White eggs are presented to the girls, preparations for Holy Week begin
Eight days before Easter, always on Saturday, the Christian church celebrates Lazarus Day. The holiday is associated with Saint Lazarus, with his resurrection by Jesus, and his name is a symbol of health and longevity.
In folk traditions and beliefs, the Christian resurrection is intertwined with the rebirth of nature for new life, and this is clearly seen in the customs of Lazarus Day. On this day, the willow branches are plucked, which will be consecrated tomorrow on Palm Sunday and which the faithful will take to their homes as a blessing.
This is the day for Lazaruvane – a rite of initiation for all maidens so that they can pass under a wedding ceremony. In folk tradition, this custom is the symbolic death and rebirth of the child into a woman. The girl now has a new social status – she can choose her fiance and be asked as a bride.
On Lazarovden itself, little and older girls – lazarkas – go around the fields and houses, play and sing songs about love, fertility, health and family well-being. The custom ends the next morning with the “Kumichene” ritual, in which the maidens drop their wreaths on the river. The one whose wrist arrives first is declared the Kumitza and the others pay their respects to her throughout the year.
On the day of the feast, two maidens carry egg baskets, because only white eggs are given to lazarkas. Two others carry krivaks (thick sticks) – symbolically in this way they play a male role. It happens that one carries a krivak and the other a baltia (axe) and she is called Bride of Lazarus.
Entering the yard of a house, the two maidens with the crooks stand and raise their clubs, while the other maidens surround them in a circle. In this circle enter four other lazarkas (relatively speaking), veiled with a bias over the eyes. Without holding hands, they dance around the girls with the crooks.
While the lazar girls play, the maidens arranged in a circle around them sing lazar songs. Both Christmas carols and Lazarus carols are tailored to each member of the family and to each social situation. There are songs for a young man, for a boy, for a girl, for a child, for a bride, for a host, for a housewife, for a shepherd, for a ploughman, etc. There are also songs for a mayor, for a priest, for a leader – all excellent in society villagers.
People with the names Lazar, Lazarka, Lazarin, Lazarina, Lazo, Laska, Elizar, Lachezara, Lachezar have a name day on Lazrovden.
#Lazarovden #celebration #fields #pastures #forests #Agro #Plovdiv
