Folk holiday Magpies, or Forty forties celebrated 22 Martha. The holiday was widely celebrated in Russia and was considered the second meeting of spring - between Meeting (15 February) and Annunciation (7 April). Since the Feast of the Magpies, usually, falls on Great post, ritual cookies, which was baked for this day, made lean.
The history of the holiday Forty forties
Russian Orthodox Church 22 March recalls Forty Sebastian Martyrs - Christian warriors, who were martyred for their faith in Sebastia (Little Armenia, modern turkey) at 320 year under the emperor Licinia.
Western Christians honor these heroic warriors 9 Martha.
The history of the holiday is as follows. During the times of persecution against the faith of Christ, forty Roman Christian soldiers refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, were tortured for this, and then they were taken out on the ice naked. A bathhouse for apostates was flooded nearby, willing to give up faith. One of the warriors could not resist, ran into the bathhouse and, according to legend, immediately fell down dead. However, another Roman soldier took his place., who was so shocked by the resilience of his fellow soldiers, that he himself believed in Christ.
Heroic warriors were executed, their bodies are burned, and the bones are thrown into the water, however, the bishop of Sebastia managed to collect the remains and bury them in the earth.
The Day of Remembrance of the Forty Martyrs of Sebastia in Orthodoxy is considered the day of all Orthodox men, by analogy with the Day of Myrrh-Bearing Wives (celebrated in May), which is considered a holiday of Orthodox women.
Forty forties in folk tradition
Feast of the Magpie, or Forty forties was considered in Russia the second meeting of spring - between the Meeting and the Annunciation. Magpies was an extremely popular holiday., one of the largest and most important of the year. It symbolized the end of winter, was associated with the vernal equinox and the imminent start of field work.
In Russia they said:
"On Magpies, day is measured against night: winter ends - spring begins ".
Birds returning from across the sea were one of the symbols of the national holiday.. It was believed, that forty different kinds of them come back, but was considered the main messenger of spring lark. Birds, and especially the larks should have been honored with a special treat: for this, the hostesses baked lean cookies in the shape of birds ahead of time, usually, forty each, in memory of the warriors-martyrs. The cookies were called larks after the main messengers of spring.
Lark cookie recipe
The dough was made with yeast, it should have been made elastic, well mixed. Baked in vegetable oil (for the sake of the feast of the severity of Great Lent, we softened a little), smeared with sweet strong tea on top, for the cookies to brown well.
We took two kilograms of flour for the dough., 50 gram of yeast, 250 gram of vegetable oil, a glass of sugar, half a liter of water, some salt, a handful of raisins. The dough was thoroughly kneaded, then rolled into a bundle, which was divided into exactly forty parts. Each piece of the harness was rolled up in the form of a bird, formed the beak and tail. Eyes were made from raisins.
The finished cookies were placed on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil and left for twenty minutes, to make the dough rise a little. Then they smeared the cookies with sweet strong tea and put them in the oven or in the oven. Such cookies are baked for about twenty minutes at a temperature of about 180 degrees.
Ready biscuits should be sprinkled with water and allowed to "rest" under a clean towel.
Cookies were given to children with words:
"The larks have arrived, sat on the little head ".
The kids didn't just eat cookies, but also crumbled to the birds, uttering recitatives-calls, luring spring.
To protect them from the morning frost, the hostess in Soroki also baked forty small rye balls., who for forty days threw from the windows to birds.
What not to do 22 Martha
Since Soroca is a big church holiday, in Russia, any work was prohibited on this day, including around the house and garden. Especially, that it's too early to leave the field, and the hostesses tried to finish all the cooking the day before.
As in other days of Great Lent, at Forty forties under the strictest prohibition of quarreling, disputes, swearing, evil thoughts. It was believed, that everything bad lures trouble.
Also, on this day, they tried not to scold children and not prohibit them noisy games and fun. Besides, it was impossible to stay at home on this holiday, otherwise spring could pass by.
Signs on Magpies
If it is warm in Soroka, good weather will last forty days.
A warm wind was considered a harbinger of a rainy summer..
A thunderstorm was considered a bad omen - a harbinger of crop failure and hunger.
Here comes the snow and frost, conversely, were a good omen, promising a rich grain harvest.
Author: Olga Vasilenko
