Spirits Day: date, establishment history and traditions

2024 Author: Miguel Ramacey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 06:11

The religious holiday of the Holy Spirit, or Spirits Day, in Christianity is celebrated on the day after Trinity. As a rule, it falls on the first Monday after it. Only the calendar date changes.

This is a special time for believers, accompanied by a festive divine service - with hymns and readings of special verses and prayers.

Description

The Holy Spirit is the active energy of the Supreme, through which He manifests such ability as omnipresence.

Also, according to the biblical books, thanks to this Sacred Power, many miracles were performed, including the healing of people, and the resurrection to life.

The symbol of the Holy Spirit is a dove bird. This is clearly reflected at the moment of the baptism of Jesus Christ in the Jordan - then this bird flew over it as a sign of the active power of the Almighty and evidence that He is God, who sent His Only Begotten Son to Earth.

From which it follows that this symbol is part of the Sacred Trinity: God the Father, Son andHoly Spirit. It is this Holy Trinity that personifies the Christian holiday of the same name, which is celebrated fifty days after Easter. And always on Sunday. Therefore, the date of Spiritual Day is the first Monday that follows immediately after the Trinity. It is recommended both the day before - in the morning and evening, and in the early morning of this day, people visit the temple to take part in the services.

After all, on this holiday a special prayer is read - "To the King of Heaven", which is filled with blessed purity, humility, gratitude, a request for help and reverence. And also the canon and akathist are performed.

The Holy Spirit endows every person on the planet, especially sincere, bright and kind, with unusual qualities, which in the Bible are called “fruits of the Spirit”. Namely: long-suffering, mercy, love, joy, kindness, purity. All this is like a grace from God sent to people. And it is very important to preserve and increase these gifts, to be grateful.

History

In order to better understand the essence of the Spirit of the Day holiday, it is necessary to turn to biblical events that occurred in the 1st century AD.

When Jesus Christ resurrected and ascended to heaven forty days later, he promised his disciples and followers that a special sign would be sent to them. And it will happen in Jerusalem.

Ten days later, the words of the Son of God were confirmed: the apostles and other believers fellfiery tongues, symbolizing the gift of heaven - to preach about the Christian faith throughout the Earth; and they spoke in different languages. All this was accompanied by a thunderstorm, foreshadowing a storm.

This memorable moment is called the day of the Holy Trinity. And this is the story of the establishment of the Spirit of the day, when the Holy Spirit descended on the chosen people, the disciples of Christ.

Common traditions

On this holiday, divine liturgies are performed everywhere in the churches of the Christian religion, during which sacred chants and prayers are read. In addition to "King of Heaven", prayer texts are also pronounced for people who have reposed.

Believers consecrate birch branches - a symbol of Trinity Day. This tradition has deep Christian roots. In the early centuries, each clergyman went with the local residents of the village on a festive day to a birch grove or forest, where he solemnly consecrated a birch. And then people carried branches from this tree to their homes. And thus they set up an impenetrable shield for the dark forces.

According to tradition, on the day of the Spirits, the water in the wells was consecrated so that it would be life-giving, and the source would never dry up.

The relationship with the earth is of particular importance on this holiday. All believing Christians tried to be especially attentive to this element. Listened to her and learned important information in this way. Or they arranged so-called picnics in the fields, which had a positive effect on productivity and prosperity.

The collection of medicinal herbs has also been carried out on Spirits Day since ancient times. Because theyfilled with special healing and protective properties, which, according to legend, gives a holiday.

Sacraments of worship

In Orthodox churches, everything starts from the day of the Trinity. In the evening of the holiday, traditional vespers are performed.

It is at this hour that prayers are read, solemn hymns are sung. The priest makes a passage through the temple with a censer.

Further, all believers kneel - while reading other sacred prayers: for salvation, for the monastery, for loved ones - the living and the departed.

One of the important prayer texts-hymns is the akathist, which is also pronounced during the service dedicated to the holiday - Spiritual Day. This is a great sacrament, accompanied by choral singing, the joint pronunciation of some parts of the texts.

And during the great vespers, the canon of the Holy Spirit is performed, which is an important component of the divine service and the sacred tradition of such an extraordinary day.

All these verses, songs and prayers are read several times. And every word is filled with great meaning, touching the souls and hearts of believers who are present at this time in churches.

And in the morning a liturgy is held - as grandiose and sacred as the day before.

Prayers

On the feast day of the Holy Spirit, a series of prayers are read. The first of them is "To the King of Heaven", which leads many people to awe. For the power of the text and the power of the Lord, His active energy are great and have no time limits.

This prayer can also be spoken on its ownperson at home every day (morning or evening).

It is addressed to the Holy Spirit - one of the Faces of the Holy Trinity. Who the creator of this sacred text is unknown. But prayer appeared in the first millennium after the birth of Jesus on Earth.

The second one is also addressed to the Spirit with a request to fill the entire Universe, every living person, not to shun the impurity of the soul and cleanse from sinful thoughts and desires. It is argued that with the help of the Holy Spirit, a person lives who has repented and does good deeds. And glorifies the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

A few words about the Slavic customs of this day

The Feast of the Day of the Holy Spirit is common Christian. Therefore, the customs associated with it take place both in Orthodoxy and in the Catholic faith. They may be similar in some ways, but different in some ways.

For example, among believing Orthodox Slavs on Spirits Day it is believed that:

• The weather should be accompanied by a thunderstorm with rain. This is what feeds Mother Earth as she celebrates her "creation" today.
• On the eve, the Spirit descends to the earth and spreads through the fields and dwellings of people.
• It is necessary to make processions around the land.
• All mermaids come out of the ponds to the ground and run on it, thereby filling it with moisture - for a better harvest.
• Unmarried girls should weave a wreath and send it to float on the water - this is good luck.
• It is necessary to spend the spring (traditions on Siberian soil), which contributed to the youth mass celebrations organized by the people.
• Soulsthe deceased flew in on a holiday and sat on the branches of a birch. Therefore, in small areas, this tree was the center, which was then carried away to the river or into the field.
• The water in the reservoirs is sacred, and women in the Russian Federation washed themselves with it early in the morning, thus being cleansed of spiritual impurity and bad thoughts, healed of ailments.

And among Catholics - in the West - traditional shepherd's mass celebrations are held on this day.

Signs of a holiday

And since ancient times, believers have known that on a Christian holiday in honor of the Holy Spirit, one should not disturb the earth. Namely: to work on a personal plot (loosen the beds, weed the garden, plant plants in the garden, and so on).

It is necessary to carefully and carefully treat the elements on this day, not to disturb peace and integrity. Otherwise, a lean year may happen.

Household chores are also not recommended: cleaning, painting, whitewashing, sewing, washing. Swimming is also not allowed.

From this day the real summer begins. Because heat comes from both the earth and the sky. And before the holiday, there may still be cold snaps.

Wise people said that the weather on Spirit Day characterizes the whole summer - what it is on a holiday, it will be like this on other days of this season.

CV

Traditions, history, signs and so on on this holiday are so deep and wide that it is simply impossible to cover everything. Nevertheless, it is part of the religious Christian culture, andthat means the life of a modern believer living on the territory of Russia.

And the deeper the contact with the spiritual, intimate, the happier people, people.