Always on Sunday, eight weeks before Easter, Orthodox Christians mark Mesni Zagovezni or Meat Shrovetide. During the liturgy, the Church recalls the image of the Last Judgment through the texts in the Holy Scriptures. The themes of..
In the Orthodox calendar, Mesni Zagovezhni (Meatfare Sunday) is an important feast that is always celebrated on Sunday, eight weeks before Easter. At the Sunday liturgy, the Gospels are read. The Orthodox Church evokes the picture of the Last Judgment..
At the beginning of Lent, the so-called Holy Forty-day Fast, Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte urged the Orthodox in Bulgaria to do their best to support those, who are in distress because of the fratricidal war in Ukraine. The Holy Church "does not and..
A week before the beginning of Great Lent and a day before Mesni Zagovesni (the last day the Eastern Orthodox Christians are allowed to eat meat before Lent), Bulgarian Orthodox Church has assigned a day for the commemoration of the departed...
In traditional Bulgarian culture fire plays an important role – not only in patriarchal life but also as part of many rituals and feasts. According to popular belief fire had the magical power to purify and to protect, to keep..
The Holy Week has started and this is the culmination of the Great Lent when Christians recall of the Savior's suffering. It is a week of reflection on life and death as each believer focuses on his inner values and tries to be closer..
Lent begins for Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria as of today, 11 March. It stretches over seven weeks and ends one day before Easter, which this year falls on 28 April. Lent symbolizes Jesus Christ’s withdrawal into the desert before his..
According to folk beliefs, on Todorovden Saint Theodore rides a white horse and goes to see God and ask him to bring summer. Each time Saint Theodore goes to see God he would stick his spear into the ground and fasten his horse to..
Christians begin the Lenten fast as of today. Unlike Catholics, Orthodox Christians observe a stricter fast until Easter. Lent is a time for reflection, a time to reassess the past, a time to repent of one’s wicked actions and seek new inroads..
Today is Cheesefare Sunday ( Sirni Zagovezni in Bulgarian) with Lent starting as of tomorrow. By a tradition, Lent season lasts seven weeks and ends at Easter. The day that marks the start of the longest period of abstention in the..
