On 30 November, the Bulgarian Orthodox church honours the memory of the Apostle Andrew, known as First-Called. Together with his brother Peter he was among the first of Jesus Christ’s disciples. After the resurrection of Christ, when the apostles started preaching in different countries, Andrew travelled along what is now Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast and went to preach North.

• St. Andrew’s Day: legends, beliefs, customs

After the St. Andrew’s day liturgy, a prayer for the health of Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte took place at the chapel of Sofia University’s Faculty of Theology.

• Bulgarian Patriarch Neophyte is in hospital

The 78-year old Patriarch of Bulgaria was admitted to hospital because of an exacerbation of a chronic lung condition. In the time of his hospitalization, the Holy Synod meetings are presided over by the most senior cleric, the Metropolitan Gregory of Veliko Tarnovo, the Holy Synod has announced.