July 21 (July 8 according to the old style), the Christian church celebrates the day of memory of the martyr Procopius, popularly known as the Reaper. His birth name was Neanius. And for some time in his life he devoted his education and service to Emperor Diocletian.
Father Neanius was a Christian, but the boy was raised by a pagan mother because of the early death of his father. He was later educated, and promotion was fairly quick and easy. On duty, in 303, Netany went on a campaign, marked by open persecution of Christians.
On the road, the young man saw a crucifix and heard the voice of Christ. This miracle turned him into a defender of the Christian faith. When this news reached his mother, she herself went to the emperor’s palace with a complaint about her son who rejected paganism.
Neanius was arrested and thrown into prison, where at night Jesus Christ came to him and performed the sacrament of baptism, after which the prisoner received a new name - Procopius. After there were long days of severe torture and orders to renounce the faith, even the pagans turned to Christ, seeing the suffering of a martyr, who was ultimately executed by order of the emperor.
In Russia, on the day of the name of Procopius, they began to harvest rye, so the martyr was better known by the name of the Harvester. Livestock feed production also continued.
There were even conspiracies that were uttered on Procopius, for example, so that you didn’t get tired during the harvest, you had to say: “In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. How did you, mother rye, stagger for a whole year, but didn’t sting it (not sick), so it would be for me to be a servant of God (name), reap, but not be lost.
According to legend, a kamakha-kraskachervets appeared on this day. It was believed that kamakha fell with the wind from warm countries and, curled up in a ball, rolled up under his feet. The Kamakha find promised happiness for a year. In the old days there were many hunters to find her. However, they said that she would fall for someone who has written such happiness on the family.
Blueberries start to ripen with Procopius. It was usually collected by children, because adults worked in the field. Wonderful healing properties were attributed to this berry, which is also confirmed by modern medicine.
