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Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness
Every year on July 8th, Russia celebrates the Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness. This holiday has its roots in the legend of the married couple, Saints Pyotr and Fevronia, who lived in the city of Murom in the XII century. Their story has become a symbol of Christian marriage and true devotion.
The source of the legend is the "Tale of Pyotr and Fevronia of Murom", written in the late 1540s by a monk-scribe from the entourage of Metropolitan Makarii of Moscow, Ermolai-Erasmus (also known as Ermolai the Sinful), based on oral traditions from Murom. The story revolves around Pyotr, the brother of the Prince of Murom, who contracted leprosy after killing a fiery serpent. In a dream, he saw that only Fevronia, a peasant woman from the village of Laskovo in the Ryazan land who had studied the healing powers of plants since childhood, could cure him. She asked Pyotr to marry her in exchange for her help, but he initially refused, causing his illness to return. However, Fevronia continued to treat him and eventually became his wife after he repented.
When, after the death of his elder brother, Pyotr ascended the throne, the local nobles and their wives, unhappy with the low status of the princess, presented him with a choice: to either dismiss his wife or leave Murom. The prince, fond of his wife, chose to leave Murom. Soon, a struggle for the throne began in the city, accompanied by unrest, and the nobles, realizing that they could not rule Murom without Pyotr, requested the prince and his wife's return.
Pyotr and Fevronia lived together until old age, "praying constantly and giving alms to all people under their care, like a loving father and mother to their subjects," and in their old age they took monastic vows with the names Euphrosyne and David. According to legend, they asked God to grant them the gift of dying on the same day, and they did so - on June 25 (July 8), 1228. Their bodies were placed in separate coffins, but when they were discovered the next morning, they were found together. They were then buried in one coffin in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in Murom, where their remains remained until 1921. Since then, the relics have been housed in the cathedral church of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Murom.
In 1547, Pyotr and Fevronia were canonized by the Church. The days of commemoration for the saints are June 25 (July 8) and the Sunday before September 6 (19), in memory of the transfer of their relics in 1992.
In the 1990s, a tradition of honoring these saints on July 8 combined with the city's day was revived in Murom. In 2006, residents of Murom suggested declaring July 8 a nationwide holiday - the Day of Conjugal Love and Family Happiness. This initiative was supported by the State Duma, Federation Council, and Russian Orthodox Church in 2008. For the first time, the holiday was celebrated nationwide on July 8 in 2008.
By Decree of the President of Russia No. 411, dated June 28, 2022, the Day of Family, Love and Faithfulness was officially established on July 8 "to preserve traditional family values and spiritual and moral upbringing of children and young people."
Lit.: Дмитриева Р. П. Повесть о Петре и Февронии. Л., 1979; История праздника // 8 июля. День семьи, любви и верности: [электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: https://densemyi.ru/o-proekte/o-prazdnike/; Каравашкин А. В. Агиография: «Повесть о Петре и Февронии Муромских» Ермолая-Еразма // Литературный обычай Древней Руси. М., 2011; О Петре и Февронии Муромских // Культура. РФ: [электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: https://www.culture.ru/themes/244/o-petre-i-fevronii-muromskikh; Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 28.06.2022 г. № 411 «О Дне семьи, любви и верности»: [электронный ресурс]. Режим доступа: http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/47966.
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