On September 21, the Orthodox Church celebrates the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary. But this is a significant day not only for visiting the temple. Since September 21, it has long been associated with folk signs and rituals that were performed annually on this date. Some of them have long been forgotten, but, nevertheless, certain observations can be very useful.
history of the holiday
Joachim and Anna, the future parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, lived in Nazareth. As righteous Christians, they prayed to God for children for a long time. After a while, when Joachim was in the desert, and his wife was alone in the house, an angel appeared to them at the same time. He told the spouses that Anna would be able to conceive a child, the Virgin Mary, through whom salvation would come to people, and she would be known around the world. Immediately after this, they met at the Golden Gate in Jerusalem. Having embraced, the couple already knew that they would have a daughter.
Just 9 months after conception, on September 21, the Virgin Mary was born. She lived only three years in her parents' house, after which, according to a vow given to God, she was sent to the temple. On this
day, Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
What to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary?
Since ancient times, the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary has been considered a holiday for all women and mothers. On this day, you should put on your best clothes and go to the temple for service. Here, the Virgin Mary is thanked for the birth of the Son of God.
On Christmas of the Most Holy Theotokos, signs will come true, and prayers will be answered. Requests, worries, troubles - this is what people turn to the Virgin Mary with. Women always prayed for the well-being of their home, for the health of their children. They turned to the Virgin not only for themselves and their families, but also for other people.
A festive candle was always lit in the temple, celebrating the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 21. Signs related to this were as follows. Towards the end of the candle, a piece of paper was being wound with a request. When it was completely burned, it meant that the Mother of God heard all the prayers. On this day, women must give alms, food and money, so as not to become barren.
Folk rites and customs
On this September date, on the 21st, according to the folk calendar, the Harvest festival or the Second Autumn are celebrated. They came just at Christmas of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The signs and rituals that were held on this date by our ancestors have been preserved in some regions to this day.
Until September 21, they managed to collect almost the entire crop from the fields. Beekeepers hid the hives to prevent the bees from freezing. The onion week began. Not only onions, but also the remaining vegetables were removed from the fields. There was a saying among the people: "Prechist will come, it will become purely pure." From that day on, evening gatherings began in the houses.
On the Orthodox Christmas of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the signs were mostly women. They got up on September 21 before sunrise. If women had time to wash before dawn, then this meant that they would be able to maintain beauty until the gray hair. Young girls did this for a quick matchmaking of the groom.
After that, in the early morning, women went to ponds with oat bread and jelly. There they sang songs and thanked the Blessed Virgin Mary for the harvest, meeting at the same time autumn. Bread was broken into pieces and distributed to cattle.
After ceremonies on the banks of ponds, everyone went to visit the bride and groom.
Holiday September 21. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin: family omens
On this day, parents, village elders, and other relatives visited young people. Since this date was the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the signs on the wedding were always taken into account. The hostess greeted the guests with a pie. If it was delicious, she was praised. If the pie failed, the young mistress began to teach the mind. At the festive table there were other dishes that guests appreciated. The owner showed his visiting buildings and cattle. He was praised or taught for this, as was his wife.
Also on September 21 (Christmas of the Most Holy Theotokos) omens related to the future life of the spouses. In the evening they went to their parents. From the evil eye, the wife tied a braid with embroidered letters "P", "B" on her sleeves. If she was lost or untied, it meant that there were envious persons nearby.
From the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary a new life began. It was customary to extinguish the old candle in the house, and to light the new one.
Nativity of the Blessed Virgin: signs of folk weather forecasters. What will the winter be like?
It is known that people always followed the weather changes outside the window and already in the summer knew what kind of winter they would expect. On the fall holiday of September 21, Christmas of the Blessed Virgin Mary, signs indicated the following:
- if the day was clear, then this weather will continue until the end of October;
- if it is foggy in the morning, one should expect rainy weather;
- if the fog blows unexpectedly quickly, the weather will be changeable;
- if it started to rain in the morning, then it will pour another 40 days, and the winter will be cold;
- if the bright sun in the morning quickly dries the dew on the grass - do not wait for a lot of snow in winter.
On this date it was not allowed to work, but a day should be devoted to spiritual reflection and prayers.
How to protect children from troubles and diseases?
Family and children - this is the main thing that women addressed in prayers to the Virgin Mary. For their well-being, folk traditions were performed at the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Signs confirmed that in order to cleanse children of spoilage, they removed old torn clothes and shoes from them and burned them that day. All adversity and failure should have gone with the fire. After that, when the children crossed the threshold, they were doused with water from head to toe.
Our ancestors glorified the Virgin and prayed to her, they believed in signs and honored the customs of their people. This helped them protect their family, children and home from adversity and harvest a good harvest. Do not forget about the customs and rites of the ancestors today.