According to the folk calendar - Prokopyev Day

On December 5 (November 22, old style), according to the popular calendar, the memory of the martyr Procopius the Reader, who died for his Christian faith in the 4th century in Caesarea, is honored Born in Jerusalem, Procopius adhered to pious views from childhood and studied the Word of God Having taken the position of reader in the Caesarea church, he was engaged in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and translated them into Syriac For his free work, the Lord rewarded Procopius with the gift of healing people suffering from demonic possession Saint Procopius preached the Christian religion in churches and denounced idolatry When Emperor Diocletian found out about this, he ordered the reader to be seized and forced to renounce his faith in Jesus Christ In addition, the cruel emperor demanded that Procopius bow his head before the four gods of the pagans, making a sacrifice to them But the Saint refused, for which his head was cut off with a sword Since ancient times, people have noticed that constant winter weather was established on Prokopyev Day Often snow covered the roads, and people began work on laying sled tracks Just for the male half of the population, this day marked the beginning of the period of construction and repair of sleighs Prokopyev Day was sometimes called Vekhostav Sometimes the whole village would go out to make crafts and put up winter milestones along the road Such milestones were tall single stakes with notches for height Every traveler needed them in order to see how much snow there was and not fall into the snowdrifts After hard work, a holiday was organized in the village - with common efforts they set the table, brewed beer, and treated everyone present to hot drinks And the youth had fun playing with snowballs and sledding The people entertained each other with various riddles Women traditionally went into the snowy forest in search of the miracle herb ephilia, which can straighten stooped people The weather for the future was determined by signs It was believed that if someone saw wolves close to the village, then a long, harsh winter was predicted If the water on the river rose above the ice, warmer temperatures and wet snow should be expected The frost-free weather on Prokopyev Day foreshadowed a long, snowy winter Also, snowy weather was expected after seeing soot burning near the fire