On December 17, Christians of the Eastern Rite celebrate the feast dedicated to the Holy Great Martyr Barbara. She is considered the patroness of the military and sailors, she is asked to protect from thunder, explosions and sudden death.. The holiday is not only religious, but also folk, it is also called Varvarin's Day..

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Traditions of Saint Barbara's Day.

On the holiday, girls and women go to church and pray to the saint.. She is asked for a successful marriage, healing from diseases and the health of children..

On the festive table on this day, they prepared dumplings with poppy seeds and cottage cheese and porridge.

On the holiday, it is also customary to guess the future.. The girls tried to find out the name of the betrothed.

Fortune telling on Barbara.

One of the most common ways of divination for the holiday is to hide three bay leaves under the pillow at night.. Men's names were written on them: " Then in a dream the girl had to see her betrothed.

To find out who will marry first, the girls took a wooden spoon and threw it into a container of water.. Whose spoon is the first to sail from the edge, that one will be the first to marry.

Saint Barbara was also asked questions. A sheet of paper was divided in half and a handful of cereal was poured onto it, trying to get into the middle.. If most of the cereal remained on the right - the answer was positive, on the left - negative.

Prayer to Saint Barbara.

Holy Great Martyr Barbara! Today I remember the torment that You endured for believing in the Most Holy Trinity and I ask You: pray for me to God the Father to give me the strength to overcome various earthly inclinations, raise my heart and soul to heavenly things.

Pray to God the Son that, by his mercy, I will leave my witty drowsiness and laziness and begin to zealously walk along the paths of the holy Gospel. Pray and the Holy Spirit to restore me, fasten and sanctify.

Holy Great Martyr Barbara! May the wounds of Your holy body heal the wounds that sin inflicted on my soul, and may Your innocently shed blood cleanse me..

Through Your torment and death, I pray You, Holy Great Martyr Barbara, do not let me die without repentance and without accepting the holy Mysteries of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.