On February 2, Christians celebrate the Presentation of the Lord.
The following have a name day on today's holy date: Radost, Radostina, Radostin, Drago, Dragomira, Dragomir, Ralin, Ralina, Vanessa, Radina, Radoslava, Radoslav, Sredka, Sredko, Sreten
The feast of the Presentation of the Lord dates back to the birth of the little Jesus, when his mother the Holy Mother of God brought the Son of God to the Jerusalem Temple, because according to the Mosaic Law, every firstborn male child must be dedicated to God 40 days after his birth.
The Presentation of the Lord is one of the twelve great feasts of the year. According to pious custom, newborn children are still taken to the temple on the 40th day after their birth for a blessing and a certain prayer is read to the mothers.
No work is done on this day, because the children will be born marked. Sexual abstinence is strictly observed: this will increase the fertility of domestic animals and they will be alive and healthy. Women do not touch sharp objects, do not cut bread, thread or wood, so that the children will be healthy. Loaves are kneaded and distributed to two houses. Based on who comes to the house first, it is guessed which child will be born first - male or female.
In folk beliefs, the Holy Mother of God is the patroness of pregnancy and women in labor, but she is also the "wolf Mother of God", associated with animals that personify the demonic forces of the underworld. Thus, the Christian mother saint is simultaneously honored and the forces of evil are appeased - through a grain sacrifice, sexual abstinence (a kind of fast), and a number of prohibitions of a magical nature.