Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

On Saint Ignatius Day we attract good forces and prepare for new beginning

On December 19th, the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of the holy martyr Ignatius the God-Bearer.

| updated on 12/19/20 8:57 AM
Photo: library

In the Bulgarian folk calendar the same date is dedicated to Ignazhden (the day of St. Ignatius). On Ignazhden the transition to the new year begins. The day is full of prohibitions, divinations and rituals that should attract good forces and prepare us for a new beginning. On Ignazhden one should not lend money, nothing should be taken out of the house, and everyone who enters must be "full-handed." The most important thing on this day is who will enter the house first. If the first person to enter the home is a person in good health, with a strong family, also wealthy and lucky, he or she is believed to bring a blessing to the hosts.

"The Mother of God went into labour from St. Ignatius to Christmas" is the main motive of many folk songs performed on Ignazhden, because it is believed that on this day the birth pangs of the Mother of God began. That is why the women did not work on that day. According to popular belief, on the day of the winter solstice (December 22) the new sun, the so-called Mlada Boga (Young God), is born. One of the material symbols of the sun and God in the traditional notions of Bulgarians is the bread which occupies an important place in all folk customs.

What are the ritual breads that were once prepared in the last ten days of the year? You can learn more about them from the publication Ritual bread making from the Day of St. Ignatius until Christmas from Radio Bulgaria’s Best collection.

Compiled by Albena Bezovska



Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

The egg - a symbol of fertility and new life in Bulgarian folklore

Holy Thursday is one of the two days in the Holy Week when we dye eggs for Easter. Tradition dictates that the oldest woman in the family takes on this important task, and the first egg is always dyed red.  The Red Egg – symbol of the..

published on 5/2/24 4:35 AM
The Radio Sofia building

When the BNR “spoke” Polish

Today, the Bulgarian National Radio’s foreign language service Radio Bulgaria “speaks” 11 languages. Through the years, languages have been added, others have been dropped – something that happened to the Polish-language programmes. They were aired by..

published on 2/16/24 7:10 AM

105th anniversary of the birth of legendary piper Dafo Trendafilov

On this day - 17 January - we celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of the legendary piper Dafo Trendafilov . He was born in 1919 in the village of Gela in the Rhodope Mountains and his whole life remains forever linked to this mystical land. He began..

published on 1/17/24 7:40 AM