The earth awakens from hibernation, the sun smiles at us and the variety of flowers begins to accompany us in our daily lives. In such a pastoral picture of life comes one of the most favourite holidays of Bulgarians - Palm Sunday, known in Bulgaria as Tsvetnisa, or the Day of Flowers (“tsvete” meaning flower”.
In the Christian tradition, the day is revered as the Lord's Entrance into Jerusalem. According to the Gospel texts, the Son of God entered the holy city, greeted by people with olive, palm and laurel branches and the words "Hosanna". That is why, after the liturgy on Palm Sunday, Christians take with them consecrated willow twigs, representing the palms with which the Saviour was greeted.
In different Bulgarian regions, Palm Sunday is also called Vrabnitsa. And although we are still in the time of the Easter Lent, fish can be put on the table today. In many places in Bulgaria ritual cakes in the form of flowers are kneaded.
On Palm Sunday, everyone who bears the names of flowers and plants celebrates their name day.
Tomorrow marks the start of the Holy Week, which will end on the eve of Christ's Resurrection - a time for reflection on life and death, rethinking values and trying to get closer to the spiritual world!
Compiled by Vessela Krasteva
English version Rositsa Petkova
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..
On 3 March, Bulgaria celebrates the 147th anniversary of its liberation f rom five centuries of Ottoman rule. The day was declared a national holiday in 1990 by a decision of the National Assembly. The Treaty of San Stefano, signed on 19 February..
Today is Cheesefare Sunday. According to Orthodox tradition, this day is observed on the eve of Great Lent, when Christians seek and give forgiveness to each other . It is also known as Sirni Zagovezni because it marks the last day before Lent, when..
On the second day after Easter begins Bright Week. It is so called because of the light that Christ's Resurrection brings to the world. According to..
Patriarch Danil of Bulgaria, Metropolitan of Sofia, greeted the faithful with the joyful words "Christ is risen!" In his Easter message, he called on..
Patriarch Daniil celebrated a divine service for the so-called Second Resurrection of Christ in the Sofia-based church of Saint Nedelya...
sunshine, cloud, rain and thunder
Partly Cloudy
Clear
Partly cloudy, chance of rain
Mostly Cloudy