Bulgarian Patriarch Neofit to Hold His 1st Easter Liturgy

On February 24, Ruse Metropolitan Neofit was elected Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by the Holy Synod's national church council. Photo by BGNES

On the evening of Holy Saturday, new Bulgarian Patriarch Neofit will hold his first ever Divine Easter Liturgy in the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the capital Sofia.

At the end, as per the canon, the Patriarch and his procession will exit the cathedral to proclaim the coming of Easter and bless all Bulgarians.

The Holy Fire is expected to arrive in Sofia around 8:30 pm from the second largest city of Plovdiv and will be accepted by clergy from the capital outside the Holy Synod building.

The Holy Fire, which is ignited every year at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, will be brought to Plovdiv around 7 pm Saturday.

The official clergy delegation is headed by Plovdiv metropolitan bishop Nikolay, who was elected to deliver the Holy Fire by the Holy Synod on March 5.

This time around, the flame will be brought on a private plane, instead of the government one. The funds have been donated by members of the Plovdiv Bishopric. The plane will land at the Plovdiv airport.

The Plovdiv Regional Governor, Zdravko Dimitrov, and the main sponsor of the trip, Ivan Mihaylov, are also included in the delegation.

Also for the first time ever, there will be two Holy Fires as Varna metropolitan Kiril is traveling to the Romanian border to receive from Romanian clergy the one they have gotten in Jerusalem.

The two bishops, Nikolay and Kiril, are known to not be on very good terms, particularly after Patriarch Maxim passed away and his successor had to be elected by the Holy Synod.

On February 24, Ruse Metropolitan Neofit was elected Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church by the Holy Synod's national church council.

 

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