According to the folk calendar - Anthony the Thunderbearer

According to the folk calendar, Anthony the Thunderbearer is celebrated on July 23 (July 10, old style) So the date is named in honor of Saint Anthony of the Kiev-Pechersk, whose memory is revered by Orthodox believers on this day The saint was born in the 10th century in the Ukrainian village of Lyubeche in the Chernigov region From his youth he became a monk at Mount Athos and was distinguished among the brethren for his humility and obedience Years later, the abbot of the monastery ordered Anthony to return to his homeland and there maintain faith in the Lord among the population Anthony settled in a cave not far from Kyiv, other monks began to gravitate towards him, and subsequently a monastery grew in that place, which in the future was one of the parts of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra Anthony himself, wanting privacy, left the monastery and settled in a nearby cave The Lord honored the elder with the gift of miracles and foresight, and therefore residents flocked to him for blessings The saint died after living for more than ninety years And among the people, Anthony was nicknamed the Thunderbearer, because on that day thunderclaps were often heard It was by them that the inhabitants determined the future If a sharp rumble was heard, then a strong thunderstorm was expected, but a dull sound foreshadowed a light drizzle If Anthony the Thunder-Bearer fell on Wednesday or Friday, and thunderclaps were heard, then one could prepare for a generous fishing trip Since the times of paganism, the Slavs believed that thunderclaps were caused by the heavenly gods, supposedly they traveled through the heavens and, with the help of thunder and lightning, exterminated devils on earth hiding under trees or in reservoirs Therefore, it was not worth taking shelter from the rain under lonely trees and in the water during a thunderstorm There was a belief that lightning avoided trees on which storks nested And if lightning struck a person, it was not by chance, because they believed that evil spirits had settled in him They also thought about housing that caught fire from a lightning strike The second name of the date was Ryasochnik On this day, people went to the reservoir to get duckweed, a plant that covers the water surface of lakes It was caught with pitchforks, thrown into baskets and carried into the yard to be fed to chickens and ducks In addition, duckweed was used as fertilizer for garden crops If the absence of morning dew was observed on Anthony the Thunderbearer, then they prepared for evening precipitation The fog on the pond promised clear days Toads crawling out of the swamp onto the shore warned of imminent rain The annoying flies also signaled precipitation