Easter among the Orthodox is a moving holiday; its date in the church calendar changes from year to year. When is Easter in 2021 for Orthodox Christians in Russia, the date of celebration, as well as how to prepare for Easter, read on the Pravda-TV website. You will learn the traditions, customs and signs of the main holiday and what you need to do on this day and what you absolutely cannot do.
Easter will be late in 2021, so there is still plenty of time to prepare for it. You can calculate the date of celebration yourself, but it’s easier to look at the church calendar.
Easter is the main Christian holiday that carries the idea of the Resurrection, established by the Christian Church in honor of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ crucified on the cross. Easter's roots go back to the distant past. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox.
Therefore, it does not have a precisely defined date. To celebrate Easter, special tables are compiled - Easter. The last week before Easter is passionate, dedicated to the passion (suffering) of Jesus Christ.
The Christian Church celebrates Easter very solemnly, with an All-Night Divine Service and a procession of the Cross. The people have preserved many customs and rituals associated with the celebration of Easter.
Easter always evokes a feeling of the final victory of spring and the awakening of nature. This does not contradict the religious meaning of Easter, symbolizing immortality, the main holiday in Orthodoxy. After seven weeks of fasting, one is finally allowed to eat whatever the soul desires, have fun and have fun.
When is Easter 2021, how is the date calculated
Every year the date of Easter shifts, but it is always celebrated in the spring. According to the 2021 church calendar, the Orthodox will celebrate the great holiday on April 28. By the way, Catholic Easter will traditionally be earlier - April 21.
The name of the holiday comes from “Passover”: this word from Hebrew is translated as “to pass by.” For Orthodox Christians, Easter is a symbol of something bright, eternal, victory over sin and death. On this day, in all churches without exception, they remember one important event: after 3 days after the crucifixion on the cross, Jesus Christ was resurrected. His death became an atonement for human sins.
In 2021, the first full moon after the vernal equinox occurs on April 19, and the first Sunday after it occurs on April 28, 2021.
EASTER IS A MOVEABLE HOLIDAY. WHY?
Some Orthodox holidays fall on different days of the calendar each year.
Such holidays are called moving holidays. This means that their date is determined according to the lunar calendar. In the Orthodox calendar, these are all holidays associated with Easter. For example, the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Maslenitsa, the beginning of Lent, the day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, the Ascension of the Lord, Trinity - all these dates depend on what day of the church year Easter is celebrated.
The Easter holiday has certain rules for Christians: we cannot celebrate Easter before the Jewish holiday of Passover. Jesus was crucified on the full moon, the Gospel says that when He was crucified, the sun darkened, so Easter is celebrated on the full moon. In addition, Easter must fall on a Sunday. All these factors make Easter dependent on the lunar calendar and a moving holiday.
- Easter 2021 – April 28
- Easter 2021 – April 19
- Easter 2021 – May 2
What should not be done on Easter Sunday?
You cannot swear or use foul language - perhaps these are the main commandments of the day. Not recommended:
- conduct important business negotiations;
- start complex projects;
- drink until you pass out;
- indulge in gluttony;
- commit adultery;
- scold children, relatives, loved ones and anyone else in general;
- clean the premises;
- pay off debts or borrow;
- get a haircut and visit beauty salons.
Of course, if a person’s job involves cleaning or he is forced to sign contracts, there is no escape. Even if you had to work, let there be no bad thoughts or intentions to cause harm in your head.
You cannot go to cemeteries on Easter; it is better to choose another day to remember relatives and friends.
EASTER 2021: Why the dates of Easter and Lent are calculated according to lunar cycles
Surely many are interested in the question: why is Easter celebrated at different times and what determines what date Easter is in 2021? The Feast of the Resurrection of the Lord falls on different dates every year. For example, Easter was celebrated much earlier in 2021, on April 8, but in 2021 it will be celebrated on April 19.
In fact, the date of Easter depends on the state of the celestial bodies, namely the Moon and the Sun. The first Sunday after the first full moon, which occurs after the spring equinox, was chosen as the day for the celebration of Easter. It follows from this that Easter 2021, like other years, is a moving church holiday and is not tied to the traditional calendar, and therefore is celebrated at different times. And the range of celebrations of the Resurrection of Christ in different years can be from April 4 to May 8.
All other moving church holidays of the year depend on the date of Orthodox Easter in 2021:
- Lazarus Saturday,
- Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem
- Ascension of the Lord,
- Pentecost.
After all, they are calculated depending on the date of Easter 2021. Therefore, in order to better navigate the dates and not miss important days and great events, it is advisable to have an Orthodox church calendar on hand.
Easter cake recipe
The Easter cake recipe is very simple. Let's look at the step-by-step preparation of this traditional Easter bread:
- take five eggs, separate the whites from the yolks;
- Sprinkle 175 grams of sugar onto the yolks, stir until smooth;
- Melt 159 grams of butter in a water bath and carefully add to the prepared mixture. Don't forget to stir periodically;
- Add 0.5 teaspoon of dry yeast to 250 ml of lukewarm milk and stir until completely dissolved;
- Afterwards, gradually pour the prepared milk and yeast into the egg-sugar mixture in small portions. Stir throughout the entire process until smooth;
- leave the mixture to brew in a warm, dry place for an hour;
- preparing the raisins. To do this, rinse it thoroughly and leave it to steep in boiling water so that it steams. After this procedure, the water is drained and the raisins are dried;
- grate lemon zest;
- sift 500 grams of flour. To make it more saturated with oxygen and become very airy, you need to do this twice;
- take out the infused egg mixture. Add zest and 0.5 salt to it;
- The sifted flour should be added there gradually, stirring until a homogeneous viscous mass. After preparing the dough, we leave it to infuse, depending on the yeast, from an hour to two;
- mix the dried raisins in a small amount of flour - this way they are better distributed in the dough, and add them to the mixture;
- prepare baking dishes. You can choose any tall forms, but special, disposable paper ones are best;
- Grease the molds with a thin layer of melted butter and fill 1/3 full with dough. No longer necessary, because the dough will rise under the influence of temperatures;
- Use a cold spoon to level the top of the dough so that after baking it is even;
- Place the cakes in a cold oven, set the temperature to 150 degrees so that the dough heats up gradually. Baking time is half an hour;
- Remove the resulting bread from the oven, cool and decorate with glaze.
Easter is one of the most important holidays in the Christian calendar. This is a bright day, personifying the miracle of the resurrection of the Son of God and the forgiveness of human sins. That is why it is so important to know the background of the holiday and the primary sources of its symbolism.
Poll: Do you attend Easter church services? Answer options: 1. Yes; 2. Sometimes; 3. No.
See also: what to cook for the New Year of the Pig 2021? 12 delicious step-by-step recipes!
When does Lent begin before Easter in 2019?
There is no single established date for the beginning of the fast preceding the Resurrection of Christ. Just like Easter, the period of Lent moves from year to year in the calendar, always starting on Monday and remaining unchanged in the number of days.
In 2021, Lent will last from March 11 to April 27.
During this period, it is necessary to exclude from the menu such animal products as:
- meat of all varieties, including chicken and turkey;
- sausages and semi-finished products;
- milk and dairy products;
- cottage cheese, hard cheeses, sour cream, kefir;
- eggs (including quail and other more exotic species);
- alcoholic drinks.
IMPORTANT!!! Please note that the ban includes not only the products themselves, but also everything where they are found. This means that during Lent it is necessary to give up butter, mayonnaise and other sauces that contain eggs, as well as ice cream, yoghurt and many other familiar dishes.
Easter in 2021. Dishes for Easter
After Lent, when believers restrained themselves from eating food in every possible way, they are allowed to eat meat dishes on Easter. In addition to traditional Easter cakes and eggs, it is customary to bake lamb from bread. In total, according to tradition, there should be 48 different treats on the table. Housewives come up with new recipes, trying to surprise guests every year. The most common dishes:
- Curd Easter;
- Stuffed tomatoes;
- Baked lamb or veal;
- Aspic;
- Herring under a Fur Coat;
- Spring salad;
- Crab stick salad;
- Any meat and fish dishes (at the request of the housewife);
- Liqueurs, wine;
- Various pickles.
Having eaten to their heart's content, in the evening people go out into the streets, sing songs, glorify Jesus, and dance. A bright holiday settled in the souls of believers and illuminated their faces with joy and happiness.
Easter greetings and poems
Happy Easter greetings are joyful and bright poems, pleasant words to each other. Here are a few of them:
Christ is Risen! With great joy! After all, Bright Easter has already arrived, so let us greet it with all our souls, forgetting about vanity and business. *** On this Easter holiday, I wish you peace, God’s help in everything, So that life is full of goodness and light, So that all adversity is nothing.
***
I congratulate everyone on Happy Easter and today I would like to wish you to live in love, harmony and affection, to restrain yourself, to believe and to forgive.
Let no one be destitute, Let no one be betrayed, let no one betray. Act according to God's will, and the Lord will reward you for it.
Happy Easter to everyone and I wish you divine miracles. I’m already breaking an egg... Joy to all of you. Christ is risen!
Congratulations on this bright holiday. And on this Sunday, I would like to wish you goodness and goodness. May your soul be warm and calm, may there be a peaceful sky above your head, and may your beloved and cheerful family and friends be nearby. May this holiday bring understanding, harmony and joy. I wish that all regrets and resentments go away, and only love and happiness remain.
***
Congratulations on Bright Sunday of Christ. Light and goodness, prosperity and prosperity, faith and love to you. Peace and happiness to your home, to you, your family and friends. Christ is Risen!
***
Congratulations on the great holiday of Easter! Christ is Risen! I wish you God’s help, strength of spirit, warmth of the heart, Easter rejoicing, smiles on kind faces, health to loved ones, warmth at home, tremulous joy, grace, mercy, spiritual enlightenment. May the Resurrection of Christ bring light, happiness, peace. God bless!
Holy Fire
The symbol of God's Light that spilled onto the earth after the resurrection of Christ, illuminating all nations - the Holy Fire. In Jerusalem, at the Holy Sepulcher, on the night of Holy Saturday, a special service is held, after which the Holy Fire descends to the earth. It lights up on candles that are placed on the Holy Sepulcher - this phenomenon is called the miracle of the Lord. According to legend, the year when the Holy Fire does not descend on Easter will be the last year before the end of the world. The Holy Fire is a symbol not only of the resurrection of Christ, his emergence from the tomb, but also a sign of God’s favor towards humanity.
Egg painting ideas
Initially, eggs were painted red. It symbolized the blood of Christ, but now there are many different ways to decorate eggs:
* if you boil eggs with onion skins, they will take on a classic red color;
* if cooked with nettles and spinach, they will turn green. The degree of saturation is determined by the amount of grass;
* violets paint purple. To do this, pour the flowers along with the eggs with hot water and leave;
* fancy patterns are created by tightly wrapping an egg in a brightly colored cloth and boiling it;
* the pink color comes from the interaction of eggs and cranberry juice;
* colored yellow with turmeric;
* stores also sell special food dyes that you can use to decorate eggs in any colors you like;
* you can use various Easter stickers.
Important! Before boiling, eggs must be wiped with alcohol, so the coloring matter will better adhere to the surface of the shell.
Easter 2021, when is Easter and fasting: traditions and rituals
Easter is a holiday with a very rich history and many rituals and traditions that originated long before our times.
Of course, over the years, many of them have lost their original meaning, and some have been completely eliminated under the onslaught of modernity, but some traditions have been preserved almost unchanged, and every Orthodox Christian tries to follow them:
Proper celebration of Easter requires careful preparation, which begins long before the holiday date.
Moreover, unlike ordinary celebrations, the main thing is to put in order not your home and worldly affairs, but the state of your soul. To achieve this, Christian believers adhere to Lent, spending a lot of time in prayer and strictly limiting themselves to worldly pleasures. This is necessary in order to cleanse your thoughts of sinful thoughts, pacify the flesh and get at least a little closer to the divine.
Of course, as the holiday approaches, standard preparations begin in every home. They include cleaning the house and yard, purchasing food and preparing the dishes necessary for celebrating Easter. Every housewife tries to make sure that by the beginning of the celebration, impeccable cleanliness reigns in every corner of the home.
During the preparation period, it is customary not only to do general cleaning, but also to get rid of old things, update the furnishings of the house, and, if necessary, make repairs.
Before the holiday, all people buy groceries, paying special attention to meat products, eggs, milk, to bake Easter cakes, color eggs and prepare many other goodies.
At night from Saturday to Sunday, every church must hold a divine service, which differs from others in its special solemnity.
People carry traditional dishes in baskets, among which there must be colored eggs and Easter cakes, and the rest is at everyone’s discretion. As a rule, believers bless butter, cheese, meat products, and in some cases they even put alcohol in baskets, although the church does not approve of this.
When we consecrate food, we dedicate it to God, praying for forgiveness and blessings for the whole year.
History of the traditions of celebrating Bright Resurrection
The tradition of making a festive table came from ancient times. Initially, only cold appetizers were prepared; fish and hot dishes were not served. The main dish was pig with horseradish, which symbolized well-being. Today people’s views are broader, so they serve fish, poultry, and other snacks and dishes.
Easter week means visiting people, the Great Day is an occasion for exchanging chicken and goose eggs, which were decorated with ornaments. They also gave each other wooden eggs, gilded or silver-plated, painted with bright colors. The painting was entrusted to the masters of the Armory Chamber, jewelers or icon painters - it turned out very beautifully. But spectacles and folk festivals are a newer tradition that appeared around the 19th century. Then round dances were already held, fairs and booths opened.
Quoting photo: wallpapers-images.ru
The tradition of dyeing eggs: what they symbolize and what to pay attention to
On Christ's day, colored eggs are always exchanged. But initially these products were used as amulets, they were placed in a child’s crib, and they were commemorated for the deceased. Painting was a kind of protection from misfortunes. The legend says that when Mary Magdalene learned about the Resurrection of Christ, she told all the people and went to Tiberius - this is the Roman emperor, who then remained to rule Israel.
Nobody believed her, so Mary said “Christ is Risen,” but he took a chicken egg and said: “The dead do not rise, just as eggs do not turn red.” At the same moment, the egg turned bright red. The ruler was probably stupefied, but there was no point in denying the obvious and Tiberius replied, “Truly He is Risen.” This is how the greeting - the answer - became part of the symbolism of the holiday.
And we all need to pay attention that colored eggs must also contain red ones, since this color is historically the main one.
Photo citation: vkuso.ru
What does baking Easter cakes symbolize?
Farming has always been held in high esteem by Christians; many beliefs and traditions are associated with fields and crops. Kulich is considered a symbol of male fertility, it is also masculine, Easter is feminine. Therefore, balance is maintained on the Easter table - the male Easter cake and the female Alexandrian Easter.
Trinity Day and Pentecost: traditions, rituals, congratulations in verse, cards and videos
A properly prepared Easter cake can last the entire Easter week and not go stale. There are many recipes for preparing the dish. It is customary to decorate Easter cakes, like cottage cheese Easter, with candied fruits, berries, pieces of fruit, sprinkles and glaze.
Photo citation: artfile.me
Preparation for the holiday
Compliance with rituals is an important part of the preparatory stage. Housewives must clean the house, but from Monday to Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Holy Week are the days when nothing like that can be done. Cleaning should be as thorough as possible - whitewash the house, clean all outbuildings, landscape the yard, prepare firewood, hang a swing for the children.
Christians believe that the week before Easter, ancestors come to the house. They descend to Earth, visit their relatives, so they need to tidy up the graveyards - clean the graves. And in the church, light funeral candles and order a service.
Prayers read during Lent 2019 at home
The meaning of fasting is not just a refusal of meat and dairy foods, it is self-restraint, that is, a voluntary refusal of everything that makes up a noticeable part of our earthly life. But first of all - in deep self-knowledge, repentance and the fight against passions. During Lent, first of all, you need to take care of cleansing your soul and thoughts, and for this you need to pray daily at home and, if possible, attend church services throughout the seven weeks of Lent.
You should devote more time to prayer during Lent than usual. You can read regular morning and evening prayers or something else, for example, the Psalter. But during Lent, these prayers need to be supplemented with one more - the short and succinct prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian.
The prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian is one of the most often said during Lent:
“Lord and Master of my life, do not give me the Spirit of idleness, despondency, covetousness and idle talk. Grant the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to me, Your servant. To her, Lord the King, grant me to see my sins and not condemn my brother, for blessed are you forever and ever. Amen".
At the end, read “God, cleanse me, a sinner” 12 times, accompanied by bows from the waist. Then repeat the prayer of Ephraim the Syrian again and complete the reading with one bow to the ground.
In the morning, you can read short and easy prayers that allow you to set a positive mood for the whole day.
The publican’s prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” (Bow).
According to the Gospel of Luke, this is the prayer of repentance that the publican said in the parable of the publican and the Pharisee. In this parable, Christ cited the publican’s prayer as an example of repentance and asking for God’s mercy.
Opening prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, prayers for the sake of Your Most Pure Mother and all the Saints, have mercy on us. Amen. Glory to Thee, our God, glory to Thee.”
Trisagion: “Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. (Read three times, with the sign of the cross and a bow from the waist). Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".
Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity:
“Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Master, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name's sake. Lord have mercy. (Thrice) Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".
Lord's Prayer:
“Our Father, who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name, Thy will be done as it is in heaven and on earth. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen". This prayer can be read at any time, including before meals and in the evening.
Before going to bed, we can read the initial prayers and to the Most Holy Trinity, which are read in the morning.
Prayer to God the Father:
“Eternal God and King of every creature, who has made me worthy even at this hour, forgive me the sins I have committed this day in deed, word and thought, and cleanse, O Lord, my humble soul from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit. And grant me, Lord, to pass through this dream in peace at night, so that, rising from my humble bed, I will please Your most holy name all the days of my life, and will trample the fleshly and incorporeal enemies that fight me. And deliver me, Lord, from vain thoughts that defile me, and from evil lusts. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages Amen.”
