Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo

Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo (also Evtimiy; Bulgarian: Свети Евтимий Търновски, romanized: Sveti Evtimiy Tarnovski) was Patriarch of Bulgaria between 1375 and 1393. Regarded as one of the most important figures of medieval Bulgaria, Euthymius was the last head of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church in the Second Bulgarian Empire. Arguably the best esteemed of all Bulgarian patriarchs, Euthymius was a supporter of hesychasm and an authoritative figure in the Eastern Orthodox world of the time. Born around 1325 (between 1320 and 1330) and possibly an offspring of the eminent Tsamblak family of the capital Tarnovo, Euthymius was educated at the monastery schools in and around the city and became a monk. He joined the Kilifarevo Monastery around 1350, attracted by the fame of Theodosius of Tarnovo. Theodosius appointed him his first assistant in 1363 and the two went together to Tsarigrad, with Theodosius dying soon afterwards. Euthymius then consecutively joined the Studion monastery and the Great Lavra of Athanasius the Athonite on Mount Athos. He was influenced by outstanding scholars and reformers of Southeastern Europe's spiritual life, such as Gregory the Sinaite, Gregory Palamas, Callistus Philotheus and John Kukuzelis. He was sent into exile on the island of Lemnos by Byzantine Emperor John V Palaiologos and, upon his release, returned to the Bulgarian Zograf Monastery on Mount Athos. It was there that he first reflected on the spelling reforms and planned corrections to the translations of the clerical books. Around 1371 Euthymius returned to Bulgaria and founded the Holy Trinity Patriarchal Monastery near Tarnovo, where he grounded the Tarnovo Literary School. He established orthographic rules and corrected inaccurately translated religious books by comparing them to the Greek originals. These corrected texts became models for the Orthodox churches using Church Slavonic language: Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, and Russia.