Saintly Saturday: Apodosis of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Today is the Aπόδοσις (Apodosis), or Leave-taking of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. The actual feast occurred yesterday, but when it comes to a lot of the bigger feasts in the Christian calendar, Orthodox Christians don't celebrate for just one day. Depending upon the feast, these celebrations can last anywhere from 2 to 40 days. The last of these days is the leave-taking of a feast, where much of the original service of the feast is repeated.

Most of the feats that have an apodosis are either major feasts of the Lord, like Christmas and Pascha (Easter), or of the Virgin Mary, like the Annunciation or the Nativity of the Theotokos. There are, however, a few feasts that fall outside of these that do have an apodosis. Besides of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, they include the feasts of St. Demetrius, Sts. Peter and Paul and the Beheading of St. John the Baptist.

I highlight this for a pair of reasons:

• In a fantasy setting, especially one that is analogous to the medieval world, a festival is going to go on for several days and the last day of the feast is going to be as big as the first.
• Though he is a hugely popular saint today, St. Demetrius was at one time only known around the environs of Thessaloniki. Therefore, feasts need not necessarily be about huge, over-arching theologies or events (though they may be implied).

To that end, I give you a couple of random tables to help produce a feast with a little more color than your average harvest festival:

Event Commemorated

1. Conception of...
2. Nativity of...
3. Death of...
4. Rites of Passage of…
5. Arrival/Appearance of…
6. Victory of…
7. Discovery/Recovery

1. Relics of…
2. Skull of…
3. Sword of…
4. Armor of…
5. Shield of…
6. Weapon of…

8. Miracle

1. Healing by…
2. Vision seen by…
3. Supernatural Event seen by...
4. Raising from the Dead by...
5. Protection from a Natural Event (earthquake, flood etc.) by...
6. Protection from an Invading Army by…

Person Commemorated

1. Local Saint/Hero
2. Local Ruler
3. Regional Saint/Hero
4. Regional Ruler
5. A People/Nation/Progenitor
6. Obscure/Unknown Saint/Hero
7. Enemy
8. Mother of…(roll again, ignoring a roll of 8)

Length of the Feast

1. 2 days
2. 1d4+1 days
3. 1d6+1 days
4. 2d6 days
5. 2d10 days
6. 4d10 days

For example, a roll of 7 on the Event Commemorated table results in "Discovery/Recovery." This is followed by rolling a d6 to find out what is discovered or recovered. A roll of 2 indicates the "Skull of..." To find out whose skull, roll on the Person Commemorated table. A roll of 8 indicates the "Mother of..." In order to find out whose mother, another roll is made, ignoring any result of 8. A roll of 3 indicates a "Regional Saint/Hero." To find out how long the feast is, a roll of 5 on the Length of the Feast table indicates 2d10 days, which results in one week of celebrations.

Thus, the feast generated would be The Discovery of the Skull of the Mother of a Regional Saint which lasts a full seven days. That sounds a lot more interesting than "harvest festival," doesn't it?