HOLIDAYS, TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS IN ROMANIA

No Month HOLIDAY1 January 06.01 - Epiphany (ee-PIFF -any; Koine Greek: Ἐπιφάνεια, Epiphaneia,

"Manifestation", "striking appearance") or Theophany (Ancient Greek: (ἡ) Θεοφάνεια, Τheophaneia meaning "Vision of God"), also known as Three Kings' Day, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God in his Son as human in Jesus Christ.Blessing of Waters: The Orthodox Churches perform the Great Blessing of Waters on Theophany.[58] The blessing is normally done twice: once on the Eve of the Feast—usually at a Baptismal font inside the church—and then again on the day of the feast, outdoors at a body of water. Following the Divine Liturgy, the clergy and people go in a Crucession (procession with the cross) to the nearest body of water, be it a beach, harbor, quay, river, lake, swimming pool, water depot, etc. (ideally, it should be a body of "living water"). At the end of the ceremony the priest will bless the waters. The water that is blessed on this day is sometimes known as "Theophany Water", though usually just "holy water", and is taken home by the faithful, and used with prayer as a blessing. People will not only bless themselves and their homes by sprinkling with holy water, but will also drink it. The Orthodox Church teaches that holy water differs from regular water in that with holy water, the very nature of the water is changed and becomes incorrupt .

2 February 24.02. ”Dragobete” is a traditional Romanian holiday celebrated on the 24th of February. Dragobete was the Baba Dochia’s son, which stands for the main character in the pagan myth related to spring arrival and the end of the harsh winter. Due to his endless kindness he was chosen – according to some sources, by Virgin Mary – to be the Guardian of Love.The day is particularly known as "the day when the birds are betrothed". It is around this time that the birds begin to build their nests and mate. On this day, considered locally the first day of spring, boys and girls pick vernal flowers and sing together. Maidens used to collect the snow that lay on the ground in many villages and then melt it, using the water in magic potions throughout the rest of

the year. Those who take part in Dragobete customs are supposed to be protected from illness, especially fevers, for the rest of the year. If the weather allows, girls and boys pick snowdrops or other early spring plants for the person they are in love with. In Romania, Dragobete is known as a day for lovers, rather like Valentine's Day.It is a common belief in some parts of Romania that, during this celebration, stepping over a partner's foot leads to the dominant role in the relationship. Dragobete customs vary from region to region.In the countryside there is an old tradition with girls and boys going into the woods to pick flowers. When they return home, the traditions says that boys ran after the girls to kiss them. If the girl liked the boy she let him kiss her. There is a saying in Romania that makes a lot of sense regarding this: "Dragobete kisses the girls".

3 March 1.03. Every year, in Romania on the 1st of March we celebrate the beginning of spring and an old tradition is to offer a little symbol that means friendship or love, appreciation, respect and good luck, called MARTISOR. The word Mărțișor is the diminutive of martie, the old folk name for March (Martie, in modern Romanian), and thus literally means "little March". It is also the folk name for the month. Mărțișor, is the red and white string with a hanging tassel. Giving this talisman to people is an old custom, and it is believed that the wearer will be strong and healthy for the year to come. It is also a symbol of the coming spring. Usually, both women and men wear it pinned to their clothes, close to the heart, until the last day of March, when they tie it to a fruit-tree twig. In some regions, a gold or silver coin hangs on the string and is worn around the neck. After wearing it for a certain length of time, they buy red wine and sweet cheese with the coin, according to a belief that their faces would remain beautiful and white as cheese and rubicund as the wine, all year.

4 April According to Romanian folk tradition, April is called "Prier".This popular name of April, comes from the verb "to Part" and means propitious time for crops or work in the household.1.04. April Fool's Day:April Fool's Day is celebrated on April the 1st. in most countries around the globe. Also known as the Day of tricks or Day of Fools, in this day everyone is trying, with more or less success to play a trick to a colleague, friend, neighbour, family member, thus, the 1st of April becomes a source of joy and fun for all who have a sense of humor, or, as Mark Twain said “April the 1st is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.“

5 May 01.05 – International Labor Day

The International Labor Day is a public holiday in Romania so banks, public offices, and many private businesses are closed. Many Romanians have the day off work or school on Labor Day (also spelled as Labour Day). Some people attend social gatherings or visit friends and family. It is also a popular holiday to relax at home, have an outdoor picnic or visit the beach, among other leisure activities.Labor Day in Romania was celebrated for the first time in 1890. However, after the Romanian Revolution of 1989, Labor Day was toned down to simply being a day off work and a holiday marked with social events.The May 1 holiday is also known as May Day, which was originally a celebration of spring and rebirth taking place in nature.

6 June 1.06. The children’s Day

24.06. every year we celebrate the ”Sânziene” Holiday.Sânziană is the Romanian name for gentle fairies who play an important part in

local folklore, also used to designate the Galium verum or Cruciata laevipes flowers. Under the plural form Sânziene, the word designates an annual festival in the fairies' honor. Etymologically, the name comes from the Latin Sancta Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt and moon, also celebrated in Roman Dacia (ancient Romania). Diana was known to be the virgin goddess and looked after virgins and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, Diana, Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry. People in the western Carpathian Mountains celebrate the Sânziene holiday annually, on June 24. This is similar to the Swedish Midsummer holiday, and is believed to be a pagan celebration of the summer solstice in June. According to the official position of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the customs actually relate to the celebration of Saint John the Baptist's Nativity, which also happens on June 24.The folk practices of Sânziene imply that the most beautiful maidens in the village dress in white and spend all day searching for and picking flowers, of which one MUST be Galium verum (Lady's bedstraw or Yellow bedstraw) which in Romanian is also named "Sânziànă". Using the flowers they picked during the day, the girls braid floral crowns which they wear upon returning to the village at nightfall. There they meet with their beloved and they dance around a bonfire. The crowns are thrown over the houses, and whenever the crown falls, it is said that someone will die in that house; if the crown stays on the roof of the house, then good harvest and wealth will be bestowed upon the owners. As with other bonfire celebrations, jumping over the embers after the bonfire is not raging anymore is done to purify the person and also to bring health.Another folk belief is that during the Sânziene Eve night, the heavens open up, making it the strongest night for magic spells, especially for the love spells. Also it is said that the plants harvested during this night will have tremendous magical powers.It is not a good thing though to be a male and walk at night during Sanziene Eve night, as that is the time when the fairies dance in the air, blessing the crops and bestowing health on people - they do not like to be seen by males, and whomever sees them will be maimed, or the fairies will take their hearing/speech or make them mad.In some areas of the Carpathians, the villagers then light a big wheel of hay from the ceremonial bonfire and push it down a hill. This has been interpreted as a symbol for the setting sun (from the solstice to come and until the midwinter solstice, the days will be getting shorter).

7 July 02.07. Prince STEPHAN THE GREAT, one of the pivotal figures in Romanian history, who died in Suceava in 1504 after 47 yars to lead Moldavia. On the 2nd of July 1992 was canonised as saint by the Romanian Orthodox Church under the name "The Right-believing Voievode Stephen the Great and the Holy".

20.07. Saint Ilie. Every year, on July 20, it is celebrated St. Elias, which is a popular deity who took the name and date of the celebration of the Holy Prophet Elijah Tishbite. St. Elias is venerated by the Christians as the bringer of rain, after the prayer, saved from death the people of Israel, after three and a half years of drought, but also as a deity popular sun and fire, attested by numerous traditions and customs.St. Elias has lived over eight hundred years before the Savior's incarnation, the time of King Ahab, in the kingdom of Israel in Samaria. During his life on earth, Elijah committed sins, the biggest being his parents' murder at the instigation of the devil. God forgave him, and put him among the Saints and ascended to heaven in a chariot of fire with wheels pulled by winged white horses.

8 August 15.08. The most representative feast of August is The Assumption of Mary into Heaven, often shortened to the Assumption and also known as the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary which is celebrated on August 15th, according to the beliefs of the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of Anglicanism, was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.The Catholic Church teaches as dogma that Virgin Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was

assumed body and soul into heavenly glory".

9 September 8.09. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Nativity of Mary, or the Birth of the Virgin Mary, refers to a Christian feast day celebrating the birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary

10 October -11 November 30.11. St. Andrew's Day is the feast day of Saint Andrew.

There are a few pre-Christian Romanian traditions connected to St. Andrew's Day, some of them having their origin in the Roman celebrations of Saturn. The Dacian New Year took place from 14 November until 7 December; this was considered the interval when time began its course. One of the elements that came from the Roman and Thracian celebrations concerned wolves. During this night, wolves are allowed to eat all the animals they want. It is said that they can speak, too, but anyone that hears them will soon die. Early on St. Andrew’s day, the mothers go into the garden and gather tree branches, especially from apple, pear and cherry trees, and also rosebush branches. They make a bunch of branches for each family member. The one whose bunch blooms by New Year's Day will be lucky and healthy the next year. The best known tradition connected to this night concerns matrimony and premonitory dreams. Single girls must put under their pillow a branch of sweet basil. If someone takes the plants in their dreams, that means the girl will marry soon. They can also plant wheat in a dish and water it until New Year’s Day. The nicer the wheat looks that day, the better the year to come.A superstitious belief exists that the night before St. Andrew's Day is especially suitable for magic that reveals a young woman's future husband or that binds a future husband to her.The day was believed to be the start of the most popular time for vampire activity, which would last until St. George's Eve (22 April).

12 December 1st of DECEMBER – GREAT UNION DAY / THE NATIONAL DAY OF ROMANIA Great Union Day (Romanian: Ziua Marii Uniri, also called Unification Day ) occurring on December 1, is the National Day of Romania. It commemorates the assembly of the delegates of ethnic Romanians held in Alba Iulia, which declared the Union of Transylvania with Romania.The Big Union was signed by the king of Romania, Ferdinand the 1st. In December 1 , 1918.

After World War II, Romania loses a part of Moldova( today is Republic of Moldavia) and Bucovina ( today is in Ukraine) taken by Russia and part of Dobrogea taken by Bulgaria.

6th of DECEMBER – SAINT NICHOLASSaint Nicholas also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra, in Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey). Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker. His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus through Sinterklaas. Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, a practice celebrated on his feast day, 6 December. For those who still observe the Julian calendar the celebration will currently take place thirteen days later than it happens in the Gregorian calendar and Revised Julian calendar. Nicholas thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos"

25 DECEMBER – CHRISTMASChristmas Day (Crăciun) is an annual public holiday in Romania on December 25, along with the second day of Christmas (December 26). It is a Christian holiday that celebrates the birth of Jesus. Many Romanians start celebrating Christmas weeks before December 25. Fun Christmas activities include decorating Christmas trees, caroling songs from home to home, and giving presents to one another on Christmas Eve (Ajunul Crăciunului).

31.12. NEW YEAR’S EVE CELEBRATIONTraditional celebrations of New Year's Eve (Revelion) are the norm in Romania. Romanians follow centuries-old customs, rituals, and conventions. Children sing "Pluguşorul" and "Sorcova", traditional carols that wish goodwill, happiness and success.