According to the folk calendar - Danilov's day

December 30 (December 17, old style) is celebrated as Danilov's Day according to the folk calendar It comes from the church day of honoring the memory of the prophet Daniel of Jerusalem and his three youth friends: Mishael, Azariah and Hananiah, devoted believers of the Lord in the 5th century BC e The future prophet began life in a noble family, but during the capture of Jerusalem he became a captive of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar Young Daniel and his three friends – Azariah, Mishael and Hananiah – were sent to be trained to work in the king’s court The youths secretly believed in God and led a modest and righteous life For this, the Almighty endowed them with the ability to study, after which they were taken into the service of the ruler, and Daniel received a special gift - to explain dreams and foresee the future Once, for refusing to bow before the pagan gods, three friends of the prophet were lowered onto a fiery slab But the comrades were saved from the flame by an angel of God Seeing such a miracle, the ruler Nebuchadnezzar accepted the Christian faith When Daniel served for King Darius, envious people slandered the prophet The ruler ordered him to be thrown to death among the lions, but the animals did not touch Daniel, feeling the protection of the Lord During his life, Daniel wrote a book of prophecies that included the destruction of Babylon, the coming of God's son, and the fate of the Jewish people Jesus Christ himself referred to the prophecies of Daniel in his communication with the Jews On Daniel's Day, there was a tradition of staging a performance dedicated to the prophet Daniel and the three youths The action played out as Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael were sent into the oven, and they came out of it unharmed This performance served not only as a lesson to believe in the power of God, but also as an entertainment event Unmarried girls asked Daniel for a little insight They also carried out fortune telling in the name of the future husband: the names of three prophets were written on laurel leaves and placed under the pillow before going to bed so that the betrothed would appear in a dream It was believed that on Danilov's day dreams could come true The weather for May was determined by Danil's day If it snowed, it means that May should be rainy, and sunny weather foreshadowed clear May days Frost on the trees meant warmer temperatures for Christmas The blizzard outside the window said that bees would swarm well in the spring