ИСТИНА

In the modern city, many religious traditions associated with the so-called "Folk Orthodoxy" are inevitably lost. However, some of them not only successfully adapt to the modern conditions of existence, but also spread to new areas, and consolidate in traditional culture. A good example is the tradition of celebrating of the day of St. Fanourios, according to which women bake a special pie, which is called φανουρόπιτα, the "pie of St. Fanourios". According to popular beliefs, this cake is baked "to commemorate the soul" of St. Fanourios' mother, which was a great sinner, so St. Fanourios told the faithful people to remember her so that she was get free from the hell (compare the Slavic plot about St. Peter's mother, or ATU-804). The St. Fanourios is an interesting figure of a "quasi-saint" (term by A.Moroz), which obviously appears on the island of Rhodes, as a result of the "popular interpretation" of the epithet of St. George. The cake φανουρόπιτα, is traditionally baked by women who want to find lost things, or young girls who want to know their future husband, due to the folk etymology of the name of St. Fanourios - "showing." Initially, the area of ​​distribution of this custom was Rhodes, then Crete and Cyprus, other islands of the Aegean Sea, Greek mainland: Arahova, Florina, etc. Now this tradition spreads throughout the Greek world with incredible speed, which is facilitated by modern technologies, primarily by television and Internet. During the field research at the Serres area, we were lucky to write down a unique text about how this custom became known in the northern Greek region a few years ago and was incorporated into the local folk church tradition during the period of five years. The special characteristics of this ritual seem to be the most "attractive" for modern urban culture, and that allows a new, essentially rural, tradition to be incorporated into the modern urban space.