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| 04-28-16 |
How should you spend Maundy Thursday with your Orthodox Ukrainian girlfriend? |
The Orthodox Christians have the Holy Week, which ends with Easter's greatest Christian holiday. Holy Week is the last and most severe week of Lent, when the Christians are not only fully comply with the Lent, but also prepare themselves to meet Easter. It is important to remember the traditions and customs, as well as comply with all currently available rules.
A lot of the traditions are associated with the Great Thursday, which is also referred to as Maundy Thursday. This day, according to Bible tradition, Christians remember the Last Supper and Jesus Christ who established the sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion). Also on Holy Thursday, people remember the Crist washing the feet of his learners, his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane and the betrayal of Judas. On Holy Thursday the liturgy of St. Basil the Great is served in churches and the patriarch symbolically washes the feet of 12 priests.
In Maundy Thursday, everything connected with cleaning, washing, and bathing with water has a symbolic meaning. According to ancient tradition, on this day, which in 2016 fell on April 28 the villagers woke up before sunrise, then washed and swam in open water. This is particularly evident in cases where Easter was late and the weather was good. It is believed that bathing in the Maundy Thursday is like Epiphany – a man washes off all sins and sickness and stores his health for the whole year ahead.
There are a great number of national signs, charms and traditions on Maundy Thursday that are rooted in the ancient past. Easter is a Christian analogue of the much more ancient festivities associated with Spring Awakening. People should prepare thoroughly, cleaning themselves from winter dirt not only physically but also in a spiritual way.
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