PANAGIA – the tradition of the rising of the bread

Every year on 14th of August, people in the village of Slokoshtitsa, Kyustendil district, revive the old tradition of preparing Bogoroditsa’s holy bread and baking it in podnitsa. The ritual is held in the yard of the old St.Nikola church in the village, where old women and young girls bring “silent” water for the ceremonial bread making. Grandmas show their granddaughters how to knead the dough with just water, flour and salt, of course, in silence. In the end, the young girls put a special seal, called prosphora, leave the dough to rise and bake it in podnitsa. Only the wheat flour from the new harvest can be used in the preparation of this bread, so people can be healthy and wealthy until the next year. If you visit the celebration with your kids, you will have the chance to try making the bread by yourself. You should not miss entering the church and lighting a candle in front of the miraculous icon of St.Nikola.