What church holiday is celebrated on March 4 according to the new and old styles, the prohibitions of the day and who has a name day.

On March 4, according to the new church calendar, Orthodox Christians remember St. Gerasim on the Jordan. In the folk calendar – Gerasim Grachevnik. Read below about the prohibitions and signs of the day that are celebrated in the church on March 4 according to the old style.

March 4, 2024 – what church holiday is today according to the new and old calendar

March 4 according to the new style (March 17 according to the old style) is the day of remembrance of St. Gerasim of Jordan, a monk whose best friend was a lion.

Gerasim was born in Lycia (now the territory of Turkey) and in his youth decided to become a monk. First he went to live in the Thebaid desert in Egypt, later he moved to Palestine, and then to the Jordan River, where he founded a monastery.

In the monastery of Gerasim there were very strict rules: the monks spent five days a week in the desert, on dry bread and water, in prayer and weaved baskets from palm branches, and on Saturday and Sunday they gathered in the monastery, received communion, took bread, water and they went into the desert again. During Lent, Gerasim completely refused food until Easter.

One day in the desert Gerasim met a limping lion. The saint was not afraid of the predator and pulled the thorn from the beast’s paw. Since then, the lion did not go far from the monastery, ate bread from his hands and did not attack anyone. They named him Jordan. Once Gerasim thought that the lion ate Olik and forced him to carry water. But the donkey was actually taken by a merchant, who decided that the animal had gotten lost. When the merchant was driving back, the lion rushed to the caravan and led the donkey to its owner by the bridle. Gerasim admitted his mistake and from then on he and the lion were inseparable from the lion.

When the monk died, Jordan refused water and food and died at the grave of the monk. He was buried nearby. Saint Gerasim is always depicted with a lion at his feet.

Holiday March 4th according to the old style – Day of Remembrance of the Apostles from the Seventy Saints Archippus and Philemon.

What do the signs say for March 4th?

In the folk calendar, March 4 is the holiday of Gerasim Grachevnik; he was nicknamed so because rooks usually flew in at this time:

• birds return to their nests – there will be early spring;
• if the rooks arrived on this day, the snow will melt in a month; if they arrived earlier, there may be a crop failure;
• dry and sunny on this day – there will be a lot of berries in the forest.

On Gerasim, it is customary to prepare cookies from sour rye dough – “rooks”, so that the birds bring warmth with them.

What not to do on March 4

Among the main prohibitions, what you cannot do today are to swear, offend someone, especially animals and birds, gossip, and envy.

According to popular wisdom, one should be wary of offending birds even accidentally – otherwise there will be no happiness on earth. It is not recommended to make large purchases or go on a long journey on this day – failure may await you.

What can you do on March 4

Saint Gerasimos of Jordan is asked to give physical and spiritual strength, the monk helps to gain meekness and prudence, they pray to the saint for the healing of diseases, including in animals.

According to folk customs, on this day it is necessary to do at least a little cleaning and ventilate the house. In the old days, amulets were made from juniper for Gerasim, and the floor was swept with a broom made of wormwood. Also on this day, it is customary to throw away old shoes – it is believed that everything bad will leave the house with them.

March 4 – name day today

Name days today according to the church calendar are celebrated by Alexander, Vasily, Vyacheslav, Georgy, Gregory, Daniil, Pavel, Ulyana, Yakov.

Previously, we published the Orthodox calendar for March 2024 with holidays in the new and old styles.