Tomorrow, January 10, is the

day of commemoration of 20 thousand martyrs

in the Orthodox calendar .

This terrible event happened at the beginning of the IV century, when Emperor Maximian ruled.

He ordered to destroy church temples, to punish everyone who believes in the Lord.

In the city of Nicodymia, Saint Cyril was the bishop at that time.

He tried to spread the true faith, even many dignitaries secretly professed Christianity.

In the emperor's palace lived the priestess Domna, who was a pagan.

Once she read the Acts of the Apostles and became very interested in faith.

She came to Bishop Kirill, who baptized her.

After that, Domna began to help the poor and needy, giving them her property.

When they found out about this in the palace, they tortured the girl for a long time, but she pretended to be crazy and was kicked out into the street.

Then Domna went to the monastery, disguised herself as a man, lived alone in the caves.

The emperor and his soldiers searched for Domna for a long time, desecrating even the monastery where she lived.

It was Christmas and 20,000 Christians gathered in the church of Nikodimia for a festive service.

The emperor sent a herald there, who ordered the believers to sacrifice to the pagan gods, otherwise they would die.

The Christians, all as one, refused, so that all but a few perished.

Maximian found out that some were able to escape, so he continued his persecution.

Soon he executed everyone.

Then she returned to the city of Domna and began to mourn those who died a terrible death.

Then the emperor found out about it and executed her as well.

The church holiday on January 10 is the day of memory of the Apostle Nicanor

Little is known about his life.

However, the Church included him in the list of seven apostles who united to begin the deacon ministry after the crucifixion of Christ.

As stated in the Holy Scriptures, the Holy Spirit descended upon them, so their faith became firm as a rock.

After the Savior's ascension to heaven, many followers of Christianity arose.

However, the Jerusalem authorities continued the persecution for some time.

They were persecuted and tortured, even killed.

So Nicanor was killed for love of Christ.

Signs of January 10

Folk signs on January 10 / Photo: Pexels

  • snowfall or frost indicate that there will be a good harvest of bread;

  • if you get married on January 10, life will be happy and long;

  • the cat sleeps all day to keep warm;

  • a blizzard means that the summer will be rainy.

What can't be done tomorrow

According to popular belief, people tried not to sew on buttons today, because otherwise old problems will not be solved in the near future.

Do not throw away leftovers from the table, it is better to give them to animals.

The Church forbids cursing and fighting.

What can be done tomorrow

On this day, Slavs especially respected their family and home.

Therefore, they tried to do all the homework together.

According to beliefs, black salt was added to all meat dishes prepared on this day so that the family would be happy and friendly.

Some tried to make a wish on January 10, because there was an opinion that it would definitely come true.

And in order to speed up this process, it was necessary to stick a stick with a piece of cloth at the end into the ground on the highest nearby hill.

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