Date in the old style: June 25. Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom are revered by the people as protectors of the family hearth and guardians of marital love. According to legend, the future prince of Murom, Peter, fell ill with leprosy and could not find a cure anywhere. One day, he had a dream that a peasant girl named Fevronia from the land of Ryazan could help him. The girl was found and Peter promised to marry her if he was cured of the disease. But he did not keep his word. The disease returned and only after Fevronia healed him again did Peter finally keep his promise – and he never regretted it. Peter inherited the throne after his brother, but the boyars of Murom did not want to see the former peasant girl as their ruler and ordered the young prince to either renounce his wife or leave the city. So, Peter and Fevronia sailed away from Murom on the Oka River. In the city, a revolt began: people demanded the return of the princely couple to the throne. The people’s wish was fulfilled. The spouses lived together for a long and happy life, and in old age, they took monastic vows and prayed to God to die on the same day. So it happened. Peter and Fevronia bequeathed to be buried in the same tomb, but their request was not fulfilled, considering it indecent for people of monastic rank. However, despite the fact that the bodies of the husband and wife were placed in different monasteries, the next day they were found together. The church canonized Peter and Fevronia in 1541. Since then, it has been customary in Russia to pray to this pair of saints for family well-being and to ask for their blessing at weddings. Marriage was also associated with certain omens on this day. For example, it was believed that if a merchant worked all day in the shop side by side with his wife, it would bring prosperity to his family. Other more practical omens were related to the weather and the beginning of the haymaking season, which started around this time. People noted: if pigs and mice start eating hay – the hay harvest will be poor; the same was indicated by an abundance of chickweed in the meadows. They also observed the seedlings: if they absorbed water well when watered – the haymaking days would be dry; if they did not absorb water – they would be wet. From Peter and Fevronia, another forty hot days were expected. “After John, no need for a coat” – the peasants said in this regard (John the Baptist’s day is celebrated the day before). Fevronia was sometimes commemorated separately from Peter, being called Rusalkina. There was a belief that from this day, rusalki (water nymphs) begin to dance. Therefore, when bathing, one had to be careful not to be dragged to the bottom by a water nymph.