Preparation for the Nativity of Christ. New Year in an Orthodox family: from scratch

Church New Year - September 14 according to the new (September 1 according to the old) style. From this day a new liturgical circle begins. From the day of the Church New Year until the Nativity of Christ, many righteous people of the Old Testament who lived before the Birth of Christ are prayerfully remembered.

The penultimate Sunday before Christmas - Holy Forefathers - is dedicated to the memory of all the righteous people of the pre-Christian era who lived by faith in the coming Savior. The Sunday of the Holy Fathers - the last Sunday before the great holiday - is dedicated to the remembrance of all the ancestors of Jesus Christ, who with their lives and flesh served for the birth of the Savior.

The first great holiday of the liturgical circle is the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (September 21, new style). This event stands at the junction of the Old Testament and the New. The righteous people of the Old Testament, Joachim and Anna, with their pious life and feat of love for God and people, served to ensure that God entrusted them to become the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who united Heaven and earth. It will become the “Ladder” along which God will come into our world.

The introduction of the Most Holy Theotokos into the temple (December 4, new style) is a new stage in the implementation of God’s plan for our salvation.

The pious parents of the Virgin Mary, who lived in a friendly marriage for fifty years, made a vow to God: if they had a child, they would dedicate him to God. They wanted to bring as a gift to the Creator the most precious thing that can be in life - the human soul. Already in her mother’s womb, the Virgin Mary was warmed by her mother’s prayer and love. The three years She spent in her parents' home taught Her a trusting love for God. The fact that She, in her fourth year from birth, joyfully goes to live in the Jerusalem Temple testifies to the maturity, albeit at a childish level, of Her personal relationship with the Lord. After all, a small child can go to live only with someone with whom he is connected by bonds of love.

These two feasts of the Mother of God spiritually prepare believers for the Nativity of Christ: She is born in whom the Son of God will take on our human nature, and Her Introduction into the temple indicates how necessary it is for man to seek God and strive for Him. After all, it was the spiritual life of the young Virgin Mary in the temple that reached the heights of Heaven, when She, trying in everything to fulfill the will of the Creator, entered the mysterious depths of communion with God in the promise of the temple of the True God. It was in the prayerful atmosphere of the temple that the spiritual maturation and growth of the Blessed Virgin took place to the extent that God entrusted Her to become the Mother of the Son of God.

The Virgin Mary became the Temple of the Divinity. God lived in Her. The Holy Church leads her spiritual children - Orthodox Christians - to ensure that Christ is born in the heart of every believer, so that the human soul becomes the home, the abode of God. Just as the whole world has been preparing for thousands of years for that greatest event when God will be born on earth, become Man and enter human history, so man must prepare and mature in order to become a spiritual participant in this event through participation in church services. The better and more seriously an Orthodox Christian prepares for Christmas, the more spiritual joy and grace he will be able to accept into his heart.

The Nativity Fast promotes this path to Christmas. This is a time of spiritual preparation for the great holiday, such preparation when our soul will joyfully sing from the meeting with the Infant God and our whole life will be renewed. While waiting for our dear guest, we sweep and tidy our room. Likewise, while waiting for Jesus Christ in our hearts, we must cleanse our soul with repentance and deeds of love and mercy: reconcile with loved ones, and help those in need, and nourish the soul with the word of God and Holy Communion. This is necessary so that Jesus Christ sees that we are waiting for Him, and the door of our heart is open for Him. Then the joy of meeting the Savior will be mutual.

From the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, churches begin to sing Christmas irmos: “Christ is born, glorify! Christ from heaven, descend, Christ on earth, exalt. Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and sing with joy, O people, for you have been glorified.”

In Russian, this chant can be translated as follows: “Christ is born - glorify! Christ from heaven - meet! Christ on earth - exalt! Sing to the Lord, all the earth; and sing with joy, people, for He is glorified.”

The ninth Christmas Irmos in Russian sounds like this: “I see an extraordinary and wonderful Sacrament: a cave - the sky; the Virgin - the throne of the Cherubim; a manger - a container where the incontainable Christ God reclines; Him we, chanting, magnify.”

These chants prepare an Orthodox Christian for spiritual work leading to a personal meeting with the God-man Jesus Christ. After all, our soul, into which Christ wants to enter, should become a manger, a feeding trough for livestock, into which they placed the born Infant of God.

On the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (December 19, new style), Orthodox churches begin to sing the stichera of the forefeast of Christmas - a chant calling for preparation for the holiday.

The Nativity Fast is less strict than the Great Fast or the Assumption Fast. During it, meat and dairy foods are not blessed, and on Wednesdays and Fridays, fish foods are not blessed. The Nativity Fast has become more strict in recent days - from January 2. Of course, fasting should not only consist of food. During the days of fasting, Christians shy away from entertainment and life’s pleasures and try hard to do good deeds, including overcoming anger and division, and forgiving offenses. And of course - pray more and read the Gospel, go to church more often, confess and receive communion more often.

On the eve of the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, there is a particularly strict fast and a very touching service, when we are approaching an event of global significance - the Coming of God to earth.

On Christmas Eve, if possible, do not eat until dusk. Of course, the spiritual and physical strength of each person must be taken into account.

And, of course, the most important preparation for Christmas is reconciliation with people, repentance and Communion of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Fasting, church holidays and worship lead us to a meeting with God, with whom we correct our earthly life and enter into the Eternal.

Ecology of life: The main preparation for Christmas is the time of the Nativity Fast. It was allocated by the Church so that we can stop in our daily rush and think more intently than usual about God, about our soul and salvation, about the meaning of Christmas.

The bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ is approaching. What should our preparation for it consist of, besides ordinary household chores? Metropolitan Longinus of Saratov and Volsk answered these questions.

Forget about yourself, remember about God

As a matter of fact,The main preparation for Christmas is the time of Advent . It was allocated by the Church so that we can stop in our daily rush and think more intently than usual about God, about our soul and salvation, about the meaning of Christmas.

Indeed, on this day the Lord Himself, the Creator of heaven and earth, for the sake of our salvation becomes the same as us, a person similar to us in everything except sin. The coming of Christ the Savior into the world is the central event of human history. That is why this holiday is very special and the Church invites us to be sure to prepare for it.

What does this preparation consist of?We must try to cleanse our soul and our heart, choose for ourselves the path of doing good, the path of struggling with our sins and passions . And a fast has been established to help us in this fight. Probably everyone who goes to church knows that fasting is abstaining from food of animal origin. But not everyone remembers that fasting should also be abstinence from all kinds of entertainment and idle pastime.

Lent is a time of achievement, no matter how strange it may sound in the context of modern life. And this feat is to at least partlyforget about yourself and think more about God, about the redemptive feat of Christ the Savior, which begins with His Nativity.

Many holy fathers have a visual comparison of the human heart with a nativity scene. And they say that the goal of a Christian during the Nativity Fast is to transform his heart from a den, that is, from a cave for cattle, from a stable (in fact, this image very accurately reflects our actual state), into a palace, that is, a palace worthy of meeting Christ the King. This poetic comparison best expresses the meaning of the preparation for the holiday to which every Christian is called.

To spiritual joy

The services of the Nativity Lent, in contrast to the services of the Great Lent, are structurally no different from the ordinary services that take place throughout the church year. But at the same time, there is a very interesting feature in the liturgical texts preceding the holiday: on the days of the forefeast (from the second to the sixth of January according to the new style), the service introduces a person into the space of those events that precede the Nativity of Christ.And we literally step by step follow the holy family, the Magi, together with the Mother of God and the righteous Joseph the Betrothed we find ourselves in the den in which Christ is to be born . The service during Holy Week has the same feature; it makes a very strong impression.

These days, touching canons are read at Compline. I personally love them very much and always try to read them myself. Compline is a monastic service, and in ordinary parishes it is, as a rule, omitted. But I always give my blessing to serve Compline in our churches on the days of the forefeast, for the sake of these touching canons, very deep in their meaning and content.

January 6 is the eve of the Nativity of Christ. This day is marked by a special fast, which, according to ancient tradition, should last the entire daylight hours - “until the first star.” Why is that?

Fasting, which we know today as abstinence from certain types of food, in the Ancient Church also had a temporary dimension: fasting lasted until sunset. And that is why the Liturgy of the day of eternity should be served in the evening - so that it ends by the time the sun sets. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts during Great Lent was also initially celebrated only in the evening, for the same reason.

Now we perform these services in the first half of the day - it’s easier for the parishioners, but this is wrong in terms of the meaning of the service. Now more and more parishes in different dioceses are returning to the practice of celebrating the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the evening, as required by the Charter. Perhaps someday the services of Christmas Eve and Epiphany will again be held in our churches in the evening.

On this day, it is customary to break the fast with the so-called sochivom, that is, wheat boiled with honey and dried fruits. Therefore, the day of eternity is also called Christmas Eve.

The Christmas service itself consists of an all-night vigil and the Divine Liturgy. It is completely ordinary in its structure, but, of course, everything that is read and sung at the service is dedicated to the event and meaning of the Nativity of Christ.

One of the main Christmas carols is the angelic song “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will to men.” It sounds repeatedly during the service. A certain musical and textual symbol of the holiday is also the song “God is with us” - it contains prophecies from the Old Testament Book of the Prophet Isaiah about Christ the Savior.

The question is often asked: how long should the fast last before Communion for those who are going to take communion at night?If a person can fast according to the Rule, then on this day he eats food once after sunset . Today it gets dark early here - that means around 16-17 hours. If a person is weak, please, he can eat later, but no less than five to six hours before Communion. We must proceed from the fact that the night Liturgy ends at 2-3 am.

When they ask me: “How often should you go to Church on these pre-holiday days?”, “Do you have to be at this or this service?” – I find myself in a quandary. How to answer? Imagine that two people love each other. And it will seem funny if a young man or girl thinks: “We saw each other today. Should we see each other tomorrow? Or maybe just in a couple of days?”... If a person is in love, then he always wants to be with the one he loves. It’s the same here: if a person loves God, if for him the Church is life, such a question simply does not arise. There is an opportunity - a person goes to church.

Usually, every year in December, discussions on the Internet revive again about how good it would be for the Church to switch to a new style so that the New Year is celebrated after Christmas, after the end of Lent. But I believe that the winter holidays that we have now are a great benefit for believers. In our country, this is a weekend, so even those who work and usually do not have the opportunity to go to services on weekdays can go to church.

By the way, this is noticeable: in the days before Christmas, churches are filled with people. New Year's "holidays" give them the opportunity to attend services, talk in the full sense of the word, and thereby spiritually prepare for Christmas. Therefore, I would not give anyone this week before Christmas, which the difference in calendars helps us spend in a Christian way.

So, the Nativity Fast ends - the time that the Church provides us so that we can prepare our hearts as best as possible for the great holiday of the Nativity of Christ.I would like to wish everyone to spend this time profitably and celebrate the holiday with spiritual joy, which is higher than all the pleasures of the world and which alone makes a person truly happy. .

If you have any questions about this topic, ask them to the experts and readers of our projectNewspaper "Orthodox Faith", p.

prepared by Natalya Gorenok

The Nativity Fast is a special time of the year when we await the Nativity of Christ and prepare to meet it. The time of fasting falls in the last month of the year and for many is associated with summing up results. For schoolchildren and students, this is the time for the last tests, tests, and exams. And for working people, this is also reporting time...
Summarizing

When taking tests or preparing another report, we are not always fully aware that we are drawing another line under our lives. We simply do what is expected and required of us. But how useful it is to think: how will you live this year? What did I learn, what did I cope with, what did I learn, understand, decide, do, who did I help? It is especially important to do this on the threshold of the next year from the Nativity of Christ. Decide: where I am, who I am - in order to decide where I should go next, have I done everything I could, what am I still capable of, what still needs to be worked on, who to help?

This time on the eve of Christmas takes on an even deeper meaning in the light of the many days of fasting and preparation.
Preparation
This time is especially wonderful in Russia, when nature falls asleep: there are no longer any bright summer flowers or colorful autumn leaves. Everything is white and white. It is also time to whiten the soul - to cleanse it in the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. For this purpose, more people than usual rush to the evening service: old and young, poor and rich. And everyone is equal before God. His ineffable mercy awaits everyone.

Attention to your soul in Confession and union with Christ in Communion is the main thing in preparing for the bright holiday of the Nativity of Christ. This is the inner side of pre-Christmas worries. But there is also an external one. And although external worries are diminished before internal preparation, they are still an integral part of preparation for the holiday.

What parents wouldn't take care of a special holiday for their children? What housewife doesn't prepare a nice holiday table? What family doesn’t decorate their house with fir branches and toys? This tradition, which has evolved over centuries, reflects reverence for the church holiday, the joy of the Nativity of Christ, and the desire to share it with family and friends, to involve even the smallest in it.

The work “The Summer of the Lord” by the Russian writer Ivan Shmelev is full of unsurpassed images of pre-Christmas joys and worries in Rus'. On the pages of this “icon in word” of Russian life, attention to oneself and the breadth of the people’s soul, joy and reverence for the Holiday, care and measured preparation are intertwined.

Christmas is approaching: Mother orders a “spider” to be brought from the barn. This is a tall pole with a round brush on it, like a hat: to sweep away the cobwebs from the corners. The spider is brought twice a year: at Christmas and Easter. I look at the “spider” and think: “poor thing, he was bored alone in the dark all year, and now, I suppose, he’s happy that it’s Christmas.” And everyone is happy. And our doors - they are now washed for the Holiday - and their copper handles, they are cleaned with crumpled elderberry, and then they are wrapped in rags so that they will not be seized until Christmas: on Christmas Eve they will untie them, and they will shine, joyful, for the Holiday. Busy cleaning is going on throughout the house...

They “whiten” the vestments on the images: they clean them until they shine with a brush with chalk and vodka and put “holiday”, Christmas, lamps, white and blue, in the eyes. These lamps remind me of snow and stars. They hang fresh, starched curtains on the windows and pull them up with lush ruffles - and it resembles clean, frosty snow. Tiled stoves glow with a white matte finish and shine with polished vents. The parquet floors shine like a mirror, smelling of mastic with honey wax - the smell of the Holidays. They are laying out a “Christmas” carpet in the living room - lush blue roses on a white field - as if frosty, snowy. And for Easter they rely on punch roses, scarlet...

Three days before Christmas, there are forests of fir trees in markets and squares. And what Christmas trees! There is as much of this goodness as you want in Russia. Not like here - stamens. At our Christmas tree... as soon as it warms up and straightens its paws, there is a thicket. There used to be a forest on Theater Square. They are standing in the snow. And the snow starts falling - I’ve lost my way! Men, in sheepskin coats, like in the forest. People walk, choose...

Expectation
On New Year and Christmas, everyone, even an atheist, expects something unusual, especially his children. It just so happens that it is on this holiday that they find themselves in the spotlight. And how could it be otherwise? The Christ Child is born. Parental care, holiday celebrations, gifts under the tree - many people remember all this for the rest of their lives. Vivid images and impressions of this bright holiday will warm you many years later. I remember the holiday of the soul.
The anticipation of something joyful and fabulous will be remembered for many years. The hope that something important, good, unearthly is about to happen.

Meeting
In Rus', the great holiday of Christmas was celebrated by all Orthodox Christians. Children and old people, rich and poor, healthy and infirm. And even those who were separated from society. In Notes from the House of the Dead by Fyodor Dostoevsky there is a touching description of the preparation and celebration of Christmas in hard labor.

“The holiday of the Nativity of Christ was approaching. The prisoners were expecting him with some solemnity, and, looking at them, I also began to expect something extraordinary...

Respect for the solemn day even turned into some kind of formality among the prisoners; few walked; everyone was serious and seemed to be busy with something, although many had little to do at all. But even the idle and revelers tried to maintain some kind of importance within themselves... Laughter seemed to be forbidden. In general, the mood reached a kind of scrupulousness and irritable intolerance, and whoever violated the general tone, even by accident, was confronted with shouting and abuse and was angry with him as if for disrespect for the holiday itself.

This mood of the prisoners was wonderful, even touching. In addition to the innate reverence for the great day, the prisoner unconsciously felt that by this observance of the holiday he seemed to be in contact with the whole world, that, therefore, he was not entirely an outcast, a lost man, a piece cut off, which in prison was the same as among people . They felt it; it was visible and understandable.”

To celebrate the Great Holiday in full, you need internal readiness for the Meeting. Attention to your own soul. The effective Christian preparation for the Nativity of Christ, approved by the Church itself, is fasting. The Nativity fast, like any other, is forcing oneself to reconciliation, abstinence, mercy, silence, humility...

I couldn’t force myself to do it in a few weeks in December; there’s still a week left in January. Not so little. However, for many fasting people this week is the most difficult. After all, most Russians celebrate the onset of the New Year in the Gregorian style, and Christmas, of course, in the Julian style. So it turns out that during the last week of fasting, which is the most strict and so important for internal preparation for the holiday, a new test falls - colleagues, friends, relatives invite you to visit. And, special attention is required from a person in order, on the one hand, to show respect and love for others, and on the other, to restrain himself not only at the table, but also in word, thought and feeling.

Great support in this matter is the opportunity that has appeared in recent years for daily participation in the Liturgy and evening service. In the first week of January, many people do not work. During the service, consciousness and feelings come into order and focus on the thought of the Savior coming into the world. There is an opportunity to participate in the preparation and decoration of the temple for Christmastide. Here, behind the church fence, is the best place to prepare for the Meeting with the Infant Christ. And here, already starting from the feast of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, at Matins one hears:

“Christ is born, praise,
Christ from heaven, hide it.
Christ on earth, ascend.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and sing with joy, O people, for you have been glorified.”

Olga, parishioner of the Church of Xenia of St. Petersburg

You want me, dear boy, to tell you about our Christmas.
Well, well... If you don’t understand what, your heart will tell you...
I.S. Shmelev "Christmas"

Already in church we hear the first harbingers of Christmas: at Matins they begin to sing “Christ is born - glorify, Christ from heaven - tear down...”. The heart is filled with joy - Christmas is coming soon.

Sunday School. Making crafts for Christmas

“Christ from heaven - hide”, which means - meet. In anticipation of this very meeting with the Infant Christ, the time of the Nativity Fast passes. It is this meeting that is the main meaning of the holiday. But how often, behind the bustle of preparation, behind the so-called pre-Christmas chores, preparing holiday dishes, decorating the house, purchasing gifts, the true meaning of the holiday is lost! Often in the house where Christmas is celebrated, there is everything that is required for the holiday: roast goose, a Christmas tree, tinsel, gifts, but... there is no Christ Himself!

Many of us grew up in families in which Christmas was not celebrated; there are no family traditions or experience of spending the holiday in our own home, with children. Of course, you can go with your children to Christmas trees, there are a lot of them now: in Sunday schools and in educational centers. There will be Christmas performances, a nativity scene, a Christmas tree, games, carol songs, and gifts. It’s great that there is such an opportunity, and it’s really necessary to go to such events with children. But still, the most unforgettable Christmas holiday is best organized at home, among family and friends. Impressions last a lifetime. Warmth and love will warm hearts for many years. At the same time, lavish feasts and large expenses are not at all necessary; with small means, guided by love and imagination, you can make Christmas a wonderful holiday for your loved ones, for children and adults. And first of all, we must remember the purpose of our celebration of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ: not just a meeting with the Infant God, but accepting Him into our hearts and further relentlessly following Him.

At I.S. Shmelev said: “Our Christmas is coming from afar. Quietly.” So we start preparing for the meeting in advance. On November 28, the Nativity Fast begins - a difficult and joyful time. It’s difficult, because fasting for an Orthodox Christian is a time of aggravation of passions with which we struggle, there is a lot of trouble ahead, the country is celebrating the New Year, there is a lot to be done for the holiday: buy or make gifts for friends and family, buy groceries, decorate the house. And joyful, because our path to Christmas is already illuminated by the same Star of Bethlehem, which was followed two thousand years ago by the Magi from the East, overcoming many kilometers of the desert.

The first step in preparing for Christmas with children can be making a calendar for Advent or a calendar with the moving star of Bethlehem, which will bring us closer to the holiday day after day.

This calendar can be the simplest: on a large sheet of paper, draw a road with date numbers on the sides; We can highlight the most significant holidays - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Introduction to the Temple of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and at the end of the path place a small Christmas icon (from a card or magazine) and a Star. A paper angel moves along the path (you can come up with any complex design, we just attached it with a pin) and shows how many days are left until Christmas. In our calendar, virtues are written on one side of the road, and bad qualities on the other. Discussing with my son his behavior during the day, we glued Christmas trees cut out of paper in front of one or another virtue or vice, respectively, but the closer Christmas is, the thicker the forest should become on the side of the virtues. And if not, then this is a reason to think and change while there is still time. Taking such a calendar as an idea, you can invent your own version, which is more convenient and interesting for your child. Starting preparations for Christmas with such a calendar can become one of the traditions in your family that children can pass on to their children. It seems to me that such a calendar would not hurt us adults either...

At Christmas there is a wonderful tradition - to set up a nativity scene or even organize a whole nativity scene.

A Nativity scene is a reproduction of the scene of the Nativity of Christ using various arts (sculpture, theater, etc.), except for icon painting. A nativity scene can be static (nativity scene composition) using three-dimensional figures or figurines made from various materials. And also a Christmas nativity scene is a nativity scene: a Christmas performance using puppet theater, sometimes also with the participation of human actors. Such ideas were widespread mainly in Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, as well as in some regions of Russia. In this case, a nativity scene is also called a special box (it was also called batleyka), in which a puppet show is shown.

Making the simplest static nativity scene with your children is not at all difficult. It all depends on imagination and time. You can take a simple box as a basis. A small Christmas icon, figures made of plasticine, paper or any other available materials, tinsel for decoration - that’s all you need. Children experience real delight when a figurine for a nativity scene is made from “all sorts of rubbish”: just now it was just a nylon sock stuffed with padding polyester, and now it’s the important sage Melchior, who brings gold as a gift to the Baby!

You can make a nativity scene once and then install it every year, just like we install an artificial Christmas tree. It's simple and you don't have to waste time every time. But it is much more interesting and pedagogically useful to make a simple nativity scene, but every year, and every time, a little different. As children grow, the complexity of the nativity scene changes. By making a nativity scene together with children, you can tell them about the event of Christmas, about the wise men, shepherds and Angels...

It should be done slowly, when there is time, but be sure to accompany it with a story.

In the Orthodox tradition it is not customary to make figures of the Holy Family. To depict the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and the Child, the Nativity icon is used. But to make the remaining characters: an ox and a donkey, which, according to legend, warmed the Baby with their warm breath, shepherds with sheep, three wise men, Angels - you can use any available materials, depending on your desire and imagination.

Just don’t rush to put an icon with the image of the Baby in the nativity scene: let it appear in your nativity scene on Christmas night.

On holiday, you can play a scene and talk about the Nativity of the Savior with the dolls of a static nativity scene. Or you can make a real nativity scene using a nativity box with slots and dolls on sticks.

Making a den box is also easy: you need to take large, dense boxes. The script is traditional - "The Death of King Herod" or an adapted children's Christmas story. Variations of the story about a palm tree, a fir tree and an olive tree are good. There are a lot of options. You can compose your own good Christmas story and play it in your nativity scene.

This year we will try to make a shadow nativity scene at home - a nativity scene of "shadow theater". What else can't Christmas go without in our house?

For several years now I have been baking painted Christmas gingerbread cookies.

The process of making them is labor-intensive. Sugar must first be burned in a frying pan, then the necessary products and aromatic herbs and spices must be added, cut into various shapes, and after baking, painted with icing. But the eyes are afraid, but the hands do. The children will be very grateful to you for the gift of a fairy tale!

How can we not remember the tradition of the Christoslavs - going from house to house on Christmas Day singing Christmas carols! Previously, we usually started with the church hymn “Christ is born, glorify” (hence the name). The owners gave the Christoslavs treats. If you and your children have an ear for music, and even if you don’t, include rehearsals of Christmas songs in your home preparation for the holiday (“Christmas Nativity, An Angel Has Arrived,” “Heaven and Earth Now Triumph,” “Silent Night Over Palestine,” etc. .). You can simply put on a CD with Christmas songs and sing along with your children, and on Christmastide you can safely visit your relatives and friends: “And in the discordant children’s choir, the holy news of the birth of Christ is so mysterious, pure, so joyful...” (A. Korinthsky “Christoslavs”) .

Christmas in Rus' has always been a time for acts of mercy. We can say: what help can we do, or what acts of mercy can our little children do? But just look around. You can start with the smallest things: feeding birds, cats. This is also a good deed - to take care of God's small creations. Surely, there are lonely grandparents in your house - give them gifts. Let your child prepare a gift with his own hands, and on Christmas day, congratulate him and sing a Christmas carol. You can, after all, serve your neighbor without even leaving home. Now there are a lot of opportunities for this: for example, this project “Old Age in Joy”, where they write letters to lonely people. If you have a sincere desire to help people for the glory of God, then, I am sure, the Lord will help and tell you how to do this.

Let acts of mercy, small Christmas miracles that we can give to other people, bringing them our warmth and love, become the main Christmas tradition in your family, passed down from generation to generation. Then we will be able to say that the meeting for which we have been preparing and waiting for so long has actually taken place. “For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to To me"(Matt. 25:35-36).

Some families have their own long-standing traditions of preparing and celebrating the Nativity of Christ, while in others these traditions are just emerging. The indescribable atmosphere of the holiday consists of both global and small details: gestures, glances, intonations. It is very important that the Christmas traditions observed in a particular family are not a formality, but are filled with living faith in God, Who is Love. And then the light of the Christmas star, which shone upon the child in childhood, will forever remain in the heart of the little person and will illuminate his life path.

Natalya Kulikova,
mother of two children,
Sunday school teacher at St. Vmch. Panteleimon, Pushkin, Leningrad region.

Photo: Natalya Kulikova, Tatyana Balashova

Our earthly world counts its time from the greatest event on a global and cosmic scale, when the Creator became Creation, that is, God became Man. The New Year from the Nativity of Christ once again reminds us of the event of the Birth of the Savior, which is extremely important for each of us.

Preparing for Christmas
Author: Archpriest Boris Balashov
The Nativity Fast is a time of spiritual preparation for the great holiday, such preparation when our soul will joyfully sing from the meeting with the Divine Infant and our whole life will be renewed. While waiting for our dear guest, we sweep and tidy our room. Likewise, while waiting for Jesus Christ in our hearts, we must cleanse our soul with repentance and deeds of love and mercy: reconcile with loved ones, and help those in need, and nourish the soul with the word of God and Holy Communion. This is necessary so that Jesus Christ sees that we are waiting for Him, and the door of our heart is open for Him. Then the joy of meeting the Savior will be mutual.

Reproduction on the Internet is permitted only if there is an active link to the site "".
Reproduction of site materials in printed publications (books, press) is permitted only if the source and author of the publication are indicated.

The great and saving holiday is approaching - Christmas. This is a special day, and Christmas services, including the night Divine Liturgy, are also special. We talk with Bishop Pachomius of the Intercession and Nicholas of St. about how to prepare ourselves for the holiday services.

– Orthodox worship is a real storehouse of Divine and human wisdom, poetry, and God’s grace. And if a person is preparing to celebrate the Nativity of Christ, often goes to church, then divine services greatly help him both keep the fast and celebrate the holy day of Christmas with dignity.

In church services there is nothing superfluous or random; every word, every letter has been verified over the centuries. Long before the holiday itself, already from the day of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Church begins to prepare us for the greatest event - the birth of Christ the Savior. The irmos of the Christmas canon are already being sung, and pre-holiday Christmas stichera are being added to the usual stichera and troparions. And so on every holiday of the Nativity Fast.

On January 2, the pre-celebration begins, and the entire service is already imbued with the idea of ​​the approaching birth of the Mission. A wondrous key chant is sung: “Get ready, Bethlehem, open the gates to everyone, We are coming.” Other church songs and texts are heard, revealing to people the mystery of the birth of Christ the Savior. They cannot leave anyone indifferent, and if you are attentive during the service and let everything pass through your heart, then that same pre-holiday mood will certainly appear, that joy of expectation of a miracle that the entire Christian world lives with these days. Therefore, I advise everyone these days to go to church as often as possible; church services for a believer should come first. If this place is occupied by pre-holiday worries, buying gifts, and other “everyday worries”, the meaning of the upcoming holiday will remain inaccessible.

Liturgical books will also help you understand the content of the holiday services; they are available to everyone. Consult with the priest, what he recommends to you, then read, and you will definitely find in this literature real pearls of Orthodox worship.

– Many parishioners strive to attend the night Christmas service and receive communion at the festive Liturgy. How to prepare for it? And where did this pious tradition come from?

– Night services are a centuries-old church tradition, and in ancient times the all-night vigil was served regularly. Already from its name it is clear that this service begins late in the evening and continues all night until dawn. Today parishioners, burdened with many worldly concerns, are unable to take part in an all-night vigil even once a week. Therefore, the Church, condescending to the infirmities of the clergy and laity, proposes to perform separate evening and morning services. But still, following the ancient tradition, night services are held in churches on Christmas, Easter and Epiphany. For parishioners this is a great consolation, for children and teenagers it is a test of adulthood. Many believers wait with great reverence and joy for the night service, prepare for Communion, confess in advance, and pray. It has long been noted that participation in a nightly festive service, which lasts several hours, gives incredible strength, spiritual uplift, and inspires a person. Having received such an experience at least once, a person will always strive for it.

– Will all churches of the Intercession Diocese hold a night service on Christmas Day?

– In all large rural and urban parishes where there is a permanent resident priest, a night-time festive service is required. In remote villages, where priests come from other places, the festive service will be held on January 7 in the early morning. This problem is related only to the shortage of clergy.

– For priests, holiday services are probably also a big burden, much greater than for parishioners. How do you manage to overcome fatigue while maintaining a positive and joyful mood? Please share your experience.

– When a person gives to his neighbors, and especially to the Lord, a piece of his heart, he receives the same effect in return. Remember the Gospel parable of the prodigal son. As soon as the son began to return to his parent, the father was the first to run out to meet him, hugged him, and elevated him to his former filial dignity. Something similar happens in our everyday life. As soon as a person turns to God, makes even a small effort on himself and is ready to work hard, endure, and pray more for the sake of Christ, the Lord will certainly answer this, give the person strength, and strengthen him.

As for the clergy, priests have some experience in liturgical life and are accustomed to long services. But first of all, it is Divine grace, which both helps and comforts. When I was just starting my church life, I was a novice, a monk in a monastery, I had to work at the service all night, and in the morning, instead of resting, prepare for the next service. This was followed by a festive service, a ceremonial meal, some events - and there was enough strength for everything, the Lord strengthened. When I became a rector and then a bishop, it became even more difficult, because the burden of responsibility was added to the physical exertion. But, I repeat, the Lord does not abandon us, He always gives us strength. And when you see little children in church who have stood with adults for the entire service, people with joyful faces, gathered for the great happiness of serving God, how tired can you be? Therefore, I advise everyone to make an effort and attend church holiday services as often as possible. Only through the Church do we partake of the grace-filled gifts of God, through them we receive strengthening of our bodily and spiritual strength.

– Vladyka, what would be your wishes to those who are preparing to celebrate the great event – ​​the Nativity of Christ?

Interviewed by Olga Strelkova