On February 2nd, a meeting for boys over 17 years old was held in Kazanlak on the theme “THE SON OF MAN CAME NOT TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE” (Mark 10, 45). The main focus of the meeting was finding a vocation for a life of service of God as a man, father, ordained or priest.12 boys aged 17 to 30 arrived in Kazanlak on Friday evening from different parts of Bulgaria – Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Stara Zagora, Rakovski and Svoge.
After dinner, we boys, together with Father Petr, Father Maximilian from the Franciscan Conventual order and Father Martsin from the Capuchin Franciscans, got to know each other, and each one introduced himself, his interests and which team he was from (the fans of Levski took advantage). We moved on to a game that helped us get to know each other even more. The evening ended with a prayer in the church of St. Joseph. Each of the boys walked alone through the labyrinth, a replica of the one in Notre Dame de Chartres Cathedral, symbolizing the long winding road to salvation. While Father Peter and Father Maximilian read passages from the Psalter and some prophets each of us took the long labyrinth. After the readings from the Bible, each of us prayed the “Our Father” until the winding labyrinth reached his heart, where Jesus Christ was, waiting for us to join Him.
Saturday morning began with prayer and reflection in the church, and then we had breakfast. Three talks took place during the day – introduction to vocation, vocation in the Bible and spiritual life and were led by Father Petr, Father Marcin and Father Maximilian. Each of the talks was truly indispensable, because it reminded us that we should lead a good prayer life, seek answers in the Holy Scriptures and above all entrust our lives to the Lord, because He will best lead us to our vocation.
At 11:30 we participated in the Western Rite Holy Liturgy. A particular challenge at the beginning was the team play in which we all participated. We had the privilege of speaking in pre-recorded hours with each of the priests. Having a spiritual director to share your joys or torments with at times is an infinite blessing that everyone deserves. After dinner we participated in a discussion related to the questions that were anonymously asked by the boys. The evening culminated in communal prayer in the church and all-night adoration. Each one of us had the opportunity to talk or contemplate Jesus in silence.
On Sunday morning we participated in a breviary followed by breakfast and an evaluation of the meeting. Holy Liturgy was celebrated in the eastern rite and finally we had lunch.
In conclusion, I must say that I will look forward with great anticipation to the next vocations meeting, to meet again the boys with whom we prayed together these days and grew in one way or another in holiness thanks to Fathers Petr, Maximilian and Marcin.
Antonio Petrov
