Older Slav HAGIOGRAPHY of Saint Naum

Well, brothers, this is for the memory of blessed Climent's brother who was also his compassionate friend with whom he shared many misfortunes and blows from the heretics, the presbyter Naum.

When Climent was appointed Bishop, the same god-loving czar Simeon sent Naum, his friend to take his place as a teacher. He was also committing good deeds there. He was innocent from early childhood until death and he built a monastery at the end of the White Lake, a church for sacred archangels. He spent seven years teaching. After that he left teaching and went to the monastery where he lived another ten years. Before his death he became a monk and he died with God in his heart, peacefully, in the month of December on the twenty-third day. It should be known that presbyter Naum died six years before Bishop Climent.

Let all readers know, as we wrote earlier, that the presbyterians were tortured by the heretics and that the deacons were betrayed to the Jews for money. They were taken to Venice by the Jews to be sold, upon God's command, to the czar's man who came from the city Constantin on czar's duties. When the czar's man found out, he paid the ransome for some of them, and took some with him in the city Constantin and told Czar BasiIius about them. So, they were given back their priesthood or deacon title, as it was before, and they sang prayers of gratitude. So, nobody died in bondage, but some of them found refuge in the city Constantin by the Czar, while others went with great honours in the Bulgarian land.

Then, in the land of Moravia, as Saint Metodius the Archbishop predicted, because of their disorderly behaviour and sins, and because they banished the orthodox fathers whom they believed in, and made them suffer, soon came God's revenge. Soon after that the Ugars came, people from Peon, and they ravished the land creating a wasteland. Those who escaped went to Bulgaria and their land remain wasted under the rule of the Ugars.

And I, brothers, worked out from earning money, and for the memory of our blessed fathers, wanted to find everything that was written about their lives, how they lived their lives from the beginning to the end, but I could not find much. I know only what the blessed fathers had told me and I wanted to write, but I could not do that before I tried to find all that was written by others. I hope us simple and poor people will not be despised although I know that our fathers did more than that. They created miracles, but this is only what they retold us and hid the rest, modest as they were.

Thus, I forced myself, Marko Bishop of the Devol Parish, the fourth bishop of the Slav people, under the pressure of the Bishop who was one of the disciples of blessed Climent. We both hope to acquire grace from the blessed fathers, as well as welfare and forgiveness for our sins from our graceful God who says: "He who accepts the Prophecy in the name of the Prophet, shall be rewarded, while he who accepts the just in the name of justice, shall be given a deserved reward". And the divine apostle Paul said: "Remember your teachers who tell you the word of God and bearing in mind their lives, follow their faith".

Therefore, let us all, brothers, lead a good life like that of the graceful who preserved their viginity and purity to the fullest. They endured many miseries and pain for the true faith of God. We too shall find eternal goodness with Jesus Christ, our Lord. To Him be the glory and to the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and forever more, amen.