The Bulgarians call it also “Odushna” or
“Pogrebenna” for on this day the women usually visit the graveyards.
They pour wine and smoke incense, light candles, give out dyed eggs,
boiled wheat and bread for the souls of the dead relatives. In some
villages on Saturday evening they take the yarn off the distaffs for
more rain and fertility.
Holy Saturday is also a
time to remember family and the faithful who have died as we await the
resurrection, or to honour 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, 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.
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PEACE HAVENS of BULGARIA
