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Posted by N on May 25, 2002, 8:19:20 On Pilgrimage to Rila Monastery, Pope Venerates Miracle-Working Icon of Virgin, Saint's Relics, Pays Respects to Royal Grave. Rila Monastery, Southwestern Bulgaria, May 25 (BTA) - Pope John Paul II made a pilgrimage to the Rila Monastery (Southwestern Bulgaria) Saturday morning. He flew by helicopter from Sofia to a meadow near the cloister and was driven to the sanctuary by car. Upon arrival at the Monastery, he was welcomed by the Hegumen, Bishop Ioan of Dragovitia, and by Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, who was here together with his wife, two sons with their wives and children. The arrival of the Pope was announced by ringing of the church bells. At the Monastery Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, the Pope venerated a miracle-working icon of the Virgin, in which particles of the relics of 32 saints are imbedded. The Holy Father lit two candles in front of the icon, as is the Eastern Orthodox ritual practice. "You bring us the blessing of the two first principal apsotles, Peter and Paul, and of the numberless martyrs who laid their life for Christ and for the Holy Gospel," Bishop Ioan said, addressing the guest. He thanked the Holy Father that, during his brief stay in Bulgaria, he vouchsafed to visit the holiest Bulgarian shrine, Rila Monastery, "a little corner in the ancient garden of the Theotokos, who is the patron of this cloister." The Hegumen said that the Rila Monastery was a "granite pillar of the Orthodox faith, piety, culture, education and aspiration to freedom during the stormy history of the Bulgarian people. This is why the paths to this national sanctuary have never been overgrown with weeds." "The walls of division between the two Christian churches do not reach up to the skies. Like any man's work, they are transient. Humans have built them up, and humans will pull them down," Bishop Ioan said. He wished the Holy Father that the power and grace of St John of Rila be with him abundantly and that he guide the flock entrusted to him by Christ for many more years in good health and spiritual strength. The Hegumen presented the Pontiff with a lavishly illustrated book on Rila Monastery. The Head of the Roman Catholic Church was particularly pleased to greet Bishop Ioan, who was sent by the late Patriarch Kiril to attend the sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1963-1965). Speaking in Bulgarian, His Holiness addressed the metropolitans and bishops and the monks and nuns of Bulgarian and of all the Holy Orthodox Churches. He said he "wanted to make this pilgrimage to Rila to venerate the relics of the holy monk John and to express gratitude and affection to all of you. 'We give thanks to God always for you all, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labour of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ' (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3). [?] Eastern monasticism, together with that of the West, constitutes a great gift for the whole Church," the Pope said, adding that he was pleased today "to acknowledge the authenticity of the path of sanctification traced out in the writings and lives of so many of your monks, who have offered eloquent examples of radical discipleship of the Lord Jesus Christ." "Many times I have emphasized that precious contribution that you make to the ecclesial community through the example of your lives," the Holy Father recalled. "In my Apostolic Letter Orientale Lumen I wrote how I would like to 'look at the vast panorama of Eastern Christianity from a specific vantage point which affords a view of many of its features: monasticism.' I am in fact convinced that the monastic experience constitutes the heart of Christian life, so much so that it can be proposed as a point of reference for all the baptized," the Pope said. "Monastic life, in virtue of the uninterrupted tradition of holiness on which it is based, preserves with love and fidelity certain elements of Christian life that are important also for modern men and women: monks and nuns are the Gospel memory for Christians and the world." The Pope praised the Blessed John of Rila, whom he arranged to have depicted along which other holy men and women of East and West in the mosaic of the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, for leaving "everything for the precious pearl of the Gospel," and for placing himself "under the tutelage of holy ascetics in order to learn the art of spiritual combat." "Through the spiritual combat, Blessed John of Rila also lived his 'submission' in the obedience and mutual service required by life in common. [?] Blessed John experienced, then, the hermit's life in 'compunction' and pennance, but above all in uninterrupted listening to the Word and in unceasing prayer, to the point of becoming - as Saint Nilus says - a 'theologian', that is, a man endowed with wisdom that is not of this world, but comes from the Holy Spirit. John's testmanent, which he wrote out of love for his disciples who wished to have his last words, is an extraordinary teaching on the quest for and experience of God for those desirous of leading and authentic Christian and monastic life." "More than ever in the lives of Christians today, idols are seductive and temptations unrelenting; the art of spiritual combat, the discernment of spirits, the sharing of one's thoughts with one's spiritual director, the invocation of the Holy Name of Jesus and of his mercy must once more become a part of the inner life of the disciple of the Lord. This battle is necessary in order not to be distracted or worried, and to live in constant recollection with the Lord," the Holy Father said. "How many witnesses of the path of holiness have shone brightly in this Monastery of Rila during its many centuries of history, and in so many other Orthodox monasteries! How great is the universal Church's debt of gratitude to all the ascetics who have kept in mind the 'one necessary thing', man's ultimate destiny!" the Pope said. "We gratefully admire the precious tradition that Eastern monks and nuns live faithfully and continue to hand on from generation to generation as an authenic sign of the eschaton, that future to which God continues to call every person through the hidden power of the Spirit. They are a sign, through their adoration of the Most Holy Trinity in the liturgy, through their communion in the agape, through the hope which in their intercession encompasses every person and every creature, to the very threshold of hell." "All the Orthdoox Churches know how much the monasteries are a priceless heritage of their faith and culture. What would Bulgaria be without the Monastery of Rila, which in the darkest periods of your national history kept the flame of faith burning? What would Greece be without the Holy Mountain of Athos? Or Russia without that myriad of dwelling places of the Holy Spirit which enabled it to overcome the inferno of Soviet persecution? And so, the Bishop of Rome is here today to tell you that the Latin Church also and the religious of the West are grateful to you for your life and witness!" the Pontiff said, concluding his address. He blessed the monks and nuns and wished them that God confirm them in their faith and in their vocation, and make them instruments of communion in His holy Church and witnesses of His love in the world. The Pope presented to the Monastery an icone of the Virgin, done in the style of the Catholic tradition at the Vatican mosaics school and depicting the Mother of God flanked by two angels, one holding a cross and the other a lance, which symbolizes the suffering of Christ. The Pontiff venerated the relics of St John of Rila, who was also canonized by the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Clement III (1187-1191). Before leaving the church, the guest and the cardinals said a short prayer over the grave of King Boris III (Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's father), in the company of Bishop Ioan and the Prime Minister. After the official welcoming ceremony, John Paul II proceeded to the Icon Hall for a 15-minute private meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. They talked in Italian, according to the Council of Ministers' Information Directorate. The PM told the guest about his father's life and about the history of the Monastery. They were later joined by the members of the PM's family. The Pope gave each of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha's grandchildren a mother-of-pearl rosary. Talking to journalists after the meeting, the Prime Minister described the Pope's statement Friday, in which he exonerated Bulgaria from involvement in the 1981 assassination attempt against him, as "historic and most important for Bulgaria." Saxe-Coburg-Gotha recalled that for 20 years he has been trying to contribute to such categorical declaration of this fact. The PM said he had been "emotionally shattered" by the brief prayer which the Pontiff said at his father's grave in the Monastery Church. The monastery and its surroundings were guarded by some 600 policemen. Several ambulances and fire trucks were also on standby.
BULGARIA - POPE - PILGRIMAGE TO RILA.
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