Current News

Current News

HOLY WEEK before Easter

HOLY WEEK before Easter

4/29/2024 8:00:00 AM

Holy Week is the last week of Lent, the week immediately preceding Easter Sunday.  It is observed in many Christian churches as a time to commemorate and enact the suffering (Passion) and death of Jesus through various observances and services of worship.



























































































The concept of the red egg in the Christian traditional customs has been connected to a legend. Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus had cured from all the evil spirits within her, was the first one to see Jesus risen from the dead and she went around the world to spread the happy news. She reached Rome and Emperor Tiberiuss palace. According to the tradition, everyone visiting him was supposed to carry some sort of a gift to the Emperor. The rich people were carrying expensive gifts while the poor ones - whatever they could afford.































Mary Magdalene took an egg to Tiberiuss palace and handed it to the Emperor with the following greeting: "Christ has risen from the dead!" The Emperor could not believe what he heard and responded: "How could anyone ever rise from the dead! It is as impossible as that white egg to turn red right now..." While Tiberius was talking, the color in Mary Magdalenes hands started changing its color until it finally became bright red. The Easter greeting ever since has remained "Christ has risen from the dead"  and Christians all over the world color eggs in red (as well as various other colors) for Easter to celebrate their belief in the Resurrection.































































In the Christian calendar that day is known as Maundy Thursday, Sheer Thursday, or Holy Thursday, meaning the Thursday before Easter. It celebrates Jesus's last supper before his execution. Traditionally, it is the day when Jesus washed the feet of his disciples and told them to serve others as he served them. Consequently, in many churches, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, the priest or pastor washes the feet of the congregants on this day.































































The Middle English word "Maundy", used only in this context, derives from Old French "mand" and from Latin "mandamentum" (i.e. commandment), in reference to the opening words of the Catholic liturgy for this day, Mandatum novum do vobis "a new commandment I give unto you" (John xiii:34), words spoken by Jesus to the Apostles after washing their feet in preparation for the Last Supper.































































The day has also been known as Sheer Thursday, due to the idea that it is the day of cleaning ("schere") and because the churches themselves would switch liturgical colors from the dark tones of Lent.































































Outside English-speaking countries it is universally known as Holy Thursday.

Good Friday (also Holy Friday)































The Holy Friday marks the respect of the entire Christian world to the crucified Jesus. Jesus was made to carry a heavy cross on his way up the Golgotha hill. There he was crucified on the cross by nailing his feet and hands to the cherry-wood cross. The blood of Jesus coming from his wounds has purified the sins of all human mankind. The suffering of Jesus was enormous but he never stopped praying for his tormentors. The priests take out the Jesus shroud at 11 AM in the middle of the churches and spread it on a special table. The believers cover it with flowers. The priests will serve a burial service for Jesus who died on the cross in the evening. The Christians walk around the inside of the church as if attending as funeral. Then they go under the table covered by the shroud for health. The flowers mounted on the shroud are given away to the people and they are believed to have the power to cure kids and sick people.































































Good Friday is a special day celebrated by Christians on the Friday before Easter or Pascha. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Special prayer services are often held on this day with readings from the Gospel accounts of the events leading up to the crucifixion. Many Christians view Christ's crucifixion as a voluntary and vicarious act by which death itself was conquered, not as a temporary defeat overturned by His resurrection on the third day. In Early Modern English, good had a meaning of "holy". A "good tide" is, for example, Christmas or Shrove Tuesday.

Holy Saturday































It is also a time to remember family and the faithful who have died as we await the resurrection, or to honor the martyrs who have given their lives for the cause of Christ in the world.  While Good Friday is a traditional day of fasting, some also fast on Saturday as the climax of the season of Lent.  An ancient tradition dating to the first centuries of the church calls for no food of any kind to be eaten on Holy Saturday, or for 40 hours before sunrise on Sunday.































































Holy Saturday (in Latin, Sabbatum Sanctum ), the 'day of the entombed Christ,' is the Lord's day of rest, for on that day Christ's body lay in His tomb. We recall the Apostle's Creed which says "He descended unto the dead." It is a day of suspense between two worlds, that of darkness, sin and death, and that of the Resurrection and the restoration of the Light of the World. For this reason no divine services are held until the Easter Vigil at night. This day between Good Friday and Easter Day makes present to us the end of one world and the complete newness of the era of salvation inaugurated by the Resurrection of Christ.































































Easter is a Christian holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead on the Sunday after his crucifixion on Good Friday and marking the end of Lent. Easter is the holiest day in the Christian calendar, followed by Christmas and is recognized as a legal holiday in most countries with a significant Christian tradition, with the notable exception of the United States where Easter is only celebrated on Easter Sunday (and not also on Easter Monday). The timing of Easter depends on the Jewish Pesach, in English Passover, (see 1 below), which commemorates the sparing of the Hebrew first-born, as recounted in Exodus, since it is during this holiday that Jesus is believed to have been resurrected. 

?Association for Plovdiv?
?Association for Plovdiv?
9/25/2003 12:00:00 AM
(Information taken from the Maritsa newspaper)The ?Association for Plovdiv? will organize a series of events related to business support. The decision was taken at the yesterday?s meeting of th...
The ?St.George the Victorious? Foundation
(based on a publication in the Maritsa newspaper)We are looking forward to the unveiling of a Tsanko Lavrenov Monument in the Old Town, thanks to a foundation managed by patriotic Bulgarians. T...
The first winners of the ?Town of Chirpan and the Nikola Manev Gallery? Award
There are quite a few persons the town of Chirpan is so proud of. Here, in 1940, the famous artist Nikola Manev was born. Ever since 1964 he has been working in France, where he graduated from the ...
KEO - the project of the 21st century
Based on publication in the ?24 Hours? Newspaper:Messages from all over the world are going to be sent on a satellite to the space, and after a period of 50,000 years they will get back to Eart...
?Techno polis? in Plovdiv
?Techno polis? in Plovdiv
9/19/2003 12:00:00 AM
Today, September 19th 2003, the largest hypermarket specialized for electric appliances, ?Techno polis?, opened in Plovdiv. Situated at 7,700 sq.m., right next to the ?Metro? hypermarket, it is the...
Plovdiv ? a leading bodybuilding power in the last few years
(Based on a publication in the Maritsa newspaper)The Plovdiv Bodybuilding and Fitness Club called ?Muscle Art?, with the president Kim Merdzhanov, became the champion of the republic for the fi...
European mobility week (September 16th ? 22nd)
The news from the Environmental Ministry:A Green cell phone number is introduced: 048 1222. People can get in touch in case of any kind of ecological contamination that calls for emergent inter...
Will Plovdiv ever be connected into a direct gas supply system?
Today is the first school day for all the students in Bulgaria. Therefore, today is a good day to draw a conclusion about what we all have done or intend to do for the young people, so that they wi...
Mayor elections in Plovdiv
Mayor elections in Plovdiv
9/12/2003 12:00:00 AM
The today?s issue of the Maritsa Newspaper presents the eleven candidates that will compete in the local elections for a mayor of Plovdiv. They are:1. Dr Ivan Chomakov ? Union of the Democ...
The town of Zlatograd and the Rhodope people
The information is based on the regional page of the Maritza newspaper (Sept.11th, 2003):?Bulgaria starts, and does not end, where the town of Zlatograd lies?That is what the residents of t...