Maundy Thursday: signs and customs, history of the holiday. Customs and signs on Maundy Thursday When is Maundy Thursday
And other traditions directly related to this holiday will be carefully considered in this article. It all starts on the morning of Maundy Thursday. An old folk custom says that on this morning you need to swim in a natural pond before sunrise (just wash yourself at home with cold water) in order to wash away all sins from your body and soul. You need to wash with clean water, without soap or other cosmetics.
As for the face and hands, it is recommended not to simply wash these parts of the body with water, but to use water that is pre-charged with silver. To charge the water, on Wednesday evening you should pour it into a silver goblet or simply place a silver object in the water (regardless of where it was poured). Wash your face with this water in the morning; it is especially important to wash a sick person with this charged water on Maundy Thursday in order to improve your health and recover from illnesses, and protect yourself from the evil eye.
After these morning customs, you can move on to the main tradition of Maundy Thursday, with which many people associate this day - general cleaning of the home. In a house where there is a lot of dust, dirt and unnecessary rubbish, goodness cannot settle. Therefore, if you want to change your life for the better and invite good luck, then you must definitely get rid of those items in the house that are not needed and, being in the far corners, only accumulate negative energy. Also try on the eve of the bright holiday of Easter to cleanse not only your house of everything dirty, but also your soul and thoughts.
Note! Church traditions say that from Good Friday (this is April 6, 2018 according to the Orthodox calendar) and until the second Monday after Easter, you cannot clean the house. Therefore, you need to try to carry out maximum general cleaning: wipe off dust everywhere, wash curtains, get rid of unnecessary trash and do something that you haven’t gotten around to doing for a long time (for example, dismantling the balcony).
About the signs of Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday 2018: we continue to consider signs and customs further, because a lot of them have accumulated. On Maundy Thursday, every believer should not only take care of the cleanliness of their home, but not forget about the signs that, as practice shows, tend to come true. In particular, on this day you cannot lend anything to anyone. Let your neighbor come to you for a pinch of salt: you will have to refuse. People believed that by borrowing things on Maundy Thursday, a person also gives another person the well-being and wealth from his home.
When carrying out general cleaning on this day, you need to pay special attention to all the little things. Moreover, try to rearrange them during cleaning. They say that this can attract financial well-being to the home. You shouldn’t cut your hair on this day if you want your hair to grow well, be shiny and silky throughout the year. What you can do on this day is start cooking.
Thursday salt
An important Maundy Thursday tradition is the preparation of “Thursday salt.” It has unique healing properties and can be used not only for treatment, but also as a talisman throughout the year. Salt is prepared on the night when Maundy Thursday turns into Good Friday.
So, to prepare Thursday salt, you will need to take regular salt without additional additives. Heat a dry frying pan and put salt in it, heat it over the fire while reading a prayer. Then pour the salt into a cloth bag and place it on the icons. People believed that this salt cures all ailments. Moreover, not only physical ailments, but also spiritual ones.
Some are distrustful of the signs and customs on Maundy Thursday 2018, because the church denies many of such traditions. It seems to us that each person here is free to decide for himself and always think in advance how his action compares with the word of God. Easter is an important holiday for all Christians, and active preparation for the solemn day begins already in Holy Week. Thursday stands apart, which is called “clean”.
Attend a church service
In addition to folk traditions and will accept on Maundy Thursday 2018, do not forget about church rules and rituals. On this day, it is definitely recommended to go to church for a service. On this day, the church remembers what trials Christ was destined to endure. On this day it is recommended to confess and receive communion.
The New Testament says that in the evening of this day Jesus Christ had dinner with his disciples. They were all sitting at the table, and Jesus said that already at dawn before Friday, one of the disciples who was at the table would betray him for a reward of 30 silver coins. The most devoted disciple of Christ was Peter, who said that he would not betray the Savior. To which he told him that before the roosters crowed three times on Friday, Peter would publicly renounce Christ.
That same evening at dinner, Jesus took a sip of wine with his disciples and said that this was his blood. He also broke off a piece of bread for everyone and said that this was his flesh. Since then, in the church during communion, parishioners are given prosphora and church Cahors wine. On Maundy Thursday it is recommended to take communion.
Carrying out general cleaning
Clean Thursday 2018: signs, customs, especially for general cleaning. It has already been written about in this material, but I would like to dwell on this issue in more detail. Cleaning the house on Maundy Thursday should be done not cosmetically, but generally. It is recommended to wash windows, floors, beat and clean carpets and blankets. In the villages, it was on this day that ceilings were whitewashed and frames were tinted.
Only later, over time, their own folk signs began to appear related to cleaning on this day. For example, it is believed that if you move furniture while cleaning and rearrange small things to other places, this will bring happiness and well-being to the house. For the holiday table on Easter you can make
Signs and customs on Maundy Thursday were very strong among the people. Many conspiracies and prayers associated with this particular day of the Holy Week of Lent have survived to this day. Moreover, every modern person tries to grasp at least a little from each tradition. Some people prepare Thursday salt, others count their money, and still others always get up before sunrise to drink holy water.
Maundy Thursday is one of the last days of Great Lent on the eve of Easter. For religious people who try to adhere to all church rules, traditions and recommendations, this is a rather difficult day. There are even more difficult tests ahead - Good Friday and Saturday, when you need to try to pacify the flesh as much as possible. Maundy Thursday is not so strict in this regard; even in the Lenten menu, certain indulgences are allowed (you can eat food cooked over a fire, and also add a little vegetable oil when cooking).
Even children know that cleaning the apartment is completed on Maundy Thursday; you must wash yourself, getting up early in the morning at sunrise. Be sure to wash your face with cool water and take a bubble bath. In the church after the service, take communion, and in the evening begin coloring eggs and baking Easter cakes. Although, first things first.
Christian essence of Maundy Thursday
Maundy Thursday always falls during Holy Week, which ends the fasting period on the eve of Easter. The Book of Life tells about the Last Supper, which took place on this very day. Jesus, breaking the bread, distributed it to his disciples and said that this is My Body. I also poured wine into a cup and handed it to the apostles with the words that this is my Blood, shed for the remission of sins. This is exactly how the sacrament of communion or communion was established more than two thousand years ago.
At the Last Supper, Jesus already knew about Judas’ betrayal and told everyone that one of his disciples had already betrayed him. But at the end of the evening, Jesus Christ washed the feet of each disciple, this is the rite of Washing the Feet, which also came precisely with. This action showed humility, the mortification of emotions.
Interesting! The ritual of washing feet among the people was transformed into swimming in an open reservoir at sunrise on Maundy Thursday.
So, the day of Maundy Thursday, according to everyone, is a time of important cleansing not only of the body and space around, but, more importantly, the cleansing of one’s own soul. This is the turning point of Lent, the day of repentance and humility of the flesh.
In Rus', Maundy Thursday has long been considered magical, endowed with enormous energy and mystical power. It was on this day that all debts were distributed, they got rid of negative emotions, and with the help of ordinary water they cleansed the body, the spirit, and the space around them, completing the general cleaning.
Common signs from the people on Maundy Thursday:
* On this day, you should under no circumstances lend anything to anyone, including money. It was believed that giving a debt on this day is transferring your luck and happiness to another person. Not to mention the fact that by lending money on this day, a person gave away financial stability from his home for the whole year in advance.
* In order to always have money in the house, you need to hide it from everyone and count it down to the last penny three times on Maundy Thursday.
* You can also throw a handful of coins into a bucket for cleaning the house with the words, so that money and coins in the house are kept and not transferred, grow and multiply, but do not reach the enemies. After completing the cleaning, hide the coins for the whole year in a secluded dark corner.
* When cleaning your house on Maundy Thursday, in the most unexpected place you can find a little thing that was dear to you, but has long been lost.
* You also need to be able to clean properly on this day. Here, according to tradition, they start from the far corners and go to the center of the home, and then towards the threshold. Pour dirty water outside the house, preferably to a place where plants do not grow.
* If you clean properly on this day, you can properly clean the house of trash and unnecessary things. When it’s a pity to throw away some things because they are good, but you don’t use them, then you should give such things to people who will benefit from them and will really need them.
What to do on Maundy Thursday
First of all, early in the morning you need to swim. In villages, traditionally, swimming was carried out exclusively in open water. It is clear that not every modern city resident has such an opportunity. So, you can just take a cool shower in the morning, but do it with prayer, with joy in your soul and directly feeling how not only the dirt is washed away from the body, but also the sins from the soul.
You must definitely go to a church service in the morning or evening, and then confess and receive communion. Communion is celebrated only in the early morning. From the temple, bring a candle home with you, which will become a talisman for the entire coming year. The house is undergoing general cleaning; what rituals are associated specifically with cleaning are described in the middle of this article: you can find lost things, attract money into the house and simply cleanse the surrounding space of negativity.
In the last week of Lent before Easter, Thursday is called Clean Thursday. What date is Maundy Thursday in 2019? On April 25, 2019, Maundy Thursday was marked in the Orthodox calendar. What can you do on April 25 on Maundy Thursday, what needs to be done on this important day according to church canons on the eve of the Holy Resurrection of Christ in order to properly prepare for the Great Holiday?
Maundy Thursday is the last Thursday before Orthodox Easter. The number of Maundy Thursday in 2019, the date of the holiday Maundy Thursday 2019 falls on Holy Week. Significant for Christian believers, it is a moving date; the date of Maundy Thursday, 2019, among other things, changes from year to year; it is easy to determine the exact date of the celebration if you know when the Holy Resurrection of Christ is.
Orthodox Christians will celebrate April 28. On April 25, 2019, Maundy Thursday or Holy Thursday. Great Week is considered special in the life of every Christian believer. The last week of Great Lent marks the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ.
Razgadamus considers it educational. Maundy Thursday in Christianity is also called Maundy Thursday, Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday. In Orthodoxy it is believed that on the fourth day of the last week of Great Lent you can be spiritually cleansed of sins, cleanse your soul and body. This day is significant for several important events: the Last Supper, at which Christ established the sacrament of the Eucharist, the betrayal of Judas, and the reading of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane of Jesus Christ to God his Father.
The word Eucharist translated from Greek means good, respect, veneration and sacrament; it is a church term used by Catholics and Orthodox Christians. The Eucharist or Holy Communion is a religious ceremony of consecrating bread and wine in a special way. By consuming consecrated bread and wine during communion in church, Christians have the opportunity to unite with God in Christ, join the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and gain eternal life and salvation.
When is Maundy Thursday in 2019?
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Maundy Thursday in 2019 falls on April 25 - this is the fourth day of Holy Week, called Pure and Great. Each of the days of Holy Week is endowed with a special meaning:
- Thursday is the day of the Last Supper, where all 12 apostles and Jesus Christ gathered, at the beginning of which the Savior washed the feet of His disciples;
- The fourth day of Great Week, when Christ broke bread and gave wine to his followers, after which the sacrament of the Eucharist appeared;
- Thursday is the day when Judas decided to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver;
- The day when Christ asked His Father, prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing about His imminent death and asking Him for mercy.
Thursday is a key day, the last one before the arrest of Christ. On Thursday evening, the Savior gathered His disciples for the Supper before celebrating the Jewish Passover on Saturday. On the same day, Jesus predicts His suffering, crucifixion, death and names His betrayer. Judas catches the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane, after the Last Supper, while reading a prayer, where Christ was arrested.
Church celebration of Holy Thursday
The church celebration of Maundy Thursday is associated with the memories of the Last Supper, after which Holy Communion (Eucharist) was established in Orthodoxy. Every Christian believer comes to church on this day for worship and Communion.
In memory of the true service to one's neighbor, which Jesus showed to his disciples when he washed the feet of each of His followers, the rite of foot washing is performed during the service on Maundy Thursday in churches and cathedrals. According to church canons, the bishop washes the feet of 12 priests.
Churches hold services dedicated to these important events that led to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. During the service, priests remind parishioners about the Great Sacrifice, that every Christian, through the sacrifice made by the Savior, has been granted eternal life and salvation.
Maundy Thursday traditions
According to tradition, Christians consider Holy Thursday the day of cleaning their house before the celebration of the Holy Resurrection of Christ. We must remember that, along with cleaning the house, we should not forget about spiritual purity, participate in worship, and honor the holiness of this Great Day.
Orthodox traditions and signs for Maundy Thursday, celebrated in 2019, preserved to this day, are observed by the majority of believers, many of them echo the traditions of the Jews before the celebration.
The house and the surrounding area were carefully cleaned by our ancestors, the inside of the home was washed, the clothes were washed, unnecessary things were taken out of all the closets and distributed to the poor. All the dirty work had to be completed so that on Friday and Saturday - the most difficult days of Christ's suffering - one could devote free time to prayer.
Maundy Thursday: what to do
What should you do on Maundy Thursday? You need to visit the temple, clean the house. On this day you can and should bake, paint eggs, and prepare Easter cottage cheese. You cannot eat food prepared for Sunday. You can eat Easter cakes and colored eggs only after the end of Lent, the blessing of Easter cakes and eggs in church - not before Easter.
A mandatory ritual on this day was and is considered to be washing in the river or bathhouse. The washing of the body must occur with, on a par with the washing of the soul, a person must rid himself of anger, resentment, everything negative, cleanse himself with soul and body before the Great Resurrection of Christ.
It is important to know well what customs, prayers, and traditions accompany Maundy Thursday. It is believed that on this glorious day, which precedes Good Friday, every believer is obliged to part with all his fears, problems, worries and sinful thoughts. You should not carry this “load” on your shoulders on the bright holiday of Easter. How to get rid of all problems? What should you do on Maundy Thursday?
Thursday of Holy Week has great magical power. On this day there are many different signs and, of course, rituals.
Immediately after waking up on Maundy Thursday, each family member must wash himself with silver, that is, from a silver coin or spoon. According to legend, such washing gives a person not only good health, but also beauty. On Maundy Thursday, the sick are washed with silver coins borrowed from neighbors. The strongest silver coin is the one that was stolen. Such a coin is not spent, but treasured: it is used to treat people, bewitch them, and tell fortunes with it.
Cleaning the house on Maundy Thursday. Every Orthodox Christian faces the task of purifying himself. You should achieve cleanliness in your home, body and soul. It is necessary to take all the rubbish out of the house, collect trash, cobwebs, everything that has been stored for many years in hidden corners and is waiting for its finest hour. If an item has not been used for 12 months, then it is time to throw it in the trash or give the item to people in need. This procedure will help remove all the negativity from the house that has accumulated over a long time, and also prevent evil spirits from loosening “their hands and tongues.” Please note that trash accumulates where littering occurs. And in an uncomfortable house, where it is dusty and weedy, negative thoughts begin to arise, scandals, squabbles, and angry words appear. People forget about love for their neighbors and lose faith.
Swimming before sunrise on Maundy Thursday. To stay happy and successful until next Maundy Thursday, you need to cleanse your body. You need to swim before sunrise. This early morning, the water in the reservoirs is saturated with beneficial power. Ablution on Maundy Thursday will lead to the fact that accumulated fatigue, anxiety will go away, and pain will be forgotten. Before ablution, you need to say a prayer, your words of gratitude for what you have now, you need to repent. Before the sun dawns on Maundy Thursday, according to what customs require, we get into the shower and imagine that the water is not just washing the body, but taking away with it a whole series of troubles.
While bathing, you need to read the spell to attract good luck. It is necessary to say: “Water, water, flow, pour, cleanse my face, cleanse my body and cleanse my soul, fill me with beauty and health.” After this, bathing ends with pouring cool water over yourself from a ladle.
On Maundy Thursday you need to bake Easter cakes and Easter cakes. The main custom of Thursday of Holy Week is associated with baking Easter cakes. From the very morning, all housewives put the dough “so that it rises.” And towards evening, after reading all the necessary prayers, they begin festive baking. Popular beliefs say that by how the Easter cakes turn out, you can judge how the whole year will go until next Easter. If Easter cakes turned out lush and tasty, then next year will bring only joy. But if baking fails, then the year ahead will be difficult.
Signs on Maundy Thursday
According to folk superstitions, on Maundy Thursday every housewife must do a thorough cleaning of the house. After all, popular wisdom says that “there is no good in dirt.” This means that if you meet the approaching Easter holiday in a dirty home, then you can’t expect anything good from the next year. After Maundy Thursday you can no longer clean the house - the remaining days before the Great Day must be spent in strict fasting and prayer.
Beliefs strictly prohibit giving away anything from home on Maundy Thursday. Even if a neighbor comes to you for salt, find a reason to refuse her, otherwise, along with the salt, you can give her prosperity and peace from your home.
On Maundy Thursday, you need to bring from church the so-called passion candle, which helps in the treatment of a variety of diseases. On the same day, Thursday salt is prepared - ordinary salt is baked in the oven, and then consecrated in the church. This salt has amazing healing properties.
On this day, housewives prepare Easter eggs, painted eggs, Easter cakes and Easter eggs. The appearance of Easter cottage cheese on the holiday table is not accidental. Since ancient times, milk and dairy products, along with bread (Kulich), were revered as sacred, sacred food. Our ancestors endowed milk with healing properties and associated it with concepts such as strength and fertility.
On Maundy Thursday, a person can ask otherworldly forces about his future. To do this, they took a candle brought from the evening service, lit it and went to the attic (one of the brownie’s habitats). You had to stand there for a while and wait for the home spirit. If a shaggy brownie appeared, then this promised wealth to the family, but if a bald one, then the owners would live in poverty.
One could ask the devil about the future. You had to go into the forest, sit on a birch (a tree associated with the souls of the dead and female demons) or aspen (a cursed tree), take off your pectoral cross and call the forest spirit. It was believed that the goblin would definitely appear on Holy Thursday and answer all the questions of the daredevil who dared to talk with the evil spirit.
Conspiracies on Maundy Thursday
Conspiracy for beauty
This conspiracy is read on Maundy Thursday before sunrise and when reading, they bow low on all four sides.
"I'll get up
Servant of God (name),
At the clear dawn,
I'll bow first
To a beautiful star,
I'll wash myself with dew,
I'll wipe myself with a girl's braid.
Be my white face
Whiter than white light,
Scarlet cheeks are redder
Red sun,
Eyes are brighter
A clear month.
My eyebrows be
Blacker than black earth,
So that the guys are all
As one,
Word couldn't
I don't mind saying
Take your eyes off me.
I would like everyone
She was whiter and sweeter,
More desirable
And more beautiful.
My word is molded,
My business is tenacious.
Key, lock, tongue.
Amen. Amen. Amen."
A conspiracy to prevent husband and wife from separating
On Maundy Thursday, twist one thread from two spools and place it across the threshold. When your husband steps over the thread, tie it in the middle with a knot and hide it somewhere. When tying a knot, say:
"Servant of God (name) and I,
His thread
Twisted together
Tightly rolled.
Like a knot on this thread
It won't come undone
So he is never with me
It won't part."
Maundy Thursday conspiracy for quick marriage
To get married soon, an elderly woman needs to wash herself with cat’s milk on Maundy Thursday, saying:
"How everyone pets cats
And how cats cling to everyone,
So do my suitors
They won't let you pass.
Now and forever
And forever and ever.
Amen."
Plot on Maundy Thursday to make girls like a guy
In order for girls to like a guy, you need to read this plot on Maundy Thursday while washing your face:
"Water off my face,
Well done bride.
How people love water
So would I girls
Appreciated and loved.
Amen."
Plot on Maundy Thursday to make guys like you
In order for guys to like a girl, on Maundy Thursday they buy a mirror, without taking change from the purchase, stand between two trees, look into the purchased mirror and say:
Like the whole world
Looking in the mirror
To your reflection
He admires
So guys would look at me
We admired
They treated me kindly
And kissed
Yes, vying with each other to get married
They were rushing towards me.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Maundy Thursday spell for good luck and happiness
To end your misfortunes and failures, wash your house with holy water on Maundy Thursday. When you finish cleaning, read this plot:
"Cleansed on Maundy Thursday
All Mother Earth,
Cleansed on Maundy Thursday
And my soul
. How to walk correctly
The sun and moon across the sky,
In your own circle
Turn to the Eternal,
That's right
Will turn to me too
Happy share
And fate.
Now and forever
And forever and ever.
Amen."
When is Maundy Thursday in 2018, what can you eat, traditions and signs of this day, as well as much more, read the TopNews material.
When is Maundy Thursday 2018?
On April 5, 2018, Orthodox believers celebrate Maundy or Maundy Thursday. This folk Christian holiday is celebrated on the Thursday before Easter. This year it falls on April 5th.
Maundy Thursday 2018: history of the holiday
On Maundy Thursday the Church remembers the Last Supper of Jesus Christ with the 12 Apostles. On it, the Savior washed the feet of the apostles, thereby expressing his love and humility. Thus, He showed that serving one’s neighbor is not a humiliation for a person.
At the end of the supper Jesus intkbbee had a final farewell conversation with the apostles, during which He said goodbye to them, and the Savior also offered them bread and wine, like His body and blood. This ritual was called the Sacrament of Communion.
On this night, the Jewish high priests sentenced Jesus to death, so the night from Thursday to Friday is considered the most difficult time in Orthodoxy.
Maundy Thursday: what to do on this day, traditions and customs
On this day, early in the morning in Orthodox churches they perform the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great, consecrate the chrism, and in cathedrals they carry out the ritual of “washing the feet,” when the bishop washes the feet of 12 priests. Believers confess their sins and receive communion, and in the evening a service is held with the reading of the 12 Gospels.
On Maundy Thursday, people get up before sunrise and bathe. It is believed that water on this day washes away dirt and all sins.
Housewives clean their houses and throw away unnecessary things, as well as wash icons, do laundry, and after cleaning, light candles and lamps. Today it is customary to bake Easter cakes and paint eggs, as well as prepare festive dishes for Easter.
Also today, Thursday or “black” salt is prepared - this name is associated with the color that it acquires after preparation. It is believed that such salt has healing powers, and it is used as a seasoning for holiday dishes, after which the remnants are stored behind icons and used as medicine. It is also used to make amulets and wear them around the neck.
What can you eat on Maundy Thursday?
Maundy Thursday falls in the last week of Lent. Today, dry eating is allowed - uncooked food of plant origin, for example, bread, water, salt, raw fruits and vegetables, dried fruits, honey, nuts. It is necessary to refrain from drinking alcohol.
What not to do on Maundy Thursday
On Maundy Thursday you cannot have fun, sing, dance, or tell fortunes. You should not be angry, offended, or think about bad things. It is better to refrain from borrowing money and things. You cannot paint eggs or bake Easter cakes until the house is cleaned. Do not leave dishes unwashed or laundry dirty.
Signs for Maundy Thursday
If Maundy Thursday is a sunny day, then spring will also be sunny.
It is believed that if you swim in the river on Maundy Thursday, the water will give you strength and health, and if you wash yourself and wash, your house will be clean all year.
If the Easter cake turns out to be loose, heavy and not baked, then the year will be difficult and troublesome.
