On July 21 (July 8, old style), the Christian church celebrates the day of remembrance of the martyr Procopius, popularly known as the Reaper. His birth name was Neanius. And for some time of his life he devoted to the education and service of the emperor Diocletian.
Neaniah's father was a Christian, but the boy was raised by a pagan mother because of the early death of his father. He was later educated and promoted quickly and easily. On duty in 303, Neanius set out on a campaign marked by open persecution of Christians.
On the way, the young man saw a crucifix and heard the voice of Christ. This miracle turned him into a defender of the Christian faith. When this news reached his mother, she herself went to the emperor's palace with a complaint about her son who rejected paganism.
Neanius was arrested and thrown into prison, where at night Jesus Christ came to him and performed the sacrament of baptism, after which the prisoner received a new name - Procopius. After there were long days of severe torture and orders to renounce the faith, even the pagans turned to Christ, seeing the suffering of the martyr, who was eventually executed by order of the emperor.
In Russia, on the day of Procopius's name day, they began to harvest rye, so the martyr was better known under the name of the Reaper. The procurement of fodder for livestock also continued.
There were even conspiracies that were pronounced against Procopius, for example, so that during the harvest the back did not get tired, it was necessary to say: “In the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. As you, mother rye, staggered for a whole year, but did not get scanty (did not get sick), so would I, the servant of God (name), reap, but not be scanty."
According to legend, on that day, a kamakha-paint-servant appeared. It was believed that the kamakha comes with the wind from warm countries and, curled up in a ball, rolls under your feet. Finding Kamakha promised happiness for a year. In the old days, there were many hunters to find her. However, they said that she would fall to the one to whom such happiness was written in the family.
Blueberries begin to ripen with Procopius. It was usually collected by children, because adults worked in the field. This berry was credited with miraculous healing properties, which is also confirmed by modern medicine.