Church holidays in October: descriptions and dates of religious events, calendar

Main church October holidays

Among the holidays in the calendar there are important religious dates, which believers treat with special reverence. The 8th is the day of the repose of St. Sergius of Radonezh. He is the founder of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. The 9th is the day of the repose of the Apostle John the Theologian, the beloved disciple of Christ, one of the compilers of the Gospel.

The most significant holiday of the month is the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is celebrated on October 14th. On this day, the Orthodox Church remembers an event that occurred in the 10th century in the Blachernae Church of the city of Constantinople.

During the church service, Andrei the Fool was awarded the great mercy of God.

He saw the Virgin Mary appear in the temple and begin to pray with everyone. The Mother of God spread her omophorion over the believers, which became a symbol of protection for all Christians.

October month

The martyr Areva was the ruler of the city of Negran, in Arabia, and lived in the 6th century. This city was under the rule of the Omirite king Dunaan. Dunaan professed the Jewish faith. He hated Christians and wanted to destroy Christianity and introduce the Jewish faith in his kingdom and issued a decree about this. The city of Negran was already Christian, and therefore the royal decree remained here without effect. Upon learning of this, Dunaan besieged Negran. It would not have taken him long to take the well-fortified city if he had not deceived the citizens. Dunaan swore an oath that he would not force citizens to convert to Judaism, but he came for the usual tribute. The inhabitants of Negran believed and allowed the king into the city. But he violated his oath: he imprisoned many of the citizens, and burned the priests, clerics, monks, nuns and virgins who dedicated themselves to serving God, numbering 427 people, at the stake. Then he sent his preachers around the city to convert everyone to Judaism, and he himself called the citizens from prison and began to talk with them, especially with Arefa. “What kind of madness is it to believe in the Crucified One as God? – said Arefa Dunaan. “Can someone without a body be born and die immortal?” “We believe,” answered Arefa, “that humanity suffered in Christ, and suffered for our human sins.” Dunaan ordered the wives and children of the holy martyrs, who were in prison with Arefa, to be brought in, and began to persuade them with affection to become Jews. But they all firmly held to their faith in Christ. Then Dunaan put them all to death and then again turned to Arefa, inclining him to renounce Christ; but Arefa, reproaching the king for breaking his oath and predicting his overthrow from the throne, replied: “I consider myself blessed that the Lord sends me, a 95-year-old old man, a martyr’s crown.” Then he addressed the people with the words: “You, my brothers, have to choose one of two: either obey the king and receive life from him, or resist him and suffer death.” The people answered: “We all want to die for Christ.” The angry king condemned everyone with Arefa to be beheaded by the sword. This happened in 523.

The martyr Synklitikia with her two daughters suffered in the 6th century from the king of Omirite in Arabia, Dunaan. This king was a zealot of the Jewish faith, he persuaded his subjects to this faith. St. Synklitikia came from a noble family. Having been widowed at a young age, she dedicated herself to Christ, despite the fact that many sought her hand in marriage, since she was very rich and beautiful. King Dunaan, having learned about Synklitikia, demanded her to come to him with his daughters, convinced her to leave, as he put it, madness - calling God the One who was crucified on the cross, and promised to take her to the palace to the queen. “And you, king, are not afraid to slander the One who gave you the royal crown and even life itself?” - answered Syncletikia. “You want to seduce me with honors, but they are nothing to me. I will be crazy if I agree to live with the enemies of Christ.” The king ordered Synklitikia and her daughters to be led through the city in dishonor. Women, seeing the dishonor of St. martyrs wept; but she told them that for her this reproach was dearer than any earthly honor. “If you want to stay alive, renounce Christ,” Dunaan told Synklitikia when they brought her to him again. - “If I renounce, then who will save me from eternal death?” - answered the saint. Dunaan was angry and ordered to first kill the daughters of Syncletiki and give her their blood to drink, and then cut off the head of the mother herself.

St. Athanasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, lived at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th centuries; He came from Andrianople, from noble and pious parents. In my childhood I did not like to indulge in games, but devoted myself to prayer and reading. When he got older, he made friends only with friends from whom he could learn good things. Having heeded the words of the gospel: whoever loves father or mother more than Me is unworthy of Me, he secretly left home. He walked around the monasteries of Mount Athos, learning the ascetic life. Then he labored in various monasteries and everywhere acquired the love and respect of the brethren. In the monastery of St. Lazarus of St. Athanasius accepted the schema and was elevated to the rank of priest. here one day he heard a voice from the face of the Savior: “Because you love Me, Athanasius, you will shepherd My people.” Rumors about the holy life of Athanasius reached the pious king John Kantakouzenos, and he wished to elevate the saint to the throne of patriarch. St. denied for a long time. Athanasius, considering himself unworthy of such a great rank; but when they told him: “The Church is calling you to help against her enemies, and if you do not listen to her, you will answer to God on the day of judgment,” he agreed. Having become an archpastor, St. Afanasy zealously served. He strongly denounced all those who deviate from the right path, sparing neither the nobles, nor the rich, nor even the king himself; He punished those who disobeyed with penances, and through this he soon made many enemies. They began to ask the king for another patriarch, a more lenient one. At first, the emperor ignored the wishes of Athanasius’ opponents; but finally, so as not to disturb the peace, he told the patriarch that he was dismissing him. “Sire,” answered Athanasius, “I did not accept high dignity on my own and not in order to indulge human passions, but in order to reprove and correct. Every shepherd who does not rebuke those who sin is subject to terrible condemnation.” Place of St. The virtuous John stood up for Athanasius. But in his meekness and simplicity he was unable to fight the enemies of the Church, and therefore, unable to bear the reproaches of his conscience for the weakness of his government, he resigned his rank, and then they forcibly took St. Athanasius from the monastery and with great honor handed him the patriarchal staff. But the enemies of St. Athanasius did not stop even now from cunning against him. Then St. Afanasy himself already left the patriarchal see and devoted himself to a solitary life. “Why did you leave the sheep without a shepherd?” – the Lord once told him during his prayer. I Myself was crucified with love for the salvation of the world, and you, like a fearful warrior, left My Church!” St. Athanasius weepingly asked the Lord for forgiveness for his cowardice and began to lead his life even more strictly. He was awarded the gift of miracles during his lifetime. He died when he was 100 years old.

The Monk Arefa labored in the Kiev-Pechersk monastery. At first he was obsessed with the sin of stinginess. Having a lot of money, he not only did not give alms, but even denied himself extreme needs. One day, thieves stole money from Arefn, and he almost took his own life. But the Lord Himself, during his illness, enlightened him with a vision. St. Arefa spoke about this vision like this. “When I was lying sick, angels came to my cell, followed by demons. The demons say that I did not glorify, but blasphemed God for the loss of money, and therefore should belong to them. Then the angels turned to me and said: “If you had thanked God for the property stolen from you, then it would have been counted to you as alms, as it once was to Job, because patiently enduring a loss is tantamount to voluntarily giving alms.” When the angels told me this, I repented, saying: “Lord, have mercy! Yours was what I lost, and I don’t regret it.” After that, Arefa completely changed, so that everyone was surprised at his change, and he became a recluse. In seclusion, he died around 1200. His imperishable relics rest in the Kiev-Pechersk Cave.

Blessed Elezboi was the king of Ethiopia. When the Omirite king Dunaan persecuted and destroyed Christians, he could not bear this indifferently and went to war against him to take revenge on him for the Christians. At first, Elezvoy's campaign was unsuccessful. According to instructions from above, he turned to one recluse, and he accused the saint of taking vengeance on himself, instead of God, who says: Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, and in order to avoid greater punishment and have success in the war with Dunaan, advised him to make a vow to devote the last days of his life to God. Elezvoy made a vow and, going against the enemy of Christ, defeated him and even took him prisoner and executed him. After the victory of St. Elezva, he left the throne and secluded himself in a cell at a nearby monastery, spending 15 years in strict abstinence and asceticism. Died around 550

The celebration of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Joy of All Who Sorrow” was established in 1688 on the following occasion. The sister of Patriarch Joachim suffered greatly from a wound in her side. While praying to the Most Holy Theotokos for healing, she heard a voice: “Euphemia! Why don’t you resort to the Healer common to all?” - “Where can I find such a healer?” – asked Euphemia. The voice answered: “There is My image in the Church of the Transfiguration of My Son, “Joy to all who mourn.” Call the local priest, and when he serves a prayer service with the blessing of water, your illness will pass.” Euphemia did this and received healing. The icon is located in Moscow, on Ordynka. In 1888, on July 23, another Sorrowful Icon was glorified in St. Petersburg in a chapel near a glass factory. During a terrible thunderstorm, lightning struck the chapel, burned the inside of it, but did not touch the icon, and it, as if renewed, went down to the floor, and 12 coins from a completely broken mug stuck to it in different directions. In 1890, a terminally ill boy and woman were healed with this icon.

Angel Days and Name Days in October

Name days are a long-standing Christian tradition. They are celebrated on the day of remembrance of the saint, whose name a person receives during baptism. The heavenly patron becomes a protector for the rest of his life. On the day of the angel, every believer prays to his saint for intercession before the Lord.

This month the name day is celebrated by:

1 – Sofia, Ariadne, Irina, Castor, Evmeniy;
2 – Theodore, Trofim, Konstantin, Alexy, Igor, Savvaty, David;
3 – Oleg, Mikhail, Feodor;
4 – Daniel, Joseph, Dimitri, Hypatiy, Andrey;
5 – Foka, Ion, Paraskeva, Peter, Macarius;
6 – John, Innocent, Andrew, Peter, Iraida;
7 – Nikandr, Thekla, Galaktion, Vladislav;
8 – Sergius, Euphrosyne, Dosithea, Germanus, Paphnutius;
9 – John, Tryphon, Ephraim;
10 – Peter, Aristarchus, Mark, Callistratus, Savvaty, Ignatius;
11 – Khariton, Alexander, Vyacheslav, Zosima, Kirill, Maria;
12 – Theophanes, Kyriakos;
13 – Mikhail, Gregory;
14 – Roman, Savva, Ananiy;
15 – Anna, Justina, David, Cyprian, Andrew, Theodore, Constantine, Theoktist;
16 – John, Dionysius;
17 – Vladimir, Peter, Stefan, Gury, Domnina, Pavel, Virinea, Eusebius;
18 – Macarius, Innocent, Tikhon, Peter, Jonah, Photius, Philaret, Philip, Matthew, Dionysius, Kharitina;
19 – Ap. Thomas;
20 – Sergius, Julian, Bacchus, Pelagia, Jonah;
21 – Tryphon, Taisiya, Dositheus, Pelagia;
22 – Maxim, Athanasius, Jacob, Andronicus, Abraham;
23 – Andrey, Evlampius, Ambrose, Theophilus, Vassian, Evlampia;
24 – Leo, Zinaida, Philip, Filinila, Theophanes;
25 – Martin, Dominica, Andronik, Cosma, Nikolai;
26 – Karp, Veniamin, Nikita, Zlata;
27 – Paraskeva, Nikola, Nazariy;
28 – John, Lucian, Efimy;
29 – Longinus;
30 – Andrey, Anthony, Domian, Lazarus, Cosmas, Leonty;
31– Luke, Joseph, Marina, Juliana, Zlata.

Three parts of the Nativity Fast

Monastic tradition divides winter fasting into three parts.

Part 1 of the post. November 28 - December 19. The softest part of the post. According to the monastic tradition, dry eating is practiced on Wednesday and Friday, on Monday - hot food without oil, and fish is allowed on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The laity usually replaces dry eating with hot food without oil these days.

Part 2 of the post. December 20 - January 1. The middle part of the post is stricter than the first. Fish is only available on weekends, and on Tuesday and Thursday there is hot food with butter. This is in the monastic tradition, but in the secular tradition, most often everything is the same as in the first half of Lent.

Part 3 of the post. January 2-6. The strictest part of the fast. You can’t eat fish at all anymore, there’s only one hungry day. For the worldly tradition, days of dry eating appear (Wednesday and Friday).

What is the Orthodox calendar

The church calendar is not a simple recollection during the year of historical events from the earthly life of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and the saints. The calendar year is a period of a Christian’s life, during which he is called by the Church to ascend a new step of the spiritual ladder, leading us to heaven to God Himself, through His Son, calling each of us to divine perfection:

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). “For this reason God came down to earth, so that he may lead us to heaven,” says the church hymn. “For this purpose God became man,” wrote the ancient saints, “so that man would become deified,” that is, become “god by grace.”

Every year the Church instructs its children on the path of spiritual perfection with a centuries-old system of holidays, fasts, and the entire structure of its divine services - daily, weekly (weekly) and annual circles. These three circles of worship constitute the essence of church holidays and the Orthodox calendar.

In Orthodoxy, every time of day and every day of the week is dedicated to the prayerful remembrance of a special Divine providence for the salvation of mankind (for example, on Wednesday we remember how Judas conspired with the high priests to betray Christ to them, on Friday - the crucifixion of the Lord, on Sunday - His rising from the dead). Throughout the year, every day in churches there is a prayerful memory of one of God's saints: prophets, apostles, martyrs, saints, righteous people, blessed ones - those who with their lives showed us an example of serving God and our neighbors, an example of achieving the perfection commanded to us by the Lord. In addition, there are also annual holidays in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother. Therefore, in the Church, every day of the year is a holiday - small, medium or great.

Christmas Eve

January 6, the day before Christmas, is called Christmas Eve. It is necessary to refuse food until the evening, before the appearance of the first stars. It's good that it gets dark very early in January. You need to break your fast with a special porridge, sochivom, which is the name given to grains of wheat or other grains boiled in honey. The simplest version of sochiv is rice with dried fruits.

Rice juice

1 cup rice 50 g raisins 50 g prunes 50 g dried apricots 50 g almonds 3 tbsp. l. honey

Step 1. Rinse the rice, add cold water and bring to a boil. Step 2. Drain in a colander and rinse again with cold water. Then pour in 1.5 cups of cold water and cook until tender without removing the lid. Step 3. Steam dried fruits in hot water (15-20 minutes). Chop prunes and dried apricots. Crush the almonds. Step 4. If all the water has not boiled away, drain it and cool the rice. Step 5. Add dried fruits, honey and nuts to the rice.