Venerable John of Rila

Life

This great ascetic and luminary of the Orthodox Church was born near Sofia, in the village of Skrino, in the time of Tsar Boris. He was born of poor but honorable parents. After the death of his parents he became a monk and withdrew to a wild mountain, and there in a cave he began to practice asceticism. He endured many temptations there from demons and from men, from brigands and from his own kinsmen. After that he moved to the Rila Mountains and settled in a hollow tree. He nourished himself only on grass and beans, which began to grow nearby by God's Providence. For many years he saw no human face, until, again by God's Providence, he was discovered by shepherds who were searching for their lost sheep. Thus the saint became known among men, and people began to come to him seeking help in their illnesses and afflictions. The Bulgarian Tsar Peter himself visited him and sought counsel from him. Many zealots of the spiritual life settled near John. Soon a church and monastery were built there. Saint John reposed peacefully in the Lord on August 18, 946, in the seventieth year of his life. After death he appeared to his disciples. His relics were first transferred to Sofia, then to Hungary, then to Trnovo, and finally to the Rila Monastery, where they repose to this day. Through the centuries the Rila Monastery has been a beacon of light and a place of miraculous power and spiritual consolation for the Christian people of Bulgaria, especially in the difficult times of bondage under the Turks.

From the Hymn of Praise

Two sons, two saints, one mother bore;Blessed is such a mother, who pleased God.Florus and Laurus, wondrous men, cut stone,And all the while with the Cross set straight men's souls.