According to the folk calendar - Procopius the Reaper

According to the popular calendar, Procopius the Reaper is celebrated on July 21 (July 8, old style) Part of the name of the holiday was borrowed from the church calendar - the date of honoring the memory of the holy great martyr Procopius Procopius was born in the 3rd century in Jerusalem, was introduced to secular society from childhood, received a decent education, and bore the name Neanias Being an idolater, he served at court, and when the ruler Diocletian persecuted Christians, Neania was sent to Alexandria to exterminate the Christian movement However, on the way to the city, the Savior appeared to Neanias in a vision and reproached the pagan for his intentions Then Neanii repented and believed in the Lord, after which he became a fierce defender of Christians For this, the ruler ordered him to be punished: to be tortured and locked in a damp dungeon At night, the spirit of Jesus Christ appeared there and baptized the martyr, giving him the name Procopius The idolaters failed to break Procopius; with his patience and faith he set an example for Christians, so the pagans cut off his head And the people called Procopius the Reaper By this day, due to the hot weather, grain crops in the fields began to ripen Residents visited the temple in the morning and asked the saint for a successful harvest Then they went to the fields and reaped the ears of corn with a sickle The peasants tried to quickly harvest the ripened rye while the weather was dry Often, while working, residents whispered various conspiracies: to relieve back pain, for an easy harvest, or for the lack of rain The people believed that on Procopius the Reaper, a kamaha appeared in the field - an insect that harmed useful crops It formed a ball and rolled across the field with the help of the wind Meeting a kamaha during the harvest meant that prosperity would follow until next year Therefore, the peasants carefully peered into the field in the hope of seeing a ball of insects It was also noted that rye is ready for harvest during the ripening period of blueberries It was for her that the residents went into the forest that day It was difficult to collect it, since it took a lot of time and was often disturbed by annoying mosquitoes living in the shade of forest bushes But the collected berries were worth it, as they contained many useful substances First of all, blueberries were valued for the presence of vitamin C, which is necessary to strengthen the body They believed that it helps improve vision, strengthen the walls of blood vessels and the heart, and normalize the digestive tract Blueberries were given to children to improve memory Housewives made preserves and jams from its berries and added them to pies Based on the weather on Procopius the Reaper, they determined what the winter season would be like: if it was raining and cool, they were preparing for a snowy, harsh winter, but a clear day foreshadowed a warm winter without heavy precipitation Overly active sparrows promised good weather in the future Observing rain without wind, residents expected prolonged precipitation