A special holiday on December 13 is St. Andrew's Day: history, traditions, omens

Every year on December 13, Orthodox believers remember the Apostle Andrew the First—Called, one of the twelve closest disciples of Jesus Christ. In the national calendar, the holiday was named St. Andrew's Day, Winter Andrew. In 2025, it falls on a Saturday. Read about the spiritual meaning of this date, its history, ancient customs and folk signs in the Izvestia material.

What is the church holiday on December 13 — St. Andrew's Day?

The Apostle Andrew the First—Called was born in Galilee, a part of the Holy Land where Jews and Greeks had lived side by side for centuries, so Greek names were common. The name Andrey means "courageous" in Greek.

After the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles, Andrew received the lot to preach in the eastern and northern regions. He passed through Asia Minor, Thrace, Macedonia, and reached the Danube, the Black Sea coast, Crimea, and the Black Sea region. Going up the Dnieper River, the apostle stopped at the hills where Kiev later arose. According to legend, he blessed these places, erected a cross and predicted the appearance of a large city and many temples here.

Then, according to legend, Andrew reached the Slavic settlements in the area of the future Novgorod, from where he went to Rome through the lands of the Varangians. Later, he returned to Thrace and stayed in a small village in Byzantium, which was destined to become Constantinople. Here the apostle founded a Christian community, and his name is associated with the birth of the Constantinople see, from which the Russian Church later received Christianity.

The path of the apostle was associated with constant resistance. He was driven out of the cities and subjected to beatings. In Sinope, Andrew was pelted with stones, but he continued to preach. According to church tradition, healings took place through his prayers, communities were formed around him, in which he appointed bishops and priests.

The last major point of his ministry was Patras near the Gulf of Corinth. Here, according to legend, through the prayer of the apostle, the seriously ill noble citizen Sosiy, Maximilla, the wife of the local ruler, and her brother Stratokly were healed. Some of the city's residents converted to Christianity, but the ruler of Patras, Egeates, remained opposed to the new faith.

The apostle's appeals to the Aegeatus with a sermon about Christ and the meaning of the Cross only increased the tension. As a result, the ruler ordered the execution of Andrew by crucifixion. The apostle accepted this verdict. He was tied to a cross, not nailed, so the execution should have lasted longer.

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According to church tradition, Andrew remained on the cross for two days and all this time addressed the gathered townspeople with edification and words of faith. When, under pressure from the outraged people, the Egate ordered the execution to be stopped, it was already too late: the apostle, according to legend, died after praying, asking God to accept his soul. Andrey's body was removed from the cross by Maximilla and his burial was organized with special honors.

Several centuries later, under Emperor Constantine the Great, the relics of the Apostle Andrew were transferred to Constantinople and placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles next to the relics of the Evangelist Luke and the Apostle Timothy. For the Russian Church, which converted from Byzantium, Andrew the First-Called became a symbol of apostolic succession.

In Russia, his memory was especially celebrated. Emperor Peter I established the first and highest state order in honor of the apostle, the Order of St. Andrew the First—Called. At the same time, the St. Andrew's flag — a white cloth with a blue oblique cross — became the banner of the Russian navy. Under this banner, Russian sailors have won many victories, and the image of the Apostle Andrew has become established as a symbol of one of the heavenly patrons of the country and its maritime history.

Traditions of the national holiday St. Andrew's Day on December 13

On the Memorial Day of St. Andrew the First-Called, solemn divine services are held in Orthodox churches throughout Russia. Believers turn to the saint with prayers for health, protection from enemies, and deliverance from natural disasters.

A separate part of the prayer services is petitions for well—being on the water: sailors, fishermen and all those whose work is connected with the sea and river routes ask Andrey for calm sailing and safe navigation, since they have long revered him as their heavenly patron.

In Russia, December 13 was a day of fortune-telling and family gatherings. The holiday was called in different ways: St. Andrew's Day, St. Andrew's Winter, St. Andrew's Night. Christmas was already approaching, but the strict fast was still going on, so the celebration remained calm and homely, the housewives served dishes without meat, eggs and dairy products, focusing on fish, cereals, vegetables and lean pastries.

In the villages, on St. Andrew's Day, young men underwent a rite of passage. In the morning, the girls baked special bread, hung it on a rope, and the guy participating had to stand on a poker and take a bite. It was not easy to do this, the food was "guarded" by older men armed with rags smeared with soot. Those who managed to pass the test were considered mature enough to take on adult jobs, participate in evening gatherings, and openly choose a bride.

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Unmarried girls were guessing at their betrothed. To do this, they baked small rolls of white dough — balabushki. Water for kneading should be brought from the well in the mouth and done so that none of the guys noticed. Otherwise, they symbolically "bought" the secret from her — they demanded a treat.

Ready-made balabushki were laid out on the floor, after which a hungry dog was launched into the hut. It was believed that the girl whose bun the animal would grab before the others would be the first to get married, the rest had to wait at least another year for their turn.

In the evening, the girls put objects related to the image of their future husband under the pillow: a knife, a man's hat, a shoe, a chip from the fence of the guy's house that they liked. So they hoped to see their betrothed in a dream and get, albeit in a symbolic form, an answer to the main question for themselves — what the future chosen one would be like and whether a family life would develop with him.

What not to do on St. Andrew's Day on December 13th

A whole set of popular prohibitions and warnings has been formed around St. Andrew's Day. So, on a holiday, it was not necessary to start heavy household chores, do general cleaning, carry heavy loads, or start major repairs. It was believed that such cases could "take out" money and luck from the house.

What else you can't do on December 13th:

• to do needlework: sewing, knitting, embroidery, spinning — according to beliefs, the sound of needles and spinning wheels on this day attracts illnesses and misfortunes to the house.;
• to invite strangers into the house, to visit unnecessarily — those who are too hospitable on St. Andrew's Day risk losing prosperity and peace of mind.;
• quarreling with relatives, especially with spouses — any quarrel, even over a trifle, can escalate into a long conflict and overshadow the whole winter.;
• discussing people behind their backs, plotting, spreading gossip — such behavior will return to the gossip itself with serious problems, including money;
• succumb to envy and anger — the negative, said or conceived on this day, is fixed for a long time.

Folk signs for December 13

The ancestors carefully observed nature on St. Andrew's Day in order to make a forecast about what the coming season and next year's harvest would be like.

• if snow falls in a stable cover on a holiday, it will stay for about 110 days, and the winter itself will be long.;
• Clear, frosty weather promises a good harvest in summer and a successful agricultural year.;
• warm, slushy weather, on the contrary, was considered a sign of a weak harvest and an unfavorable summer.;
• a bright, "lively" flame in the oven foreshadows the imminent severe frosts, pale and smoky — a thaw.

On this day, the peasants necessarily "listened to the water." We went out to wells, rivers, lakes, streams and listened to the noise coming from under the ice or from open water.:

• if the water is almost silent, the winter promises to be calm, without fierce snowstorms and severe frosts.;
• If a heavy rumble, crackle, or groan was heard, it was considered a warning about natural disasters, severe cold weather, storms, floods, and floods over the next year.

Earlier, Izvestia told about the traditions, signs and prohibitions of the special Paramon Winter Designator holiday.