Religion In Macedonia

Many of us have not even heard about this small piece of land located in Southeast Europe, in the central Balkan Peninsula. A piece in which centuries ago people were fighting to prove their religion and culture, and place it at the crossroad of eastern and western civilizations. A piece of land, which proved the world that the level of reverence and tolerance for different religious could be as high that religious and ethnic groups, both Christian and Muslim can share certain shrines, locations, and even feelings and moods associated with the same; a piece called Macedonia.
Macedonia is home to various religious and ethnic communities with ancient traditions. In the past and today, these religious communities live side by side, practice their …show more content…
This center of Slavic literacy and Orthodox spirituality has maintained an astonishing importance for the region since its founding in the 10th century. The reason why this monastery has been visited for more than a thousand of years, not just by the different religious people in Macedonia, but devotees from all across the Balkans and beyond, is the place within the monastery itself – the tomb of Saint Naum. Throughout this long period of time, the belief in the healing powers of Saint Naum has been expressed by Muslims, Christians, Roms, Jews and all the other religious groups in Macedonia. Members of all these religious groups come to pay homage to his tomb and leave money and gifts in the church, where they pray and ask for their sins to be forgiven. The special ritual in this place is kneeling in front of the tomb of Saint Naum, placing the head on the tomb and asking for a wish to be granted while listening to his heart beating. I had many chances to visit this monastery and kneel in front of the tomb, pray and ask for forgiveness and fulfillment of all my wishes, while placing my head to listen to the saint’s heart. It sounds unimaginable, how can a heart still beat when the saint has been dead for thousands of years? Yet a lot of Christian believers, including myself, believe that his heart is still beating for all of us, making the feeling when leaning your head on his tomb indescribable. However, some worshippers spend the whole night at the monastery or they sit until midnight by the tomb, which is considered to be the most effective practice for the successful granting of wishes. The belief in Saint Naum’s miracle-working and healing powers is present in many testimonies of believers whose wishes have come true. They mainly refer to granting wishes related to the birth of a child, and curing