According to the folk calendar - Yakov Drovopilets

On October 22, Rus' celebrated the day of Jacob the Woodcutter The holiday closed the mushroom season This day marked the beginning of work on collecting firewood for the winter, which is why the Russians called the apostle Jacob the Woodcutter In fact, it was a church holiday that was dedicated to Jacob Alpheus, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ The three Gospels give very little information about Jacob What is known for certain is that he was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Due to scant evidence, some believe that James was the brother of Judas the son of Jacob (Thaddeus) According to another, less popular version, he was related by blood to another apostle, Matthew Even before Jacob became a disciple of Christ, he lived in Judea and worked as a tax collector This information can be found in his life The Apostle Andrew invited him with him to Edessa, an ancient city whose ruins are today located in southeastern Turkey Here they preached, after which Jacob went to Palestine He continued to preach in Eleutheropolis and Gaza Further traces of the apostle are lost in history It is almost impossible to trace his path, since the disciple of Christ had a common name, and ancient chronicles do not always indicate which Jacob he is talking about He should not be confused with James the Younger (the first bishop of Jerusalem, one of the 70 apostles) and James the Elder (James of Zebedee) Confusion most often arises due to the fact that some authors also call Jacob Alfeev the Younger It is not known for certain how he died Pseudo-Simeon Logothetes writes in his writings that the apostle accepted martyrdom He preached in Marmarik, where he was stoned to death by disgruntled residents Other authors are inclined to another version, according to which Jacob was crucified on the cross on the way to Egypt, where the pagans also dealt with him His relics are supposedly kept in the capital of Italy in the Church of Santi Apostoli, although some believe that they belong not to Alpheus, but to James the Younger, “the brother of the Lord” Its head is located in the Venetian Cathedral of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark In Bari, in the Cathedral of St Nicholas and in the Esphigmen Monastery on Mount Athos, pieces of his relics are also kept The holiday of Jacob the Woodcutter marked the beginning of work on the preparation of firewood Winters in Rus' were always harsh, so they had to be stocked up for future use Before this, the peasants simply had no time to harvest timber, because they were busy harvesting the fields The process was approached very responsibly The quality of the firewood and its proper storage determined whether the family would survive the next winter The holiday of Jacob the Woodcutter closed the mushroom season There was very little time left before the first frost, so we had to forget about going into the forest On this day, many peasants went to the forest for the last russula Pots of potatoes and mushrooms were sometimes displayed on festive tables - a delicious autumn dish, but the real queen of the culinary ball was cereal Quite often on the day of Jacob the Woodcutter, the weather deteriorated and small hail fell, which became the first harbinger of the approaching cold weather Porridge is the most popular dish that decorated tables in many huts During this period, the peasants were just beginning to grind wheat and peel barley, oats, and millet The porridge was served with lard and butter It was also used as a filling for fragrant pies, which were treated to home and guests