Boyana Mincheva Presents Copies of Early Printed Edition Combining St John of Rila’s Life with His Service

BTA Intern Theodora Lubenova, Yaroslav Stavrev

Boyana Mincheva from the National Library Sts Cyril and Methodius presents a report on the first printed edition that combines the Life of St. John of Rila with his liturgical service in Church Slavonic, Rila Monastery, March 26, 2026 (BTA Photo/Krasimir Nikolov)

Sofia,

26.03.2026 19:59

(BTA)

Addressing the second part of the International Cyrillic Forum at the Rila Monastery on Thursday, Boyana Mincheva from the National Library Sts Cyril and Methodius presented a report on the first printed edition that combines the Life of St. John of Rila with his liturgical service in Church Slavonic. This edition was published at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery in 1671.

The Ukrainian books, printed at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery and preserved in the special collections of the National Library, total 191 volumes. “This printed edition of St John of Rila’s life contains many intriguing and open questions that continue to draw the interest of researchers,” she said.

According to Mincheva, the Ukrainian books arrived in the Bulgarian lands primarily via three routes – Mount Athos, Constantinople, and the Danube. They played a significant role in worship and cultural life during the centuries of the Ottoman rule, served as liturgical and educational literature for primary education, and boosted the cultural, educational, and spiritual life in the Balkans. The editions include moral-theological texts, liturgical books, and the first primers for basic education.

Organized by President Iliana Iotova, the two-day forum on "Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age" brings together scholars from the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and Bulgarian universities, as well as distinguished speakers from Germany, Italy, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Kazakhstan, and China. It is held under the auspices of the National Commission of the Republic of Bulgaria for UNESCO, with the assistance of the Ministry of Education and Science and the support of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

The first part of the forum took place at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) congress centre in Sofia on Wednesday.

Attending the event are President Iliana Iotova, Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil, Hegumen of the Rila Monastery, Bishop Evlogii of Adrianople, Metropolitan Seraphim of Nevrokop, and Bulgarian News Agency Director General Kiril Valchev.

/DS, KK/