On July 27, the
Christian world celebrates the memory of the two brothers Cyril and
Methodius and their five disciples. On this day in 916, the last one
of the seven Slavonic enlighteners – Clement Ohridski, died. Besides
the two brothers and Saint Clement Ohridski, on this day people also
celebrate the memory of the other four disciples – Gorazd, Naum,
Angelarius, and Sava.
Clement took part in the preparation of the Moravian mission and
accompanied Cyril and Methodius in Moravia, Panonia and Rome. In
Bulgaria, he carried out massive literary work. Naum worked as a
teacher in Preslav and Kutmichevitza. At the end of his life, he lived
in a monastery he built on the shore of the Ohrid lake. Gorazd was a
highly-educated man of letters, he knew Greek, Slavonic and Latin
language. Angelarius used to lead a fight with the German priesthood
in Moravia, and later on, together with Naum and Sava, came to
Bulgaria, where he was warmly welcomed by the Bulgarian ruler Boris I.
The tradition of paying homage to all seven enlighteners together is
very old. Their names are earliest mentioned in the Extensive
Passional of Saint Clement Ohridski by archbishop Teofilactus, which
was written sometime in the end of XI century. In XIII century, the
cult of Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples became popular in
the Bulgarian lands.
Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples
On 27 July the Bulgarian Orthodox Church commemorates the
saints equal to the apostles, the enlighteners of the Slavs – brothers
Cyril and Methodius and their five disciples, Kliment, Naum, Sava,
Gorazd and Angelary.
Following the demise of the saint
brothers Cyril and Methodius who in mid-9 century created the Slavonic
alphabet and
defeated
the trilingual dogma, their disciples came to Bulgaria and continued
their mission. They institutionalized the Old Bulgarian language for
church service and contributed largely for a veritable prosperity of
the Bulgarian enlightenment and literature. In this way at a very
early stage – in 9-10 century – that brilliant team laid the
foundations of the long-term influence of Old Bulgarian culture as a
key ingredient in Europe’s Christian civilization. The Bulgarian
Orthodox Church teaches that God sent the seven saints at a fateful
moment – as apostles of Christ’s teaching and preachers of Faith in
God. Their apostolic mission was reflected in everything they did –
the creation of the alphabet, the translation of the holy books, the
establishment of schools and the dissemination of Christianity among
the Slavs.
On 27 July the Bulgarian Orthodox Church also
commemorates the demise of the most outstanding among the disciples of
Cyril and Methodius, Saint Kliment of Ochrida the Miracle Worker.
Together with his teachers Kliment received priesthood from Pope
Hadrian II. Following the death of Saint Cyril in Rome in 869 Kliment
joined his brother Methodius in the struggles against the German-Latin
clerics for the triumph of the Slavonic cause. After Methodius died in
885 the disciples of the saint brothers, persecuted by their enemies,
headed to Bulgaria. Bulgaria’s Baptizer, Saint Tsar Boris I, welcomed
them and provided them with solid financial support for the sake of
church service being held in the mother tongue in a country that had
just proclaimed Christianity its official religion. In 886 Kliment
moved to Ochrida the central town of Kutmichevitsa region, in
then-south western Bulgaria. Today part of the Republic of Macedonia,
these lands were too remote from the capital Pliska in South eastern
Bulgaria, and too close to Byzantium explaining the powerful Greek
influence there. Saint Kliment worked hard to simplify the Glagolithic
script and to create the Cyrillic alphabet, which we use today.
He translated a bulk of books from Greek to Old Bulgarian, compiled
sermons and chants. Under his guidance, churches and monasteries were
built and the famous Ochrid Literary School emerged where Saint
Kliment trained 3500 disciples for Christian priests. On the eighth
year of his teaching career he was promoted to the rank of First
Bishop of the Bulgarian Language and was thus the first figure in the
new Bulgarian church hierarchy. Saint Kliment of Ochrida called the
Miracle Worker, died on 27 July 916.
The richly decorated church in Sofia with the name
Seven Enlightener Saints, keeps small particles from the relics of
Saint Kliment of Ochrida and Saint Gorazd, two of the disciples of
Cyril and Methodius. Other parts from the relics of Saint Kliment are
kept in Ochrida Macedonia and in Ber, northern Greece.
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PEACE HAVENS of BULGARIA
