Sunday day. The memory of St. Maximus the Confessor. Foundations of Orthodox veneration of Sunday

Why is it customary to go to church on Sunday in Orthodoxy? What is the history of Sunday? Are Sunday and Sunday related? Why do we consider this day a day of rest and joy? How and why is this day called in other countries?

Sunday is the Sabbath day?

The veneration of Sunday has a rather long and complex history. There is disagreement about whether Sunday is the first or the seventh day of the week. It is sometimes said that Sunday completely replaced Saturday.

If we turn to the text of the Old Testament, we will find the following words: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it, for in it he rested from all his works, which God created and made” (Genesis 2:3). It turns out that Saturday is the seventh day of the week, a day of rest, abstinence from worldly affairs, a day of rest. Among the Commandments of Moses, which he received from the Lord on Mount Sinai, we read: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days work and do all your work; and the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God: on it you shall do no work, neither you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your servant, nor your maidservant, nor your livestock, nor the stranger that is in your dwellings. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Ex 20:8-10).

We also remember that the murder of Christ took place on Friday - "the day before Saturday" (Mark 15:42). The myrrh-bearing wife could come to the tomb of the Teacher only after the Sabbath day -. And after that, on the third day, the miracle of the Resurrection happened: « Rising early on the first day of the week Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he cast out seven demons. (Mark 16:9).

Faith in the Resurrection of Christ is the foundation of faith in Christ in general. The Apostle Paul in the First Epistle to the Corinthians says: "But if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:14).

On this day, everything that the people of the Old Testament were waiting for happened - but there is a rethinking of it: the day dedicated to God is now the one on which Salvation happened.

Birthday Sunday as a day off

Sunday received the status of a festive day off thanks to the holy emperor Constantine the Great. It was he who issued the Edict of Milan on religious tolerance, according to which Christianity acquired the status of the state religion.

In 323, when Constantine began to rule the entire Roman Empire, he extended the Edict of Milan to the entire eastern part of the empire.

March 7, 321 Emperor Constantine issued a decree according to which Sunday (in the Roman pagan tradition it was the day of the Sun) became a day of rest. Now on this day it was necessary to put aside all worldly affairs: the markets were closed, government offices stopped their work. Only land works were not subject to any restrictions.

The importance of Sunday was confirmed by further decrees. In 337, a law was passed on the mandatory participation of Christian soldiers in Sunday Liturgy. Later, Emperor Theodosius issued an edict forbidding public spectacles on Sundays. This decree has not survived, but the edict of 386 forbade legal proceedings and trade on Sundays.

Who calls Sunday?

Sun Day

In the languages ​​of many peoples, the day corresponding to resurrection is called the day of the Sun. This tradition is clearly visible in the languages ​​of the Germanic group. In ancient Rome, the name of the day - dies Solis - "day of the Sun" was borrowed from the Greeks and is a literal translation of the Greek heméra helíou. The Latin name, in turn, passed to the Germanic tribes. So, in English, Sunday will be "Sunday", and in German - "Sonntag", in Danish and Norwegian - "søndag", in Swedish - "söndag", which literally means "day of the Sun".

In most languages ​​of India, Sunday is called - Ravivar (from "Ravi") or Adityavar (from "Aditya") - derived from the epithets of the solar deity Surya and one of Aditya.

Chinese uses characters for the numbers one through six to represent all days of the week, and Sunday is written with the character for "sun."

In Japan, the days of the week are also called using hieroglyphs, while their meaning is associated more with the traditions, life, historical past of the Japanese than with any particular system (Friday is written with the hieroglyph "money", and Saturday - with the hieroglyph "earth") . However, in writing Sunday, like the Chinese, there is a hieroglyph for "sun".

In a number of languages, the days of the week are named in order and the tradition of honoring Sunday as the first day is preserved. In Hebrew, Sunday is called "Yom Rishon" - the first day.

Day of the Lord

In Greek, all the names of the days of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are translated as "second", "third", "fourth" and "fifth". Sunday was once called the "beginning", but today the name "Kiryaki", that is, "the day of the Lord", has stuck to it. It is the same in Armenian - Monday is already the “second day”, and Sunday is “Kiraki”.

There is also a group of names that come from the Latin word Dominica (Lord). So, in Italian, Sunday sounds like "la domenica", in French - "dimanche", and in Spanish - "domingo".

In Russian, the day of the week "Sunday" is named after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The word originated from the Old Slavonic resurrection, resurrection, and came into the Russian language through Church Slavonic.

Day "week"

In other Slavic languages, names have been preserved that come from the Slavic ne dělati “not to do” and thus signify a “day of rest”: in Ukrainian this day is called “week”, in Belarusian - “nyadzela”, in Polish - “niedziela”, in Czech - "neděle". Similar names exist in all Slavic languages. In Russian, such a meaning for the word "week" has not been preserved, however, it is present in church life: when we say "", "Fomin's week", etc. – .

Sunday's place on the calendar

Currently, in most European countries, Sunday is considered the final day of the week. There is an international standard ISO 8601, according to which the first day of the week is Monday, and Sunday is the last. However, Sunday officially continues to be the first day of the week in Poland, the USA, Israel, Canada and some African countries.

Sunday - little Easter

Every Sunday for a Christian is a small Easter. The main thing of this day is the presence at the liturgy in the temple. It is with this that the rule of not doing (see above the origin of the word week) ordinary everyday affairs on this day is connected - they should not interfere with prayer. Sunday is always a holiday. At the same time, in Orthodox tradition the memory of the special status of the Sabbath is preserved.

The festivity of these days is reflected in church canons. Some of them are unknown even to many church people - for example, on Sunday and Saturday it is not supposed to bow to the knees.

This is most clearly seen in the example of order, the main tone of which is repentance.

Sundays and Saturdays are distinguished from the days of Great Lent. In them, a festive, non-fasting service is performed. A full Liturgy is served, and not, penitential is not read, prostrations are not made.

No, I don't mean service workers, hospitals, or other shift-working businesses. Today, Sunday is increasingly becoming the sixth or seventh working day, even for ordinary office workers who, having remote access to corporate mail or a stack of printed documents, voluntarily prefer to finish in a calm home environment what they did not have time to complete on working days. Someone moonlights or takes overtime, and someone only on Sunday can find time to think about a serious new project. Even Sunday communion in social networks somehow imperceptibly turns into “work in social networks”, and here everyday life finally merges with weekends.

In a word, centuries Christian tradition devoting the seventh day to rest and spiritual practices, which was interrupted in our country in the 20-40s of the twentieth century, and then returned in the form of a seven-day working week with a day off on Sunday, is somehow gradually loosened.

Of course, Russia never resembled either Victorian England, where on Sundays it was impossible to send letters or go to a restaurant, or to other European countries, where shops on the “day of the sun” are constantly locked up. But for Russians of all classes, and for Soviet citizens, the day off was a day filled with special meaning.

“Whether we are believers or not, this day is still not like the rest,” says Jocelyne Bonnet, ethnologist and author of a study on this topic *. “He occupies a special place in European consciousness and culture. It helps regulate our public life but also the life of our soul. Depriving yourself of a weekly day of rest and rest can cause a strong internal imbalance.

“When problems arise in a family, we know that often it is due to a lack of communication and time that children and parents spend together. And we are in a hurry to reduce this time? - the psychoanalyst Svetlana Fedorova is surprised. – Remember, the etymology of the word “Sunday” suggests that on this day we are given the opportunity to rise, return to ourselves, turn to our souls, understand and do what we really want. Turning Sunday into another working day is a step towards cultural and social regression!”

Let's try to regain the lost meaning of Sunday and learn to enjoy it again.

Cultivate symbols

“Sunday, unlike the change of days and seasons, is not a given of nature, but an achievement of culture,” explains Jocelyn Bonnet. Invented by the Babylonians, the seven-day week had at first a religious basis. Religion teaches us that God created the heavens, the earth and the sea in six days, and rested on the seventh day. It so happened that the Jews set aside Saturday for serving God and spiritual concerns, while Muslims chose Friday, and Christians chose Sunday. “The mythology of Sunday rest is an important distinguishing feature cultures of all Christian Europe,” the ethnologist notes. This day of rest, which at the beginning of its history was one of the components of religion, and in the era of the industrial revolution became a social conquest, is mythological insofar as it is part of cultural heritage. And self-awareness: “To work five or six days is to be human,” continues Jocelyn Bonnet. - Work seven days - a slave. We should once again revive the cult of Sunday as a non-futile day, filled with soulful deeds, not burdened by either work (as far as possible) or consumerism!

Recreate the rituals

“Sunday was once marked by very special social rituals: a church service, a family dinner, a Sunday walk…” recalls sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann. “Even the body had its own rituals,” says Jocelyn Bonnet. - Everyone put himself in order, put on the best clothes, "Sunday". “Today we are not witnessing the disappearance of rituals, but rather their specialization,” adds Jean-Claude Kaufman. “Each of us makes his own arrangements, and the Sunday of some is not like the Sunday of others.” Some traditions remain, such as a Sunday walk: to get somewhere in nature, out of town, into the forest, or even just wander the streets ... Others change: Sunday lunch tends to turn into a Friday or Saturday dinner, church services are supplemented or replaced by trips to exhibition, cinema or theater. Finally, some Sunday rituals have only recently appeared, such as brunch or a Sunday run. Or like a trip to the shopping center - maliciously-minded readers will note ...

One way or another, there is something important that is designed to distinguish this day from the six others, namely: Sunday classes should be different from everything that we do on other days. It doesn’t matter if we are making chairs, cooking something unusual or getting behind the wheel - in any case, we indulge in activities that take us away from everyday life for this short and blissful time.

Release Sunday

In fact, it turned out very well that Sunday is only part of the weekend. Which starts off rather briskly on Saturday with some unpleasant backlog, continues on a more relaxed Sunday, and ends on a sad Sunday evening. Therefore, in order to enjoy Sunday to the fullest, you need to free yourself from shopping, cleaning, friendliness and children's lessons - in a word, from everything that could not be done in a week. Try to fill the end of Friday and Saturday with these things and unload your day off as much as possible. Otherwise, the sadness of Sunday evening threatens to visit you much earlier ...

Don't demand too much

In fact, while we usually get a little exercise in the morning and a walk with the kids in the afternoon, couple relationships often don't get enough time. “After all, most of all we dream of relaxing at the end of the day, lying, for example, in front of the TV,” the sociologist notes. “And this is hardly compatible with the efforts that partners in a married couple sometimes need to make in order to find a second wind.” As a result, Sunday, which in principle is intended for shared pleasures, brings disappointment, which is the stronger, the less we were ready for it. Meanwhile, the recipe for weekend happiness is simple: reconsider your tasks and moderate your ambitions, because we cannot embrace the immensity. And at the same time, come up with a plan that the whole family will be happy with - one and only, but stick to it strictly!

About it

Ethnologist Jocelyne Bonnet's book "Sunday in Europe" ("Dimanche en Europe", Éditions du Signe, 2003). Panorama and evolution of social traditions across Europe, from Portugal to Poland. A fun stroll through the markets and balls that make this day different from any other.

Most of us consider Sunday a day off when we can relax and do nothing. But in the Church, the attitude towards him is somewhat different. How to spend the seventh day of the week according to the Orthodox tradition, we learn from the cleric of the Nativity of Christ cathedral Uvarovo priest Vladimir Kryuchkov.

- Father Vladimir, tell us, what is the spiritual meaning of Sunday for Orthodox people?

- Sunday takes its origins from the Old Testament (this is the Book of Genesis, the Pentateuch of Moses). It says that when the creation of the world was going on, the Lord left the seventh day as a day of rest. Six days of creation, and on the seventh day the Lord rested from His labors. In addition, on the tablets of the Covenant, which were handed over to the Prophet Moses, were written commandments on how to honor the Sabbath day: “Dedicate the Sabbath day to the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:8-10). Therefore, the Old Testament Sabbath is a type of today's Sunday. We all know that the Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected on this day. And therefore, Sunday is honored by Orthodox Christians as a small Easter, a small Resurrection.

There is an opinion among the people that “nothing can be done” on Sunday, at least until lunch. How, according to the Charter of the Orthodox Church, should Sunday be spent?

This question can be answered by referring to both the Old and New Testaments. Because the Sabbath in the Old Testament time the Jews honored sacredly, but they honored it in such a way that, in the end, it came to the ridiculous. They did nothing, and that was the most important thing for them. Nothing could be done - it was a sin, it was a crime. And what about the New Testament? The Holy Gospel tells how Jesus Christ and His disciples walked through the field, and the disciples were hungry, that is, they wanted to eat. They began to pluck the ears, grind them in their hands and eat. And immediately the Pharisees, who were in the ranks of His disciples, murmured: why are Your disciples doing this on the Sabbath? Saturday is a holy day, nothing can be done, and rubbing the ears, this, in their opinion, was already work. Then the Lord said these words: “Not a man for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath for a man” (Mark 2:27).

Also, many times the Pharisees tried to catch Jesus Christ in the fact that on Saturday He did good deeds: He healed a withered hand, a possessed one. Then He, seeing the deceit of their hearts, once asked: “What do you think? If a man had a hundred sheep and one of them went astray, would he not leave the ninety-nine in the mountains and go looking for the lost one? (Matt. 18, 12) Therefore, to the question - is it possible to heal on Saturday or not, is it possible to do good deeds on Saturday or not, the question, of course, is unequivocal - it is possible.

Father Vladimir, it happens that Sunday, due to work or urgent matters, cannot be freed for visiting the temple, reading holy books, and praying. How, then, to preserve the spirit of Sunday, so as not to forget about its Christian significance?

Of course, our time is very crafty, very fast. And sometimes cases accumulate in six days, not everyone has two days off, but only one - Sunday. And those things that have accumulated over the week, I want to do. All the same, it is necessary to observe Sunday like this: if a person does not have the opportunity to come to the temple, then you need to pray at home, remember the health, repose of your loved ones, read some spiritual books. After that, you can get down to business.

And any business must begin with prayer. Our ancestors always did this, and they managed to do much more than we do. And there was no fuss, and there was no race, in which we all now live voluntarily or involuntarily. The fact is that every business that our grandparents started began with a holy prayer, with God's blessing. And they ended a small or big deed also with a prayer, but already with thanksgiving. Then, taking on another matter, the same thing: "The King of Heaven" was read. And when a person finished the day, he lit a lamp and prayed, read the evening rule, and he had such a feeling, such a feeling that he had spent the whole day in the temple. Because prayer, intertwined with our secular and physical affairs, went on continuously, and the person did two things: he was in social service, did physical things, and at the same time prayed to God, that is, he did spiritual things. We also need to follow this.

- How can you determine that a person correctly fulfills the commandment to keep the Sunday day?

Sunday is given to us, first of all, to honor God. And the second is for relaxation. Because a person, if taken from a physical point of view, will not give himself rest, sooner or later he will break down, become seriously ill, or some other infirmity will visit him. You don’t have to load yourself with big things, but you also don’t have to go from one extreme to the other, because if it’s Sunday, then the Russian soul always strives to roam. You can’t do any outrageous things on this day, remembering that this is the day of the Lord. This day is pious, quiet and holy.

- Father Vladimir, God save you for your advice.

- May the Lord bless you. Goodbye.

On the entire globe, among all peoples, there is no religion without public worship, combined with solemn rites. No one excludes himself from participating in such worship.

And why is it that among Christians, an enlightened people, there is sometimes negligence in worship?

Why do some appear among Christians who seem to be trying to distinguish themselves from their millions of brothers and sisters by not doing what they do? Isn't our faith as holy, as beneficent as the faith of other peoples? Are not our temples able to arouse sublime feelings?

Test yourself, do you think correctly, are your reasons smart? Is it not from a lack of pious feelings that the holy and beautiful seem to you empty, dead, superfluous? Is it not out of vanity that you want to appear smarter in front of some people?

You say: "They would laugh at me when I went to church, they would call me a hypocrite."

So, vanity keeps you from fulfilling the office that you are obliged to fulfill before people. Let you be more learned than they are, you know more than they, so that you can learn little new in the church; but when you think that you are being looked at, that you are revered, why are you setting a bad example for them? ..

You say: “Yes, I can pray on Sunday at home as well as in church.”

Yes, it's true, you can; but will you pray? Are you always up for it? Are household chores distracting you?

Sunday is a holy day for all Christians.

Thousands of peoples in thousands of languages ​​glorify God on this day and pray before His throne, and only you stand like an idol, as if you do not belong to the great sacred Family.

When the solemn ringing of bells was heard from the bell towers of churches, did it not sometimes reach your heart? Haven't you often thought he was saying, "Why do you exclude yourself from Christian society?" When your gaze, wandering without thought through the gloomy vault of the temple, saw in the distance the font in which you were initiated into Christianity as a baby; when you saw the place in the temple where you first communed the Holy Mysteries of Christ, when you saw the place where you were married, didn’t all this make the temple more sacred for you?!

If you didn't feel anything here, then my word to you is in vain.

The establishment of the observance of Sunday is worthy of all respect. The Mohammedan considers Holy Friday, the Jew considers Saturday, the Christian every Sunday remembers the Resurrection of Christ - the Savior of the world.

Sunday is the Lord's day, that is, the day of rest for all Christians from work and work. The farmer's plow is resting, the workshops are quiet, the schools are closed. Every state, every rank shakes off the dust of everyday life and puts on festive clothes. No matter how unimportant, at first glance, these outward signs of respect for the day of the Lord, nevertheless, have a strong effect on the feelings of a person. He internally becomes more cheerful, contented; and rest from weekly labors brings him to God. Destroy the resurrection and public worship, and in a few years you will live to the savagery of the nations. A person oppressed by worldly concerns or motivated to work out of self-interest will rarely find a moment to seriously think about his high appointment. Then such a person will not act justly. Everyday activities entertain the feeling, and Sunday gathers it again. On this day, everything is silent and at rest, only the doors of the temple are open. Although a person is not disposed to pious reflection, in a large assembly of Christians he will not be carried away by the power of example. We see hundreds and thousands of people gathered around us, with whom we live in one place and experience a common native land joy and sadness, happiness and unhappiness; we see around us those who, sooner or later, carry our coffin to the grave, mourning us.

We all stand before God here as members of one big family. Here, nothing separates us: the tall one is next to the low one, the poor prays next to the rich one. Here we are all children of the eternal Father.

Look, the ancient Christians treated Sunday and other feast days as days that were primarily designated for the service of God. Their reverence was combined with reverence for the temple as a place of God's special grace-filled presence on earth (Mat. 21:13; 18:20). And that is why the ancient Christians usually spent holidays in the temple of God, in public worship.

One Sunday, the Christians of Troy, when the Apostle Paul was with them, gathered as usual for public prayer. The apostle Paul offered a lesson to the congregation that lasted until midnight. Candles were lit, and the apostle continued his holy discourse.

One young man named Eutychus, sitting at the open window and poorly listening to the Word of God, fell asleep and fell out of the window from the third floor. Sleepy was raised dead. However, the pious assembly was not upset. Paul descended and fell on him, and embracing him, said, Don't worry, for his soul is in him. And having gone up, and having broken bread and eaten, he talked enough, even until dawn, and then he went out. In the meantime, the lad was brought alive, and they were much comforted (Acts 20:7-12).

The very persecution of those who profess the name of Christ did not cool the zeal of Christians for public Divine services during the holidays.

In Mesopotamia, in the city of Edessa, the emperor Valens, infected with the Arian heresy, ordered to lock up Orthodox churches so that worship would not take place in them. Christians began to gather outside the city in the fields to listen to the Divine Liturgy. When Valens found out about this, he ordered to put to death all Christians who would gather there in advance. The head of the city Modest, to whom this command was given, out of compassion, secretly informed Orthodox Christians about this in order to turn them away from meetings and threatening death; but the Christians did not cancel their gatherings, and on the following Sunday they appeared in greater numbers for corporate prayer. The chief, passing through the city to perform his duty, saw one woman, dressed neatly, although poorly, who hastily left her house, did not even bother to lock the doors, and was carrying a baby with her. He guessed that this was an Orthodox Christian woman hurrying to the meeting, and stopping, he asked her:

Where are you hurrying?

At a meeting of the Orthodox, - answered the wife.

But don't you know that everyone gathered there will be put to death?

I know, and therefore I hasten, so as not to be late in receiving the martyr's crown.

But why are you bringing a baby with you?

In order for him to participate in the same bliss (“Christian reading”, part 48).

Public worship represents to us the original state of all mortals. It inclines the proud to humility, the oppressed to cheerfulness. Only the church and death equalize people before God.

Sinners can only find peace in the temple; only here do the life-giving streams of the Holy Mysteries exude, having the power to purify the conscience; here a propitiatory sacrifice is offered, which alone can quench justice.

But if neither this spectacle of those praying can arouse reverence in you, nor solemn singing, then imagine that on the same day and hour, on the far side of the earth, every Christian prays; imagine that countless nations are praying with you; even where a Christian ship rushes along the waves of a distant ocean, singing and glorifying God are heard over the abyss of the sea. How? And you alone on this day can be silent! You alone do not want to take part in the glorification of the Creator!

“In the churches there is a nationwide prayer, but while the priest raises his hands and prays for those who are coming, while he cries out to God for the salvation of the soul, how many participate in these prayers with attention and reverence? Alas! Instead of our prayers supposed to return to us the red days of rest and bring down peace from heaven to earth, the days of misfortune still continue; times of confusion and destruction do not cease; war and atrocity, apparently, have forever settled between people. The lamenting wife languishes with grief over the unknown fate of her husband; a sad father waits in vain for the return of his son; brother is separated from his brother ... ”(Selected words of Massillon, vol. 2, p. 177.) Imagine: in the place where you stand in the church, your grandchildren, your descendants, will once stand and pray, when you and will not be here - they will still remember you!

Perhaps the place on which you are now standing will be watered more than once by the tears of your family, remembering you. Can you, after these memories, be indifferent in the temple of God? Remembering all this, you will involuntarily be carried away by the lofty goal to which public worship is destined.

Say no more: “I can pray to God even in a solitary room; Why else should I go to church?” - No, these feelings, this inspiration can only be delivered to you by the temple of God. The Word of God is preached in the church from the elevated pulpit. Beliefs and examples penetrate your soul. Let the sermon not always be in accordance with your real needs, let it not produce in you the edification that you desired; but it had an effect on others; it is useful to others. Why are you dissatisfied with this? Is it possible for all parishioners to find all this important and entertaining? The day will come when your soul will have a word. If the sermon was not useful to you, then you yourself have benefited by your example. You were in church, so you didn't seduce anyone.

To all these inner dispositions of the soul, which the sanctity of the temple requires, one must also add a specious appearance, simplicity and decency in clothes. Why are these magnificent outfits in the house of prayer and weeping? Are you going to the temple in order to distract from Jesus Christ the eyes and tenderness of those who worship Him? Do you come to swear at the shrine of the Mysteries, trying to trap and corrupt hearts even at the foot of the altar on which these Mysteries are offered? Do you really want that no place on earth, not even the temple itself - a refuge of faith and piety - could protect innocence from your shameful and voluptuous nakedness? How little does the world have for you in spectacles, how few merry gatherings where you boast of being a stumbling block to your neighbors? Is it necessary to desecrate the shrine of the temple with your outrage?

Oh! If you, entering the halls of the king, show the respect that you owe to the majesty of the royal presence, by the propriety and importance of your attire, will you appear to the Lord of heaven and earth without fear, without decency, without chastity? You confuse the faithful, who hoped to find a peaceful refuge here from all vain things; break the reverence of the servants of the altar with the obscenity of your decorations, offending the purity of your eyes, deepened in heaven (selected words of Massillon, vol. 2, p. 182).

But not one hour in church should be devoted to God, but the whole Sunday day. The day of the Lord is a day of rest. On this day you must leave all your ordinary occupations; your body must rest, and the spirit must gather with renewed strength. After resting, you will be more cheerful and diligently set to work again. Let your family rest too. You must calm down from everything except good deeds. Always hasten to help where the extreme need of your neighbor calls you; beneficence is the most beautiful divine service.

Leaving your weekly studies, take a divine book and read edifying stories to yourself, or have someone read aloud Holy Bible while others are listening intently. Thus, Sunday will indeed be the day of the Lord, that is, consecrated to the Lord. These pious conversations will cheer you up. You will become the best person You will find more consolation on the day of misfortune, you will act more prudently in merry hours, and you will always remember God with greater joy.

But this, however, does not mean that on Sunday you are constantly engaged in pious reflections, leaving all pleasures and amusements. No, man has a certain measure of strength. Go and have fun, but only then run away from amusements when they turn into violence, give rise to quarrels, lead to sin and temptation.

And here are some examples from the Holy Tradition of how God punishes those people who do not honor holidays.

On the feast day of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, deeply revered by all Orthodox, a certain poor woman worked in her hut during mass, when all good Christians prayed in church. For this, God's punishment befell her. During her studies, the holy martyrs Boris and Gleb suddenly appear to her and say menacingly: “Why are you working on the feast of St. Nicholas! Do you not know how angry the Lord is with those who do not honor His holy saints?

The wife died of fear, and after a while, having come to her senses, she saw herself lying in the middle of a suddenly broken hut. Thus, her poverty was increased by homelessness and a serious illness that lasted a whole month. But that was not the end of her punishment. During her illness, her hand dried up, which for three years was incurable and did not allow her to get to work. The rumor about miracles taking place at the relics of saints Boris and Gleb, inspired her with the hope of healing; determined not to work on holidays, she went to the miraculous relics and was healed (Thursday, May 2).

In close proximity lived two tailors who knew each other well. One of them had a large family: a wife, children, an elderly father and mother; but he was pious, went daily to the divine service, believing that after fervent prayer any work would go more successfully. He never went to work on holidays. And indeed, his labors were always rewarded, and although he was not famous for the art in his craft, he not only lived enough, but still had an excess.

Meanwhile, another tailor had no family, was very skilled in his work, worked much more than his neighbor, sat at work on Sundays and other holidays, and during the hours of the festive divine service he sat at his sewing, so about the Church of God he didn't even have a trace; however, his strenuous labors were not successful and barely delivered him his daily bread. Once, prompted by envy, this tailor says to his pious neighbor: “How did you get rich from your labors, while you work less and have a larger family than I do. For me, this is incomprehensible and even suspicious! ..” The good neighbor knew about the impiety of his neighbor and, pitying him, decided to take this opportunity to reason with him.

Speaking about the pious spending of festive days, one cannot help but notice about pastime in general. Prayer, like all good deeds, is not the exclusive property of Sunday and feast days. Our whole life should be accompanied by prayer and good deeds. Let us not be embarrassed by the imaginary incompatibility of deeds of piety and prayer with worldly occupations on duty; one can ascend prayerfully to God in the midst of the very worries about the means of temporal life.

Blessed Jerome says the following about the contemporary Bethlehem farmers: “In Bethlehem, apart from psalmody, silence reigns; wherever you turn, you hear how an oratay sings hallelujah behind a plow, how a reaper drenched in sweat is engaged in psalmody, and a vinedresser, cutting grapes with a crooked knife, sings something from David. (Memorial of the ancient church, part 2, p. 54.) A touching picture! This is how we ought to spend our time in the midst of our daily activities! And why not sing to God at any time, in any place, if not with your voice, then with your mind and heart!

“Every place and every time,” says St. John Chrysostom, “is convenient for us to pray. If your heart is free from impure passions, then wherever you are: whether at the marketplace, on the way, in court, at sea, in a hotel or in a workshop - you can pray to God everywhere. (Conversation 30 on the book of Genesis.)

One day, neighboring hermits came to a certain holy elder for a word of edification. But these hermits, like many of us, did not understand how it was possible to combine the unceasing prayer commanded by the apostle with the affairs of life. The holy elder enlightened them on this in the following way. After a mutual greeting, the holy elder asks the visitors:

How do you spend your time? What are your activities?

We do nothing, do nothing handmade but according to the commandment of the apostle we pray unceasingly.

How is it? Do you not eat brasna and strengthen your strength with sleep? But how do you pray when you eat food or sleep? - asked the old man of the aliens.

But they did not know what to answer to this, and they did not want to admit that, therefore, they did not pray without ceasing. Then the old man said to them:

But praying without ceasing is very simple. The apostle did not say his word in vain. And I, according to the word of the apostle, pray without ceasing, doing needlework. For example, while weaving baskets from reeds, I read aloud and to myself:

Have mercy on me, God - the whole psalm, I read other prayers. So, spending the whole day in labor and prayer, I manage to earn some money and give half of it to the poor, and use the other for my own needs. When my body requires reinforcement with food or sleep, at this time the lack of my prayer is filled by the prayers of those to whom I gave alms from my labors. In this way, with the help of God, I pray, according to the word of the apostle, without ceasing.

(“Honourable Tales of the Ascetic St. Fathers”, 134).

Saint Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh, says about prayer: “Prayer does not only consist in standing and bowing with the body before God and reading prayers written; but even without that, it is possible to pray with the mind and spirit at any time and in any place. You can walk, sit, lie down, go by, sitting at the table, doing business, in the people and in solitude, raise both your mind and heart to God, and so ask Him for mercy and help. God is everywhere and in every place, and the doors to Him are always open, and access to Him is convenient, not like to a person, and everywhere, always, out of His philanthropy, He is ready to listen to us and help us. Everywhere and always, and at any time, and in every need and case, we can approach Him with faith and our prayer, we can everywhere say to Him with our mind: “Lord, have mercy, Lord, help!” (“Instruction on the Duty of a Christian,” p. 20.)

Sunday prayer time, according to the charter of our Holy Church, does not begin in the morning of the weekday (that is, on Sunday), as we think, but on Saturday evening. Before the solar setting of the Sabbath day, says the church charter on its first line, there is a good news for Vespers. This Vespers does not refer to Saturday, but to Sunday. Therefore, Sunday reading, or at least Sunday thoughts and feelings, should begin with a Christian before sunset on the Sabbath day. We Orthodox have a great many holy churches in towns and villages; they are tall and magnificent, they rise like an earthly paradise for pious people and like a Last Judgment for the wicked.

Every Saturday you hear, and you cannot but hear the gospel for Sunday evening. But have you thought at least once that this evening ringing of the bell on Saturday announces to you and all Christians the end of your six-day fuss and the beginning of memory and thoughts about the truth of the very important, very deep - about the resurrection?

I know that the ringing of the evening bell in crowded cities is often heard as in deserted deserts. Therefore, I remind you and say: the voice of the temple bell is an inexorable accuser of your life, if you hear it, but do not listen; if, because of his cry, on the Sabbath you do not take up the work that is fitting for the day and for the thought of Sunday.

As soon as the sun sets, it is not enough, - it is said in the 2nd chapter of the church charter, - another gospel begins all-night vigil and Sunday morning.

I will ask you: “What are you doing during this second evangelism? Maybe you are sitting at the card table, or scouring other people's houses, otherwise you are reading a poster for tomorrow's performance? You are lost with your heads, proud of the youth of this century! Saying be wise obyurodesha.

Ask at least the church bell ringer what to do during the evangelism for the Sunday Vigil. He will tell you: “When I slowly strike the big bell, I quietly sing the Immaculate or the 50th Psalm twenty times.

Immaculate we call the God-wise and great 118th psalm. It begins with the words: "Blessed are the blameless in the way that walks in the law of the Lord," and ends with the verse: "I have gone astray like a lost ram." Do not joke, this psalm will be sung or read at your burial; but what good is it to you if, during your lifetime, you will not heed him both in thought and in deed, if you spend your whole life in vain!

Psalm 50 is David's most tearful repentance. Why don't you read this confession? Maybe you are smarter than King David, more righteous than him, and therefore you don’t want to cleanse your weekly and daily sins with his prayer? It has become a custom among us to consider ourselves smarter than all times and peoples; but this is our only pride; by this we only show that we did not have a true mind, and even now we do not.

Listen further. Our all-night service, hours, liturgy open up a number of profound truths for pious reflection of a Christian, and many scriptures for pious reading. Beginning with the creation of the world, the divine service takes a Christian through all past and future ages, everywhere tells him the great deeds and destinies of God, stops only at the doors of eternity and tells you what awaits you there. You will not follow me through the whole series of divine truths - out of laziness; Therefore, I will only point out to you the general and main thing that you should pay attention to on Sundays.

The composition of the Sunday service primarily includes the Word of God - these are psalms, sometimes proverbs, the Gospel and the apostles. When do you read the holy Bible?

At the very least, do you read passages from it that are designated by the Church for Sundays?

Read! This is not your newspaper, not a theater poster - this is the word of your God - or the Savior, or the terrible Judge.

Read. I'm not afraid of your objections that this is old. If you were smarter, you would be satisfied with one word: old, useful and holy, better than new, useless and windy. But I will honestly ask you: what do you know of the old?.. If you know nothing or very little, then why judge it? You say: "A lot to read." No, the daily lesson for this or that Sunday, appointed by the Church from the Bible and from the works of the Holy Fathers, is very small, it is not even enough for an hour.

The composition of Sunday worship includes New Testament hymns and prayers, such as stichera, canons, and so on. If you don't read them at home, do you even listen to them in God's temple? Listen and reflect. Here's what they teach you:

1) The death and resurrection of our Savior is your own death and resurrection, in this life - spiritual, in the future - bodily, the fate of the whole human race and the whole world, heaven and hell, judgment and eternity. Do you read pious writings on these and similar subjects? Read, for God's sake read, because you must die, and you will certainly rise again. Why do you live only for today? If you are smart, then tell me: what is the name of that animal that does not think, does not want or does not know how to think about its future?

2) Sometimes on Sundays there are feasts of the Lord and the Theotokos. Each holiday is a special book about this or that great work of God, revealed and explained in many holy and God-wise writings. Do you read such scriptures? Read; otherwise there are no bright holidays for your soul in the Christian world.

3) There are holidays and commemorations of the holy saints of God. How many sacred stories do you know? I think which ones I knew and those I forgot. Read at least the lives of those saints whose memory falls on Sundays; even in this way you would have collected a lot of pious information, and believe me, you would have become more sedate and kinder. At least for the sake of Sundays, give up for a while your secular books and stories, behind which you spend your nights without sleep, and take up the Prologue or the Cheti-Minei.

So here you are, Christian, Sunday reading. I have said and pointed to many things. If you want, listen and do it, if you don't want it, it's your business. But you are lost if you do not do anything, and what I say to you so bravely, do not be angry.

Martyr Justin left us a precious monument of how the leading Christians spent Sunday. Here are his words: “On the day dedicated by the pagans to the sun, and we call it the day of the Lord, we all gather in one place in cities and villages, we read from the prophetic and apostolic writings as much as the time appointed for Divine services allows; at the end of the reading, the primate offers a lesson, the content of which is taken from what was read before this; then we all rise in our places and together say prayers not only for ourselves, but also for others, whoever they may be, and conclude the prayers with a brotherly greeting and kissing each other.

After this, the primate takes bread, wine and water and, having given praise to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, thanks God for these gifts with which He has generousd us, and all the people proclaim: "Amen." Then the deacons divide the consecrated bread, wine and water among the faithful present and refer them to those who are absent. We accept these gifts, - says the martyr further, - not as ordinary food and drink, but as the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. At the end of this sacred meal, the rich allocate alms from their excess, and the primate distributes it to widows, sick, prisoners, strangers, and in general to all poor brethren ”(“ Resurrect, Read. ”, 1838, p. 266).

I never want to offend God on the Lord's day; I never want to defile myself with bad behavior that day. I must glorify the Lord not only with my mouth, but also with deed and will. And especially such great holidays as the Nativity of Christ, Easter, the Holy Trinity, should be dedicated to serving the Lord with complete reverence and held in Christian piety.

Your Holy Spirit, O God, enter my heart as I stand in the temple! Where can it be more joyful for us than there, in Your presence? Where do I feel more vividly both Your greatness and our insignificance, if not where the rich and the poor pray next to me, bowing before You? Where, besides Your temple, can anything remind me that we are only mortal children of the Heavenly Father? Let that place be a sanctuary for me, where your ancestors worshiped you and where my descendants will also turn to you!

In the temple, the voice of grace strikes my ears from everywhere. I hear, Jesus, Your words, and my heart silently ascends to You. There You are my Guide and Comforter; there I, redeemed by Thee, may well rejoice in Thy love; there I learn to be devoted to You (priest N. Uspensky).

the day on which the Christian Church since the time of the apostles (Acts, xx, 7; I Cor., xvi, 2; Apocalypse, i, 10) celebrates the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ (Mark, xvi, 1-6). This day, following the Sabbath of the Jews, was the first day in their week on which the resurrection of the Savior followed, which gave reason to move the celebration from Saturday, the day of God's rest after the creation of the world, to V. - the day of its re-creation. V. is otherwise called the one from Saturdays (Luke, XXIV, 1), the first Saturday (Mark, XVI, 9) and the day of the week (Apoc., I, 10). Some of the V. days contain a double solemnity, which are V. Light, or Easter day Pentecost, V. palm- flower week Team V.- week of Orthodoxy. See related words.

• - the day on which the Christian Church from the time of the apostles celebrates the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ ...
• - weekly illustrated magazine to read in Christian family- has been published in Moscow since 1887; publisher-editor priest S. Ya. Uvarov ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

• - folk illustration, published in St. Petersburg. weekly since 1863; ed. A. O. Bauman; editor V. R. Zotov. The purpose of the publication was to give a cheap illustrated magazine for a poor average readership ...

  Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Euphron

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• - SUNDAY, -I, kind. pl. -ny, cf. Seventh day of the week, common day of rest...

  Dictionary Ozhegov

• - SUNDAY, Sunday, Sunday. adj. by Sunday. Sunday day. || Committed, happening, working on Sunday, on Sundays. Sunday rest. Sunday University...

  Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

• - Sunday adj. 1. ratio with noun. Sunday associated with it 2. Peculiar to Sunday, characteristic of it. 3. Held on Sundays, timed to coincide with Sunday. 4...

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