On June 9, the Macedonian Orthodox Church-Ohrid Archbishopric celebrated the canonization of two new saints, Spas and Spasa Vishenski. The liturgy, held in the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Ohrid, was led by Archbishop Stefan of Ohrid and Macedonia. He was joined by a host of hierarchs from the Macedonian Church, Metropolitan Cyprian of Stara Zagora (Bulgarian Church), and Bishop Arsenije of Niš (Serbian Church).

The Macedonian Holy Synod decided to canonize the brother and sister, Spas and Spasa Vishenski, in April of this year. The feast day for their commemoration has been designated as the Sunday before the Ascension of Christ, known as the Sunday of the Blind Man.

According to tradition, Saints Spas and Spasa lived during the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans. They were orphans who hid from the Turks in remote locations. Saint Spasa lived an ascetic life and passed away in a cave church in Vishno. One day, she appeared to a bedridden woman named Maria, a Christian from Belitsa, and asked her to "find and gather her bones." After the saint's second appearance, Maria was able to get up from her bed. Together with her brother, she went to find the relics. When she gathered the relics to take them to the village church, she felt extraordinary joy and lightness in her body and was completely healed.

The relics of the saints were brought from the village of Vishno. On the eve of the feast, the rite of washing the relics was performed in the Church of Saint Athanasius in Vishno. They were then displayed for veneration in the Cathedral of Saint Sophia in Ohrid.

Photo: Debar-Kičevo Diocese / dke.org.mk