Beginning of Holy Week

Bulgarian Christian Orthodox mark on April 18 Holy Monday the Monday from the most important for Christians week - Holy Week.

Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter. It includes the religious holidays of Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday (Holy Thursday) and Good Friday, and lasts from Palm Sunday (or in the Eastern Orthodox, Lazarus Saturday) until Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday is the first day of the new season of The Great Fifty Days.

Holy Week commemorates the last week of the earthly life of Jesus Christ as recorded in the Canonical Gospels.

The days between Palm Sunday and Holy Thursday are known as Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday. The Gospels of these days recount events not all of which occurred on the corresponding days between Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and his Last Supper.

During Holy Week, services for each day are held on the preceding evening. Thus, the service of Great Monday is sung on Palm Sunday evening, and so on.

In the Orthodox Church, Great Lent ends on the Friday before Palm Sunday, but the faithful continue fasting until Easter. Fasting during Great and Holy Week is, actually, very strict. Dairy products and meat products are forbidden. On most days, no alcoholic beverages are permitted and no oil is used in the cooking. Friday and Saturday are observed as strict fast days, meaning that nothing should be eaten on those days. However, fasting is always adjusted to the needs of the individual, and those who are very young, ill or elderly are not expected to fast as strictly.

On Holy Monday, the Gospels tell the story of Jesus and his disciples traveling to Jerusalem for Passover, where he expels the money changers from the Temple, accusing them of turning the Temple to a den of thieves through their commercial activities

In the Orthodox Church, Holy and Great Wednesday is the commemoration of the sinful woman who anointed Jesus before his Crucifixion and Burial; a second theme is the agreement to betray Jesus made by Judas Iscariot.

Maundy Thursday is connected with the Last Supper. The Last Supper is the final meal that Jesus Christ shared with his Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion. At that meal Jesus, on the night he was betrayed or "delivered up", gave his disciples bread, saying it was his body, which was broken for them, and gave them wine, saying it was the new covenant in his blood, and told them to do it in his memory.

For children in Bulgaria, Maundy Thursday is the most anticipated day of Holy Week, The tradition was to get up very early and the kids went watching which hen will be the first one to lay an egg. This was also the first egg to be colored, always in red. It is rubbed on children's cheeks for good health. In the Orthodox Church, those who cannot dye their eggs Thursday are allowed to do it on Saturday.

Good or Holy Friday is the Day of the Crucifixion, dedicated to the passions of the Christ. Work and chores are not allowed on this day – the only thing one can do is to draw on the already colored eggs. Food is also banned; the faithful can only drink water.

On Holy Saturday, people visit the graves of their departed family and friend and share colored eggs and bread. This is the day to bake the traditional Easter bread known as kozunak. The Easter vigil starts at midnight before Easter Sunday, which is the great feast day and culmination of not only Holy Week but the whole year. On this day, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is celebrated. It is considered the most important day in the Church year, as it is the day on which Jesus rose from the dead. Easter Sunday is the main reason why Christians keep Sunday as the primary day of religious observance.

Palm Sunday 2011

Palm Sunday is a Christian feast that marks the beginning of Holy Week and commemorates Jesus' triumphant return to the city of Jerusalem. In 2011, Palm Sunday will be celebrated on April 17.

Although the return to Jerusalem is recounted in all four canonical gospels, the traditions of Palm Sunday are largely based on the description from the Gospel of John.

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!"

By waving him with palm branches and using them to cover his path as he rode into the city on a donkey, the crowd indicated that he was revered and respected on the level of royalty.

To celebrate the occasion, many Christian churches, both Catholic and Protestant as well as the Eastern churches, distribute palm leaves to congregation members who then carry them in a procession either inside or outside of the church. Often the palm fronds are knotted or woven into small crosses that can be kept by individuals in their homes as a reminder of the lessons of Holy Week. In areas of the world where palm leaves are not readily available, other native plants may be substituted and Palm Sunday may be alternatively referred to as Yew Sunday, Willow Sunday, or whatever else is used in that locality.

The liturgy for Palm Sunday services usually follows the palm processions with a reading of the Passion story, a meaningful reminder that many of the same crowd that welcomed Jesus to Jerusalem would participate in the mob that cheered for his death less than a week later.

For Christians, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the final week of Lent and the events leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter. It is also connected to the following year's liturgical calendar as the palm leaves are often returned to the church to be burned in the next year's Ash Wednesday rituals.