Memorial Day of Saint Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople

The feast day of St Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople, falls on June 15 The saint was born in Byzantium in the 8th century to a pious couple By their own example, the parents instilled in their son a love of the Christian faith and Holy Scripture Father Nicephorus suffered from the oppression of the iconoclasts, defending the purity of Orthodoxy until his death The mother of the future confessor, having shared all the hardships of life with her husband, took monastic vows within the monastery walls after his death In addition to his calling to serve the Lord, Nikifor had an excellent secular education His extensive knowledge allowed the saint to earn the position of royal adviser In this capacity, the saint appears at the Church Council, condemning the iconoclastic heresy on behalf of the emperor Despite success and recognition, court life weighed heavily on Nicephorus He leaves high-ranking service, finds solitude on the coast of the Bosphorus, supervises the construction of a monastery, where he later ascends to the patriarchal throne Meanwhile, the throne of Byzantium was occupied by a new emperor, who was an ardent supporter of iconoclasm He gradually spreads heretical teaching, returning exiled clergy excommunicated by the previous Council Nicephorus fought as best he could against the threat looming over Orthodoxy He explained to ordinary people the fallacy of heretical teachings, wrote messages to the emperor and high dignitaries, and predicted the imminent death of unrighteous fighters with holy icons But the new government condemned the brave actions of the patriarch, after which he was expelled from the empire After 13 years of wandering, Nikifor meets death far from his native lands In folk tradition, the day of the confessor Nicephorus is intertwined with the more ancient pre-Christian holiday of Vyunets In the evening, the peasants gathered together, sang songs and brought vine flowers to the newlywed couples Girls, decorated with flower wreaths, danced in circles, young people competed with each other in daring An indispensable treat was baked butter rolls, a symbol of sunshine and prosperity In addition, among the peasants Nikifor was nicknamed the Oak-Boarder, because it was time to stock up on oak bark for tanning leather And on June 15, they made sure to notice natural phenomena, trying to predict future weather from them: - a foggy sunrise foreshadowed a warm, favorable day; - the wind blowing from the west spoke about the approaching colder weather; - the noise of fighting sparrows indicated the establishment of good summer weather for the next few days; - the prolonged rains were not a reason for despondency, because they predicted a bountiful harvest of flax and hemp