Святая Двинвен

St Dwynwen's day is celebrated in Wales on 25 January and commemorates the patron saint of friendship and love. It is the equivalent of Valentine’s Day for the Welsh. Dwynwen was the lovely daughter of a 5th century king, Brychan Brycheneiniog. She fell in love with a prince named Maelon, but had already been pledged to another. Maelon, in a fit of rage over not being able to marry Dwynwen, had relations with her against her will then left her. Dwynwen was so distraught and depressed over the series of events that she prayed that God would erase her memory of Maelon. As she drifted to sleep, an angel visited her and gave her a potion to forget Maelon forever. But it also caused Maelon to be frozen. The angel also granted her three wishes. Those wishes were:

1) She wished to never marry anyone.

2) She wished to become the patron saint of lovers where she could console lovers suffering in pain.

3) She wished for Maelon to be unfrozen.

All three wishes were granted and Dwynwen spent her days serving God and consoling lovers as the Welsh Saint of Love. Now, every January 25, people in Wales get together to celebrate love and St. Dwynwen. She founded a convent on Llanddwyn, off the west coast of Anglesey, where a well named after her became a place of pilgrimage after her death in 465AD. Visitors to the well believed that the sacred fish or eels that lived in the well could foretell whether or not their relationship would be happy and whether love and happiness would be theirs. Remains of Dwynwen's church can still be seen today.

from  www.historic-uk.com/

Happy New Year

Медвежата спасают Рождество!

Birthday of Ded Moroz

November 18th is the birthday of Ded Moroz, a traditional Slavic character similar to Santa Claus. On this special day, Russian children send congratulations to a special post office built for the occasion or travel to Veliky Ustyug to attend celebrations thrown in Ded Moroz’s honor. The beloved Ded Moroz, known in English as Grandfather Frost or Father Frost, traditionally celebrates his birthday in Veliky Ustyug. The town in northern Russia has been Ded Moroz’s home since 1998 and numerous relatives come to congratulate the beloved man on his special day. Santa Claus from Finland, Chiskhan from Yakutia, Pakkayne from Karelia, and Snegurochka from Kostroma all pay a visit on November 18th. Ded Moroz delivers presents in person and children may visit him all year long He also goes on tour and visit not only towns and cities of Russia. After his birthday celebrations this year, Father Frost will also visit Germany, France, and several countries in the Former Soviet Union.

Autumn

Autumn Fires

by Robert Louis Stevenson

In the other gardens

And all up the vale

From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke  trail!
 Pleasant summer over

And all the summer flowers,

The red fire blazes,

The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

Autumn Qoutation

 Autumn is the second sprign where every leaf is a flower.
Albert Camus
No spring nor
Summer beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one Autumn face.
John Donne

Autumn, the year's last, loveliest smile.

William Cullen Bryant

Winter is the etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.

Stanley Horowitz

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together. For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.

Edwin Way Teale

  

 Autumn

The morns are meeker than they were,
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper,
The rose is out of town.
The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.
Emily Dickinson

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