Is it possible to move on Michaelmas?translated

Reader question:

Good afternoon! Please tell me, is it possible to move to another city on Michaelmas Day (November 21) and plan a trip?

Lyudmila

Priest's answer:

Priest Victor NIKISHOV

Hello, Lyudmila!

Can. Moving or traveling on the day of the celebration of the Council of the Archangel Michael and other ethereal Heavenly Powers (November 21) is not a sin or a violation of the canons. The tradition of doing nothing on holidays has complex origins, but it has never been understood as an absolute prohibition on any activity.

This tradition of “idleness” has two main sources, and neither of them instructs believers to completely cease all activities.

The Old Testament commandment about the Sabbath and its popular reinterpretation: The root of the prohibition on working on holidays goes back to the fourth commandment of the Decalogue about Sabbath rest. However, in the Gospel this commandment was rethought: Christ directly said that “the Sabbath is for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Church never extended the Old Testament Sabbath injunctions to literally all holidays. In Christianity there is no “Sabbath” - a categorical ban on any work on certain days. The meaning of the holiday is not...