Великден

So it is Velikden (literally "Great Day") which is Orthodox Easter.

In the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the most traditional of Easter services is actually at midnight on Saturday (well, the start of Sunday). It is a candelight service that put me in mind very much of my Christmas Eve services, only with the added benefit of Bulgarian Chaos.

I met my counterpart, Rosie, outside of my bloc at 11:15 p.m. We walked to the church, which was being protected by two police cars (apparently crowd control). There were swarms of people all over the place, most of them carrying the orange candles always available at these churches. Rosie and I went inside, bought some candles, and managed to shove our way to the alter to light them. (I lit one small one for each member of my immediate family and carried one slightly larger one.)

Then we stood and waited....And waited....And no one seemed to know when anything would happen. Or even WHAT would happen next. After about 15 minutes of everyone standing in a mob inside the church, dripping wax all over, the priest came out and pressed his way through the crowd to the outside. We all followed, pushing and shoving one another, and pushing and shoving the people trying to get inside the church. We were all going to exactly the same place, and we all had candles in our hands, but apparently the pushing and shoving is just a cultural thing that needs to happen. Even when it can result in burns.

Anyway, the priest led us on a walk around the church 3 times. I have still to find someone who can explain why they do this, but I will. Once we made it around, the priest set up camp right outside the door and began to chant. No one was really listening, and people were pushing past him to go in and out of the church. After a few minutes of this, Rosie said it was over and we tried to walk all the way home with our candles lit. I made it to the benches outside of my bloc, which was impressive. I think she made it all the way.

Anyway, I came home and went to bed. The next day, Velikden, was a lovely spring Sunday. The highlight of the day was watching the beginnings of a wedding from my balcony. One of the girls from the business center got married, and the beginning part of Bulgarian weddings looks like so much fun!

First, the whole of the groom's family parades from the groom's house to the bride's house (in this case, she lived in the apartment building next to mine.) They play the guida (Bulgarian bagpipes) and drums and the women horo all the way...Along the way the maid of honor and best man, who will later become the couple's children's godparents, join the parade.

When they arrive at the bride's house, the groom and his immediate family go up to her door and a ritual is performed...I have heard various accounts of this part though I know it includes the groom offering the bride's father money, the father refusing, the groom offering more, and so on until they reach an agreement. Then the bride is brought out, and the dancing starts again for a bit (this time I think it is just to show the bride off to her neighbors.) Then they all parade and dance to the center of town where they go to the municipality building and sign the papers, then to the reception hall where they party to all hours of the night.

And that's a Bulgarian wedding. It is less formal and regimented than American weddings, but I don't know, it's more soulful. It's a true celebration of the community, and the bride and groom are not just the ones on display amongst the guests...It is their special day all over town. It's just...FUN.