Or Makovei. Find out what needs to be put in the basket to be blessed in church.

On the first, or Honey, Savior, it is customary to go to church and bring fruits and other gifts of nature for consecration. This is how we thank God for the harvest. August is the month when beekeepers are already collecting honey in apiaries, which is why the holiday was called “Honey Savior”.

In total, three Spas are celebrated in August: Honey, Apple and Nut. These are popular names for church holidays in honor of Jesus Christ the Savior, which is where the name “Savior” came from.

On August 14, the church celebrates the Feast of the Origin of the Honest Trees Life-giving Cross. According to legend, when a terrible epidemic came to Constantinople, the townspeople were saved by consecrating all the wells and springs in the city with part of the cross on which Christ was crucified. In memory of this event, a small blessing of water is held in churches.

In each Ukrainian family There was a special basket in which food was carried for consecration to the temple on major church holidays. Depending on the holiday - Christmas, Easter, Savior - the basket is filled with a different set of products. It is used only for this purpose, and therefore they choose an elegant, spacious basket made of wicker, and cover it with a beautiful embroidered towel.

IN Orthodox churches Solemn services are held on August 14. During the rite of small water blessing, parishioners' baskets are blessed.

What to bring to church on Makovei?

Each of the products that is placed in a basket and carried to the church for consecration on the Honey Savior has symbolic meaning. Therefore, it is important to understand the meaning of this ancient tradition.

The main product that is placed in the church basket for the Savior is honey - in honeycombs or jars. Honey serves as a symbol of harvest and family wealth.

Bread is also brought to church for consecration - this is a symbol family well-being. Place a variety of pastries with honey and poppy seeds in the basket.

You should not put money and other things in the basket. material values, this does not at all correspond to the spirit of the holiday. Remember that, first of all, Spas is a celebration of the soul.

Don't forget to put the poppy seed charm in your basket. This is a bouquet of wildflowers and herbs, with viburnum, sunflower, calendula, oregano, mint, wormwood, any spikelets and poppy heads added.

The beginning of the Dormition Fast coincides with a church holiday. People know several of its names - Honey, Poppy, Wet, First or Maccabean saved. The traditions of the ancestors are reflected in the celebration of the religious ceremony. The Orthodox Savior coincides with the traditional pagan farewell to summer.

Holiday customs

On this day, water and honey from the new harvest are blessed in churches. It is served at the table, deceased parents are commemorated, distributed to the poor, some are left in the church;

Orthodox believe that after consecration, a natural delicacy acquires a lot of healing properties; it is used to treat colds and other ailments;

On church service the beekeepers carried the richest honeycombs, dripping with honey, which they cut into new, unused wooden containers;

On the eve of the Savior, sweets are prepared with the addition of honey - sbiten, pies, honey and poppy gingerbread, pancakes, buns. They treat children left without parents, widows, and help them free of charge.

In Rus', before the holiday, girls made a “Makovian bouquet” of fragrant herbs - mint, chabra, marigold and poppy. They wove wreaths from ears of rye. They were also brought to church for consecration.

Dried poppy pods were attributed magical properties. The seeds were left in the hut to ward off troubles and illnesses from household members. For better growth hair, the girls wove poppy flowers into their braids, grown from dry consecrated seeds. To ensure a harvest, grains of wheat and rye were used for new winter crops (they started work immediately).

When is honey and apple savior celebrated?

Celebrate the holiday on August 14, not a moving holiday. Its date is fixed. Marking the beginning of Lent in memory of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, it opens the August “Spaski”. Days when fast food is prohibited, but fast food is allowed, which is abundantly present among peasants at this time of year - honey, nuts, fresh berries, fruits and vegetables.

Apple (Second) Savior is tied to the celebration of the Transfiguration of the Lord, celebrated in Russia on August 19.

What you can do and what you can’t do at honey rescue

In order not to cause trouble, to attract good luck, to protect yourself from damage and evil eye, on holiday it is recommended:

• Be sure to attend the afternoon service, pray, bless the honey, taste it, treat it to relatives, loved ones and the poor, the church clergy;
• Perform ablution in blessed water, in villages - to bathe livestock in reservoirs;
• Prepare traditional cuisine sweets Eastern Slavs;
• Try honey from the new harvest (until August 14, only last year’s honey was allowed to be eaten);
• Commemorate deceased relatives with pies, gingerbread with blessed honey;
• Help the suffering, orphans, and the elderly.

As on other church holidays, on Honey Spas you cannot quarrel, fight, argue with loved ones, or refuse help. Since fasting begins on this day, fast food (meat, eggs, butter) is prohibited. Instead, they eat the plant gifts of nature. After August 14, swimming in natural bodies of water is prohibited. Otherwise, no other actions were subject to a hard veto.

History and tradition of the holiday

The Christian Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord was first established in the 9th century. The annual blessing of water with parts of the Life-Giving Cross took place in Constantinople.

In Rus', the celebration of the All-Merciful Savior and Holy Mother of God was established because of the sign emanating from the icons that helped Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in the battle with the Volga Bulgarians.

• The first rescue is named because it opens a series of “saves”: Apple (Second) and Nut (Third);
• Honey - beekeeping was one of the main occupations of the Slavs. Spas marked the beginning of the “honey harvest”; there was a pumping of honey;
• Wet - a reminder of the consecration of wells and natural reservoirs, performed in memory of the Baptism of Rus';
• Maccabee, Poppy - by August 14 the poppy will ripen. The roots of the name go back to religion. Honey Spas is a tribute to the veneration of the Maccabean martyrs who gave their lives for the Faith of Christ.

Honey Rescue Service:religious ritual and traditions

The afternoon service is dedicated to several church holidays. The main one is the Origin of the venerable trees of the Life-giving Cross of the Lord, as well as the All-Merciful Savior of Christ God and the Most Holy Theotokos, worship of the Cross with a small blessing of water (in memory of the baptism of Rus') and illumination of fresh honey.

The Church emphasizes: for true believing Orthodox Christians, the consecration of honey and eating it should not overshadow the significance of the first two events.

Honey saved: what to sacredand take it with you to church

This year's honey or honeycombs are brought to the service. They stock up on sweets for future use, taking more so that they can leave some in the temple or treat the poor. Traditionally, believers come to the service with bouquets or bunches of herbs: mint, marigolds, to which several heads of ripe poppy are added.

After consecration, the home is decorated with herbs, the poppy is dried and stored. It is brewed with herbal infusions for illness. They are left on the table to protect household members from evil forces.

Conspiracies and rituals

Mostly “strong” words were spoken in poppy or honey. It was believed that a conspiracy read on this day had special power and acted quickly.

• On good trade: A glass of poppy seeds is placed in bulk on a new handkerchief spread on the counter. They say nine times: whoever steps on my poppy will buy all my goods. Little by little, the seeds are scattered at the counter every day. The conspiracy lasts for about a month;
• From a quarrel between relatives: in Honey Spas they set the table, serve tea with sweets, to which they add a spoonful of honey with the words: “Honey, soften the ardor of the angry one, pacify him and remove all grievances.” After this, tea is served to relatives, making sure that everyone takes at least a sip.

The rituals of the holiday are associated with the climatic features of the area: a ban on swimming in reservoirs, winter sowing of rye. IN personal life Honey Spas helped women get rid of “woman’s sin.” It was believed that a woman who prayed earnestly would be forgiven for her infidelities and minor sins.

In contact with

We will talk about one of them today. We will also consider what traditions exist associated with it. In addition, the topic of the meal will be touched upon, as well as what should be prepared on this day. So, what kind of holiday is this - Makovei? Most people know it under a completely different name. They know it as During this period they pump in the apiaries healthy honey, the poppy is also starting to ripen. There is an opinion that the Makovei holiday is the real one. Perhaps this is so. And if you start deciphering the word itself, you get “poppy holiday”. Because the word consists of two parts: “poppy” and “wey”.

Flowers and bouquets - and families

What is so special about this unique holiday of Makovei? On this day, all people collected bouquets of flowers of asters, carnations, marigolds, cornflowers, mint, wormwood and yarrow. Residents different areas added their own plants and herbs. This is how bouquets with carrots, corn, peas, and dill appeared. They wove wreaths and added a candle to them. In each such folk “masterpiece” the owner invested hope for a productive year and prosperity in the house. But a mandatory attribute of such a bouquet was the poppy and its ripe heads.

This bouquet was called in a special and very affectionate way - “makoveychik”. With these flowers, all the parishioners went to the church for the service. There they blessed the collected herbs. Arriving home, the bouquet is put away behind the icon. This poppy was used to protect their homes and livestock living in the yard. It was believed that these seeds could protect a newly born child from the “evil eye.”

Therefore, they scattered poppy seeds in front of the thresholds of their houses. Many believed that if you scatter the seeds in a circle and stand in this “drawn” amulet, you can get rid of all evil, and forever. All consecrated herbs healed any illness, purified well water and returned family happiness to the house. Exactly a year later, on the church holiday of Macovey, when a new bouquet was ready, the old one had to be burned.

Also, honey and a ritual dish - “shuliki” - were brought to the church for consecration. This interesting pastry consisted of cakes, broken into pieces, filled with water, honey and crushed poppy seeds.

Each housewife prepared her own special food on this day. Who baked pies, donuts and pies. But poppy seeds and honey were added to any prepared dish or dough. Like this interesting tradition There is.

Holy water

On the Makovei holiday, people were especially careful with water. Mid-August is always characterized by hot weather. Due to the dry summer, mass diseases could begin. The water was blessed, believing that this ritual purified it. Therefore, there is another name for this holiday - Water or Wet Spas. They tried to dig a new well for this very day; holy water was prepared for the sick, pregnant women and children. In addition, they sprinkled it on stacks of hay and straw so that mice would avoid making their nests in the stacks. On this day in Byzantium, during a period of drought, the cross on which Jesus was crucified was used to purify water.

Healthy honey

It’s understandable why the poppy is considered a sacred plant on the Feast of Macovei. But it is not clear why honey was treated equally in Rus'. Probably because it is a very useful product of bees' labor. And before, honey was added to almost all dishes, it replaced sugar, and was even used in cooking. various dishes from meat.

What is served on the table on holiday?

But the holiday of Macovei is known and celebrated not only in Rus'. In Georgia, Ukraine and Romania they also observe Orthodox traditions and celebrate in their own way. In every home, porridge made from corn flour with the addition of honey and poppy seeds is always served at the table. This dish was cut with a knife, as it was very thick. The drinks also contained honey and herbal infusions.

So, if housewives want to please their loved ones with original cuisine, you should remember that it will be very opportune on August 14, the Makovei holiday is a special day. Therefore, you need to prepare delicious and healthy dishes. I just want to give one piece of advice: before adding poppy seeds to the dough, you should first chop it up and soak it in water. Juiciness and aroma are guaranteed.

Another explanation for the name

Orthodox Christians have their own explanation for the event to which the holiday is dedicated. Worth contacting Old Testament. The holy martyrs, the seven Maccabee brothers, who refused to accept the pagan faith because they believed only in the True God, are honored and remembered. The brothers, along with their mother Solomonia and teacher Eleazar, were put to death on this day. From this day, people begin to observe a two-week strict Therefore, the day of August 14 is rightfully considered and celebrated as the church holiday of Makovei.

In our time, this is one of the biggest events for Orthodox believers. In all churches and temples, the Life-Giving Cross is always brought out, worshiped and asked to be delivered from all diseases and forgiven sins. On this day, horses and other livestock were bathed for the last time, and they themselves washed themselves in rivers and lakes to gain strength and health.

Shuliki - delicious pastries for children and adults

August 14 is the holiday of Makovei. He pleases with delicious baked goods, especially for children. The unusual jokes that were mentioned earlier can be prepared and served. The dough is prepared lean and unleavened. It is suitable for baking in the oven and frying in a pan. Getting ready yeast dough in the following way. You will need one glass of water, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, three tablespoons of vegetable oil, three glasses of flour and 1 teaspoon of yeast.

You need to knead a stiff dough. Roll out, cut into small pieces and place in the oven for baking. This is only one part, the so-called blank. Now you need to prepare the poppy seed sauce. Take 200 grams of poppy seeds. One glass each of water and sugar. Pre-grind the poppy seeds in a coffee grinder. Place everything in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Then add poppy seeds and simmer over low heat for 5 minutes. Pour the baked dough pieces into the cooked sauce. That's all, the dish is ready. Now you can safely serve it on the table.

A little conclusion

Now you know when the holiday of Macovei comes. On August 14th it happens. Even during the time of Rus', this holiday was one of the “sweetest”. The hospitable hosts treated guests, acquaintances and relatives not only to freshly harvested honey. What kind of delicacies did women come up with! After all, you need to have time to eat, then fasting will begin. Children and adults enjoyed poppy seed pies, buns and gingerbread cookies. Pancakes were served to the table for the holiday of Makovei. On August 14, poppy seeds were sprinkled into all pie fillings. And sweet honey of various varieties was always served in clay pots.

The August calendar has important date, which we simply cannot ignore. This is the Makovei holiday 2017.

Let us note that the Honey Savior (aka Makovey) is one of the most important Christian holidays. Every year Honey Spas is celebrated on August 14. When the Makovey holiday comes in 2017, people traditionally go to church, where bouquets, honey, fruits, etc. are blessed, since after that they become healing.

Spas - popular name the first half of August according to the old style, when three Spas are celebrated - Honey, Apple and Nut. It is from the First Honey Spas The Assumption Fast begins. There are many traditions and prohibitions on Honey Savior (Makovei), which we will discuss further.

Makovei 2017, what date, you already know. Those who are interested in this topic are aware that the Savior was called Honey for a reason. Previously, it was on this day that our ancestors began collecting honey from apiaries; the honeycombs in the hives were usually already filled by this time. Then everyone gathered at the ponds, ate honey, sang songs and generally spent time together. It was also mandatory to bake products with poppy seeds. It is also worth mentioning why Honey Savior is popularly called Makovey. The story is connected with the Maccabee brothers, who accepted martyrdom for their faith.

What not to do at Honey Spas 2017: prohibitions at Makovey 2017

August 14 is the church holiday of Macovei, which means that there are certain prohibitions that must be strictly adhered to on this day. We have collected the main bans on Makovey, bans on Honey Spas 2017.

• Summer ends on Honey Spas, so you can’t swim on August 14, just like on Ilya’s Day, as you can drown or get sick. Logically, the nights were already becoming cool, so the water began to “bloom,” which could cause various diseases.
• On this day, the strict Dormition Fast begins, so you need to follow the nutritional rules.
• You cannot speak loudly or celebrate noisily on Makovei on this day, as the bees react poorly (and on the same day they collected honey).
• You can’t quarrel with Makovey, swear or wish anyone harm, otherwise the negativity will return like a boomerang.
• On this day you cannot work or clean the house: it is better to complete such tasks the day before.

How to collect a bouquet “Makoveychik”

On Honey Spas it is customary to go to church with a “poppy flower” - a bouquet that you collect with your own hands. Each flower in it has a special meaning, so people believe that a bouquet on Makovei will bring health, prosperity to their family and take care of the prosperity of the household.

Arranging a bouquet for Makovei with your own hands is important tradition our ancestors, who believed that without it the economy would not prosper. Therefore, bouquets called “poppy flowers” ​​were collected as many flowers as possible that grow on our lands.

All flowers must be grown here and are familiar to everyone from childhood. You should not add beautiful imported flowers to the poppy seed, which supposedly will decorate the composition - this is wrong. There may be fewer flowers, but they have all grown native land. It is believed that a ripe poppy head must be placed in every bouquet on Makovei.

What flowers can be used to make “poppy flowers”:

• Asters
• Dahlias
• Chernobrivtsy
• Periwinkle
• Carnations
• Yarrow
• Volodushka
• Basil
• Thyme
• Lovage
• Sagebrush
• Ripe poppy heads

What else can you add to a bouquet for Makovei?

Bouquets for Makoveya can contain various vegetables, legumes and herbs. For example, carrots, corn, beans, dill. Sometimes sunflowers and viburnum are added to the bouquet on Makovey. And almost always people tried to arrange wildflowers into a “poppy flower”.
Previously, people believed that each flower in the “poppy flower” had a special meaning and influence on the one who came to bless the bouquet. For example, volodushka brought peace and prosperity to the family, and mint was supposed to protect against any misfortune and improve health. And to the question of what to do with the bouquet for Makovey after the holiday, one answer has survived to this day - after the consecration, the “Makovei” are kept in the house until spring.