According to the folk calendar - Spiridon and Nicodemus

According to the folk calendar in Russia, November 13th marks the holiday of Spiridon and Nicodemus It received its name from the names of saints who became famous for their monastic feats The two monks met in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery when Pimen was the abbot Spiridon came to the monastery as a novice and was assigned to monastic work - baking prosphora (bread for the Divine Liturgy), where Nicodemus was already working Over the next 30 years, the novices honestly fulfilled their duties, accompanying their work with prayers and reading psalms One day, while baking prosphora, the oven caught fire, Saint Spyridon was not at a loss and, with the help of his robe, stopped the fire Having put out the fire, the monks were surprised to discover that the fire did not touch the saint’s robe In Rus', people also called November 13 the day of matitsa - this is the central ceiling beam, which is the basis for the roof The word “matitsa” has the same root as the word “mother”; it is an integral part of any home On this day it was important to gather all family members under the matitsa; it was believed that this would bring good luck and prosperity Depending on the region of our country, hunters and fishermen celebrated their professional holiday on Nikodim and Spiridon Without fail, despite the weather conditions, they went out for prey; women prepared a delicious lunch or dinner from fish, rabbit meat and other animals at home All this was reflected in folk signs and sayings, for example, the first catch was necessarily donated to the temple or sold, and candles were lit in the church with the money received; if the fishermen had a fight that day, then in winter there would be a bad bite The peasants on Nikodim and Spiridon were engaged in farming - it was necessary to move poultry into winter buildings, select the weakest chickens, which most likely would not survive the winter, for slaughter They made cutlets from poultry meat, stuffed it into pies, stuffed and baked whole carcasses According to signs, they predicted the weather for the near future: if a bullfinch sings on Nikodim and Spiridon, then frosts should soon be expected, but the chirping of sparrows marked good warm weather The bear's den in the forest was used to determine the river's flood in the spring: if it was located on a hill, then there would certainly be a flood