The essence of the holiday
The church year ended on August 28 Death of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The next day, Orthodox celebrated the Nut of the Savior, the history and traditions of which were discussed earlier. said “socialbites.ca”. And on September 14 (September 1 according to the old style) the New Year is celebrated – a holiday dedicated to the New Year or New Summer from the Creation of the world. The next important day in the liturgical calendar is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which falls on September 21.
In the Orthodox calendar, New Year is considered the first day of the new church year. In the liturgical books of the Orthodox Church, the full name of the holiday is: “The beginning of the indictment of the new summer.” In iconography, the New Year was also called the Reduction.
Mikhail Trebukhin, priest of the Church of the Great Martyr Anastasia in Chkalovsk, told socialbites.ca that the New Year is an important holiday for believers.
“In the New Year, we gradually dive into the Annunciation, into the events taking place – the Nativity of the Mother of God, the Entry into the Temple, the Nativity of Christ. We are also involved in these events. This holiday gives a new beginning to our life values and guidelines every time, reminding us how we should live, how the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and those associated with him was lived,” Trebukhin said.
view of the holiday
In the Roman Empire in 462, the start date of indictment (a period of 15 years) was 1 September. In 537, Emperor Justinian officially established the start date of the new year; September 1 again. Later the term “indictment” became synonymous with the words “year” and “summer” and “New indictment” – “new summer” or “new year”.
In the 6th century, in addition to the traditional Vespers, Matins and Liturgy, the New Year began to be celebrated with hymns and readings (proverbs, apostolic and gospel readings). These innovations have become a tradition that continues today.
At the same time, the Eastern Christian Church began to celebrate September 1 as a church and state holiday only in 1492. On this day, it was customary to ask the Lord for blessings for the new year.
New Year’s Eve in Russia
The New Year came to the Orthodox Church after the Baptism of Rus at the end of the 10th century. For a long time, the civil New Year in Russia was celebrated on March 1, and the church calendar began on September 1. In 1492, the general date of the holiday was determined – September 1.
Jesuit Antonio Possevino described in his writings how the New Year was celebrated in Moscow in 1582:
“They celebrate this day with general joy and all kinds of fun. A platform is set up in the square, on which the Metropolitan and the Grand Duke rise and from there announce the end of the year.
According to tradition, the metropolitan blesses the water, sprinkles this water on the prince and the people standing around, draws a cross over both the prince and his sons, and prays for their long and happy lives, while the people shout. loudly: “Write to our great ruler and his children! “Everyone congratulates each other with joy and we wish everyone a long life,” he said.
Since 1700, by the decree of Peter I, the civil calendar begins on January 1 – the years began to be counted from the Nativity of Christ. Since then, the rulers stopped participating in the solemn prayer service for the New Year, which remained only a church holiday.
How to celebrate New Year
Priest Trebukhin said that these days the New Year is celebrated with prayers and a festive meal:
“We have prayers for the beginning of the new year, which we perform on both the indictment day and the civil New Year’s day. We thank God for the events of the past year and also ask him to bless the new year, so that there may be God’s help in this and no temptations.
There are no special restrictions on this day. The only thing is, if a holiday falls on fasting days, then naturally we fast.
Most likely it will be a festive meal. “We do not have any other special celebration on this day,” he said.