In the Christian liturgies the consecration of wheat is the blessing of the lands, the fields of wheat and grain, a folk custom of pagan origin. The Palóc people would even give it to the cattle. In some areas it was thrown in front of hens and ducks. Several customs are known or can be linked to this day in this territory as well, such as the consecrated wheat being mixed with the seeds to be sown, or if a storm would arrive, this wheat would be thrown on the fire, or tucked under the eaves. In some of the traditionally furnished peasant rooms, there is still a sacred wheat thread behind the sacred wall pictures.
April 25 is St. Mark's Day, or Wheat Consecration Day. Usually, after the Mass on the Sunday following the feast, believers marched in a flagged procession around the church, and then the priest consecrated the wheat in the field. Women prepared a consecrated wheat thread into the prayer book, which was later placed on the church flag, the crosses, and then, after eight days, these were removed and placed in the four corners of the field to protect it against hail.
