Among the many holidays celebrated by the Orthodox Church, there are great ones. They are celebrated by believers especially solemnly and widely. Easter is considered to be the main Christian holiday, and the 12 most significant holidays are also the most significant.
Rolling Twelve Holidays
Believers Christians call Easter holidays. The basis of this main church holiday is the legend of the miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ crucified on the cross by the sentence of the Jewish court-sanhedrin. The idea of resurrection is central in Christianity, therefore, a holiday in honor of this event has a special role.
Christian Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox and full moon, provided that it should never coincide with the Jewish one. Thus, Easter is a "wandering" holiday, falling on different numbers every year.
Three other important twelve holidays are tied to Easter - the Entrance of the Lord into Jerusalem, the Ascension of the Lord and the Day of the Holy Trinity.
The Lord’s entrance to Jerusalem is also called Palm Sunday; it is celebrated on the last Sunday before Easter. This holiday is based on the gospel legend about how, before his martyrdom and resurrection, Jesus Christ arrived in Jerusalem, where the people, greeting him, threw palm branches on the road in front of Jesus.
On the 40th day after Easter, the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated. It is based on the gospel legend of the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven in the presence of his disciples.
In Russia, the Trinity merged with the Slavic holiday Semik, dedicated to the spirits of vegetation. From here came the custom of decorating houses on the Trinity with greenery and driving round dances around the birch.
The feast of the Holy Trinity is based on the story of the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles on the 50th day after Easter. The Orthodox Church attaches particular importance to this event and interprets it as the covenant of Jesus to bring the message of Christianity to all nations.
