Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women: history, traditions and scenario of the Orthodox holiday. Congratulations on the Day of the Myrrh-Bearing Wives Congratulations on the Day of the Myrrh-Bearing Wives in prose

It so happened that many Christian Orthodox holidays were superimposed on more ancient pagan ones. This was done so that people would get used to it better and faster. new religion, adapted to changing requirements and living conditions. An example of such celebrations is the story of the myrrh-bearing women.

Celebration date

The Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is a special event in Christianity. It does not have a specific date - it depends on what date Easter falls on in a particular year. The celebration is celebrated on the third post-Easter Sunday, on the 15th day after Easter Day. If Easter is early, then the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women falls at the end of March or the first half of April. At a later date, the Church celebrates it at the end of April or May. Not only Sunday itself is considered a holiday, but also the entire week after it. Among believers these days, it is customary to congratulate mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunts, daughters, and spouses. After all, the holiday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is considered in Christianity to be a celebration of women.

Two Marys

The names of those in whom Orthodox Church honors the female half of humanity. These are two Marys - one is the well-known Magdalene, a former sinner who repented of her debauchery and accepted the commandments of Christ as the main and necessary for life. The second is Kleopova. By different sources, she was either the sister of the mother of Christ, or the wife of the brother of St. Joseph the Betrothed, the husband of the mother of Jesus. Third biblical texts speak of her as the parent of the relatives of the Son of God - Jacob, Josiah, Simon, Judah. The Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is also celebrated in memory of John, a faithful disciple of Christ. She walked with His other listeners through Galilee and secretly buried her head when Herod killed him.

Mother of the Apostles and Sisters of Lazarus

Salome also deserved the high honor of church memory. She is the mother of the disciples and apostles of Jesus, James and John. Christ appeared to her first after Magdalene at his resurrection. Various Gospels also mention the sisters Martha and Mary, originally from Bethany - the Savior honored them with his presence and sermons. But they believed in Him after their brother Lazarus was resurrected by Christ. And, of course, Susanna, about whom the Evangelist Luke speaks, she served the Son of God “from her possessions.” Thanks to these personalities, pious and righteous Christian women have been receiving congratulations on the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women for a long time to this day.

About the event

Many who do not know the history of the holiday may wonder: why are the wives called myrrh-bearers? How to understand this expression? We find the answers in the Bible, in the New Testament. These are residents of the places where Jesus walked and preached. They welcomed Christ into their homes with joy and hospitality, accepted Him as their personal savior, served Him and followed Him. When Jesus was crucified, these women witnessed His suffering on Calvary. And the morning after the execution, when the bodies of the crucified were removed from the crosses and buried, they came to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body with myrrh, as required by Jewish customs. Hence the name of the celebration. Congratulations on the feast of the myrrh-bearing women are also associated with the joyful news of the resurrection of Christ, which these women brought to other people. After all, it was to them that Jesus appeared after death on the cross. They were the first to learn the truth about the salvation and immortality of the soul from a meek angel, who pointed them to an open, empty crypt.

Spiritual and moral connections

Myrrh-bearing women were especially revered in Rus'. This is due to the element of piety in Russian culture and spirituality. Morality and morality, strict norms and requirements of Orthodoxy have become part of the flesh and blood of the people, especially their female part. Simple peasant women, high-ranking noblewomen, representatives of the merchant and bourgeois class tried to lead a righteous and honest life, in the fear of God. Good deeds, donations to the needy, distribution of alms to the poor and merciful deeds for the suffering - all this was done by them with a special elation and desire to please the Lord. What is also characteristic of Russian Orthodoxy is an extremely chaste attitude towards the sacrament of marriage. Loyalty to a given word, an oath before the altar (that is, to those covenants that Christ bequeathed) in the old days was distinctive feature Russian woman. These ideals still live among the people today. The myrrh-bearing women were distinguished by meekness, humility, patience, and forgiveness. That's why they became role models. And the Russian land gave Christianity many saints and righteous women, blessed ones and martyrs, who did good for the glory of Christ. Mother Matrona, Ksenia of Petersburg, Fevronia of Murom, Abbess Catherine and many others are revered by the people as intercessors, helpers, comforters, healers, true followers of the work of Christ.

Orthodox International Women's Day

It is not for nothing that the Myrrh-Bearing Women is considered international. It is joyfully celebrated in many countries around the world. And this is not surprising. After all, a woman gives birth to a new life, brings ideas of goodness and love into the world, is the keeper of the hearth, and a support for her husband and children. Essentially, who are the myrrh-bearing women? Ordinary mothers, sisters, spouses, only living according to the commandments of God. The most striking and significant personification of the sacrificial feminine principle, love and forgiveness is, undoubtedly, the Mother of God. But other holy righteous women also deserved universal respect and glorification. That is why the fair half of humanity has two special events. This is March 8th and the Feast of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women.

Ancient Slavic roots

As already mentioned, many Christian significant dates were combined in religious practice and popular consciousness with earlier rites and rituals of paganism. Priests do not always agree with this statement, but ethnographic research proves the validity of such guesses. This applies to Christmas time, Ivano-Kupala night gatherings and many other magical days. This happened with the Feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Women. Among the Slavs, it coincided with the end of youth festivities on Radunitsa. Often, it was on the third post-Easter Sunday that in many areas of what is now Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, the rite of initiation, or cumulus, was performed.

Indian festivities

The action was associated with ancient divination and then new Christian symbols. For the ceremony, a “Trinity tree” was chosen - a young birch tree in a forest clearing or a large maple branch, which was brought into the hut. The tree was decorated with ribbons and wreaths of wild flowers. Bundles with colored eggs and/or crosses were hung in the wreaths. Women and girls gathered around the birch tree and “celebrated”: they kissed each other crosswise and exchanged crosses and dyes through wreaths. Rings and monistas, earrings and beads, scarves and ribbons were given as gifts. This was the essence of the holiday: for the women of the village or village to become more friendly. In addition, round dances were performed around the birch tree, songs were sung and refreshments were always offered. Unmarried girls wondered about their “heart friend,” and married girls wondered about their future lives. The main dish was scrambled eggs, which were called "woman's eggs". In general, when the feast of the Myrrh-Bearing Woman came, they also said about it: “womanish.”

Other names of the holiday and its connection with Christianity

This day has many names among the people. The main definition in them pointed precisely to feminine. They called it: “Woman’s Yayishna”, “Woman’s Bratchina”, “Woman’s Week”, “Kumitny” or “Curling” Sunday (from the “curling” of birch trees - intertwining its branches in the form of an arch and braiding braids). What’s interesting: practically no Russian province had a single regulation for holding celebrations. In Pskov or Smolensk, Kostroma and Nizhny Novgorod, as well as in others, “Indian Sunday”, or the holiday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, was celebrated in their own way. The scenario is different everywhere. The only thing that united them was that the day before the women went from house to house, collecting bread, pastries, eggs, and other products for a common feast. On the holiday, unmarried girls and their older relatives first went to church to celebrate mass. Afterwards they ordered a general prayer service for the entire female part of the village. They paid for it not with money, but with eggs, which was also part of the ritual of Myrrh-Bearing Week. And already in the evening the festivities themselves began: with dances and songs and other attributes of the holiday. And then the feast followed. In the regions where flax was grown, for a rich harvest, scrambled eggs were often eaten under a special spell.

Funeral motives

Among the days of Myrrh-Bearing Week, time was always set aside for remembering the dead. For these purposes, a common magpie was served in each parish - secular, according to the deceased members of the church. On Myrrh-Bearing Sunday, cemeteries were visited in many localities and paints were left on the graves. In this tradition, echoes of pagan cults, in particular the cult of ancestors, are also clearly heard. The deification of nature, the change of seasons, as well as the onset of the agricultural season also played a role in the emergence of the holiday.

“Myrrh-bearing” days today

Orthodox is celebrated today in all Christian parishes in Russia and beyond. In Sunday schools at churches, teachers and children prepare a concert for mothers, grandmothers, and sisters. In songs, poems, and staged scenes based on scenes from the Holy Scriptures, they glorify not only biblical heroines and saints, but simply all women - continuers of the human race, the embodiment of peace, goodness, and love. If there are workshops at Sunday schools, then mentors and students prepare small gifts for guests. These are, as a rule, frames and shelves for icons, wooden eggs painted or with burnt patterns, bags for prosphora and other beautiful and useful items, as well as thematic drawings and appliqués. Organized with soul, such holidays leave a deep imprint on the heart and have enormous educational and moral significance.

Temple Celebrations

Solemn services are held in all Orthodox churches and cathedrals on these days. Pilgrims come from everywhere to places of faith to feel their community with the entire Church of Christ. Lay people attend services no less zealously than Orthodox believers. Within the walls of the houses of God, in the pious examples of clergy, in the wisdom of the Holy Scriptures, they seek and find support that helps them survive in our difficult times and gives hope for the future. After Divine Liturgies Pastors address parishioners with a special Word - a heartfelt sermon in which they congratulate all women on a bright, joyful holiday.

The Church treats with respect and veneration not only the feat of the biblical women. The holy fathers pay special attention in their Word to the famous and little-known, modest workers of the Faith. To everyone who works in the spiritual field, the Christian field, performing daily, sometimes unnoticed feats for the glory of God, words of gratitude are addressed, wishes for the grace of the Lord, health and peace - in souls, in families, between people. In their sermons, pastors emphasize that without women’s participation, without the support of women, their painstaking work for the good of the Church, Christianity would not have become so widespread. In Russia, for example, in the era of godlessness, it was women who remained the stronghold of faith and unbending courage. Therefore, although they are called the weaker sex, their mission in Orthodoxy is significant. Parishioners should always remember this and remain the personification of spiritual purity, chastity, and bearers of eternal Orthodox moral values. Women must fight for peace, and the example of the myrrh-bearing women inspires them on this thorny path.

In the third week after Easter,
We celebrate the Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women,
Prosperity, joy, happiness,
We wish all women on earth.
You look fragile, gentle, sweet,
But you are endowed with enormous power,
You can handle all the problems,
May the Lord protect your destiny.

The Holy Myrrh-Bearers are courageous women,
They were faithful disciples of Christ,
They followed Jesus all the time
And they were always assistants in preaching.
Congratulations to all the women of the world today,
Let life give you only inspiration,
Let them appreciate, love, respect you,
Always be in a great mood.

Today we celebrate Orthodox Women's Day,
The Church of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers glorifies,
After all, the myrrh-bearers were the first to see the resurrection of Christ,
We have always been brave and courageous.
We wish all women peace, happiness,
Let bad weather pass you by,
Let luck accompany you throughout life,
Let reliable friends surround you.

Today we celebrate female femininity,
We wish peace, joy, love to all women,
Goodness, good luck, happiness, inspiration,
All the best, endurance, patience.
On the day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers, may happiness smile on you,
Let all bad weather pass by,
May faith in the Lord help you live,
Let there be many joyful events in life.

Today is the day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers, congratulations,
We glorify courageous, brave women,
We always want to be in great shape,
Let happiness fill your life completely.
God bless all women, peace, good luck,
And a wonderful mood to boot,
Always be surrounded by care and love,
Let the family live in prosperity.

The bells ring solemnly in the churches,
Today we glorify the myrrh-bearing women,
We wish you all the best, joy, family warmth,
May a good angel protect you.
Humility to you, faith, inspiration,
Let all doubts disappear from life,
Be surrounded by care and love,
All the best to you, good health.

Orthodox women's holiday,
Today we are happy to celebrate
Great happiness to all women,
We wish you good health.
Let all your plans come true,
Let all the bad things be forgotten,
Let every day turn into a holiday,
Let luck fly on its wings.

We glorify the myrrh-bearing women in prayers,
We know about their courage from history,
They carried their cross on their fragile shoulders,
And we always dreamed of happiness and love.
Congratulations on the Orthodox Women's Day,
We wish all women peace and joy,
Let your home be a full cup,
Let joy and comfort settle in it.

CHRIST IS RISEN!

Today the Holy Church remembers spiritual feat myrrh-bearing women. And this day is a real women's day Orthodox tradition. When we talk about women, we talk about a mother, we talk about a wife, we talk about a sister in faith.

The world says that women are the weaker sex. But when we read the life of the Great Martyr Barbara, it is difficult to imagine that she was a representative of the weaker sex. She endured physical torment, I don’t want to say: with male strength, female strength, so that not every man can endure such suffering. The feat of the myrrh-bearing women is a feat of FAITH, not intellectual, but heartfelt. And women’s religiosity is the power of God that protects our land. It is the woman who bears many, many family burdens and the burdens of social life. And the main feat and high purpose of a woman is to be a mother. A mother who carries a child in her womb for nine months is connected with him in such a way that there is no closer creature for a person than his own mother. A person is formed in the womb of his mother, and those biorhythms that flow from her heart become his biorhythms. This is an amazing not only physiological, but also spiritual connection. She is incomprehensible.

And we know that the Mother of our salvation, the Blessed Virgin Mary, in her womb accomplished the mystery of the meeting of God with man, the meeting of heaven with earth, in the true God-manhood of Christ Jesus, who, Christ Jesus, receives true humanity from the Blessed Virgin Mary. And this Virgin, a representative of the so-called weaker sex, she rose above the angel, archangel, Cherub, Seraphim. And each of us remembers his mother, each of us knows his mother and loves her, because it is natural to love our parents, because to love our parents means to love ourselves, since our life is in no way separate from their life. Our joy is their joy, the problems of children are always the problems of parents.

But a woman is also a wife. When God created man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his face the breath of life and man became a living soul, then God said: “It is bad for man to be alone.” Listen to these words - God says: “Bad.” A man without family roots human life, is not considered a person in the full sense of the word. This is an unfinished man. A whole person is a husband and wife, one flesh. That is, a single person is a married person with a wife. And, on the contrary, a man who does not have a wife is not a whole person, he is half a man, as they say: male, female, and together they are a whole.

When Adam first saw his wife, a poetic feeling awakens in him and he begins to verse. This is especially visible in the original language when he says these famous words: “This is flesh of my flesh, this is bone of my bone, for a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will be one.” In the original it simply rhymes, that is, the poetic feeling first appears when Adam sees Eve. Therefore, in every romantic story - the movement of a young man towards a girl, in the love between a man and a woman - there is a breath of the Garden of Eden.

What is the first commandment in the entire Bible? The first, sent down from God back in Paradise, is the commandment to fulfill marital duties. The first chapter of the Bible (book of Genesis) - God said: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” If this is the first commandment sent down by God, all the others follow it, this means that in family life a person becomes most like his CREATOR. God created man, but God gave man the opportunity to reproduce his own kind. And when husband and wife are one flesh, from this whole life is born new life, begins and appears in this world.

Everyone standing in the temple is the fruit of the love of a man and a woman. And there is not a single one standing in the temple that is not the fruit of love between a man and a woman. This obvious circumstance already testifies to the height of family relationships. Even the relationship between Christ and the Church is an icon of how the relationship between husband and wife should be. The Apostle Paul writes: “For as Christ is the head of the church, so is the husband the head of the wife.” Moreover, men are told: “Treat your wives as vessels made of thin glass.” These are truly very beautiful poetic words, especially when we read them in the original. Glass was a treasure in the first century, when the Apostle Paul wrote these words. And the thinner the walls of a glass vessel, the more expensive such a vessel was considered. Men are explicitly told that if they irritate their wives, it will hinder their prayer life and destroy their relationship with God. Thus, peace in the family is peace in the church. Peace between a man and a woman is peace in a relationship with the Creator, who Himself uttered this rule. It is bad for a man to be alone; let us create a helper according to him.

A woman is also a sister in faith. Especially we, priests, feel the support of our sisters in faith, who pray for us, instruct us, who wash us, who feed us, prepare food, clean our homes and, truly, how a woman can help any person, no one man is not capable of such painstaking care, and he is not considered a man if he does not have a woman. This is, as it were, half a man, an unfinished man. Let us praise God for our sisters in faith. Let us praise God for our mothers. Let us praise God for our wives and realize the high purpose of elderly Orthodox women, our grandmothers. How can you not remember them? It is older Christian women who are the most missionary active part any Christian community.

When I studied at the seminary in Soviet times, I conducted surveys of different streams of seminarians about who came to faith through whom. There were almost no seminarians who came to faith through the priests. There were almost none who believed through their father or mother. But there were a huge number of seminarians who testified about themselves that through their GRANDMOTHER, their first mentor in the faith, they acquired the priceless gift of faith in Christ.

Why is that? The fact is that grandmothers take care of children in the preschool period. This is the most decisive, most important period in a person’s life. Parents are more involved in their upbringing and raising their children during school. It is a depressive state, crippled by this education system, and the grandmother naturally puts the verbs of faith in the ears of her grandchildren, she whispers prayers so that they know them by heart. She always intuitively feels how to act in relation to her grandchildren, and these are the greatest missionaries - Orthodox elderly women, grandmothers. I myself learned the three main Christian prayers: Our Father, Theotokos and I Believe, while sitting at my grandmother’s back. And I remember how she carries me and says these prayers and I repeat these prayers after her, and more than one generation was raised by elderly Christian women. Even the baptism of Rus' was due to the fact that Prince Vladimir had a grandmother - Princess Olga. And when he made the decision to baptize Rus', he himself said: “So my grandmother, Princess Olga, the wisest of women, chose this faith.” This was the decisive decision the main argument, when Prince Vladimir decides to baptize Rus'.

Thus, we cannot underestimate the role of our wives, our sisters in faith, our mothers and our grandmothers. And on this day we want to glorify God, we men, for every woman that God sent us in this life, first of all, the mother who shaped our life in her womb. We want to glorify God for our grandmothers, who formed faith in our hearts, for our sisters in faith: these are aunts, cousins, parishioners who surround us and provide for us with more than care.

My first parish was in the Tambov diocese, the city of Kirsanov. This was in distant Soviet times, more than twenty-five years ago, much more. Until now, I receive parcels from this parish from women parishioners who sew me family panties below the knees, Russian blouses, handkerchiefs, and for me it is an amazing miracle such care, female care, which reaches me, as a priest, after a decade and decade.

Truly, the heart of every woman can accommodate hundreds of men’s hearts, in the sense that it is more loving, more open to serving before God. And on this day we rejoice over the myrrh-bearing wives and realize that every Christian woman is a myrrh-bearing wife in her own way. The myrrh-bearing wives carried the news of the Risen Christ to the apostles, and you bring the news of the Risen Christ to your husbands, as the Apostle Paul writes: “Unbelieving husbands are sanctified by their believing wives.” You carry the news of the Risen Christ to your grandchildren, your great-grandchildren. You, decorating the temples of God, everything that we see in the temple: washed beautiful robes put on us, towels, everything is washed clean, beautiful because a woman’s hand touched it, a woman’s hand showed care, and we thank God, we, men for being among us. Without you, there would be none of us, and life would be bad and terrible for the lonely Adam in Paradise, and it would be Paradise if Adam were without his wife Eve.

Happy holiday!

Archpriest Oleg Stenaev.

Source - https://azbyka.ru/propovedi/slovo-v-den-zhen-miron...protoierej-oleg-stenjaev.shtml

Archpriest Georgy Goncharenko, rector of St. Vladimir's Church:“Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ! We all have the happiness of being called disciples and followers of Jesus Christ. But we must not only be called, but also be such: like the myrrh-bearers, love Jesus Christ, serve Him, preach about Him, keep His word, fulfill His commandments. Moreover, to love Him means to love our neighbors, not excluding our enemies, and to love as He loved us all - even to the point of being willing to lay down our souls for them. To serve Him means to do deeds of compassion, mercy, charity, and brotherly help to each other.

But we have a great grief that we do not realize, a great tragedy that we do not notice. This is our loss of love, the most important treasure of Christians. How often do we fulfill established instructions and rituals, but we have hatred and malice towards a person in our hearts. Therefore, our faith without love is a lifeless corpse. The loss of love is the loss of eternal life.

Brothers and sisters! The greatest joy is the ability to love. The greatest happiness on earth is to be able to forgive with all your heart. Love is the secret of the next century. Let us learn this from the holy myrrh-bearing women, so that together with them we can hear in the Kingdom of Heaven: “Rejoice!” Amen".

Elijah, singer of the Church choir of St. Vladimir's Church: “Over the course of two thousand years of the existence of the Church of Christ, the women and her faithful children have constantly confirmed that they are continuers of the work of the holy myrrh-bearing women. In the recent past, their feat of fidelity, love and mercy was repeated by our great-grandmothers and grandmothers, who remained with Christ and His Holy Church during the days of severe persecution, when all the evil of this world took up arms against the Holy Church, trying to destroy Orthodoxy and even the memory of it. The women accomplished an unnoticed feat. They taught the truths of the faith of Christ to their children and grandchildren, despite any threats they visited the temple of God, participated in the Sacraments of the Church, preserved and sacredly passed on church traditions.

In our days of globalization, politicization, feminization and other fruits of civilization, the feat of bringing the Truth of Christ does not lose its relevance: the body of the Church is tormented by schisms and sects: the veneration of Christ, unfortunately, still remains an external “tribute to fashion”; society itself is destroying the foundations of the “small church” - the Christian family. But “white handkerchiefs,” as Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow, called women, as always overflow the churches, offering up their prayers to Christ for the salvation of the world.

Dear sisters and mothers! We congratulate you on your holiday - the Day of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women! We appreciate your feat - the feat of a Mother, the feat of a Spouse, the feat of a Friend, the feat of a Christian. Very often we don’t notice it – not because of its absence, but because of routine. We are accustomed to your love and tenderness, to your care and mercy, and therefore all this seems to us self-evident and inalienable. However, deep down in their souls, everyone realizes that the loss of your support brings disaster. We thank you for your prayers that you pour out for your men, for the Light of the Faith of Christ that you bring to us with your patience and fidelity!

Low bow to you for your efforts! Many and blessed summers to you!

Senior sexton of St. Vladimir's Church Igor:“Today is a truly women’s holiday - the holiday of the myrrh-bearing women! To understand the significance of this day, let us mentally transport ourselves to that great morning when our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the first myrrh-bearing women after the Resurrection. Why should they? Because the Lord knew the hearts of women and men. The myrrh-bearing women directed all their strength, all their zeal to serve Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. They did all the women's work that He needed.

But this is not the only merit of the myrrh-bearing women. Their merit, first of all, is that their hearts were pure, holy and perfect before God. The Lord knew that women, first of all, myrrh-bearing wives, would perceive the truth completely differently than men - than His holy Apostles. He knew how difficult it would be for some of His apostles to believe that the Risen Christ stood before them, and for his myrrh-bearing wives, because of faith, hope, devotion and female perception, it would be easier. That is why the myrrh-bearing women were awarded this greatest honor, this greatest happiness - to be the first to see the Risen Lord! After 40 days, the Lord ascended to heaven, and it became impossible to serve Him in a visible way.

Returning to today, we see that Christian wives, despite the high intensity of their lives, bear the difficult cross of their home, family, parental, industrial and social responsibilities. They find time, without missing out on the succession handed down by the holy myrrh-bearing women, to serve the visibly invisible Lord. And they serve Him in a different way - to give alms to the beggar, to visit the sick, to help and calm the suffering, to come to the prisoner and comfort him. And they serve Him in the saints Orthodox churches and bring in the vessels of their hearts faith, hope, love, devotion and the depth of female heartfelt perception. And for this, low bow to everyone!

On behalf of the honor of the church and all brothers in Christ, we congratulate you, dear wives and young girls, on a truly women's holiday - the holiday of the holy myrrh-bearing women! We wish you mental and physical health, peace, love, patience and true purity of heart. “...Blessed are those who are pure in heart, for they will see God”... (Matthew: 10, 5).

Our dear man.

On Orthodox Women's Day, we send heartfelt and warm congratulations to everyone Orthodox wives and young women. But special words, expressing sincere respect and admiration, I would like to say to Mother Natalia, the wife of Father George.

We are all parishioners or employees of our Church. We are all somehow accustomed to thinking that the temple is run by our shepherd. And we hardly think about the fact that next to the priest stands a woman, an assistant and guardian, who is not without reason called by the kind word “mother”.

Mother is not an ordinary profession, but a merit; she bears enormous responsibility for the order and life support of the Church. Before such a woman, on whose shoulders the temple rests, it is impossible to stop admiring and being amazed at her ability to love people. After all, not every person is endowed with such qualities as mercy, hard work, modesty and kindness.

These virtues can only be possessed by truly Orthodox woman. And these are exactly what Mother Natalia is endowed with. Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh noted: “Faith is required from a priest’s wife, genuine faith, which helps the husband to act, gives him a feeling of trust and support of his wife, even when she does not have the right to fully understand his actions...” And only faith in God helped mother realize very many things in life, get answers to your pressing questions.

Our dear mother Natalia! We thank you for carrying your difficult cross of serving God and people with such zeal and a smile. In many ways, through your prayers and your labors, Father George was able to realize his plans and aspirations, create a parish here, and leave a good mark on other churches where he served.

You never lose heart, but only people close to you know how much mental and physical strength you give to the life of the parish, to each of us. The Lord has given you many talents: both in the choir and in the refectory you are successful and irreplaceable. Your external beauty is inseparable from your spiritual beauty. For us, you are a true example of piety, chastity, purity, patience and humility, friendliness and hard work, meekness and simplicity, courage and resourcefulness.

We thank you and wish you spiritual ascent, love, God's blessing, and salvation of your soul. May every drop of your labor turn into a fragrant lily in the Heaven of the Hall. May the Lord never leave you and fulfill all your requests. Have a long and prosperous summer!

A woman's heart is meek
Knows how to love and feel sorry.
And the beggar and the orphan
Maybe it will warm it up.

It will respond sensitively
To our sadness and pain,
Seriously alarmed,
Whispers: “I’m next to you!”

The gift of selfless love
The Lord gave the woman
Graceful, pure love,
Washed by drops of tears.

April 25, 2020 (Day of Myrrh-Bearing Women)

The Day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is revered by Christians as an important and joy-filled holiday. He, like no other, glorifies female purity and selflessness, positioning chastity and marital fidelity as the highest blessings and indispensable canons. It is widely known that one of the biblical myrrh-bearing women was the repentant sinner Magdalene, to whom not only was forgiveness granted by God, but also grace was sent down, and today the name of this saint is revered along with others.

The second meaning of the holiday lies in the difficult women's fate, which over the centuries was often accompanied by bitter widowhood, hard work and all kinds of trials. A woman has always been associated with procreation, love and forgiveness, therefore it is the female image that is called upon to bring peace and tranquility to those tormented by strife and conflicts modern world. On this holiday it is not customary to swear or use foul language, and it, like no other, is suitable for surrounding your wife, mother and all the close and dear women in your life with love and care.

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