Traditions and signs for Good Friday

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Good Friday requires especially strict restrictions, but some folk omens and superstitions have been forgotten, although the customs and traditions of true believers are still observed from year to year.

What is this day and how is it celebrated

Previously, Passion, or Great Week was not part of the 40-day Great Lent, but over time it became the seventh week preceding the onset of Easter Sunday.

There are signs and superstitions for any major religious holiday, but the Great Week has special restrictions and prohibitions. This is the last week before Jesus Christ became the Almighty Lord, protector and Savior of all mankind, having made a great sacrifice in the name of this.

1. Great Monday is the day of reading the Gospel in churches, the part where it is a question of the fig tree that did not bear fruit, as a symbol of the human soul, not attached to faith. On the eve of this day, Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem and was solemnly received by the inhabitants of the city as the great Messiah.
2. Good Tuesday became the day of exposure of the lying churchmen. In the Orthodox Church on this day, parables about the Last Judgment, death and resurrection after it are read.
3. Holy Wednesday was the day when Jesus' feet were washed with tears and oil, preparing him for the coming events.
4. Maundy Thursday is marked by the washing of the feet by Jesus Christ to his disciples, and the terrible betrayal of one of the apostles.

Good Friday is not by chance a day of sorrow, severe restrictions, and memories of the Savior's torments. On this day, the omens and superstitions are especially strict, because it was on this day that the Son of God was crucified on the cross and died.

Determining what date Good Friday 2020 falls on is extremely simple. It is enough to know what day Bright Sunday falls on. Easter is the day when Jesus Christ was miraculously resurrected after his martyrdom through crucifixion, the day of universal joy and exultation. It is celebrated in 2020 on April 19th. This means that Good Friday will be April 17th.

Church services and restrictions

For centuries, established church traditions prescribe the observance of special rules and the conduct of services intended exclusively for this day. Priests and monks on this mournful day in the last week of Great Lent must observe a complete refusal of food.

Believers are given small indulgences if they have poor health, pregnancy, or other objective circumstances. There are special services in the church on the morning of Good Friday:

• there is no solemn ceremony, and this only emphasizes the grief and greatness of the terrible day of the crucifixion;
• at the morning service, 12 specially selected passages from the Gospel are read in order to remind believers of the sequence of terrible events and the courage of the Lord in the face of a martyr's death;
• the chronology of events sounds in all details;
• in the Royal Hours, a description of the passage of Good Friday is spoken, as they are described in all the works of the Evangelists - Luke, Matthew, John and Mark;
• at the Great Supper, the Gospel is also read, but this time it is a composite one.

Church traditions have not changed for two centuries, and nothing will change in 2020 either. On this day, they do not eat, do not have fun and do not even smile, sing or dance.

On the day of mourning, no one does their usual household chores, and all the main preparations for the Easter holiday are done on Maundy Thursday. On the occasion of ecumenical mourning and grief, the church does not hold a wedding on this day, and it is better to postpone the christening to another date.

Folk beliefs

Signs and customs are based on observation, but sometimes on violation of the rules established by the church. For example, under a strict prohibition are the most common labor activities - sewing, knitting, any handicraft, housework, laundry.

You can not paint, use cosmetics for care, cut your hair, cook food. But if you bake a loaf of bread that day, there is a belief that even those who have never tried it, it will heal any disease, it will be stored for a long time and will not deteriorate.

Women on this day began to wean children from breastfeeding. It was believed that if you start weaning from mother's milk on Good Friday, a baby in adulthood will develop endurance and patience, the ability to endure any hardships in life.

Other signs and customs speak of the meaning that true believers attach to the day of universal mourning:

• you cannot dig the ground and stick a pitchfork into it, because this action can bring bloody wounds and non-healing ulcers (we are talking about all objects made of iron);
• clothes should not be washed on this day - they will not be clean, and blood stains will appear on it;
• the child conceived on this day will be crippled or ugly;
• if you drink alcoholic beverages on Good Friday, there will be no cure for alcohol addiction;
• if you do not drink water on Good Friday (completely abandon its use throughout the day), then in the next year you can even consume liquid poison, and it will not bring any harm to the body;
• having dedicated a silver ring on this day, you can acquire a powerful amulet that wards off the evil eye, witchcraft and any damage;
• having brought 12 candles to the house from the church, you need to let them burn out calmly at home. It can be guaranteed that all the next year its inhabitants will be healthy, and good luck and prosperity will settle in it.

Of the fortune-telling and rituals in 2020, only the belief that one can guess by the morning view from the window has survived. If, when you wake up, you see a dog - to trouble, a girl - to financial well-being, an old man or a cripple - to trouble, and a handsome guy - to a healthy year.

Summarize

1. Good Friday is a day of mourning and mourning for all Christians.
2. People remember the Lord and his crucifixion.
3. A strict Fast is observed, often - fasting.
4. You can't work, have fun, have sex, or have a noisy feast.
5. Popular beliefs speak of severe punishment for rule breakers.