On the holy night of Easter and all over the next forty days, Orthodox believers in Bulgaria greet each other with "Christos voskrese".

The greeting , meaning Christ has resurrected and its answer "Vo istina voskrese" (Indeed he has risen) express the fundamentals of Christian faith, it gives meaning to the whole cycle of Christ's birth and life on earth.

As Saturday midnight arrived, people gathered for worship at the Orthodox churches across entire Bulgaria to celebrate the Orthodox Easter. The mass started after the arrival of the fire light from Jerusalem.

An Easter mass was served later on Sunday by the aged Patriarch Maxim at the Sofia Saint Nedelya church, his first mass after a lingering illness.

At midnight on Saturday people go to church with their red-painted eggs and tap each other's ones after the priest proclaims that Easter has come. According to tradition, the first red-painted egg is kept at home next to an icon till the following Easter.

The ritual of tapping the eggs in turns takes place before the Easter lunch. The person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is believed to have a year of good luck.

The Easter breads, called "kozunak", are another important element of the Orthodox Easter tradition. This bread is taken to church on Saturday evening when a special sequence of services takes place.

This past week has been Holy Week, including special worship services on Holy Thursday, Holy Friday and Holy Saturday.

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