All Saints Day

On November 1, Orthodox Christians venerate the martyr Sadok of Persia and celebrate on this day the transfer of the relics of Saint John of Rila. ..among Christians of the Western rite, the date is considered a big holiday and is called All Saints Day, which replaces the modern Halloween, or the ancient Samhain. Today believers commemorate the dead and pray for the repose of their souls.

In the national calendar, the holiday on November 1 was named Ivanov's Day, Sadok's Day or Farewell to Autumn, and in the old days, the ancestors met the winter season on this day, performed certain rituals and adhered to important and strict rules.

The first day of November used to be called the border of "summer" and "winter" time, when in pre-Christian Europe the beginning of the New Year was celebrated, and the spirits supposedly came out of the other world into our reality, frightened passers-by, witches arranged sabbaths. ..to scare off evil spirits, people themselves dressed up in the costumes of monsters, kindled fires and organized noisy festivities. ..now the holiday All-Hallows-Even in the Catholic faith is one of the mandatory days for believers to attend Mass.

As church traditions say, the Monk John of Rila lived in the 9th-10th centuries on the territory of modern Bulgaria, and is the most revered patron saint of the Bulgarian people. From his youth, he decided to devote his life to serving God, was a monk and hermit, and hegumen of the monastery, which was erected near the cave of the Rila mountains.

On November 1, do not dry things at night and give out alms: what you can and cannot do on this day

On November 1, Christians honor the memory of St. John of Rylsky

Hieromartyr Zadok the Persian lived in the IV century and was the bishop of the city of Bekh - Ardashir, the capital of the Persian Empire during the Sassanid dynasty. ..he was also the primate of the Church of the East - chief among the Assyrian bishops. It is considered the heavenly patron of people who died without repentance.

On this day, name days are celebrated by: Alexander, Ivan, Pavel, Nikolai, Sergei, Peter and Fedor.

Traditions on this holiday

On the Ukrainian lands, for a long time on Sadok Day, people gathered in a company and told each other all sorts of terrible stories, and work on this date was postponed until later - the day was devoted to rest.

They believed that the stable brownie today flutters the mares' manes and raises the stallions on their hind legs, so that day the horses were allowed to rest and fed their fill.

On Farewell to Autumn, the hostesses always put a chicken dish on the table: they cooked noodle soup from fresh meat, served fried chicken and closed chicken pies with filling.

On this day, the superstitious were wary of owls - there was an eerie belief that if she arrived and sat on the roof of the house, then someone in this family would soon die.

What not to do on this day

• It was strictly forbidden to kill spiders on Midsummer's Day - it was believed that in their guise deceased relatives came to the house.
• It was impossible to leave things to dry overnight - otherwise, evil spirits could get in there and settle into a person through clothes when he put them on.
• There was a prohibition to turn around at the sound of footsteps behind your back - the superstitious argued that otherwise devils could grab.
• It was forbidden to refuse alms, as because of this the family could lose their income for the whole year.

The main signs on All Saints Day

• If this night it was covered with snow, and the sky was starry, then wait for the speed of severe frosts;
• If it is cold and snowing on November 1, then the spring will be cloudy and cold;
• If on this day migratory birds fly high in the sky, then the winter will be snowy, and if it is low, there will be little snow;
• When the day turns out to be warm on a holiday, it means that spring will also be warm, and winter will not bring severe frosts.