March 8: What women are forbidden to do on September 30

The history of the martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia dates back to the second century, to the time of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Widow Sophia (the name means “wisdom”) raised three daughters in the Christian faith. When the family was reported to the emperor, he demanded that the girls sacrifice to the pagan goddess. Faith was twelve, Hope ten, Love nine. No one has denied Christ.

The sisters were tortured in front of their mother and then executed in turn. Sophia was not subjected to bodily torture - the bodies of her daughters were given to her. She buried them outside the city and died three days later on their grave. All four were later canonized as martyrs.

In Russia, the Greek names of girls when translated into Church Slavonic acquired the usual form - Faith, Hope and Love. And the name of the mother retained the original sound – Sofia. Since all four names were widespread, on September 30 there were many birthday girls. Hence the popular name - Universal Babi names.

The holiday was celebrated for three days - one for each virtue. Women were exempted from hard work, and men were instructed to take care of the household. The main custom is ritual crying at dawn. Women gathered together and voted, mourning the fate of the martyrs and their share. It was believed that whoever pays the grief on September 30, his sorrow will be bypassed.

After crying, it was supposed to wash with conjured water and pour it under a tree so that there were no more tears. Unmarried girls cut their hair for good luck. There was also the custom of throwing old paptis into the fire to burn all the troubles of the past year.

By the end of September, farmers were watching nature closely, trying to guess the nature of the coming winter