(6 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Elin Pelin, Sofia, Bulgaria – 6 January 2025
1. Various of religious procession to banks of Lesnovska river
2. MId of reflection of people gathered by icy river
3. Various of people attending water blessing ritual near river
4. Various of men entering the icy waters of Lesnovska river, dancing and singing
5. Wide of priest throwing wooden cross into river, men retrieving
6. Various of men celebrating and kissing cross
7. Mid of people reflected in water
8. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Venko Stefanov, 62, attendee:
"We celebrate the baptism (of Jesus) in the Jordan River. A tradition has been created that we continue to do year after year. We say we do it to stay healthy through the year."
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sofia, Bulgaria – 6 January 2025
9. Church chorus sing near lake in Sofia
10. SOUNDBITE (Bulgarian) Boris Tsvetkov, 51, attendee:
"Today’s holiday symbolizes the conversion to Christianity – the throwing of the cross and its retrieving, which is on the occasion of the baptism of Christians, and that’s the way we celebrated it in Bulgaria. As we do not have the Jordan River – we traditionally hold the custom in ponds, lakes, rivers. The cross is thrown and retrieved to mark the people’s faith in God."
11. Priests blessing people as procession passes
STORYLINE:
Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers in Bulgaria on Monday braved the freezing winter weather to observe their centuries-old Epiphany traditions.
Young men plunged into the icy waters of rivers and lakes across the Balkan country, which is primarily Orthodox, to retrieve crucifixes tossed by priests in ceremonies commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ.
It is believed that the person who retrieves the wooden cross will be freed from evil spirits and will be healthy throughout the year. After the cross is fished out, the priest sprinkles believers with water using a bunch of basil.
In the tiny city of Elin Pelin, situated in a rural area east of the capital, Sofia, dozens of men jumped into the wintry waters of the Lesnovska River to catch the blessed cross.
The peak of the celebrations was the slow “mazhko horo”, or men’s dance, performed by men dressed in traditional white embroidered shirts who waded into the river singing folk songs and waving national flags.
The celebration of Epiphany, or the Apparition of Christ, as Bulgarians call it, began on Monday in Sofia with a water blessing ceremony.
Senior clergymen of Bulgaria’s Orthodox church said prayers for the prosperity of the people and blessed the colors of representative army units in a tradition that was abandoned in 1946 but re-established following the fall of communism in 1992.
Epiphany marks the end of the 12 days of Christmas, but not all Orthodox Christian churches celebrate it on the same day.
While the Orthodox Christian churches in Greece, Bulgaria and Romania celebrate the feast on Jan. 6, Orthodox Churches in Russia, Ukraine and Serbia follow the Julian calendar, according to which Epiphany is celebrated on Jan. 19, as their Christmas falls on Jan. 7.
AP Video by Valentina Petrova
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