According to the folk calendar - Ignatiev Day

January 2 (December 20, old style) is Ignatiev Day according to the folk calendar This event comes from a church holiday - the day of honoring the memory of St Ignatius the God-Bearer, who served as Archbishop of Antioch in the 2nd century It is known that Ignatius witnessed the life of Jesus Christ When the future archbishop was a child, the Son of God taught him to be righteous in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven He was called a God-bearer for his devotion to the Lord and constant prayers Ignatius dedicated his life to people, helping people to believe in the Christian faith and denouncing idolatry When the saint was reported to the ruler, he ordered Ignatius to be forced to change his faith to paganism and make a sacrifice to fictitious gods For his refusal, the archbishop was sent to be eaten by lions Ignatius, going to execution, constantly repeated the name of the Savior The animals did not touch only the heart After opening, the pagans saw the name of Jesus Christ written on the vessels On Ignatius Day, they prayed to the saint, asking for prosperity in housing The peasants walked around the village in a circle with icons, believing that such a ritual would save it from unfortunate events or a bad harvest Each one bowed to his stepfather's house Ignatiev's day brought us closer to the upcoming Christmas Housewives cleaned the house, young people prepared costumes for carols, and the owners tended to the garden It was necessary to sweep away excess snow from apple trees, because this protected them from breaking branches and gave a good harvest in the summer Hence this day was sometimes called apple day People considered Ignatiev's day an indicator of August - the weather was expected to be similar: clear skies foreshadowed heat in August, snowfalls - cloudiness Having heard the singing of tits on January 2, people expected a cold the coming night Frost on the bark of trees foreshadowed sunny days in the future The clear starry sky promised a rich summer harvest