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The legend of Saints Constantine and Helena Monastery
It was in the gloom of our past, when Bulgarian spirit was shackled in the heavy chains of the yoke, when the last spark of life was dying out in the human soul. Then the churches and monasteries were the only hope that kept Bulgarian awareness awake in the course of many centuries. But there were also unfortunate times, when the waves of religious fanaticism reached these quiet harbours, sheltering in their bosom the precious tables of our people and its hope of liberation.
The infidels knew that faith was the most reliable shield, so they tried to eradicate the last mainstay of our rebellious tribe. It was in those days that what had been created for centuries died in the flames of the ruined temples. The brothers of Christ who survived the massacres continued to carry with themselves the most valuable thing they had – their adamant faith. Some fled on the roads, others hid in the wilderness, but only to return back to the sites of fire and start anew, with renewed energy, the building of the eternal temple of the right Christian faith and the Bulgarian spirit.
In 16th century, when the wars of Christian Europe stopped the infidel hordes at last, their entire unrestrained rage crushed upon the Christian peoples that remained enslaved; muezzins’ voices echoed over the old Bulgarian holy Christian places. The hermit-monks started their wanderings again, preserving the Holy Orthodoxy. In those hard days of trial several monks looked for refuge in a desert place not far from the sea and the old Bulgarian stronghold of Varna, in an impenetrably dense forest. They had come to this site – with torn clothes, footworn from the heavy march and with bodies injured all over – in the hope to find shelter and consolation for their tormented souls. Their hearts were heavy with sorrow – the old monk cloister they had fled from had been reduced to ashes by the infidels and a lot of their brothers had died the death of martyrs.
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It was as if the Hand of God was leading them to this sheltered place. No trace whatever of human presence, not a single village or a road, was to be seen around. Centuries-old trees with hollows secured their shelter; the forest fed them with its fruit, and an old healing spring quenched their thirst. The woods resounded with the sweet-voices of the forest creatures, giving them comfort and cheering their hearts.
The hermits were happy – they lived and felt the presence of God! Thus lived the monks in peace and quiet, in union with God, far from the evil and sinful world. They had no church and no icon to pray before. They missed the chime of the bell and the echo of the clapper. It was only the prayer that gave consolation to their tormented, yet trusting in God and faithful souls!
Once, in the dead of a night when hurricane-strong wind was bending the tree branches, a distant cry for help came amid the deafening rumble of the waves. Having taken shelter, the monks did not dare to go to the shore. In the morning, after the storm had faded away, they were able to reach the shore and a terrifying sight appeared before their eyes. The wrecks of a big ship lay scattered everywhere. Dozens of bodies of drowned men were being rocked by the waves or lying flat on the sand. With grief-stricken hearts, the brothers took care of the dead by Christian custom. Suddenly one of the bodies moved. A quiet sob could be heard. Rejoicing, the monks picked up the body of the traveller, who had been rescued by the will of God, and took the bundle that lay next to him. They took the man and the package into the forest.
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A few days later, when the survivor came to himself, he told the brothers his wondrous story. A big icon of the equal to the Apostles Saints Constantine and Helena, patrons of Christianity, lay wrapped in the bundle. It turned out that the saved man was a brother in an Orthodox cloister near Tsarigrad (Constantinople).
He had been sent to the Great Kiev Lavra (monastery of the caves) on a mission to carry the wonder-working icon of the two saints from there to Constantinople. Old legends told that the icon had been saved and carried to Kiev Pechersk Lavra by an unknown monk at the time of the Muslim invasion and the enslaving of the Christians, living on both sides of the Balkan Mountains.
In this way, thanks to the patronage of Saints Constantine and Helena, equal to the apostles, and by God’s grace, the envoy and the icon were saved from perishing. Being grateful for his rescuing, the survivor gave the wonder-working icon to the monks as a gift, asking them to erect a Christian temple at that place. No one knows how much time has passed since then. But a small church was built, indeed, at the same place, upon the old healing spring. Later, other monks appeared, attracted by the glory of the wonder-working icon. A monastery sprang up around the church, whose patrons, until our day, have been Saints Constantine and Helena.
The monastic cloister has survived a lot of hard times. It was robbed, set to fire, and destroyed – by both the infidels and the elements of nature… But the Saints, equal to the Apostles, did not let this last for long – the monastery has always come to life again. For the triumph of Orthodox faith! To keep Bulgarian spirit alive! To help the faithful and the sufferers in the name of Christ! For the glory of God!
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