Saturday before fasting what not to do. Great Saturday before Easter - what not to do and what to do

In all Christian churches on this day, the service begins in the morning and lasts all day, turning into the solemn Easter Matins.

In the center of the temple, on a dais, there is an Icon of Jesus Christ lying in a tomb, decorated with flowers. This icon symbolizes the Shroud that covered his body. The Canons are sung, glorifying Christ who conquered death.

Easter basket on Holy Saturday

Traditionally, on Great Saturday, the hostesses collect the Easter basket. Painted and painted eggs, Easter cakes, and cottage cheese are placed in it.

Also, baked pork, a piece of butter and salt are traditionally placed in the Easter basket. Salt symbolizes the energy of life, oil - wealth, and pork - fertility.

Great Saturday - the time of Christian repentance

On this day, believers try to realize their sins and find peace of mind. You need to try to forgive all insults and ask for forgiveness from those to whom you hurt. Holy Saturday is a day of helping people in need and poor.

Insofar as Great post ends only on Sunday, on Saturday it is recommended to eat only bread, raw vegetables, fruits and water.

Signs on Holy Saturday

Weather related signs:

* If it is a clear day on Holy Saturday, this is a dry and clear summer.

* If the weather is bad on this day, summer promises to be cold and cloudy.

Good Saturday - what not to do?

You cannot eat the dishes that you prepare for Easter, since Great Lent is still in progress.

On Holy Saturday, you cannot wash, sew, iron things, do cleaning, work in the garden, in the garden, do heavy homework, such as chopping wood, doing construction.

Do not do needlework.

You cannot on Great Saturday and use foul language, swear, offend loved ones, laugh loudly, have fun, sing and dance - this is a great sin.

No alcoholic drinks are allowed, only a little red wine is allowed.

It is worth refraining from intimacy.

You can visit the cemetery on this day and clean up the graves - you can, but it is not worth making a commemoration.

It is best to devote this day to rest, reconciliation and prayer.

Saturday before Easter - what can you do?

As mentioned above, Easter services in churches begin on Holy Saturday evening. If you can't attend the all-night vigil, don't go to bed anyway. On this night, be sure to light a candle in front of the icon of Jesus Christ and pray.

It is believed that if you do not sleep on the night from Saturday to Sunday, you can attract happiness for the whole year, because it is on this night that happiness "wanders" among people, and it is very important not to oversleep it.

The main rite of Holy Saturday is decorating and coloring eggs, baking Easter cakes. Please note that in the room where the dough rises, you cannot swear, swear and talk loudly. Easter cakes should be prepared in peace and love.

Great Saturday- a day of reconciliation, kindness and forgiveness. Be sure to ask for forgiveness from relatives, loved ones, friends. Make peace with everyone with whom you have quarreled. And do not forget to distribute alms to those in need, and prepare Easter gifts for loved ones.

Remember that on Holy Saturday you cannot celebrate birthdays, weddings and various celebrations.

Nothing can be taken out of the house on Holy Saturday. The people say that you can give your well-being and wealth.

Easter greeting. What should be said at Easter?

Priests in churches greet all parishioners with the words: "Christ is risen!" To receive the answer: "Indeed he is risen!" So it is customary to greet each other on Easter.
Greetings with the words "Christ is risen!" expresses a joy similar to the joy of the apostles who learned about the resurrection of Christ.

The last day of Great Lent before Easter - Great Saturday - in 2018 falls on April 7.

Great Saturday is the sixth day Holy week, which ends the Great Lent, which lasts 48 days. Holy Saturday - Saturday of Holy Week, dedicated to the remembrance of the burial and stay in the tomb of the body of Jesus Christ and the descent of Christ into hell (according to the doctrine of most Christian denominations), it is also a preparation for Easter - the Resurrection of Christ, which is celebrated on the night from Saturday to Sunday.

Holy Saturday services have kept a number of characteristic features early Christian worship, and a number of liturgical features of this day can be traced already in the monuments of the 4th century ("The Pilgrimage of Egeria"). These features include the following:

Great Saturday - fast Saturday and at the same time the eve of Bright Resurrection. In this regard, both mourning and festive Sunday features can be traced in the service of Great Saturday.
According to the custom of the most important fast days liturgy takes place after Vespers (as in Maundy Thursday, the eve of the Nativity of Christ and the Epiphany).
On this day, the baptism of the catechumens was performed, in connection with which there are numerous Old Testament readings in the service.
During the recitation of litanies and at the small and great entrance to the Liturgy, the clergy stand not on the ambo (as usual), but in front of the shroud in the middle of the church.

Good Saturday 2018what not to do on this day

Regarding restrictions, Great Saturday is one of the strictest days of Great Lent. Prohibitions on this day apply to food and human actions.

The main prohibitions on Holy Saturday (Holy Saturday, what not to do):

You cannot break your fast from three o'clock on Saturday night until Sunday morning;
You can not eat food cooked using heat treatment;
You can not drink alcohol (for those who observed a strict fast on Good Friday and were only on bread and water, you can drink a little red wine to maintain strength);
You cannot laugh, dance and sing;
You must refrain from intimacy with your spouse;
You cannot go fishing or hunting;
It is also forbidden to do house cleaning, ironing and washing things;
You can't wash;
Gardening is prohibited;
There is also a ban on handicrafts;
It is worth refraining from construction works and other physical work;

Good Saturday 2018: traditions, customs and signs (what you can do)

According to the weather on Holy Saturday, you can determine the weather for the summer:

A clear and warm day promises a warm and sunny summer. If it is cloudy on this day, then the summer will be cold and rainy.

If you do not sleep on the night from Saturday to Sunday, then you can attract happiness for the whole year. It is believed that it is on this night that happiness walks among people, and it is important not to oversleep it.

If a consecrated egg is thrown into water on this day and washed with it, it will make a person healthy and prolong youth.

The last day of fasting is still considered a mournful day. On this day, you cannot laugh and have fun. It is believed that a person who spends Holy Saturday in fun and laughter will cry all year.

You can't take anything out on Holy Saturday, and even less give it from home. It is believed that you can give your well-being and wealth.

Everyone knows that the memorial day is the first Sunday after Easter, but on Holy Saturday it is allowed to clean the graves.

It is also impossible to fish and hunt on this significant day, because during the fast it is forbidden to eat the products of killed animals. Therefore, you should not do this, so as not to draw unhappiness on yourself.

It was on Holy Saturday in Orthodox churches service begins. Each orthodox person waiting for this day to test himself and commit to the prayer of the night. It will not be easy for an untrained person to do this, but if you try, an indescribable grace will visit you at the end of the Easter service, and the whole year will be happy and full of health for you.

Housewives always painted eggs and baked Easter cakes on Holy Saturday. The most common color for dyeing eggs is red. You can also give free rein to your imagination and paint the eggs by hand. Each woman has her own proven recipe for cakes, and each hostess turns them out in her own way. General rule for the preparation of Easter cakes, it is considered that there should be an appropriate atmosphere in the house. In the room where the dough will rise, you need to walk quietly and exclude swearing and foul language from the verbal circulation, so that your Easter cakes are prepared in peace and love.

Holy Saturday is a day of peace and kindness. Therefore, ask your loved ones for forgiveness. Maybe you have offended someone by word or deed. Do not drag with you the weight of grievances on this bright holiday.

Also, on the Saturday before Easter, it is imperative to give alms to all those in need whom you meet on your way. But relatives and people close to you should not be left without Easter gifts. As well as throughout the entire Holy Week, weddings, birthdays, various celebrations and generally no fun can be celebrated on Holy Saturday.

This year, April 7 is the last day before Easter. This Saturday is also called Passionate, Great, Quiet, Coloring. The rules for fasting on the eve of Easter are not as strict as, for example, on Friday.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, on that day the Pharisees, together with the high priests, came to Pontius Pilate with the words that Jesus, whom they consider a deceiver, even during his lifetime, said that in three days he would rise again.

They asked Pontius to order to guard the tomb so that the body of Jesus would not be stolen by his disciples, presenting it to the people as a fact of resurrection. By order of Pilate, the entrance to the cave was littered with stones and a guard was set up for him. When they entered it three days later, the tomb was empty.

On this day, according to tradition, there is procession... The shroud (cloth with the image of the body of Christ in the coffin) is carried in front.

In the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (Jerusalem) the Holy Fire descends, which many compare with the miracle manifested by the risen Christ. There is a belief that the first few minutes the flame Holy fire almost does not burn.

From Jerusalem, lamps lit by the Holy Fire are sent to Orthodox churches located in different parts of the world, including Russia.

What not to do on this day

For Saturday, all the prohibitions of Good Friday are relevant - you should not pick up metal sharp utensils, remembering that Christ was crucified on the cross, and his legs and hands were pierced with nails.

Women are prohibited from sewing and knitting, while men are prohibited from fishing and hunting. You can’t also: talk from three o'clock Saturday night until morning, drink alcohol, laugh and have fun, wash, iron, clean, wash, work in the garden, build, intimacy is also excluded.

How to fast on Holy Saturday

Holy Saturday of the year is the only time to observe fasting. But given the strictest post in Good friday, on Holy Saturday, some indulgences are allowed, which will give strength to meet the bright holiday of Easter.

You can eat hot food flavored with vegetable oil. Naturally, no meat and dairy products, as well as eggs. Easter cakes also cannot be tasted.

What you can do on Holy Saturday

It is customary to devote this day to rest, prayers and spiritual preparation for Easter. It is necessary to try to finish all the pre-holiday affairs, as cooking and cleaning on this day were censured.

On this day, it is not worth remembering the dead, and it is recommended to go to the cemetery on Tuesday, April 17, to Radonitsa.

From Saturday to Sunday, cooked cakes and dyes are brought to bless.

If there is really a need to deal with Easter cakes on this day, then this should be done without witnesses. Cakes should be removed from the oven without anyone else, otherwise the main course may turn out to be unsuccessful.

Eating and drinking is prohibited while Easter meals are being prepared.

Folk omens on Saturday before Easter

If on the night of Great Saturday the girl does not go to bed, then she will have a quick happy marriage.

If this day turns out to be sunny, this is a warm summer and a productive year.

If you put a painted egg consecrated in the church in the water on Saturday, it will give it healing power. Drinking such water is to health and good luck.

The Saturday that occurs in Holy Week before Easter is a special day. Therefore, they are often interested in the question of what can and cannot be done during these hours. A detailed answer and first-hand comments from the clergy are presented below.

What does Great Saturday of Holy Week mean?

You can start the reasoning with what kind of Saturday comes before Bright Sunday. Interestingly, this day has several names at once:

Great.
Passionate.
Dyeing room.
Quiet.

The main name is due to the fact that Saturday is the last day of Holy Week. It was these days that became the last in the earthly life of Jesus Christ.

On Good Friday, the Savior was crucified, and all Saturday his body lay in the tomb. And the grief of loved ones at the tomb of Christ was very heavy, because hardly anyone hoped that he would be resurrected.

That is why Great (Passionate) Saturday is a very dramatic day. And therefore it is undesirable:

arrange any kind of fun,
go to parties,
sing dance,
organization of some celebrations (wedding, birthday, etc.)
indulge in carnal pleasures.

In this regard, the Sabbath is also called a quiet day - believers are really better off refraining from worldly noise.

It is also better to give up working in the garden, hunting and fishing.

What not to do on Holy Saturday before Easter

It is good to feel the atmosphere of Holy Saturday, find out brief history what lies in the traditions of this day, and what it means. Then it will become clear what exactly should not be done during such dramatic hours.

First of all, this is a day in which you need to try to restrain all earthly passions. It is unacceptable to swear, all the more to swear and generally get irritated .. After all, Easter is coming, and it's time to tune in to the bright waves of the holiday.

If possible, it is better not to devote time to fun parties, to postpone the celebration of any dates. It is undesirable to do housework, hard work. It is better to plan your time in such a way as to complete routine duties before the hour of sorrow.

Of course, there is no need to laugh, unrestrained fun on the Saturday before Easter. After all, we probably would not have done this in the days of the memory of our loved one. What if it comes the fact that a good half of humanity recalls the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, it is clear that this only increases our responsibility.

What you can do on Saturday after Good Friday

Since we are talking about the fact that on this day believers especially remember Christ, it is important to pay sufficient attention to your spiritual life. It would be right to attend a church service, which begins in the early morning and continues throughout the day. And in the evening it turns into all-night vigil, and then the Bright Resurrection comes.

And among the people, Saturday is also called the Coloring (or Red), since the hostesses are completing the last preparations for Easter. In the house they paint eggs, bake cakes, bake boiled pork. Although traditionally it is customary to finish all homework back in Maundy Thursday(cleaning the house, washing), the church does not prohibit doing business on Saturday.

Of course, on such a day you can read the Bible, make prayers, do good deeds, and help those in need. Here you can focus on your inner voice... Perhaps someone has long been in need of your attention - then you should visit the person and help him as much as possible.

It will not be superfluous to ask for forgiveness and forgive other people yourself. After all, doing even the smallest things, we really change the world for the better and fill it with joy.

What you can eat on Holy Saturday in Lent

And you can also take care of tomorrow's celebrations - traditionally, hostesses begin to collect easter baskets to consecrate holiday food in the church. In this regard, the question arises: what is eaten on Saturday before Easter?

In fact, this is the last day of Lent, so it is better to try to withstand the restrictions. In addition, it will not be long to endure - tomorrow it will be possible to taste any dishes.

And on Saturday itself, you can be content with only such a menu:

bread (not rich);
fruits and vegetables in any form;
water.

Great Saturday is the last day of Great Lent, and it is very strict (bread and water). And if we talk about when the Sabbath meal is allowed before Easter, then only after the end of the all-night vigil in the church. In fact, Great Lent ends on Sunday: after the service, believers solemnly say: “Christ is risen! Truly resurrected! "

And then you can already taste pasta, eggs and other food. After that, the parishioners go home, rest and go to bed. But the real Easter holiday comes a few hours after Easter night - and it lasts at least a week.

Folk omens and beliefs on Holy Saturday

As we know, this is a particularly dramatic day: the body of the Savior has already been taken down from the cross and placed in a coffin. Of course, on such a day it is worth refraining from any quarrels, and even irritation is better left for later. And you also need to pay attention to such folk signs and beliefs:

It is better not to plan any noisy parties on Holy Saturday. Even if a birthday falls out, it should be celebrated as modestly as possible. And if you arrange a feast for the whole world, then this is an unkind sign: the year may turn out to be not as successful as you planned.
It is also popularly believed that there is no need to take out the trash on Saturday and nothing at all (any object) from the house, including that you cannot lend. Wait until Sunday - after all, disobeying, it can give rise to minor troubles, failures and harm you.
If the Easter cakes turned out to be great on Great Saturday, this is a very good symbol: the year will turn out to be and will delight loved ones with pleasant events.
If you wake up precisely during the Easter dawn and see it, a new bright streak will come in business.
If a deceased relative dreamed on Easter night, this is a very good sign. There is a belief that then in the coming year all family members will be healthy, and no misfortunes will touch them.
Better to try not to oversleep the morning service and generally get up early. Being late for church is not a good sign.
It is interesting that even hunters have a peculiar system of Easter symbols and signs. If you describe all their signs, you will need a whole book. But the most important rule is that on such a day it is absolutely forbidden to shed the blood of animals, this is considered a great sin. Therefore, hunting (and fishing) should be postponed.
If on Saturday before Easter it was clear and warm, then the whole summer will be clear and sunny. And if the weather turned out to be cloudy - be a cold and rainy summer.

In fact, Friday smoothly turns into Saturday, and both of these days on the eve of Holy Resurrection have a very similar atmosphere. Late on Friday evening, the body of Jesus Christ was taken down from the cross, and throughout Saturday it lay in the tomb. Therefore, this day is also called a quiet day: of course, it is strictly forbidden to make noise, have fun, and even more so conflict.

And most importantly, the people have developed a tradition that is in many ways similar to Forgiveness Sunday(the last day before the onset of Great Lent). It is customary to simply ask for forgiveness and make peace with those people with whom you may have disagreements.

Let it be a temporary and even very modest compromise. But after all, any business begins with the first decision, just as a dear one thousand miles begins with the first step.

Dos and Don'ts on Good Friday and Saturday

Of course, signs before Easter, as well as folk beliefs call us to some kind of action, or at least - to observe nature. On the other hand, it is useful for a believer to know what should not be done during this period, so that a clear picture of the rules is formed.

Here are the first things to look out for:

Obviously, on Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Bright Resurrection itself, you should not be annoyed, swear, which means that you do not need to start a showdown. For this there are other days - why then darken the memory of Christ and the holiday of Easter?
You should not drink alcohol, take part in feasts, parties.
Spouses are advised to refrain from mutual enjoyment. A strict ban on intimacy no, but it is intuitively clear that the recollection of Jesus Christ, involvement with his suffering does not imply carnal pleasures and lovemaking.
Of course, it is worth excluding any idle talk, gossip, empty news, gossip, lengthy reasoning, jokes.

Folk omens and beliefs

Concerning popular signs of this period, they have even survived to this day:

If it is on this day that you bake a loaf of bread (including Easter cake), it will not grow moldy for many days. And besides, it will still be able to charge a person with healing energy that saves from various diseases.
If you go to Good Friday or Holy Saturday to church and consecrate silver ring, it will serve as an amulet against accidents and help preserve health.
On these days, one should not pierce the ground with iron (a shovel, pitchfork, etc.) - it is believed that this is a great sin and a bad sign. Those who take this risk can incur adverse consequences (including wounds and blood).
Women these days are better off putting off some household chores. So, no need to sew, knit, clean the house, wash. It is also better to refrain from hair cutting and beauty treatments.
If the baby is already approaching the age when it is customary to wean from the breast, it is necessary to do this on Good Friday or Saturday. Then the child will grow up strong and healthy.
And there is also an interesting observation: if on Saturday night it is so clear that you can see the whole starry sky, then the harvest this year will be good, and the wheat will be grainy.

Of course, whether to trust these folk ideas or not is a private matter for everyone. In any case, if a sign helps a person sincerely believe in a miracle and tune in to a new light wave of changes, it is much better than not believing in anything and not waiting for anything.