“In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Surely everyone knows this theological phrase. So it is to the Holy Spirit mentioned in it that the day of the Spirits is dedicated.
To find out what date it is, you need to count exactly 51 days after Easter. By the way, it is easy to see that the 51st day after the Resurrection of Christ is always Monday, moreover, not just the first day of the next week, but Monday after the Holy Trinity. In this regard, the holiday has a second name – Spirits Monday.
If everything is correctly calculated, it turns out that in 2023 Spirits Day falls on 5 June, this is just Monday (the Orthodox Trinity is on June 4).
However, all of the above is true only for Orthodoxy. Catholics, on the other hand, celebrate the Spirits Day at the same time as the Trinity, that is, not on the 51st, but on the 50th day after Easter. Moreover, in the Roman Catholic Church, the holiday also has a second name – the Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit.
History
To find out the history of the appearance of this holiday, you need to look into the New Testament. In the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, in particular, it is told how the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles on the day of Pentecost.
Everything happened, as usual, in Jerusalem, namely in the Zion Room, where at that moment the apostles were praying. Suddenly, all this room was filled with an unprecedented noise from the sky, reminiscent of the howling of a strong wind, and it was at that moment that the Holy Spirit (in the form of fiery tongues) descended on each of the worshipers. After what happened, the apostles noticed some changes in themselves: they learned to heal the sick, prophesy and speak different languages (all these gifts were given to the disciples of Christ, so that nothing would prevent them from walking the planet and carrying the Word of God to various countries).
Traditions
Meanwhile, many traditions associated with the Spiritual Day have nothing to do with Christianity. It’s all about the pagan roots of this holiday.
So, the Eastern Slavs believed that the land had a name day on the Spirits, and also that it was filled with a future harvest. In this regard, on Spirits Monday it was forbidden to “disturb” or “injure” the earth in any way – it was supposed to rest, go to church and pray. Moreover, not only earthworks were prohibited, but also, as on any great church holiday, housework (that is, cleaning, washing, etc.).
However, this is not all prohibitions. Also, on Spirits Day and the whole week following it, it was forbidden to swim. It was believed that during this period, mermaids fill the reservoirs, which can easily drag a disobedient person to the bottom.
But having come up with so many prohibitions, people still found something to do. So, women on Spirits Day had their own honorable mission – they had to “feed the earth” in order to enhance its fertility. To do this, a “woman’s feast” was arranged: in the evening, the housewives went out into the field for a kind of picnic, while periodically they interrupted the meal and began to lay out the brought food on the ground so that she “ate”.
In addition, it is known that on Spirits Day people “listened to the earth.” To do this, they got up very early, even before dawn, went out into the field and put their ear to the soil in the hope that at this predawn hour the earth would tell them some secret of life.
Another tradition of the Spirit of the Day is the procession around the fields (in this way, our ancestors wanted to call blessing on mother earth). Also, an obligatory item of the festive program in many villages was the consecration of wells (so that they do not dry out in hot weather, and people always have water).
By the way, some of the customs of Spiritual Day have survived to this day. For example, until now, special attention is paid to birch branches consecrated to the Trinity: it is still customary to take them home to put near the icons (it is believed that on Spirits Monday the souls of the dead descend from heaven to earth and sit on the branches of this tree common in our latitudes ).
Also, on Spirits Day, they don’t forget about the herbs consecrated the day before: they are collected, dried, and then, if necessary, they make decoctions from them and sing them to the sick so that they recover faster. In general, it has always been customary to collect medicinal plants on Spirits Monday, since on this day they were believed to have magical powers.
In addition, according to tradition, on Spirits Day, families gather at festive tables, which always include loaves, pies and pancakes. At the same time, these feasts are not always arranged at home, some prefer to get out with their relatives in nature.
Interesting Facts
- Holiday names such as Spirits Monday or Monday of the Holy Spirit exist only in Orthodoxy. The fact is that among Catholics this holiday is celebrated not on the day after the Trinity, but simultaneously with the Resurrection of Christ (that is, as the name implies, on Sunday).
- Our ancestors were sure that summer begins on Spirits Day. Moreover, the weather for the next six weeks was determined on this day: according to folk signs, all these months and a half will be the same weather as on the Monday of the Holy Spirit.
- Spirits Day is considered a kind of birthday of the Church. To understand why, it is enough to recall the history of the appearance of this holiday: after all, it was on this day that the apostles went around the world to bring the Word of God to all the inhabitants of the planet.
- Our forefathers believed that on the eve of Spiritual Monday, the Holy Spirit himself descends from heaven and spreads throughout the earth and even penetrates into homes. Moreover, it was customary for some peoples to take care in advance that the Holy Spirit could get into their homes (usually all doors and windows were opened for this).