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.
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..
Batak is a name every Bulgarian remembers with deference and pain because the fate of the small town in the Rhodopes is scarred by one of the bloodiest events in national memory – the Batak massacre. During the first days after the outbreak of..
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...
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