The mortal remains of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church Patriarch Neofitus were laid to rest in the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Today and tomorrow are days of mourning in memory of the Bulgarian patriarch, who died on Wednesday evening at the age of 78, reported a BGNES reporter.
Worship before the mortal remains of the patriarch began at 09:00 in the Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky". A long mourning flag has been lowered from the bell tower of the temple, and the line of laypeople has started winding since the early hours of the day. Today and Saturday, the laity can pay their respects and say goodbye to the patriarch.
On Saturday, a funeral liturgy will be celebrated in the church "St. Alexander Nevsky", after which the funeral service will be performed. With a lithic procession, the body of His Holiness will be taken to the Church of St. Nedelya, where it will be laid to rest for eternity. To be buried in the courtyard of the church "St. Nedelya" is the will of the Patriarch and the decision of St. Synod.
As BGNES has already reported, the funeral was organized by Metropolitan John, the temporary vicar of St. Synod. On Tuesday or Wednesday, a vice-president will be elected responsible for the election of a new patriarch within the next 4 months. Nine out of 13 metropolitans can be elected to the post of patriarch. According to the statute of the BOC, they must have reached the age of 50 and have been metropolitans for at least 5 years./BGNES
