On October 14, Christians of the Eastern rite celebrate an important holiday - the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos or the Intercession. This holiday is very important not only in the church, but also in the folk tradition and has long been especially revered by the Ukrainians..
The history of the holiday of the Intercession.
A miracle happened in the 10th century. Constantinople was under siege, and its inhabitants gathered in the temple and began to pray to the Blessed Virgin for intercession. Then the vaults of the temple above them opened, and the believers saw the Virgin Mary surrounded by angels and saints. She prayed and threw an omophorion on the people who gathered here.
After that, the Mother of God knelt down and prayed to God for Christians.. Then she removed the veil from her head and spread it over the people who prayed with her, and made them invisible to enemies.. As a result, the city was saved.
Veneration of the Intercession in Ukraine.
Gratitude to the Virgin Mary for their victories over enemies was addressed by the Kiev princes, who, after their victories, went to bow to the icons. Yaroslav the Wise after the victory over the Pechenegs erected several churches in Kiev.
The Feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos begins to be celebrated in Russia in the XII century. At the same time, Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky built the Intercession Church on the Nerl River.
The Mother of God was considered their intercessor and patroness by the Ukrainian Cossacks. For them, the feast of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos was also filled with a special meaning, their church was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Since 1999, this day has been celebrated in Ukraine as the Day of the Ukrainian Cossacks..
Another explanation of why the holiday is so important for Ukrainians is that by the Pokrov, the harvest was over and the time for weddings began..
Girls who wanted to get married had to attend a prayer service and ask: "
[see_also].
Day of Faith, Hope, Love: the story of the holiday.
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If the girl was wooed before the Intercession, then until the day of Dmitriev (November 8), it was possible to have a wedding, then Filippov post began.
On this day, the first snow could have fallen, which was compared with a cover.