Life
Saint Prohor of Pčinja was a medieval Serbian holy man who lived as a hermit in the Pčinja River region in the vicinity of Vranje, most likely in the eleventh century. The details of his life are not entirely known from historical sources, but the hagiographic tradition has preserved a portrait of a man who left everything behind — family, city, human company — for the love of God and a life of prayer in the solitude of nature.
According to tradition, Prohor came from a distinguished Bulgarian or Macedonian family. As a young man he felt the strong inner call to solitude and unceasing prayer, for which reason he went into the wilderness to flee the noise of the world and be alone with God. After wandering through different regions he settled in the gorge of the Pčinja River, where he found shelter in a cave and began a life of strict asceticism — fasting, vigils, prayer, and manual labor.
His fame as a holy man and wonderworker spread quickly. The sick came to him, those with afflicted souls, and people seeking spiritual counsel. Prohor healed them through prayer and anointing, but always directing the glory to God rather than to himself. In the cave in the Pčinja gorge he spent years in prayer, and tradition records that he was visited there by the Bulgarian-Byzantine Emperor Michael IV Paphlagon, who was healed of a serious illness through Prohor’s prayer. Out of gratitude, the emperor aided in the building of the monastery above the cave, which was given the name of the holy hermit and stands there to this day.
Saint Prohor reposed in the Lord in the second half of the eleventh century, and his relics became a source of healing and consolation for the faithful of the entire region. The monastery of Saint Prohor of Pčinja, situated in the deep gorge above the Pčinja River, is still one of the most significant pilgrimage sites of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The relics of the saint rest there, and every year on his feast, October 19 by the Julian calendar (November 1 by the New Calendar), thousands of faithful gather for the feast liturgy and the blessing of holy water.
Prohor is the patron of his eponymous monastery and of the surrounding region, and his intercession is especially sought for the healing of bodily and mental illnesses, for the blessing of the home and family, and for protection against evil. The feast of Saint Prohor of Pčinja is marked with a festal Liturgy, the blessing of holy water, and the breaking of the slava bread.
Tropar (Tone 1)
O venerable Prohor, desert-dweller and God-bearer, who didst inhabit the Pčinja wilderness and shine forth with the light of sanctity — by prayer and fasting overcoming the evil one, thou wast glorified by God with miracles. Intercede with Christ God that He may save our souls.
Kontakion (Tone 2)
Having abandoned the earthly and chosen the heavenly, thou didst dwell in the cave of the Pčinja wilderness, O venerable Prohor, and didst enlighten those who came to thee with faith. Standing now before the throne of the Holy Trinity, intercede for us all.