Why do we celebrate New Year? Why do we celebrate not only the New Year, but also the Old New Year? Traditions for the Old New Year

On the night of January 13-14, citizens, mainly of Ukraine and Russia, celebrate the Old New Year - a holiday incomprehensible to many foreigners

No one can really explain how the Old New Year differs from the traditional one, but there are several versions: a change in the date of the beginning of the New Year in Rus' and the stubbornness of the Russian Orthodox Church, which did not want to switch to the New Style.

History of the Old New Year

In pagan times, the New Year was celebrated in Rus' on March 22, the day of the vernal equinox, and this was associated with the agricultural cycle. With the adoption of Christianity in Rus', the Byzantine calendar began to gradually replace the old one, and now the New Year began on September 1. For a long time, discord persisted, and in some places the New Year continued to be celebrated in the spring. Only at the end of the 15th century in Rus' the beginning of the New Year was officially determined - September 1.

By decree of Peter I in 1699, the New Year was moved to January 1 according to the old style, that is, to January 14 according to the new style. After the revolution in 1918, the Bolsheviks “abolished” another 13 days a year, which made up the difference between our calendar and the European one. This is how two New Year celebrations were formed - according to the new and old styles.

Church about the Old New Year

The custom of celebrating the Old New Year on the night of January 13-14 is due to the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church continues to celebrate both the New Year and Christmas according to the Julian calendar, which still differs from the generally accepted Gregorian calendar by 13 days. But from March 1, 2100, this difference will be 14 days, since the difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars increases by one day every 100 years, when the number of hundreds in the year after Christ is not a multiple of four. From 2101, Christmas and Old New Year will be celebrated a day later.

For many believers, the Old New Year has a special meaning, since they can celebrate it from the heart only after the end of the Nativity Fast, during the Yuletide festivities.

Scientists' opinions about the Old New Year

The Old New Year is an unscientific date, astronomers say. According to them, the strict mechanics of planetary movement forces people to make changes to the calendar. The Julian calendar, which was in force in our country until 1918, is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar, according to which Europe lives. The fact is that the Earth does not rotate around its axis in exactly 24 hours. Additional seconds to this time, gradually accumulating, add up to days. By the beginning of the twentieth century, they turned into 13 days, which made up the difference between the old Julian and new Gregorian systems. The new style more accurately corresponds to the laws of astronomy.

Celebrating the Old New Year

Despite the fact that this day is not a holiday for everyone and is not even a day off, the popularity of the Old New Year is growing. Every year the number of people wishing to celebrate the Old New Year increases and is already more than 60%. Among those who are going to celebrate the “old” New Year are the majority of pupils and students, workers, entrepreneurs, housewives and, in general, people under 40 years old, with secondary specialized and secondary education, with relatively high incomes.

Traditions for the Old New Year

In the old days, this day was called Vasilyev's Day, and was of decisive importance for the whole year. Celebrated Vasiliev's Day festival of agriculture, which was associated with the future harvest, and the ritual of sowing was performed - hence the name of the holiday “Osen” or “Avsen”. This ritual differed in different regions of the country: for example, in Tula, children scattered spring wheat around the house, while saying a prayer for a rich harvest, and the housewife then collected it and stored it until sowing time. Ukrainian rituals were distinguished by fun, dancing and songs.

And there was also a kind of ritual - cooking porridge. On New Year's Eve, at 2 o'clock, the eldest of the women brought cereal from the barn, and the eldest man brought water from a well or river. They cooked the porridge in the oven, then took it out and examined it carefully. If the pot was simply full, and the porridge was rich and crumbly, then one could expect a happy year and a rich harvest - such porridge was eaten the next morning. If the porridge came out of the pot, or the pot cracked, this did not bode well for the owners of the house, and then disaster was expected, and the porridge was thrown away.

Interesting ritual of going home to enjoy pork dishes. On the night of Vasily, guests certainly had to be fed pork pies, boiled or baked pork legs, and in general any dishes that included pork. A pig's head was also required to be placed on the table. The fact is that Vasily was considered a “pig farmer” - the patron saint of pig farmers and pork products, and they believed that if there was a lot of pork on the table that night, then these animals would breed in abundance on the farm and bring good profits to the owners.

Here's the tradition make dumplings for the Old New Year with surprises appeared not so long ago - no one remembers exactly where and when, but many happily observe it. In some cities, they are made in almost every home - with family and friends, and then they have a fun feast and eat these dumplings, eagerly waiting to see who gets what kind of surprise. This comic fortune telling is especially popular with children; sometimes local food factories often produce such dumplings - just for the Old New Year.

There are many beautiful winter holidays in our country. We celebrate New Year twice. We fill the glasses with champagne again on the night of January 14, sit down at the festive table and take our time to clean up.

Historical phenomenon

New Year in Russia is one of the most interesting holidays from a historical point of view. Until the 15th century (1495), the new year began in March and was associated with the awakening of the earth from hibernation. In 1495, everything changed: the date of the new year moved to September 1.

Later, Peter the Great, who decided to keep up with Europe, ordered to celebrate the New Year on January 1. In December 1699 he issued an Edict requiring the meeting of 1700 to take place on 1 January rather than in September. The text of the Decree contained strict instructions: to decorate houses with spruce, juniper or pine branches, to fire rifles and muskets into the air at midnight, to light bonfires in the streets throughout the holiday week and to arrange fireworks on Red Square.

Alexei Tolstoy in the historical novel " Peter I"described the state of the common people and boyars, whose usual way of life was collapsing. It seemed to many that the trumpet of the Last Judgment would soon sound. Gradually everyone got used to the decorated fir trees and the hectic holiday, which began to be celebrated annually on January 1 according to the Julian calendar, i.e. according to the "old style". This calendar was introduced by the Emperor of Ancient Rome, Julius Caesar, using the solar year as a basis, rather than the astronomical one. In Russia Julian calendar came from Byzantium.

This was the case until the October Revolution of 1917. Most other countries have long lived according to Gregorian calendar . It was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII on October 4, 1582 (XVI century) so that there were no discrepancies with astronomical data. The difference between the Julian and Gregorian calendars today is thirteen days.

In 1918, the Bolshevik government decided to switch to a single calendar throughout the world. V.I. Lenin issued a corresponding Decree on the transition to the Gregorian calendar. This eliminated confusion and difficulties in international relations: diplomacy, mail, train schedules, etc. The Russian Orthodox Church preserved the traditional calendar and continued to live according to the old calendar. She dated the holidays according to the old style, emphasizing her uniqueness.

Today, in some reference publications, the dates of birth and death of people, various events of pre-revolutionary Russia are given according to two calendars, i.e. according to the new and old style. This happened with the New Year, which begins on January 1 (14). On the Old New Year, Orthodox people do not have to deny themselves food and fun. According to the Julian calendar, it occurs after (January 7), i.e. after graduation from strict. According to the Gregorian calendar, Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.

Local Orthodox churches in some foreign countries (Jerusalem, Russian, Serbian, Georgian) also use the Julian calendar in our time. Some monasteries and parishes live according to the Julian calendar in those countries where the Gregorian calendar is adopted for church services (for example, Mount Athos in Greece). In addition, the Julian calendar is adopted in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and in the Russian Greek Catholic Church.

Vasiliev evening

On the night of January 13-14 it is celebrated Vasiliev evening , and January 14 - Vasiliev's day (Kolyada). You can read about this fun holiday, generous with food and drink, in the article.

Everyone likes the holiday: girls tell fortunes about their betrothed, and gardeners shake apple trees in their orchards for a good harvest.

This year we will again congratulate our family and friends not only on the New Year, but also on the Old New Year! Wish them happiness, love, health and joy! Giving gifts, sitting at the festive table late in the evening and raising a glass of champagne at midnight. It’s so good that there is a reason for this!

P.S.

With each century, the Gregorian and Julian calendars diverge more and more in time. The difference is accumulating, and by 2100 it will be not 13, but a full 14 days.

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Everything about everything. Volume 3 Likum Arkady

Why do we celebrate New Year?

Celebrating the New Year is one of the oldest customs in the world. When did it start? Some believe that the Chinese were the first to celebrate this holiday, others attribute it to the ancient Germans, and still others believe that it was the Romans. We know that the Chinese always organize big celebrations that last for several days on the occasion of the New Year, which comes later than us.

The ancient Germans established the New Year celebration due to the change of seasons. Winter for the Germans began around mid-November. At this time they were harvesting. Since at this time everyone gathered together and since after the harvest they could take a break from work, they organized a fun holiday on this occasion. Even though it was only November, they considered it the beginning of a new year!

When the Romans conquered Europe, they moved the holiday to the first of January. For them, the coming of the New Year was a symbol of the beginning of a new life and hope for the future. The custom of celebrating the New Year and the meaning of this holiday have remained unchanged to this day. We celebrate the New Year with joy and hope that it will bring with it a good new life!

In the first second after midnight on January 1, Saturday will give way to Sunday. As a rule, such a transition does not have any special significance. However, the change of year is of particular importance and special symbolism for us. This unique moment encourages us to leave all our worries and routines behind to look back, take stock, evaluate what we have done, and decide what to do next. Apart from birthdays, perhaps no other moment during the year receives this kind of attention. Everyone loves to celebrate it.

To survive

Why does the beginning of a new year have such special symbolism? And why is its celebration so widespread around the world, or at least where there are calendars? This behavior, of course, is associated with something internal in the human consciousness, something deeply meaningful and important, considering how much energy and resources we invest in the holiday, how much effort we make to make this moment special, removing many prohibitions. For what? It may be that the symbolism we attach to this moment is associated with one of the most powerful motivations - the desire of humanity to survive.

The reason for the celebration is obvious, because we celebrate birthdays and New Years every 365 days to give a chronological assessment of our lives using a unit of measurement - a year. Hooray! Finally, another year is over and we are still alive! It's time to raise our glasses and drink to those who survived, and remember those who did not live to see this date this year.

This holiday allows us to sum up some results and judge how to live better, longer and of higher quality. It is a natural desire to have at least a rough idea of ​​what lies ahead, because the future without forecasts looks very alarming and foggy. Without knowing what awaits us, we cannot prepare for these events to protect ourselves. We make big decisions, make a lot of promises to ourselves: quit smoking, play sports, lead a healthy lifestyle and start saving. It is not so important whether we will be able to keep our promise next year; what is important is the moment of realizing that a person is able to control the situation, which means that even on difficult days he will be able to maintain composure.

Scientifically proven

Research by psychologist Richard Wiseman in 2007 found that for many of us, the words of the U2 song are true: “Nothing changes on New Year’s Day.” 3,000 people summed up their results on New Year's Eve, and 88% of them failed to achieve their goals, although 52% were confident that they would achieve them no matter what. This is just a summary of the research, but it does provide some suggestions on how to make your life better.

It is interesting to note that people, when giving instructions to themselves on New Year's Eve, usually want the best treatment, new friends to be faithful, and debts to be repaid. This has been the case throughout our history. Therefore, by the New Year, people strive to do all the most important things. The Babylonians repay their debts. Jews hope for forgiveness. The Scots go to visit their neighbors to wish them success in the coming year. What do all these social behaviors have to do with survival? It's simple. We are social animals. We have evolved to depend on others for our own health and safety. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It turns out that this principle is an excellent survival strategy that is still relevant today.

More prayers

Many people are determined to pray more. It makes sense from a survival point of view too. Almighty power can make people's lives safer if they pray more. Jews pray at the beginning of their new year to be able to write their name in the "Book of Life" for the following year. And although death is inevitable, throughout history people have dealt with the fear of death, affiliated with religions that promise a happy and serene ending, a calm afterlife. Pray more, and death will no longer seem so scary.

Rituals to attract good luck

There are hundreds of rituals associated with the New Year holidays aimed at exercising control over one's destiny. The Dutch, for whom the circle shape is a symbol of success, eat donuts on New Year's Eve. The Greeks bake a special Vassilopitta - a cake with a coin inside, which grants good luck for the coming year to whoever finds it in their piece. Fireworks on New Year's Eve in China, like thousands of years ago, are a way of driving out evil spirits. The Japanese celebrate Bonenkai (New Year) by saying goodbye to the problems of the past year and preparing for a better life in the new year. Disagreements and misunderstandings between people must be resolved, grievances must be put aside. In the ritual of New Year's celebrations, houses are cleansed, bad vibrations are eliminated, and space is made for better events.

Motivation

The New Year is the moment when we can examine our weaknesses and understand what needs to be done so that thoughts about the unknown future do not disturb us. It is interesting that different cultures most often use the same holiday - New Year - for such actions. All this is dictated by the basic fundamental desire of humanity - to survive, even despite unfavorable circumstances.

Let's sum it up

So, how can you calm yourself down and distract yourself from the thought of imminent death? Donuts, special cakes with coins, fireworks and a glass of champagne with the usual toast: “To survive!” are suitable.

I congratulate you on the New Year Holiday! But don’t think that I’m congratulating you on the new calendar year! No! Christians should be far from the fabulous stupidity of the world, which in each subsequent calendar year is looking for a “lost paradise”! Unfortunately, such searches are similar to the annual awakening of an exhausted traveler who strains his last strength to rush towards the ghostly silhouettes of a near-distant mirage in a lifeless desert!

Today we celebrate a Significant Event, Which directs us not forward, but backward! When we look at the last leaf of the outgoing year or see January 1 on the calendar, we must return along the untwisted Spiral of Salvation several thousand years ago. Let's read what our Bible says about this. Let's read Luke. 2:4-7: “Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to enlist with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for Her to give birth; and she gave birth to her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” And also Onion. 2: After eight days had passed, when [the Child] should have been circumcised, they gave Him the name Jesus, which the angel had called before He was conceived in the womb.”

The first Biblical text we read is a testimony to the Nativity of Jesus Christ; the second - His Name Day. Unfortunately, in our culture there is no division between the concepts of “birthday” and “name day”. But in the ancient world, a newly physically born child could be “born” and become part of the people after a certain ritual. For example, in Israel, as was the case with the Baby Jesus, an eight-day-old boy had to be circumcised. Only in this case could he get his name. And it was supposed to remind of the Covenant of the Lord God with Abraham and his descendants. This is written about in Gen. 17:4-13: “This is my covenant with you: you will be the father of many nations, and you will no longer be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations; and I will make you very, very fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you; And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and between your descendants after you throughout their generations, an everlasting covenant, that I will be your God and your descendants after you; And I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land in which you wander, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said to Abraham: You shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you [shall] keep between Me and between you and among your descendants after you: that all your males shall be circumcised; circumcise your foreskin: and this will be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. During your generations, every male child born in the house and bought for money from a foreigner who is not of your seed, shall be circumcised eight days from birth. He who is born in your house and bought with your money shall certainly be circumcised, and My covenant shall be an everlasting covenant upon your body.”

In connection with the Christian tradition that has been created over centuries, we are accustomed to paying more attention to the event of the Nativity of Christ than to the fact of His circumcision. But it is imperative to take into account the importance of legalizing the Nativity of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to fully celebrate the New Year. We read in Gal. 4:4-5: “... when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His (Only Begotten) Son, born of a woman, made subject to the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption as sons.” The Biblical text we read emphasizes three important actions for the Birth of the Savior to “officially” occur and the temporary Spiral of Salvation to begin to unwind:

The Triune God in the Persons of God, Word and Spirit, sends through the Incarnation His Representative, the “Son,” to live on earth,
- The settlement of God the Word the Son in human society occurred through the virgin birth and physical birth from the Virgin Mary,
- The born God-man Word-Son submitted to the requirement of the Law; was circumcised according to Jewish custom and received His Name-Destination “Yeshua” (or “Jesus”), which means: “Savior”.

It turns out that we owe our physical chronology to the unwinding temporal Spiral of Salvation not from the Nativity of Christ, but from His Name Day! After all, the word “name day” comes from the abbreviated expression “name given now.” Therefore, when the Baby was circumcised and given the name “Jesus,” the countdown of the Time of Salvation began from that memorable hour! What the angel said to Joseph, Mary’s husband, began to be fulfilled: “She will give birth to a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

If we celebrate the New Year, then we need to celebrate the Feast of Salvation, as it is written: “now is the day of Salvation.” And for this you need to enter this “day of Salvation and peace.” In Heb. 4:10-11 we read: “Therefore the Sabbath (that is, “Salvation”) still remains for the people of God. For whoever entered into His rest (that is, into the “day of Salvation”), he himself rested from his deeds, just as God did from His. So let us try to enter into that rest (that is, the “day of Salvation”), so that no one, following the same example, falls into disobedience.”

How can we enter into God's Peace of the New Year and use the time given by the Spiral of Salvation “now”? There is only one condition for this. We read about him in Heb. 4:3: “And we enter into rest if we believe...” In other words, without faith it is impossible to please God and become a new creation. After all, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the ancient has passed away, and now everything is new! Therefore, outside of Christ and His grace, we cannot truly enter into the “new,” including the new calendar year, so as not to immediately turn the “new” into the “old”! Outside of Christ, only further disappointments await us in our personal spiral of futile expectations. And everything will happen in the same “old way”, if not worse, as it happened last year and the year before... or, for example, ten years ago!

A believer in Christ should not be looking for something “new” at the beginning of each new calendar year. He is already on the borders of the action of the “new” from the moment of his birth from God. Therefore, a Christian does not profess the novelty of something “new,” but the renewal of what is in Christ. For example, we need to rejoice that God's mercy is renewed every morning. We can also renew our relationship with God by going through the path of confession and cleansing from all sinful and carnal things. For example, we can use self-evangelism, which consists of four important confessions at the level of our spirit:

As much as God is holy by His Divine nature, I am sinful by my human sinful nature;
- Even one sin in my thoughts already separates me from God, although I am His child;
- Jesus Christ is ready to unite me with the Father, no matter what the gap between me and Him, subject to an honest confession of what I thought, said or did;
- I accept the gift of grace in Christ, my restoration, so that I can give this gift to others and forgive them, as God in Christ forgave me.

It is also very useful for “updating the new” to cleanse your spiritual world, starting with cleansing your immediate memory. To do this, having calmed down, you need to close your eyes and look with your soul at what sound images and pictures emerge from our consciousness. If anything we “saw” or “heard” does not meet the standards of the Word of God or does not glorify His holy Name, then we should record the “unwanted guests” in our memory, separate them, and in the prayer of deliverance send mentally, in the Spirit by faith, all that is discovered evil spirits on the Cross. Then we will ask the Savior Jesus Christ to wash away the wound in our minds from the evil done to us. Let us accept by faith the flow of the cleansing Blood of Christ. Then let us turn to the Holy Spirit to anoint the wound cleansed by the Blood of Christ with His healing oil. Let us accept healing from the Holy Spirit by faith, and no trace of past impurity will remain in our consciousness!

If we have already talked about “renewal of the new,” then we need to say a few words about the prayer of renewal associated with our body, and not just with the soul. For example, when we wake up in the morning, it is very useful to “remember” and thank the man that God created him as a man, and the woman should express her recognition to God as the Creator that she was created as a woman. Such a confession sets up a man to be a “real man”, and a woman to take the place of a “real woman”. Next, it is useful to thank the Lord that, by His grace, our eyes can see, our hands can take things and do something, and our legs can walk. We must also remember to thank you for the clarity of thinking and diversity of feelings in our heart world. To the above we should add grateful words to God for other physiological processes that occur in our body.

We have given just a few practical tips related to our “renewing the new,” which we have taken from Biblical teaching. But there are many more of them. However, there are enough of them to experience our “new renewal” not only at the beginning of a new calendar year, but every day. So, we call not just to imitate the worldly custom of self-deception, which is called “Meeting the New Year,” but to follow the call of the Lord, as written in Heb. 4:7: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” Indeed, from a memorable event in Israel, when there was no choir of angels and other miraculous events, the Savior of the world, the Perfect God and the Perfect Man, was circumcised by a human hand, which prophetically pointed to His Crucifixion on the Cross by other human hands, as confirmation of what had already began to “unwind” like a winding spring, the Spiral of the New Year – the Time of God’s Universal Salvation in Christ for all who believe in Him! Amen.

Igor Grinenko