Date according to the old style: August 14. The holiday is established in honor of one of the so-called “minor” biblical prophets, Micah, who lived in Judea in the 8th century BC. Micah is considered the author of a prophetic book and the founder of the trend to simplify the essence of Judaism. “O man! It has been told to you what is good and what the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” — this is how Micah understood the meaning of human life. Micah is believed to be the first of the prophets to predict that Judea would be destroyed due to the sinful behavior of its leaders. However, he also had a prophecy offering hope — about the coming of the Messiah. This day was called “Tikhovey” in Russia because it was customary to observe the wind: if it was calm and quiet, the autumn would be sunny; if it was fast and strong, bad weather was expected. In this regard, there were sayings like: “Quiet wind in the garden — dry autumn in the forest”; “Micah’s day is tied with the storm and wind of Baba’s summer.” People also paid attention to cranes. If the birds flew in formation to the south, it meant that frost would strike by mid-October. If the cranes were calm and did not take flight, winter would come later than usual. On Micah’s day, it was customary to honor masons — builders of churches, fortresses, princely and tsarist palaces; the helpers of all those who wanted to build a home. In Russia, masons were respected and even feared, as if they were displeased, they might play a cruel joke on the owner — for example, placing a goose feather in the chimney. In this case, every time the stove was lit, it would “groan” and scare the household members. After Micah’s day, the Dormition fast ends, and the autumn meat-eating period begins. During this time, pre-arranged weddings were celebrated. Thus, Micah’s day was the last chance to propose to a girl you liked. Name Days on this day Alexander, Alexei, Arkady, Vasily, Vladimir, Eve, Evdokia, Matthew, Nicholas, Semyon, Fyodor