On January 18, the Orthodox Church revers the memory of St. Athanasius the Great. According to popular belief, St. Athanasius is a patron of winter storms. On horseback, donned in a silk shirt, goes St. Athanasius into the forest and yells, “Go away, yo, winter, come, thee, summer!” And according to the Bulgarian popular belief, he does that each year on January 18, and that is why it is known as the Winter Atanasovden or Amidst Winter in the popular calendar.
It is said that from January 18 the day begins to grow by one millet seed. In some regions of the country people used to believe that plague was born on this day. To protect themselves from the deadly disease, people used to sacrifice a black hen to prepare a ritual meal.
Atanas, Atanaska, Nasko, Tina, Tinka, Tanyu, Taska celebrate their name day today.
Trapezitsa is one of the three hills for which the old Bulgarian capital, Tarnovgrad (the medieval name of today’s Veliko Tarnovo), is famous . Located to the northwest of the town, it stands across from the neighboring hill Tsarevets – the..
On the feast of the Dormition of Saint Ivan Rilski, the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil led the Divine Liturgy at the Rila Monastery. On the eve of the feast, he bowed before the relics of the patron saint of the Bulgarian people..
Today, August 18, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks the Dormition of St. John of Rila – the heavenly patron of Bulgaria. He is the most beloved saint in Bulgaria and is revered even beyond the borders of this country. We associate..
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