Relics of Saints Cyril and Methodius welcomed in Sofia

relics saints cyril methodius welcomed sofia

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17:47, 23.05.2022

Pieces of the relics of the creators of the first Bulgarian alphabet, the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, were welcomed in Sofia on May 23. They were brought to the St. Nedelya Church in a lithurgical procession.

The relics will remain for veneration until 12.00 noon on 25 May, after which they will be returned to the monastery in Mount Athos in Greece. As long as there are people who want to pray, the temple will be open. If necessary, 24-hour access to the temple will be provided.

For the first time, the relics are leaving Greece. In the 1980s, they were returned by the Roman Catholic Church to the Archdiocese of Thessaloniki and since then have been kept in the Esphigmenou Monastery in Mount Athos.

President Rumen Radev, Vice President Iliyana Iotova and Sofia Mayor Yordanka Fandakova also attended the prayer service held at the St. Nedelya Church to welcome the relics.

In Rumen Radev's words, the travel of pieces of the relics for the first time from Mount Athos to a Slavic country on the eve of our holiest holiday - May 24, is a recognition of Bulgaria's huge role in the work of the holy brothers and the indissoluble connection of our country and our people with their holy mission. President Radev expressed gratitude to the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate, headed by His Holiness Neophyte, Patriarch of Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia, and to the Abbot of the Esphigmenou monastery, Archimandrite Bartholomew.

"May this significant day remind us that Bulgaria has been and will remain a country of the spirit. May there be enlightenment, reason, peace and unity," the President added.

The relics arrived in Bulgaria a day ago and spent the night in the Giginski Monastery. This is no coincidence, because it was the abbot of the Monastery, Nicanor, who first noticed them in one of the holy monasteries of St. George.

"The holy relics were accidentally discovered by the Bulgarian monk-father Nicanor in a visit to the Mount Athos. There, when he was venerating all kinds of relics, he noticed the relics of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, in a sarcophagus, together with the Cross of God. He then realised that there was such a reliquary in which they were kept and displayed for veneration. St. Cyril's body is known to be within the walls of San Clemente in Rome and no one there can touch it, but there is no information where the body of St. Methodius was," priest Kostadin Trenev of the Sofia Diocese told BNT breakfast programme “The Day Begins”.

The relics are in Bulgaria at the invitation of His Holiness, the Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte and are accompanied by Archimandrite Bartholomew, Abbot of the Esphigmenou monastery in Mount Athos.