What kind of holiday is this?

July 12 is celebrated by some Eastern churches (including the Orthodox Church of Ukraine). the holiday of the Holy Supreme (supreme, all-praiseworthy) apostles Peter and Paul. People call this day Peter’s Day. This day among the people ends the celebrations, at which people said goodbye to spring. After it, the harvest of some winter crops begins.

How did the idea of ​​celebrating the day of the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul come about?

Part of the Eastern Churches and Western Churches celebrate Peter and Paul according to the New Julian and Gregorian calendars, namely June 29. For Catholics, the Day of the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul is one of the most revered celebrations. Both apostles died a martyr’s death and suffered for their faith.

The holiday has a deep history. The first celebrations began in the first century after the birth of Christ. And in 324, when the first Orthodox churches were built in Rome and Constantinople in honor of these apostles, this holiday acquired special significance and solemnity. On the territory of Ukraine, the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul began to be honored after the mass Baptism of Kyivan Rus.

If you believe the stories written by monks in church books, the first icon Peter and Paul got to Kievan Rus with the help of Prince Volodymyr, he brought her from Korsun.

The Supreme Apostle Peter

Before following Christ and accepting the status of his disciple, Peter was a simple fisherman. He and his brother Andriy engaged in fishing to feed himself and his family. One day, when they were in a boat and fishing on the Lake of Gennesaret, the Son of God addressed them and called them to be fishers of men. Peter, known in the world as Simon or Shimon, became one of the most active disciples of Jesus. He recognized him as the Messiah, and Christ himself called him “Petros”, which means “stone” in Greek. It was on this stone, the symbol of which was the apostle’s faith, that the Savior promised to build His church. Peter was also the disciple who walked on the water to his Master.

However, there were also sad moments in the life of this apostle. Yes, he denied his Lord and Master three times when He was arrested. However, sincere humility and deep repentance helped Peter to continue his thorny path for Christ. And indeed, after the Ascension and descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, it was Peter’s preaching that became the driving force that turned thousands of pagans into Christians.

Peter was a devoted disciple of Christ, during his missionary activity he performed miracles and healings that were as powerful and significant as the miracles of his Lord and Master. Apostle Peter traveled along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, he visited some countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe, preaching the Word of God and confessing Christ as the Savior of the world. The Bible, namely the New Testament, includes the books of this apostle, which are called the 1st and 2nd Epistles of the Apostle Peter.

At the end of his life, Peter visited Rome, where he was captured by pagans hostile to the Christian faith. Until the end of his days, the apostle atoned for his guilt for betraying Christ before the crucifixion, so he asked his executioners to crucify him upside down. After all, Peter considered himself unworthy to die in the same way as his Savior.

The story of the life of the Apostle Paul

Apostle Paul became a disciple of Jesus already after his death. In addition, Saul – that’s what he was called before accepting the Christian faith – was a Roman soldier who sincerely believed that Christianity was evil and that followers of Christ should be executed. He was given the commission to persecute Christians within the Roman Empire, so Saul often traveled to Damascus to fulfill what he considered to be important tasks at the time.

During one of these trips, a great light appeared before him and the future apostle became blind. He also heard a voice speaking to him from heaven: “Saul, why do you persecute Me?”. The blind apostle was also instructed to join the Christians who were in Damascus. There he was baptized and received his sight. From that time, the apostle Peter preached the teachings of Christ with the same zeal with which he persecuted His followers.

Apostle Paul traveled a lot, during his missionary journeys he founded many Christian communities. The New Testament includes 14 Epistles of the Apostle Paul. Apostle Paul died a martyr’s death a year after the execution of Apostle Peter. He was beheaded in 64 AD.

How to celebrate the feast of the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul?

This holiday was celebrated very brightly and cheerfully in Ukrainian villages. Usually pious people lived there who strictly observed all customs and rites, especially religious ones. Even before the holiday, housewives whitewashed their estates, cleaned them, and hung them with embroidered towels. For the holiday Peter and Paul a service was held in the church. Believers attended services, carried flowers, wreaths, and red poppies were an obligatory attribute of the holiday. Also, this day had its own special dish – wheat cakes with cheese, baked on whey, they were called mandrikas. This name came from the word “to travel”, because the apostles themselves traveled around the world, preaching the Gospel.

Many legends were also associated with mandrikas. For example, during one of your travels Peter and Paul were tasting mandrika pies, when a cuckoo grabbed one of the pies from the hands of the apostle and received divine punishment for it. And indeed, after Peter and Paul, the cuckoo shuts up, it stops forging, because “it choked on a mandrik”, – that’s what the people said.

There was an ancient tradition of consecrating the first bread, which was called ritual bread, in the church. To do this, the housewives harvested a small amount of unripe barley grain, made pastries from it and carried it to the liturgy to consecrate it.

Traditions of celebrating Peter and Paul in Prykarpattia

In the Carpathian and Subcarpathian regions of the country, solemn celebrations were held outdoors. Shepherds gathered for fun celebrations right in the paddocks, on the spacious Carpathian meadows. It was a very fun meeting: various competitions and dances were held, mandrikas were baked on the guard.

A special feature of the celebration Peter and Paul in Prykarpattia there was a so-called “Peter’s digging” among the people. The men dug a ditch so that something like a table was formed inside it. Then everyone sat down around this natural “table” with their feet hanging in the ditch. The table was covered with many different dishes. During the celebration, people sang many songs dedicated to the culprits of the holiday.

Celebration of Peter and Paul and the harvest

This holiday always heralded the imminent start of the harvest. Therefore, both the celebration itself and the songs were usually devoted to agricultural topics. Old people believed that on this day, the holy apostles chose a couple for young men and women in such a way that a working man got a lazy girl, or vice versa, a smart girl got a lazy young man. Because if both are lazy, they will die of hunger.

A legend has been preserved to this day that the apostle Peter allegedly has the keys to heaven and he is given the power by God to admit there those who live pious lives, i.e. honor their parents and bathe every week.

Postcards for the feast of the Holy Supreme Apostles Peter and Paul

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