Traditions and customs of the Healing Spring. What is forbidden to do on the first Friday after Easter

Today, May 10, Orthodox Christians celebrate a great holiday, namely the Healing Spring.

It is a celebration marked with a red cross in the calendar, referring to one of the miracles performed by the Mother of God at a spring near Constantinople.

When he was not yet emperor, Leo the Great was walking through a forest near Constantinople.

At one point, he meets an old blind man, who asks him for water.

Leon the Great looked around, but there was no sign of a drop of water. Then, a soft voice was heard from nowhere:

“There is no need to strain, because the water is near! Go further through the forest, take the cloudy water with your hands, quench the blind man’s thirst and then anoint his dark eyes with it.”

Leo the Great listened to what the Mother of God said and washed the blind man’s face with water, and he began to see.

Marked by this miracle, when he became emperor, Leo the Great built a church near that spring.

Traditions and customs of the Healing Spring

On this day of celebration, the priests perform water consecration services, which are called “small consecration”.

Believers use this holy water to sprinkle household animals and rooms in the house to ward off disease and evil.

At the same time, all the crops in the field are sprinkled with holy water, so that they are protected from hail.

Also, patients drink agheasma in the morning, on an empty stomach, to strengthen themselves.

In some areas of the country, on May 10, at the Tămăduirii Spring, a certain ritual is practiced. Several children gather in one part of the village and swear loyalty and friendship, then exchange objects or food.

On the Healing Spring, on the first Friday after Easter, no washing, no ironing, no sewing and no other household chores are done.

It is also said that all waters are sanctified on this day, being noisier and more boisterous.

That is why the sick who bathe on this day get well, and the well dug by the Healing Spring will never dry up, it is mentioned in the Dictionary of Romanian Traditional Symbols and Beliefs.

On this day, the householders throw holy water over the cattle, so that they are healthy and work hard on the agricultural works.

It is also believed that from the Healing Spring you can learn how much you have left to live. People in many areas of the country put a cup under a walnut or elder tree, and if they find soil at the bottom of the cup, then it is a sign that the end is near.