site.btaBulgarian Patriarch Daniil to Head Celebration of Divine Liturgy at Sofia's St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on Jesus' Resurrection

The Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan of Sofia, Daniil, will head the celebration of the Divine Liturgy at Sofia's St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The liturgy will start late in the evening of Holy and Great Saturday, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate’s press centre has said.

There will also be a liturgy at the Synodal Palace, where the Holy Fire will be received and then brought to the St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. The Patriarch and accompanying clergy will move from the altar to a stage outside the cathedral, where the Gospel passage recounting the Resurrection of Jesus will be read. Patriarch Daniil will then deliver the paschal message.

Holy and Great Saturday

Holy and Great Saturday is the final day of the Holy Week before Easter Sunday, when Eastern Orthodox Christians mark the day that Jesus Christ "rested" in the tomb and believe that on this day He performed in spirit the Harrowing of Hell and raised up to Paradise having liberated those who had been held captive in hell. 

The Orthodox Church honours Holy and Great Saturday as “the most blessed seventh day”. The midnight service on Holy and Great Saturday is celebrated along with the Divine Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great. The clerics change from dark vestments to bright ones, which symbolizes Christ’s victory over sin, the devil, and death. The Holy and Great Saturday services represent the pinnacle of the Orthodox liturgical tradition, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church said.