What can you eat on Good Friday? Good Friday: Do's and Don'ts.

Good Friday is the most mournful day of the pre-Easter week, because it was on Friday that Jesus Christ was subjected to severe torture and executed. What traditions should be followed on this day, what should not be done on Good Friday so as not to know troubles for a whole year?

We have collected 7 basic rules of behavior on Good Friday. Follow them and share the advice with your loved ones!

1.Good Friday is the strictest fasting day throughout Lent. Even if you haven’t fasted before, but want to make up for lost time at least a little, you can start today. According to Christian canons, on this day believers refuse any food until the Shroud is taken out. After three o'clock in the afternoon you can satisfy your hunger with a slice of bread and a glass clean water. The belief says that if a person can endure thirst throughout Good Friday, no drink can harm him for the entire year.

2. Don’t laugh and refrain from visiting entertainment venues and events. We are not talking, of course, about a reaction to a funny joke. But you shouldn’t purposefully have fun on Good Friday. It is believed that a person who is overly joyful on this day will cry throughout the next year.

3. Don't wash, don't sew, don't cut. Any housework is prohibited on Good Friday.

4. Do not pierce the ground with iron objects - this will lead to grief and misfortune. By this rule, our ancestors, of course, meant seasonal work in the field and in the garden. But even in modern conditions there is something to think about: for example, from a transplant indoor plants or seedlings, it’s better to refuse for now.

By the way, there is one exception to this rule: the Slavs have long believed that parsley planted on Good Friday will give a double harvest. But keep in mind that you will have to sow the seeds without touching the ground with sharp or metal objects.

5. Bless the ring in the church. It will protect you from all diseases. Not necessarily a wedding item, not necessarily a precious one - just a favorite thing that you don’t part with every day.

6. In the old days they said: in order for your baby to grow strong and happy, you need to wean him on Good Friday. A controversial rule, of course, but if you think that folk signs- not fiction, it’s still worth a try.

7. Bring home twelve burning candles from the church service and let them burn out completely. This will bring you material well-being, luck and joy.

Folk signs for Good Friday

In addition to customs and traditions that are at least somehow related to Christianity, Good Friday is fraught with many frankly pagan beliefs in its history.

Among them, the most interesting are these.

1.On Good Friday, you can find out if there is a “spoken” thing in your house (one that evil person caused damage). To do this, they bring an unburned candle from the church, light it in the house and go around all the rooms with it, bringing it to different corners. They say that it is precisely in the place where the candle flame begins to crackle that the enchanted object is located.

2. On this day they traditionally told fortunes about the harvest based on the weather. If the sky is starry, expect a grain harvest. if it’s cloudy all day, “the bread will be with the weeds,” our ancestors said. Which means expect a bad harvest this year.

What does Good Friday mean?

According to tradition, Christians believe that it was on this day that Jesus was crucified on Mount Golgotha. Therefore, the day of remembrance of the Passion of the Savior is essentially mourning for believers - this explains the abundance of strict prohibitions.

Good or Good Friday has always been highly revered among the people. After all, the death of Christ symbolizes the slaughter of an innocent lamb for the sins of all mankind - and Jesus’ gratitude for his act has no measure.

Of course, Orthodox and pagan customs were mixed on this day. In Rus', for example, it was customary to drive evil spirits out of the village - for this, boys and girls, armed with what, walked and rode through the village from end to end on foot and on horseback. These and many other traditions are a thing of the past, and some, on the contrary, have only now been revived. In any case, knowing the customs of your ancestors is a commendable thing, and observing them is doubly commendable

Good or Good Friday is considered the most strict and mournful day of Lent. According to legend, it was on this day that Jesus Christ was crucified, so the church advises believers to strictly adhere to the established rules.

What should you not do on Good Friday?

On Good Friday you cannot sew, wash, clean, or work in the garden. It is believed that plants planted on this day will die and the harvest will be very poor. If you decide to strictly follow traditions, then you should forget about fun and dancing.

Certain restrictions also exist for those who fast. Many believers refuse food on Good Friday, drinking only water. On Good Friday you need to take care of your spiritual world, so it’s better to refrain from going to a beauty salon. You should also not get a haircut or manicure on this day. It is believed that violating these prohibitions can bring misfortune to a person.

What are you allowed to do on Good Friday?

On Good Friday you can safely start baking Easter cakes. It is believed that baked goods prepared on this day will never spoil, will not become moldy and will have healing powers.

On the eve of Easter, many believers attend church. After Friday church service, it is customary to bring home twelve burning candles. They need to be placed in the house and allowed to burn to the end. According to the beliefs of our ancestors, such a ritual will bring good luck and prosperity to the house for the next twelve months.

What signs exist on Good Friday?

People believed that on Good Friday you should never pierce the ground with iron. The person who does this will face misfortune. As for other signs, it was customary to bless rings on Good Friday. It was believed that such decoration would protect its owner from all diseases.

Mothers also had special signs. For example, on Good Friday, nursing mothers weaned their baby. Women believed that the special energy of the day would help the baby grow strong and healthy.

For Orthodox people Good Friday is the most mournful day of the whole year, when believers remember the martyrdom of Jesus on the cross, his crucifixion and burial. This is also the strictest day of fasting, when it is not customary to have fun, laugh, sing and dance, quarrel and swear, but it is better to pray more - as a sign of memory and sorrow for the tragic events that occurred in biblical times. According to the superstition, a person who laughs on Good Friday will cry all year. But fasting does not only imply moral behavior; it includes abstinence from food and drink.

The question of what you can drink on Good Friday is no less significant for believers than the question of what you can eat from food. According to the priests, on this mournful day you can eat and drink only after lunch, when the shroud is taken out at the church service. Moreover, true believers who observe strict fasting are allowed to consume only bread and water, and according to the fasting nutrition calendar, it is better to abstain from food and drink altogether.

There is even a rumor that if a person endures thirst on Good Friday, no drink can harm him for a whole year.

Of course, such strict abstinence is not recommended for young children, pregnant women and people with certain diseases - for obvious reasons.

Is it possible to drink tea on Good Friday?

As for tea (or coffee), drinking them as drinks on Good Friday is not forbidden, especially if you have not observed very strict rules. And although the calendar mentions that this is a day of dry eating, and it is recommended to drink only water, compotes and juices, there is a slight relaxation for tea. People engaged in strenuous physical or intense mental activities may find it difficult to do without a strong cup of sweet tea. But if you have the opportunity, it is better to give up this drink for one day - it is not as difficult as it seems at first glance.

Can you drink wine on Good Friday?

Orthodox people are often interested in the question of whether it is possible to drink alcohol on Good Friday and they ask it not out of idle curiosity, because some people may have some kind of secular holiday on this date, such as a birthday or wedding anniversary or something else. Of course, many people throw feasts on this occasion and invite guests. And any celebration in our country is always accompanied by alcohol; this is an integral part of the banquet.

The clergy, in turn, recommend completely abstaining from the use of strong alcoholic beverages on this mournful day, and moving the celebrations themselves to another date. And if there is a strict need, you can sip a little red Cahors. But this should be done not in connection with a celebration, in no case by clinking glasses or making toasts, but modestly and decorously during a Lenten meal. It’s good if the Cahors is consecrated by you personally in.

Any believer should spend the day of Good Friday in reflection on their sins, prayer and repentance, and even one glass of wine does not correspond to this, it is worth taking this into account.

Can you drink beer on Good Friday?

Opinions usually differ regarding the consumption of beer during Holy Week. On the one hand, this is a certain kind of alcoholic drink. On the other hand, beer is interpreted as a lean product. In any case, there is no strict ban on beer by the church. And if you have some need for this drink, you can make yourself a little concession in the size of a small glass.

In conclusion, I would like to note: no matter what a person drinks on Good Friday, the drink should not affect his moral behavior on this day.

Photo from the website “Business Slavyansk”

Friday before Easter Christians celebrate one of the most sorrowful days in church calendar , since it is at this time that the suffering and death of Jesus Christ is remembered.

Good Friday(as this day is called) involves the performance of certain rituals in churches, here it is performed worship of the shroud– a board with the image of the Savior. She is placed in the middle of the temple, surrounded by white flowers, in front of her is a censer, then the Gospel is read and chants are sung.

Long Good Friday begins with the morning service, when the Gospel is read before the Shroud. During the day, a plate with the image of Christ is taken out, while the “Lamentation of the Mother of God” is read, and in the evening a funeral service is held. At this time, in churches, all people stand with candles and listen to the “canon of Holy Saturday.” It should be said that worship occurs until late evening on Saturday, and after the religious procession the shroud is brought back to the temple. There the Sunday Gospel is read about angels, the crucified Christ and the place of his burial.

Good Friday, like any other day of Holy Week, has many different prohibitions, as well as signs that must be observed in order for there to be peace and tranquility in the family.

Good Friday: What not to do

Absolutely all sincere believers do not eat anything at all until the removal of the shroud. And immediately returning from church, the friendly family sits down to dinner table eat food.

• It is important to note the fact that dinner on Good Friday is a fast one; you should not even eat fish on this day. On Good Friday, fasting is extremely strict. Products that can be eaten on a given day are: vegetables, fruits, lean bread. All food must be eaten even without vegetable oil.

• In order to protect yourself from poisons, you don’t need to drink anything throughout the day of Good Friday.

• Any household chores should be postponed until another day, since it is on Good Friday that you cannot do anything.

• It is important to note that on Good Friday there is a special ban on sewing.

• Also, you cannot wash clothes on Good Friday, even if you use washing machine. There is a special belief that if you wash something on Good Friday and hang it out to dry, it will in any case be covered with drops of blood.

• Also, it is absolutely not worth chopping wood on Good Friday, as this is bad omen have a great day.

• You cannot sing, dance, walk, have fun, laugh, drink alcohol, quarrel or swear on Good Friday. It was always said that a person who had fun on Good Friday would be very sad, cry and suffer throughout the next year.

• You cannot violate the integrity of the earth on Good Friday, because grief may happen. Anything planted on Good Friday will be lost.
• Those who follow the strictest rules of the Great Pre-Easter Lent do not even wash themselves on this day. Violation of these prohibitions is considered a great sin.

• You cannot stick iron objects, such as shovels and rakes, into the ground on Good Friday: this will bring trouble. Therefore, plants planted on this day will die. Only parsley sown on Good Friday will yield a double harvest.

Good Friday: what you can do

• All preparations for Easter must be completed in Maundy Thursday so that on Good Friday nothing distracts from prayers and services.

• Housewives were only allowed to bake Easter cakes and plant cabbage. On Good Friday you can and even need to bake Easter cakes. They say that Easter baked today will never spoil or become moldy. Easter cake baked on Holy Week can heal from any illness and protect from bad weather and fire.

• To obtain strong amulet, we need to consecrate the ring today.

• People believe that parsley sown on Good Friday will give a rich harvest, unlike other plants that cannot be planted on Good Friday.

Signs of Good (Great) Friday

• A loaf of bread baked on Good Friday cures all illnesses and never goes moldy.

• If bees are transported on any day other than Good Friday, they will certainly die.

• If you are thirsty on Good Friday, no drink will harm you for a whole year.

• If it is cloudy on this day, then the bread will be covered with weeds.

• If the sky is starry on Good Friday, then the wheat will be grainy.

• Rings blessed on Good Friday protect the wearer from all illnesses.

• Easter bread saved from one Good Friday to the next prevents whooping cough.

• The sign says that if you wean a baby on Good Friday, the child will be strong, healthy and will live happily.

• On Good Friday it is also customary to determine whether there are spoken things in the house. From the church they bring an unburned candle that was in their hands during the service, light it and go through the rooms. Where it crackles, there is a damaged item.

• In addition, after Friday service, it is customary to bring twelve burning candles with which they stood in church to the house. Candles should be placed in the house and allowed to burn out to the end - this will bring happiness and prosperity to the house for the next twelve months.

If, while sprucing up your house on Maundy Thursday, you didn’t have time to look into the kitchen and bake some Easter eggs, you’ll have this opportunity on Saturday. This cannot be done on Good Friday.

On the eve of Thursday evening, the morning of Good Friday is celebrated with the reading of the 12 Passion Gospels, which are dedicated to the Passion of Christ. This is His prayer until the bloody sweat in the Garden of Gethsemane, the time of being taken into custody, brought to trial before Pilate, condemned at the trial and before the crucifixion on the Cross at Golgotha. And between the Gospels we remember the tradition of Judas, the lawlessness of the Jews, the greatness of the Passion.

After each reading of the Gospel, the bell is struck. Everyone in the temple stands with lit candles. And there is a custom not to extinguish this candle, but to bring it home burning and make small crosses at the entrance at the top of each door.

Great Friday or Good Friday

There is no liturgy on Friday itself, because on this day the Lord Himself sacrifices Himself, and the Royal Hours are read. And at the third hour of the day, at the moment of death and the removal of the Body of Jesus Christ from the Cross, the clergy take out the Shroud from the altar (a plate with the image of the Lord lying in the tomb) and place it in the middle of the temple. Thus they pass that invisible, unseen path from Golgotha ​​to the Tomb where Jesus was laid. And in memory of the three-day presence of Christ in the Tomb, the Shroud remains in the middle of the temple for three days.

Good Friday: what to eat

Since Good Friday is a special day, that is, there is a tradition of not eating any food, many do not even drink water until the Shroud is taken out (approximately 15.00), and then take only water and bread.

And the essence of the evening service, which is of a funeral nature, is the burial of Christ. Quiet procession The clergy, carrying the Shroud, together with the parishioners walk around the Church, and the morning of Holy Saturday begins.

Good Friday: What not to do

Take any food before the removal of the Shroud (about 15.00). Afterwards you can satisfy your hunger with bread and water. It is believed that if a person can endure thirst throughout Good Friday, no drink can harm him for the entire year.

Cutting bread is just breaking it.

Laugh and have fun: our ancestors believed that a person who was overly joyful on this day would cry for the entire next year.

Washing, sewing or cutting: All housework is prohibited on Good Friday.

Piercing the ground with iron objects, that is, seasonal work in the field and in the garden, is a sign of grief and misfortune. It is also better to avoid replanting indoor plants or seedlings. The only exception is parsley: it is believed that parsley planted on Good Friday will produce a double harvest. But you need to sow without touching the ground with sharp or metal objects.

Good Friday: what you can do

Bless the ring in the church, and then it will protect a person from all diseases. Not necessarily a wedding or precious thing - just a favorite thing that he does not part with day after day.

Bring home 12 burning candles from a church service and let them burn out completely. It is believed to bring material well-being, good luck and joy.

In order for your baby to grow strong and happy, you need to wean him from the breast on Good Friday.

Good Friday: signs and superstitions

Our ancestors believed that it was on Good Friday that one could find out whether there was a “spoken” thing in the house (that is, one that had been damaged by an evil person). To do this, they brought a half-burnt candle from the church, lit it in the house and walked around all the rooms with it, bringing it to different corners: where the candle flame begins to crackle, there the enchanted object is located.

Also on this day they traditionally told fortunes about the harvest. We did it depending on the weather:

if the sky is starry, it will be good harvest cereals;

if it is cloudy all day, “the bread will be with weeds,” that is, there will be a crop failure.

It is also believed that a loaf of bread baked on this day will cure all diseases and will never go moldy. And Easter bread, saved from one Good Friday to the next, prevents whooping cough, people say.

Good Friday: Superstitions

If bees are transported on any day other than Good Friday, they will certainly die.

If washed clothes are hung out to dry on Good Friday, blood stains will appear on them.