Sofia, Dec 25 (BTA/GNA) – Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Neophyte blessed Bulgarians on the Nativity of Christ at the liturgy celebrated in the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on Sunday.
A polychronion wishing many blessed years of health and prosperity was performed. Laudatory chants to Jesus Christ accompanied the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. The excerpt from Matthew on the Nativity of Christ was also read.
The liturgy was celebrated by the Bishop of Melnik Gerasim, Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod, in concelebration with the Vicar of Patriarch Neophyte, Bishop Polycarp, as well as the Rector of the Saint John of Rila Sofia Seminary, Bishop of Branichevo Pachomios, other metropolitans and deacons.
Bishop Gerasim read the Christmas Message by Patriarch Neophyte from the pulpit.
“Let us desire, seek, and treasure the peace the Lord brought to earth by His birth as man, and let us not forget that, though at odds with our Lord and Creator from the very beginning of our existence, ‘while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son’ (Rm 5:10),” Patriarch Neophyte said in his message.
“Today, when our world continues to be torn apart by internecine strife and controversy, when goodwill among men is increasingly giving way to enmity and intolerance of the other, when military conflicts as a means of settling our disputes are not only not diminishing but are assuming ever more threatening proportions and are ruining millions of human destinies, we have again the only true hope, and that is our faith and our trust in God’s goodness and God’s all-forgiving love. That love which led God Himself to take on human nature, to enter our world and live among us as man; which led Him to the Cross and the crucifixion, to suffering and death, and even to the abyss of hell, in order thus to accomplish our redemption and salvation,” the Patriarch stressed and extended his Nativity greetings.
BTA/GNA