According to the folk calendar - Macarius Day, Makar is the spring pointer

February 1 (January 19, old style) is celebrated as Makaryev Day according to the folk calendar This day is named according to the church date of honoring St Macarius the Great, a priest of the 4th century Macarius began serving the Lord and studying the Holy Scriptures after the death of his wife When his parents died, he went to the desert, led a hermit's life, and then founded a monastery His mentor was Anthony the Great At the age of 40, Macarius received the priesthood, and in order to seclude himself from the parishioners, he dug a cell for prayer under his temple He had the gift of healing serious illnesses and wrote many works useful to Christians On Makaryev’s day the peasants rested from work and visited guests Since the 19th century, the tradition of having a tea party has appeared They ate sugar as a snack for tea, and in wealthy families they treated themselves to jam Tea was poured from a samovar, fanning the heat in it with the help of a boot It was believed that after swelling, such a boot would heal the legs from diseases While lighting wood in the stove, the owners watched the fire If the flame illuminated the firebox with golden light, it foreshadowed peace and prosperity for the family The people tried to prepare firewood and splinters in advance - thin wooden chips, split them and dried them well so that they would immediately flare up On Macarius Day they prayed to St John Chrysostom, asking him for help in mastering knowledge or getting rid of sad thoughts They also went to healers so that they could use spells to cure headaches and toothaches The dream that occurred on Macarius was considered prophetic Makaryev's day was often called a spring indicator, since the weather for the future was determined by its signs The warming weather predicted that spring would arrive earlier than usual The descending blizzard promised a long winter and snowy weather for Maslenitsa The cold meant a sultry summer How Makaryev's day went was how the whole month of February was expected to be