Monkhood is one of the forms of and the ways for achieving the Christian ideal. True monkhood is a feat, i.e. voluntary foisting of certain vows and obligations. The holy life of St. Dimitry Bassarbovski became a bright para gon for a number of succeeding generations of monastery monks. Unfortu-natelly, the names and the lives of many of them are not known to us today. From the ones we know, we should mention the names of the Smollen’s bishop Tihon, that took care of the monastery in 1919, the monk Hadji Hri-sant that came in the monastery in 1937, and whose impressive life story is published with the initiative and the the support of Association for Bulgari-an Culture St. “Dimitry Bassarbovski”, That’s what we learn from the book:

Monk Hadji Hrisant (Hristo in the secular world) was born on 1^st of August 1888 in Draganovtsi (Sredni kolibi), near Elena, in the family of Stanka and Kostadin Hristovi. At six Hristo became an orphan since his father died. Stanka married again for a poor man with three children from Malko Vrano vo village, Rousse district. The step father was “stern, nervous and greedy for possessions”. In five years Hristo was expelled from home and  was given shelter by a childless family from Brush-lian village, Rousse district. For a mere trifle this second step father bate him once and “his heart became cold to these people.” Hristo ran out to Rousse and lived with different people, as a tailor’s, milkman’s, shoemaker’s, fur-dresser’s, coffee keeper’s, publican’s apprentice... After leaving the army he got sick from lungs decease and with tears in his eyes he begged God: “If You heal me, God, I will live and die for You!” In February 1914 he entered Preobra-jenski Monastery near Veliko Turnovo, during the time of the abbot archmonk Cyril. In an eight-hour-obedience he joined the army and took part in the First World War. He accepted monkhood in 1920 at Preobrajenski Mona-stery, where he stayed until 1930, receiving the name Hrisant, on the martyr St. Hrisant – March 19th. From 1930 to 1934  he was abbot of Rakovishki Monastery, Vidin eparchy. For a few years he visited Mount Athos, in Greece, many times. In 1931 he visited the holy places in Palestine and received the honorary title “Hadji”.

After his coming to Bassarbovski Monastery, Hrisant took to his renova-tion. After living a couple of years in the damp and cold cell built and con-secrated in 1937, he was forced to move on with all his belongings at the open caves above the monastery as a result of the river flood in 1940. Collecting, meanwhile, donations for the mo-nastery and materials for the erection of cells, finished in August 1940  Monk Hrisant rein-stated the monastery almost entirely in his own means, earned from the sales of stone blocks (he cut himself with a “catfish” hand-saw) and honey obtained from his 12 bee-hives. For his mindful work the monk received neither salary, nor pension in return. With mo-ney of his own he bought fruit trees, which he planted in the yard. Evil-doers damaged the trees and the hives many times, something that was experienced painfully by Hrisant.

On 3^rd of November 1956 father Hrisant visit-ed Bucharest, to pay his respect to the relics of St. Dimitry Bassarbovski. In “St. Constantine and Helena”  cathedral he met the Romanian patriarch Justinian, who invited him to lunch, and then presented him gifts. Moved by his attention and hospitability, Hrisant de-cided to return patriarch’s kindness and gave him a bread, he had perso-nally baked in St. Dimitry’s monastery. The most blessed patriarch was touched by that gift.

The last note in the monastery chronicles made by father Hrisant is from August 22, 1961. On the same page monk Parteny has written: “On Sept. 19th 1961, at 10:40 pm gave up his ghost monk Hrisant– abbot and first renovator of “St. Dimitry Bassar-bovski” monas-tery. In great pains and feat, the old man lived out his life.”       Monk Parteny was born on July 20, 1914 in Polsko Kosovo village, near Biala. He accepted monkhood on 7^th of April 1958 in Preobrajeski monas-tery. On 5^th of September 1966 he departed for Zografski monastery in Mount Athon, where he took care of the vegetable garden. He died in 1982 at 68.

After Parteny the Bassarbovski monastery was attended for 19 years by archdeacon Sabastian (later archimandrite), born on Jan. 11, 1948, died on Feb. 9, 1995 in a car accident .

 A lot of improvements for the monastery were made by the archpriest Jordan Vichev (born on August 1, 1940), parish priest in Shtruklevo village. He financed with his own money the construction of a cell, putting of iron bars on the windows and of iron doors.

 Stavroforen manciple Nedqlko Mavrodiev, parish priest in Tetovo village took many pains for the cleanness and the prosperity of the rock church, the cells and the churchyard. He organized solemn celebrations of the pat-ron’s holiday. The Christian brotherhood at Tetovo village’s church collect-ed under his guidance endowments for the monastery repeatedly.

 On 8^th of August 1993 archmonk Ilarion (16.06.1935 – 24.07.1999) enter ed the monastery. Erudite and cultured, he spoke German and met kindly monastery’s guests.

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