Remains of Tsar Samuel return to Bulgaria after more than a millennium

Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria presided over a memorial service at the historic Church of St. Sophia – the Wisdom of God in Sofia on October 3, following the return to Bulgaria of the remains attributed to Tsar Samuel after more than a millennium.

The Patriarch concelebrated with Metropolitans Gregory of Veliko Tarnovo, John of Varna and Veliki Preslav, Seraphim of Nevrokop, Cyprian of Stara Zagora, Gregory of Vratsa, Jacob of Dorostol and Pachomius of Vidin, as well as Bishop John of Branitsa, First Vicar of the Metropolitan of Sofia, and other clergy.

Following the memorial service, the remains of Tsar Samuel were placed in a marble sarcophagus inside the historic church, where representatives of the state and the Church, along with thousands of citizens, had the opportunity to pay their respects.

Addressing those present, Patriarch Daniel described the return as an important moment for Bulgaria’s historical, ecclesiastical and national memory.

“Gathered together before the mortal remains of Tsar Samuel, let us humbly thank God for the opportunity to have among us, for perpetual national remembrance and veneration, this true treasure of our state, ecclesiastical and…