The Holy Martyr Boyan, Prince of Bulgaria
Commemorated on March 28
The Holy Martyr
Boyan, Prince of Bulgaria, suffered for the faith in Christ in about the
year 830. When his pagan brother Malomir (Vladimir) entered upon the Bulgarian
throne, noble prince Boyan turned to him with a request to set free from
imprisonment the Christian Kinnamon (Kinam), who for a long time was in prison
for refusing to participate in pagan offering of sacrifice under prince Obrit
(Krutogon), the predecessor of prince Malomir.
The wish of noble
prince Boyan was fulfilled and he, seeing the extreme exhaustion of Kinnamon,
asked him what it was that he had so much suffered. In a lengthy conversation
the enlightened Christian explained to the pagan prince Boyan the mistakenness
of paganism and the need of the Christian faith for salvation. At the end of
the amicable talk he told the prince: "Without Jesus Christ there is no
light for the mind, nor life for the soul. He alone is Teacher of mankind and
our Saviour, having reconciled fallen mankind with the true righteousness of
God by His death. If thou wish not to perish – believe in the Lord
Jesus". Prince Boyan accepted holy Baptism with joy. The newly-converted
prince, having come to Christian piety, was imbued with sincere love for
prayer, fasting and meditation about God. Malomir, having learned about the
conversion of his brother to Christianity, demanded of him a renunciation of
the Christian faith and his return to paganism. Instead, the holy Prince Boyan
answered: "I despise the pagan idols and I revere Christ, the True God,
and no one can sway me from love for Christ". Malomir, hearing the answer
of his brother, sentenced him to death by execution. Before his martyr's death
the holy confessor-prince prophetically declared: "The faith for which I
now die will spread throughout all the Bulgarian land. In vain do they hope to
stop it by my death. Temples to the True God wilt be raised up, and the
services to Him will not cease, but the idols and their foul sacrifices will
vanish". And with a final prophetic word he turned to his brother Malomir:
"From thy harshness thou will receive no benefit, and soon death wilt
overtake thee".
The predictions of
the holy martyr, killed by the sword, were first of all fulfilled over his
brother. Malomir soon died, and since he had no heir, his elder brother
Presiyan (836-852) succeeded to the throne. The son of prince Presiyan, – the
holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Boris, in holy Baptism Michael (Comm. 2 May),
afterwards baptsied the Bulgarian nation. Thus was fulfilled the prophesy of
the holy Martyr Prince Boyan.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.