Syomukha (Trinity)

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Source of image: www.nbrb.by	Syomukha Syomukha (the Day of Pentecost) is a moveable feast of the Christian and Belarusian folk calendar. In olden times it was held to mark the end of the spring and the beginning of the summer. In the Christian calendar it is celebrated to honor and glorify the Holy Trinity and the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. In line with this, the Church also praises in its prayers and psalms all the three Persons of the Holy Trinity: God the Father, God the Son Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is observed on the fiftieth day after Vjalikdzen (Easter). One of the symbols of the feast and Christian sacred objects is the Holy Grail. According to legend, Joseph of Arimathea used it to catch Christ’s blood when he took the crucified body down from the cross. Presumably this Grail was initially used by Christ and his disciples at the Last Supper. It was a chalice (a communion cup) of the first liturgy in the history of Christianity. A chalice holding wine that symbolizes Christ’s blood is used in Christian divine services during the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Nowadays when the Belarusian folk calendar is characterized by a combination of the ecclesiastical calendar – the structure core of the calendar year – and folk festive rites, customs, and omens proper, the Orthodox Belarusians observe Syomukha on the Day of Pentecost and the Roman Catholic Belarusians on the Day of the Holy Spirit. The time of Syomukha celebration (the end of the spring and the beginning of the summer) coincides with the period of plants’ and trees’ active growth; the villagers, therefore, decorate their houses, household outbuildings, and wheat fields with birch, maple, and lime twigs as well as other greenery, and carpet their floors with calamus. Under the influence of a folk custom, people gradually started to decorate on the Day of Pentecost the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches as well as roadside crosses with greenery. On Sunday morning villagers and townspeople , dressed for the occasion, attend festive divine services in the Orthodox or Roman Catholic churches where various field meadow herbs are consecrated. According to popular belief, such greenery has healing properties. In Christianity the color green symbolizes hope for the salvation and immortality of the soul. In the rites of Syomukha, such symbolic attribute as a chaplet of flowers and twigs played an important part. Belarusian girls, decked with chaplets, went to the forest and tied the tops of birch trees forming an arch or wove twigs together to make chaplets, and used chaplets for fortune-telling. Herdsmen or housewives hung chaplets on cows’ horns. In many villages wells were decorated with big wreaths. T.I. Kukharonak Ph.D. (History) Text from the official flyer “Syomukha” of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus	Date : 07.06.2006 Metal :  Cu/Ni Diameter, mm :  33.00 Weight, g :  16.00 Mintage, St. :  5000 Minted by : CJSC "Lithuanian Mint", Vilnius, Lithuania Design : S.Nekrasova     Ebay-Statistic (Prices in Euro): Year Count Ave rage Min. Max. 2006 38 8,21 2,29 15,10 2007 31 9,65 2,50 27,77 2008 1 23,10 23,10 23,10 2009 2 16,65 14,00 19,30 2010 5 18,70 15,00 21,00 2011 1 19,50 19,50 19,50
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