8,921
edits
Changes
m
no edit summary
'''St Theodore Saturday'''<br>
The tradition of blessing and eating Kollyva at the end of the first week of [[Great Lent]] is connected with an event in the reign of [[Julian the Apostate]] in 362 AD. The tradition states that the Emperor knew that the Christians would be hungry after the first week of strict [[fasting]], and would go to the marketplaces of Constantinople on Saturday, to buy food. Therefore he ordered that [[Blood in the Bible|blood]] from pagan sacrifices be sprinkled over all the food that was sold there, making it ''"polluted sacrificial food"'' (food "polluted" with the blood of idolatry), in an attempt to force upon the people the [[paganism]] of which he was an ardent supporter.
However St. [[Theodore the Soldier|Theodore of Tyre]] appeared in a dream to the Patriarch of Constantinople [[Eudoxius of Antioch|Eudoxios]], ordering him to inform all the Christians that no one should buy anything at the market, but rather to boil the wheat (already called ''Kollyva'') that they had at home and eat it sweetened with honey.
