Maslenitsa ( be, Масленіца, russian: Мaсленица, rue, Фашенґи, uk, Масниця; also known as Butter Lady, Butter Week, Crepe week, or Cheesefare Week) is an Eastern Slavic religious and folk holiday, which has retained a number of elements of Slavic mythology in its ritual, celebrated during the last week before

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast, (Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, meaning "Great 40 Days," and "Great Fast," respectively) is the most important fasting season of the church year within many denominat ...

, that is, the eighth week before Eastern Orthodox Pascha. The date of Maslenitsa changes every year depending on the date of the celebration of Easter. It corresponds to the Western Christian

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

, except that Orthodox Lent begins on a Monday instead of a Wednesday, and the Orthodox

date of Easter As a moveable feast, the date of Easter is determined in each year through a calculation known as (). Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon on or after 21 March (a fixed approxi ...

can differ greatly from the Western Christian date. The traditional attributes of the Maslenitsa celebration are the Maslenitsa

effigy An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

, sleigh rides, festivities. Russians bake bliny and

flatbread A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. Flatbreads ran ...

, while Belarusians and Ukrainians cook

pierogi Pierogi are filled dumplings made by wrapping unleavened dough around a savory or sweet filling and cooking in boiling water. They are often pan-fried before serving. Pierogi or their varieties are associated with the cuisines of Central, Easter ...

and syrniki.

Traditions

According to archeological evidence from 2nd century A.D. Maslenitsa may be the oldest surviving Slavic holiday.Maslenitsa, Blin! The Food and Celebration of the Russians
By Josh Wilson, Newsletter, The School of Russian and Asian Studies, 9 March 2005. In the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

tradition, Maslenitsa is the last week before the onset of

.''Maslenitsa''
by Margaret McKibben, Russian Folk Group of Seattle, WA, Seattle Community Network. undated. During the week of Maslenitsa, meat is already forbidden to

Orthodox Christians Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

, and it is the last week during which eggs, milk, cheese and other dairy products are permitted, leading to its name of "Cheese-fare week" or "Crepe week". The most characteristic food of Maslenitsa is '' bliny'' - thin pancakes or crepes, made from the rich foods still allowed by the Orthodox tradition that week: butter, eggs and milk. Since Lent excludes parties, secular music, dancing and other distractions from spiritual life, Maslenitsa represents the last chance to take part in social activities that are not appropriate during the more prayerful, sober and introspective Lenten season. In some regions, each day of Maslenitsa had its traditional activity. Monday may be the welcoming of "Lady Maslenitsa". The community builds the Maslenitsa effigy out of straw (из соломы), decorated with pieces of rags, and fixed to a pole formerly known as Kostroma. It is paraded around and the first pancakes may be made and offered to the poor. On Tuesday, young men might search for a fiancée to marry after Lent. On Wednesday sons-in-law may visit their mother-in-law who has prepared pancakes and invited other guests for a party. Thursday may be devoted to outdoor activities. People may take off work and spend the day sledding, ice skating, snowball fights and with sleigh rides. On Friday sons-in-law may invite their mothers-in-law for dinner. Saturday may be a gathering of a young wife with her sisters-in-law to work on a good relationship.

Sunday of Forgiveness

The last day of Cheesefare Week is called "Forgiveness Sunday" (Прощёное воскресенье). Relatives and friends ask each other for forgiveness and might offer them small presents. As the culmination of the celebration people gather to "strip Lady Maslenitsa of her finery" and burn her in a

bonfire A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration. Etymology The earliest recorded uses of the word date back to the late 15th century, with the Catho ...

. Left-over pancakes may also be thrown into the fire and Lady Maslenitsa's ashes are buried in the snow to "fertilize the crops". At Vespers on Sunday evening, people may make a '' poklon'' (bow) before one another and ask forgiveness. Another name for Forgiveness Sunday is "Cheesefare Sunday", because for devout Orthodox Christians it is the last day on which dairy products may be consumed until Easter. Fish, wine and olive oil will also be forbidden on most days of Great Lent. The day following Cheesefare Sunday is called

Clean Monday Clean Monday ( el, Καθαρά Δευτέρα), also known as Pure Monday, Ash Monday, Monday of Lent or Green Monday, is the first day of Great Lent throughout Eastern Christianity and is a moveable feast, falling on the 6th Monday before ...

, because people have confessed their sins, asked forgiveness, and begun Great Lent with a clean slate.

Modern times

During Soviet times, Maslenitsa, like other religious holidays, was not celebrated officially. However, it was widely observed in families without its religious significance, as an opportunity to prepare crepes with all sorts of fillings and coverings and to eat and share them with friends. After the start of ''

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

'', the outdoor celebrations resumed, although they were seen by some as an artificial restoration of a dead tradition. Since the

dissolution of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

, many Russians have returned to practicing Christianity, the tradition is still being revived. With increasing secularization many Russians do not abstain from meat and Maslenitsa celebrations can be accompanied by

shashlik Shashlik, or shashlick (russian: шашлык ''shashlyk''), is a dish of skewered and grilled cubes of meat, similar to or synonymous with shish kebab. It is known traditionally by various other names in Iran, the Caucasus, Eastern Europe and C ...

vendors. Nevertheless, "meat still does not play a major role in the festivities". Many countries with a significant number of Russian immigrants consider Maslenitsa a suitable occasion to celebrate Russian culture, although the celebrations are usually reduced to one day and may not coincide with the date of the religious celebrations. On 20 March 2017, the British tabloid newspaper '' Daily Mirror'' painted the Maslenitsa as a Hooligan training ground. One of the centuries-old traditions in this folk festival is "wall-on-wall" (‘ stenka na stenku’, Ru), which involves sparring between men dressed in traditional folk clothes. This tradition was misrepresented by the ''Mirror'' in pictures and text as a collective act of violence without providing context about the Russian traditional festival. The ''Mirror'' article was titled "Russia's Ultra yobs infiltrated amid warnings England fans could be KILLED at World Cup", and was received negatively by the Russian media, which described it as fake news.

Gallery

File:SurikovSnowFortress.jpg, Vasily Surikov. Взятие снежного городка Taking a Snow Town, 1891. File:Соломаткин Масленица 1878.jpg,

Leonid Solomatkin Leonid Ivanovich Solomatkin (Russian: Леонид Иванович Соломаткин; 1837, Sudzha, Kursk Oblast, Sudzha – 18 June 1883, Saint Petersburg) was a Russian Genre art, genre painter in the Realism (art), Realistic style. Biogra ...

. Maslenitsa, 1878. File:Крыжановский Прощеный-день.jpg, K. Kryzhanovsky. Sunday of Forgiveness, 19th century. File:Scenery at Celebration of Maslenitsa 01.jpg, Scenery at Celebration of Maslenitsa File:2014. Харьков 062.jpg, Maslenitsa celebrations in Kharkiv, 2014. File:St. Petersburg, Russia, IMG 8506 (40616996172).jpg, Maslenitsa festivities in St. Petersburg, 2018.

References

External links