When is the Week of the Cross of Great Lent in 2021

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

True believing Christians observe all church canons: from prescribed restrictions in food to daily and festive services, rituals given in the Orthodox calendar. The date when the Week of the Cross of Great Lent in 2021 depends on Easter Sunday.

40-day fasting week names

It is easy to determine what date the time of strict restrictions, abstinence and moderation begins, knowing the date on which Bright Sunday falls this year. From Easter, the prescribed number of days is counted in reverse order, and Orthodox believers begin to fast in memory of the Lord, who wandered in the wilderness and fasted to purify spirit and body.

Each week has its own name and its own prerequisites for such a name. For example, the Flower is named so because in it the Orthodox celebrate Palm Sunday or the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem.

Names:

• The first is called the Triumph of Orthodoxy. It always starts on Monday, in 2021 it is March 15;
• The second is dedicated to St. Gregory Palamas, beginning on March 22;
• The third is called the Worship of the Cross, and this year its Monday falls on March 29;
• The fourth week - St. John of the Ladder, lasts from 5 to 11 April;
• the start date of the Fifth - Venerable Mary of Egypt - March 12;
• Sixth week - Flower bearing, lasts from April 19 to 25;
• Seventh - Holy Week, a time of especially strict restrictions, falls on the days from April 26 to May 1.

When is the Week of the Cross of Great Lent in 2021, you can determine by focusing on the beginning of Lent cleansing or on Easter Sunday. The date of celebration of the most significant of the twelve holidays falls in 2021 on May 2. The third week falls on the time period from March 29 to April 4.

History of the third week

The Christ of the Cross, the third week of Great Lent, has more than 14 centuries of history. It is tied to true historical events - the war between Iran and Byzantium, during which the holy city was captured. Church ceremonies have appeared since the return of the relics to Christians. Constantinople, the then capital of Byzantium, was delivered from the siege by the intercession of the Mother of God. After luck was on the side of the Byzantines, the miraculous relic returned to its eternal abode.

In memory of this event, the anniversary of the return is celebrated annually.

This glorious date is celebrated at the end of the week from the moment when, in the process of forming church holidays during Great Lent, they were transferred to Saturday and Sunday. This was done on purpose so that indulgences in food did not fall on weekdays. However, despite the fact that the worship of the Cross takes place on Sunday, the entire third week in honor of the significant event is called the Worship of the Cross.

In the third week, the Cross is carried out to the believers gathered for this purpose. This is done to remind people of the great purpose of the Christian faith, the torment and suffering endured by the Lord in the name of all mankind. This solemn ritual has another, additional meaning - to give people strength and inspiration, so that they complete what they have begun, reach Easter, without forgetting about the purpose of fasting.

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Meaning and features

People who are looking in the church calendar for the week of the Great Lent of the Cross in 2021 want to be present at the end of the week for the magnificent ceremony of worship of the Cross. This magnificent ritual has deep meaning and unique features:

1. The Cross of the Lord is a symbol, a reminder of the torment and suffering that the Son of God received during Holy Week, a symbol of a unique redemptive feat in the name of each and every one, for the good of all mankind.
2. It is also a reminder to those who believe that the cross for them is the only and main instrument of salvation, and all believers carry it throughout their earthly life, doing it in the manner of Jesus Christ.
3. The traditional three obeisances are performed by clergy and believers to the accompaniment of a hymn, and then it is sounded more than once - on Sunday itself, after all-night vigil, at the Liturgy.

It is left for the entire next week, until Friday, and only then is it brought into the church and placed on the altar. And this means that the fourth week is called the Christ of the Cross. And because the worship of the great symbol continues, and because on the Wednesday of the fourth week (the prayer of the Cross) exactly half of the 48-day Great Lent passed.

The 4th week of Lent, St. John of the Ladder, lasts from 5 to 11 April, it is also called the Week of the Cross.

Outcomes

The third and fourth weeks of Great Lent are called the Worshipers of the Cross:

1. The history of the holiday goes back almost one and a half millennia.
2. The ceremony is dedicated to a real event.
3. It was postponed to Sunday during the final formation of Great Lent.
4. The carrying out of the symbol takes place on Sunday, and it remains for worship on the 4th week, therefore it is also called the Worship of the Cross.