Life of Saint Clement, Archbishop of Bulgaria

as is the promise; and I shall show to all men that our nature is not changed, but our will has been perverted. ^B

II. Who, then, you perhaps ask, are these Fathers? It is Methodius, who adorned the eparchy of the Pannonians, having been made archbishop of Moravia, and Cyril, a man learned in external philosophy, but more so in internal; a scrutineer of the nature of created things, or rather of the one Being, from whom all things received their existence from that which was not visible. These men, indeed, because of their purity of life, having placed God within themselves, and because they were eager to bring forth the saving Spirit—having received the fear of God in their hearts—were sufficiently powerful in the teaching of the Word, which is delivered in the Greek tongue, and the chain of such wisdom drew many to them. But since the race of the Slovenians, or Bulgarians, did not understand the writings composed in the Greek tongue, the saints considered this a grave loss, and the fact that the lamp of the Scriptures was not lit in the dark region of the Bulgarians was a matter of immense grief to them; they were troubled, they bore it with difficulty, they regarded their life as a burden. What, then, do they do? They look to the Paraclete, whose first gift is that of tongues and the aid of discourse; and from Him they ask the grace of discovering letters analogous to the harshness of the Bulgarian tongue, so that they might be able to translate the divine Scriptures into the language of this nation. Moreover, having given themselves over to prolonged fasting and constant prayer, to the mortification of the body and the contrition and humility of the mind, they attain what they desired. ^C "For the Lord is near," says the Scripture, "to all who call upon Him in truth," and while you are yet speaking, He will say: "Behold, I am present. For I am God drawing near, and not a God from afar." They also receive the grace of the Spirit like a welcome dawn, and the light of knowledge rises for the just, and their joy dispels their former grief. Having obtained this desired grace, they devise Slovenian letters, and translate the divinely inspired Scriptures from the Greek tongue into the Bulgarian, and they make it their study to deliver the divine teachings to the more acute of their disciples. For not a few drank from the font of their teaching, the chief of whom and the leaders of the choir were Gorasdus and Clement and Nahum and Angelarius and Sabbas. ^D

III. But since they also knew that Paul had shared the Gospel with the apostles, they too run to the apostle of Rome, to show to the blessed Pope the work of the translation of the Scriptures; and their lot was favorable, nor did they run in vain. For Adrian, who at that time shone upon the apostolic seat, having heard of their arrival, exulted with great joy. For having been struck from afar by the thunder of the fame of the saints, he desired to see the lightning of the grace shining in them, affected in no other way toward these divine men than Moses was toward God, whose face he desired to see for himself

^A and to know clearly. He was no longer able to restrain himself, but taking up the entire priestly order together with the pontiff who was present, he went out to meet the saints, having the sign of the cross carried before him as is the custom, and indicating the serenity of his joy by the brilliance of the torches, and—it must be said—the brilliance of those who were being entertained, whom the Lord, who is glorified in his saints, was pleased to perform many miracles through at the time of their arrival. But when the work was shown to the Pope, and he had examined the translation of the Scriptures into the [Slavonic] tongue—being a work of apostolic birth—he could not contain his joy; he declared the men blessed, and addressed them with all manner of names: Fathers, most desired sons, his own joy, a crown of faith, the diadem of the glory and splendor of the Church. What did he do next? Taking the interpreted books, he placed them upon the divine altar, consecrating them as a sort of offering to God, and showing that by such sacrifices God is well pleased—those fruits of lips—and that he receives such crops as a sweet-smelling savor. ^B For what is more delightful to the Word than a word that delivers rational men from irrationality, since like rejoices in like? He proclaimed these men as apostolic in the Church, having undergone a struggle equal to Paul’s, and having hastened to offer to God the perfect and holy gift of the Gentiles. Then, of those who accompanied the saints, whosoever was asserted by the testimony of the masters to have sufficient skill in Slavonic letters and to be adorned with a holy life, some he deemed worthy of the rank of presbyters, some of deacons, and others of subdeacons; but Methodius the Great himself, although he much entreated and resisted, he ordained Bishop of Moravia and Pannonia, not judging it right that he who was found worthy of the deed should lack the name. For he said that justice is equally injured when someone obtains a name to which he is entirely a stranger, and when someone, being a bishop in works and merit, is left to be despised in the order of private men, and a lamp is set in darkness under a bushel. Thus, therefore, the bishop of Rome honored Methodius with the episcopal dignity, or rather, honored the episcopacy through him. But the great pontiff summoned Cyril, who was truly a philosopher, into the Holy of Holies, to minister there within the true tabernacle, and to participate in the mysteries more spiritually and divinely, and furthermore to participate in the new chalice. ^C For as if permitted to remain in the flesh for this purpose, in order that he might effect the invention of letters and the translation of the Scriptures, after he had done enough in this regard for the divine will, he also received from Him who had taught him the knowledge of God. Foreknowing his own end, he put on the monastic habit, having long desired this, but having avoided it out of modesty as something great and exceeding his own strength; and having added light to light, he departed to heaven, ^D where Christ is, leaving behind the valley of tears, the dwellings of darkness, the mire of clay, and the present exile. He restored his spirit to the God of spirits; but that body, which by voluntary mortification of nature

^A had already served in the flesh, was buried with honor, accompanied by hymns from the divine Pope and all the clergy, in the temple of St. Clement—that Clement who lived with Peter, the chief of the apostles, and who subjected Hellenic wisdom to the wisdom of Christ as a handmaid to a mistress. Thus, the philosopher receives the philosopher; the great master joins the voice of the Word to himself; the teacher of the Gentiles receives as a guest him who illuminated the remaining nations with the light of knowledge. ^B And God, in favoring Cyril and testifying to the glory he attained in heaven, makes the visible things heralds of the invisible. For those vexed by demons who approached his bier found healing, and the grace of the Holy Spirit became a scourge driving away many other diseases. For as soon as anyone approached the bier or invoked the name of this God-bearing Father, the end of his pain would follow. Whence Cyril was much in the mouths of the Romans, and even more so in their minds; so that these prodigies were the substance of his glory, while the glory itself was the vehicle of a higher honor, and this reverence for the saint was the bulwark of God’s glory.

IV. ^C And so, such was the end and the honor that Cyril obtained, both from the most divine Pope and from God. Methodius, however, having lost the partner of his labors and travels—who was in all things, both in the flesh and in the Lord, a true brother—surrendered his heart to sorrow, feeling this human emotion, and was captured by the bonds of intimacy. Yet on the other hand, he was no less, if not more, consoled by the hope that he would have Cyril as a helper in the work of teaching, and that, the closer he was to God out of the flesh, the more effective freedom of speech he would possess. But when it was time for Methodius to visit the bishopric of that region, he embraced his brother's monument, ^D frequently invoking the name of his dear Cyril, and having lamented his bodily solitude, he called upon the hand of the presbyters for help and set out on his journey with his disciples. When he had reached Moravia, then he was truly a bishop, showing forth in himself, in a greater manner, all those features with which the image of a bishop was depicted by Paul; for he neither buried the talent, nor sold the grace of the spiritual gift, nor made the beginning of his ministry a beginning of luxury; but he communicated the good to all, causing the sun of the Word to rise equally, and in dispensing the Gospel, he did not distribute it by measure. For if, even before his episcopate, he was so devoted to the word of preaching, and given that there was no danger in that matter, how much more—after the office had been entrusted to him, and he had received the deposit, and he knew of the woe assigned to the apostle who does not evangelize—was he not bound to apply himself and persist in preaching, and to exercise all day in the divine oracles, whose sweetness he found to be above honey and the honeycomb? Certainly, he not only exhorted the leader of the Moravians, Rasislav, daily at that time, and formed his mind with divine precepts, but he also instructed the ruler of all Pannonia, whose name was Kotzeles.

teaching him that he should be firmly bound by the fear of the Lord, and by this means turn aside from every evil, checked and held back as if by a bridle. ^A Moreover, the great Methodius also unceasingly plied with the benefits of his discourse the leader of the Bulgarians, Borises, who reigned in the time of the Roman Emperor Michael, whom the great Methodius had already long before made his son and had completely attached to his own beautiful language. For this Borises was, moreover, of a right mind and capable of the good, under whom the nation of the Bulgarians began to be consecrated by divine baptism and to become Christian. When those holy men, I mean Cyril and Methodius, saw the multitude of believers, and how many children were being born through water and the Spirit, and that they absolutely required spiritual food, they devised letters, as we have said, and made a translation of the Scriptures into the Bulgarian tongue, so that the newly-born children of God might have enough divine food, and grow up into spiritual maturity and toward the measure of the stature of Christ. And thus the Bulgarian nation, having been freed from the Scythian error, recognized the true and most upright way, Christ; though late—around the eleventh or twelfth hour—it had nonetheless entered the divine vineyard by the grace of Him who called it. For in the year six thousand three hundred and seventy-seven from the creation of the world, ^B the calling of this nation took place.

V. The great Methodius did not, therefore, cease from offering every admonition to the leaders each day, guiding them toward a virtuous life, and delivering to them the unadulterated dogma of the Church as a certain royal and pure coinage, imprinting it in their souls as in a safe and faithful place. For there were those even then who were adulterating it and moving the boundaries ^C which our fathers had set for the Church of God, and through the corruption introduced by the Franks, many were harming their souls, contending that the Son is begotten of the Father, but that the Spirit proceeds from the Son. Against these the saint stood, overthrowing their reasonings and their arrogance which insulted divine doctrine, partly by the words of the Lord, and partly by the sentiments of the Fathers. He was thus capturing many into the obedience of Christ, transferring them from erroneous doctrine to the true and irreproachable doctrine, bringing forth the holy from the unworthy, and for this reason he became and was called the mouth of God. Whence there was an expansion among the faithful day by day, and the word of God increased, as we have heard Luke saying concerning the preaching of the apostles. If you wish for me to mention that ancient [saying]: the house of David was progressing, ^D while the house of Saul was daily diminishing and going backward. But the crowd of heretics, being overcome by the power of the word and by the truth, did that which was the only thing they were able—or rather, what was fallaciously taught to them by their father, who is a murderer from the beginning and glories in wickedness—afflicting the holy man with a thousand vexations and temptations; for they also ensnared Sphendoplicus, who ruled over the Moravian [people] after Rasislav, with deceitful...

guile, being a barbarian man and ignorant of what is good, and made him entirely their own to fulfill their own glory. For what was that man not likely to do, a slave to feminine pleasures and wallowing in the mud of shameful deeds, rather than give his mind to those who opened to him every door to the passions, than to Methodius, who branded the bitterness of all pleasure as deadly to the soul? For what that Eunomius, he who began the heresy of the Anomoeans, devised to attract more disciples, that too the senseless Frankish nation contrived: namely, to grant all things to those who sin, so easily and without effort, in order that they might thereby be inserted into their own dogmas, and to allow a sordid life so that their foul dogma might prosper; just as if some were to exchange with one another, one giving dung and the other mud, and they appeared worthy of such treasures of "merchandise," in which both the wares are filthy and the exchange is loathsome. By these people, therefore, who allowed everything to him, Sphendoplicus was corrupted, and he gave very little heed to the words of Methodius; on the contrary, he behaved towards him as to an enemy. "For Godliness is an abomination to a sinner," he says; yet what cheerful things did the great man not speak to the prince, and what terrible things did he not threaten? He introduced the correctness of dogma from the divine Scriptures, and enjoined that they be adhered to as the fountains of life and salvation, according to what the Lord taught, that life lies in the searching of the Scriptures, and Isaiah commanded us to draw water not from the mire of heresies, but from the fountains of the Savior. He feared, indeed, that if he were to join himself to the heretics, he would corrupt both himself and all those under him, and thus become easy to be subdued and easily captured by his enemies. ^B For impiety, even if it blooms for a little while, yet in time it slips and falls, lest the pious learn its malice; and these things, he said, were to come upon the ruler after his own death, as indeed they came to pass according to the predictions of the Saint. For as long as Methodius was reckoned among the living, neither did the ruler give vent to the travail of his heart, but kept the basilisk—the offspring of asps—hidden and nurtured within, nor did justice wield its scourge, but held the bow drawn and sharpened the sword, yet did not cast the arrow into the heart of the enemy, nor did it steady its hand for the strike. But when the Saint was gone and all malice was present—not hiding its deformity under veils and masks, but showing the shameless face of a harlot and raising persecution against the Orthodox—then indeed God did not delay in handing the ruler over to the Furies. But these things [are] for later.

^C VI. Then Methodius foretold to the prince his own death, which was to take place after three days, making this prediction, as I judge, a confirmation of his frequent exhortations. For if the fulfillment of the prediction made him a prophet, to whom the foreknowledge of future things had been given by the Spirit, it was manifest that the dogma preached by him was spiritual and inspired by God.

^A And having called together his disciples, he imitates Paul, or rather my Jesus, and with his parting words comforts and strengthens them, he who was marking out a good inheritance for his children, and one worthy of the labors he had endured in order to acquire for himself such a treasure. What is this inheritance? Perhaps you desire to learn: it is the oracles of God, more desirable than gold and much precious stone, and wisdom, the acquisition of which is better than treasures of gold and silver. ^B "For you know," he says, "O my inward parts, what is the power of the heretics in malice, and how, adulterating the word of God in every way, they seek to make those near them drink muddy and mire-filled water, using these two things and bringing them forward: persuasion and severity—the former reserved for the simpler, the latter for the more timid." But for my part, I hope and pray that you may hold your souls well-prepared against both. For you shall not be led astray by the persuasion of words, nor shall you suffer depredation through empty deceit; for you have been founded upon the rock of the apostolic confession and teaching, against which the gates of hell, built up against the Church, shall not prevail; for faithful is He who has promised. Neither shall you allow the towers of your hearts to be shaken by any fear; for you have learned: "Fear not from the dread of the day, neither [fear] those who kill the body, but cannot harm the soul." Rather, strengthen others to keep the deposit that we received from the Apostles and from the Fathers at various times, and which they shall demand of us on the day of requital. Lo, I have told you beforehand, and by this prediction I have made you subject to sin; for "if I had not come," he says, "and spoken to them, they would not have sin." I am pure from your blood; for I have not held back from speaking to you, but according to Ezekiel, I have kept watch from the watchtower. See how carefully you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, and with all guard preserve your own hearts and the spirits of your brethren; for you shall walk in the midst of snares and pass upon the battlements of cities. For after my death, grievous wolves shall enter in among you, not sparing the flock, seeking to draw the people away after them; to whom stand firm in the faith. Paul prescribes these things to you through me. But God and the Father, and the Son who was impassibly begotten of Him before the ages, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father, shall guide you into all truth, and shall present you blameless as my boasting in the day of Christ. ^D Having said these things and more than these, he committed his spirit to the angels who were escorting him and watching over him in all his ways, after he had shone forth in the episcopacy for twenty-four years, having wrought not only his own salvation but that of others through much toil and labor. For he did not seek his own, but that of the many, that they might be saved, and night and day he lived only for this, that he might be useful to others; and this is also shown by the multitude of presbyters, deacons, and subdeacons, whom, as he was dying, he left to the number of two hundred in the territory of his Church.

^A For if those of the sanctuary alone were so many, what are we to conjecture the multitude of the laity to have been? Gorasdus held the first place among them, whom we have already numbered among the chief disciples of Methodius, and who was proclaimed archbishop of Moravia by the Saint himself, as he was conscious of his own end.

VII. ^B But the most audacious multitude of the heretics could not bear to have Methodius as a living champion even after his death. "Come," they said, "let us lie in wait for Gorasdus and oppress him; for his life is abhorrent to us, his ways are dissimilar, he upbraids us with our sins, and if this man were left to live, Methodius would live again for us." They therefore remove him from the episcopal dignity and raise to the episcopal see—or rather, they drag down the see through him—a certain Vichnic, who was inebriated with the neat wine of heresy and capable of inebriating others, whom for that reason Methodius, together with the choir of the insane who were with him, had delivered to the anathema of Satan. O the labors and agonies of Methodius, and the Trinity confounding the properties! Inasmuch as the see had been illustrious and far more radiant through Methodius, by just so much was it cast into the abyss of disgrace through Vichnic.

VIII. ^C Yet he occupied the episcopacy, which was in no way fitting for him, in such an illegitimate manner, taking honor for himself having seized it, and thrusting aside by the violence of a sinful arm him who had been called by God. Heresy truly raises its head and exults against the orthodox multitude of the disciples of Methodius. And causing a tumult and rising up against the faithful, they said, "Why do you still cling more willingly to the foul and dead words of Methodius than to the living archbishop, and do not confess that the Son is begotten of the Father and the Spirit proceeds from the Son?" But they, through Gorasdus and Clement, replied: "That Methodius still lives we have certainly learned from the Lord, who asserted that he who believes in Him, even if he be dead, shall live, and who taught that God should be called the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as living, not as dead. ^D Why, then, do we sin if we have as a master one who lives in God, who lives and speaks with us spiritually and strengthens us against you? But this new faith of yours, which we find confirmed neither by any testimony of Scripture nor established by the holy Fathers, we fear to embrace, lest we subject ourselves to anathema, as Paul plainly cries: 'If anyone preaches to you a gospel other than that which you have received, let him be anathema.' * For we believe the Spirit of the Son—inasmuch as it is the Spirit of life and truth, which the Son is, and the mind of Christ—to be the Spirit; but that this Spirit proceeds from the Son, we have neither learned, nor will we learn, nor will we deny the faith, becoming worse than unbelievers, certainly not through the sanctification of the grace of the Holy Spirit; rather, we believe that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and that the generator of the Son is the principle and origin of Him.

________________ * Galat. 1, 8.

^A We also believe that He is proper to the Son and is granted to the worthy by Him at any given time. But it is one thing to proceed, and another to be granted; for the former is descriptive of how the Spirit exists—just as the Son is begotten of the Father, so the Spirit is proceeding—while being granted does not signify how He exists, but indicates an enrichment and a distribution. And so that we may illuminate the matter with an example, as far as is possible, imagine for me a certain king drawing out great wealth from his own treasuries, and his son receiving it so as to have it as his own property and to distribute it to those who are pleasing to him. The King is the Father; the wealth, to speak figuratively, is the Spirit drawn out from the ineffable treasures of the Father; the king’s son is the Son of the Father, whose Spirit is, and through whom He is granted. Do you see the Spirit, as we know Him, not proceeding from the Son, but granted by Him? ^B If, however, the fact that the Son breathed upon the apostles and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit," troubles you, you are crudely accustomed to the Gospels. For He gave to the apostles one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit—the gift of the remission of sins—as is clear from what follows; for it is also common for Isaiah to call the powers of the Spirit "spirits," but He did not bestow the Spirit Himself upon the disciples at that time. And this is evident; for if He gave the Spirit at that time, then the subsequent descent of Him on the day of Pentecost was superfluous, or if it was not superfluous, then it was a different spirit. Who, then, is this? As the Church has held, it is known to have venerated ^C one Holy Spirit. If there were two, which of them then would not be holy? If that one given through the breathing was holy, and the Lord did give that very thing, but not as one spiritual gift, then the one that descended at Pentecost—it is evident that it would not be holy; but may that blasphemy be turned back upon your own heads! By making two principles—the Father for the Son, and the Son for the Spirit—you are raving with another kind of Manichaean madness. For us, there is one God, and one principle of those things that are from Him, the Father; the Father of the Son, and the producer of the Spirit; just as also there is one sun that is the principle of the ray and of the light or heat. Therefore, the light or heat accompanies the ray, just as the Spirit accompanies the Son, and the light is of the ray, ^D just as the Spirit is of the Son—both of them, however, from one principle. And just as in the example, the light or heat is given to the physical world through the ray, so the Holy Spirit is granted to the intellectual creation through the Son, above all things. If, like the Manichaeans with the Gospel according to Thomas, you have another source to bring forward that introduces such a teaching about the Holy Spirit, show it to be canonical, and we will be silent, or rather, we will even esteem you as benefactors. But if the paradise of the Church is watered by four rivers springing from one source—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which I suspect you know—then he who introduces a fifth gospel is accursed. And John presents the Son to us saying: "The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father"

Cease ^A from sharpening the sword more strenuously against one another; cease from fighting against the Son of God, the great Evangelist, from whom and through whom and in whom is the whole Gospel; and cease from dogmatizing about the Spirit without the Spirit, or rather, from whispering things contrary to the Spirit.

IX. When those who held the party of Vichnik could not bear these things, they stopped their ears, just as those who once stoned Stephen, the noble martyr of the Word, and in this done they acted well, insofar as they were not worthy to hear such things. They began to stir up tumult and confound everything, and it was a narrow thing before they came to blows with the orthodox, joining the helping hand to the weary tongue. At last, however, they fled headlong ^B to their final refuge, the vile Sphendoplokos, and they slandered the orthodox, claiming they were favoring new ideas and would have risen up against his power, had they not agreed with the prince regarding the dogma: for what they hold in thought, they also fight for in deed. He, having called together the disciples of Methodius, said: "What is this schism that is practiced among you, and why do you clash with one another hostiley every day? Are you not all brothers, not all of the Christian party? Why then are you not of one mind in the faith, and diligent in maintaining unity?" They, however, speaking as if using the mouth of Gorazd and Clement (for these were the leaders of the discourse), said: "It would indeed have been proper, O Prince, to hold long discourses with you regarding these matters. For the danger that hangs over us is not about small matters, nor about ^C trifles, but about the dogma of the Church regarding the blessed Trinity, and about the soul, which is of all things most proper to us. But since your lack of learning in letters does not allow you to hear long or weighty discourses, our answer to your question shall be simple: We are separated, indeed, because the Lord came to cast a sword and to separate the better from the worse, and we hear David saying that he hated those who hated the Lord, but greatly honored the friends of Christ. For we cannot ever count as Christians those who do not receive the Gospel. For there, when one of the Trinity, the Son of God, says, 'The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father,' these people say that the Spirit proceeded from the Son. Yet if this were true, what would have prevented the Lord from saying, 'The Spirit of truth, who proceeds from me'? This is one point; the second is that the second synod of the bishops gathered from the whole world at Constantinople declared ^D regarding the Holy Spirit—as it was gathered for this very reason, to condemn the heresy of the Spirit-fighter Macedonius—and it set forth a symbol of faith, not to subvert that which was prescribed in the Nicaea synod, but to complete what that one had omitted, since the questions regarding the Spirit had not yet been raised at that time, and to save it, so that the daughter might mend what was lacking in the mother. Let us see, therefore, in this symbol, which even you, Prince, recite daily in the Church, having been translated from Greek books, what we ought rather to believe regarding the Spirit: whether He proceeds from the Son or from the Father? How then could we be in harmony with those who, beyond the Gospel...

and the exposition of the Fathers given by the Spirit, speak from the earth, just like the ventriloquists? “For what communion hath light with darkness?” ^A says the divine Apostle. If, therefore, they change their opinions and are willing to stand with the Gospel and the Fathers, we shall run to them as brothers, and we shall embrace and hug them tightly. But if they renounce our one Teacher, Christ, and go after their own minds and remain in vain in their reasoning, we would reluctantly consent to learn the dogma of the Trinity from such teachers. This was the multitude of the orthodox, using Gorazd and Clement as advocates. ^B

X. The prince, however, hardly grasped a few of the things said; for he was altogether most dull regarding the understanding of divine matters, partly because he had been raised in a more barbarian and, to speak plainly, more brutish manner, and partly because his mind was carried away by base pleasure, as has been said. For how was a man who was very far from the holiness of temperance, without which no one shall see the Lord, about to enter into the discussions concerning the Trinity? But having been prompted by the heretics (for he was entirely favorable to them), he gave this sort of answer to the orthodox: “I am aware that I have great ignorance, and I am simple regarding dogmatics. For what else is an illiterate man? Nevertheless, I claim and will continue to claim the name of Christian. But these ambiguities, such as you raise, I am not able to resolve with words, nor to distinguish the false teacher from the orthodox one. Therefore, as a Christian, I will judge you; and certainly ^C I will pronounce on this question of dogma just as I am accustomed to pronounce on others: whoever comes forward and is the first to swear that he believes rightly and orthodoxly, him I will judge, according to my own decision, to be not in the least erring regarding the precision of the faith, and to him I will entrust the Church, and I will assign to him, as is fitting, the priesthood of the Church.”

XI. The Franks, therefore, being most prompt for the oath, and not even waiting for the end of the prince's sentence, swore and established their own evil doctrine, placing a final conclusion on their senseless judgment. ^D With such judges as these, heresy won the palm against orthodoxy, and it had every power to take and carry off the true servants of Christ and the guardians of the faith. For if anyone, says the prince, is found not believing according to the confession of the Franks, he shall be handed over to those very people to deal with as they wish. As things stood thus, what speech could recount all that malice, having gained power, brought about? It was fire, quite simply, being fanned on by a spirit of fuel: the ones were forcing others to subscribe to the perverse dogma, while the others were setting forth the faith of the Fathers; the former were prepared to do everything, the latter to suffer everything; some they inhumanely tormented, others' houses they pillaged, adding greed to impiety; others they dragged naked over thorns, and this even to old men who had surpassed the Davidic limits of longevity. As for as many of the presbyters and deacons as were younger, these they sold to the Jews.

^A who were worthy of the lot of Judas and the noose. For as that man betrayed Christ, so these handed over to those who are always provoking Him, the servants of Christ—or rather, to say it in His own words and to venture even further, His "christs." And they were by no means few, but numbered up to two hundred, as we have said before, of those of the sanctuary. ^B

XII. As for those who held the rank of teachers, such as that Gorasdus whom we have often mentioned—a man born of Moravia and most skilled in both languages, both the Slavonic and the Greek, whom the authority of Methodius had raised to the episcopal throne, a throne which the malice of the heretics had afterward disgraced by the man’s degradation; and indeed also Clemens the presbyter, a man most learned, and Laurentius and Naum and Angelarius—these and many others of famous name they bound in iron chains and shut up in prisons. There, every comfort was taken away, as relatives and kinsmen dared not in any way approach them. However, the Lord, who comforts the humble and lifts up those who are contrite in heart, refreshing the soul with comforts proportionate to the multitude of their sorrows, comforted the saints, sending them help from the holy place. ^C For, although burdened by the iron of their chains, they did not for that reason neglect their prayer; but having intoned the canticles of the third hour, they sang in addition the hymn of the psalms, by which we pray that the all-holy Spirit, sent to the apostles at the third hour, might be renewed in us. And God, looking upon the earth, caused it to tremble, and a great earthquake occurred, just as it once happened when Paul was praying in chains; and as if from heaven came a sound, the chains fell off, and they who had been bound were now free, captured only by the indissoluble desire for Christ. God therefore shook and troubled the earth: but at the same time they who inhabited that city were terrified and, by what had happened, were so troubled that they marveled and with trembling inquired what this manifestation of God might mean. ^D When, however, they had approached the prison and had seen what had transpired regarding the saints, and how, with chains loosened, they were spending their time in complete liberty—having heard, as David says, [the voice of] divine exultation—they came running to the prince: "What is this?" they said. "How long shall we fight against the power of God? How long shall we not look up to the light of the truth? We have eyes, and do not see; ears, and do not hear, like the idols of which David speaks, or, if you will, like those from whom Isaiah says the spirit of slumber has been received by us. Shall we not understand the miracle that has taken place? Shall we not be struck with awe at this divine manifestation? Shall we not rather be captives ourselves in honor of those who have been snatched from their bonds?" But the tongue of the heretics attempts to slander the miracle again, just as the tongue of the Pharisees did those things which were then performed by the Lord, and, "These are sorceries," they say, "and the arts of magicians are evident here," in another manner, for the novelty of the work, attributing to Beelzebub the men who were filled with His power. Then again—for it was fitting that the prince, lacking understanding, should not understand—chains heavier than the former were cast about

^A the saints, and afflictions in the prison were more severe than before, and without consolation. Three days passed, and again, as they were performing the third-hour prayer, the same things happened as before: an earthquake, a sound from heaven, and the chains falling off. And again, the haters of God, reporting nothing of what had happened to the prince, subjected the saints to the same afflictions, of which they themselves, as the truth bore witness, were entirely deserving. But God competed from the other side: from thence came the labor of malice, but from Him the dogma of fortitude. For when ten days had passed, for the third time from the rising of the sun, the athletes were visited from on high; yet the hardened heretics remained in their same blindness. Their perversity was not corrected, and the deficiency of their understanding was not supplied to perceive the beautiful. Indeed, they rather added to the pain of the wounds of the saints. For as if they had received authority from the prince to act according to their own judgment, they brought them out of the prison and tormented them with human blows, sparing neither—as the saying goes—old age nor the infirmity which the great affliction had brought upon the bodies of the saints.

^B XIII. Now the prince who served the heretics knew nothing of these things; for he happened to be away, and had he been present, such things would not have been perpetrated against the confessors of the truth. Although he favored the Franks—being half-beast and cruel—he still revered the virtue of the holy men, especially because of the repeated miracle of God. After those inhuman blows, not allowing even the taking of food, for they permitted no one to throw even a fragment of bread to the servants—or rather, the Christs—of Christ, they handed them over to soldiers to be led away, some to one place and some to another in the regions along the Ister, decreeing perpetual exile from the city for these citizens of heaven. The soldiers, being barbarian men—Nemitzi, in fact—who were by nature ungentle and now additionally under orders, took the saints, led them out of the city, and, stripping them naked, dragged them along. And by this single act they accomplished two things: the ignominy of nakedness and the suffering caused by the ^C ever-glacially cold wind in those regions along the Ister. Moreover, they applied swords to their necks as if to strike them, and pointed spears at their sides as if to pierce them, so that they might not only die one death, but as many as they expected, and this had been commanded to the soldiers by the enemies. But after they were far from the city, those who were leading them left them behind and returned to the city from which they had set out.

XIV. But the confessors of Christ, knowing that the Lord had commanded those who suffer persecution to flee from one city to another, desired Bulgaria; they had Bulgaria in mind, and hoped that Bulgaria would give them rest. Yet they despaired of reaching it unless they could conceal their path; therefore they strove to escape the eyes of all, with food and clothing

^A lacking. Thus, because of their fear, they were compelled to separate from one another, and indeed they were scattered in different directions, God so ordaining it, so that they might embrace more regions within the circle of the Gospel.

XV. Clement, however, having taken Nahum and Angelarius with him, journeyed along the road that leads to the Ister, and they came upon a certain village, intending to ask for what was most just: some comfort for what they had suffered, and food for their need, and clothing for their bodies. And having inquired who in the village was God-fearing and hospitable, and was attested for the sanctity of his life, and for this very reason was a son of Christ's peace, once they found him, they were lodged by him. He had an only son, beautiful and in the bloom of youth. But as soon as the guests had entered the house, that most beautiful son, the sole apple of his father’s eye, the most flourishing sprout of his lineage, departed from this life. ^B What do you suppose the father suffered? What great mourning do you imagine he had to say, having wretchedly suffered such things upon the arrival of the guests? “Truly, these are beautiful rewards for hospitality! Was it for this that I opened my door to you, so that my house might be closed off to me, having lost my heir? Was it for this that I offered you my right hand, so that my only right hand might be taken away from me? Oh, bitter is this day, when you came to this village! Oh, dark light, which led you to my house! Without doubt you are enchanters, and hateful to the one God, and I am paying this penalty from Him because I deemed enemies of His worthy of my cabin. I have indeed received many other pilgrims into my house, offering sacrifice to God and treating them according to my ability, but the Lord multiplied the blessings of the house; I found not diminution, but increase and a generous abundance; and the seed sown in blessings became a blessed harvest, a full crop. But now... but oh, most beloved boy, the most beautiful and delightful of all my possessions, or rather, dearer than my own entrails and more desirable than life itself, you have been slaughtered by the entry of these impure men! ^C You are clearly Telchines, murderous demons, rejoicing in the funerals of children. But you shall not escape punishment, even if you know all the arts of sorcery; and having fallen into the hands of a father mourning his son because of you, a beautiful and only son, you shall now pay a penalty worthy of all you have done.” And immediately he demanded chains and instruments of torture. But they themselves were suffering no less than the father—for how could compassionate and humane souls feel otherwise? Yet they were also overcome with shame. Having trusted, however, in the faith for which all things are possible, according to the word of the Lord—even things that are impossible—they resolved to turn to prayer. Yet, soothing the father’s agitation gently and softening the hardness of his just anger, they said, “O man of God, we are not sorcerers; on the contrary, we pray every evil thing upon such people; but we serve the true God, whom we have heard is terrifying even to the porters of Hades, and we have believed, who by the touch of His hand overcomes death, and by His voice alone restores life to a four-day-old, stinking corpse. If, therefore, you think we are the cause of death to your child, pray [understand] it is on our account; for we trust that because of us, He will restore life to...

^A your child. We pray for the child—O new miracle, O power of Thy grace, O Savior Christ, ever radiant—they presented the living son to the yearning father. What then of the father? "O Saints, servants of God, saviors of my house!" he cried out; and he could not contain himself for joy, but with unrestrained and immoderate shouts, he cried out: "Forgive me, holy Fathers, forgive me; I have erred in ignorance of you, acting without excuse toward you; but behold, all that is mine is yours; I myself am here, to be your servant henceforth; enjoy my possessions; use me as you please, only let me see the child whom you have now begotten for me."

XVI. These men, of proven faith, but moved by zeal to pursue the journey lying before them, and having limited their allowance for the journey to only what was necessary for their sustenance, continued on the course leading to the Ister, having been dismissed with great honor by him who had been deemed worthy of that miracle. ^B And when they arrived at the banks of the Ister and saw the river vast and impassable, having bound together three logs of linden wood, they crossed the river, guarded by the power from above; and thus, fleeing the inundation of heresies, they were saved by wood through divine benevolence. And when they arrived at the city of Belgrade (this is the most noble of the cities along the Ister), they appeared before Boritacanus, who was guarding it at that time, and they told everything that had happened to them to him, as he wished to learn. And when he had learned this, he conceived the idea that the men were great and close to God, and he judged it necessary to send these strangers to the ruler of Bulgaria, Boris, ^C of whom he himself was a lieutenant; for he knew that Boris was thirsting for such men. Having allowed them to rest after their long journey, he sent them as a most precious gift to the ruler, declaring to him that they were such men as he had been seeking with great desire. And when they came to Boris, having been received honorably and as was fitting for men entirely venerable and divine, he asked about matters pertaining to them. They related everything from beginning to end, omitting nothing. Having heard these things, the ruler gave great thanks to God, that He had sent such worshippers of His as benefactors to Bulgaria, and had bestowed upon them teachers and instructors of the faith—not ordinary men, but confessors and martyrs. Having given them appropriate priestly vestments ^D and having greeted them with all honor, he ordered that dwellings be assigned to them which had been destined for the foremost of his friends, and he provided them with1 the abundance of all necessities; for he well knew that to be distracted by the cares of providing even the smallest of necessities for the body very often removes the ability to have leisure for God. He had an ardent desire to converse with them daily, and to learn in turn from them ancient histories and the lives of the saints, and to gather the teachings of the Scriptures from their mouths. Moreover, even as many as surpassed the others in nobility of birth and weight of riches, these too, frequenting the saints, just as children [visit] the houses of their masters, would inquire about all things that pertain to salvation.

and drawing from those ever-flowing fountains, they would both drink themselves and pour out the streams to their own households. They were assiduous in their importunity toward the saints, if by any means each one might persuade them to enter his own house, considering the presence of the masters to be a sanctification; ^A believing, furthermore, that wherever these three were—who were united in all things, both in soul and in body—there the Lord was also present. However, since the saints avoided the crowds and, at the same time, were anxious to carry out what was pleasing to the prince, it did not seem proper specifically to offer themselves to many houses, unless that God-loving prince should permit them. Whence one of the Bulgarians, Echatzes by name, who held the rank of *sampses*, approached the prince and requested that it be permitted him to receive the most venerable Clement and holy Nahum into his house. He immediately assented, for he who made the petition was dear to him. "Receive the masters," he said, "with every honor, until we have brought to completion that which is to be built for them." The house of Tzaslav was also glorified by the entry of Angelarius, for he too had requested that he might take this master, and the prince had granted him the favor. ^B But Tzaslav was not to enjoy the presence of this man while he lived for long; for after Angelarius had lived with him for some time, he gave up his soul into the hands of the holy angels without difficulty. Clement and Nahum, meanwhile, dwelt with Echatzes. They were indeed treated with every honor, but they themselves were deemed worthy of greater and more precious gifts, in that, as they sowed spiritual things, they reaped the carnal things of the man.

XVII. Then, since the true legate of God, Michael—whom we previously named Borises—did not cease to contemplate all necessary things, so that he might prepare every opportunity for the holy men to devote themselves to the works of God, and since God Himself suggested this thought to him, he separated Cutmizivitza from Cotocium, and set Dovetas over it, relieving him of (other) administration. He entrusted the blessed Clement to Dovetas, or rather Dovetas to Clement, or, to speak more accurately, each to the other: the one to be obedient in all things, and the other to use him as a helper in accordance with his wishes. ^C For Clement was sent as the teacher of Cutmizivitza, and commands were issued to all who inhabited this region to receive the saint with honor, to offer him every abundance of good things, to welcome him with gifts, and to manifest to all the treasures of charity which appeared to be deposited in their hearts. And what is more astonishing, Borises himself assigned to the most blessed Clement three of his most magnificent houses, intended for the counts, in Diabolis, and he also granted him, for places of recreation, Achrida and Glavenitza.

XVIII. Such and so great were the things which the prince did. This admirable soul, pouring out his own love in Christ ^D toward the servant of Christ, just as it was, to others, offered an example of this holy zeal. But what were the acts of Clement? Was he puffed up

^A honors and considering himself above what he was, from then on began to live more delicately, supposing everything was already accomplished? Far from it! But as if he had not yet in any way served Christ, he was setting the beginning of a vigorous teaching and studious preaching, so that he might not deceive the prince's hope placed in him, he never ceased to care. In these regions, which we have mentioned, he was proclaiming to the nations the salvation of God with a loud voice, discoursing to all in common about the saving precepts of Christ and the divine dogmas, and persuading them that even an honest life is truly dead without sound dogmas, and dogmas without life do not lead to the true life; for the latter induces a likeness to a blind man having feet and hands, while the former [induces a likeness] to a man who can see, but is mutilated in hands and feet. ^B Having certain ones chosen from the others in each parish, and not a few (for they numbered three thousand five hundred), he spent most of his time with them and unfolded the deeper parts of the Scriptures. For us, however, being humble and unworthy, he made us more familiar than the others through the bowels of his kindness, and we were always with him, assisting in all things that he did, which he said, and which he taught by deeds and by words. Furthermore, we never saw him idle; but either he was teaching the children, and indeed diversely, showing some the character of letters, illustrating to others the sense of the writings, training the hands of others to write, and this not only by day, but even by night; or he was giving himself to prayer, or attending to reading, or writing books; sometimes he was divided into two works at the same time, writing and insinuating something knowable to the children. For he knew that idleness had taught every evil, as Wisdom, which taught every good, proclaimed through one of his servants. Therefore, his disciples became the best of all in life and word; for it was fitting that those who were so well planted and so studiously watered should also receive increase from God. From among them he ordained readers, subdeacons, deacons, and presbyters. In each parish he gave orders to three hundred disciples, who, with all wages set aside, depended on nothing from the prince, but were warring for God and had been ordered to serve, or rather to give themselves to Him. These things Clement accomplished throughout seven full years.

XIX.

^A what was lacking, he completed it, augmenting the divine preaching and establishing the orthodoxy of the churches constructed everywhere as unshakable, and having prepared for the law of God a path both easy and wide.

XX. Since fame made Clement great, and even greater than the opinion which existed of him, insofar as he indeed had placed aspirations in his heart, it completely took hold of King Simeon himself and made him an admirer of the teacher's virtue. The king therefore calls the Saint to himself, converses with him, and having drawn sanctification from his very countenance (for even to his adversaries the blessed one was venerable to behold), he greatly praised the land of the Bulgarians and called his own kingdom blessed, because such a good had been granted to it by God. After this, having consulted with the more prudent of his counselors, who all held Clement as a father, believing that it pleased God alone that they should honor him, he appoints him bishop of Drembitza, or Veltitza, and thus ^B Clement is constituted the first bishop of the Bulgarian tongue. But when he had set his hand to the office of the bishopric, he established the height of his dignity as a footstool for his elevation to God and multiplied his former labors.

XXI. Solomon says that he who adds knowledge adds sorrow: but Simeon, in adding honor to Clement, added sorrow. For when he had found the people of this diocese entirely lacking in the divine word and the Scriptures, and in no way instructed in those things which adorn the Church and move the people to a spirit of discipline and honesty, he gave no sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eyelids, but made the care for the people his food and his delight. He was always teaching and always arranging, correcting ignorance, ordering matters that were in disarray, becoming all things to all men according to the condition of each; to the clergy he prescribed whatever related to ecclesiastical adornment, as well as psalmody and prayers, and he promoted the clerics of his own bishopric so that they might everywhere hold the first place ^C and be adorned with the crown of virtues along with the best; to the people, however, he offered firm doctrine, and established for them upon the rock of the right religion of Christians the foundation of (true) faith; for they were altogether most ignorant and, to say it entirely, most brutish. What, however, did he do? By the Word indeed he nourished them, with that bread which truly strengthens the heart; nor, however, did he omit to nourish bodily as many as he found in need of such food. Thus he was in part imitating his own Jesus, whom he knew to have nourished the ignorant with loaves along with his teaching; and therefore he was a father to orphans and a helper to widows, caring for them in every way; the door was opened to every pauper simply, and a stranger did not pass the night outside.

XXII. He proposed to himself as an exemplar of life the great Methodius, and striving to emulate him, lest ^D he should fail

^A of his mark, he was anxious and prayed, and as if he were a painter of great skill, he took that man’s life and deeds and set them as a pattern for his own conduct, diligently modeling himself upon it. For he knew his life as no one else did, seeing that he had been in his company from his earliest and tenderest years, and had witnessed all the acts of his teacher with his own eyes.

And observing that the disposition of the people was thick, and quite "leathern" as regards the understanding of the Scriptures, and that many of the Bulgarian priests were having difficulty understanding the Greek language, in whose letters they were drilled only for the purpose of reading, and that they were in consequence brutish, there being no panegyrical discourse in the Bulgarian tongue—having understood these things, he applied himself to this as well, and by this device he overthrew the wall of ignorance. For he composed homilies for all the festivals, simple and clear, containing nothing profound or overly subtle, but such as could not escape even the most dull-witted among the Bulgarians. By these means he nourished the souls of the simpler folk, feeding with milk those who were unable to endure more solid food, becoming for these Bulgarians another Paul, as he had been for the Corinthians.

For through these discourses it is possible to learn the mysteries of Christ and the festivals celebrated in honor of Christ. And as for the all-holy Theotokos, whose commemorations, as you know, occur frequently throughout the year, our Clement strives to set forth in these homilies encomia and accounts of the miracles concerning her. Nor will you find the Baptist unpraised; but you shall learn of the wondrous discoveries of his head, and you will encounter the lives and journeys of the prophets and apostles, and by the struggles of the martyrs you shall be winged toward Him who received them through His own blood. Do you desire to know the discipline of the holy Fathers, and to be an emulator of their life, almost bodiless and free from fleshly passion? You will find this described in the Bulgarian language by the wise Clement. For all these things are preserved by the diligent; some are composed in honor of many saints, some are filled with petitions and thanksgivings to the all-immaculate Mother of God. And, to speak briefly, all the things pertaining to the Church, by which the memories of God and the saints are brightened and souls are moved to compunction, these Clement handed down to us Bulgarians.

^C XXIII. He had deposited all these things in the monastery ^D which he built in Achris, while the most blessed Boris was still living, before he had accepted the bishopric of Velitza. For when he saw that this prince had adorned all the Bulgaria subject to him with seven cathedral churches, and had caused it to shine like a seven-branched candlestick, he too desired to build a monastery of his own in Achris. To this he added another church, which was later established as the seat of the archiepiscopate. And so there were three churches in Achris: one cathedral, and two of the holy Clement, which were much smaller than the cathedral in size, but much more pleasing in shape and circular design. For he endeavored by all means to drive away the carelessness of the Bulgarians concerning divine things, and by the beauty of the buildings to soothe their souls, and to make their wild, rude, and—as regards the knowledge of divine things—rebellious nature, more refined.

And it is no wonder if he hastened to change the minds of men toward gentleness and humanity, since he bestowed this same benefit upon the entire land of the Bulgarians: though it was covered with wild trees and lacked cultivated fruits, ^A he brought from the land of the Greeks every kind of fruitful tree and by grafting tempered those that were wild, in order, I suppose, so that through this he might train the souls of men to take in the juices of goodness and to bear fruit for God through the operation of the divine will—which he alone had made his food. Thus, therefore, he cared for the salvation of souls, and he was always meditating on how he might increase the Church of Christ in every way, without concern for the things of the body, nor regarding his own life as precious to himself, according to the divine Apostle, but seeking the salvation of the many.

^B XXIV. To one who possessed such love toward God and loved Him as a son loves a heavenly Father, could the testimonies of being loved in return by Him be small? By no means; but God glorified him also with miraculous grace. And how, you may hear from this. Clement was returning from Glavenitza to Achrida, at once to visit the people of the region to see if they were strong in their souls and if they were being supported by the fear of God as if by a staff, and at the same time to have leisure to be with God in the monastery, the beauty of which he loved, finding it grievous to be distracted elsewhere. As he was traveling, two paralytics fell into his sight, of whom ^C one, besides his infirmity, was also deprived of the dear light of his eyes; they moved his compassionate soul to pity. But as much as he was inclined toward mercy, so much was he prone to humility; or rather, it was of greater concern to him that he should not be seen working miracles than it was the desire of the paralytics to obtain health. When he had looked around and seen no one, he lifted his eyes to heaven and raised his venerable hands to pray and implored divine help; then, with those hands with which he had sustained his prayer, he touched the bodies of the paralyzed, and his touch was a binding and joining together of their limbs. And according to the word of Isaiah, each of them leaped like a hart, ^D although previously they were not merely lame, with one limb of the body mangled, but entirely immobile and no different from the earth on which they lay. But to the blind man also health immediately shone forth, and seeing the light, he magnified the Lord with a loud voice. Yet the miraculous work could not entirely escape men's eyes. For it was seen by one of the Saint’s servants; when he saw him later, knowing him to be a witness where he should not have been seen, he immediately hid himself in his cell, indignant with him as if with an evil-doer, and with a threat forbade him to tell what had happened as long as Clement should be among the living.

XXV. Now, indeed, bowed by old age and worn out by labors, he judged it right to ask to lay down his bishopric, not as a runaway, nor as one deserting the station in which the Holy Spirit had placed him to tend

^A the Church of God, but out of a praiseworthy and divinely inspired caution. Approaching the king, therefore, he said: "As long as it was possible, most religious of kings, my body held out against the labors and ecclesiastical cares—which are more burdensome, as I believe, than political ones—but to abandon the Church of God, which you yourself entrusted to me, using your imperial power as if it were a hand, would have seemed worthy of condemnation by all, and a labor less than that of a hireling; for he, when the wolf comes, is accustomed to flee and to abandon the sheep. But what defense would I have, if, seeing no wolf, I had abandoned the flock of God? Thus I did not abandon it even up to this time. But since you see how old age presses upon me, and a multitude of many labors has taken away all my strength, take thought for the Church, and place over the house of the Lord a man who has bodily powers equal to spiritual ones, and who is more youthful, so that he may take up these ecclesiastical cares. Grant me this last favor: give me these few remaining days to converse with myself and with God; a monastery is a good place of residence for me for this purpose; grant that I may die therein. For what have I still in common with cares that require more robust limbs? And if I am powerless for the cares of the Church, for what other reason should I retain this dignity? For Paul called the episcopacy a 'task,' from which he ^B who is not sufficiently capable of the work ought to abstain. Do not wish to see the Church, which flourished under my name above many others, subsequently wither under this same name; but, as I said, preserve its beauty through others who are more vigorous; for there is no small danger that, through my weakness, events might collapse." The king, therefore, struck by the novelty of what he heard (for that which is unwelcome, when heard unexpectedly, strikes one), said: "Father, what are these things you say? How could I bear to see another sitting on those thrones while you are still alive? How could I deprive my kingdom of your pontifical blessings? Your desertion of the episcopal throne is for me an ill-omened foreboding of the ruin of the royal throne. If, therefore, I have saddened your holiness, though in ignorance, since I am not conscious of having committed any sin against you; if, sparing us as a father, you do not wish to divulge the injury I have done you, but veil the true cause under the guise of infirmity, speak, I beg you; I am prepared to undergo correction, and as a son, to heal the pain of a father. But if you have nothing to reproach us with, why do you wish to sadden those who have not saddened you? You cannot accuse the clergy as disobedient or stiff-necked; for you have subjected to yourself and to God all those whom you have begotten through the Gospel; and you have not shown us ourselves ^C as being rebellious against your commands, nor anything else reprehensible on the part of your own. Why, therefore, do you abandon your children who are lamenting your irrational departure? Yield, Father; otherwise—and the words are bold—whatever you say, I will not obey; and whatever you do, I will not yield. For an excuse, I think, is suited only to the unworthy; but you excel in every dignity." ^D

^A XXVI. The old man is moved by these words, and adding nothing further to the discourse with the king regarding his resignation, he returns to the monastery: but he finds the heavenly King concurring with his own purpose. For as soon as he returned, he fell into sickness, and foreseeing his death, he bestowed a final gift upon the churches of the Bulgarians, completing what was lacking in the Triodion; for he finished then that which is sung from the Sunday of the New [week] until Pentecost. And it is possible for those who are sharper to judge from this what he was like while he was healthy in body, since even in sickness he busied himself with labors. But indeed his inner man was being renewed to the same degree that his outer man was perishing, and he could say with Paul: "When I am weak, then I am strong." What remains? He made arrangements (for this too is canonical) concerning the books which he had made and his other property—or rather, God's, to whom he possessed all things, and whom alone the wise merchant treasured as the precious pearl, regarding the shells as of little value. And so, having divided everything into two parts, he left half to the episcopate, and the other part to the monastery, demonstrating clearly from this how both must be possessed according to the will of God. For he held possessions from faithful princes and kings, whom he did not see fit to alienate with disdain, especially those born of more barbarian stock; this the Lord also signified, showing that He did not disdain the woman who brought the aromatics; rather, He received her kindly and established in the Gospel: the acquisition also was made evangelically and canonically and in the most praiseworthy manner. ^C XXVII. Having thus lived, then, and having thus adorned the throne given to him by God, and having brought the end into a state worthy of the beginning and the foundation, he departed to the Lord. His divine body—a participant in the honor of his soul—was celebrated and honored holily and religiously with hymns, being placed in the monument in the monastery, which he had prepared with his own hands on the right side of the vestibule, lower indeed than his merit, but not inferior to the strength of those praising him, on the twenty-seventh day of the month of July, during the reign of Symeon in Bulgaria, in the year six thousand four hundred and twenty-four from the creation of the world. ^D XXVIII. But what escaped me is not a small proof of the unanimity of the saints: for before he departed from life, some of his disciples saw in their sleep Cyril and Methodius approaching the blessed man and announcing to him the end of his life. But although he thus seemed to us to have departed and to have left this life, the grace did not fly away, but the very dust of the teacher even now performs benefits, healing every ailment and every disease. This is testified to by that man with withered hands and feet, who, after the divine sacrifice had been completed, approached the temple and found healing. Many, indeed, were ignorant of who he was or whence he came, but when he added thanksgiving for his healing, and was profuse in the act of giving thanks, the healed...

^A man held up his hands and stood importunate with his cries before those who were in the temple. He was questioned as to the cause of his thanksgiving, and told everything: that he was from Achrida, and had suffered for many years from the wretched affliction of this disease; that, overcome by the impossibility of finding remedies no less than by the disease itself, it had come into his mind to prostrate himself at the tomb of the Saint, in case Clement, who in Christ has power over all things, might be his solace; that he had therefore approached the monument of the Saint using his hands and feet; that afterwards he had fallen into an ecstasy and seen a certain old man touching his hair and ordering him to rise; and that, at the word, a sound came over his body such as that of bones colliding. His limbs then seemed to be knit together and his sinews to be extended for movement; then, coming to himself, he had been made whole, no longer with withered hands or withered feet, nor with a body mutilated. "And therefore," he said, "I now lift up my hands to Him who extended them, and I stand upon my feet." This the one who had formerly been withered said, pouring forth from the depths of his heart words of confession, and he had the bystanders joining him in praising and magnifying the Saint with words of thanksgiving. And why must I enumerate these things? Who is ignorant of how many possessed by demons, and how many afflicted by other evils, have been granted release from the ills that plagued them, either by approaching the tomb or merely by calling upon his name, while having within themselves faith, that truly active minister? Because of this, it is hard to put into words how much zeal every age of the Bulgarians, enjoying the grace of the Saint, shows in honoring him, each one contributing according to their ability.

^B XXIX. O sacred and divine head, upon whom the Spirit fixed his seat! O light that presides not over the day alone, nor the night alone, but illuminates us night and day with graces, whether we are struggling against temptations and have, as it were, the darkness of the night of temptations, or whether we are enjoying rest and are refreshed by a certain light; for in both times we are deemed worthy of your graces. O trumpet through which the Paraclete sounded to us! O good shepherd, who laid down your holy soul for us your sheep, and through many toils gathered the flock for God, having settled us in a place of pasture, having nurtured us at the waters of refreshment of divine baptism through the Scriptures interpreted by your tongue, and having led us into the paths of justice, the ^C practice of virtue! For through you, the whole region of Bulgaria came to know God; you yourself strengthened the churches with hymns and psalmodies, and brightened the feasts with readings; through you, monks are led by the lives of the Fathers toward asceticism, and through you, priests are taught to live according to the canons. O earthly angel and heavenly man! O olive tree foretold by the prophet, which does not cease, not even in the smallest degree, but rather has brought forth as very many sons of fruitfulness! O guide of the blind—let one consider either the blindness or the guidance! O you who prepared for the Lord a chosen people, zealous for the ^D good works which they saw in you! Even now look upon your inheritance, since you have more and greater power than you once had in the body; drive away the evil heresy which your...