On November 6, 2012, Patriarch Maxim, head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, died. He held the title of “Patriarch of Bulgaria and Metropolitan of Sofia“ from 1971 until his death.
Patriarch Maxim died at the age of 98 in the “Lozenets” hospital. Thousands of Bulgarians sent off grandfather Maxim in Sofia to the “St. Nedelya” church, as well as to the “St. Alexander Nevsky” cathedral. The spiritual head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was buried on November 9 at the Troyan Monastery.
His Holiness Patriarch Maxim was the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for 41 years (1971-2012). He is the longest-ruling BOC patriarch.
Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim (in the world Marin Naydenov Minkov) was born on October 29, 1914 in the village of Oreshak, Troyan Region, into the pious family of Nayden Minkov Rachev and Pena Bordzhukova.
Having barely graduated from junior high school in his native village, his parents gave their younger, twelve-year-old son to become a novice at the nearby Troyan Monastery.
From 1929 to 1935 he studied at the Sofia Theological Seminary, which he graduated with honors. For the next three years, Marin was a singer and clerk at the church of the "Assumption of the Virgin" in Ruse. From the fall of 1938 to 1942, he studied theology at the Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski", and during the holidays he was a singer, librarian and preacher at the Troyan Holy Monastery.
On December 13, 1941, during the last year of his studies, he received monastic tonsure in the chapel of the Theological Faculty with the name Maxim, from the Metropolitan of Lovchani Filaret and under the spiritual eldership of the then abbot of the Rila Monastery, Archimandrite Nathanael. A week later, in the church of the Sofia Theological Seminary "St. John of Rila" was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon by Metropolitan Paisius of Vratsa.
After a short service as a metropolitan deacon and preacher in the Lovchan Diocese, he was appointed as a teacher-educator at the Sofia Theological Seminary. Hierodeacon Maxim held this position for nearly five years - from 1942 to the summer of 1947.
Meanwhile, on May 14, 1944, in the Cherepish Monastery "Assumption of the Virgin" Maxim was ordained to the hieromonk rank by Metropolitan Paisius of Vratsa.
On July 12, 1947, by decision of the Holy Synod, he was elevated to the dignity of archimandrite by Metropolitan Michael of Dorostol and Cherven.
From September 1, 1947 to May 1, 1950, Archimandrite Maxim was the protosingel of the Dorostol-Cherven Metropolis, after which (until 1955) he was the head of the Bulgarian Church Court under the Moscow Patriarchate.
After his return to Bulgaria from July 15, 1955 to 1960, he held the position of General Secretary of St. Synod, and in the meantime he was also the chairman of the editorial board of the Synodal Publishing House of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (from 1957 to 1960).
He was ordained to the episcopal rank with the title "Branitsky" on December 30, 1956 in the Patriarchal Cathedral "St. Alexander Nevsky".
On October 30, 1960, he was elected, and on November 20, he was canonically confirmed as the Metropolitan of Lovchansk.
After the death of Patriarch Kirill, Metropolitan Maxim was the vice-chairman of St. Synod from March 13 to July 4, 1971.
On July 4, 1971, the Church-People's Patriarchal Electoral Council in Sofia unanimously proclaimed Metropolitan Maxim Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan of Sofia. His enthronement was attended by heads and representatives of all local Orthodox churches.