Honey Spas 2020: what you should and shouldn’t do on holiday

From open sources

In August, Orthodox believers bring to the church to bless baskets with the summer harvest: apples, pears, grapes, honey, bread, beautifully decorated with flowers and ears of corn. This month, three Spas are celebrated at once: Honey, Apple and Nut. What these holidays mean and what you can and cannot eat and do on these days, read in our material.

First Spas - Honey

Honey Savior is also called Poppy or Makovey and is celebrated on August 14 .

On this day, the Orthodox Church celebrates the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos.

Honey saved From open sources

The two-week Assumption Fast also begins - the shortest, but strict almost like Great Lent. Fasting precedes the feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God. And its first day is the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. During morning services, a cross is brought into the center of the temple: before the Saturday evening service, all believers can venerate it.

Church holidays coincided with the end of the honey harvest, and now we, like our ancestors, celebrate the Honey Savior in the temple, blessing honey and venerating the Cross of the Lord.

Celebrating Spas in 2020: when are Honey, Apple and Nut Spas celebrated?

August is the month of the Savior. According to tradition, the Honey Savior is celebrated first, then the Apple Savior, and the celebration ends with the Nut Savior. On these church days, they honor the Savior Jesus Christ, thanking him for natural grace and good productivity.

Honey Spas-2020

The first Honey Savior in 2020 will be celebrated on August 14 (Friday). On this day, the memory of the Lord's Life-Giving Cross, the Savior and the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God is revered.

The day of August 14 will be marked not only by the holiday of the Honey Savior, but also by the beginning of the Dormition Fast. According to ancient beliefs, from this day bees stop producing honey; beekeepers enjoyed collecting and lighting honey gifts in the church. Collected honey was believed to have healing properties. They treated friends to it, baked gingerbread, made pancakes and cakes.

The poppy was considered a talisman in Honey Spas. It was also lit in church and placed in one's yard as protection against evil spirits. The collected herbs were illuminated in the same way: calendula, mint, oats. Dried ears of corn were kept at home as a talisman.

Honey Spas marks the beginning of the time for sowing fields and the end of the summer swimming season. On this day you cannot swear, clean or work.

Apple Spas 2020

The second Savior is Yablochny. Orthodox Christians celebrate August 19th. In 2020 it is Wednesday. The holiday will coincide with the date of the Transfiguration of Christ. With the onset of the Apple Savior in Rus', it is customary to carry out the process of saying goodbye to summer and actively harvesting the ripe apple harvest. They are blessed in the church, shared with each other, baked pies and pies, and made jam.

Before the start of the Apple Savior, a service takes place in the church, followed by a liturgy and procession of the cross.

Nut Spas-2020

Nut Spas (otherwise known as Khlebny) is named after the beginning of the harvest of bread and nuts. Celebrated on August 29. In 2020 it is Saturday. This day is marked by another church holiday - the transfer of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands. From this day on, bread is baked only from the grain of the new harvest illuminated in the church. A table of baked flour products is set, at which the whole family eats.

The main difference between the Nut Spas and the Honey and Apple Spas is the modesty of the celebration, since the entire harvest will be used to store grain and nut crops for the long winter. It is not customary to celebrate it on a grand scale.

It is believed that from this day on in Rus', the housewife begins to weave linen in order to provide her family with new clothes. At the end of the celebration, the whole family should wash thoroughly in the bathhouse.

According to Orthodox beliefs, they observed weather and natural phenomena. Typically, these harbingers predicted further warming or cooling:

If there is rain or a thunderstorm on August 29, then autumn will take pity and delight you with warmth and long sunny days.
If a lot of nut crops were harvested, then next year will bring a lot of grain and grain harvests.
If the cranes began to fly away only after the celebration of the Nut Savior, then Pokrov will be warm or hot. If the cranes set off earlier than the allotted time, then you should prepare for the Pokrovsky cold snap.

Traditions

On Honey Spas, it is customary to bring honey, poppy seeds, and medicinal herbs to the temple for consecration.

On this day, beekeepers have a tradition of distributing pieces of honeycombs with honey to children and the poor.

On Honey Spas they bake Lenten honey gingerbreads , prepare pancakes with honey, honey kvass, and cook mead.

Makovey From open sources

The holiday is also called Makovei , and popularly – Poppy Savior. The people combined this church holiday with the beginning of the poppy harvest in the fields. The church remembers the seven brother-martyrs of the Maccabees with their mother Solomia. In 166 BC. The Maccabean dynasty rebelled against edicts that prohibited religious practices.

On Makovei, it is customary to collect wildflowers and put them in a bouquet, and then bless them in the church. This bouquet is called “makoveychik” or “ makoveyka ”.

Among the flowers in the bouquet there must be large ripe poppy heads. You can also put marigolds, dahlias, asters, carnations, periwinkle, as well as various herbs in it: basil, mint, thyme, lovage and others.

An interesting tradition exists in the Zhytomyr region - they add carrots, small ears of corn, as well as peas, beans and dill to the poppy seed bouquet.

Until spring, it is customary to keep “makoveychiki” as a talisman. Some people use poppy in winter for Christmas kuti, and at the Annunciation, girls wove dried flowers into their hair.

Wildflowers From open sources

But these are not all the names of Honey Savior. Thus, it is also known as “ Spas on Water ”. There is an everyday explanation: on this day old wells, reservoirs and springs were cleaned and new ones were blessed.

After the religious procession, people bathed “to cleanse themselves from sins” and bathed all their livestock. After the so-called “Wet Spas”, the peasants no longer swam.

Signs

The celebration of the Honey Savior is also associated with the beginning of the harvest. Our ancestors, who were engaged in farming, believed that from this day we could begin preparing for winter and see off the summer.

Folk signs on Honey Spas:

On Makovei, summer ends and autumn begins;
What the weather will be like on Makovei, this will be the case next year;
On the First he saved and the beggar will try the honey;
The First Savior has everything in stock: rain, sun, and wind;
After the First Rescue they do not enter the river;
Swallows fly away three times - for three times.

It is believed that on Makovei you cannot talk loudly , quarrel, swear or celebrate noisily. Also on this day you cannot clean the house or work. You cannot wish harm on anyone, otherwise it will come back to you.

Summarize

All three Saviors, which will be celebrated in August 2020, are named in honor of Christ the Savior. These days they not only give thanks for a rich harvest, but also pray for health, prosperity and love for their families. Therefore, every believer should pay special attention to these celebrations.

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Second Spas – Yablochny

On August 19, the Transfiguration of the Lord or the Apple Savior . On this day, believers remember the gospel event when the apostles saw Jesus Christ in the transfiguration. According to the Holy Scriptures, Jesus and his disciples climbed Mount Tabor and began to pray. At that same moment, his appearance was transformed: his face shone, his body and clothes were flooded with Divine light. Seeing this, the apostles were filled with unprecedented bliss. So the Lord showed people what state the world would find with the Resurrection of Christ.

Transfiguration of the Lord From open sources

As a sign of gratitude, people began to bring grapes and apples to the temples. It was customary to consecrate some of the fruits - the fruits symbolize the spiritual sweetness that Christ’s disciples felt at the moment of his Transfiguration. This is where the second popular name of the holiday came from - Apple Savior.

On Apple Savior, Christians bless the apples and grapes of the new harvest, and after that the fruits are usually taken to the cemetery and left on the graves of the deceased.

It is believed that on this day apples have special powers; they can fulfill wishes and get rid of diseases . Especially if you cut a piece, dip it in honey and eat it.

On this day, it is customary to bake apples, pies and pancakes with apples. According to folk traditions, pies should be baked from lean dough. You can also make compote and jam from apples. Also on this day you are allowed to ease your fast a little : eat fish and drink a little wine.

The Three Saviors will be the most important church holidays for the Orthodox in August 2020

In August 2020, Orthodox Christians will celebrate three important church holidays - Honey, Apple and Walnut Spas. The dates of the holidays do not change from year to year in the church calendar. All three celebrations are dedicated to the Savior Jesus Christ.

When Honey saved in 2020 and the main traditions of the holiday

Honey Spas is celebrated the very first, and its date always coincides with the date of the beginning of the Dormition Fast. The Savior on Water, or Makovei, as the holiday is also called, is celebrated on August 14th.

On this day, the products of the first harvest are brought to the church for blessing: poppy, which protects people from evil, and honey, which is a symbol of prosperity in every home.

Honey Spas opens a series of important church holidays in August 2020. It is important on this day to forget about physical labor, housework and handicrafts. The holiday's prohibitions also concern quarrels and loud conversations: believers try to spend this important date in the church calendar in complete calm and spirituality.

Honey Spas is also called the holiday of summer and the start of the harvest. It is the honey that is harvested first, which is why the holiday got its popular name. In churches at this time prayers are read in honor of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord. Believers rush to pray at home, so that the heavens will take pity and bless all households with health, wealth and complete contentment after harvesting the ripe harvest.

Women at Honey Spas prepare bouquets of flowers and herbs, called “makoveychiks.” Plants are consecrated in temples, so that later they serve as an important and significant amulet for the home.

Date and traditions of Apple Rescue

The Second Spas is called Apple, since it is in the second half of August that the apple harvest starts. Pears and grapes are also harvested at this time. The holiday is always celebrated on August 19 , and it is unofficially considered the most important among the Three Spas.

When the Third Savior is celebrated, Nut

The Third Savior is celebrated by the Orthodox after the celebration of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that is, more magnificently, because fasting ends, which means that fasting foods can also be eaten. Nut Spas is always celebrated on August 29 and is dedicated to the Image of Christ Not Made by Hands.

In churches on Orekhovy Spas, they consecrate not only bread, but also nuts, which just ripen by this time.

The nut is a symbol of the continuation of life, fertility, satiety and wealth. The harvest of nuts for our ancestors was always of great importance, since they, nourishing and nutritious, could save households from hunger even in the most severely cold and unfavorable winters.

The Third Savior also has a lot of traditions and prohibitions, church and folk. According to church canons, you traditionally cannot work on a holiday. Believers try to devote their time to spiritual growth and the joys that the last days of summer bring.

In ancient times, there was also a tradition of organizing fairs at the Third Spas, where all kinds of fabrics and clothing items, accessories and trinkets were sold. Nowadays, fairs are also held at the end of August, and agricultural “sales” are popular in cities and towns, where you can buy all kinds of new crop products at a minimal cost in order to stock up on food for the winter.

Beliefs

During the time of Kievan Rus, they believed that if you comb your hair with an apple tree comb on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the curls would be thick and lush.

Apple Spas From open sources

Believers believe that you cannot eat apples . This prohibition is associated with the ancient belief that angels in heaven treat dead children with fruit. If the mother of a deceased child ate an apple ahead of time, the baby will not receive the gift in the next world.

On the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, it is forbidden to work , except for harvesting and preparing food. For example, you cannot sew, do cleaning or repairs.

It is customary to treat the needy and children with apples blessed in the church . It is believed that the more generously you distribute apples, the more favorable fate will be.

Previously, the weather on Apple Day predicted what the next season would be like: if the day is sunny and cloudless, then autumn will be dry, and if it is rainy, then we should expect a wet autumn. But a clear day foreshadows a frosty winter with snowstorms. As is the Apple Savior, so will January be.

Signs for Apple Spas:

Whatever the weather will be on August 19, the same will be the Intercession on October 14.
Apple Spas - keep your mittens in reserve.
If the fruit turns out to be rotten, then the next year will be difficult and difficult.
If a child is bitten by a bee on this day, there will soon be guests in the house. It's time to prepare to receive friends or relatives.
Those whom you enroll in Apple Spas will help throughout the year.

Third Spas – Nut

Nut Spas is celebrated on August 29 , it will be the third in the last month of summer. The Third Savior is celebrated the day after the Dormition of the Mother of God, and on the second day after the end of the Dormition Fast.

Orekhovy Spas From open sources

Story

On this day, the church commemorates the transfer of the Icon of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands from Edessa to Constantinople in 944. During the time of Christ, King Abgar ruled in Edessa, who suffered from leprosy. He heard about the miracles of healing people by the Savior, but he himself had never seen him. The king sent his artist with a request to paint a portrait of Christ. He also handed over a letter with the painter. Nothing happened with the portrait - it stood too far away.

Transfer of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands From open sources

The Lord himself called him. Then he handed over a letter with the message that he would send his student to Abgar for healing, and then asked him to bring him canvas and water. Christ washed his face, wiped it with a cloth, and his face was imprinted . After this, the ruler was cured of leprosy and became a believer. The image of the Savior more than once saved the city from destruction and plunder. In 944, Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus bought the Savior Not Made by Hands and delivered it to Constantinople, to the Pharos Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Three Spas: when to fast in August 2020

For Orthodox believers, August is a very busy month, implying a responsible attitude towards church traditions

In August, the second summer post awaits us - Uspensky. It is on him that the first two Saviors fall. This is a very bright and important month, in which it is worth taking a more responsible approach to church traditions, experts from the website dailyhoro.ru note, reports AmurMedia news agency.

Honey Spas

This holiday is also called the First Savior, which is quite logical, because this is where these three important events begin. Honey Spas in 2020 will be celebrated on August 14.

The church event of this day is the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord. Crosses are brought out in churches and religious processions are held. The Assumption Fast also begins on August 14th. This is why you shouldn’t organize too much of a celebration. Also on this day it is forbidden to eat products of animal origin - meat, fish, eggs.

Apple Spas

Apple Spas will be celebrated on August 19, Wednesday. The Orthodox holiday dedicated to this day is the Transfiguration of the Lord. This is the twelfth holiday, which reminds us of the early New Testament events associated with the ascent of Jesus Christ and his disciples to Mount Tabor. There his first disciples saw a bright light, the prophet Moses and Elijah, and also heard the voice of God, who told them that the Son of the Lord was before them.

This is the second of the three Spas, folk and church traditions intersect, but do not contradict each other. On this day, apples are blessed and the period of harvesting begins. It is customary to wear white clothes, which is not a strict rule.

The holiday also falls on the Dormition Fast, but the church allows eating fish and cooking in vegetable oil on this day. It is worth remembering the religious thought of this day. At the Transfiguration, Jesus Christ already understood what awaited him in the future, what torment he would have to endure for the sake of people and the atonement of their sins.

Nut Spas

On Saturday, August 29, the last of the three Spas will be celebrated - Nut. Sometimes it is called Bread. The fact is that by this time the harvest in Rus' was already ending, so housewives baked bread from the harvested wheat. Also, by the end of August, nuts are already ripening in the forests.

As for the church event on this day, we are talking about the transfer of the Image of Jesus Christ Not Made by Hands from Edessa to Constantinople. This holiday was very revered in Rus'.

On this day, folk traditions were and still are in force. For example, it is very important to help loved ones, not only in harvesting, but also in other matters. People also go to the forest to collect nuts. This will be the first day after the Dormition Fast, so the church does not impose any prohibitions on this day.

When preparing the material, the source(s) were used: ptoday.ru, 1rre.ru and amurmedia.ru