Folk calendar - Lukov day

On October 31, the Orthodox and Catholic churches celebrate the feast of St Luke, who is considered a companion of the Apostle Paul According to legend, Luke was from Syrian Antioch He belonged to the environment of trained people who knew a lot about Jewish laws, Greek philosophy, medicine, painting, and the Egyptian language Luke is considered the best student in the study of the Christian faith He was among the 70 disciples sent to preach the first sermon about the Kingdom of Heaven during Jesus’ earthly life He is considered one of the faithful followers of Christ's teaching Thanks to his devotion to the Christian faith, Luke came to see the resurrected Jesus Christ on his way to the village of Emmaus Saint Luke was considered a comrade-in-arms of the Apostle Paul and his close friend He took part in Paul's missionary journey, and after his martyrdom, he left Rome, traveling with sermons in different countries The outcome of his earthly life ended in the city of Thebes at the age of 85 Due to the fact that there was no cross, the idolaters crucified him on an olive tree Today the holy relics of the Evangelist Luke are kept in the Basilica of Santa Giustina in Italy On Lukov Day, peasants paid increased attention to onions with their healing and taste characteristics On this day, villages began selling onions at local bazaars Although onions did not generate much income, they were considered the main vegetable sold On this day, every person should eat at least one onion By doing this, he will strengthen his immune system and protect himself from diseases It was believed that onions eaten on Lukov Day, October 31, could cure not only colds, but also chronic ones Among the people, Saint Luke is revered as the patron saint of fishermen On this day, fishermen went out to sea or other bodies of water for a successful catch They believed that turning to Saint Luke with prayers would protect them from dangers and bring them a good catch, consisting of pike, roach, ide, sterlet, bream, perch, catfish, chub, and carp Fish was caught with nets and other methods One of the most profitable methods was beaming, in which a special device with a burning torch was mounted on the bow of the boat The fish swam to the clarified area, where it became a quick catch for the fishermen Luke is considered the decisive icon painter in history Tradition says that he created the first icons of the Blessed Virgin Mary That is why he is considered the patron saint of painters On the Feast of Luke, special respect was given to people of these professions The prayers of icon painters were addressed to Saint Luke, who began painting churches and painting holy images In addition, there is information that Saint Luke is the author of one of the 4 Gospels We learned above about what to do on the feast of St Luke In addition, young girls and boys in Rus' danced, danced, sang, and had fun It was believed that along with the public festivities, evil spirits were having fun The witches danced naked on a white cloth spread in a forest clearing People believed that by this day the witches were pregnant Those women who wanted to conceive a child could go into the forest, naked and dance, in the so-called “witch’s circle” But at the same time, there was a fear that some witch might plant her embryo in the womb of a peasant woman They prayed to Saint Luke with requests for the safety of winter crops and trees from severe frosts As on any holy holiday, it was forbidden to use foul language, swear, shout, or lie The peasants love their patron saints and pay close attention to the weather on these days:• the day of the Evangelist Luke without snow, winter is not expected soon;• dim stars are visible in the sky and the same month - there will be rain or snow;• when a horse snores, it means inclement weather is expected , and if it snorts, it will be warm;• a poultry is cocked, which means there will be rain;• a cat scratches the floor - a strong wind;• when foxes howl are heard from the forest, it means the weather will deteriorate in the coming days;• when clouds are floating from north to south – You should expect sunny weather On October 31, winter began in many regions of the country