Bailovo, Bulgaria, February 16, 2026
Photo: bg-patriarshia.bg
His Holiness Patriarch Daniil of Bulgaria led a memorial service on February 14 in honor of the eighth anniversary of the repose of Elder Dobri Dobrev, who for decades collected donations for churches and monasteries and became one of the greatest benefactors of the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky.
The Patriarch celebrated the memorial Divine Liturgy in Elder Dobri’s native village of Bailovo at the Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, reports the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
“Today here in the village of Bailovo, where Elder Dobri was born, lived, and reposed, we can’t say that in our time there are no such people who truly live according to God. He’s a great example for all of us,” Pat. Daniil said.
He noted that in the last years of his life, Elder Dobri lived in ascetic labor – walking on foot to Sofia from his native village to collect funds for the restoration of churches and monasteries. “You all know what modesty and poverty he lived in... Where does this strength come from? Where does this strength come from? From God, from his prayer, from the faith he had,” the Patriarch said.
“This grace, which we believe he acquired from God, and this Divine power, which strengthened him, also helps us to take courage, to gain strength and to tell ourselves that it makes sense for a man to live honestly, to struggle with injustice, to struggle with despondency, to struggle with grumbling, to struggle with unbelief, to struggle with weak faith, to struggle with envy, to struggle with malice, so that the purity of heart and soul may shine, filled with God’s grace,” His Holiness said.
After the Divine Liturgy, a memorial service was served for Elder Dobri and all departed Orthodox Christians, and a trisagion was served at Elder Dobri’s grave, located in front of the Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius.
About Elder Dobri
Photo: bg-patriarshia.bg
Dobri Dimitrov Dobrev was born on July 20, 1914 in the village of Bailovo. His father died in World War I and his mother raised the children. He married in 1940, when Bulgaria was participating in the Second World War. A shell fell near him during one of the bombings in Sofia, depriving him of nearly all his hearing. He had four children with his wife, two of whom he outlived.
Over the years, the elder became more and more detached from the material aspects of life, devoting himself entirely to the spiritual life. Around the year 2000, he donated all of his belongings to the Orthodox Church and began living in a small and modest addition to the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church in his native village. It is also about that time that he began to collect money towards the restoration of churches and monasteries throughout Bulgaria.
His spirit of utter selflessness and sacrifice earned him the popular title “The Saint of Bailovo.”
Elder Dobri was the subject of a 2015 documentary, “The Silent Angel,” which features interviews with his family, relatives, and friends, and also with Bulgaria’s last King and former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
Elder Dobri reposed on February 13, 2018.
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