Ilarion Makariopolski
Encyclopedia
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 leaders of the struggle for an autonomous Bulgarian church.
Born in Elena
Elena, Bulgaria
Elena is a Bulgarian town in the central Stara Planina mountain in Veliko Tarnovo Province, located 42 km away to southeast from the city of Veliko Tarnovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Elena Municipality. The area is a popular mountain resort also known for the typical...
in 1812 in a prominent Bulgarian family, Mihaylovski received a substantial schooling for the period, initially in his native town and later at the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
school in Arbanasi. He became a monk in the Hilandar Monastery on 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...
in 1832 and continued his education at the school of noted Greek enlightener Theophilos Kairis
Theophilos Kairis
Theophilos Kairis was a Greek priest and revolutionary. He was born in Andros, Cyclades, Ottoman Greece, as a son of a distinguished family....
on the island of Andros
Andros
Andros, or Andro is the northernmost island of the Greek Cyclades archipelago, approximately south east of Euboea, and about north of Tinos. It is nearly long, and its greatest breadth is . Its surface is for the most part mountainous, with many fruitful and well-watered valleys. The area is...
, later studying for two years at a famous high school in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. A close friend of Georgi Rakovski, Ilarion Makariopolski took an active part in the Macedonian revolutionary society. Since 1844 he guided the Bulgarian church struggle from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
together with Neofit Bozveli
Neofit Bozveli
Neofit Bozveli was a Bulgarian cleric and enlightener and one of the leaders of the Bulgarian Church struggle.Born in the lively sub-Balkan town of Kotel, Bozveli completed his basic education there and may well have been a student of Sophronius of Vratsa...
, and was exiled to Mount Athos between 1845 and 1850.
On 3 April 1860, during Easter service
Easter Vigil
The Easter Vigil, also called the Paschal Vigil or the Great Vigil of Easter, is a service held in many Christian churches as the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. Historically, it is during this service that people are baptized and that adult catechumens are received into...
in Constantinople, Ilarion intentionally did not mention the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
The Ecumenical Patriarch is the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome – ranking as primus inter pares in the Eastern Orthodox communion, which is seen by followers as the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church....
, which, according to the canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, is an act of throwing off his authority. A decision of the Patriarchate sent Makariopolski back to Mount Athos into exile in 1861–1864 together with the bishops that supported him, Avksentiy Veleshki (Auxentius of Veles
Veles (city)
Veles is a city in the center of the Republic of Macedonia on the Vardar river. The city of Veles is the seat of Veles Municipality.-Name:The city's name was Vylosa in Ancient Greek and before the Balkan Wars, it was a township with the name Köprülü in the Üsküp sandjak, Ottoman empire for 600...
) and Paisiy Plovdivski (Paisius of Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...
).
After the Ottoman government of Abdülaziz
Abdülâziz
Abdülaziz I or Abd Al-Aziz, His Imperial Majesty was the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned between 25 June 1861 and 30 May 1876...
granted the right to establish an autonomous Bulgarian Exarchate
Bulgarian Exarchate
The Bulgarian Exarchate was the official name of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church before its autocephaly was recognized by the Ecumenical See in 1945 and the Bulgarian Patriarchate was restored in 1953....
for the Bulgarian dioceses under the Sultan
Ottoman Dynasty
The Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself sultan...
's firman promulgated on February 28 (the Julian calendar
Julian calendar
The Julian calendar began in 45 BC as a reform of the Roman calendar by Julius Caesar. It was chosen after consultation with the astronomer Sosigenes of Alexandria and was probably designed to approximate the tropical year .The Julian calendar has a regular year of 365 days divided into 12 months...
), 1870, Ilarion was a member of the Provisional Mixed Exarchic Council and of the first Synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
.
Upon the unilateral declaration by Antim I
Antim I
Antim I , born Atanas Mihaylov Chalakov , was a Bulgarian education figure and clergyman, and a participant in the Bulgarian liberation and church-independence movement. He was the first head of the Bulgarian Exarchate, a post he held from 1872 to 1877...
of an independent national church
National church
National church is a concept of a Christian church associated with a specific ethnic group or nation state. The idea was notably discussed during the 19th century, during the emergence of modern nationalism....
of the Bulgarians in May 1872, Ilarion was anathema
Anathema
Anathema originally meant something lifted up as an offering to the gods; it later evolved to mean:...
tized by the Patriarchal Synod. The condemnation was later affirmed at the Council in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
in September the same year.
Since 1872 he was Metropolitan of Tarnovo, and died in Constantinople on 4 June 1875. He was buried in the yard of the Bulgarian St Stephen Church
Bulgarian St Stephen Church
The Bulgarian St Stephen Church , also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church, is a Bulgarian Orthodox church in Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey, famous for being made of cast iron. The church belongs to the Bulgarian minority in the city...
in the city.
Ilarion Ridge
Ilarion Ridge
Ilarion Ridge is a partly ice-free ridge of elevation 240 m situated in Breznik Heights on Greenwich Island, Antarctica. Extending along the south coast of Hardy Cove, 2 km southwest of Parchevich Ridge, 1.9 km east-northeast of Lyutitsa Nunatak, 2.5 km northeast of Vratsa Peak,...
in Breznik Heights
Breznik Heights
Breznik Heights rises to over 600 m in the southeast part of Greenwich Island. They extend 12 km between Santa Cruz Point in the north east and the base of the moraine spit at the mouth of Yankee Harbour in the southwest...
on Greenwich Island 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 for Ilarion Makariopolski.