A festive and solemn Divine Liturgy was celebrated on the Seventh Sunday after Pascha – the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council – at the Patriarchal Cathedral “St. Alexander Nevsky.”
This year marks the 1700th anniversary of the convening of the First Ecumenical Council, and on this occasion, festive services and commemorative events are being held throughout all Local Orthodox Churches.
The Divine Liturgy was presided over by Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria, concelebrated by Metropolitan Grigoriy of Veliko Tarnovo, Gavriil of Lovech, Antony of Western and Central Europe, Serafim of Nevrokop, Kiprian of Stara Zagora, Pahomiy of Vidin, and by the bishops Gerasim of Melnik (Chief Secretary of the Holy Synod), Mihail of Constancia (vicar of the Metropolitan of Lovech), Isaac of Velbazhd (vicar of the Metropolitan of Sofia), Meletiy of Znepole (Rector of the Sofia Theological Seminary), Archimandrite Ioan (Protosyncellus of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia), Protopresbyter Nelutz Oprea (Representative of the Romanian Patriarch in Bulgaria), Archimandrite Vasilios (Head of the Metropolitan Cathedral “St. Nedelya”), Archimandrite Nikodim (Spiritual Overseer of the Diocese of Vidin), along with the cathedral clergy, priests from Sofia, and protodeacons Ivan Petkov and Deyan Korunoski.
The cathedral’s mixed choir, under the direction of Dr. Georgi Elenkov, chanted the festal hymns.
At the conclusion of the service, His Holiness Patriarch Daniel read the Patriarchal and Synodal Message marking the historic anniversary, which states:
“Alongside all the commemorative events in the history of our Orthodox nation, which we celebrate this year with all due solemnity, in 2025 we also mark an event that concerns the entire Church of God throughout the world. The seventeen centuries since the convening and holding of the first council in the life of the Church – which has remained in its historical and liturgical memory as ecumenical – remind us of the foundations of our saving faith and the principles of our life as Church, offering a fitting opportunity for reflection and evaluation of the long path the Holy Church has traveled…
The anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council reminds us that our Orthodox salvific Christian faith truly has a divine origin. It has outlived and continues to outlive every era and every empire – including the Roman Empire, which believed it was destined to conquer and encompass the whole world. For the dimensions of our faith are not earthly, but heavenly.”
Source: Patriarchate of Bulgaria
