Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2025 All Rights Reserved

Today is All Souls’ Day, Meatfare Saturday

Photo: archive

On All Souls’ Day - Meatfare Saturday Orthodox Christians honour the memory of their dearly departed.

It is one of the special days on which the church has ordained that we remember the dead. All of these days fall on a Saturday. Church services are held on All Souls' Day followed by memorial ceremonies at which bread, wine and wheat are laid out, as well as the favourite food of the deceased. The priests thurify the food with incense and say the names of the departed. After the prayer the food is handed out with the words: God rest their souls.

People also hand out bread and wheat - a symbol of immortality - to friends and relatives. On this day the relatives of the deceased go to their graves to clean them, plant flowers and remember the good deeds of the departed. Then they pour red wine over the graves, a symbol of the blood of Jesus Christ, and light a church candle to honour their immortal souls.



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

In the footsteps of medieval monks – the hidden face of the Ivanovo Rock Monastery

High in the canyon of the Rusenski Lom River lies one of the most impressive spiritual centers of Bulgaria. It is a complex of dozens of rock-hewn cells, chapels and churches carved on both sides of the river , which came to life in the 13th century..

published on 8/31/25 11:35 AM

A liturgy was held on St. John Island near Sozopol for the first time in 500 years

For the first time in 500 years, the chants of the Divine Liturgy echoed through the ruins of the medieval monastery ''St. John the Baptist'' on St. John Island near Sozopol. The occasion was the commemoration of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist,..

published on 8/29/25 11:30 AM
Photo: Holy Trinity Church in Madison, Ilinois

Bulgarian Orthodox community in Madison needs a priest for the Bulgarian Holy Trinity Church

The church board of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church “Holy Trinity” in Madison, Illinois (USA), has announced on its Facebook page that it needs a priest to serve in the church. “We humbly ask all brothers and sisters in Christ – in the wider..

published on 8/27/25 1:34 PM