In Bihor, the Illuminated Week is dedicated to the commemoration of the dead and is known as the Week of the Blessed or Easter of the Dead. According to tradition, those who pass away on Easter Day and the first week after it, called Holy Week, go straight to Heaven, regardless of their faults, because the doors of Heaven are open and those of Hell are closed.
The church services of this period are special, focusing on the resurrection of the Savior from the dead.
White Thursday is also called Green Thursday, being a day in which hoardes, gardens and grains are honored. According to popular superstition, those who work on this day attract bad luck, drought and pests to their household. Field work is also forbidden, and those who will work today will cause grass to grow where it shouldn’t. It is also forbidden to wash or bleach clothes.
On this day, one should not travel as it is believed that those who go on a journey may face difficulties and those who work may suffer serious financial consequences including natural calamities.
On Maundy Thursday, there is also a ritual of the dead, which involves carrying 44 buckets of water and lighting two candles at the four corners of the courtyard. The water thus sanctified is then poured into the fountain in the courtyard. The Roma also observe a seven-decade-old tradition that gives them the opportunity to meet with relatives at home and abroad.
On this day, it is customary to “steal” beautiful girls by their future husbands, and possible family conflicts are often resolved on this day.
Thursday’s prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, Son and Word of God the Father, Who today took the Last Supper with Your disciples and with great humility washed their feet and those of the disciple who sold You. Then, taking bread and wine in Your Holy hands and blessing them with Your divine power, You made them Your own Body and Blood, with which You shared them saying: “Take, eat and drink, for these are the Body and My Blood, so that your sins may be forgiven.” The one who on this day ascended to heaven and sat at the right hand of God, Your Father, to reign with Him forever, as His only-begotten Son. I ask You, therefore, for the prayers of Your disciples, forgive the sins of all of us, the living and the deceased.
Give me, Lord, hot tears to weep my sins. May Your cleansing gift, which washed the feet of Your disciples, wash and cleanse my heart and soul, so that with dignity, purity and humility I may partake of Your Holy Mysteries, now and during my death, and in the hour of my separation, with joy may my soul ascend to You, without any fear, question or obstacle to pass the customs of the air, entering into Your heavenly glory. Help me, Lord, to magnify You forever, to worship Your Holy Name. Amen.
Source: doxologia.ro
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