December 23

Saint Naum was born around 830, likely in Moesia, in the lands known in his day as Bulgaria. Drawn early to the Gospel, he became a devoted disciple of Saints Cyril and Methodius and joined their mission to the Slavs in Great Moravia in 863. For more than two decades he labored to translate Scripture and teach the faith in the Slavic tongue, helping to shape a Christian culture through sacred learning. Ordained a priest in Rome, Naum endured opposition and even imprisonment when some resisted worship in the people’s own language. In 886 he found refuge in Bulgaria, where Prince Boris welcomed the missionaries and entrusted them with forming schools to teach theology in Slavonic. Naum helped found the great literary center at Pliska and later continued Saint Clement’s work at Ohrid, supporting the flowering of Slavic letters and the spread of the Cyrillic tradition. In 905 he founded a monastery on Lake Ohrid, where he died in 910 and was soon venerated as one of Bulgaria’s first native saints. He is honored as patron of Livoišta and Čanaklija. His feast day is December 23.