Weekdays and their Significance for Christians

Everyone knows that a week has seven days, but not everyone understands the deeper meaning and significance of each of these days. The Bible tells us that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. This forms the basis for the seven-day week, which has been prevalent throughout the universe since ancient times.

In the Christian world, each day of the week is dedicated to commemorating events or saints from the history of the Church. For example, Sunday is dedicated to remembering the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. On Wednesday and Friday, we recall the events related to Christ's Passion and suffering for the redemption of humanity's sins, as testified by the 69th rule of the holy apostles.

The other days of the week are dedicated as follows: Monday in honor and glory of the holy bodiless heavenly powers; Tuesday in memory of the holy prophet and Forerunner John the Baptist; Thursday in memory of the holy apostles of Christ and in honor of the great hierarch and wonderworker Nikola; Saturday in honor of all the saints who have pleased God. On Saturday, it is also established by the holy fathers to commemorate the deceased.

Every believer's duty is to spend the days of the week righteously, strictly observing the rules established by the apostles and fathers of the Church, starting and ending each day with prayer, working honestly, and increasing the honor, glory, and power of our great homeland.

At the end of each day, one should reflect on what good has been done and what sins have been committed. If any sins are found, one should repent and ask God for forgiveness, praying to Him to protect us from sinning in the future and to grant us strength in the struggle against evil.

Let’s consider the significance of each day of the week.

Monday

The first day of the week, Monday, is dedicated to the honor and glory of the holy bodiless heavenly powers. According to the Church's statutes, the service includes stichera, troparia, kontakia, and a canon containing prayers to the heavenly powers, asking them to pray for us, unworthy as we are, and to deliver us from troubles and afflictions. The Holy Scriptures testify that the heavenly powers were created by God before the visible world and man. The multitude of heavenly powers is divided into nine orders (groups), each with its own name: angels, archangels, principalities, authorities, thrones, dominions, powers, cherubim, and seraphim. They are bodiless (i.e., incorporeal) and immortal, possessing supreme intelligence and knowledge, as well as special spiritual abilities and gifts. The bodiless heavenly powers fill the entire universe and fulfill their mission as determined by God.

Every person receives a guardian angel from God at baptism, who helps us in life, encourages us to do good deeds, and protects us from troubles and afflictions. Angels are our most faithful and reliable guardians, our closest helpers in good deeds. They rejoice when we do good. Let us not offend our guardian angel with sinful thoughts, words, and deeds.

God created all angelic forces good. However, some did not want to remain in their appointed order and rebelled against God. Their leader, Satan, wanted to be equal to God and was immediately cast down along with all his followers—demons, evil spirits—from the heights of heaven to the abyss. The Lord Himself said in the Gospel (zach. 40): "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." Thus, evil spirits—demons—appeared, trying to lead us to do evil deeds and instilling sinful thoughts.

However, they cannot do this without our will. God created man free, i.e., capable of deciding for himself which path to choose in life, and the guardian angel helps in this.

Therefore, we should always pray to all the heavenly powers and our guardian angel every day, especially on Monday, as this day is specially dedicated to the holy heavenly powers. We should pray like this: "All heavenly bodiless powers, holy archangels and angels, cherubim and seraphim, pray to God for us sinners." And to the guardian angel: "Angel of Christ, my holy guardian, save me, thy sinful servant."

The first day of the week, Monday, should be considered the happiest day because it is dedicated to the most intelligent, kindest, and most perfect bodiless beings. Many Christians regard it as such, voluntarily fasting on this day. However, there are people among us who consider Monday a "difficult" and unfortunate day. This opinion is deeply mistaken because no day can be unfortunate by itself, as every day is a creation of God, and it is good! The "difficulty" of Monday can be artificially created by us as a result of overindulgence and excessive drinking on Sunday, which is contrary to God and saddens our guardian angel. Therefore, we Christians should avoid bad habits and only do good deeds, so all the days of the week will be good and happy.

Tuesday

As mentioned earlier, Tuesday is dedicated to the holy prophet and Forerunner John the Baptist.

The Lord Himself said in the Gospel of Matthew: "Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist." This is why this great servant of God is honored by Christians above all the saints, and the second day of the week is dedicated to him.

Both the birth and life of John the Baptist are extraordinary. The Gospel tells us that the birth of John was announced to his father, the priest Zechariah, by the archangel Gabriel during his service in the temple. Because Zechariah did not believe this due to his old age, he became mute until the day the child was born, as the archangel Gabriel had foretold. When the child was born, Zechariah asked for a tablet and wrote: "His name is John," and by God's will, his speech returned to him. Thus, the preacher of repentance, the great prophet John the Forerunner, was born. His entire holy life was highly moral, free from worldly affairs, and entirely dedicated to serving God.

Saint John the Baptist lived in the Jordanian desert, where there were almost no plants or animals, only bare rock and sand. His food was locusts and wild honey. His clothing was made of camel skin, which he wore all his life. News of this extraordinary ascetic spread throughout the surrounding area. People began to come to him to hear his preaching. Shortly before the appearance of Jesus Christ to the people, the holy prophet John appeared on the banks of the Jordan River. He called people to repent and lead a virtuous life, for the Kingdom of God was near. Many people believed in the coming Messiah, Christ, and were baptized in the Jordan. John is called the Baptist not only because he baptized people with the baptism of repentance but mainly because he was deemed worthy to baptize our Lord Jesus Christ.

John boldly denounced the vices and sins of not only ordinary people but also the highest nobles and kings. Thus, he rebuked King Herod for taking Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip, as his wife during Philip's lifetime, which is a great sin. Herodias hated the holy prophet and plotted to kill him. Once, Herod held a banquet to celebrate his birthday. In the midst of the feast, Herodias's daughter Salome came in and pleased Herod and his guests with her dance. Drunk with wine, Herod swore to give her whatever she asked, up to half of his kingdom. Advised by her wicked mother, the shameless dancer asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Herod was distressed but did not want to break his oath and ordered the beheading of Saint John the Baptist and gave it to Salome, which was done. Thus, unrestrained drunkenness and a vile feast with dancing led to the murder of a great righteous man. Therefore, feasts should not be held, especially on Tuesday, when the memory of the great prophet is observed. One should pray to Saint John the Forerunner: "Holy great John, prophet and Forerunner, Baptist of the Lord, pray to God for us sinners."

Saint John the Forerunner has great boldness before God as a great righteous man, higher than whom, according to the Lord Himself, there has not been among people. This is why we should always pray to him, especially on Tuesday.

Wednesday

Wednesday and Friday are dedicated to the remembrance of the sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of humanity. The leaders of the Jewish people—the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees—hated Christ for His spiritual power and influence on the people, for His teachings, and the miracles He performed. The people, seeing the healing of the paralyzed, the restoration of sight to the blind, and other miracles, increasingly recognized Him as the Messiah predicted by the prophets, the Savior. The more Christ performed miracles, the more the scribes and Pharisees hated Him and envied Him. This feeling of hatred made them morally blind. When Christ raised Lazarus from the dead after four days, their cup of malice overflowed. On Wednesday, the Jewish leaders held a council and decided to kill Christ. Judas Iscariot, one of Christ's disciples, came to this council. Among Christ's disciples, Judas was in charge of financial matters and dealt with money. He became infected with the passion of greed, even stealing public money. Coming to the Jewish council, he said to the priests, "What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?" (Matt., zach. 108). They promised to give him thirty pieces of silver. At that time in Palestine, there was a slave trade, and this amount was the lowest price for one slave.

This terrible event—the agreement of Judas to betray Christ—took place on Wednesday. This is why we Christians are required to fast on Wednesday, remembering this dreadful deal of Judas's betrayal of Christ and the decision of the unlawful council to hand Christ over to death. The 69th rule of the holy apostles commands fasting on Wednesday, as well as on Friday, on par with the Great Fast. According to the church statutes, on Wednesday and Friday, it is prescribed to eat food without oil and only once a day, except on holidays and continuous weeks.

It is especially inadmissible to commit sinful acts, hold feasts, or engage in drunkenness on Wednesday and Friday. On Wednesday, one should pray to the Holy and Life-giving Cross of the Lord: "Invincible and Divine power of the Holy and Life-giving Cross of the Lord, do not abandon us sinners who hope in Thee!" One should also pray: "By the power and protection of Thy Holy Cross, Lord, protect and have mercy on us!"

Thursday

The fourth day of the week, Thursday, is dedicated to the honor and glory of the holy apostles of Christ and the memory of the holy hierarch and wonderworker Nikola. The apostles were the first followers of Christ, who left everything and followed Him, becoming His disciples and later the preachers of His teachings—the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Initially, Christ chose twelve apostles for Himself, and later seventy more. The first disciples of Christ were brothers Andrew and John, the sons of the fisherman Zebedee. Christ said to them: "From now on you will catch men." They left their father and their fishing nets and followed Christ. Apostle Andrew, called "the First-Called" because he was the first to be called by Christ, later became a preacher of the Gospel even in our land, Russia.

In a similar way, ten more disciples followed Christ. They all left their possessions and families, renounced life's comforts, and wholly dedicated themselves to serving God. They were always with Christ, listened to His teachings, saw His miracles, and followed His commands. Three of them—Peter, James, and John—witnessed the Divine Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ on Mount Tabor and testified to this extraordinary event in their apostolic letters.

After His Resurrection from the dead, Christ appeared to His disciples and apostles repeatedly over forty days and spoke to them about the Kingdom of God. He determined their future mission—to be witnesses and preachers of His teachings throughout the universe, of His crucifixion, three-day Resurrection from the dead, and Ascension to heaven.

The word "apostle" is Greek and means "messenger" in Russian. After the Ascension of the Lord, on the day of Pentecost, the apostles, having received the grace of the Holy Spirit in a visible manner, "in the vision of fiery tongues," began to speak in the languages of the world's peoples without studying them.

They all went on to preach Christ's Gospel teachings in different countries, converting thousands of people to the Christian faith by the power of their words. They did this selflessly, sparing neither their strength nor their lives. For preaching Christ's teachings, they were persecuted, beaten, imprisoned, and eventually all, except John the Theologian, met a martyr's end. For example, Apostle Peter was crucified upside down. Apostle Paul was beheaded by a sword, and Apostle Thomas was hung on a tree also upside down. Thus, the chosen ones of God, the apostles of Christ, through their lives imbued with the spirit of God, the power of the Gospel, and fervent love, left us the commandment to be worthy of the title of Christians, to be followers and fulfillers of God's commandments and Christ's teachings, which they set forth in numerous epistles. This is why the service on this day is dedicated to the apostles. In our prayers to them, we say: "Holy apostles, pray to God for us." On Thursday, the memory of Saint Nikola, the archbishop of Myra in Lycia and wonderworker, is also commemorated. A service is held in his honor on this day.

This great servant of God lived in the 4th century AD. Raised by his pious parents in the Christian faith, he was a model of "faith and gentleness." Saint Nikola led a monastic life and, for his many virtues, was consecrated as the archbishop of Myra in Lycia. His entire life was filled with acts of mercy, an example of temperance, and boundless love for God and people. Many different miracles are known to have been performed by Saint Nicholas: on land and at sea, in dreams and in reality, saving people in distress and delivering the innocent from death. It is impossible to list all his good deeds for people. The kondakion (hymn) to Saint Nikola testifies that he "...fulfilled the Gospel of Christ today, laying down his life for his people and saving the innocent from death..." It is known from history that Saint Nikola participated in the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea in 325 AD, condemning the Arian heresy.

In our prayers, we turn to Saint Nikola: "Saint Nikola, pray to God for us sinners," for he is "a swift helper, a warm intercessor, and a prayerful advocate to the Savior for our souls."

Friday

Of all the days of the week, Friday, called "Pyatok" in Slavonic, is the saddest because of the events that occurred on this day.

On this day, after creating the four-legged animals, God created man in His own image and likeness. He formed the body from the earth and breathed into it an immortal, rational soul, endowed with free will and possessing conscience and other faculties and attributes that distinguish it from all higher animals.

Having created the first humans, Adam and Eve, the Lord God placed them in the paradise of bliss, blessed them, and told them to have dominion over all the plant and animal worlds, but forbade them to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. However, the enemy of God and man, the devil, tempted Eve, and through her, Adam, and they ate the fruit from the forbidden tree, became mortal, and were expelled from paradise. From these sinful first humans came offspring—the sinful human race, which turned away from God.

But the all-merciful Lord, "seeing the destruction of the man He created with His own hands" (from the canon on the Nativity of Christ), sent His Son into the world, who descended from heaven, was born from the Most Pure Virgin Mary, lived among people, taught them piety, performed miracles, suffered for the salvation of humanity, and endured crucifixion and death on the Cross.

This terrible event occurred on a Friday. On the previous Thursday evening, Christ held the Last Supper with His disciples, in the image of the Old Testament Passover, and established a new Passover—the sacrament of His Body and Blood. At this supper, Christ washed the feet of His disciples and revealed who would betray Him—Judas, who immediately left the supper. Christ went out with His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed long and fervently, so much so that bloody sweat fell from His face. During the night, a terrible event occurred—Judas's betrayal of Christ to the soldiers and the Jewish crowd who came with weapons and clubs. They seized Christ and took Him to the high priest Caiaphas for trial. The Jewish judges tried to find fault with Christ through false testimony but were unsuccessful. When Caiaphas asked if He considered Himself the Messiah, the Son of God, and Christ answered affirmatively, Caiaphas and the other judges, filled with malice, condemned Him and decided to put Him to death.

At that time, Judea was under Roman rule, and it was not permissible to execute anyone without their permission. Therefore, the Jews brought Christ to Pilate, the Roman governor, and demanded that Pilate hand Christ over to them to be crucified. Pilate, after questioning Christ, realized that they sought His death out of envy and tried to release Him. But the enraged Jewish crowd demanded, "Take Him away, crucify Him!" Then Pilate, yielding to their demand despite his conviction of Christ's innocence, washed his hands before the people and said, "I am innocent of this righteous man's blood," and handed Christ over to the Jews to be crucified.

The Gospels recount the mockery, suffering, and torment our Lord Jesus Christ endured. They placed a crown of thorns on His head so that blood dripped from the wounds, blindfolded Him, struck His face, spat on Him, and hit Him on the head with a reed. Exhausted and weakened by His sufferings, Christ was led to Golgotha, where He was crucified between two thieves. But the tormentors' malice knew no bounds. They continued to mock Him: "If You are the Son of God, come down from the Cross, and we will believe in You," they said, mocking Him. One of the soldiers put a sponge soaked in vinegar mixed with gall on a reed and offered it to Christ's mouth. But the suffering Christ, enduring all this, prayed for His crucifiers: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!" Christ's sufferings were unbearably painful, but He knew that this was how it had to be according to Scripture, and when everything was accomplished, Christ cried out with a loud voice, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit!"—bowed His head and gave up His spirit. At that moment, the earth shook, rocks split, the sun darkened, and it became as dark as night, the temple veil tore in two from top to bottom, and many righteous dead were resurrected and appeared to many. Seeing all this, the centurion Longinus, standing by the Cross, exclaimed, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

All these events happened on Friday. Can we, as Christians, remember all this without heartfelt trembling? This is why we must fast on Friday, just as we do on Wednesday. It is also necessary to avoid any entertainments and feasts, remembering that on Friday Christ suffered on the Cross. On Friday, we should pray to the Cross of Christ: "Glory, O Lord, to Thine honorable Cross." We should also pray to the Cross of Christ for the Lord God to grant us patience to endure whatever befalls us without complaint.

Saturday

As mentioned earlier, Saturday is dedicated to the memory of all the saints who have pleased God. A service is held for them on this day. The saints include patriarchs, apostles, prophets, martyrs, hierarchs, venerable ones, and righteous ones of both sexes, who pleased God with their deep faith, lives, and deeds.

Apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, speaks of them thus: "All the saints, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames... were strong in battle and routed foreign armies... others were tortured, not accepting release... some faced jeers and flogging, even chains and imprisonment, they were stoned... they were put to death by the sword..." (ch. 11). And further, Apostle Paul addresses us with these instructive words: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..."

We, living at the beginning of the third millennium AD, must always have before us the example of all the saints, their deep faith in Christ, their lives, and their sufferings for Christ, for the salvation of souls, and for eternal life. And as we worthily honor the memory of all the saints, we call upon them in prayer, praying to Christ our God: "O God, glorified in the light of Thy saints, grant us Thy help and blessing in our labors." To all the saints, we should pray: "All ye saints, pray to God for us."

It is also customary on Saturday to offer prayers for our departed fathers and brothers, for all Orthodox Christians. In the Saturday service, stichera, canons, and prayers are also dedicated to the memory of the deceased. We must always pray for our departed parents, ancestors, relatives, and friends, asking the Lord to forgive their sins and grant their souls rest "in His unfading bliss."

Sunday

The seventh day of the week, Sunday, is a day of joy and spiritual celebration, a day of glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead.

The commandment of God, given to the prophet Moses, states: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God" (Exodus 20). After the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, the seventh day of the week, according to God's Commandment, is considered the Lord's Day, which is commanded to be celebrated spiritually by all Christians, as prescribed by the 29th rule of the Council of Laodicea (364 AD) and the 1st rule of Theophilus, Archbishop of Alexandria.

On this day, the Holy Church of Christ offers prayers of praise and thanksgiving to God for His love for mankind and His unspeakable mercy toward the human race.

The entire service on Saturday evening and Sunday morning is dedicated to the prayerful glorification of the Lord, who rose from the dead: "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the Holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless one. We venerate Thy Cross, O Christ, and we praise and glorify Thy holy Resurrection."

Through the Cross and Resurrection, the Lord granted believers in Him deliverance from corruption and death, and opened the way to eternal life. On Sunday, we should pray: "Glory, O Lord, to Thy Resurrection," as well as: "Glory, O Lord, to Thy Cross and Resurrection."

By His descent to humanity, His earthly life, His sufferings on the Cross, and His Resurrection, our Lord Jesus Christ showed His utmost love for people and commanded us to love one another. Love is the highest Commandment of God. The love of God opened the way to heaven and to eternal bliss.

Love is the foundation of all virtue, for neither almsgiving, fasting, repentance, nor any good deeds done without love will help us be saved. Concluding the week with prayers and thanksgiving to God, let us ask Him to accept our grateful prayers, grant us the salvation of our souls, and bless our labors for the good of the Holy Church of Christ.

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