Saint Haralambos

(Charalambos) the Martyr

February 10

    The Name day of everyone named Haralampij, Haralambi, Hari, Harry, Valentin Valentina, Valery, Valeria.  The Greek Haralampios means ‘glowing with joy’ .
 The Orthodox patron saint of bee-keepers. Honey and beehives are sanctified that day by performing a ritual for health and rich harvest. On Saint Haralambos's Day, sick or blind people go to church and pray for healing. Worshippers gather around candles, stuck to jars with honey, during a religious mass in the church. According to traditional concepts Saint Haralambos is the lord of all illnesses, especially the plague. Doing any housework is strictly forbidden that day, because of the fear of any coming illness. Women are only allowed to bake round bread and decorate it with a cross in the middle and a large wreath at the edge for health. Honey is consecrated in the local church and then all the bread is coated with that honey. The rest of the honey is kept in the house as a remedy. According to the belief, Saint Haralambos blesses the land and it gets warmer and ready to be cultivated.
     Saint Haralambos died as a martyr in 198 AD in the town of Magnesia (in Thessaly) where he was a bishop. He was tortured to death but endured all pain taking it as the victory over the evil and the flesh. In the icons he was presented as the lord of the illness, which he kept in nine chains or held in a bottle.

     For this day women prepare a ritual bread with a big wreath of dough and holes in four places – at the four cardinal points, like a cross. While the bread is baked the woman of the house sanctifies a dish of honey in the church and spreads the honey on the bread. Then she smokes it with four grains of incense, over a ploughshare or a tile, and breaks it in four. One piece she leaves at home, the other three she takes to three houses. It is believed that in this way the house and the family are protected against the plague and everybody will be healthy and joyful during the year.

 

 

     In folk beliefs Saint Haralampi is the master of the diseases and mainly - the master of the plague. That is why on this day housework is not done for protecting from diseases.

   Early in the morning women knead and bake loafs and ritual bread which they decorate with a cross in the middle and several pimples (of the plague) around it and on its edge they make a big wreath for health. While they are preparing the bread somebody else from the family carries honey to the church in order it to be consecrated. People use honey to spread it on bread and on loafs, then they incense them and hand them out for health. They save some honey as a remedy throughout the year. In some places the ritual bread, prepared by the "the virgins", is carried out of the village in order not to be contaminated.
In some regions people carefully sweep up the whole house for "diseases to be swept".
People believe that on this day Aralanbei "aralandisva" (incenses) the ground and it can be already cultivated.
The holiday is kept mainly in East and West Bulgaria.
Church Holiday: Saint Haralampi - the bishop of Magnezia town (Tessalia). He dies like a martyr for his faith. He is portrayed as the master of the disease that he holds in nine chains or closed in a bottle..

 

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