Kolivo in the tradition of the Orthodox Church

Products for kutia are peeled grains: wheat, barley, rice, and sweet additives: earlier to be full - honey with water, and today candied fruits, nuts, raisins and honey.

The dish has pagan roots. Funeral kutya put on the table as a treat for the dead, to honor the ancestors. It was believed that this way you can attract success and happiness to the house for the whole year. But despite the non-pagan roots, kutya took root in the Orthodox culinary tradition and is blessed in the church, symbolizing the unity of the living and the dead in common immortality.

Customs and traditions associated with kutya

The name of the dish is Greek origin: this word in Byzantium was called a funeral treat of boiled wheat. Together with other Christian traditions, the custom of preparing kutya came to the Slavs, where it took root for many centuries.

Sweet porridge with honey and nuts symbolizes prosperity, abundance, fertility, health and well-being, so it was put on the table according to big holidays. It was believed that the richer the dish turned out (more satisfying and with a large number of additives), the more successful the year would be. It is with kutya that it is customary to begin the Christmas meal and end with it too. According to the established tradition, all family members and, in addition to them, pets and livestock should taste the dish - this will protect them from diseases and give them good health.

Lenten kutya is prepared on Christmas Eve, because fasting is still going on at this time. For her, you can not use any products of animal origin - no butter, no milk, no cream. On Christmas, it is customary to treat relatives living separately, friends, and neighbors with their kutya. The more people try it, the more benefits it promises in the future. In a separate bowl, kutya is left for the dead ancestors, who, according to beliefs, protect the house.
Kutya is brought to the temple to consecrate it, but if this is not possible, you can sprinkle the dish with holy water yourself.

Types of kutya: sweet and savory, kolivo and juicy, lean and “rich”

In spite of common name, kutya - not one, but several dishes with common ground. On Christmas Eve, kutya is put on the table with an abundance of sweet additives, honey, nuts, and raisins. Before Christmas, completing the fast, she looks more like a delicacy than a memorial dish. On Epiphany, the number of ingredients is traditionally less, so it is not so sweet.
On significant holidays that do not fall on fasting, they prepare a generous kutya, in which they put a large amount of heavy cream, butter, milk and other additives.

In addition to the composition, different kutya and different consistency. Steep kutya - kolivo, outwardly resembles friable sweet porridge. The semi-liquid dish is called sochivo, it is customary to eat it with spoons. This type of kutya got its name due to the fact that one of its components is "juice" or lean milk obtained from nuts, poppy seeds or hemp.

Composition of kutya: ingredients required and optional

The foundation

The basis of the dish is boiled whole grains of wheat, barley, pearl barley, oats, rice, buckwheat and others. To separate all the excess, the grits are first crushed in a mortar, adding a little water there. After the grain is soaked and then boiled. The base of the kutya should be soft, so it is better to overexpose it on the stove than to remove it ahead of time.

Wheat is the traditional basis of kutya, but in recent times Rice is becoming more and more popular. Yes, this is a noticeable departure from tradition, but it goes well with honey, raisins and nuts. The rice dish is usually served at the wake, but it is quite possible to prepare it for Christmas. If you boil rice in milk, kutia will no longer be lean, and you can’t serve it on Christmas Eve, but during other holidays it will become a table decoration.

Refueling

The second component of classic kutya is dressing. For a lean dish, milk from nuts, poppy seeds, almonds is used, and for a modest one - cream, butter, milk.

Nut or poppy milk is prepared by grinding the base in a mortar, grinding in a meat grinder or blender until a liquid appears white color. This will be juicy, it will replace milk in kutia. In addition to juicy, almost every recipe contains honey or syt. In some kutya recipes, dried fruit compote, fruit drink or sugar syrup is used as a dressing.

Other Ingredients

Nuts, raisins, dried fruits, candied fruits, steamed poppy seeds, marmalade, spices, jam are put in kutya. Dried fruits are pre-soaked. Fresh fruits are rarely used, because during long-term storage they can ferment in the porridge, ruining it. If you already include fruits, then it is better just before eating, so that they retain their taste and texture.

Kutya recipes

Funeral kutia

This dish is an essential attribute of commemoration or holidays, where it is customary to honor the dead ancestors.

Ingredients:

• a glass of rice;
• 2 glasses of water;
• salt;
• sugar;
• 50 grams of raisins;
• 2 tablespoons of honey;
• 50 grams of candied fruits or marmalade sweets.

Rinse the rice, then boil it into a crumbly, not sticky porridge. Add sugar, salt and honey. Steam raisins in hot water for 10 minutes to soften, then pat dry. Now raisins and rice can be combined. Before serving the finished kutia on the table, it is laid out on a plate in a slide, decorating with marmalade or candied fruit.

Christmas kutia

They cook it at Christmas time, take it to church for consecration and treat relatives and close people before Christmas. Christmas kutya symbolizes fertility, wealth and prosperity throughout the year.

Ingredients:

• sweets to taste (preferably marmalade);
• 100 grams of raisins;
• a glass of pre-peeled wheat;
• berry compote (you can cook it from dried fruits);
• 2 tablespoons of honey;
• 50 grams of candied fruits;
• nuts for decoration.

If there is no wheat, then rice is also suitable for kutya. Pour the cereal with cool water, boil until tender. Pour the compote into the porridge and mix the mass well: it should turn out semi-liquid, like a traditional dish that was put on the table. The consistency of the dish depends on the amount of compote: if someone wants a cool kutya, then quite a bit is enough - for taste, if liquid is required, one or two glasses are poured. AT last turn put sweets, honey, raisins, candied fruits in kutya and garnish with nuts.

rich kutia

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of wheat groats;
• ½ cup sugar;
• ½ cup chopped dried apricots;
• ½ cup poppy;
• ½ cup chopped prunes;
• raisins, nuts;
• cognac to taste;
• honey to taste.

First, boil the grains, and soak the poppy seeds in hot water for a few minutes. Then strain and rub the poppy with granulated sugar. In another bowl, soak prunes, raisins and dried apricots for 20 minutes (also in hot water). Mix chopped dried fruits with nuts, poppy seeds and wheat. At the very end, add some honey and any brandy for taste.

The subtleties of cooking, storing and serving kutya

Grains, cereals are best boiled in a bowl with a thick bottom. In thin-walled cereals, it can burn and spoil the taste of the dish.

After connecting all the components of the kutya, heat for another 10 minutes. Ideally - in a clay pot in the oven, but you can also in a saucepan on the stove, and in a slow cooker.
Thick kutya is diluted with a small amount of compote, grain water or warm water, then it will acquire the desired consistency and not lose its taste.

If you need to prepare a dish for the future for several days in advance, raisins are added before serving, since when stored in kutya, it will quickly lose its taste. Honey and fresh fruits can ferment, they are also not recommended to be put into porridge ahead of time.

We remember every year, although more than 1600 years have passed since the day when the Christians of Constantinople were saved from the atrocity plotted against their faith. And the consecration of the koliva remains a significant component of this holiday. But how important is this rite to us? Why are so many traditions of distant centuries transferred to modern life Churches? Has not our Orthodox faith become overgrown with all sorts of rituals?

About the practical aspects of ancient traditions, the attractive power of church rites, the search for reasons and the choice of a person - Archpriest Vladimir Puchkov, cleric of the Exaltation of the Cross Church in the city of Vinnitsa, Chief Editor newspaper "Orthodox Vinnitsa".

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Archpriest Vladimir Puchkov

The Church lives by a simple principle - it never cancels anything. The canons can serve as an example: a certain council adopts some rule, for example, in the 4th century, a century or two passes, and another council adopts another rule concerning the same subject, but with a slightly different content - sometimes directly opposite. However, no one cancels the previous rule.

In the same way, many of us have survived: once they had a certain meaning, over time they lost it. But since the traditions themselves were already several centuries old, it turned out to be a pity to cancel them.

So, for example, it happened with godparents. Initially, the recipient acted as a guarantor for the newcomer. When a person came to a church community with a desire to be baptized, he was not immediately baptized. The one who came was prepared for a long time, but before that someone had to vouch that this person really came for the sake of Christ, and not for some mercenary reasons or for some other reason.

When in the 4th century the Church ceased to be persecuted and many began to be baptized, sometimes entire families, it was already difficult to vouch for individual people. In the recipients, as guarantors, the need has disappeared. But after all, a whole tradition has already formed. And the emphasis shifted - now the godfather was charged not with helping a person in preparation for baptism, but with taking care of the already baptized. Thus, the tradition was preserved, but its original meaning was lost.

The same thing is observed with the consecration of the koliva. At some point, the Church experienced this event as really very significant. , a time of special abstinence. And then the emperor Julian orders to secretly sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals on the products in the market, so that Christians would be defiled, without wanting it and not suspecting it.

Then a miracle happens - moreover, especially if you think about who the Lord acted through. The Martyr Theodore Tyron appeared, as is known, to the bishop. But this bishop was an Arian - there was no Orthodox bishop in the city. Moreover, Eudoxius was also a man, to put it mildly, of a not very pious life. Professor Bolotov writes about him: an unattractive person, in his sermons reaching vulgarity and buffoonery, changing his beliefs like not everyone else».

Such a person is a martyr only because, due to his position, many will hear him.

And Christians get out of the situation in a simple way - they boil wheat and eat it with honey.

Of course, this event was significant for the Church. God's providence was revealed to them - and, after all, it was not about stopping some serious and obvious villainy, but about exposing an underlying, secret and petty plan. And the Lord even exposed him and showed how He cares about Christians, not disdaining for this an openly unworthy person - and the absence of worthy ones did not become a hindrance.

Lenten dish in a hurry

Of course, at the present time, kolivo itself means little. After all, what is a kolivo? This is a lean dish that can be prepared quickly. In our country, even kutya on the eve of the Nativity of Christ is now almost sacralized, giving it a special meaning. And the meaning, after all, is simple and purely practical: in the monasteries, the service of the Nativity Eve ended in the evening, the brethren did not eat anything all day, and soon they had to go to the Nativity Vespers. Therefore, they prepared something that did not need to be spent a lot of time on - boiled wheat and ate it with honey.

It was just a lean dish cooked in haste.

But today's fast food meatless dishes a lot, and they cook faster than kolivo. Therefore, the practical meaning of koliva disappeared. Only a tradition that is many centuries old has remained. And despite the fact that it has lost its relevance, this tradition is dear to many people, for them it is part of church life, "it has always been like that."

So it is with koliv - this tradition has simply grown into the life of the Church. This is the first statutory prayer service in Great Lent, and the consecration of food in the absence of a holiday, and a good reason to pronounce an interesting lesson. Yes, and it's simple - it is written in Triodi to serve, so you must serve.

It's very hard to part

– Why does our Church observe traditions, the meaning of which has long been lost?

We keep traditions simply because we keep them. They no longer have any practical meaning. There are many things in the Church that have long lost their original practical meaning. For example, priestly vestments are an apron, armlets, a belt and a cloak. But over time, they lost their original purpose and became beautiful liturgical garments. Today, no one thinks that the stole is an apron.

Or the deacon precedes the censing priest with a candle. After all, at first they served in the catacombs, where it was dark and it was difficult to easily walk without light.

Now in our temples the floors are so flat that you can ride on them. And yet, the deacon still precedes the priest with a candle.

At the heart of so many rituals is a purely practical moment. But the practical component was forgotten, and the rite, because it is beautiful, remained. And when the tradition is very many centuries old, it is always very difficult to part with it.

Help people understand what's important

– But has not over so many centuries overgrown church life with rites beyond measure?

- And where is the criterion for determining the measure? The Church has what constitutes the basis of her life - the Gospel and the Eucharist. Everything else can be taken away, but our Church will still remain the Church of Christ. There are things that are important, and there are things that are secondary.

But then a man from the street comes to the temple, picks up the Gospel - will he understand it right away? And try to immediately explain to him what it is - will everything be clear to him? If a person versed in knowledge, with higher education Maybe it will be easier for him. And how to explain this to a grandmother, for example, or to an illiterate person ?! But our churches were filled with literate people only in the twentieth century. Before that, in the temples, mostly, there were simple people who could barely read.

The nobility and officials with education at the Liturgy were attended, as a rule, by several dozen people, no more. In ancient times, this ratio was even more not in favor of the literate. It was impossible to say: here is the Gospel - read it. Or: Communion and do not be philosophic. And, of course, over time, the Church, so to speak, acquired auxiliary means that helped these people understand the main thing.

One of the most simple examples- icon. After all, it is not without reason that it is called “theology in colors”. The same, for example, Rublev's Trinity can literally be "read". A ten-minute story about what, how and why is depicted on this icon is able to reveal a sufficient number of theological truths both to a church-going Christian and to a neophyte who crossed the threshold of the temple for the first time.

Of course, a person who has reached a certain spiritual height may not need all these rituals. But are there so many highly spiritual people in our churches?

So is it any wonder that the Church pays the main attention not to those who understand everything from a half-word and from a half-look.

There are many rites in the Church, first of all, so that the Church, in its essence and main thing, is understandable not only to educated and spiritual people. In the end, educated and spiritual people grow out of ordinary people who once needed icons, rituals and much more to understand elementary things.

Man no longer needs Christ - he lacks the rite

– But now it is the rites that become the main thing for many–people come to church to consecrate Easter cakes, eggs, willows, water.

Let's start by separating sanctification and blessing. If we consecrate water, then it is impossible to say literally that we consecrate Easter cakes. This is just a blessing for tasting what we denied ourselves during the fast. The fast is over, the holiday has come, and a blessing is timed to it. Hence his solemnity. But after the blessing, neither the egg nor the willow becomes a shrine. Therefore, by the way, I do not understand the concern of some Orthodox about where to put the shell from the Easter egg or the stump from the apple.

- But after all, the vast majority of people baptized in Orthodoxy believe that eggs, and willows, and apples, after sprinkling with holy water, become consecrated objects. And people who come to churches on Easter, Epiphany and other holidays only to sprinkle food, bouquets and water - they go for consecration, not for blessing!

- That's the trouble. But when non-church people think so, it's half the trouble. However, unfortunately, many of our conscientious parishioners are not alien to this. And all because in the minds of some people there is a certain substitution: a person no longer needs Christ - he lacks a rite. This can be compared to how Small child learning to walk.

You can't do without a walker, but if, having learned to walk, he does not want to part with a walker, we risk getting a cripple.

The life of the Church is rooted in . Converging to celebrate the Eucharist, disparate Christians come together and represent the Church. By participating in the Eucharist, we are united with Christ and partake of the reality of the Kingdom of God. When the Eucharist recedes into the background in the mind of a Christian, then Christ recedes into the background with it.

The Tradition of Outrageously Rare Communion

How often do we take communion? Well, if once a week or two, but how many of these? Basically - once every few months, if not a couple of times a year. And this is also almost a tradition. And it has been formed for a long time. Even in synodal times, when the Church, in fact, was a ministry of confession, and in many areas of her life the spirit of formalism reigned. Officials were charged with the obligation to take communion at least once a year, which they did. Over time, this, so to speak, the norm spread to other church people. If someone took communion every fast, it was already very commendable. This is how the tradition of not just rare, but outrageously rare communion arose. Communion has ceased to be perceived as the norm of life, as a vital necessity.

Then the revolution broke out, they came Soviet times, with their forced godlessness. And the tradition of outrageously rare communion has gained a halo of "pre-revolutionary", especially since it fit the new time. Time passed, generations changed. In the seventies, rarely taking communion was the norm; in the nineties, this tradition was even advocated in books and articles. Is it any wonder that in the first place for many and many all this time there were rituals - prayers, memorial services, twigs, willows and eggs.

I'm not saying that everyone - in the Church there have always been people who understood the primacy of the Eucharist. Open the book "Eucharist. The Sacrament of the Kingdom” by Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann, and you will understand this without further ado. But always a certain number of people focused primarily on the ceremony.

And you don't have to give reasons.

– How Orthodox Christian Is it correct to treat the multitude of rites in our Church?

- Calmly. On the one hand, some rituals have changed beyond recognition, while others have not lost their original meaning. For example, the tradition of celebrating the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem with palm or willow branches in their hands is remarkable in its own way. Since the Church does not just remember the holiday, reproduces it, but experiences it in its entirety, as if it is happening right now, and not sometime ago, then, of course, we meet Christ in the temple with twigs too. But to the question of what to do with the consecrated willow, I must admit that I myself do not know how to answer.

On the other hand, for the non-church and the ignorant, churching often begins precisely with the rite. The need to consecrate the willow is another reason to visit the temple. However, when smart enough people see Orthodoxy purely from the ritual side, this is more than annoying.

And yet a person is so arranged that he always wants to explain everything. And always, no matter what he experiences, no matter what problems he solves, he wants to get to the bottom of the cause. Like Venedikt Erofeev: "I know many plans of God."

So, the only thing you should not do is to come up with your own interpretations of the rites and expect something extraordinary from them. And then, after all, for some it comes to the point that they begin to see the causes of serious life troubles in the prayer of the fortieth day that was not read a quarter of a century ago. The life principle “find a reason for everything” is bad because, without finding the reasons, a person easily invents them. It is important to remember that church rites are not intended for this.

Everything has its time and place

– So is it necessary in the Church to revise the old traditions - to cancel something, to modify it?

Yes and no. It is vital for us to place the Eucharist, and with it Christ, in the first place in the mass church consciousness. And this will inevitably entail a weakening of attention to the rites in general.

However, the Church is a fairly conservative structure, so no revolutionary changes in it will lead to good consequences. Any, even the most necessary changes in the Church must occur evolutionarily. That is, it is necessary to understand that this is always a long process, the basis of which is explanation, clarification, etc.

There is a constant replenishment of the Church with new people - churching different ages growing up children, youth. And these people need to be given a correct understanding of the centrality of the Gospel in the life of the Church, to make it clear that the core of Orthodoxy is. And if these believers become carriers of just such values, over time naturally some changes will start to happen. No one will cancel the rites, no one will fight them - it's just that in the minds of church people the rites will take the place they should occupy, but nothing more.

Prepared Marina Bogdanova

Kutia is a traditional main Christmas dish made from boiled wheat, honey and poppy seeds. Kutya symbolizes sacrifice to God, because wheat with honey is a sacred part of the holy supper. Poppy symbolizes martyrdom, innocently shed blood. Honey is a symbol God's word and purity.

Kutia is the main dish on the table, from which it is customary to start a meal. The pot with kutya must be carried by the hostess. The history, symbolism of kutya and its types - read in our material.

History of Kutia

The origin of the word "kutya" originates from Ancient Greece and literally translates as "boiled grain". In Greece and Ukraine, the dish was originally associated with the traditional worship of the deceased, and was served on the table on the eve of all religious holidays. Kutia was always present on the table at Christmas, Epiphany and other Orthodox holidays.

Symbolism of kutya

The main component of kutya is grain, which is a symbol eternal life and rebirth, belief in the immortality of the soul and its reincarnation. Like a seed that falls into the ground and is reborn, so the spirit of a person is reborn in a new body after burial. The grain is able to "sleep" for a long time, retaining life in itself, and then revive it again with the advent of spring.

What is kutya: history and its types

By eating kutya, a person becomes part of the endless cycle of life. Sprouted grains are often added to kutya, which are a symbol of eternal life. Poppy seeds or kernels of nuts in kutia - mean fertility. By adding these products, a person programs himself for wealth, generosity and abundance for the whole family. It is because of this that kutya is often prepared at weddings and at the birth or christening of children. Honey in sochiva symbolizes pleasure and sweet life, but not earthly, but eternal, which awaits a person in the Kingdom of Heaven. It is said that the benefits of the afterlife are so great and wonderful that they surpass the wildest dreams and expectations.

Types of kutia

Each holiday has its own way of cooking. Kutya can be semi-liquid or crumbly, it all depends on the amount of liquid. There are three types of cooking kutya:

- rich kutya (lean kutya with different ingredients, which is prepared on Christmas Eve);

- generous kutya (before the New Year, a quick dish with the addition of butter, cream or milk);

- hungry kutia (on Epiphany, the dish mainly consists of a grain base and a sweetener).

Secrets of cooking kutya

Kutya is cooked from a variety of cereals and grains: wheat, pearl barley, barley, rice, oats and even buckwheat. Wheat or other whole grains are pounded in a mortar with the addition of water. After that, it must be cooked in the oven. Wheat and cereals should be soaked to reduce cooking time. They should be well boiled and become soft.

After Vespers and the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts in the churches, a prayer canon is performed to the holy Great Martyr Theodore the Tyrone and blessed in honor of his kolivo - rice boiled with honey. This celebration was established on the following occasion.

In 362, the Greek emperor Julian the Apostate, in mockery of the Christians, ordered that all foodstuffs sold in the markets of Antioch be secretly sprinkled with idolized blood. The apostate from the Christian faith wanted in this way to desecrate the believers who strictly fasted on the first week of Great Lent. But the Great Martyr Theodore, who was burnt in 306 for confessing the faith of Christ, appeared in a dream to Bishop Eudoxius, told Julian about this order and gave advice to eat kolivo for a week instead of defiled food.

Thy Cross, Lord, great power: for by forming this in ourselves, we reflect the strength of demons.

“Great is the power of Your Cross, Lord: for, protecting ourselves with it, we immediately conquer the demonic power.”

The holy martyr Theodore rejoiced at the greatness of the faith of correction, in the source of the flame, as if on the water of repose: for he was burnt with fire, as if he had brought sweet bread to the Trinity. Through prayers, Christ God, save our souls.

“O great successes of faith! In the midst of the flame, as in cool water, the holy martyr Theodore rejoiced: for, having been burned in the fire, he became like sweet bread for the Trinity. Through his prayers, O Christ God, save our souls."

Troparion to Saint Theodore Tyron

We take the faith of Christ as a shield inside in your heart, you trampled down the opposing forces, long-suffering one: and you were crowned with a crown of heaven forever, Theodore, as if invincible.

“Having accepted the faith of Christ in your heart as a shield, you trampled down the enemy forces, long-suffering, and you, Theodore, were crowned with an eternal heavenly reward, as invincible.”

Kontakion to Saint Theodore Tyron

About confession

Sins mourned, confessed and resolved, are no longer in us, or not on us. They, too, are like branches cut off from a tree: when they loved sins, they were living branches on the tree of our life and ate from it; when we turned away from them, began to vilify them, repented and confessed, by this action we cut them off from ourselves. At the moment of permission, they fell away from us. Now these are dry branches, and the Lord is coming to burn into us this patience of sins. Through the forgiveness of sins, He prepares for Himself in us a dwelling worthy of Himself.

Do not say: today I will sin, and tomorrow I will repent, but it is better to repent today, because we do not know if we will live to see tomorrow.

Those who, preparing for confession for the first time after a long stay in sins, do well and find an opportunity to have a preliminary talk with their spiritual father and tell him the whole story of their sinful life. There is no danger for such people to forget or miss something in confusion during confession. In every possible way it is worth taking care of the full disclosure of your sins. The Lord gave the power to allow not unconditionally, but under the condition of repentance and confession.

If we do not properly confess our sins, then at the time of our exodus we will find some indefinite fear in ourselves. And we, who love the Lord, should wish and pray that at that time we would be free from any fear - for whoever then is in fear will not pass freely past the princes of hell, because they consider this timidity of the soul as a sign of its complicity in their evil, as it is in themselves.

Blessed Diadoch

When you sin, do not weep and lament, not that you will be punished: this is not important yet; but that you offended your Lord, who is so good, loves you so much; cares so much about your salvation that he gave up his Son for you. This is what you must weep and weep for, and weep without ceasing. For this is confession.

Consider fasting a weapon, prayer a wall, tears a bath.

Venerable Nil of Sinai

Every sin is committed for pleasure, and every forgiveness of sins is obtained through suffering and sorrow.

Rev. Abba Falasios

He who does not weep for himself here will weep forever there. So, it is necessary to cry either here - voluntarily, or there - from torment.

Reverend Abba Arseny

The rank of confession

I confess to the Lord God Almighty, in the Holy Trinity, glorified and worshiped by the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit ..., in all my sins, evil by me, committed by thought, word, deed and all my feelings.

I have sinned before the Lord and Savior with my ingratitude, lack of faith and unbelief. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

He sinned with treachery and infidelity, inconstancy in virtue, frivolity, vanity, vanity, timidity, grumbling, despondency, cowardice. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

I have sinned, Lord: self-love, pride, humiliation of others, envy, hatred, malice, malice, rudeness, insolence, cruelty. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

He sinned by overeating, drunkenness, smoking, laziness, lust, fornication, uncleanness. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

He sinned by waywardness, self-commitment, disobedience, disobedience, obstinacy of temper. - I repent, Lord. Have mercy, forgive and save!

He sinned with covetousness, stinginess, greed, deceit, slyness, slander, captiousness, God-fearing, hypocrisy. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

He sinned by abduction, thievery, appropriation of someone else's, concealment of what was found, hanging and deceit in buying and selling, indulgence and indulgence in sins and crimes. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

I have sinned, Lord: by vain pastime, idle talk, idle talk, foul language, playing cards, passion and reading empty books, neglect of reading Holy Scripture and other spiritual and spiritual books. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

I have sinned with malevolence, malevolence, malevolence, rancor… I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

He sinned with negligence in prayer, both in church and at home, with superstition, fortune-telling. - I repent, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save!

I sinned by unscrupulous performance of official duties, luxury, disrespect for old age, insulting parents, inventing an apology for my sins and self-justification instead of self-condemnation and self-accusation ..., inciting evil, cursing my neighbor, cursing, killing ... ... - I confess, Lord, have mercy, forgive and save !

I repent of all my iniquities, I bitterly repent of my sins, and henceforth, with God's help, I will be guarded from them.

Forgive me, honest father, and be my witness on the day of judgment against the accuser of my devil, that I have confessed all this and, according to the authority given to you by God to forgive the penitent sins, forgive them, and pray that the Lord direct my path to salvation.

Life of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Tyron

The Great Martyr Theodore Tiron was a warrior in the city of Alasia in the Pontic region in Asia Minor, under the command of a certain Vrnik. He was forced to sacrifice to idols. Saint Theodore firmly, publicly confessed his faith in Christ the Savior. The chief gave him several days to think, during which Saint Theodore prayed intensely. He was accused of setting fire to a pagan temple and thrown into prison to starve to death. There the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him, consoled and strengthened him. Brought to the governor, Saint Theodore once again boldly and fearlessly confessed his faith, for which he was subjected to new tortures and condemned to be burned. The martyr Theodore, without trembling, ascended the pyre and, with prayer and doxology, gave up his holy soul to God.

This happened around 306 under the Roman emperor Galerius. The body of Saint Theodore, undamaged by the fire, was buried in the city of Euchaitah, not far from Amasia. Subsequently, his relics were transferred to Constantinople, to a temple consecrated in his name. Its head is in Italy, in the city of Gaeta.

Fifty years after the martyrdom of Saint Theodore, the emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363), desiring to outrage Christians, ordered the mayor of Constantinople to sprinkle all food supplies in the markets with idolatrous blood during the first week of Great Lent. Saint Theodore, appearing in a dream to Archbishop Eudoxius, ordered him to announce to all Christians that no one should buy anything in the markets, but eat boiled wheat with honey - kolivo (kutya or sochivo). In commemoration of this event, the Orthodox Church celebrates every year on Saturday of the first week of Great Lent. On Saturday evening, on Friday, on Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, after the prayer behind the ambo, the prayer canon to the Holy Great Martyr Theodore, compiled by the Monk John of Damascus, is read. After that, the kolivo is blessed and distributed to the faithful. The celebration of the Great Martyr Theodore on Saturday of the first week of Great Lent was described by Patriarch Nectarios of Constantinople (381-397).

Desk book of a clergyman, Vol. II

On Saturday of the first week of Great Lent, the Great Martyr Theodore Tiron is commemorated, during the time of Julian the Apostate, who delivered fasting Christians from defiled food. In memory of this, today, on the eve of Saturday, kolivo is consecrated and eaten in the Church. We invite you to remember the feat of the martyr Theodore Tyron, and the recipes for koliva.

Thou hast subdued the flesh to the autocrat, glorious martyr mind,
and with both you please the Creator

(from the canon to the Great Martyr Theodore Tyron)

The Great Martyr Theodore Tyron was a warrior in the city of Alasia in the Pontic region in Asia Minor, under the command of a certain Vrink. The nickname Tiron literally means "recruit" (in contrast, for example, from "stratilat" - "commander"). The young man was forced to offer sacrifice to idols, but Saint Theodore firmly, publicly confessed his faith in Christ the Savior. Chief Vrink gave him several days to think, during which Saint Theodore prayed intensely. He was accused of setting fire to a pagan temple and thrown into prison to starve to death. There the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him, consoled and strengthened him. Brought before the Governor Publius, Saint Theodore once again boldly and fearlessly confessed his faith.

- Why, when it was necessary to bring a sacrifice to the goddess in a censer, did you bring her fire? asked hegemon Publius.

Saint Theodore answered:

I won't hide why I did it. I lit the wood so that the fire would scorch the stone. Is your goddess so powerless that fire can touch her and scorch her?

After much torment, the judge once again asked the young warrior:

What do you want: to be with us or with your Christ?

The saint answered with great joy:

— With my Christ I was, am and will be; you do what you want.

For this, the martyr Tiron was condemned to be burned. Without trembling, he ascended the fire and, with prayer and doxology, gave his soul to God.

This happened around 306 under the Roman emperor Galerius. The body of St. Theodore, not damaged by fire, was buried in the city of Euchaitah, not far from Amasia, by the pious woman Eusebia. Subsequently, his relics were transferred to Constantinople, to a temple consecrated in his name. Its head is in Italy, in the city of Gaeta.

A little time passed after his martyrdom, and Christianity became a permitted and impermissible religion, and a new state, Byzantium, appeared on the political map of the world at that time. When the emperor Julian the Apostate came to power in Constantinople and decided to desecrate food, the Lord, through the holy martyr, protected the Christians, who were unaware of the treachery awaiting them.

Fifty years after the martyrdom of St. Theodore, Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363), wanting to outrage and laugh at Christians, ordered the mayor of Constantinople to sprinkle all food supplies in the markets with idolatrous blood during the first week of Great Lent. Saint Theodore, appearing in a dream to Archbishop Eudoxius, ordered him to announce to all Christians that no one should buy anything in the markets, but eat boiled wheat with honey - kolivo (kutya or sochivo). By doing so, the Christians were not put to shame by Julian the Apostate, and the veneration of the holy martyr Tyron spread after this miracle. For example, the celebration of the Great Martyr Theodore on Saturday of the first week of Great Lent was described by Patriarch Nectarios of Constantinople (381-397).

In memory of the appearance of Theodore Tyrone, the Orthodox Church celebrates every year on Saturday of the first week. On the eve of Saturday, on Friday, after the prayer behind the ambo, the prayer canon to the holy Great Martyr Theodore, compiled by the Monk John of Damascus, is read. After that, kolivo, prepared from wheat with honey and poppy seeds, is blessed and distributed to believers.

According to legend, Archbishop Eudoxius was perplexed for a long time and asked the saint who appeared to him again what kolivo was and how to cook it, since such a name was not known in Constantinople. Theodore Tiron explained that in Euchait, where he was buried, this is the name of wheat boiled with honey. For those who, like Eudoxius, are perplexed about how to cook kolivo, we present one of the recipes:

1 cup of peeled wheat grains, 100 g of poppy seeds, 100 g of walnut kernels, 1-3 tablespoons of honey.

On water from pure grains, ordinary friable lean liquid porridge is boiled, cooled. Separately, poppy seeds are ground until poppy milk is obtained, honey is added, everything is mixed and added to the wheat. If the porridge is thick, it can be diluted with boiled water. At the end, crushed walnut kernels are added.

Sometimes kolivo is cooked from rice, but rice should be cooked in a special way: pour 1 cup of rice with boiling water (1.5 cups), cover the pan tightly with a lid and cook for three minutes over high heat, six on medium, three on low. Do not open the lid for another 12 minutes, allowing the rice to brew for a couple. The ratio of all components for koliva is preserved. Raisins are sometimes added, but this is optional.

You can also make kolivo with lentils or barley. In a general sense, this is a meager food from grains that will help us remember the meaning of fasting - keeping ourselves from any impurity and filth.