The new year is the beginning of the indiction. The beginning of the church new year. Folk traditions and superstitions

The history of the origin of the New Year holiday in the Christian world.
liturgical church year begins on September 1 according to the old style, according to the new - September 14. On this day, in the church service, the Church remembers the beginning of the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, when in the temple in Nazareth He read the prophecy of Isaiah (Is. 61; 1-2) about the coming of the favorable year (Luke 4; 16-22). In this indication of the Lord, the Byzantines saw His prescription to celebrate the New Year's Day, and Holy Tradition connects this event itself with the day of September 1. In the Menology of Basil II, created by him in the 10th century, it is said: "From that time on, He granted us Christians this holy holiday." In its own way, it was God's providence, which manifested itself much later than Christ's sermon in His embodied historical testimony - it was on this day, September 1, that Constantine the Great defeated Emperor Maxician, which opened the way for the free development of Christianity in all territories of the Roman Empire, which included then Byzantium. And today, at the liturgical service in the Orthodox Church on September 1, this gospel text is read about the beginning of the Savior's sermon.

Of course, it would seem logical to assume that the date of September 1/14 is set in accordance with the result of the agricultural year - the harvest is harvested, it's time to give thanks to God, and, in order to follow the ancient tradition, the New Year's Day was tried on this date. In part, this is true, but in general, the New Year is an ancient spiritual Christian tradition.

After the victory over a pagan Roman on September 1, 312, Constantine the Great declared for Christians freedom of religion, worship, and many pagan temples were given over to Christian churches. In memory of this victory at the I Ecumenical Council of 325, the feast of the Church New Year was established, otherwise - the indict.

The concept of indict was introduced much later, in the 6th century, under the emperor Justinian I, who introduced in the Christian Church calendar reckoning by indicts, or indictions (from the Latin indictio - announcement, indication). Once every 15 years, on September 1, tribute was collected across the Roman Empire.

The amount of taxes that should have been collected in a given year, the revaluation of estates were announced. Of these fees, which, by the way, began under Constantine the Great, a military pension was deducted - the service life was then 15 years. (Evaluate the difference with the current military service in the absence of war.) So the Byzantines, unlike us, measured milestones not in ten, as we do now, but in fifteen years.

However, earlier, both in Byzantium and in Rome, the March chronology was also known, dating back to the eastern, ancient chronology, reflected in the time reckoning of Egypt, Assyria, associated with the myths of Osiris, Gilgamesh, etc., with the advent of astronomical spring, so New Year 1 September - the late Byzantine reckoning of the day of this event.

The Byzantines introduced another temporary concept of the Great Indiction - 19 fifteen years, that is, 532 years. This seemingly inconvenient, non-circular date has an astronomical justification: the eastern sages were excellent astronomers and knew that every 532 years the beginnings of the orbital circles of the Sun and the Moon coincided. This state of the Earth also developed on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ went out to preach with the words of the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; for he has anointed me to preach the gospel ... to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18, 19).

This was the Lord's first witness to the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament about the coming of the Messiah, and that the time of the New Testament had begun. In the East, where astronomy occupied one of the first places among the sciences, it was by the star that rose at the time of the birth of Christ that the Magi determined the place of His Nativity.

“The Lord did not only come to announce a pleasant summer, but also brought it. Where is it? in the souls of believers. The earth will never be turned into a paradise as long as the real order of things continues; but it is and will be a field of preparation for a life in Paradise. Its beginnings are relied upon in the soul; the possibility of this in the grace of God; Grace, however, was brought by our Lord Jesus Christ - he brought, therefore, a pleasant summer for souls. Whoever listens to the Lord and fulfills everything commanded by Him, he receives grace and by the power of it enjoys a pleasant summer in himself,” wrote St. Theophan the Recluse about the New Year.

New Year in Russia.
Despite the fact that Russia adopted Christianity at the end of the 10th century, the process of Christianization of Russia lasted a long time and ended approximately at the end of the 15th century. Then the civic celebration New Year March 1 and New Years diverged - we find evidence of this in all the ancient chroniclers, including the venerable elder Nestor.

Since 1492, the New Year and the New Year on September 1 have been combined by a state decision. In Moscow, a platform was being built on the Cathedral Square of the Kremlin. From him the Metropolitan and Grand Duke the change of the year was announced, the clergy blessed the water, and the metropolitan sprinkled the ruler and the people with congratulations. This is how the celebration took place. Many important state events were timed to coincide with the New Year and the New Year: for example, the wedding of Boris Godunov in 1598. In the New Year, the heir to the throne was represented from the platform when he reached 14 years old - the age of majority in the old days came earlier than now.

From the beginning of the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, the father of the reformer Tsar Peter, in the 17th century, New Year's Day was devoted to charity: the poor were fed, given warm clothes, shoes before the cold Russian winter, fed to the full, and given alms. Ordinary people received gifts, prisoners in dungeons also did not remain forgotten - they were visited and also left them alms and food better than ordinary prison food.

But that didn't last long. Peter I pointed out in 1699, looking at Western traditions, to postpone the civil New Year to January 1, although the spiritual festival was still preserved for September 1.
Since that time, the New Year has lost its former ancient solemnity, the rank of summer farewell - seeing off the annual church circle is now limited to a short prayer service.

The New Year, together with the civil New Year, was celebrated on the day of September 1 before Peter the Great came to the throne, who in 1699 indicated that the New Year should be moved to January 1, including a decree to decorate homes with New Year trees, again in imitation of Western tradition. But in the liturgical books, the arrival of a new spiritual summer remains for September 1st. Although this celebration has lost its former solemnity, according to the Typicon - a set of instructions for holding festive services - this day is considered a small Lord's holiday: "The beginning of the indiction, that is, the new summer." It is connected with the festive service in memory of St. Simeon the Stylite, by the coincidence of both dates. In the annual circle of Orthodox holidays, the first holiday after the New Year is Christmas. Holy Mother of God- 8/21 September. It is also symbolic. With Her, a new time begins in the history of mankind, for time will pass, and through the Bride of the Bride, the Savior of all will come to him.

And on December 31, on the eve of the New Year, at about 18.00 in many churches in honor of the beginning of the civil New Year, or rather, "novozimiya", short prayers are performed.

About the New Year of the Church, the well-known Russian philosopher and theologian, Archpriest Sergei Bulgakov, said: “In the New Year, the revelation of eternity sharpens... time.

When you watch how time flows, you experience a feeling of lightness, freedom from time, taking off above it.

We live in time, but we bear the image of eternity, such is the inconsistency of our created being, but it is also a sign of freedom from it, a sign of the freedom of the children of God.
(1. Bulgakov Sergiy, archpriest. Word for the New Year. Words, teachings, conversations. Paris, 1987. P. 129.)

Troparion indictu (Church New Year), tone 4:
Give thanks to the unworthy servant of Yours, Lord, about Your great blessings on us who were, glorifying You, we praise, bless, thank, sing and magnify Your goodness, and slavishly love crying out to You: Our benefactor, our Savior, glory to You.

Glory: voice 3rd:
Your good deeds and gifts to the tuna, like a slave to indecent, vouchsafed, Lord, diligently flowing to You, we bring thanksgiving according to strength, and glorify You as a Benefactor and Creator, we cry out: glory to You, God the Most Generous.

And now: voice 2:
To the Sodeter of all creatures, times and years in Your power, bless the crown of summer
Thy goodness, Lord, preserving in the world people and Thy city with the prayers of the Theotokos and save us.

http://www.logoslovo.ru/forum/all_1/topic_12774/

In church tradition New Year called the New Year and it is celebrated in autumn in connection with interesting history holiday. Start the church year right by learning more about this day.

Church calendar: New Year's holiday

The New Year not only dates the end of a long time period for a person, but also symbolically turns out to be the end of the old and the beginning of a new cycle. AT church calendar There is also a holiday called the New Year. It is celebrated annually on September 14 (September 1, old style). On this day, believers fulfill one of the precepts indicated in the Bible: to celebrate every seventh month of the year in a special way. Considering that March was considered the beginning of the year according to the Bible, September turned out to be the seventh month. On this day, a believer needs to be present at the service, but remember that there are rules of conduct in the temple and signs about what should not be done in the church in any case.

The history of the New Year holiday

The holiday itself is directly related to Ancient Rome and the collection of tribute. Initially, the so-called indict was established, which as a result began to mark a 15-year interval through which tribute was collected. The collection day was set for September 1st. Subsequently, the same day was celebrated as the beginning of a new year: feasts and festivities were held in all cities.

This day was accepted by the Byzantine Church as a holiday of the 7th month of the year and officially became the beginning of a new year in the Church. After the adoption of Christianity, this tradition remained alive in the Russian Orthodox Church, even after Emperor Peter I changed the civil calendar and declared the beginning of the new year on January 1.

Church Traditions in the New Year

Of course, like any church holiday, this day is celebrated with divine services. In terms of its significance, this day is classified as an average church holiday. On the eve, a great vespers is served, which the clergy recommend to visit. Traditionally, the lines from the book of the prophet Isaiah are read, which, according to legend, Jesus Christ read when he entered the synagogue in Nazareth.

Also, September 14 is considered the day of memory of the holy martyr Simeon the Stylite. He was known for delivering sermons and praying while climbing a tower or pillar. According to legend, Simeon the Stylite from his youthful years tortured his body in all possible ways and was even tempted by the devil. September 1 is considered the day of his death, so prayers are always offered to him in the church. If you cannot go to worship on this day, then read the prayers at home. One of the most important prayers on the day of the New Year is the prayer "Living Help".

Folk customs and signs on September 14

As usual, the people adapted the Christian holiday so that it was clear to him. It is customary to call him Simeon the Flight Guide, and, as the name implies, on this day the peasants performed rituals, as if meeting autumn. In some places, ritual production of "living fire" was performed by rubbing a stick against a stick, and in some places the rituals were associated with a stove. All actions were accompanied by cheerful songs and dances of youth.

In some places, it was traditional to bury a fly in order to next year didn't bite. They could do the same with cockroaches so that they were not in the house. Happy was the move to new house on this day. At the same time, a day before the new owners began to live there, they let in a cat or a rooster. It was believed that they would expel all evil spirits. From that day, Indian summer was counted, and new wedding weeks began for young people.

There is a saying that as the year begins, so it will be. You can use it and attract good luck for a long time with the help of advice from the famous psychic Elena Yasevich. Do not forget to visit the church on this day. All the best and don't forget to press the buttons and

13.09.2016 05:05

On Orthodox Epiphany Christmas Eve, Christians traditionally observe fasting and do not eat until the first star, they offer ...

All creatures to the Sodetel, putting times and years in His power,
bless the crown of the year of thy goodness, O Lord, keeping in the world
people and your city through the prayers of the Mother of God and save us.
Troparion of the Indicta (Church New Year)

Again and again the Holy Church calls us to enter into the yearly circle of sacred remembrances, where the Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition are preserved in all their depth and fullness.

A new liturgical circle of the main, twelve church holidays begins with the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is celebrated on the seventh day after the Church New Year, September 21. The liturgical year begins. It was the Most Holy Theotokos who was the Door through which God entered our lives. The Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, on August 28, ended the yearly circle of services.

The New Year is the most inconspicuous Orthodox holiday, which in the church calendar is called the beginning of the indiction. Unfortunately, we do not know very well when our Orthodox church year begins and why is it so named?

Some may wonder - why in the Orthodox Church the new year comes on September 1, at the beginning of autumn? Indeed, at first glance, it would be more logical to consider the beginning of the new year the first day of spring, and not autumn. But this is only at first glance, from which the root causes of the existence of this world elude.

And the logic here is the same as that which underlies the calculation of the beginning of the church liturgical day not in the morning, as is customary in secular, civil calculation, but from the evening of the previous day. Therefore, in Orthodox churches church holidays do not begin with the morning service, but with the All-Night Vigil, which takes place the night before.

The Holy Scripture, which tells about the creation of the world, testifies to us: “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the deep: And God said: let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day and the darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (Genesis 1:2-5). That is why the servants of God, even from the most ancient times of the Old Testament, determined the beginning of the liturgical day to be precisely the evening, and not the morning. Why does the Church New Year begin precisely in the evening of the cycle of the seasons, and not in the morning: that is, with the onset of autumn, and not spring. In such a definition of the beginning, both of the earthly day and of the year, lies a deep thought about the creation of this world and its primary non-existence.

It should be said that the Jewish civil new year from ancient Old Testament times also comes in September, or rather, in the month of Afanim, or, as it began to be called after the Babylonian captivity, Tishri, which, due to the displacement of the Jewish lunar calendar comes in the middle of our September. This month of Tishri is the seventh from the month of the creation of the world, which is called the month of Aviv or Nisan.

The New Year holidays among the Jews were holidays not only for people, but for all nature; they brought with them peace not only to man and cattle, but also to the plow and the sickle, the scythe and the knife that cleans the vine.

The month of September is also the most important in the course of nature, the most sacred in the structure of the Old Testament Church. On the first day of the seventh month, when New Summer was celebrated in the Old Testament, Jesus Christ read in the synagogue of Nazareth the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 61:1-2) about the coming of an auspicious year. In the Lord's reading (Luke 4:16-22) the Byzantines saw His indication of the celebration of the New Year's Day. Tradition connects this event itself with the day of September 1. The Menology of Basil II (10th century) says: “From that time on, He gave us Christians this holy feast” (PG. 117, Col. 21). And to this day in the Orthodox Church on September 1 (according to the old style) at the Liturgy it is precisely this gospel conception about the preaching of the Savior that is read.

The very name of the month of September comes from the Latin word "septem", which means "seven", thus the month of September is called the seventh. The word "indict" is also of Latin origin and means "announcement". AT this case- announcement of the beginning of a new liturgical year.

The holiday itself church new year was established by the Holy Fathers of the 1st Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325, in memory of the official cessation of the three-century persecution of the Christian Church by the Equal-to-the-Apostles King Constantine the Great, which followed in 313. This decision of the first Christian Roman emperor followed his miraculous victory over the tyrant of Rome, Maxentius, whose troops and malice far outnumbered those of Constantine. This happened on September 1, 312. Therefore, the holy fathers of the First Ecumenical Council established to celebrate the New Year as the beginning of Christian freedom, and at the same time not forgetting the biblical Old Testament tradition. Since that time, the circle of the year in the Roman Empire began in September. This chronology was dominant throughout almost Europe until the middle of the 15th century. Together with the Christian faith, the Greek Church transferred its chronology to the Russian, which still preserves this chronology.

From the time of the baptism of Russia and in our Fatherland, the New Year was celebrated on September 1 until the reign of Peter I, who in 1700 moved the beginning of the civil year to January 1. The Church is not in a hurry to follow the changing spirit of this world, but, in accordance with the biblical tradition, continues to consider the beginning of the Indict, that is, the Church New Year, the first day of the seventh month from the creation of the world, that is, September 1, according to the old style.

The fundamental principles of the Orthodox Church are the inviolability of sacred things and dogmas. The history of the Church knows what powerful heretical movements arose in an attempt to improve any dogma accepted by her conciliar mind. Equally inviolable is the shrine of the Great Indiction, consecrated by the Church - the Julian calendar. Therefore, adopted in 1582 with the best of intentions (to achieve greater astronomical accuracy and avoid the gradual shift of the Easter holiday from spring to summer) calendar reform Pope Gregory XIII led to a distortion of the sequence of events, unthinkable for the Orthodox consciousness. Easter, calculated according to the Gregorian calendar, often coincides with the Jewish Passover, and sometimes ahead of it.

The calendar is a rhythm that connects each person with God and the historical memory of all mankind.

With the beginning of each new liturgical year, the Church again testifies to the world about the Coming of Christ, His holy Incarnation from the Virgin Mary into our human nature, His heavenly teaching about sacrificial love to which we are called; His Divine Sacrifice on Calvary for human sin, His glorious Resurrection and Ascension, and then sent down from the Father, all-sanctifying and regenerating us to eternal life in God, the Holy and Divine Spirit.

Happy New Church Year to you, dear brothers and sisters!

Archpriest Nikolai Matviychuk

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September 14 marks the start of a new church year. What is the history of New Year's Day in Russia? Pavel Florensky once remarked: “The Russian faith was formed from the interaction of three forces: the Greek faith brought to us by the monks and priests of Byzantium, Slavic paganism, which met this new faith, and the Russian folk character, which adopted Byzantine Orthodoxy in its own way.” This idea is also illustrated by the Russian tradition of celebrating the New Year.

On January 1, 45 BC, the Roman Empire, at the behest of Julius Caesar, switched from the lunar calendar to the solar one. And in 312, the Byzantine Christian emperor Constantine the Great decided to celebrate the beginning of the new year from September 1. In the 6th century, this tradition entered the life of the Church.

From Byzantium, the tradition of celebrating the Church New Year passed to Russia, although even after the adoption of Christianity among the people for a long time there was no single date for the New Year's Eve. It is believed that most often New Year's days were recognized as close to the spring equinox. Some ethnographers and folklorists also explain the tradition of Maslenitsa by the Church’s attempt to fight pagan dates: supposedly, this is an echo of a pagan holiday, the essence of which was rethought and moved in time to the eve of Lent. One of the dates that has long lingered in the mind (along with September 1st) is the 20th of March.

As a result, in Russia, since the adoption of Christianity, a certain compromise of calendar traditions has been established. From the end of the 15th century, it began to cause more and more inconvenience. However, at that time, many firmly believed that in the year 7000 “from the creation of the world” (in 1492 from the Nativity of Christ) the Day of Judgment would come, and even the dates of Easter were determined only until 1492. Accordingly, the question of the date of the New Year was without much attention.

But the "fatal" period passed, and the Day of Judgment never came. And in September 1492, the Moscow Church Council approved Paschalia for subsequent years, and at the same time, following the Byzantine tradition, finally determined the date of the New Year - September 1 (September 14, according to the new style). This date also seemed reasonable for state reasons: in August-September, the harvest was harvested, and it was easier for the treasury to immediately receive annual payments from subjects.

However, the reformer and founder of the empire, Peter the Great, did not like the old traditions. He, referring to the practice of many peoples, but clearly focusing on Europe, abolished the old custom of keeping the chronology from the Creation of the world, commanding to count the dates from the Nativity of Christ. And at the same time he ordered to celebrate the New Year 7 days after the Christmas holiday. For the first time, the New Year was celebrated in a new way from 1699 to 1700 AD.

In 1918, Russia switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar adopted in Europe, in December 1918 it turned out to be 13 days less. But in the midst civil war few people noticed it. Later, it turned out to be much more painful that the most strict days of the Nativity Fast fell on the New Year's date, and directly on January 1 of the new style, the Holy Martyr Boniface, who is prayed for deliverance from the disease of drunkenness, is commemorated in the Church. Well, actually the holiday of the Nativity of Christ has shifted to January 7 in a new style. The issue of the divergence between secular and church traditions has not yet been resolved. But one rule remained base: the Church still celebrates its own New Year on September 1 (September 14, according to New Style).

Drawings by Ekaterina Gavrilova

September 14 according to the new or September 1 according to the old style - the first day of the new church year - the new year. The last holiday in the church year is, and the first -.

The Church New Year is the beginning of the indiction (the serial number of the year within a regularly repeating fifteen-year time interval, called the indiction, from one indication to another). Indiction cycles are not numbered, but are used for correlation with another dating system.

History of the indict

Initially, "indication" meant the mandatory supply of food supplies to the government. The date and place of origin of the indicative cycle is unknown, but already under the emperor Diocletian (284-305) in the Roman Empire, every 15 years, a revaluation of property was carried out to set the amount of tax levied. The need for the population to know the onset of the tax year led to the calculation of years according to indicts. At first, the indiction began on September 23 - the date of birth of Octavian Augustus (the first Roman emperor), but in 462, for convenience, the beginning of the year was moved to September 1. Since 537, the dating of years according to indicts has become mandatory, having become widespread in church and civil office work.

In Byzantium, the church year did not always begin on September 1 - both in the Latin East and the West at one time there was a March reckoning (then they took March 1 or March 25 (the date of the Annunciation) as the beginning of the year). The celebration of the New Year on September 1 is a late Byzantine phenomenon.

In Russian Orthodox calendar September 1/14 is marked “The beginning of the indiction is the church new year,” which is celebrated in churches with a thanksgiving service. This New Year according to the “September style” was the state New Year in Russia until 1700.

In Russia, the fifteenth anniversary itself and each new year of the fifteen-year interval were called the indict. After 532 years, the circles of the Moon and the Sun begin again together and the natural situation of the day of the Savior's feat is repeated, when the full moon happens on Friday. A time interval of 532 years is called an indiction.

The New Year as a church-state holiday in Russia began to be celebrated in 1492. The meaning of the service on this day was the recollection of the sermon of Jesus Christ in the Nazareth synagogue, when He said that He had come "to preach the acceptable year of the Lord ... to heal the brokenhearted."

In the 17th century in Russia, New Year's Day was dedicated to works of mercy. The poor were given alms, clothes and shoes, fed with delicious and hearty festive dishes. They gave gifts and gifts to ordinary people, visited prisoners in dungeons.

With the publication by Peter I of the decree on the postponement of the beginning of the new year to January 1, the rank of summer conduction ceased. It was performed for the last time on September 1, 1699. On January 1, 1700, the rite of the summer service was not performed, and the church celebration was limited to a prayer service after the liturgy.

Since that time, the celebration of the Church New Year on September 1 has not taken place with its former solemnity, although even now this day is considered a small Lord's holiday.

Orthodox new year: history of origin

By biblical reckoning, the new year begins on March 1. Tsar Peter I introduced the date of the new year on January 1, and the church new year is calculated from September 1/14. This came to us from Byzantium along with the adoption of the baptism of Russia in 988.

On this day, the Church remembers how Jesus read in the synagogue of the city of Nazareth the prophecy of Isaiah about the coming favorable summer. In this reading of the Savior, the Byzantines saw an indication of the celebration of the day of the new year. According to legend, this event is associated with the day of September 1. It is believed that since that time the Lord has given Christians this holy holiday.

According to the liturgical book Typicon, the rite of the summer season has the following order: after matins, the bishop with a procession accompanied by the singing of the “big” Trisagion, enters the city square. After the procession reaches the square, the deacon proclaims the litany, and three antiphons are sung. Then the bishop utters an exclamation, blesses the people three times, and sits down on his seat. Then follow the prokimen and the Apostle; according to the Apostle, the bishop, having blessed the people three times, begins to read the Gospels. Next, litiya petitions are pronounced, at the end of which, and the bowing prayer, the singers sing the troparion of 2 voices and the procession returns to the temple for the Divine Liturgy.

Orthodox New Year: traditions and rituals

On this day, not only the church new year is celebrated, but also the memory of Simeon the Stylite and 40 martyrs who suffered along with their teachers under the emperor Licinius in the city of Andrianopolis is honored.

Saint Simeon was popularly called. From that day on, summer ended and autumn began. In some places, the sowing of winter crops was completed, in others they were just beginning. Peasants processed flax and hemp. In the southern regions, farmers went to melons and removed watermelons and melons from the ridges. Potatoes were actively dripped in some areas.

From this period, autumn-winter gatherings began - work in huts by fire. There was a custom of getting a new fire. The rite symbolized the onset of a new round of life and the transition to a new state of people and nature. On the eve of Semyonov's day, the fire was extinguished in the huts. In the morning, a new, “living fire” was lit, obtained by friction.

Housewarming parties were often held on this day. Wedding weeks were counted from Semyon to, the time for matchmaking opened. Girls who had reached the age of brides were carefully looked at. Women (relatives of single guys) looked into the huts where gatherings were held, watched how future brides work, whether they are neatly dressed, how they communicate with each other.

AT Ancient Russia Semyonov day had legal significance. It was intended for the payment of taxes to the state and for appearing in court for a judicial certificate and in cases of litigation. From that day, all the conditions and contracts concluded by the inhabitants of the villages among themselves and with merchants usually began and ended.

On the new year, the growing boys were solemnly "cut" and "put them on a horse." This ritual marked the end of infancy.

Video: Church New Year