Saint Paisius of Hilendar

Infobox Saint
name=Saint Paisiy of Hilendar
Свети Паисий Хилендарски
birth_date=Bansko, today Bulgaria 1722
death_date=Asenovgrad, today Bulgaria c. 1773
feast_day=19 June
venerated_in=Bulgaria, the Eastern Orthodox world


imagesize=200px
caption=Monument of Saint Paisius of Hilendar in BanskoSaint Paisius of Hilendar or Paisiy Hilendarski ( _bg. Свети Паисий Хилендарски) (1722–1773) was a Bulgarian clergyman and a key Bulgarian National Revival figure. He is most famous for being the author of "Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya", the first work of Bulgarian historiography. Most Bulgarians think of him as the forefather of the Bulgarian National Revival. [cite book
last =Daskalov
first =Rumen
title =The Making of a Nation in the Balkans: Historiography of the Bulgarian Revival
publisher =Central European University Press
date =2004
pages =p. 7-8
isbn =9639241830 ]

Paisius was born in the Samokov eparchy of the time, probably in the town of Bansko, Macedonia. He established himself in the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos in 1745, where he was later a hieromonk and deputy-abbot. Collecting materials for two years through hard work and even visiting the lands of the Germans, he finished his "Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya" in 1762 in the Zograf Monastery. The book was the first attempt to write a complete history of Bulgaria and attempted to awake and strengthen Bulgarian national consciousnesses. [cite book
last =Berend
first =Tibor Iván
title =History Derailed: Central and Eastern Europe in the Long Nineteenth Century
publisher =University of California Press
date =2003
pages =p. 76
isbn =0520232992 ] The most famous part of the whole book is the very first sentence:

"Why are you ashamed to call yourself Bulgarian?"

This more or less signifies the purpose of the author who speaks about the danger of Bulgarians falling victim to the hellenization policies of the mainly Greek clergy. The book's first manual copy was done by Sophronius of Vratsa in 1765. Structurally, Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya consists of two introductions, several chapters that discuss various historic events, a chapter about the "Slavic teachers", the disciples of Cyril and Methodius, a chapter about the Bulgarian saints, and an epilogue. As Paisius toured Bulgaria as a mendicant friar, he brought his work, which was copied and spread among the Bulgarians. He is thought to have died on the way to Mount Athos near Ampelino (modern-day Loznitsa).

Honour

Paisiy Peak on Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica is named after Paisiy of Hilendar.

References and Notes