Date according to the old style: July 27. On this day, the memory of Saint Panteleimon, venerated as a great martyr, is observed. Pantoleon (his name before baptism) was born in the 3rd century in Nicomedia, into a noble pagan family. In his youth, his father sent him to study under the famous physician Euphrosinus, and soon Pantoleon became a renowned doctor himself. One day, the young man met the Christian Hermolaus (celebrated a day earlier), who began to teach him about the faith and eventually baptized him with the name Panteleimon. According to his hagiography, the doctor truly believed in Christ when he prayed for the salvation of a child bitten by a snake and received help. After this event, Panteleimon decided to dedicate his life to saving people from illness—he treated everyone free of charge. He also helped Christians who were imprisoned. Emperor Maximian learned of this and offered Panteleimon a chance to refute the accusations and renounce his faith. In response, the saint proposed finding a severely ill person and conducting a test: whoever healed the patient (the Christian doctor or the pagan doctor) would prove that their faith was true. Panteleimon won the contest, and many pagans, witnessing this, converted to Christianity. The enraged emperor ordered the execution of the doctor. According to tradition, the martyr was tied to an olive tree, and after his head was cut off, the tree immediately bore fruit. In the Orthodox world, Saint Panteleimon is revered as a healer and protector of soldiers (his original name translates as "lion in everything"). Similarly, in Russia, Saint Panteleimon (sometimes called Paley) was prayed to for healing from illnesses. On his feast day, healers would gather herbs, picking them with special incantations and rituals. At the same time, this day was considered unlucky. People would say, "He who works on Paley's day will have his crops burned by a storm"; "Paley burns the sheaves." One of Panteleimon's nicknames (Kochanniy, or Kochannik, meaning "of the cabbage") is associated with the fact that during this time, cabbage heads begin to form. Therefore, it was customary to take out the remaining cabbage from the previous harvest and bake puff pastry pies. These pastries were shared with children, as well as with the poor and travelers. Cabbage has always been one of the most beloved vegetables in Russia. It was eaten raw, made into salads, stewed, pickled, salted, added to soups, and used as a filling for various pies. Many proverbs and sayings have been made about cabbage: "Bread and cabbage will keep evil away"; "Fir and birch—what good firewood! Bread and cabbage—what good food!"; "Without cabbage, the belly is empty." In addition to all this, on Panteleimon's day, people celebrated the so-called harvest festival. Sheaves from the fields were brought to the church for blessing. These sheaves were later kept in the house. Names celebrated on this day: Anfisa, Herman, Ivan, Cyril, Clement, Constantine, Naum, Nicholas, Panteleimon, Platon, Savva