Today I will present another bulgarian tradition - Orthodox Easter.This year this holliday is on April,19.As an orthodox christian I am pretty familiar with the details of this celebration, called"Velikden" in Bulgaria.This holliday commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead three days after his crusifixion on Good Friday.According to the tradition, on Sunday people go to the official church service.At midnight, when the ceremony is finished, everybody is supposed to carry home a candle while it is still burning.Colored eggs are cracked after the service and during the next days.The person with the strongest egg will be the healthiest and the luckiest one during the year.The Easter breads are another orthodox tradition.These have specific name "kozunak" and can be big or small, but allways decorated.Eggs and Easter breads are given as a gift to relatives,friends,neighbors etc.The Orthodox Paschal greeting is "Christ is Risen!" The traditional answer is"Indeed He is Risen."
Although the Easter eggs are dyed in diffrent colors, the red one is a symbol of the holliday.The tradition of the red eggs is connected to a specific legend:Mary Magdalene went all over to spread the news that Jesus had risen.When she reached Rome,she took an egg to Tiberius' palace as a gift and handed it to the Emperor with the greeting:Christ has risen from the dead!"The Emperor answered:"How could anyone ever rise from the dead! It is as impossible as that white egg to turn red right now!"While Tiberius was talking, the egg in Mary Magdalene's hand changed color until it finally became bright red.Ever since this greeting has remained to express the belief of orthodox christians in the resurrection.
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