Transfiguration of the Lord.

On this day, August 19, the believers of the Serbian Orthodox Church celebrate a holiday dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord. On this day, according to tradition, the leaf transforms into a mountain and the stone into water, and the leaves begin to turn yellow and fall off, while the water becomes colder. At the Transfiguration, the sky, in the dead of night, is transformed three times, and whoever sees it and reveals it to others - will lose his mind. The Transfiguration always falls during Our Lady's fast. The holiday is dedicated to the memory of the event of Christ's transfiguration on Mount Tabor when he announces his suffering.

That is why the holiday table is enriched with wine and fish. At the end of the holy liturgy, the grapes are consecrated. It is also distributed in the cemetery for the repose of the souls of the dead. There is a belief among the people that on this holiday, the entire nature is transformed, that from today the nights become cold, and that today announces the imminent arrival of autumn.

It is believed that from today, you should no longer swim in open waters, rivers and the sea. The one who does not respect this and after the Transfiguration bathes, will be bitten by a snake, or will "catch a cold and catch some disease". At the Transfiguration, you should never sleep during the day, because whoever sleeps that day, will be transformed, so he will be drowsy and fed all year round.

But what you must do today is to try the grapes for the first time! At the Transfiguration, the Orthodox bring out and bless a new kind of grapes in the temples, which, according to Serbian custom, are eaten for the first time on this holiday.

In Orthodoxy, this holiday is one of the 12 great feasts of Christ, and is dedicated to the memory of the event of Christ's transfiguration on Mount Tabor in the Holy Land (Israel), when he announces his subsequent suffering and glory.

According to the Gospels, in the third year of his earthly preaching, Jesus took his disciples Peter, James and John to Tabor and appeared before them transformed "with a face shining like the sun and clothes as bright as snow."