Circumcision of the Lord

The Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord is one of the New Year holidays revered by Christians all over the world And although it is not as significant as Easter, Christmas or the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is still one of the Lord’s important holidays, ie those in which events from the life of the Lord Jesus Christ are remembered Born in Bethlehem, the Infant of God was circumcised on the eighth day, as required by the Old Testament law This law was preserved in memory of the conclusion of the Covenant between God and the Forefather Abraham It was preserved and strictly followed for many centuries The significance of this event is great in that it especially emphasizes not only the incarnation of the Son of God into human flesh, but also the fact that he took on the image of a sinful man, ie suffered circumcision as a sinful man Although, of course, Christ did not need any cleansing So he humbled himself to the sinful state of man On the same day, he was given the name Jesus, which was given by the Archangel Gabriel during the Annunciation The importance of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord for Christians, both Catholics and Orthodox, is that this event shows that every person can achieve holiness But for this you need to cut off spiritual and physical passions from your heart And this cannot be done without living faith in Christ After the Resurrection of Christ, Christians are circumcised spiritually in the Sacrament of Baptism Usually on the same day the person being baptized is given a name as evidence of dedication and service to God The Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord is celebrated on January 14 In pre-revolutionary Russia, this was the beginning of the new year - January 1, old style And now, in order to ask for God’s blessing for the New Year, prayer services are held in Orthodox churches This day is also the day of remembrance of St Basil the Great Both of these holidays are combined in Church services On January 14th, the tradition of “sowing” is still observed in many villages Young people go to the houses of neighbors and acquaintances, sprinkle (sow) the house with oats, sing holiday songs and wish the owner God's blessing on his home, household, and work