The Cardinal of our Orthodox Thracian Church has been intentionally poisoned!

СAfter the attempt on his life, Cardinal Stephen Guide was urgently admitted to the Pirogov Emergency Medical Center on 13 May 2011. It happened on the eve of the celebration of his birthday and on the same day on which, in the autumn of the previous year, his brother Cardinal Tsvetan Gaidarski was brutally beaten nearly to death outside his home to also “celebrate” his birthday in the hospital with pain. Obviously the perpetrators of this act have deliberately sought such a characteristic “coincidence” as a kind of “signature” of their iniquity, a grave handwriting of a “message” they wanted to send.

“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (The Gospel of St. John 1:5)

Powerless to bind or kill God’s Speech, the servants of demonic hatred and lies tried to kill the Prophet and Witness of Christ, hoping to thwart God’s will for our people and for humanity by damaging the “earthen vessel” (that is, the vulnerable human flesh) that was chosen to be the guardian of the Wealth of the Word, which has been a treasure designed to enrich and preserve us and our descendants forever.

But according to his promise to the faithful: “…and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them…” (The Gospel of St. Mark 16:18), the Almighty, who can alone heal and renovate his mortal creation, subject by nature to weakness and corruption, through the power of His words, condescended in a great way to heal, restore and strengthen our brother and Cardinal.

“This was made possible by the Spirit, Who raises from the dead” (Paul’s Epistle to Romans, 8:11) – the Holy Life-giving Spirit who gives life to the mortal bodies of His oracles (prophets). After the grief and suffering, we are comforted and happy to accept our friend, who was revived by God’s Mercy and Loyalty as a proof of our inheritance in Christ, being partakers of the sufferings and in the glory of His eternal and unshakable Kingdom.

Let us be grateful and watch, abiding in Christ, clothed and protected in His abundant grace, strength and eternal life, given to us according to the promises of His covenant with the faithful in Thrace and in the whole world. Amen.