Orthodoxy is looking for a golden mean and measure in everything, priest Andrei Chizhenko is sure.

The answer is probably possible: "You can, if you are careful." Note that in the tradition of our people and partly in the church tradition we have three New Years.

First New Year in liturgical usage, it is called the Church New Year. It is celebrated on September 1 Old Style (September 14 AD). This ecclesiastical institution has a historical basis.

First, the ancient Jews celebrated the New Year on September 1, and it was on this day that Christ entered the synagogue of his hometown of Nazareth and read the words of the prophet Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for His anointing Me ... it is pleasant to preach the summer of the Lord" (Lk . 4:18, 19).

Secondly, because it was on September 1, 313 that the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor Constantine the Great defeated his adversary Maxentius, after which the Byzantine sovereign, by a special document - the Edict of Milan - granted Christians freedom to profess their faith. Since the First Of the Ecumenical Council 325 it is customary to celebrate the New Year on September 1 (Art. Art.). Therefore, the annual circle of holidays and services in Orthodox Church starts September 1st.

It is noteworthy that among the ancient Slavs, who largely depended on the climate and nature, the new year began in March, when nature began to awaken from hibernation.

Second New Year on January 1 st. Art. (January 14 (New Art) was approved in Russian Empire by decree of Peter the Great in 1700. This calendar was named "Julian" because it was first introduced by Julius Caesar to the territory of the Roman Empire in 45 BC.

Now, in addition to the Orthodox Church, which remained in the Julian calendar, society already lives according to the third calendar - the Gregorian one, introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582.

Thus, we see that in different eras, humanity, including our people, celebrated the New Year at different times. On the one hand, this was due to socio-historical prerequisites, on the other, with an attempt to more accurately adapt to the movement of the Sun, Moon and other celestial bodies.

From the point of view of the New Year as a holiday, the Church, of course, does not prohibit it. Earlier - according to the Julian calendar - it was more convenient to celebrate it: Christmas, the end of fasting and then the New Year, which is now called the Old New Year. But the Bolsheviks, of course, because of the confrontation between the Church and due to anti-religious campaigns, introduced the Gregorian calendar in 1918 on the territory of the union republics. And now the New Year is already more of a "trap", a temptation for the true Orthodox, who must fast when many people are having fun, dancing and eating Olivier and sausages.

So, the question is: "Is it possible to celebrate the New Year?"

Answer: "Of course you can." But no frills, drunkenness and gluttony. We must remember that New Year is not a holiday in the full sense of the word. No spiritual, historical or social event is tied to it. This is only an arithmetic date that allows a person to assess the milestones of his earthly life: on the one hand, to sum up his achievements and failures in the past year, and on the other, to make plans for next year.

Therefore, of course, the best way to pass the time for the Orthodox on December 31 and January 1 would be a divine service. So, for example, on December 31, you can serve a thanksgiving prayer to God for the fact that He has vouchsafed one more year to live and gave everything you need for life, and on January 1 it would be good to meet with the Divine Liturgy and a prayer service for the beginning of any good deed or a prayer service for the new year. so that the Lord will grant us His blessing on our life next year.

You can celebrate the New Year with relatives, loved ones, friends. Only without breaking the fast. With fish, with salad from crab sticks instead of Olivier. You can also chat, devote your attention to loved ones, give them your love. Of course, refrain from drinking, discos, dancing and other things that are not supposed to be done during the post.

Everything is good in moderation. And the holiday should be without pagan revelry. You need to understand that Orthodoxy is looking for a golden mean and measure in everything.

Let us remember, dear brothers and sisters, that already from January 1 until the Nativity of Christ, the church charter prescribes a strict fast: one should only take food of plant origin. It is necessary to aggravate the fast in order to meet the Nativity of Christ with dignity. Also, let's not forget, dear friends, that on January 1, according to the new style, the Church established a day of remembrance of the holy martyr Boniface, to whom they pray for deliverance from the ailment of drunkenness.

I would like to wish all of us that we met on January 1 with a bell ringing, a candle in a church and a crunchy snowball, and not with a sore head and a heavy stomach.

Priest Andrey Chizhenko

How to properly organize a New Year's Eve in accordance with good New Year's omens.

Probably, each person has his own true omens that predict the scenario in which this or that event will go. Even the most ardent materialist sometimes spits over his left shoulder and crosses his fingers if a black cat crosses the road. And what New Year's signs do you know? In this article, I will talk about some of them and try to give advice on how to properly organize the New Year 2016 in accordance with the good omens that promise good luck and success next year.

Sign 1

— IN NEW YEAR WITHOUT DEBT! Be sure to pay off your debts before the New Year, otherwise you will be in debt for the next year.

Of course, in our time, universal bank loans should not be taken literally. If you strictly adhere to the schedule of payment of bank payments on the loan, then, in all fairness, you have no debts. This sign is more about debts that you forgot about and did not pay off on time. Dig into your memory, do you have forgotten debts? If there is, give it back urgently!

Sign 2

— IN THE NEW YEAR WITHOUT OLD JUMP! Try to get rid of everything old, obsolete, unnecessary and boring in the past year. You must enter the New Year in anticipation of something new, and in order for this new to come to you, you need to clear a place for it. Most of all, this sign concerns the material side of life, but for someone, for sure, this sign promises changes in personal life.

Sign 3

— IN THE NEW YEAR WITH A CLEAN HOUSE, WITH A CLEAN BODY AND SOUL! Be sure to do super in your home before the New Year general cleaning... You can do this on your own or with the assistance of cleaning and tidying specialists. The result is important. There should not be a single dusty corner in the house where negative energy can lurk. On December 31, go to the bathhouse, because, as you know from the New Year movie, beloved by all Russians, "the bath cleans". If there is no way to go to the bathhouse, then a shower will do, only when you wash in it, imagine in your mind that all the dirt accumulated by you over the year is washed off and gone away, and you will enter the New Year as clean as a child. Well, I probably bent it. You have to go to church for such cleansing. Well, in general, the advice is this: try to stop and think before the New Year, but am I doing everything right, am I running there, did I offend someone inadvertently? We must have time to ask for forgiveness. Well, something like this.

Sign 4

— IN THE NEW YEAR TOGETHER WITH YOUR CLOSE, FAVORITE AND RELATED! New Year is a family holiday, and you should celebrate it with your family so as not to be lonely. Even if you have a youth party in a nightclub or restaurant on New Year's Eve, celebrate the New Year at home with your parents and relatives, drink a traditional New Year's glass of champagne with them. And then - the horses! Forward to unrestrained fun with friends and acquaintances.

Sign 5

— IN THE NEW YEAR AT A DEFINED AND RICH TABLE! The New Year's table should be especially richly served and abound in special dishes that you could not afford for other holidays. The New Year's table should become a symbol of abundance so that the coming year is generous to you for prosperity and even wealth.

Sign 6

— IN NEW YEAR WITH MONEY! Celebrate the New Year in at least one new thing and with a large banknote in your pocket, then the next year will be favorable to you. monetary terms... As you know: "money to money."

Sign 7

— IN THE NEW YEAR WITH THE FIRE OF CLEANING! Be sure to burn candles on the New Year's table, and the tree should sparkle with multi-colored lights. These are all symbols of the purifying fire.

Sign 8

— IN THE NEW YEAR WITH A COURTIVE DESIRE! Do not forget to make a wish while the clock strikes 12, and it will definitely come true.

My good omens ended at the number 8, and this is symbolic, because the eight is a symbol of infinity, so there is no end good omens, KIND AND LOVE. Happy New Year and Merry Christmas! f

If we proceed from the position that the WORLD IS A MIRROR, then it becomes more obvious by the end of the year. By the end of the year, even those who absolutely do not believe in this theory begin to think about a series of "random" coincidences and events in their lives that suddenly fall on their heads right on the eve of the New Year.

I repeat once again - this is a mystical time, and it was given to people not as punishment, but for their own good. If a person “sleeps” in reality all year, then at this time, on the eve of the New Year, Nature itself begins to actively wake him up)

If by the end of the year you are suddenly haunted by trouble, pay attention to your life. Maybe you just go not where you were going to, and do, not what you really want? And the world has nothing to do with it?

So, if suddenly:

You started meeting "old" acquaintances whom you had not seen for "a thousand" years

Meeting new people "by accident"

Get into various troubles (such as an accident)

Getting involved in silly quarrels and ridiculous scandals

Pipes suddenly started flowing in your house (or even a pipe burst)

Started to break Appliances and fail electronics

They began to demand "old" debts from you

You started to suffer “ridiculous” financial losses

You suddenly (due to circumstances beyond your control) began to be late for the place you need, or did not get there at all

Then you should know - these are all signs of fate (or of Nature, to be more precise) you are simply already specifically informed that you have been going in the wrong place all year !!! And we urgently need to correct the situation.

You still have time before the New Year, to have time to fix something! Just be careful and listen to yourself. Surely inside yourself you know what is wrong ... And even if it is not yet clear, you just have to want and express this intention to yourself - the answer will surely come!

And if you do not know at all "WHAT IS IT ALL HAPPENING FOR", then there is one thing with which you can start to correct your life for the better and not drag old troubles into the New Year!

This applies directly to women in the first place - this is cleaning the house!

Yes, tell me how banal and simple everything is ... In fact, this procedure contains a sacred meaning and a whole mystery.

In addition, there is a special magic conspiracy to cleanse your home before the New Year.

House cleaning conspiracy

While cleaning the floors, holy water must be added to the water, and a white wax candle must be placed on the table, sentencing the words:

“I cleanse my house with holy water, drive away evil spirits and unclean spirits. Holy spirits cleanse my house, settle in it in the New Year. Let it be so!".

Wash the floors, and take out the water and pour it outside the house and even the yard, if it is being cleaned a private house... After that, over the candle, read the words five times:

“Burn it, fire, there is an unkind spirit in my house. Burn, fire, in my house all the harsh and negative words spoken. Help, candle, get rid of the bad. Let it be so!".

The candle should burn out to the end on the table.

If you are a believing person, then you can additionally go to church to light candles, and even confess.

Happy and successful New Year to you!

When-close-zi-los idle-no-va-civic-dan-th No-th-th-yes, and in the Church-vi again disputes come to life: is it worth it from - to mark this holiday and if - to mark, then how should this be done?

Well-not-but, right-in-glorious-no-mu chris-sti-a-ni-well, a stranger-to-drunk-ve-se-lye under the TV-vi-zi-on-nye for-you-va -niya and pro-glav-le-niya no-in-go "ga-da": mice, rats, pigs, etc. cattle beauty of buddist-ka- Len-da-rya.

On the other hand, in our families there are a lot of nevo-tser-to-in-the-fowls, and just not believing people. For them, all this riot is a holiday. Moreover, po-zha-lui, the only action-tel-tel-but society-na-native holiday, when all the Russian-si-yans feel one -no-no-no on neutral-no-mu-in-du.

For most of the unbelievers of the Russian-si-yan, all the ka-len-dar-nye eastern "ga-dy" are only mi-bark ek-zo-ti-ka, and holiday - on-water to ve-se-lo-community. What does it have to do with da-le-ko not all-where al-ko-gol-no-mu: people you-ez-zha-yut at pri-ro-du, arrange-and-va-yut ex-kur- these, on-things-on-kinship-nikov, etc. Yes, there was a tradition, going from to-re-in-lu-qi- he-no-go holiday-no-va-nia of the Birth of Christ-sta-va, celebrate this holiday in the family circle.

Is it bad? No. Is it a sin-but for us to celebrate the New Year like that: with the family at the table, ski-pro-hum-ka-mi in the winter le-su, etc.? I think, then, no.

But the post goes on, isn't it?

Firstly, a strict post, is-key-cha-yu-shchiy according to the mo-na-ster-mu usta-vu ry-bu, spruce and vi-no (note that for mi-ryan du-hov-ni-ki always de-la-li in-weak-le-ni-p-sh-t-st-sti Usta-va, na-pi-san-no-go for pa-les-stinsky monks) na-chi-na-et-sya from the 2nd yan-varya.

Secondly, here right away to note that for Christ-a-no-na in this case it is important, but yes, it is not that we are well-em (in fact, neutral-tral-ny - ka-len-dar-noe na-cha-lo go-yes), and how we do it. And it is not so important whether there is a post or not. You can, but after all, on Pass-khu, drink-sya according to "so-ver-shen-no tser-kov-no-mu" ni-yah "uni-what-zhaya ki-lo-gram-we kol-ba-si and sa-la-tov and all week instead of li-ko-va-nia in the temple-me mu-chit- Xia from booze and pe-re-food. Left-to-va-tel-but, id-no-va-pra-v-glorious-no-go christi-a-no-na always I will be co-lead-to-give-with some kind of support, regardless of me-nyu and the quality of food.

Therefore, for Chris-sti-a-no-na, it is not a question of what to eat and drink in the New Year. Mo-re-pro-duc-you, fruits and vegetables are not difficult to find. Yes, it's not a problem, whether to watch the TV-visor or not - in many families they look only at the appeal of the Pre-zi-den-ta, and the first few minutes of different programs. Then, there is a living society, and the "box" only buzzes with a background for be-se-dy or you-key-cha-it-sya all.

In other words, you can enjoy the New Year together with the nevo-tser-ko-in-the-kinship. do not teach Usta-va Tserk-vi.

Only to add a very important part of idleness - mo-lit-woo... Indeed, for chris-sti-a-no-for a holiday, this is a water for su-gu-boy mo-lit-you. Consecrate the prayer for the next year, for some reason we all, as a citizen of the country, living in a new way - I have a relationship, our Christian duty is both to ourselves, and to our -that-che-no-ka-mi. In this way, it was natural that the tradition was to co-top would be 31 de-kab-rya, whether-bo after li-tour-gii 1 yan-varya.

There are even temples where for the last years there was a tradition to serve li-tur-giyu directly on the night of 31st to 1st Jan-va -yah, for a certain swarm of wives can start the New Year with the help of the Holy Christ Ta-in. According to my na-blue-de-ni-yam, this night there would be up to 20 private parties. Many come with whole families, with children of different ages, and then in the tra-pez-noi temple, they taste post-ny tra-pe-zu with sham-pan-sky and good be-se-doy na-chi-na-yut but-in-year tom pe-re-ho-dyat from the temple-ma to the house-ma pri-ho-jean.

Pre-ob-ra-madam-yu-shi-la Tserk-vi

So, it is important for us how we will meet the holiday: both the right-to-glorious, and the 1st yan-va-rya, and others, the word-alive-shi-e-sya in the nehri-sti-an-skom -something pa-mint-nye yes-you. It’s not worth it to be afraid to make them miss-si-o-nersky weapons of the Christ Church, otherwise they will become shouting sti-an-sky forces.

Let us remember how the Church in-ste-pen-but you-tes-nya-la linguistic customs-teas and idle-no-va-nia christi-an-ski-mi and so on -cer-kov-la-la neo-fi-tov, in many who came after Mi-lansky Edik-that (IV century). After all, the very holiday of the Nativity of Chri-sto-va has changed the language-day of the “non-be-di-my-sun”, and the oil ni-tsa with saints, entering the church-ka-len-dar, pe-re-began-la to be pro-glorious-le-ni-e of the pagan deities ... For the Church, every day is a fully-valuable holiday that came into the world of Christ Spa-si-te-la, so any day for -full-nya-it-if necessary with one or another mis-si-o-nersky content for the convenience of teaching a member new Church-vi os-but-you faith and bliss.

Therefore, it is not possible to dismiss anger-mi about-li-che-no-I-mi to the address of the new-fashionable holidays, from-yes -yas from our fellow-fathers-nikov and covering from them the wealth and beauty of Pra-in-glory, and to pray - these days, remember that we ourselves have not left them very far, both in matters of morality and in love for God.

Our testimony about Pra-in-Slavia should be expressed in striving for a comprehended prayer in the temple, good familiarity with the fatherly-father-in-the-next, the knowledge of the church-ka-no-nov and usta-nov-le-ny and accepting them in the hearing of the sacred-but-na-cha-liyu.

In my-th-th-mu-ny-ny, to-do Ev-ha-ri-sti-che-ski pre-ob-ra-reap the essence of the new holidays, ra-zum-no idle " New Years ”,“ Eighth March ”and“ The Days of Saint Va-len-ti-na ”. And then, even, it will not come-to-be-art-but-to-re-but-sit the essence of these holidays (na-cha-lo go-yes, respect for women-schi-us, joy of lovers, etc.) for other days. It is necessary to give the opportunity for little-in-the-church-to-in-the-lonely people to come to the temple these days, to hear the good pro-in-in-fact, to feel the spirit of Love-vi Hri-sto-voy and ra-do-sti. And if people feel-to-shu love, pro-nick-nut-Xia do-ve-ri-em to their-you pass-you-ryam, then holidays-no -ki they will be idle in a different way.

The language-che-skaya and nehri-sti-an-skaya she-lu-ha from these holidays will be spa-det, and we will be healthier to each other not with a new “ha -house ”, and we will all meet the new civic year in the unity of faith and prayer.

igu-men Si-lu-an (Tu-man-nov)

Express your opinion about the New Year - the mostcontroversial, but still dearly beloved by the people, we asked several well-known Orthodox pastors and laity.

Nikolay Burlyaev, President of the International Forum "Golden Knight", People's Artist of Russia:

- It is generally accepted that it is fun to celebrate the New Year - this is our Russian tradition. But if we talk about national customs, then they certainly do not provide for drunkenness during fasting. The Russian tradition is to prepare your soul for Christmas during this period.

I myself and my family usually celebrate the New Year in silence, over tea - because if you watch the programs that are shown to us on TV for two weeks of weekend, then, for sure, you will not find peace in your soul, and you will not feel the holiday as such. Every year the New Year broadcast becomes more and more vulgar and primitive in its content, and this year everything will be the same - therefore I do not recommend anyone to spend the holidays watching TV. Many people recall the Soviet "Blue Lights" with nostalgia, but they, believe me, were not an example of good taste.

And even more dangerous is that all the jokes are accompanied by the clink of glasses - they constantly show on TV how they drink. This romanticizes drunkenness - a kind of propaganda of the beautiful degeneration of the nation. And all this is done in a country where 90 percent of drinkers, and 80 percent of them are in the stage of alcohol addiction!

By the way, it is believed that a huge New Year's Eve commercial campaign, including large volumes of alcohol sales, is very beneficial to the economy. However, the misfortunes of this wealth are greater than the benefits. According to statistics, we have about 2 trillion rubles a year in economic losses from alcoholism. And as a result, children already drink not from the age of 16, as just a few years ago, but from the age of 12; at the age of 9, 80 percent tries alcohol ... So in ten years there will be no one to develop this economy. A two-week binge occurs on the days of fasting - this is a very revealing fact from the life of our society. Then, when you need to fast, pray, think about your own sins, people are in alcoholic suspended animation.

And this has been happening for a quarter of a century - since perestroika was announced. I remember a phrase I heard on the radio in those years: "The purpose of perestroika is to mutate the Russian spirit, to knock Russians out of tradition." This is how we are deprived of traditions.

Archpriest Dimitri Smirnov, rector of the Church of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh, chairman Synodal Department on interaction with the Armed Forces:- It seems to me that people are cunning when they say that they do not know how to spend two weeks of New Year's weekend. In my opinion, it is stupid to teach an adult to manage his free time... The parishioners of my church, for example, already know that you cannot smoke, get drunk and use bad language - and you cannot do this not only in the first days of January, but also on all other days of the year. For people with addictions, of course, the New Year holidays will be a test. But these people are sick - and they need not be taught, but treated. From the experience of our parish: we often hold meetings and prayers with such people on weekends in January. Many temples now have
such societies, there are also large rehabilitation centers - they will have to work hard on holidays. It is customary to scold the state, which arranges such long weekends for us and shows vulgar shows on TV. I have another question: why should the state, like small children, lead us by the hand and tell us: do this - do not do this, look this - do not look. Does a healthy man really have to get drunk on a holiday? If you know that your norm is half a box of vodka, drink half a box and stop, you don't need to drink a whole box. On the contrary, the state gives us a gift: it leaves us alone for two whole weeks! Read a book, go to church, do something for which you previously did not have enough time. And for those who still want a joyful mood for the holidays, I want to remind you that the main joy that happens during fasting is the joy that is given us in prayer.

Archpriest Alexy Uminsky, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Khokhly:

- Since childhood, I love the New Year very much. For me, this holiday is associated with family comfort, with the joy of gifts - as for every Soviet child. Then, when I grew up, the holiday was celebrated with student gatherings - and this is also normal for a young man; however, then I was not a church member. Then, of course, everything changed, but still the New Year left a positive mark on my life. But everything has its time: tipsy adults running around the streets at night and shouting: “Hurray! New Year! ”, Apparently, they did not receive something in childhood.

It is believed that the Orthodox do not need to celebrate the New Year at all. Of course, some things are unacceptable, such as binge and alcoholism, but you can note it in another way.

Now for me the holiday is associated with a new understanding of the past year of my life, the transition to a new step of my life. For many years now, I have been serving the Divine Liturgy this night. Usually not so many people gather, about 50 people, but we somehow very joyfully serve this Liturgy, we start the new year with prayer and communion. And after the service - all together for a meal. Mostly our regular parishioners are with us. But random people from the street also often come in: they went out for a walk, firecrackers explode all around, and then suddenly - an open church, bells are ringing ... They come in, admire the icons, someone remains until the end of the liturgy. And they will remember such an unexpected impression on New Year's Eve for a long time.

By the way, many Moscow churches are open on New Year's Eve, for example, in the Sretensky Monastery.

Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov), Governor of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery:

- At the end of December 1994, as the abbot of the courtyard of the Pskovo-Pechersky Monastery (that was the name of the present Sretensky Monastery at that time), a simple and very pragmatic question arose in front of me: how in this first year of the revived monastery's existence to survive the New Year's Eve? How can we establish such a tradition that would ensure that we observe fasting, both spiritual and physical, and, at the same time, we could not cause grief to our loved ones? I will not hide that many of our friends and parishioners, without saying
already about the parents, they sincerely invited us to share this holiday with them and did not understand our explanations and excuses at all.

I must say that in the Sretensky Monastery we have never treated this holiday harshly and intolerantly. For secular and small-church families, the New Year is perhaps the only family holiday left in Russia today, when a family gets together and can really feel like a family. There are very few such events in life. modern man, and it cannot be ruined. But you can gradually try to church it.

We always tell our parishioners that if their relatives and friends want to celebrate the New Year, then they should not be deprived of this joy, despite the fact that Orthodox Christian, of course, one should not break the fast at the same time, but its task is to bring the light of Christ, the joy of waiting for the Nativity of Christ on this holiday.

So, proceeding from all these problems and concerns, it was decided to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on that New Year's Eve.

At first we assumed that only monks and perhaps a few of our most zealous parishioners would be at the service. But, to our surprise, the temple was full. Among our
parishioners of many Orthodox families, and this turned out to be a wonderful opportunity to solve the difficult issue of celebrating the New Year for them. The next year, even more people came, and then more and more! .. Then we learned that this experience was adopted in other churches.

Our monastery is located in the very center of Moscow and exactly at midnight fireworks and explosions of firecrackers drown out the first litany. We take it calmly. No one - neither the monks nor our parishioners - of course, condemn those who are not standing in the temple at this time. In our speech before the Liturgy, we say every time that we will pray especially for our household members and friends, who at this hour each celebrate the New Year in their own way.

More and more often, unchurched relatives and friends of our parishioners come to this Liturgy. And every time this night service makes a surprisingly deep, strong impression on them. We serve this night a little faster than usual so that people can catch the subway. We partake of four or five bowls. The liturgy lasts about an hour and a half. All the brethren, and most of the parishioners, usually partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ.

In Christianity there was an ancient practice of churching pagan holidays and traditions. Perhaps we are faced with something similar today.