17 March: What is today’s church holiday and the three main prohibitions for the day

On 17 March, according to the new church calendar, Orthodox Christians in Ukraine commemorate Saint Alexius, a man of God renowned for his deep faith, humility and complete devotion to Jesus Christ. According to the old church calendar, this saint will be honoured on 30 March.

Saint Alexius lived in the 4th–5th centuries. He came from a distinguished Roman family; however, despite his parents’ wealth and high status, he decided to devote his life to serving God and renounce worldly life. When the young man was betrothed, he left a ring for his fiancée and secretly left home.

After this, Alexius set off for Mesopotamia and later settled in the city of Edessa. He gave away all his possessions to the poor, lived as a beggar himself, and asked for alms near the Church of the Holy Mother of God. He ate only bread, drank water, and gave the alms he received to the sick, the elderly, and the needy. Seventeen years passed in this way.

Later, the church sexton had a vision in which the Mother of God commanded him to bring to the church a man of God, worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, and pointed to the beggar at the entrance. After this, people began to speak of the righteous man; they started coming to him for advice and prayer, for the saint was credited with the gift of miracle-working. But Alexius himself did not seek fame, so he left the city and later secretly returned to his parents’ home.

His parents did not recognise him as their son and took him in as a poor man. For another 17 years, the saint lived alongside his family, prayed for them and endured hardship, whilst the family continued to mourn their missing son. Before his death, Alexius left a letter in which he revealed his secret and asked for forgiveness.

According to tradition, many people came to see the saint off on his final journey, and healings took place at his tomb. Today, the relics of Saint Alexius can be venerated in Rome, in the Church of Saint Boniface.

Also, on 17 March according to the new church calendar, Saint Patrick, the enlightener of Ireland, and the martyr Marinus are honoured.

According to the Julian calendar, Saint Gerasimus of Jordan is commemorated on this day.

In prayers to the Venerable Alexius, the man of God, people ask for health, healing from serious illness, strength to face life’s trials, and help in difficult circumstances.

Among the people, the day is known as ‘Alexius the Warm’, as it is at this time that the snow melts actively and spring finally comes into its own. On this day, special attention was paid to the birch tree, which symbolises purity, peace and harmony. In ancient times, when the sap began to flow, people would go into the forest. They drank birch sap fresh, and also used it to make uzvar – a hot drink made from dried berries, herbs and fruits with honey and spices – to restore their strength after winter.

On Alexei’s Day, people also gathered birch buds. These were used to make infusions and ointments for colds, stomach aches, joint ailments and to heal wounds.

It is advised to finish up winter chores on this day. According to folk beliefs, whoever manages to deal with old tasks by Oleksiy Teplyy will be blessed with luck and prosperity all year round. The day is considered auspicious for fishing, and beekeepers are already beginning to check their hives and prepare for the new season.

There are also some unusual folk omens. It is believed that if an unmarried girl sees a stork on this day and quickly sits down, she will soon meet her future husband. People also believed that if you give a beggar an embroidered shirt, you won’t have to wait long for suitors.

On the church holiday of 17 March, it is advised not to quarrel, refuse help or withhold alms. The Church warns against lying, greed, envy, laziness and despair.

The three main folk prohibitions on this day are as follows: one should not lend money, it is not advisable to set off on a long journey, and one should not start new ventures without finishing old ones, as they will not bring success.

Furthermore, Great Lent is underway, so those observing it are forbidden to eat meat.

In ancient times, people also tried to avoid hard labour on this day, as they believed that doing so would mean having to work to the point of exhaustion for the whole year.

People used to judge the coming spring and the future harvest by the weather on 17 March. If the day is warm, spring will be warm and the year a bountiful one. If there are many streams, a generous harvest was expected. If geese fly high, there will be snow. If cranes arrived, real warmth would come. If bees flew out of their hives, there would be plenty of honey in summer. It was

also believed that snow or rain on this day promised a good harvest, whilst a large number of streams foreshadowed severe flooding.