Christmas in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, Christmas is the brightest, family holiday. At the beginning of December, a Christmas tree is decorated in every house, under which on December 25 the children find their gifts left by the kind white-bearded old man.

Christmas Eve or the eve of the Nativity of Christ is one of the brightest holidays for the Christian family. On this day, Christians prepare spiritually – through fasting, confession and prayer – to receive the Holy Communion and so worthily welcome the birth of Christ. According to tradition, the day begins with the burning on Christmas Eve – a 3 year old oak cut down by a young guy.

The day continues with the preparation for the festive meal. According to beliefs, it is added to the ground, most often on straw, reminiscent of the Bethlehem manger, where the Virgin Mary gave birth. There should be 7, 9 or 11 dishes on the table. These are three of the sacred numbers of the ancient Jewish Kabbalah. The holidays are fasting. Some of the foods are designed to drive away evil spirits – onions, garlic, honey and walnuts.

The day continues with the preparation for the festive meal. According to beliefs, it is added to the ground, most often on straw, reminiscent of the Bethlehem manger, where the Virgin Mary gave birth. There should be 7, 9 or 11 dishes on the table. These are three of the sacred numbers of the ancient Jewish Kabbalah. The holidays are fasting. Some of the foods are designed to drive away evil spirits – onions, garlic, honey and walnuts.

Among the usual dishes that are prepared for the table are boiled beans, stuffed peppers and sardines with beans or rice, wheat, pumpkin, cabbage, oshav, fruits, as well as ritual bread – court bread prepared without eggs and milk, in which a silver coin is placed – whoever it falls to will be healthy and happy throughout the year. On the evening of December 24, the table is arranged early and everyone sits together around it and no one should get up.

The oldest man reads a prayer and sets the table. Then he breaks the ritual bread and the first piece is symbolically left for the Mother of God and the next piece for the house, and each subsequent one for a member of the family according to age, and in places also for domestic animals.

If this becomes necessary, he must go under cover so that the karakonjols do not knock down the grain and doom the village to starvation. A walnut is placed in each of the four corners of the room. This is done in order to illuminate the four corners of the world.

After that, everyone sits down at the table together and does not get up until the end of the dinner.

If this becomes necessary, he must go under cover so that the karakonjols do not knock down the grain and doom the village to starvation. A walnut is placed in each of the four corners of the room. This is done in order to illuminate the four corners of the world.

If any girl or guy wants to know who or who will be their soul mate,they should be able to get up unnoticed from the table and eavesdrop on what the neighbors are saying. The first male or female name they hear is the name of the person they will meet during the holidays.

Ivy leaves from the table, placed under the pillow, can predict the health of the one who slept on them. If they remain fresh and green until morning, the person will be healthy throughout the year. -Behind the plow remains live coal, predicted for various agricultural crops.

In the morning, check if the coal has burned. The more ash, the greater will be the fertility. If the coal is blackened, the prognosis is not good. The weather during the year can also be predicted by the coals. They are called 12 coals for 12 months of the year and again the ashes show whether they will be favorable for the harvest and the person.

– The girls who are about to get married do not knead bread, because it is believed that if they get married during the year, they will take the fertility out of the house.

There is also a custom that has been preserved for a long time: Caroling is one of the most widely used Bulgarian customs with a strictly defined time from midnight to sunrise on Christmas Eve. When the sun rises they lose their power and stop caroling.

If the weather is cloudy on Christmas Eve, the spring crops will be good and the bees will bring more honey. If the whole day is cloudy, there will be disease during the year. If it snows on Christmas Eve, the bees will swarm a lot. If the weather is foggy, there will be be foggy all year round

A group of boys “Carolers” led by an older man “stamenik” go around a predetermined neighborhood and sing songs on the road and in the house, and the wishes in the songs are dedicated to the host, the shepherd, the hunter, the priest, the bride, the girl, the bachelor ,the little boy or girl.

Arise, ninene, sir, get up meet us that you have good guests coming good guests, carolers. Nee from here, sir here. Get up, nin, sir. We sing to you, we praise God, Get up, nine sir. How many stars in a clear sky So much health in this house.

A clear sun has risen in lily pads. It was not a clear sun, I was a little girl: sweep yards, tidy rows – Hope you are a little girl to have good guests, good guest carolers. They pass, they go, they do not look at maidens. A girl stands at a window – as it stands, bitterly swears: – God kill carolers, det pass, leave, they do not look at maidens.

Christmas December 25 is a major Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, also called the Nativity of Christ. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, selling Christmas decorations and wooden Christmas toys, talking in church,

Today, almost every home is decorated with Christmas toys, lights and stockings, Christmas music is played and Christmas movies are watched.

On Christmas morning, when the children wake up, they find the presents under the tree brought by the white-bearded Santa Claus and his reindeer: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donor, Blitzen, Rudolph

And if there is snow, Christmas is much more fun, because we make snowmen, we fight with snowballs, we make snow angels and various other figures in the snow, and then, frozen with red noses like Santa’s reindeer, we go inside to drink warm tea .

I hope you liked my Christmas book, I wish you happy holidays.