Father Stefan and Father Zhivko About Baba Vanga
Father Stefan
I met Baba Vanga in the 70-ties through the disease of my brother. He had a severe discopathy. Doctors offered him to undergo a surgery, but he had refused. One day my mother came to my house and told me that his condition worsened – he was lying in his bed for few days, and couldn’t get up. My very first reaction was to go to Petrich and ask a friend of my to book me an unofficial appointment with Baba Vanga. He told me that she will most likely accept me, as she is respecting the spiritual people very much. I took my brother and we went to visit her. There was a colonel before us that came out very quick – Baba Vanga did yell something at him. When we entered Baba Vanga directly calling my brother’s name said: “Oh Borka, it’s good that you didn’t let those butchers (referring to the surgeons) to take your health away. You cure for your back will be found in Asenovgrad. There you will find Dimitar Tochev – he will help you.”
We listened to her and went to Asenovgrad. This man was a famous chiropractor – even some high-ranked Government officials were calling him for treatments. At the time he wasn’t accepting patients, as he was forbidden to practice. I still remember how Baba Vanga described the address of his house: “On the first bus stop after the gas station go on the right – his house will be the third one.” It was exactly as she said. There was a note on the door saying that he was not accepting patients. We asked the help of some relatives of ours in Asenovgrad, and with their help we found the man. We “became” his friends and that’s how we entered his house. Just with few moves here and there, my brother improved significantly. The man said that it all will be alright and he didn’t even ask for money.
Since then me and Baba Vanga got close. Very often we were together baptizing babies – myself as a priest and she as a godmother. Once I told her that I am having health problems, and before she even hears the rest of the story she said: “This kidney gives you a hard time eh? Stock up with water from the Rupite region, drink plenty of them, and together with that eat a lot of freash pumpkin seeds.” Indeed her recipe helped me control my symptoms to a tolerable level. She called me to serve at the her Church in the Rupite. I am not one of those spiritual people that claim that the conversation with dead people is a Satan’s act. If the Church preaches that there is an afterlife, then this means that it exists. I think we should ignore this very old canon which Father Natanail referred to when they were sanctifying St. Petka Church in the Rupite.
For me Baba Vanga was a very good person, and I don’t exclude the possibility that one day the Bulgarian church will canonize her. It should be noted that the canonization is a complicated ritual. The person to be canonized has to meet certain criteria with no exceptions such as: to have lived for a long time, to be a hermit, to be a prophet, to cure other people with his/her remedies, his/her body to be non-perishable, and to do miracles after his/her death. In reality Baba Vanga matches most of the criteria, but even if she doesn’t cover one of them, she cannot be recognized as a saint. I do believe that if people of Bulgaria had to choose – they would have recognized her. This recognition is unconditional – she is known not only in Bulgaria, but all over the world.
Father Zhivko
I have been serving in the Rupite for over 11 years. Baba Vanga loved to baptize children, to be at the wedding ceremonies, and to enjoy live among good company. She was always leading the horo dance (famous Bulgarian folk dance), and she was truly happy when there were people around her that came to celebrate.
Some people do not approve the iconostasis of St. Petka Church and can’t understand its frescos. Many icons were donated to the church, and as far as I know they are preserved at the foundation, and they will decide what to do with them. Because of Baba Vanga, the Rupite region is alive – there are always people coming here. After all those years, they havent’ forgotten her and she continues to be in the minds and hearts of people. On her death anniversary in August, this place is very busy. People from all over Bulgaria come, as well as many Russians and Macedonians.
Baba Vanga taught us that we need to respect our national celebrations and customs, especially the name-days. She often baptized children by giving them names of Saints. Very often we have done kurbans (celebration for good health – sometimes an animal is slaughtered for the occasion). On every big celebration – Tzetza and Lili, very good friends of Baba Vanga would come and will give kurban. They are very good cooks, just like Baba Vanga – so it’s not coincidental why they are good friends. On 24th of May, Baba Vanga would give kurban for peace and good health for the whole world.
Baba Vanga Books
On this link you can see the most popular Bulgarian books written on Baba Vanga – http://books.balkanatolia.com
Under “search” simply copy and paste “Баба Ванга” – Baba Vanga in Cyrilic alphabet.
Article Source
The excerpt for this article was taken from Baba Vanga Predictions – Luxurious Edition (In Bulgarian) by Zheni Kostadinova
About The Author
Zheni Kostadinova graduated Philosophy at the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”. She has worked as an editor at the student TV show “Ku-Ku”, and as a reporter at the National Radio “Horizon”. For over 15 years she is a columnist at “Weekly Trud” newspaper writing about esoteric and psychology. In the same newspaper she is maintaining a page on literature. Zheni Kostadinova is the author of some of the most popular books written on Baba Vanga including “Baba Vanga The Prophetess”, “Baba Vanga Predictions”, “The Secret of Baba Vanga”. Her first book was translated into Russian, Polish, Latvian, Serbian, and Albanian. Zheni is a member of the Union of Bulgarian Writers. She had published three books of poetry: “Fire Sticks (2002), “17 love colors” (2007), and “Fig Jam” (2008). In 2012 Zheni has founded the art-house “Kuklite”. It is a doll gallery and a mini-museum located in the old downtown of Sofia. The gallery exhibits different dolls placed in specific categories. Besides the exhibitions, the art-house “Kuklite” also have the priority to work with children from the local schools, so they learn more about the traditions and customs of the different nations. The main idea is to transform the art-house “Kuklite” into a centre for cultural exchange, creative collaboration between representatives of different fields of art, science and philosophy. The art-house will hold meetings with interesting personalities, and will be a place of exhibitions, seminars, workshops, premieres of books and documentary movies, puppetry, and many other great events. The art-house “Kuklite” will also be a place where collectors can display their favourite artefacts and can share the history associated with them.
Zheni Kostadinova Blog – http://www.jenykostadinova.com/
Art-house “Kuklite” website – http://www.arthouse-kuklite.com/
Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/arthouse.kuklite
