Krasnaya Gorka 2025: what does the holiday mean, strict bans on memorial day
In spring, one of the most unusual national Christian holidays is traditionally celebrated - Krasnaya Gorka. The Orthodox calendar designates this day as Antipascha. The holiday is also known as Fomino Sunday, and the seven days following it are called Fomina Week. In 2025, it will run from April 27 to May 3. For more information about how pagan traditions intertwined with Christian traditions in the holiday and what signs and traditions were observed in the past, see the Izvestia article.
Krasnaya Gorka 2025: why is it called that, what kind of holiday is it?
Krasnaya Gorka is the vernacular name of the Eastern Slavs' spring holiday, it is the first day of the week of commemorations and weddings before the start of agricultural work. According to the version of the encyclopedic dictionary by F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron, the naming of the holiday appeared from the custom of celebrating the sunrise, or "red spring", on a hill on this day.
Ethnographer Apollon Korinthisky in his book "Narodnaya Rus", which was published in 1901, explained that the name of this day comes from antiquity. After all, "red" means "beautiful", "joyful", "cheerful" and "young". Mountains and hills were revered as sacred places of worship, and pagan temples and temples were built there. During paganism, sacred bonfires were lit on the hill in honor of Dazhbog (the God of fertility and sunlight). After the adoption of Christianity, churches began to be built in the sacred places of the old Gods. Many traditions of the past have been preserved, so the holiday, which was celebrated on a grand scale in places of worship, began to be called Krasnaya Gorka.
The church name of the holiday in the 4th century was Antipascha, translated from Greek as "instead of Easter" or "opposite Easter" or "Easter-like Resurrection". This holiday is a continuation of the Sunday of Christ.
— Antipascha is a kind of alternative celebration of the main Orthodox celebration. Believers celebrate the same events, but view them in a different light, focusing on the appearance of Jesus to the apostle Thomas and the renewal of the world. So, if the first feast is dedicated to both burial and resurrection, then the second is dedicated only to a new birth," says St. Gregory.
Later, the day became known as Fomin Sunday. According to the New Testament, after the resurrection, Christ appeared to his disciples, who locked themselves in the house, fearing reprisals from the elders of Judea. The Savior was able to walk through the closed doors, because after his resurrection, his body did not obey physical laws. To convince his followers, the Savior showed them his injured arms, legs, and ribs.
When Jesus appeared for the first time, the apostle Thomas was not in the house. According to the main theory, Thomas did not return after the execution, because he was especially worried about the crucifixion of Christ. When he heard from others the story of the miraculous appearance of the Lord, he refused to accept them as the truth without proof. John quotes Thomas in the Gospel: "Unless I see in His hands the wounds of the nails, and put my finger in the wounds of the nails, and put my hand in His side, I will not believe." The following Sunday, Jesus re-entered the house where the apostles had gathered. At that moment, all his disciples were there, including Thomas, who now believed in the resurrection of the Savior. So his name became a household name, and "Thomas the unbeliever" is called a person who refuses to believe the words of others without any evidence.
Krasnaya Gorka 2025: Memorial Day after Easter
Radonitsa, Tuesday of St. Thomas' Week, is considered the first day of church commemoration after Easter. In 2025, it falls on April 29. Funeral services are held in churches, and believers visit cemeteries to pray for the dead, so that the Easter joy may be passed on to them. Hence the name of the special day — Radonitsa. According to the church regulations, it is usually allowed to pray in honor of the deceased starting on Monday, so the second name of this week is Memorial.
All the deceased, including the unbaptized, atheists and those who voluntarily passed away, are remembered at home with a prayer for the repose of the soul of the deceased. You can ask the Lord in your own words to forgive the sins of the deceased, calm his soul and grant the Kingdom of Heaven. On this day, it is especially important to help those in need.: feed them, give them alms, donate things to churches or relief centers.
In addition, in the church you can submit a note for the liturgy, order a memorial service, a sorokoust. Traditionally, Russians go to church on Krasnaya Gorka and then go to the cemetery. It is not forbidden to bring food to the churchyard, but leaving them on graves is considered an echo of paganism. Food can be given to the poor, friends or neighbors, and ask them to remember the dead. If the day falls on a memorable memorial date, upon returning home, you can gather for a common meal to remember a loved one. As a rule, modest but hearty dishes are served on the table: cabbage soup or borscht, fish, jelly, potatoes, vegetable salad, pies or pie, pickles. It is customary to serve compote and jelly as drinks. Note that commemorating a person with strong alcohol is considered a sinful act. The meal begins with the recitation of the prayer "Our Father."
Krasnaya Gorka: folk signs on April 27
In Ancient Russia, this holiday meant the approach of spring, so people led round dances, lit bonfires and organized festive festivities. After the establishment of Orthodoxy, Krasnaya Gorka was considered a place of matchmaking and weddings: after a long Lent, on the eighth day after Easter, it was allowed to get married. A folk legend says: "Whoever marries Krasnaya Gorka will never get married." Those girls who were engaged to Krasnaya Gorka were preparing for the wedding, and those who were free, without their betrothed, necessarily went out for walks. The grooms at such "green looks" looked closely and chose a bride for themselves. In the Kostroma region, there was a belief that anyone who doused a girl with water should woo her, otherwise he would be considered a thief of a maiden's honor.
There is a version that the Red Hill was played with Easter eggs. According to historian and religious scholar Anna Bakhtiarova, the beginning of this custom was laid back in Slavic paganism. It was believed that egg rolling was a symbolic fertilization of the earth after winter. Later, this action began to be of an entertainment nature. So, if the egg rolled smoothly and did not break, then happiness and luck await the owner. Or whose egg bumped into another one, he takes both eggs.
According to tradition, a rich table was set on Krasnaya Gorka, where yellow and green colored eggs symbolizing the awakening of nature, cottage cheese Easter and Easter cake were always present. The housewives baked homemade bread, pies and pancakes for the holiday. Priest Vladislav Beregovoy explains that it is important to come to the church on Krasnaya Gorka to receive communion or just to pray. On a holiday, you should not perform various rituals, spells and flirt with devilry in every possible way. He advises to be careful with a deck of Tarot cards, amulets and amulets.
In addition, you can not wear old clothes on a holiday, it is customary to dress up in bright outfits (mostly in red) in order to attract wealth and good luck into life. It is also not worth doing heavy household chores and agricultural work. After all, on this day the earth celebrates its rebirth, you should not disturb it.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
