On Sunday, April 28, Eastern Rite Christians celebrate the Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, an event known as Palm Sunday.
On the sixth Sunday of the Easter Lent, Orthodox and Greek-Catholic Christians celebrate Flowers, the most important holiday that heralds the Holy Easter holidays and the Resurrection of the Lord in a week on May 5.
The Lord’s entry into Jerusalem inaugurates the last week of His earthly life. Thus, from this day begins the Week of the Passion, informs crestinortdox.ro. In all the churches, the Denies are held every evening, services by which the faithful are called to accompany Christ on the Way of the Cross, until His death and Resurrection.
There are several popular beliefs related to Flowers:
1. It is said that a believer who partakes of the Flowers has the chance to have any wish fulfilled. He must put in his mind a desire, when he approaches the priest, to receive holy communion. This is one of the most important superstitions of Florii.
2. According to popular sayings, as the weather will be on Palm Sunday, so will it be on the first day of Easter.
3. Girls dream of their bear. In some areas, girls put basil under their pillow on the night of the Flower, in order to become more beautiful and, with a little luck, to get married that year.
4. In some areas of the country, the inhabitants who take into account numerous superstitions of the Village Flowers burn themselves with willow branches over the middle. Thus, they say, they are protected from diseases and become more resistant.
5. In Muntenia, on Flower Day, people do not wash their heads, because it is the Sunday when the trees bloom, and for this reason, those who do not respect the tradition will turn gray.
6. Those who eat willow buds after the consecration service will be cured of diseases and will strengthen their immune system in the future as well; The cattle are given willow twigs in their food, to keep them healthy all year round and to make healthy calves.
7. It is also said that from this day on, nettles bloom and are no longer edible.
8. On the branches of the fruit trees, on the trunks of the vine, on the beehives and on the windows, willow branches are hung, so that all the members of the family enjoy prosperity and health, according to an important superstition of the Florii. Also, in fields and gardens, willow buds are buried under the first furrow, also for their miraculous effect, which attracts abundance.
9. It is good for unmarried girls to take the dowry outside in the sun and decorate it with flowers. It is a custom by which, on the Day of Flowers, keeping the order of Lent, the young women pray to the Savior Jesus to give them health and bring them the bear faster.
10. De Florii is used to make a “bear”, so that the girls found out, through various procedures, whether they will marry or not that year. Before the celebration, girls who believe in the superstitions of Florii use to put a mirror and a clean shirt under a grafted hair. After sunrise, these objects are used in charms for luck in love and health.
11. At midnight, basil is boiled in water, and in the morning the girls wash their heads with this decoction, so that their hair grows beautiful and shiny. What remains is poured at the root of a hair, in the hope that the boys will look for them, like for a flowering tree.
12. Also, one of these superstitions of Florii says that the parents must hit the children with the willow stick when they come from the church, so that they grow up healthy and wise.
Almost 1.5 million Romanians celebrate their name day on Florii, over 635,000 of them are men, and more than 855,000 are women, according to a press release from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The existing statistics, at the level of the Directorate for the Registration of Persons and the Administration of Databases within the MAI, show that the majority of Romanians who celebrate their names today bear the names: Florin, Florea, Viorel and Florian. Of the total number of celebrated Romanian women, the majority bear the names: Florica, Floarea, Florina, Florentina, Narcisa and Viorica.
On Palm Sunday, Romanians with less common names will also celebrate birthdays, such as: Rose – 2,418, Peony – 1,550, Floricel – 928, Mărgărit – 699 and Crin – 204, but also Călin, Florentin, Leandru and Narcis.
Of the total number of Romanians who celebrate Florii, 146,268 are called Viorica, 128,844 – Florentina, 92,668 – Florica, 87,202 – Floarea and 79,753 – Florina.
At the same time, on Sunday, women named after flowers will be celebrated, such as: Garofiţa – 2,972, Iris – 2,196, Anemona – 858, Micșunica – 626, Romaniţa – 533, Panselută – 444 and Chrysanthemum – 303, but also Brânduşa, Florence, Gladiola, Ina, Dalia, Camelia, Crina, Margareta, Mălina, Narcisa, Lâmăita, Lăcrămioara, Călina, Sânziana, Violeta and Viola.
Happy birthday to all the celebrants!
Find out here the symbolism of Palm Sunday from Fr. Petru Berbentia – from the municipality of Reşita:
On Palm Sunday, the Church ordained that there be a release of fish.
Photo source: crestin-ortodox.ro
Tags: Palm Sunday threshold Easter holidays Thousands Romanians celebrating today
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