The Orthodox Church celebrates the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The holiday celebrates the miraculous finding of the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. It is one of the 12 major Christian holidays of the year.
When the cross was discovered, it revived a dead boy, and since then Christians believe that if they seek God's mercy on this day, they will be cured of any disease. Folk custom connects the day with the beginning of autumn when the grape harvest begins. In the Rhodopes, thousands of believers gather with a prayer for healing in the area "Krastova gora" (Forest of the Cross) near Asenovgrad the night before the holiday.
For Bulgarians, Krastovden is also connected with the beginning of the last stage of the Ilinden - Preobrazhenie Uprising, when in 1903 the rebellion against the Ottoman rule covered the region of Pirin Macedonia and Serres.
March 9 is the feast day of the Church of the Forty Martyrs in the town of Veliko Tarnovo - a place of exceptional importance for the Bulgarian statehood, which worthily preserves the memory of the glorious Tarnovo kings. On March 9, the..
Father Lyubomir Leontinow is one of three priests at the Cathedral of St Boris the Conqueror in Berlin and was the first priest ordained for the Western and Central European Diocese in 1994. After completing his theology studies in Bulgaria, he settled..
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..
Passion Week is the last week before Easter. It is also the most austere week of fasting at the end of the long Great Lent, which prepares the faithful for..
Holy Tuesday is a day for teachings and final moral instructions. On this day the priests and the Jews listen for the last time to the teaching words..
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