According to the folk calendar - Proklov Day

Proklov Day is celebrated on May 4 (April 21, old style) according to the folk calendar The name of the day was received in honor of the holy martyr Proculus of Puteoli, revered among Orthodox Christians on this date Proculus lived on the territory of modern Italy in the 3rd-4th century and preached Christianity During the reign of Emperor Diocletian, Proculus was subjected to severe persecution from the pagans Along with him, the clergyman Iannuarius, the deacons Faustus and Sossius, the church reader Disiderius, and the believers Akution and Eutyches suffered For their Christian faith, the unfortunates were thrown to be torn to pieces in a cage with wild animals, but the animals did not touch them Then the pagans cut off the heads of the martyrs, but secret Christians took the bodies of the saints to different cities in Italy and buried them with respect For the Slavic people, the name Proculus (Proclus) was closest of all And in terms of its consonance, it resembled the word “curse”, because the day itself was dedicated to the curse of evil spirits The people believed that all troubles and misfortunes came from evil spirits and evil spirits That is why they tried to protect themselves, family, land and livestock on this day with the help of such curses It was believed that all evil spirits hide in the west, where the sun sets Even in temples, the main entrance was made on the western side, so that believers entered the sanctuary from the darkness (west) into the light That is why the curse ceremony was carried out looking to the west Trying to drive away the evil spirits, the residents condemned her in every possible way, scolded and scolded her, and also wished her harm On Proklov Day, peasants worked little Most of the day was devoted to rituals against the evil eye and protective spells In this way, residents protected their families from diseases, fields and gardens from poor harvests, and livestock from death The day of Proclus was also called Lyalnik It was associated with celebrating the wonderful spring season The apples were just beginning to bloom, and around them the girls performed ritual round dances, games and chants Then they chose the most beautiful girl, dressed her in a flower wreath and danced around her Unmarried girls told their secrets to the blossoming apple tree, hoping that when the apple fruits ripened and the time for weddings came, grooms would come to woo them Signs on Proklov Day indicated to the people about the future If the bird cherry blossomed on this day, then they were preparing for the dry summer season But the abundance of inflorescences on the bird cherry tree meant a rainy summer Stormy weather on Prokla foreshadowed a bountiful harvest