The days of Saint Anthony and Saint Athanasius.
In Bulgarian tradition, the two saints - Saint Anthony (Anton, in
Bulgarian) and Saint Athanasius (Atanas, in Bulgarian), are celebrated
on two consecutive days, January 17th and 18th. They are said to be twins,
the more important one of the two being Athanasius, honoured by both a
summer and a winter holiday. Saint Athanasius rules over the winter
snows and ice, sharing his reign with Saint Anthony, who is the master
of the winter cold.
There is a Summer Atanassovden - Saint Atanasius Harvester's Day on
July 5th.
Atanasovden is Saint Athanasius Day - January 18
The Name day of everyone named
Atanas, Atanaska, Nasso, Nacho, Tinka, Nasya, Totka.
Ritual table: chicken, rite bread with honey, pork.
On January 18 the Orthodox Church honours Saint Atanasius The Great -
a holiday connected with the New Year’s rites. According to the
traditional beliefs, Saint Atanasius is the ruler of snow and ice.
Dressed in a silk shirt he ascends the mountain, riding his white
horse and exclaims: “Winter, go away; Summer, come again!” That’s why
this holiday is also known as the Mid-winter Day. Saint Atanasius’
Day, just like the preceding Saint Anthony’s Day, is a holiday of the
blacksmiths, ironmongers, cutters and shoeing smiths. Saint Atanasius
is the patron of blacksmiths and he symbolizes immortality. In
pagan mythology he is the heavenly blacksmith - the sun, who puts his
bare hands into the burning furnace and takes out the red-hot iron.
It is yet another feast designed to appease the
diseases –
therefore the women bake those special baking-soda breads (of the kind
they do the previous day), which they pierce with a fork very much the
way the smallpox pierces the faces of the sick. The women stick to the
same restrictions characterizing Saint Anthony’s Day as well.
On Saint Atanasius’ Day, women are supposed to prepare
special dishes apart from the baked bread - a black hen is slaughtered
and cooked with rice and then given away to relatives and neighbours
for health. The feathers are preserved as a remedy against “evil eyes”
. It is a popular belief that they possess a healing might. In some
parts of Bulgaria single young men and women go out to the meadows
that day and tie swings, sway, sing or dance folklore dances. For the
Bulgarians this is the day of shepherds, cowherds, swineherds and
horse-keepers. People pick “brustina” (“karagach’”, “ilem”) – dry
leaves of the elm-tree for the sheep.
Saint Athanasius the Great was born of Christian parents and educated in
Alexandria's catechetical school. He became deacon and secretary to
his bishop Alexander, whom he accompanied to the Council of Nicea in
325 AD, The Council condemned Arianism, which denied the eternity of
the Word of God and the Divinity of Christ in full. He vigorously
defended Orthodoxy and refused all compromise with Arians and
semi-Arians, who were, however, strongly represented at the imperial
court. He became bishop in 328 AD at the age of about 30 and made
extensive pastoral visits in his province, but was soon the target of
bitter attacks by Arians and Meletians. Summoned to the hostile
Council of Tyre and appealing to the emperor for fair treatment, he
was exiled and then restored, deposed, and then reinstated. Much of
his life was spent in exile.
Saint Athanasius was a prolific author and strongly contributed to the
theology of the Redemption. The theme of his early work (Of the
Incarnation of the Word of God) is the restoration of fallen man to
the image of God in which he was created, through God the Word's union
with mankind. He insisted that the Nicene term Homoousios was
necessary to formulate correctly the truth of Christ's Scriptural
revelation. He was also the biographer of Saint Antony of Egypt. This
biography was devoted to the single combat of the hermit against the
powers of evil. He died beloved and triumphant, on May 15, 373 AD.
The holiday is
connected with the New Year's traditions. According to the belief
Saint Atanas is one of the saints who divide the earth and the sky.
The snow and the ice have fallen
to his lot. At this day he puts on a silk shirt, he goes to the
mountain and shouts: "Winter, go
away, come, summer". This is where the other name of the holiday,
Sredi zima (Midwinter), comes from.
In the southwest
part of Bulgaria, Atanasovden, as well as, Antonovden is honoured as a
holiday of blacksmiths and cutlers as well as of the plaque. A black
hen is slaughtered to protect people from diseases, ritual bread is
baked and broken into pieces with a fork, to prevent children from
catching the small-pox and the pieces of bread are given away to the
neighbours. The feathers of the hen are kept safe because it is
believed that they possess curing powers.
Women observe the same restrictions as on Antonovden.
Ritual sacrifices are given on this day in order to bring health.
In some parts of the country young people gather on the meadows and
play horo, swing and sing songs.
Baba Sharka - Smallpox
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PEACE HAVENS of BULGARIA
