Holy Hierarch Ilarion of Măglen

Saint Ilarion of Măglen

The fourteenth of January is the feast-day of one of mediæval Bulgaria’s great episcopal patrons and defenders of Orthodox doctrine, Saint Ilarion of Măglen. The small village of Măglen seems to be distinguished by holiness, both on account of this bishop and on account of the God-fearing virgin-martyr Saint Zlata; however the bishop predates the girl by over six hundred years. Saint Ilarion is venerated both on the fourteenth of January and on the twenty-first of September.

Much of what we know about Saint Ilarion [Bg. Иларион] comes from the Prologue as well as from mediæval Bulgarian sources. He was of Greek origin, and was born at some point in the 1080s in the mountain village of Promachoi, which is in the remote northern Pellas region in Greece very close to the border with North Macedonia. His parents – who were of the peasant class – were said to have been particularly observant. Ilarion followed closely in their footsteps: by the age of three he was said to have been chanting ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord of Sabbaoth!’ in great reverence. At the age of eighteen he left home to become a monk.

His monastic career was notable for his crystal-clear honesty and his sterling devotion, and it was not long before he was selected by the brethren to become the igumen, or abbot, of his monastery. He loved his fellow-monks and looked after them like a mother hen looks after her chicks. In particular he sought to bring his monastic brothers toward a sober way of life, and strictly limited the amount of wine they were allowed to drink. Later he founded his own monastery, dedicated to the Apostles, which followed the cœnobitic Rule of Saint Pachomios of the Ægyptian Thebaïd.

The holy abbot came to the notice of the Archbishop of Ohrid, Eustathios, when Eustathios was granted a vision of the Most Holy Theotokos, directing him to appoint the abbot in the Pellas Mountains as overseer of the flock in Măglen. Archbishop Eustathios heeded the voice of the Queen of Heaven, and lay his hands upon the abbot. This was indeed to the great benefit of the Bulgarian Church.

At this time, the hæresy of Bogomil was widespread and gaining strength among the Bulgarian people. Bogomil had preached among his followers a Gnostic and dualistic belief, possibly imported from the Paulicians of Armenia, that matter is inherently evil and that the servants of light must live as though they are divorced from all material concerns. The Bogomils scoffed at honourable marriage, at the eating of meat and the drinking of wine. And they also rejected the Incarnation of Christ, and with the Incarnation also the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church. No sooner was the holy abbot elected to his position than he found himself embattled against this militant hæretical sect. Saint Ilarion preached, in particular, one fiery homily against them, which went thus:

You are not Christians at all, since you are hostile to the Cross of Christ the Savior. You do not acknowledge the One God, you slander the teachings of the Old Testament venerated by Christians. You deceive people by hypocritical meekness while full of pride. True piety is not possible in those who do not see their own heart's corruption, but by those who ask God’s grace with prayer and humility. Evil thoughts, envy, vanity, greed, lies are not the deed of some evil thing within man to be conquered by mere fasting. These vices are the fruit of self-love which demands rooting out by spiritual efforts.

But he did not preach against Bogomilism merely in words. By his meek and ascetic example he also bore witness to the Truth of Christ. Saint Ilarion matched the fastidiousness of the Bogomils in his personal diet and in his abstentious way of living. But: he also honoured the Cross, he taught the veneration of icons, he gave great glory to the Mother of God who had called him out from his abbey. He taught the value of every one of the Sacraments by administering them with great love to the faithful, and by living an example of love and virtue in his dealing with all who met him. By Saint Ilarion’s personal example, many of Bogomil’s followers left him and again embraced the true Orthodox faith. For thirty years, from 1134 to 1164, he exhorted the faithful in the South Slavic lands, and toiled in the vineyard without rest. And on the twenty-first of October in the year 1164, Saint Ilarion reposed in the Lord, at peace with all of his monastic brethren and with his parishioners. He passed on the abbacy of his monastery to his trusted prior, Peter, before his passing. During his funeral procession, it was said that his eyes streamed tears of myrrh, and that he appeared in visions to his monks to strengthen them in their ascetic labours.

He was venerated as a saint very quickly upon his repose, and a careful investigation was made as to the genuine nature of the wonders of healing, visions and prodigies that occurred around his monastery when his name was invoked. Indeed, his relics were also uncovered sometime during the early thirteenth century (before 1207), and found to be incorrupt. This was when his remains were transferred from Măglen to Veliko Tărnovo by the great Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan, to brighten the glory of the Bulgarian capital. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church promptly glorified him and asked his intercessions in the diptychs ever since that time. His relics were again moved in 1393 when they were taken by the Sultân Bayezid I of the Turks and entrusted to one of his vassals, who moved them to the Church of Saint Michael in Sarandopor – now in North Macedonia. Holy hierarch Ilarion, meek monastic and fierce champion of the Orthodox belief, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!

Apolytikion for Saint Ilarion of Măglen, Tone 4:

In truth you were revealed to your flock as a rule of faith,
An image of humility and a teacher of abstinence;
Your humility exalted you;
Your poverty enriched you.
Hierarch Father Ilarion,
Entreat Christ our God
That our souls may be saved.