Folk calendar - Avramiy Ovchar and Anastasia Ovechnitsa

According to the popular calendar, every year on November 11, the Orthodox Church and all believers honor the memory of the Great Martyr Anastasia of Rome and the Venerable Abraham the Recluse From early childhood, Anastasia’s life brought her grief from the loss of her parents; left a complete orphan, in infancy she was taken under the protection of the abbess of the Sofia convent, which was located near Rome Anastasia grew up in love for God and was completely devoted to him, and when, already in her youth, many noble men tried to woo her, she resolutely refused, deciding to connect her future life only with God During the next persecution of Christians, the pagans led a young girl out of the temple by the arms and began to despise her for her faith in Jesus Mayor Prov was struck by Anastasia’s beauty and youth, wanting to seduce her and force her to renounce her faith, but the girl was unshakable Then Saint Anastasia was subjected to such cruel torture that even the people could not tolerate such mockery and rebelled so that the saint would be released, but by that time the girl had already been beheaded The girl’s exhausted body was thrown to be eaten by wild animals, but her mentor Sofia and several other believers found the remains of the body and buried them in the earth Also on this day, all the righteous deeds of St Abraham the Recluse are remembered He was the son of pious parents and already in his youth he accepted the feat of a solitary life Abraham left his parents' house and settled in a deserted place, where he spent all his days praying Even after the death of his parents, he refused the inheritance and distributed it to the needy By his example of love for God and virtue, he was able to introduce many pagans to Christianity He was even appointed presbyter to one of the pagan villages, where he was subjected to constant persecution and beatings from the local residents However, Abraham was able to believe people in Jesus Christ and even baptized them all himself Among the people, this holiday was called Avramy Sheep and Anastasia the Sheep, since Anastasia was considered the intercessor of sheep, and Avramy was the patron saint of shepherds People believed that Saint Anastasia protected livestock from various diseases and protected them from wild animals Housewives baked pies on this day and took them to the field for the shepherds (shepherds) On this day, sheep shearing was already ending in the southern regions, while in the northern regions it was just beginning Before shearing, a tuft of sheep's wool was placed on the scissors to appease the spirits Threads were spun from animal wool, mittens and warm socks were knitted, woolen fabrics were woven, preparing everything for sewing winter clothes The main tradition on this day was the shepherd holiday On this day, the owners paid the shepherds and loud celebrations began with songs and congratulations It was believed that this day should be spent with the whole family, then it will be friendly and strong And if you spend the holiday with strangers, expect trouble all year long According to popular belief, if it rains on a holiday, it means winter will come soon If there is frost at night, don’t expect snow yet If you hear pigeons cooing, good weather is coming