Venerable (Monastic) 10th century

Saint Nahum of Ochrid

c. 830 – 910

Also known as Naum of Ohrid

A disciple and fellow-laborer of Sts Cyril and Methodius who, with St Clement, taught and enlightened the Slavs in Bulgaria and at Ochrid, founding schools and translating the sacred books.

Feast Day

June 20

Also Dec 23

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Nahum of Ochrid, Disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius

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Missionary Work

Education

Life

Nahum of Ochrid (also Naum) was a Bulgarian by descent and one of the disciples of the Equals-to-the-Apostles Cyril and Methodius. With his fellow-laborer Saint Clement of Ochrid, he carried the Christian faith and the written Slavonic word to the Slavs of Bulgaria, helping to establish the schools and translations that shaped the literary culture of the Orthodox Slavs. He is venerated as one of the company of enlighteners who continued the mission of Cyril and Methodius after the death of their teachers, and is counted among the group known in the Bulgarian tradition as the Seven Apostles or Sedmochislenitsi.

According to the tradition, Nahum took part in the Moravian mission and in the wider labors of Cyril and Methodius and their disciples across central Europe, where he assisted in translating and distributing the Scriptures in the Old Church Slavonic tongue. After the death of Methodius and the expulsion of the disciples from Moravia, Nahum came to Bulgaria, where he was received and given the means to continue his work. He labored first at Plisk (Pliska), then the capital, before passing to the region of Lake Ochrid.

At Ochrid he succeeded Saint Clement at the monastery on the shores of the lake, where he labored for some ten years, teaching, writing, and forming scholars who continued the translation and copying of the sacred books. He reposed on December 23, 910. His relics were glorified by numerous miracles, and the tradition relates that they were especially associated with the healing of spiritual infirmities. He is commemorated on June 20 and December 23.

Timeline 5 moments Read Hide

c. 830 Birth Born of Bulgarian descent in the lands of the First Bulgarian realm.
after 885 Comes to Bulgaria After the death of Methodius and the expulsion of the disciples from Moravia, Nahum comes to Bulgaria and labors at Plisk (Pliska).
at Ochrid Succeeds Clement Succeeds Saint Clement at the monastery on Lake Ochrid, where he labors for about ten years.
905 Monastery founded By tradition founds the monastery on the shores of Lake Ochrid that bears his name.
910 Repose Reposes on December 23; his relics are glorified by miracles.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Missionary and Literary Labors

Nahum belonged to the circle of disciples gathered around Cyril and Methodius, the brothers from Thessalonica who devised a written alphabet for the Slavs and translated the Scriptures and services into the Slavonic language. The tradition associates Nahum and his companions with the spread of this written culture, and he is named among those connected with the development of the Glagolitic and, later, Cyrillic scripts. When the disciples were driven from Great Moravia after the death of Methodius, several of them, Nahum among them, made their way to the Bulgarian lands, where the work of Slavonic letters could continue under more favorable conditions.

In Bulgaria Nahum was active in the schools that arose to train clergy and copy the sacred books, working first in the region of Plisk (Pliska) and afterward at Ochrid. There, alongside Saint Clement, he taught, preached, and led a body of scholars engaged in translating and transcribing the Scriptures. His labors at Ochrid placed him at the heart of the early flowering of Slavonic Christian letters in the Balkans.

The Monastery at Lake Ochrid

Nahum is remembered for the monastery on the shores of Lake Ochrid, where he succeeded Saint Clement and labored for about ten years until his repose. The monastery became a center of veneration after his death, and his relics, kept there, drew the faithful who sought his intercession. The tradition relates that healings, especially of spiritual infirmities, were worked through them.

Notes

A disciple of Sts Cyril and Methodius. Also commemorated Dec 23.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints