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Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks start of ecclesiastical New Year on September 1

Photo: Bulgarian Patriarchate

The New Church Year begins on September 1. The month of September is the seventh month of the year according to the Jewish calendar. It is associated with a number of biblical events, which is why it was designated as the beginning of the Church New Year, the Bulgarian Patriarchate specifies on its website. In this month, all the tribes of the people of Israel from everywhere flocked to Jerusalem for the holiday, fulfilling the Lord's commandment: "the seventh month shall be your Sabbath of Sabbaths, and you shall humble your souls before the Lord."


The New Year holiday was established by the holy fathers at the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea, convened by Emperor Constantine the Great.

On the same day, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church also honors St. Simeon the Pillar, who spent his life in a narrow cell erected on a stone pillar. Our people perceive the saint as the patron saint of agriculture. Therefore, in Bulgaria, St. Simeon's Day is considered the beginning of the agricultural year, when autumn plowing and sowing begins and a large part of the production is collected.

Bulgarians call this day "Simeon the Ploughman", "Simeon the Sickle", "Simeon the Broiler", "Summer Walker". 

In the folk tradition, on September 1, women knead cakes with which they feed the oxen and buffaloes, as well as small loaves that are strung on the horns of the cattle. The men who plow and sow are dressed festively, and the women walk around them and sprinkle embers from the hearth in which the bread is baked.



Edited by Darina Grigorova
English version: R. Petkova

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Radio Bulgaria History and religion    Bulgarian Orthodox Church Church New Year ecclesiastical new year September 1

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