St John of Rila brings Athens Bulgarians together for a four-day celebration

Tens of thousands of Bulgarians live in Athens, and for nearly two decades the Bulgarian Orthodox church dedicated to St John of Rila has been the place that brings the community together. This October, the community is preparing a particularly large celebration of its patron saint, marking 1,080 years since his death.

The Days of St John of Rila will run from October 22 to 25, with an international academic forum, a children’s exhibition, a translation competition and festive church services involving clergy from both the Bulgarian and Greek Orthodox churches.

“The Bulgarian community in Athens is large – several tens of thousands of people. What brings us together is the Bulgarian Orthodox church in Athens, dedicated to St John of Rila. It has a history of nearly 20 years. Every year, on the feast day of the Wonderworker of Rila in October, we hold a major commemoration of the patron saint of the Bulgarian people,” Gencho Banev told BTA.

Banev teaches Bulgarian language, literature and culture at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and is an active member of the Bulgarian church community in the Greek capital. This year’s anniversary, he says, has given the celebrations a much larger scale.

Researchers and university lecturers will take part in the academic forum. The forum is open to anyone wishing to participate, with applications for competitions, papers and projects accepted until October 15.

And there is another, much older link between St John of Rila and Greece. Banev says the saint is well known there through a significant body of texts and church services. Even more intriguingly, research shows that his right hand is preserved on the island of Tinos. When it was separated from his body, and how it found its way to the Greek island, are questions that remain unanswered.

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Radio Bulgaria will soon bring you a special interview with Gencho Banev about the celebrations in Athens and research into St John of Rila in Greece.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova

English editor: E. Radkova