“They lived a long and happy life and died in one day.” So begins many a fairytale. And perhaps there is no embellishment here: these words are true of the Peter and Fevronia, who lived some eight centuries back. As is so happens, the name day of these saints – July 8 – is also the day we celebrate the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity.
This holiday was introduced, with not too little pomposity, in 2008, which had earlier been declared the Year of the Family. The initiators of this idea were residents of Murom, where the remains of these much loving spouses are enshrined. This initiative was support by deputies of the State Duma as well as the First Lady, who had specially travelled to Murom on this day.
The Day of Family, Love and Fidelity is one of the few Russian holidays to have its own medal – For Love and Fidelity. It is awarded to couples who have been married for 25 years, are well-known for the strength of their family bonds and principles and who have achieved through their own hard labors family prosperity and raised children who are worthy members of society. We should also not that while this holiday is based on certain Orthodox traditions, it has also been supported by representatives of other confessions of Russia.
In short, this holiday was met with great enthusiasm. In the blogosphere, which has long been a unique indicator of the mindset of some of the most progressive portions of society, we have seen many such comments along such lines as: “I don’t celebrate St. Valentine’s Day, my day is the Day Peter and Fevronia.”
“What does St. Valentine’s Day have to do with this?” you might ask. As it turns out, many perceived the Catholic holiday to be alien and see this new holiday as an Orthodox alternative to the ‘imported’ version.
However, this initial burst of enthusiasm quickly fades. Today the holiday is celebrated basically only by diligent Orthodox believers and is only a truly public celebration in the famous couples’ hometown Murom. In some places local authorities try to lure out the public to events they have organized, but this is largely ignored. On the Internet (blogosphere and social networks) we sometimes hear calls to boycott St. Valentine’s Day, but these are lone voices in the desert. As February 14 approaches each year the store display cases take on a tint of pink and other attributes associated with gentle love. Even many sites on the Internet are swathed in pink. Russian youth find it normal to give gifts to their loved ones, organize romantic outings or at least say a few words of congratulations. Nothing of the sort is witnessed on the Day of Peter and Fevronia, and this is despite the efforts made by Patriarch Kirill, First Lady Svetlana Medvedeva and PR in our mass media.
In short, we can say without a doubt that St. Valentine’s Day is here to stay while the Day of Peter and Fevronia has not yet been assimilated. Why is this so? We could probably list a large number of reasons. It’s likely that those who place the blame on the modern crisis of the family and marriage are correct at least in part. Young people, concerned about their careers and personal success and prosperity are in no hurry to get married. Others are simply forced to think only of elementary survival in the conditions of unabashed capitalism. The result is the same: no hurry to create families. And so it happens that the most active portion of the population, those who could generate popularity for such a holiday, are sitting it out.
Another explanation: the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity was initially Orthodox, while the majority of our population is composed of nonbelievers. And to a certain degree this is also true. This story about the utterly devoted saintly spouses Peter and Fevronia is not of any particular interest. Another theory is that this holiday did not come from the people but rather was brought upon us from above, and our people, weathered by previous bitter experiences, are rather cautious toward anything that authorities promote.
This is all true, but only in part. Those, for example, who have had the opportunity to visit Murom on this day cannot deny that simple citizens, old and young alike, celebrate this holiday with great satisfaction. In the summertime there are not so many options for entertainment in Russia’s provincial towns, so why let a good opportunity like this pass by?
Perhaps those who see a bright future for this holiday are right. It just hasn’t had time to settle in. When we glance to the list of well established holidays and memorial dates, then apart from New Year’s they are largely products of the Soviet era (February 23, May 1, Victory Day, June 22, etc.). The holidays arising during the post-Soviet era are not having a great time at settling in. Many of our citizens do not know why we celebrate June 12 and November 4. This speaks to the rather conservative nature of our society, but this doesn’t mean that this will always be the case with such holidays in the future. It is difficult to predict what will happen with the other ‘red days’ on the calendar, but the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity is truly lacking any political undertones, and over time it has the chance of becoming a real people’s celebration. After all, even some of the most popular holidays from the Soviet era did not take on this popularity overnight.
Vasily Andreev
