Day of Remembrance of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women (Orthodox Women's Day)

The Orthodox Church honors the memory of the Myrrh-Bearing Women on the second Sunday after Easter, that is, 14 days after the main holiday of all Christians From this day on, the entire week is dedicated to the women who were the first to come to the tomb of Christ, carrying myrrh and incense, and who learned about his miraculous Resurrection Christians admire the feat of brave wives and read prayers in their honor According to the four Gospels, among the Myrrh-Bearing Women were: the disciple of Christ Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Chuza, Mary the mother of the Apostle James, Solomia the mother of James and John Perhaps other women also dared to come to the Holy Sepulcher: Martha, Mary of Cleopas and Susanna, but their names were preserved only in legends According to Eastern custom, it is customary to rub the body of the deceased with fragrant aromas, including myrrh With this mission, the Myrrh-Bearers went to the cave in which they buried the body of Jesus, despite the general fear of the guards assigned to guard the tomb Along the way, the women were worried that they would not be able to move the heavy stone blocking the entrance to the tomb, but it turned out that the cave was already open and empty, and there was no trace of the guards left The angel who appeared to the women proclaimed that Christ had risen and was waiting for them in Galilee The wives did not believe the angel and returned in sadness to the apostles Peter and John, only Mary Magdalene remained at the tomb, mourning the lost body of the deceased Jesus At the cave, Christ himself appears to Magdalena, proving the truth of his Resurrection, and the joyful woman hastened to convey the great joy to the rest of the Myrrh-Bearers, disciples and apostles According to the Gospel of Mark, the risen Lord immediately appeared to all the women who came, from whom came the traditional exclamation “Christ is risen!” Russian Orthodox Church Day of the Myrrh-Bearing Women is considered the day of all Christians, and in the folk tradition of the Eastern Slavs the holiday was called Indian Day All women, without exception, were considered birthday girls The women got together and prepared ritual scrambled eggs, collecting eggs from various households In the church they always ordered a common prayer service, for which they paid together There was a widespread tradition of cumulation, when women exchanged gifts with their spiritual friends In some villages there was a ritual of “burying the cuckoo” Previously, a ritual doll was made from the grass of cuckoo tears, which should first be buried underground, and then dug up and celebrated its resurrection There were also weather signs associated with this holiday: - blooming primrose flowers spoke of the onset of warm days; - a cloudy sky indicated a poor-quality grain harvest, mixed with weeds; - the abundance of last year's acorns on the oak tree prophesied a fruitful summer and the subsequent cold winter