Following the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate to recognize the canonical status of the Ohrid Archbishopric, monks from Mount Athos are paying their first official visit to the Bigorski Monastery. In Bigorski are the Abbot of the Holy Mountain Holy Family Esfigmen, His Eminence, Archimandrite Mr. Bartholomew, together with the brothers monks from his monastery and accompanied by the Venerable Archimandrite Mr. Nicanor of the Holy Monastery of the Saints in the town of Pernik.

- At the solemn and official monastery reception, by our elder and abbot, Bishop Mr. Parthenius Antaniski, the Elder of Mount Athos was presented with an Archimandrite cross from the thousand-year jubilee of the Bigorski Family. According to the monastery typology, the esteemed guest and his entourage were brought with chants and bells to the Preteche temple, where an appropriate prayer service was held, says Father Kiril.

He adds that they both had speeches. Bishop Parthenius emphasized the importance of this visit following the decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

-The present grace event is a great joy for us, especially because you are the first abbot from Mount Athos to pay an official visit to our monastery after the proclamation of the liturgical and canonical unity of our Church by the Holy See of the Mother Church, Ecumenical Patriarchate . For us, as well as for all Orthodox, Mount Athos means a lot. All that you see now in our Monastery, this fraternity, is thanks to the Mother of God, who once favored and enlightened the Venerable Elder George Kapsanis to open the doors of his heart and his monastery to the first monks of Mount Athos from us. . You brought the blessing of Mount Athos here, just a few days after the arrival of the good news from the Most Holy Center of Orthodoxy, the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Our honor and joy are even greater, because we have heard about your love for the Mother Church, the Ecumenical Patriarchate and especially for the person of the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. г. Bartholomew - a Patriarch whom we can freely call great. Namely, he became our second Photius the Great, similar to the first who sent Saints Cyril and Methodius to transmit the light of the Gospel among the Slavs. Through the person of Patriarch Bartholomew and with his blessing to receive and accept us in the fold of the Church and in the family of the Orthodox, the second enlightenment happened for us. After his prayers and efforts, a reconciliation with the Orthodox Church of Serbia took place, which was made official with the recent communion in Belgrade. We sincerely hope that from today our greater cooperation with the Mount Athos monastic community will begin, with you and the other abbots and monks from the Garden of the Mother of God, said Bishop Parthenius.

Mr. Bartholomew, on the other hand, emphasized that his secret wish to visit this monastery for years had been fulfilled.

- A secret wish that I had for many years, at this moment I see it fulfilled in a miraculous way. It was not in our program to come here to the Monastery, because our mission was to take to Sofia for worship the honorable relics of the Holy Brothers Cyril and Methodius, some of which are kept in our Family. Archimandrite Nicanor from the Monastery of the Holy Silverless in Pernik is the brother of our Monastery and we consider his Monastery as ours. Namely, he was the one who conceived and realized the program to come to you today. I felt a great joy in myself, because I listened, I watched, I felt for your Monastery. And in this moment, I hear and I see and I feel, present in your monastery. By the grace of God we live in historical moments throughout this period and each one of us becomes a small part of the history that is currently being written. And we can say nothing but thanks to the all-good God, Who makes us deserve such miraculous events to happen in our lives, despite the human impasses that have taken over our lives, says the abbot.

He pointed out that after the rise of that schism, which tormented the Church and Orthodoxy for so many years, we are already living that miracle - to be together in the same place.

- Therefore, let me say now when I come to your Monastery for the first time: Thank you for accepting me in my Monastery. I really feel part of your community, as one of your fathers. This is the grace of God and the grace of the Mother of God, Who blesses the whole world, and especially us monks. As you said very accurately and wisely, the Holy Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. г. Bartholomew is a wise hierarch, a man of God, sent at the right moment to fulfill God's plan, which is nothing but God's love for man and for the unity between us. His Holiness makes a cross-section of history and we are in the middle of that history and we rejoice and taste this joy. And we wish this joy to all the fathers and all the worshipers of this Monastery, said the Abbot.