2. ХРИСТОС ВОСКРЕСЕ!
Easter is one of the In the country, the
most significant festival is popularly
holidays in the known as
Bulgarian "Velikden", which
calendar. Starting literally means 'the
with Palm Sunday, faith in the
the holy week resurrection of Jesus
leads up to the Christ'
Great Day.
3. VELIKDEN
Easter traditions in
Bulgaria are a derivative of
the Eastern Orthodox
Church rituals. In tune with
worldwide Orthodox
traditions, bright red
colored eggs and Easter
breads known as "kozunak"
are the prominent symbols
of Easter in Bulgaria.
4. VELIKDEN
The Holy week is the last week of the Lent. It begins with the
observance of Palm Sunday. The name, Palm Sunday
originated from Jesus's entry in Jerusalem.
5. Monday to Wednesday
The days between
Palm Sunday and Holy
Thursday are known
as Holy Monday, Holy
Tuesday and Holy
Wednesday.
• In Bulgaria these days
are intended to be days
for house cleaning.
This cleaning has a
symbolic purifying
character.
6. Holy Thursday
in Bulgaria
Traditionally in Bulgaria, the
eggs are painted on Holy
Thursday or Holy Saturday.
The first one is always painted
in red by the oldest woman in
the family. Until it is still hot it
is used by the woman to draw a
cross sign on children’s
foreheads. This rite done, the
eggs painting is continued by
the younger women in the
family
7. Easter Sunday
At midnight on the Saturday
before Easter Sunday, people
in Bulgaria gather at church,
with red painted eggs and
bread. The priest proclaims
three times "Christos
Voskrese" (Christ has risen)
and the congregation replies
"Vo istina voskrese" (Indeed
he has risen). One of the
Easter breads is specially
decorated with one or more
(but an odd number) of red
eggs. After a special sequence
of services, the clergy blesses
the breads and eggs brought
by the people.
8. They then walk around the church three times with
candles in hand, led by the priest. The candles are
carried back home.
9. Good Luck Crack
• The Bulgarian 'good luck crack' is
a unique Easter tradition in
Bulgaria. Eggs are cracked after
the midnight service and over the
next few days, during the festive
season of Easter. On Easter, the
eggs are cracked before lunch. The
egg that is cracked on the wall of
the church is the first egg that
people eat after the long fast of
Lent. People take turns in tapping
their eggs against the eggs of
others, and the person who ends
up with the last unbroken egg is
believed to have a year of good
luck. He/she is considered as the
most successful, healthy and happy
person for the rest of the year.
10. Easter Sunday
On Sunday, because
Lent is over, the
tradition is to have a
table laden with food,
the most important of
which is lamb. In
Eastern Europe, this is
particularly important,
as Orthodox believers
relate it to the death of
Jesus Christ, because a
lamb is believed to
have been sacrificed in
the name of Christ on
Resurrection Day.
11. Easter Kozunak
Ritual bread is an
unvarying part of the
Easter traditions. It is
round-shaped and
decorated with a lot of
interlacing figures. In
Bulgaria the tradition says
that it has to be made on
Thursday before Easter.
One of these pita bread
has a sweet taste and it’s
called “kozunak
