The holiday of November 1 - All Saints' Day: what not to do on Midsummer's Day / 1zoom.ru We remind Orthodox and Catholics what holiday today is - November 1 is celebrated as All Saints' Day for Western Christians and Midsummer's Day for Eastern Christians.
In principle, both holidays seem to continue each other: Midsummer’s Day marks the farewell of autumn, and All Saints’ Day marks the arrival of winter. The latter is also associated with honoring the dead.
On All Saints' Day, it is prescribed to remember all the martyrs who gave their lives for God. And then, on November 2, Catholics will have All Souls' Day, when they no longer commemorate saints, but ordinary people, deceased relatives. But the Orthodox will have to wait a week for the commemoration: Dimitrievskaya Parents' Saturday in 2022 fell on October 7.
By the way, people believe that on Midsummer’s Day, deceased relatives visit the house - in the guise of spiders. Therefore, you cannot kill spiders on November 1st.
Folk signs on November 1
- If it is cold and snowy on this day, spring will be late and cold, if there is a thaw, it will be warm.
- If there is frost on this day, there will be a thaw on Dmitry Solunsky (November 8).
- The sky was cloudy at night, but cleared up at sunrise - there would be no precipitation during the day.
- Light snow fell at night, and bright stars twinkled in the sky - a sign of severe frosts.
- Migratory birds fly high - for a snowy winter. If they fly low, there will be almost no snow.
- The air temperature is the same in the lowlands and on the surface - bad cloudy weather.
- If thick layered clouds with torn edges float very quickly in the sky, often changing their shape, then there will soon be a storm.
- If there is complete autumn mud on this day, there are four weeks (28 days) left until real winter.
- The weather is damp, but the first snow has fallen and is not going to melt - there will be a lot of snowdrops in the spring.
- Before the snowfall on this day, the ground froze well - for a harvest year.
- It’s cold outside, snow is falling - a cold and stormy spring.
- It's warm outside - spring will be warm and friendly, and winter will be mild, with thaws.
- Welcoming winter in the north, the first frosts are the beginning of winter.
- According to tradition, on November 1, magpies were invited into the courtyards: grain was poured into them. If a magpie flies in and calmly pecks food, it will not disturb the brownie, and he, in turn, will not disturb the owners.
- A magpie jumping near the house means news.
- Not allowing the horse to rest on this day means poverty. The horses were left to the yard (the younger brother of the brownie) so that he could ride them.
New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia
Hieromartyr Sergius Pokrovsky (September 5, 1880 - November 1, 1937)
“You were a secret agent and therefore were not put on trial for your revolutionary work at that time. Do you admit it? – the investigator asked Father Sergius during interrogation in August 1937.
- I deny this. I have never been a secret agent anywhere. I was not put on trial thanks to the protection of my school friend, the son of a bailiff.”
The life path of the future martyr was atypical - for several years he was in the Socialist Revolutionary Party. But after being ordained and beginning his ministry, he left the party and devoted 30 years to the Church, right up to martyrdom for the faith.
Read a short life
The unrest in the Kaluga seminary, where Sergei Nikolaevich, the son of a psalm-reader, studied, continued for several years: unrest among students, disobedience to authorities, secret meetings of socialist-oriented circles in the forest, in pubs and in private apartments. After graduating from the seminary in 1904, Sergei Nikolaevich worked as a teacher in the village, and since 1905 he propagandized among peasants and teachers for the Socialist Revolutionary Party, distributed literature and almost ended up in prison. One of the school educational performances in November 1905 almost ended in chaos - so violently did those gathered express dissatisfaction with the tsarist system. What saved the teacher from investigation and arrest was a letter to a friend of the bailiff’s son: he persuaded him not to arrest him and the case was hushed up.
In 1907, Sergei Nikolaevich was ordained a priest at the church; in 1908 he left the party. He devoted his further life to serving God and his flock in the church in the village of Nikitskoye, Medynsky district, Kaluga province. In any weather and at any time of the day, he went to fulfill the services, often served and always preached. When the persecution began, Father Sergius was forced to renounce his rank, promising to save his life. In Medyn at that time, significantly more priests suffered than in other places in Kaluga land. And Father Sergius understood what was ahead of him.
In 1937, the priest was arrested. During interrogations, he was accused of counter-revolutionary work at the temple, of participation in the uprising in 1918, of anti-collective farm agitation, and of praising Hitler and fascist Germany. He refused to admit the charges and was sentenced to death. Archpriest Sergius Pokrovsky was shot in the city of Medyn on November 1, 1937 and buried in an unknown grave.
After the arrest of the priest and his martyrdom, the parishioners did not leave his orphans without help, despite the danger of being accused of sympathizing with the “enemies”: they brought food most often at night, sharing the last piece of bread.
According to the Medyn district newspaper “Zarya”, in 2022, in memory of her grandfather, the granddaughter of Father Sergius, Larisa Aleksandrovna Tomshina, reconstructed his house. On the day of consecration, a memorial plaque was attached to the house. Residents of the village of Nikitskoye stand a chapel on the site of the temple where the holy martyr Sergius of Pokrovsky served.
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Conspiracies of November 1
Plot for a soldier
In the fall, many young men will have to go to serve in the army. To prevent any misfortune from happening to a recruit, he must know this conspiracy:
Lord, support, Lord, bless! A white stone lies on the mountain, so that the horse cannot hit the stone. And so it would be that no arrow or bullet would hit me, God’s servant (name), and my comrades and my horse. Just as a hammer bounces off a sledgehammer, so would a bullet bounce off me. Just as the millstones turn, So the arrow would not come to me, It would turn. The sun and the month are bright, so would I, servant of God (name). The castle fortified behind the mountain is closed, That lock and keys are in the blue sea. The Mother of God watches over these keys and protects me from a vain death. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Speak to the water with this spell, take it into your mouth and swallow, and wash your face and hands with the other part of the water.
Saints' Day
Transfer of the relics of St. John of Rila
Listen to an accessible story for children about the patron saint of Bulgaria and Russia in the project “Questions of Faith and Thomas.”
Listen to the short life of the saint on radio “Vera”.
Prophet Joel (several centuries before Christ)
Read basic information about the life and predictions of the “prophet of destruction” in our material “Joel, Eyewitness of the Invasion.”
Listen to a short list of the main prophecies of Joel on radio “Faith”.
Martyr Uar of Egypt and with him seven Christian teachers (about 307), blessed Cleopatra (327) and her son Saint John (320)
Read a modern retelling of the life of the patron saint of those who died unbaptized, as well as blessed Cleopatra and her son, in our material “Martyr Uar.”
You will find explanations about the prayer to the martyr Uar and answers from priests on how to pray for loved ones who died unbaptized in our material “Unbaptized Dead.”
Listen to the short life of Blessed Cleopatra and her son John on radio “Vera”.
Hieromartyr Zadok, Bishop of Persia, and with him 128 martyrs (342)
One day, the Persian Bishop Zadok saw a dream in which his predecessor Saint Simeon stood in great glory at the top of a ladder that touched heaven: “Come up to me, Zadok, and do not be afraid - I ascended yesterday, and you ascend today.” Soon, the persecutor of Christians, Tsar Sapor, ordered the arrest of the shepherd and with him 128 Christian believers (among them 9 virgins). They were tortured for several months, forcing them to renounce Christ, but, failing to achieve this, they were executed.
Cathedral of Saints of the Archangel Metropolis
This year, for the third time, the Church celebrates the Council of Saints of the Archangel Metropolis - it remembers 91 saints of God: 29 saints of the 14th-18th centuries and 62 new martyrs of the 20th century. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' approved the celebration in 2022. For several years, the diocesan commission for the canonization of saints prepared materials for the approval of a new holiday. The date was not chosen by chance: November 1 is the birthday of Righteous John of Kronstadt and the eve of the day of remembrance of the holy youth Artemy Verkolsky. It is these saints who are considered the most famous heavenly patrons of the Arkhangelsk land.
Features of Orthodox worship
A lot of bewilderment arises among those who for the first time decided to participate with their children in the main sacrament of our Church. How to prepare for communion for a child? What prayers should you read? Is it possible for pregnant or nursing mothers to meet all the requirements? The answers of experienced priests to several of the most popular questions in our material “How to prepare for communion?”
Read the sequence of the Liturgy
Reading the Gospel:
Gospel of Luke, chapter 8, verses 5 - 15
Read excerpt
5 The sower went out to sow his seed, and as he sowed, some fell by the wayside and was trampled, and the birds of the air devoured it; 6 And some fell on a rock and came up and withered, because it had no moisture; 7 And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them; 8 And some fell on good ground and sprang up and bore fruit a hundredfold. Having said this, he exclaimed: whoever has ears to hear, let him hear! 9 And His disciples asked Him, “What is the meaning of this parable?” 10 He said: To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but to others in parables, so that seeing they do not see and hearing they do not understand. 11 This is what this parable means: the seed is the word of God; 12 But those who fell along the way are the ones who listen, to whom the devil then comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they do not believe and are saved; 13 And those who fell on the stone are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy, but who have no root, and believe for a time, but fall away in time of temptation; 14 But those who fell among the thorns are those who hear the word, but go away and are overwhelmed by cares, riches, and the pleasures of this life and do not bear fruit; 15 But those that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word, keep it in a good and pure heart and bear fruit with patience. Having said this, He exclaimed: whoever has ears to hear, let him hear!
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Priest Pavel (Velikanov) comments
Historical events
1512 - the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, painted by Michelangelo, was shown to the public for the first time.
1520 — The Strait of Magellan is open.
1896 — a picture showing a woman’s naked breasts appears for the first time in National Geographic magazine.
1897 - Students of the University of Turin founded the famous Italian football club Juventus.
1914 - World War I: Britain's first naval defeat at the Battle of Coronel off the coast of Chile.
1939 — the first rabbit born after artificial insemination was shown to the world.
1950 - assassination attempt on US President Harry Truman.
1952 — in the United States, a hydrogen bomb is being tested for the first time on Eniwetak Atoll.
1993 - The European Union was founded.
1998 — The European Court of Human Rights was established.
Blessed Cleopatra of Palestine and her son, warrior John
Blessed Cleopatra came from the village of Edra near Mount Tabor in Palestine. She was a contemporary of the holy martyr Huar and saw his voluntary torment. After the execution, the blessed one transported the body of the holy martyr to her homeland and buried him with honors. Cleopatra had her only beloved son, John, who received an honorary officer position. To the great sorrow of his mother, John died suddenly. With bitter sobs, Cleopatra turned to the relics of the holy martyr Huar, begging him for the resurrection of her son.
When Uar and her son John appeared in a dream to Cleopatra, shining in bright clothes with crowns on their heads, she realized that the Lord had accepted her son into the heavenly army, and she was comforted. After this, blessed Cleopatra began to live at the temple that she erected over the relics of the holy martyr Huar and her son John, trying to win the grace of God through good deeds. She distributed her property to the poor and spent time in prayer and fasting.
Prophet Joel
An Old Testament saint from among the minor prophets, who lived 800 years before the birth of Christ and in his prophecies predicted that the Holy Spirit would be poured out on all flesh through the Savior of the world. Also, Saint Joel, in the book of prophecies he wrote, which was included in the biblical canon, predicted the future desolation of the holy city of Jerusalem.
