In 2008, on the initiative of Dmitry Medvedev's wife, a new holiday appeared in Russia - the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. It is celebrated in the summer, on the day of Saints Peter and Fevronia. Their marriage in the Orthodox Church is considered exemplary.
The holiday is often contrasted with the traditional Western Valentine's Day. Family Day, symbolized by a chamomile, is called by many "Child of Peter and Fevronia". Establishing monuments to this Christian couple is considered good manners. However, there are people whose opinion does not coincide with the generally accepted: they do not think that it is Peter and Fevronia who are the models of fidelity and love. Let's see what ancient legend says about them.
The story: very abbreviated content
Peter saved his brother's wife from the Serpent, who came every night to seduce her. Dying from the sword of Peter, the Serpent splashed him with his blood, which caused the entire body of the winner to be covered with incurable scabs. He heard that there is a healer girl in the village of Laskovo. After some word games and competitions inintelligence, Fevronia ordered to tell Peter that she would cure him, but only if she became his wife. For many, this moment already raises doubts about her disinterestedness and mercy. But let's continue, because the history of the saints, in whose honor Fevronia and Peter's Day is celebrated, is not over yet. Peter agreed, secretly deciding that it was not appropriate for him to marry the daughter of a poison dart frog. That is, he immediately conceived a deception.
The girl poured bread sourdough and told her future husband to take a steam bath, but not to touch one scab. Already in the morning Peter was he althy and returned to Murom. But since he did not marry Fevronia, the disease spread again from the only remaining scab. Poor Peter had no choice, and he was forced to return to Fevronia and marry her, although, after all, this is absolutely clear, he did it out of desperation. And such a story formed the basis for the celebration of the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. The day of Fevronia and Peter became the day of the family. There are people (and there are many of them!) who are sure that a marriage based on the cunning of a girl and the helplessness of a young man cannot be a role model. After all, poor Peter simply had no choice: as soon as he left his wife, he could die from a terrible and incurable disease. Perhaps, in those days when Fevronia and Peter's Day were not yet celebrated, such relationships were the norm.
But today civilized people are against any addiction in marriage. What kind of fidelity and love can we talk about if, in the event of separation from his wife, the husband is doomed to illness ordeath? However, further the story says that Peter refused to reign and went with Fevronia, who was expelled from the city. He tried to live according to Christian precepts. But why, then, after death, the bodies of the spouses disappeared from individual coffins and ended up in one, joint, prepared during their lifetime? After all, this categorically contradicts the laws that monks are subject to (and the spouses have become monks)? Neither the image of a true Christian nor the model of a faithful spouse emerges in this story. Not everyone is of this opinion, but it exists and cannot be ignored. Of course, many are happy to celebrate the family holiday, which, unfortunately, has a different name - the Day of Fevronia and Peter. Only true lovers do without false symbols and pretentious monuments: they love each other without coercion.
