Date in the old style: May 8. On this day, the memory of John the Theologian — one of the twelve apostles — is commemorated. John was the younger brother of the apostle James; both of them were called by Jesus Christ to be His disciples at the Sea of Galilee, where the brothers were fishing. The Theologian is considered the author of five books of the New Testament: the Gospel of John, three epistles, and one revelation. In Russia, on this day, peasants traditionally sowed wheat. A few proverbs and sayings from that time have remained, for example: "Harness the mare and plow the land for wheat." They also paid attention to signs related to sowing: "Sow wheat when the bird cherry blooms"; "Do not sow wheat before the oak leaf." Wealthy owners baked so-called vow pies on this day and treated poor neighbors, as well as travelers and beggars. The elderly would specially go out to the road and pray to God to send them a kind person with whom they could share a piece of bread. If a poor person or another traveler passed by on the road at that time, it was considered a good sign and foretold a rich harvest in the future. Otherwise, if they could not share the vow pie with anyone, it had to be fed to the birds. It was not allowed to eat this pastry themselves. Name Day on this day Adrian, Arseny, Ivan, Nikiphor, Pimen