Old style date: September 7. In the Orthodox calendar, this day celebrates Saint Luke of Glubokorechensk, who lived in the 10th century in Cappadocia. Luke was a monk and later became the abbot of the Savior’s monastery, known as “Deep Rivers.” The saint was renowned for his righteous life and piety. Due to the similarity between the saint’s name and the Russian word for onion (“лук”), people in Russia started celebrating Onion Day on this date. Around this time, onions were harvested everywhere, and markets were full of them. On this day, girls would braid onions and hang them from the ceiling for storage. Various onion-based dishes were prepared on this day—one popular dish involved stuffing onions with chicken. Large onions were boiled, the centers removed, stuffed with meat, and then cooked in broth or baked in the oven. It was believed that if you baked even one onion before this day, all the onions in the garden would dry up. In folk tradition, onions were highly respected as a very beneficial plant. They were used as a remedy and preventive for colds, applied to boils and swellings. Girls would wash their hair with onion peel decoction, making their hair strong and shiny. If livestock started to fall ill, onions were strung on a thread and this “necklace” was hung around the necks of cows and horses. There are many proverbs about onions: “Onions are good in battle and in soup”; “Onions cure seven ailments”; “Onions and a bath fix everything.” Famous riddles also exist in many variations: “An old man sits, wrapped in a hundred coats, whoever undresses him sheds tears”; “A priest stands in the garden, full of patches, whoever looks at him, cries”; “Marfutka sits in four coats, whoever kisses her, will wrinkle up.” Onions were also used to predict the upcoming winter. A thick layer of onion skin was thought to indicate a harsh winter. Name days celebrated on this day: Alexander, Andrew, Vasily, Gregory, Eugene, Ivan, Leo, Luke, Macarius, Michael, Nicholas, Peter, Stepan