Sophronius of Vratsa
Encyclopedia
Saint
Sophronius of Vratsa (or Sofroniy Vrachanski; ) (1739–1813), born Stoyko Vladislavov , was a Bulgaria
n cleric and one of the leading figures of the early Bulgarian National Revival
.
Vladislavov was born in the town of Kotel
in eastern Bulgaria in 1739 to the family of a cattle trader. His father, Vladislav died in 1750 in Istanbul
of the plague. When Stoiko was 3 years old his mother, Maria died, his father remaried. He attended a monastery school in his home town and studied Slavic
and Greek
books. He worked as a frieze
weaver, but had an interest in religion and became a cleric in 1762. While working as a teacher and writer he met Paisius of Hilendar
in Kotel in 1765. Paisius showed him his Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya
, the primary work of the Bulgarian Revival, of which Vladislavov made the first copy, known as Sophronius' Copy (Софрониев препис, Sofroniev prepis). Vladislavov travelled to Mount Athos
between 1770 and 1775 and left Kotel in 1795. He served in the Karnobat
parish and went to a monastery in Arbanasi in 1794, becoming Bishop
of Vratsa
under the name of Sophronius on 17 September. There he was engaged in social activity and initiated the sending of a political delegation of Vratsa residents to Moscow
according to some sources. Sophronius had close ties with the Phanariote circles.
After the dislocations caused by Osman Pazvantoğlu
, the bishop's duties became more and more difficult for Vladislavov and he left Vratsa in 1797 to wander in northwestern Bulgaria. He spent three years in Vidin
in a period that helped him determine his goals as a writer. He left for Bucharest
in 1803 to serve the people as a high-standing clergyman, being released on his insistence from his bishop's post but continuing to sign under his bishop's name.
Between 1806 and 1812 Sophronius of Vratsa was one of the most eminent representatives of the Bulgarian people in their communication with the Russian commanding of the Russo-Turkish War
. He spent his last years in a monastery in Bucharest. His date of death is unknown, the last signed document being from 2 August 1813.
Sophronius wrote his best and most popular works in his Bucharest period. These include Nedelnik („Неделник“)—his only printed work—a collection of precepts and sermons for every holiday of the year based on Greek and Slavic sources. The collection had historical importance in initiating
book printing in modern Bulgarian and establishing the Bulgarian vernacular as the language of literature. He also wrote another collection, Sunday Evangelic Interpretation in 1805, as well as a very popular autobiography, Life and Sufferings of Sinful Sophronius („Житие и страдания грешнаго Софрония“, Zhitie i Stradaniya Greshnago Sofroniya) and an appeal to Bulgarian people, making him the most noted representative of the Bulgarian literature
of the early 19th century.
Sophronius of Vratsa was canonized as a saint by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
on 31 December 1964.
St. Sofroniy Knoll
on Snow Island
in the South Shetland Islands
, Antarctica is named after Sophronius of Vratsa.
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
Sophronius of Vratsa (or Sofroniy Vrachanski; ) (1739–1813), born Stoyko Vladislavov , was a Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n cleric and one of the leading figures of the early Bulgarian National Revival
Bulgarian National Revival
The Bulgarian National Revival , sometimes called the Bulgarian Renaissance, was a period of socio-economic development and national integration among Bulgarian people under Ottoman rule...
.
Vladislavov was born in the town of Kotel
Kotel, Bulgaria
Kotel is a town in central Bulgaria, part of Sliven Province. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Kotel Municipality. As of december 2009, the town has a population of 6,232 inhabitants....
in eastern Bulgaria in 1739 to the family of a cattle trader. His father, Vladislav died in 1750 in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
of the plague. When Stoiko was 3 years old his mother, Maria died, his father remaried. He attended a monastery school in his home town and studied Slavic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
books. He worked as a frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
weaver, but had an interest in religion and became a cleric in 1762. While working as a teacher and writer he met Paisius of Hilendar
Paisius of Hilendar
Saint Paisius of Hilendar or Paisiy Hilendarski was a Bulgarian clergyman and a key Bulgarian National Revival figure. He is most famous for being the author of Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya, the second modern Bulgarian history after the work of Petar Bogdan Bakshev from 1667, “History of Bulgaria”...
in Kotel in 1765. Paisius showed him his Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya
Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya
Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya is a book by Bulgarian scholar and clergyman Saint Paisius of Hilendar...
, the primary work of the Bulgarian Revival, of which Vladislavov made the first copy, known as Sophronius' Copy (Софрониев препис, Sofroniev prepis). Vladislavov travelled to Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
between 1770 and 1775 and left Kotel in 1795. He served in the Karnobat
Karnobat
Karnobat is a town in the Burgas Province, Southeastern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Karnobat Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 18,480 inhabitants.-Geography:...
parish and went to a monastery in Arbanasi in 1794, becoming Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Vratsa
Vratsa
Vratsa is a city in northwestern Bulgaria, at the foothills of the Balkan Mountains. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Vratsa Province. As of February 2011, the town has a population of 60,482 inhabitants....
under the name of Sophronius on 17 September. There he was engaged in social activity and initiated the sending of a political delegation of Vratsa residents to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
according to some sources. Sophronius had close ties with the Phanariote circles.
After the dislocations caused by Osman Pazvantoğlu
Osman Pazvantoglu
Osman Pazvantoğlu was a Bosnian Ottoman soldier, a governor of the Vidin district after 1794, and a rebel against Ottoman rule...
, the bishop's duties became more and more difficult for Vladislavov and he left Vratsa in 1797 to wander in northwestern Bulgaria. He spent three years in Vidin
Vidin
Vidin is a port town on the southern bank of the Danube in northwestern Bulgaria. It is close to the borders with Serbia and Romania, and is also the administrative centre of Vidin Province, as well as of the Metropolitan of Vidin...
in a period that helped him determine his goals as a writer. He left for Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
in 1803 to serve the people as a high-standing clergyman, being released on his insistence from his bishop's post but continuing to sign under his bishop's name.
Between 1806 and 1812 Sophronius of Vratsa was one of the most eminent representatives of the Bulgarian people in their communication with the Russian commanding of the Russo-Turkish War
Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812
The Russo-Turkish War was one of many wars fought between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire.- Background :The war broke out in 1805–1806 against the background of the Napoleonic Wars...
. He spent his last years in a monastery in Bucharest. His date of death is unknown, the last signed document being from 2 August 1813.
Sophronius wrote his best and most popular works in his Bucharest period. These include Nedelnik („Неделник“)—his only printed work—a collection of precepts and sermons for every holiday of the year based on Greek and Slavic sources. The collection had historical importance in initiating
book printing in modern Bulgarian and establishing the Bulgarian vernacular as the language of literature. He also wrote another collection, Sunday Evangelic Interpretation in 1805, as well as a very popular autobiography, Life and Sufferings of Sinful Sophronius („Житие и страдания грешнаго Софрония“, Zhitie i Stradaniya Greshnago Sofroniya) and an appeal to Bulgarian people, making him the most noted representative of the Bulgarian literature
Bulgarian literature
Bulgarian literature is literature written by Bulgarians or residents of Bulgaria, or written in the Bulgarian language; usually the latter is the defining feature...
of the early 19th century.
Sophronius of Vratsa was canonized as a saint by the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
on 31 December 1964.
St. Sofroniy Knoll
St. Sofroniy Knoll
St. Sofroniy Knoll is the hill rising to 107 m on the small ice-free peninsula of President Head in the northeast extremity of Snow Island in the South Shetland Islands, Antarctica. Situated 1.3 km southwest of the extreme northeast point of the peninsula.The knoll is named after St...
on Snow Island
Snow Island (South Shetland Islands)
Snow Island or Isla Nevada is a completely ice-covered island, in size, lying southwest of Livingston Island in the South Shetland Islands. Surface area...
in the South Shetland Islands
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...
, Antarctica is named after Sophronius of Vratsa.
External links
- Life and Sufferings of Sinful Sophronius, online text
- World Digital LibraryWorld Digital LibraryThe World Digital Library is an international digital library operated by UNESCO and the United States Library of Congress.The WDL has stated that its mission is to promote international and intercultural understanding, expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet, provide...
presentation of Kyrīakōdromion or Sunday Book authored by Sophronius of VratsaSophronius of VratsaSaint Sophronius of Vratsa , born Stoyko Vladislavov , was a Bulgarian cleric and one of the leading figures of the early Bulgarian National Revival....
. Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.