V. ПОДВИЖНИЦЫ МАЛОЙ АЗИИ

The mother of Gregory the Theologian, blessed Nonna, was the daughter of good Christians, Filtat and Gorgonia, the aunt of St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium. Her parents raised her according to the rules of Christian piety. By marriage they united her with Gregory of Arian, a wealthy man, owner of lands and slaves in the districts of Arian and Nazian. The marriage was beneficial according to earthly calculations, but difficult for Nonna’s pious soul. Gregory of the Arian was a pagan, and of an improved style. He was a follower of the sect of the supreme (Ipsistarians), revered the Supreme God and observed some Jewish rituals, but at the same time bowed to fire and lamps. Pious Nonna shed many prayers and tears for her husband’s conversion to the holy truth. Let's listen to what Nonna's son, St. Grigory. “She did not tolerate,” he says, “being in union with a non-religious person, and although she was the most patient and courageous of the wives, she could not endure this calmly, so that one half would be in union with God, and the other part of herself would remain alienated from God. On the contrary, she wanted the spiritual union to be added to the carnal union. Therefore, day and night she fell before God, in fasting and with many tears she asked Him to grant salvation to her head, she tirelessly acted on her husband, trying to win him in various ways: reproaches, persuasion, services, excommunications, and most of all with her life and fiery zeal for piety, by which the heart most strongly bows and softens, voluntarily allowing herself to be led to virtue. She had to, like water, break through a stone with the continuous fall of a drop, and from time to time expect success in what she tried, as the consequence justified. She asked for this, expected this not so much with the fervor of her youth, but with the firmness of faith. And no one relied on the tangible as boldly as she did on the expected, knowing from experience the generous love of God. At the same time, the cause of salvation was helped by reason, which was gradually healed, as well as sleepy visions, which God often sends as a gift to a soul worthy of salvation. What is this vision? This is where the most enjoyable part of the story begins for me. It seemed to my father that (which he had never done before, although his wife asked and begged for it many times) he was singing the following verse of David: “We rejoiced at those who said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord” (Ps. 121:1). And the singing is unprecedented, and along with the song comes desire! When the one whose wish was granted heard about this, she took advantage of the time and explained the vision in the kindest way possible, in which she was absolutely right; With her very joy she discovers the greatness of the good deed and speeds up the work of salvation, so that nothing interferes with the calling and does not upset what she tried so hard for. At that time, many bishops were gathering in Nicaea to confront the fury of Arius, the recent heresy that had fragmented the Divinity. The parent surrenders himself to God and the preachers of truth, reveals his desire to them and seeks their help for salvation. Among them was the famous Leonty, who then ruled our metropolis.” So, after much work and prayers, St. Nonna, her husband, a pagan, became a Christian in 325. Since at the baptism of Gregory the grace of God tangibly descended on him and even unconsciously something from the rank of the priesthood was added, soon after baptism Gregory was ordained a priest. And he was a priest of God for about 9 years. Gregory, illuminated by the grace of God, deeply understood the calling of a Christian and a Christian priest. Therefore, he completely devoted himself to the affairs of his new title, and left the care of the estates and the care of the house to his wife. So new labors began for the pious Nonna. And she worked as a sincere Christian. In the same way, Nonna was especially responsible for raising the children who were born at this time. Nonna had two sons, Gregory and Caesarea, and a daughter, Gorgonia. The first was asked from God through the prayers of the mother. Following the desire, common for many mothers, to have a son, Nonna prayed to God for a son. And God listened to her fervent prayer. This was revealed to her in a vision in which she saw the image of her future son and heard his name. The pious Nonna dedicated Gregory to God at his very birth. Just as she zealously cared for her husband’s conversion to the holy faith, with the same zeal she raised her children in Christian piety. “Not only does she herself possess piety, but she passes it on to her children. Having accepted from her ancestors a faith pleasing to God, she bound those born with it with this golden chain.” She loved children dearly, but Christ above all, therefore she cared most of all that Christ should be portrayed in children. Son Gregory, even in the later years of his life, recalled how his mother once told him the story of the sacrifice of Isaac, trying to arouse in his soul a fiery desire to fulfill the vow made before his birth, how at the same time she handed him an expensive treasure - the Holy Scripture, so that he, studying in it from his very youth, would be filled with his spirit. When her priest husband was ordained a bishop, the pious Nonna also devoted herself to more zealous service to the Lord. Blazh. Jerome said to Jovinian, the detractor of virginity: “You must admit that one who would have children in the bishopric cannot be a bishop; If such a person were found, he would be considered not a spouse, but an adulterer. Bishops are elected from virgins or widows, or cease to be spouses if they have wives.” This, he adds, is the general law in the West and in the East. As was common practice, the bishop's ex-wife, Nonna, was ordained a deaconess. “Nonna stepped to the altar, praying at it, the pure sacrifice was taken from here.” In the rank of deaconess, she helped her bishop a lot in his administration, so that his successes in difficult cases were attributed to the especially intelligent thoughts of the deaconess. A wonderful picture of the life of St. Nonna, drawn by her son, especially from her last years. “She knew,” says St. Gregory, - one true nobility is to be pious and to know where we came from and where we will go; One reliable and inalienable wealth is to spend your property for God and for the poor, especially for impoverished relatives. Satisfying only their needs, in her opinion, did not mean ending the disaster, but reminding them of it; She considered doing good with all her generosity as a deed that could bring both her lasting glory and complete consolation to them. If some of the wives are distinguished by frugality, and others by piety, for it is difficult to combine both qualities, then she surpassed everyone in both, and in each she reached the height of perfection, and was able to combine both in one herself. By diligence and vigilance, according to Solomon’s instructions and rules for a wife more noble, she multiplied everything in the house, as if she knew no piety at all. But she was also so zealous for God and for everything divine, no matter how much she was involved in household chores. One did not suffer damage from the other, but one was mutually supported by the other. What time and place of prayer was hidden from her? That was her first thought every day. It’s better to say, who, when starting to pray, had so much hope of receiving what he asked? Who showed such respect for the hand and face of priests? Who valued so highly every kind of wise life? Who more than she exhausted the flesh with fasting and vigil? Who stood more reverently than her during all-night vigils and daytime psalmody? Who more often praised her virginity, although she herself bore the bonds of marriage? Who was the best intercessor for widows and orphans? Who alleviated the plight of those who were crying to such an extent? Truly, a generous wife! If they had allowed her to draw from the Atlantic or other vast seas, she would have lacked even that. So great was her desire to give alms. All the property that they had and that was subsequently added, she considered meager for her desire. If it were possible, I would give myself and my children for the benefit of the poor (as I heard from her more than once). “An empty word did not come out of her mouth, and effeminate laughter did not play on her cheeks. In sacred meetings and places, except for the necessary and mysterious proclamations, her voice was never heard. She honored the shrine with silence; never turned her back to the venerable meal; I didn’t spit on the floor in God’s church. Having met a pagan, she never joined hands with each other, did not touch lips to lips, even if the person she met was distinguished by modesty and was one of the closest; with those who ate an unclean and nasty meal, she not only voluntarily, but also under compulsion, did not share salt; she could not, contrary to the demands of her conscience, pass by or even see the desecrated house; neither hearing nor tongue, with which she received and broadcast the divine, she did not desecrate with pagan narratives and spectacular songs, because everything unsanctified is indecent for the sanctified. But the most amazing thing is that, although she was greatly struck by sorrows, even those of others, she never indulged in carnal crying until a mournful voice erupted before thanksgiving, or a tear fell on her eyelids, mysteriously sealed, or at the onset of a bright holiday sad clothes remained on her, although many times many suffered her sorrows. For the God-loving soul tends to subordinate everything human to the divine. I will keep silent about even more secret matters, to which God alone is a witness and about which only the faithful slaves, who were her confidants, knew. Such perfections were partly already in her, and partly they multiplied and grew gradually. Just as the sun produces the most pleasant effect with its morning rays, but its midday rays are warmer and brighter, so she, having shown considerable success in piety from the very beginning, finally shone with the most abundant light.” The last years of Blessed Nonna brought her a number of sad events that were very close to her heart. In 368, her youngest son Caesarea, a young man who showed brilliant promise, died; the following year the daughter died. According to her son, the courageous old woman endured these losses with submission to the will of God. In 370, Elder Bishop Gregory participated in the consecration of the Great Basil as Bishop of Caesarea. The very old man stayed on the ground only by a miracle. Blessed Nonna, who was not much younger than her bishop, was also ready to move on to another life: but through the prayers of her loving son she was kept on earth for a while. “My mother,” says the son, “has always been strong and courageous, she has not felt any illness all her life, but illness befalls her too. Of the many sufferings, so as not to multiply words, I will name the most severe - aversion to food, which lasted for many days and could not be cured by any medicine. How does God feed her? He does not send down manna, as he did of old to Israel; It is not a stone that opens up to bring out water to thirsty people; He does not feed through ravens, like Elijah; not through the admired prophet does he satisfy, as once Daniel did, tormented by famine in the ditch. But how? She imagined that I, who was especially beloved by her (even in her dream, she did not prefer anyone else to me), suddenly appeared to her at night with a basket and the whitest loaves, then, having said a prayer over them and sealed them with the sign of the cross, according to our custom, I gave her a taste and thereby restored and strengthened her strength. And this night vision was something truly significant for her, for from that time on she came to her senses and was no longer hopeless. And what happened to her was revealed in a clear and obvious way. When, at daylight, I went up to her early in the morning, the first time I saw her in the best possible position, then I began, as usual, to ask: how did you spend the night and what did she need? Without hesitating at all, she said eloquently: “You yourself, dear son, nourished me and then ask about my health. You are very kind and compassionate!” At the same time, the maids showed me signs so that I would not contradict, but would accept her words indifferently and would not dishearten her with the discovery of the truth.” At the beginning of 374, the centenarian old bishop died. Blessed Nonna, who almost never left the church to pray after that, died shortly after his death while praying in the church on August 5, 374. St. Emilia, Macrina and Theosevia The grandmother, mother and two sisters of Basil the Great, by the goodness of God, were sincere, wonderful servants of God. Blessed Emilia in her youth strongly desired to remain a virgin until death. But having lost her mother and father early, from whom the emperor’s anger took away his property and life, she was forced to act against her own desires. Her rare beauty made her the subject of youth searches, so there was a plan to kidnap her. Homelessness and danger to her soul forced her to seek support for herself in a pious husband, and the general opinion about the high qualities of the lawyer Vasily disposed her to agree to give her hand to Vasily. The young wife of Vasily found herself a great mentor in the mother of her husband, St. Makrine. Grandmother of St. Basil the Great had a wonderful wife in intelligence and piety. She was a student of St. Gregory the Wonderworker, Bishop of Neocaesarea. During the Diocletian persecution, which continued under Galere and Maximin, she and her husband were among those who decided better to wander from one place to another, to endure poverty, hunger and all troubles, than to change their faith. In 305 they retired to the Pontic forests and remained wanderers for seven years. In the dense forest they were deprived of all human assistance, they reached an extreme lack of food, but God, through their prayer, sent them wonderful help. Beautiful goats, descending from the mountain, easily approached them and gave themselves into their hands. This visible cover of the Almighty strengthened the exiles in patience and struggle for faith. Under Licinius (in 320), their estates were confiscated. Macrina remained firm in her faith. It is clear how much such a great wife meant to the young wife Emilia. Her grandson, Basil the Great, once wrote to the neo-Caesarians: “What proof of my faith could be clearer than the fact that I was raised by my grandmother, a blessed wife, who is yours by birth? I’m talking about the fiery Macrina, from whom I learned the words of the most blessed Gregory, which she herself preserved as a gift of tradition, and imprinted on us, still babies, forming us with the dogmas of piety.” Vasily and Emilia lived with the same thoughts and feelings - Christian. Emilia, with the consent of her husband, fed the poor, calmed the strange, helped the sick, and made donations to churches. Although the parents of both spouses were deprived of almost their entire fortune during the persecution for St. faith, but God, for the good deeds of the spouses, increased their earthly property so much that there was no one in that region richer than them. They owned lands in three provinces - Pontus, Cappadocia and Lesser Armenia. Subsequently, each of the children had more in their share than the father received. When son Peter was born, his father died and Emilia was left with nine children. She raised everyone in deep piety. Three of them were bishops: Basil, Gregory and Peter. St. Gregory of Nazianza spoke with delight about Emilia: “She gave the world so many such lamps, sons and daughters, married and celibate; she is happy and fertile like no one else. Three glorious priests, one participant in the mysteries of the priesthood, the others - the face of the celestials. I'm amazed at how rich Emilia's family is! The pious blood of Emilia is the property of Christ; this is the root! Most excellent! This is the reward of your piety: the glory of your sons, with whom you have the same desires.” His son, Basil the Great, triumphantly pointed out to his enemies that he was taught the faith by his mother Emilia. Emilia's granddaughters, the children of one of her daughters, were in charge at the Caesarea monastery. The eldest of Emilia's children was Macrina, and Macrina was her mother's helper for earth and heaven. God was pleased, when Emilia was pregnant for the first time, to announce to her about this daughter and show her what the daughter would be. She dreams that she is carrying her daughter in her arms and that a majestic old man, approaching the child, called her Thekla three times. Emilia woke up and gave birth so easily that, as soon as the dream ended, a daughter was born. From that time on, mother and father were convinced that the name given to their daughter was a foreshadowing of the daughter’s qualities, close to the qualities of St. Thekla maidens. A nurse was called into the house, but the child almost did not leave his mother’s arms, he was calm only in her arms. Emilia deeply understood the duty of a mother. If a man, in the hustle and bustle of life and caring about it, is not always attentive to himself, then all the more far from him is the constant supervision of the development of inclinations and concepts in children. Therefore, it is primarily the mother’s duty to supervise the development of the child’s mental and physical strength. Unhappy is the mother who does not want to know her calling, so high! Emilia treasured this calling. Apparently, some mothers are not carefree about their children; but from experience it turns out that she still did not fulfill her duty. Why is this so? Because she taught the children the wrong things, what and how they should teach. The upbringing of Macrina deserves special attention all the more because Emilia herself took it as a model by which she raised other children, and especially her daughters, and one cannot help but wish that other parents would follow this model. The Greeks almost always began teaching children with fables and some literary works, just like our dear progressive teachers. Emilia saw that in pagan works there were many thoughts and pictures that were offensive to a pure soul. (If only there were fewer of those glorified by progressives!) Therefore, she took the sacred songs of David and the parables of Solomon for educational books. From them she chose some passages of prayer, or praise, or with lessons of life wisdom and forced her to learn them by heart. So, no matter what Macrina did, the sacred verses-instructions were also her constant companions-supervisors (and not dissolute teachers). Emilia taught her daughter to sing, but did not let her sing the song of Anacreon and Sappho. Everything that could leave impressions of rottenness and moral stench in the young soul was removed by the mother from the sight and ears of her youth. Mothers themselves took their children (they still consider it their duty to take them) to the theater and amphitheater. Emilia recognized that even then there was irreparable harm from theatrical scenes, that they weaned the soul from the love of work and taught it to frivolity and absent-mindedness. She taught her daughter women's handicrafts and housekeeping, especially since physical labor strengthens her health. Is it so now? Here is a respectable parent and mother walking with their children. A young man walks next to them. The smaller eight-year-old boy felt hot and took off his velvet caftan. The young man immediately offers his services, takes and carries the caftan, which weighs a pound. The parent stood up and, taking the caftan and handing it to her son, said timidly: “Let him get used to it.” Of course, thank God for the fact that “let him get used to it!” But dear mother! Are you kind to your son and to yourself that your son is weighed down by a pound of weight and you are preparing different types of weights for yourself from him? Don't be inferior to a female. After homework, Emilia took her daughter to the Church of God to listen to sacred songs and prayers. Her son, already a saint, wrote “to young men about how to use pagan works,” Emilia’s pedagogy meant so much. Macrina, who had grown up, was a beauty in body and soul. Оберегая душу ее, скрывали ее от взоров нескромных. But the immodest managed to see her, others learned about the wonderful qualities of her soul. Therefore they began to look for her hands. The father chose a worthy groom for his daughter and spoke about the chosen one. God, who was preparing a different atmosphere for the pure dove, arranged it in his own way. While the chosen groom tried to strengthen the good opinion of himself in the Macrina family by defending the innocently accused, an illness was sent to him and he died. This decided the future of Macrina. Когда родители предлагали ей других женихов, она отвечала: «Жених мой не умер, он только в отлучке, зачем же изменять ему?» Now Macrina tried more than ever to be useful to her mother. Several maids could not perform as many services as Macrina alone performed. And her mother loved her dearly. “I carried other children,” she said, “only for a while, but I was never separated from Macrina.” This connection between daughter and mother was beneficial for both, and the benefit was invaluable: the mother controlled her daughter’s feelings and thoughts, and the daughter cared for her mother to such an extent that she baked bread for her and sewed linen with her own hands. When the father of the family died, Macrina was her mother’s main assistant in managing estates located in different regions. What was more important was that Macrina had influence on the moral life of the entire family. Although her mother stood on a high level of moral life, Macrina insensitively led her higher and higher by the example of her life. She inspired Brother Vasily to devote himself exclusively to the study of Gospel wisdom. She educated Peter, being his second mother and mentor. When all the brothers and sisters could already manage their affairs and themselves, she persuaded her mother to retire with her to the monastery. With such determination, mother and daughter built a monastery in Pontus, on the banks of the river. Iris, not far from Mount Ivora. There, having removed everything that could scatter them, they changed their way of life: they turned their maidservants into their girlfriends and devoted themselves mainly to prayer. St. Gregory describes their desert life this way: “There was no difference in the community with regard to food and drink, as well as with regard to cells and furniture and other needs of life. The inequality of fortunes, classes, and significance in the former secular life did not leave any trace here. The life they led was so holy, its virtue so high, that I cannot describe it. Their precision in fulfilling the duties of the charter day and night corresponded to the zeal with which they burned. They could be compared with those blessed souls who, having left the shackles of the body, soar to heaven; their hearts were so cleansed of everything earthly that, one might say, they lived like angels. There was no sign of anger, envy, suspicion or hatred in them. They threw away all secular vanity - the desire for distinction, fame, brilliance. Their pleasure lay in abstinence, glory in obscurity, wealth in lack of property, strength in weakness; They shook off everything worldly from themselves like dust. Every minute was considered lost if it were spent on something external and perishing. Their activities consisted of prayer and the singing of psalms, uninterrupted neither day nor night.” Blessed Macrina ascended from perfection to perfection, conquering with firmness the manifestations of the corruption of nature. Regarding everyday needs, Blessed Peter helped Macrina and the monastery, who was raised by her and who now repaid her for her kindness with diligent care for his sister and mother: he lived not far away, in another monastery, which was built by his mother and where St. first labored. Vasily. The latter also helped his sister and mother from time to time. The mother and daughter visited were an unexpected loss. Naucrates, the second son of Emilia, was brought dead from the desert along with a servant, and no one could explain the reasons for his death. Macrina was all the more amazing in this case because, shocked to the depths of her heart by the loss of her beloved brother, she so overcame her feelings with thoughts of faith that she calmed her inconsolable mother. “There were no cries or groans, no tears or other ordinary manifestations of the cruel grief of a mother and sister, there was only everything worthy of wives who dedicated themselves to God.” How strong in spirit blessed Macrina was, how close her soul was to the Lord, this was revealed on a special occasion. An extraordinary growth had formed under Macrina’s neck, on her chest; They assumed that it was an internal abscess, and considered it necessary to perform a surgical operation, so that otherwise the disease would not spread to the lungs and liver and cause death. The mother begged Macrina to agree to follow the medical advice. “The doctor was given by God for our benefit,” said the tender mother. But the tall virgin decided to endure all the suffering rather than expose her body in front of the cameraman’s eyes. She turned her hopes to the Lord. Having stayed with her mother until the all-night vigil, she retired to the prayer room of the monastery and spent the whole night there in tears, begging the Heavenly Doctor to show His will over her. Then she took some earth, soaked with her tears, and applied it to the sore part of the body. Her hopes were not disappointed. Returning to her mother, she said that if she wishes her recovery, then let her make the sign of the cross over the sore spot. The mother wanted to do this, but, putting her hand to her daughter’s chest, she noticed that the growth had disappeared, only a sign remained, as if the place had been pricked with a needle. “It was God’s will,” says St. Gregory, “to leave this trace as a monument to the miracle that took place.” Emilia, having reached a ripe old age, was finally to experience the common lot of mortals. Of her children, only Macrina and Peter were with her. Feeling the approach of death, she spoke with inexpressible tenderness to those present about those who were absent, and with prayer for her children her holy life ended on May 8, 375. Less than four years passed after that, and then St. died. Basil the Great ( Jan. 1st 379). If his death plunged the entire Church into deep sorrow, then how must Macrina have suffered when the news of his death reached her desert? She understood his significance for the modern Church, and she was his tender sister. But just as gold is purified by fire, so the soul of the great virgin, having gone through three difficult losses for her, renounced earthly things. 9 months have passed since then. There was a Council in Antioch, at which St. Gregory of Nyssa. He was in a hurry to see his sister Macrina after the loss of his brother. “The day before my arrival,” he says, “I had a vision in a dream. It seemed that I was carrying the relics of the martyr in my arms, and such light emanated from them that I could not look at its brightness. This vision happened three times in one night. And I could not understand the meaning of the vision, only some kind of sadness was in my soul. Approaching the monastery where my sister spent her angelic life, I asked one of the many who met me, was my brother there? He replied that his brother left in four days, and his sister was sick. I hurried: my heart sank within me. Upon arrival at the monastery and its church, I went to my sister’s cell. She was lying not on the bed, not on the mattress, but on the ground, on a board covered with hair shirt; instead of a pillow under her head there was another board, placed at an angle. My sister was very sick and when she saw me, unable to get up due to weakness, she rose up on her beggarly bed to receive me with honor. I ran up to her, calmed her down, laid her down; then, raising her hands to the sky, she said: “Thank you, Lord my God! You fulfilled my desire, You inspired Your servant to visit Your servant.” She tried to hide the heaviness of her breathing from us and, in order to sweeten our sadness about her, she increased her smile and talked to us about subjects pleasant to us. The speech leaned toward the late Great Basil. I couldn't stop the sadness from showing on my face. But she, inspired by lofty thoughts, spoke to us with such sublimity about the wondrous look of God, extending to all cases of earthly life, that my soul, carried away by her, soared above all natural feelings and flew to heaven. Then I could not marvel at how she, consumed by a fever that had deprived her of strength and had already poured cold sweat over her exhausted body, could retain complete freedom of thought, like Job, covered with wounds. She easily, subtly, sublimely explained the state of the soul, the life we ​​spend on earth, the purpose for which we are born, the immortality in which our once mortal body will be clothed, and why we must enter into a new life. Words flowed from her mouth like a stream from a source that nothing stops. Finally she told me: “It’s time for you, brother, to rest after a hard and long journey.” What rest could be sweeter than her words? But I obeyed and took refuge under the shade of trees in a nearby garden. My vision about the relics was explained, I told some of those who were here about it. My holy sister, penetrating my thoughts from afar, sent to tell us not to be distressed, her illness is a blessing; she meant death, about which she sighed in order to quickly enjoy the sight of the Savior. We immediately got up and went to her. Not wanting to waste the last minutes of her life on useless things, she began to talk about everything that had happened to her since childhood as if she was reading from a book; I counted all the blessings with which God had bestowed upon our father, mother, and family, and blessed Him from the depths of my soul for His mercies. I began to talk about how much I suffered when I was exiled for my faith by Emperor Valens, and about other disasters of church unrest. “Will you stop,” she said, “to lose sight of all the good deeds that you owe to God. Beware of ingratitude. He rewarded you with favors more generously than his parents. Although my father became famous in his youth in public affairs, which earned him the respect of his fellow citizens, his name did not cross the borders of Pontus. And your name has spread so far that the Churches invite you, they turn to you to restore order and rules between them. Find out, with deep gratitude of your heart, this is the mercy of God and the effect of the prayers of our parents.” After listening to the prayers of the all-night vigil and resting at night, when morning came, it was not difficult for me to be convinced that this morning was the last for the patient: the fever had consumed the remainder of the sufferer’s strength. My soul was agitated by two feelings - grief, because my sister’s tenderness aroused in me tenderness for her, saint, from her lips I heard the last words; another feeling was amazement at the sight of the expressed calm with which she awaited her death. The sun was already close to setting, the strength and energy of her mind did not weaken in the least. She stopped talking to us. With folded hands, motionless eyes fixed on the dwelling of the Heavenly Bridegroom (her beggar's bed faced the east), she spoke to Him sweetly and so quietly that we could hardly hear other words. But we understood what she was saying to Him: “Lord! You deliver us from the fear of death... The end of this life is the beginning of true life... You leave us to rest for a while and awaken us with the sound of the trumpet at the end of the ages... Eternal God, to whom I belong from my mother’s womb, to whom I have always loved with all the strength of my heart, to whom I have dedicated my body and soul! Give me a bright angel who would accompany me and lead me to the holy fathers, to a place of peace and coolness. You, who forgave one of those crucified with You, as soon as he resorted to Your mercy! Remember me too in Your Kingdom... Let not the terrifying darkness separate me from Your chosen ones; Let the envious spirit not prevent me from soaring to You; May my sins disappear before You. You forgive mortals, forgive the sins I have committed due to the weakness of nature, in a word, in a thought, so that, leaving this body, I feel cleansed from all filth and You would accept my soul as an incense before You! After this touching and loving conversation with the Savior, she made the sign of the cross on her lips, eyes and heart... When it got dark and the candles were brought in, she opened her eyes and said that she wanted to read the all-night vigil, but her voice betrayed her, she only mentally prayed and read the psalms, we were silent. Having finished, she tried to raise her hand to her face to cross herself, a long and deep sigh escaped from her chest, and her life ended along with her prayer.” The hermits, who had drowned out sadness and groans in their hearts out of respect for the abbess, now that she was gone, filled the air with sobs and cries of grief. Vestiana, a pious woman who, having lost her husband, chose St. Macrina as the leader of spiritual life, remained with the deceased when others left. The saint asked whether it would not be considered necessary to dress the deceased in decent clothes? They called Lampadia, and she answered that the deceased had never liked beautiful clothes, and she had no other clothes except the one they saw on her. “Do you have anything left?” - asked the saint. “Here,” answered Lampadia, “a worn-out robe, a mark and shoes - all her wealth. The chests and closet are empty, she has nothing on the ground.” Such was the poverty of the holy virgin! A thin robe, a basting and shoes - these are all the property of the abbess, the one who received a rich inheritance. The body was covered with one of the robes of the saint - the brother, and on top was covered with the mantle of the deceased mother. Vestiana, who was dressing the deceased, found a cord under the deceased’s head, on which there was a cross, and a small iron ring. “Let’s divide the inheritance,” said the saint, “take yourself a cross, and give me a ring.” “Your choice is happy,” Vestiana answered, “in this ring there is a piece of the life-giving tree.” The rumor about the death of the saint called a countless number of people of all ranks to the monastery. The local bishop arrived with his clergy. He and St. Gregory and the senior presbyters carried the coffin to the Church of the Martyrs, where it was placed next to his mother’s coffin in the family crypt. Blessed Macrina performed miracles even in her earthly life, healed the sick, cast out demons, miraculously multiplied bread. “But,” says the saint, “people are reluctant to believe what they do not see with their own eyes,” and therefore, in order not to lead to unbelief, he does not describe miracles. Epitaph of St. Gregory of Nazianus Macrina: “Here is a monument to the famous maiden. You, of course, have heard about Macrina, the eldest daughter of the great Emilia. She hid herself from the eyes of every man. But now she is on everyone’s tongue and her glory is the most resounding.” The same great saint saluted another daughter of St. Emilia - St. Theosevia. A strange mistake was made about Theosevia - a mistake that was especially offensive to the saint, one or the other. Theosevia, glorified by the great theologian, was considered the wife of St. Gregory of Nyssa, then St. Gregory of Nazianza. Why did they think so? Because they did not take the trouble to understand the exact meaning of the name “Yaeset uyzhzgit”, with which Theozevia is honored by the Theologian. In relation to the Nyssa archpastor, one must keep in mind that St. The theologian calls Theosevia the sister of Gregory of Nyssa and the daughter of the great Emilia. How could she be the wife of her own brother? After that, only paganism could retain behind the words “Yaeset uhzzgpt” the meaning of the priest’s wife. At St. Theologian this means that Theosevia, with the rank of deaconess, was a faithful companion of her brother, a zealous assistant to him in the affairs of the bishop. Then it is easy to understand that the words “Yaeset uhzzgpt” were in vain attributed to the marriage of Gregory of Nazian. He says “my Theosevia,” but he also directly says that he does not understand bodily relations. Comforting St. Gregory of Nyssa at the death of Theosevia, St. The theologian wrote: “I hear that after the death of your holy and blessed sister, you maintain intelligible patience and wisdom, like a good, perfect husband, standing before God, knowing God and humanity more than others. What is very bitter and difficult for others was easy for you - to send such a sister who lived with you away from you, to place her in a safe home, in the words of Holy Scripture, “like a haystack of a threshing floor, brought down in time” (Job 5:26). Although she tasted the pleasures of life, yet due to her age she was freed from sorrows. Before I mourned you, I was honored by you with a wonderful burial, which should be for such wives. And I myself, believe me, wish for repose, if not in the same measure as you (this would be a lot to say about myself), then no less than you. But are we able to do anything against the statute of God, which has long been so powerful over us, which stole my Theosevia (who lived for God calling her own, because spiritual kinship is higher than the physical), Theosevia, the glory of the Church, the adornment of Christ, the need of our age, the boldness of the female sex, with such beauty of her brothers, she was distinguished by her brilliant beauty, Theosevia is truly sacred, a fellow priest, venerable and worthy of the great sacraments, Theosevia, whose memory will be preserved in the future on the immortal pillars, i.e. on the souls of all those who have known her until now and who will recognize her later! And don’t be surprised if I repeat her name many times, because I enjoy the memory of the blessed one. And this is my tombstone for her, and for you a comforting word that contains a lot in a little.” St. Gregory also left an epitaph: “Theosevia, sister of the Great Basil.” “And that Theosevia, daughter of the glorious Emilia, faithful comrade of the great Gregory, covered here with sacred soil. Supporter of pious wives, you left this life in time.” In Emilia’s inscription, he distinguishes Theosevia from Emilia’s other children as follows: “One is a participant in the mysteries of the priesthood.” Yes, blessed one. Theosevia was a deaconess who dedicated her life to being a faithful assistant to her brother-bishop. Theosevia, “worthy of great sacraments, participant in the mysteries of the priesthood.” As a deaconess, she was an actor in the baptism of wives; as a deaconess, she oversaw the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist, which was inaccessible to the laity, even to men. “Choose,” the ancient canons tell the bishop, “a faithful and holy deaconess to serve wives. It sometimes happens that you cannot send a deacon to the wives in some houses because of unbelievers; Then, to calm the thoughts of evil people, you can send a deaconess.” As a deaconess, Theosevia carried out the bishop’s orders for wives in hospitals, prisons, and on deathbeds. It is not for nothing that the Theologian more than once calls Theosevia a comrade, a faithful comrade of the great Gregory. This name allows us to see that if Gregory the bishop suffered, then Theosevia also suffered. In 375, Gregory, slandered, was expelled from the throne by the Arians, and for three years, until Valens died, he wandered, moving from one place to another. The zealous shepherd did not remain inactive even then. “The good that you spread is durable, although you yourself do not have a stable place,” St. wrote to him. Theologian. Theosevia, the faithful companion of the great Gregory, shared a wandering life with her brother-bishop; she, on behalf of the bishop, acted on the wives in maintaining Orthodoxy, oppressed by Arian power. What a great service of the wondrous virgin! Theosevia is “truly sacred, the support of pious wives.” She is a deaconess not just by name, she sanctified herself with the zealous service of St. faith and sisters. The letter comforting her brother about the death of Theosevia was written in 385. This means that Theosevia, upon her brother’s return to the see, continued her ministry as a deaconess for another seven years. Memory of St. Theosevia - January 10, on the same day when the memory of St. Gregory of Nyssa, to whom she was such a diligent assistant. “In the city of Ankyra of Galatia,” writes Palladius, a zealous visitor to the ascetics, “there are many virgins, about two thousand or more; they strive in a holy, virtuous life, maintain abstinence and perform holy work with zeal. Among them, the first place in pious life is occupied by Magna, a most respectable and experienced wife. I don’t know whether to call her a maiden or a widow. Her mother forced her to marry, but she rejected her husband under various pretexts, pretended that she was sick, and thus remained inviolable and immaculate, as her relatives say. Her husband soon died, and she remained the only heir after him. Then she devoted herself entirely to God.” “It is a great gain to be pious and content (moderate in desires). “We brought nothing into the world; It is clear that we cannot learn anything from it” (1 Tim. 6:6–8). “Pure and undefiled godliness before God and the Father is this: to visit the orphans and widows... and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). “Let double honor be given to elders who rule in a worthy manner, especially to those who labor in word and doctrine” (1 Timothy 5:17). This is the apostolic teaching! This is what the blessed one did. Magna. “What wealth she had, she distributed to monasteries, to the homes of the poor and strange, to churches, bishops, widows, orphans and other needy people. With a willing soul, but secretly, she performed feats of charity.” Not only did she not present herself as a benefactor to people, but she tried to hide her good deeds from herself: she was afraid of the deceptive pleasantness of human glory as well as her pride, and guarded her heart in humility. At the same time, she “zealously attended church services and led an ascetic and abstinent life. The most famous bishops respected her. Trying to fulfill every virtue, she lived in hope of a better life—an afterlife.” Bliss in life. What is most amazing about Magna is that she, given in marriage, defended her virgin purity with such firmness of will. So in the best times of Christianity they loved virginity! In one provincial town there were as many as two thousand virgins! Lycia was a region neighboring Galatia. The Ancyra virgins, of course, read the conversation “The Feast of the Virgins” by the saint and martyr Methodius, written by him when he was bishop of Olympus in Lycia. If nowadays, unfortunately for people, virginity is little valued, this was not the case in the best of times. This is how the great martyr teacher taught about virginity. “Great, above nature, wonderful and glorious is virginity. This is a drink that flows not from the earth, but from the sky. It was left to the Lord to teach this teaching (about virginity) to people. He alone, having come to earth, taught man to ascend to God. It is fitting for the Bishop and the Head of the Prophets and Angels to be called the Head of the Virgins. The Old Testament could not yet accommodate virginity. And the law testifies that “to be cleansed by purity to the Lord is a great vow, above all vows” (Numbers 6:2). What does it mean to devote yourself to the Lord? If I open my lips to explain the Scriptures or to chant Orthodoxy and worthily according to the power of God, and if I close my lips, intending to guard them so as not to speak vain things, then my lips are pure and dedicated to God. If I train my eyes not to be seduced by physical beauty and not to enjoy shameless spectacles, but to look at the sky, then my eyes are pure and dedicated to the Lord. If I block my ears from slander and reproach and open them to the Word of God, then I have dedicated my ears to the Lord. If I am pure in heart, I devote all my thoughts to the Lord, I do not think about anything vain, pride and anger do not live in me, I meditate on the law of the Lord day and night, then I truly make a great vow: to purify myself with purity. The host of virgins, according to legend, is called the bloodless altar of God.” At the end of the conversation, the virgins sing “a song to Christ God.” Virgos! A voice thunders from heaven, awakening the dead. He orders everyone together, in white robes and with lamps, to rush to the east, to meet the Bridegroom. Arise before the King enters the door. I dedicate myself to You, pure, and with the luminous Lamp I meet You, Zhenisha. Having retired from sad human happiness, having neglected the Joys of life, the pleasures of love, I seek one thing - to be under Your saving right hand. Grant me, O Good One, to forever behold Your beauty. I dedicate myself to you as pure, etc. Leaving the bed and house of marriage, perishable for You, my King, I came in immaculate clothing, To enter with You into the blessed chamber. I dedicate myself to you as pure, etc. I forgot my homeland, having loved Your beauty, O God of the Word; I forgot the faces of the maidens, my friends; My mother and relatives would boast about me - I forgot about that too. You, Christ, have become everything to me. Thy Forerunner who washed the crowds in cleansing streams The blessed one cried out before You. And your Mother, the parent of life, the gracious, inaccessible, immaculate Virgin, carrying in a seedless womb The fruit is pure, she fell into doubt of infidelity: But to You, blessed one, she cried. I dedicate myself to you, pure, etc. Blessed One, living in the pure villages of heaven, All containing eternal power, Here we stand: receive us, Father, with Your Son, at the door of eternal life. This is how blessed Magna sang into her life. The death of the holy nun followed, according to the time of those who saw her, not earlier than 425. In old Rome there was a famous senator and a good Christian. He had one daughter, Eusevia, as dear to him as the eye. When she reached the age, the nobleman and senator asked Eusevia’s parents to marry their daughter to his son. After a family council, Eusevia was betrothed to a noble young man, equal to her in family nobility and wealth. A day was also appointed for the marriage. But the girl, full of holy love, wanted to be married to the heavenly Bridegroom, Christ the Lord. She hid this desire from her parents, because she knew that if they knew about her intention, they would never allow her wish to come true. She was their only heir to their wealth, and they wanted to have consolation in their grandchildren. Eusevia had two faithful maids who lived with her from her childhood, zealous and devoted to her. She opened her soul to them; having received from them a promise to be faithful to her until death, she said that she would never agree to marry. “What is earthly life? - she said. “Sleep and Dreams.” So all three girls decided to live for the Lord alone, in virgin purity. Eusebia secretly, through her faithful maids, distributed money to the poor. Then all three, dressed in men's clothing, secretly disappeared from Rome and arrived in Alexandria by ship. From here they sailed to the island of Ko, which is 50 versts from the Carian city of Halicarnassus. Here, having rented a house, Eusevia lived for some time with the maids as with her sisters, taking their word not to tell anyone who she was, and to call her only Xenia. “I am a pilgrim for the Lord,” she said. Their condition on the island seemed unsafe to them; not seeing protection in anyone, they feared most for their purity. But the Lord sent them help through their prayer. Once Eusevia met an old wanderer of venerable appearance and asked him to accept her and her sisters as spiritual daughters. “I think,” she added, “that you are the bishop of God.” The elder asked who they were? “We are from a distant country,” answered Ksenia, “and we are looking for one thing - the salvation of the soul.” “Believe me,” said the elder, “I am a wanderer myself, coming from the Holy Land; I am not a bishop, but the rector of the monastery of the Holy Apostle. Andrey, in the Carian city of Milas.” Ksenia begged the elder to take them with her and shelter them with her protection from temptation. The elder agreed. In Milas, near the cathedral church, Eusevia bought a house, built a small church in the name of Archdeacon Stephen and formed a community of virgins. Blessed Elder Paul diligently cared for the new community and tonsured Xenia and her friends into monasticism. After a short time, Bishop Kirill of Milas died, and Abbot Pavel of St. Andrew’s Monastery was installed in his place. The new bishop, having visited Ksenia's community, installed Ksenia as a deaconess, against her wishes. Her life was high. She ate food every other day, every other day, and sometimes every other week, and only one piece of bread; she didn’t even touch the vegetables or the oil. Remembering David’s words: “Ashes are like bread that eats, and my drink is dissolved with weeping” (Ps. 101:10), and she sprinkled her bread with ashes and sprinkled it with tears. Dissatisfied with the prayers of the church, she stood praying all night in her cell with her hands raised to the sky. She hid it. But her friends, jealous to imitate her exploits, saw it with their own eyes. Her clothes were the worst. Strict with herself, she was very merciful to everyone, quiet, kind to her sisters, attentive to their small needs; She did not speak harsh words to anyone; she admonished those who sinned with gentle love. The blessed ascetic also accomplished her feats under the influence of the high life of the Palestinian ascetic, Ven. Euphemia, while Empress Eudokia traveled to holy places. Blazh. Pavel told her about Euphemia as an eyewitness to him. “When the death of the tall virgin approached, then the memory of St. Ephraim, Bishop of Milo, came, and blessed Bishop Paul with all the clergy went to the village of Levkin, where the relics of St. lay in the church. Ephraim." Rev. Ksenia, having called the sisters to the monastery church, told them: “You showed a lot of love to me, sisters, continue your love, pray for me - I’m dying; Ask our father Bishop Paul to pray for me, he cared so much about my soul.” The sisters began to cry. She continued: “The Apostle Peter says: “The Lord will not impair the promise; For they think that there is no slackness, but is patient with us, not that some should perish, but that all may come to rest” (2 Pet. 3:9). So, you don’t need to be lazy, but you need to stay awake. Stay awake, sisters, prepare to meet the Bridegroom of the Lord with the oil of good works and with burning love.” Having dismissed the sisters, she remained in the church to pray, and the next morning she was found deceased, Jan. 24 hours The bishop and the whole city honorably laid her body in the place indicated by her. A year later, one of her lifelong friends died; Before the death of another, the sisters begged this friend to tell who Ksenia was. Now they only found out in the monastery and in the city what a high family Ksenia was. At the tomb of the great ascetic, who died no later than 457, healings of the sick were performed for the glory of God. St. Gregory the Interviewer, after being told about the death of the pure virgin on the day appointed by the Mother of God, was asked the question: are the souls of the righteous called to heaven before they are united with their bodies? St. Gregory answered: “This cannot be affirmed about all the righteous, and this cannot be rejected about all. Ap. Paul wanted to be resolved and be with Christ. So, whoever believes that Christ is in heaven also believes that Paul’s soul is in heaven with Christ. “And I saw,” says the seer, “thrones and those sitting on them, and it was given to them to judge, and the souls of those who were beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God... They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4). Those who came to life are called souls here; it is clear that these souls, not yet united with bodies. And, however, they reign with Christ, not only enjoy bliss, but still participate in the royal power of Christ the Lord or, what is the same, perform works of God’s power, miracles. On the other hand, the Savior said: “in the house of My Father are many mansions” (John 14:2). This clearly means that not all righteous souls are in the same blissful state, not all are equally close to the Lord, differing in degrees and types of moral perfection.” “One day such a thought came to me,” said Abba Athanasius, abbot of the Lavra of St. Savva, what will happen to those who do not strive? I fell into a kind of frenzy. At this time someone says to me: “Follow me.” Having brought him to one place full of light, he placed it at the door; It is impossible to depict the appearance of this door, only behind it we heard an innumerable multitude praising God. When we knocked, when we heard, someone inside asked us: “What do you need?” My guide answered: “We wish to enter.” But he answered: “None of those who live carelessly will enter here; if you want to enter, go and strive, not being troubled by the vanities of the world." Virgin wife and virgin husband The wondrous example of virgin spouses who labored on the island of Samos in the 6th century is set forth by the blessed one. John Mosch. “When we came to the island of Samos,” he writes, “we went to the Chariksen monastery to Abba Isidore, the abbot of this monastery, a man known for his virtues and especially loving, meek and humble; He later was also the bishop of the same city of Samos. He told us the following: “Eight miles from the city there is a village with a church. There was a wonderful priest at this church. His parents forced him to marry against his will. But not only was he not carried away by the seduction of the flesh, although he was still young and had a legitimate wife, he even persuaded his wife to live with him in chastity and purity. They both studied the Psalter and both sang in church, both retained their virginity until old age. This priest was slandered before the bishop with a false denunciation. Not knowing the life of the priest, the bishop called him out of the village and imprisoned him in the guardhouse where fallen clergy were usually kept. In the guardhouse one Sunday night, a radiant young man appeared to this priest and said to him: “Get up, father, go to your church and celebrate the Holy Eucharist there.” The priest answered: “I can’t - I’m in custody.” The young man told him: “I will open the door for you, follow me.” The young man opened the door, stepped forward and accompanied the priest along the road to the village for one mile. When the day came, the watchman, not finding the priest in the gatehouse, reported his escape to the bishop and added: “But I have the key to the gatehouse.” The bishop, thinking that the priest had really escaped, sent one of the servants of the bishop's house to this village with the order: “Go to this village and find out if that priest is there; however, don’t do anything to him.” The servant went to the village and found a priest in the church celebrating the Holy Eucharist. Returning, he reported to the bishop that the priest was in the village and that he saw him performing the liturgy. The bishop became angry with the priest and threatened that the next day they would bring him here with great dishonor. The next night the same young man appeared to the priest again and said: “Come on, you need to be again in the same guardhouse where the bishop put you, and, taking him, he brought him back to the guardhouse without the watchman noticing it. The next day, the watchman reported to the bishop that the priest was again in the gatehouse, but how he entered it, he, the watchman, did not know. The bishop called the priest to him and asked how he, unbeknownst to the guards, left the gatehouse and entered again. The priest answered: “The luminous young man, in the beautiful clothes of the bishop’s servants, which is what he called himself, opened the door for me and escorted me almost to the village, and that night he came for me again and led me into the guardhouse.” The bishop called all his servants, but the priest did not recognize any of them as the one who took him out and led him back into the guardhouse. Then the bishop realized that it was an Angel of God and did this so that the priest’s virtue would not remain hidden, but so that everyone would glorify God, who glorifies His servants. The bishop, having learned even more about the priest, released him in peace to the village, and scolded those who slandered him a lot." The names of this virgin priest and his virgin wife are unknown. But the martyrs who spent their virgin lives in marital union are known: Mary and Conon of Isauria (2nd century), Cecilia and Valerian, a Roman aristocrat (230), Mary and Zechariah the shoemaker (3rd century), Basilissa and Julian (285). According to Theodoret, “the wonderful bishop of Laodicea Pelagius in his youth was harnessed to the yoke of marriage: but on the very first day on the marriage bed he convinced the bride to prefer purity to marital intercourse and to consider brotherly love above the marital relationship”; under Valens he is a sufferer for the faith. It is more than likely that the Samian presbyter, who lived with his wife as a sister, was accused by unkind people of violating the 5th apostolic canon: “if a priest lets his wife go, then he is excommunicated.” The rule condemns those who condemn marital cohabitation as defilement. But the Samian righteous did not touch the marriage bed just to abstain from carnal pleasures; and this was a holy life, in accordance with the rules of the Universal Church. At the First Ecumenical Council, some of the Westerners sought that deacons and priests should be prohibited from marrying and that those married by laymen should not have any contact with marital cohabitation. The holy confessor Naphnutius, Bishop of Upper Thebaid, standing among the class of bishops, said loudly: “Do not place a heavy yoke on sacred persons. Marriage is honest and the bed is not bad; cohabitation with a legal wife is chastity. Meanwhile, not everyone can endure the feat of abstinence; It may turn out that wives and husbands will insult their purity. It is enough that if, according to the ancient rule, it is confirmed: a clergyman who was not married before taking holy orders should not marry.” The council approved the voice of St. confessor and left the marital couple at their own discretion not to touch upon marital cohabitation. How difficult it is for spouses to accomplish the feat of abstinence, undertaken by their good will, can be seen from the response of the presbyter, about which St. Gregory the Interviewer. “Having reached old age with his wife as a sister, he was already dying. His sister-wife approached him and blew into his nostrils. Gathering his strength, he said: “Get away from me, wife, the fire is still alive, move away the straw.” “Two elders went from Ego to Tara, a city in Cilicia, writes John Moschus. – Arriving at God’s discretion at the hotel, we settled down to rest in it. It was sultry. Here they found three young men departing from Yehovah with a harlot. The elders sat down at a distance. One of them, taking St. from the bag. The Gospel, I began to read. The harlot who was with the young men, seeing that the elder was reading, left them, came up and sat down next to the elder. The elder, turn to her, said: “Unfortunate one! How shameless you are! You were not ashamed to come up to us and sit down.” She answered: “No, father, do not reject me. I am full of sins: but the Lord God did not reject the harlot who approached Him.” The elder told her: “That harlot was no longer a harlot.” She answered him: “I trust in the Son of the living God, that from this hour I will not return to my sins.” Leaving the young people and everything she had, she followed the elders. They sent her to a monastery near Yegov, called Nahiba. And I saw her already in old age, reasoning very prudently, and I heard it from her herself. According to other news, she was called Mary, and she finally became so elevated in spiritual life that she worked miracles.” Since blessed John saw Mary as an old woman in 606, then her death followed probably in 607. Let us add to this the story of the same Moschus about the Lycian event, contemporary with the acts of Mary, especially since it, expressing the need for firm fidelity to good intentions, serves as an addition to the history of Mary. “Abba Nicholas,” writes Mosch, “presbyter of the Jordan monastery of eunuchs, told us (John and Sophronius) that in his country (he was from Lycia) there is a monastery in which there are about forty virgins; In this monastery, five virgins agreed among themselves to flee from the monastery at night and choose husbands for themselves. One night, when all the monasteries were sleeping, they wanted to take their clothes and run, but suddenly all five were seized with a demon. When this happened, they no longer left the monastery and afterwards thanked God and, confessing their sins, said: “We thank the merciful God, who punished us so that our souls would not perish.” The daughter of an aristocratic family, the fruit of the prayers of a pious mother, Blessed Theodora was raised from childhood in the Caesarea monastery of St. Lina. Her father was the patrician Theophilus, and her mother was Theodora. The mother was barren for a long time and often prayed for the resolution of her infertility; When her daughter was born, her mother made a vow to dedicate her to God. To fulfill her vow, the daughter was raised in a monastery and fell in love with solitude. At St. Basil, Archpastor of Caesarea, the question was resolved: “At what age should one be allowed to make a vow to dedicate oneself to God?” Apparently, even in his time there were strict judges of matters of piety and condemned people for accepting children into the monastery. He writes: “Since the Lord says: “Let the little children come to me” (Mark 10:14) and the apostle praises “he who studied the Scriptures from his youth” (2 Tim. 3:15), then we consider every time, and the time of the first age, capable of receiving those who come. We accept children who have no parents by ourselves, out of competition for Job (Job.29:12) to be fathers of orphans; those who depend on the will of the parents and whom the parents themselves bring, we accept in front of many witnesses, so as not to give an opportunity to those who want to find an opportunity, but to stop all unrighteous lips that speak blasphemy against us.” Having said that adopted children should be given a special room, he continues: “But the prayers that are established to be performed during the day should be common, both for children and for elders, because through competition with elders, children become ingrained in the skill of contrite prayer.” The activities of children in the cell should be learning to read and write and learning some kind of craft. “When the mind opens and the intellect comes into action, then one must take the vow of virginity as already firm, pronounced according to one’s own disposition and reasoning with the perfect maturity of the mind.” Imp. Leo the Isaurian, the first iconoclast of the emperors, did not like monasticism. He found himself entitled to dispose of young Theodora at his own discretion, contrary to her mother’s vow and contrary to the will of the daughter herself. At his command, young Theodora was forcibly taken from the monastery and taken to the court. Leo appointed a groom for her - one of the young aristocrats. Everything was prepared for the marriage - both outfits and dowry. It was hard, very hard for the unwitting bride. We can’t help but remember our recent “advice to the bride”: “What should I do to get along with the world as best I can? Walk with hope in God's way And smooth that path with love and faith. Trouble from a robber, trouble from a relative The holy apostle experienced it himself, And the family secret of God's saint He told us clearly from his own experience. The robbers are in the world, and the relatives are at home, As in the spiritual world, the devil and the flesh. Both are the cause of sodom. God protect you from both.” The Lord preserved the holy bride Theodora, who fervently prayed. Unexpectedly, enemies burst into the empire. The groom was sent with an army and was killed in battle. When news of this was received in the capital, the blessed virgin thanked the Lord for the freedom sent to her; the cause of human arbitrariness was collapsing, Theodora hurried to board the ship and returned to her beloved monastery. Having donated her wedding attire and gifts to the monastery, she accepted monasticism, put on chains and began to lead an approximately austere life. Her food was a piece of bread, and then only once every two or three days; clothes - harsh hair shirt, bed - stones covered with rags. If they were to say that the violence used by Leo to remove himself from monastic life aroused fiery jealousy for the monastic exploits in Theodore, then they would not be telling the complete truth. The energy of the soul is irritated by obstacles; but when the soul is not strengthened by grace, over time, in rest, it weakens and disappears. “Watch and pray, so that you do not fall into adversity: for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41), says the Lord. And with the best dispositions we will not be saved without the grace of God, just as we will not be saved if, hoping for grace, we ourselves live idlely, without labor and deeds. The ardor of the soul in itself is so unreliable that if one is carried away by it without reasoning, it can turn into coldness towards everything good; it is reliable only when, illuminated by reasoning, it is supported by forcing oneself to goodness and fervent prayer. “Do not quench the Spirit” (1 Thess. 5:19), the apostle taught. Blazh. Theodora, with a high love for virgin purity, prayed and labored to the grave; prayers brought grace into her soul, and with grace she accomplished her deeds; she removed from the soul what was unclean and offensive to grace. Her blessed death followed no later than 755. Blessed Anna's father was a deacon of the Blachernae Church and left his daughter a young orphan in the arms of her grandmother. The grandmother found her a husband without asking about her wishes, while Anna did not want to be married. Once married, she went to her uncle on Olympus. The strict ascetic, who suffered torture for the confession of Orthodoxy, regretted that the young servant of God was given into the service of man. Under Empress Irina, a strong confessor was summoned to the capital to listen to his advice. This was, of course, during the meetings of the Ecumenical Council of 787 on icons. At this time he saw his dear niece and said to her: “Be strong and courageous, there are many sorrows for the righteous; know also that you will have a child before your husband dies.” The prediction came true. After the death of her husband, having raised the child, the blessed one entrusted him to a relative, and with another orphan she prayed earnestly in one church or another. The Olympic ascetic saw her again. She complained about the severity of her life. “Didn’t I tell you that the righteous must endure many sorrows,” said the seer, “but your children will soon die?” This prediction also came true. Under the influence of such tangible providence of God, according to the instructions of such an experienced and wonderful mentor, Anna’s soul burned with complete love for the Lord. Worldly advisers, perhaps, offered advice: why not marry the widow another time? Others were ready to give even smarter advice - to live as life happens. But can people give better advice than the advice of the Apostle, inspired by God: “It is more blessed if he remains thus,” without another husband, he says to the widow (1 Cor. 7:40). Wasting energy on the emptiness of inquiry - is it smart? “It is not wise to choose worldliness for one who was promised so many joys and who, instead of joy, experienced so many sorrows.” Shouldn't we live the life of a monkey? God forbid from that! This is not an honor for the conscience of a pagan, much less a Christian. After earthly life we ​​will have to live forever: what will we live with there? You lived for people and the earth, you must live for your soul, which is dear to everyone; we must live for the Lord our Creator and Savior. That's what smart Anna thought! Having distributed everything she had, she went to churches and prayed. Then, having met a kind old monk, she accepted monasticism. Copronymus brought terror with his cruelties against the nuns. The pious Irina tried to calm the church: but they had little hope for future peace, and this disposition of minds was justified by events. With the name of the monk eunuch Euthymian, Anna hid in the Bithynia monastery. Here the strict life of the new monk was an example for others; the eunuch was the most diligent worker of obedience, a stern faster and an ardent prayer book. Tarasius (784–815), having heard about the high life of the monk Euthymian, summoned him to the capital for conversations. The instructions of a strong soul attracted many to her; from the multitude of those who wanted to listen to her, the monastery turned out to be cramped, and the Patriarch built a new monastery. Euthymian also became famous for his gift of miracles; but this did not protect him from sorrows. The monk-preacher of the people easily fell under slander. The false monk, who later turned out to be a robber, having committed violence against the girl, divulged that the sin was created by Euthymian. Evfimian was silent. The God-loving wife, listening to the slander of the shameless one, said: “Look, brother, the eunuch would not be defamed by you, a holy virgin, and you would not suffer for your sins.” The unscrupulous man even after that did dirty tricks on the holy soul. The monk endured, and the convicted villain was hanged. Since the fame of her name was not easy for the saint, and they began to guess about her gender, then, returning to Bithynia, she spent the remaining years of her life in deep solitude. Ripe for heaven, she reposed on October 29, 826. The homeland of the righteous woman was in the province of Optimates, where there were cities: Nicomedia, Elenopolis, Prenet, Parthenopolis. Her parents were Konstantin and Anastasia, sincere Christians; From a tender age, their daughter was raised in piety. Having married her husband Zachary, she persuaded him to live with her as with a sister. So she never knew the pleasures of the marriage bed and remained a virgin. The people of the Periclean century were educated, very educated both in the arts and in philosophy, and the vile hetaera took her husband away from her wife and infected her dear youth with diseases. Only the faith of Christ not only protects marital fidelity, but also turns spouses into pure virgins. Theocleta diligently read spiritual works and especially sacred instructions about living a decent life for wives. She firmly memorized the Apostle’s wish presented to the wives. “I desire,” he wrote, “that women, in decent attire, with modesty and chastity, adorn themselves, not with braided hair, not with gold, not with pearls, not with costly clothing, but with good works, as becomes women devoting themselves to godliness” (1 Tim. 2:9-10). She designated the money spent by others on outfits for better use. She devoted her resources, labors, and strength mainly to the benefit of her neighbors: every day she helped the poor in one way or another. Her homeland brought her many opportunities for this. The Province of the Optimates (nobles) was called so in ridicule; “its inhabitants,” says Emperor Constantine, “are servants of officers and high court officials, they are also drivers during military campaigns, they are rude.” such a country performed the feats of mercy of St. Theocletus. “Be ashamed,” said Quintilian, “to bow down to the poor, but rather turn away from him with contempt.” Plautus wrote: “Why do you give alms to the poor? Does your help only prolong his suffering? This is how pagan philosophy reasoned! Out of pride, she did not give the poor man even a tender glance, but due to the lack of selfless love, she despaired of the possibility of successfully treating the poor man’s wounds. How immeasurably high is Christian love! Optimates with their diverse needs find in her an inexhaustible source of consolation! What is needed for the feat of compassionate love to be completely Christian, completely pleasing to the Lord and therefore strong by grace? It must be done in a spirit of humility, without searching for human glory and without self-indulgence (Matthew 6:2); it must be done with a cheerful soul, with joy (2 Cor. 9:7; Rom. 12:8; Mark 12:42); it is necessary that neither human ingratitude, sometimes rude, nor one’s own desire for peace weaken him (Gal. 6:9; 2 Thess. 3:13). This is how Theoclete labored. She was not tired of the labors of serving others, and was not offended by people’s lack of gratitude; she helped everyone with love and joy; She did not allow herself to amuse herself with her own affairs, praising the Lord for everything and firmly remembering her sinfulness. And so she was an inexhaustible spring of life-giving consolations for the unfortunate optimates. Through deeds of selfless love, she became so elevated in spiritual life that, when the time of her death approached, she invited her acquaintances and announced the day of her death and the particular circumstances of her future. After her death, her relics were glorified by many miracles, to the consolation of the suffering. Her feats of pre-grave mercy were performed under Emperor Theophilus, and therefore her death must be dated to 840. You might be interested in: