Venerable Paisius of Hilandar (the Bulgarian) (XVIII)

The Venerable Paisius of Hilandar was born in 1722 in Bansko, into a family of pious Christians. One of his brothers was abbot of the monastery of Hilandar; another was a generous benefactor of churches and monasteries. Paisius himself served as a novice in the monastery of Rila. In 1745, at the age of twenty-three, the saint moved to his brother at the monastery of Hilandar and was tonsured a monk. The God-wise ascetic was soon ordained priest. In 1762 the Venerable Paisius wrote the “Slavonic-Bulgarian History”, a book which strengthened the national self-awareness of the Bulgarian people. In a land crushed and oppressed under the yoke of foreigners, he made the lamp of Orthodoxy, kindled by Cyril and Methodius, Equal to the Apostles (commemorated 11 May), blaze out once more.

The time and place of the blessed father’s repose are unknown to this day. The Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Church, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Patriarch Cyril, numbered him among the saints on 26 June 1962. The name of Paisius of Hilandar (the Bulgarian) has been given to the Plovdiv State University and to many institutes and schools in Bulgaria, which speaks of the great love and deep reverence of the whole nation for him.