Easter: what kind of holiday is it, when did it appear and what are its features. Easter: History and traditions of the holiday

The temple is alreadyRussian and ready for service,. Now in our minds the temple is the Life-Giving Sepulcher of the Savior. And we ourselves go to him, as once myrrh-bearing women.

Solemn bell

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The basis of the world is the week. The number six indicates the created world, and the number seven reminds us that the created world is covered with blessing. Here is the key to understanding the celebration of the Sabbath. On the seventh day, i.e. on Saturday, God blessed what He had created, and, resting on Saturday from daily affairs, a person had to reflect on the affairs of the Creator, praise Him for the fact that He arranged everything miraculously. On Saturday, a person was not supposed to show his hair.

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Without faith in the Risen Christ, there is no Christianity. That is why all the opponents of our faith are persistently trying to shake the truth of the Resurrection.

The first objection: Christ did not die on the cross: He only fell into a deep faint, from which he later woke up in a cave, got up from His bed, rolled away a huge stone from the doors of the tomb and left the cave ... To this ...

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Hello! Today I saw an announcement in the temple that there is a website near our Resurrection Cathedral. It is so joyful and pleasant to visit the site, every day now I will go to the site of our temple and read soulful literature. God save all the workers in the temple! Thank you very much for your care and hard work! Julia

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WHAT HAPPENS ON EASTER

Every year we relive the events that took place 2000 years ago, the events that are the basis of Christianity. For me, as for many of us, the celebration of Easter is, first of all, the experience of worship, in which the picture of the true Passion of Christ and His Resurrection is vividly conveyed.

Yes, the Passion of Christ. Holy Week is inextricably linked with Easter. Without it, there would be no Resurrection of Christ. Those small days when we tried heartily to cling to Christ in His very earthly days, when He was especially lonely, are already behind us. It was as if we were trying to fix what had already happened. Then even the apostles thought about earthly things, about communion with glory, and asked the Savior for permission to sit at His right and left hand.

On Monday we read about Joseph, and once again you understood and felt how dangerous envy is and how great chastity is. On Tuesday, Christ rebuked the scribes, and you along with them, because you, too, are secretly proud of your knowledge and experience and consider yourself the best of all the rest of the world. On Wednesday, Judas asked: "What do you want to give me, and I will betray Him to you?" And at this time, the harlot, not being afraid of unjustified expenses, will pour out a large vessel of peace on the Body of Christ. And you will be horrified by this connection of Sacred history with money. Priceless is sold for the cost of a simple slave, and a lot of money is spent impractically, out of love alone, and this is pleasing to God. You were horrified, because "the love of money is the root of all evil," and who dares to say that this root does not grow in his soul?

Therefore, on Thursday, when the apostles, in response to Christ's "one of you will betray Me," asked in fear: "Is it not me, Lord?", you will also ask, trembling: "Is not I?" You can’t trust yourself, and you will take communion, feeling the words in a special way: “I won’t give you a kiss, like Judas”

On Friday you cried. And on the Hours, and on the removal of the Shroud, and on the Order of Burial. The best sermon on this day: "Weep, people! Today He died for us!"

Saturday was quiet. Because He is in the Tomb. But His soul at this time in hell breaks the locks and constipation. Saturday is the day of the release of souls from captivity and hell. It's already Easter, although not everyone knows about it. In the silence of the evening of Great Saturday, the heart beats tremblingly in anticipation of joy, with the certainty that it will be!

The members of the Sanhedrin asked Pilate for permission to put a guard on the Tomb, explaining this by fear that the disciples of Christ would not steal His Body. In fact, it was a secret fear that a miracle would happen, it was an attempt by weak human forces to prevent Divine Providence and omnipotence.

And now the dark Palestinian night is descending. Everything is covered with sleep, everything is covered with a cover of night mysterious silence and tranquility. The walls of Jerusalem are white in the distance. Sleeping Jerusalem. The elders and high priests rest in peace. Nearing midnight. The guard is dozing at the sealed coffin. Silence and darkness.

The entrance to the cave is still closed with a huge stone, which can be rolled off with difficulty by several people. At the body of Christ, angels stand invisibly, like warriors at the throne of the King. And, like the last breath of gravestone songs, the canon of the Great Saturday "Sea Wave" sounds.

And it is dark in the temple, so that we feel that this is a night when there is no deceptive light, when everything is immersed in darkness, everything, it would seem, corresponds to the darkness that reigns on earth. This is repeated every year for thousands of years, and we go to the temple when the Acts are still being read.

And in the middle - the same coffin with the dead Sufferer. And the same sad funeral songs are quietly heard. No one tells or explains anything to us: there is no propaganda, no big words, no consolations. But we do not wait for human words and evidence, they still did not prove anything to anyone. We believe and wait for Christ to Risen!

This is just that moment in the service when everything in the temple is silent, when they don’t read or sing, when we are all in anticipation that something very, very important should happen.

And suddenly, a heavenly light shone over the tomb brighter than flashes of lightning or a pillar of fire that led the Israelites in the wilderness. It was just after midnight. A miracle happened, which He proclaimed in prophecies and parables to His disciples. The witnesses of the Resurrection were people who were far from the Old Testament religion, who did not expect a miracle at the cave of the Sepulcher at all - Roman soldiers.

The guards fell to the ground in horror, and then, waking up, went to the city to look for the high priests in order to tell about the miracle that had happened. The high priests resorted to universal remedy- a bribe. They concluded a secret agreement with the soldiers: the soldiers had to say that the body was stolen by the disciples of Jesus Christ, and the high priests, having come to Pilate with gifts on the occasion of the past holiday, give money in excess of the due amount for the forgiveness of the soldiers.

A miracle happened, but we don't know it yet. But, suddenly, from behind the closed Royal Doors, a soft singing is heard, as if from afar: Thy Resurrection, Christ the Savior, the angels sing in heaven, and vouchsafe us on earth to glorify Thee with a pure heart.

The singing grows and grows stronger, the Royal Doors open, a lantern, a cross appear, banners and icons sway, and clergymen come out in shining clothes, like celestials.

The procession moves through the temple to the exit.

And here we are leaving the temple with candles in our hands. How weak, how intermittent this light! And how little of it there is in this world immersed in darkness!

Unforgettable, thrilling moments. The procession leaves the temple, hundreds of candles light up in the hands of the rows of people and, under a fine drizzle, bypasses the temple. Perhaps this is the most wonderful of the processions.

The temple is already decorated and ready for service, but everyone needs to get out of it. And the doors must be closed. Now in our minds the temple is the Life-Giving Sepulcher of the Savior. And we ourselves go to him, as once myrrh-bearing women.

The solemn ringing is spreading in the spring air. The luminous procession rushed towards the Sun of Truth - the Resurrected Christ, it goes around the temple and stops at the door. Everything is silent. We are standing in front of closed doors, just as once upon a time, women came to the tomb and asked themselves: Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? - for this stone was very large.

After all, the apostles and myrrh-bearing women did not yet know about the guard guarding the cave, they still did not know about the miracle that had happened. Then, as we are now, they went to the Tomb of Christ to pour myrrh mixed with their tears on His body.

And above us today is the same stone - the stone of unbelief, the stone of the world that does not believe in anything, the world in which only strength and fear triumph.

Who survived this moment of silence, doubt and lack of faith here, at this closed door, in front of this eternal stone, he knows what I'm talking about.

A stone is rolled, the door is closed, and the wind is trying to extinguish the weak flame of candles ... What can we do against this universal blackness, universal emptiness, we are a small group of people who are not recognized by anyone, whose faith the world laughs and scoffs at?

A little more and now the most important thing will happen, and we will survive a sudden underground shock that shakes the hill. A huge stone falls off with a crash. Shining like lightning, an angel appears before the guard. The coffin is empty. But we don't know that yet...

And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the Angel of the Lord, who descended from heaven, approached, rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb and sat on it. Mary Magdalene, going up to the Tomb, saw a huge stone rolled away from the cave. Entering the Tomb, she met an Angel sitting at the Tomb as a sign that the Heavenly messenger was waiting for her. The appearance of the Angel was like a flash of lightning and a flame of fire. The coffin was filled with unearthly light. The angel said to Mary Magdalene and other myrrh-bearing women: “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Christ is risen!"

Two words! No explanation, no proof. This voice only informs and proclaims: Christ is risen! And a miracle happens, the same miracle, always the same. A joyful exclamation is carried in response: Truly Risen! And the soul accepts, the heart accepts these two words, as something deepest and most authentic in us. This night, and this silence, also retreat, and the door opens, and we enter into the jubilation of Easter, and we know undoubtedly and irrefutably that once again, before our eyes, victory has been accomplished. Victory over evil, victory over darkness, over hatred, over fear, victory over death. Where is your, death, sting? Where is your, hell, victory? Christ is risen, and life lives on... And just as the myrrh-bearing women hurried, as if on wings, to Jerusalem to announce to the apostles about the Resurrection of Christ from the dead, so now we cry to the whole world: Christ is Risen!

Deception, self-deception, fiction, legend, psychosis? But can deceit and psychosis go on for two thousand years? Is a person really so insignificant and weak that the same two words can again and again triumph in him over all this avalanche of explanations and denunciations that is directed at him and pours on him for centuries?

We can neither prove nor explain anything - we cannot and do not want to. But if there is proof on earth, then here it is - Paschal night, Paschal joy, Paschal light.

Now, at midnight, after the twelfth stroke of the bell, when the primate in a loud voice, barely allowing the soul along with the voice not to escape from the chest, will say: "Glory to the Holy and Consubstantial and Life-Giving and Indivisible Trinity," we will enter the temple and fill its bright silence exultation. Through the doors of the open and empty tomb of Christ, we enter the realm of light and its joy. The King himself, remaining until a time not visible to earthly vision, says to those who enter: "Good, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Lord."

When a temple is consecrated, it should already be clear that it is the earthly heaven. The bishop, carrying the holy relics in his hands, approaches the closed gates of the church on the day of consecration, saying: "Rise up, eternal doors, and the King of glory will enter!" The ministers ask through closed gates: “Who is this King of glory?” To which they hear the answer of the saint: “The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory” (Ps. 23:7-10).

Then the doors open, and the saint enters inside, so that through prayer, and the anointing of the world, and the subsequent divine service, turn the earthly structure into the dwelling of Him Whom heaven and heaven cannot contain. But that happens once in a lifetime. Easter, on the other hand, pleases the human soul every year, giving by entering the temple after the procession to foresee the future entry into Heaven itself.

This Sunday night you will understand the meaning of life. Yes, no more, no less. Life has a meaning and a name. The name of Life is Jesus Christ. He is alive, He is near, and if you love Him, then the words end.

Only then will this overwhelming joy need to be hidden on the bottom of the bottomless soul, as the main treasure, and build your life in accordance with the experience gained. You have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Now do not miss Sundays without prayer in the temple, fulfill the commandments, pray sincerely, notice His footprints on the dusty paths of everyday life.

And Divine verbs resound, brought from Heaven itself, from the Throne of God, revealing to us the great mystery of God's existence, they speak about Who the Son of God was, Risen on this Holy Night: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God. It was in the beginning with God. Everything began to be through Him, and without Him nothing began to be that began to be (Jn1, 1-3). And these words resound throughout the Universe, in different languages ​​of the world...

This is the pivot point. Wouldn't miss a chance. Whoever cried out his soul on Holy Week and was filled with strength and singing on Light Week, he smiles with a warm smile at questions about the meaning of life, and his eyes sparkle at this time.

That night, the soul looked around and saw that the night was brighter than the day, because there were many souls as joyful as she was around.

"Christ is Risen!" - "Truly risen!". The temple sparkles, everything is flooded with light. Now everything is filled with light, heaven and earth and the underworld ... Let us cleanse our feelings and see ... Christ shining.

Everything must be forgotten: both division and enmity. The day of the Resurrection, and let us be enlightened with triumph, and embrace each other, brothers: brothers and those who hate us, let us forgive the entire Resurrection, and thus we will cry out: Christ is risen from the dead ...

And every day after the service, you need to go out into the street, raising crosses and banners high, so that with victorious singing, to the ringing of bells, stir up the spring air with the Easter canon of John of Damascus and sprinkle the shining faces of the parishioners with holy water.

AND THE HOLY “CHRIST IS RISEN” IS HELD IN ALL LANGUAGES OF THE WORLD.

in Greek: Χριστος Aνεστη!

in Latin: Christus resurrexit!

on the English: Christ is Risen!

on the German: Christus ist auferstenden!

on the French: Le Christ est ressuscite!

on the Spanish: Cristo ha resucitado!

on the Italian: Cristo e risorto!

on the Swedish: Kristus är uppstånden!

The Last Supper took place on the eve of Pesach, the most important Jewish holiday. But what is its meaning? And why did Christ at that time establish the main sacrament of the Church - the Eucharist? Archpriest Oleg Stenyaev, theologian, missionary, teacher at the Moscow Sretensky Theological Seminary, answers these questions.

What is the Old Testament Passover?

This is the main Jewish holiday, which takes place in memory of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt. In the Gospel of Matthew we read: On the very first day of unleavened bread, the disciples came to Jesus and said to Him: Where do you order us to prepare the Passover for You?(Matt 26 :17). What is "unleavened day"? Let's look at the Old Testament text: In the first month, on the fourteenth [day] of the month, in the evening of the Passover of the Lord(A lion 23 :5). That is, the feast of unleavened bread - this is one of the names of the Jewish Passover - was supposed to be celebrated from the 14th to the 15th day of the month of Nisan for seven to eight days. Nisan in the Jewish calendar is the first month of the biblical year. It roughly corresponds to our March-April.

And what is this story about the Jews and Egypt?

According to the biblical story, Jacob, the son of Abraham and the progenitor of the Jews, moved with his entire family to Egypt because of the famine, where his descendants remained, gradually forming the Jewish people. Its numbers grew rapidly, so that one of the pharaohs began to fear an uprising. To weaken the Jews, he first ordered them to be involved in heavy construction, which gradually turned them into slaves: “The Egyptians cruelly forced the sons of Israel to work and made their lives bitter from hard work on clay and bricks and from all work in the field” (Ex. 1 :13-14), and then ordered to kill all their newborn babies. Only the future prophet Moses was saved. Later, God called him to go to Pharaoh and demand to free the Jewish people from slavery and let them go to the promised land.

Pharaoh did not want to do this for a long time. Then God sent ten plagues on his people - the so-called ten plagues of Egypt. After the last, when the Angel killed all the firstborn of the Egyptian people (including the son of the ruler), the pharaoh finally let the Jews go. However, when they had already reached the shores of the Red Sea, he sent an army after them to bring them back. Then, by the will of God, the sea parted and the Jews crossed the bottom to the other side, and when the Egyptian army rushed to catch up with them, the sea closed and all the soldiers died. This is how the exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt took place.

What are unleavened bread?

This is unleavened bread made without the use of sourdough. It is forbidden to eat bread made from dough mixed with any cereals and subjected to fermentation on Jewish Passover: Eat unleavened bread for seven days; From the very first day, destroy leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day, that soul will be cut off from the midst of Israel.(Ex 12 :15).

On the eve of the evening, a ritual is performed to search for chametz, that is, everything leavened in the house. The Jews light a candle and, after reading a special prayer, begin to look for the remains of leavened bread and sweep them out of the house.

Interestingly, in Christian symbolism, a person in the spiritual sense must become “unleavened bread”, that is, cleansed of all sinful impurities, fermentation, as the Apostle Paul writes: “Purge, therefore, the old leaven, that you may be a new test, since you are without leaven, for our Passover, Christ, was slain for us. Therefore, let us celebrate not with old leaven, not with the leaven of vice and wickedness, but with unleavened bread of purity and truth (1 Cor. 5 :7–8)” . After all, unleavened bread does not spoil and does not grow moldy - it can only dry out.

Why does this holiday have such a name - Easter?

It is associated with a lamb (lamb), which was prepared for a festive meal: let them eat his meat this very night, baked in the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs(Ex 12 :eight). Judging by the sources that have survived to this day, the doorposts were anointed with the blood of this lamb at the time of Christ, and, in fact, it was thanks to this action that the holiday was called Easter.

The word Pesach comes from the Hebrew verb passah, i.e. "passed". Who passed? The angel who, during the last Egyptian plague, killed all the firstborn, but did not enter (that is, passed by) to those houses whose doorposts were anointed with the blood of the lamb: And Moses summoned all the elders [sons] of Israel, and said to them, Choose and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and kill the passover; and take a bundle of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the vessel, and anoint the crossbar and both doorposts with the blood that is in the vessel; but you no one go out of the door of your house until the morning. And the Lord will go to strike Egypt, and he will see blood on the crossbar and on both doorposts, and the Lord will pass by the doors, and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to defeat(Ex 12 :21–23).

How did the Jews celebrate this holiday? What does it mean to "cook Easter"?

It was home family holiday. In the dining room, a wide table was set up, on which a bowl of salt water was placed - it symbolized the tears shed by the Jews during Egyptian slavery. Interestingly, it was in this cup that the Lord dipped unleavened bread, which he then served to the traitor Judas (Jn. 13 :26–27).

Also, a dish with bitter herbs was placed on the Easter table: onion, chicory, horseradish, garlic. During the meal, the Jews ate them until tears appeared in their eyes. This is how the memory of the terrible tragedy was made when the pharaoh ordered all newborn Jewish babies to be drowned in the waters of the Nile (Ex. 1 :22). In addition, pasta was prepared from dates, nuts and pomegranate. Its color was reminiscent of the clay from which enslaved Jews built cities for the pharaohs.

Unleavened bread was laid out on the table in three piles, between which napkins were placed. These three rows of unleavened bread symbolized that the three social levels of Jewish society - the rich, middle-class people and the poor - were abolished on this solemn evening: any Jew, regardless of his income, age and gender, had to participate in the sacred meal: And Moses said, Let us go with our little ones and with our old men, with our sons and our daughters, and with our sheep and with our oxen, let us go, for we have a feast to the Lord [our God](Ex 10 :9). If the family was poor and could not afford to buy a Passover lamb, then it was possible to celebrate the holiday by sharing with another family.

At the climax of the Passover meal, four cups of wine diluted with water were placed on the table, which symbolized the four promises given to the Jews by God during their exodus from Egypt: So say to the children of Israel: I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage, and I will save you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments; and I will take you for my people and be your God, and you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of Egypt(Ex 6 :6–7).

The head of the family took the first cup of wine and thanked God, saying: “Blessed be the Lord our God, King of the world, who created the fruit of the vine!” After that, the vessel was passed around in a circle, and everyone drank a little wine. Then the youngest of those present (at the time it was the Apostle John the Theologian) asked the elder at the table a sacred question: “What does all this mean?”, And he was told the story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. At the same time, they read or sang two psalms - the 113th and 114th, which related to these events, and ate bitter herbs.

After the second bowl was passed around, the leader of the meal took one unleavened bread, broke it in half and said thanksgiving: “Blessed be our Lord, King of the world, who brought forth bread from the earth.” After that, the bread was divided among all those present. Following this, the turn of the lamb came, then they drank from the third bowl, sang the 114-117th, and the fourth bowl of wine completed the holiday.

After the meal was over, everyone went outside. In Jerusalem, they climbed the Mount of Olives, where they continued to celebrate together with other families.

You said that the Jewish Passover is a family holiday. Why, then, was the Mother of God not present at the Last Supper? Why didn't Christ celebrate this holiday with his family?

The fact is that Christ Himself creates a new community of people, if you like, a new family, which later will be called the Church. The relationship between the Lord and the disciples was like between a father and his children. God adopts us to Himself through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this happens through Holy Communion.

I will give a very important example. Remember how once people approached Christ and said that His Mother - the Mother of God - and brothers (children of righteous Joseph) were standing on the street, who asked Him to come out to them to discuss something. And what did Christ say? And he said in answer to the speaker: who is my mother? and who are my brothers? And, pointing with his hand to his disciples, he said: here are my mother and my brothers; for whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother(Matt 12 :48–50).

And why was the Last Supper called "mystery"?

Zion's Upper Room

It was a "mystery" for the enemies of Christ. The fact is that Judas already then - before the Easter meal - entered into an agreement with the high priests, as they were looking for a convenient moment to grab Christ. The disciple did not know exactly where the festive evening would be, but he knew for certain that the Teacher would then go to the Garden of Gethsemane, where, under cover of night, without unnecessary witnesses, it would be possible to arrest Him, avoiding popular indignation. Therefore, Judas left the supper ahead of time in order to lead the soldiers to the right place.

Why did Christ, who, as we know, brought the New Testament, which abolished the Old, celebrated Pesach? After all, modern Christians do not celebrate it.

Pedigree of Christ

This had a double meaning. First, as the apostle Paul writes, "For our Passover, Christ, was slain for us"
(1 Corinthians 5:7). And the entire Old Testament Passover was filled with types that referred to Christ Himself. You can call him the "New Moses". After all, if the Old Testament prophet led the Jewish people out of Egyptian slavery, saving them from the tyranny of the Pharaoh, then Christ brings all people out of the "Egypt" of sin and saves them from "slave" to the devil. The events of the Exodus turned out to be the prototypes of the gospel story.

When the Jews fled from the Egyptian army pursuing them, they passed through the sea parted before them. How does one escape from sin? Through the waters of Baptism. That is, here too the Fathers of the Church saw a prototype of the Christian sacrament. As well as in anointing the doorposts with the blood of a lamb - a prototype of the cross on Golgotha. And the lamb itself is a symbol of Christ, which, as the apostle John writes, is a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind (1 John 2 :2). Christ revealed all these Old Testament images, and this is the deepest meaning of both the Last Supper and His subsequent suffering, death and resurrection.

In addition, the Lord said that He did not come to destroy the Old Testament law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5 :17), and the celebration of Pesach was directly prescribed to every Jew, such as Christ Himself was.

What is special about the Last Supper?

The fact that after the entire sequence of the Paschal meal is completed, Christ, quite unexpectedly for the disciples, adds something new to it. Let me quote St. Innocent of Kherson: “The time has come to talk no longer in words, but in deeds; last hour He broke through the Old Testament; Note. ed.) takes the bread that lay before Him, blesses it, breaks it into pieces, according to the number of the disciples, and distributes it to them. Already from this blessing it was clear that this was not being done according to the custom of the Paschal supper (the so-called blessed bread had already been consumed), but for a different reason and for a different purpose.

“Accept,- the Lord says to the disciples, - eat: this is my body”. And after the apostles silently ate this new Bread - the Body of their Teacher and God, Christ took a cup of wine in his hands and, giving it to them, said: Drink from it all, for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.(Matt 26 :26–28).

So in one evening there is a final transition from the Old Testament worship to the New Testament. From now on, the bloody sacrifices of ancient Israel by God Himself have been abolished. Instead of them, at every liturgy during the Eucharist, a bloodless Sacrifice is offered, which every believer partakes of.

The Old Testament Easter was a prototype of the New Testament liturgy, which was established and performed by Christ Himself in the Upper Room of Zion (in the room where the Last Supper was held) a few hours before the arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Blessed Jerome of Stridon writes the following about this: “After the Pascha, which has the significance of a prototype, was celebrated, and after eating the flesh of the lamb together with the apostles, He took bread - which strengthens the heart of man - and makes the transition to the true sacrament of Pascha, so that to give His true Body and His Blood.”

At the same time, it is very important to understand that the holy fathers insist that there is only one Divine Liturgy celebrated by Christ at the Last Supper. And when believers come to the church today for the liturgy, they become participants in the events of that very Supper - and not symbolically, but really.

Why is it necessary to eat the Flesh and Blood of Christ? Is faith alone not enough?

The fact is that the Lord calls for the salvation of the whole person - both his body and his soul. Since Christ is both God and Man at the same time, the Christian who partakes of His Blood and Flesh becomes a partaker of the Divine by grace. The most important call of Christianity is that both the body and the soul of a person must be saved and deified. Therefore, Communion brings complete healing of both the physical and spiritual life of a person. A Christian must not only profess faith, but also perform certain sacred acts, as Blessed Augustine writes: “When the water of baptism touches our body, it purifies our soul.” I repeat once again: a person must be saved not just at the level of some abstractions - as some kind of spiritual being, but only as a whole - both in body and soul.

Any sacrament is connected with some substance. For example, the sacrament of Baptism is with water, the sacrament of Chrismation is with oil. The substance of confession is the sins of man, which he really committed (thoughts, words or deeds) and in which he repents. The substance of the Eucharist is bread and wine, which are transubstantiated into the true Body and true Blood of the Savior.

Thus, the fact that the sacrament includes some substance consecrated by God makes it not something abstract, but, on the contrary, concrete, and this concreteness is very important. There is both a spiritual and physical transformation of a person.

Why, then, was the first liturgy, or, as you say, the New Testament Sacrifice, completed before the suffering on the Cross, that is, before the very sacrifice?

AT Old Testament the sacrifice for the slaughter was chosen some time before the actual sacrifice: You must have a lamb without blemish, male, one year old; take it from the sheep, or from the goats, and let it be kept by you until the fourteenth day of this month.(Ex 12 :5–6). Moreover, the Son of God Himself at the moment of His incarnation is already a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, as the Apostle Paul testifies: Therefore, Christ, entering into the world, says: You did not desire sacrifices and offerings, but you prepared a body for me.(Heb 10 :5). The apostle Peter echoes him: Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible silver or gold from the vain life handed down to you from the fathers, but with the precious Blood of Christ, as of an immaculate and pure Lamb, destined before the foundation of the world(1 Pet 1 :18–20).

Developments last days earthly life of Jesus Christ are of great liturgical significance. It is about them that we must remember when we approach the Chalice, as the apostle Paul writes about this in one of his epistles: Let a man examine himself, and thus let him eat from this bread and drink from this cup. For whoever eats and drinks unworthily, he eats and drinks condemnation to himself, not considering the Body of the Lord(1 Cor 11 :28–29). “Reasoning about the Body of the Lord” is a call to ensure that, approaching the Chalice, a Christian should remember the Last Supper, suffering on the Cross, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the Lord Himself said: Do this in remembrance of me(OK 22 :19).

In addition, "discourse on the Body of the Lord" is the whole liturgy with its following, prayers, hymns, litanies. It itself includes a story about the Life of our Savior - from Birth to Death, Resurrection and Ascension. The order of liturgical worship prepares the person who has come to the most important thing - to the apogee of all life, namely: to the Eucharist and Communion. After all, reasoning is expressed in a word or in some actions that give rise to mental images, associations. And the liturgy gives us all this, so that a Christian approaches the Chalice consciously, realizing that he is partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ Himself.

Ends great post and the feast of Passover is approaching. And this means that festive festivities will take place throughout the country, believers will bake, cook Easter, paint eggs and just enjoy the holiday. But very few of those who celebrate Easter actually know what this holiday means, when it appeared and what all the Easter attributes symbolize. And to help figure it out, we will talk about the history and essence of the Easter holiday and its significance for believers.

Easter in ancient times

Initially, the tradition of celebrating Easter came from the Jewish people. and was associated with the liberation of the Jews from Egyptian slavery by the prophet Moses. Then the name of this holiday sounded like P e sah - "to pass", in the meaning of "to deliver", "to spare". The Jews celebrated Easter for 7 days, which every orthodox Jew had to spend in Jerusalem. In memory of the exodus from Egypt, on the day of Passover, the Jews practiced a ritual slaughter in the Temple of a one-year-old male lamb, without blemish, which was then baked on fire, and eaten completely, without breaking the bones, with unleavened bread (unleavened bread - matzah) and bitter herbs in the family circle on Easter evening. This lamb was called that - Easter - and served as a prototype of the Savior and a reminder of his coming coming. Bitter herbs symbolized the bitterness of Egyptian slavery. Also on Easter evening, the family ate gruel from fruits and nuts and four glasses of wine, and the father of the family spoke for festive table the story of the exodus of the Jews from Egyptian slavery. Bread, as already mentioned, was used only unleavened - in memory of the fact that the Jews with great haste left Egypt and did not have time to leaven the bread.

Easter in early Christianity

After the coming of Jesus Christ Easter was rethought and acquired a completely different meaning. Now Easter was a type of death and Resurrection of Christ. In Scripture, these changes were described as follows: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). “Our Passover, Christ, was slain for us” (1 Cor. 5:7).

Now it is already impossible to determine exactly what date (in our chronology) the event of the Resurrection took place. For example, in 2011 Easter falls on April 24th. The word "drops out" is not chosen by chance. As you know, the date of the celebration of Easter is not fixed, like most holidays. And the calculation of this date is quite complicated.

The fact is that the Jews lived according to the lunar calendar, and not according to the solar calendar, as we are now. These calendars differ from each other by 11 days: in solar year, as you know, 365 days, and in the lunar - 354 days. In addition, errors accumulate very quickly in the lunar calendar, which cannot be corrected. That is why it is now difficult to calculate the day on which the Easter holiday will fall.

The Gospel records that Christ was crucified on Friday the 14th day, and on Sunday the 16th day of the month of Nisan, “on the first day of the week” (after Saturday). In early Christianity, this day was called the Lord's, later, among the Slavs, it began to be called Sunday. The month of Nisan itself corresponded to the modern March-April.

The acute question of the choice of the day and the solemn celebration of Easter once a year arose only towards II-III century AD, because it happened that Christians living in different territories had different calendars - and therefore the date of the celebration of Easter varied more and more. In addition, the Jewish Passover and the Passover of the Christians of Asia Minor continued to exist as separate holidays. Based on the current situation, in the IV century. The Church has decided that Easter will be celebrated on the first Sunday after the spring full moon. The period for which this day can fall was determined as April 4 - May 8. The obligation to notify the chosen day of Pascha each year lay with the Bishop of Alexandria, who, guided by special astronomical calculations, by special Paschal epistles informed all churches of the day of Pascha in the current year.

How did the external paraphernalia of the holiday change during the period of early Christianity? In the writings about Easter by various Christian writers (Apollinaris of Hierapolis, St. Hippolytus of Rome, etc.), it is said that Great Lent before Easter symbolized the suffering and death of Christ, and Easter was now called "The Cross". Fasting continued until Sunday night, after which the Resurrection of Christ was celebrated as Pascha of Joy, or "Sunday Easter". Until now, many of the festive elements of Easter, which were formed in early Christian times, have been preserved in the services of Maundy Thursday, Friday and Saturday, in the special structure of the night service in the week of Easter, in the celebration of Sunday Easter until the Ascension.

Easter in the Middle Ages and Modern Times

Since the 8th century, when Rome adopted the eastern Paschalia, and for 500 years, Easter has been celebrated by agreement between the Churches of the East and West.

But in 1582 The Julian calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar (named after the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, Gregory XIII). Since 1583 Pope Gregory XIII introduced a new Easter, called the Gregorian, as a result of which there was a transition to more accurate astronomical dates - and the Catholic Easter, depending on the year, began to be celebrated earlier than the Jewish one or coincide with it and be ahead by an average of a month.

Easter in the modern world

In the first third of the X century. attempts were made to create a new Julian calendar, even more accurate than the Gregorian one, but these aspirations were not crowned with success, and at the Moscow meeting it was decided that Easter and all the transitional holidays are celebrated by all Orthodox Churches according to the Julian calendar, and non-transitional ones - according to the calendar that this Church lives.

Today, the Julian calendar is fully used only by the Russian, Jerusalem, Georgian and Serbian Orthodox Churches, as well as Athos. The Finnish Orthodox Church has completely switched to the Gregorian calendar. The rest of the Churches celebrate Easter and other movable holidays in the old style, and Christmas and other non-moving holidays in the new style.

Easter celebration and Easter traditions in the modern world

AT modern world Easter is preceded by a seven-week fast - as a time of repentance and spiritual cleansing. After Lent, on festive Sunday, the Easter service begins, which differs from ordinary church services both in structure and in the words that are pronounced on it.

All believers during the Easter service make sure to take communion, and after the end of the service, the believers “Christen,” that is, they kiss when they meet and exchange the words: “Christ is Risen!” and "Truly Risen!"

The celebration of Easter lasts forty days - according to the number of days that Christ appeared to His disciples, after which he ascended to God the Father. During this time, and especially in the first week, the most solemn, people go to visit each other, exchange Easter cakes and.

What do the Easter attributes used in the celebration of Easter mean? Why do we bake Easter cakes, paint eggs, “Christify” and wait for the blessed fire? Now we will look at the most basic Easter attributes and try to answer all these questions.

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It is a symbol of church artos, that is, a large bread, on which a wreath of thorns and a cross or the image of the Resurrection are depicted. Since ancient times, this bread has been considered a symbol of Christ's victory over death; during the meal, the apostles always left an empty place at the table in the middle and put the bread intended for Christ on it. Even the church Easter rite is associated with the artos, expressed in the fact that the artos is surrounded with procession around the temple and left on a special table following the example of the apostles, and at the end of the Easter week, on Saturday, having blessed, they are distributed to believers.

colored eggs

First of all, it is worth saying why the egg. According to legend, Mary Magdalene, having arrived in Rome to preach the Gospel, presented an egg to Emperor Tiberius as a gift, since she simply did not have enough money for more. During the offering, the preacher told the emperor that Christ had risen from the dead, like a chicken that would hatch from this egg.

Why is it dyed? The fact is that the emperor, in response to such words of Magdalene, asked: “How can a person rise from the dead? It's like an egg now turning from white to red." And then a miracle happened - the egg turned from white to red, symbolizing the shed blood of Christ.

In Russia, it is also customary to roll Easter eggs on the ground to make it fertile.

Easter fire

The Easter fire, symbolizing the Light of God, enlightening all nations after Christ's resurrection, plays a big role in the Easter service. There is an Easter tradition according to which on Holy Saturday, on the eve of Easter, a blessed fire appears in the Holy Sepulcher, which subsequently spreads throughout Orthodox churches so that believers can light their candles from it. After the service, many take the lamp with the fire with them and try to keep this fire going all year round.

AT pre-revolutionary Russia existed, and in the West there is still a tradition of kindling a large fire on the temple grounds. This fire is a symbol of Light and Renewal, and is also sometimes understood as a symbol of the burning of Judas. In addition, the Easter bonfire has another meaning - those who left the church or did not reach it can warm themselves near it, so it can be understood as the bonfire near which Peter warmed himself.

Easter greeting ("christening")

Starting from Easter night and for the next forty days, it is customary for believers to "Christify", greeting each other with the words: "Christ is Risen!" - “Truly Risen!”, And kiss three times. This Easter tradition comes from apostolic times: "Greet one another with a holy kiss."

And finally, I would like to say that Easter is another great occasion to spend the weekend in a special way. If you live near a forest or a park, you can make a small feeder, collect crumbs from the holiday cake and go to the forest to feed the birds. It will give the kid an unforgettable experience! If there are children's centers near your house or just street parties, it would be a very good idea to participate in this together with your little one. And, of course, if you live in the capital, you should not forget the annual Easter festivities in the center of Moscow - on Red Square, Vasilyevsky Spusk, in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. The main thing on this day is not to sit at home, but to take advantage of additional opportunity arrange a holiday for yourself and your child!

Easter in Russia, as in other countries, is a holiday of holidays, a celebration of celebrations. But today the world is changing rapidly, and most importantly, what remains unchanged is fading into the background. Rarely today, young people, especially in megacities, understand the meaning of the Easter holiday, go to confession and sincerely support centuries-old traditions. But Easter is the main Orthodox holiday bringing light and joy to entire nations, to the families and souls of every believer.

What is "Easter"?

Christians understand the word "Easter" as "transition from death to life, from earth to heaven." For forty days, believers observe the strictest fast and celebrate Easter in honor of Jesus' victory over death.

Pronounced "Pesach" (Hebrew word) and means "passed by, passed by." The roots of this word go back to the history of the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery.

The New Testament says that the destroyer will pass over those who accept Jesus.

In some languages, the word is pronounced like this - "Pisha". This is an Aramaic name that has spread in some languages ​​​​of Europe and has survived to this day.

No matter how the word is pronounced, the essence of Easter does not change; for all believers, this is the most important celebration. Holy holiday bringing joy and hope to the hearts of believers all over the Earth.

The history of the holiday before the birth of Christ, or Old Testament Easter

The holiday originated long before the birth of Christ, but the significance of the Easter holiday in those days was very great for the Jewish people.

The story goes that the Jews were once held captive by the Egyptians. Slaves suffered from their masters a lot of bullying, troubles and oppression. But faith in God, hope for salvation and God's mercy always lived in their hearts.

One day a man named Moses came to them, who, with his brother, had been sent to their rescue. The Lord chose Moses to enlighten the Egyptian pharaoh and deliver the Jewish people from slavery.

But no matter how hard Moses tried to convince Pharaoh to let the people go, freedom was not granted to them. The Egyptian pharaoh and his people did not believe in God, worshiping only their deities and relying on the help of sorcerers. To prove the existence and power of the Lord, nine terrible plagues were brought down on the Egyptian people. No bloody rivers, no toads, no midges, no flies, no darkness, no thunder - none of this could have happened if the ruler had let the people go with their cattle.

The last, tenth plague, like the previous ones, punished the pharaoh and his people, but did not affect the Jews. Moses warned that every family should slaughter a one-year-old unblemished male lamb. To anoint the doors of their houses with the blood of an animal, bake a lamb and eat it with the whole family.

At night, all the first-born males were killed in houses among people and animals. Only the houses of the Jews, where there was a bloody mark, were not affected by the trouble. Since then, "Easter" means - passed by, passed by.

This execution greatly frightened the pharaoh, and he released the slaves with all their herds. The Jews went to the sea, where the water broke open, and they calmly set off along its bottom. Pharaoh wanted to break his promise again and rushed after them, but the water swallowed him up.

The Jews began to celebrate the liberation from slavery and the passing of executions by their families, calling the holiday Easter. The history and significance of the Passover holiday are captured in the Bible book "Exodus".

Easter according to the New Testament

On Israeli soil, the virgin Mary was born Jesus Christ, who was destined to save human souls from the slavery of hell. At the age of thirty, Jesus began to preach, telling people about the laws of God. But three years later he was crucified along with other unwanted authorities on the cross, which was installed on Mount Calvary. It happened after the Jewish Passover, on Friday, which was later dubbed Passion. This event complements the meaning of the Easter holiday with new meaning, traditions and attributes.

Christ, like a lamb, was slain, but his bones remained intact, and this became His sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.

A little more history

On the eve of the crucifixion, on Thursday, Jesus presented the bread as his body and the wine as his blood. Since then, the meaning of the Easter holiday has not changed, but the Eucharist has become a new Easter meal.

At first, the holiday was weekly. Friday was a day of sorrow and Sunday was a day of joy.

In 325, at the First Ecumenical Council, the date of the celebration of Easter was determined - on the first Sunday after the spring full moon. The Russian Orthodox Church uses To calculate what day Easter falls in a certain year, you need to make a rather complicated calculation. But for ordinary laity, a calendar of dates for the holiday has been compiled for decades to come.

For a long time of the existence of the holiday, it has acquired traditions, which are still adhered to in families, and signs.

great post

Easter in Russia is one of the main holidays, even for those people who rarely go to church. Today, in the era of high technology and urbanization, among generations that prefer a computer to live communication, the church is slowly losing its power over the hearts and souls of people. But practically everyone, regardless of age and strength of faith, knows what Lent is.

Traditions are passed on by older generations in families. It is rare that anyone decides to adhere to the entire post, most often only in the last week people somehow follow the rules.

For 40 days, believers must eat without eating animal products (and on some days fasting is more strict), do not drink alcohol, pray, confess, take communion, do good, not slander.

Great Lent is coming to an end The Easter service is of particular importance and scope. AT modern Russia services are broadcast live on the central channels. In every church, even in the smallest village, candles are lit all night and chants are sung. Millions of parishioners all over the country stay up all night, pray, attend services, light candles, bless food and water. And fasting ends on Sunday, after the completion of all church rites. Those who fast sit down at the table and celebrate Easter.

Easter greeting

From childhood, we teach children that when greeting a person on this holiday, you need to say: “Christ is Risen!” And to answer such words: “Truly Risen!” To learn more about what this is connected with, you need to turn to the Bible.

The essence of Easter is the passage of Jesus to his Father. The story goes that Jesus was crucified into a body taken down from the cross and buried. A coffin is a cave carved into the rock, closed by a huge stone. The bodies of the dead (there were still victims) were wrapped in fabrics and rubbed with incense. But they did not have time to perform the ceremony with the body of Jesus, since according to Jewish laws it is strictly forbidden to work on the Sabbath.

Women - followers of Christ - on Sunday morning went to his tomb to perform the ceremony themselves. An angel came down to them and told them that Christ had risen. Easter from now on will be the third day - the day of the resurrection of Christ.

Entering the tomb, the women were convinced of the words of the angel and brought this message to the apostles. And they communicated this joyful news to everyone. All believers and non-believers should have known that the impossible had happened, that what Jesus said had happened - Christ had risen.

Easter: traditions of different countries

In many countries of the world, believers paint eggs and bake Easter cakes. There are a lot of recipes for Easter cakes, and in different countries they also differ in shape. Of course, this is not the essence of Easter, but these are traditions that have accompanied the holiday for many centuries.

In Russia, Bulgaria and Ukraine they “fight” with colored eggs.

In Greece, on the Friday before Easter, it is considered a great sin to work with a hammer and nails. At midnight from Saturday to Sunday, after the solemn service, when the priest proclaims "Christ is Risen!", the night sky is illuminated by grandiose fireworks.

In the Czech Republic, on the Monday following Easter Sunday, girls are whipped as a compliment. And they can pour young man water.

Australians make chocolate Easter eggs and figurines of various animals.

Ukrainian Easter eggs are called Easter eggs. Children are given clean white eggs as a symbol of their long and bright life path. And for the elderly - dark eggs with a complex pattern, as a sign that there were many difficulties in their lives.

Easter in Russia brings light and wonder to the homes of believers. Consecrated Easter eggs are often attributed miraculous power. On Sunday morning, when washing, the consecrated egg is placed in a basin of water, and each member of the family should wash with it, rubbing his cheeks and forehead.

The red Easter egg has a special symbolism. In Greece, red is the color of mourning. The red eggs symbolize the tomb of Jesus, while the broken eggs symbolize the open tombs and the Resurrection.

Signs for Easter

Each nation has its own unique signs associated with this day. does not always believe in them, but it is interesting to know about it.

For some nations, it is considered a good omen to bathe in a spring on Easter night and bring this water into the house.

On the eve of Easter, houses are cleaned, cooked, baked, but in many countries it is considered a sin to work on Saturday. In Poland, signs for Easter prohibit housewives from working on Friday, otherwise the whole village will be left without a harvest.

3.348. Paul Lebedev ( [email protected]) writes: "A Jewish friend asked an interesting question:" why did Jesus Christ celebrate Easter a day earlier than the Jews?

As far as I know (maybe something is wrong), in that year (of the crucifixion of Jesus) the Jews celebrated Easter on Saturday, the Last Supper was on Thursday evening (and therefore referred to Friday, because the Jews had a day in the evening) , on Friday night, Jesus Christ was seized, condemnation and crucifixion were on Friday, and on Friday before evening (and, accordingly, before Saturday), he was buried.

What to say to the questioner?

Here is what I found in the New Testament about this:

There is the following explanation for this. The Savior ate the Passover lamb on Thursday, Nisan 13. The true Passover Lamb itself was sacrificed on Nisan 14. Places indicating that the Savior had to hasten to eat the Passover lamb are found in , 18; ,fifteen. (Eric Nystrom, Bible Dictionary, Toronto 1980, p. 311, p. Easter).

Bible commentators interpret this situation in different ways. There are critical schools that can make errors in descriptions, and there are those who try to come up with all sorts of explanations, such as that Christ wanted to celebrate Easter earlier, because He knew that He could not celebrate it with everyone together. But all these interpretations have many difficulties. The Savior could not eat the Paschal lamb ahead of time, since by that time the lamb was slaughtered only in the Temple. Therefore, there are several other interpretations implying that at that time there were several groups, classes or sects among the Jewish people who celebrated Passover in different time, and in particular, in the year of the crucifixion of Christ, this celebration differed in one day. I will give three such possible explanations from various sources.

Since the time of the Babylonian captivity, the Jews had a double calculation of Passover and other holidays, shifted by one day. Plain and official. Here was the problem: at every new moon, trumpets were blown, announcing the arrival of a new month. Not always, because weather conditions, it was possible to determine with accuracy which day was the new moon. Therefore, people were notified by the sound of the trumpet. But sometimes, due to distance or for other reasons, this signal reached a day late in some areas. This is the beginning of the problem. Then we see the Jews divided - most of taken captive to Babylon, and a small group remained in destroyed Jerusalem. long distance, almost no communication, and the difference in distance may have made some visual corrections when observing the moon.

The lunar-solar calendar used by the Jews, and according to which the time of the celebration of Easter is calculated even today, is more difficult to calculate than the solar one. Because lunar year about 11 days (more precisely, 10 days and 21.2 hours) shorter than the sun, then with a certain frequency in 19-year cycles a leap month was added - the 13th, called the Second Adar. Again, the lunar month contains 29 1/2 days (more precisely, 29 days and 12.8 hours), so the length of the month fluctuated between 29 and 30 days. In this case, the beginning of the month was established by observation. In those cases when the new moon occurred only in the morning, it was possible to shift the beginning of the month by a whole day. The Jewish day begins in the evening, i.e. from sunset. But this was not always the case. During the Babylonian captivity, the Jews adopted the Babylonian custom of counting the day in the morning. Returning from captivity, they again returned to the former time calculation. But among the people there was a disagreement on this matter (According to the article "Calendar", Jewish Encyclopedia, Brockhaus-Efron 1909, vol. 9, pp. 138-155).

The Qumran finds of manuscripts on the shores of the Dead Sea brought us a number of books of the Jewish sect of the Essenes of the time of Christ. In particular, the Book of Jubilees states that the Essenes followed a different calendar, in which Easter always fell on the same day of the week, while the Pharisees calculated Easter by the phases of the moon. The Essenes were most numerous in Galilee, where Christ and most of his disciples were from. Therefore, it was natural for Jesus to celebrate Easter in the Gallilean way with the Essenes a day before the official holiday (Robert G. Hoerber: "Jesus et le calendrier de Qumran," New Testament Studies, vol 7, 1960, pp. 1-30).

Still other studies show that the conservative Pharisees and other conservative sects usually tried to literally follow everything written in the law, and celebrated Easter when it fell. At the same time, the more liberal Boethisan Sadukkei and similar sects interpreted "ceremonial Sabbaths" () as regular weekly Sabbaths, and therefore always corrected the calendar so that the seven festive "Sabbaths" always fell on weekly Sabbaths (according to the SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5, additional notes to Matt. 26).

For all the above reasons, it was quite natural to disagree in the calendar for one day among the people. This could have happened in the days of Christ, which He could take advantage of by celebrating the Passover a day early with those who held a different reckoning of the month, so that He would have the opportunity to celebrate it at all, knowing that He should be betrayed at the Passover. This, in particular, is indicated by the words of Christ: "I very much desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer" (v. 15).

This is what Jesus used. The fact is that the coincidence of the holiday of Easter and Saturday is significant event. Usually the first and eighth days of Easter are "Saturdays", that is, days of rest. When the festive Sabbath coincided with the weekly Sabbath, it became "great Sabbath". As the true Paschal Lamb, Christ was to be slain on the evening of the beginning of Passover, the 14th day of the month of Nisan. We just find that the Jews were in a hurry to finish the crucifixion in order to be in time for the beginning of the holiday - Christ died at sunset and the lamb was slaughtered at sunset. That is why the legend appeared (or maybe this is a real situation) that the Paschal lamb ran away from the hands of the priest in the temple at the moment when Christ said "It is finished." That year the Passover was natural - with the shedding of the blood of the Real Lamb. Then, after Passover, on the 15th of Nisan, the seven-day feast of unleavened bread began, that is, a time without leavened products throughout Israel. The second day of this festival, the 16th of Nisan, which this case fell on the first day of the week, the first sheaf of the new harvest was brought - a sheaf of shock. The Risen Christ was the same "first sheaf" of the resurrected and redeemed. Christ wanted to celebrate Easter with His disciples in order to establish at this time new rite instead of the fulfilled, and therefore, now unnecessary Jewish holiday. You remember that speaking of the Law, Christ showed that the law is valid until it is fulfilled. Easter was fulfilled when the symbol met reality - the lamb that pointed to the Messiah was replaced by the real Messiah. So in order to no longer talk about the future during Easter, Christ established a new holiday that reminds of the past - the Lord's Supper. So the double reckoning of the calendar allowed Christ, so to speak, to "kill two birds with one stone" - both to establish a new Pascha and to die in time on the day of the official Pascha.

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