Religious holidays of the world. Major Christian holidays

Holidays in various religions have a special function for both believers and secular people. For a religious person, such a day is special, as it reminds of some significant event. As for those who prefer to believe in the Almighty in their souls, the holidays are also important for such people. After all, they help to escape from everyday worries, to take a break from labor stress for a while.

Christmas traditions in Orthodoxy

At all times, religious holidays have played a special role. One of the most important solemn days for representatives of different religions is Christmas.

In Orthodoxy, this bright day is celebrated on January 7th. Christmas Eve is the day when intensive preparations for the holiday take place. According to the strict rules of the Orthodox Church, believers must refuse food until the first star appears. Christmas is preceded by Great Lent.

What is the most important religious holiday? It is difficult to answer this question. Each of these days has a special mood. As for Christmas, according to popular belief, on the night before Christmas, two forces are fighting - good and evil. One invites people to carol and celebrate the birth of the Savior, and the second invites witches to the Sabbath. Once that evening, a carriage walked around the courtyards - young people in disguise in animal masks. They dignified the owners of the house, not sparing beautiful words. Of course, such traditions had nothing to do with church traditions.

Traditions for Holy Evening

In different countries, this religious holiday is celebrated in its own way. For example, in Ukraine, the celebration begins on Holy Eve, Christmas Eve. Before that, the church also prescribes fasting. One of the distinctive traditions is a dish called "kutya". This is wheat or rice porridge, to which dried fruits, honey, poppy seeds, and raisins are added. A total of 12 different Lenten dishes should be served on Holy Eve. On Christmas itself, people hardly ever visited. Only grown-up married children (with daughters-in-law or sons-in-law) could visit elderly parents - to take “dinner for grandfather”.

Do Muslims have Christmas?

And what about the celebration of Christmas in Muslim countries? For many, this question is very interesting. Of course, none of the theologians of Islam calls for the celebration of this religious holiday. Moreover, Muslims have their own "analogue" of Christmas - the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. It is celebrated on the 12th of the third month of the Muslim calendar, and each year falls on different holidays. However, since Jesus Christ is also considered a prophet within the framework of this religion, Muslims congratulate their neighbors and close Christians on this holiday.

The main Muslim holiday

Eid al-Adha is one of the most important religious holidays of the year for all Muslims. It starts 70 days after the end of the Ramadan fast, and lasts 3-4 days. The main tradition of this holiday is the sacrifice of a lamb. takes place on each of the days of the celebration. From the meat of the animal, solemn dishes are prepared, which are eaten at a meal, or distributed to the poor.

Christmas in the Catholic Church

In many countries, Christmas is both a national and a religious holiday. In the Catholic tradition, Christmas is celebrated according to the Gregorian calendar, from January 25 to January 1. This bright day is preceded by the period of Advent - fasting, during which believers confess in churches. On the eve of Christmas, a special Mass is laid in Catholic churches, which begins exactly at midnight. In houses during Christmas time it is necessary to install and decorate fir trees. This tradition originated for the first time among the Germanic peoples, who considered the spruce to be a symbol of wealth and fertility.

Easter customs

One of the most ancient religious holidays in Russia is Easter. It is one of the most important and marks the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is believed that almost all the traditions of this holiday first appeared in divine services. And even folk festivals are always associated with one of the main traditions - breaking the fast after Lent.

One of the main traditions for Easter is special greetings. Among Orthodox believers, it is customary to christen - to express greetings with the words "Christ is Risen!", "Truly is Risen!" The words are accompanied by a kiss three times. This tradition dates back to the time of the apostles.

Basic rituals for Easter

During Great Saturday and immediately after the Easter service, the blessing of cakes, eggs, and all the food that was prepared for festive table... Easter eggs symbolize the birth of the Savior. There is a legend according to which Mary Magdalene presented an egg to the Roman emperor Tiberius, which symbolized the resurrection of Christ. The emperor, however, doubted the story of the resurrection of Christ. He said that just as eggs cannot go from white to red, so the dead cannot be resurrected. At the same moment, the egg turned red. Despite the fact that today eggs are painted in different colors, the predominant shade is traditionally red, symbolizing life and rebirth.

One of the traditions in the pre-Easter week is the preparation of the so-called Thursday salt, which has wonderful healing properties. To do this, on Maundy Thursday (the last Thursday before the celebration of Great Easter), put ordinary salt in the oven or oven for 10 minutes. Then she is sanctified in the church. According to popular beliefs, salt is not only able to heal diseases, but also to keep peace in the family, get rid of the evil eye.

Nativity of the Virgin - September 21

One of the major religious holidays for Orthodox believers is the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. This holiday is celebrated on September 21, and it was established by a church in the 4th century. On this day, the days are getting shorter and the nights longer. Depending on the weather, which was on the day of the Nativity of the Most Holy Ever-Virgin, people determined what autumn would be like and made assumptions about the coming winter. For example, it was believed that if on this day the birds rose high into the sky, then the winter would be cold. If the weather was clear, it was believed that it would last until the end of October.

On this religious holiday, quarrels were not allowed. It was believed that quarrels against the Mother of God especially angered the Lord, because they upset the Virgin Mary. Drinking wine is not allowed on this day. Anyone who drinks on this day will suffer for a whole year. On September 21, it is also customary to respect all women, remembering the primordial spark of God in every person.

There were also special traditions on this Orthodox religious holiday. Usually the newlyweds visited the Mother of God, taught them to avoid mistakes in life. The hostess baked a festive cake and treated the guests.

Young people also visited their parents that day. They dressed in beautiful clothes, took a baked cake with them and set off around the village. A young wife attached to her hair a ribbon with the letters "R" and "B" ("The Nativity of the Mother of God"), which was supposed to protect her and her family from the evil eye. In the event that the ribbon was untied, it was believed that someone envied the young, did not want good.

Epiphany is one of the most important religious holidays of the year. It is celebrated on January 19. The main tradition on this day is the consecration of water in temples. Once it was believed that any tap water on this date becomes holy. However, the clergy emphasize that in any case, the water must be consecrated in the church. This water can heal wounds and diseases. It is placed in a corner of the dwelling so that there is order and peace in the house all year round. It is also necessary to remember that holy water can lose its beneficial properties if, while collecting or using it, a person swears with someone.

The history of Orthodox holidays dates back to the times of the Old Testament. The Orthodox are also associated with holidays that originate in the New Testament time. Each of the Orthodox holidays is dedicated to the remembrance of the most important events in the life of Jesus Christ and the Mother of God, as well as the memory of the saints.

Recognizing the holidays as beneficial from the point of view of piety, the Church has always given their celebration a solemn character, while the fulfillment of the sacrament of the Eucharist or the communion of the Holy Mysteries was considered a necessary condition. The whole life of Christians on holidays was arranged in accordance with this: they freed themselves from worldly activities and labors, did not arrange noisy entertainment, feasts, but sanctified them with beneficence for the benefit of the Church and the poor.

In the 4-6 centuries, the Byzantine emperors who patronized the Church issued a law by which it was forbidden to violate the sanctity of the holidays by the administration of public office and legal proceedings, amusements and amusements were also prohibited, such as theatrical performances, duels and horse racing. Emperor Constantine the Great forbade trading on Sundays.

Following these and other laws, holidays to this day differ from ordinary days in exemption from work and work, celebrations, some rituals and ceremonies that give a distinctive character to this or that holiday. Such laws are in other states professing Christianity, as well as among the Jews and Mohammedans.

At its core, the Orthodox Church Easter calendar consists of two parts - fixed and movable.

The fixed part of the church calendar is the Julian calendar, diverging by 13 days from the Gregorian one. Holidays of the fixed part of the calendar have a constant date, each holiday is celebrated annually on the same day.

The movable part of the church calendar moves with the changing date of the celebration from year to year... The very date of the celebration of Easter is determined according to the lunar calendar and a number of additional dogmatic factors (not to celebrate Easter with the Jews, to celebrate Easter only after the spring equinox, to celebrate Easter only after the first spring full moon). All holidays with variable dates are counted from Easter and move in time of the "secular" calendar with it.

Thus, both parts of the Easter calendar (moving and stationary) together determine the calendar of Orthodox holidays.

The following are the most significant events for an Orthodox Christian - the so-called Twelve Feasts and Great Feasts. Although the Orthodox Church celebrates holidays according to the "old style", which differs by 13 days, the dates in our calendar are for convenience indicated according to the generally accepted secular calendar of the new style.

Easter (Bright Sunday) - April 28, 2019

Twelve non-passing holidays

Twelve rolling holidays in 2019

In Orthodoxy, there are twelve most significant holidays - this is a dozen especially important events in the church calendar, in addition to the dominant holiday - the great event of Easter. Find out which festivals are called twelve and are most solemnly celebrated by believers.

Twelve rolling holidays

There are inconsistent holiday dates in the church calendar, which turn out to be different every year, like the date of Easter. It is with her that the transition of an important event to another number is associated.

• Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The Orthodox most often call this event the Palm Sunday and celebrate when a week remains before Easter. It is connected with the coming of Jesus to the holy city.
• Ascension of the Lord. Celebrated 40 days after Easter ends. Falls annually on the fourth day of the week. It is believed that at this moment Jesus appeared in the flesh to his heavenly Father, our Lord.

• Day of the Holy Trinity. Drops 50 days after the end of the Great Easter. After 50 days from the resurrection of the Savior, the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles.

Twelve motionless holidays

Some of the most important days in the church calendar remain stationary and are celebrated every year at the same time. Regardless of Easter, these celebrations always fall on the same date.

• Birth of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God. The holiday is celebrated on September 21 and is dedicated to the birth of the earthly mother of Jesus Christ. The Church is convinced that the birth of the Mother of God was not an accident, she was originally assigned a special mission to save human souls. The parents of the Heavenly Queen, Anna and Joachim, who could not conceive a child for a long time, were sent providence from Heaven, where the angels themselves blessed them for conception.
• Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of the ascension of the Virgin Mary to heaven on August 28. The Dormition Fast is timed to this event, which ends on the 28th. Until her death, the Mother of God spent time in constant prayer and observed the strictest abstinence.
• Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord. Christians celebrate this event associated with the acquisition of the Life-giving Cross on September 27. In the 4th century, Queen Helena of Palestine went in search of the Cross. Three crosses were dug near the Holy Sepulcher. They identified the one on whom the Savior was crucified, with the help of a sick woman who received healing from one of them.
• Introduction to the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, celebrated on December 4. It was at this time that her parents made a vow of dedicating their child to God, so that when their daughter was three years old, they would take her to the Jerusalem temple, where she stayed until her reunification with Joseph.
• Nativity . Orthodox Christians celebrate this godly event on January 7. The day is associated with the earthly birth of the Savior in the flesh, from his mother the Virgin Mary.

• Epiphany. The event falls annually on January 19th. On that very day, John the Baptist washed the Savior in the waters of the Jordan and pointed out the special mission that was destined for him. For which, in consequence, the righteous paid with his head. In another way, the holiday is called the Epiphany.
• Presentation of the Lord. The holiday takes place on February 15th. Then the parents of the future Savior brought the divine baby to the Jerusalem Temple. The child was accepted from the hands of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph by the righteous Semeon the God-Receiver. From the Old Slavonic language, the word "meeting" is translated as "meeting".
• Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. Celebrated on April 7 and is timed to coincide with the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Mother of God. It was he who announced to her the imminent birth of her son, who was to perform a great deed.
• Transfiguration of the Lord. The day falls on August 19th. Jesus Christ read a prayer on Mount Tabor together with his closest disciples: Peter, Paul and James. At that moment, the two prophets Elijah and Moses appeared to them and informed the Savior that he would have to accept a martyr's death, but he would rise again three days later. And they heard the voice of God, which indicated that Jesus was chosen for a great work. It is with such an event that this twentieth Orthodox holiday is associated.

Each of the 12 holidays is an important event in Christian history and is especially revered among believers. These days it is worth turning to God and visiting the church. Take care of yourself and your loved ones and don't forget to press the buttons and

15.09.2015 00:30

There are quite a few holidays dedicated to the Most Holy Theotokos in Orthodox Christianity. However, there is the main one among them - ...

These holidays fall into two categories:

Fixed (non-moving) holidays: they always fall on a strictly defined day of the month, regardless of the day of the week, which changes annually. These include the nine twelve church holidays:

Twelve motionless holidays

Moving (rolling) holidays... The movable part of the church calendar moves with the changing date of the celebration from year to year. All "mobile" holidays are counted from Easter and move in the space of the "secular" calendar along with it.

Twelve rolling holidays:

Twelve feast days have one day of the forefeast, with the exception of the Nativity of Christ, which has 5 days of the forefeast and the Epiphany, which has 4 days of the forefeast.

The number of days after the feast is not the same - from 1 to 8 days, depending on the greater or lesser proximity of some holidays to others or to the days of fasting.
Some of the Lord's feasts, in addition, are preceded and concluded by special Saturdays and weeks (Sundays).

The services of the twelve festivals of the fixed circle are in menstruation. The services of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Rolling Circle are located in Lenten and Tsvetnoy.

In Russia, until 1925, the twelve holidays were both church and civil.

Great non-twelve holidays:

The feast days of the Nativity and the Beheading of John the Baptist, the Circumcision of the Lord, the Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Holy Primate Apostles Peter and Paul, have no forefeast, afterfeast or giving.

• Bishop Alexander Mileant
• Yu. Ruban
• Holidays of the Christmas cycle Yu. Ruban
• Twelfth holidays prot. Alexander Men
• Troparia of the twelve feasts

Christian holidays

Christian holidays- certain days of the church calendar, marked by services of an individual liturgical nature. This is fixed in the names of the holidays and "times of penitence", the dates and the order of their celebration, as well as in the content of the texts performed during the service. Their goal and meaning is the remembrance, glorification and theological interpretation of the key stages of the history of Salvation, which is embodied mainly in the events of the earthly life of Jesus Christ (Savior), and the Virgin Mary - a real participant in this divine-human process. Hence - an exceptional place in the calendar of holidays dedicated to Him.

The holidays are distributed within two overlapping annual cycles - (Menaion) and (Triode, or Passover-Pentecostal). Celebrations and commemorative events of the first cycle are strictly fixed only by the dates of the month (for the dates of the Julian calendar in relation to the modern civil one, an amendment is required: n - 13 days, - for the XX-XXI centuries). The holidays of the second are fixed only on the days of the week, being rigidly correlated with Easter, which is the starting point for the entire moving annual cycle. The date of the latter moves within 35 days ("Easter limits"): from April 4 (March 22, O.S.) - to May 8 (April 25, O.S.).

The most important holidays of the modern Orthodox calendar are called "twelve", or "twelve" (from Slav. Two and ten - "twelve") (see). as a "holiday feast" is outside this classification.

The second step in the festive hierarchical ladder is occupied by the holidays, which are called "great" in liturgical usage. These include: Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos (1/14 October), Circumcision of the Lord and the memory of St. Basil the Great (1/14 January), the Nativity of John the Baptist (24 June / 7 July), commemoration of the supreme appointees. Peter and Paul (June 29 / July 12), the Beheading of John the Baptist (August 29 / September 11), as well as, according to some old calendars, the repose (death) of ap. John the Theologian (September 26 / October 9), commemoration of St. Nicholas, Archbishop Mir of Lycia (December 6/19) and the transfer of his relics from Mir to the Italian city of Bari (May 9/22).

All other numerous holidays are dedicated to disembodied forces (common holiday - Cathedral of the Archangel Michael, November 8/21), Old Testament and Christian saints, remembrance of significant events in Sacred Biblical and Christian history, the appearance of miraculous icons, and the discovery of relics.
The constant canonization of new saints means a continuous replenishment of the Christian calendar.

The Church Charter (Typikon) provides for the gradation of all holidays into five categories according to the degree of solemnity of the performance of their divine services, which is recorded with special signs (the sixth category has no sign). The feast day of any church (whose name he bears) is equated for him in the liturgical aspect with the twelve feasts. The same degree of solemnity can be inherent in "locally revered" holidays, even those having a modest liturgical status at the general church level.

The common holidays for all Christians are, first of all, Easter and the Nativity of Christ (the latter, as a special calendar celebration, does not have the Armenian and other Monophysite churches). The most important annual holidays mostly coincide among Orthodox Christians and Catholics (because they are based on the same events in sacred history), but differ in dates, often names and semantic nuances, as well as in the nature of the celebration.
Many saints of the one Church are equally revered: the eastern ones in the West, the western ones in the East (Basil the Great - Ambrose of Mediolansky, etc.). But the saints of one Church who lived after the division of the Churches (1054) can be venerated in another Church mainly at the local level, with the permission of the church authorities. The official Catholic calendar, for example, includes the names of Sts. Kirill Turovsky (May 11), Anthony of Pechersky (July 24), Equal to the Apostles Olga and Vladimir (July 27 and 28), Boris and Gleb (August 5), Sergius of Radonezh (October 8); the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is also honored (September 7).
Protestants, rejecting the veneration of the Mother of God, saints, relics and icons, do not have their respective holidays in their calendars.

He studies holidays in the context of the general process of forming the church calendar (literally "holiday studies") - an auxiliary historical discipline, one of the sections of academic liturgy.

Liturgical texts are contained in the Service, in 12 volumes (for fixed holidays), Lenten and Color (for mobile), the Festive Menaion, as well as in numerous editions of services for individual holidays, often containing historical references, comments, notation and other appendices.

“How to celebrate a holiday? We celebrate an event (to delve into the greatness of the event, its purpose, its fruit for believers) or a person, such as: the Lord, the Mother of God, Angels and Saints (to delve into the attitude of that person towards God and humanity, into its beneficial influence on the Church of God , generally). It is necessary to delve into the history of the event or person, approach the event or person, otherwise the holiday will be imperfect, not pleasing. Holidays should have an impact on our life, should revive, warm up our faith (hearts) in future blessings and nourish pious, good morals. "

Major Christian holidays and fasts

Easter- the main Christian holiday established in honor of the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ crucified on the cross, which is narrated in the Gospels. Celebrated on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox and full moon. To calculate the dates of the celebration, tables (Easter) are compiled. For Orthodox churches, Easter falls on the period from March 22 to April 23 according to the Julian calendar.

Nativity- one of the main Christian holidays, established, according to church doctrine, in honor of the birth of Jesus Christ. Celebrated on December 25. The temporary discrepancy between the celebration of the Nativity of Christ by various churches is due to the fact that a number of churches (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian and other Orthodox churches) use the Julian calendar, December 25 of which corresponds to January 7 of the Gregorian calendar.

Trinity- a holiday in honor of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, which is interpreted by the church as the beginning of the widespread spread of Christianity. Celebrated on the 50th day of Easter and usually falls on the last days of May or early June.

Presentation of the Lord- a holiday in honor of the meeting (Meeting) of the righteous Simeon the Messiah - the child-Christ, whom the parents brought to the temple for dedication to God. Celebrated on February 2 (15).

Baptism of the Lord (Epiphany)- a holiday in memory of the baptism of Jesus Christ by the prophet John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Celebrated on January 6 (19), the ceremony of consecrating water (Jordan).

Transformation- a holiday in honor of the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, who revealed his divine nature to his disciples shortly before the Calvary sufferings. Celebrated on August 6 (19).

The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday)- a holiday in memory of the entry of Christ into Jerusalem, the inhabitants of which greeted the Son of God, throwing palm branches in front of him on the road. In folk life, the holiday was called Palm Sunday, because in the Slavic countries in its ritual the role of palm branches was played by the willow branches that were opening by this time. Celebrated on the last Sunday before Easter.

Ascension- a holiday in honor of the ascension of Christ to heaven. Celebrated on the 40th day after Easter.

Exaltation- a holiday in memory of the so-called erection in the IV century. in Jerusalem above the crowd of believers of the cross, on which, according to legend, Christ was crucified. Celebrated on September 14 (27).

Nativity of the Virgin- a holiday in honor of the birth of the Virgin Mary - the mother of Christ. Celebrated on September 8 (21).

Introduction to the temple of the Virgin- a holiday in memory of the solemn entry of three-year-old Mary (the future mother of Jesus) into the Jerusalem temple, where she was given by her parents for upbringing. Celebrated on November 21 (December 4).

Annunciation- a holiday associated with the Christian tradition about how the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary the good news about the impending birth of her divine baby. Celebrated on March 25 (April 7).

Dormition of the Virgin- a holiday in memory of the death of the Virgin Mary - the mother of Christ. Celebrated on August 15 (28).

Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos- a holiday in memory of the apparition around 910 in the Blachernae Church in Constantinople of the Mother of God, extending her veil over all believers. Celebrated on October 1 (14).

Posts- abstinence for a certain period from the intake of any food or its certain types (especially meat). Fasts occupy about 200 days in the Orthodox Church calendar. Every believer should fast on Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the year, on Epiphany Eve, on the day of the beheading of John the Baptist, on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord. In addition, there are four multi-day fasts:

spring (Great)- starts on Monday after the cheese week (Shrovetide) and lasts about 7 weeks until Easter;

summer (Petrov)- begins on the first Monday after Spiritual Day and ends on June 29, the day of Saints Peter and Paul; autumn (Assumption)- 15 days before the feast of the Assumption; winter (Rozhdestvensky, or Filippov)- 40 days before Christmas.

Fasts Fasts are a Christian institution. church, with the goal of promoting the domination of spiritual and moral aspirations in a Christian over sensual ones. P. existed in the Old Testament. In Christianity, its institution is contemporary with the church itself: it is based on example 1.