04 — The Testament of St. John

The Zavet — the farewell counsels traditionally ascribed to St. John of Rila: one of the most cherished texts of Bulgarian Orthodoxy and one of its most contested. This section treats the document and its disputed authenticity, and then its actual teaching.

Tradition: Bulgarian Orthodox

The Testament is the one text claiming to be John’s own voice, and the only substantial guide to his monastic mind — yet a substantial body of philology judges the surviving text a later composition. This section handles the authenticity question honestly and then sets out the counsels on their own terms.

Files

File Description
the-zavet.md The Testament as a document: its self-dating to 25 March 941; the manuscript problem (no copy older than the 19th century); and the full scholarly debate over its authenticity, with the defenders and the late-daters named.
the-counsels.md The actual teaching, quoted at length: keeping the faith pure; gold and silver as the monk’s enemies; not hoping in kings and princes; humility; labor and the Jesus Prayer; and unity of heart.

See Also