Today, Apple Savior is an important national holiday of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Confined to the first harvest. What is the number of Apple Savior Christians celebrate? Traditionally, the date of celebration falls on August 19. According to popular belief, it was from this day that nature made a U-turn from summer to autumn. As Apple Spas noted? True and superstitious traditions will be described in the article.
history of the holiday
Holiday Apple Savior was originally celebrated in Ancient Russia and was dedicated to the pagan Slavic god Savior. They honored God by offering gifts, fruits of the earth. The Slavs believed that the first fruits should be sacrificed to mother nature, thereby receiving a blessing for a rich harvest. For this, fruit was handed out to neighbors, thrown into the water and fire.
Among the pagan Slavs it was customary to celebrate several Spas, the names of which and the time of the celebration were associated with the maturation of various gifts of the earth. Today, Honey, Apple and Nut Spasas are traditionally celebrated. They are designed to remind of the greatest natural power and values that it bestows on people.
Other names
The holiday has many names. He was nicknamed the Feast of the First Fruits, Autumn, Second Savior. The Christian church gave the holiday a name for biblical reasons - Savior on the mountain. This is due to the ascension of Christ with the disciples to the sacred mountain of Tabor, where, according to the Bible, during the prayer, the face of Jesus was transformed and the robes acquired a snow-white color. And this became a sign of the great destiny of the future Savior of mankind. The church calendar timed the celebration of the Savior to the great works of the son of God. The very concept of “saved”, which has become a separate definition, has one root with the word “savior”.
Traditions and customs of the holiday
During the festival, believers put on the best things, preferably in light colors, and come to church services dedicated to Apple Savior (a photo of this action can be seen in the article). On this day, the sacrament of confession and communion, festive prayers are held. After liturgical rites, the fruits are consecrated. The roots of this custom come from the times of the Old Testament, then grapes and ears were brought to the temple for blessing.
Due to the rare growth of the vine in Russia, the people replaced the fruits of the grapes with apples, the harvesting time of which coincided with Apple Savior. So apples became the personification of the holiday.
It is traditionally believed that eating apples becomes possible only after the consecration of the minister of the church.
Ancestors sacredly believed that the deceased children are treated in a different world with ripe, fragrant apples. Parents of deceased children carried apples to the graves of their offspring, who died in infancy. According to modern traditions, lit up apples commemorate relatives and friends who are no longer on earth.
It used to be a belief that in order to bless the harvest, it was necessary to invite a church minister right in the field.
On a public holiday, household chores were not allowed. Sewing, knitting, cleaning was not supposed. All that was allowed was cooking, as well as cleaning work from the fields of a ripened cereal crop.
The bright, festive day of the Savior was widely celebrated with festivities, parted with the summer, and met autumn. It was customary to organize fairs. On them ripe apples were sold in whole carts, and it was customary to bid. It was believed that if there were a lot of apples, it was necessary to give out as much as possible to those in need. And the more generosity is shown, the more luck and wealth promise fate. And those who forgot about such a custom, our ancestors considered evil, greedy and crafty.
Signs and superstitions
Our ancestors had many signs and superstitions related to the coming of the Savior, and some of them have survived to this day. Attention to signs, following them made it possible not only to predict the weather in the coming year, but also to prevent possible difficulties in everyday life and family life. Signs became an echo of prolonged observations of the relationship of natural phenomena and human behavior with events that occurred on a holiday.
Weather and Harvest
It was believed that with the onset of Apple Savior the weather changed and changed. The weather on this day determined what the winter would be like. The rain that day promised to be wet and cold in the winter months. A clear warm weather marked a snowy winter, without strong frosts.
After the Transfiguration of the Lord, the weather will change greatly - the nights will become noticeably colder and longer. Now we understand that such weather changes are connected precisely with the change of season. But it was more convenient for our ancestors to live according to established signs.
The yellowing leaves on the trees meant that soon it was necessary to wait for severe cold weather.
Sitting in a large number of starlings on tree branches promised January to be harsh.
According to the behavior of bees on this day, they determined what the coming autumn would be. Small rains of rain and bees gathering in a swarm spoke of dank and drenched autumn.
They tried to remove all grains from the fields before the date of the Savior. It was believed that the first rain that spilled could ruin the entire crop. Signs are directly related to the onset of the rainy season.
Superstition on the first eaten apple
An ancient popular belief said that by the first apple eaten on the day of the Savior, one can determine what the next year will bring, what it will be like. The sour taste of the fruit promised future sorrows and misfortunes, and the sweet one foreshadowed many joyful and blessed events. If the apple tasted sweet and sour, the family would be calm and okay.
For unmarried girls, the very first apple eaten was a symbol of fulfillment of cherished desires. And they made themselves a kind, caring groom, a happy marriage and healthy children. And it was believed that desire would come true, since the soul is light, and the petition comes from the depths of the heart.
Superstition about the fulfillment of desires
Young girls asked blooming apple trees to give them beauty and tenderness, weaved wreaths of ears of corn and wildflowers, adding foliage from an apple tree to them.
There was a sign among the people that insects on the day of the celebration should not be driven away, much less killed. So it was possible to frighten off luck, because the ordinary fly crouched twice granted success in business, fulfilled its plan.
Another belief said that with the last bite of a consecrated apple on Apple Savior, you need to conceive a secret wish, and it must be realized.
Superstition of affluence
If on this day the bees begin to fly to honey, then the year will be rich.
It was customary to distribute the gifts of the ugly harvest to the poor, orphans and other needy. Such acts promised the giver to live in abundance and not need all the next year. The people trusted this rule and always followed.
There was still an opinion that the whole apple eaten whole and not leaving even a single seed would bring prosperity and prosperity, success and good fortune to the house.
Apple Savior: a description of the rites for prosperity
Another ancient custom says that in the center of one of the halves of the consecrated apple cut in half, you need to put a white candle from the temple and walk around the house with it, performing a rite of purification. It was customary to speak every corner and drive the candle clockwise, outlining the circle three times. At the same time, they read prayers and asked for protection of the home from adversity. They asked God for peace and harmony in the family. Then the wax from the burnt candle was placed in the second half of the apple, both halves were firmly tied together and buried away from their home. And only after finishing the cleansing ritual, it was possible to start preparing treats for the festive table.
If the family suddenly had unforeseen monetary expenses and debts, then to defeat these difficulties it was necessary to take the three ripe apples and go to the temple. There, two of them should be given to those who asked on the porch, and the best thing is to eat by ourselves, while at the same time we should say a request for ourselves to solve financial difficulties.
Bans on the day of the Savior
Sewing on holiday was forbidden, it portended sorrow and shed tears throughout life.
It was not customary to cut hair on this day, it was considered work that can not be done on a church holiday. In addition, the moon, which was waning, meant slow hair growth, which was a sign of ailment.
It was believed that parents of deceased children should not eat apples until the coming of the Savior, otherwise in the next world they will not be treated with juicy fruits.
It was also believed that women who ate the fruit of the apple tree before the onset of the holiday, take the sin of the mother of all the mothers of Eve.
There was a ban on the use of meat, eggs and fatty foods. It was advisable to eat lean dishes. All activities intertwined with harmful addictions were also prohibited.
The worst omen was to quarrel on this bright day and wish evil in the midst of a quarrel. Evil wishes sent to the offender could return a boomerang in a hundredfold measure.
What is customary to cook for a holiday?
Believers will celebrate Apple Savior in 2018 on August 19. On this day, it is customary to cook pastries with apple filling. The addition of honey and nuts was always welcome. From ancient times, pancakes, pies, baked apples, baked rich fruit jelly and stewed fruit were baked on this day. They traditionally went on a visit, treated each other, and in the evening they arranged walks and said goodbye to the summer.
The main treat was apples baked in honey. In houses with a large income, it was customary to add raisins, nuts, cottage cheese to this dish. Traditionally cooked in a Russian oven. But even now, such a treat can be tasted using a modern oven or even a microwave.
Another indispensable attribute of the festive table is an apple pie or a traditional charlotte in our understanding. This cake is rich in recipes, but most often for its preparation you will need egg whites mixed with sugar, a little flour and the main ingredient - slices of bulk fragrant apples. And the more the filling, the more tender and brighter the taste of the jellied pie.
A simple and affordable dish for our time is pancakes with apples. By adding grated apple pulp to the most ordinary dough, you can get fragrant, glowing with heat golden "suns" of magnificent pancakes that will appeal to even children.
From this day, the housewives began to make winter apple blanks: they cooked stewed fruit and preserves, made jam, squeezed juice. Apples were cut into thin layers or slices and set to dry and cure.
Our ancestors appreciated their wonderful properties in apples. They knew about the benefits of eating these fruits both during ripening and in winter in the form of blanks. After all, it is a well-known fact that, with proper storage, some varieties can be eaten fresh even in winter. This fruit is rich in vitamins, healthy fiber and valuable nutrients. And at the same time a very non-nutritious product. The content of various acids in apples promotes the digestion of proteins and fats, thereby helping to control weight.