Venerable Paisius of Hilandar

The Slavo-Bulgarian History

Completed at the Zograf Monastery in 1762, the Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya is described as the first significant modern Bulgarian history. To assemble it, Paisius travelled extensively in search of historical references.

The work comprises two introductions, several chapters discussing various historic events, a chapter on the Slavic teachers (the disciples of Cyril and Methodius), a chapter on the Bulgarian saints, and an epilogue. Its declared purpose was to awaken and strengthen Bulgarian national consciousness, and it addressed the dangers of Hellenization.

The first handwritten copy was made by Sophronius of Vratsa in 1765, and the text spread further in manuscript form. Excerpts appeared in Petar Beron's Tsarstvenik of 1844, but the full text was not printed until the 1920s, in an edition by Nikola Filipov, with critical editions following in the 1960s and translations into Russian, German (1984), and English (2001).

Legacy

Paisius is considered the forefather of the Bulgarian National Revival, the movement of cultural and national reawakening among Bulgarians under Ottoman rule. The history contributed to the formation of the Bulgarian national identity.

His memory is marked in modern Bulgaria: the draft of the Zograf manuscript appears on the Bulgarian 2-lev banknotes issued in 1999 and 2005, and Paisiy Peak in the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica is named after him.

Relics & Shrines

The available sources do not record the location of relics or a particular shrine associated with the saint.

Miracles & Traditions

Historically Documented: The Bulgarian Orthodox Church canonized Paisius on 26 June 1962, with the title Venerable; his feast is kept on 19 June.

Traditional Accounts: The synaxarion relates that Paisius, grieved at the forgetfulness of his people, wrote his history to recall to them the memory of their saints and tsars and to kindle the renewal of Bulgarian Orthodox life.