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ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS COMMEMORATE 40 MARTYRS ON MARCH 9; THE MUCENICI TRADITION
Romania-Insider.com
http://www.romania-insider.com/orthodox-christians-commemorate-40-martyrs-on-march-9/20153/
March 9 2011
The Orthodox Christians on March 9 hold the feast of the Forty Martyrs
(Mucenici), soldiers in the Roman army during the reign of Emperor
Licinius (308-324), who were tortured and executed in Sebaste (capital
of the Roman province Armenia Minor, nowadays the city of Sivas in
Turkey - editor's note), because they refused to apostatize their
Christian belief.
The popular commemoration of the martyrs marks the beginning of the
agricultural year, celebrated on the vernal equinox, a borderline
halfway between winter and summer, between the freezing days of Dochia
(mythological figure identified with the return of the spring, believed
to be frozen alive) and the milder days of the Mosi (identified with
the martyrs, mythological figures believed to counterbalance the cold
brought by Dochia).
The customs in the Mucinici day bear specific traits of rites of
passage common for New Year: baking "mucenici", traditional sweets
resembling a human shape or the eight figure (in picture), the ritual
drinking derived from the popular belief claiming that one should
drink 40 glasses of wine this day, stoking fires in yards and gardens,
purification of both people and animals by sprinkling holy water,
beating up the ground with wooden mallets to drive out cold and
unleash the warmth.
The custom to drink forty glasses of red wine on this day dates
back to old pagan rituals in ancient times. People believe that the
wine consumed on this day turns into blood and vigour all the year
round. In case someone cannot drink that amount of wine, one should
have at least a sip or be spattered with wine.
From: A. Papazian
Romania-Insider.com
http://www.romania-insider.com/orthodox-christians-commemorate-40-martyrs-on-march-9/20153/
March 9 2011
The Orthodox Christians on March 9 hold the feast of the Forty Martyrs
(Mucenici), soldiers in the Roman army during the reign of Emperor
Licinius (308-324), who were tortured and executed in Sebaste (capital
of the Roman province Armenia Minor, nowadays the city of Sivas in
Turkey - editor's note), because they refused to apostatize their
Christian belief.
The popular commemoration of the martyrs marks the beginning of the
agricultural year, celebrated on the vernal equinox, a borderline
halfway between winter and summer, between the freezing days of Dochia
(mythological figure identified with the return of the spring, believed
to be frozen alive) and the milder days of the Mosi (identified with
the martyrs, mythological figures believed to counterbalance the cold
brought by Dochia).
The customs in the Mucinici day bear specific traits of rites of
passage common for New Year: baking "mucenici", traditional sweets
resembling a human shape or the eight figure (in picture), the ritual
drinking derived from the popular belief claiming that one should
drink 40 glasses of wine this day, stoking fires in yards and gardens,
purification of both people and animals by sprinkling holy water,
beating up the ground with wooden mallets to drive out cold and
unleash the warmth.
The custom to drink forty glasses of red wine on this day dates
back to old pagan rituals in ancient times. People believe that the
wine consumed on this day turns into blood and vigour all the year
round. In case someone cannot drink that amount of wine, one should
have at least a sip or be spattered with wine.
From: A. Papazian