CrimeaPRESS reports:
On December 7th the sleigh rides usually began. The first to be seated in the sleigh were the newlyweds, who got married last fall. On this day, the young woman went out in public for the first time after the wedding. The sleigh with the newlyweds was usually followed by a real motorcade, in which relatives and friends were present. They definitely had a feast. If small children were not invited to it, then gifts were always sent to them — sweets and sleighs. If someone could not afford sledding, then they took an ordinary board and went sledding down the hills or from the steep banks, going straight onto the ice.
The newlyweds were in the spotlight on December 7, and the signs of this day are mainly associated with love and sympathy. So, the girls wondered about their betrothed. They broke off a branch from an apple tree and put it under the pillow. This made it possible to see a future husband in a dream. Also, a girl could take some thing that belonged to the guy she liked, and then roll a loaf of bread around it in circles, so that the guy would walk in circles around the hut in the same way. By the way, on the day of Katerina-Sanitsa, a guy could declare his sympathy by inviting a girl to ride a sleigh.
If someone played a wedding on this day, then a whole train was formed from the carriages and sleighs of the relatives and friends of the young people, and the whole village gathered to look at it. Bridal sleighs were gilded with gold leaf, painted with “lead paints” and decorated with bear and wolf furs. The wedding “train” was driven by the closest relatives. According to custom, the newlywed appeared here for the first time after the wedding and greeted all the neighbors.
On December 7, the church honors the memory of the holy martyr Catherine of Alexandria, who lived in the 3rd-4th centuries. Having received an excellent education, Catherine studied the works of famous writers, philosophers and doctors, spoke several languages, and also had excellent oratorical talent. She was converted to Christianity by a Syrian monk. Tradition says that after baptism, Katerina had a dream in which Jesus appeared to her, handing her a special ring. After this, Catherine went to the sacrifice ceremony, which took place in a pagan temple on the initiative of Emperor Maximilian. There, Catherine called on those present to renounce sinful teachings. Struck by the girl’s beauty, Maximilian first tried to stop her with persuasion, but later realized that it was in vain, and therefore subjected Katerina to torture. True, one of the instruments of torture was destroyed by an angel who descended from heaven. When Maximilian’s wife found out about this, she also believed in God and began to denounce her husband. As a result, she was executed along with Katerina.
In Rus’, Saint Catherine, popularly nicknamed the Sannitsa, was revered as a helper to women in the diseases of childbirth. Future mothers or those who wanted to become them turned to the saint asking for help.
Signs of the day:
- Fog and thaw with slush means frost will come only in 10 days.
- Snow falls on dry ground — the winter will set in, and next year there will be no harvest.
- Cows shake their hind legs — it will be cold.
- There are circles around the moon — expect frost.
- If the sun’s rays rush upward in beams, there will be a blizzard.
- The stars in the sky are small — snowfall is coming.
Name days are celebrated today by: Ivan, Evgeny, Mikhail, Ekaterina, Alexey, Grigory, Porfiry, Mark, Mitrofan, Alexander.
Crimea news | CrimeaPRESS: latest news and main events
Comments are closed.