According to the folk calendar - Samoilov Day

On September 2, people celebrate Samoilov Day This holiday is associated with the Christian day of remembrance of the fifteenth and last judge of the Israeli people, Samuel This saint lived in the 12th century BC He was born thanks to the prayers of his mother Anna, so his name means “requested” Even before the birth of her son, the mother dedicated him to serving God From an early age he was sent to the temple of the high priest Elijah Elijah served as a judge (ruler of the people) He was weak, and the morale of the people fell during his reign This was facilitated by the defeat of the Philistines, who captured the Israeli lands and the shrine of the Israelites - the Ark of the Covenant At the age of twelve, Samuel predicted the fall of the house of judges due to the sins of the sons of Elijah, who had an unbridled temper And so it happened: the sons were killed by the Philistines, and their mother, having learned about this, died in childbirth Elijah died of grief and Samuel replaced him Becoming a judge, Samuel returned the cities captured by the Philistines and the Ark of the Covenant He began to spread education and patriotism For this purpose, he created religious-social brotherhoods The Prophet ruled wisely and increased the fortunes of his people Upon reaching venerable age, Samuel had to give his rank to his sons But they did not follow in his footsteps, seduced by the thirst for profit Then the people asked the judge to choose a future king from ordinary people The Prophet opposed this, believing that God's chosen one should rule people, and not an oppressive king Before retiring, the prophet began searching among his people for someone whom he might have offended Not finding such a person, Samuel left his post with a pure heart He died at the age of 89, bringing sadness to the Israelis His relics were transported to Constantinople in 406 There was a popular belief that Samuel helped the disadvantaged and the needy They prayed to him in the hope of slightly extending the warm weather to complete field work: by this time, some varieties of oats, hemp and flax had not yet been harvested Usually on Samoilov's day people went to the forest to get honey mushrooms Housewives prepared pies and fried potatoes with mushrooms, and they also salted them for the winter According to tradition, Samoilov Day was considered a family holiday honoring men Their wives and sisters congratulated them and prayed to the prophet for their safety From the very morning, the eldest daughter brought the owner of the house a new embroidered shirt, and at that time the wife set the table with a good breakfast It was believed that things would go well in the family if the men were in a good mood all day People on this day noticed natural phenomena, linking them with the upcoming weather: • Rooks fly south - autumn will be cold and rainy • A crane wedge flies leisurely - autumn will be warm • Mice from the fields have hurried into human dwellings - winter will be harsh On Samoilov Day there was a ban on cutting hair and nails, otherwise you could incur illness and misfortune on yourself Also, making new acquaintances was not approved; according to legend, they could not bring anything good To attract wealth, women combed their hair with a wooden comb in the morning and spoke special words