On January 6th the Bulgarian people celebrate Epiphany or St. Jordan's Day.

The festival has different names in the different parts of the country, some of them are Krastovden (Day of the Cross) or Voditzi (Waters).

The night before St. Jordan's Day is the last one of the "incensed" nights. According to the popular belief, in the dead of night on Epiphany the skies open and everyone who sees them will be given by God all that he wishes.

On St. Jordan's Day a cross is thrown into a river or a lake and men jump in to take it out. It is believed that the first person that reaches the cross will enjoy good health during the entire year. Tradition requires that the youngest of them all pass the cross to the priest. The observers shed tears, thrilled by the solemn religious ritual.

"Theophany" means "Manifestation of God", whereas "Epiphany" connotes "Manifest upon"; "Theophany" is threfore the more accurate rendering of the Slavonic "Bogoyavlenie".

According to the Orthodox calendar, the Epiphany day marks the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist in the water of the Jordan River. At the very moment of baptism, heavens “opened up” and the Holy Spirit descended onto Christ in the form of a dove – hence the name of the feast, Bogoyavlenie (which means “appearance of the Lord”). Jesus Christ dipped three times in the waters of the Jordan River and went out of it. That act symbolizes the mystery of the death and the resurrection of the man in him: the earthly man, the descendant of adam, dies; his sins die, and the inspired man is born and is resurrected. After his baptism, Christ set out on the road to suffering as an inspired man for the sake of faith.