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- Important Orthodox holiday on February 6 - Aksinin day: what you can not do, omens
Important Orthodox holiday on February 6 - Aksinin day: what you can not do, omens
On Thursday, February 6, believers commemorate Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, a martyr known for her kind-heartedness and special gift of healing. In the Orthodox Church, St. Xenia is a symbol of selfless love, help to the suffering and devotion to God. The holiday has several names: Aksin's Day, Aksinya Vesno-pointer and Aksinya Poluzimnitsa. On this day it was customary to predict the weather for the coming spring and guess what the harvest would be like. Also on the day of the celebration there were many omens and prohibitions, which our ancestors were sure to observe in order not to cause terrible misfortune. Read more about the difficult fate of Xenia of St. Petersburg, traditions and customs of the Orthodox holiday - in the material "Izvestia".
Aksinin day: what holiday on February 6
In the Orthodox calendar on February 6 falls the day of veneration of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg. The church holiday is non-transient - it is annually celebrated on the same date. In 2025 the feast falls on Thursday.
Martyr Xenia was born in the early 18th century in St. Petersburg. Exact information about her parents and childhood years has not been preserved. It is only known that Xenia was born into a noble family of average wealth. Having reached the age of marriage, she married a colonel and court singer Andrei Fedorovich Petrov. The happy marriage was interrupted by the sudden death of her husband, who became seriously ill. Xenia became a widow at the age of 26. The misfortune shook her so much that she turned gray overnight. The greatest suffering for believing Xenia was that her husband died without repentance and absolution. Remembering this, Xenia decided by the feat of her life to beg God to forgive the sins of her husband.
The young widow took a vow of foolishness: she distributed her property to the poor and began to walk the streets of St. Petersburg in the clothes of her late husband, calling herself by his name. Even her favorite house, where for three years she and her husband lived soul to soul, Xenia gave to a needy woman, left homeless. She prayed tirelessly for her late husband, asking God to absolve him of his sins and grant him a place in the Kingdom of Heaven.
In her many years of wandering Xenia endured hunger, cold, mockery and ridicule of others, who considered all fools mad people. Despite this, she continued to bear her difficult cross. When the construction of the temple at the Smolensk cemetery began, the foolish Xenia secretly helped the builders, at night lifting heavy stones on the scaffolding. Thanks to her work, the construction of a stone church in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was completed in the shortest possible time, and the citizens of St. Petersburg had a new shrine.
Soon people noticed that for her righteous and ascetic way of life God rewarded Xenia with the gift of clairvoyance and healing. There are many different stories telling about the virtues of the foolish widow. It is believed that Xenia could foretell the future and warn people of coming troubles or joys. Once she predicted the birth of a child to a barren woman, and after a while her prophecy came true: a healthy baby boy was born, making the young mother happy.
People turned to Xenia with requests for healing, and often her prayers for their health led to miraculous recoveries. Even after her death, the sick who came to the tomb of the martyr received relief from their ailments. Xenia is also known for her ability to connect hearts and help the unjustly condemned. There are many testimonies of how, after turning to the saint, single women found a worthy husband, and families in crisis regained harmony. Xenia helped people to find a way out of difficult life situations. One story says that during a fire in a house in St. Petersburg, the residents prayed to Xenia, and the fire miraculously escaped their dwelling.
Russia. St. Petersburg. A woman praying at the chapel of St. Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg at the Smolensk Cemetery
After 40 years of wandering, Xenia died and was buried in the Smolensk Cemetery, and the cemetery church, in the construction of which she took an active part, now bears her name. In 1988, the Russian Orthodox Church consecrated Xenia of Petersburg to the countenance of saints. After that, the tomb of the righteous woman became a place of pilgrimage. People to this day come to the burial place of the martyr to ask her for help, and testify that after turning to the saint they find an unexpected solution to their financial or family problems. There were cases when doctors recognized the impossibility of healing patients, but the prayer addressed to the saint brought a long-awaited miracle, relieving patients of a terrible disease. Today Blessed Xenia is honored in Orthodoxy as the patroness of the family and St. Petersburg, and is also considered an intercessor for all those in need.
According to the folk calendar on February 6 comes Aksinya Vesnokazatelnitsa. The weather on this day judged when spring would come and the snow would begin to melt. In the northern Russian regions, February 6 was considered a milestone period marking the end of the first half of winter. For this reason, the celebration was also called Aksinya Poluzimnitsa. Thrifty owners on this day checked whether they had enough grain reserves before the new harvest. Therefore, another name for the holiday was Aksinya Polukhlebnitsa.
What you can and can not do on the holiday on February 6
In Orthodox churches on February 6, services dedicated to the memory of St. Xenia are held. Believers light candles before her icon and pray for help in life's affairs. Women often ask the blessed one to grant wisdom and family happiness, to protect children from troubles and diseases. Men pray to the holy martyr for health, financial well-being and protection from ill-wishers. Of special importance is the reading of the canon and akathist of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg. One of the strong prayers to St. Xenia sounds like this:
Having loved the poverty of Christ,/ the deathless meal you now enjoy,/ having exposed the madness of the world with imaginary insanity,/ having received the power of God through humility on the cross./ For this reason you have obtained the gift of miraculous help,/ Blessed Xenia, pray to Christ God to deliver us from all evil by repentance.
View of the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God at the Smolensk Cemetery in St. Petersburg
Translation: Having loved the poverty of Christ, you now enjoy the Immortal Meal, having denounced the madness of the world by your imaginary madness, by your humility on the cross you received the power of God. Therefore the gift of miraculous help deserving, Xenia the Blessed, pray to Christ God for our deliverance from all evil through repentance.
On this day it is important to pray not only for yourself, but also for your loved ones, to ask for the health of family and friends. To do this, believers recite the following prayer:
"O Blessed Mother Xenia, pray to God for us, may he deliver us from sorrows and guide us to the path of righteousness. Strengthen our hearts and give peace to our souls. Amen."
On February 6, residents of St. Petersburg visit the Church of Xenia of St. Petersburg at the Smolensk Cemetery. There is a belief that couples who plan to get married should go around the church three times to make the marriage strong and happy. On Aksin's Day it is important to be generous and help those in need. For example, housewives used to bake pies for the holiday and distribute them to the poor, and men helped their neighbors with household chores. It is believed that the manifestation of envy and greed on February 6 can lead to serious financial problems.
One should not use swear words, as it can attract bad luck and terrible misfortune - illness and death - to the house. It is also important to remain grateful towards relatives, otherwise there will be frequent quarrels in the family. An important folk tradition is to write good wishes for yourself and your loved ones. It is believed that good thoughts and goals written down on paper help to attract good luck and prosperity.
Older people should rest and not do physical labor on this day, while young people, on the contrary, should work and help their relatives. It is also important to clean the house from negativity - to do a general cleaning, sprinkle the house with holy water and light candles. Ancestors believed that cleanliness not only helps to improve the appearance of the house, but also cleanses the thoughts of all the bad things.
It was considered bad luck to eat meat and dumplings on this day, as it was a sign of disrespect for the vow of St. Xenia. Dumplings with cabbage, porridge and dried fruit compote were served. It was also believed that a dream dream dreamed on Aksinin day should not be told to anyone, otherwise the bad dream will come true, and the good, on the contrary, will never happen in real life.
Folk omens on Aksinyin Day on February 6
Ancestors believed that on the day of the holiday it was possible to predict the weather for the coming months. If the weather on February 6 was clear and sunny, they expected an early warm spring. On the contrary, heavy snowfalls and cloudy skies meant a cold and rainy spring.
If the sky on Aksinya Vesnoukazatelnitsa was studded with stars, they expected snowfall in the near future. And if there were few or no stars in the sky, they prepared for the arrival of severe cold weather. Rare clouds indicated a warming soon, and a snowstorm on the day of the holiday - a bad harvest year.
Frost on trees was of special importance. If shrubs and trees were covered with thick hoarfrost, it was believed that the year would be rich in harvest. Birds also played an important role in omens. If sparrows were actively chirping and flying from branch to branch, it promised warming soon. And the silence and passivity of birds portended prolonged frosts and windy weather.
It was believed that by this day half of winter reserves should have remained in the bins, which should have been enough until the ripening of early fruits and vegetables. On Aksin's day they watched the price of bread: the rise in price predicted a hungry year, and the decrease in price - an increase in financial status. If the household on this day found a long-lost thing, it was believed that the family will have the opportunity to get rid of debts this year.
Another omen says that if a young girl meets a passerby with a full bucket of water or a basket of food on Aksinin Day, she will get married this year. And if someone accidentally broke the dishes on this day, good news or a nice gift was expected. In the villages on February 6, women went to the wells and looked at the water. If the surface remained flat and calm, it predicted peace and tranquility in the family. If the water was bubbling or fluctuating, they feared a major quarrel.
On this day one should not change bedclothes, cut toenails, make kvass or brogue and tie knots. It was believed that these activities could attract trouble and spoil the lives of loved ones. There were also omens related to mood and well-being. If a person was cheerful and joyful on the day of the holiday, he was promised a happy and successful year. On the contrary, discouragement and poor health portended serious difficulties.
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