Washing laundry in the big week is a topic that concerns year by year. Because they want to prepare both their house and soul as it is appropriate for the Resurrection of the Lord, for Romanians it matters what is allowed and what is forbidden during this period.
Beliefs in the elderly and those of the church related to laundry are different photo: Pixabay
Between the elderly beliefs and the church teachings there are again big differences when we talk about what is allowed and what is forbidden in the Great Week, or Passion Week. Depending on the various areas of the country, the customs are different, starting from the red egg, which is done on the big Thursday in certain areas, respectively on the Great Friday, and until the preparedness of the house and the household for the great holiday.
Who can’t wash clothes on Thursday and Friday
On what days is allowed to wash the clothes in the big week is a subject that concerns. There are families in which it has been transmitted that affairs related to cleaning in the house must end until the middle of this week, for example, being specifically indicated as a prohibition for washing laundry, that, in fact, for many work, being considered a day of black job, day of mourning for believers, in which they do not work, no work.
In the popular belief, says the ethnographer Claudia Balaș, prohibitions on washing the laundry, during this period, if the holiday is not marked in the calendar, are those in which it is given.
“Always, if you have a apple or something, on that day, it does not wash, it does not sweep, because it is believed that all the miseries you take, that you take from the clothes by washing, that they sweep them, go to what you are going to share, the prepared pieces. explained Balaș. As on Thursday, or Black Thursday, in certain areas of the country it is divided for the soul of the dead (a new cup of water, an apple, a colac), we could consider that this prohibition works for those who respect the tradition of disappear.
For Great Friday, as I mentioned, there is also the tradition of not washing clothes. In his intervention on a television show, several years ago, the priest Vasile Ioana stated that this is rather a superstition, without any foundation. The priest, instead, signaled the inconsistency in facts, being concerned with this rule of conduct people who do not respect, otherwise, the meaning of Friday, a day of fasting in the Orthodox tradition.
“The girls have caught, so, since they are big, from grandparents, that you should not wash Friday. And all the ladies ask me: Father, I am allowed to wash the Friday? We wash? Wrong. On the holidays during the week we do not wash. Then we rest and celebrate. That is why we should not wash ”, the priest explained.
Father Vasile Ioana also referred to the Great Friday. “And on Good Friday, you say, you are not allowed to wash. You are allowed to wash in Good Friday, because it is a day when, of course, we suffer for the crucifixion of the Lord and the man then goes to Prohod. The women who have this ritual to go to the church do not have time to wash, but practically the Friday you can wash, without any problem, there is no problem,” said the priest.
In the Orthodox calendar, in the Great Week there are two significant days as holidays: the Great Luna, when the Holy Hierarch Pahomie from Gledin, respectively on Sunday, the day of the greatest Christian holiday: the Resurrection of the Lord, or the Holy Easter, is celebrated.
How to spend the big week
All the priest Vasile Ioana advises us that this week we will take care of the house, but especially the house of the soul.
“This week our salvation was achieved. The Lord has suffered for us and our sins. Each of us is called together with the Lord. And how should we do that? Those who are healthy, those who are in power, can hold a black fast, because the Lord has been on the cross until the 9th hour, the hour then, until three in the afternoon after our hour. We should hold a black post, not eat anything. And to eat without oil all this week. And only on Thursday, when we share, can they eat a little oil, those who are sick, those who have the unraveling from the spiritual, growing children, or the sick, of course, have a breakdown. But we are talking about those who can hold a black post now. To do it, because they are in this week together with the Lord this week ”, They were addressed to the priest of the believers, in a Facebook post.
The priest also spoke about how to prepare for the important moment of the Resurrection night, when many rush to receive the Easter, not understanding that the big holiday is not about the rich meal. On the contrary, before this moment it is the preparation, of which the mystery of confession is part.
“They are in a hurry to go home to eat the lamb or eat the drob.”
“” Let us all clean our house, through the mystery of confession. Come to priests and confess, because by confess, clean your sins and then you can share on the Great Thursday or on the Resurrection Night. What can be more beautiful than the night of Resurrection. I am in a hurry to eat the lamb or eat the rod! The night of Resurrection is not an occasion of the party with food and drinks, but it is an opportunity for the Lord and then – joy with the Lord. Especially at the denial of betrayal, on Wednesday. At the denia of the 12 Gospels, on Thursday, and at the Denia of the Prohod on Friday evening, to sing to the Lord with the defeated and humble heart ”, the priest also transmitted.
