This year, Easter Sunday will be celebrated on May 5th. In such cases, people say that it is a late Easter; it happens that the main Orthodox holiday falls earlier. So, in 2010, Easter fell on April 4. But the current celebration is not the latest: in 1983, the great event was celebrated on May 8th.
The first half of May is already generous with holidays: May Day, Victory Day, and Easter joy… Preparations for the big event begin even before the onset of Holy Week – the period of main preparations for the Great Day.
Holy Week begins on April 28. For churchgoers who regularly attend divine services and observe fasting, this time passes in the mode of asceticism. There is no need to introduce them to the rules of preparing for Easter. But Astrakhan residents who have been baptized in Orthodoxy and, alas, do not strictly observe all the prescribed canons, must be aware of the peculiarities of the coming period in order to adequately celebrate the Bright Sunday of Christ.
First of all, you need to leave all strife and forget about finding fault with others, completely concentrating on personal spiritual enlightenment. These days you need to show maximum care to loved ones and those in need of help. You need to have time to ask for forgiveness for all the grievances you have caused and keep your promises to yourself and others.
In addition to spiritual transformation, before Easter you should start cleaning and decorating your home. Pleasant Easter chores include preparing the traditional culinary attributes of the holiday, without which a festive meal is not complete. At Easter, it is customary to give gifts and help people who find themselves in difficult life circumstances.
Now is the time to write a list of necessary purchases so that you don’t have to run around shopping and get stuck in traffic jams during the holidays. Astrakhan housewives, even in Soviet times, when religious holidays were banned, did a thorough cleaning of their homes before Easter. It’s better to do it now to free up Holy Week for prayers and urgent preparations for Easter. Ready-made Easter cakes have already appeared on Astrakhan shelves. Despite the fact that Easter dishes are baked by almost all local catering establishments, many of our fellow countrymen prefer homemade Easter baked goods.
The coming weekend will be marked by the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and the Lazarus Saturday preceding it. These holidays tell about biblical events associated with the last days of Christ’s earthly life. On Palm Sunday, it is customary to visit churches and prepare for the onset of Holy Week. Many people visit cemeteries these days to visit the graves of the deceased.
During Holy Week, you need to have time to tidy up the house, bake Easter cakes and paint eggs before Good Friday – a day of especially strict fasting. On this day, the Shroud is taken out in Orthodox churches. On the morning of Holy Saturday after the Divine Liturgy, the lighting of Easter food is celebrated. Closer to midnight, the Easter service begins, during which the good news of the Resurrection of the Savior is proclaimed and the Bright Resurrection of Christ begins.
Previously, AST-NEWS.ru talked about the holidays of the last ten days of April.
