The week of raw food (the fasting ritual for Lent) is the last day that sums up all the preparation for Lent, usually called “Forgiveness Sunday”; but we must not forget its second liturgical title: “The Expulsion of Adam from Paradise.” We know that man was created to live in paradise, to know God and communicate with Him. Sin deprived man of this blissful life, and his existence on earth became an exile. Christ, the Savior of the world, opens the doors of heaven to everyone who follows Him, and the Church, showing us the beauty of His Kingdom, turns Lent into a pilgrimage to the heavenly fatherland.

There is very little time left before the start of Lent. I remember Adam's cry about the lost paradise and, preparing for a serious journey, everyone asks for forgiveness from each other.

Adam, the father of the universe, in paradise knew the sweetness of God's love, and therefore, when he was expelled from paradise for sin and lost the love of God, he suffered bitterly and wept with a great groan throughout the desert. His soul was tormented by the thought: “I have offended my beloved God.” He did not regret paradise and its beauty as much as he regretted the fact that he had lost the love of God, which insatiably draws the soul to God every minute.
Thus, every soul that has come to know God through the Holy Spirit, but then loses grace, experiences Adam’s torment. It hurts the soul and it greatly regrets when it offends its beloved Lord.
Adam was bored on earth and wept bitterly, and the earth was not dear to him. He yearned for God and said:
“My soul yearns for the Lord and seeks Him tearfully. How can I not look for Him? When I was with Him, my soul was cheerful and calm, and the enemy had no access to me; and now the evil spirit has taken power over me, and shakes and torments my soul, and therefore my soul misses the Lord even to death, and my spirit yearns for God, and nothing on earth makes me happy, and my soul does not want to be comforted by anything. , but wants to see Him again and be satisfied with Him. I cannot forget Him for a minute, and my soul yearns for Him, and from the multitude of sorrows I cry with a groan: “Have mercy on me, O God, Thy fallen creation.”
So Adam wept, and tears poured down his face onto his chest and the ground, and the whole desert listened to his groans; animals and birds fell silent in sadness; and Adam wept, for because of his sin everyone had lost peace and love.”
St. Silouan of Athos. Adam's cry.

Why is the Church's attention suddenly turning to Adam? At the dawn of human history, a drama unfolded: a creature rose up against the Creator. What is the reason for such a rebellion: I won’t obey, I don’t want any restrictions, I want to do everything my own way? Is it familiar to everyone? - It’s familiar, just as the desire to justify oneself and shift the blame onto someone else is familiar: “the wife you gave...” And further, deeper goes self-justification: You gave her... So, you are to blame?!

How close is such a story of sin to everyone! Self-will, stubbornness, persistence in sins, self-justification instead of repentance. The first desire is to blame the One to whom one should first of all rush with the most necessary: ​​“forgive.” But no. Adam feels unpleasant, ashamed and feels bad that he violated what was commanded. But how does he behave? Biblical history literally speaks of the desire to hide from God, and for all centuries this first movement remains for the majority - to go into the shadows, to hide... From whom? - From God, from conscience, from my soul. From someone from whom you cannot hide, you cannot escape, you cannot defend yourself with self-justification and lies. What to do? It is not difficult to guess that the Church, speaking about Adam, helps everyone see themselves in him. If this image of our disobedience, ingratitude, unwillingness to respond with love to love is given in the form of a poetic legend about an forefather who lost paradise with these same qualities, then this is done only so that our mind and heart will respond to it.

How did heaven feel to the firstborn of the human race? How protection by the grace of God from the evil of the world. To have some idea about this, they usually remember the golden time of childhood, where the love of parents protects young life from everything vicious. But the Creator’s love, instead of a grateful feeling and reciprocal love, was met with the opposite desire to interrupt the most dear and valuable communication with the Creator in life. Sin entered a person’s life, weakened his talents, poisoned his abilities, and violated the integrity of his soul. Those who are able to feel painful internal discord know that storms often arise in the depths of the soul, raising all kinds of impurity from the bottom. Most often, a person prefers not to touch upon such topics, not to look into this abyss (“there are vermin there, they are innumerable,” as the psalmist put it), to leave himself, to deceive himself.

But this is not what the Church calls its children to do. Recalling Adam, she says again and again that the Creator has not forgotten His creation, that He Himself, the first, turns to Adam: “Where are you?..”, that He always has to be the first to go out in search of every lost soul.
Why does He, and not we, go to Him first? Because He is “meek and lowly in heart,” and we are proud and stubborn. And if He comes to us, then at least in response to this movement of Him we can go to meet Him with repentance for our sins? That is why the ancient reminder of the Fall sounds in church hymns. It contains the truth about ourselves, it calls us to an active feat, the goal of which is to meet God and find in communication with Him the meaning of all aspirations and the joy of being. This will not happen overnight, because we have a serious journey ahead of us - the Lenten journey to Easter.

From the book: Lenten Spring, the color of repentance... Ascent to eternal life. – M. Publishing department of the Vladimir diocese, 2002 – 590 p.

Adam was expelled from paradise by food, and so he sat down and wept, groaning with a touching voice, and saying: woe is me, that the accursed one suffered: I transgressed the Lord’s one commandment, and Lost all kinds of good things! Most holy Paradise, which was planted for my sake, and closed for Eve’s sake, pray to you, the Creator, and the Creator of Me, that I may be filled with your flowers! Likewise, to him the Savior: I do not want my creation to perish, but I want this to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, for he who is coming to me I will not cast out.
Adam was expelled from paradise because of food (because of eating the forbidden fruit), and, sitting right in front of paradise, he sobbed and groaned... Alas for me, how I, the accursed one, suffered: I did not keep one commandment of the Lord and lost all the benefits! Most holy Paradise, planted for my sake, and closed for Eve’s sake, pray to you and to the Creator of me, that I may again be filled with your flowers. And the Savior answered him (Adam): I do not want my creation to perish, but I want it to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, because I will not cast out the one who comes to Me. (Stichera on verse)

Kontakion of the Week of Cheesecake

Strengthen wisdom to the Teacher, meaning to the Giver, the foolish to the Punisher, and the poor to the Defender, give understanding to my heart, Master. Give me a word, Father's Word, for I will not hinder my lips, even as I call You: Merciful, have mercy on me, fallen.
Ikos:
Then Adam sat and cried, straight from the sweets of heaven, his hand hitting his face, and saying: Mercy, have mercy on me, the fallen one.
Seeing Adam tearing away the angel and closing the door of the divine garden, he sighed as a lord and said: “Merciful, have mercy on me, the fallen one.”
Give thanks to the poor money-grubber of paradise, and with the noise of your leaves beg the Creator, let him not shut you up: Mercy, have mercy on me, the fallen one.
Paradise, all-virtuous, all-holy, all-rich, planted for Adam’s sake, and concluded for Eve’s sake, pray to God for the fallen: Mercy, have mercy on me, the fallen one.

Gospel reading

Fasting frees us from enslavement to sin, from the captivity of “this world.” But the Gospel reading of the last resurrection speaks of the conditions of this liberation (Matt. 6:14-21).

The first condition is fasting: to refuse to consider the desires and demands of our fallen nature as normal; an effort to free the spirit from the dictatorial will of flesh and matter. But in order for our fast to be real, genuine, it must not be hypocritical, “ostentatious.” We must “appear fasting, not to men, but to (Our) Father who is in secret” (Matthew 6:18).

The second condition of fasting is forgiveness; “If you forgive people their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). The triumph of sin, the main sign of its dominion in the world, is quarrels, disagreements, divisions, hatred. Therefore, the first breakthrough through the fortress of sin is forgiveness: a return to unity, harmony, love. The radiant forgiveness of God Himself will shine between me and my “enemy” if I forgive him. To forgive means to reject all accounts and calculations of human relationships, leaving them to Christ. Forgiveness is the real “invasion” of the Kingdom of Heaven into our sinful and fallen world.

Vespers. The rite of forgiveness

Lent truly begins with Vespers this Sunday. Nothing better than this Vespers shows us the “mood” of Great Lent in the Orthodox Church, does not introduce us to it; nowhere better is her deep call to man felt.

The service begins as a solemn vespers; clergy in light vestments. The stichera on “Lord, I have cried...” (the next one after “Lord, I have cried”) announces the coming Lent, and after it the approach of Easter!

Let us begin the Lenten time in the light, having committed ourselves to spiritual deeds, cleanse our souls, cleanse our flesh, let us fast as we do in food from all passions, enjoying the virtues of the spirit: in them but through love, may we all be worthy to see the all-honorable passion of Christ God and Holy Pascha, spiritually rejoicing.
Let's start the Lenten season brightly! In preparation for spiritual exploits, let us cleanse our soul and cleanse our body. Let us abstain from both food and all passion, and enjoy spiritual virtues. So that, having perfected ourselves in love, we would be worthy to see the passion (suffering) of Christ God and Holy Pascha, in spiritual joy.

Then, as usual, follows the Entrance and the singing of “Quiet Light...” Then the serving priest goes to the “high place”, behind the throne, and proclaims the evening Prokeimenon, which always announces the end of one day and the beginning of another. During this evening, the “Great Prokeimenon” announces the beginning of Lent:

Do not turn Your face away from Your servant, for I am in sorrow; quickly hear me: take in my soul, and deliver me.
Do not turn Your face away from Your servant, for I am grieved! Hear me soon, pay attention to my soul and deliver it.

Choir of the Danilov Monastery Brotherhood

Listen to the special melody of this verse, this cry of the soul that suddenly fills the church: “... I grieve” - and you will understand the starting point of Lent: a mysterious mixture of despair and hope, darkness and light. All preparation is now complete. I stand before God, before the glory and beauty of His Kingdom. And I am aware that I belong to this Kingdom, I am aware that I have no other home, no other joy, no other goal; and I also realize that I am expelled from this Kingdom into the darkness and sorrow of sin, and ... “I mourn”! And in the end, I realize that only God can help my sorrow, only He can deliver and save my soul. Repentance is, first and foremost, a desperate plea for this divine help.

The prokeimenon is repeated five times. And now Lent has already arrived! Light vestments are replaced by dark, lean ones, and bright lighting is extinguished. When a priest or deacon begins the evening litany, the choir responds with a Lenten chant. The Lenten prayer of Ephraim the Syrian is read for the first time with prostrations to the ground. At the end of the service, the worshipers first approach the priest, asking for forgiveness, then ask each other for forgiveness. But while this ritual of “forgiveness” is taking place, etc. Lent begins with this act of love, unity and brotherhood, the choir singing Easter hymns. We have a forty-day journey ahead of us through the wilderness of Lent, but at the end of this journey the light of Easter, the light of the Kingdom of Christ, is already shining.

Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann. Great Lent.

The rite of forgiveness is not mentioned in the Lenten Triodion, but it is an ancient tradition of the Church, dating back to the times of early Palestinian monasticism. In the “Life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt,” written by Saint Sophronius of Jerusalem (c. 560-638), it is mentioned that at the beginning of Great Lent the monks gathered in church, where they asked for forgiveness from the abbot, and then left the monastery and went into the desert for the entire fasting, returning only to Holy Week.

Lesson on Forgiveness Sunday

Do not turn Your face away from Your servant, as I grieve, hear me soon!
With such words imbued with filial sorrow, beloved fathers, brothers and sisters in the Lord, the Holy Church turns to God today during the evening service. And each of those standing here undoubtedly experienced these words in their hearts as their personal appeal to God.
Do not turn Your face, merciful Lord, away from us! - we ask. But we must earn this mercy of God. At the call of our Orthodox Church, we gathered on this holy evening in the church in order to ask for God’s blessing for ourselves on the eve of Great Lent for a worthy entry into the field of intense prayer and repentance. We gathered in order to, according to the sacred custom established in ancient times, bow to each other from the depths of our hearts and forgive mutual offenses and sins.

Blessing for Lent

“Today is spring for souls!” Holy Great Lent is at the door. May the seed of our repentance and prayer germinate for them and give them the saving fruit of the resurrection of souls in God.
Child of God!
“Let your mind fast from vain thoughts;
let your will fast from evil desire;
let your eyes fast from evil vision;
Let your ears be kept from vile songs and slanderous whispers;
let your tongue fast from slander, condemnation, lies, flattery and foul language;
let your hands fast from beating and stealing other people's goods;
let your feet fast from doing evil deeds.”
This is the Christian fast that the Lord expects from us.
Let us, our friends, enter Great Lent, let us stand in the field of his exploits - repentance, abstinence and humility - and establish ourselves in them, so that, having received forgiveness, we will meet the Resurrection of Christ, Holy Pascha - the heavenly radiance on earth. Amen.

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Cheese week is the last day before Lent, the eve of a long abstinence not only from animal food, but also from evil thoughts and deeds. What does it take to be ready for spiritual cleansing?

What is cheese week

Cheese week ends cheese week, which is called Maslenitsa in the world. During these seven days, Orthodox believers do not eat meat, preparing themselves for Lent. The word “week” in this phrase has not a modern, but a more ancient meaning, implying the day of the week - Sunday. The word “cheese empty” can be divided into two completely understandable parts: “cheese” and “empty”. This is the day when for the last time before Lent you can eat eggs, dairy products and fish; they are, as it were, “released”, they are said goodbye to for the period of abstinence. In this way, you can gradually, and to a certain extent reduce the health risks, switch to lean foods.

A believer needs to remember that despite the influence of Christianity, Maslenitsa remains a pagan holiday. This means that it is necessary not to succumb to the temptations of gluttony and even refrain from participating in traditional rituals, such as burning an effigy. In the church calendar, this week is not a holiday; moreover, services are already being compared to services during Great Lent. The prayer of Ephraim the Syrian is read, and the Divine Liturgy is not held on Wednesday and Friday this week. In our prayers on Saturday, on the eve of cheese week, we remember all the sacred men and wives who shone in the feat of fasting, that is, the memory of all holy saints is celebrated. Using their example, the Church shows that people like each of us were able to achieve incredible spiritual heights, which means they are accessible to everyone. From an Orthodox point of view, cheese week is intended to strengthen relationships in the family.

On Cheese Week, popularly known as Forgiveness Sunday, we remember the expulsion of Adam from Paradise due to the Fall. The liturgy on cheese week speaks of the collection of virtues, forgiveness of sins and fasting. The Church calls for repentance for our sins. At the end of Vespers on this day, the rite of forgiveness occurs. After reading the prayer, the abbot asks for forgiveness from all Christians. Parishioners do the same. In general, on this day it is customary to ask for forgiveness from each other not only in church, but also at home, from all your relatives and friends.

On the last day before Lent, it is advisable to visit church. But if this is not possible, read the appropriate prayers and the Gospel of Matthew at home. All the best to you, and don't forget to press the buttons and

13.03.2016 00:50

Preparation for Forgiveness Sunday occupies a special place in the life of Orthodox Christians. A few days before...

The Epiphany of the Lord will take place on January 19, and before this Orthodox holiday, Christians adhere to a certain diet.

Watch a short video by Abbot Silouan (Tumanov) about Forgiveness Sunday.

The week (i.e. Sunday) is raw. Memories of Adam's exile. Forgiveness Sunday - March 1, 2020 Forgiveness Sunday ends Maslenitsa, the last week before Lent. At this point, the preparatory weeks for Lent end and Lent itself begins.

In the last week before Lent, the Church remembers the “original sin” of humanity. This spiritual catastrophe, which befell people at the dawn of their existence, became a transtemporal event. Each of us carries within us the “sin of Adam,” a dark rebellion of self-will and resistance to the Creator. People are interconnected as parts of a single organism “Adam”; he is imprinted with the “image and likeness of God,” and he is also infected with the disease of false self-affirmation.

The Church points to the “sin of Adam” at the threshold of fasting, for it is the root of our imperfection. Exalted by the Creator above nature, man betrayed his calling and, as a result, he himself fell under the power of the elements. Now he can master them only externally, through knowledge and science, but the key to the true triumph of the spirit is within our being. “Don’t think about winning if you haven’t won yourself,” says the old saying. There is also imperfection in nature; the law of universal devouring reigns in it. By refusing animal food, a person resists this law and puts the spirit above the body. This is the meaning of the post.

The last Sunday before Lent is called Forgiveness. The Gospel read on this day reminds us that one cannot do God’s work without reconciling with one’s neighbor. In monasteries there has long been a custom of seclusion during Lent. Before leaving, the monks asked each other for forgiveness. On this day (often immediately after the Liturgy) Vespers is served in churches, at the end of which the priest asks the parishioners to forgive him, and they also ask each other for forgiveness.

Alexander Men "Sacrament, Word, Image"

About Forgiven Sunday

My Creator, the Lord, / took dust from the earth, / put my soul into me with a life-giving breath, revived / and honored me, appointing me on earth / as the ruler of all visible creations, / and a co-dweller with the Angels. / But the insidious Satan, / using the serpent as his weapon, / seduced me with food, / and separated me from God’s glory, / and delivered me to hellish death in the earth; / but, as the Lord and the merciful, / call me to You again.

The robe woven by God, / I took off myself, unfortunate one, / disobeying your divine command, O Lord, / on the advice of the enemy; / and now clothed with fig leaves, / and garments of skins: / for by the sweat of his brow he was condemned to eat the poor bread; / the earth was doomed by a curse / to bring me thorns and thorns. / But in the last times the Virgin Incarnate, / having called me, lead me again into paradise.

Precious paradise, / the most perfect beauty, / an abode created by God, / unceasing joy and pleasure, / the glory of the righteous, the delight of the prophets, and the dwelling place of the saints, / with the noise of your leaves, beg the Creator of all / to open for me the gates that I have closed by crime, / and to honor me communion with the tree of life, / and the joy that I previously enjoyed in You.

Adam was expelled from paradise for disobedience, / cast out from the abode of pleasure, deceived by the words of his wife, / and sits naked opposite that place, “woe is me,” lamenting. / Therefore, let us all try to spend the time of fasting / listening to the gospel traditions, / so that through them, becoming pleasing to Christ, / we will again receive a heavenly home.

From the Lenten Triodion - read in Russian, in Church Slavonic

Nikolai Uspensky “Holy Pentecost: a historical and liturgical essay”

Of the liturgical features of Great Lent, the first thing to note is the rite of forgiveness, performed on the last Sunday before Lent after Vespers. This rite, one of the oldest Christian rites, owes its origin to the first Palestinian hermits. In the laurels of Saint Sava the Sanctified, Euthymius the Great and other Palestinian monasteries, their founders established the custom of spending Lent in absolute solitude for the monks, following the example of Christ, who spent 40 days in the desert. Therefore, on the said Sunday evening, all the monks gathered in the temple, sang the last vespers, after which they silently said goodbye to the monastery, kissed the icons and said goodbye to each other, and the next day early in the morning they left the monastery, going to the desert mountains remote from the monastery. The monastery seemed to be dying out. Only the sick, unable to move elders, the monks serving them and one priest remained in it. All the rest stayed in the mountains, eating dry grains and root vegetables, praying and doing handicrafts for the needs of the monastery. So the 40 days of fasting went on. On Lazarus Saturday, hermits from all over flocked to their monastery, holding in their hands palm branches and crosses made from palm branches of their own handicraft. Singing, “Today the grace of the Holy Spirit has gathered us and we have all taken up Your cross, saying: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest,” they entered the church for the all-night vigil.

During the period of the Persian invasions of Palestine (VII-XI centuries), the monks were often forced to remain in the monastery during Lent in order to protect their helpless sick brethren in the event of an enemy attack. Thus, the touching and instructive custom of fasting in the desert was abolished, but the ritual of forgiveness, from which Sunday itself is called “forgiven,” spread throughout the entire Church, reminding the believer of the need for reconciliation with those who offended him, so that he himself could receive forgiveness from God according to the word of the Lord’s Prayer - “forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.” The hymn of the conquerors of sin, with which they returned from the desert to the monastery, was preserved in the service of the Week of Vai, as the first evening stichera.

Sermon by Anthony of Sourozh

Forgiveness comes in the moment when we say to each other: I know how fragile you are, how deeply you hurt me, and because I am wounded, because I am a victim - sometimes guilty and sometimes innocent - I can turn to God and from the depths of pain and suffering, shame, and sometimes despair, I can say to the Lord: Lord, forgive me! He doesn't know what he's doing! If only he knew how much his words hurt, if only he knew how much destruction he brings into my life, he wouldn't have done this. But he is blind, he is not mature, he is fragile; and accept him, I will carry him or her as a good shepherd carries a lost sheep; because we are all lost sheep of Christ's flock. Or I will carry him, her, them, as Christ carried the cross: to death inclusive, to crucified love, when we are given all the power to forgive, because we agreed to forgive everything that was done to us.

And so let us enter Lent, as we walk from thick darkness into dissipating darkness, and from darkness into light, with joy and light in our hearts, shaking off the dust from our feet, throwing off all the fetters that hold us captive: in captivity to greed, in captivity to envy, fear, hatred, jealousy, in captivity of mutual misunderstanding, self-focus - because we live in captivity to ourselves, while we are called by God to be free.

And then we will see that step by step we are moving, as it were, across a great sea, away from the shores of darkness and darkness towards the Divine light. On the way we will meet a crucifix; and at the end of the journey the day will come - and we will stand before Divine love in its tragic perfection, before it overtakes us with unspeakable glory and joy. First - the Passion, first - the Cross; and then the miracle of the Resurrection. We must enter into both; enter into the Passion of Christ together with Him, and together with Him enter into the great peace and brilliant light of the Resurrection.

Conversation by Alexander Geronimus

Although we call the next week Forgiveness Sunday, strictly speaking, Forgiveness Sunday is Sunday Vespers, at the end of which the rite of forgiveness of offenses is performed. And this Sunday itself, together with its all-night vigil and liturgy, is called the Remembrance of Adam’s Exile.

In the service of this day there is such an ikos, belonging to Roman the Sweet Singer, a remarkable 5th century hymn writer:

Then Adam sat and cried, right at the sweetness of Paradise, beating his face with his hand, and saying: “Merciful, have mercy on me, fallen.”

When Adam saw the angel tearing down and closing the door of the divine garden, he sighed greatly and said: “Merciful, have mercy on me, fallen.”

Give pain to the poor money-grubber of Paradise, and with the noise of your leaves beg the Creator, so that he does not close you: Merciful, have mercy on me, the fallen one.

All-virtuous, all-holy, all-rich Paradise, planted for Adam’s sake, and concluded for Eve’s sake, pray to God for the fallen: Merciful, have mercy on me, the fallen.

The chant was written on behalf of Adam, and it testifies that the author of this chant has entered such a degree of perception of reality in which he positions himself as Adam expelled from paradise, who is located before the gates of paradise. This is a normal starting position for starting the path of Lent, which can also be designated as a path of return.

The second part of the service for the coming Sunday is Vespers with the rite of forgiveness of offenses. Some people ask the following question: when we gather in church for a short but touching service of Forgiveness Sunday, not only people who know each other ask each other for forgiveness, but also strangers can approach each other with this - what’s the point? ? We will dwell on this issue a little later, but first a simpler question regarding forgiveness to each other. The Holy Prophet Isaiah says: Is this the fast that I have chosen, the day on which a man languishes his soul, when he bends his head like a reed and spreads rags and ashes under him? Can you call this a fast and a day pleasing to the Lord?

The precondition for fasting, the beginning of fasting, the beginning of one’s own repentance, is to carry out rather difficult work. Difficult because it applies to each person individually, and not to everyone together: “Forgive me...” If there is no external conflict with some person, but inside we have an unfavorable disposition, then we need to work on it: God looks at heart. And, of course, to think that in one day, Forgiveness Sunday, we will do all this enormous work, and then, freed from all bad interpersonal relationships, we will go to save ourselves on our own, is an illusion. The first push, the first impulse, of course, is given as a setting for Forgiveness Sunday, but in principle, work on the concrete implementation of the second commandment about love for neighbors must necessarily continue during Lent.

Sermon of Luke of Crimea

If you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive you your sins.

Oh, what simple, yet deeply, deeply correct words these are! What deep truth there is in them!

Well, tell me, if a person hates his offender so much that he does not want to forgive him, then does he deserve forgiveness from God? Oh no, of course not.

Our Lord and God Jesus Christ, who atoned for the sins of all people with His most pure Blood, also atoned for the sin of your offender. And you, damned one, do not want to forgive when Christ Himself forgave. Oh how scary it is! 13 As during the day, let us behave decently, not indulging in feasting and drunkenness, nor in sensuality and debauchery, nor in quarrels and envy;
14 But put on our Lord Jesus Christ, and do not turn the cares of the flesh into lusts.
1 Accept him who is weak in the faith without arguing about opinions.
2 For some are confident that they can eat everything, but the weak eat vegetables.
3 He who eats, do not despise him who does not eat; and whoever does not eat, do not condemn the one who eats, because God has accepted him.
4 Who are you, judging another man's servant? Before his Lord he stands or falls. And he will be raised up, for God is able to raise him up.

Epistle to the Romans, chapters 13-14

Book of Genesis about expulsion from Paradise

1. The serpent was more cunning than all the beasts of the field that the Lord God created. And the serpent said to the woman: Did God truly say: You shall not eat from any tree in the garden?

2. And the woman said to the serpent: We may eat fruit from the trees;

3. Only from the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said, do not eat it or touch it, lest you die.

4. And the serpent said to the woman: No, you will not die,

5. But God knows that in the day that you eat of them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil.

6. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes and desirable because it gave knowledge; and she took of its fruit and ate; and she gave it also to her husband, and he ate.

7. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed together fig leaves and made aprons for themselves.

9. And the Lord God called to Adam and said to him: Where are you?

11. And he said: Who told you that you were naked? have you not eaten from the tree from which I forbade you to eat?

12. Adam said: The wife whom You gave me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.

13. And the Lord God said to the woman, “Why have you done this?” The woman said: The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

14 And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle and above all the beasts of the field; on your belly you will go, and you will eat dust all the days of your life;

15. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will bruise your head, and you will bruise its heel.

16. He said to the wife: I will multiply your sorrow in your pregnancy; in illness you will give birth to children; and your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.

17. And he said unto Adam, Because thou hast listened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground because of thee; you will eat from it in sorrow all the days of your life;

18. It will bring forth thorns and thistles for you; and you will eat the grass of the field;

19. By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the ground from which you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you will return.

20. And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, for she became the mother of all living.

21. And the Lord God made garments of skins for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

22. And the Lord God said: Behold, Adam has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and also take from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.

23 And the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he had been taken.

24. And he drove out Adam, and placed in the east by the garden of Eden a Cherubim and a flaming sword that turned to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:1-24

“Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Prayer-psychological seminar

“Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Prayer-psychological seminar on forgiveness from psychologist Marina Filonik. This unique meeting consists of two parts - lecture and prayer. The goal is one - to get closer to forgiveness, so that on the day of forgiven resurrection you can truly forgive, with all your heart.

...I want to forgive and I can’t, I try, I pray... I ask God to give me the gift of forgiveness, I try to improve - and again and again I understand that I have not forgiven. And here is Forgiveness Sunday, and I definitely have to forgive. I say with a smile: “God will forgive and I forgive,” and I almost believe in these words myself, but deep down I still don’t care... And sometimes I consciously do not consider it necessary to forgive someone - after all, he did a real evil, and my offense is justified !

How we treat ourselves is how we treat others. We cannot forgive others because we do not forgive ourselves. Our inadequate expectations of ourselves—for example, “I need to pull myself together and forgive”—are directly related to being demanding of others, judgmental, and false feelings of guilt. This is what keeps us away from forgiveness.

The meeting consists of 2 parts:

1. lecture-conversation - we will discuss some psychological aspects of the problem, tell you what hinders and what helps to move towards forgiveness,
2. prayer part. Let us present ourselves sincerely before the Face of God as we are, with our wounds and unforgiveness, in order to allow God to heal our hearts with His Love.

Meat week- This is the third Sunday of the period of preparation for Lent. This is the time when every Orthodox Christian should strive to cleanse himself as much as possible from sins and vices, pacifying his flesh.

The meaning of the term "meat-waste"

The word comes from the Greek “apokreos” and the Latin “carni privum”, which means deprivation of meat. Meat week begins on the 56th day before Easter. It is followed by the last week before Lent - cheese week, or as it is popularly called - “Maslenitsa”. Those who decide to fast do not eat meat this week and eat exclusively dairy products and eggs.

Preparing for Easter

It is important to properly prepare for the celebration of the most important Orthodox holiday - Easter. The period of preparation for fasting consists of three weeks, each of which is devoted to a specific topic. It begins with the story of a Pharisee and a publican praying in the temple. Cheese Week is the final part of the preparatory period before Easter.

Weeks during preparation and Lent are devoted to specific topics:

• About the Pharisee and the Publican;
• About the Prodigal Son;
• Meat;
• Cheese waste.

This period is aimed at making it easier for a person to switch to an ascetic lifestyle from his usual way of life. Such preparation for Lent has been practiced for more than 16 centuries.

Description of Meat Week

The third week of preparation for Lent is called Meat Week. It is aimed at the refusal of an Orthodox Christian to eat meat products, so that abstinence in the future will be easier. These are the last days before Lent, when it is still allowed to eat meat products.

During this period, fairs and wedding festivities ended. Believers were preparing for the remembrance of the Passion of Christ. The next week is called Maslenitsa. During this week they already give up meat and eat only eggs and dairy products.

Ecumenical Parental Meat Saturday

It falls on Meat Empty Week. On this day the church commemorates all those who have died since the time of Adam.

Memorial prayer Sermon Video Photo: week about the Last Judgment

Lord, hear our prayers for our parents who left this earth and went to Your Kingdom, where there is eternal life. Only You are able to console our grieving souls. Please forgive all the sins of the deceased and give him life in joy and happiness in Heaven. I cry and pray for the soul of God’s servant (name) with faith and hope for consolation. Don’t leave me alone in the sorrow of mourning, help me survive the loss. Forgive him all his sins, let his soul rest in peace and find eternal life. I will pray for him and glorify Your name, our Lord! For you are our Father, and only you know when our last hour on earth will strike, in order to take our souls to the Kingdom of Heaven. May we find eternity next to you. Forever and ever. Amen

This memorial day reminds all Christians of the need for the salvation of all people, therefore all living people should pray for the souls of deceased sisters and brothers. Only the body dies, but the soul remains alive, which means it still has time for repentance. Everyone, living and deceased, has time until the Last Judgment to repent. By praying for deceased relatives, we ourselves quietly become better: we begin to love our neighbors and cleanse ourselves of evil.

Is Maslenitsa a Christian holiday?

Maslenitsa is not based on Christianity at all. Every educated person knows this. Maslenitsa is an ancient pagan celebration of welcoming spring and seeing off winter. Previously, this holiday was a kind of bacchanalia, which was accompanied by games, fights, unbridled fun and abundant drunken feasts. Before the adoption of Christianity, such festivities were aimed at appeasing the pagan gods. In some cases, they were accompanied by human sacrifices, including the first martyrs - the Kiev Varangian Theodore and his son John. Therefore, the Orthodox Church, talking about the Last Judgment, calls for repentance and asks us to be wary of pagan rituals that still live in our subconscious.

After the baptism of Rus', people could not refuse to celebrate Maslenitsa. It is difficult for the Russian people to cancel holidays accompanied by reckless parties and rich feasts. The Orthodox Church was forced to combine this week with the last preparatory week. Thus, she could at least somehow control what was happening and prevent blasphemous revelry during Lent. The tradition of commemorating deceased ancestors with pancakes was reinterpreted as a conspiracy - a festive meal before Lent. In churches they read the repentant prayer of St. Ephraim the Syrian. At the same time, ritual pagan spells and ditties were performed on the streets, which defile the hearing of a believer.

What is allowed to eat during meat-eating week?

Orthodox believers are interested in the question of what they can eat this week in order to properly prepare the body for Lent.

On Sunday they eat the usual meat products: poultry, beef, pork, sausages. There are no strict prohibitions on this day. If you wish, you can eat fatty sausages or lard. However, this should be done in moderation, since this is still a preparatory week, after which Lent will begin. Meat week is followed by Cheese week. Meat products are excluded from the diet.

It is worth noting that the traditions of the Orthodox Church are very wise. After all, for fasting to be beneficial, you need to properly prepare your body for it.

Christian services

Meat week begins on Sunday; during the service on this day, the story of the prodigal son is remembered. At daily liturgies, they remember the upcoming Last Judgment, which will take place when the second coming of Christ occurs. During weekday services, verses from the Gospel are read, where Jesus himself spoke about the coming Judgment.

Meat Week ends with Mother's Saturday, when all Orthodox Christians commemorate their deceased relatives and friends. In memory of them, memorial services and funeral prayer services are ordered.

On Sunday they hold the Great Meat Empty - a festival of meat, before completely abandoning it. As a rule, these are folk fairs and festivities with a lot of meat, which is baked, fried on mushrooms and eaten in abundance.

How to prepare for meat-eating week?

The clergy recommend thinking about your diet for the next month, taking into account that it should include meatless dishes. It is also important to prepare psychologically to give up entertainment and holiday activities.

If possible, attend divine services, confess and receive communion as often as possible. During the preparatory period, as well as during the fast itself, you need to refrain from attending entertainment events and reduce viewing of entertainment programs to a minimum.

It is worth remembering that fasting is not a punishment, but a time when every believer can cleanse his soul. By fighting our passions, we become closer to God, healing physically and spiritually.

In 2019, Lent will last from March 11 to April 27. Every true Orthodox believer needs to know all the nuances of preparing for this difficult test, which carries with it many restrictions. Cheese Week (Maslenitsa or Cheese Week) will be one of these stages, namely the final one, before the onset of Lent. It will take place from 4 to 9 March. And, on March 10, there will be Cheese Week (Forgiveness Sunday).

What you need to know about preparing Christians for Lent 2019 and Cheese Week

During the period of its existence, the church formed rules for preparing believers for the entry into Lent and recognized their effectiveness. Entry into Lent consists of four Sunday days and three weeks (22 days), which very smoothly help transition into a period of abstinence and prayer.

This period begins on Sunday, when the Gospel about the publican and the Pharisee is read. It is then that a person begins to prepare for the fact that he needs to go to the temple. After all, the publican and the Pharisee both came to the temple and both prayed. Only one did it sincerely, and the other, extolling himself. The one who said the prayer from the heart came out of the temple justified. This is the main point, you need to go to church, pray, but not think about yourself better than you really are. During this period, fasting, which Orthodox Christians observe on Wednesdays and Fridays all year round, is lifted. This is called a continuous week. It is allowed to eat any food so that a person can feel all his weaknesses.

Next comes the second Sunday, which is dedicated to reading the Gospel about the return of the prodigal son. By this the church shows that every person in his life commits acts like the prodigal son. He left his father’s house and did as he pleased, but realizing the depth of his fall, he returned to his father, bringing his repentance. This is the meaning that the doors of the temple are always open to any person. You need to get up and go to church - to repent, correct your lifestyle, your thoughts and actions.

The third week begins, during which you can eat meat, except Wednesday and Friday, until the Sunday of the Last Judgment. The peculiarity of this week is that for the Lord God, there are no dead people, for Him they are all alive. And it is very important for living Christians to remember them. On Saturday (Ecumenical Saturday), all the departed are remembered. That is, having prayed for all previously living people before entering Lent, a person begins to take care of his spiritual growth and development.

On Sunday of the third week, March 3, 2019 (Meat Empty Week), they stop eating meat, that is, they completely eat it. This Sunday is dedicated to the Gospel reading about the Last Judgment. The main idea is that the Lord will judge people not for simply doing evil deeds, but for not doing good deeds.

The fourth week is Raw Food, you can no longer eat meat, but dairy products and eggs are allowed. People called this period Maslenitsa. The point is to prepare for the subsequent refusal of these products too. Ends with the day mentioned in the Gospel as the expulsion of Adam from paradise. It says that through Adam sin entered this world and into human life. Along with this came illnesses, as companions to the end of life, that is, human death. Initially, man was not created in order to die, but in order to praise God. But sin brought a lot of trouble. The Earth and humanity as a whole are punished for sin.

Cheese Week 2019 and its meaning

In ancient times, people celebrated this holiday on the day of the spring equinox. These were their first attempts to get closer to God. Over time, the Orthodox Tsarkov added a spiritual meaning to it, which consists in preparing for the passage of Lent. It makes it possible to tune in to communicate with God, repent and earn forgiveness.

Forgiveness Sunday, on this day people ask each other for forgiveness. The custom comes from ancient times. At that time, the monks went into the desert for 40 days and were there, completely alone. There was a possibility that they might not return. The point was to say goodbye to your neighbors and ask for their forgiveness. Because this could be their last opportunity.

What not to do for Cheese Week 2019

The main traditional attributes of the Maslenitsa celebration are a scarecrow symbolizing the holiday, festivities, slides and baking pancakes with various fillings.

Rules for Cheese Week:

receive guests if the house is a mess;

1. On the short Maslenitsa (from Monday to Wednesday), you can do any housework, and from Thursday, all work is completed.
2. You can’t get angry, swear, or swear.
3. You can't eat meat.

Fasting is what allows a person to prepare himself for communication with God. Therefore, fasting should be pleasant, it is spring for the soul. Therefore, every person needs to force himself to work in order to return to the Kingdom of Heaven, through the meeting of the risen Christ the Savior.