Venerable Mary of Egypt. Venerable Mary of Egypt - spiritual transformation in the Jordan Desert

Great Lent is the path that leads us to the holiday of Easter, Bright Christ's Resurrection. To follow this path, the Church Fathers recommend imposing certain restrictions, including on nutrition. Lent in 2017 will last from February 27 to April 15, the table on these days will be limited to certain products.

Christians enter Lent for the purpose of spiritual cleansing, so it is wrong to perceive fasting as a diet. However, there are general rules nutrition during Lent.

These days it is not recommended to eat food of animal origin: meat, eggs, dairy products. On the holidays of Palm Resurrection and Annunciation Holy Mother of God Eating fish is allowed. Other seafood is also not prohibited.

There is a certain church charter. During Lent in 2017, it is worth not only creating a nutrition calendar, but also knowing the traditions of fasting:

• During the first and last weeks of Lent in 2017, fasting is observed with particular strictness. All animal products should not be eaten.


• Eating is allowed only in the evening; on Saturdays and Sundays, only the morning meal can be excluded.


• On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, food is eaten only cold, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, hot food is allowed without oil.


• On Saturdays and Sundays, in addition to vegetable oil, moderate consumption of grape wine is allowed (this does not apply to Saturday of Holy Week).


• On Good Friday, it is better to abstain from eating all day.


• Many Christians also abstain from food until Easter.

To ensure that Great Lent in 2017 is spent in prayer and not in worldly worries, we offer an already compiled daily nutrition calendar.

Lent according to church charter

1. Pentecost (first 40 days);


2. Lazarus Saturday (1 day - Palm Saturday before Palm Sunday);


3. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (day 1 - Palm Sunday, a week before Easter);


4. Holy Week (6 days - the whole week from Monday to Saturday before Easter).

Great Lent 2017: nutrition calendar by day

Great Lent 2017: meals during the first Week (February 27 - March 4)

February 27- Clean Monday. Refrain from food.
28th of February- Tuesday. Refrain from food.
For those who have health problems, as well as for the elderly, bread and kvass are allowed on Tuesday after Vespers. You can eat bread with salt and drink water or kvass (optional)/
March 1 - Wednesday. Dry eating: bread, water, herbs, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (one dish to choose from).
Dill infusion or decoction of berries/fruits with honey.
Food is taken once a day, during the day.
2nd of March- Thursday. Refrain from food.
March, 3rd- Friday. Baked or boiled hot food without oil once a day, during the day.
March 4- Saturday. Baked or boiled food with vegetable oil twice a day. Olives and black olives are acceptable. Allowed in small quantities is grape wine without alcohol and sugar, diluted in hot water, but abstinence from wine is recommended.

Great Lent 2017: meals during the Second Week (March 5 - March 11)

First week Great Lent (the first Sunday of fasting). Triumph of Orthodoxy
On the week of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, the victory of Orthodoxy over the iconoclastic heresy is celebrated. Iconoclasts believed that the veneration of icons was idolatry. Thanks to the patronage of the emperors, the persecution of icons continued for almost a hundred years. Icon veneration was finally restored in the 9th century by Empress Theodora on the first Sunday of Great Lent, on which the Triumph of Orthodoxy has been celebrated ever since.

March, 6- Monday.

March 7- Tuesday.

March 8- Wednesday.
Once a day, around 15.00.
9 matra- Thursday.
Finding the Head of John the Baptist(first and second acquisition) - Orthodox holiday in honor of the most revered part of the relics of John the Baptist - his head.
Hot food passed heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g). Once a day, around 15.00. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, mostly diluted hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
10th of March- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
11th of March- Saturday.

Great Lent 2017: meals during the third Week (March 12 - March 18)

March 12- Sunday.
Second week of Lent (second Sunday of fasting). Memorial Day of St. Gregory Palamas.
St. Gregory Palamas lived in the 14th century. According to Orthodox faith he taught that for the feat of fasting and prayer, the Lord illuminates believers with His gracious light, as the Lord shone on Tabor. For the reason that St. Gregory revealed the teaching about the power of fasting and prayer and it was established to commemorate him on the second Sunday of Great Lent.
March 13- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
March 14th- Tuesday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. No oil. Once a day, around 15.00.
March 15th- Wednesday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
March 16- Thursday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. No oil. Once a day, around 15.00.
March 17- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
18th of March- Saturday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
On Saturday of the third week, during Matins, the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord is brought into the middle of the church for the worshipers to worship, therefore the third week and the next, fourth, week are called the Worship of the Cross.

Great Lent 2017: meals during the fourth Week (March 19 - March 25)

March 19- Sunday.
Third week Lent (third Sunday of fasting) - Cross veneration.
On this day, they read legends, consecrate prosphyra, do not work, visit churches to venerate the cross, reflect on the concept of “carrying one’s cross,” and fast (with the consumption of boiled oil and wine).
20th of March- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
21 March- Tuesday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. No oil. Once a day, around 15.00.
March 22- Wednesday.
Memorial Day of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste are Christian soldiers who accepted martyrdom for faith in Christ in Sebaste (Little Armenia, modern Turkey) in 320 at Licinia.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With wine (one cup 200g). One meal a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
March 23- Thursday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. No oil. Once a day, around 15.00.
March 24- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
March 25- Saturday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.

Great Lent 2017: meals during the fifth Week (March 26 - April 1)

26 March- Sunday.
Fourth week Great Lent (fourth Sunday of fasting). Memorial Day of theologian John Climacus.
John Climacus was the abbot of the Sinai Monastery, he wrote the famous “Ladder of Virtues,” where he showed the steps of ascent to spiritual perfection. (“Ladder” from the Old Slavic “ladder”. Options - Paradise Ladder, Spiritual Tablets). The image of the “Ladder” is borrowed from the Bible, which describes the vision of Jacob’s Ladder, along which angels ascend (Gen. 28:12).
The calendar memory of John Climacus falls during Lent, it was moved to Sunday, and it was assigned to the 4th Sunday of Lent.
On the day of memory of St. John the Climacus they baked “ladders”.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
March 27- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
March 28- Tuesday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. No oil. Once a day, around 15.00.
March 29- Wednesday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
Wednesday evening at Orthodox churches A special service is being performed - “Standing of Mary”. At this service, the only time a year the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete is read in its entirety, which was read in parts from Monday to Thursday of the first week of Great Lent, and the canon of St. Mary of Egypt.
30th of March- Thursday. Standing Rev. Mary of Egypt.
On this day, according to ancient custom, the sequence of the Great Canon is sung. The Monk Andrew composed it at the same time that Saint Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, wrote down the life of Mary of Egypt. Father Andrei first brought the Great Canon and the word about the Venerable Mary to Constantinople when he was sent by Patriarch Theodore of Jerusalem to help at the Sixth Council.
On Standing Rev. Mary of Egypt - hot food that has undergone heat treatment, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (200g). Once a day, around 15.00. Some statutes only allow wine and no oil (oil).
March 31- Friday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
Before the Feast of the Praise of the Blessed Virgin Mary, some statutes allow wine. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
April 1- Saturday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.

Great Lent 2017: meals during the sixth Week (April 2 - April 8)

April 2- Sunday.
Fifth week of Lent (fifth Sunday of fasting). Memorial Day of Rev. Mary of Egypt
Venerable Mary born in Egypt in the middle of the 5th century. At the age of 12, she left her parents and went to Alexandria, where she spent 17 years living in sin. One day, Mary arrived in Jerusalem on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and tried to enter the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, but some force held her back. Realizing her fall, she began to pray in front of the icon of the Mother of God, located in the vestibule of the temple. After this she was able to enter the temple. The next day, Mary crossed the Jordan and went into the desert, where she spent the rest of her life, 47 years, in fasting and repentance. The Church provides a model in the person of St. Mary of Egypt true repentance and shows on her an example of God's indescribable mercy towards repentant sinners. The calendar memory of Mary of Egypt falls during Lent, it was moved to Sunday, and it was assigned to the 5th Sunday of Lent.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
April 3- Monday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
April, 4- Tuesday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. No oil. Once a day, around 15.00.
5th of April- Wednesday.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time). Once a day, around 15.00.
April 6- Thursday.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. No oil. Once a day, around 15.00.
April 7- Friday , feast of the Annunciation.
The name of the holiday - Annunciation - conveys the main meaning of the event associated with it: the announcement to the Virgin Mary of the good news about the conception and birth of the Divine Infant Christ.
Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine. Fish allowed. Once a day, around 15.00.
April 8- Saturday. Lazarev Saturday.
On this day, Christians remember the miracle of Christ's resurrection righteous Lazarus(John 11:1-45), which was committed to confirm the coming resurrection of all the dead. The celebration of Lazarus Saturday has been established since ancient times; it precedes the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem
Fish caviar up to 100 grams is allowed. Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.

Great Lent 2017: meals during the Seventh Week (April 9 - April 15)

April 9- Sunday. Sixth week Great Lent (sixth Sunday of fasting).
Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). - (the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem on a donkey, when the people greeted him by throwing palm branches on the road - replaced by willow in Rus') - the last Sunday before Easter. Fish is allowed. Hot food that has been cooked, i.e. boiled, baked, etc. With vegetable oil and wine (one bowl 200g) twice a day. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
April 10 - Maundy Monday
On Maundy Monday, the Old Testament Patriarch Joseph, sold by his brothers to Egypt, is remembered as a prototype of the suffering Jesus Christ, as well as the Gospel story about Jesus’ curse of the barren fig tree, symbolizing a soul that does not bear spiritual fruit - true repentance, faith, prayer and good deeds. Matthew 21:18-22
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time).

Once a day, around 15.00.

April 11 - Maundy Tuesday
On Holy Tuesday we remember the sermon of Jesus Christ in the Jerusalem Temple. On this day He told the disciples about the second coming of Matthew 24, the parable of the ten virgins, the parable of the talents Matthew 25:1-30. The chief priests and elders tempted him with questions, wanted to arrest Him, but were afraid to do this openly because of the people, who revered Jesus as a prophet and listened to him attentively.
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time).
To drink: dill (hot infusion or decoction of herbs or berries, fruits) with honey.
Once a day, around 15.00.
“As in the 1st week of this holy Lent.”
April 12 - Holy Wednesday
On Great Wednesday we remember the anointing of Jesus Christ with myrrh and the betrayal of Judas. Matthew 26.6-16
Dry eating: bread, water, greens, raw, dried or soaked vegetables and fruits (for example: raisins, olives, nuts, figs - one of these every time).
To drink: dill (hot infusion or decoction of herbs or berries, fruits) with honey.
Once a day, around 15.00.
“As in the 1st week of this holy Lent.”
April 13 - Maundy Thursday. Last Supper
On Maundy Thursday, the Last Supper and the establishment of the sacrament of the Eucharist (Communion) by Jesus Christ are remembered. Matthew 26:17-35, Mark 14:12-31, Luke 22:7-39, John 13-18
According to the usual (Palestinian) tradition, one dish is served, but eating boiled food with vegetable oil is allowed.
According to the Studio Charter, one boiled dish is assumed, but supplemented with sochivo (any porridge) and legumes; no oil.
According to the charter of Holy Mount Athos, there are two boiled dishes with oil and wine. Pure grape wine without alcohol and sugar, preferably diluted with hot water. At the same time, abstaining from wine is highly commendable.
April 14 - Great Friday. Good Friday. Crucifixion of Christ
On Good Friday, Orthodox Christians remember the arrest of Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, the trial of the high priests, the trial of Pilate, the way of the cross of Jesus, the crucifixion, death and the signs accompanying it, the removal from the cross and burial.
They don't eat anything. For the elderly, bread and water are allowed after sunset.
April 15 - Holy Saturday. The Descent of Christ into Hell
Holy Saturday is dedicated to the remembrance of Jesus Christ's stay in the tomb and His descent into hell for the liberation of the souls of the dead.
On Holy Saturday, many believers also refuse food until Easter. For the rest - 200-250g of bread, 6 pieces of figs or dates and a cup of wine, or kvass, or honey drink. Or bread with vegetables. Once a day, around 19.00.
The end of Great Lent.

Nutrition during Lent: permitted foods

Adhering to the nutrition calendar for Lent in 2017, you can include some exotic foods in it:

• seaweed;


• Korean salads;


• seeds;


• nuts;


• pasta that does not contain eggs;


• flour products made from flour, water and salt;


• bread (without milk or eggs), unleavened pita bread, crisps; sauces (ketchup, lean mayonnaise, adjika, soy sauce, tomato paste);


• balsamic, apple, table vinegar.

It is important to understand that the essence of fasting is not food restriction; if you have health problems, it is better to talk to your doctor and your confessor. Following the Great Lent calendar in diet by day, you should not forget about prayer and the spiritual side of fasting.

In 2017, Lent begins on February 27 and lasts 48 days until Easter - April 16. How should Lent be spent, what to eat, what to pay attention to besides food? Why do you need to fast at all, and who is allowed relief from fasting? What holidays fall during Lent? The Motherhood portal talks about Lent in 2017.

Sergey Andriyaka "Still life with a candle and an old book"

Lent is the longest and strictest. He is called the Holy Pentecost in memory of the forty days that Jesus Christ spent in fasting and prayer in the lifeless desert, setting an example for all people with this feat, for “man will not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew .4, 3-4). After Pentecost itself (six weeks) comes Holy Week - the remembrance of the passions of Christ, which the Savior of the world voluntarily took upon Himself for the atonement of human sins. Holy Week ends with the main and brightest Christian holiday - Easter, or the Resurrection of Christ.

Why should you fast?

Refusal of fast food during Lent has no value in itself; its main meaning is to help a person achieve spiritual results. The Holy Fathers advise devoting the time of fasting to thinking about yourself, realizing your sins, which in the bustle of everyday life go unnoticed for us. On this path of spiritual focus, we need to intensify our prayers and devote the time we usually spend watching movies or communicating on social networks to reading the Holy Scriptures and spiritual literature. Only in this case will the post be beneficial.

The main task of fasting is to subordinate your desires and impulses to your own will, learn to control yourself, and accustom yourself to spiritual work.

Many Christians consider it a sin to eat something modest on a fast day, even due to bodily weakness, and without a twinge of conscience they despise and condemn their neighbors, for example, acquaintances, offend or deceive, weigh, measure, and indulge in carnal uncleanness. Oh, hypocrisy, hypocrisy! Oh, misunderstanding of the spirit of Christ, the spirit of the Christian faith! Isn’t it inner purity, meekness and humility that the Lord our God demands from us first of all?

Holy Righteous John of Kronstadt

True fasting is elimination of evil deeds. Forgive your neighbor's insult, forgive him his debts. “Do not fast in courts and quarrels.” You do not eat meat, but you eat your brother. You abstain from wine, but you do not restrain yourself from taking offense. You wait until the evening to eat food, but you spend the day in court.

Saint Basil the Great

Whoever limits fasting to abstinence from food greatly dishonors it. It’s not just the mouth that should fast, no, let the eye, the ear, the hands, and our whole body fast... Fasting is the removal of evil, the curbing of the tongue, the putting aside of anger, the taming of lusts, the cessation of slander, lies and perjury... .Are you fasting? Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick, do not forget the prisoners. Comfort the mourning and crying; be merciful, meek, kind, quiet, long-suffering, unforgiving, reverent, true, pious, so that God will accept your fast and grant you the fruits of repentance in abundance.

Saint John Chrysostom

What can you eat during Lent?

On all days of Lent, only plant foods are allowed., but on the day of the twelfth feast - the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos on April 7 and on Palm Resurrection (Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem), falling on this fast, you are allowed to eat fish. On the eve of Palm Resurrection - on Lazarus Saturday - you can eat fish caviar. On all other days of fasting, you cannot eat meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, sour cream, cottage cheese, animal butter, rich bread, etc. During fasting, some pious Christians prefer not to eat anything until three o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is necessary to fast especially diligently during the first week of the Cross and Holy Week, and on Good Friday - the day of universal mourning for the Crucified Savior - to eat nothing until the evening, namely, until the end of the liturgical rite of burial of the Shroud of the Lord. On Saturdays and Sundays (except Saturday of Holy Week) you can consume vegetable oil and drink grape wine.

Fasting is a state of semi-starvation, which helps to maintain will, memory, inner life in one direction - towards God.

Is it necessary to eat something tasteless during Lent?

You can diversify your Lenten food so much that you won’t even want to break your fast. But such a post loses its meaning. After all, the essence of fasting is not simply the abstinence of animal food, but the limitation of pleasures. By consciously depriving ourselves of the comfort we get from delicious food and wine, we become more sensitive to spiritual life. Everything has its time. Lent ends - the holiday comes, and we rejoice, set the festive table, invite guests, treat them to delicious food, glorify the Lord together, including thanking him for the delicious meal, because this is also a gift from God. And while fasting, worrying about food should take a minimum of time. Lenten foods should be simple, healthy and quick to prepare. And we must not forget about moderation - if you eat your fill of simple potatoes, you will also have no time for prayer, no time for reading the Gospel, no time for thinking about the eternal.

Archpriest Alexander Borisov

Even plant foods should be consumed in moderation so that your mood does not depend on it, so that the soul is not at the mercy of bodily passions and is not enslaved to gluttony.

Who is allowed to relax the fast?

Inexperienced people need to start fasting small. First, you need to fast (do not eat meat or milk) at least on Friday. Then add another day - Wednesday. During the period of Great Lent, make the fast even more intense - fast the first and last week before Easter. In this way, fasting will gradually turn into a habit. And the soul itself, for the sake of acquiring peace, love, mercy, will thirst for fasting.

In addition to abstaining from savory food, you must sharply limit watching entertaining TV shows, listening to modern music, and surfing the Internet.

By giving up fatty and heavy foods, entertainment and amusements, visiting and going to the movies, we try to clear space in our soul and head for more serious and deeper thoughts and impressions.

How to fast for pregnant and breastfeeding women?

For pregnant women, as well as for nursing mothers, relaxations in fasting are allowed. They must establish the measure of fasting together with their confessor and attending physician. In this case, you should be guided by the following general rules:

• Fasting should not harm either the health of the child or the health of the mother;
• Pregnancy is not an excuse for promiscuity and excess;
• Fasting is a time of intense mother prayer, sobriety and self-control;
• Fasting for a pregnant woman is strict abstinence from everything that can harm the health of the child and herself.

How to fast for children?

Very young children (aged 3-4 years) can already be told about fasting, first of all, using the example of parents who observe fasting. It will be enough for kids not to eat, for example, chocolate and sweets, not to feast on cakes and delicious desserts. The need for sweets can be satisfied with simpler Lenten delicacies - jam, marmalade. This will not have a negative impact on the child’s health, but will gradually accustom the child to the idea of ​​fasting as part of the Christian life.

Schoolchildren are already capable of a greater measure of fasting, but it must be established with great care, without introducing strict prohibitions and without depriving children of the necessary calories and nutrients. Teenagers with a heavy academic load may also need significant relief from fasting.

Instead of imposing severe dietary restrictions on children and adolescents, it is better to invite them, after reflection, to set for themselves a measure of fasting in entertainment, primarily in electronic games, watching cartoons and posts on social networks. Instead, it would be good to read the Gospel with them and then discuss what they read. During the fasting period, many families limit their viewing of TV only on Sundays, and even these days the whole family watches spiritual films or documentaries.

How often should you go to church during Lent?

The answer is simple - the more often the better. After all, it is general prayer that most of all helps to focus on spiritual life, and participation in the sacraments gives strength to complete the Lenten feat.

Of course, you should attend Sunday services, which consist of an all-night vigil (usually served on Saturday evening) and Liturgy (on Sunday morning). Each Sunday of Lent has its own name and is dedicated to a specific topic; understanding them is very important for understanding the content of Lent.

In the first four evenings of Great Lent, the Great Penitential Canon of Andrew of Crete is read in all churches, which teaches believers repentance, helping to put themselves in the proper mood from the very beginning of Lent. Then the entire canon is read in full again - in the fifth week of Lent. This service was called “Standing of Mary” because it also reads the life of the Venerable Mary of Egypt, who set an example of turning a weak woman from the gravest sins to the greatest repentance.

During Lent, on Wednesdays and Fridays, a special Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated, which is loved and appreciated by many Orthodox Christians. In the evening on Sundays, Passion is served - a service with an akathist to the Passion, that is, the Suffering of Christ. Funeral services are held on parental Saturdays.

During Great Lent, many seek to resort to the sacrament of Unction, during which sins that were not told by a Christian in confession by accident or through forgetfulness are forgiven. But it is important to remember that this sacrament in no way can replace confession itself, but is only an addition to it. To resort to unction without going to confession for years would be deceit.

During Lent, it is necessary to confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ at least once. Christians who attend church regularly try to take communion several times during Lent; if possible, they take communion weekly, and sometimes even more often.

Almost all Christians resort to the sacrament of communion on Maundy Thursday - the day when the sacrament of Communion was established by the Lord at the Last Supper. And of course, you definitely need to take communion on Easter. On Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, believers try to attend all services, because... all of them are dedicated to the Passion of the Savior.

On Wednesday evening of the fifth week of Lent, a special Lenten service is celebrated in all Orthodox churches - St. Mary's Station. The entire Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the Life of Mary of Egypt are read. The service can give hope to those who think they are in a desperate situation and to those who do not believe that they are able to adequately complete the fast and meet the Resurrection of Christ.

Mariino standing

In the fifth week of Great Lent, on Wednesday evening, Thursday Matins is celebrated in churches, which is usually called the Station of Mary of Egypt, or the Station of Mary. This is a long service that occurs only once a year. During it, the entire Great Canon of Andrew of Crete(in the first week of Lent the canon was read in small parts from Monday to Thursday), which is connected with the canon of Mary of Egypt. Also in the church on this day we hear the life of St. Mary of Egypt. This text, according to the thoughts of the holy fathers of the VI Ecumenical Council (692) - and it was then that the service was compiled from the Great Penitential Canon of St. Andrew of Crete and the Life of Mary of Egypt - is capable of giving hope to those who think that they are in a desperate situation, and those who do not believe that they are able to adequately complete the fast and meet the Resurrection of Christ. Mary's standing is a service that consoles those who suffer and at the same time encourages believers to continue the feat of fasting and repentance.

Life of Mary of Egypt

Maria was born in a small Egyptian village. When she was twelve years old, she left her parents' home. Possessed by carnal passion, she went to Alexandria and became a harlot. Maria indulged in debauchery uncontrollably and insatiably, both for a bribe and voluntarily. For more than 17 years she knew no limits to her debauchery. One day, seeing many Libyan pilgrims going to Jerusalem to venerate the Cross of the Lord, Mary decided to join them.

The woman did not have any pious intentions; on the contrary, she hoped that there would be no shortage of clients, and in Jerusalem there would always be someone to “have fun” with. With her body she paid for food, for lodging, for transportation on the ship. But when, on the day of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Mary suddenly wanted to enter the Church of the Resurrection of Christ with a crowd of pilgrims, she could not do this. Not only did the crowd of believers push her away from the entrance, but some incomprehensible force did not let her in, did not allow her to cross the threshold of the temple. She tried to enter once, twice, three times, but when something prevented her from entering the temple the fourth time, the woman retreated. Exhausted, she stood confused at the entrance and wondered: “Why is this? I want to be there, inside." The answer suggested itself. Realizing who she is, what she lives for, what she strives for, realizing that her own sin does not allow her to touch the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, Mary suddenly burst into tears. Standing in the vestibule of the temple, sobbing over her sins, she saw in front of her an icon of the Mother of God. Mary turned to the Mother of God, begging her to intercede before Christ, who never disdained sinners. In her prayer, Mary promised “not to defile herself any more with carnal filth and to renounce the world.” And now she feels that the prayer has been heard. Transfigured Mary at the Cross of the Lord. The face is flooded with tears. Tears flow in an endless stream down tired eyes, and the question in my head is: “How to live on?” How to beg for forgiveness? Also unexpectedly, she heard a voice: “Go beyond the Jordan, there you will find blissful peace.”

Venerable Mary of Egypt with her life. XIX century

Beyond the Jordan, in the desert, completely alone, experiencing terrible temptations for forty-seven years, Mary prayed for forgiveness. For forty-seven years, under the scorching sun, the saint cried about her sins, practically not remembering water and food.

Therefore, when the monk Zosima, an eyewitness to the life of Mary of Egypt, wanting to see “the holy man who surpassed him in sobriety and work,” came to the Trans-Jordanian desert, he did not recognize either a woman or even a person in the black shadow.

When the “shadow” began to rapidly move away from him, he rushed to pursue it. Only after the weak old man began to beg the hermit not to run away did the man, blackened by the sun, himself turn to the old man for help. Mary, unaware of the holiness she had achieved, addressed the monk by name, called him presbyter and asked Zosima for a cloak to cover her nakedness and come under the blessing.

For a long time they knelt in front of each other and repeated: “Bless.” And then Zosima asked Mary to pray for the whole world and for him. Turning to the east, raising her hands to the sky, Mary whispered a prayer. Her body rose almost half a meter from the ground and floated.

The monk Zosima was even more shocked when Maria told him about her life. An uneducated woman who had never held a book in her hands, who had spent half a century alone in the desert, easily quoted Holy Bible and psalms. And most importantly, she bitterly mourned her sin.

A year later, on Thursday of Passion Week, when the church remembers the Last Supper, the saint came to the Jordan. In front of the elder, she crossed the water and crossed the river as if on dry land to take communion. Elder Zosima was sad only that he did not know the name of the ascetic.

A year has passed. Zosima is again in the desert. He stands by the dry stream where he first met the hermit. In front of him is her body with her arms folded crosswise on her chest. And in the heads on the sand there is a message: “Bury, Abba Zosima, in this place the body of the humble Mary.” So Zosima learned the name of the saint. He buried the ascetic, and a lion who came from the desert helped dig the grave. This happened in 522.

“The Golden Legend”, or How Mary Magdalene turned into Mary of Egypt

Jose de Ribera. Mary of Egypt. 1651

In church art, thanks to the service that existed since the 7th century, Mary of Egypt, along with Andrew of Crete, began to be revered as a “mentor in repentance” and depicted on icons with him.

IN fiction and in folklore, in painting, and sculpture, the image of the saint was also reflected. A big role in this was played by the “Golden Legend” (1255) of Jacob of Voraginsky, which was inferior in popularity in medieval Europe only the Bible. One of the two hundred lives contained in the book is dedicated to Mary Magdalene. And although the myrrh-bearer Mary Magdalene is a saint who lived five centuries earlier than Mary of Egypt, the author (who knew neither Greek nor Hebrew) borrows some motifs from the life of Mary of Egypt for his story. He adapts them, attributes to Mary Magdalene some of the traits of Mary of Egypt. In the Golden Legend, Mary Magdalene is depicted as a repentant harlot who, having come to Christ and realizing her sinfulness, labored in fasting and prayer in the desert. For thirty years, angels brought prosphora to the cave where she lived every day.

Giotto. Mary Magdalene receives clothes from the hands of Elder Zosima. 1307-1308

The "Golden Legend" inspired sculptors and painters of the Renaissance. That is why Mary Magdalene, both in the sculptor Donatello and in the painting by Titian, looks like Mary of Egypt. The Gospels say nothing about Mary Magdalene being a harlot or living in the desert, but the popularity of the Golden Legend turned the New Testament character into a medieval ascetic.

Donatello. Mary Magdalene. 1454

The image of Mary of Egypt was also reflected in the literature of modern times. We find motifs from her life in Brecht, Goethe, Dostoevsky, and Zamyatin.

April 14, new style, as well as on Sunday of the fifth week of Lent Russian Orthodox Church honors the memory of the Venerable Mary of Egypt. In 1912, the Silver Age poet, writer and composer Mikhail Kuzmin retold the life of St. Mary of Egypt in poetic lines and presented it to his friend, Maria Zamyatina, on Angel's Day on April 1.

“After all, Mary the Egyptian
Sinful life is empty
Didn't let me touch you
Life-giving cross.
And when I went into the desert,
Having forgotten fornication, my soul is simple,
Free songs sounded
The new glory of Christ.

Zosima found her,
Having divided your mantle,
To cover before death
Prepared flesh.
Not sins, but the power of the Savior,
The secret life of purity
Let it make it easy for you
I wear a free cross.

And the care of life is cramped,
Invisible and simple
It will count for you as a prayer,
At the resurrection Christ,
And it’s not Zosima who will find it,
Having divided your mantle:
Christ Himself, coming, will cover
prepared flesh."

- This is the saint of the Christian religion. She happens to be patroness of penitent girls. The first story of Mary's life was published by Sophronius of Jerusalem, and most of the information from the life of Mary of Egypt was transferred to medieval times. legends about Mary Magdalene.

In the article you will see icons of Mary of Egypt, as well as photos of Mary of Egypt, and find out on what day the saint’s memory is honored.

Righteous life

Mary fulfilled her vows and began a completely different life. From Jerusalem she went to the deserted and gloomy desert of Jordan and there she spent about 50 years in complete solitude, in intense prayer.

Thus, through careful and regular labors, Mary of Egypt was able to remove sins and transgressions and made her heart and soul a real holy temple for the Holy Spirit.

Elder Zosima, who was located in the Jordanian desert at the monastery of St. John the Baptist, doubled his faith in the Lord when he met Saint Mary in the desert. At this time, Mary of Egypt was already at an advanced age. He was surprised at her unusual holiness and gift of foresight.

Once he saw her in the process of prayer, as if elevated above the surface of the earth, and the next time, when she was heading across the Jordan River, she walked at that time as if on dry land.

At the moment of parting with Zosima, Saint Mary asked him to come here again in one year to perform before her. The elder complied with the request and returned exactly after the specified time and administered the sacrament to St. Mary. Then, returning to the desert another year later in the hope of meeting the saint again, he no longer found her alive. The elder buried the remains of St. Mary of Egypt in the desert. In this he was helped by the lion himself, who, with his strong claws, dug a hole for the burial of the body of the holy seer. This happened around 521.

Thus, from a girl shrouded in sins, Mary, with the help of the Lord, turned into a great saint and left behind a very useful example for repentance to the Lord.

Having fulfilled their prayer and the required number of bows to the ground, the elders, asking forgiveness from each other, began to ask for blessings from the abbot and, to the general singing of a psalm, opened the gates of the monastery so that they could then go into the desert.

Everyone took with them the right amount of food, whatever they wanted. Some did not take anything with them at all and ate only roots. The monks departed from the Jordan and positioned themselves as far away from it as possible, so as not to watch anyone fasting and asceticism.

At a time when Lent was coming to an end, the monks went back to the Jordan monastery for Palm Sunday together with the fruit of his work, having tested his soul. Despite all this, no one asked others how they prayed and did good deeds.

At this time and Abba Zosima According to monastic traditions, he crossed the Jordan. He longed to go as far as possible in the desert in order to find one of the great saints or elders saving themselves there and praying for the unity of soul and body.

He walked through the desert for 20 days and one day When he continued to sing psalms for about six hours and said simple prayers, suddenly to his right he noticed a real shadow of a man. He became scared, because he decided that he saw a tribe of demons in front of him, but, having crossed himself several times, he put aside all his fears and, having finished one of the prayers to the Lord, turned towards the shadow and saw one walking through the desert naked man. The body was completely black from the sun's heat, and the short, burnt hair became white, like a lamb's fleece. Avva Zosima became happy, because during this time he did not meet a single living person or even an animal on his way, and at the same time he went to meet the creature.

But at the same moment the naked man saw Zosima approaching him, he began to run away. Abba Zosima forgot both his old age and complete fatigue, and began to move faster and faster. But soon, in complete exhaustion, Zosima stopped by a dry stream and began to ask in tears to the departing man: “Why are you running away from me, a sinful old man, fleeing in this sultry desert? Wait, wait for me, an unworthy and weak old man, and give me your prayer and blessing, for the sake of Christ, who never disdained anyone.”

The unknown man did not even turn around, but shouted back: “Forgive me, Abba Zosima, turning to appear before your face: I am a woman, and, as you can see, I have no clothes on to cover my nakedness.” But if you want to pray to me, the great sinner, then throw me your cloak for shelter so that I can approach you for your blessing.”

“She would not have known my name if holiness and great deeds were not hidden in her, which were given to her from Christ himself,” Zosima decided and hastened to fulfill the demand given to him.

Covering herself under her cloak, the saint turned to Zosima: “What have you decided, Zosima, to talk to me, a woman full of sins and unwise in words? What do you want to learn from me and, without sparing your labors and efforts, spend so much of your time on me?” At this time, he bowed his knees, began to forgive her blessings. At the same moment, the saint bowed before him, and for a long time they asked each other: “Bless.” Finally, the saint said: “Abba Zosima, blessing and prayer are due to you, since you are honored by the very rank of presbyterate and for a long time“, standing before the altar of Christ, you bring great gifts to the Almighty.”

These words became even more terrible for Zosima. Afterwards the saint said: “Blessed is God, who desires salvation for all people on earth.” Avva answered this: . And they simultaneously rose from the surface of the earth. The ascetic once again asked Zosima: “Why did you come here, to me, a sinner in whom there is no virtuous power? Although, apparently, the grace of the Holy Spirit instructed you to perform one church service that is needed for my soul. Tell me first, Abba, how do Christians live, how do they grow and achieve prosperity for the saints who are in God’s Church?”

Abba Zosima told her: “With yours strong prayers God has given the Church and all of us real and righteous peace. But listen to the unworthy old man, my mother, and pray for Christ’s sake for all nations and for me, a sinner, for only then will this walk bear real fruit.”

The saint replied: “You rather need, Abba Zosima, having an order of a sacred nature, to pray to the Lord for me and those around me. This is why you were given the rank. Although, everything you commanded me will be willingly done for the sake of obedience to the truth and from my purest heart.”

Having said these words, the saint turned towards the east and, raising her hands high, began to quietly pray. The elder noticed how the saint rose into the air a full cubit from the surface of the earth. From this strange and unusual event, Zosima fell to his knees, began to pray earnestly and did not dare to say anything except, Lord, have mercy!

A doubt came into his soul - was it a ghost leading him into some kind of temptation and instructing him in sin? The holy ascetic, turning around, lifted him from the ground and answered: “Why, Zosima, are you so embarrassed by good works? I'm not a ghost at all. I'm just a woman, unworthy and full of sins, although she found the sacred

At the service we hear the troparion of the Venerable Mary of Egypt, beginning with the words “In you, the mother was saved in the image ...”, the content of which is the glorification of the ascetic feat of the saint. And during Matins, an attentive praying person will hear a lot. This Sunday's service seemed to combine three events.

During the canon, we hear texts praising the feat of the Venerable Mary of Egypt; it is like a service of the present, of what is being celebrated at the moment. And immediately the names of two Lazarus sound. One is from the Gospel parable of Lazarus, who suffered at the door of a rich man’s house and ended up after death “on Abraham’s bed,” that is, honored with a reward for suffering and patience. The mention of this Lazarus seems to be a thing of the past, since even the righteous of the Old Testament did not go to Paradise before the coming of Christ to people. The second Lazarus, remembered at the canon on this day, is the righteous one, the one whom Jesus Christ resurrected personally, with his word. And the celebration of this event will take place on the coming Saturday. This is the future. The texts of the next seven days, called the week of the branches (branches), send us to Lazarus Saturday and Palm Sunday.

The fast ends on Friday evening. Holy Week is ahead, but that’s a different story. And the event preceding Passion is the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus. It is remembered on Lazarus Saturday.

Gospel Prediction of the Passion

Why did the Lord’s disciples, who followed their Teacher to Jerusalem in fear and excitement, become so indignant at the sons of Zebedee when two brothers asked Christ: “... let us sit with You, one at a time? right side, and the other on the left in Thy glory"? What is wrong with wanting to be close to Christ at the moment when the Kingdom of God reigns throughout the entire Universe? Of course, there is nothing wrong with such a desire. The only question is at what price the Right to co-reign with Christ in His Eternal Kingdom will be purchased.

For the Son of God Himself, this is the price of the Cross, which means that those who want to be close to Him must also be ready to drink the cup of suffering on the cross, that is, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, to crucify their “flesh with passions and lusts” and so to become like Christ, thereby becoming “venerable” in the full sense of the word.

Both the sons of Zebedee and those who were indignant at James and John at this moment still poorly understand the tragic meaning of the events that the Lord predicted for them. They still do not know that terrible feeling of hopelessness that will take possession of all the disciples when, from the top of Golgotha, the terrible cry of the Son of God shakes the foundations of the world: “My God, My God! Why have you forsaken me?

James and John do not yet understand all this. When they hear the Savior’s words about the Kingdom of God “coming in power,” they imagine something like iron legions sweeping away everything in their path. They don’t yet realize that God will conquer the world, trampling down death with His death.

But their opponents, those same ten apostles who “began to be indignant at James and John,” outraged, as it seemed to them, by the power claims of their brothers, are also mistaken. They care about the “primacy of honor,” forgetting that all of them, just like their Divine Teacher, will face the unprecedented torment of the Cross. And if it is true that “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many,” then not only the apostles, then you and I must understand that the path to our Easter, the path to The Kingdom of God flies through Calvary, through self-denial, through the free choice of the Cross, which is possible only with a heart capable of selflessly loving, because even “if I give away all my property and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I have no no benefit."

Icon of the Raising of Lazarus

Saturday of the 6th week of Great Lent is called Lazarus, since the Church on this day celebrates the memory of the greatest of the miracles of Jesus Christ, performed by Him shortly before His death on the cross and Resurrection - the resurrection of the righteous Lazarus.

In chapter 11 of the Gospel of John we read how Jesus and his disciples came to Bethany, where His friend Lazarus lived, who was sick. When it was reported that Lazarus had died, the Savior hurried to the burial place and there resurrected Lazarus, thereby revealing His Divine power.

The semantic and compositional center of the icon is the figure of Jesus Christ, gesturing towards the tomb of Lazarus, commanding: “Lazarus, come out!” Even when Christ is not depicted strictly in the center, His figure visually stands out among others. The sisters of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, are depicted kneeling at the feet of the Savior.

In Greek and Old Russian icons, Lazarus is most often depicted standing against the background of the tomb opening: white shrouds on a black background symbolize the victory of life over death. It is often shown how someone is already beginning to unravel the shrouds, freeing Lazarus from the bonds of death. Several people, at the command of the Savior, roll the slab away from the tomb. Standing nearby They cover their nose with a handkerchief, because the body of the “four-day-old” Lazarus “already stinks.”

As a rule, two groups are clearly identified on the icons - the disciples accompanying Christ, and the Jews who came to watch Jesus perform a miracle. This emphasizes that the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus divides the people into those who accept Christ and those who reject Him, for, as we know from the Gospel, it was after this miracle that the Pharisees conspired to kill Jesus.

The most common are two options. In the first, the disciples are depicted behind Christ, and the Jews in front of Him. The Savior's gesture pointing to the tomb of Lazarus is read as a dialogue with the Pharisees who demanded evidence from Jesus. But this miracle did not convince them. On the second, the groups change places: the Pharisees are depicted behind Christ, the disciples - in front of Him. And then the miracle of resurrection is intended primarily for them: to them, the future apostles, the Lord reveals His power in order to strengthen them in the upcoming trials.

In some icons, Lazarus appears not on a black, but on a white background of the cave. Here the emphasis is on the life-giving action of the Divine Light, which recreates man from decay. Just as in the hymns of Lazarus Saturday one can already hear the premonition of Easter, so in the iconography of this holiday we see the manifestation of the power of God conquering death.