site.btaVice President: Bulgaria Still Has Its Great Figures Who Inspire Light, Knowledge, and Progress

Bulgaria still has its great figures today, people who awaken others to light, kindness, knowledge, culture, and progress every day, Vice President Iliana Iotova wrote on Facebook on the occasion of National Awakeners' Day.

"As Bulgarians, we have so many reasons for pride and self-confidence, both in our history and in our present," Iotova said. "The Day of the National Awakeners, this unique Bulgarian holiday, is not confined to the dusty pages of textbooks and history books. Alongside the awakeners who built the Bulgarian state and nation and charted the path forward, we now have contemporary names from various fields of public, cultural, and spiritual life who keep the flame of enlightenment alive, those who thirst for knowledge, seek spiritual nourishment, and stand against injustice and ignorance."

The word "awakeners", she noted, carries profound historical and moral meaning. It embodies the essence of Bulgarian identity, which, as Yotova recalled, was revived by Saint Paisius of Hilendar through his Slav-Bulgarian History, reminding the nation of its greatness, spirituality, and culture. "After him, an entire generation of spiritual leaders intertwined their destiny with that of the Bulgarian people," the Vice President said.