Home Fortune telling Orthodox Christians celebrate Lazarus Saturday. Lazarus Saturday, or how Christ defeated death Lazarus Saturday - signs

Fortune telling

Orthodox Christians celebrate Lazarus Saturday. Lazarus Saturday, or how Christ defeated death Lazarus Saturday - signs

Nika Kravchuk

Lazarus Saturday, or How Christ conquered death

On April 9, 2017, Orthodox Christians celebrate Palm Sunday. This is the name of the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. Christ modestly rode into the city on a donkey, where crowds of people met Him. They shouted after the Savior “Hosanna to the Son of David,” which means “Glory to the Son of David.” He was greeted as a winner - palm branches were laid under his feet. Why did the Israelis greet the Messiah so much? A detailed analysis of the events that happened the day before will help us answer this question.

The Death of Lazarus and the Faith of Martha and Mary

A few days before Palm Sunday, a tragedy occurred in Bethany, a village near Jerusalem - Lazarus died. This man and his sisters - Martha and Mary - were followers of the Savior.

Christ calls Lazarus His friend. When Lazarus first fell ill, his sisters notified Jesus, but the Savior did not immediately go to heal him, saying:

...this illness does not lead to death, but to the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

Two days later, when Lazarus had already died, Christ went to Bethany to “wake him up.” The disciples still knew nothing about the death of the Savior’s friend.

When Christ arrived at the place, He was met by Martha:

God! If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.

The woman did not yet know what mission Christ came with, but she had already testified to her faith.

Jesus said that Lazarus would rise again. To this Martha replied that she knew about the general resurrection. But Christ meant something completely different.

The following dialogue reveals the deep faith and meaning of Christianity:

Jesus said to her: I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? She says to Him: Yes, Lord! I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world.

After this, the second sister approached Christ and turned to the Savior with the same words as Martha - if the Savior had been here earlier, Lazarus would not have died.

The universal sorrow touched the God-Man so much that He even shed tears. The people present concluded that Christ loved His friend very much. But they still did not understand what would happen next.

Resurrection of the Four Days

Christ asked to take away the stone from the cave where Lazarus was buried. Martha decided to “warn” the Savior: Lord! already stinks; for he has been in the tomb for four days.

To which the Savior replied: ...did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?

After this, Christ prayed to the Heavenly Father so that those present would not doubt with what power the Savior works miracles, and loudly uttered only three words:

This was enough to bring back to life a dead man who had been imprisoned in the arms of death for four days. A dead man whose lifeless body exuded the stench of a corpse.

Lazarus, wrapped in burial cloths and with his face tied in a scarf, left the cave. It was an unprecedented victory. The Church named Lazarus the Four-Dayed and canonized him as a saint.

It is believed that after the resurrection, Christ's friend preached Christianity and became the Bishop of Cyprus. But, according to legend, for 30 years from the day of his first death, Lazarus never smiled - he was so terrified from his collision with the underworld.

We remember the events that took place on the Saturday before the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem, called Lazarus. In honor of the holiday, it is allowed to relax the fast somewhat - eat fish caviar.

Children are told about Lazarus Saturday in this video:

Take it for yourself and tell your friends!

What happened on Lazarus Saturday

The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus was described by one of the evangelists, the Apostle John the Theologian. Some time before Christ went to Jerusalem, he came to the village of Bethany.

Here Jesus came to the house of friends: the sisters Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus. However, the reason was sad - Lazarus died.

While still on the way to the house, Christ met Martha and said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” And Martha answered: “Lord! I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world.”

Reproduction of the icon "The Raising of Lazarus"

By that time, the body of the righteous Lazarus, wrapped in funeral shrouds, had already been resting in the tomb for four days. Jesus Christ approached the cave and said to move away the stone that blocked the entrance to the tomb.

By order, the stone was rolled away, Jesus, standing in front of the cave, began to pray, after which he loudly said: “Lazarus! Get out.”

And then the main miracle happened: Lazarus came out of the tomb alive, and people, seeing this with their own eyes, believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God.

What did the resurrection of Lazarus signify?

The resurrection of Lazarus is considered one of the main miracles (although this was not the only case of resurrection) performed by Jesus Christ during his earthly life.

The events of the resurrection of Lazarus are a symbol of the fact that Christ is subject to both life and death of man, that he is omnipotent, and everyone who believes and follows the commandments of Jesus Christ awaits the resurrection.

Fasting on Lazarus Saturday

Meals on this day are different from other days of Lent. On Palm Saturday, hot Lenten food cooked in vegetable oil is allowed, as well as wine and fish caviar.

Lazarus Saturday is an extremely unusual holiday; it is a holiday when the Church remembers how Jesus Christ cried. “You weep, Jesus,” says one liturgical text in Church Slavonic. That is, the All-Powerful God-Man, over whom death has no power, cried. Having conquered death even for us people, He wept. It's worth thinking about: what could make God cry? Why is the day when the tears of Christ are remembered in churches a holiday? And, in the end, who is this Lazarus, whose name gave the name to the holiday of Lazarus Saturday?

The story of Lazarus from Bethany, a village three kilometers from Jerusalem, is told in the Gospel of John, and it is told with such psychological precision, all the details of what happened are shown so visibly and vividly that you understand: this authenticity is the result of the fact that the Evangelist John was inside the events, witnessed the miracle that happened. The miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus. Usually they specify: “four-day Lazarus,” which means Lazarus who died four days ago. Yes, yes, the event that marked the beginning of the holiday called “Lazarus Saturday” is the resurrection of Lazarus, who died four days earlier and, as the Gospel honestly specifies, “already stinking.” That is, we are talking about the resurrection of the dead - namely resurrection, and not resurrection, what is the difference here, we will talk later.

So, who was this Lazarus, to whom, on the fourth day after his death, Jesus Christ returned life, ordinary life in his own physical, albeit already healthy, body? I will note in parentheses that, according to church tradition, Lazarus lived for another 30 years after his resurrection, and then, like all people, he died - in the rank of Bishop of Kition, now the island of Cyprus. Well, at the time of his death, Lazarus was most likely a wealthy and absolutely revered Jew from Bethany. Friend of Jesus Christ - it is known that Jesus repeatedly visited the house of Lazarus and dined there with His disciples. Lazarus had two sisters - Martha and Mary, who also knew Christ well.

Now let’s turn to the Gospel of John and read it together with the Holy Fathers. Let me just remind you that the pronoun “He” and all its derivatives, written with a capital letter, are used in relation to the Son of God, the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ.

"[At that time] a certain Lazarus from Bethany was sick, from the village where Mary and Martha, her sister, lived. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was sick. The sisters sent to say To him: “Lord! Behold, the one you love is sick." Hearing this, Jesus said: "This sickness is not for death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And when he heard that Lazarus was sick, so He remained two days in the place where He was."

Here it is worth stopping reading and wondering: why does Jesus hesitate when it comes to the fatal illness of his friend, the friend whom He loved? All the witnesses to this story asked themselves the same question two thousand years ago. The answer is simple. The Holy Fathers explain the delay of the God-man by the desire to resurrect a real dead man, four days old and stinking - a miracle unknown and unrepeatable to humanity before or after. “Christ foresaw that the sick man would certainly die. And therefore, wanting to ward off doubts from suspicious people, he postpones his journey for a while, waiting until he gives up his breath and is buried,” the Monk Andrew of Crete comments on this moment. “In order (Jesus hesitates - M.G.) so that Lazarus would die and be buried, so that later no one could say that He raised him when he had not yet died, that it was only a deep sleep, or relaxation, or deprivation of senses, but not death. For this reason, He remained for so long that even decay occurred, so that they said: He already stinks,” explains St. John Chrysostom.

We read further: “After this He said to the disciples: “Let us go again to Judea.” The disciples said to Him: “Rabbi! How long have the Jews sought to stone You, and You are going there again?" Jesus answered: "Are there not twelve hours in the day? He who walks by day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; and whoever walks at night stumbles, because there is no light in him." Having said this, he then said to them: "Lazarus, our friend, fell asleep; but I am going to wake him up." His disciples said: "Lord! If he falls asleep, he will recover." Jesus spoke about his death, but they thought that He was talking about a simple dream. Then Jesus told them directly: "Lazarus is dead; and I rejoice for you that I was not there, so that you might believe; but let us go to him." Then Thomas, otherwise called the Twin, said to the disciples: "Come and we will die with Him."

It’s as if we see Jesus’ disciples warning the Son of God: “Don’t go to Judea! They wanted to stone you there, and you’re going there again? Well, please, at least don’t go there during the day - it’s dangerous!” But Jesus answers them with a phrase that has not only a literal meaning, but also a deep theological one: “Whoever walks by day does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world; but whoever walks by night stumbles, because there is no light in him.” And now one of His disciples, Thomas, amazes us with his readiness to unconditionally, despite the dangers, follow Christ wherever He goes. By the way, this is the same unbelieving Thomas whom we will talk about a week after Easter, so let’s remember his determination today!

Let us return to the Gospel text: “When Jesus came, he found that he (Lazarus) had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about fifteen stages away; and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to console them in their grief about their brother. Martha, hearing that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him; but Mary was sitting at home. Then Martha said to Jesus: “Lord! If You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask God for, God will give it to you." Jesus says to her: "Your brother will rise again." Martha says to Him: "I know that he will rise on the resurrection, on the last day." Jesus told her : “I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" She says to Him: "Yes, Lord! I believe that You are the Messiah (Christ), the Son of God, coming into the world." Having said this, she went and called Mary, her sister, saying secretly: "The Teacher is here and is calling you." As soon as she heard, she stood up hastily and Jesus went to Him. Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was at the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were comforting her, seeing that Mary hastily got up and went out, followed her, believing that that she was going to the tomb to cry there. And Mary, coming to where Jesus was and seeing Him, fell at His feet and said to Him: “Lord! If You had been here, my brother would not have died."

These dialogues between the sisters of the deceased Lazarus and Jesus Christ are extremely important. On the one hand, this is a kind of test by the Lord whether Martha and Mary are able to believe in the miracle of the resurrection, and, therefore, believe that Jesus standing before them is the Son of God. The sisters seem to believe, they themselves say: “If You, Jesus, who loves our brother so much, were here when he was just sick or just died, You would not have let him die, You would have resurrected him!” But now it’s too late, they believe, decay, death, destroyed our brother, death has already won. Yes, as believing Jews, they know that someday their brother will rise from the dead, but now there is no longer life in him, but only corruption and death. And here Jesus again utters words that are not entirely clear to the two grief-stricken women, words that have the deepest meaning: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And whoever lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe it?" And is it worth saying that these words are addressed not only to the grieving Martha and Mary, but to all of us?

And then what happens is where we started our conversation about the Feast of Lazarus Saturday. “When Jesus saw her (Mary) crying and the weeping Jews who came with her, He Himself was grieved in spirit and became agitated, and said: “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him: “Lord! Come and see." Jesus shed tears. Then the Jews said: "Look how He loved him." And some of them said: "Couldn't He, who opened the eyes of the blind man, prevent this one from dying?"

Why did Jesus cry? Knowing that Lazarus will be resurrected? God is crying! Knowing that death is subject to Him, he cries over the dead! Why? Why are we crying? When do we cry? When we have compassion for others! God weeps because He has compassion for His friend Lazarus! This moment of the Gospel is no less important than the fact of the resurrection itself! After all, he explains why God Jesus Christ Himself later accepted the Suffering of the Cross and Death. He did this out of compassion for us humans. Out of love. But let's wipe away the tears. If we are precise, we will see: the Gospel does not say about the weeping Christ, and not even about the crying one, it says: “Jesus shed tears.” And this is also important. St. Andrew of Crete teaches: “Jesus shed tears, and thereby showed an example, image and measure of how we should cry for the dead. He shed tears, seeing the damage to our nature and the ugly appearance that death gives a person.” And St. Basil the Great clarifies: Christ “confined the necessary passionate movements within a certain measure and limits, preventing lack of compassion, because this is bestial, and not allowing one to indulge in grief and shed many tears, because this is cowardly.”

But let's return to the Gospel of John. “Jesus, again indignant in Himself, comes to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered it. Jesus says: “Take the stone.” The sister of the deceased, Martha, says to Him: “Lord! It already stinks; for it is already four days old.” Jesus said to her: “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Then they took the stone, but Jesus raised his eyes up and said: “Father! Thank You that You heard Me. I knew that You would always hear Me; But I said this for the sake of the people standing around, so that they might believe that You sent Me.”

And the dead man came out, entwined on his hands and feet with burial cloths, and his face was tied with a scarf. Jesus says to them: “Untie him, let him go.” Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him.”

This imperious call of Christ: “Lazarus, come out!”, sounding today in churches, is addressed not only to Lazarus. Lazarus, a four-day inhabitant of the gloomy land of the dead, is the image of a soul buried under a shroud of sins, as one saint put it, a soul “smelling from our sins.” This call, heard even in the kingdom of the dead, should not become just words for us, still alive. “Lazarus, come out!” flies through the millennia to us, even today.

“Lazarus, come out!”, and the crypt is empty - the prison of our deaths. And the funeral shrouds - the bonds of our sin - lie around like powerless rags. “Untie him, let him go...” This is the scene that is depicted on the icon of the Feast of Lazarus Saturday.

But I promised to explain the difference between resurrection and resurrection from the dead. The resurrection of Lazarus is the return of the deceased, who “already stank,” to earthly life. And the Resurrection of the Dead, this is what Martha recalled, is the restoration of people’s physical bodies to a new state. Christianity teaches that everything must happen at the second coming of Jesus Christ. According to the Apostle Paul, the resurrection of the dead will happen “suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye.” The guarantee of this coming resurrection of the dead is the Resurrection of Christ on Easter. By His feat on the cross and death, and then resurrection, Jesus Christ transformed human nature and opened the path of resurrection to us, people. Jesus Christ defeated death, and so, as a reminder to us that death has no power over the God-man, that He is stronger than death, the Church establishes a holiday called “Lazarus Saturday”, establishes it before Holy Week. On the day of Lazarus Saturday, fasting is even canceled; on this day, our ancestors always put fish caviar on the table - a product in past centuries that was more affordable than now. Can you guess why? There is so much depth and meaning in this, because the egg is the embryo of a new life, its rudiment. Notice how the most complex theology penetrated into the everyday life of believers and illuminated it.

Tomorrow is another extraordinary holiday - Palm Sunday. Services dedicated to him will begin this evening.

Lazarus Saturday is a church holiday in honor of the resurrection of Lazarus, later a great saint who preached about the life and teachings of Christ. It is celebrated on the 6th Saturday of Great Lent, on the eve of Palm Sunday, that is, in 2019 - April 20. Afterwards Holy Week begins - the strictest and last week of Lent.

The Bible tells the story of this divine resurrection. Lazarus was a friend of Christ and lived near Jerusalem, in a village called Bethany. Jesus visited him often, but one day news reached him that Lazarus had suddenly become seriously ill. Jesus replied that this illness would not lead to the death of his friend, but, on the contrary, would become a milestone in the coming glory of God's Son.

Jesus went to a friend's house to visit him at his bedside, but 4 days before Christ arrived, Lazarus died. His sisters buried him, according to the traditions of that time, in a cave, covering it with a stone. But when Jesus arrived, he ordered this stone to be moved away from the entrance to the tomb of Lazarus, and then said: “Lazarus! Get out." And the deceased came to life and left the cave.

This miraculous resurrection was immediately known throughout Judea, people talked about the Son of God, who was able to raise the dead, and word quickly spread. Then, a little later, Jesus rode into Jerusalem, as the Scriptures say, and was greeted by the people with palm branches, speaking of him as a new king. It was this incident that reached the high priests, who, fearing the overthrow of power, conspired to kill Christ.

An interesting nuance is that the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem is celebrated by the church the day after Lazarus Saturday, on Sunday, and according to historical data, there was a gap of several weeks between these events.

Lazarus, after the death of Jesus, lived 30 years of earthly life and preached Christian teaching in memory of him. He died in Cyprus, from where his relics were later, already in the 9th century, taken out and placed in Constantinople. In 890, a temple named after Lazarus was built in the city of Kition in Cyprus. The foundation was built right on the saint’s burial site. To this day, pilgrims from many countries come to the temple.

The church calls the resurrection of Lazarus a miracle, which signifies the omnipotence of the Lord, his good will and justice. Lazarus led a righteous life and immediately believed in the true identity of Jesus Christ, and he was given a “second” life.

Celebrating Lazarus Saturday

Lazarus Saturday falls at the end of Lent, and this day cannot be fully celebrated. The church allows small allowances to the table in the form of fish caviar and red wine. On this day, it is customary to cook pancakes from buckwheat, porridge, bake fish pies and cook mash.

On Lazarus Saturday, they usually break off willow branches from a tree or buy them; they symbolize the palm branches with which Christ was greeted in Jerusalem. During the evening service they are blessed with holy water. Lazarus Saturday is also called Palm Saturday because it falls on the eve of Palm Sunday.

The willow is the very first tree that begins to bloom after the winter cold and is a symbol of resurrection, awakening, just as Lazarus was resurrected and awakened. On the night of Palm Sunday in Russian villages, it was customary for young people to go from house to house with willow branches and chants. It was believed that if you lightly hit a person with a willow twig, it would give him health for the whole year.

Among other Slavic peoples, this custom also took place. The Serbs tied small bells to branches, and the Czechs and Slovaks go around houses with willows not on Sunday night, but on Monday, Easter.

The Bulgarians and Gagauz have a ritual of lazarization. Little girls, lazarkas, went from house to house and sang ritual songs, and one of them symbolized the bride and carried a large basket for gifts, where people put treats.

It is on the feast of the resurrection of Lazarus that the clergy change their black robes to white, showing their unity with the resurrected saint. The holiday of faith in miracles, healing and resurrection revives in the soul of every believer a sense of hope and the desire for eternal life. On this day, Jesus not only brought Saint Lazarus back to life, but showed the power of God and gave hope for salvation to his people.

In his life and in the course of preaching God's will, Christ raised the dead only three times. The first time he resurrected the son of a widow from the city of Nain, the second miracle was the resurrection of the twelve-year-old daughter of Jairus, and the third was the resurrection of Lazarus. Christ performed the miracle of resurrection so that people would believe in the power of God, in the immortality of the soul and in the possibility of resurrection during the coming of the Last Judgment.

Lent in 2019

In 2019, Lent begins on March 11 and lasts until April 27. What does it mean? Lent symbolizes the 40 days of Jesus being tempted by the devil in the desert. He ate nothing for 40 days and fought against the obsessions of the evil spirit. It was then that he began his journey to save humanity from sin. 40 days of fasting are held in honor of this great test, and the last week is in honor of the last acts of Christ, his suffering and death. Among his last miracles performed before his death, the church celebrates the resurrection of Lazarus.

Lent is the strictest fast of Orthodox believers; it is customary to prepare carefully and meaningfully for the celebration of the holy holiday of Easter. On Lazarus Saturday, the church advises spending the day thinking about life and death, abstaining from entertainment and worldly goods, cleansing the soul from unrighteousness, and it is best to devote this day to reading Holy Scripture. Although this Saturday is a holiday, it still remains part of Lent, so the celebration is usually very restrained, moderate in food and sober.

Very soon Lent will end and one of the most important holidays will come for the entire Orthodox world - Easter. A little more than a week before this holiday, another one will come - Lazarus Saturday. How it is celebrated, when it arrives, what you can and cannot eat - our article will tell you about it.

The date of this holiday is not fixed, but transferable. Its date is determined depending on Easter, namely it is celebrated on the last Saturday before the holiday. So, in 2018, Lazarus Saturday will be March 31st.

Gospel of John

During his earthly life, the Savior often visited the house of Lazarus, who, together with his sisters Martha and Mary, lived in the village of Bethany, not far from Jerusalem. Jesus Christ loved to talk with them, and called Lazarus His friend.

When Lazarus fell ill, the sisters sent to tell Jesus that the one He loved was sick. But Jesus said that this disease is not for death, but for the glory of God - through it the Son of God will be glorified.

After this, Christ stayed for two more days in the place where he was, and then told his disciples that they needed to go to Bethany to wake up Lazarus, who had fallen asleep. And the disciples, not understanding that Jesus was talking about the death of Lazarus, replied that if he fell asleep, he would recover.

On the way to the house of his dead friend, Christ met his sister Martha and said to her: “I am the resurrection and the life; He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

To which Martha replied: “Lord! I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, coming into the world.”

The Savior loved his friend very much and, approaching the tomb, where his body had been resting for four days, he began to cry. Together with his disciples, He approached the cave and told the people around him to roll away the stone blocking the entrance.

The sister of the deceased, Martha, said to Him: “Lord! It already stinks; for he has been in the grave for four days.” To which Jesus answered her: “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So, they moved the stone away from the cave where the deceased lay. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and said: “Father! Thank You that You heard Me. I knew that You would always hear Me; But I said this for the sake of the people standing here, so that they might believe that You sent Me.”

Then many of the Jews who came to Martha and Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him. And some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

The high priests and Pharisees held a council, at which the high priest Caiaphas said: “It is better for us that one man should die for the people than that the whole people should perish.” From this day on, the Pharisees, led by the high priest Caiaphas, make the final decision to seize Jesus and put him to death.

The news of the miracle quickly spread throughout the surrounding villages, people began to honor Jesus as their Lord and gave him an honorable entry into Jerusalem.

In the 4th century, a chapel was erected above the Cave of the Resurrection of Lazarus, and a Byzantine basilica nearby. In the 12th century, a Benedictine monastery operated here. Today, a holy tomb is preserved here, in which the four-day-old body of Lazarus was on a stone bed.

As church tradition says, after the resurrection, Lazarus, who is called “Lazarus of the Four Days” and “friend of God,” lived another 30 years and became the Bishop of Kition - he served on the island of Cyprus, in the city of Kition (currently the city of Larnaca).

Lazarus Saturday is especially dear to the residents of Larnaca, because Saint Lazarus is the heavenly patron of their city.

In the center of Larnaca stands the temple of Agios Lazaros, known to every Cypriot and every guest of Cyprus, that is, a temple built in honor of St. Lazarus. It still houses the stone sarcophagus in which Lazarus was once buried.

Lazarus Saturday is a big, bright Christian holiday, telling about one of the previously unprecedented miracles that Christ performed. On this day, over a thousand years ago, Jesus raised his friend Lazarus of Bethany from the dead. This holiday is dedicated to this event.

Signs associated with Lazarus Saturday

On Lazarus Saturday people gather in church for worship. Before this, willow branches are collected, which are usually blessed in the church and kept as a talisman at home.

There is a sign: on Lazarus Saturday, in order to attract prosperity, wealth, and the health of loved ones into your home, you need to read the “Our Father”, while you should have willow or willow branches in your left hand.

It is forbidden to do hard work on this day: you should not sew, knit, do general cleaning, work in the garden, do repairs; put such things off until later. It is better to replace vain affairs with prayer and going to church with the whole family.

Noisy celebrations and feasts with drinking alcoholic beverages are prohibited. There should be only lean food on the table, because Lent is underway. However, for Lazarus Saturday there are concessions for believers; vegetable oil, wine and fish are allowed. On the table on Lazarus Saturday there should be dishes made from buckwheat, peas, pumpkin, and semolina porridge.

On Lazarus Saturday you cannot hold weddings, lavish celebrations, have sex, and dancing and singing are prohibited.

Spend this day in harmony with yourself and people - do not get into conflicts, do not quarrel, avoid swear words. Better do a good deed, help someone who needs help. Good will definitely return to you a hundredfold.

Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday are closely related. First, Jesus raised the righteous Lazarus, who had died four days earlier, in Bethany so that his disciples would believe in him. It is believed that it was through the resurrection of Lazarus that Christ showed that human existence does not end with earthly death: “He who believes in Me, even if he dies, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”

The news of the resurrection of Lazarus quickly reached Jerusalem, and when Christ the next day, Sunday, rode into the city on a donkey, people greeted him with solemn shouts and covered his path with palm branches - this is how it was customary to greet kings in Judea. Thus the people recognized Jesus as their king, and he accepted worship, but only that which was carried out sincerely and voluntarily.

On Lazarus Saturday, a strict fast is maintained: you cannot eat meat, dairy products and eggs. At the same time, vegetable oil, fish caviar and wine are allowed on Lazarus Saturday.

Products of animal origin are not allowed: milk, eggs, butter, fermented baked milk, fish, etc. But on some days (like Lazarus Saturday itself) there are some changes.

Traditionally, on Lazarus Saturday they prepare cabbage soup from sauerkraut, home-made mushroom pickle, pancakes made from buckwheat flour, pancakes with caviar (which in the past were called ikryanniki), and baked potatoes.

On this day, Orthodox Christians go to church to pray for the health of their family and friends. They say that prayer in front of icons on Lazarus Saturday will be heard by the Lord. And if it is sincere and comes from the heart, then the result will not take long to arrive.

Housewives prepared treats for the Sunday holiday: they baked buckwheat pancakes and pies with fish, and cooked porridge. And in Greece they also made special sweet cookies - “lazarchiki”.
In the villages, willows were broken on Palm (Lazarev) Saturday. The townspeople also went to break willow - to the banks of nearby rivers.

For a long time, on this day, girls under the age of sixteen were supposed to go to the houses of friends and strangers, sing traditional songs, wish all sorts of blessings and health, and also dance. In gratitude for the pleasant words, the owners of the houses generously presented the girls with various goodies and sweets. At the same time, the girls had to dress up in the attire of brides and solemnly walk in it to the houses of different people. Whoever such a bride comes to can expect happiness and protection from all diseases in the coming year. Brides were rewarded with fresh eggs, as well as small denomination coins.

Signs on Palm Sunday

It's not spring without willow.

The willow leads to the muddy roads, drives away the last ice from the river.

Where there is water, there is a willow, and where there is a willow, there is water.

Frost - spring bread will be good.

The wind that blows on such a day will accompany you all summer.

If the weather is clear and warm, the fruit harvest will be good.

If before Palm Sunday many willow “earrings” have appeared (buds have blossomed), then the whole year will be fruitful, fertile and rich in good events.