According to the folk calendar - Tryphon the Mousegon

On February 14 (February 1, old style), according to the folk calendar, Tryphon Day is celebrated, more often called Tryphon the Mousegon among people The holiday received its name partly from the Orthodox date of veneration of Saint Tryphon, who became a martyr for his faith in Jesus Christ in the 3rd century In his youth, Tryphon received from God the gift of healing various ailments and the ability to cast out demons For his help, the saint asked only to believe in the Savior When the pagan emperor learned about the miracle worker, he ordered him to be persuaded to idolatry Tryphon was tortured with terrible torture, but he remained devoted to the Lord, without uttering a single groan For his refusal, the martyr was cut with a sword One day Tryphon helped his village overcome a time of famine While reading a prayer, he drove away the insects that were harming the crop Thanks to this incident, they prayed to Tryphon for the preservation of the fields and asked the saint for help in expelling rodents And the day of Tryphon was popularly nicknamed the mouser for the tradition of getting rid of rodents To cast a spell on pests, they usually called a healer, who came with his cat He performed a ritual of conjuring rats and mice, setting fire to hay and ears of grain in a cleaned oven I poured the ashes in places where rodents had entered The peasants believed that such a ritual drove pests out of the entire village Also, the owners cajoled the cats in response to Tryphon the Mouse Racer: they treated them with milk and treated them with kind words Sometimes Easter egg shells were used to protect against rodents - they were scattered in the corners of the house According to superstitions, it was believed that if a mouse gets into one’s bosom, then trouble will come to a person, and if it gnaws through his clothes, he will die Tryphon was the patron saint of family and spouses, so unmarried girls prayed to him for a quick marriage Weddings were often held in February, just before Easter Lent, so the girls asked the saint to see matchmakers in their house Noticing fog in the evening on Tryphon the Mouserunner, residents expected warmer conditions the next morning A clear frosty night foreshadowed a late spring Snowfalls on Tryphon promised frequent rains in the spring If, after checking the stocks in the barn, they saw a surplus of grain, they expected a large harvest in the summer