According to the folk calendar - Fotinya Well

Fotinya Kolodeznitsa is celebrated on April 2 (March 20, old style) according to the folk calendar The name of the holiday is taken from the church calendar - the date of veneration of St Photina the Samaritan, a preacher of Christianity who lived in the 1st century Photina was the Samarytan woman with whom Jesus Christ communicated at the well After a conversation with him, the woman accepted Christianity and preached its teachings When information about her actions reached the Roman Emperor Nero, an opponent of Christianity, he ordered her to be imprisoned and forced to renounce her faith She was brutally tortured - they tore off the skin from her body, beat her on the hands with hammers, but Fotina did not renounce Then they threw her into a well, where the saint went to God People believed that on this day well water had healing powers Just in the spring, strong winds caused the peasants to catch colds Cases of fever were frequent She was treated with water from a well: the patient was washed and given water So that the disease would pass quickly, people prayed to Saint Photina for recovery For treatment, it was important to collect “untapped” water, that is, water collected at dawn, when no one had collected it yet She had to be carried to the house in silence, avoiding even greetings Well water was also used to protect against evil spirits It was sprayed on housing, livestock, and barns At Fotinya Kolodeznitsa, flax, the oldest crop, received special attention It was used for yarn, then fabric canvases were prepared, and from them they sewed clothes Working with flax was considered women's work, so women on this day took linen shirts into the yard and hung them on the fence Unmarried girls, in order to quickly get married, danced in circles with long linen towels According to signs on the day of Fotinya, the Well Makers judged the future The return of starlings from warmer climes signaled the onset of real spring Daytime warmth and nighttime cold foreshadowed good weather for several days Rain falling on Fotinev's day promised a rich mushroom picking in the summer If the crust on the snow became prickly after the thaw, they prepared for a harvest year