The Orthodox world celebrates on February 15 the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Water and candles consecrated on this day acquire very special qualities. They help our prayers to find a grace-giving power that gives help in turning to God. All year they are carefully stored and used only in special cases. It is very important to remember that they themselves cannot help us. Sretenskaya water and candles acquire their healing properties only in combination with our faith and willingness to follow the commandments of God.
The ancient law of the Jews
But first of all, let us turn to the event in the memory of which the church established this holiday. We learn from the gospel that on the fortieth day after the birth of the baby Jesus was brought to the temple, as required by ancient Jewish law. A rite of passage to God awaited him. In the doorway of the temple, Virgin Mary and her son were met by an old man named Simeon. He was predicted to live to see the day on which he would be able to see God incarnate from the Virgin. He was as old as he, the seer Anna.
Seeing the Holy Spirit in the infant Jesus of the promised Messiah, Simeon solemnly told this to his mother and everyone present. This event marks the first direct meeting (meeting) of God with people. In addition, Simeon and Anna are Old Testament saints. Thus, another meeting occurred - the Old Testament and the New Testament of Jesus Christ. In memory of these events, a holiday was established.
The Presentation of the Lord in the Orthodox Church
The Orthodox world celebrates this event on February 15, that is, forty days after the celebration of the Nativity of Christ. It belongs to the group of enduring holidays, as it is celebrated every year on the same day. In Russia, the holiday has been known since the X century. The word “meeting” is Slavic and means “meeting”. Church candles consecrated on this day are called Sretensky.
What is the difference between the Sretensky candle and the one that every parishioner can buy in the church shop on all other days of the year? The only difference is that ordinary candles can always be blessed, and Sretensky once a year - on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. This is done with a special rank. In the Orthodox treasury, which every priest uses, a prayer is given for the consecration of Sretensky candles and the entire text accompanying this rite.
Water is also blessed on this day. It is curious that in the old days it was customary to sanctify water collected from melt snow or from a drop during the Sretensky service. She was considered especially healing.
The day winter and spring meet
In general, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, symbolizing a promised meeting of God with people, in addition to the order prescribed by the Orthodox Church, was always filled with elements of folk imagination, bordering on clear vestiges of paganism. The fact is that in the old days in villages the official church holiday was perceived to a certain extent as a master's holiday. Among the peasants, this day was the holiday of the first meeting of winter with the approaching spring, because it was celebrated in the last winter month, when the first signs of future heat were already appearing.
Folk customs on the day of the holiday
On this day, funny fist fights were organized to help the spring. One group of fighters dressed in spring clothes, and the other in winter. In the one who wins, they saw the prediction of early or late spring. The hostesses fed their chickens with oats that day, as it was believed that this would help them to rush well all year. And peasant children ran out into the street on a festive morning and asked the sun to bring spring as soon as possible. If it peeked out from behind the clouds, it was believed that their request would be granted.
Roman holiday roots
In the folk calendar, the Orthodox feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the most bizarre way is combined with an ancient feast called the Thunderbolt. Probably, many are familiar with this name. Incredibly, the festival celebrated in Russia has its roots in the ancient traditions of Rome. The fact is that in the XVII century, Metropolitan Peter the Grave edited the text of the Trebnik, that is, the book on which divine services were held in the church. As a model, he used the Roman analogue, which described in detail the processions on this day with candles in their hands. The metropolitan, taking as a basis the described action, put in Sretensky candles, the use of which has not yet become a custom, washed away differently - the sanctification and purification of the world by the light of Christ.
In the minds of our ancestors, these candles were endowed with magical properties. It was believed that the Sretensky candle could protect against all manifestations of hostile forces, including lightning and thunder. Hence its name - thunderbolt. However, the Orthodox Church warns that parishioners ascribe to them some magical or miraculous properties. That would be utterly frivolous.
Prayer - The Path to Divine Grace
Not the candles themselves, but a hot and sincere prayer in their light can bring the desired benefit. The same fully applies to Sretensky water. It is healing, but it will never be sold in pharmacies, since the beneficial properties of water are manifested only under the condition of a deep religious feeling in those who resort to its help.
This should be understood by those who try to use Sretensky candles without faith in God . They are trying to translate their meaning into the plane of various esoteric theories that are fashionable in our time. For example, to neutralize the negative energy surrounding us, they recommend the use of Sretensky candles. Prayer addressed to God, and only it, can save all visible and invisible enemies of the human race - this is what the Holy Orthodox Church teaches us.
The true sacrifice to God is our soul
In addition, it must be understood that the Sretensky candle, like any other church candle, is first of all our sacrifice to God, that is, what we give free of charge, not hoping to receive equal compensation. In this case, we are talking about the material sacrifice made by us. We spend our own money and buy a candle on it. This is where the temptation lies in reducing our sacrifice to a purely monetary equivalent. Simply put, buy the grace of God for money.
It seems to us that the more expensive the candle we put, the more we spent (invested) money, the closer we are to the Kingdom of Heaven. This is the deepest mistake. We forget that everything material that we have is given to us by God, that is, without our sacrifice belongs to Him. God does not need a candle from us, not those bills that we lower into a church cup, but our souls, our devotion and our love. Candles are only a symbol of sacrifice. They are certainly needed, but their light only helps us tune our consciousness to the perception of the invisible Divine light, to see which is the goal of the life of every true Christian. Sretensky candles, the use of which is undoubtedly beneficial, are still just a tuning fork that helps us tune in to the perception of great Divine harmony.