St Sava and his monastery
On 5 December each year, the Orthodox Church honours St Sabbas the Sanctified. Known in Bulgaria as St Sava, he was an ascetic—a person devoted to a life of religious discipline—who lived in the fifth and sixth centuries. Born in Cappadocia, he became one of the great teachers of monastic life.
In the late fifth century, he founded the Great Lavra in Palestine, a monastery that still exists and bears his name. It stands in the desert near Bethlehem, above the Kidron Valley, and is one of the oldest continuously active monasteries in the world.
The monastery’s rule, known as the Jerusalem Typikon, sets out the order of worship. It has had a strong influence on services throughout the Orthodox Church, including in Bulgaria.
Savinden in folk tradition
In Bulgaria’s folk calendar, Savinden—the Bulgarian name for St Sava’s Day—belongs to the winter sequence of St Barbara’s Day, St Sava’s Day and St Nicholas’s Day. Traditional belief holds that true winter arrives on Savinden and that the snow begins.
Women observe the occasion together with St Barbara’s Day by boiling wheat and sharing it for children’s health. This custom forms part of the day’s place in Bulgaria’s winter traditions.
Name days and working-day status
St Sava’s Day is not a public holiday: it is a normal working day in Bulgaria.
It is also a name day, an occasion celebrating people whose names are associated with the saint. Those celebrating include Sava, Savka, Savina and Savko, as well as people with related names.