Today is the feast of the patron saints of beekeeping in Ukraine, Russia and elsewhere, Sts. Savvaty and Zosima Solovetsky.
Their icons are often enshrined in a corner of an apiary, usually on the feast of St Alexius, the Man of God on March 30th, along with an icon of St John the Baptist, who "ate wild honey" and is therefore another patron of the bees.
My father being a beekeeper named me "Alex" after the Man of God for this very reason. Tomorrow is the Feast of All Saints of the Solovetsky Islands and the day after the Feast of All New Martyrs of the Solovetsky Islands.
Today is the feast of the honey harvest and I include this icon as it brings fond memories back for me during the forty years or so that I had the privilege of working with my father (+memory eternal!) on his more than 1,200 beehives.
Great icon - love all the little bees flying around (and that one bigger one)! Does all the new honey get blessed today? Seems to me I remember something like that from when I lived in Bulgaria.
Yes, but mainly on August 14th, the Procession of the Precious Cross and of the Maccabees, which is called the "Honey Saviour" and when beekeepers begin to sell their honey products.
In Bulgaria, however, and also in western Ukraine, the patron saint of beekeepers is St Kharlambos who is celebrated on February 23rd.
Bulgarians highly honour this saint, as you know, and the week before his feastday honey products are blessed and sold. In some Bulgarian parishes, honey that is blessed in church is left there for some time. In other rites, honey is used to "purge" the countryside. Bulgaria also has a wonderful menu of honey-cakes and pies.
Different countries have different patrons of beekeeping. Ireland has St Modomnoc and St Gobnait (where bees make their nests in her shrine to this day). Italy and the Romance cultures have St Ambrose of Milan (when he was a boy, bees would go in and out of his mouth, according to his parents). St Bernard of Clairvaux is a Benedictine patron of beekeeping. St John Chrysostom is another patron (the "Golden-Mouthed" was seen by some to be a reference to honey). Then there is St Roch of Montpellier. St Job the Much-Suffering is the patron of bees in Romania (it used to be the case that a novice beekeeper had to get used to stings and so St Job figured as a patron due to his biting itches . . .).
A stinging indictment all around . . .
Alex
Last edited by Orthodox Catholic; 08/21/1311:51 AM.
Thanks, Alex, for all the interesting info! I only had vague memories of any of that.
The honey cookies, as I recall, were known as "medinki" ("med" being the Bulgarian word for honey). I also have a recipe for a wonderful Bulgarian honey cake, although I haven't made it in years. I had it once at someone's house, and asked for the recipe.
If you ever come across that recipe, I hope you would be willing to share it here! (My mother-in-law makes a mean honeycake, but I understand the Bulgarians are the world champions in that department especially!).
"Med" is also Ukrainian for "honey!" I think we got it from the Bulgarian as well.
One of your links says that the beekeepers would begin their work with the bees on the feast of St Zosimas on April 30 and would end it with the winterizing of the bees on October 10! Good to know!
Elsewhere, the beekeeper's year would begin on March 30th, the feast of St Alex the Man of God (popularly called "Warm Alex").
Icons of Sts John the Baptist, Zosimas and Savvaty would be enshrined somewhere in the apiary/bee yard (with one of St Alexius too) while a priest would bless the bees with a ritual from the Trebnyk and with holy water.
I always kept such a shrine in my father's main beeyard.
Thank you, Nataly, for sharing your rich spiritual heritage and deep cultural knowledge with us!
Dear Jaya, My mother-in-law makes a mean honeycake, but I understand the Bulgarians are the world champions in that department especially!).
This talk of honey cakes reminds me of a story. I cannot resist posting it. It comes from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers and it addresses the difference between two great saints of the desert, Arsenius the Great and Moses the Ethiopian.
"'Lord, explain this matter to me: for Thy name's sake the one flees from men and the other, for Thy name's sake, receives them with open arms.' Then two large boats were shown to him on a river and he saw Abba Arsenius and the Spirit of God sailing in the one, in perfect peace; and in the other was Abba Moses with the angels of God, and they were all eating honey cakes."
I promise to try out your recipe when you've had a chance to post it - and will give it to my mother-in-law for her to try it out (she makes honeycakes for all kinds of church events, especially fundraisers).
The tradition is, of course, to serve milk and honey at luncheons/dinners celebrating a baptism to signify membership/entrance into the Promised Land of the Church on our way to Heaven etc.
Also, honey is given out at weddings. I was at a wedding of a priest's daughter - who married a seminarian, now an ordained priest - and they had a beekeepers place his hives up close to the linden trees that surround the Church of Sts Cyril and Methodius in St Catharines, Ontario. The linden honey was extracted and bottles of it were given out to the wedding guests!
There is also the tradition of serving fried fish and honey on Easter Day in honour of the fish and honey our Risen Lord ate when He appeared to His apostles.
Buckfast Abbey in England boasts the tradition of Brother Adam and his Buckfast bees - gentle creatures, all black (like the monks) that produce tremendous amounts of honey!
Brother Adam worked with his bees without gloves and without pulling his bee net down over his head - his bees seemed to know him and didn't go after him.
(Buckfast Abbey also has the carved Madonna that was once in the possession of St Thomas More, FYI.)
And remember, the bee sting is only about .0237 of an inch long.
The other two feet are your imagination.
Alex
Last edited by Orthodox Catholic; 08/27/1309:35 AM.
Rusyns call the honey cookies "medovniki." We used to bake and decorate hundreds for pilgrimage at the feast of the Dormition when ACROD had a monastery in Rockland County,NY. Proceeds went to the monastery. My wife still makes them at Christmas to use as tree decorations, with a St Nicholas icon or star shaped. A wonderful aroma with the pine and fireplace....
My wife is developing a large, interactive exhibit for the Children's Museum where she works. It will open in fall 2014 and remain open for about 18 months. Folklore is part of the teaching mission of it and she will love these anecdotes and the icon and story of the patron saints.
Okay, here is that recipe. I'm giving you 2 versions. The first is exactly the way it was told to me. It has a huge amount of sugar in it, and I asked about this, but was assured it was correct. When I made it, however, I just could not bring myself to put in so much. So, I reduced the sugar, and the odd thing was, that I thought it tasted exactly like hers! I can't explain that.
So, the 1st recipe is exactly as Kalina gave it to me, with the types of measurements many Bulgarians use at home (grams, teacups, etc). These measurements are usually approximations. (No one in Bulgaria is putting flour in a teacup and leveling it with a knife!) Also, Bulgarian flour and sugar are a bit different than ours.
The 2nd recipe is my "translation" of Kalina's recipe into American measuring units, and the changes I made (less sugar, a little more honey, a little more flour). I haven't tried making it since being back in the US, though.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT THIS CAKE, IF YOU MAKE IT, IS THAT YOU MUST WAIT TILL THE NEXT DAY TO EAT IT.
Kalina told me that, but I couldn't wait, and so I had a piece the day I made it. It was so disappointing - not only didn't it taste like hers, it didn't have much flavor at all. But, on the following day, it was great, and tasted just like hers! So, hold out for 24 hours - it's worth it. (Good practice in self-control, too!)
By the way, it's also fast-friendly - no eggs or dairy.
Kalina's Honey Cake
300 gm water 3 teacups sugar 1/2 teacup honey 3 teacups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 and 1/2 teacups chopped walnuts
Boil the water. Remove from heat, and add the sugar and honey. Mix. When it has cooled down, add the flour, soda, cinnamon, and walnuts. Pour into a small greased banitsa pan (you can use an 8x8 pan). Bake at 350 degrees till done. When cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired. WAIT 24 HOURS BEFORE CUTTING AND EATING CAKE.
Kalina's Honey Cake II
1 and 1/4 cups water 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup honey 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 (to 1 1/4) cups chopped walnuts
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