“If Catherine´s Day is frosty, Christmas will be slushy”

November 25, 2021

Legend has it that Catherine was a beautiful princess who lived in Alexandria in the beginning of the fourth century. She was extremely well educated and therefore stood out quite early among her contemporaries, and she rejected all her suitors one after the other. After a hermit told her that Christ was her only match, Catherine converted to Christianity. Moreover, in a dispute over Christianity, she even managed to persuade and convert fifty philosophers and scholars who were summoned by Emperor Maximinus. Catherine was thrown in jail and executed. According to legend, angels took her corpse to Mount Sinai where they buried her.

Did you know that the Day of Saint Catherine of Alexandria is connected to all kinds of superstitions, folk traditions, and predictions?

“If Catherine´s Day is frosty, Christmas will be slushy”, says the folk weather prediction. This means that if there is frost on November 25th, then we might get a rainy and slushy Christmas.
No work policy – there were several places where people did not work on Saint Catherine´s Day, they did not harness their animals and did not carry out their everyday work.
Catherine´s branch – if, on Saint Catherine´s Day, a girl put a fruit tree branch into water and it burst into flower by Christmas, then that girl would get married in the upcoming year.
Lilac soaking – On Saint Catherine´s Day, girls used to put lilac twigs in a vase, and wrote a different man´s name on each one. According to folk belief, the twig that burst into flower by Christmas, carried the name of her future husband.

November 25th, Saint Catherine´s Day, used to be an important holiday in the Lendava region because this is the name day of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, the namesake and patron saint of Lendava’s parish church. On this occasion, in the square in front of the church, there used to be a craftsman´s fair where visitors could buy items made out of wood, husks, twigs, as well as all kinds of pottery.

Due to the pandemic, this year´s fair has been cancelled but we hope that we can meet in the square in front of the church again next year where, accompanied by the smell of mulled wine, we can browse among the most interesting products on sale.