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- Udatorii from Surdesti, Agricultural HolidayThe Magic of Books in Romanian Popular LegendsThe “Living Fire”Dream and Sign Interpretation in RomaniaThe Girl Fair of Mount GainaRomanian Wedding TraditionsEaster – The Most Important Christian HolidayDragobete – The Lost Romanian God of Love and LoversRomanian Spring Traditions
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Romanian Spring Traditions
THE 8TH OF MARCH AND "MUCENICI" CELEBRATIONS
The 8th of March represents Mother’s Day just like in other parts of the world. Still, in Romania, the celebration has a sort of extended significance, as it is nowadays considered to be Woman’s Day.
The next day is also a special day for the Romanian people. The 9th of March is the day of the 40 saints called “mucenici” (“martyrs”) or, as some Romanians call it, “mosi” (translating into “old men”). Men like to have their own version of this celebration, as they like to label this as “Men’s Day”. The legend of the 40 martyrs begins in the 4th century, under the reign of Licinius, when people were actually punished for their religious beliefs. The army general decided that everyone should bring offerings to the gods. But 40 of his soldiers were Christian and refused to obey. They were thrown in prison and then harshly punished by having stones thrown at them and being forced into a freezing lake. They gave their lives after passing through terrible tortures, but their sacred remains were preserved until the current day in various parts of the world.
On this day, almost all Romanians commemorate the 40 saints by eating knot-shaped bread similar to the figure 8 that are honeyed and dotted with ground nuts. People believe they will please the saints by giving them these offerings. Although the habits vary depending on region, this day is celebrated all over Romania one way or another.
The Romanian traditions for welcoming spring have been celebrated by locals for many years. People love to engage in these festivities, although many of them lost the original meaning of these holidays somewhere on the way. This does not prevent them from having a great time on these occasions, but trust me on this: knowing the entire background will make you go through the whole “Romanian spring experience” much more intensely. And it will be definitely worth it.
Author: Adriana Niculescu
One Comment to “Romanian Spring Traditions”
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[...] is a Romanian tradition called Martisor. It celebrates the coming of spring, rebirth and others. Men buy women little (usually hand made) [...]
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