Bulgarians in Dublin to welcome Easter together at a hierarchal Holy Liturgy

Hours before the brightest event for Orthodox Christians - the meeting with the Risen Savior - Bulgarians in Dublin are preparing for the festive Holy Liturgy, which will be led personally by Metropolitan Antony of Western and Central Europe. The Bulgarian community in Ireland will share together the moment when the entire Orthodox Christian world will “rejoice and be exalted,” bowing before the triumph of life over death.

For believing Christians, the celebration of Easter is not merely a tradition, but a joyful shared experience of the boundless love of the Savior, who restored the broken connection between God and humanity through His Resurrection. That is why participation in the Lord’s Table (the Eucharist/Communion), to which all believers are invited on the feast day, is so important for Orthodox Christians. This is also the reason why Metropolitan Anthony responded to the invitation of the Bulgarian ambassador to Ireland to lead the festive service in Dublin:

“On this truly great feast, we will lay the foundations of a future church community in Ireland. In Dublin, we will establish a Bulgarian Orthodox mission which, God willing, will develop into a church community, so that our compatriots in Ireland may live the life of the Orthodox Church, fulfilling their spiritual needs, and thus this endeavor may be blessed. For we know that what is impossible for people is possible for God: ‘Ask and it will be given to you; knock and it will be opened to you,’ says Christ. So today we knock on the door, so that we may enter the Kingdom of God with the all-conquering greeting of Christ’s Resurrection, and may Christ, with the light of His Resurrection, show us the way - dispersing the shadows of doubt and lack of faith, and filling each of us with more faith, hope, and love.”

And in order to achieve what they have set out to do, perseverance and patience are needed, Metropolitan Anthony emphasized.

It is precisely the persistence and determination of the Bulgarian community in Ireland to ensure a festive Easter service in Bulgarian that prompted Bulgaria’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ireland, Vanya Andreeva-Malakova, to seek assistance from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, represented by Metropolitan Anthony:

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“We are very happy that he agreed to come,” the diplomat told Radio Bulgaria. “This is one of the questions I have been receiving for two and a half years around Easter. Many people call asking whether there will be a place where they can attend a Bulgarian service. When they receive a negative answer - that we are not planning one and that there is no venue - people scatter in different directions, which is not good for the community. It is important to have one place where they can listen to the liturgy in Bulgarian, led by a Bulgarian priest. Now we highly appreciate the fact that Metropolitan Anthony accepted our invitation. There is great interest from Bulgarian citizens. We have asked them to inform us in advance whether they will attend, because the church where the liturgy will be held is not very large, but it can accommodate 250-300 people.”

For this purpose, the embassy contacted the Archbishop of Dublin, who has provided a church for the Bulgarian Easter service.

“This is a good beginning. But the path to creating a permanent church community is long and difficult,” noted Vanya Andreeva-Malakova. “I hope that after this event, our community will be active enough and will organize itself so that church services in Bulgarian become a lasting practice. And we will continue to support these efforts with full dedication.”

The quartet “Svetoglas” will enrich the service with their chants as the church choir during the Easter liturgy:

“Without a doubt, we are excited, because a liturgy is something different from a concert, where we perform chants we are experienced with,” said Daniel Spasov, one of the founders of the male quartet, in an interview for Radio Bulgaria. “Now it will be a bit different, and we hope that with our participation in the liturgy we will contribute to its solemnity and festivity.”

Immediately after the service, the ensemble will present Old Bulgarian and Church Slavonic chants from their new project “The Ancient Hymns of Orthodoxy: Music from the Monasteries” recently released by Bulgarian National Radio.

“We are a formation for ancient Bulgarian folk music, but church chants have always been an object of our interest,” Daniel Spasov explained. “They inspire us, we like them, and we perform them. We have even had independent concerts abroad that mainly include Church Slavonic music, as part of festivals for sacred music and chants.”

In addition to church music, at a reception at the Bulgarian Embassy, “Svetoglas” will offer a special musical greeting to our compatriots with selected pieces from Bulgarian folklore.

The quartet is part of the official cultural delegation, together with the directors of the Bulgarian National Radio - Milen Mitev, the Bulgarian National Television - Milena Milotinova, and the Bulgarian News Agency - Kiril Valchev.

English: R. Petkova