The Macedonian people in its centuries-long struggle for its own state, national and cultural freedom and independence was at the same time struggling for the independence of its Orthodox Church. Macedonia's history in the last thousand years has always been closely linked to that of the Macedonian Church, the Archbishopric of Ohrid. In the absence of a state of their own the Macedonians established a certain national independence for a long period of time through Ohrid and its Archbishopric. It was only during the time of Czar Samuil (10th-11th C.) that this church organization was elevated to the rank of a patriarchate, only to return to being an archbishopric with the fall of the Macedonian Empire.
It was the church that nurtured in its bosom a large part of the cultural and artistic activity of the Macedonian people, above all through the building of churches and monasteries whose walls were decorated with frescoes and icons. The church was responsible for the creation of the tradition of medieval Macedonian painting, today known throughout the world as the authentic ar of this country, with all the characteristics of original creative individuality.
From the innumerable mediaeval Slavonic manuscripts in Macedonia, beginning with those from the time of the great Slav and Macedonian educators, Sts. Cyril and Methodius, and their disciples, Sts. Clement and Naum, can be seen not only the literacy of this country but also the artistic vision of those long-suffering Macedonian monks. In the silence of the monasteries and in several centres where manuscripts were copied they embellished their books with miniatures, rich in luxuriant fantasy and artistic experience.
The Macedonian Orthodox Church left a particular stamp on the development of the national culture and created a rich artistic treasury even at the time when Macedonia was under Osmanli bondage. Later on, when Macedonia was under fire from foreign propaganda and ruled by its neighbours the church protected and developed the national idea of an independent Macedonia. Even at the most difficult moments in the history of Macedonia the church was on the side of the people, never denying their interests and rights.
In the attempts to re-establish the Archbishopric of Ohrid, which had been abolished illegally in 1767, the Macedonians were searching for a way in which to free themselves from the spiritual subordination which certain neighbouring countries had forced upon Macedonian believers, denying them the right to hear the word of God in their own tongue. These endeavours in reinstate the Archbishopric of Ohrid, vain and unsuccessful, bore no fruit, yet indicated the Macedonian people's determination to persist in that unequal struggle with their enemies, who ultimately managed to split Macedonian territory up among themselves and in that way took over the Macedonian eparchies.
Only in the course of the Second World War and the War of National Liberation did the first shoots heralding the establishment of an independent Macedonian church and the renewal of the Archbishopric of Ohrid reappear, gaining strength in particular with the formation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia within the framework of the Yugoslav federation. The final realisation came in 1967, precisely two hundred years after the abolition of the Archbishopric. The road to independence was neither easy nor straightforward and there still remain certain difficulties and obstacles in certain areas.
Today the independent church life of Macedonian believers, both in Macedonia itself and in those other parts of the world where they are living, is making the possible the future development of the Macedonian Orthodox Church through the renewal of old and the establishment of new churches. This present book offers a brief survey of the historical development and achievements to date of the Orthodox Church in Macedonia and the hardships it has survived in order to gain the independence which it now enjoys.
The Macedonian people in its centuries-long struggle for its own state, national and cultural freedom and independence was at the same time struggling for the independence of its Orthodox Church. Macedonia's history in the last thousand years has always been closely linked to that of the Macedonian Church, the Archbishopric of Ohrid.
In the attempts to re-establish the Archbishopric of Ohrid, which had been abolished illegally in 1767, the Macedonians were searching for a way in which to free themselves from the spiritual subordination which certain neighbouring countries had forced upon Macedonian believers, denying them the right to hear the word of God in their own tongue. These endeavours to reinstate the Archbishopric of Ohrid, vain and unsuccessful, bore no fruit.
Only in the course of the Second World War and the War of National Liberation did the first shoots heralding the establishment of an independent Macedonian church and the renewal of the Archbishopric of Ohrid reappear, gaining strength in particular with the formation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia within the framework of the Yugoslav federation. The final realization came in 1967, precisely two hundred years after the abolition of the Archbishopric.