Pilipovka in Belarus

One of the 12 apostles in Orthodoxy, disciples of Jesus Christ, is Apostle Philip. He also preached after the resurrection of Jesus in Greece and Galilee. Today they pray to the Apostle Philip to protect themselves from vision diseases; it is believed that he can save from snake bites and even from depression - sadness and grief. In Belarus, a holiday is dedicated to him - Pilipovka. It is celebrated on November 28th. On this day, fasting begins, six weeks long before Christmas. Pilipovka has its own rituals and traditions. Thus, it is believed that all household chores must be completed before noon, so that by evening the house will be comfortable and clean. On November 28, they monitor the weather - people believed that if it was snowy and gloomy outside on Pilipovka, May would be rainy, but if it was sunny, it would be warm and clear. In the old days, girls went to Pilipoku to weave, as evidenced by many ancient folklore finds. Since people began fasting on this day, they had to prepare meat and slaughter pigs before November 28, so that later there would be no temptation to treat themselves to meat - after all, by Christmas, meat should be mandatory on the table. Of course, not many traditions have survived to this day - in cities, even less so, only fasting is observed. But in the villages they know this holiday well. There are some sayings indicating that Pilipovka remains an important day of the Christian calendar in Belarus. This day is also associated with something else - before Pilipovka, that is, before the start of Lent, they tried to complete all the weddings - after all, celebrating such an important day during Lent is a sin. Therefore, weddings that took place in the last week before November 28 were called wolf weddings. This is where phrases like “Walk like a wolf in Pilipovka” or “See that Pilipovsky is a wolf” came from. In a word, Pilipovka is the day on which the preparation of a person’s body and soul begins, its cleansing before the great holiday of Christmas. Naturally, on this day a person’s spirituality prevailed - the day was a harbinger of something great and solemn.