The difficult fate of Bulgarian Orthodoxy. Bulgarian Orthodox Church

We used to say Bulgaria, Bulgarians, but unexpectedly in church usage: Bulgarian Church, Bulgarian Patriarch (emphasis on the first syllable). It seems that we are all Slavs, but the Bulgarians have a significant admixture of Turkic blood. It seems that both we and they are Slavs - but we nod in approval and shake our heads, disagreeing with something, but they are vice versa. It's wonderful ... We helped them throw off the Turkish yoke, shedding a lot of blood in the process, and they were allies of Germany during both world wars. Dostoevsky and Leontiev prophetically predicted this.

The Bulgarians gained statehood a couple of centuries before us and were baptized more than a century earlier. Well, first things first. In 680 the first Bulgarian kingdom was founded. A small tribe of Bulgarians, having conquered the Slavs, very quickly assimilated among them. This was facilitated by the fact that the level of the conquerors was very low compared to the Slavs. For a century and a half, nothing was heard about the Bulgarian state, and at the beginning of the 9th century, the Bulgarians burst into the history of Europe with noise and become its headache. Temperamental, persistent people, at the same time not alien to sentimentality.

Philip Bedrosovich Kirkorov, like no one else, embodies these features of the Bulgarian people. The history of the Bulgarians for many centuries has been in close contact with Byzantium, with the Greeks. Their relationship is full of drama, victories over each other and defeats are constantly changing. So, in the 9th century, the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros I made a successful military campaign against the Bulgarians. However, when returning back, his army was ambushed and defeated. The Bulgarians then devastated Thrace and Macedonia and approached the walls of Constantinople. A memorable wild-exotic detail: a bowl was made from the skull of the murdered Byzantine emperor, which was overlaid with silver. Then the Bulgarians, led by the militant Krumm, were still pagans, although Christianity had already begun to spread among the lower classes. Krumm's successor even raised persecution against them. The first martyrs appeared. The baptism of the Bulgarians took place during the reign of Prince Boris in 865. The nobility was strongly against it. Boris had to take harsh measures up to the physical extermination of those who disagreed. In addition to internal motivations for the adoption of Christianity, it was important for him that Christianity was the dominant religion in Europe. Therefore, accepting it meant joining the family of European peoples and familiarizing with advanced culture. Specifically, the baptism of Boris happened as follows. Bulgaria was struck by a severe famine. In search of a way out of a difficult situation, Boris decided to make a trip to Byzantium for the purpose of robbery. The Byzantine authorities could have fought back, but under the influence of Patriarch Photius, they decided instead to offer help to the Bulgarians. This circumstance made an indelible impression on Boris, and he decided to be baptized. Baptism was performed by the patriarch himself, and the godfather was the emperor. They also say that once a captive drew him a picture of the Last Judgment, and this had a strong effect on him. How all this is similar to what happened to our Prince Vladimir! Having accepted baptism himself, and then inciting the people to this, Prince Boris (in the annals he is called the king) immediately wanted autocephaly for the young Bulgarian Church. Patriarch Photius resolutely refused him this and was right, since care was required for the newcomers, it was dangerous to leave them to themselves. By the way, these fears of the Patriarch were justified - the Bogomil heresy, which denied the most important postulates of Christianity, was widely spread in Bulgaria. Despite the obstacles, Boris continued to persistently seek church independence. Dissatisfied with the Greeks, he turned his gaze to the West, entered into communion with Pope Nicholas I. The conversation, however, did not last long. Boris asked the pope to appoint Bishop Formosa (the future pope), one of the two bishops sent by the pope at the head of a group of bishops, to head the Bulgarian Church, but the pope refused. Boris was offended and broke off communication with him. In 868, a Council was held in Constantinople, which condemned the actions of Nicholas I in Bulgaria and announced his deposition. Although this had practically no consequences, it nevertheless made a strong impression on Boris. The Bulgarian Church again came under the jurisdiction of Constantinople. Its head was a Greek bishop. Greek priests returned to Bulgaria again. Not even 20 years have passed since the Bulgarian Church again came under the jurisdiction of Rome. Photius, desiring the consolidation of the Christian world in the face of the Islamic threat, recognized this. The Greek clergy remained in Bulgaria, and the Greek bishop headed the Bulgarian Church. The Eastern rite was preserved. In fact, this was the first experience of Uniatism. Subordination to Rome was purely formal, the Bulgarian Church from the very beginning was actually independent. At this time, the educational activities of the brothers Cyril and Methodius begin. The mass Christianization of the Bulgarians was a direct consequence of the activities of the holy brothers. Saints Cyril and Methodius created a literary language for the Slavs. The Slavs turned out to be soldered by a single faith and language. The idea of ​​Slavic unity arises. The vicissitudes of the missionary activity of these saints are well known. The German Latin clergy in every possible way interfered with their activities, negatively related to the translation of worship into the Slavic language. It is difficult to overestimate the feat of Saints Cyril and Methodius. The Slavs received an invaluable gift - the opportunity to hear the Word of God in their native language. They immediately received clear theological terminology. Unlike the Greeks, who developed it for several centuries. While in Venice, Cyril entered into a heated discussion with the Latin clergy on the question of the language of worship. The Pope accepted from him church books in Slavonic. In St. Peter's Cathedral, a liturgy was celebrated in Church Slavonic.

Boris's successor, Simeon, wanted to become the Byzantine emperor - this was the first application from the head of the Slavic state for the title of Byzantine emperors - Greeks and Slavs. The Bulgarian Archdiocese under Simeon was proclaimed a Patriarchate.

The first contact between the Bulgarians and our ancestors, the ancient Russians, was dramatic. In 986-987, Prince Svyatoslav dealt a crushing blow to the Bulgarian kingdom. 18 thousand Bulgarians were impaled. The Bulgarian state ceased to exist, except for its western part with its center in Ohrid. However, this did not last long - in 1019 the Byzantine emperor Basil inflicted a crushing defeat on the Bulgarians. 15 thousand prisoners were blinded. Only after a century and a half, the Bulgarians, under the leadership of the Asen brothers, partially freed themselves. High in the mountains, they had a capital - Tarnovo with its own independent archbishop. After the Aseni brothers died at the hands of the assassins, John Kaloyan became the head of the Bulgarians. He brutally took revenge on the Greeks - during the capture of Varna, all their prisoners were buried alive in the ground. Peace was made with Byzantium. The Bulgarian kingdom with its center in Tarnovo reached its peak in the first half of the 13th century, when John Asen was its head. And on the eve of the fatal clash with the Turks at the end of the 14th century, when the Bulgarians suffered a crushing defeat and their kingdom ceased to exist, it was not in decline. After the capture of Tyrnov by the Turks, the Bulgarian Church, at the request of its clergy, entered the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Ohrid Archdiocese retained its independence. The importance of the Greek element in the church life of Bulgaria gradually increased. There was a process of Hellenization - it cannot be assessed only in gloomy terms. The Turks tried to spread Islam. Entire villages that refused to convert to Islam were destroyed. If a Christian converted to Islam - even if it was before execution, then he received a pardon. The Christian population was heavily taxed. The blood tribute was especially heavy when the boys had to be sent to the Turkish army, where they became Janissaries. There was an intolerant attitude towards capable Christians, beautiful Christian girls were taken into the harem. Christian temples could not be taller than a rider. If the built temple was very beautiful, then it was forbidden to consecrate it until a haystack burned next to it. It should be noted that Muscovite Russia, starting from the reign of Ivan the Terrible, supported the Bulgarians as best they could. A spiritual connection was established between the individual monasteries. There was huge financial support. The Bulgarians looked at the Russian Tsar as their support.

The national awakening of the Bulgarians begins in the second half of the 18th century and is associated with the activities of Paisius of Hilindar and Sophronius of Vrachansk. The first wrote "History of Bulgaria" - about its heroic past, and the second - a lot of literary and theological works. In the 19th century, their activities were continued by Yuri Venelin. He wrote the book "Ancient and present Bulgarians". This book awakened Bulgaria. Unfortunately, Venelin died early - at the age of 37 (a memorial plaque hangs at the place of his burial in the Danilov Monastery - I clearly remember the day it was established). In the middle of the 19th century, the first Bulgarian school appeared at the temple. The Russo-Turkish war in the 70s of the 19th century was successful; it ended with the signing of the San Stefanov peace treaty, according to which a significant part of Bulgaria gained independence. Even earlier, a movement began to restore church autocephaly. Although Russia supported this movement, and the Russian Church did not accept the decision of the Greeks about the "Bulgarian schism", it must be admitted that in their desire to restore autocephaly, the Bulgarians did not always have enough prudence.

According to some researchers, concessions from the Greeks were enough for the national revival and full-fledged church life of the Bulgarians, but they demanded more. It is wrong to consider only the Greeks to blame for everything.

The Bulgarians took concrete steps to achieve autocephaly in 1860. On Easter April 3, Metropolitan Hilarion, the leader of the Bulgarian autocephalists, did not commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople while performing divine services. Everything allegedly happened suddenly, at the request of those present. In fact, this was planned the day before at a meeting in which the Metropolitan took part. It must be said that almost all the requirements of the Bulgarians were accepted by the Greeks: about Bulgarian bishops for dioceses with a Bulgarian population, Bulgarian liturgical language, 1-2 Bulgarian bishops in the Synod of Constantinople. Having accepted these demands, the Greeks, however, demanded the exile of Hilarion and his closest associate Auxentius, which greatly annoyed the Bulgarians. They put forward even more radical demands: the right to participate in the election of the Patriarchs of Constantinople and equal representation with the Greeks in the Synod of Constantinople. The latter demand was rejected, since the Bulgarian dioceses made up only one-fourth of all the dioceses of the Church of Constantinople. Patriarch Sofroniy proposed to increase the number of Bulgarian dioceses. The Bulgarians did not agree with this, as it would have been costly. The new Patriarch Kirill (before the new election he had already been Patriarch for 20 years) proposed the creation of an autonomous Bulgarian Church - an exarchate, but this was also rejected.

Probably, such maximalism was fueled by the Turks, who were interested in the presence of mediastinums among the Orthodox. The Russian government found itself in a difficult position, especially the Church. Everyone was trying to prevent the worst-case scenario. The importance the St. Petersburg administration attached to this issue is evidenced by the fact that the Russian Foreign Ministry had a special council in this area. It should be noted that extreme nationalists - radicals - had the strongest influence on both sides. Bulgarian nationalists prevented the reconciliation of Bishop Auxentius with the patriarch, while the Greek nationalists put pressure on the participants in the Council, threatening them (nevertheless, Patriarch Kirill of Jerusalem refused to participate in the Council). In 1870, the Sultan's Firman came out on the recognition of the Bulgarian Exarchate, and the exarch was recognized as equal to the patriarch. The Bulgarians were only to commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople and receive peace from him. The Greeks strongly protested against this decision. Several Councils were held in Constantinople, at which they tried to settle the Bulgarian question on a compromise basis, but, unfortunately, any rapprochement with the Greeks was rejected by the Bulgarians. “Stubbornness was shown” - this is how our then ambassador to the “Brilliant Port” Count Ignatiev qualified their stubbornness. It all ended with the next Council (1872) in Constantinople proclaiming the Bulgarians schismatics for refusing to commemorate the patriarch. The Russian Church did not participate in this Council and ignored its decision. The schism was ended after 73 years in February 1945 thanks to the mediation of the ROC. After the joint service of the Greek and Bulgarian bishops in the liturgy in Constantinople, a Tomos was issued on the abolition of the schism and the recognition of the Bulgarian Church as autocephalous. The patriarchate in the Bulgarian Church was restored in 1953. At the persistent request of the Russian Orthodox Church, it was recognized by Constantinople in 1961. The current Patriarch Maxim has been at the head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for the fifth decade. 5 years - from 1950 to 1955 he was the representative of the BOC under the Moscow Patriarch. By the way, all the representatives of the Bulgarian Church in Moscow who were in my lifetime made a favorable impression, in particular, Archimandrite Gabriel and the current ascetic bishop Ignatius. At one time, I often went to the Church of the Assumption in Gonchary, where the BOC courtyard was located. Visiting the House of Scientific Atheism in the 70s of my student years to read spiritual literature, every time I went to this temple and kissed the miraculous icon of the Three-Handed Mother of God. Basically, Russian priests served here, of course, and therefore it is difficult to imagine worship in Bulgaria itself. Unless according to the stories of those who have been there. Although we can also hear prayers in Bulgarian, for example, in the convent with. Alexandrovka, Odessa diocese.

I remember how the first abbot of the Danilov Monastery, Archimandrite Evlogy (now the Archbishop of Vladimir and Suzdal) spoke about sacrificial lambs, about how, after the festive service, the Bulgarian bishop, undressing, threw parts of his vestments at the people, that the royal doors were open throughout the service, etc. .P. Vladyka Pitirim told how he performed an all-night vigil in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and during the great doxology, the deacon standing next to him mumbled something in an undertone. It turns out that he was engaged in "polyphony", i.e. in parallel with the great doxology, he recited in advance the two final litanies. Unfortunately, shortly before his accession to the patriarchal throne of His Holiness Maxim, the Bulgarian Church switched to a new style (1968). This led to a small split that still exists today. The new style was not accepted, in particular, by the Knyazhich Monastery, which was inhabited mainly by Russian nuns.

The BOC currently has 2,600 parishes and 120 monasteries. Along with the Synod, there is the Supreme Church Council and the Church - People's Council. Even in the communist period, the state allocated subsidies for churches and monasteries. Interestingly, G. Dimitrov, during the celebration of the millennium of the Rila Monastery, said the following: “I am a Bulgarian and I am proud of the Bulgarian Church, which was the guardian and patroness of the Bulgarian national spirit in the time of trials. Without this, modern Bulgaria would not exist.” Along with Rylsky, the Troyan Monastery (founded in 1600) is especially famous in Bulgaria. Several hundred thousand Muslims live in Bulgaria, among which there are many ethnic Bulgarians who converted to Islam for various reasons. The government of Todor Zhivkov tried to somehow assimilate Muslims by pursuing a policy of changing names. Much has been achieved in this regard, but Bulgaria has been criticized by various international organizations, in particular the Conference of European Churches. The latest event in the BOC - a heated discussion about the cooperation of the clergy with special agencies - caused conflicting responses in Russia and negatively affected the image of the Orthodox clergy. It turned out that 11 out of 14 Bulgarian metropolitans cooperated with the "authorities". This topic began to sound immediately after the collapse of the Soviet regime in Bulgaria, it even reached the church schism, which by now has largely been overcome (largely due to the administrative measures of state bodies). And now a new outbreak ... A number of experts do not rule out provocative overtones in this case. Well, let's wait and see.

The jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church extends to the territory of Bulgaria, as well as to the Orthodox Bulgarian communities of North and South America, Australia, etc.

The Republic of Bulgaria is a state in the east of the Balkan Peninsula. In the north it is separated from Romania by the Danube, in the east it is washed by the Black Sea, in the south it borders with Turkey and Greece, and in the west with the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The main population of the country are Bulgarians. In addition to them, there are Turks, Armenians, Gypsies, Russians, Greeks, Jews, etc.

Area - 110.900 sq. km.

Population - more than 8.990.000 (in 1989)

The capital Sofia - 1.200.000 people.

Historical sketch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church

On the territory of modern Bulgaria and neighboring lands, Christianity began to spread very early. According to the tradition preserved by the Bulgarian Church, there was an episcopal chair in the city of Odessa (present-day Varna), where Amplius, a disciple of St. apostle Paul. Church historian Eusebius reports that in the II century. there were already episcopal sees in the cities of Debelt and Anchial. Among other bishops of the Balkan Peninsula, Protogon, Bishop of Serdiki (Sardiki), also participated in the activities of the First Ecumenical Council, and somewhat later he presided over the Local Council in his cathedral city.

At the end of the 4th and beginning of the 5th centuries, Christianity was spread on the Balkan Peninsula by the missionary St. Nikita Remesiansky.

In the 5th and 6th centuries, Christianity penetrated the Balkan Slavs due to the fact that many of them served in Byzantium as mercenary soldiers. Being among the Christian population, the Slavic soldiers were baptized and, upon returning home, became the heralds of the holy faith.

In the second half of the 7th century, the Bulgarian state was formed in the eastern part of the Balkans. The creator of the new state was the warlike people of the Turkic tribe, the Bulgarians, who came from the northern shores of the Black Sea. Having conquered the Slavs who lived on the Balkan Peninsula, the Bulgarians over time completely assimilated with the local population. Two peoples - Bulgarians and Slavs - merged into one people, having received a name from the first, and a language from the second.

Christianity partially penetrated to the Bulgarians (Proto-Bulgarians) even when they were in the southern borders of our country. After their resettlement to the Balkan Peninsula, its intensive spread was facilitated by trade relations between Bulgaria and Christian Byzantium, as well as captives from both sides.

2. The desire of Prince Boris to proclaim church autocephaly; autonomy of the Church

The mass baptism of the Bulgarian people took place only in 865 under the holy Bulgarian prince Boris I (852-889; baptized Michael). Immediately after the adoption of Christianity, St. Prince Boris takes active measures to proclaim church autocephaly. First of all, he asked the Patriarchate of Constantinople to grant independence to his Church, but there he was refused on the grounds that the Bulgarian Church had just been founded and, as still young, it needed to be under the direct guidance of its Mother Church. Then St. the prince sent the same request to Pope Nicholas I. For about three years (866-869), negotiations with Rome dragged on and ended in vain. Convinced that centralist Rome is the least capable of giving autocephaly to the Church, St. the prince turned again to Constantinople, where at that

time passed the acts of the Local Council in the temple of the "Wisdom of God" ("St. Sophia"). Introduced into the assembly of the Fathers, the arrived ambassadors of St. Boris was declared: “Shortly before this, we were pagans, and only very recently did we partake of the grace of Christianity. In order not to err on any point now, we wish to learn from you, the locum tenens of all the Patriarchs, to which Church we must submit.” The papal legates immediately responded that the Bulgarians should submit to the Roman Church. But the Bulgarian ambassadors were not satisfied with this answer and demanded that the legates resolve this issue together with representatives of the Eastern Church. Then the representatives of the Eastern Patriarchs asked the Bulgarians: “To whom did the country belong at the time when you occupied it, and what kind of priests were there then, Greek or Latin?” The Bulgarians replied: "We took it with weapons from the Greeks and found in it purely Greek priests." After that, representatives of the Eastern Patriarchs came to the conclusion: "This country (Bulgaria. - K.S.) belongs to the Church of Constantinople." Disputes began, but the representatives of the Eastern Patriarchs remained adamant. Following this, the Fathers of the Council, despite the protests of the Roman legates, in a special meeting on March 4, 870, agreed to satisfy, albeit partially, the request of the Bulgarian prince. We speak partly because, as the Bulgarians themselves testify, “initially the Bulgarian Church was an autonomous Archdiocese under the supreme jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, but it enjoyed wide internal autonomy and quickly established itself and strengthened.”

The first archbishop of the autonomous Church was St. Joseph, ordained to this rank by Patriarch Ignatius of Constantinople.

Thus, March 4, 870 was actually the birthday of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Since that time, the foundation was laid for the church-administrative structure of the Bulgarian Church. Bulgaria was divided into several dioceses, which gradually, with the expansion of the borders of the state, increased in quantitative terms.

St. Prince Boris did everything necessary for the growth and strengthening of his national Church. Great assistance to his missionary and educational work was rendered by the disciples of the holy Slavic first teachers Cyril and Methodius - Saints Clement, Naum, Gorazd and others. “The victory and establishment of the case of Cyril and Methodius in Bulgaria, from where its results spread to other countries,” modern Bulgarian researchers say, “are closely connected with the activities of their students, who found a wide field of activity in Bulgaria after their expulsion from Moravia” . Arriving in Bulgaria, they met here with a warm welcome from St. Prince and under his patronage were able to develop extensive evangelistic activities. A glorious period began in the history of Slavic writing, which continued with no less success during the reign of Simeon (893-927), the son of St. Boris. Prince Simeon himself took an active part in the then literary movement. So, on his instructions, the collection “Golden Jets” was compiled, consisting of translations of the works of St. John Chrysostom, calling on a person to live like a Christian and fulfill his religious duties. Under him, the Byzantine eclogue - "The Law of Judgment to People" was reworked for Bulgarian needs. This work was mainly of legal significance. .

4. Circumstances of the establishment of autocephaly and the elevation of the Bulgarian Church to the rank of Patriarchy

In the 10th century, the Bulgarian Orthodox Church already played an important role not only in

spiritual growth of its members, but also in raising the degree of power of the state itself. The church contributed to the consolidation of state rulers and raising their authority, sought to unite the Bulgarians as a nation. The internal fortress of the Bulgarian country made it possible for Prince Simeon to inflict a crushing blow on the Byzantine troops in 917, significantly expand the boundaries of his possessions and then declare himself "king of the Bulgarians and Romans." The latter circumstances were an important prerequisite for the proclamation of the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and its elevation to the rank of Patriarchate, which happened around 919 at the Church-People's Council in Preslav. At first, Constantinople did not recognize these innovations, and only on October 28, 927, the Bulgarian Tsar Peter (927 - 969) concluded a peace treaty with Byzantium, according to which Peter was recognized as king, and the head of the Church, Archbishop Damian of Dorostol, became Patriarch . Hence October 28, 927 is considered the beginning of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Later, however, in Constantinople they were not too disposed to recognize the title of Patriarch for the successors of Damian, especially after eastern Bulgaria, under the sons of Tsar Peter (Boris II and Roman), was conquered by the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes (971). However, the Bulgarian Patriarchate continued to exist even after unfavorable political circumstances for Bulgaria, changing only at the request of the conditions of the political existence of its people the location of the patriarchal see: from the time of Peter it was in Dorostol (now Silistra), after the conquest of pre-Balkan Bulgaria by Tzimiskes it was transferred to Triaditsa (now Sofia ), then to Prespa and finally to Ohrid, the capital of the western Bulgarian kingdom, headed by Tsar Samuil (976 - 1014).

5. Ohrid Archdiocese

In 1018-1019. Byzantine Emperor Basil II of the Bulgarian fighter, having conquered Bulgaria, recognized the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church, although he deprived her of her patriarchal rank, reducing her to an Archdiocese.

In addition, the Archbishops of Ohrid (after the death of the first and last Bulgarian Archbishop John), and soon the bishops now appointed by decree of the emperor, were Greeks, and therefore few of them cared for their Bulgarian flock. Such was, for example, Archbishop Theophylact, who left behind him among many literary works. "Annunciation", testifying to his archpastoral zeal and care for the flock he feeds.

In close connection with the Byzantine conquests is the emergence and spread in Bulgaria of the Bogomil heresy, which was a kind of protest against oppression. The Bogomils understood the reality surrounding man in a dualistic way. (See more about them in the "Brief History of Bulgarian Philosophical Thought". M., 1977. S. 49 - 57, as well as in the work D. Angelova"Bogomilism in Bulgaria". M.: IL, 1954. 214 p. Translation from Bulgarian.).

In the 14th century, the heretical teachings of the Adamites became widespread in Bulgaria (they taught about the equality of all people, but they illustrated this idea in a very peculiar way - one of its preachers, a certain Lazarus, walked the streets of Tarnovo in the “suit” of Adam), Judaizers (they ridiculed the veneration of Christ the Savior, Orthodox faith, etc.), Varlaamites (they taught that the Divine light was created on Tabor, they denied icon veneration).

These heresies were condemned at church councils in Tarnovo in 1350 and 1360.

Although the decline of the first Bulgarian Patriarchy had come, nevertheless the Ohrid Archdiocese, which was the legitimate heir of the Patriarchate, strove to continue its ecclesiastical mission. Its shepherds did not stop the worship in the Slavic language, contributed to the preservation and development of the Slavic script, supported and nurtured the patriotic spirit among their flock with all possible forces. The true children of the Archdiocese considered it the center of the spiritual life of the conquered Bulgarian people and the rightful bearer of the glory of the Bulgarian Patriarchate both during the Byzantine oppression and after the conquest of the entire Balkan Peninsula by the Turks until January 16, 1767, when, in connection with the centralization policy pursued by the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the Archdiocese was subordinated to Constantinople on the rights of the Prespan metropolis. It was within the Ohrid Archdiocese - in Macedonia - that the first glimpses of the Bulgarian revival were born in the 18th century. And in the 19th century, the memory of the recently abolished Ohrid Archdiocese inspired the faithful children of Bulgaria to fight for the restoration of the independence of their Church.

For almost two centuries the Bulgarian people were under the Greek yoke. In 1185 -1186. brothers Peter and Asen organized an uprising against Byzantine rule and liberated Danube Bulgaria. Within the limits of the restored Second Bulgarian Kingdom, an independent Church was organized, headed by an Archbishop. The capital of Tarnov became the residence of the Primate of the Church.

First Archbishop of Tarnovo Vasiliy was not recognized by the Patriarch of Constantinople. But soon the Archdiocese of Tarnovo strengthened its position to such an extent that the question arose not only of recognizing it as an independent Church, but also of raising its primate to the rank of Patriarch. This happened in 1235 after the conclusion of a military alliance between the Bulgarian Tsar John Asen II and the Nicaean Emperor John Duca against the Latin Empire of Constantinople. One of the conditions of this agreement was the recognition of the Archbishop of Tarnovo as a Patriarch. By virtue of the agreement, in the same year, a church council was convened in the city of Lampsak (on the eastern shore of the Sea of ​​Marmara), which, under the chairmanship of Patriarch Herman II of Constantinople, with the participation of many bishops, archimandrites and monks of the Greek and Bulgarian, recognized the "unforgettable and inalienable" patriarchal dignity for Turnovsky "Archbishop Joachim, a reverent and holy man, who shone with a virtuous and fasting life." All the eastern Patriarchs agreed with the decision of the council, sending their colleague "a handwritten copy of their testimony."

It should also be noted here that the Tarnovo Patriarchate was not a new Local Church, but, like the Ohrid Archdiocese, a branch of the former Bulgarian Patriarchate, its legitimate successor.

The Second Bulgarian Patriarchate existed for 158 years - from the day it was recognized in Lampsak until the conquest of Bulgaria by the Turks (1235-1393). During these years, she reached the full flowering of her spiritual powers and left the names of her glorious primates to church history. For example, the Tarnovo Patriarch St. JoachimI, an outstanding ascetic of Athos and the Cave monasteries on the banks of the Danube, and in the patriarchal ministry he became famous for his accessibility and mercy. Another Tarnovo Patriarch Ignatius known for his steadfastness and firmness in the Orthodox faith during the Union of Lyon (1274) of Constantinople with Catholic Rome. But the brightest personality of this period is undoubtedly Saint Euthymius(since 1375), who had the misfortune to survive the fall of his kingdom. He was a most zealous archpastor, who gave all his strength for the good of his native Church, his people.

He worked especially hard in correcting liturgical books, for which he is sometimes called the Bulgarian Nikon. Patriarch Evfimy created around him a whole school of writers from Bulgarians, Serbs and Russians, and he himself left several works consisting of biographies of Bulgarian saints, laudatory words and epistles. During the disastrous war between the Bulgarians and the Turks (1393), due to the absence of the tsar, who was on the battlefields, he was the ruler and support of the distressed people. The saint showed a high example of patriotism, boldly went to the camp of the Turks to ask them for mercy for the people. Myself. the Turkish commander was amazed at such a feat of the Patriarch, received him rather affectionately and let him go in peace. But after the capture of Tyrnov, the Turks sentenced Euthymius to beheading, then the sentence was replaced by life exile in Thrace. The year of the death of the valiant hierarch is unknown. The people have preserved the memory of him as a national hero and benefactor of the country. The Bulgarian Church canonized him among the saints.

With the fall of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, the See of Tarnovo was soon subordinated to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople with the rights of a metropolis. Thus, along with the loss of political freedom, the autocephaly of the Tarnovo Patriarchy was also buried. “The blow to the political independence of Bulgaria,” testifies the modern Bulgarian historian Jacques Nathan, “was at the same time a blow to the ecclesiastical independence of the Bulgarian people.” The center of the spiritual life of the Bulgarians remained only the Ohrid Archdiocese, which was under the heavy yoke of the Phanariot Greeks. In 1767, it also ceased to exist. The Bulgarians were left without their spiritual center, entrusted to the care of the Greek hierarchy, which was undesirable for them.

7. Church during Turkish domination in the Balkans:

Turkish domination severely tested the religious, cultural and economic life of the Balkan peoples, including the Bulgarians. Systematic attempts began on the part of the Greek higher clergy to Hellenize the Bulgarian Church. “For centuries, the exhausted people groaned under double - political and spiritual - foreign oppression,” writes Metropolitan Pankratia of Stara Zagorsk, “but despite all the hardships and suffering that befell the people, the flame of their faith and patriotism did not go out. He was supported by the sacred memory of the glorious historical past of the homeland and was nourished by the firm conviction that the time would come when "grandfather Ivan" - the fraternal Russian people - would help the liberation of the Bulgarian land " .

Spiritual and political slavery could not empty the hearts of the Bulgarian people. At the most difficult moment of their lives, the inspired son of his people and their piety appeared - the Monk Hieromonk Paisius of Hilendar(1722-1798), founder of the Bulgarian Renaissance; He was born in the Samokov parish and at the age of 23 went to Athos, where he began to study materials related to the history of his native people in the monastic libraries. He collected the same kind of materials during his trips around the country as a monastic preacher and guide for pilgrims who aspired to visit the Holy Mountain. In 1762, the Monk Paisios wrote “The Slavic-Bulgarian History of the Peoples, and of the Kings, and of the Saints of Bulgaria”, in which he cited the facts of the past glory of the Bulgarian people as an object worthy of remembrance and imitation. “He understood,” writes academician Petr Dinekov, “that at that moment the Bulgarian people most of all needed a book of their history, about their glorious past. He came to the conclusion that this book should not be an ordinary historical work, should not calmly and dispassionately set out historical events, list facts and names. This should be a book that will provide

strong impact, sharply distinguish between positive and negative, evaluate historical events, condemn and expose, directly address the reader" . It was with this book that St. Paisios wanted to awaken the national self-consciousness of the Bulgarians, to remind them what a worthy place belonged to their homeland in the old days and at the same time strengthen the faith of the people in a brighter future, raise them to fight against both the Greeks and the Turks. With a similar goal, the disciple of the Monk Paisios, Bishop Vrachansky Sofroniy(1739-1813) published in the New Bulgarian language "Collection of teachings translated from Old Slavonic and Greek".

Since that time, the Bulgarians have risen to a decisive struggle for their ecclesiastical and national independence. This struggle, which lasted several decades, engulfed the entire enslaved Bulgaria and rallied together the popular resistance forces. “The struggle for an independent Church,” says Jacques Nathan, “became a truly popular struggle, in which the whole people took part - peasants, artisans, which gave the movement a truly massive character” . Schools began to open, books were printed. Ecclesiastical and national leaders began to more persistently prove the right of the Bulgarians to restore the autocephaly of their Church, even in the rank of Patriarchate, on the historical basis that they achieved this right back in the 10th century, that an independent Bulgarian Church in Ohrid existed for almost eight centuries, which became famous for its St. Euthymius of Tarnovo Patriarchy continued to shine in the souls of believing Bulgarians with a grace-filled light and spiritually warm their hearts.

The manifestation of the church-national struggle in 1820 in the city of Vratsa took on sharp forms. The abuses of the Greek Bishop Methodius prompted the inhabitants of Vrachan to refuse to pay him the “ladyka”. The movement was headed by the local merchant D. Kh. Toshov, who wanted to replace Methodius with a Bulgarian bishop. The struggle subsided only after Toshov, in the intrigues of the Greeks, was captured and taken out of Vratsa. “This,” writes Prof. P. Nikov, - there were first protests against the Greek clergy in Bulgaria, when there were demands for the replacement of Greek bishops by Bulgarian ones. The church movement was caused mainly by the greed and abuses of the representatives of the Patriarchy. .

In the late 20s and 30s of the 19th century, when an independent Greek kingdom was formed, the Hellenizing tendencies of the Greek clergy in Bulgaria intensified noticeably. But at the same time, in connection with the successful Russo-Turkish war for Russia (1828-1829), the growth of the Bulgarian national self-consciousness and the church movement intensified. The then strengthened ties between the Bulgarians and Russia, in whose theological academies Bulgarian monks began to study from 1838, contributed to the emergence of educated Bulgarian monks, who met the requirements of episcopal ministry to a much greater extent than less educated Greek candidates.

An important moment in the history of the ecclesiastical-national liberation of the Bulgarians was the events of 1840. The flock of the Tarnovo diocese, brought to an extreme state by the violence of the local Greek metropolitan Panaret, a rude, uneducated man, in the past a circus fighter, appealed to Constantinople with a request to remove him from Tyrnova. The Turkish government supported this request. In this regard, representatives of the Tarnovo flock offered one of the champions of the Bulgarian revival, Archimandrite of the Hilendar Monastery, to the vacant position. Neophyte Raised. Although the Turkish government did not object to this candidacy, the Patriarchate managed to secure the appointment of a Greek, also named Neophyte, to the metropolis. Archimandrite Vozveli was appointed under him only in the rank of protosingel, and soon, through the intrigues of his metropolitan, he was exiled to Athos for a three-year term. There he wrote a sharp pamphlet against the Greek clergy: "Enlightened European, half-dead mother Bulgaria and son of Bulgaria."

In the pamphlet, Mother Bulgaria, lamenting the miserable condition of her children, asks: who is to blame for this. Her son names her among the culprits of the Greeks, who consider themselves the chosen people. Having served his exile, Archimandrite Neophyte Vozveli did not cease his ecclesiastical and national activities. Returning to Constantinople, he became close to the monk of the Hilendar monastery, father Hilarion Stoyanovich. A large “Bulgarian Orthodox community” formed in Constantinople, - testifies prof. I. N. Shabatin, - instructed oo. Hilarion and Neophyte to intercede... for the opening of a Bulgarian parish church in Constantinople," as well as "for sending bishops of Bulgarian nationality to the dioceses inhabited by Bulgarians." By order of the Patriarch, both intercessors were sent “to Hilendar to the monastery prison. Neophyte died there, but Hilarion managed, thanks to the energetic protection of the Russian government, to be released. In October 1849, a Bulgarian church was consecrated in the Turkish capital, in which the Patriarch allowed to serve and preach in Slavic and Bulgarian. Soon this church became the center of the Bulgarian national liberation movement. In 1858, a special bishop was appointed for this church. Hilarion (Stojanovic) with title of Bishop of Makariopol".

By the beginning of the second half of the XIX century. The Bulgarians formulated their demand to the Greeks as follows: to restore at least their ecclesiastical autonomy, not autocephaly, and they did not object to the title of their primate Exarch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. But the Greeks at first did not agree to even go for it. In 1858, at the Council convened by the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Bulgarian representatives put forward demands: 1) the election of bishops in the dioceses, locally; 2) knowledge by the bishops of the language of the population where they will serve; 3) fixing their salary. But when these demands were rejected by the Greek clergy, the bishops of Bulgarian origin decided to proclaim their own ecclesiastical independence. On April 3, 1860, on the day of Holy Pascha, from the ambo of the Bulgarian church in Constantinople, Bishop Hilarion, in accordance with the desire of the people, instead of the name of the Patriarch, commemorated the entire Orthodox bishopric. By this deed the Bulgarian Church was separated from the Patriarch.

This act inspired the Bulgarians. The news of what had happened quickly spread throughout Bulgaria; Everywhere they began to demand the same locally, and in some churches the clergy began to commemorate Bishop Hilarion as "priest-head of all Bulgaria." Struck by everything that had happened and not being able to stop the rapid movement of the Bulgarians towards ecclesiastical independence, the Patriarch KirillVII (1855 -1860), resigned. his successor JoachimII (1860 -1863; 1873 - 1878), seeing the growth of the movement (Metropolitans Auxentius the Bulgarian and Paisios the Greek joined Bishop Hilarion), immediately in 1861 convened a Local Council in Constantinople, at which it was decided to depose Bishop Hilarion of Makariopolsky and Metropolitans Auxentius Velessky and Paisiy Plovdivsky and send them into exile. But such a definition of the Council caused an even more intense and massive struggle of the Bulgarians against the Hellenic dominance of the Bulgarian flock. Seeing this development of events, Patriarch Joachim considered it necessary to make some concessions to the Bulgarians. In a message circulated after the Council, he solemnly promised to send to the dioceses inhabited by Bulgarians, bishops of Bulgarian nationality or those who certainly knew the Bulgarian language. Divine services in these churches were allowed to be performed in the Slavic language. But the concessions were made too late. Now the Bulgarian ecclesiastical leaders put forward new demands to the Turkish government, namely: to allow the Bulgarians to participate in the election of the Patriarch on equal terms with the Greeks; introduce into the Synod of Constantinople six bishops of Bulgarian nationality; to grant the right to the Bulgarians themselves to elect bishops for their native dioceses. In response to this, the government appointed a mixed Greek-Bulgarian commission, which was to consider

requirements put forward by the Bulgarians. However, its members did not come to an agreement, which caused even greater dissatisfaction of the parties.

One of the successors of Patriarch Joachim (after him was SophroniusIII; 1863-1866) Patriarch GregoryVI (1867-1871) was ready to make further concessions - to provide the Bulgarians with some independence. In the draft submitted to the Turkish government, Patriarch Gregory agreed to separate several Bulgarian dioceses into a separate district, which would be governed by a council of his own (Bulgarian) bishops, chaired by the Exarch, who remained dependent on the See of Constantinople. The new proposals of Patriarch Gregory, like the previous ones of Patriarch Joachim, did not satisfy the Bulgarians: the latter continued to believe that the dependence on the Patriarchate, according to the project, was too great, and the church area ceded to them was too small, not covering all Bulgarian settlements.

Finally, the Turkish government, seeing the firm determination of the Bulgarians and the growing unrest in the empire, on February 28, 1870, promulgated the Sultan's firman on the establishment of an independent Bulgarian Exarchate for the Bulgarian dioceses, as well as those dioceses whose Orthodox inhabitants in their majority (two-thirds) wish to enter into its jurisdiction. The exarchate was asked to commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople at divine services, inform him of his decisions and receive St. Miro in Constantinople. In fact, the sultan's firman restored the independence of the Bulgarian Church, which it was completely uncanonically deprived of at the end of the 14th century and in the second half of the 18th century. At the same time, by this act, the Turkish Empire recognized the existence of a separate Bulgarian nationality on the Balkan Peninsula. “Contrary to all the intrigues of the Phanariot clergy, Port recently,” V.V. Makushev wrote in those years, “finally recognized independence from the Tsaregrad Patriarch of the Bulgarian Exarchate and thereby opened a freer field for the mental and material development of the Bulgarian tribe.”

The Bulgarian church leaders now had to accept the Rules of the Exarchate and elect the Exarch. “Bulgarian representatives,” Karakanovsky, a doctor at the Russian Embassy in Constantinople, wrote on January 25, 1871, to the leader of the Moscow Slavic Committee, Nil Alexandrovich Popov, “are coming to the capital to approve the Church Charter and elect an Exarch. In all likelihood, Panaret will be the Exarch. The Patriarch (Gregory VI. - K.S.) does not want to hear about the agreement, despite repeated attempts by the Bulgarians. He said that he did not recognize either the Bulgarian people or their representatives. On the 20th of this month, the Patriarch was with Ali Pasha and demanded that the Porte either allow him to convene an Ecumenical Council, or accept his resignation. The Grand Vizier replied that the Ecumenical Council could not be due to the Bulgarian question, because it was not a religious question; regarding the resignation, he will consult with other ministers. Despite the unfriendly attitude of the Greeks, the Orthodox Bulgarians convened in February 1871 in Constantinople the First Bulgarian Church-People's Council, which consisted of the most prominent participants in the national liberation movement (bishops: Makariopol Hilarion, Plovdiv Panaret and Paisius, Vidinsky Anfim, Lovchansky Hilarion, etc. clergy and secular persons), which was developed by the Charter of the Bulgarian Exarchate. It should be noted that the main provisions of this Statute were also included in the Statute of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, which has been in force since 1953.

Patriarch Gregory VI of Constantinople tried at first to send a special message to all the Orthodox Churches, counting on their support, but when he saw that the Bulgarians did not deviate from their lawful rowing, he retired in protest.

his successor Anfim J / 7 (1871 -1873) took a more flexible line: he went to peace negotiations with the Bulgarian representatives, promising them to recognize the independence of the Bulgarian Church in the future, provided that they refuse to implement the firman. This attitude of Patriarch Anfim aroused the good hopes of the Bulgarians. “The new Patriarch Anfim,” the Bulgarian statesman and publicist Stoyanov-Burmov wrote from Constantinople to Moscow on September 14, 1871, “promises to put an end to the matter with the Bulgarians soon. The last one was with him the other day. He made a good impression on them with his judgments. It is clear that he will be compliant, as long as he does not meet resistance in the Synod. . “Although it is still impossible to predict what end the negotiations that Kir Anfim began with the Bulgarian leaders will have,” wrote the same Stoyanov-Burmov the next month (October 5, 1871), “but there is great hope that they will end in an agreement” . However, reality showed that Patriarch Anfim was only dragging out time. The Bulgarian delegates, finally losing patience and deciding that the question of the independence of their Church had already been determined by the firman of the sultan, in January 1872 asked Bishops Hilarion of Makariopolsky, Hilarion Lovchansky and Panaret of Plovdiv to celebrate divine services in the Bulgarian church in Constantinople without any contact with the Patriarchate. Enraged by such a course of events, the Patriarch obtained from the Turkish government the removal of the named bishops from the capital and stopped all negotiations with the Bulgarians. Moreover, at the meeting of the Synod, Bishops Hilarion Lovchansky and Panaret Plovdivsky were declared deposed, and Hilarion Makariopolsky excommunicated from the Church. The Bulgarian temple was closed. But the Bulgarians, who lived in Constantinople, unanimously appealed to the Grand Vizier for the return of the three bishops and for the implementation of the Sultan's firman. The Grand Vizier granted their request - he gave the order to enforce the firman. The expelled bishops were returned to the capital. At the same time, it was allowed to elect an Exarch.

8. First Exarchs

Bishop Lovchansky was elected the first Exarch on February 11, 1872 Hilarion, but after five days, because of his infirmities, he refused this post. Metropolitan of Vidinsky was elected in his place Anfim(1816-1888), a graduate of the Khalkin school, and then the Moscow Theological Academy. He was ordained to the rank of hieromonk by Metropolitan Filaret (Drozdov) of Moscow.

The new Exarch immediately went to Constantinople to meet with church leaders and representatives of secular authorities. On March 21, 1872, Stoyanov-Burmov, a witness to the events of that time, wrote to N. A. Popov: “The Exarch of Bulgaria, whom the Bulgarians already title “Blessed”, arrived in Constantinople the other day. He was met both here and in all the Bulgarian cities (stations) through which he passed, with hitherto unprecedented honors in relation to a clergyman. In Ruschuk, for example, 60 Bulgarian priests in church vestments, an Armenian bishop with his clergy also in church vestments, and a platoon of Turkish soldiers were waiting for him on the banks of the Danube with a large gathering of people. In Varna, he was greeted with military music, etc., and up. He will also have an audience with the Sultan. It is only unknown how the matter with the Patriarchate, which still persists in its claims, will end. On the occasion of the arrival of the Exarch, the Bulgarians will make their last attempt at reconciliation with him, and if it is unsuccessful, they will lay the responsibility on the Patriarchate, will do their job, not paying the slightest attention to his claims. . On April 2, Exarch Anfim received from the Turkish government a berat that granted him the rights, partly proclaimed by the Sultan's firman of 1870, and partly following the example of berats issued to representatives of other Orthodox Autocephalous Churches that were in the Turkish Empire. Trying

The Bulgarian Exarch to enter into negotiations with the Patriarch, unfortunately, “failed, because,” Stoyanov-Burmov wrote a little later (May 9, 1872), “the Patriarch refused to accept the Exarch.” Moreover, he, - continued Stoyanov-Burmov, - “the other day issued a district letter against the Exarch, which irritated even the most moderate Bulgarians. His Holiness gives the Exarch a thirty-day period, after which the latter, if he does not declare his full submission to the Patriarch, will be defrocked. This will be done, in all likelihood, at the council, which will be convened at the end of this month, when all the Eastern Patriarchs will arrive here. The Exarch was not afraid of the threats of the Patriarch. He declared all the ecclesiastical punishments of Constantinople, imposed on the bishops, unjust, and therefore invalid, and together with them on May 11, 1872, celebrated the Divine Liturgy in the Bulgarian church, during which the act of declaring the Bulgarian Church autocephalous was solemnly read. In response to these actions, the Patriarchal Synod of Constantinople resorted to extreme measures worthy of very deep regret, namely: declared Exarch Anfim deprived of the priesthood, two Metropolitans Hilarion of Lovchansky and Panaret of Plovdiv excommunicated from the Church, and Bishop Hilarion of Makariopol guilty of fiery hell and eternal anathema. As if considering these measures as insufficient, the Patriarch of Constantinople constituted on September 16, 1872 the Local Council (“Great Local Synod”), which condemned “phyletism”, i.e. tribal division in Orthodoxy, declared supporters of phyletism hostile to the "One Catholic and Apostolic Church" and declared the Bulgarian Church schismatic.

The Orthodox Plenitude did not accept these bans from Constantinople. Patriarch Kirill II of Jerusalem categorically refused to recognize the Council's decisions as just. Bishops of the Church of Antioch (of Arab nationality) declared the signature of their Patriarch under the acts of the Council "the expression of his personal opinion, and not the opinion of the entire Church of Antioch" . As a result, "the schism was not promulgated in any of the temples of the Church of Antioch, not even in the Patriarchal Cathedral in Damascus." The Romanian and Serbian Orthodox Churches reacted with sympathy and understanding of the difficult situation of the Bulgarian Church. In particular, as Stoyanov-Burmov testifies in his letter dated March 8, 1873, “The Serbian Metropolitan sent his portrait to the Exarch and Ohridid ​​Metropolitan Nathanael, which shows that he does not consider them schismatics.” As for the attitude of the Russian Orthodox Church to these events, it should be noted that the Holy Synod considered the demands of the Bulgarians legitimate. The Russian ambassador in Constantinople, Count N. P. Ignatiev (1864-1877), took a lively part in ensuring that the issue was resolved in favor of the Bulgarian Church.

The announcement of the schism caused pain and grief among the clergy and people, but did not discourage them - they rallied even more, zealously preserving ancient traditions and legalizations.

From the very first days of its existence, Exarchia, with exemplary zeal, took up the spiritual guidance of the Bulgarians and their rallying. Its leaders selflessly undertook the establishment of dioceses, the development of public education, the spiritual and cultural establishment of the Bulgarian people. The Patriarch of Constantinople tried to counteract the “schismatic Exarchate” by sending his bishops to all Bulgarian dioceses, but this produced “only laughter among the Bulgarians, who were sure that the Patriarchal bishops would not have the slightest success.” The Bulgarian church authorities themselves tried to quickly supply all the Bulgarian dioceses with hierarchs dependent on them, therefore, almost every Sunday, episcopal consecration was performed. . Exarchia defended the Orthodoxy of its people, fought against Catholic and Protestant propaganda. She carried out her mission very successfully.

After the "April uprising" of the Bulgarians against the Turks in 1876, Exarch Anfim, as a good shepherd, ready to lay down his life for his flock, submitted to the representatives of Western states the famous memorandum about the brutal cruelties of the Turks against the defeated Bulgarians. The words of Anfim, spoken in response to the requests of people close to him, to act less openly, so as not to suffer the fate of Patriarch Gregory of Constantinople, were heard all over the world. a free Greek kingdom has been created, and when they hang me, perhaps a free Bulgarian kingdom will be created. He resolutely refused to put his signature under the declaration proposed to him by the Grand Vizier on behalf of the Bulgarian people that the people were allegedly satisfied with their position under the rule of the Turks and that there was no need for other states to interfere - mainly Russia, which was then preparing for war with Turkey - to change position. Because of this refusal, the Exarch was deprived of his post and sent to prison in Asia Minor. After the end of the Russian-Turkish war (1877-1878), at the request of the Russian government, Anfim was released and headed the Vidin diocese. In 1879 he was elected chairman of the Tarnovo Constituent Assembly, which adopted the country's constitution. In his speech, he, recalling the liberation struggle of the Bulgarian people, expressed not only his grief over the dismemberment of the country imposed on the Bulgarians, but also his confidence in a better future.

Anfim's successor Exarch Joseph(1877 -1915) experienced a lot of trouble from the Constantinople authorities during the Russian-Turkish war. After the liberation of the Bulgarians by the Russians in 1878, within the borders of the free state, the Bulgarian Church was governed by a Synod headed by a Viceroy-Chairman. The exarch, however, continued to remain in Constantinople, for many Bulgarians remained within the Turkish Empire. The Berlin Treaty divided the territory of Bulgaria (into the Bulgarian principality and into an autonomous Turkish province - Eastern Rumelia, which joined the principality in 1885), and the Turkish government did not allow a single church government for all Bulgarians. Therefore, Exarch Joseph directed his activities to the dioceses that remained in the Turkish Empire (in Thrace and Macedonia). He fulfilled his task brilliantly: Bulgarian bishops were sent to the cathedras, Bulgarian schools were opened in villages and cities (Adrianople, Thessaloniki, Skopje). Several elementary schools, a Theological Seminary and a Bulgarian hospital were opened in Constantinople itself. Since 1891, the Bulgarian newspaper Novini began to be published here. On the bank of the Golden Horn, the Exarch built a magnificent church, which to this day is a landmark of the city.

The most important factor in the social development of the Bulgarian people, Exarch Joseph considered their mental progress. “Mental development naturally leads to material wealth, and the more a nation is mentally developed, the easier it is for it to find means to improve its material condition,” he wrote, while still a lay employee of the Bulgarian Exarchia, on the pages of the Chitalishte magazine. , whose editor he was in the 70s.

After the Balkan War, which brought the liberation of the Christians of the Balkan Peninsula from the Turks (Macedonia and Thrace came under the rule of Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia), there was no longer any reason for Exarch Joseph to continue to stay in Constantinople, and in 1913 he, leaving his governor in Constantinople, moved to Sophia, where he died two years later (June 20, 1915). After him, for 30 years, the independent development of the church

life and the election of a new head of the Bulgarian Church met with all sorts of obstacles. The affairs of the Church were in charge of the Holy Synod, chaired by the Viceroy-Chairman, which each of the metropolitans could be elected for a four-year term. Nevertheless, the Bulgarian Church continued to fulfill its sacred duty: it taught its flock to believe Orthodoxy and live Orthodoxally by faith, developed charitable activities, and took care of spiritual enlightenment. Evidence of the life of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in these years is the convocation in 1921-1922. Second Church-People's Council, which was attended by representatives of the entire Orthodox Bulgarian people. The Council streamlined the position of the clergy and resolved various issues relating to the internal structure of the Church, in particular, it developed the Charter, which, together with the Charter of the Council of 1871, laid the foundation for the current one.

According to the Charter of 1871, the Exarchate was divided into dioceses, deaneries and parishes. The supreme legislative body of the Exarchate was the Local Spiritual and Secular Council (bishops, clerics, laity).

The highest administrative bodies were: the Holy Synod (of the Exarch and four diocesan bishops), dealing with purely spiritual matters, and the Exarch Council of the Laity (of six laymen), dealing with purely secular issues (for example, financial). Matters that had a spiritual and secular nature were decided by the Mixed Exarch Council (the Holy Synod and the Exarch Council of the Laity) under the chairmanship of the Exarch. In the diocese, the administrative body was made up of bishops with a diocesan Mixed Council (three clerics and 5-7 laity), in the deanery -

the Dean also with the Mixed Council of the Deanery. The parish was fed by a priest, elected by the parish Elected Assembly.

Changes have been made to this Charter over the years. So, in 1883, articles were introduced into it, mainly concerning the restriction of the participation of the laity in the management of the Church (the Mixed Exarch Council was abolished). Established the life tenure of the election of the Exarch. In 1895, the Charter was revised once again (attention was paid to strengthening church discipline, as well as to the management of monasteries, etc.). (Cm.: I. Palmov. Bulgarian Exarchic Church. Its original and modern structure. SPb., 1896. S. 49-89).

Church-People's Council 1921-1922 codified Bulgarian church laws. The Provision (Charter) worked out by him consisted of 568 articles. The main principles of this Regulation were the synodal system of church government and the broad participation of the laity in the government. According to this Regulation, the bodies of church administration were: 1. The Holy Synod (the entire episcopate) - the highest spiritual authority in resolving issues of a spiritual nature (dogmatic, liturgical, etc.). 2. Spiritual-Secular Assembly (clergy and laity) - the legislative body for the entire Church and Diocesan Assemblies (bishops, clergy and laity) - for individual dioceses. 3. The Permanent (Small) Holy Synod (of the Exarch and four bishops according to the alphabetical list of dioceses for a two-year term) is the administrative body of the Church. The Church Council (of two clerics and two laity), elected by the Spiritual and Secular Assembly for four years, also belonged to the administrative bodies. The competence of the Church Council was subject to the affairs of the Church of a financial and legal nature. His decisions were valid after the approval of the Permanent Holy Synod. 4. The Supreme Church Court at the Holy Synod (bishops, clergy and laity) and the Diocesan Spiritual Court.

The new Statute was to be approved by the National Assembly. However, in connection with the coming to power of new state rulers in 1923, the matter dragged on.

The main reason for the delay was that the Regulations were too large and that the maintenance of the organs of church administration provided for by them would require a lot of funds. In 1932, the Commission established by the Holy Synod reduced the text of the Regulation to 290 articles, but only in 1937, after further reductions and changes, the Regulation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized as state law.

In 1944, the Soviet Army liberated Bulgaria from the fascist yoke. The government of the Fatherland Front created in the country reacted favorably to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. With his permission and with his assistance, January 21, 1945 Metropolitan of Sofia Stephen was elected Bulgarian Exarch. But the full spiritual communion of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church with other Orthodox Sister Churches was still hindered by the schism of 1872. The Russian Orthodox Church, which has always been in a hurry to provide spiritual assistance to fellow-believing Slavic brothers, this time, by its intercession before Patriarch Benjamin of Constantinople, prepared the ground for negotiations, as a result of which on February 22, 1945, the long-desired and expected event took place - the schism was terminated. After a 73-year separation, for the first time Greek and Bulgarian bishops celebrated the Divine Liturgy on February 25 in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Constantinople, and on March 4 - in the Bulgarian church in Istanbul. On March 13, representatives of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church were presented with a special tomos signed by Patriarch Veniamin and all members of the Holy Synod of the Church of Constantinople, which abolished schism and recognized the autocephaly of the thousand-year-old Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Stefan remained as Exarch for about four years, after which he resigned; On May 14, 1957, Metropolitan Stefan died. For some time, the Bulgarian Church again returned to the institution of the “Vicar-Chairman of the Holy Synod”, until on May 10, 1953, at the Third Church-People’s Council, the Bulgarian Patriarch Kirill was elected and solemnly enthroned. And again misunderstandings arose in relations with the Church of Constantinople. The throne of Constantinople did not take part in the enthronement of the new primate and in the completely legal restoration of the patriarchate in Bulgaria. It is difficult to understand such actions of Constantinople. Most recently (in 1945) he issued a special tomos, with which he removed schism from the Bulgarians and recognized the Bulgarian Church as independent. And now, when this Church, ruling independently, has restored its ancient patriarchal dignity, the Patriarchate of Constantinople, because of this "daring" of hers, has again stopped normal relations with her. And only in 1961, at the insistent petition of the Russian Orthodox Church, did it finally recognize the dignity of the Bulgarian Patriarch. It happened in the following way. When there was correspondence between the Primates of the Autocephalous Orthodox Churches about the need to convene the first Pan-Orthodox Conference, the Moscow Patriarchate, taking an active part in the preliminary work, declared to the See of Constantinople that it would send its delegation to the Conference only if the latter recognized the restoration of the patriarchate in Bulgaria as a legitimate phenomenon. . In response to the statement of the Moscow Church, the consent of Constantinople followed, and after it the invitation of the Bulgarian Patriarchate to the first Rhodes Pan-Orthodox Conference. In the spring of 1962 the Bulgarian Patriarch Kirill paid an official visit to the Patriarch of Constantinople.

In 1970, the Orthodox Bulgarians solemnly celebrated two significant anniversaries

dates: 1100th anniversary of the establishment of the Bulgarian Archdiocese in the bosom of the Mother Church of Constantinople (then the beginning of the independence of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was laid) and 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate. The celebrations consisted of prayers of thanksgiving, an ecumenical meeting in Sofia and priestly conferences, at which reports were read on the long history of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

His Holiness Patriarch Kirill(in the world Konstantin Markov) was born in 1901 in Sofia. In 1914 he entered the Sofia Theological Seminary and in 1920 successfully graduated from it. After that, he listened to lectures for two years at the Theological Faculty of Belgrade University, and then entered the Theological Faculty of Chernivtsi University, where in 1927 he received the degree of Doctor of Theology. Then, for two years, he studied at various universities - Berlin, Vienna, etc.

In 1923 he received monastic tonsure and holy orders. He successively held the positions of secretary of the Rila Monastery, teacher and educator of the Sofia Theological Seminary, protosingel of the Sofia Metropolis, head of the cultural and educational department of the Holy Synod. In 1936 he was consecrated to the rank of bishop and appointed Secretary General of the Holy Synod. In 1938 he was elected to the Metropolis of Plovdiv and held this chair for 15 years. And in the subsequent time until 1969, he continued to minister to this diocese.

During the years of fascist terror, the Saint boldly and openly came out in defense of the persecuted Jews in Plovdiv. By his courageous intercession, he saved them from expulsion, and consequently from inevitable death. The great merit of Metropolitan Kirill was that, after the armed popular uprising in September 1944, he correctly perceived what was happening and correctly steered his church ship.

In 1951, Metropolitan Kirill was called to the title of Vice-Chairman of the Holy Synod, and with the restoration of the Bulgarian Patriarchate in 1953 - Patriarch.

During his service to the Church of God, His Holiness the Patriarch developed a very fruitful activity in many areas: liturgical, pastoral and church-public.

A special place in the biography of Patriarch Kirill is occupied by his extensive literary activity. Making repeated trips abroad, His Holiness the Patriarch found time for scientific work in the libraries of Moscow, Leningrad, Belgrade, Berlin, Budapest, Vienna, Paris, and Prague. By his order, the Moscow and Leningrad state book depositories prepared a number of photocopies of rare archival materials that he used for his work.

Patriarch Kirill wrote more than twenty-five major works, of which two are translations from the German language: "The Christian Philosophy of Life" by T. Pesha and "Among Nature" by T. Tot, as well as several hundred articles published in various periodicals of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church .

In 1934, one of the first studies of Patriarch (then Archimandrite) Kirill was published: "The Church and the Synagogue in the First Three Centuries." In 1938, the book "Faith and Revival" was published, and in 1940 his work "The Sower Came Out" was published. "This work

Orthodoxy in Bulgaria is very difficult to understand from the outside. On the one hand, every Russian tourist or pilgrim will be happy, as in any Orthodox country, to discover that in a Bulgarian church, everything is like in his native Russia, everything is at home. But not in every church you can take communion, even on Sunday, in the largest monasteries there are hardly more than 10 monks ...

We are talking with Hieromonk Zotik (Gayevsky) about his path to faith, to serving in holy orders, serving in Bulgaria, and about the fate of Bulgarian Orthodoxy.

Monasticism is for life.
– Father, please tell us how you came to faith?

– I was born in an Orthodox church family. My mother raised me in the Orthodox faith. From childhood, she not only took me to church, but introduced me to church sacraments, to spiritual life. We tried with the whole family to receive communion often - and not only during, but also outside the fasts.
After school, I decided to enter the Theological Seminary.

– And how did your peers feel about the fact that you go to church, and even decided to enter the Seminary?

- Normally, and even with respect. They asked who had any questions about church life. And I tried my best to answer.
– Father, why monasticism and not the white clergy? So this is a calling?

– I was born in Moldova, and the people there are Orthodox and have a good attitude towards the Orthodox Church. After school, I entered the Chisinau Theological Seminary, which is located on the territory Holy Ascension Novo-Nyametsky Kitskansky Monastery. And this greatly influenced my choice. Observing monastic life up close played its role - I strengthened my desire to devote my whole life to the service of God.
I think it's wrong to say that this is the calling of some. We are all called by God, and He calls us all to Himself. It all depends on who will respond to this call of God.

How did your parents accept your choice?

Both mom and dad were fine with it. True, my mother was worried that I was still young. I was eighteen years old when I became a novice. Her only advice was that I should not rush into taking monastic vows: “Don't rush, because monasticism is for life. This is not for a day, not for two, not for a year, for life.”

Orthodoxy in Bulgaria
– Father, please tell us how you ended up in Bulgaria?

– After I graduated from the Chisinau Theological Seminary, my supervisor offered me to study in Bulgaria, in Sofia, at the Faculty of Theology.

- Why in Bulgaria, and not in Kyiv or Moscow?

– There were many people who wanted to study in Moscow, in Kyiv, in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, but it is very difficult to enter the Moscow Theological Academy. I would have been sent to Bulgaria on an exchange, that is, I would have studied at the Faculty of Theology in Sofia without admission. I was also very interested in this Orthodox country.

- Is Bulgaria similar to Moldova?

- No, it doesn't. Because the Bulgarians are Slavs, and the Moldavians belong to another group - to the Romanesque. Romanians and Moldovans are similar in traditions and customs, while Bulgarians and Moldovans are similar in the Orthodox faith.

– Tell me, please, what do you think to do after graduating from the Faculty of Theology in Sofia?

- Of course, the ways of the Lord are inscrutable, but I think to return to Moldova, to teach at the Theological Seminary or the Theological Academy. If there is an opportunity to teach in a secular educational institution, of course, I will use it with pleasure.

– When you arrived in Bulgaria, what struck you? Are there differences in faith? Many note that in Bulgaria there is an impoverishment of faith. Is it so?

– Yes, actually it is. Firstly, a depressing picture on Sundays and holidays - churches in Bulgaria are half empty. There is no such church life as I saw in Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Serbia. It's like spiritual mortification here.

– Why do you think this is happening?

I have been looking for answers to this question, but it is very difficult to answer it. You need to know well the specifics of the Bulgarian people, the mentality, the historical past.

- Perhaps the dependence on Turkey for several centuries is affecting?

- I think not. Both Greeks and Serbs were under Turkish rule. But in Serbia and Greece, churches on Sundays are filled to capacity.

– Were there any persecutions of the Orthodox in Bulgaria in Soviet times?

Yes, they were in those days. But not like, say, in the USSR. Almost not a single church in Bulgaria was destroyed. That is, all churches, all monasteries have been preserved. There was no persecution against the clergy, against the Orthodox. The communist regime in Bulgaria was quite loyal to the Orthodox Church. The only case is the murder of Archimandrite Boris in the Blagoevograd diocese by one zealous communist. But this is an exception.

- Father, do young people come to church?
- He comes, but only to light a candle, cross himself, ask the priest to read a prayer for health.
– And how do you feel about the fact that Bulgarian parishioners do not wear headscarves?

– I think that every Orthodox country has its own traditions, its own customs. If in Russia Orthodox women wear headscarves, here in the Balkans they do not. Why am I speaking in the Balkans? Because not only women in Bulgaria, but also in Greece and Serbia do not cover their heads with scarves. It is a local tradition for women to go to church without headdresses, without headscarves. I think that Russian tourists and pilgrims do not need to be indignant at the fact that Bulgarian women do not wear headscarves. It's their tradition.

—Father, many Russian pilgrims wonder why they don’t always give communion at Liturgy in Bulgarian churches. Why does it happen?

– Yes, this is a problem in Bulgaria. Because in the Turkish and in the tsarist period, during the period of communism, people very rarely went to church and very rarely took communion. And in Russia during the Soviet period, the Orthodox also did not always have the opportunity to receive the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Usually limited to communion several times a year, including during Lent. Now we are noticing changes in the Orthodox life of Russia - a spiritual revival, the churching of many. People go to church, take communion often, almost every Sunday. And in Bulgaria there is an unspoken teaching that the Orthodox should take communion no more than four times a year, that is, during fasts. Unfortunately, this point of view is supported by many clergymen, archpastors of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Although we do not find any confirmation in Holy Scripture or in the teachings of the Holy Fathers that Orthodox Christians should receive communion only four times a year.

Despite the fact that both you and I noticed the mortification of spiritual life in Bulgaria, as if the absence of church life, we must admit that this is a holy land, there are shrines almost at every step. In this small country, there are about five hundred Orthodox monastic cloisters. Can you imagine?

- And all the active ones?

– Yes, all the monasteries are active, but, unfortunately, they are half empty. The largest Stauropegial monastery in Bulgaria - Rila, has ... eleven monks. It is considered the largest Bulgarian monastery. In Bulgaria, in fact, there are a lot of shrines and saints - this is St. John of Rylsky - the patron saint of the Bulgarian land, St. Clement of Ohrid, St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Boris, Tsar Peter, St. Paraskeva and many others. And we believe that through the prayers of these holy saints of God, a spiritual revival will also take place on the Bulgarian land.

Material from ABC Pilgrims

Bulgaria(Bulgarian. България), full official form - Republic of Bulgaria(Bulg. Republic of Bulgaria) - a state in South-Eastern Europe, in the eastern part of the Balkan Peninsula, occupies 22% of its area.

Largest cities

• Sofia
• Plovdiv
• Varna
• Burgas

Orthodoxy in Bulgaria

Orthodoxy in Bulgaria- one of the traditional Christian denominations, which has spread on the territory of Bulgaria since the 5th-7th centuries. Orthodoxy is practiced by about 82.6% of the country's population (2010).

Story

On the territory of modern Bulgaria, Christianity began to spread already in the 1st century. According to the tradition of the Bulgarian Church, there was an episcopal see in the city of Odessa (now Varna), where the bishop was a disciple of the Apostle Paul Amplius.

Baptism of the Preslav Court (N. Pavlovich)

Eusebius of Caesarea reports that in the 2nd century, on the territory of today's Bulgaria, there were episcopal sees in the cities of Debelt and Anchial. A participant in the First Ecumenical Council, 325, was Protogonus, Bishop of Sardica (present-day Sofia).

In 865, under St. Prince Boris, the general baptism of the Bulgarian people takes place. After a four-year union with the Roman Church, in 870 the Bulgarian Church became autonomous under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

Bulgarian Orthodox Church

Currently, more than 5,905,000 people identify themselves as followers of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, the largest Orthodox organization in the country. Despite the split that occurred in 1992 with the assistance of the political authorities, when part of the hierarchs opposed Patriarch Maxim, accusing him of having links with the former communist government, and considering his enthronement to be non-canonical, as well as the formation of an alternative Synod by schismatics, most of the clergy did not join the schism. In the 1990s, the canonical hierarchs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church were not officially recognized by the state, and almost all real estate of the church (except churches) was placed at the disposal of the schismatics. In 1996, the former Nevrokop Metropolitan Pimen (Enev) was proclaimed an alternative Patriarch. The Pimen group announced the canonization of Hierodeacon Ignatius (Vasil Levski).

At the Pan-Orthodox Conference in 1998, part of the majority of the hierarchy, headed by Pimen, was accepted into the bosom of the canonical Church. and in 2003 the hierarchy of the Bulgarian Church received official registration and was recognized by the state. In 2004, the schismatic churches were transferred to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, and in 2012 the head of the Alternative Synod repented, which can be considered the end of the schism.

On December 9, 2011, the Council of Ministers of Bulgaria decided to allocate about 880 thousand euros from the state budget for the needs of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in 2012. 150,000 euros will be allocated for the renovation of church buildings of national importance. Almost 300 thousand euros (597 thousand leva) will be separately allocated to the famous Rila Monastery. At present, Orthodox clergymen with a higher education (that is, those who have graduated from a theological academy) receive 300 levs each, and those who graduate from a theological seminary receive 240 levs. In big cities, priests can earn 1500-2500 leva thanks to rites, especially weddings and baptisms, while in rural parishes the income of priests is often limited to just one salary.

Bulgarian Old Calendar Church

The Bulgarian Old Calendar Church separated from the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in 1990 due to dissatisfaction among the conservative part of the Bulgarian population with the introduction of the New Julian calendar in 1968 in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

Currently headed by Metropolitan Photius of Triadice (Syromaha) and has 17 churches, 9 chapels, 2 monasteries, 20 clergy and about 70 thousand believers.

Old Believers

Followers of the Russian Old Believers traditionally lived on the territory of Bulgaria. Currently, several villages professing the Old Believers are under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church, as well as the Russian Old Orthodox Church.

shrines

The relics of saints and miraculous icons in Bulgaria are kept in churches and monasteries of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.

• The relics of St. King Stefan Milyutin of Serbia (XIV century) (Sofia, Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ)
• The relics of St. St. Modest of Jerusalem (VII c.) (Sofia, Church of St. John of Rylsky Sofia Theological Seminary)
• The relics of St. St. Serafima Soboleva (XX century) (Sofia, Russian Nikolsky Cathedral)
• The relics of St. Rev. John of Rila (X century) (Rila Monastery, Kyustendil region, about 20 km northeast of Rila)
• Icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria" (Rylsky Monastery)
• "Iberian" Icon of the Mother of God (Rozhen Monastery, Blagoevgrad Region, 6 km from Melnik, near the village of Rozhen)
• Original "Bachkovo" Icon of the Mother of God (Bachkovo Monastery, 10 km south of Asenovgrad, near the village of Bachkovo)
• Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God (Bachkovo Monastery)
• Icon of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (Kalofer Monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin, about 20 km east of Karlovo, near Kalofer)
• Icon of the Mother of God "Three Hands" (Troyan Monastery, 10 km from Troyan, near the village of Oreshak)
• Icon of St. George the Victorious (Glozhene Monastery, west of Lovech, near the village of Glozhene)
• Icon of St. George the Victorious (Pomorie, Monastery of St. George the Victorious)
• "Jerusalem" Icon of the Mother of God (Kazanlak, Kazanlak Vvedensky Monastery)
• Icon of the Mother of God "Hodegetria-Black" (Nesebar, Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
• Icon of the Mother of God "Gerontissa" (Varna, Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

temples

• Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Arbanassi)
• Church of the Nativity (Arbanassi)
• Holy Week Church (Batak)
• Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Varna)
• Cathedral of St. Demetrius (Vidin)
• Church of St. John Aliturgetos (Nesebar)
• Church of the Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel (Nesebar)
• Church of Christ Pantocrator (Nesebar)
• Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (Svishtov)
• Church-monument of Alexander Nevsky (Sofia)
• Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Sofia)
• Cathedral of the Holy Week (Sofia)
• Hagia Sophia (Sofia)
• Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Targovishte)
• Temple-monument of the Nativity of Christ (Shipka)

Monasteries

• Bakadjik monastery (near the village of Chargan, 10 km from Yambol)
• Bachkovo Monastery (10 km south of Asenovgrad, near the village of Bachkovo)
• Monastery of St. George the Victorious (Pomorie)
• Glozhene Monastery (west of Lovech, near the village of Glozhene)

Currently, the jurisdiction of the BOC extends to the territory of Bulgaria, as well as to the Orthodox Bulgarian communities of Western Europe, North and South America and Australia. The highest spiritual authority in the BOC belongs to the Holy Synod, which includes all metropolitans headed by the Patriarch. Full title of the primate: His Holiness Patriarch of Bulgaria, Metropolitan of Sofia. The residence of the Patriarch is located in Sofia. The small composition of the Synod, which is constantly working, includes 4 metropolitans, elected for a term of 4 years by all the bishops of the Church. Legislative power belongs to the Church-People's Council, whose members are all serving bishops, as well as representatives of the clergy and laity. The highest judicial and administrative power is exercised by the Synod. The Synod has a Supreme Church Council, which is in charge of economic and financial matters of the BOC. The Chairman of the Supreme Church Council is the Patriarch; The Council consists of 2 clergy, 2 laymen as permanent members and 2 deputies elected for 4 years by the Church-People's Council.

The BOC consists of 14 dioceses (metropolises): Sofia (a department in Sofia), Varna and Preslav (Varna), Veliko Tarnovo (Veliko Tarnovo), Vidin (Vidin), Vrachanskaya (Vratsa), Dorostolskaya and Chervenskaya (Ruse), Lovchanskaya (Lovech), Nevrokopskaya (Gotse-Delchev), Plevenskaya (Pleven), Plovdivskaya (Plovdiv), Slivenskaya (Sliven), Stara Zagorskaya (Stara Zagora), American-Australian (New York), Central Western European (Berlin). In 2002, according to official data, there were about 3,800 churches in the BOC, in which more than 1,300 clergy served; more than 160 monasteries, where about 300 monks and nuns labored.

Theological disciplines are taught in state educational institutions (the theological faculty of the St. Kliment Ohridsky University in Sofia; the theological faculty and the faculty of ecclesiastical art of the University of Veliko Tarnovo; the department of theology of the Shumen University).

Educational institutions of the BOC: Sofia Theological Seminary in the name of St. John of Rila; Plovdiv Theological Seminary.

The church press is represented by the following publications: "The Church Bulletin" (the official organ of the BOC), "The Spiritual Culture" (a monthly magazine), "The Yearbook for the Spiritual Academy" (an annual).

Church in the period of the I Bulgarian kingdom (IX - beginning of the XI century).

The adoption of Christianity in Bulgaria took place during the reign of St. Prince Boris. It was due to the course of the internal development of the country. The military failures of Bulgaria, surrounded by strong Christian powers, served as an external impetus. Initially, Boris and the group of nobles who supported him were inclined to accept Christianity from the Western Church. In the early 60s of the 9th century, Louis the German, king of the East Frankish state, informed the Pope of Rome about the conversion of many Bulgarians to Christianity and that their prince himself intended to be baptized. However, in 864, under military pressure from Byzantium, Prince Boris was forced to make peace with her, pledging, in particular, to accept Christianity from Constantinople. The Bulgarian ambassadors who arrived in Constantinople to conclude a peace treaty were baptized and returned to the capital of the Bulgarian state, Pliska, accompanied by a bishop, many priests and monks. Prince Boris was baptized along with his entire family and associates, taking the Christian name Michael, in honor of the ruling Byzantine Emperor Michael III.

Regarding the exact date of the baptism of Bulgaria in historiography, there are different points of view from 863 to 866. Many scholars attribute this event to 865; This is the official position of the BOC. A number of studies also give the year 864. It is believed that the baptism was timed to coincide with the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on September 14 or the Saturday of Pentecost. Since the baptism of the Bulgarians was not a one-time act, but a long process, various sources reflected its different stages. The decisive moment was the baptism of the prince and his court, which meant the recognition of Christianity as the state religion. This was followed by a mass baptism of the people in September 865. Soon an uprising broke out in 10 regions of Bulgaria against the introduction of a new religion. It was suppressed by Boris, and 52 noble leaders of the rebellion were executed in March 866.

The baptism of the Bulgarians complicated the already tense relations between Rome and Constantinople. Boris, in turn, sought to achieve the independence of the Bulgarian Church from both the Byzantine and the papal administration. Back in 865, he sent a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople, St. Photius, in which he expressed his wish for the establishment in Bulgaria of a Patriarchate similar to that of Constantinople. In response, Photius sent a message to “the most glorious and famous, spiritual son Michael, beloved in the Lord, archon of Bulgaria from God”, in fact denying the Bulgarians the right to church autocephaly.

In 866, a Bulgarian embassy was sent to King Louis the German in Regensburg with a request to send bishops and priests. At the same time, another Bulgarian embassy set off for Rome, where it arrived on August 29, 866. The ambassadors handed over 115 questions of Prince Boris to Pope Nicholas I. The text of the questions has not been preserved; their content can be judged from the 106 answers of the pope that have come down to us, compiled on his personal instructions by Anastasius the Librarian. The Bulgarians wanted to receive not only learned mentors, liturgical and doctrinal books, Christian law, and the like. They were also interested in the structure of an independent Church: is it permissible for them to appoint a Patriarch for themselves, who should ordain a Patriarch, how many true Patriarchs, which of them is second after the Roman one, where and how they receive chrism and the like. The answers were solemnly presented on November 13, 866 by Nicholas I to the Bulgarian ambassadors. The Pope urged Prince Boris not to hurry with the appointment of the Patriarch and to work on creating a strong church hierarchy and community. Bishops Formosa of Porto and Paul of Populon were sent to Bulgaria. At the end of November, papal envoys arrived in Bulgaria, where they launched energetic activities. Prince Boris expelled the Greek clergy from his country; the baptism performed by the Byzantines was declared invalid without "approval" of it by the Latin bishops. At the beginning of 867, a large German embassy arrived in Bulgaria, consisting of presbyters and deacons, headed by Bishop Germanaric of Passau, but soon it returned, convinced of the success of the envoys of Rome.

Immediately after the arrival of the Roman clergy in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian embassy went to Constantinople, which was joined by the Roman ambassadors - Bishop Donatus of Ostia, Presbyter Leo and Deacon Marin. However, the pope's envoys were detained at the Byzantine border in Thrace and, after waiting 40 days, returned to Rome. At the same time, the Bulgarian ambassadors were received in Constantinople by Emperor Michael III, who handed them a letter to Prince Boris condemning the change in Bulgarian ecclesiastical and political orientation and accusing the Roman Church. The rivalry for ecclesiastical influence in Bulgaria exacerbated the aggravation of relations between the Sees of Rome and Constantinople. Back in 863. Pope Nicholas I refused to recognize the legitimacy of placing Photius on the Patriarchal throne and declared him deposed. In turn, Photius sharply condemned the dogmatic and ceremonial traditions of the Western Church that had been implanted in Bulgaria, primarily the doctrine of the Filioqre. In the summer of 867 in Constantinople, a Council was convened, at which the "innovations" of the Western Church were anathematized, and Pope Nicholas was declared deposed.

Meanwhile, Bishop Formosus of Porto, who received from Prince Boris unlimited powers in church affairs, introduced the Latin rite of worship in Bulgaria. In the second half of 867, Bulgarian ambassadors were again sent to Rome in order to receive a papal blessing for the appointment of Formosa as the primate of the Bulgarian Church. However, Nicholas I suggested that Boris choose as the future archbishop one of the 3 bishops sent to him: Dominic of Trivent and Grimuald of Polymarte or Paul of Populon. The papal embassy arrived in Pliska at the beginning of 868, already under the new pope Adrian II. Prince Boris, having learned that his request was not granted and Formosa was ordered to return to Rome, sent back the candidates sent by the pope and Pavel Populonsky and asked in a letter to elevate him to the rank of archbishop and send to Bulgaria the deacon Marin, whom he knew, or some cardinal worthy to head the Bulgarian Church. The Pope refused to ordain Deacon Marin, deciding to appoint his entourage, subdeacon Sylvester, at the head of the Bulgarian Church. Accompanied by Bishop Leopard of Ancona, he arrived in Pliska, but was sent back to Rome with Boris' demand to send Formosa or Marina. Adrian II sent a letter to Boris, urging him to name any candidate other than Formosus and Marina. However, by this time, at the end of 868, Prince Boris had already decided to reorient himself towards Byzantium.

The Byzantine emperor Basil I the Macedonian, who came to power in 867, removed Photius from the Patriarchal throne. Prince Boris negotiated with the restored Patriarch St. Ignatius, and the Bulgarians were given to understand that they would make any concessions if the Bulgarian Church returned under the patronage of Byzantium. At the Council of Constantinople 869-870. The Bulgarian church question was not considered, however, on March 4, 870 - shortly after the last meeting of the Council (February 28) - the hierarchs, in the presence of Emperor Basil I, listened to the ambassadors of Boris, who asked who the Bulgarian Church should obey. A discussion took place between the papal legates and the Greek hierarchs, as a result of which the Bulgarian ambassadors were given the decision that the territory of Bulgaria was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Constantinople, as a former possession of the Byzantine Empire. The Latin clergy, led by Grimuald, were forced to leave Bulgaria and return to Rome.

Pope John VIII (872-882) tried to return the Bulgarian diocese under the rule of Rome through diplomatic measures. However, Prince Boris, without breaking off relations with the Roman Curia, did not agree to accept the proposals of the pope and still adhered to the provisions adopted in 870. At the Council of Constantinople (late 879 - early 880), the papal legates again raised the question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction over Bulgaria. As a result, a decision was made that was of great importance for the history of the BOC: from that moment on, the Bulgarian Archdiocese should not appear in the lists of dioceses of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In essence, the decisions of this Local Council were beneficial to Constantinople and Bulgaria, whose archbishop actually received the rights of autonomy in relation to the Church of Constantinople. At the same time, this meant the final failure of the policy of Rome in the Bulgarian question. The pope did not immediately realize this, at first interpreting the conciliar decree as the withdrawal of the Byzantine clergy from Bulgaria and the withdrawal of the Bulgarian Archdiocese from the jurisdiction of Constantinople. In 880, Rome tried to intensify contacts with Bulgaria through the Croatian bishop Theodosius of Nin, but his mission was unsuccessful. A letter sent by the pope to Boris in 882 also remained unanswered.

church device

While the issue of the status and title of the head of the Bulgarian Church remained the subject of negotiations between the popes and the Bulgarian prince, church administration was carried out by the bishops who headed the Roman mission in Bulgaria (Formos of Porto and Paul of Populon in 866–867, Grimuald of Polymarte and Dominic of Trivent in 868–869, alone Grimuald in 869-870). It is not clear what powers were given to them by the pope, but it is known that they consecrated churches and altars and ordained lower clergy of Bulgarian origin. The appointment of the first archbishop was delayed due to disagreements over the identity of a particular candidate. These disagreements, as well as the desire of the Roman pontiffs to maintain full control over the Bulgarian diocese as long as possible, led the Bulgarians to refuse to belong to the Roman church organization.

The decision to transfer the Bulgarian Church under the jurisdiction of Constantinople, adopted on March 4, 870, marked the beginning of the organizational formation of the Bulgarian Archdiocese. It is traditionally believed that the first Bulgarian Archbishop Stefan, whose name is recorded in the “Tale of the Monk Christodulus about the Miracles of the Great Martyr George” at the beginning of the 10th century (in one of the lists he is called Joseph), was ordained by the Patriarch of Constantinople St. Ignatius and belonged to the Byzantine clergy; it is unlikely that this ordination could take place without the consent of Prince Boris and his entourage. According to the latest hypothesis, at the origins of the creation of the Bulgarian Church in 870-877. stood Nicholas, Metropolitan of Heraclea of ​​Thrace. Perhaps he received the newly formed Bulgarian diocese as part of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and sent his representatives to the places, one of whom was his nephew, a monk and archdeacon unknown by name, who died in Cherven on October 5, 870. In the 70s of the IX century in the capital of Bulgaria, Pliska, the construction of the Great Basilica began, designed to become the main cathedral of the country. Apparently, Pliska became the permanent residence of the Bulgarian archbishops around 878 under Archbishop George, who is known from the message of Pope John VIII and the Molivdovuls. When the capital of Bulgaria was moved to Preslav in 893, the residence of the primate of the BOC moved there. The cathedral was the Golden Church of St. John in the outer city of Preslav.

With regard to internal administration, the Bulgarian archbishop was independent, only formally recognizing the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople. The archbishop was elected by the Council of Bishops, apparently without even being approved by the Patriarch of Constantinople. The decision of the Council of Constantinople in 879-880 not to include Bulgaria in the lists of dioceses of the Patriarchate of Constantinople actually secured the rights of autonomy for the archbishop of Bulgaria. According to his position in the Byzantine church hierarchy, the primate of the BOC received an independent status. The special place that the Bulgarian archbishop occupied among the heads of other Local Churches is attested in one of the lists of the dioceses of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, where he, together with the Archbishop of Cyprus, was placed after the 5 Patriarchs before the metropolitans subordinate to Constantinople.

After 870, simultaneously with the creation of the Bulgarian Archdiocese, the formation of dioceses subordinate to it began. The number of dioceses created in Bulgaria and the location of their centers cannot be accurately determined, but, undoubtedly, there were many of them. In a letter of Pope John VIII to Prince Boris dated April 16, 878, Bishop Sergius is mentioned, whose cathedra was located in Belgrade. The Council of Constantinople in 879-880 was attended by representatives of the BOC, Bishops Gabriel of Ohrid, Theoktist of Tiberiopol, Manuel of Provat and Simeon of Develt. Ordained bishop around 893, St. Clement of Ohrid initially headed 2 eparchies - Draguvitia and Veliki, and later a third of the Bulgarian state (Exarchate of the South-Western Lands) was transferred under his spiritual supervision. Between 894 and 906 one of the greatest Bulgarian church writers Konstantin Preslavsky became the Bishop of Preslav. Probably, after 870, the dioceses that existed on the Balkan Peninsula before it was settled by Slavic tribes were also restored, with centers in Sredets, Philippopolis, Dristra and others. Pope John VIII, in his letters to Bulgaria, asserted that there were so many Bulgarian dioceses that their number did not correspond to the needs of the Church.

Wide internal autonomy allowed the BOC to independently establish new episcopal sees in the country in accordance with its administrative-territorial division. In the Life of St. Clement of Ohrid says that during the reign of Prince Boris within Bulgaria there were 7 metropolises, in which cathedral churches were erected. The location of 3 of them is known exactly: in Ohrid, Prespa and Bregalnica. Others, in all likelihood, were in Develt, Dristra, Sredets, Philippopolis and Vidin.

It is assumed that the Chancellery of the Bulgarian Archdiocese was created in the likeness of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. With her were many ministers, assistants to the archbishop, who made up his retinue. The first place among them was occupied by the syncellus, who was in charge of the organization of church life; 2 lead seals of the end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century have been preserved, where "George the Chernets and the Bulgarian Syncellus" are mentioned. The secretary of the primate of the Bulgarian Church, the most influential person in the archiepiscopal office, was hartofilaks (in Byzantium, this title denoted the keeper of the archive). On the wall of the Golden Church in Preslav, a Cyrillic graffiti inscription has been preserved, informing that the church of St. John was built by the hartophylax Paul. The exarch was obliged to monitor the correct observance and execution of church canons, to explain the dogmas and ethical norms of the Church to clergy, carrying out the highest preaching, mentoring, missionary and controlling activities. The post of exarch was held after 894 by the famous church writer John the Exarch. The Bulgarian scribe and translator Gregory, who lived during the reign of Tsar Simeon, was called “the presbyter and mnych of all the clergy of the Bulgarian churches” (a title that was absent in the Patriarchate of Constantinople).

The higher and lower clergy were mostly Greek, but, apparently, Slavs were also found among them (for example, Sergius, Bishop of Belgrade). For a long time, the Byzantine clergy were the main conductor of the political and cultural influence of the empire. Prince Boris, striving to create a national church organization, sent Bulgarian youths to study in Constantinople, including his son Simeon, assuming that he would later become an archbishop.

In 889 Saint Prince Boris retired to a monastery (probably at the Great Basilica in Pliska) and handed over the throne to his eldest son Vladimir. But because of the commitment of the new prince to paganism, Boris had to remove him from power and return to governing the country. In the autumn of 893, he convened a Council in Preslav with the participation of the clergy, nobility and people, which de jure deposed Vladimir and transferred power to Simeon. The Council of Preslav is usually associated with the approval of the priority of the Slavic language and Cyrillic writing.

The spread of Slavic literacy and temple building

Of great importance for the strengthening and spread of Christianity in Bulgaria was the activity of the Slavic first teachers Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. According to a number of sources, Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril preached and baptized the Bulgarians on the Bregalnitsa River (modern Macedonia) even before the official adoption of Christianity by Prince Boris. This legendary and historical tradition took shape during the period of Byzantine rule and at an early stage of the revival of the Bulgarian state in the 12th-13th centuries, when the southwestern regions were the main center for preserving the national culture.

After the death of Archbishop Methodius in 886, the persecution of the Latin clergy, supported by Prince Svyatopolk, began against the Slavic liturgy and writing in Great Moravia, the disciples of the glorious apostles - Angelarius, Clement, Lawrence, Naum, Savva; among them, obviously, also Konstantin, the future Bishop of Preslav, found refuge in Bulgaria. They got into the country in different ways: Angelarius and Clement reached Belgrade, which then belonged to Bulgaria, on a log, having crossed the Danube; Nahum was sold into slavery and ransomed in Venice by the Byzantines; the paths of others are unknown. In Bulgaria, they were gladly received by Prince Boris, who needed enlightened employees who were not directly connected either with Rome or with Constantinople.

For about 40 years from 886 to 927, the scribes who arrived from Great Moravia and the generation of their students, through translations and original creativity, created in Bulgaria a full-fledged multi-genre literature in a language understandable to the people, which formed the basis of all medieval Orthodox Slavic, as well as Romanian literature. Thanks to the activities of the disciples of Cyril and Methodius and with the direct support of the supreme power in Bulgaria in the last quarter of the 9th -1st third of the 10th century, 2 literary and translation centers (or "schools") were formed and actively operated - Ohrid and Preslav. At least two of the disciples of the glorious apostles - Clement and Constantine - were elevated to the rank of bishop.

Clement is called "the first bishop of the Bulgarian language" in a life written by Theophylact, Archbishop of Ohrid. During his educational activities in the region of Kutmichevitsa in southwestern Bulgaria, Clement taught a total of 3,500 students (including the future Bishop Mark of Devolsk).

The heyday of Bulgarian culture under Tsar Simeon was called the "Golden Age". The compiler of the "Izbornik" of Tsar Simeon compares the Bulgarian ruler with the king of Hellenistic Egypt, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (3rd century BC), under whom the Septuagint was translated from Hebrew into Greek.

In the 10th century, during the reign of St. Peter and his successors, literary creativity in Bulgaria takes on an occasional character, characteristic of all writers of the Slavia Orthodoxa region in the Middle Ages. From this time, the cycle of teachings of Peter the Chernorites (identified by researchers with the king, the son of Simeon) and Kozma the Presbyter’s “Conversation on the Newly Appeared Bogumilov Heresy” are known, containing the most complete picture of the new heretical teaching and characterizing the spiritual and, in particular, monastic life in Bulgaria in the middle of the 2nd half X century. Almost all the monuments created in the 9th-10th centuries in Bulgaria came to Russia early, and many of them (especially non-liturgical ones) were preserved only in Russian lists.

The activities of the Slavic scribes were of fundamental importance for establishing the internal autonomy of the BOC. The introduction of the Slavic language contributed to the gradual replacement of the Greek clergy by Bulgarian.

The construction of the first churches on the territory of Bulgaria began, apparently, as early as 865. According to Anastasius the Librarian, it acquired a significant scope during the stay of the Roman clergy in the country from 866 to 870, who consecrated "many churches and altars." Evidence of this is a Latin inscription discovered in Preslav. Churches were often built on the foundations of destroyed early Christian churches, as well as pagan sanctuaries of the Proto-Bulgarians, for example, in Pliska, Preslav and Madara. This practice is recorded in the “Tale of the Monk Christodoulos about the Miracles of the Great Martyr. George" beginning of the X century. It tells how Prince Boris destroyed pagan temples and erected monasteries and temples in their place.

Active church-building activity continues with the arrival in Bulgaria of the disciples of Equal-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. In Ohrid, St. Clement founded on the ruins of the basilica of the 5th century. monastery of the martyr Panteleimon and built 2 rotunda churches. In the year 900, the Monk Naum erected on the opposite shore of Lake Ohrid a monastery in the name of the holy Archangels at the expense of Prince Boris and his son Simeon. The canon composed by Naum Ohrid in honor of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called testifies to his special veneration by the disciples of Cyril and Methodius.

At the request of Prince Boris, committee Taradin built a large temple on Bregalnitsa in honor of the 15 Tiberiopol martyrs who suffered in Tiberiopol (Strumica) under Julian the Apostate. The relics of the martyrs Timothy, Comasius and Eusebius were solemnly transferred to this church. This event took place on August 29 and was included in the Slavic calendars (the calendars of the Assemanian Gospel of the 11th century and the Strumitsky Apostle of the 13th century). The disciples of Clement of Ohrid were appointed clergymen of the newly built church. During the reign of Simeon, the committee Drister transferred the relics of Saints Socrates and Theodore from Tiberupol to Bregalnitsa.

In the life of 15 Tiberiopol martyrs, it is reported about the active construction of churches and the strengthening of the influence of the Bulgarian Church during the reign of Prince Boris: “From that time on, they began to appoint bishops, ordain priests in multitudes and erect holy churches, and the people that used to be a barbarian tribe have now become a people God's... And from now on, a person can see that the number of churches is multiplying, and the temples of God, which the Avars and Bulgarians named above destroyed, rebuilt well and erected from the foundations. The construction of churches was also carried out on the initiative of private individuals, as evidenced by the Cyrillic inscription of the tenth century: “Lord, have mercy on Your servant John the Presbyter and His servant Thomas, who created the church of St. Blaise.”

The Christianization of Bulgaria was accompanied by the construction of many monasteries and an increase in the number of monastics. Many Bulgarian aristocrats took monastic vows, including members of the princely house (Prince Boris, his brother Doks Chernorizets, Tsar Peter and others). A significant number of monasteries were concentrated in large cities (Pliska, Preslav, Ohrid) and their environs. For example, in Preslav and its suburbs, according to archaeological data, there are 8 monasteries. Most of the Bulgarian scribes and church hierarchs of that time came from among the residents of city monasteries (John the Exarch, Presbyter Gregory Mnikh, Presbyter John, Bishop Mark Devolsky and others). At the same time, monastic cloisters began to appear in mountainous and remote areas. The most famous hermit of that time was St. John of Rila († 946), founder of the Rila Monastery. Among the ascetics who continued the traditions of ascetic monasticism, the Monk Prochorus of Pshinsky (XI century), Gabriel Lesnovsky (XI century), Joachim Osogovsky (late XI - early XII centuries) became famous.

A number of sources (for example, "The Tale of the Monk Christodoulus about the Miracles of the Great Martyr George", the beginning of the 10th century) report a large number of wandering monks who did not belong to the brethren of a particular monastery.

Establishment of the Bulgarian Patriarchate

In 919, after victories over the Greeks, Prince Simeon proclaimed himself "King of the Bulgars and Romans"; the royal title of his son and successor Peter (927–970) was officially recognized by Byzantium. During this period, the BOC received the status of a Patriarchate. There are different opinions regarding the exact date of this event. According to the ideas of that time, the status of the Church had to correspond to the status of the state, and the rank of the head of the church - the title of the secular ruler ("there is no kingdom without a Patriarch"). Based on this, it has been suggested that Simeon approved the Patriarchate in Bulgaria at the Council of Preslav in 919. This is contradicted by the fact of the negotiations that Simeon conducted in 926 with Pope John X on the elevation of the Bulgarian archbishop to the rank of Patriarch.

It is traditionally believed that the Patriarchal title of the primate of the BOC was officially recognized by Constantinople at the beginning of October 927, when a peace treaty was concluded between Bulgaria and Byzantium, sealed by a dynastic union of 2 powers and the recognition of Peter, the son of Simeon, as the king of the Bulgarians.

There are, however, a number of serious arguments that testify to the recognition of the patriarchal dignity of the BOC not at the time of Peter's accession (927), but in the subsequent years of his reign. The 2nd sigil of Emperor Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer, given to the Ohrid Archdiocese (1020), speaking of the territory and legal rights of the BOC of the time of Tsar Peter, calls it the Archdiocese. The "Tacticon of Beneshevich", describing the ceremonial practice of the Byzantine Empire of the court around 934-944, places the "Archbishop of Bulgaria" in 16th place, after the syncelli of the Roman, Constantinople and Eastern Patriarchs. The same indication is contained in the treatise of Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (913-959) "On Ceremonies".

In the "List of the Archbishops of Bulgaria", the so-called list of Ducange, compiled in the middle of the 12th century and surviving in a manuscript of the 13th century, it is reported that, by order of Emperor Romanos I Lekapinus (919-944), the imperial synclite proclaimed Damian Patriarch of Bulgaria, and the BOC was recognized as autocephalous . Presumably, the BOC received this status during the period when Theophylact (933–956), the son of Emperor Romanos Lekapinos, occupied the Patriarchal throne in Constantinople. It was with Theophylact, his relative, that Tsar Peter maintained close ties and turned to him for advice and clarification regarding the heresy of Bogomilism, a religious and social movement that had spread in Bulgaria since the middle of the 11th century.

During the reign of Tsar Peter in the Bulgarian Church, there were at least 28 episcopal sees, listed in the chrisovul of Basil II (1020). The most important church centers were: in Northern Bulgaria - Preslav, Dorostol (Dristra, modern Silistra), Vidin (Bydin), Moravsk (Morava, ancient Marg); in Southern Bulgaria - Plovdiv (Philippopolis), Sredets - Triaditsa (modern Sofia), Bregalnitsa, Ohrid, Prespa and others.

The names of a number of Bulgarian archbishops and patriarchs are mentioned in the Synodikon of Tsar Boril (1211), but the chronology of their reign remains unclear: Leonty, Dimitri, Sergius, Gregory.

After the capture of Dorostol in 971 by the Byzantine emperor John Tzimiskes, Patriarch Damian fled to Sredets to the possession of the comitopoulos David, Moses, Aaron and Samuil, who became the actual successors of the Bulgarian statehood. With the formation of the Western Bulgarian kingdom in 969, the capital of Bulgaria was moved to Prespa, and then to Ohrid. The residence of the Patriarch also moved to the West: according to the sigils of Vasily II - to Sredets, then to Voden (Greek Edessa), from there to Moglen and, finally, in 997 to the Ohrid list Ducange, without mentioning Sredets and Moglen, names Prespa in this series. The military successes of Tsar Samuil were reflected in the construction of a grandiose basilica in Prespa. The relics of St. Achilles from Larissa captured in 986 by the Bulgarians. At the end of the altar of the Basilica of St. Achilles placed images of 18 "thrones" (pulpits) of the Bulgarian Patriarchate.

After Damian, Ducange's list indicates Patriarch Herman, whose see was originally located in Woden, and then was transferred to Prespa. It is known that he ended his life in the monastery, taking the schema with the name Gabriel. Patriarch Herman and Tsar Samuil were patrons of the Church of St. Herman on the shore of Lake Mikra Prespa, in which Samuel's parents and his brother David were buried, as evidenced by the inscriptions of 993 and 1006.

Patriarch Philip, according to Ducange's list, was the first whose cathedra was located in Ohrid. Information about Patriarch Nicholas of Ohrid (he is not mentioned in Ducange's list) is contained in the prologue Life of Prince John Vladimir († 1016), son-in-law of Tsar Samuil. Archbishop Nicholas was the spiritual mentor of the prince, life calls this hierarch the wisest and most wonderful.

The question remains as to who was the last Bulgarian Patriarch, David or John. The Byzantine historian John Skilitsa reports that in 1018. "Archbishop of Bulgaria" David was sent by Queen Maria, the widow of the last Bulgarian Tsar John Vladislav, to Emperor Vasily II to announce the conditions for her renunciation of power. In the postscript of Michael Devolsky to the composition of the Skylitzes, it is said that the captive Bulgarian Patriarch David participated in the emperor's triumphal procession in Constantinople in 1019. However, the veracity of this story is disputed. Nothing is known about David by the compiler of the Ducange list. In the same year 1019, there was already a new primate in the Ohrid Church - Archbishop John, the former hegumen of the Debar Monastery, a Bulgarian by birth. There is reason to believe that he became Patriarch in 1018, and in 1019 he was reduced to the rank of archbishop by Basil II, subordinate to Constantinople.

Church in the era of Byzantine domination in Bulgaria (1018–1187)

The conquest of Bulgaria by the Byzantine Empire in 1018 led to the liquidation of the Bulgarian Patriarchate. Ohrid became the center of the autocephalous Ohrid Archdiocese, which consisted of 31 dioceses. It covered the former territory of the Patriarchate, as stated in the 2nd sigil of Basil II (1020): “... the current most holy archbishop owns and governs all the Bulgarian bishoprics, which, under Tsars Peter and Samuil, were owned and ruled by the then archbishops.” After the death of Archbishop John around 1037, a Slav by origin, the see of Ohrid was occupied exclusively by Greeks. The Byzantine government pursued a policy of Hellenization, the Bulgarian clergy was gradually replaced by the Greek. At the same time, the Byzantine hierarchs sought to preserve the independence of the Ohrid Church. Thus, Archbishop John Komnenos (1143–1156), nephew of Emperor Alexei I Komnenos, found a new justification for the special status of the Ohrid Archdiocese. In the minutes of the Local Council of Constantinople (1143), he signed not as "Archbishop of Bulgaria" (which was done before), but as "Archbishop of the First Justiniana and Bulgaria." The identification of Ohrid with the ancient church center of Justiniana the First (modern Tsarichin-Grad), founded by Justinian I and actually located 45 km south of the city of Nis, was later developed by the Ohrid archbishop Demetrius II Chomatian (1216–1234) into a theory with the help of which the Ohrid Archdiocese managed to maintain independence for more than 5 centuries. In the 12th century, the bishops of Velbuzhd also claimed this title.

Within the borders of the Ohrid diocese, church leaders of Greek origin to a certain extent took into account the spiritual needs of the Bulgarian flock. This contributed to a better preservation of Slavic culture within the Ohrid Archdiocese compared to Eastern Bulgaria, which was directly subordinate to the Patriarch of Constantinople, and subsequently ensured its revival (hence, the Bulgarian scribes of the 12th-13th centuries had the idea of ​​Macedonia as the cradle of Slavic writing and Christianity in Bulgaria). With the transition in the middle of the 11th century of the archbishop's table to the Greeks and the Hellenization of the social elites of society, there is a gradual but noticeable decline in the status of Slavic culture and worship to the level of parish churches and small monasteries. This did not affect the veneration of local Slavic saints by the Byzantines. So, Archbishop Theophylact of Ohrid (1090-1108) created the Life of the Tiberiopol Martyrs, the lengthy Life of Clement of Ohrid and the service to him. George Skylitzes wrote the Life of John of Rylsky and a whole cycle of services to him (about 1180). Demetrius Homatian is credited with establishing the celebration of the holy Sedmochisniks (equal to the apostles Methodius, Cyril and their five disciples), he also compiled a short Life and service to Clement of Ohrid.

Church in the era of the 2nd Bulgarian kingdom (1187–1396). Archdiocese of Tarnovo

In the autumn of 1185 (or 1186) an anti-Byzantine uprising broke out in Bulgaria, led by the local boyars, the brothers Peter and Asen. The strong fortress of Tarnov became its center. On October 26, 1185, many people gathered there for the consecration of the Church of the Great Martyr. Demetrius of Thessalonica. According to Nikita Choniates, a rumor spread that the miraculous icon of St. Demetrius from Thessalonica, sacked by the Normans in 1185, is now in Tarnovo. This was taken as evidence of the special patronage of the military martyr. Demetrius to the Bulgarians and inspired the rebels. The re-establishment of Bulgarian statehood within the framework of the 2nd Bulgarian Kingdom with its capital in Tarnovo resulted in the restoration of the autocephaly of the Bulgarian Church. Information about the establishment of a new bishopric in Tarnovo during the uprising is contained in a letter from Demetrius Homatian to Vasily Pediadit, Metropolitan of Kerkyra, and in the Synodal Act of the Archdiocese of Ohrid in 1218 (or 1219). In the autumn of 1186 or 1187 in the newly built church, where the icon of the martyr was located. Demetrius, the Bulgarian leaders forced 3 Byzantine hierarchs (Metropolitan of Vida and 2 unknown hierarchs) to ordain priest (or hieromonk) Vasily as bishop, who crowned Peter Asen to the kingdom. In fact, a new independent diocese appeared in the center of the insurgent territory.

The establishment of the bishopric was followed by the expansion of its canonical powers; in 1203 it became the archdiocese of Tarnovo. In the period 1186-1203. 8 dioceses that fell away from the Ohrid Archdiocese passed into submission to the Primate of Tarnovo: Vidin, Branichevo, Sredetskaya, Velbuzhdskaya, Nishskaya, Belgrade, Prizren and Skopskaya.

Tsar Kaloyan (1197–1207), brother of Peter and John Asen I, took advantage of the difficult situation that the Byzantine Emperor Alexei III Angel (1195–1203) and Patriarch John V Kamatir (1191–1206) found themselves in in connection with the 4th Crusade and the capture in 1204 of Constantinople by the Latins. The Patriarch of Constantinople was forced to recognize Tyrnovskiy as the head of the Church and grant him the right to ordain bishops. In addition, the Archbishop of Tarnovo, taking advantage of the situation, arrogated to himself similar rights in relation to the Diocese of Ohrid: Archbishop Vasily appointed bishops to the widowed episcopal chairs of the Ohrid Archdiocese.

At the same time, Tsar Kaloyan was negotiating with Pope Innocent III to recognize his royal dignity. As a condition for Kaloyan's coronation, the pope made ecclesiastical submission to Rome. In September 1203, the chaplain John of Casemarin arrived in Tarnov, who presented Archbishop Vasily with a pallium sent by the pope and elevated him to the rank of primate. In a letter dated February 25, 1204. Innocent III confirmed the appointment of Basil "primate of all Bulgaria and Wallachia." The final approval of Basil by Rome was marked by his anointing by Cardinal Leo on November 7, 1204, and the presentation of the signs of the highest church authority and the “Privilegium”, which determined the canonical state of the Archdiocese of Tarnovo and the powers of its head.

The union with Rome served as a means to achieve certain political goals, and when, in the international aspect, it became an obstacle to further raising the rank of the Bulgarian Church, it was abandoned. Most researchers believe that the conclusion of the union was a formal act and did not change anything in the Orthodox liturgical and ritual practice in Bulgaria.

In 1211 in Tarnovo, Tsar Boril convened a Church Council against the Bogomils and compiled a new edition of the Synodik for the Week of Orthodoxy (Synodik of Tsar Boril), which was repeatedly supplemented and revised during the 13th-14th centuries and serves as an important source on the history of the Bulgarian Church.

In connection with the strengthening of the position of Bulgaria during the reign of John Asen II (1218–1241), the question arose not only of recognizing the independence of its Church, but also of raising its primate to the rank of Patriarch. This happened after the conclusion by John Asen II with the Nicaean emperor John III Duca Vatatzes of an agreement on a military alliance against the Latin Empire. In 1234, after the death of Archbishop Basil, the Bulgarian Council of Bishops chose Hieromonk Joachim. The choice was approved by the king, and Joachim went to Nicaea, where he was consecrated. This demonstrated the belonging of the Bulgarian Archdiocese to the Eastern Church, canonical communion with the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (temporarily located in Nicaea) and the final break with the Roman Curia. In 1235, a Church Council was convened in the city of Lampsak under the chairmanship of Patriarch Herman II of Constantinople, at which Archbishop Joachim I of Tarnovo was recognized as patriarchal.

In addition to the dioceses of Tarnovo and Ohrid, 14 dioceses were subordinate to the new Patriarch, 10 of which were headed by metropolitans (metropolises of Preslav, Cherven, Lovchan, Sredetskaya, Ovechskaya (Provatskaya), Dristskaya, Serra, Vidinskaya, Philippiyskaya (Dramskaya), Mesemvriyskaya; the bishoprics of Velbuzhdskaya, Branichevskaya, Belgrade and Nis). The re-creation of the Bulgarian Patriarchate is dedicated to 2 annalistic stories, contemporary to the event: one as part of the additions to the Synodikon of Boril, the second as part of a special story about the transfer of the relics of St. Paraskeva (Petka) in Tarnov. The Bulgarian Church did not have such an extensive diocese either before or after until the end of the 2nd Bulgarian kingdom.

The diocese of Skop in 1219 passed into the jurisdiction of the Serbian Archdiocese of Pec, and Prizren (about 1216) returned to the diocese of the Ohrid Archdiocese.

In the first half of the 13th century, Tarnovo turned into an impregnable fortified town. It consisted of 3 parts: the outer city, the Tsarevets hill with the royal and patriarchal palaces, and the Trapezitsa hill, where there were 17 churches and the Cathedral of the Ascension. The Bulgarian kings set themselves the task of making Tarnovo not only the church-administrative, but also the spiritual center of Bulgaria. They actively pursued a policy of "collecting shrines." After the victory of the Bulgarians over the Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos, a large patriarchal cross was captured among the trophies, which, according to George Acropolitan, "was made of gold and had a particle of the Honest Tree in the middle." It is possible that the cross was made by the Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine. Until the end of the 70s of the XIII century, this cross was kept in the Tarnovo treasury in the Church of the Ascension.

Under John Asen I, the relics of St. John of Rylsky and laid in the new church built in the name of this saint on Trapezitsa. Tsar Kaloyan transferred the relics of the holy martyrs Michael the Warrior to Tarnovo, St. Hilarion, Bishop of Moglen, St. Filofei Temnitskaya and St. John, Bishop of Polivot. John Asen II erected a church of 40 martyrs in Tarnovo, where he transferred the relics of St. Paraskeva of Epivatskaya. At the first Aseny, a concept was formed: Tarnovo - "New Tsargrad". The desire to liken the capital of Bulgaria to Constantinople was reflected in many literary works of that era.

The Synodicon mentions the names of 14 Patriarchs for the period from 1235 to 1396; according to other sources, there were 15 of them. The surviving information about their life and activities is extremely fragmentary. The lists do not mention Archbishop Vasily I, who, although he was not officially recognized as a Patriarch, is named as such in a number of documents. A lead seal with the name of Patriarch Bessarion has been preserved, which is dated to the 1st quarter of the 13th century, believing that Bessarion was the successor of Primate Basil and also a Uniate. However, it is not possible to accurately determine the years of his Patriarchate.

St. Joachim I (1235–1246), who took monastic vows on Mount Athos, became famous for his virtuous and fasting life and was canonized immediately after his death. Patriarch Vasily II was a member of the regency council under the young brother of Kaliman - Michael II Asen (1246-1256). During his Patriarchate, the Batoshevsky Monastery of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos was built.

After the death of John Asen II, the territory of the Diocese of Tarnovo was gradually reduced: the dioceses in Thrace and Macedonia were lost, then the Belgrade and Branichevskaya, later the Nis and Velbuzhd eparchies.

Patriarch Joachim II is mentioned in the Synodic as the successor of Basil II and in the ktitor inscription of 1264/65 of the rock monastery of St. Nicholas near the village of Trinity. The name of Patriarch Ignatius is mentioned in the colophons of the Tarnovo Gospel of 1273 and the Apostle of 1276-1277. The Synodist calls him a "pillar of Orthodoxy" because he did not accept the union with Rome concluded at the second Council of Lyon (1274). In the Bulgarian book tradition of the last quarter of the 13th century, the strengthening of anti-Catholic tendencies is reflected: in a brief edition of the Tale of the Seven Ecumenical Councils, in Questions and Answers about Gospel Words, in the Tale of the Zograph Martyrs, in the Tale of the Xiropotam Monastery.

The successor of Ignatius, Patriarch Macarius, lived during the era of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the Ivayl uprising and civil strife between John Asen III and George Terter I, who is mentioned in the Synodicon as a holy martyr, but it is not known when and how he suffered.

Patriarch Joachim III (80s of the 13th century - 1300) was an active politician and church leader. In 1272, while still not a Patriarch, he had conversations in Constantinople with Girolamo d'Ascoli (later Pope Nicholas IV) in the presence of Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. In 1284, already as Patriarch, he participated in the Bulgarian embassy to Constantinople. In 1291, Nicholas IV sent a letter to Joachim III (whom he called "archiepiscopo Bulgarorum"), where he reminded that at their first meeting he spoke of his disposition towards the idea of ​​​​subordination to the Pope, that is, "to what I encourage you now" . Tsar Theodore Svyatoslav (1300–1321) suspected Patriarch Joachim III of conspiring with Chaka, the son of the Tatar ruler Nogai and a pretender to the Bulgarian throne, and executed him: the Patriarch was thrown from the so-called Frontal Rock on Tsarevets Hill in Tarnovo. Patriarchs Dorotheos and Roman, Theodosius I and Ioanniky I are known only from the Synodic. They probably occupied the Tarnovo see in the first half of the 14th century. Patriarch Simeon participated in the Council in Skopje (1346), at which the Patriarchate of Pech was established and Stefan Dusan was crowned with the Serbian crown.

Patriarch Theodosius II (circa 1348 - around 1360), who was tonsured at the Zograf Monastery, maintained active ties with Athos (they sent to Zograf as a gift the Explanatory Gospel of Theophylact, Archbishop of Ohrid, rewritten by order of his predecessor, Patriarch Simeon, and the Pandekta of Nikon Montenegrin in new translation). In 1352, in violation of the canons, he ordained Theodoret as Metropolitan of Kyiv after the Constantinople Patriarch Kallistos refused to do so. In 1359/60, Patriarch Theodosius headed the Council in Tarnovo against heretics.

Patriarch Ioanniky II (70s of the XIV century) was formerly hegumen of the Tarnovo Monastery of the 40 Martyrs. Under him, the Vidin Metropolis fell away from the Bulgarian diocese.

In the 14th century, the religious and philosophical doctrine of hesychasm found fertile ground and many followers in Bulgaria. The embodiment of the ideas of mature hesychasm, St. Gregory of Sinai came to the Bulgarian lands around 1330, where in the area of ​​Paroria (in the Strandzha Mountains) he founded 4 monasteries, the largest of them - on Mount Katakekriomene. Tsar John Alexander patronized this monastery. The disciples and followers of Gregory of Sinai from Paroria (Slavs and Greeks) spread the teaching and practice of the Hesychasts throughout the Balkan Peninsula. The most famous of them were St. Romil Vidinsky, St. Theodosius of Tarnovsky, David Disipat and the future Patriarch Kallistos I of Constantinople. At the Council of Constantinople in 1351, hesychasm was recognized as fully consistent with the foundations of the Orthodox faith and since that time has received official recognition in Bulgaria.

Theodosius of Tyrnovsky took an active part in denouncing various heretical teachings that spread in Bulgaria in the middle and the second half of the fourteenth century. In 1355, on his initiative, a Church Council was convened in Tarnovo, where the teachings of the Barlaamites were anathematized. At the Tyrnov Cathedral in 1359, the main distributors of Bogomilism, Cyril Bosota and Stefan, and the heresies of the Adamites Lazar and Theodosius were condemned.

With the support of Tsar John Alexander, St. Theodosius founded around 1350 the Kilifarevsky Monastery in the vicinity of Tarnovo, where many monastics labored under his leadership (around 1360 their number reached 460) from the Bulgarian lands and from neighboring countries - Serbia, Hungary and Wallachia. Among them were Evfimy Tyrnovsky, the future Patriarch of Bulgaria, and Cyprian, the future Metropolitan of Kyiv and Moscow. The Kilifarevsky Monastery became one of the main centers of hesychasm, as well as bookishness and education in the Balkans. Theodosius of Tyrnovsky translated into Slavonic the "Heads of Useful Chapters" by Gregory of Sinai.

From the turn of the 13th-14th centuries until the last quarter of the 14th century (the time of Patriarch Euthymius), through the efforts of several generations of Bulgarian monks (including hesychasts), who worked mainly on Athos (Dionysius the Marvelous, Zacchaeus the Philosopher (Vagil), elders John and Joseph, Theodosius Tyrnovsky, as well as many unnamed translators), a book reform was carried out, which received the name “Tyrnovskaya” or, more precisely, “Afono-Tyrnovskaya” right in the scientific literature. Two large corpora of texts were retranslated (or significantly edited by comparing the Slavonic copies with the Greek ones): 1) a full circle of liturgical and paraliturgical fourth books (the Stish Prologue, the triode Synaxarion, the “studio collection” of homily, the patriarchal homiliary (Teaching Gospel), Margaret and others) necessary for worship according to the Jerusalem Rule, which was finally established in the practice of the Byzantine Church during the 13th century; 2) ascetic and accompanying domatic-polemical writings - a kind of library of hesychasm (The Ladder, the writings of Abba Dorotheus, Isaac the Syrian, Simeon the New Theologian, Gregory of Sinai, Gregory Palamas and others). The translations were accompanied by the gradual development of a single orthography (based on the Eastern Bulgarian one), the absence of which was notable for Bulgarian writing during the 12th - mid-14th centuries. The results on the right had a strong impact on ancient Orthodox literature - Serbian, Old Russian ("the second South Slavic influence" of the end of the 14th-10th centuries).

The largest church leader of the 2nd half of the 14th century was Evfimy Tyrnovsky. After the death of Theodosius, he asceticised first at the Studian Monastery, and then at Zograf and the Great Lavra on Athos. In 1371 Euthymius returned to Bulgaria and founded the monastery of the Holy Trinity, in which a grandiose translation activity unfolded. In 1375 he was elected Patriarch of Bulgaria.

The merit of Patriarch Evfimiy is the comprehensive introduction of the results of the Athos right into the practice of the BOC, so active that even younger contemporaries (Konstantin Kostenetsky) perceived the Patriarch as the initiator of the reform itself. In addition, Patriarch Evfimiy is the largest Bulgarian writer of the XIV century, a prominent representative of the style of “weaving words”. He wrote services, lives and words of praise for almost the entire pantheon of saints, whose relics were collected in Tarnovo by the first kings of the Asen dynasty, as well as a word of praise for Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Elena and a letter to Mnich Cyprian (the future Metropolitan of Kyiv). One of the prolific Slavic scribes of the XIV-XV centuries, Grigory Tsamblak, who wrote him a commendation, was a student and close friend of Euthymius.

Church in the era of Turkish rule in Bulgaria (late XIV - 2nd half of the XIX century)

Liquidation of the Tarnovo Patriarchate

John Sratsimir, the son of Tsar John Alexander, who ruled in Vidin, took advantage of the fact that during the occupation of the city by the Hungarians (1365–1369), Metropolitan Daniel of Vidin fled to Wallachia. Returning to the throne, John Sratsimir subordinated the Vidin Metropolis to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, thereby emphasizing his ecclesiastical and political independence from Tarnovo, where his brother John Shishman ruled. At the beginning of 1371, Metropolitan Daniel negotiated with the Synod of Constantinople and received the Diocese of Triadice in control. In July 1381, the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople appointed Metropolitan Cassian to the chair of Vidin, which secured the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Constantinople over the Vidin Metropolis. In 1396 Vidin was taken by the Turks.

On July 17, 1393, the Ottoman army captured Tarnovo. Patriarch Evfimy actually led the defense of the city. The writings of Gregory Tsamblak “Eulogy to Patriarch Euthymius” and “The Story of the Transfer of the Relics of St. Paraskeva”, as well as “Eulogy of St. Philotheus" by Metropolitan Joasaph of Vidinsky tells about the sacking of Tyrnov and the destruction of many churches. The surviving temples were empty, having lost most of the priests; those who survived were afraid to serve. Patriarch Evfimy was exiled to imprisonment (probably to the Bachkovo Monastery), where he died around 1402. The Bulgarian Church was left without its First Hierarch.

In August 1394, Patriarch Anthony IV of Constantinople, together with the Holy Synod, decided to send Metropolitan Jeremiah to Tarnovo, who in 1387 was appointed to the chair of Mavrovlachia (Moldavia), but due to a number of reasons could not begin to manage the diocese. He was instructed to depart "with God's help to the holy Tarnovo Church and freely perform there all the works befitting a bishop," with the exception of the ordination of bishops. Although the hierarch sent to Tarnovo was not put at the head of this diocese, but only temporarily replaced the primate of the diocese, which was considered in Constantinople as widowed, in Bulgarian historical science this act is interpreted as a direct intervention of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the jurisdiction of the autocephalous Bulgarian Church (Tyrnovo Patriarchate). In 1395, Metropolitan Jeremiah was already in Tarnovo, and in August 1401 he still ruled the Diocese of Tarnovo.

The temporary dependence of the Turnovo Church on Constantinople turned into a permanent one. There is practically no information about the circumstances of this process. The subsequent changes in the canonical position of the BOC can be judged on the basis of 3 letters related to the dispute between Constantinople and Ohrid about the boundaries of their dioceses. In the first case, the Patriarch of Constantinople accused Archbishop Matthew of Ohrid (mentioned in his response letter) of annexing the dioceses of Sofia and Vidin to his church region without having canonical rights. In a reply letter, the successor of Matthew, unknown to us by name, explained to the Patriarch that his predecessor had received, in the presence of the Patriarch and members of the Synod of the Church of Constantinople, a letter from the Byzantine emperor, according to which the lands as far as Adrianople, including Vidin and Sofia, were included in his diocese. In the 3rd letter, the same Archbishop of Ohrid complains to Emperor Manuel II about the Patriarch of Constantinople, contrary to the imperial decree, who expelled the metropolitans of Vidin and Sophia, who were appointed from Ohrid. Researchers date this correspondence in different ways: 1410-1411, or after 1413 or around 1416. In any case, no later than the 2nd decade of the 15th century, the Turnovo Church was subordinated to Constantinople. There are no church-legal justifications for the liquidation of the Tarnovo Patriarchate. However, this event was a natural consequence of the loss of Bulgaria's own statehood. Other Balkan Churches, on whose territory part of the Bulgarian population lived (and where in the 16th-17th centuries there were much more favorable conditions for the preservation of Slavic writing and culture), the Pech and Ohrid Patriarchates (abolished respectively in 1766 and 1767) retained autocephaly much longer. From that time on, all Bulgarian Christians came under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople.

Bulgaria within the Patriarchate of Constantinople

The first Metropolitan of the Diocese of Tarnovo within the Patriarchate of Constantinople was Ignatius, the former Metropolitan of Nicomedia: his signature is the 7th in the list of representatives of the Greek clergy at the Florence Council of 1439. In one of the lists of dioceses of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the middle of the 15th century, the Metropolitan of Tarnovo occupies the high 11th place (after Thessaloniki); 3 episcopal sees are subordinate to him: Cherven, Lovech and Preslav. Until the middle of the 19th century, the Diocese of Tarnovo covered most of the lands of Northern Bulgaria and extended south to the Maritsa River, including the regions of Kazanlak, Stara and Nova Zagora. The Bishops of Preslav (until 1832, when Preslav became a metropolia), Cherven (until 1856, when Cherven was also elevated to the rank of metropolia), Lovchansky and Vrachansky were subordinate to the Tarnovo metropolitan.

The Patriarch of Constantinople, who was considered the supreme representative of all Orthodox Christians (millet-bashi) before the sultan, had broad rights in the spiritual, civil and economic spheres, but remained under the constant control of the Ottoman government and was personally responsible for the loyalty of his flock to the power of the sultan. Church submission to Constantinople was accompanied by the strengthening of Greek influence in the Bulgarian lands. Greek bishops were appointed to the cathedras, who, in turn, supplied Greek clergy to monasteries and parish churches, which resulted in the practice of holding divine services in Greek, which was incomprehensible to most of the flock. Church positions were often filled with the help of large bribes; locally, church taxes (more than 20 types are known) were levied arbitrarily, often by violent methods. In case of refusal to pay, the Greek hierarchs closed churches, anathematized the recalcitrant, presented them to the Ottoman authorities as unreliable and subject to relocation to another area or detention. Despite the numerical superiority of the Greek clergy, in a number of dioceses the local population managed to retain a Bulgarian abbot. Many monasteries (Etropolsky, Rila, Dragalevskiy, Kurilovsky, Kremikovskiy, Cherepishskiy, Glozhenskiy, Kuklenskiy, Elenishskiy and others) preserved the Church Slavonic language in worship.

In the first centuries of Ottoman rule, there was no ethnic enmity between Bulgarians and Greeks; there are many examples of joint struggle against the conquerors who equally oppressed the Orthodox peoples. Thus, Metropolitan of Tarnovo Dionisy (Rali) became one of the leaders in the preparation of the 1st Tarnovo Uprising of 1598 and attracted bishops Jeremiah Rusensky, Feofan Lovchansky, Spiridon Shumensky (Preslavsky) and Methodius Vrachansky subordinate to him. 12 Tarnovo priests and 18 influential laity, together with the metropolitan, swore to remain faithful to the cause of the liberation of Bulgaria until their death. In the spring or summer of 1596, a secret organization was created, which included dozens of both spiritual and secular persons. The Greek influence in the Bulgarian lands was largely due to the influence of the Greek-speaking culture and the influence of the “Hellenic revival” process that was gaining momentum.

New Martyrs and Ascetics of the Period of the Ottoman Yoke

During the period of Turkish domination, the Orthodox faith was the only support for the Bulgarians, which allowed them to preserve their national identity. Attempts to force conversion to Islam contributed to the fact that remaining faithful to the Christian faith was perceived as a defense of one's national identity. The exploits of the new martyrs directly correlated with the exploits of the martyrs of the first centuries of Christianity. Their lives were created, services were compiled for them, the celebration of their memory, the veneration of relics were organized, temples consecrated in their honor were built. The exploits of dozens of saints who suffered during the period of Turkish domination are known. As a result of outbursts of fanatical bitterness of the Muslims against the Christian Bulgarians, St. George of Sophia the New, burned alive in 1515, George the Old and George the Newest, hanged in 1534, were martyred; Nicholas the New and Hieromartyr. Bishop Vissarion of Smolyansky were stoned to death by a crowd of Turks - one in Sofia in 1555, others in Smolyan in 1670. In 1737, the organizer of the uprising, Hieromartyr Metropolitan Simeon of Samokovsky, was hanged in Sofia. In 1750, for refusing to convert to Islam in Bitola, Angel Lerinski (Bitola) was beheaded with a sword. In 1771, the holy martyr Damaskin was hanged in Svishtov by a crowd of Turks. Martyr John in 1784 confessed the Christian faith in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople, converted into a mosque, for which he was beheaded, the martyr Zlata Moglenska, who did not succumb to the persuasion of the Turk kidnapper to accept his faith, was tortured and hanged in 1795 in the village of Slatino Moglenska areas. After torture, the martyr Lazar was also hanged in 1802 in the vicinity of the village of Soma near Pergamon. Confessed the Lord in the Muslim court prmch. Ignatius Starozagorsky in 1814 in Constantinople, who died by hanging, and prmch. Onufry Gabrovsky in 1818 on the island of Chios, truncated with a sword. In 1822, in the city of Osman-Pazar (modern Omurtag), the martyr John was hanged, publicly repenting that he had converted to Islam, in 1841, the head of the martyr Dimitry of Slivensky was beheaded in Sliven, in 1830, in Plovdiv, the martyr Rada of Plovdivskaya suffered for her faith: the Turks broke into the house and killed her and her three children. The celebration of the memory of all the saints and martyrs of the Bulgarian land, who pleased the Lord with a firm confession of the faith of Christ and accepted the martyr's crown for the glory of the Lord, is celebrated by the BOC on the 2nd week after Pentecost.

Patriotic and educational activities of the Bulgarian monasteries

During the conquest of the Balkans by the Turks in the 2nd half of the 14th - early 15th centuries, most of the parish churches and once flourishing Bulgarian monasteries were burned or looted, many frescoes, icons, manuscripts, and church utensils perished. For decades, teaching in monastic and church schools and the correspondence of books ceased, many traditions of Bulgarian art were lost. The Tarnovo monasteries were especially affected. Part of the representatives of the educated clergy (mainly from among the monastics) died, others were forced to leave the Bulgarian lands. Only a few monasteries survived due to either the intercession of relatives of the highest dignitaries of the Ottoman Empire, or the special merits of the local population before the Sultan, or their location in inaccessible mountainous areas. According to some researchers, the Turks destroyed mainly the monasteries located in the areas most strongly resisted by the conquerors, as well as the monasteries that turned out to be on the routes of military campaigns. From the 70s of the 14th century until the end of the 15th century, the system of Bulgarian monasteries did not exist as an integral organism; many monasteries can only be judged by the surviving ruins and toponymic data.

The population - secular and clergy - on their own initiative and at their own expense restored monasteries and temples. Among the surviving and restored monasteries are Rila, Boboshevsky, Dragalevsky, Kurilovsky, Karlukovsky, Etropolsky, Bilinsky, Rozhensky, Kapinovsky, Preobrazhensky, Lyaskovsky, Plakovsky, Dryanovskiy, Kilifarevsky, Prisovsky, the Patriarchal Holy Trinity near Tarnovo and others, although their existence was constantly under threat due to frequent attacks, robberies and fires. In many of them, life stopped for long periods.

During the suppression of the 1st Tyrnovo uprising in 1598, most of the rebels took refuge in the Kilifarevsky monastery, restored in 1442; for this, the Turks again destroyed the monastery. The surrounding monasteries - Lyaskovskiy, Prisovskiy and Plakovskiy - also suffered. In 1686, during the 2nd Turnovo Uprising, many monasteries also suffered. In 1700, the Lyaskov Monastery became the center of the so-called uprising of Mary. During the suppression of the uprising, this monastery and the neighboring Transfiguration Monastery suffered.

The traditions of medieval Bulgarian culture were preserved by the followers of Patriarch Evfimiy, who emigrated to Serbia, Mount Athos, and also to Eastern Europe: Metropolitan Cyprian († 1406), Grigory Tsamblak († 1420), Deacon Andrei († after 1425), Konstantin Kostenetsky († after 1433 ) and others.

In Bulgaria itself, the revival of cultural activity took place in the 50-80s of the XV century. A cultural upsurge swept the west of the former territories of the country, the Rila Monastery became the center. It was restored in the middle of the 15th century through the efforts of the monks Joasaph, David and Feofan, with the patronage and generous financial support of the widow of Sultan Murad II, Mara Brankovich (daughter of the Serbian despot George). With the transfer of the relics of St. John of Rylsk there in 1469, the monastery became one of the spiritual centers not only of Bulgaria, but also of the Slavic Balkans as a whole; thousands of pilgrims began to arrive here. In 1466, an agreement on mutual assistance was concluded between the Rila monastery and the Russian monastery of St. Panteleimon on Athos (populated at that time by Serbs - see Art. Athos). Gradually, the activities of scribes, icon painters and itinerant preachers resumed in the Rila Monastery.

The scribes Dimitry Kratovsky, Vladislav Grammatik, the monks Mardarius, David, Pachomius and others worked in the monasteries of Western Bulgaria and Macedonia. The Collection of 1469, written by Vladislav Grammatik, included a number of works related to the history of the Bulgarian people: “The extensive life of St. Cyril the Philosopher”, “Eulogy to Saints Cyril and Methodius” and others, the basis of the “Rila Panegyric” of 1479 are the best works of the Balkan Hesychast writers of the 2nd half of the 11th - early 15th centuries: (“The Life of St. John of Rylsky”, messages and other works by Euthymius of Tarnovsky, "The Life of Stefan Dechansky" by Grigory Tsamblak, "Eulogy of St. Philotheus" by Iosaf Bdinsky, "The Life of Gregory of Sinai" and "The Life of St. Theodosius of Turnovsky" by Patriarch Callistus), as well as new compositions ("The Rila Tale" by Vladislav Grammar and "The Life of St. John of Rila with Little Praise" by Demetrius Kantakuzen).

At the end of the 15th century, monks-scribes and compilers of collections Spiridon and Peter Zograf worked in the Rila Monastery; for the Suceava (1529) and Krupnish (1577) Gospels kept here, unique golden bindings were made in the monastery workshops.

Book writing was also carried out in the monasteries located in the vicinity of Sofia - Dragalev, Kremikov, Seslav, Lozen, Kokalyan, Kuril and others. The Dragalev Monastery was renewed in 1476; the initiator of its renewal and decoration was the wealthy Bulgarian Radoslav Mavr, whose portrait, surrounded by his family, was placed among the frescoes on the threshold of the monastery church. In 1488, hieromonk Neofit with his sons, priest Dimitar and Bogdan, built and decorated the church of St. Demetrius in the Boboshevsky Monastery. In 1493, Radivoi, a wealthy resident of the suburbs of Sofia, restored the church of St. George in the Kremikovskiy monastery; his portrait was also placed on the threshold of the temple. In 1499 the church of St. Apostle John the Theologian in Poganovo, as evidenced by the surviving ktitor portraits and inscriptions.

In the 16th-17th centuries, the Etropol Monastery of the Holy Trinity (or Varovitets), originally founded (in the 15th century) by a colony of Serbian miners that existed in the nearby city of Etropol, became a major center of writing. Dozens of liturgical books and collections of mixed content, richly decorated with elegantly executed titles, vignettes and miniatures, were copied in the Etropol Monastery. The names of local scribes are known: grammar Boycho, hieromonk Danail, Takho Grammar, priest Velcho, daskala (teacher) Koyo, grammar John, carver Mavrudiy and others. In the scientific literature, there is even the concept of the Etropol art and calligraphy school. Master Nedyalko Zograf from Lovech created an icon of the Old Testament Trinity for the monastery in 1598, and 4 years later painted the church of the nearby Karlukovsky monastery. A series of icons were painted in the Etropol and nearby monasteries, including those with images of Bulgarian saints; the inscriptions on them were made in the Slavic language. The activities of the monasteries on the periphery of the Sophia plain were similar: it is no coincidence that this area was called the Sophia small holy mountain.

The activity of the painter Hieromonk Pimen Zografsky (Sofia), who worked at the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century in the vicinity of Sofia and in Western Bulgaria, where he decorated dozens of churches and monasteries, is characteristic. In the 17th century churches were restored and painted in Karlukovsky (1602), Seslavsky, Alinsky (1626), Bilinsky, Trynsky, Mislovishitsky, Iliyansky, Iskretsky and other monasteries.

Bulgarian Christians counted on the help of fellow-believing Slavic peoples, especially Russians. Since the 16th century, Bulgarian hierarchs, abbots of monasteries and other clerics have regularly visited Russia. One of them was the above-mentioned Tyrnovo Metropolitan Dionisy (Rali), who delivered to Moscow the decision of the Council of Constantinople (1590) on the establishment of the Patriarchate in Russia. Monks, including the abbots of Rilsk, Preobrazhensky, Lyaskovskiy, Bilinsky and other monasteries, in the 16th-17th centuries asked the Moscow Patriarchs and sovereigns for funds to restore the affected monasteries and protect them from the oppression of the Turks. Later trips to Russia for alms to restore their cloisters were made by the hegumen of the Transfiguration Monastery (1712), the archimandrite of the Lyaskovo Monastery (1718) and others. In addition to generous financial alms for monasteries and churches, Slavic books were brought to Bulgaria from Russia, primarily of spiritual content, which did not allow the cultural and national consciousness of the Bulgarian people to fade away.

In the 18th-19th centuries, with the growth of the economic capabilities of the Bulgarians, donations to the monasteries increased. In the first half of the 18th century, many monastery churches and chapels were restored and decorated: in 1700 the Kapinovsky monastery was restored, in 1701 - Dryanovo, in 1704 the chapel of the Holy Trinity was painted in the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos in the village of Arbanasi near Tarnovo, in 1716 in the same in the village, the chapel of the monastery of St. Nicholas was consecrated, in 1718 the Kilifarevsky monastery was restored (in the place where it is now), in 1732 the church of the Rozhen monastery was renovated and decorated. At the same time, magnificent icons of the Tryavna, Samokov and Debra schools were created. Monasteries created shrines for holy relics, icon cases, censers, crosses, chalices, trays, candlesticks, and much more, which determined their role in the development of jewelry and blacksmithing, weaving, and miniature carving.

Church in the period of the "Bulgarian revival" (XVIII-XIX centuries)

The monasteries retained their role as national-spiritual centers even during the period of the revival of the Bulgarian people. The beginning of the Bulgarian national revival is associated with the name of St. Paisius of Hilandar. His "History of the Slavic-Bulgarian about the peoples, and about the kings, and about the saints of Bulgaria" (1762) was a kind of manifesto of patriotism. Paisius believed that in order to awaken people's self-consciousness, it is necessary to have a sense of their land and knowledge of the national language and the historical past of the country.

A follower of Paisios was Stoyko Vladislavov (later Saint Sophrony, Bishop of Vratsa). In addition to distributing the "History" of Paisius (the lists made by him in 1765 and 1781 are known), he copied Damascus, books of hours, prayer books and other liturgical books; he is the author of the first Bulgarian printed book (a collection of Sunday teachings called "Kyriakodromion, that is, Nedelnik", 1806). Finding himself in Bucharest in 1803, he launched an active political and literary activity there, believing that enlightenment was the main factor in strengthening people's self-consciousness. With the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812. he organized and led the first all-Bulgarian political action, the purpose of which was to achieve the autonomy of the Bulgarians under the auspices of the Russian emperor. In a message to Alexander I, Sofroniy Vrachansky, on behalf of his compatriots, asked to take them under protection and allow the creation of a separate Bulgarian unit as part of the Russian army. With the assistance of the Bishop of Vratsa, in 1810 a combat detachment of the Zemsky Bulgarian Army was formed, which actively participated in the war and especially distinguished itself during the assault on the city of Silistra.

Notable representatives of the Bulgarian revival in Macedonia (very, however, moderate in their views) were hieromonks Joachim Korchovsky and Kirill (Peychinovich), who launched educational and literary activities at the beginning of the 19th century.

Monks and priests were active participants in the national liberation struggle. Thus, the monks of the Tarnovo district took part in the Velchova Verse in 1835, the uprising of Captain Uncle Nikola in 1856, the so-called Hadjistaver Trouble of 1862, in the creation of the Internal Revolutionary Organization of the “Apostle of Freedom” V. Levski and in the April Uprising of 1876. In the formation of an educated Bulgarian clergy, the role of Russian theological schools, primarily the Kyiv Theological Academy, was great.

Struggle for ecclesiastical autocephaly

Along with the idea of ​​political liberation from Ottoman oppression, a movement for ecclesiastical independence from Constantinople grew stronger among the Balkan peoples. Since the Patriarchs of Constantinople were of Greek origin, the Greeks have long been in a privileged position compared to other Orthodox peoples of the Ottoman Empire. Ethnic contradictions began to manifest themselves especially sharply after Greece achieved independence (1830), when a surge of nationalist sentiments took place in a significant part of Greek society, expressed in the ideology of pan-Hellenism. The Patriarchate of Constantinople was also involved in these turbulent processes and more and more often began to personify the force that hindered the national revival of other Orthodox peoples. There was a forced imposition of the Greek language in school education, measures were taken to oust the Church Slavonic language from worship: for example, in Plovdiv, under Metropolitan Chrysanth (1850–1857), it was banned in all churches, except for the Church of St. Petka. If the Greek clergy considered the inseparable connection between Hellenism and Orthodoxy to be natural, then for the Bulgarians such ideas became an obstacle on the way to church-national independence.

The Bulgarian clergy opposed the dominance of the Greek clergy. The struggle for ecclesiastical independence in the first half of the 1920s began with speeches for the replacement of the liturgical language from Greek to Church Slavonic. Attempts were made to replace the Greek clergy with Bulgarian clerics.

The dominance of the Greek rulers in the Bulgarian lands, their behavior, sometimes not fully meeting the standards of Christian morality, provoked protests from the Bulgarian population, demanding the appointment of bishops from the Bulgarians. Actions against the Greek metropolitans in Vratsa (1820), Samokov (1829-1830) and other cities can be considered the forerunners of the Greek-Bulgarian ecclesiastical strife, which flared up in full force a few decades later. At the end of the 30s of the 19th century, the population of the largest Diocese of Tarnovo in the Bulgarian lands joined the struggle for church independence. This struggle, as well as the movement for the enlightenment of the Bulgarians, was based on the reform acts issued by the Ottoman government - the Gülkhanei Hatt-i Sherif of 1839 and the Hatt-i Humayun of 1856. One of the ideologists and organizers of the Bulgarian national liberation movement, L. Karavelov, declared: “The Bulgarian church question is neither hierarchical nor economic, but political.” This period in Bulgarian historiography is usually characterized as a "peaceful stage" of the national revolution.

It should be noted that not all Greek hierarchs were indifferent to the needs of the Bulgarian flock. In the 20-30s. XIX century. Metropolitan Hilarion of Tarnovo, a native of Crete, did not prevent the use of the Church Slavonic language in the diocese and contributed to the opening of the famous Gabrovo School (1835). Vratsa Bishop Agapius (1833–1849) assisted in the opening of a women's school in Vratsa, helped in the distribution of books in Bulgarian, and used only Church Slavonic in worship. In 1839, the Sofia Theological School, founded with the support of Metropolitan Meletius, began to operate. Some Greek priests created collections of sermons written in the Greek alphabet in the Slavic language understandable to the flock; Bulgarian books were printed in Greek.

In addition, a number of actions by the Patriarchate of Constantinople against certain publications in Slavic languages ​​should be viewed as a reaction to the increased activity among the Slavic peoples of Protestant organizations, primarily biblical societies with their tendency to translate liturgical books into national spoken languages. Thus, in 1841 the Patriarchate of Constantinople banned the New Bulgarian translation of the Gospel published a year earlier in Smyrna. The removal of the already published book caused a backlash among the Bulgarians. At the same time, the Patriarchate imposed censorship on Bulgarian publications, which served as another reason for the growth of anti-Greek sentiments.

In 1846, during a visit to Bulgaria by Sultan Abdul-Mejid, the Bulgarians everywhere turned to him with complaints about the Greek clergy and requests for the appointment of lords from the Bulgarians. At the insistence of the Ottoman government, the Patriarchate of Constantinople convened a Local Council (1850), which, however, rejected the demand of the Bulgarians for the independent election of priests and bishops with the provision of annual salaries for them. On the eve of the Crimean War of 1853–1856 the struggle for the national Church engulfed large cities and many regions inhabited by Bulgarians. Many representatives of the Bulgarian emigration in Romania, Serbia, Russia and other countries and the Bulgarian community of Constantinople (by the middle of the 19th century numbering 50 thousand people) also took part in this movement. Archimandrite Neofit (Bozveli) put forward the idea of ​​opening a Bulgarian church in Constantinople. After the end of the Crimean War, the Bulgarian community in Constantinople became the leading center of legal national liberation activities.

The Bulgarian representatives entered into negotiations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople in order to come to an agreement on the formation of an independent Bulgarian Church. It cannot be said that the Patriarchate did nothing to bring the positions of the parties closer. During the Patriarchate of Cyril VII (1855–1860), several bishops of Bulgarian origin were consecrated, including the well-known folk figure Hilarion (Stoyanov), who headed the Bulgarian community of Constantinople with the title of Bishop of Makariopol (1856). On October 25, 1859, the Patriarch laid the foundation of a Bulgarian church in the capital of the Ottoman Empire - the church of St. Stephen. Cyril VII strove in every possible way to help maintain peace in mixed Greek-Bulgarian parishes, legalized the equal use of Greek and Church Slavonic languages ​​in worship, took measures to distribute Slavic books and develop spiritual schools for the Slavs with instruction in their native language. However, many of the hierarchs of Greek origin did not hide their "Hellenophilia", which prevented reconciliation. The Patriarch himself, because of his moderate policy on the Bulgarian question, aroused dissatisfaction with the pro-Hellenic "party" and was removed by its efforts. The Bulgarians and the concessions made by him were considered belated and demanded an ecclesiastical separation from Constantinople.

In April 1858, at the Local Council, the Patriarchate of Constantinople again rejected the demands of the Bulgarians (election of bishops by the flock, knowledge of the Bulgarian language by candidates, annual salaries to hierarchs). At the same time, the Bulgarian popular movement was gaining strength. On May 11, 1858, the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius was solemnly celebrated in Plovdiv for the first time. The turning point in the Bulgarian church-national movement was the events in Constantinople on Easter on April 3, 1860 in the church of St. Stephen. Bishop Hilarion of Makariopol, at the request of the assembled people, did not commemorate the Patriarch of Constantinople at the service, which meant a refusal to recognize the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Constantinople. This action was supported by hundreds of church communities in the Bulgarian lands, as well as by Metropolitans Auxentius of Velia and Paisius of Plovdiv (Greek by birth). Many messages from the Bulgarians came to Constantinople, which called for the recognition of the independence of the Bulgarian Church from the Ottoman authorities and to proclaim Bishop Hilarion the "Patriarch of all Bulgaria", who, however, persistently rejected this proposal. In the capital of the Ottoman Empire, the Bulgarians formed a people's council of bishops and representatives of a number of dioceses who supported the idea of ​​creating an independent Church. The activities of various “party” groups intensified: supporters of moderate actions oriented towards Russia (led by N. Gerov, T. Burmov and others), pro-Ottoman (brothers H. and N. Typchileshchov, G. Krystevich, I. Penchovich and others) and pro-Western (D. Tsankov, G. Mirkovich and others) groups and the “party” of national action (headed by Bishop Hilarion Makariopolsky and S. Chomakov), which enjoyed the support of church communities, the radical intelligentsia and revolutionary democracy.

Patriarch Joachim of Constantinople reacted sharply to the action of the Bulgarians and achieved the excommunication of Bishops Hilarion and Auxentius at the Council in Constantinople. The Greco-Bulgarian conflict was aggravated by the threat of part of the Bulgarians falling away from Orthodoxy (at the end of 1860, most of the Bulgarian community of Constantinople temporarily joined the Uniates).

Russia, being sympathetic to the Bulgarian popular movement, at the same time did not consider it possible to support the struggle against the Patriarchate of Constantinople, since the principle of the unity of Orthodoxy was put at the basis of Russian policy in the Middle East. “I need the unity of the Church,” wrote Emperor Alexander II in an instruction given in June 1858 to the new rector of the Russian embassy church in Constantinople. Most of the hierarchs of the ROC did not accept the idea of ​​a complete independent Bulgarian Church. Only Innokenty (Borisov), Archbishop of Kherson and Taurida, defended the right of the Bulgarians to restore the Patriarchate. Moscow Metropolitan St. Philaret (Drozdov), who did not hide his sympathy for the Bulgarian people, found it necessary that the Patriarchate of Constantinople should provide the Bulgarians with the opportunity to freely pray to God in their native language and "have a clergy of the same tribe", but rejected the idea of ​​​​an independent Bulgarian Church. After the events of 1860 in Constantinople, Russian diplomacy began an energetic search for a conciliatory solution to the Bulgarian church question. Count N. P. Ignatiev, the Russian ambassador in Constantinople (1864–1877), repeatedly requested the relevant directives from the Holy Synod, but the top leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church refrained from making certain statements, since the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Great Church did not address the Russian Church with any demand. In a response message to Patriarch Gregory IV of Constantinople (dated April 19, 1869), the Holy Synod expressed the opinion that both sides were right to a certain extent - both Constantinople, which preserves church unity, and the Bulgarians, who legitimately strive to have a national hierarchy.

Church during the period of the Bulgarian Exarchate (since 1870)

In the midst of the Bulgarian-Greek confrontation over the issue of church independence in the late 60s of the XIX century, Patriarch Gregory VI of Constantinople took a number of measures to overcome the strife. He expressed his readiness to make concessions, proposing the creation of a special church district under the control of the Bulgarian bishops and under the chairmanship of the Exarch of Bulgaria. But this compromise did not satisfy the Bulgarians, who demanded a significant expansion of the boundaries of their church area. At the request of the Bulgarian side, the High Port was involved in settling the dispute. The Ottoman government presented two options for resolving the issue. However, the Patriarchate of Constantinople rejected them as non-canonical and proposed to convene an Ecumenical Council to resolve the Bulgarian issue; permission to do so has not been obtained. The negative position of the Patriarchy determined the decision of the Ottoman government to stop the strife with its own power. On February 27, 1870, Sultan Abdul-Aziz signed a firman on the establishment of a special church district - the Bulgarian Exarchate; the next day Grand Vizier Ali Pasha presented two copies of the firman to the members of the bilateral Bulgarian-Greek commission.

According to paragraph 1 of the firman, the management of spiritual and religious affairs was entirely provided to the Bulgarian Exarchate. A number of points stipulated the canonical connection of the newly formed district with the Patriarchate of Constantinople: upon the election of an exarch by the Bulgarian Synod, the Patriarch of Constantinople issues a confirmation letter (paragraph 3), his name must be commemorated at divine services (paragraph 4), on matters of religion, the Patriarch of Constantinople and his Synod provide the Bulgarian Synod the required help (p. 6), the Bulgarians receive holy myrrh from Constantinople (p. 7). In the 10th paragraph, the boundaries of the Exarchate were determined: it included dioceses dominated by the Bulgarian population: Ruschukskaya (Rusenskaya), Silistria, Preslavskaya (Shumenskaya), Tarnovskaya, Sofia, Vrachanskaya, Lovchanskaya, Vidinskaya, Nishskaya, Pirotskaya, Kyustendilskaya, Samokovskaya, Velesskaya , as well as the Black Sea coast from Varna to Kyustendzhe (except for Varna and 20 villages whose inhabitants were not Bulgarians), Sliven sanjak (district) without the cities of Ankhial (modern Pomorie) and Mesemvria (modern Nessebar), Sozopol kaza (county) without seaside villages and the Philippopolis (Plovdiv) diocese without the cities of Plovdiv, Stanimaka (modern Asenovgrad), 9 villages and 4 monasteries. In other areas with a mixed population, it was supposed to hold "referendums" among the population; at least 2/3 of the inhabitants had to vote for the submission to the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Exarchate.

Bulgarian representatives transferred the firman to the Provisional Bulgarian Synod, which met in one of the districts of Constantinople (it included 5 bishops: Hilarion Lovchansky, Panaret Plovdivsky, Paisiy Plovdivsky, Anfim Vidinsky and Hilarion Makariopolsky). Among the Bulgarian people, the decision of the Ottoman authorities was met with enthusiasm. Celebrations were held everywhere and messages of thanks were written addressed to the Sultan and the Sublime Porte. At the same time, the Patriarchate of Constantinople declared the firman non-canonical. Patriarch Gregory VI expressed his intention to convene an Ecumenical Council to consider the Bulgarian question. In response to the message of the Patriarch of Constantinople to the autocephalous Churches, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church rejected the proposal to convene an Ecumenical Council and advised the adoption of a firman on the establishment of the Bulgarian Exarchate, since it included all the main provisions of the project of Patriarch Gregory VI and the differences between them are insignificant.

The Bulgarian side started to create the administrative structure of the Exarchate. It was necessary to form a temporary governing body for the preparation of a draft Charter, which, in accordance with paragraph 3 of the firman, was to determine the internal administration of the Bulgarian Exarchate. On March 13, 1870, a meeting was held in Constantinople that elected a Provisional Mixed Council (it included 5 bishops, members of the Provisional Synod, and 10 laity) chaired by Metropolitan Hilarion of Lovchansky. For the adoption of the Charter of the Exarchate, it was necessary to organize a Church-People's Council. The “Collection of Rules for Election of Delegates” (“Reason”) was sent to the dioceses, according to which the largest Bulgarian diocese - Tarnovo - could delegate 4 elected representatives, Dorostol, Vidin, Nish, Sofia, Kyustendil, Samokov and Plovdiv - 2 each, the rest - 2 1 representative. The delegates were to arrive in Constantinople on January 1–15, 1871, carrying statistics about their diocese.

The first Church-People's Council was held in Constantinople from February 23 to July 24, 1871, under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Hilarion of Lovchansk. The Council was attended by 50 people: 15 members of the Provisional Mixed Council and 35 representatives of the dioceses; they were leaders of the movement for an independent Bulgarian Church, influential residents of Constantinople and diocesan centers, teachers, priests, representatives of local governments (1/5 of the delegates had a secular higher education, almost the same number graduated from religious educational institutions). During the discussion of the Charter of the Exarchate, 5 bishops, with the support of G. Krystevich, defended the canonical order of church administration, which provided for the special responsibility of the episcopate for the Church, while representatives of the liberal-democratic movement were of the opinion that the position of the laity in church administration was strengthened. As a result, the liberals were forced to retreat, and paragraph 3 of the charter determined: "The exarchate as a whole is governed by the spiritual authority of the Holy Synod, and each of the dioceses by the metropolitan." Representatives of the liberal-democratic movement achieved a relative victory on the issue of diocesan administration: the draft charter provided for the creation of separate councils in each diocese - from the clergy and laity, but the delegates voted for the creation of unified diocesan councils dominated by the laity. The number of secular persons in the composition of the mixed council of the Exarchate was also increased from 4 to 6 people (point 8). The two-stage electoral system proposed in the draft charter also caused controversy. Liberals insisted on direct voting in the election of laity to diocesan councils and in the election of an exarch by metropolitans, while bishops and conservatives (G. Krystevich) argued that such an order posed a threat of undermining the canonical structure of church government. As a result, the two-stage system was retained, but the role of the laity increased in the selection of diocesan bishops. The discussion ended with consideration of the question of the life or temporary election of the exarch. The liberals (Kh. Stoyanov and others) insisted on limiting the term of his office; Metropolitans Hilarion Lovchansky, Panaret and Paisius of Plovdiv also believed that the replacement of the exarch, although it was an innovation, did not contradict the canons. As a result, with a small majority (28 out of 46) of votes, the principle of limiting the powers of the exarch for a period of 4 years was adopted.

The adopted Statute for the Administration of the Bulgarian Exarchate (the Statute for the Administration of the Bulgarian Exarchate) consisted of 134 points, grouped into 3 sections (divided into chapters). The first section determined the procedure for electing the exarch, members of the Holy Synod and the mixed council of the Exarchate, diocesan metropolitans, members of the diocesan, district (Kazi) and community (Nakhi) mixed councils, as well as parish priests. The second section defined the rights and obligations of the central and local bodies of the Exarchate. The competence of the Holy Synod included the solution of religious and dogmatic issues and the administration of justice in these areas (paragraphs 93, 94 and 100). The Mixed Council was responsible for educational activities: taking care of the maintenance of schools, the development of the Bulgarian language and literature (p. 96 b). The Mixed Council is obliged to monitor the state of the property of the Exarchate and control income and expenses, as well as resolve financial and other material disputes in divorces, betrothals, certification of wills, gifts, and the like (paragraph 98). The third section was devoted to church revenues and expenditures and control over them; a significant part of the income was allocated to the maintenance of schools and other public institutions. The highest legislative body of the Bulgarian Exarchate was declared the Church-People's Council of representatives of the clergy and laity, convened every 4 years (p. 134). The Council considered the report on all areas of the Exarchate's activities, elected a new exarch, and could make changes and additions to the Charter.

The Charter adopted by the Council was submitted for approval to the High Porte (subsequently, it remained unapproved by the Ottoman government). One of the main principles laid down in this document was electivity: for all church positions “from first to last” (including officials of the Exarchate), candidates were not appointed, but elected. New in the practice of the Orthodox Church was the limitation of the term of office of the primate, which was intended to strengthen the conciliar principle in church administration. Each bishop had the right to put forward his candidacy for the throne of the exarch. Lay members of mixed councils were called to play a significant role in church life. The main provisions of the Charter of 1871 were included in the Charter of the BOC, which has been in force since 1953.

Patriarch Anfim VI of Constantinople, elected to the throne in 1871, was ready to find ways of reconciliation with the Bulgarian side (for which he was severely criticized by the pro-Hellenic "party"). However, the majority of the Bulgarians asked the Sultan to recognize the Bulgarian Exarchate as completely independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The deepening of the strife led to the Sublime Porte enacting the firman of 1870 unilaterally. On February 11, 1872, the Ottoman government gave permission (teskere) for the election of an exarch of Bulgaria. The next day, the Provisional Mixed Council elected the oldest bishop in terms of age, Metropolitan Hilarion of Lovchansky, as exarch. He resigned after 4 days, citing his advanced age. On February 16, as a result of repeated elections, Anfim I, Metropolitan of Vidinsky, became exarch. On February 23, 1872, he was approved in a new rank by the government and on March 17 arrived in Constantinople. Anfim I took up his duties. On April 2, 1872, he received the Sultan's berat, which determined his powers as the supreme representative of the Orthodox Bulgarians.

On May 11, 1872, on the feast of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius, Exarch Anfim I with 3 hierarchs co-serving with him, despite the prohibition of the Patriarch, held a festive service, after which he read out an act signed by him and 6 other Bulgarian hierarchs, which proclaimed the restoration of an independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church. Metropolitans of the Exarchate were installed, on June 28, 1872, they received berets from the Ottoman government, confirming their appointment. The chair of the exarch remained in Constantinople until November 1913, when the exarch Joseph I moved it to Sofia.

At a meeting of the Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople on May 13–15, 1872, Exarch Anfim I was defrocked and deposed. Metropolitan Panaret of Plovdiv and Hilarion Lovchansky are excommunicated, and Bishop Hilarion of Makariopol is anathematized; all the hierarchs, clergy and laity of the Exarchate were subjected to ecclesiastical punishments. From August 29 to September 17, 1872, a Council was held in Constantinople with the participation of the hierarchs of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (including the former Patriarchs Gregory VI and Joachim II), Patriarchs Sophronius of Alexandria, Hierotheos of Antioch and Cyril of Jerusalem (the latter, however, soon left the meetings and refused to sign under conciliar definitions), Archbishop Sophronius of Cyprus, as well as 25 bishops and several archimandrites (including representatives of the Greek Church). The actions of the Bulgarians were denounced as being based on the beginning of phyletism (tribal differences). All "accepting phyletism" were declared schismatics alien to the Church (September 16).

The Bulgarian exarch Anfim I sent a message to the primates of the autocephalous Orthodox Churches, in which he did not recognize the imposition of schism as lawful and just, since the Bulgarian Church retains unchanging devotion to Orthodoxy. The Most Holy Governing Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church did not respond to this message, but did not join the verdict of the Council of Constantinople, leaving unanswered the message of Patriarch Anfim VI of Constantinople proclaiming the schism. His Grace Macarius (Bulgakov), at that time the Archbishop of Lithuania, spoke out against the recognition of excommunication, he believed that the Bulgarians had separated not from the Ecumenical Orthodox Church, but only from the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the canonical grounds for recognizing the Bulgarian Exarchate do not differ from those on which in the 18th century the Ohrid and Pech Patriarchates were subordinated to Constantinople, also legalized by the decree of the Sultan. Archbishop Macarius spoke in favor of maintaining fraternal relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which, however, did not oblige, as he believed, to recognize the Bulgarians as schismatics. In an effort to maintain a neutral and conciliatory position towards the outbreak of strife, the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church undertook a number of measures aimed at overcoming the isolation of the BOC, thus considering insufficient reasons for recognizing it as schismatic. In particular, it was allowed to admit Bulgarians to Russian theological schools, some bishops provided the Bulgarians with Holy Chrism, in a number of cases there were concelebrations with Russian clergy with Bulgarian clergy. However, taking into account the position of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the ROC did not support full canonical communion with the BOC. Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, in pursuance of the order of the Holy Synod, did not allow Metropolitan Anfim of Vidin (former Exarch of Bulgaria) and Bishop Clement of Branitsky (future Metropolitan of Tarnovo) to worship on August 15, 1879, who had arrived in Russia to express the gratitude of the Bulgarian people for liberation from the Turkish yoke. Metropolitan Simeon of Varna, who arrived at the head of the Bulgarian state delegation on the occasion of the accession to the throne of Emperor Alexander III (May 1883), performed a memorial service for Alexander II in St. Petersburg without the participation of the Russian clergy. In 1895, Metropolitan Kliment of Tyrnovsky was fraternally received by Metropolitan Pallady of St. Petersburg, but this time, too, he did not have Eucharistic communion with the Russian clergy.

In 1873, among the flock of the Skop and Ohrid dioceses, plebiscites were held, as a result of which both dioceses, without the permission of Constantinople, were attached to the Bulgarian Exarchate. An active church and educational activity unfolded on their territory.

After the defeat of the April Uprising in 1876, Exarch Anfim I tried to get the Turkish government to ease the repression against the Bulgarians; at the same time, he turned to the heads of the European powers, to the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg Isidore with a request to intercede with Emperor Alexander II for the release of the Bulgarians. The Ottoman government succeeded in removing him (April 12, 1877); he was later taken into custody in Ankara. On April 24, 1877, an "electoral council" consisting of 3 metropolitans and 13 laity elected a new exarch - Joseph I, Metropolitan of Lovchansky.

After the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878, according to the decisions of the Berlin Congress of 1878, which established new political borders in the Balkans, the territory of the Bulgarian Exarchate was distributed among 5 states: the Principality of Bulgaria, Eastern Rumelia, Turkey (vilayets of Macedonia and Eastern Thrace), Serbia (Nish and Pirot eparchies came under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Serbian Church) and Romania (Northern Dobruja (Tulchansky district)).

The instability of the position of the Bulgarian Exarchate, as well as the political status of Bulgaria, was reflected in the question of the location in these conditions of the primate of the Bulgarian Church. The residence of the exarch was temporarily transferred to Plovdiv (on the territory of Eastern Rumelia), where Joseph I launched an active diplomatic activity, establishing contacts with members of the temporary Russian administration, as well as with representatives of the member states of the European Commission, which developed the Organic Charter of Eastern Rumelia, proving the need for a single spiritual guide for the entire Bulgarian people. Russian diplomats, like some Bulgarian politicians, believed that the seat of the exarch should be Sofia or Plovdiv, which would help heal the schism that divided the Orthodox peoples.

On January 9, 1880, Exarch Joseph I moved from Plovdiv to Constantinople, where he launched an active work on the creation of the governing bodies of the Exarchate, sought from the Ottoman authorities the right to appoint bishops in those dioceses that were ruled by the Bulgarian rulers before the Russian-Turkish war (Ohrid, Veles, Skopje) . Through the so-called istilyams (consultative polls), the population of the Dabar, Strumitsa and Kukush dioceses expressed their desire to come under the jurisdiction of the Bulgarian Exarchate, but the Turkish government not only did not satisfy their aspirations, but also constantly delayed the dispatch of the bishops of the Exarchate to the Bulgarian dioceses of Macedonia and Eastern Thrace. The Bulgarian Exarchate in Constantinople was officially an institution of the Ottoman state, while its financial support was provided by the Principality of Bulgaria. Every year, the Turkish government sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Confessions of the Principality, and later to the Holy Synod in Sofia, the draft budget of the Exarchate, which was later discussed in the People's Assembly. Significant funds received from Bulgarian taxpayers were spent both on the needs of the administration of the Exarchate in Constantinople and on the payment of salaries to teachers and priests in Macedonia and Eastern Thrace.

As the independent Bulgarian state strengthened, the distrust of the Ottoman government towards the Bulgarian exarch in Constantinople increased. In early 1883, Joseph I tried to convene the Holy Synod of the Exarchate in Constantinople in order to resolve a number of issues related to the internal structure and administration, but the Turkish government insisted on its dissolution. In Constantinople, they were looking for a reason to cancel the firman of 1870 and remove the exarch, as he did not have subordinate territories in the direct possessions of the sultan. In accordance with the laws of the Principality of Bulgaria - art. 39 of the Tarnovo Constitution and the amended Charter of the Exarchate of February 4, 1883 (“The Exarchic Charter, adapted to the Principality”) - the bishops of the principality had the right to participate in the selection of the exarch and the Holy Synod. In this regard, in Constantinople, a definite answer was demanded from the exarch: whether he recognizes the Church Charter of the Principality of Bulgaria or considers the Exarchate in Constantinople separate and independent. To this, the exarch diplomatically declared that relations between the Exarchate in Constantinople and the Church in the Bulgarian Principality were purely spiritual and that the ecclesiastical law of free Bulgaria extended only to its territory; The church in the Ottoman Empire, on the other hand, is governed on the basis of temporary rules (since the Charter of 1871 has not yet been approved by the Turkish authorities). In October 1883, Joseph I was not invited to a reception at the Sultan's palace, which was attended by the heads of all religious communities recognized in the Ottoman Empire, which was regarded by the Bulgarians as a step towards the elimination of the exarch and led to unrest among the population of Macedonia, Vost. Thrace and Eastern Rumelia. However, in this situation, the Bulgarian Exarchate found support from Russia. The Ottoman government had to yield, and on December 17, 1883, Exarch Joseph I was received by Sultan Abdul-Hamid II. The action of the firman of 1870 was confirmed, the chair of the exarch was left in Constantinople, and a promise was made that the ecclesiastical rights of the Bulgarians would continue to be respected in the vilayets of the empire.

In 1884, Exarch Joseph I made an attempt to send Bulgarian bishops to the Macedonian diocese, the spiritual jurisdiction over which was contested by both the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the Serbs. The High Porte skillfully used this rivalry to its advantage. At the end of the year, the Turkish authorities allowed the appointment of bishops in Ohrid and Skopje, but the berats confirming their appointment were not issued, and the bishops could not leave for their places.

After the reunification of the Bulgarian principality with Eastern Rumelia (1885), the Serbian-Bulgarian war of 1885, the abdication of Prince Alexander I of Battenberg (1886) and the accession of Prince Ferdinand I of Coburg to his place (1887), the course of the Ottoman government towards the Bulgarian Exarchate in Constantinople changed. In 1890, berats were issued, confirming the appointment of Metropolitans Sinesius to Ohrid and Theodosius to Skopje, the one established during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878 was canceled. martial law in the European vilayets. The Exarchate was allowed to start publishing its own print organ, Novini (News), later renamed Vesti. In the middle of 1891, by order of the Grand Vizier Kamil Pasha, the heads of Thessalonica and Bitola vilayets were ordered not to prevent the Bulgarians, who had left the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, to independently (through representatives of spiritual communities) settle their church affairs and monitor the functioning of schools; as a result, in a few months, more than 150 villages and cities declared to the local authorities that they were renouncing their spiritual subordination to Constantinople and passing under the jurisdiction of the Exarchate. This movement continued even after the decree of the new (since 1891) Grand Vizier Dzhevad Pasha on limiting the withdrawal of Bulgarian communities from the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate.

In the spring of 1894, berets were issued for the Bulgarian bishops of the Veles and Nevrokop dioceses. In 1897, Turkey rewarded Bulgaria for its neutrality in the Turkish-Greek war of 1897 by granting berats to the Bitola, Dabar and Strumitsa dioceses. The Ohrid diocese was headed by the bishop of the Bulgarian Exarchate, who did not have a sultan's berat. For the remaining dioceses with Bulgarian and mixed populations - Kosturskaya, Lerinskaya (Moglenskaya), Vodenskaya, Solunskaya (Thessaloniki), Kukushskaya (Poleninskaya), Serskaya, Melnikskaya and Dramskaya - Exarch Joseph I managed to achieve recognition of the chairmen of church communities as governors of the Exarchate with the right to resolve all issues church life and public education.

With the mass support of the people and significant financial and political assistance to free Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Exarchate solved the problems of enlightening and strengthening the national identity of the Bulgarians who remained on the lands of the Ottoman Empire. It was possible to achieve the restoration of schools that were closed here during the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. A significant role was played by the “Prosveshcheniye” society, founded in 1880 in Thessalonica, and “School Guardianship”, a committee for the organization of educational activities created in 1882, which was soon transformed into the Department of Schools under the Bulgarian Exarchate. In Thessaloniki, a Bulgarian men's gymnasium was founded, which was of great importance in the spiritual life of the region, in the name of the Slavic educators Saints Cyril and Methodius (1880) and Bulgarian wives. Annunciation Gymnasium (1882). For the Bulgarian population of Eastern Thrace, the men's gymnasium of the imperial court of P. Beron in Odrin (Turkish Edirne) (1891) became the center of education. Until the end of 1913, the Exarchate opened 1,373 Bulgarian schools (including 13 gymnasiums) in Macedonia and the Odra region, where 2,266 teachers taught and 78,854 students studied. On the initiative of Exarch Joseph I, religious schools were opened in Odrin, in Prilep, which were then merged, transferred to Constantinople and transformed into a seminary. The Monk John of Rila was recognized as its patron saint, and Archimandrite Methodius (Kusev), who was educated in Russia, became its first rector. In 1900-1913, 200 people graduated from the Constantinople Theological Seminary of St. John of Rila, some of the graduates continued their education mainly in Russian theological academies.

While the leadership of the Exarchate sought to improve the situation of the Christian population of the Ottoman state by peaceful means, a number of priests and teachers created secret committees that set as their goal an armed struggle for liberation. The scope of the revolutionary activity made in the spring of 1903 Exarch Joseph I turn to the Bulgarian prince Ferdinand I with a letter in which he noted that poverty and despair had given rise to "revolutionary apostles", calling the people to revolt and promising them political autonomy, and warned that the war of Bulgaria with Turkey will be a disaster for the entire Bulgarian people. During the Ilyinden uprising of 1903, the exarch used all his influence to save the population of Macedonia and Thrace from mass repressions.

The turbulent situation in the Ottoman vilayets prompted many clergy to move to free Bulgaria, leaving their flocks without spiritual guidance. Outraged by this, Exarch Joseph I issued on February 10, 1912. District message (No. 3764), which forbade metropolitans and diocesan administrators to allow priests subordinate to them to leave their parishes and move to the territory of Bulgaria. The exarch himself, despite the opportunity to move to Sofia, remained in the Turkish capital in order to bring as much benefit to his flock as possible.

Internal structure of the Bulgarian Exarchate

According to Art. 39 of the Constitution of Bulgaria, the BOC remained united and indivisible both in the Principality of Bulgaria and within the Ottoman Empire. The chair of the exarch remained in Constantinople even after the political liberation of Bulgaria. In practice, church administration in free Bulgaria and in the territory of the Ottoman Empire was divided and developed independently of each other, since the Turkish authorities did not allow bishops from the principality to directly participate in the administration of the Exarchate. After the Young Turk Revolution of 1908, relations between the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople improved somewhat. In 1908, for the first time, the exarch had the opportunity to form a legal Holy Synod.

Until 1912, the diocese of the Bulgarian Exarchate included 7 dioceses headed by metropolitans, as well as dioceses ruled by the "deputies of the exarch": 8 in Macedonia (Kosturskaya, Lerinskaya (Moglenskaya), Vodenskaya, Solunskaya, Poleninskaya (Kukushskaya), Serskaya, Melnikskaya, Dramskaya ) and 1 in Eastern Thrace (Odrinskaya). There were about 1600 parish churches and chapels, 73 monasteries and 1310 priests on this territory.

The following dioceses originally existed in the Principality of Bulgaria: Sofia, Samokov, Kyustendil, Vrachan, Vidin, Lovchan, Tarnovo, Dorostolo-Cherven and Varna-Preslav. After the unification of the Principality of Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia (1885), the Plovdiv and Sliven dioceses were added to them, in 1896 the Starozagorsk diocese was established, and after the Balkan wars of 1912-1913. the diocese of Nevrokop also went to Bulgaria. According to the Charter of 1871, several dioceses were to be liquidated after the death of their metropolitans. The territories of the abolished Kyustendil (1884) and Samokov (1907) dioceses were annexed to the Sofia diocese. The third was to be the Lovchansky diocese, the titular metropolitan of which was the exarch Joseph I, but he managed to obtain permission to preserve the diocese even after his death.

In some dioceses of the Principality of Bulgaria there were 2 metropolitans at the same time. In Plovdiv, Sozopol, Anchial, Mesemvria and Varna, along with the hierarchs of the BOC, there were Greek metropolitans subordinate to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. This contradicted the 39th article of the Constitution and irritated the Bulgarian flock, leading to sharp conflicts. The Greek metropolitans remained in Bulgaria until 1906, when the local population, outraged by the events in Macedonia, seized their churches and forced their expulsion.

Conflict situations also arose between the Holy Synod and some government offices. So, in 1880-1881, D. Tsankov, at that time the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Confessions, without notifying the Synod, tried to introduce the "Temporary Rules" for the spiritual management of Christians, Muslims and Jews, which was regarded by the Bulgarian bishops, headed by Exarch Joseph I as the intervention of secular power in the affairs of the Church. Joseph I was forced to come to Sofia, where he remained from May 18, 1881 until September 5, 1882.

As a result, on February 4, 1883, the "Charter of the Exarchate adapted for the Principality", developed on the basis of the Charter of 1871, came into force. In 1890 and 1891 additions were made to it, and on January 13, 1895, a new Charter was approved, supplemented in 1897 and 1900. According to these laws, the Church in the principality was governed by the Holy Synod, consisting of all the metropolitans (in practice, only 4 bishops, who were elected for 4 years, constantly met). Exarch Joseph I ruled the Church in the principality through his viceroy ("delegate") in Sofia, who must be elected by the metropolitans of the principality with the approval of the exarch. The first vicar of the exarch was Metropolitan Gregory of Dorostolo-Chervensky, followed by Metropolitans Simeon of Varna-Preslav, Clement of Tarnovsky, Gregory of Dorostolo-Chervensky (again), Dosifey of Samokov and Vasily of Dorostolo-Chervensky. Until 1894, there were no regular meetings of the Holy Synod of the Principality, then it functioned regularly, considering all current issues related to the management of the Church in free Bulgaria.

During the reign of Prince Alexander I of Battenberg (1879–1886), state power did not come into conflict with the BOC. The situation was different during the reign of Prince (1887–1918, from 1908 - Tsar) Ferdinand I of Coburg, a Catholic by religion. The viceroy of the exarch, Metropolitan Kliment of Tarnovo, who became the spokesman for the political line opposed to the government, was declared by the supporters of Prime Minister Stambolov to be a conductor of extreme Russophilism and expelled from the capital. In December 1887, Metropolitan Clement was forced to retire to his diocese with a ban on worship without special permission. Back in August 1886, Metropolitan Simeon of Varna-Preslav was removed from the administration of his diocese. A sharp conflict flared up in 1888-1889 over the issue of commemorating the name of the prince as the Bulgarian sovereign at the service. Thus, relations between the government and the Holy Synod were severed, and the metropolitans of Vratsa Kirill and Tarnovo Clement were brought to trial in 1889; only in June 1890 did the bishops adopt the formula for commemorating Prince Ferdinand.

In 1892, another initiative of Stambolov led to a new aggravation of relations between the Church and the state. In connection with the marriage of Ferdinand I, the government attempted, ignoring the Holy Synod, to change the 38th article of the Tarnovo Constitution in such a way that the prince's successor could also be non-Orthodox. In response to the newspaper "Novini" (published in Constantinople, the press organ of the Bulgarian Exarchate), began publishing editorials criticizing the Bulgarian government. Exarch Joseph I was sharply attacked by the government newspaper Svoboda. Stambolov's government suspended subsidies for the Bulgarian Exarchate and threatened to separate the Church of the Principality of Bulgaria from the Exarchate. The grand vizier took the side of the Bulgarian government, and the exarch, placed in a hopeless situation, stopped the newspaper campaign. Stambolov in every possible way persecuted the bishops who opposed his policies: this especially concerned Metropolitan Clement of Turnovo, who was accused of a crime against the nation and sent to prison in the Lyaskovo Monastery. A criminal trial was fabricated against him, and in July 1893 he was sentenced to life imprisonment (after an appeal, the sentence was reduced to 2 years). Vladyka Clement was imprisoned in the Glozhensky Monastery solely for his "Russophilia". However, soon Ferdinand I, who decided to normalize relations with Russia, ordered the release of the Metropolitan of Tarnovo and announced his consent to the transition of the heir to the throne, Prince Boris (future Tsar Boris III) to Orthodoxy. On February 2, 1896, in Sofia, in the Cathedral Church of the Holy Week, Exarch Joseph I performed the sacrament of chrismation of the heir. On March 14, 1896, the Bulgarian prince Ferdinand I, who arrived in the Ottoman capital to meet with Sultan Abdul-Hamid II, also visited the exarch. On March 24, he met Easter in the Orthodox church of St. Nedelya, handed Joseph I the panagia, presented by Emperor Alexander II to the first Bulgarian exarch Anfim and bought by the prince after the death of the latter, and expressed the wish that in the future all Bulgarian exarchs would wear it.

In general, after the liberation of Bulgaria, the influence and importance of the Orthodox Church in the state gradually decreased. In the political sphere, it was pushed into the background; in the sphere of culture and education, secular state institutions began to play the main role. The Bulgarian clergy, mostly illiterate, could hardly adapt to the new conditions.

The 1st (1912–1913) and 2nd (1913) Balkan Wars and the Treaty of Bucharest concluded in July 1913 led to the loss of spiritual power by the Exarchate within the European part of Turkey: the Ohrid, Bitola, Veles, Dabar and Skop dioceses entered the jurisdiction Serbian Orthodox Church, and Thessalonica (Thessalonian) was attached to the Greek Church. The first five Bulgarian bishops were replaced by Serbs, and Archimandrite Evlogii, who ruled the Thessalonica diocese, was killed in July 1913. The BOC also lost parishes in Southern Dobruja, which came under the jurisdiction of the Romanian Orthodox Church.

Only the Maronian diocese in Western Thrace (with its center in Gyumyurdzhin) remained under the control of the Bulgarian Exarchate. Exarch Joseph I retained the flock mainly in Constantinople, Odrin (Edirne) and Lozengrad and decided to transfer his see to Sofia, leaving in Constantinople a “vicerarchy”, which (until it was liquidated in 1945) was ruled by Bulgarian bishops. After the death of Joseph I on June 20, 1915, a new exarch was not elected, and for 30 years the BOC was ruled by locum tenens - chairmen of the Holy Synod.

After Bulgaria entered the First World War on the side of Germany (1915), part of the former dioceses temporarily returned to the Bulgarian Exarchate (Vardar Macedonia). At the end of the war, in accordance with the provisions of the Neuilly Peace Treaty (1919), the Bulgarian Exarchate again lost the dioceses in Macedonia: most of the Strumitsky diocese, the border lands that were previously part of the Sofia diocese, and also the Maronian diocese with a cathedra in Gyumyurdzhin in Western Thrace. On the territory of European Turkey, the Exarchate retained the diocese of Odra, which from 1910 until the spring of 1932 was headed by Archimandrite Nikodim (Atanasov) (since April 4, 1920, the diocese of Tiveriopol). In addition, a temporary diocese of Lozengrad was established, headed by Bishop Hilarion of Nishava since 1922, who was replaced in 1925 by the former Metropolitan Neofit of Skop, who from 1932 also ruled the diocese of Odra. After the death of Metropolitan Neophyte (1938), the care of all Orthodox Bulgarians living within European Turkey was taken over by the governorship of the Exarchate.

After World War I, the dioceses in Macedonia again fell away from the Bulgarian Exarchate; outside of Bulgaria, only the diocese of Odra in Turkish Eastern Thrace was now part of the BOC.

During these years, a reform movement arose in the BOC, whose representatives were both ordinary clergy and laity, and some of the bishops. Believing that in the new historical conditions reforms in the Church are necessary, November 6, 1919. The Holy Synod decided to start changing the Charter of the Exarchate and notified the head of government A. Stamboliisky about this, who approved the initiative of the BOC. The Holy Synod appointed a commission chaired by Metropolitan Simeon of Varna-Preslav. However, under the influence of a group of theologians led by Kh. approved by royal decree. According to this law, the Holy Synod was obliged to complete the preparation of the charter and convene the Church-People's Council within 2 months. In response, in December 1920, the Bulgarian bishops convened a Bishops' Council, which developed a "Draft Amending the Law on Convening a Church-People's Council." A sharp conflict arose between the Holy Synod and the government, which ordered the military prosecutors to bring recalcitrant bishops to justice; the members of the Holy Synod were even supposed to be arrested, and the Provisional Church Administration to be formed at the head of the BOC. At the cost of many efforts and compromises, the contradictions were somewhat smoothed out, elections of delegates were held (among which were representatives of Macedonia - refugee priests and laity), and in February 1921 in the capital's church of St. Sedmochisnikov in the presence of Tsar Boris III, the 2nd Church-People's Council was opened.

According to the Council Charter of the Exarchate, the Church-People's Council was considered as the supreme legislative body of the BOC. The statute was a detailed and systematic presentation of Bulgarian ecclesiastical law. The conciliar principle was declared to be the highest principle of church administration, that is, the participation of priests and laity at all levels in the administration, while maintaining the primacy of the bishops. The charter was approved by the Bishops' Council, and on January 24, 1923, it was approved by the People's Assembly. However, after the overthrow of the government of Stamboliysky (1923), the reform of the charter was limited to legislative orders, by which a number of amendments were made to the former charter of the Exarchate, concerning mainly the composition of the Synod and the election of the exarch.

After the liberation of Bulgaria (1878), the influence and importance of the BOC in the country began to gradually decline; in the political sphere, in culture and education, it was pushed aside by new state institutions. In addition, the Bulgarian clergy proved to be largely illiterate and unable to adapt to the new conditions. At the end of the 19th century, there were 2 incomplete theological schools in Bulgaria: in the Lyaskovo Monastery - St. Apostles Peter and Paul and in Samokov (in 1903 it was transferred to Sofia and transformed into the Sofia Theological Seminary). In 1913 the Bulgarian Theological Seminary in Istanbul was closed; its teaching staff was transferred to Plovdiv, where he began work in 1915. There were a number of elementary priestly schools in which the liturgical charter was studied. In 1905, there were 1992 priests in Bulgaria, of whom only 2 had a higher theological education, and very many had only a primary one. The Faculty of Theology at Sofia University was opened only in 1923.

The main reason for the non-election of a new exarch after the death of Joseph I (1915) was the instability of the government's national political course. At the same time, there were different opinions about the procedure for filling the chairs of the Exarchate and the Sofia Metropolis: should they be occupied by one person or should they be divided. For 30 years, during which the BOC remained deprived of its primate, church administration was carried out by the Holy Synod, headed by an elected viceroy - the chairman of the Holy Synod. From 1915 to the beginning of 1945, these were the metropolitans of Sofia Parfeniy (1915-1916), Dorostolo-Chervensky Vasily (1919-1920), Plovdiv Maxim (1920-1927), Vrachansky Kliment (1927-1930), Vidinsky Neofit (1930-1944) and Sofia Stefan (1944–1945).

After the entry of the Red Army into the territory of Bulgaria and the formation of the government of the Fatherland Front on September 9, 1944, Metropolitan Stefan of Sofia, in a message to the Russian people on radio Sofia, stated that Hitlerism is the enemy of all Slavs, which must be broken by Russia and its allies - the USA and Great Britain . On October 16, 1944, Locum Tenens Stefan was re-elected, and 2 days later, at a meeting of the Holy Synod, it was decided to ask the government to allow the election of an exarch. Changes were made to the Charter of the Exarchate, which assumed an expansion of the degree of participation of the clergy and the people in the elections. On January 4, 1945, the Holy Synod issued a District Message, in which the election of the exarch was scheduled for January 21, and on January 14 it was ordered to hold preliminary meetings for the dioceses: each was required to elect 7 electors (3 clerics and 4 laity). The Electoral Council of the Exarchate was held on January 21, 1945 in the capital's church of St. Sophia. It was attended by 90 authorized voters, who were presented to vote 3 candidates: Metropolitan Stefan of Sofia, Vidinsky Neofit and Dorostolo-Chervensky Mikhail. By a majority of votes (84), Metropolitan Stefan was elected, who became the 3rd and last Bulgarian exarch.

An important task facing the BOC was the elimination of schism. At the end of 1944, the Synod established contact with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, whose representatives, when meeting with the Bulgarian envoy, said that "Bulgarian schism is already an anachronism at the present time." Back in October 1944, Metropolitan Stefan of Sofia asked the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church for assistance in overcoming the schism. On November 22, 1944, the Synod promised support and mediation in negotiations with the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In February 1945, in Moscow, during the celebrations on the occasion of the enthronement of the new Patriarch of Moscow, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy I had a conversation with Patriarchs Christopher of Alexandria and Alexander III of Antioch and representatives of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Metropolitan Herman of Thyatira and the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Archbishop Athenagoras of Sebastia, at which the “Bulgarian ecclesiastical question” was discussed. ". Patriarch Alexy I outlined the results of these discussions in his letter on February 20, 1945 to the Exarch of Bulgaria. On the day of his election, Exarch Stefan I sent a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch Benjamin with a request to "remove the condemnation of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, pronounced for known reasons, and accordingly recognize it as autocephalous and classify it among the autocephalous Orthodox Churches." Representatives of the Bulgarian Exarchate met with the Ecumenical Patriarch and held talks with the commission of the Patriarchate of Constantinople (comprised of Metropolitans Maximus of Chalcedon, Hermanus of Sardica, and Dorotheus of Laodicea), which was to determine the conditions for lifting the schism.

On February 19, 1945, the “Protocol on the liquidation of the anomaly that has existed for years in the body of the Holy Orthodox Church…” was signed, and on February 22, the Ecumenical Patriarchate issued a tomos that read: “We bless the autocephalous structure and administration of the Holy Church in Bulgaria and define it as the Holy Orthodox Autocephalous Bulgarian Church, and from now on we recognize Her as our spiritual sister, who is governed and manages her affairs independently and autocephalously, in accordance with the establishment and sovereign rights.