Bulgarians Celebrate Lazarus Saturday

Bulgarian young girls dressed in traditional Lazarus Saturday garb. File photo.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks Saturday the day of Lazarus, which is also a popular holiday in Bulgarian folk tradition.

The day marks the ressurrection of Lazarus, one of the last miracles that Jesus Christ worked while on earth.

Lazarus Saturday is celebrated on the last-but-one Saturday before Easter - the day before Palm Sunday.

On this day, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church also venerates St. Lazarus the Bulgarian, a martyr who lived in the end of the 18th century and was killed in 1802.

In Bulgarian folkore Lazarus Saturday also marks a rite of passage of young girls making them future brides.

Girls aged 10-16 dress festively and gather in small groups to walk around the village or neighborhood singing festive songs of health and a good yield.

People give the girls present and wishes for prosperity. Only after performing that rite does the young girl have the right to marry.

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