Old style date: May 21. On this day, the memory of Saint Helena, who lived in the 3rd-4th centuries, is honored. She was the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine I and became famous for her efforts in spreading Christianity. At her initiative, excavations were carried out in Jerusalem, during which the Holy Sepulchre, the Life-Giving Cross, and other relics were discovered. In Russia, on this day, they began to sow flax and performed special rituals for a good harvest. The elderly women collected two boiled eggs from each woman in the village and placed them in a sack with seeds. The man, going out to the field to sow flax, first had breakfast and brought back only the eggshells. According to another custom, the sower had to throw the boiled eggs as high as possible - for the flax to grow tall. If a woman was sowing the flax, she would undress completely, hoping that the flax would take pity on her and think: "What a poor woman - she doesn't even have a shirt, we need to help her." On the same day, much attention was given to cucumbers, saying: "Elena for flax, Constantine for cucumbers." The housewife, taking an old shoe, would drag it into the garden, throw it on the bed, and say: "As densely as this shoe was woven, so may my cucumbers grow densely." What shouldn't be braided on Olenin Day were braids. On this day, girls were supposed to go with their hair down so that their hair would be beautiful and long. Weather signs were also noted. If Olenin Day was rainy, an inclement autumn was expected. If it rained with hail, it foretold snow with sleet on December 3. Name days on this day: Elena, Cyril, Constantine, Michael, Theodore, Yaroslav