Translation Query

[Nora Favorov]

Dear SEELANGERS,
I am working on a translation concerning the history of a convent and have
stumbled over some of the religious terminology.  Perhaps one of you will be
able to enlighten me.
1.  Ivana postnogo:  it is explained in the text that this is the
prostonarodnyj abbreviation for "prazdnik Useknovenija glavy sv. Ioanna
Predtechi."  Would "John's Fast" convey what a Russian hears in "Ivana
postnogo"?  I'm not sure how to deal with postnyj as an adjective modifying
Ivan.
2.  Nikitskij sorok:  This sounds from context like a conglomeration of
Moscow churches, but I'm not sure.  The sentence reads:  Sobornuiu tserkov
Ioanna Predtechi pereveli v razriad prikhodskikh s zachisleniem ee v
Nikitskij sorok...  While I have found many Russian-lanaguage internet
mentions of this Nikitskij sorok, they haven't been enough to clarify
exactly what it is.

Any help would be appreciated.
Nora Favorov
Reply on list or to norafavorov at earthlink.net

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