The Awakening Spirit on the Move — From Bessarabia to the Homeland and Back: On Some Contemporary Bessarabian Awakeners – Graduates of Bulgarian Theological Educational Institutions

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Pages: 97-138
DOI: https://doi.org/10.54664/XOFP2236

Abstract:

The present study follows the theme of awakening, the meanings and the spirit that the concept gives rise to in a national-religious aspect, preserved and transformed in a territory foreign to our country—the region of Bessarabia. The bearers of the awakening spirit during the Renaissance have been studied based on archival and historiographical documents. These individuals were religious figures, priests, monks, painters, and public figures who studied in spiritual seminaries or academies in our country or abroad. I have also examined their relationship with Bessarabia as a center for a national spiritual movement. The educational, literary, scientific, and missionary activities of the Bulgarian priests in Bessarabia (19th – 20th centuries), the influence of the Orthodox Church among the Bulgarian community formed in the southern territory of today’s Republics of Moldova and Ukraine, and the role of the church and church life in preserving the language of our compatriots in Bessarabia have been examined. Regarding the role of theological schools and seminary education in the past, numerous examples of Bulgarians—significant intellectuals, graduates of theological schools and seminaries, have been studied due to their gaining popularity later for their contributions to the spiritual development of the Bulgarians in Bessarabia, propagating the idea of a national Bulgarian renascence through the study of Bulgarian history and language in Bessarabia. The study is also based on numerous field anthropological studies carried out by the author in Moldova and Bulgaria, revealing the contribution of Bulgarian secondary and higher religious educational institutions today to the return and integration of Bessarabian Bulgarians in their ancestral homeland. Special attention is paid to two contemporary awakeners, Bessarabian Bulgarians from Moldova and graduates of the Sofia Theological Seminary. Particular focus is placed on the missionary and educational activities of priest Vasiliy Shagan in his native land in Moldova, as a revivalist of the literary Bulgarian language, the large-scale spiritual and educational activities that he carried out in the city of Varna, together with the parish he created, and his awakening activity and cooperation with his confreres from southern Bessarabia, after his final settlement in Bulgaria.

Keywords:

аwakeners, Bessarabia, Sophronyе, spiritual enlightenment, seminary.

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