site.btaMemorial Service for King Boris III Held at Rila Monastery

A memorial service for King Boris III was held at Rila Monastery on Wednesday, the 81st anniversary of the Bulgarian monarch's passing. The Hegumen of the Rila Monastery, Bishop Evlogii of Adrianople, Bishop Yerotei of Agatopol, and members of the monastic fraternity officiated at the service, which was attended by members of the royal family.

A pannikhida service is held annually at the Monastery Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos on the day of King Boris III's death by the Rila Monastery monks led by their hegumen.

The King was initially buried in the South Chapel of the Rila Monastery Cathedral on September 5, 1943, in accordance with his own wish. By order of the communist authorities, in April 1946 his body was exhumed and reburied in the park of the Vrana Royal Palace near Sofia. That grave was blown up in 1954, and the royal remains disappeared. In October 1991 the heart of Boris III was found preserved in a glass jar when archaeologists dug up his second grave in the Vrana Park. The King's heart was buried in his restored grave at Rila Monastery on the 50th anniversary of his death, August 23, 1993.

Even though August 28 this year is a weekday, hundreds of visitors flocked to the monastery. The church celebrates the Dormition of the Theotokos on August 28 according to the Julian Calendar, clergy explained.