Holy Cross Day

Grape-Harvest Day

September 14

Bulgarians attend an open-air mass at the holy site of Krastova Gora in the Rhodope mountains in southern Bulgaria to celebrate Holy Cross Day. It is believed that a tiny piece of the cross is hidden in Krustova Gora (Forest of the Cross) and that the most important Christian sanctuary in Bulgaria has healing powers.

      Located 45 kilometres south of Assenovgrad, in the proximity of the town of Luki in the Rhodope Mountains, Krustova Gora is one of the most revered Christian holy places in Bulgaria. Truly religious people believe that if someone overnights there, the man will be cured, if ill.

     The folk calendar says that starting from September 14 people get ready for the grape harvest. They repair the hoops of the kegs in which the wine will be poured, the wheelbarrow to carry the grapes and the vessel to press it. That is why in some places the Holy Cross Day is called "Grape-picker".

The Day of the Cross
    On September 14 the Bulgarian Orthodox church celebrates the Day of the Cross
The most sacred of symbols - the cross - is taken out of the depths of the various churches and placed in the centre of the temple where the worshipers, who have followed a strict fast on this day, pay tribute to the Saviour of mankind - Jesus Christ. For them the holy cross is the Christian weapon against evil. Words to the effect that whoever wants to follow me must humble himself, take the cross and walk in my steps are said to belong to Jesus. According to theology instead of complaining to God about the unfairness of the hardships and sufferings, which He sends to earth, man must accept them as a bitter, but soul-saving medicine, because when everyone carries his own cross he comes closer to God.
     In the beginning of the 4th century Emperor Constantine the Great - later canonized by the Church together with his mother Helen - started on a war campaign. During the battle he saw in the sky a Cross, formed by the stars with the words: “With this you shall win” written on it. After the victory the Emperor adopted the Christian faith.
      His mother Helen had a strong desire to find the Holy Cross and pay tribute to it. After long quests three crosses were found in Palestine. She guessed which was the Holy one, because every time a sick person was touched with it he was cured. On one occasion it even managed to bring back to life a man from death. That is why the Cross also became known as life-giving. Helen presented her son with part of the Holy cross and some of the nails with which the hands and feet of Jesus were pegged to it. The cross itself was placed in the Jerusalem temple named "The Resurrection of Jesus". According to legend a piece of the Cross was also buried in a part of Bulgaria, known as the Forest of the Cross, which is near the Southern Bulgarian city of Plovdiv. The forest itself is shaped like a cross and believers claim that at night the sky above it opens up and man can feel the divine messages. A few years ago a new temple was raised here. It was built on donations not only by Christians, but by Muslims as well, from all over the world. Every year the region attracts lots of people who have come to celebrate, the Day of the Cross.

 

                Some call the Forest of the Cross the Bulgarian Jerusalem.

 

 A lot of myths and stories are connected with the place. Many claim to have had visions as well. There is an interesting legend, connected with the Cross, in front of which the worshipers render homage. According to this legend the place was discovered by a local Bulgarian healer and clairvoyant. He sent the sister of the then ruling Tsar Boris III to find a cure there. She was well again after spending only one night in the forest. In gratitude the Tsar erected a cross weighing 66 kilos. He placed it on a spot chosen by the healer and later a spring erupted there whose waters are said to be sacred. Other springs with curative properties are also scattered throughout the forest. If one takes a stone from the Forest of the cross it is regarded as a blessing, which provides him or her with God's mercy and guarantees good health. A long time ago the discoverer of the place said: "Let people know that 150 years from now Christians from all over the world will come to find relief here. It will be considered as a second holy grave, just like the one in Jerusalem".

 

 The Name day for Krustina, Krustyo, Krustan, Kancho, Stavri. Krastyo, Krastina

       According to the popular calendar from the Holy Cross Day on Bulgarians get ready for vintage time. They hoop the casks, the cart (carrying the grapes) and the tub it will be crushed in. Small and big baskets are woven for the grape gatherers. Therefore in some regions the Holy Cross Day is also called Grape-Harvest Day. The sowing of the winter grain crops may start after that day, the seeds being “sanctified” for sowing. That day marks the “crossing” of the day with the night, i.e. they become equal in length. That day requires strict fasting.
       The East Orthodox Church celebrates one of its most important and solemn feasts – the Holy Cross Day. The legend of that church feast takes back to the times when the Christians had no possession over the cross on which Jesus Christ had been crucified. In the year 312 A.D., Emperor Constantine I the Great left with his army for Rome to liberate the capital city of the tyranny of Emperor Maxentius.
        Constantine’s army was inferior in number and so he asked God for support. In the following night, Constantine saw an inscription up on the sky saying “In hoc Vinces”, which means “This will help you win”. A grand victory followed, and Constantine became the only Emperor of the Empire. That prediction truly turned him towards Christianity, and he made the cross its emblem.

        The Christian religion was finally allowed and persecutions of Christians stopped. A few years later, in the year 326, his mother, Queen Helena, visited the holy places of Palestine and wished to find the holy cross on which Jesus had been crucified. Following the instructions of an old Jew, after some hard digging, in 326 Queen Helena’s men managed to find the three crosses. Later, in 335, a small church was built on top of the cave of the grave of Jesus, which was officially sanctified on September 14th, 335, and that day has remained to be celebrated ever since as the Holy Cross Day.

 

   The Holy Cross marks the beginning of a new season, when the day begins to shorten and the sun is believed to take a turn to wintertime. Holy Cross day is seen as the best time to undertake early autumn field work, but it is mostly known as the beginning of the grape harvest. The old Bulgarians get ready for vintage time. Small and big baskets are made for the grape gatherers. Therefore, in some parts of the country, the Holy Cross Day is also called the `Grape-Harvest Day`.

     Another name for the holiday is ‘grozdobernik’ (from the Bulgarian word for grape-picking). On this day peasants dress up and, singing ritual songs about grapes and the wine, they head for the vineyards. There, according to the ritual, people begin to work together and stay until the grape of everyone’s vineyard has been picked. “Don't buy a vineyard, but fine neighbours”, a Bulgarian proverb cautions, while many a folk songs lament the lack of kind and helpful neighbours who could help with the work, since grape-gathering in Bulgaria is traditionally considered to be the mutual work of the whole village. On Holy Cross day peasants gather the fruits of their month-long efforts in the field as a reward for their spring blessings and prayers for fertility. Bulgarian folk songs measure fertility by ‘a grape filling a basket, a vine root – a cart, a cart – a 13 kg cask’. A folk riddle describes the grapevine as a shabby mother, whose children – the grapes – are but ‘comely and dressed up’, while wine is presented as a ‘naughty grandchild’

  The full-bodied young red wine that will fill the big casks features in another riddle: “Red Petko – he neither ploughs, nor plants, but is all people’s delight”. A Bulgarian folk proverb praises the powers hidden in wine as follows: “The fist glass gives health, the second – joy, the third – excitement, the fourth – madness”. Many Bulgarian proverbs warn of how dangerous a drunken man or woman could be. A folk song tells the story of a young man who fell pray to the wine with which his beloved was treating him, repeating “Drink, for when you drink you become more handsome”. However, in reasonable quantities, wine is an indispensable part of each holiday. It is more than a drink - it is one of the symbols of life.

   Here is another folk song tale: a maiden serves wine in a golden goblet at a wedding, but drops the glass and spills the wine. From the wine drops laurel trees grow, reaching up to the clear sky. Thus, grapevines and wine appear as symbols of the tree of life that links earth and heaven, as well as of the family tree. Wine is an obligatory gift which those about to be married give to the person they want as their best-man. Later, each time he calls in, they treat him with ‘heavy wine’, ‘black grape in white plates’, and ‘special dishes in colour plates’. The grapes, the vine and the wine are among the symbols of prosperity and fertility praised in a number of wedding songs. Young maidens make garlands of vine branches singing of how they will throw these into their beloved’s backyard so that tall vines may grow to give good wine. Apart from vine garlands, maidens make also ones from wild geranium – for health, and still others from wheat – for fertility.
    According to some folk beliefs from the Thracian and Rhodope regions, one can eat red grape only after Holy Cross day. Grapes are served at the feast table, where a priest has placed the holy cross. He blesses the table and sprinkles the house and the threshing-floor with holy water, while hosts present him with wheat from the new harvest. Thus, the Holy Cross day feast marks the fruitful outcome of the long and strenuous farm season.

 Oh, you vine-yard!

   In early September vineyards become the scene of a major bustle. In the traditional calendar vintage time opens on Krustovden, Elevation of the Cross, 14 September, with festive rituals. The work of grape-gatherers continues for quite a long time after that. However the demanding job of vine-growers from early spring till late autumn is not a common subject in Bulgarian folk songs. More often than not poetic inspiration comes from vine, grapes and wine in the main. This imagery in folk songs is deeply symbolic too.     A folk song from Bulgaria’s southern plain Thrace is based on a seemingly prosaic story. Kiro yokes a team of oxen together and is off to the vineyard, where abundant black grapes have ripened. However, both the young vine-grower and his mother are thinking not so much of grape-gathering but rather, of the wine and rakiya (brandy) they will make from the grapes. The mother is worried that the forthcoming wedding of her son may not go as planned, without enough wine and rakiya made for the singular occasion. These traditional Bulgarian drinks play a key role in a range of engagement and wedding rituals. A wooden wine flask is the first sign of a marriage proposal. If it is accepted, the girl’s father expresses his consent without words – by raising the flask of wine brought by the envoys of the bridegroom.
   In the Bulgarian folk tradition ripe grapes are very tempting for young people in love. A folk song tells the story of young Micho, who brings to his sweetheart a pile of white grapes, while planning to give her an engagement ring. In another song a girl seduces a bloke taking him to the vineyards to have some black grapes together. In another song a young guy compares a stolen kiss on the dark eyes of the girl to ripe black grapes.
It seems that folklore stories about grapes are usually associated with the theme of requited love. However planting vines is the symbol of the trials of love.

   In one song a girl is planting a white grape vine. Instead of grapes however it yields red tulips. The girl keeps and pampers the tulips for a whole week, but they fail to blossom.

   In a similar story the girl expresses her devotion to her beloved who is away. Even if the absence continued so long that something impossible happened – like the River Danube going dry – she would plant a vineyard in its bottom. The trial for lasting love is also common in a male version – with a young man trying to plant white grape vine on a stone. Despite the absurdity of the task, he is unrelenting in his efforts and succeeds in winning the heart of the girl he fancies.
   The entire symbolism of vintage time, vines and grapes is displayed in a single song. Two young people in love find out that they have dreamt the same dream. In the dream they turn into doves and fly to the vineyards to have some ripe grapes. But the keepers of the vineyards are after them armed with guns. The two doves flee in fear, and reach the house of the boy. Is this dream a prediction for a happy marriage? Probably, yes. Doves perched on vines are among widely used symbols of the bride and bridegroom on wedding loaves of bread. They stand for fertility, longevity and wellbeing of the new family.
 

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