Primates of Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches celebrate moleben of thanksgiving at Shipka Memorial Church

On 3 March 2018, Bulgaria celebrated the 140^th anniversary of liberation from the Ottoman yoke, achieved as a result of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78.

That day His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia and His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria celebrated a moleben of thanksgiving at the Church of the Nativity of Christ on Shipka.

Among those who attended the service were Mr. Rumen Radev, President of Bulgaria, and Mrs. Tsveta Karayancheva, President of the National Assembly of Bulgaria; as well as members of the delegation of the Russian Orthodox Church, hierarchs and clergy of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, diplomats, guests from other countries, and numerous citizens of Bulgaria.

After the moleben, His Holiness Patriarch Neophyte of Bulgaria delivered a homily, in which he noted that the Church of the Nativity of Christ had been and still was one of the most outstanding symbols and memorials to the centuries-old friendship between Bulgaria and Russia, to their mutual love in Christ and to the Orthodox Slavonic unity.

As the Primate of the Bulgarian Church emphasized, the church which was built at the foot of the historic Mount Shipka and at the foundation of which the remains of hundreds and thousands of the Russian and Bulgarian soldiers who gave their lives for the freedom of Bulgaria lie, will always remind future generations about Russia’s remarkable exploit and about the sacrificial love that her sons showed in liberating the Orthodox Bulgarian people from the centuries-old yoke.

DECR Communication Service

Photo by Press Service of Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia

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Primates of Russian and Bulgarian Orthodox Churches celebrate moleben of thanksgiving at Shipka Memorial Church

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons

Patriarch

Department Chairman

Sermons