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The greatest and most festive holiday in the Tikvesh region is the celebration of the Day of St. Trifun, the patron of the grapevine and wine. St. Trifun's Day is celebrated on 1st February according to the old, and on 14th February according to the new calendar.
The celebration begins with the morning liturgy in the Orthodox churches. A component of the liturgy is pruning the first vine, with people taking a piece of the blessed grapevine which is believed to bring good luck and good yields. On that day the Macedonians, known as warm and hospitable people, offer grape brandy (rakija) and wine in the churchyards. The feast continues for the whole of the day.
On this day all the wineries are open to visitors and those who happen to pass by. This is a day of happy and smiling faces in the streets, of street musicians and of holiday euphoria in packed inns that make it impossible to forget that it is the day when St. Trifun is celebrated.
Who was St. Trifun?
The holy martyr Trifun was born in Kampsada in Phrygia, near the town of Apameia. His healing abilities were manifested already in his childhood, when he was still tending the geese. He healed various diseases and freed people from evil demons. The stories of the miracles he performed reached far, and one day he was summoned by the Roman Emperor, Gordian, to heal his dauther Gordiana who suffered from a mental illness which no physician could heal. Trifun soon healed her, gaining even greater fame as a result.
St. Trifun died as a martyr during the rule of the Emperor Decius. He was summoned before the Emperor's regional administrator, Acquillian by name, and ordered to renounce Christ and make offerings to the Roman gods. Having refused, Trifun was tortured. He was tied to a tree and beaten with a stick, then tied to a horse's tail and dragged through the fields, and when all this failed to frighten him into changing his mind, they threatened to cut off his head. But as the soldiers were leading him outside the town to behead him, St. Trifun prayed to the Lord to take his soul, so that when they reached the place of execution his soul had already passed to God. This happened on 14th February 248, according to some in 250, when the holy martyr St. Trifun was only 21 years old.
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