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среда, 26 июня 2019 г.

воскресенье, 19 августа 2018 г.

Savior of the Apple Feast Day

The Savior of the Apple Feast Day(sometimes the Saviour on the Hill)[1] is an Eastern Slavic folk holiday, which is observed on August 19, falling on the Feast of the Transfiguration.

It is the most important of the three Saviour (Spas) days. The others are: honey savior, on August 14 (or August 1, Julian Calendar); and nut savior on August 29 (or August 16, Julian Calendar).

The holiday has a pre-Christian origin and is associated with harvesting of ripe fruits, especially apples. Then it became an Orthodox holiday. There are processions and blessings of harvests. Usually, on that day, people from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus eat apples, apple pies, or other dishes containing apples, even if they are not Orthodox Christians.

воскресенье, 1 апреля 2018 г.

Pussy willow Sunday in Russia ( Palm Sunday)

“There is no spring without willow”, they used to say in Russia, On Willow Sunday the willow is first Nurch, and then kept at home tie icons. It was a custom to tap each other with a sprig of willow, chanting: “The willow is beating you to tears. It’s not me beating you it’s the willow beats and makes you cry. White willow beats and it knows why.” Besides, people believed willow brings good luck.
Always celebrated a week before Easter, Willow Sunday date each year depends on the date set for Easter. The day between the two Sundays comprise Holy week, a period especially devoted to the commemoration of the events of the last week of Jesus’ life on Earth. Palm Sunday became known as Willow Sunday, as people used pussy willow branches instead of palms. Sometimes, on Palm Sunday they will bless both palms and pussy willows in church. Meanwhile, people preserved the branches throughout the year in the family’s icon corner.