Date according to the old style: May 25 On this day, the Orthodox Church commemorates the third finding of the head of John the Baptist, also known as John the Forerunner. According to the Gospels, John was the closest predecessor of Jesus Christ, predicting the coming of the Savior, and later baptizing him in the waters of the Jordan. John denounced many sinners for their crimes against righteousness, including Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, who took his brother's wife Herodias and married her. Herodias, who despised the saint, decided to take revenge on him. She persuaded her daughter Salome to ask Herod Antipas for the head of John the Baptist. He did not dare refuse her. According to legend, Herodias did not allow the head of the Forerunner to be buried with the body and hid it in her palace. After this, the head was found and lost several times. The third finding of John's head falls on June 7 in the modern calendar. In Russia, it was believed that from this day on, "honeydew" would appear on plants – sweet secretions from aphids and worms that feed on plant sap. It was said, "Honeydew is sweet but it eats away painfully." It was thought that such "dew" was harmful to children, livestock, and plants. "If honeydew falls, livestock plague will come," people would say. Different methods were used to combat livestock plague, such as making animals pass through the ashes of a bonfire. At the same time, heavy dew on this day – real dew, not "honeydew" – was seen as a sign of a good harvest. "Without dew, grass does not grow," they said about this. Other signs were also observed. If there were many flowers on the rowan tree on this day, they expected a good oat harvest, but a late bloom of the rowan promised a long autumn. Name Days on this Day: Victoria, Elena, Ivan, Innocent, Fyodor, Ferapont