The Plovdiv Metropolitan Arsenius, accompanied by the priests of nearby churches, is going to bless the units and the colors of the detachments of Plovdiv military garrison, as reported by Col. Georgi Marinov of Operation Forces Commandment in Plovdiv. The ritual is going to take place at the Suedinenie Square, 10.30 am, in accordance to the old-times Bulgarian ritual served at Epiphany Day (Yordanovden) ? the day when Jesus Christ was baptized in the waters of the Jordan River.
On Epiphany Day (Yordanovden)day, Bulgarian Orthodox Church gives its blessing to the BG Army by means of a pray for ?people?s success?. According to historical data, the ritual of consecration of colors goes back to the time of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Pogonat (648-685) and was accepted in Bulgaria by Tsar Simeon the Great in 917 right before the battle of Acheloy.
The ritual was popular until Bulgaria?s enslavement by the Ottoman Empire, and after the Liberation (1878) was restored again in 1880 and was actively performed up to 1946. In our latest history the ritual was re-introduced in 1993.