What follows Forgiveness Sunday. Forgiveness Sunday

Forgiveness Sunday

Today is the last day before Lent. The Day of Forgiveness Sunday completes our preparation for Great Lent. In the past preparatory weeks about Zacchaeus, the publican and the Pharisee, about the prodigal son, about the Last Judgment, the Church has already sung and recited the hymns of the Lenten Triodion, as if reminding us of the approach of Great Lent.

The last week before Lent, Maslenitsa (I want to remind you that in translation into English or Latin this word sounds like “carnival”, consisting of the words “meat” and “farewell”) is the most preparatory: we stop eating meat food and gradually enter into space of Great Lent. Therefore, on the day when the rite of forgiveness is performed, when the hymns are replaced by minor and fasting ones and the prokeimenon sounds “Do not turn Your face away from Your servant”, when the clergy change from light clothes into dark ones, we come already prepared.

Even the very structure of Shrovetide week, with all its popular names - sister-in-law gatherings, mother-in-law evenings - just tells us that these days it is desirable, by today's standards, to at least call, but it's better to visit your relatives and friends, so that to reconcile.

The rite of forgiveness is actually performed not only on Forgiveness Sunday, but throughout Great Lent. Every day in the temple, the priest addresses the people: “Forgive me, fathers, brothers and sisters, if I have sinned against you in word, deed or thought ...” and receives the answer: “God will forgive, and forgive us!”. In conclusion, the priest says: “May God forgive and have mercy on all of us by His grace.”

It turns out that Forgiveness Sunday, on the one hand, marks the end of many weeks of preparation for Great Lent, and on the other hand, the beginning of Great Lent, an important goal of which is our reconciliation with God and people.

I would like to emphasize what forgiveness means. This word means not only forgiveness of offense. It happens that there is no deep resentment between people at all, and relations are strained, difficult. Here it is appropriate to recall that the words “forgive” and “just” have the same root for a reason: it is very important that there are no internal or external difficulties between us and our loved ones.

forgive the unforgivable

However, in the modern world, many people are literally overgrown with enemies who have taken something from them: money, position, health, the lives of loved ones ... How to behave towards those whom you cannot forgive?

Any person - even the most terrible tyrant - can be pitied. He could be a very bad person, but it also hurts him to suffer in hell. And in childhood he could be brought up badly and then they could not love him, and so on. Although this in no way means that we should justify it. It is important to understand that we can condemn actions, but we can regret a person, especially if he deliberately does bad things to others or, for example, cannot stop doing them due to weakness. We are trying to explain the behavior of a person with the mind: well, mentally ill, well, torn ... Moreover, this can be done in relation to an unfortunate neighbor who is haunted by passions, it is not known for what reasons. But we must thank God, at least almost like a Pharisee: “I thank You, Lord, that You did not allow me to do the same.” And pity the man. Then it will no longer be hypocrisy if we do not condemn a person, but pity him. And we thank God.

Often saying “forgive” or “forgive”, we still retain the bitterness of resentment in our souls or feel that we are right in relation to those people who, to put it mildly, do not like us, and sometimes cause serious pain. Where are the boundaries between sincerity and hypocrisy? If I don’t love a person, I don’t feel any positive emotions for him, but I try to smile at him - is this hypocrisy, or not? In fact, everything is quite clear here: if I condemn a person, and at the same time artificially smile at him, this is hypocrisy. And if I smile, but at the same time I scold myself for not being able to treat this person normally - that is, I do not condemn him, but myself - then this is no longer hypocrisy, but a very important principle of spiritual life - from the external to the internal. Therefore, it is necessary to try to unhypocritically ask for forgiveness, even if you are not very good at it. At the same time scolding yourself for not having sufficient forgiveness in your heart.

Forgive truly - how?

It seems to me that it is easier for a believer to truly forgive (for a start, at least with the mind). Because it is difficult for an unbeliever to explain, for example, the words with which the elders consoled the offended: “Know that when you ask God for humility, he will surely send you a person who will offend, humiliate, insult and humiliate you.” It is enough for a believer to simply understand that those people who offended us in one way or another, hurt us, caused us some kind of evil - this is an instrument of God's providence. Suffice it to recall the words of the Old Testament that the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh to lead Israel out of Egypt. Or, for example, in relation to Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed Jerusalem, it is written: “My servant, Nebuchadnezzar!”. Therefore, it is important to understand for yourself that in a sense, these people are angels whom the Lord sends, with some of His own, sometimes with a purpose that is completely incomprehensible to us.

The next, very important step in the matter of forgiveness is to separate our feelings from each other and from our actions, the pain of resentment from the desire for revenge, angry proceedings, unforgiveness, up to the wishes of death to another person. There is no need to specifically deal with pain, because it is a natural, normal feeling that we experience. But the negative feelings and actions that accompany it, directed at another person, need to be separated and eradicated.

Forgiving a person, we do not necessarily have to stop behaving towards him in some special way. This is well understood by the example when parents consider it necessary to punish a child. At the same time, they are not always angry with him: it is quite possible that they forgave him a long time ago, but, nevertheless, consider it necessary to deprive him of something pleasant. The same is very important to do with our offenders. Imagine: you have a difficult relationship with some neighbor on the landing, who, despite your best efforts, behaves nasty. You may well bring the case even to trial. At the same time, in a Christian way, your actions should not be associated with resentment, hatred towards him.

This is important in every situation. Even in war, when it is a man's duty to kill enemies. Wartime always revives, if not formal paganism, then some kind of pagan rapture of war - blood, hatred, and so on. The Christian needs to avoid this. The same applies to the situation when the enemy appears in the family. For example, when a stranger takes a husband or wife out of the family. Or in business, especially if our competitors begin to fight unfairly and use those means that you, as a Christian, cannot possibly afford. We can and should continue to fight. But it is necessary to fight with your negative feelings and pray for the offenders.

And, finally, it is very important to remember that, in general, we are deeply imperfect people, therefore, to expect from ourselves that “here, I will not hold grudges against anyone and forgive everyone”, this is, in a sense, pride. Do not be surprised that sometimes you fail to forgive someone. Let's try to approach our grievances creatively: not just allow ourselves to continue to be offended - but pray and think about what can be done about it.

Shrovetide week is ending, it's time to find out what date is Forgiveness Sunday 2018 and how to celebrate this event. The solemn date marks the beginning of Lent, which falls on the period from February 19 to April 7. Customs and traditions that are supposed to be followed on Forgiveness Sunday.

Forgiveness Sunday 2018 - date and date

As mentioned above, this holiday falls on the culmination of Shrovetide week. All the pancakes have already been eaten, and the Orthodox are getting ready for Lent with might and main. But even among believers there are many people who do not know when Forgiveness Sunday 2018 what date it is celebrated. If you are not aware of the date of the event, then know that the holiday falls on 18th of Febuary!

Orthodox on this day can go to church and attend a solemn service. In addition, Forgiveness Sunday is considered a family holiday. This means that on February 18, 2018, you will have an “extra” reason to spend a pleasant evening with your family and friends. And do not forget to reconcile in advance with all the people whom you could offend voluntarily or involuntarily.

What not to do on this day

Perhaps the biggest "taboo" on Forgiveness Sunday can be called all sorts of scandals, squabbles, quarrels. This date is revered not only by the Orthodox - it is enough to recall that the climax also falls on the 18th. If you start a quarrel on this important day, you can deprive yourself of good luck for a whole year.

The second condition - if possible, try to refrain from negative thoughts. Of course, each of us in this life is disturbed, upset or annoyed by something. And yet, Forgiveness Sunday is not a time for anger and resentment. In addition, anyone who keeps black thoughts in his head destroys his soul and nervous system.

In addition, this date is created for good deeds. If someone asks you for help on the date on which Forgiveness Sunday falls, then it is not customary to refuse. Every good deed done on this day will come back to you a hundredfold.

Try to refrain from daily responsibilities. Cleaning the house, preparing a festive dinner and other necessary activities, carry out in advance. On February 18, 2018, it is better not to bother yourself with household chores - spend this time in fellowship with the Lord and with your loved ones.

Ask for forgiveness from the living and the dead

First of all, try to reconcile with those with whom you are now in a quarrel. Forgiveness Sunday February 18, 2018 is the best time to end the protracted conflict. In addition, ask for forgiveness from colleagues at work, from acquaintances and friends, from members of your family. In a word, you must apologize to every person whom you offended voluntarily or involuntarily.

It often happens that we do not have time to say goodbye or ask for forgiveness in this life. Through the mouth of Woland from Bulgakov's novel "" the classic tells us that "Man is mortal ... and sometimes suddenly mortal." However, on Forgiveness Sunday, you can ask for forgiveness not only from the living, but also from the dead. Do this and you will lighten your soul!

Believers on February 18, 2018 can ask for forgiveness from the Lord and their guardian angel. Think of this invisible protector who tirelessly day and night shelters you with his wing from all sorts of troubles! Repent before him of your sins, voluntary and involuntary.

Poems for Forgiveness Sunday

For a long time, poetry has helped a person to express sincere feelings. Each poem carries a powerful energy charge. For Forgiveness Sunday 2018, the editors of the Valtasar ru website have collected for you a small collection of heartfelt verses corresponding to this bright holiday:

What is the meaning of the holiday?

As you probably already know, Great Lent is approaching - the time of spiritual and physical cleansing. Now every person has the opportunity to start life from scratch, break with old bad habits, change their consciousness and worldview. And to begin, of course, should be with reconciliation with this world.

You need not only to apologize to those whom you may have offended, but also to forgive your own offenders, following the example of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is especially important to be able to forgive even those who do not want to reconcile with you in any way and, perhaps, continue to harm you and plot intrigues. Such a person deserves not malice, but pity - after all, he is at the very beginning of spiritual development, he still has a lot to do and a lot to learn.

The site site wishes you peace and goodness! May Forgiveness Sunday 2018 help you resolve existing conflicts and bring only the most positive emotions!

Forgiveness Sunday - what kind of day is it? What is the spiritual meaning of the custom of asking everyone for forgiveness?

What do Orthodox believers forgive each other on this day? Are we to blame for every person in the world? Why, then, do those who seem to have not offended us ask for forgiveness? Forgiveness Sunday is the last Sunday on the eve of Lent. This custom came from ancient times, when ascetics left cities and monasteries for the desert during Lent, not even knowing whether they would return by Easter. Going on this difficult and dangerous journey to pray in solitude, they said goodbye and tried to reconcile with each other. Each of them knew that, perhaps, the path that they make, leaving the world, could be their last. Therefore, it was important for them to say goodbye and forgive each other's offenses.

In memory of this, Orthodox people also ask for forgiveness from each other. But you can ask for forgiveness not only from fellow believers. It is possible to make peace with everyone whom we offended, so that evil leaves our hearts. We all bear guilt before God, we bear the burden of original sin. Asking for forgiveness from our neighbor and forgiving him, we are trying to reconcile ourselves with God, who, by His mercy, forgives us our sins. We ask the Lord to forgive us and hope that He hears our prayers. Let us be all-forgiving and merciful, condescending to the misconduct of our neighbors, because we also have our own sins, for which we ask God for forgiveness on Forgiveness Sunday.

The coming Great Lent is a time of repentance. Repentance is a time of correction, purification of the soul. Having harbored a grudge against a neighbor, it is impossible to enter in peace during fasting. Therefore, on Forgiveness Sunday, one should not only ask for forgiveness from those whom we offended, but also forgive those who offended us. Even if on this day no one asked us for forgiveness.

We will talk about this in our article.

Whom to ask for forgiveness on this day - from everyone in a row or only from those whom you probably offended? And how to forgive from the heart, how to find out if you have forgiven in deeds or only in words? What to do if there is no strength to forgive?

We asked Priest Maxim Pervozvansky to clarify the meaning of Forgiveness Sunday and the essence of forgiveness.

As before death...

- Father Maxim, where did this custom come from - to ask forgiveness from everyone on the last day before Great Lent?

“This is not at all some product of folklore, it is an ancient church tradition. Christ Himself laid the foundation for it with His words, sounding in the Gospel of Matthew: “If you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive people their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.”(Matthew 6:14-15). This is the unchanging Gospel reading on the last Sunday before Lent.

Later, the rite of forgiveness appeared in the Church. In Egypt or Palestine, the monks went into the desert one by one during Lent and, of course, were not sure that it would not become their last refuge. Therefore, they reconciled with each other, asking forgiveness for everything, as before death.

“We don’t go to any desert ... Why do we continue to observe this tradition and Forgiveness Sunday still falls precisely on the eve of Great Lent?

- Because it is categorically not recommended to enter Great Lent in a non-peaceful state. This is the time of purification, spiritual renewal before Easter; really reconcile with everyone, forgive everyone from the heart.

Forgive instead of sorry

- What does it mean to forgive? What should we invest in this concept?

- There are two different words: "I'm sorry" and "I'm sorry." These are almost synonyms in modern Russian, but initially these words are very different in meaning.

Haven't you noticed that it's often easier to say "sorry" than "sorry"? "I'm sorry" means take me out out of guilt, make me innocent, in other words, let's assume that I'm not guilty before you. So a child who climbed onto the table for sweets and broke a vase can say: “Mom, I broke your favorite vase right here, I'm sorry.” Thus, he wants to justify himself: "It's not my fault, it happened."

What is "sorry"? This means: I am guilty, I admit my guilt, but let it go to me, accept me as I am, I will try to improve.

Therefore, we ask God not to forgive, but to forgive, which means to accept. To accept the guilty, the sinful, whatever - but accept.

- It's the same with people: do we ask them to accept us as we are?

Yes, and in this sense, forgiveness can qualitatively change our relationship. It is no coincidence that the word "forgive" has a certain connection - both phonetic and semantic - with the word "simply". Pay attention when relationships between people start to deteriorate, they say that they become more complicated, i.e. lose their simplicity and clarity: we cannot Just look into each other's eyes Just smile at each other Just talk. And when one of us says the word “sorry”, it means the following: “I am guilty, I will try to correct myself, make amends; let's remove these difficulties, let's make it so that we can again look into each other's eyes.

By asking for forgiveness, we are trying to simplify our relationship with people and with God, admitting our guilt and letting go of the guilt to our neighbor. This is where our cleansing begins, this is where Great Lent begins.

Why ask for forgiveness?

- Father, is it necessary on Forgiveness Sunday to ask for forgiveness from everyone whom you know even the slightest bit - according to the principle “maybe I offended him in some way, but I don’t remember”? Or only those who definitely hurt?

“Firstly, we ask for forgiveness from those against whom we have sinned, whom we have upset, with whom we have omissions, difficulties and problems in relationships.

Secondly, we must ask for forgiveness from all people in general - as our brothers and sisters - for the fact that we are bad Christians. After all, we are all members of the one Body of Christ. Whether one member is sick or the whole body is sick is one of the key thoughts of Scripture. Adam and Eve sinned - all mankind is tormented. I have sinned - my brother is tormented.

In addition, we need to ask for forgiveness from people for the fact that we do not truly love them. We are called to love every person, and instead we “communicate a little” with him, because he is not interesting to us. We are only interested in our own person and those people that we need at the moment. Here is a sin against people - on Forgiveness Sunday it is useful to feel it.

Such a definition does not mean that you need to fall at the feet of everyone. But you need to try this moment - the lack of love in yourself - to feel and sincerely repent.

How to forgive?

But what if a person feels that he is not able to forgive? And Forgiveness Sunday came - it seems that we should forgive ...

Anyone can forgive. When people say "I can't forgive," they often mean that they are unable to forget the pain they've been hurt. But forgiveness does not mean forgetting the pain. Forgiveness does not mean its automatic and instantaneous disappearance. It means something else: "I do not hold on to the evil that caused me this pain, I do not wish him retribution, but I accept him as he is." The pain may not become less, but on the other hand, a person will be able to look directly into the eyes of his offender, if he himself is ready to look into his eyes and sincerely ask for forgiveness for the offense caused to him.

- But if the offender does not think to admit his guilt and go to the world?

“Then, of course, it’s hard to put up with it. But the Lord calls us to forgive even our enemies, and He Himself gives us an example in this. Such forgiveness seems to be something fantastic, impossible, but in God, in Christ it is possible.

When learning to forgive, we must also remember this point: often people who hurt us do so by the permission of the Lord. Not in the sense that they are not to blame, but in the sense that this offense will benefit us.

For example, if we ask God for such a quality as humility, it would be wrong to expect that it will suddenly fall on us from heaven by itself. Rather, we need to wait for God to send a person who will offend us, hurt us, maybe even unfairly. Having endured such an insult, having found the strength to forgive - maybe only on the 3rd, 10th, 20th time - we will slowly learn humility.

So you need to understand that nothing happens by chance and God creates everything for our benefit.

- Father Maxim, how can I determine whether I have truly forgiven or not? In words, you can forgive, although this is also not easy, while in reality, resentment may remain ...

The point is that forgiveness is not a one-time process. It happens that we seem to have forgiven and forgotten everything, and after a while, indignation and anger at our offender flares up in us again.

What's the matter here? The thing is, unforgiveness is a passion. And the passion that once settled in us can, over time, take root firmly in the soul and, moreover, is able to hide, for the time being, without showing “signs of life”. This happens especially often when the offense inflicted was really extremely painful and serious.

And who benefits from having this wound bleed again and again? Of course, the evil one! He tirelessly, with all his might, tries to lead a person astray, and if we have some kind of “sore spot” - something that makes us lose balance, get annoyed, angry - he will definitely put pressure on him. There is an insult - this "horn" will remind her, refresh in our memory unpleasant deeds or words spoken to us.

This scar heals for a long time - it takes time, but you also need to make efforts yourself so that it heals.

We must remind ourselves that with God everything is possible. Christ, experiencing torments on the cross that we are afraid to even imagine, forgave His tormentors and will give us the strength to forgive our offenders.

In the explanatory dictionary of S.I. Ozhegov, the word “apologise” has two meanings: 1. ask for forgiveness. 2. bring something in your defense ( obsolete).

Interviewed by Valeria Posashko

Traditionally, seeing off Shrovetide coincides with an equally important event - Forgiveness Sunday. On this day, be sure to communicate with loved ones and ask them for forgiveness.

At times we all do things we need to apologize for. It is not always possible for us to forgive our offender, but it is even more difficult to ask for forgiveness for our own mistakes. Forgiveness Sunday is a special holiday. On this day, you will have the opportunity to speak words of repentance to your loved ones. However, remember that your apology must be sincere.

Forgiveness Sunday is celebrated annually on the last day of Shrove Tuesday. Immediately after this, a long period of Lent will begin.

Meaning of Forgiveness Sunday

On Forgiveness Sunday, it is customary not only to apologize to other people, but also to forgive offenders. This is the main meaning of the holiday. Priests recommend asking for forgiveness only from those whom you really offended by word or action.

However, if you visit a church on this day, you will notice how people line up and ask for forgiveness from each other. This ancient church tradition originated on Mount Athos and eventually came to our country. It is believed that Forgiveness Sunday is intended not only for repentance to those who are offended by you, but also for the purification of the soul. On this day, it is customary not only to apologize and forgive other people, but also to engage in charitable deeds. It is strictly forbidden to enter into conflicts, complain about other people and spread rumors.

If a person apologizes to you on this day, be sure to say in response: "God forgives and I forgive". Thus, you make it clear that resentment is not a reason to become enemies. By learning to forgive people, you can change your life for the better.

What to do on Forgiveness Sunday

Visit the church. Forgiveness Sunday is an important day for Orthodox believers. It is necessary to visit the temple and attend the service, during which the priest and other parishioners will ask for forgiveness from each other.

Apologize to your loved ones. First of all, ask for forgiveness from your family. It is not necessary to list all grievances, once again recalling them. Just say: "I'm sorry". During repentance, your words must come from the soul, otherwise there will be no meaning in them.

Forgive your offenders. It is difficult to forget some grievances, but to refuse forgiveness to a person is a terrible sin. Try to forgive your offenders and release negative memories from your thoughts. One day you will realize that small conflicts are not worth a broken relationship.

Spend time with your family. In addition to Forgiveness Sunday, it is customary to celebrate Maslenitsa on this day. The ancient holiday is famous for entertainment and mass festivities. However, be sure to spend time with your family in the evening. Tell your loved ones at least a couple of kind words and ask for forgiveness again.

Ask for forgiveness from deceased relatives. Not only living, but also deceased relatives should hear your apologies. Visit the graves of the deceased and ask for their forgiveness. Be sure to forgive the dead for grievances in order to calm them and remove the burden from your soul.

Repent before the Lord. Every person commits sinful deeds, and only God can forgive you for them. It doesn’t matter whether you consciously committed a sin or not, be sure to visit the temple on Forgiveness Sunday and say a prayer for forgiveness. Before that, you must fully realize your mistakes and repent, otherwise your apologies will be false.

Get ready for the start of Lent. At this time, each believer begins preparations for Lent, which begins the very next day. After asking for forgiveness from your loved ones, do not forget to forgive the wrongs and let go of negative thoughts. Starting next week, you will be able to start life from scratch, and unpleasant memories are best left in the past.

Great Lent is a serious test for Orthodox believers. During this period, you will have to change your diet, excluding prohibited foods from it. However, bodily fasting without spiritual cleansing is meaningless. To cleanse not only the body, but also the soul, it is recommended to start every morning with a strong prayer. We wish you strong faith and prosperity, and don't forget to press the buttons and

13.02.2018 07:59

Orthodox profess the principle of forgiveness, based on love for neighbors. In today's dynamic life full of conflicts...

If you, a man, do not forgive anyone who has sinned against you, then do not trouble yourself with fasting and prayer ...

Hello, friends.

Have you had time to heartily enjoy pancakes for Maslenitsa? And then after all, the holiday is coming to an end, it's already Friday, there are only a couple of days left. Personally, I haven’t overate them yet =) But oh well, this article is not about Maslenitsa, or rather, not quite about it.

The fact is that the last day of Maslenitsa is called Forgiveness Sunday, and this is not easy. It is about Forgiveness Sunday that I want to talk today. About the traditions of this holiday, its history. Find out what date it is celebrated in 2018, 2019, 2020 and so on, well, and most importantly, figure out how to ask for forgiveness and respond to those who ask for it from us.

* By the way, you may be interested in a full article about the traditions and customs of Maslenitsa. Everything is collected there: the history of the holiday, interesting facts and so on.

Now back to Forgiveness Sunday.

What date to celebrate

Friends, this is a passing holiday - it does not have a specific date. Forgiveness Sunday falls on a different day each year. Since this Christian holiday is part of the Maslenitsa week, it is counted in exactly the same way as the entire Maslenitsa - from Easter. But you can not rack your brains, but just remember that Forgiveness Sunday is the last Sunday before Lent and the day that ends Cheese Week (Shrovetide).

As I already said in one of my articles, the dates of Easter have already been calculated for many years in advance, so it will not be difficult to find out what date of a particular year Forgiveness Sunday will be celebrated.

History, meaning and names of the holiday

The holiday of Forgiveness Sunday (or Cheesecake Week, Week of Adam's exile, Cheesecake, Forgiveness Day) is as old as Christianity itself. According to biblical history, it is rooted in the desert lands of Ancient Egypt, where Christian hermits made their Lenten journeys.

The sacred texts say that the monks went to the desert (of course, one by one) to spend almost 40 days of Lent there in prayer. This was done in order to strengthen their feat of prayer and prepare for one of the most revered holidays by Christians - Easter.

The desert is a hostile environment for humans: temperature fluctuations from terrible heat to extreme cold, restrictions on water and food, wild animals. It is not easy to survive in such conditions, and the monks, leaving on their sacred campaign, understood this very well. Therefore, going on such a dangerous journey, they asked everyone for forgiveness for all voluntary and involuntary insults, and, of course, they themselves forgave everyone, because there might not have been another opportunity, and one should appear before God with a pure soul and conscience.

Also, it is worth noting that AnotherName of Forgiveness SundayA weekAdam's Exile. Everyone probably knows this biblical legend about the expulsion of the first people from Paradise. But few people know that they were expelled not at all for sin, but because they refused to confess their deeds and repent. Oh, this human pride and stubbornness.

Hence the fundamental lines in the Holy Scriptures, that one who does not ask for forgiveness from his neighbor and does not repent himself, may not count on the Kingdom of God after death.

The third name of Forgiveness Sunday is Cheese Week (Syropust). This means that pious Christians are completing their preparations for Great Lent and stop eating everything fast. And this Sunday is the last day for eating fish, butter, milk, eggs, and so on, they are tabooed until Easter itself.

But, it is worth noting that already on the last day of Maslenitsa, eating meat and meat products, in accordance with Christian tradition, is not accepted.

Forgiveness Sunday: Traditions

Like any ancient holiday, Forgiveness Sunday has its own traditions that have been “infused” for centuries. The most important thing, of course, is to ask for forgiveness from everyone whom we could offend, and we should have asked for forgiveness not from the very morning, but from sunset until complete darkness.

In the old days in Rus', people always went to the temple, to relatives, neighbors and other acquaintances, to the cemetery, in order to ask for forgiveness. Along the way, even complete strangers were asked for forgiveness, this was the norm.

And, of course, it was necessary to forgive the offenders ourselves, be sure to sincerely, otherwise everything loses its meaning.

An interesting fact: on such a great holiday, even the old Russian princes concluded a temporary truce, and some soldiers did not take up arms at all.

But this is not all traditions:

Traditionally, on Forgiveness Sunday, a festive service is performed in churches - they read the Gospel of Matthew, which speaks of forgiveness.
Then comes the so-called Rite of Forgiveness - a special procedure for the repentance of the clergy before the parishioners.
Do not forget to tell about the first people - Adam and Eve, who were expelled from Paradise for narcissism and arrogance, to remind you how dangerous these qualities are.
On the eve of fasting, they eat up all the modest foods, this is called a conspiracy. Moreover, even the Sunday meal had its own traditions:
On Forgiveness Sunday, one should visit a bathhouse in order to enter Great Lent clean, not only in soul, but also in body.
It was customary to fall asleep before midnight, no sex at all, ideally for husband and wife to lie down separately.
Children under the age of seven were put some tasty treats (an apple, candy, etc.) under the pillow so that the year would be satisfying.
Women who wanted to get pregnant stood in front of the window and turned to the sky and their ancestors with the words: “Ancestors, forgive me and help me”, then crossed themselves three times and went to bed. Such a ritual helped to conceive a child faster.
And those who wanted to ask for forgiveness from their dead ancestors went to the cemetery before sunset, put pancakes on the grave, bowed on all four sides, and asked for forgiveness from the deceased.
They guessed by pancakes and their fillings.
Someone, in addition to fortune-telling, was engaged in other magical practices. Until now, all sorts of conspiracies for this day can be found on the network.
It happened that people baked for each other a special rye bread sprinkled with sugar - ukruh.

Christianity and paganism

Friends, Forgiveness Sunday is the last day of Maslenitsa, and Maslenitsa is a purely pagan holiday.

Because of such a close interweaving of beliefs, a vigorous mixture of traditions has turned out. There are completely incompatible things nearby - visiting a temple and fortune-telling, for example.

I remind you, the Orthodox Church sharply negative looks at divination and other similar activities.

Even noisy and cheerful festivities with the burning of an effigy on the last day of Maslenitsa are condemned, I'm not talking about any removal of curses and love spells.

In essence, Forgiveness Sunday is precisely a Christian holiday, and if we celebrate it, then in accordance with Christian traditions.

However, everyone chooses what is closer to him.

How to ask for forgiveness on Forgiveness Sunday

The main meaning of this action is sincere repentance. You need to ask for forgiveness with your soul, from a pure heart, absolutely from everyone, without even feeling guilty. And do not copy a poem or a picture from the Internet, sending them for show to the interlocutor, because it is customary.

Usually, when they ask for forgiveness on this day, they say: “Forgive me if I am guilty of something before you.” If there is any specific fault, then it is worth voicing it: “Forgive me for such and such.”

You can answer in several ways:

God forgive, forgive me;
God forgives and I forgive.

You need to say exactly “I'm sorry” or “I'm sorry”, but not “I'm sorry”. These are very different concepts:

In the first case, the person, as it were, admits his guilt and promises to improve. This, just, is revered in the Bible;

In the second case, the person asks to “take him out of guilt”, pretends that he is not guilty at all.

On this, perhaps, everything. Until we meet again, friends.

P.S. I remembered here while I was writing: in Germany there is a holiday - Day of Repentance and Prayer, and so here it is, it somehow reminds me of Forgiveness Sunday. I don't know why, they are different, but still.