St. Catherine, whose feast day is celebrated on 25 November, is the patron saint of virtuous bachelors eager to meet a young woman and enter into a happy marriage with her. St. Andrew, whose feast day is 30 November, is considered the guardian of marriageable young women, especially virtuous and devout ones.
Girls foretell what fate has in store for them apropos matrimonial matters on St. Andrew’s Eve:
- they prognosticate their future from the shapes made by wax poured into water through a key
- they take their shoes off and arrange them in a line; the first to reach the threshold will be the first married
St. Catherine’s Eve is dedicated to boys and to making predictions about finding partners and getting married. This day and its festivities, however, have become eclipsed by St. Andrew’s Day.