It’s Christmas! Christians are expecting the great mystery – the birth of Christ. At this moment we are together with Metropolitan of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for West and Central Europe Antonyi.

“Merry Christmas! It is one of the greatest Christian holidays today – the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, the fest which unifies all the Christians around the globe. The fest, messaged by the angle song ‘Glory to the Lord above and peace on Earth, grace between people’. This is the fest of the embodiment of God’s son, who brings light to our hearts and souls, giving us hope for a better future.”

Thinking of this better future we ask ourselves whether we have preserved our Christian and common human values. We witness aggression and terrorist actions on a daily basis now across Europe, alongside greediness and meanness. Is this our peace?

“Vice and passions have always been a serious challenge for all people on Earth and of course the Bulgarians are not an exception. The latter remember their history; keep the traditions and the Orthodox faith. However, being only people we all carry our weaknesses inside and sometimes we succumb to these temptations. We should overcome such challenges with patience, faith and hope, with love for God. We shouldn’t hip as there are challenges everywhere around, but we should learn our lessons on how to become better persons.”

Let’s get back to the holy fest. How many temples do the Bulgarians from West and Central Europe use?

“We have 35 orthodox municipalities in 15 capital cities across West and Central Europe. So, there is lot of joy for Christmas. In these temples our compatriots hail the birth of Christ, they participate with prayers in the holy liturgy and they partake in the mysteries of Christ, as the period of the Nativity Fast ends up today and the preparation for the Epiphany fest on January 6 is given a start. Then we are all going to celebrate the baptism of our Savior in the waters of the Jordan River and the Epiphany water blessing ceremony will be carried out – a wooden cross will be thrown…”

We asked Metropolitan Antnyi for his blessing towards all Christians and more precisely towards the Bulgarians around the globe.

“Be glad in your hearts, do not despair, have faith and remember your history and traditions. May your children be patriots. We need to know that we shall reap what we sow now…”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev