site.btaPatriarch Daniil Meets with Bulgarian, Ukrainian Children at Rila Monastery

Children led by Father Stoyan, abbot of the St St Constantine and Helena monastery near the Black Sea city of Varna, sang "Mnohaya lita" ("Many Years") to Patriarch Daniil at the Rila Monastery on Monday. Among them were Ukrainian children, who have been living near Varna with their mother Anastasia, a sextoness at the monastery, since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine.

“Mnohaya lita" is a traditional Ukrainian song, often sung at celebratory events to wish people many good years of life.

Patriarch Daniil blessed the Bulgarian and Ukrainian children after he venerated the relics of St John of Rila at the feast in the Rila Monastery on Monday, marking the 555th anniversary of the return of his relics from Tarnovo in 1469.