According to the folk calendar - Vukol Velyatnik, Zhukoly

February 19 (February 6, old style) according to the folk calendar is the day of Vukol Vealnik The name of the day is taken from the Orthodox date of honoring the Venerable Vukol of Smyrna, who became a disciple of John the Theologian From his youth, Vukol differed from others in his righteousness and chastity For this, John the Theologian awarded the monk the position of bishop in the church of the city of Smyrna Vukol led his flock along the true path and protected them from the attacks of the pagans He also managed to convert hundreds of pagans to Christians A myrtle tree was planted on his grave, and the Lord gave him healing power from illnesses Popularly, cows began to calve from Vukol, hence the day was nicknamed Calf Day The calves themselves, born in February, were called beetles The owners turned to Saint Vukol, asking for a safe calving for the cow and the preservation of her babies They also asked the brownie to take care of the newborn cubs They prepared a treat for him from milk and crumbled bread and placed it near the stove for the night The peasants considered the cow to be the nurse of the house and rejoiced when she brought two babies of the same suit This meant that prosperity would come to the family But the mismatched calves on the contrary brought trouble To protect calves and their mothers from diseases, the owners fumigated their animals and barns with thyme After calving, housewives counted 12 milk yields, when colostrum passed and the milk became normal for consumption, and cooked porridge from it Then she was put on hay and oats, hoping for successful calving in the future and strong, healthy calves Households were treated to porridge, the hay and grain were given to the cattle, and the film from the prepared porridge was fed to the calf The signs on Vukol Vealnik were associated with cattle If they saw that the cow was lying down with her head to the west, they expected an early calving It was forbidden to stroke the calf on the back so that it would not get sick Warm weather foreshadowed poor fishing, but the warmer it became outside, the cooler March was expected Severe cold occurred ahead of a windy and rainy spring