The establishment of four major feast days to honor the Blessed Virgin Mary took place in the days of the apostolic era and have a significance in the Greek Orthodox Church which has remained unaltered through nearly twenty centuries of Christianity.
According to the traditional celebration of the birth of the Holy Mother, on the eve of the holiday the ones that are sick and ailing should make a votive oath. It should be done in the following way: first, Virgin-Mary-bread is made, decorated with a brides bracelet. An Easter doll of dough is placed on top of the bread, covered with honey.
After it is baked, the sick man breaks the bread. He throws the first piece up through the chimney and eats the second, saying some kind of oath, like the following: As long as I live Ill not put goat meat in my mouth. For the illness - a honey bread, for me - cure and health... Then he pours some red wine from a clay bowl for the illness, while the rest he drinks himself. Old people believe that after that the illness goes away, but they know that "an oath should not be broken till the grave"...