The 17-centuries-old monastery "Saint Athanasius the Great" protects the Bulgarian church and people

A great blessing and joy for all Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria is the Saint Athanasius Monastery near the town of Chirpan. It was founded by the saint himself in ‎the IV century (344), near an old Roman fortress, close to the then town of Beroe ‎‎(present-day Stara Zagora). Undoubtedly, this is the oldest monastery in all of ‎Europe, it became famous for many miracles and signs from Saint Athanasius, ‎whom the early church called "The Great", because of his zealous advocacy of the ‎true faith. The saint also brought monasticism to the European continent from ‎Egypt and is also known as a great protector of the purity of the Orthodox faith. ‎

After many vicissitudes, in its 17th-century history, the monastery near Chirpan ‎stands as a stronghold of our faith and continues to attract pilgrims due to the ‎prayerful intercession and patronage of St. Athanasius. Its uniqueness is also ‎complemented by the proximity of the fasting place preserved in the rocks, ‎where St. Athanasius retired in fasting and prayer, during his first journey ‎through the Bulgarian lands, connected with the Council of Serdica in 343-344, on the ‎territory of today's Sofia.‎

The monastery is located above the village of Zlatna Livada, on the right bank ‎of Stara Reka River, and falls within the territory of the Diocese of Stara Zagora. ‎With the blessing of Metropolitan Cyprian of Stara Zagora, we manage to learn ‎details of the monastery's old and more recent history, which abounds with evidence of the ‎sanctity of this ancient spiritual abode. ‎

To Saint Athanasius the Great, who during his lifetime was the Patriarch of ‎Alexandria, we owe the Creed written at the First Ecumenical Council, notes Priest Boris, abbot of the monastery, whose feast day is on May 2 - the ‎Dormition of St. Athanasius the Great. ‎

‎"In 344, at the end of January, the beginning of February, after participating in ‎the Council of Serdica the saint spent the night on the road, after which he ‎returned to the same place and stayed for four years," says Father Boris. "Evidence for this was discovered by the German historian Prof. Manfred Klaus ‎‎(ancient history professor). In 2016, the professor published his study and ‎described that from 344 to 348 Saint Athanasius was located between Nis and ‎Adrianople, i.e. on the territory of today's Bulgaria and it is here that he wrote ‎his famous work "On the Holy Spirit". We know that Saint Athanasius the ‎Great participated in the First Ecumenical Council in 325 at Nicaea. The British historian Sir Julian ‎Huxley describes the contribution of St. Athanasius to the development of ‎European Christian civilization, and his research dates back more than 40 ‎years. These testimonies of the two European scholars confirm the role of the ‎Saint in the history of Europe".‎

From the life of St. Athanasius the Great, we learn that at that time the local ‎population was made up of proto-Bulgarians, Goths, Moesi, etc., and leprosy ‎was rampant in Bulgarian lands. It is precisely with the healing of leprosy that the miracles performed by St. Athanasius are connected with:

‎"St. Athanasius blessed the water at a fountain and it acquired healing properties", we learn ‎more from Father Boris. "And in a miraculous way, everyone who washed there, ‎whether pagan or Christian, was suddenly cured of leprosy. Then St. ‎Athanasius ordered a monastery to be built near the ayasmo (a spring with healing water) - a small church ‎with adjacent small buildings around it. The Roman fortress that was in this ‎place was abandoned and everything became the property of the monastery. ‎Over the centuries, during the Greek and Turkish rule, the monastery was ‎destroyed many times. The masonry work of stones and mud even today arouses ‎admiration for the great masters who made it to last so many years.

Nowadays, ‎the monastery would not exist if it were not for Lyudmila Zhivkova. Her ‎Kingdom is Heavenly! The monastery was turned into a sheep pen. In the ‎summer the sheep would graze outside, and in the evening they were brought into the ‎church. Miraculously, St. Athanasius appeared in a dream to the local men in power, ‎and the daughter of the Todor Zhivkov (then head of the Communist Party), with her personal funds, in 1981 ‎managed to build and preserve the northwestern monastic wing, where the very ‎entrance of the monastery is. The building of the church is 210-230 years old, ‎but to our joy it remained for only a short time as a sheep pen. It has been renovated a little and strengthened because the roof beams have been eaten by woodworms, ‎but it is in its authentic appearance." ‎

‎One of the most recent miracles of the monastery is the presentation of the icon ‎of the saint, personally by the 115th successor, after Saint Athanasius, to the ‎patriarchal throne in Alexandria, Patriarch Peter VII (Papapetrou) of Alexandria (1997-‎2004). In 2003 ‎he brought to the village of Zlatna Livada an exact copy of the icon with the ‎image of the saint from Alexandria:‎

‎"In 2003, quite by chance in the Library of Alexandria in the Patriarchate, ‎during an inventory, old written monuments were found on parchment and ‎leather. They were not hidden, but were left behind the books, and in one of them a ‎description of this epic journey of St. Athanasius was found - how he left ‎Alexandria. It is also mentioned that he founded a monastery near the town of ‎Beroe, when in the 4th century our lands were the cradle of civilization. After ‎finding this document in Alexandria, in honour of St. Athanasius the Great, ‎Patriarch of Alexandria the Wonderworker, his 115th successor - Peter VII, in ‎‎2003 came to the monastery and brought a copy of the icon with the authentic ‎image of the saint from Alexandria. It now stands above the Lord's Chair in the ‎church here. The Patriarch of Alexandria is equal in rank to the Ecumenical ‎Patriarch, and after the discovery of the forgotten travelogue, the fact that he undertook such a journey from ‎Alexandria and came to the village of Zlatna livada, means that he had good reason to do so. Now we are in the process of acquiring a ‎part of the Holy Relics of St. Athanasius so that before the celebration of 1,700 ‎years from the foundation of the monastery here, in 2044, a part of his relics to be ‎with us. So, Bulgaria is a blessed country, our people are blessed by God and ‎will be so until the end of human history. We have the rare privilege of being ‎Bulgarians and we should be happy and grateful for what we have".‎

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Photos: atanasiymonastery.alpobg.com

Translated and published by Rositsa Petkova