Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1916-06-12

task Of RilskN Monastery i about IL De-
finished. said Father Eugenius To the
correspondent. This monastery is The
cradle OF the new Bulgaria. It is the
bridge which spans the period Of suffer
ing and ~suhiugfrihn which divides fhe
Bulgaria n. TO-DAY iruin rnr great king
dom az the ancient bulgarian kings.
Father EugruiuN j. the head IT this
religions institution. one of the World IS
%taDlous mona>scricS. which i located
,brut fourteen miles from Eila. Ills pre-
nrc''>>"r~ have presided over A. MANY
III .tn Greek ciiInlir monks. TO-DAY thu
fn"ta~rrr, '"u>c> only thirty five.
Dufiu@ The rule ~ jhc Turks. the
Monks from The monastery we're sta
toned ia every Bulgarian town and vii
lage, teaching the Bulear> their Ian
guagc and keeping alive their faith.
cont innrd The Stalwart superior. Since
then conditions have changed. Tod: 4
our church has been re- established and
the government maintains good schools.
With that has passed the nee SSity l
k'rrin. the large .amher of members
wc had formerly
Risky Monastery was founded A.,
Ivan Risky between 90 and 4 900 A. II.
Ivan II the Ria desert, as he was called
vas al a%Scetic, who acquired The repn-
tdtion OF beng "a wise man. lie il said
30 nave lived IA a cabin near the sire Of
the present monastery Invited once IL
fi~it the court IT the king ~ tie i2uiga-
riiH~ ivan replied the king had better
'onie Z" him. ATJ,ind this man III force
soon collected. "a number of disciples
with Them ne founded the mOnaS ery
King John Shi>hmanh IA 1919 explain med
tn superior. gave t. the monastery The
ehltre surrounding then consisting ~
large forests ~ beach oak aud pine
covering the slopes uf the Ria mnun
tam range ~ the same time the mon
's'"rv was gra~ - 80 right ~ ar+on
"nns \ parchment tnr ~iN ta,r ~
i"""th n di-riaV"i An ,r"ut ~ THIS
~nian hnrad ,"niir..,i The --tat.
N>hiHrIt iu i4~ rights t.t,I ~ un--h
d. presented the monastery with 4 five
foot candle WAX. which j. also sill Ia
hc he seen in the library If the monas
tory. Little by little the wealth of the
Institution increased. 80 did the mum
Der uf its buildings. III l>i2 thu mon
a>trry WAS almost tu.ally DESTROYED h,
fire. nothing remaining intact with tn,
exception of 4 tower built in 1857 III
rebuilding the monastery the old walls
were made use of and care was taken t.
preserve the original Bvzanthian archi
lecture.
Today The establishment forms Nh III
regular quadrangle arni1d au interior
,,1irt. ~ about >.iun square yards Most
~ h wings are four stories high. Lpfts
arcadcS. supporting the galleries which
give connection To the .ino rooms ami
halls. give the whole ! majestic ASPECT
IN The center ~ the court stands he rh~
III ~ thr monastery ami over the steep
rel tiled roofs ~ thr quadrangle rr-.i,
The snow covered peaks ~ the Ria rang
IF which the Stag and King submits
9.'a" feet above sea level are the hiehes'
Nol ali of h. Turkish >mltan> wcr
the friends ~ the monastery. Thurs ii
happened that the >eclr>iun which Ivan
Risky had sought became time and
again the only protection Buigars from
the vicinity had against the peril> Of
war and misrule. The monastery may
be reached over a pass from Samokoff
but its principal approach hes through
a limile~ gorge from the village Of Ria
These two approaches could be- easily H.
Tended by a small number Of men.
On just one occasion was the monas
terry evorcome by military force-in 1895
the Serbian feudal lord Chrl correct
entered il. The tower of the monastery
is the onume of his conversion. 1t
was he who erected j..
u Three decades ago Risky Monaster
became often the refuge Of the Bulgarian
~comitadjes, VII had their headquar-
tiers in the Ria forests. Even today the
monastery is nearly seventy miles from
che railroad as inaccessible as ever and