Maxim (patriarch of Bulgaria)

Born October 29, 1914 in the village of Oreshak near the city of Troyan in the family of a craftsman. He studied at school in his native village.

At the age of 12, parents gave their son a novice to the Troyan Monastery .

From 1929 to 1935 he studied and graduated with honors from the Sofia Theological Seminary .

On December 13, 1941, Metropolitan Lovchansky Filaret (Panayotov) was tonsured a monk with the name Maxim in honor of St. Maximus the Confessor .

On December 19, 1941, Metropolitan Paisy (Ankov) of Vrachansky was ordained to the rank of Hierodeacon in the seminar church of St. John of Rylsky.

In 1942 he graduated from the Theological Faculty of Sofia State University. St. Clement of Ohrid .

After a short service, the Metropolitan Deacon in the city of Lovech was appointed teacher-educator of the Sofia Theological Seminary. Hierodeacon Maxim was in this position from 1942 to 1947.

On May 14, 1944, at the Cherepish Monastery, where the Sofia Theological Seminary was evacuated, Metropolitan Paisiy ordained Hierodeacon Maxim the Hieromonk .

On July 12, 1947, by the decision of the Holy Synod, the Holy Bulgarian Orthodox Church was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed protosingel of the Dorostolo-Cherven Metropolis.

From 1950 to the end of 1955, Archimandrite Maxim was rector of the Bulgarian Compound in Moscow .

At that time, a similar position required exceptional tact and diplomacy in dealing with secular authorities. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy I praised the ministry of Archimandrite Maxim at the Bulgarian Metochion in Moscow.

After returning to his homeland, Archimandrite Maxim was appointed chief secretary of the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church. He held this position until 1960.

December 30, 1956 in the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky was consecrated to the vicar bishop of Branicki.

On October 30, 1960, the Lovech Diocesan Assembly unanimously elected Bishop Maxim as its archpastor, and on November 20, he was approved by Metropolitan Lovchansky .

During his ministry in the diocese, despite the difficult political situation, several new churches were built and consecrated.

After the death of the Bulgarian patriarch Cyril in 1971, he was elected vice-chairman of the Holy Synod, and on July 4, 1971 at the Church and People’s Cathedral, he was elected and intronized by the Bulgarian patriarch and metropolitan of Sofia.

In 1974, the Council of the Sofia Theological Academy awarded His Holiness Patriarch Maxim for his theological writings the degree of Doctor of Theology “ honoris causa ”. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Patriarch Maxim, the Synodal Publishing House in Sofia released a collection of his works “On the Field of the Lord” (Sofia, 1975). The book includes the words, speeches and articles of Patriarch Maxim for 1950-1974.

In 1992, a government formed by the Union of Democratic Forces , which considered Patriarch Maxim a “communist backing”, provoked a split in the church, questioning the legitimacy of its intronization, and created an alternative synod led by Metropolitan Pimen (Enev) , who soon illegally sent the Patriarch Maxim to resign. Most Bulgarian believers did not go into schism, but some of the bishops, priests, and laity fell away. The new church organization was recognized by the government, unlike the canonical church, which did not have recognition. A long conflict began with property disputes, mutual anathemas and a number of unsuccessful attempts at reconciliation. Only in 1998, the Pan-Orthodox Council, chaired by the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew, gathered in Sofia , confirmed the legitimacy of Patriarch Maxim and accepted the repentance of most of the breakaway bishops and priests, returning them to the fold of the Church ^[1] .

In 2004 , on the eve of the 90th anniversary of the patriarch, Bulgarian President Georgy Pyrvanov presented him with the Order of Stara Planina of the 1st degree.

On January 18, 2008, he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Cathedral Church of Alexander Nevsky in the city ​​of Sofia . The patriarch presented an icon specially painted for the president by the holy king Boris I , who baptized Bulgaria ^[2] .

Held from May 14 to 17, 2008, the VI Church and People’s Council decided that the 94-year-old Patriarch Maxim will remain the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, because the Orthodox canons do not allow the removal of the Patriarch due to his advanced age ^[3] . On May 18, 2008, it was reported that during the illness of Patriarch Maxim, the powers of the Primate of the Bulgarian Church were transferred to the ruling bishop of Varna , Metropolitan of Varna and Velikopreslavsky Kirill (Kovachev) ^[4] , who served as head of the Bulgarian Church until the death of Patriarch Maxim, since the patriarch was hard is sick.

The last weeks of his life, His Holiness Patriarch Maxim spent in the Sofia government hospital “Lozinets”.

He died on November 6, 2012 at the 99th year of life after a serious and prolonged illness. ^[5] . He was buried on November 9, 2012 in the Trojan Monastery .

The late patriarch did not have personal bank accounts, any savings, personal valuable items and real estate. His property can be called only those items that he purchased on his own money: these are books, a Luch wristwatch and an old Continental typewriter, which he bought from a friend's lawyer in 1968. The Mercedes, which was driven by Patriarch Maxim, was released in 1991. ^[6] .

• Order "People's Republic of Bulgaria" I degree (1974)
• Order of 13 centuries of Bulgaria (1985)
• Order “Stara Planina” , I degree, “for great merits in the spiritual life of the Bulgarian people, for the wise management of the affairs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and on the occasion of the 90th anniversary” (2004)
• Honorary Citizen of Troyan (2005)
• Honorary Citizen of Sofia (2011)
• Honorary Citizen of Lovech (2012)

• Ignatiev A. Election of the new Primate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. M., 1971. No. 10. p. 44-56.

• Maxim, Patriarch of Bulgaria (Minkov Marin Naydenov) on the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate
• At the age of 98, the Patriarch of Bulgaria Maxim died
• Otide Si Patriarch Maxim