Beginning with IV in the Eastern countries and the V century in the West, one of the twelve most significant holidays for the Orthodox Church is the great Sacrament of the Lord . After more than two thousand years around the world, it continues to be celebrated on February 15 (February 2, according to the old style).
On this day, the church and all believing people remember and honor the events that were described by St. Luke in the Gospel. However, many of us are interested in the question: what does the word "creation" mean, and what is the essence of the holiday, which at all times was considered one of the most important for Orthodox people?
What does the feast of the Lord's Day mean?
The history of the celebration goes back many centuries, back in those days when the Virgin Mary, with the infant Jesus, who at that time was forty days after the birth (Christmas), arrived in the Jerusalem temple to bring a purification sacrifice to God for her son. It was here that the son of God met with a man, described in the Old Testament by the clerk, Luka. The first one who took the baby in his arms is Simeon. This man knew about the coming event from the prophecy of the book of Isaiah, which he translated into Greek. It said that the virgin would take in his belly and give birth to the son of the Messiah. When Simeon wanted to correct the word "maiden" to "wife", because only a married woman can give birth to a child, an Angel came to him, promised immortality to the scribe until the prophecy described is fulfilled. From that day, Simeon lived and waited when he could see the long-awaited savior with his own eyes and only then appear before the Lord.
Thus, we see that the word "construction" means neither, that other, as, a meeting. The second meaning is "joy", the meaning of which is to praise the Savior who came to our world, with a good mission and peace, which is still being sung in churches, in her honor they write icons with the image of St. Simeon holding the baby.
In translation from the church Old Slavic, the word "meeting" also means "meeting". It was after Streteniya with the Lord, the elder Simeon, who lived 360 years, waiting to see the miracle, the savior of the world of everything, could now die peacefully. After that, the church recognized him as a saint and called the God-tolerant.
However, there is one more meaning of this celebration of the Lord's Stretching. It is about the meeting of the Old and New Testaments, the Ancient World and Christianity. Along with this, people celebrate the act of offering the baby to the temple, which at that time could be performed only on the 40th day after the birth of the son and on the 80th after the birth of the daughter.
The meaning of the word "meeting"
For all Christians, meeting a person with a person is a clash of two worlds, knowledge of the unknown, which has a very important meaning in the relationship and communication of personalities. Any Christian can say that the word "creation" for him already means something mystical, not fully understood and mysterious.
From the point of view of the Orthodox Church, every time when entering a church or a church, any person crosses the threshold of the house of God. It is here with everyone that their personal construction with the Lord takes place, a meeting with what is unknown, unheard, but holy. Unfortunately, for today the meaning of the word "building" and the holiday itself, for the most part modern youth, is perceived somewhat differently than in the olden days.
The clergymen say to understand if a person has met with his God, you need to ask yourself: am I happy ? Whether it is joyful? Has it changed? Are there many in the heart of love, understanding oneself and one's neighbor? Only so you can understand the essence of the process.