Bulgarian Orthodox Christians Celebrate Michaelmas

According to the Bulgarian folklore, Archangel Michail holds a golden apple in one hand and a knife in the other. File photo

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church honors on Thursday Michaelmas, the feast of St Michael the Archangel, or the feast of Michael and All Angels.

In the Christian Orthodox calendar Michaelmas falls on November 8.

The Bulgarian Police celebrate the day of Archangel Michael or Michaelmas as their professional holiday.

Michelmas in Bulgaria is the name day of people named Angel, Angelina, Michael, Michaela, Radka, Radmila, Rayna, Reneta, Ognyan, Plamen and Emil, among others.

The Archangel Michael is believed to be one of the principal angelic warriors, seen as a protector against the dark of night, and the administrator of cosmic intelligence.

According to the Christian Orthodox Church, Saint Michael is one of the seven primary angels, who is always standing near God's throne and represents God's word.

The Christian Orthodox Church introduced the holiday to oppose the heretic Judea since, according to some canons of the Old Testament, they had fallen into a pagan worship of the sun, the moon, the stars and believed that angels have created all living things and were more important than Christ.

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