According to the folk calendar - Fedor the memorial

According to the folk calendar, Fedor the Memorial Day is celebrated on February 8 (the old style date is January 26) The name of the holiday is taken from the church calendar - honoring the memory of St Theodore the Studite, who opposed the heresy of the iconoclasts The brilliant education and oratory of Theodore (8th century) helped defend the rights of admirers of icons of Christian churches But the emperor sent Theodore into exile, from which he emerged a few years later The intercessor became a monk in Sakudion, and then earned the rank of presbyter and abbot After returning from yet another imperial persecution, Theodore was given control of the Studite monastery Despite difficult trials, the saint was devoted to the Lord all his life and served him, doing many good deeds The peasants prayed to Saint Feodor, asking him to cure chest pain But among the people, the day of Fyodor the memorial had mystical events Residents believed that the dead missed their homes and relatives, and on Fyodor the Memorial Day their souls returned to earth and visited their families Souls forgotten by relatives were especially active, for whom they forgot to light a candle in the temple and go to their graves There were rituals that protected from the dead souls of ancestors First, they called the deacon into the house to read a prayer service, sprinkled holy water in the corners, and drew crosses on the jambs of windows and doors Among herbal remedies, hanging branches of rowan, thistle, juniper and nettle helped They drove away annoying souls by throwing a horse bridle or a stone at them But there were also those who wanted to meet with their deceased relatives; they fasted for twelve Fridays to meet Peas played a special role at Fyodor the memorial They rolled it around the bowl and listened to the ringing sound - if it rings loudly, it means there will be frost in the spring, and this is fraught with a bad summer harvest If the peas rolled quietly, spring snowfalls awaited, protecting the fields from hypothermia and damage to crops Peas were sometimes used to remove warts or other skin diseases And ill-wishers used it, causing damage The weather for Fyodor the memorial showed similar weather conditions for spring Rodents emerging from the snow foreshadowed warming A wolf howl was heard before the approaching frosts