According to the folk calendar - Pankratiya Day

On February 22 (the old style date is February 9), according to the folk calendar, Pankratia Day is celebrated The date owes its name to the honor among Orthodox Christians of Saint Pankratius of Pechersk, a monk who dedicated his life to prayers to the Lord The history of Pankratius began in the 13th century For his righteousness, God gave the monk the ability to heal the weak through prayer, fasting and the use of oil He was also awarded the position of hieromonk at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra He spent the rest of his life in seclusion in the Far Caves, where he was buried The people of Pankratia were engaged in making bast shoes from fibrous fabric of linden or flax Usually they were woven by men, since the work was labor-intensive and required considerable strength The specimens covering the bootleg were called “Nicephorians” in honor of St Nicephorus, also celebrated on this day Lapteys were made for future use for the whole family, as they were comfortable, but not durable The bast shoes could be worn out in warm weather in a couple of weeks The remaining pairs were taken to the market for sale They needed money especially badly, because the remaining food was running out, so they had to go to the market to buy food A severe economy of food began, it even reached the point of famine, but it was necessary to hold out until the next harvest The men inspected the household and repaired broken things Before the field work began, the house had to be patched up, since then there was no time for this Women were hardening the sowing seeds To do this, they were taken out into the cold for three dawns in a row, starting from the Day of Pancratius They believed that such hardening makes future plants more resistant to spring temperature changes It was believed that winter was already receding, warming often occurred, the snow melted, and the smell of approaching spring was in the air Therefore, they paid close attention to signs in order to determine the weather The snow stuck on the tree branches on the Day of Pankratiya foreshadowed the coming warmth If you saw a red sunset, you expected a snowstorm the next day The daytime thaw promised a continuation of winter frosts, and hazel grouse appeared on the tree before a strong cold snap