The period of preparation for Easter begins with Lent, forty days before Easter. The official religion of Bulgaria is Bulgarian Orthodoxy, and in Orthodoxy, Lent begins on a Monday. So, the Sunday night before the start of Lent, there is a big celebration, with lots of music and a large bonfire. The Orthodox Christians have a huge fast for Lent, but those belonging to the Church of the Nazarene do not focus so much on fasting. Instead, there are daily readings for Lent posted on the church website so the church can journey to Easter.
When Palm Sunday comes, there is a big celebration. One cannot find palm trees in Bulgaria, so branches of willow trees are used instead of palm branches. Palm Sunday is the name day for everyone named after a flower. There are some Bulgarian traditions associated with this day that take place mainly in villages, so I did not participate in those. However, we still shared a big meal together after church. If one stopped by the Orthodox church in the morning, the Orthodox church would give out a willow branch to each person. There were many people in Razgrad holding palm branches on Palm Sunday morning. During the week, I noticed some people had hung these branches by their door, or some other place where they were visible. Also on Palm Sunday, we had a baptism service, and six people were baptized!
Maundy Thursday is a special celebration in the church. I did not observe how Orthodox participate in Maundy Thursday, but I was a part of the Church of the Nazarene Maundy Thursday celebration. We gathered in the church for a feast, and everyone brought food to share. People from the village of Ossenets had slaughtered and prepared a lamb for our meal. There was no limit to the amount of food! We began the Maundy Thursday service with prayer, singing, and Pastor Nikolay sharing some thoughts, then we all sat at the long table that stretched across the front of the sanctuary. Throughout the meal, people would get up about every ten or fifteen minutes and read Scripture that led us from prophecies about Christ, to Palm Sunday, to the Last Supper. During this time, there was also a footwashing service happening in the side rooms, so each person had the opportunity to follow Christ’s example of servanthood and wash another’s feet. After a couple hours, we partook in the Lord’s Supper together, and sang some more songs before we dispersed.
Good Friday was a sad day. We had a service at noon, and sang mournful songs and read Scripture about Christ’s crucifixion. One thing different from what I am used to is that the service did not end in silence, but everyone greeted each other afterward with the usual greeting, “Glory to God.” I was also able to participate in an Orthodox service for Good Friday, and the Troyan Monastery. The service lasted a couple hours, and it was a mourning service. At one point, everyone left the church, led by the bishop, priests, and choir, and walked around the church. The priests were holding a cloth, like a burial shroud, representing Christ’s body. At various points around the church everyone stopped, the bishop read Scripture, and the choir sang. These were like the various stations of the cross, remembering Christ’s journey to Golgotha. After making a full circle around the church, everyone went inside. The priests holding the cloth stood at the entrance, and everyone kissed the edge of the cloth, then stooped down and ducked under it to enter the church. This ritual signified entering with Christ into his death. The Orthodox Church is full of rituals that have great significance.
Saturday night, not long after 11pm, we gathered at the Orthodox church for a service. The first part of the service was a mourning service, which lasted till about midnight. Around midnight, everyone went outside and walked around the outside of the church three times. When they came back to the front, there was a liturgy that proclaimed Christ’s resurrection. After the traditional “Christ is Risen!” “He is Risen Indeed!” three times, the priests knocked on the locked doors of the church, asking for entrance. The response to “Who is there?” was, “Open the gates, that the King of Glory may come in!” At that point, everyone flooded back into the church for a service celebrating Christ’s resurrection.
In the Church of the Nazarene service, we had a joyous celebration Easter morning. It was the best, most joyful, time I have been at church yet. There were many guests, and Pastor Nikolay gave a welcome to each one. There was lots of singing, special choir songs, and a drama, along with a sermon talking about Christ’s resurrection. In Bulgaria, Easter is called “Velik Den,” which means, “Great Day.” It is the greatest day of the whole year! One special way we celebrated was by having people come up to the stage and say “Christ is Risen!” “He is Risen Indeed!” in as many languages as were represented in the church. This phrase, in Bulgarian, will be the greeting each day until Pentecost. Christ is risen, and that is cause for great celebration!
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