A special national holiday on May 5 is Lukov Day: history, traditions, omens

Every year on May 5, Orthodox believers honor the memory of St. Luke the Apostle of the Seventy, the author of the Gospel and the Book of Acts of the Holy Apostles. In the national calendar, the date was called Lukov Day. In 2026, the holiday falls on a Tuesday. Read about its history, traditions, signs and strict prohibitions in the Izvestia article.

What is the church holiday on May 5th?

Luke was born in the 1st century in Antioch in Syria, a major city in the eastern Mediterranean, received a brilliant education and practiced healing. After hearing about Jesus' preaching, the future evangelist went to Palestine, where he accepted His teachings. When Christ chose 70 disciples and sent them to the first sermon on the Kingdom of God during His earthly ministry, the apostle was among them.

After the Resurrection of Christ, according to the gospel narrative, the Savior appeared to Luke and Cleopas on their way to Emmaus. This episode became one of the brightest plots in New Testament history — the disciples did not recognize the Savior for a long time until He broke bread with them.

Later, Luke became the closest companion of the Apostle Paul. He participated in Paul's second missionary journey, shared the dangers, persecutions, and difficulties of preaching (he is referred to as "the beloved physician" in the New Testament epistles), and did not leave the apostle during the difficult years of his imprisonment, when many of his companions no longer dared to be with him.

It is with Paul that the church tradition connects Luke's formation as an evangelist. According to legend, in 62-63 in Rome, under the guidance of Paul, he wrote the third canonical Gospel and the Book of Acts of the Holy Apostles.

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In the first lines of the Gospel, the author explained his task — to carefully examine known events and present them sequentially, to show the earthly life of Christ not as a set of individual episodes, but as a complete historical narrative.

And in the Acts of the Holy Apostles, Luke described the events after the Ascension — Pentecost, the birth of the Christian community, the first sermons, persecution, missionary travels and the spread of faith outside Judea. One of the central events of the book was the Apostolic Council of 51, which addressed the question of how Christian preaching should be spread among pagans. It was he who became an important milestone in the separation of Christianity from the Jewish religious environment.

Church tradition calls Luke the first icon painter. He is credited with creating images of the Mother of God, as well as icons of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Therefore, he is revered not only as an evangelist and a doctor, but also as a patron saint of icon painters and artists.

After the death of the Apostle Paul, Luke continued to preach in various lands — Achaia, Libya, Egypt, and Thebaid. His earthly journey ended in Thebes, Greece, where, according to legend, he was martyred. The saint's memory in the church calendar is celebrated several times a year, including on May 5.

Traditions of the national holiday Lukov day on May 5th

In Russia, the saint's name was consonant with the word "onion", besides, by the beginning of May, the land in many regions was already drying out and warming up enough to plant onions, garlic and other vegetables. Thus, in the national calendar, the day of veneration of the Apostle Luke received the "speaking" name "Lukov Day", or "Luka the gardener".

Before planting, the crops were carefully sorted out, the rotten and soft heads were thrown away, the beds were prepared, the earth was loosened, and it was checked whether it was too wet after the spring rains. The ancestors believed that onions planted on Onions would yield a strong harvest and would be especially beneficial to health.

This vegetable occupied a special place in peasant life. It was not only eaten raw, fried, baked, salted, pickled, added to hot dishes and preparations, but also appreciated as a home remedy for diseases. Onion juice was mixed with honey for colds and inflammations, onion mush was used as a natural antiseptic. This is where the sayings came from: "A bow from seven ailments," "A bow and a bath rule everything," "A bow is kind both in battle and in battle."

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At the beginning of May, the so—called holiday season continued - it was time for spring youth games, songs and round dances. In popular beliefs, these festivities were associated with the awakening of nature, girlish beauty and the expectation of future weddings. Hence the other name of the holiday — the Quilt. However, the elders warned that witches and other evil spirits could run amok with people during this period. Therefore, on May 5, it was decided to hold special protection rites.

In the morning, the housewives tried to carefully clean the hut, sweep the corners, sort out the accumulated litter, and put the kitchen and oven in order. In the popular view, dirt, broken things and desolation in the home opened the way to quarrels, diseases and dark forces. Cleanliness, on the contrary, was supposed to strengthen the family before the busy season of field and garden work.

What not to do on the feast of Bows Day

Lukov day was considered a time of activity of the dark forces, so people should be careful, especially outside populated areas. On May 5, one should not go far from the village or linger in the forest, since evil spirits during this period could easily confuse their tracks, lure them into the thicket and knock them off the road.

What else you can't do on May 5th:

• baking pancakes leads to family troubles;
• swearing at the table — quarrels on the day of onion planting promise discord for the entire gardening season;
• to be lazy and postpone household chores — there will be no good harvest.;
• pregnant women should leave the house unaccompanied — in this position, a woman is vulnerable to the evil eye, envy and magical charms.

Folk signs for May 5th

On Onion Day, the peasants carefully observed nature in order to determine by signs when to start sowing, whether the cold weather would return and what the harvest would be.

• it froze at night — there may still be morning frosts ahead, dangerous for the sowing area;
• A clear morning is a good day for planting onions.;
• there is fog in the morning — it is better not to rush with crops, the weather has not settled down, the cold weather may return;
• the cuckoo coos loudly and for a long time — the weather in the coming days will be warm and stable;
• a thunderstorm on the Onion leads to a rich harvest of grain and vegetables;
• it rains all day — the onion will be born large and strong;
• rowan blossomed — by the warm end of spring;
• the bird cherry blossomed early — the summer will be warm, but short "bird cherry" colds are expected before it.;
• The sky is clear in the evening — there will be no rain in the morning.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the signs and strict prohibitions of the special holiday of Calling the ancestors.