We celebrate the Nativity of the Virgin Mary on September 8.
On today's holiday, Maria, Boris, Bogdan, Bogomil, Bogomila, Bogomir and others celebrate their name day.
The holiday is for the Marys who are still children or have not been married - it is believed to be under the influence of Greek tradition. No housework is done on the Little Virgin Mary.
Although it is called by our people “Little Virgin Mary” - probably because it honors the birth of a holy girl, destined to become the Mother of God - this is still one of the great holidays in the annual cycle. Christians love and deeply honor this holiday.
According to folk tradition, girls named Mary celebrate their name day on this day.
A number of monasteries in the country have a temple holiday on this day: Rila, Troyan, Rozhen, Vrach, etc.
The third holiday in honor of the Mother of God is that of her birth.
September 8 is celebrated mainly by women, so that they may be alive and healthy, give birth easily, and that the Virgin Mary will help them in trouble or difficult work.
A large pita bread, the Virgin Mary's bread, is kneaded in her name, which is broken and distributed to everyone in the family.
One piece is left for the livestock and ground into its food, another piece is called the house, so that the Virgin Mary will protect it. In some areas, they keep this piece until the fourth day of the Mother of God, when the feast of the Feast of the Most Holy Theotokos (December 26) is celebrated.
This Christian holiday is also one of the most preferred for baptisms and weddings.
In most areas between the Great and the Little Theotokos, women do not weave, do not sew (and in some places do not even knead), so that their children are healthy.
Between the two Theotokos, most spring, perennial flowers and shrubs are transplanted and propagated - peonies, irises, lilacs. The Little Theotokos holiday is also celebrated with village-wide gatherings, choirs, songs; usually near churches, monasteries and places of worship associated with the Mother of God. Somewhere in her honor they also slaughter a sacrificial animal - a ram.
The ritual associated with the Virgin Mary always has certain pagan elements, due to the functional connection of the Christian saint with the ancient deities of fertility and mother goddesses. The Virgin Mary's birthday coincides with the birth of the new agrarian season.
The ritual practices are determined by the idea of this turning point: they aim to ensure fertility, fecundity and health through grain and animal sacrifice. Thus, in the folk calendar, under the patronage of the Mother of God, the new agricultural cycle begins.