site.btaPatriarch Daniil: Levski's Legacy Guides Bulgarians Amid New Social Divisions and Challenges

After officiating a memorial service marking the 153rd death anniversary of the revolutionary Vasil Levski (1837-1873) at the Saint Sophia Church in Sofia, Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan of Sofia Daniil said in his address that the example and legacy of Vasil Levski are needed today, at a time when Bulgarian society is experiencing new divisions and facing fresh challenges. 

Vasil Levski is a figure whose moral and spiritual magnetism is so powerful that it can awaken love and a readiness for self-sacrifice even in the most hardened human heart, the Patriarch said. This is so because the highest and most perfect virtues that are united and embodied in Levski's personality are the virtues of the Orthodox Christian faith. These virtues and timeless values can be inspired only by God, Patriarch Daniil said.

He also said Levski's vision of a free Bulgaria continues to impress with its relevance today, with the purity of the ideal of a country in which no one would be enslaved by another, because all people possess equal dignity and are equally precious in the eyes of God. Levski's example and legacy are needed today, the Patriarch said, at a time when society is experiencing new divisions and facing new trials. The Apostle's legacy can help society rediscover its strength and inner unity, overcome what hinders and oppresses it, and move forward, the Patriarch said.

"Each year on this day, the whole of Bulgaria bows its head and pays tribute to the heroic deed of one of its most cherished sons - Hierodeacon Ignatius, Vasil Levski, the Apostle of Bulgarian freedom," Patriarch Daniil said at the opening of his address. "In this act of remembrance and reverence, all Bulgarians stand together, united, having set aside divisions and brought together by gratitude, because the luminous image of the Deacon has always united the entire Bulgarian people."

"With the purity of his faith, the greatness of his self-sacrifice, and the selfless devotion of his entire life to his people, as well as his ideal of a pure and holy republic, Vasil Levski earned eternal gratitude and a love that endures forever," the Patriarch said. "Such love transcends everything temporary and fleeting. Levski's image continues to inspire today, despite the fact that the times are so different from his own, because the virtues he embodied are eternal and unchanging. Each person, to a greater or lesser extent, feels deep within a desire to emulate his courage, honesty, patriotism and selflessness - qualities that form the halo of his image in the nation's collective memory and gratitude."

Among those attending the memorial service were President Iliana Iotova, National Assembly Chair Raya Nazaryan, MPs, caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gurov and ministers, Sofia Mayor Vassil Terziev and municipal councillors, Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) Director General Kiril Valchev, Sofia City Regional Education Department head Eleonora Lilova, representatives of various institutions, and members of the public.

After the memorial service, members of the clergy and official guests proceeded in a liturgical procession from the church to the monument to the Apostle of Freedom on Vasil Levski Boulevard, where a commemorative ceremony and wreath-laying took place.