Is it possible to work from home today? Why you can’t do anything on church holidays

Since the times of Kievan Rus, it was forbidden to perform any daily housework on church holidays and on Sundays. Since the state was Orthodox, all holidays had to be dedicated exclusively to serving God. On this day, bazaars and baths were closed so that people could simply relax after the obligatory attendance at church services - after all, working on these days was considered a great sin.

This tradition has reached us, and nowadays it is believed that on Orthodox holidays it is impossible to do certain housework. We will try to clearly outline what exactly is prohibited to do on church holidays.

You can often hear from the older generation that cleaning the house on Sundays or church holidays is prohibited. But church ministers assure that there is no sin in tidying up the house after returning from serving the Lord. However, it is better to put things in order before an Orthodox holiday or Sunday.

Many people have heard that it is forbidden to do laundry on holy holidays. Previously, this work required a lot of time and took the whole day. Consequently, women had no time to pray. But this prohibition no longer applies to modern man. With the advent of the washing machine, a person no longer needs to make efforts to keep things clean - high technology works for us.

Not swearing is one of the most important prohibitions on church holidays. And on ordinary weekdays, swearing and foul language, according to God’s commandments, is a great sin.

Girls are often prohibited from doing handicrafts on holidays. And all because needles and knitting needles are associated with the nails with which the Savior was nailed to the cross. But these speculations are considered by the church as superstition, so the clergy do not prohibit doing handicrafts on holidays if you have previously visited church and prayed to God.

It is worth paying attention to what pregnant women should not do on church holidays. For example, there is a belief that a pregnant woman should not sew on Sundays and holidays, otherwise she will sew her child’s mouth or eyes shut. And on the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, pregnant women should not do any housework at all.

Whether it is worth taking up work on Orthodox holidays is, of course, up to you to decide. Remember that work is not a sin if you started this day by attending the Service and praying.

Video: what to do on Church holidays?

Every Orthodox family has faced the question of whether it is possible to work on church holidays. It is very difficult to find a definite answer; some say that you cannot work at all, some are of the opinion that you cannot work only until lunch. All church holidays are divided by degree of importance, so first of all, clergy recommend paying attention to this.

Fourth Commandment

The fourth commandment of the Old Testament teaches us to work six days a week and rest on the Sabbath day.

As the Lord taught Moses on Mount Sinai, a person must spend his life working and enjoying his creation, and on the seventh day rest in soul and body, think about the Creator and through prayer cleanse himself of involuntary sins and vices.

When creating the world, the Creator worked tirelessly for six days, and devoted the seventh to rest from work. Man, just like the Lord, must work as he worked. And rest as the Creator rested. Any work should be aimed at creation, and not at destruction, since all people are the creation of the Creator.

If work is a burden to you, pay attention to the ordinary phenomena that surround you. The sun warms us with its warmth, water circulates in the earth's space and gives life to all living things, plants and animals adapt to the surrounding world and give birth. The whole world exists only thanks to the endless cycle of small and large affairs. A person's idleness will make him like a withering plant and lead to death.

Even your body works day and night. The heart beats and works, dispersing blood through the veins, the lungs saturate the body with oxygen, the kidneys and liver work around the clock. Why not let your hands work?

You need to be able to work tirelessly and learn to make your work satisfying. Any work that a person does not enjoy will ultimately end in failure. Business should be done with love, and not just for the sake of making profit. There will be love for your work, and there will be a good income.

Man is a child of God, his creation. Just as children follow the example of their parents, so each of us must make our lives similar to God’s. Work six days, enjoy your work, rejoice in your creation. And then work will not be a burden, and fatigue will bring satisfaction and peace.

On Saturday, the seventh day, forget about your business and give your body and soul rest. Remember the Lord your God, pray for your loved ones, read Orthodox books. And everything in life will come into peace and harmony, and there will be peace and tranquility in the family.

Twelfth Church Feasts

There are twelve twelfth holidays in the church calendar. These are the most important holy days for Christians after Easter. In the Divine Service Rules they are marked with a red cross surrounded by a circle. These days we remember important events from the life of Christ and the Holy Mother of God.

Most of the twelve holidays have an exact date and are called immovable. Some holidays have no number and are celebrated on a different date each year depending on the time of Easter.

The twelfth holidays are divided into the Lord's and the Theotokos. The Lord's in Orthodoxy are of greater importance. If they fall on a Sunday, then the usual liturgy is replaced by a festive service. If the feast of the Mother of God is celebrated on Sunday, then the festive service is combined with the Sunday service, and the Sunday service is considered higher.

Most of the twelve Orthodox holidays are preceded by a pre-celebration and concluded by a post-celebration. On the days of the forefeast, Christians prepare for the holy day, and on the afterfeast, the holiday continues. The last day of the post-festival is called giving, when the chants of the festive service are repeated in the church during the liturgy. The post-festival can last from 1 to 8 days.

List of twelfth church holidays

date	Name of the holiday	Preceding Event
Jan. 7	Nativity	On this day in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ was born.
January 19	Epiphany or Epiphany	On this day the baptism of the Lord took place on the Jordan River. The ceremony was performed by John the Baptist.
February, 15	Presentation of the Lord	The fortieth day after Christmas. On this day, Mary and Joseph brought little Christ to the temple of God for the first time.
April 7	Annunciation	On this day, the Virgin Mary received joyful news from the Archangel Gabriel about the imminent birth of Christ.
Last pre-Easter Sunday	Palm Sunday	On this day, the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem is remembered. The symbol of the holiday is a willow or palm branch.
40th day after Easter	Ascension of the Lord	On this day, Jesus ascended into heaven in the flesh.
50th day after Easter	The Holy Trinity	On this day the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles.
August 19	Transfiguration	On this day, while praying on the mountain, the disciples of Jesus saw the greatness and glory of the Lord.
August 28	Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary	On this day Saint Mary was buried. All the apostles came to Jerusalem to say goodbye to the Mother of God.

Great Church holidays

In addition to the twelve twelfth holidays, the church calendar celebrates seven more great dates.

date	Name of the holiday	Preceding Event
January 14	Circumcision of the Lord	According to the established procedure for all infant boys in Jerusalem, Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth.
	Memorial Day of St. Basil the Great	On this day, the church remembers the name of the great theologian and writer Vasily, who wrote many prayers and liturgies, and also invented the iconostasis.
July 7	Nativity of John the Baptist	On this day, the long-awaited birth of the glorified person of John the Baptist, otherwise called the Forerunner, took place.
July, 12	Peter's Day	On this day, the memory of two apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, who accepted martyrdom, is honored.
11 September	Beheading of John the Baptist	A great day dedicated to the memory of John the Baptist, killed by order of the tetrarch of Galilee, Herod.
October 14	Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary	On this day, the Mother of God came down from heaven during the service and held an omophorion over the worshipers throughout the entire service.

In the Old Believer calendars, two more days are allocated when the memory of saints is venerated:

On May 8 and September 26, the church honors the name of the Apostle John the Theologian, and on September 25 – Sergius of Radonezh.

What not to do

Answering the question whether it is possible to work on Orthodox church holidays, the clergy do not impose a special ban on work on these days. If a person, by the will of his service, needs to go to work or unforeseen circumstances arise, then there will be no sin. A true Christian, forced to involuntarily work on a holiday, will still be with God in his thoughts, remembering and glorifying him.

It will be a great sin to be idle on the great day. If a person does not attend morning worship, does not remember the Lord God in his thoughts, does not pray for his neighbors on a church holiday, but indulges in idle idleness, this is not good. According to church commandments, indulging in laziness is considered a great sin.

To avoid unpleasant consequences, housework that can be postponed is better done tomorrow or done the day before. It is believed that working on an Orthodox holiday can cause lack of money, illness and failure in family life.

Signs

Depending on the significance of the holiday, there are a number of signs associated with the performance of this or that work.

• For a long time in Rus', on Christmas Day, hunting and fishing, as well as any active recreation, were specially prohibited. It was believed that there was a high risk of an accident.
• At Christmas, you cannot do handicrafts related to weaving threads: sewing, knitting, embroidery. It is believed that the thread is a symbol of life, so weaving and tying it means making changes in your life. And it’s not a fact that they will be good.
• House cleaning and laundry are prohibited on Christmas Day. You can postpone these matters until January 14, when all the garbage is swept out of the hut and burned in the yard. In this way, evil spirits are driven away for the entire year.
• On Palm Sunday and the Annunciation, it is better to postpone housework until the evening. You can’t work with the soil; according to an old belief, snakes crawl out on this day.
• During Easter week, you can only do the most necessary things. On Easter, everything should be put aside and the day devoted to prayers and communication with God.
• The church does not recommend working on Ascension. According to the saying, people do not work on Ascension Day, but after the holiday they begin working in the fields.
• There is a sign that if you wash in a bathhouse on a church holiday, you will drink water in the next world.

Many people have heard that during church holidays certain activities are prohibited.

However, not everyone can accurately answer the question of what should not be done on church holidays.

Is it possible to knit on Sunday, the opinions of priests

Sunday is an important day for people.

The priests say that it was created not for everyday affairs, but for godly deeds: going to church, performing merciful deeds, etc.

In case of emergency situations, for example, a child’s blouse begins to unravel, you can tie it up. It is important to remember that the main work should be planned for other days.

Is it possible to clean the house on Sunday?

On the seventh day of the week, as mentioned above, it is better not to do household chores.

Sunday is created for attending services, reading prayers, and spending time with loved ones.

It is considered a sin to do household chores, but some clergy say that cleaning is permitted in cases where failure to do so could lead to sin.

Is it possible to sew on Sunday?

Sewing on this day, as the main activity, is considered a sinful activity. At the same time, you should not treat this occultly. If it is necessary to sew up a torn curtain or trousers, it is considered normal.

Is it possible to wash your hair on church holidays?

This issue causes controversy among clergy. Even in ancient times, appearing dirty in church was considered sinful.

But what about people who wash their hair every day? This matter will be a sin if, instead of visiting the temple, you engage in water procedures, so everything must be done without violating the proper routine.

Believe in superstitions that washing your hair leads to washing away happiness, etc. is erroneous.

Is it possible to embroider on church holidays?

Embroidery is a hobby of many girls, women and some men who do what they love every day. You can often hear that it is sinful to embroider on church holidays.

If you have free time, you can sit down and embroider. Free time refers to the time that remains after going to church, praying, confessing and taking communion.

There is information about queens embroidering in their free time and saying prayers at the same time. Therefore, embroidery can only be done under the conditions described above.

Is it possible to heat a bathhouse on Parents' Saturday?

Parents' Saturday is a time to remember those who have passed on to another world. The church commemorates all the dead, and parishioners, as a rule, commemorate their relatives and comrades.

It is called so because the memory of the deceased who went to their parents and ancestors is honored. It is believed that prayers help cleanse souls. In addition to prayers and visiting the temple, people come to the cemetery to clean the graves.

On Parents' Saturday, peasants were required to heat the bathhouse and bathe with the whole family. After this, they left a broom and water for departed loved ones. Based on this, you can heat the bathhouse.

Is it possible to do laundry on church holidays?

Officially, there are no prohibitions regarding washing on religious holidays. This does not mean at all that you can get up in the morning and spend the whole day washing clothes.

In the morning you need to devote time to God by going to church. Next, it is advisable to spend time with your family, relatives and people close to you.

Then lunch will approach and if laundry is very necessary that day, then you can do it. If it is possible to reschedule it for another day, it is better to do so. The main thing is to spend time with God.

Is it possible to bathe a child on Sunday?

Even in ancient times, it was believed that a child should not be bathed on this day of the week. In our time, echoes of this superstition still remain.

Often grandmothers and mothers-in-law scold mothers for this. They assume that this will harm the child (the baby will be restless, sick, happiness will be washed away from him, etc.).

In fact, no church confirms this. First of all, you need to devote time to the Lord, carry out merciful deeds, do not forget about your loved ones, and then mind your own business.

Is it possible to work on the holiday of the Kazan Mother of God?

There are no strict prohibitions regarding work on this day. According to superstitions, working on such a big holiday will be in vain or, worse, harmful.

Representatives of the church consider it necessary to adhere to God’s commandments, namely: work for six days, and on the seventh devote time to the Lord and loved ones.

Is it possible to treat teeth on a church holiday?

Church holidays must be honored. However, if you have an illness that needs urgent treatment, it would be unreasonable to suffer in pain. Therefore, dental treatment is allowed.

Neglecting health will not be approved by any church.

If the pain is minor or the procedure can be performed on another day, then it is better to reschedule plans for the next day. You should also try to make time for the Lord.

Thus, prohibitions on various types of work and activities on Sundays or church holidays are the lot of superstitions. Superstitions inspire fear; there is no real threat. Despite this, many continue to adhere to myths.

However, this is everyone's business. Priests recommend spending this time visiting church or temple, praying, and spending time with family and loved ones.

According to established folk tradition, you can often hear the following phrase: “Today is a big holiday, you can’t do anything.” Is this really true? Is it a sin to do something at home, to work on church holidays? The PSG correspondent addressed this question to the rector of the parish of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Mozyr, priest Sergius Shevchenko.
“In general, I would like to say about the attitude of the Church to any holiday of the church calendar, including Sunday,” Abbot Sergius began our conversation. - Indeed, there is a commandment that is written in the Holy Scriptures: “Dedicate the seventh day to the Lord.” And therefore, on this day a person gets as close to God as possible, forgetting about his usual affairs with which he is busy throughout the week. But the attitude of Christianity towards the seventh day and the attitude of the Jews towards the Sabbath as the seventh day are different. On the Jewish Sabbath, the set of rules on this day prohibited lighting a fire in your home and even cooking food. Christianity is dominated, first of all, by the commandment of love for God and neighbor. And we know that love surpasses every law.
People often ask, “What can and cannot be done during the holidays?” Or some say: “It’s Sunday, you can’t work today.” Another question immediately arises in my mind: “What do you allow yourself to do on a Sunday or a holiday?” If these days you allow yourself to sit in front of the TV or noisily celebrate this or that holiday, then, of course, this is not a Christian attitude. It would be better if you worked that day than behaved this way.
The Christian attitude towards the holiday says that this day should be given to God and neighbor (in this case, we can, first of all, talk about our family, and then about other people). But we won’t leave our loved ones without lunch on a holiday just because we couldn’t cook food the day before; we won’t quit our jobs because her schedule doesn’t allow us to come to church on a church holiday. And if a person needs our immediate help, do we dare to say, “Come tomorrow, I can’t do it today.” Judge for yourself what is better: to spend a holiday doing some useful work, or to spend it with the TV remote control on the sofa or in some other meaningless way.
And the second point. I would like to point out the most important thing. Often such questions are asked by people who are far from the Church. For a believer, such a question simply cannot exist. I repeat: if today is a holiday, and the question arises: go to the store, work in the garden, and there is no other day for this, then every Christian will answer with confidence: I must do it. The commandment of love surpasses all commandments. And when the question is: help a child, wash his clothes, prepare dinner, then the question should not arise: should I do this on a holiday or not? I have to because I love him. And I can do this, there is no sin in this.
First of all, I have a question about our Christianity. If throughout his life a person fulfills all the other commandments, if for him Sunday is not an “excuse”, but an already established tradition of coming to church and spending time with his family, then the person has the right to ask such a question. But when we do not fulfill other Christian commandments and do not live a Christian life, it is pointless to ask such questions.
In Germany, for example, not a single store is open on Sunday; markets are open only on Saturday. On Sunday you can only buy groceries in a gas station store at inflated prices. Many people go to the temple. Some other Orthodox countries have the same traditions. But in our “Orthodox” country, people go to the market on Sunday, unfortunately. This is our tradition.
I will repeat again: in order to ask such a question about how to spend a Sunday or holiday, you need to ask a question about your Christianity.
The big problem is that TV teaches such concepts. Sometimes you hear: today is an Orthodox holiday called “Golosek”. There is no such holiday. There is the Beheading of John the Baptist. But not “The Headslayer”. Then they say: “Today you can’t shred cabbage or cut carrots.” It has never happened that the Church forbade cutting any vegetables on this day. You can chop the cabbage and make soup. There is no sin in this. But if there is an opportunity for an Orthodox person to give up his daily activities and devote this particular day to God and family or neighbor, then this is correct, and this is the fulfillment of the commandment to honor the seventh day. The main thing is that Sunday or a holiday does not turn into another “excuse”.

Recorded by Ekaterina YURCHENKO

ANNOUNCEMENT: Dear readers, you can also ask your question about faith, church and Orthodoxy to priest Sergius Shevchenko. In the new PSG section “CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ORTHODOXY” we will tell you about everything that interests you. Send your letters to: st. Kotlovtsa, 37 a, room. 17 or by email [email protected].

Is it possible to work on church holidays?
Recently there was the Annunciation. And soon it’s Easter. Many rural residents are constantly wondering: is it possible to work on church holidays? In the countryside, especially in spring and autumn, there is a lot of work in the garden and courtyards. Moreover, Sundays are also considered church holidays throughout the year. To answer the question of when to work, when not to work, and on which church holidays, I will try to summarize all the information on this matter: what I heard and read personally, what I heard from our priests, what I heard from people who constantly go to church.

Where did it come from, since when is it forbidden to work on church holidays?

The fourth commandment of God says:

“Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy: six days you shall do it, and in them you shall do all your work; but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, is for the Lord your God.”

With this commandment, the Lord God commands us to work for six days and do the necessary things to which one is called, and to devote the seventh day to serving Him and to holy deeds. Deeds pleasing to Him include: caring for the salvation of one’s soul, prayer in the temple of God and at home, studying the Word of God, enlightening the mind and heart with useful religious knowledge, pious religious conversations, helping the poor, visiting the sick and prisoners in prison, consoling the mourning and other deeds. mercy.

In the Old Testament the Sabbath was celebrated. In the New Testament times in which we live, Saturday in the first centuries of Christianity was replaced by Sunday.

A weekly withdrawal from ordinary activities allows a person to collect his thoughts, renew his physical and mental strength, and comprehend the purpose of his labors and, in general, of his earthly existence. Work is necessary, but the most important thing is the salvation of the soul.

The fourth commandment is violated not only by those who work on Sunday, but also by those who are lazy to work on weekdays and shirk their duties, because the commandment says: “Work six days.” Those who, although they do not work on Sunday, do not dedicate this day to God, but spend it in nothing but amusements, indulge in revelry and any excess, also violate the fourth commandment.

By Sunday we must mean not only the resurrection, but also other holidays and fasts established by the Church.

Very detailed information about this and other commandments of God is written on the website 10zapovedei.ru.

Practical Application of the 4th Commandment

We are concerned with the practical application of this commandment in our time for rural areas, for people engaged in agriculture (the most noble occupation according to the testimony of the Old Testament).

So, let’s use a real example to examine the question of how to approach work on church holidays.

A farmer I know, Oleg, who has already outlined his personal experience on this site, after consulting with our local priests, does this:

On major holidays (list below) and Sundays, no one works on his farm.
But... if there was an extreme need, for example, the wheat crops were very quickly eaten by some turtle, then the work on chemical treatment went on even on holidays, every hour was important.

One general rule follows from this: if there is work around the house or in the garden that can be postponed, then it is better to postpone it and do it after a church holiday. For example, paint a fence, chop wood, dig a well, etc. A day or two won’t solve anything, and your conscience will be clear, and everything will turn out in the best possible way later.

But... you can chop wood if you run out of wood and need to heat the stove in the house so that the family doesn’t freeze. It's the same with washing. If, for example, there are no clean clothes for the children and husband, then you can and should wash them. Also with ironing. What about feeding your family and pets? It is also possible and necessary. Even on Easter.

That is, you need to approach everything with reasoning: you need to look at the circumstances. If you take Orthodox monasteries where there are cows in the yard, they are fed and milked in the same way, even on major church holidays. And there is no contradiction here.

Often people work in production and only have weekends to spend in their farmyards and gardens. There is simply no other time. For example, the deadline for planting some garden crops is already running out. In this case, many people in our area do this: they begin work when the Sunday service departs, or at least from lunch on a Sunday (holiday).

It has also been noticed, not only by me, but also by many people, that on a church holiday there is an urge to do some work that can easily be postponed to another day. This is the real temptation.

And you can give a lot of examples when work on church holidays did not end well. There were even tragic cases.

Some will say, when can you work if there are continuous holidays according to the church calendar?

This is far from the case. There are not so many big holidays - 12. The rest are usually days of remembrance of Saints and days of veneration of icons of the Queen of Heaven. You can work these days.

But in Rus' there are also especially revered saints, or patronal feasts of churches. For that area, in this case, it is the day of the patron saint of this locality. In these cases, you can also refrain from work if you wish.

So, the most important Christian holiday is the Bright Resurrection of Christ, called Holy Easter. This is a moving holiday, falling on different dates each year.

7. Annunciation (angelic announcement to the Blessed Virgin Mary about the incarnation of the Son of God from Her) - April 7

8. Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem (Palm Sunday) - on the last Sunday before Easter

9. The Ascension of the Lord - on the fortieth day after Easter.

10. The descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles (Pentecost, or the day of the Holy Trinity) - on the fiftieth day after Easter (movable holiday)

It should be noted that the Feast of the Holy Trinity always falls on a Sunday. Immediately after, on Monday, the Day of the Holy Spirit is celebrated - also a big holiday. It is not advisable to work unless absolutely necessary.

Other most revered holidays

I will give a universal recommendation if you do not know what to do with work on a Holiday (Sunday). Ask your priest and do as he blesses. In this case, he takes full responsibility upon himself. Just before you go to the priest, firmly decide for yourself that you will definitely follow his advice.

What to do on church holidays?

First, if possible, attend a church service.

Secondly, you can devote time to your loved ones who, due to their daily work, lack our care and attention. For example, take a walk with your children, go out into nature with them, go fishing, etc. You can visit elderly parents or just old acquaintances, or someone in the hospital.

And of course, no one forbids getting together with the whole family, friends, acquaintances, sitting at the festive table and drinking something alcoholic. Of course, in moderation.