The name
day of Petkana, Petrana, Penka, Petko.
There are a
number of folk beliefs, connected with the day of Saint Petka –
October 14.
The day of
Saint Petka is also known as Saint Paraskeva’s day. She is revered as
the patron of women’s handiwork – spinning, carding wool, weaving,
sowing. But this is precisely the kind of work women should not engage
in on Saint Petka’s day. In some villages, tradition ordains that
women do no work, connected with the processing of wool in the 12 days
that follow. According to popular belief, Saint Petka appears as a
snake to those women who violated the taboo and work with wool on the
day dedicated to her. It was believed that if a man wore woollen
clothing, cut and sown during this period, then his flock would be
attacked by wolves during the winter.
On the
day of Saint Petka it is forbidden to spin and knit. In our folk
mythology she is an aunt of Saint Demetrius. On her day children must
not take baths. It is believed that the ones who do not fast on the
Friday before the holiday may drown.
There is another, parallel line in the meaning of Saint
Petka’s day. According to popular belief, there is a male-saint by the
same name - Saint Petko, who is patron of this day. This saint takes
the guise of a wolf – probably a leftover from the ancient cult of the
wolf as a sacred animal. Saint Petka’s day, and the whole month of
October as well as November are considered to be a transition from
autumn to winter. That is why people in villages harboured great fears
about the coming months of snow and cold. Winter was regarded as the
time of wild animals. In their honour, these transition months are
rich in long ritual periods and all kinds of days – like Beast days,
Wolf days, Mouse days. Bear days. In the past, people were acutely
aware of the presence of forest beasts. And the rituals and feast
days, preceding the winter were a magic charm to ward off these fears.
Through ritual taboos and sacrifices, the animals of danger to man
were neutralized and sent far away.
However, Saint Petka’s day became a genuine feast day thanks
to a ritual, very different from those already mentioned. On this day
young girls and lads came out into the village square for the first
big chain dance of the village. This kind of merrymaking had been
“forgotten” during the summer and early autumn, because there was a
lot of hard work to be done in the fields. But starting on Saint
Petka’s day, young and old were free to turn their attention to the
forthcoming season of weddings. That is why the Saint Petka’s day
chain dance used to bring together all unmarried boys and girls. And
while they were dancing, parents and relatives would gather around the
chain dance. They would watch closely and chose their future sons and
daughters in law. In olden times parental consent was crucial. But of
course, young people also made their choice at the big chain dance.
That is why in some villages the chain dance was also known as the
‘match-making’ dance. And there are many folk songs, which tell
stories how lads and lasses and their parents watched and made their
choice.
The sun is about to set, goes one chain-dance song. It describes
the moment when a big village chain dance starts. Two young brides are
leading it, and in-between is young lass Doyna – the custom was very
strict – unmarried girls were supposed to be chaperoned by their
relatives. But what was Doyna thinking while she was dancing? “Hey,
brides, my sisters-in-law, is marriage a good thing? asks the girl.
“When you get married yourself, you will see,” they reply. Another
song, probably from more modern times, tells the story of a
chain-dance, which gives more freedom to the unmarried dancers. “What
a chain dance – a girl next to a boy”, says one mother to her son, who
was unable to go to the dance. “And two next to your beloved, the
first reaching out to touch her wrist, the second stepping next to her
slippers”. But it seems the son was not worried by competition,
because the song ends with the assurance that the girl will yet be
his. And another song tells the story of match-making at the chain
dance. All girls and boys were there and dancing. But all the time,
Dimitar was looking for the girl of his heart Dena. He didn’t see her
among the dancers, but saw her mother by the chain dance watching. He
asked her to call her daughter. “Tell her when she comes, to join the
dancers, to light up the chain dance,” that is how the young man
compares his girl to the sun. However, in another song, the young man
is much more direct when he describes the girl he has chosen - I need
a girl in white and red, a tall and slender girl. He has already
chosen her, but his parents disapprove of her, because she does not
have a rich dowry and comes from a poor family. Beauty is the leading
motive in another song - “Looking at petty girls, mother – what a
feast to the eye”. The young man in this song has chosen Russanka, a
girl as fresh as an apple. The young man makes a vow to build a road
leading to her doorstep, so she won’t have to dirty her yellow
slippers, if she accepts his love and they are married. Such are the
sentiments at the big “match-making” chain dance on Saint Petka’s day
which marks the beginning of the period when brides and
daughters-in-law are chosen, and which is followed by the season of
weddings.
Saint Petka Monastery near Sofia
Huddled in the folds of Mount Lyulin near Sofia only 8 km
away from the resort of Bankya lies Saint Petka monastery, a.k.a. the
pearl of the monasteries in the vicinity of Sofia. The
compound
includes a small church, housing and economic facilities and is
situated beautifully overlooking the village of Klissoura halfway down
the ancient Roman road between Sofia and Breznik. The outer and inner
walls abound in murals of saints and scenes from the Gospel
accompanied by quotations from the Holy Scripture.
Legend has it that in
1238 the Bulgarian King Ivan Assen II was carrying the relics of Saint
Petka of Bulgaria to the medieval capital of Turnovo. On its way the
procession stopped to rest and the saint’s relics sanctified the
place. A church was erected on the site of the miracle and the church
later grew into a monastery. Saint Petka, also known as Paraskeva,
came from the family of wealthy Bulgarians from Epivat on the Marble
Sea. She lived in the XI c., but ever since her death her relics have
been performing miraculous healings. The bones have been transported
from her birthplace to Bulgaria, only to be carried later to Serbia
and Constantinople, and to be finally laid for rest in the city of Yas
in Romania.
Little is known of the history of the
monastery, whose library and archives perished in the great fire in
the second half of the 20th century. The old church was built more
than 300 years ago, but collapsed in 1956. It took the newly arrived
nun Mary Magdalena from Russia only a couple of years to restore
entirely the church, famous for its life-size depictions of Bulgarian
and Russian saints, as well as scenes from the Bible and the
passionals.
In 2002 Philotea became the monastery’s Mother
Superior. “We need to have a greater number of nuns, and our doors are
open to women and girls who wish to devote their lives to God and the
salvation of their souls,” she told a Radio Bulgaria reporter and
added: “Many in Bulgaria think that monasteries are a refuge for
people who have failed in life, or ones who have suffered a major
disappointment, or simply a place to hide from the brouhaha of the
mundane life. But they are totally wrong. A monastery is a place where
people go of their own will and personal belief to devote their lives
to God with the only aim to earn the salvation of their souls, for
moral and spiritual perfection. Anything else is transitory, and after
you spend some time at the monastery time begins to erase everything.
A famous Christian theologian, the Reverend Elder Siluan, or Siluan of
Mount Athos, set an example of a monk’s life with his constant labour
and intellectual endeavours and his endless prayers. He used to say
that the world would continue its existence as long as there were
monks left on this Earth, because with their prayers they asked God to
have pity and help the whole world, not only them. The salvation of
the soul is the Christian’s first and foremost task.”
The Mother Superior told us also that many people flocked to
the monastery to thank for Saint Petka’s help. The monastery’s holiday
is October 14, the day when the Bulgarian Orthodox Church reveres the
memory of Saint Petka of Bulgaria. Do guests from abroad come as well?
Here is the Mother Superior with the answer: “Russian monks come to
the monastery drawn by the life and works of Mary Magdalena. Recently
the bishop of Lovech published a book about her. Serbian monks come,
too. The rest of the foreigners come mainly as tourists. We have
witnessed a revival of Christian values in recent years. More than a
thousand people come to the monastery every week. My personal
explanation is that it is only too natural: to search for the
spiritual things in life.”
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PEACE HAVENS of BULGARIA
