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

Bulgarian Orthodox Church celebrates the feast day of St. Anthony

Photo: archive

Today the Bulgarian Orthodox Church honours the memory of the Venerable Anthony the Great. Bulgarians call the day Antonovden. Anthony is considered the founder of Christian monasticism. According to Bulgarian popular tradition Antonovden is celebrated to protect people from illness. Women should not spin or knit on this day, nor should they cook beans or lentils so as not to anger the plague, pox or measles. 

Folk tradition has it that Anthony and Athanasius were two twin brothers who were blacksmiths and were the first to invent the blacksmith's tongs.That is why Antonovden and the next one - Atanasovden, are celebrated as holidays of blacksmiths, ironmongers and knifemakers.



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

Cheesefare Sunday prepares the faithful for Great Lent and repentance

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..

published on 3/2/25 7:15 AM
Priest Lyubomir Bratoev

Priest Lyubomir Bratoev in Berlin: The first liturgies in Bulgarian were served at the embassy building

Priest Lyubomir Bratoev is a direct participant in the events of t he founding of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church community in Berlin . He came to the capital of East Germany in the late 1980s as a doctoral student. And, like a typical Orthodox Christian..

published on 2/26/25 8:15 AM

The Church of St. John of Rila – a piece of Bulgaria in London

After nearly 35 years, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Community in London has its own church in the central part of the British capital, in close proximity to the Bulgarian Embassy. There, in the prestigious Kensington district, next to Hyde Park and..

published on 2/24/25 3:05 PM