Christmas in Bulgaria
Although the Communist Regime outlawed the Christmas holiday for 45 years in Bulgaria, Christmas has always found a place in the hearts of the Bulgarian people. For centuries since the Bulgarian national conversion to Christianity in 864 AD Christmas has been a central Bulgarian holiday. As Orthodox Christianity is still the main religion in Bulgaria for many, Christmas has a Christian Orthodox accent including the Orthodox traditions and customs. Yet, the Bulgarian Protestant community has supported for the preservation of this Christian holiday especially during the time of the Communist persecution. According to the Orthodox customs the Christmas holiday begins 40 days before the Christmas Eve. This time is called “Great Fasting” and is a time when no meat is eaten. Christmas Eve is the end of the Great Fasting. On Christmas Eve the family has dinner together. The hostess prepares nine meals without meat. Some of them are: beans, vine or cabbage sarmi (vine or cabbage leaves stuffed with rice), stuffed peppers, pickles, walnuts, apples, honey, ushaf (a traditional Bulgarian meal prepared by boiling dried fruits), and round bread. After the fast is over meat is served. Usually most of the Bulgarians eat pork chops, kebab and sausages. The kebab is prepared by cutting in small pieces the pork stewed with onions and pepper. The sausages are made of homemade minced pork. Central for the Bulgarian Christmas dinner is the bantiza, which is a baked strudel like pastry filled with an egg and cheese mixture. A coin is put in it for luck. The oldest man in the family breaks the banitza and gives a piece everyone. The one who gets the piece with the coin in it is believed to be very wealthy in the New Year. The Christmas Eve table is not cleared until the following morning, a typical tradition to insure that there will be plenty of food in the coming year."Surovaknitza” is another typical Bulgarian Christmas tradition. The surovaknitza is made of a cornel stick/cudgel. It is pruned so that several branches remain on the two sides of it all along its length. Then the branches that are one against another (at the same level of the stick) are tied so that they form something like a round circle one half of which is at the left side and the other half is at the right side of the stick. Three or four such circles are formed on the length of the stick as the upper circles will be smaller and the lower circles will be wider. The circles and the stick are wrapped with woolen and cotton yarn (usually white and red). It is decorated with little balls made out of cotton, strings of popcorn, raisins, prunes, dried apple slices, dried peppers, etc. The ready surovaknitza is used by the children to pat on the backs of their parents, grandparents, extended family, friends and any visitors in the house after the Christmas Eve. While patting, the kids say a wish for health, wealth, happiness and all the best to one patted. The patted person pays a dollar or five dollars to the child in order to receive a blessing in the New Year. Around Christmas many Bulgarians celebrate their name days. It is almost like a birthday, except instead of a date the parson’s name is celebrated. This is usually done on the day of a particular saint after whom the person is named. For example:December 4 – St. Barbara’s DayDecember 6 – St. Nicholas’ Day (Nikoulden)December 20 – St. Ignatius’ Day (Ignazhden)January 1 – Vassil’s Day January 6 – Epiphany – St. Jordan’s Day January 7 – St. John’s Day (Ivanovden) Another Christmas ritual is called Koleduvane. All the participants in it are men – bachelors, fiances and young men who have just married. This ritual group has its own name that differs from place to place and is connected with the region of the country – koledari, kolednitzi, koledare, etc. All the men choose their leader at St. Ignatius’ Day – he is called stanenik, usually an older man. The group has 10-15 persons. Each group includes younger boys (they are called cats), who walk around the houses and tell the hosts that the koledari are coming. The koledari wear old Bulgarian traditional clothing. They go round the houses in the village or in the town from midnight till dawn. On their way, in front of the gate and in the house they sing specific ritual songs. The songs differ from one another according to the place they are sung and the person they are dedicated to. As a whole, these songs are ritual wishes for happiness in the family and rich crop in the farm. The first song usually begins with this verse:“Get up, get up dear host!We are singing for you!We have come to visit you,We are good guests for you, koledari!”The leader of the group carries in his hands the ring – shaped bun, which is a gift from the host. After the songs have been sung he tells a Christmas blessing:“Let God grant you health;We have brought in your house revelry! “Besides the ring–shaped bun the hosts present the koledari with money, meat, flour, wine, beans and bacon. This ritual ends up with a common feast. Every family has a Christmas tree in their home; some are decorated with electric lights, some with candles. The tree is usually decorated with ornaments purchased in the store, cotton balls to imitate snow and a star on the top. Gifts are placed under the tree.
Give Thanks
Everything you do or say, then, should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to Him through God the Father.Colossians 3:17The Scripture advises us to give thanks to God at all times and on all occasions. It also gives thanks itself: Genesis gives thanks for the creation. Exodus gives thanks for the deliverance. Leviticus gives thanks from generation to generation. Numbers gives thanks for each generation. Deuteronomy gives thanks for the law. Joshua gives thanks for the Promised Land. The historical books give thanks because His mercy endures forever. Psalms give thanks with a song. Proverbs give thanks with a word of wisdom. The Prophets give thanks for the coming Messiah. The Gospels give thanks for the Messiah who has come to the world. Acts give thanks for the Holy Ghost. The Epistles give thanks for we were delivered from sin, saved, sanctified, baptized, adopted to the family of God, healed, restored, blessed and wonderfully placed on the firm rock who is Christ Jesus. Revelation gives thanks for He is coming again to deliver us from the trials and tribulations of the present world and to bring us to the abundant life in the Heavenly City. We are thankful to God who is our hope for both today and for eternity. Happy Thanksgiving, from all of us at Cup & Cross Ministries.
Bulgaria Marks Unification Day
People across Bulgaria celebrated 120 years since the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia united. Bulgaria’s President Georgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev attended the official ceremony held at the country’s second city Plovdiv. In his address President Parvanov urged all Bulgarians to “embrace the idea of the Unification.”
More than a century ago the young and reborn Bulgarian state sought for its national unification and achieved it just six years after enjoying the air of freedom. On September 5, 1885, the Principality of Bulgaria unified with the autonomous Ottoman province of Eastern Roumelia. The historic proclamation was made after a march by a handful of Bulgarians from the small town of Saedinenie (nowadays Unification) to the town of Plovdiv. But it was not until 1886 when the Great Powers recognized the almost doubled state of Bulgaria with the Bulgarian-Ottoman treaty. The day of September 6 has been celebrated as official holiday in Bulgaria since 1998.
Celebrating 15 Years of Ministry
The story of this celebration began on the back of a small Pentecostal church in Bulgaria, where on August 11, 1990 God gloriously saved my soul and changed my life forever. A week later, I was baptized with the Holy Spirit and for the first time in my life experienced Pentecost. It was that night in a Christian convention meeting in my hometown, that God called me for the ministry of the Gospel. A few weeks later, in the fall of 1990, I preached my first sermon. I was only sixteen years of age.
This month we are celebrating 15 years in ministry through two national crusades, Revival Harvest Campaign: Bulgaria and www.bibliata.com 2005 National Tour. Additionally we are calling the Pravetz youth group for a weekend of homecoming and spiritual renewal event called Pravetz Reloaded 2005.
Revival Harvest Campaign 2005
Revival Harvest Campaign 2005 is now in progress. Although we were planning to start in the beginning of September, the Lord has opened a number of doors for ministry right now. In parallel, the agricultural harvest in Bulgaria also opened earlier due to the torrential rains that hit Bulgaria in the past several weeks. The early start of Revival Harvest Campaign 2005 has been confirmed by a prophetic word, “move forward without delay” from one our friends and supporters in the States.
Bibliata.com National Tour: 44 Baptized with the Holy Ghost
We launched the tour on August 13 at the Karandila Pentecostal Youth Camp near Sliven (in Southern Bulgaria). The camp is a historical meeting place for Pentecostal youth that was established before World War II. We participated in the Friday night service where 44 were baptized with the Holy Spirit. Additionally, 20 were baptized with the Holy Spirit at the Black Sea camp the previous week. Unfortunately, we were unable to attend that camp due to our late arrival in Bulgaria at the end of July.
Fourth Annual Conference of Bulgarian Churches in North America
The fourth annual conference of Bulgarian Churches in North America will take place on May 28-30, 2005. In the summer of 2001, pastors of Bulgarian churches in North America came together for a meeting in Chicago. As a result of this meeting, an organization called the Alliance of the Bulgarian Evangelical Churches in North America was established as a first step toward networking between the congregations. The Alliance met in Dallas in 2002, Chicago in 2003 and Minneapolis in 2004. This year the conference will be hosted by the Bulgarian congregation in Los Angeles which was established in 1990.
Global Day of Prayer
May 15, 2005, Pentecost Sunday, has been named Global Day of Prayer. A dream of mine has come to reality.
Several years ago I wrote a master’s thesis entitled Pentecostal Primitivism Preserved. The heart of the paper dealt with the essence of the Pentecostal faith and experience. After carefully examining the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, the thesis proposed that the true Pentecostal experience outgrows the Wesleyan formula and needs a more suitable paradigm of expression. I proposed that the basics of such expression include prayer, power and praxis.
Today this dream of mine is coming to reality as the Pentecostal movement calls the world for a global day of prayer on Pentecost Sunday and prayer and power come together again. It is inevitable that when the church prays, the power of the Holy Spirit will be manifested. And this is our prayer today, that indeed the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit is evident where people pray.
National Day of Prayer
This year’s National Day of Prayer is scheduled for 05.05.2005.
Read more: http://www.nationaldayofprayer.org/
Missions Conference 2005
Our ministry team just returned from a successful mission’s conference with Restoration Ministries. Cup & Cross’ team was able to show our documentary film, Revival Bulgaria and present our 2005 ministry projects. Additionally, we held two services on Sunday at Greenwood and Gaffney.
