February 29, which happens every four years, due to its rarity, is Kasyanov’s day known to everyone. But regarding the festivity of the first day of the last month of winter, not everyone is informed. Meanwhile, events "for every taste and color" correspond to him. Your gaze is directed to the West or the East, on the first of February there will be a festive occasion for almost everyone.
Uncle Sam's extravaganza
Let's look at the beginning of the calendar, February 1, which holiday is celebrated by adherents of American democracy.
Uncle Sam, the main DJ of the planetary disco, "comes off" at the start of the month "in full"! After all, it was the first day of this month that National Freedom Day was established, unofficially also called "the birthday of all American presidents." Not at all because in February, historically significant personalities were born, Lincoln (on the 12th) and Washington (on the 22nd). It was February 1 (what a holiday for African Americans!) That Abraham Lincoln in 1865 initiated with his signature the 13th amendment abolishing slavery. It was ratified later, on December 18 of the same year, after the death of the President-Liberator on April 15. The holiday is officially attributed to February in the post-war 1948 by the head of state, Harry Truman.
February 1 - what holiday do democrats celebrate in Russia
In one, we were ahead of the Americans: in comparison with the fall of the shameful slavery of the New World, serfdom in our Fatherland was abolished four years earlier. The manifesto of the Tsar-Liberator, by the way, also fell on February of the old style, on the 19th (March 3, according to the modern Gregorian calendar) of 1861.
But already in the XX century on February 1 (what a holiday for the adherents of democracy!) Was born in 1931 in the Ural village of Butka, the future first president of the Russian Federation Yeltsin. Whether he freed the citizens of the country from the bonds of the Soviet system or pushed for the destruction of a great power, history will judge impartially only in a hundred to two hundred years.
If you care little about who ordered the music to which the eccentric ambiguous president danced, you can raise a glass of sparkling wine or a faceted glass of Russian vodka in his memory with the first day of February.
Holy Intronization Day
Let us look in the calendars of the Moscow Patriarchate under the date of February 1 which holiday the church people celebrate in our country. Traditionally, in our Local Church , the day of intronization of the ruling Patriarch is celebrated. The sixteenth Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church was elevated to the highest level of the church hierarchy on February 1, 2009.
Modern society is so relaxed that even the slogan "party in a new format" replaces the subject of the Patriarch without a hitch. To judge how church life is “formatted” under the guidance of the Most Holy is the work of the conciliar mind. In the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate - somewhere with sincere love, and somewhere for obedience to the canons - annually proclaimed on this day a prayer for the head of the Church.
In the practice of divine services, it is given to the abbot to decide on February 1 which holiday should be considered the main one in the evening singing of canons, reading the Apostle and the Gospel at the Liturgy. Naturally, in the churches dedicated to Russian saints, in memorable places associated with their ascetic living, on weekday the primacy of honor is given to precisely these lamps of Orthodoxy. So, in Zvenigorod, on the first day of February, the memory of one of the disciples of St. Sergius of Radonezh, a strict ascetic of piety, is celebrated. Savva Storozhevsky.
Fiery hell and winter thunder
For complete contrast, we’ll talk about February 1 - what holiday the Orthodox world and the pagans celebrate on this day. Ecumenical Orthodoxy honors St. Macarius, called the Great (also known as Egyptian). The reverend was distinguished by amazing humility, about which his life narrates. Of the special events of his life it is worth noting the following: once having met in the desert the dried skull of a pagan priest, the saint was honored to enter into an interview with the soul of the deceased. He told him that through the prayers of the reverend, even the Gentiles in hell receive some relief. The priest himself is in great fire, but at the same time stands on the miter of the apostate bishop, who has sunk even deeper into the lake of tormenting flame. It was revealed to St. Macarius from this conversation that during life demons have great power over pagans.
It is noteworthy that the Druids celebrated this day Imbolk (the name, according to some information, dates back to the concept of "rainfall"), and the Eastern Slavs - Gromnitsa. According to legend, February 1 is the only day of winter during which a thunderstorm is possible. Whether this is true or not, each of us can try to make sure from our own experience. Indeed, to meet the first of February with a favorable set of circumstances, a person living on Earth will succeed several dozen times.