Saint Andrew in Romania

Romanians believe that Saint Andrew (named Sfântul Apostol Andrei) was the first who preached Christianity in Scythia Minor, modern Dobrogea, to the native people of the Dacians (ancestors of the Romanians). This is the official standpoint of the Romanian Orthodox Church. Hippolyte of Antioch, (died c. 250 C.E.) in his On Apostles, Origen in the third book of his Commentaries on the Genesis (254 C.E.), Eusebius of Caesarea in his Church History (340 C.E.), and other different sources, like the Usaard's Martyrdom written between 845-865,Jacobus de Voragine in Golden Legend (c. 1260), mention that Saint Andrew preached in Scythia Minor. There are toponyms and numerous very old traditions (like carols) related to Saint Andrew, many of them having probably a pre-Christian substratum. There exists a cave where he supposedly preached. There are many traditions without religious meaning connected to this day.
               St. Andrew's Eve, also known as "Night of the Vampires," is an important night on the folk calendar. It is the night that the barrier between the visible and the invisible world disappears, allowing ghosts and spirits — both good and bad — to come through.

Special care should be taken to protect yourself and your house from vampires. One of the chief defenses against vampires, of course, is garlic. On St. Andrew's Eve, people eat a lot of garlic, being eaten during almost every meal.

         In addition to vampires, people have to watch out for living ghosts that often come disguised as wolves.Between sunset and midnight of St. Andrew's Eve, these living ghosts come out of their graves and tombs to harrass the people.  In some parts of Moldavia and Bucovina, people join together in a party known as "The Night of the Ghosts." According to folklore, wolves often search for demonic hosts on this night, leading to the alternate name of "The Night of Wolves."

         In other place, people in the villages claim that ghosts are free to walk the earth on this night. If they are malevolent beings, they steal fruit from the orchards and milk from the cows. And if they are particularly mean, they steal people's minds.

       In Romania, it is usual for young women to deposit 41 grains of wheat under their pillow prior to they fall asleep, and if they vision that somebody is coming to lift their grains that represents that they are intended for marry next year. And in some components of country the young women light a candle from Easter, and carry it, at midnight, to a fountain. And when the water is shimmering lit, they speak a prayer to St. Andrew requesting them to allow them to get a glance of the look of their potential husband. When prayer is over, frequently the water stirs and young women can make out the look of their darling.