Intercession of the Theotokos (Pokrov) · Pokrov

Culture of origin: Christian · Cultural

Holiday sources: Eastern Orthodox

By tradition, in the tenth century at the Blachernae church in Constantinople, St Andrew the Fool-for-Christ saw the Virgin pray for the world and spread her veil over the congregation. It is the most important feast after Pascha and the Twelve Great Feasts, kept most fervently in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine; Ukraine's Cossacks took the Virgin of the Protection as their patroness. It falls on 1 October Julian, which is 14 October until 2100.