According to the folk calendar - Kirill Katanik

April 3 (March 21, old style) is celebrated according to the folk calendar Kirill Katanik According to the church calendar, on this date the memory of St Cyril of Catania, a Sicilian bishop of the 2nd century, is honored The story of Cyril began in the 1st century He was lucky enough to find the Apostle Peter and adopt his teachings Saint Peter helped the successor become a bishop in Catana, a Sicilian city For his virtue and wisdom in instructing parishioners, the Lord rewarded the bishop with the gift of working miracles One day, with the help of prayer, he turned unsuitable spring water into drinking water Until a very old age, Cyril carried the word of God to the people and converted people of other faiths to Christianity Among the people, the last day of children's fun on sleds began on Kirill Katanik The children could still ride down the slides during the day, but in the evening the sleds were put away in the barn until the next winter Instead of skating, they came up with other children's entertainment On this day it was getting hot enough to wear felt boots They were replaced with paws woven from birch bark But birch bark shoes were not always suitable for the yard, when melting snow turned the ground into a swamp Bast shoes allowed moisture and cold to pass through, and a person could eventually catch a cold with symptoms of fever Previously, fever was called not only an ordinary increase in temperature, but also diseases such as bronchitis, tuberculosis or typhoid They were treated in different ways Firstly, they used well water, believing that the Mother of God endows such water with healing properties Secondly, they got rid of fever by visiting a healer He gave the spelled ash from the oven, wrapped in rags, to apply to the painful parts of the body The patient should walk with her until he completely cooled down, and then go to the intersection of the streets and throw the package over his shoulder back and read the spell for recovery The peasants believed that the heat of the stove expels the evil spirits that infected him with fever from the patient’s body But the fever was not only driven away, but also cajoled It was believed that the fever spirits themselves lived in the thick of the forest, so 12 pies were prepared for them, taken to the forest and left under a tree They said that such a ritual would make the fever leave the sick person alone By the signs of Kirill Katanik they judged the future weather Thus, the flowering of coltsfoot or the appearance of the first mosquitoes foreshadowed warming The chirping of tits also promised fine days Blue clouds meant the approach of rain If there was a thunderstorm, residents prepared for a harvest year