October 26 – Day of Carp, Agathon. Day of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God. Let's go to the bathhouse! But don't worry

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Bathhouse routine, Zlata, Carp, Zlata the Onuchnitsa, Iverskaya, the day of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God, Carp Day — and so October 26 was also called. The main activity of the day: doing the bath routine. In other words, they were putting things in order in the bathhouse. They replaced rotten benches and boards, cleaned water containers and the stove.

By the way, our ancestors believed that Bannik lived in this building, who was also called Grandfather, Apostle, Shepherd, Shishok, Zhikharka, Anchutka. According to legends, this creature does not appear to the human eye, but only manifests itself through noise. It is believed that it drives away unwanted visitors, knocks, screams and even throws stones. It can take the form of a white cat or hare, a small dog, a frog and even a broom. They say that Bannik himself loves to take a steam bath and washes himself on the third, fourth or seventh steam (it turns out that after three or two changes of people who have been in the bathhouse). A broom, water and soap should be left especially for this spirit so that it can wash itself calmly. After sunset or late at night, washing alone was prohibited. Protective icons were never placed in the bathhouse, and they washed themselves after first removing the pectoral cross. Our ancestors entered the bathhouse with caution and asked permission from Bannik, saying: “Mr. Master, let me go into the bathhouse to wash and take a steam bath.” Or: “Baptized to the regiment, unbaptized from the regiment.”

The Church venerates the Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which is also known as the Gatekeeper or Goalkeeper. It is considered miraculous and, according to legend, was written by an evangelist named Luke. Today the icon is kept on the territory of the Iveron Monastery in Greece on the sacred Mount Athos. There is also one legend that tells about the discovery of the icon. Thus, in the 9th century, a resident of Nikem, who wished to save the face of the Mother of God from the iconoclasts, lowered the icon to the bottom of the sea, where it was kept for two centuries. After this, the monks of the Iveron Monastery saw at the bottom of the sea the reflection of the face of the Mother of God, surrounded by a pillar of fire. After this, the Venerable Gabriel the Svyatogorets heard the voice of the Mother of God and, at her order, walked on the water, retrieved the icon and transferred it to the monastery. However, what was the surprise of the people when in the morning they discovered the image of the Mother of God above the gates of the monastery. After this, this happened several times. As a result, they decided to leave the icon in a place not chosen by it and from then on they began to call the image the Goalkeeper or Gatekeeper according to its location. The icon was very revered in Rus’, and even in ancient times, peasants went to church on October 26 to pray to the icon of the Iveron Mother of God, asking not only for deliverance from illnesses, but also for good luck in a variety of matters. They often asked for a harvest and protection from fire.

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