On January 5, on the eve of Epiphany, Holy Liturgy and water blessing are performed in Orthodox churches across Bulgaria. People often call the ritual “Voditsi”. This holiday closes the cycle of the so-called "dirty days" that start on December 25. They are called "dirty" or "unbaptized" because it is believed that the newborn Jesus had not yet received Holy Baptism. The meaning of the ritual is to cleanse the earth of otherworldly beings through the power of the Cross and to prepare the world for the great baptism that is to come. At the service the priest drops the cross into holy water. Then he goes around the homes to sprinkle them for protection against bad things and diseases.
After Cheesefare (Forgiveness) Sunday, the Great Lent has begun on March 3. Orthodox Christians will abstain from eating animal food including meat, eggs, milk and dairy products. The Great Lent symbolizes the 40 days which Jesus spent in the..
Batak is a name every Bulgarian remembers with deference and pain because the fate of the small town in the Rhodopes is scarred by one of the bloodiest events in national memory – the Batak massacre. During the first days after the outbreak of..
There is a map which helped usher in the birth of modern Bulgaria during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. The Austro-Hungarian researcher Felix Kanitz (1829 – 1904) was the first West European to have travelled to more than 3,200 towns and villages..
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