Christians in Bulgaria welcome Christmas

With a festive night vigil, led by Patriarch Daniil, Orthodox Christians welcomed the birth of the Savior of the World, Jesus Christ.
According to the Gospel, the Son of God was born in a cave in Bethlehem, in the province of Judaea. At the moment of Christmas, an extraordinary light emerged in the sky and an angel announced that the Savior had come into the world. The shepherds of Bethlehem were the first to worship God the Son. Three eastern kings, led to the place by a star that rose in the sky, also honoured him, BGNES recalls.

“Today a wonderful and glorious mystery is being performed – nature is being renewed and God becomes man. The invisible God takes on a human form, the Infinite One is wrapped in swaddling clothes. He whose throne is in heaven is laid in a manger. The sinless One is clothed in human nature, damaged by sin, in order to sanctify it and restore it to its heavenly purity,” Patriarch Daniil stated in his speech, delivered in the Patriarchal Cathedral “St. Alexander Nevsky”.

Asked by journalists what his message to believers was, the Patriarch said that we marvel at God’s great mercy for God to become man: “He found us, while we often get lost in the abyss of our unbelief, in ignorance, weakness, in enmity. But he found us and showed us who we are. And we have no other future – what is the future of man without God, therefore Christ is our future. He showed us how we can be with him in eternity.”

The folk tradition of this day is associated with the custom of carolling. From midnight until morning, carolers - young men of unmarried age - would go around the homes, singing Christmas songs with wishes for health, happiness in the family and a rich harvest.

"Let us have peaceful Christ-like spirit for salvation," Patriarch Daniil says

Editor: Diana Tsankova

Photo: BGNES