In the spring, believers celebrate several Orthodox holidays. On what dates Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday and Easter will fall in 2024 – in the information from RIA Tomsk.
Palm Sunday – 2024
Palm Sunday is a holiday approved by the church in honor of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. It is transitory and is celebrated a week before Easter, or on the sixth Sunday of Lent.
According to the Gospel, on Saturday, the eve of the Jewish Passover, Jesus performed a miracle and raised Lazarus, a resident of Bethany, who had been dead for four days. In the Orthodox calendar this day is called Lazarus Saturday. After the miraculous resurrection, many believed in Christ and the next day noisily greeted him at the entrance to Jerusalem, throwing palm branches on the road.
In Russia, palm branches have been replaced by willow, which is one of the first to bloom in the spring.
In 2024 Palm Sunday Orthodox Christians will celebrate April 28.
Maundy Thursday: when in 2024
Holy Week is the seventh and most strict week preceding Easter. At this time, believers remember the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ, his suffering, crucifixion, death and burial. Holy Week will continue in 2024 from April 29 to May 4.
Each day during Holy Week is called Great or Passionate and has great significance for Orthodox believers. Special services are held in churches – the most mournful and solemn in the entire church year. At the same time, during Holy Week the days of saints are not celebrated, the dead are not commemorated, and weddings and baptisms are not held.
One of the most significant days is Maundy Thursdayin 2024 it falls on May 2. On this day, they remember the Last Supper, at which the Lord established the sacrament of the Eucharist (thanksgiving). All Christians gather for the liturgy and receive communion. Also on this day they begin to actively clean the house and prepare for Easter – they paint eggs, bake Easter cakes, tidy up and wash clothes.
Orthodox Easter in 2024
Orthodox Easter in 2024 falls on 5 May – the first Sunday after the first spring full moon.
In the morning, after the service, children and youth go around houses with songs and congratulations.
Among Easter entertainments, the most popular are games with colored eggs: they are thrown at each other, rolled on an inclined plane, broken, scattering the shells. Relatives and friends exchange colored eggs, godparents give them to their children-godsons, girls give them to their lovers in exchange for palm branches.
Compiled based on information from open sources
