St. Dmitry's Day

Fire Horse (Animation by Georgy Kirkov)A national holiday in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Dmitry of Thessaloniki, called by the Bulgarians Dimitrovden. The Great Martyr Dmitry was born in the third century and his father was the mayor of Solonika (now in Greece). After his death, Emperor Maximian Galerius handed over this post to his son. Dmitry was received by the residents of Solonika with great joy. As ruler of the city, he openly preached Christianity. For his faith, he was thrown into prison and later killed by a spear on October 26 on the orders of the pagan emperor Galerius. He was killed together with his colleague Nestor, whose memory the Bulgarian Church celebrates on October 27.

There is a proverb that says, “St. Dmitri brings winter, and St. George brings summer.” In one folk tale, both saints are twin brothers. St. Dimitri has seniority. He rides on a fire horse and is the master of winter. According to legend, from under the white beard of the saint, the first snowflakes fly to the ground. “Saint Dmitri to the court is winter to the court,” say the elderly Bulgarians. Therefore, on this day it is customary to bring back to the house sokha and harrow, stack firewood for the winter. In the old days, to the day of St. Dmitry, work was completed on the field for harvesting and sowing winter crops, the owners freed the workers hired for the summer and paid with them. Therefore, in many villages on this day are held holidays (collections). Families, close and familiar, gather around the table to mark the end of active agricultural work, sum up the past months of hard work, and just have fun. The end of October is the height of engagements and weddings. What no evening - parties are arranged, in the squares to the music dance choro, and this is a convenient reason to make new acquaintances, make an offer ...

In some mountainous areas of the central part of the country, this day is called “useful” – the so-called guest who first stepped over the threshold of the house. If he is a good and prosperous person, then the next year will be born rich. If the month is full on the eve of the holiday, then the hives next year will be full of honey.