A special national holiday on June 3 is Venison Day: history, traditions, omens

Every year on June 3, Orthodox believers honor the memory of Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsarina Elena of Constantinople, mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, with whose name church tradition connects the finding of the Life-Giving Cross. In the national calendar, the date is known as Olenin, Elenin or Alenin Day, and also as Elena-Flax. In 2026, the holiday falls on a Wednesday. Read about its history, traditions, signs and strict prohibitions in the Izvestia article.

What is the church holiday on June 3rd?

Tsarina Elena lived in the III–IV centuries in the Roman Empire and professed Christianity in an era when the followers of Jesus were still experiencing persecution. She was the mother of the future Emperor Constantine the Great and raised him in respect for this faith. And his father, Caesar Constantius Chlorus, who ruled Gaul and Britain, did not persecute Christians in the lands under his control.

In 306, after the death of Constantius Chlorus, the troops proclaimed Constantine emperor of Gaul and Britain. The new ruler immediately changed the position of Christians in these areas, they were allowed to openly profess their faith. By consolidating his power in the West, he secured a legitimate position for Christianity in the empire.

In 313, the Edict of Milan consolidated the principle of religious tolerance, and after the approval of Constantine as the sole ruler, this policy extended to the eastern provinces. In 325, the First Ecumenical Council was convened in Nicaea by order of the emperor. Its participants condemned the Arian heresy (the doctrine that claimed that Jesus Christ was not equal to God the Father in nature) and formulated the foundations of the Creed.

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A special place in Elena's life is occupied by her journey to Jerusalem. Konstantin, who revered the Cross of the Lord, instructed his mother to find a shrine associated with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. In 326, she arrived in Palestine, where, together with Patriarch Macarius of Jerusalem, she participated in the search. According to church tradition, it was then that the Life-giving Cross was found.

In Palestine, the queen ordered that the places associated with the earthly life of Christ and the Virgin Mary be cleared of pagan traces and Christian churches be built there. She took part of the Cross with her for the emperor, and left the shrine itself for safekeeping in Jerusalem. Before returning to Constantinople, Elena gave alms, arranged meals for the poor, and, according to legend, served the needy herself. Shortly after that, in 327, she died.

For her efforts to spread Christianity and acquire one of the main shrines, Tsarina Elena was named equal-to-the-Apostles.

Traditions of the national holiday Olenin Day on June 3

In Russia, the name Elena often sounded like Olena or Alyona, so the day began to be called Olenin, Alyonin, Elenin. By June 3, it was time for flax sowing in the villages. The land was already warming up, the late spring work was turning into early summer work, and the peasants were trying not to miss the right moment. Hence the other names of the holiday Elena-Flax, Olena-Flax, "long flax".

The faithful began the morning with a visit to the temple, and prayed to Saint Helena for a successful sowing, strong seedlings, family health and prosperity. In the popular imagination, she was considered the patroness of everything that was sent to the ground on that day — flax, grains, vegetables. Flax was highly valued in Russia, and it was used to weave cloth, make threads, clothes, towels, and bedding.

The sowing was accompanied by special rituals. In some places, baked eggs were put to the seeds, and the shells were given to the chickens after eating, so that the bird would lay better, and the farm would not suffer a loss. There was a belief that the height of the future flax also depended on the strength of the seeder, so strong and tall people went out into the field on a holiday. The men who performed this work tried to feed white food — milk, cottage cheese, eggs. The ancestors associated the white color with the purity of the canvas and the growth of plants.

Also on Venison Day, the peasants continued to plant cucumbers. People used to say, "Flax for deer, cucumbers for Constantine," remembering Saint Helena and her son Konstantin. If the cucumber beds were already ready, the housewives performed a ceremony with an old bast shoe or shoe — they dragged it to the garden and left it there, telling the cucumber vines to grow thickly and tenaciously, like intertwined shoes.

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Women did not braid their hair that day. It was believed that loose hair could be "touched" by Alain the Flax, and then they would become long, light and soft like flax. In the evening, the girls went out to the field or to the intersection and pretended to work with this plant — as if they were ruffling it, twisting a tow, knocking out the seed. Through this rite, they asked for beauty, health, and a happy family life.

Clothes on the holiday were necessarily worn in light, bright shades that corresponded to the spirit of the day, associated with a green field, white linen, growth and the hope of a harvest.

What not to do on Venison Day

In Russia, since June 3, there have been a number of prohibitions, the violation of which, according to beliefs, could deprive a family of prosperity. So, on Venison Day, it was forbidden to be lazy. The peasants believed that idleness was harmful to the future harvest, and they would have to pay for it, because the land "does not like" those who miss the right deadline and wait for things to happen on their own.

What else you can't do on June 3rd:

• quarreling and swearing — a harsh word destroys family harmony and attracts protracted conflicts.;
• to wear dark clothes — gloomy colors attract sadness and failures to the house;
• braiding girls' braids is a risk of losing their beauty;
• Borrowing money can ruin your financial situation for a long time.;
• picking up other people's coins and jewelry from the ground — such finds can be dangerous and "slanderous";
• to woo — the union will not be lasting.

Folk signs for June 3

On Venison Day, the peasants carefully observed nature in order to understand by signs whether flax would be born, whether to expect a good harvest and what autumn would turn out to be.

• the cuckoo is loudly crowing in the morning — the day will be warm and clear;
• it's raining — autumn may turn out to be wet and stormy, rain with hail — on the Proklov day, December 3, it will snow;
• the stuffiness is already felt at sunrise — the weather will soon turn bad;
• rowan blooms profusely — flax is born strong and tall;
• the stars twinkle a lot — to bad weather;
• there is a steamy mist over the forest — for a good harvest of mushrooms;
• the moon seems to be in a circle — cloudy weather ahead.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on preparations for confession and communion in the Petrov fast.