Return to the origins: how to celebrate Easter in Russia in the old days

Easter, along with Christmas and Pentecost, is one of the three main holidays of Christianity. It began to be celebrated in Russia immediately after the baptism of the whole people. Later, the feast of the Resurrection of Christ acquired the dominant importance in Orthodoxy. After all, if the Son of God has trampled death, then all the people of Israel can escape the grave and go into the light of eternal life.

How to meet this bright holiday to become involved in its main meaning - the resurrection from the dead? Now, in the age of secularism, everything often boils down to baking cakes and dyeing eggs. And how did they celebrate Easter in the old days? Let's study this issue in more detail.

Counting the day of Easter

The Feast of the Resurrection of Christ is not a calendar day. This means that it is not tied to a specific date, as, for example, Christmas, which is celebrated in Orthodoxy always on January 7.

How do they celebrate Easter in Russia? This day is calculated by the moon. After March 21, the full moon is waiting for the church calendar, and the next Sunday (if it does not coincide with the Jewish holiday of Pacey) is Easter. Thus, the date is changing every year. Sometimes it coincides with the Catholic Easter, as in 2014, but more often follows her, being late for one or three weeks. This holiday is fundamental for other dates in the church calendar. So, Pancake week, Palm Sunday, Ascension and Pentecost were calculated on Easter.

The eve of the holiday

What does tradition tell us? Easter was preceded by a long fast, called the Great People. It began immediately after the Carnival. Restrictions on food did not apply only to priests and clergy, but to lay people. It was not allowed during this period to eat products of animal origin (except fish, which was considered the gift of the sea).

A week before Easter, Palm Sunday was celebrated. This is the date of the solemn entrance of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem. After Palm Sunday, the Passionate Seven began. This week was called bright every day. Especially important for a Christian believer is Holy Thursday - the date of the Last Supper and the imprisonment of Christ.

How did they celebrate Easter in Russia (or rather, they were preparing for it) on this day? It was necessary to get up before sunset and swim. This demonstrated the willingness to cleanse from sins and soul. Then the believers went to church, where they confessed and communed. And then, returning home, they started cleaning. By the day of the Bright Sunday everything had to shine with purity.

How to celebrate Easter in Russia

This tradition has been more than a thousand years, and therefore it has acquired its cultural characteristics. Even with such close people as Russians and Ukrainians, the celebration of Easter is somewhat different. But everywhere, and Catholics also, on the eve of the Bright Sunday, on Holy Saturday, people go to the temple. Believers carry there baked cakes and krasanka (colored boiled eggs). In the churches pass religious processions and all-night services.

According to the chronicles, we know how to celebrate Easter in Russia. The priest, and behind him the flock, walked around the station of passions, stopping before each and telling about the thorny path of the ascent to Calvary, after which he blessed the artos (prosphora). This is a yeast-free unleavened bread, a small loaf on which a cross was put on baking. Later, the tradition of proskats was transformed into the sprinkling of Easter cakes with holy water.

The essence of Easter

It should be remembered that this is still a religious holiday. Its meaning for the believer is to feel a part in the Christian Salvation. The entire Easter period, which lasted until the Ascension (forty days after this holiday), the believers greeted the words "Christ is risen!". Everyone knows the answer. This is "Truly risen!". Having defended the all-night vigil in the church and exchanged a kiss of peace with each other, the believers went with blessing cakes and eggs to their homes. On the way, it was customary to "hristosovatsya" with everyone you met - thrice kissing in the face.

How did they celebrate Easter in Russia yet? The original, no longer a tradition, is the constant ringing of bells. The joyous noise did not subside until evening. On this day everyone could climb the bell tower and ring as much as he likes.

Festive table

On this bright morning it was customary to break fast after a long fast. Different peoples have their traditional meat dishes for this day. And how did they celebrate Easter in Russia? We began our meal with a reading-room. Then they ate eggs - this is the beginning of everything, as the Romans said. They were painted in different shades of red. Crocus was considered a crown ritual dish. He was cut across, keeping the crown. And only the Russians prepare for the Feast of Resurrection cottage cheese Easter - a high cone sprinkled with powdered sugar, with a cross on top. By the way, believers had to bake cakes in plenty. During the Holy Week we went about our guests, giving our acquaintances, relatives and friends with small pasochkami. Also on Krasnaya Gorka (Sunday, the next after the holiday) went to the cemetery, where they also put cakes for the deceased ancestors on the grave. And, finally, they endowed the poor, for Christ walked forty days on earth, taking on the form of a beggar.