Feast of St. Ivan Rilsky in Bulgaria
Description:
He was born in 876. During the reign of the Bulgarian Tsar Peter the Great (the first half of the 10th century) he decided to retire from the world and began to live as a hermit in Rila Mountain.
Tradition says that he could speak with animals and birds, could influence the climate and the thoughts of people, and his fame as a healer and wonderworker forced Tsar Peter himself to go to him personally.
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Founded by Ivan Rila monastery stands to this day in one of the most picturesque areas of Rila. On the day of the patron of the Rila Monastery, pilgrims from all over the country and from abroad come here to pray before the ancient icons and together with the monks to visit the cave nearby, in which the saint lived at one time.
St. Ivan of Ril is the most respected Bulgarian saint. He is revered not only in Bulgaria, but throughout the Balkan Peninsula and in Russia. His face adorned a Bulgarian banknote worth 1 leva, and now decorates a 1-left coin.