On this day, follow the customs so that happiness follows you, but you must not do anything!

Todor Saturday, Photo: Youtube Print Screen

The Theodore or Todor Saturday, that is, Todorica, is the first Saturday of Easter Lent and is dedicated to the event that happened with St. the great martyr Theodore Tyrone and the butcher. Very unusual customs are associated with Todorica.

Saint Theodore Tyrone (died 306) is a Christian saint and great martyr. His sacred relics are in the Srem monastery in Hopovo, in Fruška gora. This saint is the first patron saint of the city of Venice, when he later inherited Saint Mark.

HERE ARE CUSTOMS AND WHAT TO DO TODAY

It is customary for believers on this day, who have fasted all week, to receive communion. Students used to take communion on this day. Saint Todor is believed to be the protector of cattle, especially horses, which is why this day is also called Horse Day, when the horses are not roasted (in a cart) but only mounted.

In such an area, this saint is celebrated because he is believed to cure epilepsy. At that time, the villagers went to the nearby monasteries with the sick, lit candles and prayed to the saint for health.

Theodore or Todor’s Saturday always falls on the first Saturday of Lent, making it a “poignant” holiday. The Saturday of Todor, or Todorica, was celebrated by the bakers’ guild.

Vojvodina Serbs believe that processions of white horses ride towards the eyes of Saint Todor at night. Among them is the leader of the lame horse. There is a belief that Saint Todor himself rode such a lame horse, which is why the name Sabado Cojo can be heard.

This day horse races were organized in Šumadija. Generally, in many villages, horses are ridden and displayed in the villages. Serbs, Macedonians and Bulgarians believe that St. Todor, in the form of a night rider during Todor week, can bring sickness and madness. For the first time, they go out to Todorica after a winter hibernation.

In Kosovo, they believe that Saint Theodore used to control snakes that had legs. When snakes started biting people, he got angry with them, took their legs off, and taught them to hit them with sticks and catch them.

Photo: Tanjug

On this day, in the villages of eastern Serbia, wheat, that is, koljivo, is prepared as for every Christmas. A cake is also made, which should have decorations in the shape of a horse or horseshoe. On that day, rubbish is burned (for protection, that is, for the health of horses and families, to pay homage to demons and as protection against snakes).

Women cannot wash their hair on Todor Saturday, we cannot light a fire in the house (because demons do not like smoke) and children must bathe before horse races.

Exceptionally, if necessary, the child can bathe that day, but it is mandatory to put a horseshoe in a trough with water. Many still believe that a horseshoe brings good luck. The cult of Todor, like the rest of the Thracian horseman, is present in eastern Serbia, while elsewhere it has almost disappeared.

On Todor Saturday, brides do not comb their hair because of the snakes (they are in horse hair). In the Pomoravlje villages of Leskovac, it is said that on the day of Todorica Kraljević, Marko rides his shark in the sea. Theodore’s Saturday is the day that mechanics and cafe owners in the Požarevac area celebrated their guild party.

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE HOLIDAYS

Saint Theodore Tyrone has his feast on March 2 (according to the Gregorian calendar), when his memory is celebrated, and today only his 4th century miracle is mentioned. That is, at the time of the great persecution of Christians, Emperor Julian the Apostate issued an order that in Constantinople all the food on the market be sprinkled with the blood of the victims of idols, so that Christians, eating them , were desecrated during Lent.

Archbishop Eudoxia of Constantinople was contacted by St. Theodore Tyrone, and revealed to him the evil intention of the emperor. When the bishop asked what fasting Christians should eat, the saint explained how to cook wheat and mix it with honey to make koljivo.

Since then, Christians have been left to cook wheat on the first Saturday of Lent, which is consecrated in the church and thus celebrate St. Theodora.