Lovech, Bulgaria, September 28, 2021
Photo: new.sliven.net
On Sunday, September 26, a new bishop was consecrated for the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
The newly-consecrated Bishop Michael (Dilovsky) of Constantia will serve as vicar to the ruling hierarch in Lovech, His Eminence Metropolitan Gabriel, one of the most beloved and respected hierarchs of the Bulgarian Church.
The service was led by Met. Gabriel, together with other hierarchs of the Bulgarian Synod, at Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Lovech, reports the Bulgarian Church.
The priestly representatives of the Moscow and Romanian Patriarchates in Bulgaria also concelebrated in the Liturgy.
Following the Matins service, Archimandrite Michael stood before the gathered hierarchs to confessed the Creed and give his episcopal vows to preserve and protect the sacred canons of the Church and to obey the Patriarch, Synod, and statutes of the Bulgarian Church.
During the Liturgy, after circling the holy altar and bowing at its four corners, the hierarchs placed the Holy Gospel and their hands upon Archimandrite Michael, invoking the grace of the Holy Spirit to descend upon him. The cathedral was filled with cries of “Axios!” as Met. Gabriel vested Bp. Michael in hierarchical vestments for the first time.
Photo: new.sliven.net
After the service, Met. Gabriel wished the bishop God’s help in his new ministry, emphasizing that the Synod was moved to elect him because he had never sought the episcopal dignity for himself. In turn, Bp. Michael expressed his sincere gratitude to him as his spiritual father.
Bp. Michael is also the abbot of the Archangel Michael Monastery in Chekotin.
The service was streamed live on the Bulgarian Church’s official Facebook page:
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In his speech, Met. Gabriel offered some biographical details of the newly-consecrated Bp. Michael.
After graduating from St. Clement of Ohrid Seminary in Sofia, Bp. Michael was sent to Chekotin Monastery by Met. Gabriel in 2006, having asked for a place to test his vocation. He showed “great self-denial, obedience, and patience” in the years leading up to his monastic tonsuring.
In 2012, he was ordained a hierodeacon and then hieromonk. As abbot of the monastery, he showed great zeal in prayer and monastic labors, Met. Gabriel states.
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