Ecumenical Patriarch to join Bulgaria’s celebrations marking 1,150 years since St John of Rila’s birth

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church will honour St John of Rila with a series of events in Sofia and at Rila Monastery from 17 to 19 October, marking 1,150 years since his birth and 1,080 years since his repose.

The programme begins on Saturday at 5:00 pm, when His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will be received at the Synodal Palace by His Beatitude Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria and metropolitans of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

At 6:00 pm, the two Primates will inaugurate the monumental exhibition Mount Athos in Sofia at the National Palace of Culture, dedicated to the work of Greek artist Efthymios Warlamis (1942–2016).

The Metropolis of Sofia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic organised the exhibition and supported it.

The programme will continue on Sunday at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St Alexander Nevsky in Sofia, where the Divine Liturgy will begin at 9:30 am.

A Trisagion memorial service will then be celebrated at the tomb of the late Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria.

The celebrations will conclude on Monday, the principal feast day of St John of Rila, with the Divine Liturgy beginning at 9:00 am at Rila…