Otets Gerasim

The pull, the power and struggle in the Balkans with the religious order of Orthodoxy and its multitude of varied ethnicities of the day is a complicated history.  There are many factors at play that characterize the historic contest of this area.  To simplify the history without going into detail we will constrict the whole of the concept into a generalized version.

All said and done, the fact remains, that the religious domination over the Balkans, the religious order of “Greek Orthodox” became a source of conflict.

It was a power struggle by the church and within the Ottoman Empire Province of Macedonia and other Ottoman Provinces, for control over all the people in the Balkans and for the collection of the church taxes that would enrich the coffers of the Patriarch.

The Ottoman Empire, although harsh in its rule over the Christian people was very tolerant of religious matter.  It allowed the Orthodox Church great freedom to church taxation and religious dominion over the people.

The Ottomans had even borrowed some of the Orthodox rituals from the religion.  The Ottoman had in fact had granted the non-Greek ethnicities of the Empire to follow the Orthodox Christian faith, to practice their religion in their own language and similarly to be schooled.  Having this right did not mean that it stood well with the “Greek Orthodoxy”.  The attitude of the “Greek Church” was not to let this to become a reality.  The contradiction of this right to the varied ethnicities of people in the Balkans is that the Greek Patriarch and his clergymen were given full authority by the Ottomans as overseers of religious teachings in the Ottoman Balkans.  This allowed them to trespass past the general authority and thus were able to affect the everyday life of people and to only do as they pleased over the Orthodox faithful.

The church had the absolute power to take away the rights of the non-Greek people and to reform the manner that they did practice the Christian religion.  They had the power to restrict and take away the right to worship in their own language and to attend their own church.  Use this tool of power they did.  The Greek religious hierarchy was of the opinion that “Orthodoxy” was Greek, that the official language of church be Greek, and that Greek Bishops, Greek priests and Hellenized priest (wanna-bees) should perform the religious services in the churches in the Greek languages and in no other language.  Whether the faithful understood what was preached or not, it did not matter to them.  They may even have had the Romanticized notion that God only knew Greek and no other language.

The Greek Patriarch’s seat at Fenar (seat moved from Istanbul to Fenar in 1660 AD) had become an institution to create Greek Plastoellines (made Greeks) of all the non-Greek faithful of the Orthodox Christian faith.  It was a presumption by the Greek Church hierarchy that who so ever is an Orthodox Christian, is Greek thus all the non-Greek people under the Ottoman Empire were claimed by the Greek patriarchist church as Greeks, such in the case of the Arnaouti (Arvanites), the Koutso-Vlahs-lame Vlahs as they were referred by the Greeks, the slavic-Bulganians (Voulgari) as the Greek referred to us, the Orthodox Turks of Asia-minor and other ethnicities of lower numerical significance.  Other Orthodox Christians outside the Ottoman Empire were not effected by the arrogance of this Turkic vassal-the Greek Patriarch and his associates.

Under this contradiction of law and the rights of the church, gave way to inevitable conflicts within the Orthodox Balkans people.  A struggle within the Orthodoxy would ensue as the Balkan ethnicities were awakening to a new nationalism and to European liberalism.

In 1830 the Bulgarian citizens of the Empire had petitioned the Turkic government to allow them to have their own church dignitaries, the use of their own language in the worship of God and in education. In monastic teachings this was in effect granted but limited to the monasteries.  This petition led to a confrontation between the Bulgarians and the Greek patriarch in Istanbul.  The strong opposition of the Monarchist Greek government in Greece had delayed granting of the request to the Bulgarian people, until it was again put forth to the Turkish government in 1838.  Under tremendous pressure to appease the rebellious population, the petition was granted.  Now the Bulgarians had the right to accommodate the Slavic population, to teach in a language that was understandable and affiliated closely to the Slavic speaking population of the Balkan.  The Bulgarian were now able to encroach in the areas where the “Greek Orthodoxy” had absolute control.

In the passing of the law by the Turkish government the Greek patriarch lost a great deal of versatility in carrying out his high handed “Orthodox” philosophy to the non-Greek people of the Ottoman Empire.  In reality his power was curbed to impose obsolete power and force the “Greekness” idea to the other Orthodox Christian people that were not of the Greek race.

The Ohrid archbishopric was closed in 1767 by the Greek Patriarchic church.  Clergy and laity fought for the establishment of an independent, autocephalous Bulgarian church.  In the year 1838 through the constant pleading and protests to the Grand porte, the “Hatesherifa” was decreed which gave equal privilege even though in words to Mohammedans and Christians according to the law.  As a result of this Persistent struggle in the year 1845 the Grand Porte issued the sultan’s Ferman which ratified the legal privileges of the Bulgarian people in the Turkish Empire.  On February 28 1870 the Sultan Abdul Aziz issued the long awaited Ferman by which the Bulgarian Exarchate was established.

The appearance in the Horizon of Traiko pop Anastasov.  Later to become Father Gerasim, was born in 1820 in the village of T’rsye.  Father Gerasim’s family and ancestry has a tradition of following the faith of our Lord and had been priests and/or associated with the priesthood.

Father Gerasim from his very early years grew up in the spirit of the biblical teachings and in the Christian Orthodox faith.  From his early years he was aware of his surroundings, he was well aware of the people’s yearning to be close to church and God, especially in those times of the great subjugation of the people not only by the Ottoman masters but also by the Patriarchist Phanariots, the so called Greek  “Orthodox” church.

From a very young age he knew his calling, and as he grew up and as a young men, his spirituality also grew.

In those days it was customary for many young T’rsyani to leave their beloved village to seek seasonal work, to go to Mount Athos (known as the Holy Mountain) in the Challcidean Peninsula in Macedonia.  Alike his brethren, when father Gerasim was of age, he to made this trek with some of his villagers.

While at Mount Athos he realized his true calling and immediately enrolled as a pupil in the Greek Monastery Blagoveshtenie-vatopedi (build in 922 AD).  He took to study theology. Traiko was charismatic as he was eloquent, bright and ambitious student.  He was well versed in the language of the Greeks.  He showed great promise as a student and in a very short time, he advance in the Monastatic hierarchy to become a “Psalt” (Chanter).  He went on to higher study of theology and was to achieve higher positions in the monastery.  He was ordained as a Hermit monk and given an ecclesiastical name of “Gerasim”.  His astuteness eloquence, intellect, perseverance, constitution and desire to achieve were not missed by the officials of the monastery.  He was given official recognition as a prime candidate for higher positions, and became an official of the (church) and oversaw the administration of the monastery.

He was a non-Greek and of a foreign extraction, he was successful in his duties, he had achieved in a short time what was considered a life long ambition by many hermit monks.  His success and upward movement gave away to envy by many Greek hermit monks.  They began rumors to discredit his position and do damage to his reputation.  In time, they got bolder, to the point these hermit monks started to ridicule him with their comments.  The monk behaviors became very uncharacteristic nearing the point of delirium and put to degradation the religious teaching they were to follow.  This went on for some time.  Being a patient man he was tolerant of their behaviors for a long time but in the end he came to realize the futility of him staying on in this monastery.  He also came to realize the lack of tolerance by the Greeks to the non-Greek.  The lack of civil behavior, the obscenity of the situation and the unbearability of the situation.  For the first time he became disillusioned and disappointed with his Monastatic brethren.  He decided it best to part company and resigned his office in the Greek monastery and left the Greek Monastatic enclosure.

His commitment to his calling and desire to further his studies led him to the Bulgarian monastery “sveti Gheorgi – Z ograph (erected in the 10^th century A.D.) in the “holy mountain” of the Challcidean Peninsula in Macedonia.  By this time his reputation as a scholastic, administrator, eloquent spokesman and an accomplished cleric had preceded him.

At the Bulgarian Monastery he was greeted as a monk brother and shown the brotherly love that monks of the faith had followed; not the animosity and derogation that the Greek counterparts had shown him.

Father Gerasim from a young age was aware of the great illiteracy of his people and their great desire to be close to church and god.  More than any other reason this had probably had an effect and influence on his choosing and desire on a vocation, thus, he at once enrolled to further his studies in theology and other subject that would lead him to a path to become a school master.  He foresaw the need for the general populace for learning.  At that time in the Ottoman dominated Balkans only the rich and the minority of middle class could afford to send their daughters and sons to private schools.  There was no such modern ideology of public education.  For the general population there was no education or if there was in certain places it was a private school taught by a cleric and mostly on religious teachings.  The closeness to his brethren had by all means had an influence to become a teacher and his calling to become a cleric in a society of contradiction.

His studies went on for a length of time.  In time a delegation of Trsyani, went to the monastery to plead with him to return to his native T’rsye.  His parents were ailing and were coming close to their end of their life.  His commitments to his undertaking could not allow him to leave his studies to go to his native village, his mission in life yet not accomplished.  The turn of events could not allow him to sacrifice of his calling.  He made the ultimate sacrifice-to follow his calling or go to the bedside of his dying parents.  The Trsyani delegation, saddened, went back without father Gerasim.

Father Gerasim torn by the desire to be beside his parents and love of God and the mission envisioned by him not accomplished could do nothing, but pray for the well being of his parents life being what it is, in a short time both parent had passed away.

During his stay at the Bulgarian Monastery, father Gerasim had on many occasions visited the Russian Monastery “Sveti Pantaleimon” (built in the beginning of the 10^th century A.D.)  He developed a good relationship with the elders of the monastery and were very friendly and helpful to father Gerasim; As said prior he had two callings-one for theology the other for teaching.  Still not completing his theology studies, father Gerasim went to Istanbul and enrolled in a “Gymnasium” attending Bulganin school classes in a school of higher learning and studied to become a teacher.  In a short time he graduated with honors and became a school teacher.  One goal accomplished, he did not take a teaching position, but went back to Sveti Ghiorghi and completed his studies on Theology: His knowledge of the Christian faith elevated his spiritual outlook and his mission of study was completed.

It had been many years since he left his home as a young man.  It was time for him to go back to his people in his beloved T’rsye.  His absence and studies had a purpose.  It was a calling that would lead him back to his people and give to his people what was in earnest need, education and an understanding of the Theology in their mother tongue.

To do this, he needed the tools that were unaffordable by the people.  On his request, the elders of both the Bulgarian and Russian Monasteries aided him by donating bibles, religious books, primary and advanced school material and other essential teaching devices to teach the brethren of his nationality.  All this material he had accepted with great appreciation and with priestly humility.

On parting company he expressed his gratitude to the venerable brethren of both monasteries, and bid both farewell and left on his journey with bundles of books.  Word of his coming back to T’rsye had preceded father Gerasim.  His reputation had become renown in T’rsye and in the surrounding area.  The people of T’rsye were jubilant and rejoiced.  There was much ado about everything.  There was a lot in life not simple and father Gerasim became the light and the perpetual vision in as akin to God calling on Moses to deliver his children out of the bondage of the Egyptians.  He was in all the definition of hope, defender of the faith and a savior that could battle the Ottoman evil doers and the even constant perversions of the Patriarchits Phanariots.

On his arrival at T’rsye all of the people were gathered at “stredselo” at the center of the village, by all, young and old.  They welcomed him openly, with enthusiasm and respect.  He was one of their fellowman, teacher and the divine Gerasim.  He was the hope in a hopeless situation of the times.  The elders of the village, asked him to become their communal pastor, to perform the ecclesiastic services in the community church.  He accepted their proposal and with honor and dignity he began preaching the word of God in their own language and to bring them closer to the creator and savior the messiah Jesus Christ.  This was eventful in that now they could understand the teaching of the Lord and the biblical word of Jesus as spoken by the village people and knowledgeable priests.  Now they did not have to attend the church to be preached to a language they couldn’t understand.  Greek was instructed to be spoken to the two Greekocised priests Stoyan Mangov and Stoyo Lazhgov.  The people were embodied and embraced his pastural teaching and attended enmas thus displacing the two Greekocisied priest by this new replacement.  Father Gerasim also began at once to undertake a special mission, to battle for his people, through education and by active resistance to defend the people of Macedonia against the national and spiritual subjugation that was carried out by the Greek patriarch of Istanbul, his bishops and transplanted (planted) Greekocised priest in the cities, towns and villages of Macedonia.  This undertaking was akin to David against Goliath defending his people without a weapon other than raising the conscious of the people to their plight.

The return of father Gerasim to T’rsye was not instant from whence he left.  According to the information supplied by a Greek teacher (Anastasios Piheonas) and agent of the Greek consulate of the city of Bitola, Macedonia (source, memoirs of Anastasios Piheonas), father Gerasim returned to T’ryse in 1860.  Father Gerasim’s first objective was to establish a school to teach the children of the village of T’rsye in their own mother tongue.  The elders of the village enthusiastically welcomed the idea.  The concept of a school was long talked about and the whole village accepted its undertaking and it became a reality in the year 1860-1861.  The first school year classes were held in father Gerasim’s ancestral home, which in fact was too small to hold the huge number of students that attended that year, but he made do with what he had and none were turned away.  He became the Teacher and director of the educational activities in the village of T’rsye.

Resistance in western Macedonia began immediately upon father Gerasim’s return.  He began in earnest to rally the Macedonian people to a noble cause, to resist the Greek activities and the Greek Patriachist influence.  The Turkish Government for reasons of their own was tolerant with father Gerasims activities as long as they were not directed against the Ottoman Empire.  This blind eye to internal activities allowed him to carry messages unmolested from his home base in T’rsye to the people of western Macedonia, pleading with them to resist the corrupt Greek Patriachist’s influence.

He was an orator, a humble and pious man and frocked in a monk’s robe.  He spoke to the people in a captivating voice, made speeches that aroused the heart and stocked the fire in people.  Organized resistance began to set rout.  He had declared war on the “Greek Orthodoxy” and asked people in the cities, towns and villages to continue oppositions to the patriachist’s.

The first resistance manifested itself in the district of Koreshtata, prescient of Kostour in 1860.  Father Gerasim as well kindled resistance activities in the nearby villages of Bobchor and in all the villages in the geographical district around the mountain of “Vicho”.

In that era the “Greek Orthodox” church, and in a small role, the Serbian Orthodoxy in the most northern reaches of Macedonia (around the city of Skopie) had officially inclusive rights to oversee any religious activities and teachings over the Slavic speaking Macedonians.  There was a void for the Slavic speakers in that they had no church to preach in their own tongue.  The Bulgarian Exarchist church was not established until 1870.  In this atmosphere and by the total domination of the Ottoman’s; of Macedonia, and the Ottomans recognition of the “Greek Orthodox” church, Macedonians were forced into what was called “Greek Orthodox” church’s, that were overseen by Greek nationalistic Bishops.  Any resistance or encroachment in this area (as the Bulgarian unofficial church and their intellectuals tried) was met with force under such conditions, father Gerasim took a brave stance.

He spread the teachings of the Slavic Bulgarian literature and the Cyrillic alphabet to the people.  He accomplished this by assisting villages in organizing themselves in opening schools and supplying to them school and biblical materials.  With him on the science, a foothold was established for ethnic nationalisms, and paved the way for Slavic Macedonians to become aware of the possibilities that once had seemed unattainable.