easter

During the entire Easter week (Bright Week), no funeral services are performed in churches, no candles are lit for the repose, and the dead are not commemorated. People who die at this time are buried in a special way.

The Orthodox Church does not bless the faithful to visit the burial places of the dead on the day of Easter. The church calendar has private and common days commemoration of the dead. Commemoration takes place in churches mainly on Saturdays.

Days of special general commemoration of the departed are called "Parental Saturdays". In the Orthodox Church calendar, there are eight such days a year.

This is Meatless Saturday, Trinity Saturday, Dmitrievskaya Saturday, Beheading of John the Baptist, days of commemoration in great post(second, third and fourth Saturdays from the beginning of Lent) and Radonitsa.

At this time, the dead are commemorated in temples.

Explaining why you can’t go to the cemetery on Easter, you need to remember that the Holiday Christ's Resurrection, otherwise called the Easter of the Lord - the brightest day for Orthodox Christians. At this time, it is customary to rejoice, and not to indulge in despondency.

Easter is, above all, the joy of future life, saving people, the triumph of life over death.

In fairness, it must be said that the tradition of going to the cemetery on Easter appeared in the Soviet years, when many churches were closed. At that time people were deprived spiritual communication and removed from the church.

Then there was a custom to visit the graves of relatives on this day. On Easter, people visited the deceased relatives and friends in order to somehow celebrate the holiday, to get closer to it.

Now that the churches are open and believers can go to the Easter service, it is better to go to the cemetery on other days. For example, on Radonitsa, when, according to tradition, the church commemorates the dead.

Radonitsa is celebrated on Tuesday of the second week after the resurrection of Christ (on the ninth day after Easter). On this day, people clean up the graves of the deceased and treat their friends with sweets so that they, in turn, also commemorate the dead.

After the onset of Easter, many rush to the cemetery to put things in order on the graves. People are getting ready to meet their parents' day with dignity (Church Radonitsa, the second Tuesday after Holy Sunday).

In this regard, the question is often asked: when to go to the cemetery after Easter, and whether it is generally possible to go to the dead on Easter days. A detailed response of the clergyman with an explanation of the position of the church is presented below.

The church performs commemoration for the dead every Saturday during the 2nd, 3rd and 4th weeks of Great Lent (it lasts until Easter itself). If we talk about when to visit the cemetery before Easter in 2019, we can recall the memorial dates that are set by the church calendar.

In 2019, these are the dates:

• March 2 - Ecumenical (meatless) parental Saturday. They commemorate all the deceased Orthodox - both parents and relatives, acquaintances, friends.
• March 23, March 30 and April 6 - Saturdays Great Lent in 2019.

That is, it is optimal to get to the cemetery on these days, since a special prayer is performed in the temples for all the dead. However, it is allowed to come to the cemetery on other days (except Easter itself).

When after Easter they visit the cemetery

Often they are interested in when exactly, on what day you need to go to the cemetery, before or after Easter? Traditionally, the main day of commemoration of the dead is considered, i.e. parental day (second Tuesday after Holy Sunday). This year, that day will come on May 7, 2019.

It is interesting that despite the rather mournful situation and sad thoughts, the very word “Radonitsa” is consonant with “joy”. Such a coincidence is not accidental, and it certainly is not connected with a play on words.

If you plunge into the very atmosphere of the day and the events preceding it for a minute, you can imagine that the deceased ancestors, Dear people They are always happy when their relatives visit them. After all, it is not for nothing that traveling and going to graves, equipping them, cleaning up the cemetery, commemorating the dead in prayer and alms is considered a normal, long-established tradition.

The memory of the ancestors is sacred in every nation, so there is a whole culture of commemoration - monuments are created, evenings are held where relatives gather. And often in honor of the famous dead, even events are held that bear their name. It is thanks to this that the departed person seems to come to life, and his presence is almost felt next to us.

As for church ideas, the spirit of the deceased is immortal, and only the body dies. And of course, we remember only the soul. And you can help her in prayer and fasting. The holy fathers wrote about this, for example, John Chrysostom:

A luxurious burial is not love for the deceased, but vanity. If you want to sympathize with the dead, I will show you a different way of burial and teach you to put on robes, decoration worthy of him and glorifying him: this is alms.

When after Easter they visit the cemetery: the position of the church

The official point of view of the Orthodox Church is consonant with the opinion described above. Indeed, when it comes bright week(i.e. a week after Easter), you should not go to the graves.

There is no sin in the visit itself, but it is better for a person to protect his emotions from unnecessary shocks. This is especially important for older people who may have lost children. And also - for those who have suffered a loss recently.

In such difficult moments, one can simply not restrain oneself, and then frustration, tears, understandable grief will flood over the heart that has not yet grown stronger. At the same time, it is intuitively clear that both Easter itself and the week after it are bright days when believers celebrate the victory of life over death thanks to the infinitely precious sacrifice of Christ.

Easter, without a doubt, is the main religious holiday. It is the basis of the faith of billions of people on our planet. The Resurrection of the Savior is the best proof of the existence of life after death. It is also a gift to all living beings, who at any moment can ask for forgiveness for their sins. And they will certainly be heard.

Therefore, it is preferable to go to the cemetery after all, either before the holiday or after it, to Radonitsa. But in extreme cases, a visit is also permissible in bright week (but on, of course, it is completely undesirable).

It is only worth bearing in mind that the clergy will not be able to serve a memorial service until Parental Day: this is prohibited by the church charter.

Why do people go to the cemetery on Easter

It is interesting that the opinion is quite widespread among the people that it is necessary to visit the grave at Easter. For example, to come right after the service, to leave krashenki and Easter cakes, etc.

Such an idea is not entirely correct: after all, Easter Sunday is a bright day that is literally filled with the energy of life, joy, and movement forward.

It is clear that the cemetery tunes in to a completely different wave. Interesting: even if you just walk past unfamiliar graves on the territory where none of your relatives is buried, then a slight excitement will run through even the calmest person. And he certainly does not want to rejoice, dance, sing and have fun.

Therefore, on the bright day of Easter, it is better to go home, to friends, relatives, neighbors. As they say, everything has its time.

In the course of history, the meaning of the holiday has undergone in different Christian traditions. Big changes(in particular, the Nativity of Christ has become a separate holiday), as a result of which historical churches currently celebrate the holiday in different ways.

Story

The word Επιφάνια (epiphany) was originally used in relation to the very fact of the appearance of Christ into the world, that is, His birth. Initially, the holiday was dedicated to the memory of three gospel events: the birth of Christ, the adoration of the Magi, as well as the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan at the beginning of His ministry. The date of celebration almost universally was 6 January. The feast of Theophany, as a holiday dedicated to the Incarnation, the Nativity and the Baptism of Christ, is mentioned, for example, in the sermons of Gregory of Neocaesarea, Gregory the Theologian and in ancient lectionaries.

The first mention of the holiday dates back to the turn of the 3rd century. At the beginning of the 4th century, the celebration of the Epiphany became widespread in the East, and a little later in the West. In the same century, first in the West, and towards the end of the century in the East as well, the feast of the Nativity of Christ stands out as an independent celebration.

The date is January 6 and the meaning corresponding to the semantic content of the holiday Christian Church 4th century, is preserved in the Armenian Apostolic Church, which, having rejected the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon (451), in the second half of the 6th century, at the direction of Catholicos Nerses II (548-557), finally approved the custom of celebrating Christmas and Epiphany on the same day.

In the IV-V centuries, the practice of a separate celebration of the Nativity of Christ on December 25 spread in the Church, and Theophany on January 6 began to be celebrated as a remembrance of the arrival of the three magi and the Baptism of the Lord. Nevertheless, John Cassian the Roman described that in Christian Egypt in the 5th century on January 6, on the feast of Theophany, they continued to celebrate the Nativity of Christ and the Baptism of the Lord.

modern celebration

• Ancient Eastern Churches: January 6 - Epiphany: remembrance of the Nativity of Christ, the adoration of the Magi and Baptism. There are no separate holidays of the Nativity of Christ and Epiphany. The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates a single Epiphany on January 7th.
• Orthodoxy: December 25 (January 7) - Christmas; Epiphany - 6 (19) January. In Orthodoxy, for liturgical purposes, the Julian (see Old Calendar Churches) or New Julian calendars are used; v XX-XXI centuries January 6 to julian calendar corresponds to January 19 Gregorian, December 25 Julian - January 7