Bulgaria celebrates Easter (update)

The news of Christ's Resurrection resounded in Orthodox churches across the country at midnight.

On the eve of Easter Sunday, many people attend the church service, where at midnight, between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, the priest announces ‘Christ is Risen!’ They walk around the church three times and then carry their lit candles with holy fire home , believing that by His death on the cross the Son of God had defeated death and atoned for the sins of mankind.

In its Easter message, the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church called on the faithful to help their family, friends and those in need, but also turned its attention to the problems of the world today, in which understanding should stop fratricidal wars.

At midnight, Metropolitan Gregory of Vratsa, Locum Tenens of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, led the Easter service at Sofia’s St. Alexander Nevsky Patriarchal Cathedral. He proclaimed the Resurrection of Christ and blessed the Bulgarian people.

"Christ is Risen! We celebrate this solemnity with a special spiritual feeling, remembering the sacrificial act of the Saviour of the world - His crucifixion and His glorious resurrection. Easter is the heart and essence of Christianity and the victory given to us by God," he told the faithful.

"Today we pray to the Risen Lord and Saviour that the lost bonds between nations may be restored and that brotherly love, peace in the world and good will among men may reign. Now, more than ever, we must be peacemakers and show charity in action," he added.

Images by BGNES

This is the second Easter in the recent history of our Holy Orthodox Church to be celebrated without a leader, following the recent passing of His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte. He died on March 13, just before the beginning of Lent. In 1971, on March 7th, Patriarch Kirill died and then the election of a new Patriarch was scheduled after Lent, so then Patriarch Maxim was elected on July 4.

The Holy Synod decided to convene a Patriarchal Electoral Church Council on June 30, 2024, for the purpose of electing the new Bulgarian Patriarch.

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In 2024, the Bulgarian Orthodox church celebrates Easter on 5th of May.

Easter or Velik Den (Great Day) is one of the most important holidays in Bulgaria. The holiday starts with Palm Sunday and the holy week leads up to the Easter Day. The Easter weekend is only the end of the Orthodox ritual connected with Christ’s resurrection. The beginning of the ritual is a seven week long fast called “The Great Lent”.

In Bulgarian Orthodox Church tradition, the Lenten fast begins on Zagovezni, ('The Great Lent'). This comes around each year falling on a Sunday, seven weeks before Easter. This is the longest fasting period of the year in Orthodox tradition, 46 days. This means abstaining from meat and dairy products. No traditional dancing and no marriages take place until Easter.

The last week of the fast, the week right before Easter is called “The Holy Week”, during which people go to different church services, fast and prepare for the feast.

Brightly coloured eggs and Easter breads known as “kozunak” are the prominent symbols of Easter in Bulgaria.

As part of the tradition, people dye hard-boiled chicken eggs, the first of which is painted red to represent the blood of Christ. The hard shell of the egg symbolizes the sealed Tomb of Christ — the cracking of which symbolizes his resurrection from the dead.

Traditionally, eggs were decorated by using natural colours. Some people still use old techniques of dying by cooking eggs in water with onions, walnuts, roots and different herbs. Over the years, with the changing trend, people have started embellishing their Easter eggs with synthetic colours and dyes.

After painting the eggs they are usually rubbed with oil to make them shine.

The traditional braided sweet bread, kozunak, symbolizing the body of Christ, is a necessary item of the Easter table everywhere.

Many people attend the church service, where at midnight, between Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, the priest announces ‘Christ is Risen!’ They walk around the church three times and then carry their lit candles home with them to ensure luck and prosperity in the coming year. People usually take Easter eggs and breads to be blessed by the priests in the church.

The egg cracking is a tradition in Bulgaria. It starts from the first minutes of the Easter Sunday. People take turns cracking their decorated eggs against the eggs of others. The holder of the last unbroken egg is said to be the winner and is believed to have great luck, health and fortune for the next year.

Easter Sunday itself is celebrated with a large family meal, rich in tastes and typically including roasted lamb with rice and herbs stuffing, spring green salad and sweet Easter breads.

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