John of Rila is a monk. He is considered the greatest saint and hermit, heavenly protector and patron, founder of the largest stauropygial monastery in Bulgaria - Rila. The saint is also highly recognized in: In Russia, the earliest Russian transcripts of the Turnovo Prologue Life of St. John of Rila date from the middle of the 15th century and are included in the composition of verse prologues in the scriptories of the most significant monastery. . . complexes around Moscow: Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Joseph-Volokolamsky Monastery, Cyril-Belozersky Monastery and in the Novgorod-Pskov literary tradition. In Greece, the veneration of the Rila Hermit began in the 19th century. In 1819, it was included in a collection of lives of saints (synaksar), compiled by St. Nikodim Svetogorets. In 1895 it was included in the Great Synaxar of Constantine Dukakis; also in the Great Synaxar of Victor Matheus in 1950, and today - in the collection of Archimandrite Nikolai Protopapas. The right hand of St. John is kept in the monastery "Sveta Bogaroditsa" on the island of Tinos. In Serbia (XIV - XVII) - the earliest evidence of the entry of the cult into the Serbian lands are the Serbian poetic prologues of the XIV and XV centuries, testifying to the spread of veneration for St. John of Rila and the other three saints of Turnov throughout the territory of Serbia ( the monasteries Decani, Nikoljats, Pechka Patriarchate, Plevle, etc.). In the Moldavian-Wallachian principality (XV - XVIII) - the first Moldavian-Wallachian transcripts of the Tarnovo prologue life of St. John of Ril are related to the activity of the largest monastic centers of Neamts, Dragomirna, Putna.