About worship and the church calendar. Procession for Easter, when it starts, what you need to know

The entire Orthodox world celebrates Christmas. Tonight in Moscow has broken all records for temperature. “It has never been so cold in this century on the night of January 7,” the Hydrometeorological Center said. However, such an anomaly still did not stop believers from visiting temples.

Orthodox celebrate today one of the main church holidays - Christmas. Solemn services were held in all churches and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church in 70 countries. In total there are about 30 thousand of them in the world.

In Moscow, Christmas night was the coldest since the beginning of winter. “It has never been so cold in this century on the night of January 7,” the Hydrometeorological Center said. It was minus 29.8 degrees in the capital. Despite the frost, several thousand believers came to the main Christmas service in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow, which was held by Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Komsomolskaya Pravda writes that the temple was filled with people a few hours before the start of the service. According to the correspondent of the Rossiya TV channel, believers in such a cold came to the temple even with babies. They said that on such a holiday they would be in the service even at minus 50:

“This is such a bright holiday, a holiday of hope. And the hope is not the fulfillment of our earthly desires, but the hope of the victory of good over evil.

Such a holiday, which is needed here, no matter what the temperature is, 38, 50 or how much. We need to be here.

I want to join, receive grace, there is a lot of it here and I want to fill my, well, I don’t know, maybe empty soul. Take a particle of this grace with you.”

In churches originally dedicated to Christmas, religious processions are usually also held, but this time they were canceled due to severe frosts.

Alexander DvorkinProfessor of the Orthodox St. Tikhon Humanitarian University, candidate of theology, celebrated Christmas in the Moscow Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity in Khokhlovsky Lane“This year the Christmas service was very good and solemn. And it is surprising that, despite the really very severe frosts, there were almost the same number of people as last year. Maybe 10 percent less. It's just that many people complained that they couldn't start their cars and that's why they couldn't get out. And although the temple is located in the center, but the parishioners come from all over Moscow and even from the Moscow region. There was no procession after the service. The procession is not scheduled for Christmas. The procession in general, it is on Good Friday, this is the so-called “burial of Christ”, this is a procession .... And, of course, on Easter, all Easter week, every day there are processions. And besides, traditionally, religious processions also take place on the day of the Temple feast. This is the feast of that saint or that event to which the temple is dedicated. Accordingly, the procession is laid in those churches that are dedicated to the Nativity of Christ. But, as far as I know, at least in Moscow, due to abnormal frosts this year, the religious processions were canceled at Christmas. There is another one, you can, of course, make such an intra-church small procession, when just the clergy and altar servers pass together along the perimeter of the temple, inside. Here, perhaps, in some churches they did this, because it is clear that in such a cold procession is impossible. Here we already obey the weather conditions in which we live.

Despite the rare frosts for Moscow, the city authorities announced a big outdoor program. Sokolniki will host a traditional a cappella concert. "Gorky Park" will gather everyone at the skating rink. A Christmas mystery will unfold on the ice with a theatrical performance, performance by professional figure skaters and dancing. In Kuzminki Park, artists from the Folkberry ethnostudio will teach park guests to carol and show Christmas rituals.

Today, minus 32 is expected in Moscow. In the Krasnaya Presnya park, all planned street events have been postponed until next weekend.

Tatiana Sharshavitskayadirector of the park "Krasnaya Presnya"“In terms of sports, of course, people are engaged and continue to train, but in terms of mass cultural and such competitions, it is now planned to be postponed to next weekend. So the weather makes its own adjustments. People go anyway, because it’s holidays, vacations, so they still plan some kind of outdoor leisure.”

The traditional Winter Bicycle Parade is scheduled for tomorrow in the capital. Initially, 5,000 people were expected to attend. So far, there is no information about the cancellation of the bike ride, the start is scheduled for 11 am, although on Sunday they promise up to minus 25. Kirill Popov, a participant in last year's winter bike parade, plans to ride a bike tomorrow.

Kirill Popov participant of last year's winter bike parade“I am preparing, first of all, mentally, because I have not ridden in such a cold yet, that is, I have not ridden below 18 degrees. It's more extreme here. What do I take with me? Tea, something to eat, maybe I'll take spare gloves. Feet will be shod, most likely, in felt boots. A warm balaclava on the face, a ski mask on the eyes, a ski helmet on the head. Pants are also ski pants, with some kind of underwear, thermal underwear and a jacket on top. The biggest risk is frost. Therefore, if a person is friends with his head, then he will more or less dress normally. I don't use any special devices. Previously, somehow there was no need, but right now I'm going to go to the store for a chemical heating pad. In this case, most likely, a one-time purchase will be made.

The event will be open to cyclists of all ages and abilities. For the convenience of participants, bicycles will be transported free of charge on suburban trains and surface public transport. We add that from six in the morning to five in the evening on January 8, 3rd Frunzenskaya Street will be blocked. And in the interval from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., traffic will be limited along Frunzenskaya, Prechistenskaya, Kremlin and Moskvoretskaya embankments, along Kitaygorodsky proezd, Varvarka and Moskvoretskaya streets.

Dear readers, on this page of our site you can ask any question related to the life of the Zakamsky deanery and Orthodoxy. Your questions are answered by the clergy of the Holy Ascension Cathedral in the city of Naberezhnye Chelny. We draw your attention to the fact that it is better, of course, to resolve issues of a personal spiritual nature in live communication with a priest or with your confessor.

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Date: 01/02/2018 16:32:54

Tatiana, Tatarstan

Will there be a religious procession on the night of January 6-7? And if so, how much?

Protodeacon Dmitry Polovnikov answers

Hello, tell me, will there be a religious procession on the night of January 6-7? And if so, how much?

Usually on Christmas Day they do not go in procession. Unlike Easter, where the procession is traditional, on the Nativity of Christ, the procession takes place in rare churches. There will be no night religious processions in the Zakamsky deanery. The night Christmas service will begin at 23.30 on January 6 with the reading of the akathist to the Nativity of Christ.

Christmas can be called one of the most joyful and bright church holidays. The birth of the baby Christ forever changed and transformed the world, even the calculation of time was divided into “before” and “after”. A few weeks before the onset of Christmas, the church testifies to the approach of the holiday in inexpressibly beautiful hymns (in the Russian translation below):

Christ is born, praise! Christ from heaven - meet! Christ on earth, rise up! Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and sing with joy, people: for He is glorified...
God of peace, Father of mercy, You have sent us the Angel of Your great counsel, the bestower of peace. Therefore, having been led to the light of the knowledge of God, beginning the morning prayers at night, we glorify Thee, Lover of mankind…
I see an extraordinary and incomprehensible mystery: the cave is the sky; Virgo - Cherubic throne; a manger is a receptacle in which the uncontainable Christ God lies. We sing, we praise him.

Very often in the celebration of Christmas, the person of Christ and the meaning of the appearance of the Savior into the world are replaced by secondary attributes of the holiday and many superstitions that are far from true Christianity. While the Nativity of Christ should tell us only about Christ, and Christ himself should be the center of this holiday.

Many contemporaries of Christ asked themselves the question: “Who is this?”, unable to explain the appearance in the world of such a person:

And they feared with great fear, and said among themselves, Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? (Gospel of Mark 4:41)

The uniqueness of the personality of Christ lies in the fact that not a single person in the world was spoken of for many centuries before his birth, the first mention of Him was heard by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after their falling away from God:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will hit you in the head, and you will sting it in the heel. (Genesis 3:15)

Such fathers of the Church as St. John Chrysostom, Justin the Philosopher, Irenaeus of Lyons relate this statement to the wife, who served the sacrament of the incarnation of Christ, becoming an instrument for the salvation of the world. Through the disobedience to God of the first wife, Eve, evil entered the world, through the fulfillment of the will of God by the Virgin Mary, Christ was born, defeated the devil and eternal death, healed the human nature damaged by sin and disobedience to God. Thus, God gave hope to the first people who lost paradise.

Many Old Testament prophecies speak of Christ, even indicating the place of His birth:

And you, Bethlehem-Ephratha, are you small among the thousands of Judas? out of you will come to me the one who should be the ruler in Israel, and whose origin is from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore He will leave them until the time when she has to give birth; then the rest of their brothers will return to the children of Israel. And he will stand and feed in the power of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they will live in safety, for then he will be great to the ends of the earth . (Micah 5:1)

The prophet Micah speaks not of an ordinary person, but of an exceptional Person, originating from the "days of eternity."

Prophet Isaiah predicts Who will be the Mother of the Savior of the world:

So the Lord Himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they will call his name: Immanuel (Book of the prophet Isaiah 7:14)

The name Immanuel is translated as "God is with us", the prophecy speaks of the appearance of the true God into the world.

Evangelists, describing the events on the eve and on the day of the Nativity of Christ, also refer to Old Testament prophecies in order to prove that Christ is the One whom Israel has been waiting for for so many centuries.

Christmas - the history of the holiday

The events that took place on the eve of the Nativity of Jesus Christ and on this day are described in the Gospel of Luke. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth, but they had to go to Bethlehem because the census was taking place at that time. Joseph, a descendant of King David, had to come to the census in the city from which his family came. Thus the prophecy about the birth of Christ in Bethlehem was fulfilled.

Because of the large gathering of people, Joseph and Mary did not have enough room in the hotel, and they stopped in a cave in which they kept cattle. The time came for Mary to give birth, she gave birth to a Son, swaddled Him and put Him in a manger for cattle.

At that hour, an angel appeared to the shepherds and showed them the place of Christ's birth:
I proclaim to you great joy, which will be for all people: for today a Savior, who is Christ the Lord, is born to you in the city of David; and here is a sign for you: you will find a baby in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly, with an angel, a numerous heavenly army appeared, glorifying God and crying out: glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men! (Gospel of Luke, 2:10-14)

The shepherds hurried to the cave and bowed to the newborn Savior, telling about the appearance of the Angel and what the Angel had told them. Mary kept these words in her heart.

The Evangelist Matthew in the second chapter tells about the Magi, who, knowing the prophecies about the future king of the Jews, and seeing a star in the east, went in search of the born Baby to worship Him. King Herod, having heard about this news, wanted to kill a competitor, so he asked the Magi to give out his whereabouts.

The star from the east pointed the way and stopped over the house in which the newborn was with the Mother, the Magi bowed to Christ and brought their gifts - gold, as a king, frankincense, as God and myrrh, as a man who will die for the sins of many. According to legend, the Magi were called Caspar, Balthazar and Melchior, they came from Mesopotamia.

Then the events developed tragically, the wise men, at the direction of the angel, did not return to Herod, who, wanting to find Christ, arranged the massacre of the babies in Bethlehem. Mary with her Son and Joseph had to flee to Egypt and live there until the death of Herod.

Do not eat until the first star, what time is the first star?

The people have preserved the custom of not eating anything until the appearance of the first star on Christmas Eve, the day when the festive services begin. Many are interested in the question, until what time you can not eat and drink on Christmas Eve of the Nativity of Christ?

This question is answered by the church charter - Typicon, it says that it is necessary to abstain from food until the end of vespers, which is performed in the Russian church on the morning of January 6, but you can eat no earlier than the church 9 o'clock, which corresponds to modern three o'clock in the afternoon.

If Christmas Eve falls on Saturday or Sunday, when strict fasting is prohibited by church canons, as in 2019, you can eat even earlier, after the morning liturgy on January 6, at about 12 noon, on this day some bread and natural wine are allowed, juicy with vegetable butter, kutya with honey, the charter of fasting is not very strict, but it is forbidden to eat fish.

Such decrees make sense, since many believers strive to take communion on a holiday and refrain from eating and drinking for at least six hours before the start of the Christmas night service, just at the time the star appears.

Christmas 2019 - when does the festive service begin, what time do you come to the temple?

The festive all-night vigil in some churches begins on January 6 in the evening, at about 17-18 hours, according to the schedule of a particular church. The liturgy is celebrated either at night or in the morning of January 7, if there is no night service at Christmas in the church, but in many churches there will be a night service, for example, in some of the churches in Moscow listed below:

In which churches in Moscow will there be a night service for Christmas in 2019?

Cathedral of Christ the Savior:

the second all-night vigil - at 23:00, after the end of the all-night vigil - the night liturgy of Basil the Great

Church of St. Nicholas in Khamovniki

Temple of the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God in Alekseevsky

at 7 am - early liturgy, at 10 am - late liturgy

Temple of the Transfiguration in Tushino

Zaryadye. Metochion of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia(China town)

Church of St. Philip, Mr. Moscow in the Meshchanskaya Sloboda(St. Gilyarovskogo, house 35)

Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God in Yasenevo(Litovsky boulevard, building 7a)

Church of the Holy Righteous John the Russian in Kuntsevo(Yartsevskaya street, property 1-A, Molodyozhnaya metro station)

Will there be a procession on Christmas?

According to the liturgical charter, the procession on Christmas is not performed, with the exception of churches consecrated in the name of Christmas. Since Christmas in such churches is a patronal feast, the procession will take place at the end of the festive liturgy. Also on the patronal feast, the blessing of water usually takes place.

When does the sky open on Christmas?

In this case, we are talking about one of the superstitions, which claims that if at the moment when the sky opens at Christmas, make a wish, it will come true. In fact, there is no such church tradition and the church disapproves of such superstitions. A Christian must seek the fulfillment of the will of God, and not turn God into Santa Claus, fulfilling his desires, this is not the point of Christianity. It is better to think than to please your loved ones on a holiday.

Is it possible to guess on Christmas Eve and Christmas time?

Fortune-telling on the eve of Christmas and at Christmas time is widespread among the people, but this is not a Christian, but rather an anti-Christian, pagan tradition, excommunicating those who succumbed to curiosity not only on church holidays, but also at any other time. The Church constantly warns about the dangers and inadmissibility of fortune-telling, the ban on fortune-telling and magic of any kind was established back in the days of the Old Testament:

You should not have a soothsayer, a fortuneteller, a soothsayer, a sorcerer, a charmer, summoning spirits, a magician and questioning the dead; for every one who does this is abominable before the Lord (Deut. 18:10).

On the eve of Christmas and Christmas time, there are no exceptions to this rule; according to church canons, fortune-telling and any kind of witchcraft are excommunicated from Communion for 6 years.

Christmas time in 2019 from what date to what date?

Christmas time (holy days) begins on Christmas Day, January 7, and continues until January 18, Epiphany Christmas Eve. From January 7 to 17, any fast is canceled, including Wednesday and Friday, with the exception of January 18, this day is always fast.

In Svyatki it is better to spend time with friends, with children you can attend Christmas trees, festive concerts and events, sing carols, walk, skate and slide, at all times there was a tradition to do charity work at this time, to help the poor and the poor.

Is it possible to receive communion at Christmas? How to prepare for Holy Communion?

Christians who have observed the Nativity fast and all the fasts established by the church can receive communion on Christmastide without an additional fast, it is enough not to eat meat for one day. On the eve of Communion, you need to be at the evening service, in the evening read the canons and the Follow-up to Holy Communion. Take a blessing at Communion if you confessed on the eve of Christmas or confess on the eve of the liturgy, if necessary.

2018-01-06

“Christmas... It seems in this word strong, frosty air, icy purity and snowiness. The very word seems bluish to me. Even in the church song - “Christ is born - praise! Christ from heaven - hide! - a frosty crunch is heard.

These lines from the "Summer of the Lord" by the Russian writer Ivan Shmelev want to be re-read every time on the eve of the most mysterious and beautiful winter holiday. The Annunciation diocese informs in detail on how the Amur people will celebrate Christmas this year on its portal.

In 2018, Christmas falls on a Sunday. In this regard, the church charter prescribes to perform services preparatory to the holiday in a slightly different way than usual: for example, the great or Royal hours of Christmas Eve (with the addition of the pictorial rank) were read on Friday, January 5, the liturgy is not performed on this day.

The unusually beautiful and solemn service of Christmas Eve on the morning of Saturday, January 6, will be almost 2 hours shorter than in other years. This time it will begin with the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, and will end with the evening liturgy with the consecration of sochiv - a fasting dish of boiled wheat, raisins and honey, which is blessed to be eaten by believers on this fast day.

This service is the last opportunity to ask God for forgiveness for your sins and meet the Born Savior of the world with a renewed soul and heart. On the feast of Christmas itself, the sacrament of Confession will not be performed, and only those believers who have prepared for this event by prayer, repentance, self-restraint and good deeds during the 40-day Christmas fast will be able to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ at this service.

In St. Nicholas Church of the Free.

In all churches of the Amur region, Christmas 2018 will be celebrated on the night of January 6-7. On the evening of January 6, Christians will gather for an all-night vigil, then go home to have a proper rest before the night service, and at 11 p.m. they will come to church again to begin to praise the God-child Christ by singing Christmas carols. The Divine Liturgy of the feast according to the order of the saint will begin at midnight.

It is not supposed to make a religious procession at Christmas, but, according to the tradition of recent years, at the end of the service, the sky above many churches will light up with festive fireworks.

Those who, for various reasons, could not attend the night service will be able to pray and enjoy Christmas on the very day of the holiday. On January 7, morning services will be held in the churches of Blagoveshchensk and Svobodny.

The temple courtyard in Svobodny is traditionally decorated for Christmas.

Before and after the Christmas service, the clergy and parishioners will sing carols at the nativity scene - a "cave" made of coniferous branches, in the center of which there is an icon of the feast of the Nativity of Christ. Such folk glorification will last throughout the Holy Week - from January 7 to 17.

On Friday, January 5, at 16:00, the All-Night Vigil began at St. Nicholas Church of the Free. Believers could also come to confession on this day and on Saturday, January 6, from 8:00 am until the Divine Liturgy, which began at 9:00 am. All-night vigil on January 6 will begin at 16:00. The morning of January 7 will end with the Divine Liturgy.

Here is how Ivan Shmelev described the morning of this day almost a hundred years ago: “The bluish dawn turns white. The snowy lace of trees is light as air. Christmas. It floats like fire behind the garden. The garden is in deep snow, brightens, turns blue. Behold, it ran over the tops; hoarfrost has turned pink; checkmarks have become blackened pink, woke up; splashed with pinkish dust, the birch trees turned golden, and fiery golden spots fell on the white snow. Here it, the morning of the Holiday, is Christmas. As a child, it appeared like that - and remains.

Photo by Vladimir Mezhov.

Date: 01/02/2018 16:32:54

Tatiana, Tatarstan

Will there be a religious procession on the night of January 6-7? And if so, how much?

Protodeacon Dmitry Polovnikov answers

Hello, tell me, will there be a religious procession on the night of January 6-7? And if so, how much?