According to the folk calendar - Matryona Nastovnitsa, Half-repitsa

On April 9 (March 27, old style), according to the folk calendar, Matryona Nastovnitsa (Nastovitsa), also nicknamed Polurepitsa, is celebrated The Matryona holiday is named in honor of Saint Matrona of Thessalonica, a martyr who suffered for her faith in Christ in the 3rd-4th century On this date, Orthodox residents honor her memory in the church Matrona was a slave to the rich Jewish woman Pautila The girl professed Christianity and attended church secretly from her mistress When she found out, she ordered Matrona to renounce Christ, but the slave refused, declaring that the Lord had turned his back on the Jewish temples In a rage, Pautila beat Matrona, first with her fists, then with a stick, tied her up and locked her in a closet, where the soul of the martyr went to God Matrona's body was thrown from a cliff, but Christians picked it up and buried it with honor A church was built in her honor, and the relics of Saint Matrona had the properties of miracles Saint Matrona was the patroness of housewives In the morning they went to the temple and lit a candle for her They prayed to the saint for help in coping with the abundance of household chores The people called Matryona Nastovitsa This concept was associated with an ice crust on the snow - an infusion formed after a thaw and frost Where the snow lay, the women took out fabric canvases for the last time to be whitewashed On the snow under the sun's rays they became lighter and softer And Matryona was called Half-repitsa because the owners went down to the cellars and checked the remains of food More attention on this day was given to the turnip, the vegetable breadwinner for the family Its best root vegetables were set aside for seeds, and spoiled ones were examined and, if they were still usable, taken to the kitchen Turnips were used not only for food, its juice or tincture was used for medicinal purposes, because it had antiseptic, anti-inflammatory and diuretic properties At Matryona Nastovitsa, the peasants looked out for the return of the lapwings from the warm lands It is a bird of black and white plumage with a crest on its head, slightly larger than a jackdaw Returning to their native places, lapwings brought warmth with them People also valued them for exterminating insects that harm the household The signs on Matryona Nastovitsa spoke of the coming weather If a lapwing was heard singing before sunset, then the next day was expected to be sunny His close flight to the ground foreshadowed days without precipitation, and if he screamed at the same time, then a dry summer was approaching Seeing seagulls above your home meant that the ice on the rivers would soon melt The frost that fell in the morning, plus the foggy haze, promised a good harvest when harvesting