On the eve of the great Christian Feast of the Epiphany, also known as Yordanovden, a great water blessing ceremony was served in all Bulgarian Orthodox churches. The ritual refers to The Baptism of Christ in the sacred River Jordan by John the Baptist.
This is one of the most solemn sacraments of the Church's ordinances and is celebrated after the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil. The Great Epiphany Blessing takes plave twice a year - on Epiphany and on the eve of Epiphany itself. The first Christians performed water-blessing rituals on the night before the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Since then, Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria have been praying at midnight before the Epiphany. It is believed that this is the time when the skies open and the Lord hears their sincere prayers.
After the Liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule, architects from Europe flocked to Sofia, which became the new Bulgarian capital city in 1879, to give it a modern look and functionality. In the end of the 19 th century the first..
Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria sent a letter to Metropolitan Onufriy of Kyiv and All Ukraine (Moscow Patriarchate), the Bulgarian Patriarchate reported. The message reads: "Your Beatitude, on this date exactly 10 years ago, your solemn enthronement as..
Orthodox Christians mark the Dormition of St. John of Rila, who is considered the heavenly protector of the Bulgarian people. The saint was born in the village of Skrino in the Osogovo Mountain in the second half of the 9th..
This morning, in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the town of Delchevo, in the Republic of Macedonia, His Eminence Metropolitan..
Today, August 28, Bulgarians in many parts of the country celebrate the Assumption of the Theotokos in the old style calendar along with almost the..
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