Today was the second day of national mourning, when Bulgaria bids farewell to its spiritual shepherd Patriarch Neophyte.

Hundreds of believers and clerics from Bulgaria and abroad flocked to the patriarchal cathedral St. Alexander Nevsky to see His Holiness the Patriarch of Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia Neophyte off on his final journey. The Bulgarian patriarch passed away after a protracted illness on 13 March.

• His Holiness the Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte has passed away

The funeral mass was attended by President Rumen Radev and Vice President Iliana Iotova, Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov and Deputy Prime Minister Mariya Gabriel, the President of the National Assembly Rosen Zhelyazkov, the President of Bulgaria from 2002 until 2012 Georgi Parvanov, the last Bulgarian monarch and former Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The mass was officiated by Metropolitan Yoan of Varna and Veliki Preslav, interim head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The funeral mass was followed by a funeral service presided over by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who arrived in Bulgaria with a large church delegation, together with representatives of the local Orthodox churches and with bishops from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

“I shall not forget the words of the patriarch, that believing in goodness is what should unite us and hold us together as a nation,” President Radev told reporters. “Today is a sad day for Bulgaria and for all of us,” said on his part Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

After the funeral service, the mortal remains of the Bulgarian patriarch were taken in liturgical procession to the metropolitan cathedral St. Nedelya, to be laid to rest for all eternity there, as was his will. The patriarch’s mortal remains were carried by carriage, the same carriage used to send Tsar Boris III off on his final earthly journey. Unlike 1943, when the carriage was drawn by horses, today it was drawn by an armoured vehicle, public service TV BNT reports. The mortal remains of Patriarch Neophyte were laid to rest on the Southern side of the St. Nedelya church.

In the end let us go back to one of Patriarch Neophyte behests from November 2021. He said: “May the all-merciful God generously bestow on us wisdom and judiciousness, love of our fellow men and consideration for others, rid us of all selfishness and arrogance, of all hubris and self-conceit, of the scourge of our times – insensitivity of others, which are the hardest obstacles on our way towards Jesus Christ and His Kingdom.”