Blessed Theophylact Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

Blessed Theophylact

Archbishop of Ochrid and Bulgaria

Translated into English and published by Chrysostom Press www.chrysostompress.org

Blessed Theophylact was a true son of Byzantium, a product of the
highly developed cultural and religious civilization emanating from the
“queen of cities,” Constantinople. Born on the Greek island of Euboia
some time between 1050 and 1060, Theophylact went to Constantinople to
study under the finest teachers of literature and rhetoric of his time.
After his ordination, he served as deacon, assisting the Patriarch at
Agia Sophia, and soon gained renown as a preacher of the Gospel and
master of rhetoric. The Emperor Alexius I Comnenus made him the tutor
of his future son-in-law, the heir presumptive.

Saint Sophia Cathedral in Ochrid

where Blessed Theophylact Served

About the year 1090 Theophylact was sent to the Macedonian city of
Ochrid to be enthroned as Archbishop of the Bulgarian Church. Ochrid
was the capital city of the Bulgarian kingdom that had been conquered
by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II in 1018. In this demanding position
in a conquered territory on the outskirts of the Empire, Blessed
Theophylact conscientiously and energetically carried out his
archpastoral duties over the course of the next twenty years or so.

Although a Byzantine by upbringing and outlook, he was a true father
and archpastor of the Bulgarian Church, defending its interests and
protecting its independence and prerogatives. He was instrumental in
the spread of Byzantine culture that took place among the Balkan Slavs
in the following centuries. As a language scholar, he also aided the
development of a native Bulgarian Orthodox Church and literature,
especially by the use of Old Church Slavonic Biblical and liturgical
texts.

Another View of Saint Sophia Cathedral

Countering the propaganda of the heretical Paulicians and Bogomils
who were active in the region, he acted vigorously to protect his flock
by ordaining dedicated and educated priests to teach Orthodoxy in the
native Bulgarian language. He also showed his care for the Slavic
people under his spiritual care by vigorously protesting the
intoleraBlessede extortionist demands of tax collectors sent from
Constantinople.

He endured many slanderous accusations that were made against him
both within the diocese and in Constantinople, but he won the respect
and love of the faithful who saw his tireless labors on their behalf.
It is during this period of his life as Archbishop of Bulgaria that he
wrote his Explanation of the New Testament, and of the Minor
Prophets of the Old Testament. He did so at the request of the princess
Maria—the mother of the imperial boy he had earlier tutored, and who
had now become the abbess of a convent. His Letters also date to this time, as well as two other writings for which he is well known: The Life of St. Clement of Ochrid and a treatise entitled: The Errors of the Latins in Ecclesiastical Matters.

The latter two works highlight two developments of enormous
consequence for the history of the Church. The first is the spread of
Orthodoxy Christianity into the Slavic lands; for St Clement of Ochrid
was a disciple of Sts Cyril and Methodius, and he brought to fruition
in Bulgaria the labors begun by his mentors in carrying the Orthodox
faith to the Slavs in their own languages. The second is the tragic
schism which occurred between the eastern and western halves of the
Church. Blessed Theophylact wrote his treatise, The Errors of the Latins,
only some fifty years after the exchange of anathemas between Rome and
Constantinople in 1054. While firmly defending the Orthodox doctrinal
position rejecting the Filioque, Blessed Theophylact writes
with a tone of moderation rare for his time, urging from both sides a
spirit of conciliation concerning matters of local custom.

The exact year of Blessed Theophylact’s repose is not known, but the
latest date that can be ascertained from his letters is 1108. The
Serbian Orthodox Church, whose jurisdiction in later years came to
include Ochrid and Macedonia, and other Orthodox Churches, commemorates
Blessed Theophylact as a saint, on December 31.