"Save me, God!".
Thank you for visiting our website, before you start studying the information, please subscribe to our Orthodox community on Instagram, Lord, Save and Preserve † - https://www.instagram.com/spasi.gospodi/. The community has more than 60,000 subscribers. There are many of us like-minded people and we are growing quickly, we post prayers, sayings of saints, prayer requests, and timely post useful information about holidays and Orthodox events... Subscribe. Guardian Angel to you!
From the Bible we know that there were seven days and on each day the Lord worked miracles. He left only one day for rest. Many people ask the question of how to spend Sunday as an Orthodox Christian? The answer is that you can work on this day, but first of all, this work must be spiritual. That is why it is worth dedicating it to God and establishing a connection with him that could have weakened due to constant bustle. Many priests recommend spending the day in prayer, visiting church and worship, and reading spiritual literature.
Working shifts on weekends
God's third commandment is that Sunday is a holy day and that it must be respected. But in order to go on a night shift, some people do not attend church on this day. The clergy explain that the highest respect is required by a person who was created in God's likeness. Therefore, not attending church on a weekend because you have to go to work cannot in any way be considered a sin.
Orthodox Life
Archpriest Vladimir Rovinsky knows the answer.
A significant part of our fellow citizens try to respect religious holidays and spend them... in idleness. And almost everyone lives by the principle: “You can’t work on holidays, but if you really need to, then you can!” Every more or less advanced “admirer” of holidays finds justification for himself in the Bible. What does Scripture really say?
In the Old Testament, in the Book of Exodus, we read: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy; Six days you shall work and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:8). As we see, we are talking about the fact that the Lord commands one of the seven days of the week to be a day of rest (Saturday - Hebrew “Sabbath”, Russian “day of rest”), which God Himself “blessed” and “sanctified” (Ex. 20 :eleven). In the biblical Book of Deuteronomy we once again hear the reminder: “Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Deut. 5:12). This means that not only the Creator sanctified the seventh day of the week, but we must also keep it holy. Among the week, the sanctified day for us Christians was, first of all, the day when Christ rose from the dead - that’s why we call it “resurrection.”
However, all the rules for celebrating this day also apply to holidays, as was the case in the Old Testament. What should be the difference between a weekday and a Sunday or holiday? The fourth Commandment of the Old Testament itself already contains the answer.
Let’s read it again: “Six days you shall work and do all your work.” The Lord emphasizes that we should do our deeds over the course of six days, and on the seventh - deeds dedicated to “the Lord your God” (Ex. 20:8). In the book of the prophet Isaiah, the following instruction sounds: “If you will restrain your foot for the sake of the Sabbath from doing your desires on My holy day, and you will call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord, honored, and you will honor it by not doing your usual business, please your desires and talk idle talk, then you will have joy in the Lord” (Isaiah 58:13). This means that we are not talking about the day that we spent in idleness fishing, on a picnic, or on the couch watching TV, but about the one that we dedicated to the Lord.
It turns out that you can dedicate, that is, give as a sacrifice to the Lord, not only a candle or money - you can and should dedicate one of the days of our life. What does God need? Nothing! He is self-sufficient and He does not need anything from us. And if the Lord desires anything, it is only our comprehensive transformation and our inheritance of the benefits of eternal life.
We are commanded to work for six days so that we have a place to live, something to eat, drink and clothing. But indulging only in these concerns, forgetting about the soul, we, along with the ancient Jews, fall into Egyptian captivity and become slaves. To prevent this from happening, let us listen to the voice of the Holy Scripture: “Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.” (Deut. 5:15). Once the Monk Paisius the Holy Mountain was asked: “- Geronda, how can a person experience the holiday spiritually? - In order to survive the holiday, we need to immerse our mind in holy days, and not in those things that we need to do for the sake of these holy days. We must reflect on the events of each of the holy days, be it the Nativity of Christ, Epiphany, Easter or any other holiday, and say the Jesus Prayer, praising God.”
If we spend a holiday in peace from everyday affairs, if we sanctify it with prayer, attending worship services, reading books that are good for the soul, helping those in need, visiting the sick - this will be a day dedicated to the Lord.
I will focus on visiting the sick and helping those in need. Such visits and help will be meaningless if we do not work hard to help our neighbor. I remember that in my student years, I probably learned a wonderful lesson for the first time and appreciated another bright side of observing the Lord’s commandment about the holiday. It was some autumn holiday, and our seminarians’ classes were cancelled. After proper participation in the Liturgy and a festive meal, I hurried to my room. Like any decent student, after a hearty lunch I had one desire - to get enough sleep for the past sleepless nights and a little more for future use. On the way I met a parish priest I knew. He went into the seminary to find an assistant for what he called a festive occasion. The Lord sent me first on his path. And having learned that I was not doing anything right now, the priest, without much introduction, conspiratorially suggested: “You know, frosts have been promised from tomorrow. Went! Let's continue the holiday..."
We continued the holiday with a very elderly priest, Father Nikolai. His wife, mother, was ill and had been bedridden for several years. The old father himself, giving himself a cheerful appearance, could barely move around the cold house. They did not have gas heating. Someone brought a carload of firewood into Nikolai’s father’s yard that needed to be chopped. And on a holiday, two seemingly quite pious men - a priest and a seminarian - were chopping wood until late in the evening. Then we heated the stove and talked over tea for more than an hour with our immensely grateful hosts. Thirty years have passed since then. I have already begun to forget how the next day every muscle of my body, relaxed from studying, ached unbearably, but I will never forget that festive mood, that unspeakable joy with which I returned home that day.
The holiday was a success!
Sunday for Christians
Sunday was a day off in memory of the resurrection of Christ. According to the Jewish calendar, he rose from the dead on the first day of the week. And the Bible says this several times. Sunday became such a day for Jews. When the world was created, man sinned, and then he fell and rejected God. Therefore, the Lord enters into the history of mankind through Jesus Christ, with whom he was born, lived, and then died as a martyr, but not forever, but was able to conquer everything and rise again.
That is why Sunday has become such a big holiday that should be honored and respected. Therefore, working on this day off is undesirable, but if it is, for example, a medical worker, then such a celebration will not bring anything good. Therefore, each case must be considered separately.
The demand for unskilled labor in the Russian Federation has increased during the pandemic
The price of diesel has risen sharply in Russia: a record in history
It will become easier for Russians to refuse additional services from lending banks
How to spend a day off
The central event of every weekend is the Eucharist. Therefore, every Christian must attend church on Sunday and take part in the Divine Liturgy. In some countries, markets are closed at this time, and people also do not go out on night or work shifts. For example, in Austria on such a day they try to reduce human labor to a minimum. And it is right. On Sundays it is enough for pharmacies and several grocery stores to be open.
But if it is not possible for a person to attend church in the morning, then for the soul’s sake one can attend the evening Liturgy. A person’s choice between Liturgy on Sunday and work for double pay can be a sin. If you can visit church on this day, but a person chooses money, then he is already sinning. It will also be considered a sin if you engage in heavy physical labor on this day.
The boss began to treat him badly: we ask directly about the reasons and more
Realtors expect prices for new buildings to fall
Being late is in their blood: Aquarius, Cancer and more
It is undesirable on this day to clean, wash or make repairs, or tinker in the garden unless there is an urgent need. But if a person sews on a button or presses a button on an automatic washing machine, then it will no longer be a sin. Hobbies such as embroidering on Sunday will also not be a sin.
Kabbalah and Baptism
Priest Viktor Kirichenko also had to deal with relatively new human superstitions, the roots of which go deep into the Middle Ages
“Before a christening, I always talk with the baby’s parents and future godparents. One day, the recipients came to me, and they had a characteristic red thread on their wrists,” says the priest. — I ask: “Are you baptized?” Are you wearing a cross?” They answer: “Yes, yes!” I bring them scissors: “Cut them off.” Immediately such indignation: “Why? Why?“ Christians are protected by the cross of Christ. But let those who are not baptized wear these amulets.”
The priest recalls that at the end of the sacrament one of the godfathers approached him and literally began to demand an explanation as to why he demanded to cut the red thread.
“I started saying: ‘How is this possible? They brought it to us from Israel itself! “I began to explain to him that Israel is the spiritual homeland of three religions,” recalls Viktor Kirichenko. “It is considered a shrine by both Jews, Christians, and Muslims. And there are streets there where if a priest walks with a cross, he might be attacked. And there is no need to assume that if something is from Israel, it means that it is Christian. There is such a medieval occult-mystical movement in Judaism - Kabbalah. And that’s where these red ropes come from, on which knots are made to cast spells.”
Article on the topic
“The psychology of the people is changing.” Gypsy priest on fighting stereotypes
The priest says that he managed to convince the young man. He gave him his personal phone number so that he could, if necessary, call and discuss issues of spiritual life.
“I explained to him that the cross is a sign of God’s love, a sign of embrace. If a person with a cross wears some kind of amulet, this is wrong. It’s the same as if each of us has a metal door at home. A good one, with locks that you can’t just open. But you come home, lock it with all the locks, but also, to make sure that the door is not opened, you prop it up with a mop,” says Viktor Kirichenko.
What can you do on Sunday
Fifty or even a hundred years ago there was a divine commandment that said that during Lent it was forbidden to perform loud fun. She pointed out the live music being performed by musicians. On such holidays it was forbidden to listen to her. But in the modern world they usually listen to cassettes or discs, so you can listen to music and it will no longer be a sin.
On this day, it is also allowed to cook food, since a quarrel may arise in the family due to hungry children or a husband, and this will not lead to anything good. But you shouldn’t miss a church service because of cooking, as that would be a sin. Attending God's service on this day gives a person some kind of gift, and when a person misses it, then, accordingly, he is deprived of something. Nothing is taken away from him, but he does not receive the gift of God either. Therefore, it would be a sin, and even a great one, to consider the fact that a person could have come to God’s service, but did not do so.
Found a violation? Report content
Pigeons save souls
“I had such a case,” says priest Nikolai Babkin . — One parishioner, after a pilgrimage to Diveevo, began to intensively feed the pigeons. They say that birds peck bread and grain, bowing for the deceased. More doves and more bows - saved souls. And supposedly as a result of such divine-dove mechanics, the process of cleansing from sins is launched. To prove his theory, he referred to St. Nicholas of Serbia and Father Seraphim. But the whole point is that St. Seraphim did not say such a thing, and St. Nicholas generally wrote about love for God and nature. These are all fakes. I had to explain to him that these nonsense are being spread by Diveyevo beggars who collect money from gullible pilgrims “to feed the birds.” The Diveyevo nuns have been fighting them for a long time, but the mafia is immortal. Feeding birds, of course, is a charitable deed. But the story about bowing and thereby cleansing oneself from sins is a superstition.”
View this post on Instagram
Everything is yet to come ⠀ ⠀ When I am called to the bishop, I no longer think that I wrote too much here. But then my soul was out of place and I was drawn to Matronushka. A couple of days later I found out that I was being transferred to another place of ministry, because I often visit Moscow. ⠀ ⠀ The priest does not choose the place of his ministry. I am not glad that I was separated from my community, for which I became the first priest. You know, it’s like losing a loved one and tearing away part of your soul... ⠀ ⠀ My dears, you must be able to say THANK YOU to the Lord for everything. ⠀ ©️ Everyone, everyone, come to me and tell me, as if alive, about your sorrows, I will see you, and hear you, and help you (holy righteous old woman Matrona).
Posted by Priest Nikolay Babkin (@nickolay_babkin) Aug 23, 2019 at 11:55 PDT
The priest admits that he himself loves to feed birds, especially on pilgrimage. “But I see woodpeckers as more prayerful than pigeons. It’s time to finally decide what is “stronger”: Athonite seagulls or Russian pigeons? - Nikolai Babkin sneers.
Article on the topic
From the temple to the police. Priest removed from service after baby's baptism
