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ST. PROCOPIUS, the Bee-Keeper
Current News
Current News
ST. PROCOPIUS, the Bee-Keeper
7/8/2024 9:00:00 AM
Name day of everyone named Prokopi.
According to traditional beliefs, St. Procopius (in BG, St. Prokopi) is connected to the bee-keeping – hence his name. Early in the morning, bee-keepers’ wives bake two ritual loaves of bread so that bees would gather lots of honey. Before sunrise they take those loaves to the bee hives, burn incense and coat them in honey. Then they all go to the church service, carrying a bow of honey, which they leave for a night inside the church and take home the next day. That honey is believed to have unique healing abilities.
A ram is ritually slaughtered at a sacred place outside the village and then a large table is set for everybody to join. On this day every woman is supposed to makes a “grass bread” (a ritual bread with the image of a bee-hive). The popular concept is that the hive holds the bee family together and therefore this bread is given away only to relatives - to be healthy and to live long. No one is supposed to throw water among the bee-hives, especially “night water”. The story goes that once upon a time a woman, coming back from the fields, prepared the dough and kneaded it. She put it in the pan and threw it into the oven. While preparing the dinner, it became dark.
So she threw out the water from the trough right into the yard on the grass. They went to sleep and in the morning her hands became red, swollen and covered with white blisters. They took her to a medicine man and he said that she must have thrown out “night water” on the fairies and her hands will dry up. Everybody has remembered ever since that used water is never thrown out during the night. People put three coals in it and keep it at home until morning comes.
That day the Orthodox Church celebrates the Day of Holy Martyr Procopius, who died in great suffering for the Christian faith, being severely tortured by the order of the Emperor Diocletian in 303.
Fools Day (April 1st)
4/1/2024 8:00:00 AM
There are quite a few nations today having in their calendar the April 1st Fools Day. For better or worse, we, Bulgarians, are among them.
Anniversary of Bulgarias staring to use the Gregorian Calendar
3/31/2024 9:00:00 AM
In 1916, at midnight on 31st of March, Bulgaria “jumps” into future – instead of having April 1st as the next day, Bulgarians had April 14th….
March 27 - International Day of Theater
3/27/2024 8:00:00 AM
March 27th is celebrated each year arounf the world as the International Day of Theater.
BLAGOVESHTENIE (ANNUNCIATION DAY)
3/25/2024 9:00:00 AM
Name day of everyone named Blagovest/à, Blagoy, Blaga, Vangel, Evangelina, Bonka.Ritual table: fish (baked or boiled), flat cake, onion pastry.
TODOROVDEN
3/23/2024 9:00:00 AM
Name day of everyone named Todor, Todorka, Teodor/a, Theo, Dora.
March 22nd – World Day of Water
3/22/2024 11:00:00 AM
The World Day of Water has been appointed by a decision of the UN Ecology and Development Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 1992.
March 20 – International Francophony Day
3/20/2024 10:00:00 AM
The first "sommet de la Francophonie" took place in Paris in 1986. About 44 countries took part in it.
The German genius Rudolph Diesel was born on that day back in 1858
3/18/2024 10:00:00 AM
Although Diesel was born in Paris, his parents were German. His father was a leather craftsman, and his mother a governess and language tutor. Rudolf was a good student in primary s...
SIRNI ZAGOVEZNI (Shrove Sunday/ Cheese Fasting)
3/17/2024 7:00:00 AM
Ritual table: cheese pastry, rite bread, cheese pumpkin, eggs, white halvah with nuts, fish.
MESNI ZAGOVEZNI (Meat Fasting Day)
3/10/2024 11:00:00 AM
Mesni Zagovezni (Meat Fasting Day) - celebrated 8 Sundays before Easter. After the All Souls; Day (Goliama Zadoushnitsa) on Saturday, the following day, Sunday, people celebrate the Orthodox Chur...
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