Koledni Zagovezni is the last day on which people eat meat, eggs and dairy before the 40-day fast. On Saturday, 14 November, the Orthodox Church also honours St Philip the Apostle, and people named Philip, Filipa and related names celebrate their name day.
The apostle from Bethsaida
Philip was one of Christ's twelve apostles. He was born in Bethsaida, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. According to his life story, after the Resurrection he set out to preach in Syria and Asia Minor with his sister Mariamne and the apostle Bartholomew.
In the city of Hierapolis, pagans seized them and put them on trial, accusing them of sorcery. Philip was crucified upside down. A strong earthquake then shook the city, and the others were freed.
The last feast before the fast
On Koledni Zagovezni, relatives ask each other for forgiveness and sit down together for the last feast before the fast. The meal is heavy, because there will be no meat for a long time afterwards. The table is set with meat dishes, eggs and dairy products.
The Christmas fast, also known as St Philip's Fast, begins on Sunday, 15 November. It lasts until Christmas Eve, 24 December. During these 40 days the church bans meat and all foods of animal origin. Fish and wine are allowed on the Presentation of the Virgin Mary, 21 November, and on St Nicholas Day, 6 December.
No church weddings until Epiphany
Couples who plan a church wedding must wait. From 15 November until Christmas, and as a rule until Epiphany, the church does not hold weddings. Church weddings are therefore put off until after 6 January. Check the exact rule on the website of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church or at your local church.
Insulin day
14 November is also World Diabetes Day. The International Diabetes Federation declared it in 1991 with the help of the World Health Organization. A UN resolution of December 2006 made it an official UN day, marked as such since 2007. The date was chosen because Frederick Banting, one of the discoverers of insulin, was born on it. In Bulgaria there are usually free blood sugar checks and consultations with doctors around this time, so anyone who has not checked their blood sugar for a long while has a good reason to do so.
Today the Bulgarian Choral Union marks its 100th anniversary with a jubilee concert at Bulgaria Hall in Sofia at 7pm. From 11am, a ceremony at the Lubomir Pipkov National School of Music will launch a commemorative stamp for the anniversary. At 5.30pm an exhibition, "100 Years Together in Song", opens in the Marble Foyer of Bulgaria Hall. The date is also an important anniversary in history: the Serbo-Bulgarian War began on 14 November 1885. On 14 November 1943, Allied aircraft carried out the first major bombing of Sofia.
Happy name day to Philip, Filipa, Filipina and everyone with a name derived from the apostle's name.