On January 17, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of St. Anthony the Great – a zealous advocate of Christianity. At an advanced age, he took part in the Church's struggle against the Arian heresy. Anthony got into an open dispute with the advocates of Arianism in Alexandria and defeated them.

Today is a particularly solemn day for the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe. The feast of the Egyptian ascetic, St. Anthony the Great, known in Bulgaria as Antonovden, will be celebrated with a archiepiscopal holy mass at the Bulgarian Orthodox Church "St. Tsar Boris the Baptizer" in Berlin.

The festive liturgy will be led by His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Western and Central Europe, who on this day celebrates his name day and his birthday.

The clergy of the cathedral church "St. Tsar Boris the Baptizer" in the German capital- economos staurophor Yulian Angelov, economos staurophor Lyubomir Leontiev, protodeacon Tsolo Krivachkov, and other priests from the parish will also take part in the celebration of the divine liturgy. The liturgy will also be attended by Bulgarian nationals living in Berlin and the surrounding area, who have come to greet their archbishop.

A special guest of the celebration is Bulgarian National Radio Director General Milen Mitev who is in Berlin for the signing of a cooperation agreement between the Bulgarian National Radio and the Western and Central European Metropolis of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.