"His Holiness the Bulgarian Patriarch and Metropolitan Neophyte of Sofia received today Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Louisa", announced the Bulgarian Patriarchate.

The reception took place in the building of the Sofia Holy Metropolis.

Her Royal Highness expressed her gratitude to the head of the BOC-BP for the primordial blessing and for the decision of the Holy Synod that the thanksgiving prayer, on the occasion of her ninety years, be celebrated in the Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky".

On January 13, a prayer service was held for the 90th anniversary of the birth of Princess Maria Louisa, BTA recalls. 

Princess Maria Luisa shared today that she was deeply moved by the gift that the Plovdiv Metropolitan Nikolay presented to her on behalf of the Holy Synod - an icon of the Mother of God.

During the reception, memories were shared of the princess' first visit to Bulgaria - in 1991, as well as her visit to the Theological Faculty of the Sofia University "St. patriarch. 

A thanksgiving prayer service was held for the 90th anniversary of the birth of Princess Maria Luisa

Princess Maria Luisa also thanked for the warm words that Metropolitan Nikolay said in his speech, especially for her aunt Princess Evdokia, who presented her with her own prayer book with the words - "To Maria Luisa, who speaks with God in Bulgarian".

Her Royal Highness shared that her aunt stood out for her special love for Bulgaria, for the Bulgarian people and for her devotion to the Christian faith!

The meeting was attended by His Eminence Bishop Polykarp of Belogradchik - Vicar of the Patriarch, Teodor Atanasov - Head of the Office of the Bulgarian Patriarch, Angel Mladenov - Secretary of the Holy Metropolis of Sofia, Assoc. Dr. Ivaylo Shalafov - Director of the "Tsar Boris and Tsarina Joanna" Fund - Royal Palace "Vrana", and Martin Petrov - assistant in the Royal Palace.

"At the end of the reception, His Holiness the Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte

Neophyte I is a senior Bulgarian Orthodox clergyman, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and wished health and many more years to Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Louisa, and expressed the hope that they would meet again in the near future," the Bulgarian Patriarchate reported.

Photo: Bulgarian Patriarchate

Patriarch Neophyte