The Lemkos are profoundly spiritual and devoted to God, their Church and its Byzantine tradition. On holy days, all people in the village would attend services; it is only the aged or very young children who ever remained at home. The church liturgical year with its cycle of feast days and fasting periods was the regulating force in Lemko life. Hardly any element of Lemko culture was untouched by the influence of Christian belief. Even the everyday greeting on the street was "Slava Isusu Chrystu!" (Glory to Jesus Christ!) to which was given the response "Slava na viky!" (Glory forever!)
In villages with residents priests, there developed a very strong sense of the village a spiritual family with the priest as the spiritual father and teacher, with the priest's wife as spiritual mother who taught women their domestic responsibilities. The priests organized choirs, reading rooms, and libraries, and helped educate the villagers.83 This relationship was disrupted wit the introduction of celibate priests and was a motivating factor in the Orthodox movement which swept the region in the early 20th century.
The Lemkos are particularly devoted to a number of saints, for which they name their churches and whose feast days are observed with great festivity or solemnity. The most popular saints' names and patronal feasts of Lemko churches in descending order of frequency are:
Saint Michael the Archangel (November 8)
Holy Protection of the Mother of God (October 1)
Nativity of the Mother of God (September 8)
Saint Nicholas of Myra (December 6)
Saint Paraskeva (July 26)
Saints Kosmas and Damian (July 1) (84)
Other important holy days are those of Saint George (April 23), Saint Elias (July 20) and the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist (June 24), which was the primary summer festival. The Lemkos also named their children for popular saints, including all of the above as well as Dymtrij (Demetrius), Vasyl' (Basil), Kyryl (Cyril), Konstantyn (Constantine), Anna/Anastasija, Helena/Olena, Ol'ga, Varvara (Barbara), and even some of the more exotic, Teofan, Charalampij and Porfyrij (males), Tatjana, Ksenja, Evdokija, Pelagija, and Zenobija (females). In normal circumstances the Lemko father would choose a name for his child, but children of unmarried women were given a name by the parish priest at the time of their baptism. The names given by the priest were most unusual, in order that illegitimate children would always be recognized as such.
The custom of otpust (pilgrimage) was especially popular among the Lemkos. The pilgrimages were typically held on church feast in the spring and summer months, especially the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ (August 6), the Dormition of the Virgin Mary / Uspenije (August 15), and on Pentecost / Rusalja (feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, 50 days after Easter). The most popular pilgrimages were across the mountains, at the monasteries in Krasnyj Brid (Zemplen/Zemplyn county), Legnava and Bukova Hora (Sarys county), and even as far as Mariapocs/Marijapovch (Szabolcs county) in present-day Hungary. After the Orthodox movement took root in the Lemko Region, the Orthodox monastic center at Ladomyrova (Sarys county) became a popular destination, as it was situated near the Dukla Pass.