On 25 February, the first Wednesday of Great Lent, the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts was celebrated at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Nedelya in Sofia. The solemn service was presided over by Patriarch Daniel of Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia.
Following the numerous kneeling prayers offered by the clergy and the faithful, many believers approached to receive Holy Communion of the Presanctified Gifts—the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, sanctified at the previous Sunday’s Divine Liturgy.
At the conclusion of the service, Patriarch Daniel addressed the gathered faithful, offering his blessing and encouraging them to persevere in the spiritual struggle of Great Lent. He called on Christians to strengthen their personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ through humility, fasting, repentance, prayer, almsgiving, and sincere confession, noting that this is the only true path for human life.
The Patriarch emphasized that human dignity as the image and likeness of God cannot be fulfilled without communion with Christ and life within the Church. He warned against the illusion that one can live without God or apart from the God-man Body of the Church, stressing that salvation and true life are found only in union with Christ.
Encouraging the faithful, Patriarch Daniel reminded them that even small acts of humility, abstinence, compassion, and integrity bear spiritual fruit, bringing joy, strength, and the grace of God into one’s life. He described Great Lent as a blessed time that helps believers shed illusions, resist passions, and renew their commitment to the path of repentance and communion with Christ.
Concluding his address, the Patriarch wished everyone a blessed Holy Forty Days and prayed that God would strengthen all in the struggle of repentance, so that they may walk with true joy in their hearts—now and throughout their lives—bearing witness to all that Christ has come, that He is alive, and that He calls humanity to be with Him in His Kingdom.
Text and photos: Plamen Mihaylov
