40 saints: holiday and signs

March 22 (March 9th according to the Julian calendar) The Orthodox Church celebrates a special holiday dedicated to the memory of the Sevastian martyrs. Day 40 of saints is a holiday of all Orthodox Christians. He refers to one of the most revered and beloved of all believers. On this day, the solemn Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts is celebrated. 40 saints are a holiday that usually falls on a strict fast, when dry eating (bread, fruit and vegetables) is permitted.

history of the holiday

In 313, Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, came to power, immediately issued a decree that all Christians are given the opportunity of free worship. This meant that their rights equaled on a par with the Gentiles. Thus, the emperor Constantine legalized Christianity. And in general, he began to contribute in every possible way to its growth and prosperity. However, his co-ruler, who was called Licinius, was an inveterate pagan, in his part of the Roman Empire, on the contrary, he tried in every possible way to root out Christianity, because it began to spread in a special way on its lands. Therefore, because of fear of betrayal, Licinius began to prepare for war and began to purify his detachments from Christians.

40 saints - the holiday of Orthodox Christians

A brave detachment of 40 soldiers was from Cappadocia (modern Turkey), was part of the Roman army, which was in the city of Sevastia. Once the pagan commander Agricola ordered these valiant Roman soldiers to renounce Christ and offer sacrifices to the pagan gods. But they refused to do this, and then they were put in prison, in which they began to pray intensely. And then the soldiers heard the voice of God: "He that endureth to the end, he shall be saved." On the morning they were again forced to renounce the Christian faith, but they did not even say it this time, and again they were thrown into prison.

Torture for Christ's Faith

A week later, an important dignitary, Lysias, arrived in Sebastia, who decided to stage a trial of strong-armed soldiers. He commanded them to stone them, but for some reason the stones flew past the soldiers. Then Lysias threw a stone at them, and fell directly into Agricola's face. It was then that the tormentors realized that some invisible force protects fearless warriors.

Continually praying in prison, the martyrs again heard the voice of the Lord, who comforted them and said: "He who believes in me, if he dies, he will live." Be bold and do not be afraid, and receive imperishable crowns. " Interrogations were repeated every day again and again, and always the servants of Christ's faith were adamant.

The street was full of frost, and then the martyrs were prepared for further torture. They were stripped first, and then they were driven into the ice lake for a whole night, and next to the shore they melted the bathhouse to break the will of the martyrs in this way. After midnight, one of the soldiers still surrendered and ran to bask in the bath, but, crossing the threshold of it, he immediately fell dead.

Fortieth Warrior

By three o'clock in the morning the Lord sent the martyrs warmth, the light grew brighter, the ice melted, and the water became warm. At this time, all the guards were fast asleep, except for one - Aglaia. Seeing that above the head of each martyr appeared a bright crown and counting them 39, he decided that without a wreath there was an escaped warrior, and then he decided to join the holy martyrs.

Having woken the guards, he announced to them that he was a Christian. But the torture did not end there. After that, the persistent soldiers were killed by their knees. When all of them died, their bodies were loaded on carts and carried for burning. But one of the soldiers named Meliton was still alive, and the guards left him, but the mother took the body of her son, dragged her to the cart, and then put it next to the other martyrs. The bodies of the holy martyrs were then burned, and the remains of the bones were thrown into the water so that no one could collect them. Three days later, the holy martyrs appeared to the bishop of Sevastia, blessed Peter, and ordered to collect their remains and deliver them to the burial. The bishop, together with his assistants at night, collected the remains and buried them with all the honors and prayers.

40 saints: a holiday, signs. What you can not do

On this day, do not be lazy, but it's better to get ready for the spring meeting and cajole it with your culinary baking. In the feast of the 40 holy saints, the signs are quite interesting and original. It is believed that winter ends on this holiday, and spring comes. Very often this day coincides with the day of the equinox. It is also called Sorochintsy, Magpies, Larks, because after winter wanderings migratory birds fly to us from the south and bring spring with them. If we talk about signs, then on this day farmers can get an answer to when you can start planting seedlings.

In the feast of the 40 saints, signs are mainly related to the weather. So, on this day you can judge the weather for the next 40 days. If it's frosty, then this weather will last 40 more days. If birds fly, then it's to early heat. But if no rain has been spilled from the Meeting to Soroca, then the summer will also be dry.

40 saints are a holiday that was celebrated earlier: it was taken on that day to bake 40 biscuits and cookies in the form of larks with open wings. Traditionally, they were handed over to children, so that they would call the spring with joy and jokes. This is also done to ensure that the bird in the household is healthy. On this day, girls who dream of marriage, cook forty vareniki and treat them guys.

In general, people like festivals and fun on this day are Orthodox people. 40 saints are a holiday that reminds us once again of how important faith is for every person and what kind of torment the true Christians are willing to endure for her.