April 9 — Matryona Nastovitsa: customs, rituals, folk signs

In the national calendar, Matryona Nastovitsa is celebrated on April 9. The holiday got its name because of the hard crust on the ground that forms after the melting of snow. It was also popularly called the lapwing, which returns from warm countries in the spring. In 2025, the celebration falls on a Wednesday. Izvestia tells about the traditions, signs and prohibitions of Matryona Day.

The history of the Matryona Nastovitsa holiday, celebrated on April 9th

The history of the national holiday is connected with the name of the early Christian Saint Matrona of Thessalonica, who lived in the III–IV centuries in Thessaloniki (Greece). According to the hagiography, the righteous woman was a slave and served in the house of the Jewish woman Pavtila, the wife of the commander of Thessalonica.

The mistress forced the girl to apostatize from Christianity, but she did not want to give up her faith and secretly attended church. Upon learning about this, Pavtila ordered Matrona to be beaten with sticks, and then locked in a cubicle without food or water and left there to die. After her death, the body of the martyr was thrown off the wall of the house by order of the woman. But Pavtila's life turned out to be short-lived. Shortly after the death of Matrona, she stumbled in the same place from where the slave's body was thrown, and fell to her death.

The saint is commemorated by the Orthodox Church on April 9 (March 27, Old style). With the adoption of Christianity, Matrona began to be revered in Russia. In the old days, she was considered the patroness of weavers. Before they sat down at the loom, they asked the holy Matrona for a blessing on their work.

They also prayed to her for a good harvest of turnips, one of the main vegetables in peasant cuisine. According to custom, turnips were divided into two parts: one was left for seeds, and the other was used to make mashed potatoes and casseroles. Therefore, another name for the holiday is Matrona Polurepitsa.

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Traditions and prohibitions on Matryona Nastovitsa – 2025

Since, according to the old style, the holiday fell on the last days of March, the women took out bleaching cloths on the snow floor for the last time during the season. The day was also considered favorable for any household chores.

According to the custom on Matryona, women cleaned the house, cleaned kitchen utensils and sorted things. Old clothes and shoes were taken outside, and in the evening they were burned in a bonfire. In general, they tried to redo as many cases as possible for Matrona. Then, according to the beliefs, there will be prosperity and prosperity in the house all year round. Idleness on a holiday was frowned upon. Those who shirked work, as was believed in the old days, luck will pass by.

At the same time, on a holiday it is necessary to carefully monitor not only the cleanliness of clothes, homes, but also their words and thoughts. The people believed that everything bad was fraught with diseases and troubles. It is also forbidden to swear, conflict with loved ones and arrange scenes of jealousy on this day. All this will disrupt the harmony in the family, and it will be difficult to restore harmony.

Special attention was paid to the behavior of birds on Matryona Nastovitsa. First of all, the lapwings, who were returning from wintering at that time. Our ancestors believed that birds serve as good advisers in love affairs. So, if an unmarried girl hears a lapwing singing, then they will woo her after Trinity. And meeting a lapwing sitting on a fence was a bad sign, promising adultery.

To ensure peace and harmony in the family, lapwings were fed. Scaring or offending birds was strictly forbidden. Family disagreements and other hardships awaited those who violated the ban.

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Folk signs of April 9th

According to weather signs, if there is no rooster on Matryona Day, then in a couple of days it will rain or snow will fall again. If the seagulls have already arrived, the ice will completely disappear soon.

Morning fog or frost on April 9 portends a good harvest in summer. The visible mold in place of the melted snow promises a rich mushroom season. And if a nightingale sings on bare trees, there will be a crop failure on fruit trees this year.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the signs and superstitions of the national holiday Vasily Teply.