What to do with the sacred light on Thursday. Thursday candle. It was a very beautiful sight - everyone comes out of the church, covering the lit candles, and spreads into their homes with many flickering sparks

And today I open the mysterious door to the kitchen for preparing Thursday salt.

Thursday (Quad) salt

It can be different. Healers use Thursday salt prepared in different ways for different purposes. Usually in conspiracies and descriptions of rituals it is said what salt is needed.

Salt is usually taken from ordinary table salt iodized, not marine and without any additives (such as selenium, garlic, etc., which are now in bulk). Be careful. Previously, rock salt was crushed and then sifted. But this was not due to its special properties, but to the fact that ordinary peasants simply did not have fine table salt.

All salt is prepared before lunch on Thursday. After lunch, it is poured into a bag and put away.

1. burnt salt– salt is calcined in a stove or oven (in extreme cases, in a cast-iron frying pan on the stove) with kvass wort, black (preferably Borodino) bread or various medicinal herbs. The wort is thoroughly squeezed out, the bread is soaked, kneaded and squeezed out just as thoroughly. Additives must burn completely to ash. This salt is used by healers exclusively in healing practices - you need to know where and how. These additives do not add the magical properties of salt.

You CANNOT use kvass wort from the store (only your own, from homemade bread kvass), it is undesirable to use pharmaceutical preparations - it is better to collect the herbs yourself, you cannot burn salt in the microwave and in Teflon frying pans (only in cast iron or clay pots) you can, as a last resort, use nasty.

The oven must be clean.

2. Salt "from three courtyards (houses)“- you need to ask for salt (a handful) from three houses (apartments) on Maundy Thursday before lunch. Pour the salt into one container and mix.

3. “Homemade” salt - before dinner, each member of the household scoops up a handful of salt and pours it into a common bowl. If there are no household members, the owner himself pours three handfuls into the dish.

4. Classic Thursday salt- "default". It is prepared like this: on Wednesday evening, the salt is calcined in the oven (or, in extreme cases, on the stove in a cast-iron bowl for at least an hour at maximum temperature). As already mentioned, Teflon is an absolute no-no. No cast iron - place it on a baking sheet.

The oven must be clean.

Before dawn on Thursday (or Wednesday night - when it has cooled completely), you need to pour it into clay, wooden or porcelain (glass) dishes and place it on the dining table. Cannot be placed in metal containers. The table should be clean, there should be nothing on it except salt. Pre-cover the table with a clean cloth tablecloth. Or at least lay out a clean, ironed napkin. Serve breakfast as usual (around the “salt shaker”). Food can be seasoned with this salt. But after eating, you immediately clear the table and wash the dishes. The table should be clean and beautiful! You also serve dinner around the salt shaker.

CAUTION – Do not dip any food or fingers into the salt! (this is exactly what Judas did at the Last Supper) - take the salt with a special spoon or the tip of a knife. If you want to dip something, pour salt into your plate. By the way, this is where the important rule of etiquette came from - do not dip your food or fingers into the salt shaker! Try to follow it not only on Maundy Thursday, but also at other times. After lunch (or dinner - but before sunset), the salt is poured into a bag and put away. Then it can be used in numerous magical rituals.

5.And finally - "blessed" Thursday salt– calcined as in paragraph 4. The salt must be poured into a bag and left with it from the beginning to the end of the service on Maundy Thursday. This salt has miraculous healing properties - it can be sprinkled into the food and drink of the sick without any rituals or spells, used to “instill” beauty, and bathed children with it (a few grains per bath are enough). But such salt cannot be used in some rituals (related to black magic).

6. You can bless the salt yourself, to do this, light a large church candle (it will be “Thursday” and read the canon of the service for Maundy Thursday and the prayer “God, our Savior, who appeared through the prophet Elisha in Jericho and so through salt made harmful water healthy! You Yourself bless this salt and make it an offering of joy. For you are our God and to you we give glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Amen. " Used in the same way as in paragraph 5.

7. To make it you will need a pack of rock table salt and 12 tablespoons of rye flour. And also: a cast iron frying pan with a thick bottom, a wooden spoon and a clean linen bag. Salt and flour should be poured into a frying pan and put it on fire. When you do this, be sure to say out loud (three times): Clean Thursday, save and have mercy from worms and every reptile for a long time. Then you must bake the salt together with the flour until the flour is completely blackened. Protective herbs and spices can also be added to this salt. In this case, you need to mix the flour with salt with a wooden spoon in a clockwise direction. Leave the prepared salt on the stove until midnight, and then pour it into a bag, which you tie tightly.

A wax candle is lit over the prepared salt and the following prayer is read three times:

God, our Savior, who appeared through the prophet Elisha in Jericho, and thus through salt made harmful water healthy! You yourself bless this salt and make it an offering of joy. For you are our God, and to you we send glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto ages of ages. Amen.

After this, you hide the bag of salt in a safe place and use it all year until the next Maundy Thursday.

Why we use salt:

- add a little to the food or drink of a sick person or animal;

- clean the house by sprinkling the corners with several crystals of this salt;

- we relieve ailments and magical effects: to do this, add a little “Thursday salt” to holy water and drink it with prayer:

Heavenly King, Comforter, Soul of truth, Who is everywhere and fulfills everything, Treasure of good things and Giver of life, come and dwell in us, and cleanse us from all filth, and save, O Good One, our souls.

- You can also put a pinch of salt in a small linen bag and always carry it with you as a strong amulet.

Thursday bread

They used to believe that on Maundy Thursday the Lord invisibly blesses the bread that is served for lunch that day. Therefore, crumbs and pieces of “Thursday” bread were considered to have healing powers; they were carefully collected and stored to be used during illness or to protect against “spoilage” or the “evil eye.” Pieces of “Quarter” bread were also given to sick cattle. Often, “Thursday bread” meant the healthy prosphora that was served in church on Maundy Thursday, and which was also considered endowed with special healing properties.

Nowadays, probably, few people bake their own bread, but I advise the lucky owners of a bread machine to set the bread so that it is baked BEFORE LUNCH on Thursday. Serve this bread for dinner, and cut and dry the remaining bread into small croutons. They are also used for treatment. In addition, it is believed that if you crumble and throw such crackers into arable land, there will be a good harvest and there will be no weeds. For those who don’t have a bread machine, try buying ready-made bread on Thursday morning and serving it the same way for lunch, and drying the rest for croutons.

Thursday Candle and Thursday Fire (Holy Fire)

This is the name of the candle with which they stood on Maundy Thursday in church during the reading of the 12 Gospels and tried to bring it home burning. They believed that if the candle went out, a misfortune would happen to a person, and the one who brought the light home safely would live peacefully until next year. Those who spent this special day worthily: received communion in the morning, stood through the evening service, brought the gospel light home, experience special grace.

They try to keep the flame of a lamp warmed by a candle in the house until Easter.

Previously, in every house of believers, a lamp was constantly burning on the shrine. And it was extinguished once a year before going to the service on Maundy Thursday in order to bring the fire lit there from the church and light the lamp from it again. When the lamp was extinguished, it was washed thoroughly. And while they were going to work, it had time to dry and was ready for use again. By the way, on this day they made sure to wash and wipe all the icons in the house.

It was a very beautiful sight - everyone comes out of the church, covering the lit candles, and spreads into their homes with many flickering sparks.

To carry the candle, you can use a cut plastic bottle.

To protect the family and household from the evil eye and evil spirits, they walked around the house and yard with the “Thursday candle” and drew crosses on the ceiling beams, doors and windows with soot from this candle. Then the “Thursday candle” was kept at home. It was used in special cases, for example, given to the dying. It was also lit during summer thunderstorms and storms, believing that this could protect the house from destruction..

Book “Rituals for Maundy Thursday”

We invite you to our Magical Open Evening today on Wednesday at 20-00!

It will be dedicated to Holy Week and Easter Miracles

I will tell you about Maundy Thursday and give you very useful practices.

Come, we are waiting for you!

ABOUT THURSDAY SALT, BREAD AND CANDLE

On Maundy Thursday they make a special salt, which is then used throughout the year for various rituals.

Thursday (Quad) salt

It can be different. Healers use Thursday salt prepared in different ways for different purposes. Usually in conspiracies and descriptions of rituals it is said what salt is needed.

The salt used is ordinary table salt, not iodized, not sea salt, and without any additives (such as selenium, garlic, etc., which are now in abundance). Be careful. Previously, rock salt was crushed and then sifted. But this was not due to its special properties, but to the fact that ordinary peasants simply did not have fine table salt.
All salt is prepared before lunch on Thursday. After lunch, it is poured into a bag and put away.

1.burnt salt– salt is calcined in a stove or oven (in extreme cases, in a cast-iron frying pan on the stove) with kvass wort, black (preferably Borodino) bread, rye flour or various medicinal herbs.

The wort is thoroughly squeezed out, the bread is soaked, kneaded and squeezed out just as thoroughly.

Flour or pre-crushed herbs are simply mixed with salt.

Additives must burn completely to ash.

Salt with medicinal herbs is used by healers exclusively in healing practices - you need to know where and how.

• DO NOT use kvass wort from the store (only your own, from homemade bread kvass),
• It is undesirable to use pharmacy preparations - it is better to collect herbs yourself,
• You cannot burn salt in the microwave and in Teflon frying pans (only in cast iron or clay pots); in extreme cases, you can use it on a baking sheet.

The oven must be clean.

2. Salt “from three yards (houses)”- on Maundy Thursday before lunch you need to ask for salt (a handful) from three houses (apartments). Pour the salt into one container and mix.

3.Homemade salt- Before dinner, each member of the household scoops up a handful of salt and pours it into a common bowl. If there are no household members, the owner himself pours three handfuls into the dish.

4. Classic “Thursday” salt –"default".

It is prepared like this: on Wednesday evening, the salt is calcined in the oven (or, in extreme cases, on the stove in a cast-iron bowl for at least an hour at maximum temperature). As already mentioned, Teflon is an absolute no-no. No cast iron - place it on a baking sheet.

The oven must be clean.

Before dawn on Thursday (or Wednesday night - when it has cooled completely), you need to pour it into clay, wooden or porcelain (glass) dishes and place it on the dining table.

Cannot be placed in metal containers.

The table should be clean, there should be nothing on it except salt.

Pre-cover the table with a clean cloth tablecloth. Or at least lay out a clean, ironed napkin.

Serve breakfast as usual (around the “salt shaker”).

Food can be seasoned with this salt.

But after eating, you immediately clear the table and wash the dishes. The table should be clean and beautiful! You also serve dinner around the salt shaker.

CAUTION – Do not dip any food or fingers into the salt! (this is exactly what Judas did at the Last Supper) - take the salt with a special spoon or the tip of a knife. If you want to dip something, pour salt into your plate.

By the way, this is where the important rule of etiquette came from - do not dip your food or fingers into the salt shaker!

Try to follow it not only on Maundy Thursday, but also at other times.

After lunch (breakfast or dinner - but before sunset), the salt is poured into a bag and put away.

Then it can be used in numerous magical rituals.

5. And finally - "blessed" Thursday salt– calcined as in paragraph 4. The salt must be poured into a bag and left with it from the beginning to the end of the service on Maundy Thursday.

This salt has miraculous healing properties - it can be sprinkled into the food and drink of the sick without any rituals or spells, used to “instill” beauty, and bathed children with it (a few grains per bath are enough).

But such salt cannot be used in some rituals (related to black magic).

6. You can bless the salt yourself, to do this, light a large church candle (it will be “Thursday” and read the canon of the service for Maundy Thursday and the prayer “God, our Savior, who appeared through the prophet Elisha in Jericho and so through salt made harmful water healthy! You Bless this salt yourself and make it an offering of joy. For you are our God and to you we give glory, to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and always and forever and ever. Amen. Amen. Amen. " Used in the same way as in paragraph 5.

Thursday bread

They used to believe that on Maundy Thursday the Lord invisibly blesses the bread that is served for lunch that day.

Therefore, crumbs and pieces of “Thursday” bread were considered to have healing powers; they were carefully collected and stored to be used during illness or to protect against “spoilage” or the “evil eye.”

Pieces of “quarter” bread were also given to sick cattle.

Often, “Thursday bread” meant the healthy prosphora that was served in church on Maundy Thursday, and which was also considered endowed with special healing properties.

Nowadays, probably, few people bake their own bread, but I advise the lucky owners of a bread machine to set the bread so that it is baked BEFORE LUNCH on Thursday.

Serve this bread for dinner, and cut and dry the remaining bread into small croutons.

They are also used for treatment.

In addition, it is believed that if you crumble and throw such crackers into arable land, there will be a good harvest and there will be no weeds.

For those who don’t have a bread machine, try buying ready-made bread on Thursday morning and serving it the same way for lunch, and drying the rest for croutons.

Thursday Candle and Thursday Fire (Holy Fire)

This is the name of the candle with which they stood on Maundy Thursday in church during the reading of the 12 Gospels and tried to bring it home burning.

They believed that if the candle went out, a misfortune would happen to a person, and the one who brought the light home safely would live peacefully until next year.

Those who spent this special day worthily: received communion in the morning, stood through the evening service, brought the gospel light home, experience special grace.

They try to keep the flame of a lamp warmed by a candle in the house until Easter.

Previously, in every house of believers, a lamp was constantly burning on the shrine.

And it was extinguished once a year before going to the service on Maundy Thursday in order to bring the fire lit there from the church and light the lamp from it again.

When the lamp was extinguished, it was washed thoroughly. And while they were going to work, it had time to dry and was ready for use again. By the way, on this day they made sure to wash and wipe all the icons in the house.

It was a very beautiful sight - everyone comes out of the church, covering the lit candles, and spreads into their homes with many flickering sparks.

To carry the candle, you can use a cut plastic bottle.

To protect the family and household from the evil eye and evil spirits, they walked around the house and yard with the “Thursday candle” and drew crosses on the ceiling beams, doors and windows with soot from this candle.

Then the “Thursday candle” was kept at home.

It was used in special cases, for example, given to the dying. It is believed that this makes the “path of the Soul” easier.
It was also lit during summer thunderstorms and storms, believing that this could protect the house from destruction.
About all the rituals and spells using Thursday Salt, as well as about the rituals and ceremonies for Good Friday, Saturday and Easter Sunday - in the collection “Maundy Thursday and Easter”. It included 2 webinars and 2 large books of rituals and conspiracies.
Including:

• For wealth
• from diseases,
• from alcoholism and drug addiction (Easter and Good Friday are the strongest days for the treatment of these ailments),
• for love and health
• and a lot of other useful information “for all occasions”

A mixture of piety and superstition

Thursday candle (quadruple, passionate, terrible candle, gospel fire) - a candle endowed with special properties, lit on Maundy Thursday in the church during the evening service, consisting of Thursday supper and Good Friday matins, during the reading of the 12 Gospels. The Orthodox Church sees in it a sign of the ardent love of believers for the Savior.

Among the people, the light of this candle was considered holy. At the end of the service, the candle was not extinguished; everyone carried it home burning. They believed that if the candle went out, a misfortune would happen to a person, and the one who brought the light home safely would live peacefully until next year. To protect from the wind, the candle was sometimes surrounded by a red, yellow or orange paper lantern. At home, they first lit a lamp from it, and then with soot or smoke they placed crosses on the mat, above the front door and windows, “so that the grace of the Lord would not fade away in the house.” With a candle in his hands, the owner walked around the house, yard, barn, looking into every dark corner, illuminating it. Walking with a candle and baptism were intended to protect the household and family from the evil eye and evil spirits, to reinforce and re-define the boundaries of the internal space inaccessible to evil spirits, to protect it from the dangerous influences of the outside world at the moment when the border between the otherworldly and real worlds was revealed.

The greatest magical power was attributed to the candle, which was lit during church services not only on Thursday, but also on Friday when the shroud was taken out, as well as at the morning of Bright Sunday (Easter). The candle stub was kept all year, and on the next Maundy Thursday it was used to set fire to the wood in the stove in the morning. It was lit in front of the icons on the morning of the first cattle pasture. They blessed the newlyweds with a passionate candle, lit it during fires and major thunderstorms to protect the house from lightning, during difficult childbirth or during illness it was given into the hands of those suffering from pain to ease the torment. For the same purpose, the patient was given water to drink, which was poured over the candle stub. But if no means helped, and the patient died, the candle stub was lit when the soul began to fly away.

In the Perm province, in order to protect cattle from misfortunes and get good offspring from them, they were accompanied to the pasture for the first time on Yegoryev’s day with the stub of a Thursday candle. In some places, peasants believed that on Midsummer's Eve, with the stub of this candle, you could get a fern flower and an invisibility cap, with the help of which you could become rich. The water that was poured over the candle was also used as a love spell. If the husband did not love his wife or the wife of her husband, Perm peasants advised giving him or her this water to drink.

Kholodnaya Vera Georgievna
Ethnographical museum

It should be understood that attributing magical properties to the Thursday candle is superstition and goes against the teachings of the Orthodox Church, according to which help and healing are provided not through some magical actions, but through prayer and appeal to God, with a willingness to accept His will, whatever it may be .

At the same time, the pious custom of treating with special reverence the fire of a candle that burned during the reading of the Twelve Passionate Gospels, bringing it home and lighting household lamps from it does not contain anything bad.

On the eve of one of the biggest Christian holidays - Easter, there is one day when every person must undergo mandatory rituals of spiritual and physical cleansing.

According to legend, on Maundy Thursday, Jesus Christ washed the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper. In this way, Christ demonstrated his humility before the apostles and his love for them.

This day is known to us as Maundy Thursday .

There are many legends associated with him, but they all boil down to one thing: only on this very day can you expel all negativity from your life.
Even our distant ancestors firmly knew that if you thoroughly clean the house on this Thursday, then there would be order in your life all year long. That is why it is on this pre-Easter day that it is customary to carry out all kinds of rituals for cleansing.

On Maundy Thursday, even a crow washes a crow in a puddle.

First of all, the person himself needs to cleanse himself physically O . To do this, on the night from Wednesday to Thursday you need to perform the ritual of ablution. It is believed that for these purposes a running reservoir is required, since such water is endowed with incredible healing powers. Before sunrise, you should plunge into the river, and then say the following words: “Here is Monday, here is Tuesday, here is Wednesday, and here is clean water on Thursday. Water washes the living, the obvious, wash me too, so that trouble will pass! Voditsa-sister, wash away the harmful damage cast from me. Wash away illnesses and diseases, wash away for health! Take away the evil weakness and toil. Give me the strength of health, good grace! My word is strong! Let it be done according to my will!” If you don’t have the opportunity to use river water, then just get into the shower at night and imagine how warm streams wash away all the negativity from you, leaving light in your soul.

WITH You can remove deliberate damage on Maundy Thursday right away . Wash before dawn, saying: “I wash away what they put on me, what toils my soul and body, everything is removed on Clean Thursday. Amen".
. So that the fellows are loved and not ignored, they say this when washing : “As Maundy Thursday is bright and red, so I, slave (name), will be beautiful to everyone. Amen".
When you wake up in the morning, the first thing on Maundy Thursday is to clean your house. Our grandmothers said: "If you clean on Maundy Thursday, you will be clean for the whole year you will live."

This is the last day before Easter when you can put your home in order: starting from Friday, cleaning the room is strictly forbidden. By washing the floors, you protect your home from the penetration of filth and all kinds of troubles.
With the help of water on this day you can carry out effective a ritual to attract wealth and well-being to your home.
To do this, you will need all the little things available in the house. Collect all the coins and place them in a bowl of water. Then read the “Our Father” three times over the water. Now, going clockwise from the front door (it is washed last), wash all the doors and windows in the house. Afterwards, read the prayer three times again, take out the coins and put them in a safe place, and carefully pour the water under the nearest tree. Under no circumstances should change be spent until Red Hill, which is celebrated 7 days after Easter.

A mandatory ritual of Maundy Thursday is the counting of all the money in the house. .

This must also be done three times - in the morning, at lunch and in the evening. Lock yourself in a room so that no one disturbs you, and slowly count all your cash, saying the following words:“A thousand, half a thousand, six hundred, that’s it, my Lord will take it everywhere. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".

And the most important thing that should not be forgotten on Maundy Thursday is the preparation of the so-called Thursday salt.

It is prepared from simple salt or consecrated in church, or lying down for the whole night near the image of Jesus Christ and a burning lamp.

In the future, Thursday salt is used in food to get rid of illnesses or end family troubles.

And you can use it as a talisman . To do this, salt is poured into a small bag and worn around the neck. Salt also has the ability to retain information. More often it is used to cause damage, to cause various quarrels.

Thursday salt does only good . If there is a scandal in the house, you can throw it (literally a pinch) into water and wash the floors with this water. It is very good to salt Easter eggs with this salt, especially those that are eaten first after the end of Lent.

It is believed that then the person will be lucky all year, in any case, major troubles will definitely not happen to him

Thursday salt You can pour (literally a little) under the threshold of your house. It is believed that it can protect against negative energy entering the house.

Thursday candle for good luck

Another very important sign is the Thursday candle. They bring it burning from the church and light a lamp or other candle from it. Afterwards, with what they have brought, they go around the entire house, starting from the farthest rooms, reach the threshold and extinguish it.

For those who live in a private house and who have pets, it is advisable to use this candle in the premises for livestock.

The candle stub is not thrown away, but stored all year. It can only be used if someone gets sick or some misfortune occurs. You can’t just set it on fire if the lights in the house are turned off.

Thursday candle and healing water

It is believed that if this candle is placed in water for a while, the water will also become healing. This water was given to the sick to drink, girls washed themselves with it, so that their face would become especially attractive and a groom would be found as quickly as possible.

Such water could help when there was a cooling of feelings in the family. If a husband and wife drank such water, love flared up between them again.

You just can’t do anything evil with this water, for example, bewitch someone else’s husband. Such an act will be perceived as blasphemy against the memory of Christ.

There is no mysticism in this ritual. Fire has always had a cleansing power. And wax and water are materials that record and transmit information very well.

A candle brought from church carries information about the good that Jesus did for all of us and his boundless love for us.

Ritual for good luck and happiness

This ritual can be done on different days, but it has special power on Maundy Thursday, the following Friday and Saturday. To carry it out, it is necessary that no one interferes. It is usually performed in the evening, when all everyday chores are over.

You need to put a Thursday candle on the table, light it and look at the flame for a while, thinking about yourself, about your actions recently. Those who find it difficult to think honestly to themselves can place an image (icon) of Christ next to them. Then it turns out better.

This action is much stronger than confession , because only two people participate in a mental conversation - you and God. No one else can hear you and therefore there is no point in prevaricating.

Then you need to take a blank sheet of paper and write absolutely honestly what is in you, what actions of yours prevent you from becoming happy, interfere with your success, and so on. You need to write specifically about your miscalculations and mistakes, and not about the fact that someone does not notice you or underestimates you. You cannot write wishes or requests on this sheet.

When you write everything that is bad about yourself, burn this sheet on the flame of a Thursday candle, thinking that everything written should leave you. It makes no difference where you throw the ashes, the main thing is that there is no dirt left.

This ritual is very effective, it helps in many ways, both to improve relationships in the family and to achieve success at work. His main condition is not to bend your heart and not to forget to whom you are confessing.

Ritual for Maundy Thursday to fulfill wishes :

It is believed that rearranging furniture or other items on Maundy Thursday helps increase money, as well as fulfill desires. During the rearrangement process itself, think about your desire. You can move and rearrange anything, both large and small objects and things. But the desire must be large and cherished, especially desirable. The rearrangement ritual can only be performed after cleaning. Particular attention should be paid to the sector of the house that is responsible for desire. (for example: Love - southwest, career - north, finance - southeast)

I wish everyone peace and tranquility,
Bodily and mental purity!

The rector of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Saratov, Hegumen Pachomius (Bruskov), answers

What do prostrations symbolize? Why are they so often celebrated during Lent?

A bow symbolizes a person’s humility before a more significant Person. When we bow in a temple before an image or during prayers, it shows our reverence, respect and humility before God. A bow, just like the sign of the cross, should express an inner feeling and be done with prayer. Without this, it turns into a simple physical exercise.

Bowing to the ground expresses deep humility, a feeling of repentance. That is why it is celebrated so often during Lent. At this time on weekdays, many bows from the waist are replaced by bows to the ground. These are bows on the clock, while singing “The most honorable Cherub...”, after “It is worthy to eat...”, while reading the prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian. On Saturdays and Sundays of Great Lent, prostrations to the ground are abolished.

During the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, prostrations are made during the transfer of the Gifts from the altar to the throne, during the exclamation “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone”, the singing of the prokemene “Let my prayer be corrected”, during the Great Entrance while singing “Now the Heavenly Powers serve with us invisibly "and before Communion.

On Great Wednesday, according to the regulations, bowing to the ground in the temple stops. The only exception is bowing before the Shroud on Good Friday. Prostrations in the temple are resumed only on Pentecost.

How to fast during Holy Week?

On these days, fasting should be especially strict. The monastic charter prescribes dry eating during the first three days of Holy Week. On Maundy Thursday, for the sake of the liturgy, hot food with vegetable oil is allowed. On Good Friday they do not eat food at all; the sick are allowed bread and water after sunset. On Holy Saturday, after the end of the liturgy, bread and wine are blessed, and food without vegetable oil is allowed at the meal.

But laity should understand that this charter is prescribed specifically for monastics, whose whole life these days is connected with worship. For lay people who continue to work as usual and are burdened with family responsibilities, such a post is often impossible. Therefore, there is no “parish charter”, because the laity live in very different conditions and have very different mental and physical capabilities. The severity of fasting on these days should be determined with the confessor, based on personal characteristics.

I would especially like to note that the charter allows the consumption of wine on some days of Lent, and even during Holy Week. However, you need to understand that wine in the East, where the Studite and Jerusalem statutes were drawn up, is an ordinary drink, about the same as tea for us. In Russia, the attitude towards wine is completely different. Therefore, in my opinion, it is better for a Christian in our country to refrain from drinking wine during Great Lent, with the exception of the twelve holidays: the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. According to established tradition, believers who are preparing to receive communion on Easter night abstain from eating from six o'clock in the evening.

Why are willow branches blessed on the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem? What to do with them at home?

As the Gospel tells, on this day the Jews met Christ, who rode into Jerusalem on a young donkey. They covered the path of the Lord with palm branches and greeted with exclamations of “Hosanna!”, as they usually addressed only to the king. The palm branches of the Jews were the same symbol of victory as laurel wreaths in Greece.

In memory of this, the holiday of the Lord's Entry into Jerusalem is called Vai, or Flower Week, and on this day Vai (date palm branches) are consecrated. In Rus', it was called Palm Sunday, since date palms do not grow in Russia; instead, they consecrate willow branches, which are the first of all plants to bloom in the spring and symbolize life and renewal. Worshipers come to the temple with willows, meeting the invisibly coming Lord.

The consecration of willows takes place at the festive All-Night Vigil. After reading the Gospel, the priests burn the willows, read a prayer and sprinkle the branches with holy water. Usually the sprinkling is repeated on the day of the holiday itself, after the liturgy. Homes are decorated with blessed willow.

Since the willow is blessed annually, the question arises, what to do after a year with the old, dried branches? Like any other consecrated object, it is better to set them on fire rather than throw them away with household garbage. Not because a sacred image or a willow twig may suffer from our actions. Rather, it is we ourselves who suffer, our sense of inner reverence.

On Maundy Thursday, Orthodox Christians carry lighted candles or lanterns with fire home from services. What is the meaning of this custom? What to do at home with this candle?

This is just a beautiful Russian tradition. On Thursday evening, Good Friday Matins is celebrated, during which the so-called “Twelve Passion Gospels” are read, which tell the story of the Passion of Christ. Throughout the service, parishioners stand with lit candles, which they then take home. At home, lamps are lit from these candles. There is a pious custom of saving the Thursday fire in lamps until Easter. In the old days, crosses were painted on doorways using soot from a burning Thursday candle.

However, it should be remembered that all our external ritual actions, the use of various objects (lamps, vestments, etc.) are meaningless if we do not think about their internal content. Since ancient times, light, fire, and the lighting of lamps during worship symbolized Christ, enlightening our lives, our hearts. An example is the carrying out of a candle when the priest exclaims “The Light of Christ enlightens everyone” during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts. The candle here is a symbol of Christ, the Light of the world, who enlightens all who come to Him.

The Thursday fire also has a similar symbolic meaning. This is a kind of symbol of enlightening the world with the light of the Gospel teaching.