What is the Lord's Creation? What is the date of the invention?

Among Orthodox holidays, you can meet the feast of Meeting. And some may immediately have a question about what and what is Syllable. What events gave birth to him? The Presentation of the Lord is one of the most revered Twentieth Christian holidays. The events connected with the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary are honored. The festival is a non-transient, and it is customary to celebrate it on February 15. The word "snorting" from the Church Slavonic translates as "meeting".

What does it mean?

The Day of Meeting determined the point of time when the Old Testament met the New Testament - the ancient world with the world of Christianity. All this happened thanks to one person, in the Gospel this is a special place. But let's start in order. In the Gospel of Luke it is written that the Lord's Surrender occurred exactly 40 days after Christ's Nativity.

There is a very interesting fact related to the answer to the question of what date is the meeting. In 528, a strong earthquake passed in Antioch, and many people died. Then in the same lands (in 544-m) an epidemic of pestilence arose, and people began to die in the thousands. In these days of terrible disasters, a pious Christian was revealed to the providence that the people celebrate the Feast of the Meeting more solemnly. And then on that day the all-night vigil (public worship) and the procession were held. And only then did these terrible disasters in Christian Byzantium cease. Then the Church, in gratitude to God, established the Savior of the Lord to celebrate on February 15 solemnly and reverently.

history of the holiday

At that time, the Jews had two traditions that were associated with the birth of an infant in the family. After the birth, the woman was forbidden to come to the Temple in Jerusalem for 40 days, if the boy was born, and if the girl was 80, after the expiration of the term, the mother-in-waiting had to bring a purifying sacrifice to the Temple. For the burnt offering and for the purification of sins, a young lamb and a dove were brought. Poor family instead of lamb sacrificed another dove.

The parents of the newborn boy on the 40th day were to come with him to the Temple to perform the ordinance of consecration to God. And it was not a simple tradition, but the Law of Moses, established in memory of the liberation of Jews from slavery and exodus from Egypt. And now we come to the most important Gospel event, which will explain in detail what the Savior is.

From Mary to Joseph came Mary and Joseph. In their hands was a Bogomladenets. Their family lived poorly, so they sacrificed two doves. The Most Holy Theotokos, in spite of the fact that Jesus was born as a result of the Immaculate Conception, still brought the sacrifice with meekness, humility and great respect to the Jewish laws.

Now, when the rite was performed and the Holy Family was about to leave the Temple, an old man named Simeon approached them. He was a great righteous man. Taking the God-child in his hands, he exclaimed with great joy: "Now you let go of Your servant, Vladyka, according to Your word, in peace, for my eyes have seen Your salvation ..."

Simeon

At the time of the meeting with the Infant Christ, Elder Simeon was more than 300 years old. He was a very respected and respected person, one of the 72 scholars who was commissioned to translate the Gospel from Hebrew into Greek. On this Sabbath day, he was in this Temple is not accidental, because it was the Holy Spirit who brought him here.

Once upon a time, Simeon began to translate the book of the prophet Isaiah, he was greatly surprised to read there words that were incomprehensible to his mind: "She will take and give birth to the Son in her womb." Then he thought to himself that the virgin can not give birth, and he wanted to change the word "Virgo" to "Geno." When suddenly an Angel from Heaven appeared and forbade it, and also told him that until he sees the Lord Jesus with his own eyes, he will not die, and that the prophecy is true.

"Now let go of you"

From that moment he waited a long time for this moment, and at last the prophecy of the Angel was fulfilled - Simeon saw the Infant, which the Immaculate Virgin gave birth to. Now he could peacefully rest in peace. The church also called Simeon the God-servant, and he became famous as a saint.

Later, Bishop Theophanes the Recluse wrote that from the time of the Meeting the Old Testament gave way to Christianity. Now this evangelical story is mentioned every day in the Christian worship - "The Song of Simeon the God-Bearer", or in another way - "Now let go".

Predictions of Simeon

Simeon, taking in his hands the Infant of the Most-Pure Virgin, said to her: "Behold, because of Him, they will argue among the people: some will be saved, and others will perish. And to You the very weapon will pass the soul - let the thoughts of many hearts be revealed. "

What did he mean? It turns out that the controversy in the people denotes the persecution prepared for Her son, the discovery of the thoughts - God's Judgment, the weapon that pierces Her heart - the prophecy of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, because death he took from nails and spears, terrible pain passed through the heart of the mother.

The icon of the Mother of God "Softening the Evil Hearts" became a vivid illustration of the prophecy of Simeon. The icon painters portrayed the Mother of God standing on a cloud with swords stuck in the heart of the family.

Prophetess Anna

Another important event happened on this day, and another meeting happened. The 84-year-old elder Anna the prophetess approached the Theotokos, the so-called townspeople called her. She worked and lived at the temple and was pious, as she was in constant fasting and prayer. Anna bowed to the Child Christ, left the Temple and began telling all the townspeople the great news that the Messiah had come to the world. In the meantime, Joseph and Mary with the Infant, having fulfilled all that was prescribed according to the law of Moses, returned to Nazareth.

Now it is clear what is Sfense? After all, the Savior is a meeting with the Savior. The names of the elder Simeon and Anna the prophetess are inscribed in the Scriptures, they gave us an example, since they accepted the Lord with a pure and open heart. After meeting Jesus Christ with the Savior, Simeon went to his ancestors.

Feast of Meeting

The Lord's Birth is an ancient holiday in Christianity. In the IV-V centuries, the people sang the first sretensky sermons, take, for example, the saints Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nyssa.

Some people are interested in the question of what number is Sretenka. In the church calendar an invariable place is occupied by the Feast of the Meeting, which is always celebrated on February 15. But if the date of the Meeting of the Lord falls on the Monday of the first week in Lent, which also can be, then the festive divine service is postponed to February 14.

Answering the question about what is the Savior, first of all it must be said that this is a festival dedicated to the Lord Jesus. In the first centuries it was the day of the celebration of the Virgin. Therefore, he who calls this feast the Theotokos, in part, will also be right. After all, and in the line of worship on this day of treatment in prayers and hymns to the Theotokos occupy a central position. Such a duality of the Feast of the Meeting had an influence on the color of the clothes in which the clergy dressed in service. White color became a symbol of the Divine light, blue - the purity and purity of the Mother of God.

Candles. Candlemas

Tradition on the feast of the Meeting of the Holy Church candles came to Orthodoxy from Catholics. In 1646, the Metropolitan of Kiev, Peter Mogila, described this catholic rank in his book in great detail, when a procession was held, representing a procession with torches. Thus, the Roman Church distracted its flock from pagan traditions associated with the worship of fire.

In the Orthodox Church, Sretensky candles were treated with special reverence and awe. These candles were kept all year round and were used during home prayer.

The Tradition of the Celebration

As a result, the tradition of celebrating the Christian Orthodox Sphinx mixed with pagan rituals. With the meeting of Simeon with the Holy Family, there was another calendar analogy. The Day of Meeting was a holiday of the meeting of winter with spring. People celebrate the Scepter with signs of all kinds. For example, there are various proverbs like: "In the meeting of the sun for the summer, winter turned to frost," "on the Meeting of the winter with spring meets," etc. The first thaws or frosts were called Sretenskys. On the Syllabus, signs suggest that soon it will be warm or it will be cold for a long time.

Noting the festivities of the Meeting with people's festivities, the peasants began to prepare for the spring. The animals were sent from the stable to the pen, the seeds were prepared for sowing, and whitewashed trees, and so on.

Interesting Facts

It is interesting that in the USA and Canada the celebration of the Sretenka is celebrated on February 2 and another famous holiday is celebrated - Groundhog Day.

But in the Chita region there is the city of Sretensk, named in honor of this Great holiday.

In some other countries this day is celebrated the Day of Orthodox Youth, approved in 1992 by the heads of local Orthodox churches. This idea belongs to the World Orthodox Youth Movement "Syndesmos".

Plots of icons

Icon Syllable illustrates the plot of the narrative from the Evangelist Luke, where the Devout Virgin Mary gives to her infant Jesus Jesus the Elder Simeon. Behind the Mother of God stands Joseph the Betrothed, who carries a cage with two pigeons. And behind Simeon is depicted Anna the prophetess.

One of the most ancient images can be found in the mosaic of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, which was created at the beginning of the V century. On it you can see how the Holy Virgin Mary with the God-given in her arms goes to St. Simeon, and at this time she is accompanied by angels.

The Orthodox Presentation in Russia was depicted on two frescoes of the 12th century. The first one is in the Kirillov church of the city of Kiev. The second icon is in Novgorod, in the church of the Savior on Nerdice. A rather unusual image of the Meeting on the icons is in the medieval Georgian art, instead of the altar there is depicted a symbol of the sacrifice to the Lord - a burning candle.

Icon of the Blessed Mary "Softening of Evil Hearts" (in another way it is called "Simeon Proverb", "Seven-Shot") is associated with the events of the Meeting. At this icon sharp arrows pierce the heart standing on the cloud of the Virgin, three arrows from one side and the other and one from below. But there is an icon where the Mother of God pierces the dagger, not the arrows.

These icons symbolize the prophecy of the holy elder Simeon the God-bearer, which he did after meeting with the Mother of God and her Child.

Believers always turn to these icons with prayer. With the softening of the heart, not only their physical, but also mental anguish is alleviated. They know that if you pray before the image of the Mother of God for your enemies, then the hostile feeling will gradually fade away and anger will disappear, giving way to mercy and kindness.