Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks the assumption of Saint Ivan of Rila, the miracle maker

On 18th of August, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church marks the assumption of Saint Ivan Rilski (St. Ivan of Rila), the miracle maker, one of the greatest figures of the Middle Ages who influenced the entire Eastern Orthodox world.

Saint Ivan of Rila was born app. 876 a.c. in Skrino, at the foot of the Osogovo mountain, close to the nowadays town of Dupnitsa, South-Western Bulgaria.

He lived during the reign of Prince Boris and his son Vladimir, Tsar Simeon and his son Peter - a time of widespread Christianity in Bulgaria.

As a young man he longed to devote himself to the service of God, left his birthplace and entered a monastery. After accepting monkhood, he left the monastery and wandered in many places. Finally he settled in Rila and founded the Rila Monastery. At the end of his life the saint gave himself to solitude in prayers to God.

He died in 946 and was buried in the small monastery church of the Holy Monastery of Rila.

Around 980, his relics were discovered and brought to Sofia, and he was canonized as a saint. In 1183, King Béla III of Hungary recaptured Sredets from the Byzantines and took his relics to Hungary, where they were returned four years later. After the liberation of Bulgaria from Byzantine rule, Tsar Asen I carried them to the capital city of Tarnovo in 1195. Ivan of Rila is venerated as a common Bulgarian saint, but his fame spread throughout the Balkan Peninsula and Russia.

St. Ivan of Rila, also called Reverend Ivan of Rila the miracle maker, was declared the outstanding heavenly patron of the Bulgarian people and the most popular Bulgarian people's healer saint, founder of the Rila Monastery in the 10th century. Traditional medicine recommends that in case of prolonged illness, a service should be performed in front of the relics of the saint in the Rila Monastery.

The ascetic saint is one of the most depicted saints in the frescoes in the churches of the monastery complex called Sofia Minor Holy Mountain. Two monasteries in the area, the German and the Kuril, are also dedicated to him.

Saint Ivan of Rila played a great role in the rise of Sredets as an important cultural centre. Hagiographies about the saint were written by Patriarch Evtimiy of Tarnovo in the 14th century and Vladislav Grammaticus, who in the 15th century described the solemn transfer of the saint's relics to the newly built Rila Monastery.

At the end of his life St. Ivan of Rila compiled his "Testament" - a unique document, of which four copies are known, one of which is currently exhibited in the museum of the Rila Monastery. In it, the saint bequeathed to the people to keep their faith undefiled from "all malice" and to beware of "the snake of covetousness", "for covetousness is the root of all evils". The Covenant also says, "Seek not to be known and loved of kings and princes of the earth, neither be ye subject unto them."

Source: BGNES

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Rila Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Bulgaria's most important cultural, historical and architectural monuments.