Easter occupies the main place in the Orthodox Church calendar. From this holiday, the countdown of other significant celebrations for a believer is also conducted. Despite the fact that the afterfeast of the Resurrection of Christ is 39 days, within the framework of the afterfeast there is a special date - the Pre-feast of Pentecost.
The Feast of Pentecost is a holiday celebrated by all Orthodox Churches, as well as some Eastern Catholic communities of the Byzantine tradition. This church celebration falls on the 25th day after the Bright Resurrection of Christ and makes up exactly half of the period from Easter to the Day of the Holy Trinity. The very name "Prepolovanie" just indicates this calendar feature. In 2015, the Pre-Celebration of Pentecost falls on the 6th of May in the new style.
The Feast of Prepolove connects the great Christian celebrations: Easter, the Ascension of the Lord and the day of the Holy Trinity. It is no coincidence that the liturgical texts of the Divine Service for Prepolovene speak of the approaching Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Descent of the Holy Spirit is also mentioned.
The Feast of the Preparation of the Lord came into use in the church around the end of the 4th century; from the 5th century, certain hymnographic church works for this day began to appear. This celebration was not left aside by the great Christian hymnographers, who wrote the liturgical texts of Prepolovene, which to this day are heard in Orthodox churches. Among such great Christian writers can be noted St. Andrew of Crete, St. John of Damascus, Theophanes the Confessor. Some researchers believe that Kosma Mayumsky is also one of the author of festive chants for this day.
In the Orthodox Church, a tradition has been established to celebrate solemn processions of the cross to water sources on the day of Prepolove in order to consecrate the water. At present, not every church has such processions, however, the liturgical charter ascribes the obligatory performance of the rite of small consecration of water, which takes place on Prepolovenie in churches after the liturgy.
