According to the folk calendar - Timofey Vesnovey

March 6 (February 21, old style) according to the folk calendar, Timofey Vesnovei is celebrated The commemoration of St Timothy of Olympia in the church on this day was reflected in the name of the national holiday The saint was born in Italy and from a young age devoted his life to the Lord When he was young, he swore not to look at women’s faces in order to become closer to God In a monastery in Asia Minor, Timothy learned the teachings from the abbot of the monastery, Theoktistus, and his successor, Plato of Studius For his efforts, the Lord rewarded Timothy with the gift of healing those with illnesses and the ability to cast out demons from the body The saint spent most of his life as a hermit in the deserts, for which he was called the hermit Among the people, warm air masses came to Timothy Spring, bringing real spring The days were getting longer, and the sun's rays were already warming everything around Elderly people left their huts and went outside to bask in the sun's rays, believing that this would give them health after prolonged frosts Sitting on benches, the old people exchanged news and told fairy tales to the children playing nearby From the day of Timothy, the movement of sap in the trees began Therefore, we tried to prepare supplies of firewood from birch and maple in advance Cutting down trees that had come back to life after winter was considered a sin With the onset of spring, evil spirits awakened She was driven away with the help of ritual fires lit on a hill By jumping over fires and dancing in circles, peasants were cleansed of sins and illnesses Livestock was kept near the fires to protect them from the harmful influence of evil spirits The fire from the ritual fire was carried on torches throughout the gardens to ward off evil spirits The women spent the day cleaning: sweeping and washing the floors Houses were emptied of old unnecessary things, believing that evil spirits settled in the trash It was forbidden for Timofey Vesnovey to abandon unfinished business and drink alcohol, otherwise trouble would happen The coming spring was determined by this day If the wind was observed from the south, we prepared for warm weather, from the north - for cooling, and from the east - for early spring The earlier spring came, the earlier autumn came The return of migratory birds predicted warmer weather, and a white hare in the field heralded more snowfalls