Asenovgrad, Plovdiv Province, Bulgaria, July 17, 2023
Photo: plovdivskamitropolia.bg
On July 15, the feast of Sts. Cyricus and Julita, Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon of the Patriarchate of Constantinople celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Monastery of Sts. Cyricus and Julita in the Plovdiv Diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church at the invitation of the local hierarch.
His Eminence Metropolitan Nicholas of Plovdiv and Met. Emmanuel were joined by several other hierarchs and clerics of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, reports the Plovdiv Diocese.
Dozens of pilgrims filled the church, offering their fervent prayers.
At the end of the service, Met. Nicholas formally greeted Met. Emmanuel. He spoke about the history of the monastery, noting that it was built in the 16th century and enjoyed a rich monastic life until the 20th century. It became the last refuge for Russian émigré priests who were expelled by the Bolsheviks until it was also closed by Bulgarian communists. When Met. Nicholas took over the Plovdiv Diocese, he and his flock fought to get the monastery back.
According to Met. Nicholas, there are four important lessons to take from this: that anything that is lost can be retuned through prayer; that no regime that is against God is eternal; that God makes the impossible possible; and that the Church must not fear anyone or anything—the bishops must give an example of fearlessly defending the faith, and then God will be on our side.
The Bulgarian hierarch then spoke about the unity of the Church, emphasizing that it is the product of the Church’s conciliarity, in which no bishop can claim authority over others:
In these turbulent times, it is very important that we, the bishops of the Orthodox Church, stand firm in the posts to which God has appointed us and guard the parts of God’s flock entrusted to us. It is equally important that we, the bishops of the entire Orthodox world, be united among ourselves, as our predecessors were united when they had to defend the faith and the Church.
I have wondered why the Orthodox Church is so resistant to the winds of time. And the answer is, I think: There is no command center here to issue orders. No one here arrogates to himself the right to be the final source of truth. Here, every voice is equally valued and equally important and has the right to be heard. Yes, decisions in the Orthodox Church are made slowly, but when taken collectively, they are infallible. The voice of the Holy Spirit is heard in the congregation of the church, as it was heard in the great Councils of antiquity, and also afterwards through the fraternal communication between the bishops of the entire Orthodox world, based on mutual respect, the conviction that we share the same values, that we have the same goal and ultimately our love for each other and our love for Jesus Christ.
Therefore, today, more than anything, it is necessary to maintain an active dialogue between the Local Orthodox Churches and to help with all our strength to overcome the dangers hanging over the Church. We in the Plovdiv Diocese, and I believe all our brothers in the dioceses in the Diocese of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, are open to such a dialogue based on the principles mentioned above.
Met. Nicholas conveyed his love for Constantinople through Met. Emmanuel, emphasizing that the Bulgarian Church is the first daughter of Constantinople, which then helped it further evangelize the Slavic lands. He also gifted the Constantinople hierarch an episcopal cross and Panagia.
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