A special national holiday on August 7 is Anna Summer: history, traditions, omens
Every year on August 7, Orthodox believers remember the Dormition of the Righteous Anna, mother of the Most Holy Theotokos and grandmother of Jesus Christ in the flesh. In the national calendar, the date is known as Anna Leternaya, Kholodnitsa, or Winter Signifier. In 2026, the holiday falls on a Friday. Read about its history, traditions, strict prohibitions and weather signs in the Izvestia article.
Anna Summer – 2026: the history of the holiday
The righteous Anna, according to church tradition, lived in the 1st century BC. She was the wife of Joachim and the mother of the Virgin Mary. The family lived in Nazareth in Galilee. Joachim came from the family of King David, and tradition connects Anna with the priestly environment.
The names of the Mother of God's parents are not mentioned in the canonical Gospels. The first detailed information about them is contained in the Protoevangelium of James— an early Christian monument created around the second half of the second and early third centuries. Later, this story was supplemented by other texts and entered into church tradition, liturgical hymns and iconography.
Joachim and Anna were married for many years, but they had no children. For the ancient Jewish society, childlessness was not only a personal grief, it was perceived as evidence of sin or God's displeasure. The couple endured the reproaches, but did not give up hope and continued to pray for the child.
One day, during one of the religious holidays, Joachim came to the Jerusalem temple with gifts, but a man named Reuben reproached him for the lack of offspring and did not allow the first to make a sacrifice. Shocked by what had happened, Joachim decided not to return home, but to go to the shepherds in the desert and spend 40 days and nights in fasting and prayer.
Anna stayed at home and did not know anything about her husband's fate. The old pain of childlessness was added to the worries of his absence. One day she went out into the garden, saw a nest with chicks and began to pray, remembering that God gives offspring to birds, animals and people. Then an angel appeared to her and announced that her request had been heard, and she would give birth to a child who would be talked about all over the world.
Anna, who was already over 50 years old at the time, promised to dedicate the unborn baby to God, regardless of whether it was a boy or a girl. At the same time, an angel appeared to Joachim and informed him that his wife would give birth to a daughter. After receiving this news, the couple went to meet each other and bumped into each other at the Golden Gate of Jerusalem. In due course, the couple had a daughter. On the 15th day, according to legend, the girl was named Mary, the name indicated by the heavenly messenger.
Joachim wanted to fulfill his promise to dedicate his daughter to God when Mary was two years old, but Anna asked him to wait another year so that the girl would not miss her parents. At the age of three, Mary was solemnly brought to the Jerusalem temple. Legend says that she climbed the high steps on her own and stayed at the temple, where she was brought up with other virgins.
A few years after the Introduction of the Virgin into the temple, Joachim died. The church life indicates that he was 80 years old. After her husband's death, Anna moved closer to her daughter and spent the last part of her life at the Jerusalem Temple. She died peacefully, at the age of 79, two years after her husband.
Veneration of the righteous Anna became widespread in Byzantium. During the reign of Emperor Justinian I, who ruled in the sixth century, a temple dedicated to her was built in the Devteron district of Constantinople. At the beginning of the 8th century, Emperor Justinian II renovated the church. Tradition connects the transfer of the saint's body and her maforium, the head covering, to Constantinople, with the same period. Subsequently, the relics were distributed to temples and monasteries in different countries.
The Orthodox celebration on August 7 is dedicated specifically to the Dormition, that is, the peaceful death of the righteous Anna. In liturgical texts, the saint is glorified as the mother of the Virgin and one of the participants in the story of the earthly incarnation of Christ. The Orthodox Church annually celebrates the birth of the future Mother of God on September 21, and her conception by Righteous Anna on December 22.
Traditions of the national holiday celebrated in Russia on August 7
In Russia, August 7 was called Anna Letnaya to distinguish the date from other church days associated with the name of the righteous. The names Kholodnitsa, Cold matinees and Winter Pointer "grew" from peasant observations of the weather. By this time, the nights were getting longer and the sunrises cooler. "Anna is mowing down the winter," people said.
Believers began the morning with a visit to the temple or home prayer. Righteous Anna was revered as the intercessor of mothers, pregnant women, and families who were expecting a child for a long time. She was asked about conception, the safe course of pregnancy, easy childbirth, the health of babies and consent between spouses. Parents prayed for patience and wisdom in raising their children, and people who were experiencing family discord prayed for reconciliation with their loved ones.
By the beginning of August, early potato varieties were ripening in the southern and central regions. Where the tubers were already ripe, on August 7, the first part of the harvest was dug out and checked how successful the season turned out to be.
The housewives prepared dishes from new potatoes for the festive table. It was boiled and baked, fried with mushrooms, added to pies and cheesecakes, pancakes and lean cutlets were cooked. Moreover, there should have been several dishes — according to legend, a generous treat from the first tubers promised the house a well-fed year.
After working in the garden, the ancestors went to the forest. By this time, the bird cherry was beginning to ripen. It was collected in dry weather, sorted and laid out for drying. Then the berries were ground, added to the dough and homemade drinks. Compotes and jams were made from fresh fruits, and dried fruits were used in winter along with herbs.
At the same time, the mushroom season continued. They tried to process the mushrooms on the same day. The young ones were fried with potatoes, and the more mature and strong ones were salted. The rest were dried near the oven or in a well-ventilated place. A full basket was considered a good sign, according to beliefs, it promised the mushroom picker prosperity and well-being on the farm.
It was customary to visit Anna Letnyaya or invite older relatives to make up after disagreements. In some areas, on August 7, matchmaking was arranged and a future wedding was discussed. The ancestors believed that a decision made by Anna without haste and with parental blessing would help create a strong family.
In some northern regions, horses were revered on August 7. The animals were given a day off, not sent to hard work, cleaned, well fed, sometimes bathed and decorated with ribbons.
What not to do on a holiday Anna Summer
They tried to spend Mother of God Memorial Day in Russia without jealousy, mutual reproaches and clarification of relations. The ancestors believed that the conflict that began on August 7 would drag on for a long time, so a family quarrel was considered the main ban on Anna the Summer.
In areas where the holiday was associated with horses, it was strictly forbidden to force them to work hard, harness, beat or scold. The animals needed rest and good care, otherwise they could get sick or die.
What else is forbidden to do on August 7:
- going out early in the morning in too light clothes — a cold received on Anna Kholodnitsa will be prolonged;
- haggling to the point of a quarrel and deliberately underestimating the price — the purchase will not be beneficial or will not last long.;
- deceiving the buyer and unreasonably overestimating the cost of goods — unfair profits will result in big losses.;
- repairing old shoes, sewing on torn buttons — there is a belief that a thing repaired on this day will soon deteriorate.;
- to refuse relatives all possible help is indifference to the needs of loved ones contradicts the meaning of the holiday and can deprive a person of the intercession of a saint.
Folk signs for August 7
On Anna Zimokazatelnitsa, the peasants carefully observed nature in order to make a forecast for several months at once and determine how much firewood, fodder and food needed to be harvested. At first light, the ancestors went out into the yard and assessed the weather. The day was divided into two halves. According to beliefs, the morning weather supposedly showed the beginning of the coming winter, and the afternoon weather — the second part of it.
- cold morning on August 7 — winter will be long and frosty;
- The day is warm and sunny — severe frosts are expected in winter, but there won't be much snow.;
- it has been raining for a long time in the morning — the winter will be snowy, but without particularly severe cold;
- frost has appeared on the grass and leaves — the first serious frosts may come as early as autumn.;
- frost is noticeable on the window panes — cold weather will set in early, possibly in October;
- ants build tall anthills and actively strengthen them — by the harsh winter, ants work sluggishly and do not build up their homes — there will be no severe and prolonged frosts;
- the morning is cloudy, and after lunch the sky has cleared up — the beginning of winter will be cold, then warming will come;
- a calm and windless day — winter is expected to be prolonged, with prolonged periods of calm weather.
Earlier, Izvestia reported on the signs and strict prohibitions of the Trofim Insomniac holiday.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
