Continuous week - what is it? The place of continuous week in the church calendar

The Orthodox tradition was largely shaped by the monastic movement of the first centuries of Christianity. Therefore, in particular, the number of posts in the Orthodox calendar by the most conservative estimates is close to one hundred and twenty days, that is, by a third of the year. In addition, many priests who are not satisfied with the softness of the general church rules governing the ascetic practice of believers, introduce additional days of fasting, especially before (and sometimes after!) Communion, thereby imposing on the people "burdensome indigestible burdens" Jesus is a disgraced Jewish preacher and the founder of the Christian church. Still, however, another, more luminous tradition comes from the depths of the centuries, when Christians were able not so much to mourn and repent as to love and rejoice in life, to each other and to God's presence among them. Particular expression of this mentality of the first followers of Jesus in the ascetic tradition is a continuous week. What it is, helps to understand a deeper definition of fasting. So, fasting in Orthodoxy is time intended for introspection, deep prayer and religious feats, like reading sacred scriptures, distributing alms and the like. The gastronomic background of this practice is bodily restraint from certain types of food. At the most strict post, all products of animal origin (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, milk) and vegetable oil are subject to refusal.

Altogether in Orthodoxy there are four multi-day fasts: Christmas, Petrovsky, Uspensky and the Great Orthodox fast. In addition to them, there is a mass of one-day periods of abstinence. Most of the latter are Wednesdays and Fridays, by default, they are lean days almost every week (a week - according to old Church Slavonic terminology) in the year. There are, however, exceptions. In some weeks, the post from Wednesday to Friday is removed due to certain circumstances. We know them as days of continuous weeks. What does this mean in a practical sense? Firstly, at this time it is allowed to use so-called fast food: meat, milk and all the rest, which is usually considered incompetent. Secondly, and most importantly, in these weeks it is possible to take communion without a preliminary post, at least so it is required by a fixed written norm of the liturgical statute.

There are only five continuous weeks in a year:

1. Christmas week or Christmas season.

2. The Week of the Publican and the Pharisee.

3. Cheese week, it's Maslenitsa.

4. Easter, better known as Bright Week.

5. Trinity week.

Each of them either precedes a multi-day fast, or, conversely, marks a period of rest and relaxation after it.

The Holy Week

Christmas tree, strictly speaking, is not a week, it's eleven days between Christmas and Baptism. They always fall on the same numbers - from 7 to 18 January according to the new style or from December 25 to January 5 - according to the old. Thus, the holy days follow immediately after the Christmas fast until the Epiphany Eve.

Week of the Publican and the Pharisee

Before the Great Lent there are several so-called preparatory weeks. One of them is the Week of the Publican and the Pharisee. Since the dates of Easter and the preceding period of chatter each year fall on different numbers, then the preparatory weeks are not tied to specific days. Specifically Week of the Publican and the Pharisee takes time for two weeks before Lent.

Maslenitsa

The famous Shrovetide is a relic of the pagan holiday of the spring meeting. Today it actually merged with the cheese week. So (or otherwise - meat-packing) is called another preparatory continuous week. What is this time? In general, these are the last seven days before the forty-forty-day period of taketh that precedes the Passover.

A distinctive feature of Maslenitsa from other continuous weeks is that it is already forbidden to eat meat products, but it is allowed to eat fish and dairy.

Bright Week

The first week after Easter is also continuous, in view of the special significance of the holiday. In fact, the Resurrection of Christ is officially celebrated for forty days, so it is not surprising how much this solemn week is distinguished by the special scale of solemnity and fun. What does it mean? The fact that in the Bright Week absolutely any fasting, penance and even kneeling prayers are categorically forbidden.

Trinity week

After the day of the Holy Trinity , the last week in the church calendar is a continuous week. What holiday is it? Otherwise it is called Pentecost and is celebrated on the fiftieth day after Easter. Its roots go to Jewish aortology, and the purely Christian meaning is based on the New Testament story of how the Holy Spirit, in the form of the tongues of flame, descended to the apostles, giving them the knowledge of other languages and other supernatural gifts. This event is considered the birthday of the Church, therefore, in honor of the Holy Trinity Day, the week following it is deprived of fasting days. But after it ends a long Petrovsky post, and therefore this week is also preparatory to the period of abstinence, which ends every year on the same day - July 12, the feast day of the Apostles Peter and Paul.