Holy Right-believing Prince Boris-Michael of Bulgaria, Equal to the Apostles (+907)
The Bulgarians often made war on neighbouring tribes; the country went hungry, and in 860 it fell into an extremely grave state. King Boris saw the salvation of his pagan country in accepting the Christian faith. In one of their battles with the Greeks the Bulgarians took captive the renowned noble Theodore Kouphares, who had taken monastic vows. He was the first man to sow the seed of the Gospel in the heart of the Bulgarian king. After this the Greeks, campaigning against Bulgaria, themselves seized a precious captive: the king’s young sister, who was then brought up in Orthodoxy at the court of the Byzantine emperor. When the Emperor Theophilus died, King Boris decided to take revenge on the Greeks. The emperor’s widow Theodora sent envoys to the king and warned him that she herself would defend the empire. King Boris chose peace, and as a sign of reconciliation captives were exchanged: Theodore Kouphares returned to Greece, and the sister of the Bulgarian king to her homeland. She strengthened still more the hope in Christ in her brother’s heart. Later Saint Methodius, who with his brother Saint Cyril converted the Slavs, came to Bulgaria. Saint Methodius baptised King Boris, his family and many Bulgarians. The pagan Bulgarians decided to kill the king, but the newly baptised Boris defeated the conspirators. Freed from the rebel leaders, the Bulgarian people accepted Christianity willingly. A peace was concluded between Byzantium and Bulgaria, which was not broken until the pious king’s death. Patriarch Photius laboured greatly for the spiritual strengthening of the Bulgarian people. In 867 envoys of the Pope of Rome came to Bulgaria. For three years the dispute between the Greek and Roman Churches went on in Bulgaria. In 869 a council held in Constantinople put an end to the disagreement. And on 3 March 870 the Bulgarian Church was finally united with the Eastern Church. The pious King Boris adorned the country with churches. Later a patriarchal see was also founded in Bulgaria. In old age Saint Boris went to a monastery, leaving the kingdom to his sons Vladimir and Symeon. While in the monastery Boris, in baptism Michael, learned that his son Vladimir was on the path of apostasy from Christianity. Shaken by this, the king put on the royal purple again, punished his disobedient son and put him in prison, enthroned his younger son Symeon on the royal throne, and withdrew once more into the monastery. Only once did the former king come out of the monastery, to repel an invasion of the Hungarians, and then he returned to his labours for the glory of God.
Saint Boris reposed in peace on 2 May 907.
