Reverend Maxim the Confessor and Saint and Blessed Maxim, Fool for Christ's sake, Moscow wonderworker

Contents Life of St. Maxim the Confessor Holy and Blessed Maxim, Fool for Christ's sake, Moscow Wonderworker Life of St. Maximus the Confessor Teacher of Orthodoxy, piety to the teacher and purity, universal lamp, divinely inspired fertilizer for the monastics, Maxim the Wise, with your teachings you have enlightened all things, spiritual treasure, pray to Christ God to save our souls. The Trinity of the zealot and the great Maxim, who clearly teaches the divine faith, also to glorify Christ in two natures, the wills and actions of being, in songs worthy of faith crying out: Rejoice, preacher of faith. The Monk Maximus the Confessor was born around 580 after the Nativity of Christ in Constantinople. His parents were noble and deeply pious people; They also raised their son Maxim in piety. Even in his youth, he discovered in himself such qualities and virtues that clearly indicated in him a future great ascetic of Christian piety. Combining tireless diligence with natural intelligence and curiosity, he studied various secular sciences in a short time; Possessing a sound mind and pure taste, he knew how to distinguish lies from truth, and learned only sound teachings, without being infected by the false trends and delusions of philosophers. From a young age he began to study the Holy Scriptures and the works of St. Fathers of the Church, of whom he especially studied the works of St. Dionysius the Areopagite and Gregory the Theologian. He was superior to his contemporaries in education, and subsequently used his varied information in defense of the dogmas of the Orthodox faith. “But neither the nobility of the family, nor great talents, nor education, nor high virtues and nothing else could arouse conceit and pride in him; He considered humility and modesty to be the only adornment of life and valued it above all human glory” 1 . “Dreaming about your knowledge does not allow you to keep up with your knowledge. Once you know yourself, you will know many great and wondrous things. “Do not trust your own judgments, but make others their judges,” teaches St. Maximus in his works 2. With such humility of mind, St. Maxim tried in every possible way to avoid public positions and worldly honors. But his mental and moral qualities could not hide from Emperor Heraclius, who, against his will, made him his first secretary. He fulfilled his assigned duties with perfect success and helped the emperor in all important and difficult cases. However, he did not remain at court for long. Prone to a quiet, solitary life, he left his important position at court and retired to the Chrysopolis monastery (which lay on the other side of the strait opposite Constantinople, now Scutari), which was famous for the pious life of the monks and here he took monastic vows. And previously distinguished by the severity of his life, upon accepting monasticism, Maxim “through exhaustion of the body, fasting, vigil and prayer, completely separated his mind from everything earthly and lived as if he had no flesh” 3. The monks, seeing such a spiritual life, elected him as abbot when they lost their abbot. Having accepted, at the urgent request of the brethren, the rank of abbot, he tirelessly cared for the welfare of the souls entrusted to his leadership, and intensified his zeal for exploits in order to be an example for everyone. In his depiction of the monk's inner life, written from experience, we can see features of his own life. “A monk is one,” he writes in his works, who has separated his mind from sensory objects and stands before God through prayer. He who renounced his property, wife, etc., made only the outer man a monk, and not yet the inner one. To make the inner man a monk, you need to renounce passionate thoughts. It is a great thing not to become attached to things, but even more important is to be dispassionate to their mental impressions. Fighting with mental representations of things is just as difficult as fighting with the things themselves, just as it is more convenient to sin in thought than in deed itself. Whoever, with God's help, remains victorious in the struggle with thoughts, achieves dispassion and acquires love for God: because dispassion for the world is united with holy love for God. Only the love of God elevates the mind above all creatures, making it blind to everything that is lower than God; only it makes the monk indifferent to glory and disgrace, to wealth and squalor, only the one who has acquired this Divine love dies completely for the flesh and the world. For this reason, he comes to life for a higher, heavenly life, which is especially manifested in pure prayer and contemplation of Divine things” 4. That's why St. Maxim is called in church songs: “the monastics are inspired by God and enlighten all of us (the laity) with his teachings” - because by word and example he teaches everyone impartiality towards the world, love for God and neighbors, preparation for eternal, spiritual life. Despite the strict, highly moral life, despite the rank of abbot, Rev. Maxim remained a simple monk, without the degree of priesthood. Nevertheless, even in his simple monastic state, he enjoyed the greatest respect, and was of great importance not only in his monastery, but also outside it - throughout the east. The fame of his learning and godly life quickly spread, and people of all ranks, from bishops to simple monks, from nobles to commoners, turned to him: some for advice and guidance in matters of life, others with questions about subjects of faith and piety. Rev. Maxim satisfied everyone: he explained the hidden meaning of Holy Scripture to some, talked with others about the highest dogmas of faith, taught others abstinence and curbing passions, patience and generosity, alienation from the world, striving for God and love of virtue 5 . The Monophysite heresy, which at that time outraged the world of St. Church, gave new food for the zeal and activity of St. Maxima. Monophysites recognized in Jesus Christ one divine nature, and His humanity, according to their teaching, was absorbed by the Divine. The Fourth Ecumenical Council rejected this heresy and determined to confess “one and the same Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man, consubstantial with the Father in divinity and consubstantial with us in humanity, similar to us in everything except sin.” The Council of Chalcedon triumphed over heresy, but the heresy itself was not destroyed. To curb the insolence of heretics and protect the Orthodox from their teachings, St. Maximus traveled to Cyprus and Alexandria to admonish the heretics. Not content with oral debates, he wrote letters to various people in which he refuted the errors of the Monophysites 6 . His special zeal for Orthodoxy and tireless activity for the good of St. St. Maxim showed himself to the Church in the fight against other heretics as Monothelites. This is a new period of his life, extremely disastrous for himself, and extremely beneficial for Orthodoxy. The Monothelitian heresy evolved from the Monophysite heresy. Its teaching about one nature in Christ - divine and the non-recognition of human nature in Him naturally led to the teaching about one will in Him, also divine, and to the non-recognition of the human will in Him. The Monothelites argued that in Christ there is one will and one divine action. Human will and activity, as the Orthodox faith teaches, were not recognized in the God-Man. The first culprit and distributor of this heresy was Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople. Emperor Heraclius, from his political views, supported this heresy. With the help of the cunning Sergius, Heraclius managed to entice Cyrus, Bishop of Phazid, into this error, whom he subsequently transferred to the patriarchal throne of the Church of Alexandria and Athanasius, Bishop of Hierapolis, whom he elevated to the patriarchal see of the Church of Antioch. Subsequently, Sergius managed to win over the Roman high priest Honorius. Thus, all four patriarchal sees were in the hands of champions of the new heresy. In defense of the Orthodox teaching about two natures and wills in the God-man, our Savior, together with Sophronius the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Martin the Pope of Rome, and other saints, the simple monk Maxim, later a confessor and martyr, courageously speaks out. Moving to different places in Alexandria, in Cyprus, in Constantinople, in different provinces of Asia Minor, everywhere with his strong words he affirmed the Orthodox in the faith, asking and begging them to invariably preserve the good heritage of the faith, and boldly confess it with soul and lips. St. Maxim spent about seven years from 633 to 640 in such exploits beneficial for the Orthodox Church. This year he arrived in Africa. The African bishops themselves willingly put themselves among his disciples, despite the fact that he was a simple monk. “Discussing with them, he confirmed them in the faith, instructed and admonished them how to refute the false ideas of heretics; He aroused courage among the people and filled them with the spirit of jealousy. Everyone was attracted to him as if by some force” 7. The consequence of this general trust and love for him was that the Monothelite heresy suffered a decisive defeat in Africa. Bishops, by conviction and under the leadership of Rev. Maximus, they convened councils, each in their own region, and solemnly cursed the heresy. Having lived in Africa for about five years (640–645), during this time he did not cease to defeat the Monothelite heresy in the East with his messages. In these messages, Maxim’s firm, unshakable devotion to the faith of the fathers, and his fatherly concern for protecting the Orthodox from heretical teachings are fully revealed. “We will not betray our faith in anything; with the faith of the fathers, with the assistance of their prayers, we will move from this life; We will leave this faith, pure, alien to all heresy, to God instead of any merit,” he convinced in one of these messages. The last glorious deed of Rev. Maximus in Africa there was a public debate about faith with the retired Patriarch of Constantinople Pyrrhus, the successor of the main distributor of heresy, Patriarch Sergius. Expelled from Constantinople on suspicions that exposed his behavior very unfavorably, he fled to Africa, and here also spread his errors; but in the person of Rev. Maxima met his most powerful opponent. The debate between them took place publicly. Maxim clearly and convincingly refuted the teachings of the Monothelites and at the same time proved that Jesus Christ “as by nature God and by nature man, has both Divine and human will, that without human will He would not be a perfect man.” Pyrrhus solemnly confessed his error and asked that he be allowed to see the face of the Pope and personally hand over to him a handwritten act of renunciation of heresy. At this time, Theodore, a zealous guardian of Orthodoxy, was pope in Rome. When Pyrrhus and Maximus arrived here from Africa (645) and presented themselves to the pope, by his order, at the appointed time, both of them went to the church of St. apostles, where, in the presence of the clergy, Pyrrhus read and handed over to Theodore an act of renunciation of the heresy of the Monothelites. After this, the pope solemnly joined him to St. Churches. Let us note at the same time: our schismatics unfairly claim that St. Maximus, a simple monk, seized upon the right of a hierarch and performed rites over Patriarch Pyrrhus, who had fallen into heresy and then repented. In Rome, Rev. Maxim lived about 10 years (645–655). According to the life writer, his student, Anastasius, here he wrote most of his dogmatic treatises and epistles to strengthen the faithful and shame the heretics, and also engaged in oral conversations with Roman Christians, who flocked to him in large numbers. While he was in Rome (648), a dogmatic typos was sent to Pope Martin - a statement of faith, which ordered not to say anything about either one or two wills in Jesus Christ with the command of Emperor Constant to strictly adhere to it and with the threat of severe punishments for its violation. The pious Pope Martin, on the advice of Maximus, in 649 convened a council in the Lateran of 105 bishops, which approved the Orthodox teaching about two wills and actions in Jesus Christ, and condemned the Monothelite heresy, the leaders of the heresies and the royal typos to damnation. Constant gave the order to immediately seize Martin and Maxim and bring them to Constantinople. Having endured various insults and torments, St. Martin was exiled to prison in Kherson, where he died, tortured by hunger. (Memorial April 14th). And Maxim faced a similar fate. As soon as the ship carrying him reached Constantinople, a detachment of armed soldiers appeared, who rudely took Maxim and his disciples, two Anastasies, dragged them, barefoot and half-naked, through the streets of the city, and then, as if they were villains, threw them into a gloomy dungeon. A few days later, the interrogation and trial began in the royal chamber under the chairmanship of Gazophylax, a cruel and immoral husband. Not hoping to defend their heretical doctrine of the one will in Jesus Christ, the lawless judges resorted to various slander and false witnesses were ready. They accused Maxim of enmity towards the tsar, of treason to the fatherland, of violating the peace of the church and threatened him with burning. “I thank my God,” the elder answered with a heavy sigh (70 years old), “I am delivered into your hands and for my voluntary sins I am subjected to involuntary punishments” 8 ; and completely refuting all false testimony, he said: “if the one who speaks on the exact basis of the word of God and St. Fathers, the Church is divided: what can we say about people who completely overthrow the dogmas and rules of the saints, without whom the Church itself cannot exist?” And when one false witness, a certain Gregory, objected to him that “the typos - an example of faith, does not destroy the Divine teaching about two wills and actions in Jesus Christ, but only commands to remain silent about these expressions for the sake of the peace of the Church”; then St. Maxim answered: “silence about what is directly contained in the word of God and the teaching of the fathers presupposes criminal indifference to faith, and, consequently, apostasy from God.” Such bold answers brought the unrighteous judges, accustomed to hypocrisy and flattery, out of patience. “Will he really remain alive after this?” 9 – exclaimed the chairman of the court. Maxim was taken out of the court meeting and imprisoned. After some time they came to the Rev. Maximus received deliberate ambassadors from the Patriarch of Constantinople and falsely announced to him that the Roman high priest had entered into communion with the Church of Constantinople, and thus now all the churches were in unity. Rev. Maxim expressed a desire to know the content of that confession of faith, on the basis of which all the churches supposedly entered into communion. “We confess in Christ two wills and two actions because of the difference of natures, and one will and action because of their union,” said the ambassadors. Such was, in fact, a new modification of the Monothelite heresy. At first, the heretics, under threat of anathema, ordered everyone to confess one will in Christ; then they strictly forbade talking about one and two wills, and now they command to recognize three wills - Divine, human and Theanthropic. Having shown the absurdity of such a confession, which is contrary not only to the teaching of the Church, but also to common sense, Rev. Maxim said: “Do with me what you want, but I cannot accept such a confession.” The ambassadors threatened with cruel death. “May the will of God be done to me for the glory of His holy name,” was the Confessor’s answer. Representatives of the Church of Constantinople convinced the emperor to remove him into captivity. The place of exile was Visia, a small fortress in Thrace. By removing Maximus, the heretics did not achieve their goals. Looking at his firm confession and suffering life, the Orthodox stood firmly for Orthodoxy, in no way yielding to the prevailing heretics. Convinced of this, the government took new measures to either win him over to its side or destroy him. A short time after his imprisonment, the Tsar and the Patriarch sent Theodosius, Bishop of Caesarea, and two patricians, Paul and Theodosius, to the Confessor in Visia. He revealed to them the secret of the union of two natures and two wills and actions in Jesus Christ with such clarity and convincingness that instead of convincing him of the justice of their teaching, they themselves were convinced by him of the wrongness of their false teaching, and even swore an oath to abandon heresy. “Give us advice,” they said, “so that all this can end well.” “If the Lord has really moved you to repentance,” said Maximus, “then let a statement of faith be sent from the patriarch and emperor with a renunciation of heresy to the Roman high priest.” “I hope,” said Bishop Theodosius when parting, “that the emperor will be completely convinced when I convey to him all your words.” But when they reported everything in detail to the emperor, he became very angry with them; out of fear, they changed their oath and again returned to the side of the heretics. The emperor ordered the same patrician Paul to translate St. Maximus from Vizia to the monastery of St. Great Martyr Theodore, located on the outskirts of Constantinople. The next day after his arrival, two other patricians Epiphanius and Troilus were sent to him. Bishop Theodosius was with them. “This is what the emperor ordered to announce to you,” said Epiphanius: “may the Lord admonish you to accept the standard we have published and enter into communication with us. For we are firmly confident that when you enter into fellowship with us, all those who for your sake and under your leadership have fallen out of fellowship will join us.” Having heard such a proposal from the patrician, Maxim turned to Bishop Theodosius and said to him with tears: “You know, Vladyka, what was recently said and promised by you before St. The Gospel, the Life-Giving Cross and icons of the Savior and the Mother of God - “What can I do,” said Theodosius, “when the emperor wants something different!” Then, turning to the patricians, he announced to all of them: “In truth, all the heavenly powers will not convince me to do what you propose.” Enraged by such words, the patricians rushed at the elder, dragged him along the floor, beat him, trampled him, and spat on him. Ep. Theodosius could hardly tame their anger with his convictions. “Typos only forces one to remain silent about “controversial expressions,” continued Epiphanius, “have whatever faith you like in your heart, no one forbids you.” “But our salvation,” objected Maxim, “depends not on heartfelt faith alone, but also on the confession of faith, for the Lord says: if I confess Me before men, I will confess it before my heavenly Father (Matt. 10:32), and the Apostle also teaches: with the heart one believes in the truth, but with the mouth one confesses for salvation (Rom. 10:10). The patricians could not find anything to say to these words of the confessor and, continuing their curses and threats, left him. The next day the elder was taken by soldiers and taken to Selimvria. Here he lived for two days. “May the Lord strengthen you, our father, to complete the race worthily,” those gathered here told him to listen to his pious conversation. And some of them publicly condemned the government orders. Therefore, it was ordered to immediately lead him to his destination. The cries accompanied him far beyond the city. He was brought to Pervera and imprisoned. Long Rev. Maxim languished in this dungeon (about 4 years). Finally, they again brought him to Constantinople with the intention of punishing him as severely as possible. “You have been brought to this city to burn you,” Gazophylax announced to him. “I thank my God,” said Maxim, who cleanses my sins with this punishment intended for me.” Seeing that it was impossible to shake the firmness of the confessor with threats and force him to renounce Orthodoxy, on the same day in the evening the judges sent Troilus the patrician and Sergius, the head of the royal meal, to him. “Well, won’t you enter into communication with the throne of Constantinople?” the messengers asked him. “No,” the confessor answered firmly. - Why? - Because the leaders of this church rejected the definitions of previous councils. So, you alone will be saved, and the others will all perish? – God forbid me to condemn anyone, or say that I alone will be saved. However, I would rather agree to die than to deviate in any way from the right faith and endure the pangs of conscience. If, according to the Divine Apostle, God Himself ordained in the Church the apostles first, the prophets second, and the teachers third: then it is clear that He Himself speaks through them. The Holy Spirit, through the mouth of the Apostle, anathematizes even the angels if they began to proclaim anything contrary to the apostolic preaching. Having suggested Rev. Maxim asked a few more questions and having received satisfactory solutions to them, both of them - Troilus and Sergius - with unfeigned cordiality said: “God knows what benefit this conversation with you has brought us,” and parted with him amicably. But such a favorable outcome of the conversation did not serve to alleviate his fate. A week later they again called him for interrogation in the royal chamber. The previous questions, accusations and threats were briefly repeated to him. As before, he answered firmly: “I have already told you and I say again: do with me what you want; piously honoring God, I am not afraid of untruth from people.” “But didn’t you anathematize typos?” “I said it several times and now I say: I anathematize.” - Therefore, he also anathematized the emperor? - No, but only a charter that overthrows the faith of the church. - How old are you? “Seventy-five,” answered the confessor. This trial was his last. Here are only some answers to the questions that at different times the heretics offered Maxim during trials and interrogations. But they also very clearly express his fiery zeal for Orthodoxy, for which he was ready to lay down his soul; selflessness and truly apostolic boldness; wisdom and indestructible firmness of faith, which shook even the hardened hearts of heretics; disgust from heresy and its defenders - whoever they may be - with whom he does not want to have any communication, and with all this - modesty, humility, rare self-abasement. His great qualities, his innocence and holiness were obvious to everyone. But pride and malice blinded the heretics. At the last trial, the following decision was made: “He should be brought to the full rigor of the laws and punished with death, but, as if out of love for humanity and mercy, he should be given life with the most severe punishments, which had to be carried out by the eparch - the head of the city.” He ordered the innocent sufferer to be beaten with sharp belts until there was no space left on his body and the ground was stained with his blood, then he was imprisoned, barely alive. The next day the eparch ordered his tongue to be cut out so that he could no longer denounce heresies; but the confessor could speak and proclaim the truth even without a tongue. The heretics did not come to their senses even with such an obvious miracle, but became even more embittered towards the sufferer: they ordered to cut off his right hand, with which he wrote various works against heresy. After all this, wounded and mutilated from head to toe, they dragged him along the main streets of the city and cursed him in every possible way. The place of the last imprisonment of the Rev. Maxim was a Scythian country - Alania. On the way, he was so exhausted from his wounds that those accompanying him were forced to carry him on a stretcher. Having lived in the last exile for up to three years, he was consoled by a heavenly vision, in which it was revealed to him that on August 13, on the Sabbath day, the Lord would take him into his blessed rest. The holy elder announced this revelation to those who were with him. Always ready to depart, he spent the last days of his life in special preparation for eternity, and on the 13th day of August 662, he peacefully and in indescribable joy gave up his spirit to the Lord. At the place of his burial, “the inhabitants of that place saw three candles, shining with a flame of indescribable radiance and illuminating the place of his burial as a sign that the saint had been installed in the kingdom of God, in the unflickering luminaries of the Most Holy Trinity” 10. His memory is celebrated by the Church on January 21st and August 13th. About 18 years have passed since the death of Rev. Maxim, and the struggle of Orthodoxy with the one-willed heretics continued. The new emperor Constantine Pogonatus decided to abandon all secular measures and, in order to pacify the Church, turn to the Church itself. In 680, the Sixth Ecumenical Council was assembled in Constantinople, which excommunicated all the leaders of the Monothelite heresy from the Church, declared their writings subject to destruction, and worthily honored the confessor and martyr St. Maximus and other defenders of the Orthodox teaching about the person of the God-Man. Regarding the dogma of wills and actions in Jesus Christ, he defined the following: “We confess that each of the natures of Christ has natural properties: the Divine has all the Divine properties; human - everything human, except sin. But preaching two natural desires in the one Lord Jesus, we do not teach that they are divided, as it were, into two persons or hypostases, but we say that one and the same Lord Christ has in himself both two natures and two natural desires, i.e. Divine and human, united in harmony with each other for the salvation of the human race 11. Through the prayers of our Reverend Father Maximus the Confessor and all the holy confessors and martyrs who suffered and died for the faith, confirm, O God, our Orthodox faith; deliver, Lord, all Orthodox Christians from heresies, schism, lack of faith and unbelief; Give understanding to those who are mistaken and perishing in unbelief, guide them on the path of truth, and appear to those who do not seek You! Holy and Blessed Maxim, Fool for Christ's Sake, Moscow Wonderworker With bodily nakedness and patience you exposed the enemy’s cunning, denouncing his inappropriate act: the green suffering of the sun was not felt and the necessary great cold, filth and fire were not felt You, with God's help, we cover Maxim the Wise: for those who create your memory by faith, honestly and diligently flowing to the race of your relics, pray to get rid of troubles and avoid falling. Desiring the highest beauty, the lower sweetness and bodily attire you counted it as nothing, and you loved non-covetousness more than the vanity world, you passed away the angelic life, blessed Maxima: with Him, pray unceasingly for all of us. Time has not preserved to us a detailed biography of the holy and blessed Maxim. In the church service compiled in honor and memory of him, his earthly exploits are glorified in this way: “You did not want to enjoy worldly beauties, despising the flesh, you took care of your soul, and like a slave of the spirit you conquered her. You kept youthful passions from leaping. By fasting and abstinence you have quenched carnal passions. Having cleansed your soul and body from all filth, the church appeared clean to God. Having an uncovered body, you neglected the ringed body, you suffered from the sun, the sun and the great jelly. We are wounded by the love of Christ; you have denied your kin to love. You appeared and are wonderful in your patience. Let us turn our entire mind to the worldly, blessed, the fool of the world has appeared to you, father. You have violently overcome vain wisdom, and you have come to know what is hidden from the wise and prudent. The second Tverdislov in Russia appeared. He gave everything to himself and to save others. All-bright, star existing in darkness and passion, light guides to a brighter life: for God, make unclean women live chastely. Having a higher thought than carnal wisdom, you were not wounded among women, we expose you; without passion, I covered myself with clothes 12. According to the meaning of these church hymns, St. and blessed Maxim, for the salvation of his soul, took upon himself the feat of foolishness for Christ's sake and all the labors and hardships associated with it; took upon himself such a feat, which only some of the great host of righteous people accepted, according to their special spiritual mood and God’s will and election. He feels a calling within himself to something higher, better than what he saw around him. Such a calling produces in him a discord between his internal aspirations and the external environment of his life. A spark of love for God sank deeply into his kind, pure heart, which soon engulfed his entire soul with a life-giving flame. It was this love for God that could drown out all earthly attachments in him. In order to enslave his flesh to the spirit, to crucify it, according to the Word of God, with its passions and lusts (Gal. 5:24), he not only abandoned all the comforts and permissible benefits of earthly life, but doomed himself to extreme needs and deprivations. Even the most necessary items for maintaining life - such as food, clothing, housing - did not constitute necessary needs for him. Having devoted himself entirely to serving God and his neighbors, in his young years he left his home, relatives and everyone close to his heart, leading a homeless, wandering, lonely life; spent most of his time outdoors; had almost no clothing on his body and did not find shame in it, like the primordial Adam before the fall. With the help of God, he complacently endured all the changes in the air - unbearable winter cold, heat, winds, snow, rain. “Although the winter is fierce, but paradise is sweet,” said Blessed Maxim, running naked through the streets of Moscow, “let us endure and we will be people, for patience God will give salvation” 13. He ate only the meager food that good people served him. Exhausted by hard labors, shining with the purity of his soul and the grace of God, his almost naked body served for those around him not as a temptation, but as admonition and edification. “Having cleansed his soul and body from all filth, he made himself a pure church to God.” The main feat of Blessed Maxim, which constitutes a special feature of the feat of foolishness for Christ's sake and distinguishes holy fools from other ascetics of a holy life, is his renunciation of his mind. In fact, he was a very intelligent man, he could penetrate into the innermost thoughts and see the moral dignity of those around him. But in order to avoid conceit and worldly glory, he tried in every possible way to hide his mental qualities and pious deeds; with an exalted and God-enlightened mind, he seemed to have no mind for everyday duties and concerns: he seemed not only simple and weak-minded, but as if devoid of common sense. “Let us turn our entire mind to the worldly, the fool of the world has appeared.” He was not conformed to this age, but was transformed by the renewing of his mind, so as to know what the good, acceptable and perfect will of God is (Rom. 12:2); with his life and word he constantly reminded everyone of the highest goals of life, that the image of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7:31), that we do not have a permanent city here, but must seek the future (Heb. 13:14), achieve the blessings of the world, spiritual, eternal. Appearing stupid, incapable of any kind of work or deed, neglecting the generally accepted customs of the world, and sometimes allowing some strange, incomprehensible actions, thereby he spontaneously condemned himself to meekly enduring everything that is usually the result of dementia: ridicule, abuse, contempt, insults. “He endured many tribulations from the foolish and was wonderful in patience.” He endured with full consciousness that he endured innocently, that he was completely different from what others thought him to be, “he was not foolish, but understood what was the will of God” (Eph. 5:17), knew and loved God, knew and loved his neighbors better than the wise of this world. Great wisdom was required on his part in order to turn his dishonor into the glory of God, in order to endure insults and contempt, to have love for those who despise and offend and serve their salvation, so that in seemingly strange actions he would not allow anything sinful, tempting, disrespect for others, insults, so that, filled with high thoughts and holy feelings, he would seem violent. No matter how difficult it was for him to maintain such qualities of his feat, he liked the fact that others did not notice the hidden wisdom in him: he liked it because it corresponded to his deep feeling of spiritual poverty, taught him humility, meekness, patience, and gentleness; It tore out from him by the roots that evil called pride of mind, and at the same time made it possible to freely and with impunity speak the truth to everyone in need of admonition and reproof, even the powerful of this world. In the church service it is called the “second tverdislov”. This was the name of Blessed Isidore of Rostov, almost contemporary with him, 14 a brave and strong denouncer of lies and all untruths. For similar qualities, this name was given to Blessed Maxim. The desire to serve the salvation of others is almost a common feature of all fools for Christ’s sake. So, for example, after a long-term feat in the desert, St. Simeon the holy fool said to his companion John: “We no longer need to remain in the desert, but let us go to serve the salvation of others and with our foolishness guided us on the path of truth and goodness. And it is said about blessed Maxim that he “gave everything to himself for the salvation of others.” He did not retire to the desert, not to the forests, free from worldly vanity and temptations, for his salvation, but chose the populous city of Moscow as the place of his wondrous exploits. But even in the city he was no less lonely, like those living in the remote deserts. His holy soul was hidden for everyone under the veil of foolishness, had no interaction with his neighbors, was inaccessible to the charm of the city bustle, temptations and vices. In them he saw only moral evil, which must be exterminated both in himself and in others. “Having dressed himself in dispassionate clothes, he was not wounded among the women, we expose him.” For the edification of his neighbors, he often appeared in crowded meetings and at market places, did not hesitate to enter vicious societies, and under the cover of foolishness, he denounced wickedness and led the most hardened sinners to the path of repentance. There was, in the words of a church song, “an all-bright star that shone in the darkness and led light to a brighter life. He also made unclean women live chastely.” He tried to do all good deeds secretly, unnoticed; taught, denounced, threatened punishments for the wicked mysteriously, mysteriously; if it is done directly, then under a strict prohibition to keep everything in secret. And as soon as he noticed favorable opinions about himself, in such cases he tried to destroy them with strange or indecent actions, imaginary participation in disapproving actions, and violation of church decrees. He saw in himself only shortcomings, sinfulness, unworthiness before God, and he wanted others to think the same about him. “The time when blessed Maxim lived was disastrous for Russia: on the one hand, the Tatars, and on the other, drought, famine and pestilence served as a scourge for the people. With his free patience, the blessed one taught the involuntarily suffering people patience, self-correction, devotion and trust in the mercy of God. He used to tell the people: “not everything is according to the wool, it’s different and vice versa. For a lascivious pig - a log for his neck. They will beat you for the cause, obey and bow lower. Don’t cry, you’re beaten, cry, you’re not beaten.” To those suffering from hypocrisy and Pharisee piety, he used to say: “Everyone is baptized, but not everyone prays: the goddess is domestic, but conscience is corrupt; Abraham in beard, Ham in deeds" 15. After laborious and many years of labors, St. Blessed Maxim reposed in endless blissful life in 1434 at an advanced age. Soon after his death, “the All-Righteous Judge glorified him with many miracles. So in 1506, at the tomb of St. Maxim the Fool for Christ, God forgave a man whose leg was crippled on the 23rd day of April.” As a result of miracles in 1547, the Council determined: “to sing and celebrate in Moscow on August 13th the new Wonderworker Maxim, the Holy Fool for Christ's sake 16. On the ancient linen cover placed on the shrine of the holy relics, around the image of the Pleasant of God, there is the following inscription, signifying the time of his repose and the opening of his holy relics: “6942 November 11th day, Saint Maximus of Christ, the Fool for Christ, the Wonderworker of Moscow and all Russia, the Wonderworker in the reigning city of Moscow during the reign of the Blessed Great Prince Vasily Vasilyevich. His honest body was buried in China-Grad, on the Barbarian sacrum near the Church of the Holy Passion-Bearers, Princes of Russia, both brothers according to the flesh, Boris and Gleb. Through the diligence of the pious husband Theodore Vokhchin, some years after the repose of the Holy Blessed Maxim, a church was quickly created, small and without connections, over his holy relics in the name of his namesake, the Venerable Maxim the Confessor. And the relics of St. Blessed Maxim, upon their discovery, lay under a stone tomb, and not in reality. All-merciful God, glorified in the Trinity, put in the heart of reverence the husband of the Moscow resident of the Gostinnaya Hundred, Maxim Filippov, son of Verkhovitin, that both holy churches, the present one and the chapel (Boriso-Gleb) should be dismantled and a new one created. To this - (he was assisted) - and another named Maxim Vasiliev Sharovnikov, a resident of the former city of Kostroma. In the 14th day of April 7206 (1698), under the power of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Peter Alexievich of All Russia, the Autocrat, with the blessing of His Holiness Adrian, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, after the funeral of the usual prayer singing, we began to dismantle the dilapidated stone building in the place where the relics of the Holy Blessed Maxim, by the grace of God, the stone fell away from the wall, and apparently that great treasure, the multi-healing relics of St. Blessed Maxim, became visible to everyone. On the 13th day of May, at the command of His Holiness Adrian the Patriarch, a solemn singing was performed for the Holy Blessed Maxim, and after the all-night singing, His Grace Tikhon Metropolitan of Sara and Podonsk with the Archimandrites and Igumnas, with the Priests and Deacons, dressed in sacred clothes, stood around the tomb and began to dismantle the stones, and then performed a wondrous miracle: again, much stone fell apart, the hedgehog over the tomb of the saint, and through the prayers of Blessed Maxim, harmed no one, and about this miracle glorified God and His Saint, Blessed Maxim; and he lifted the ark with holy relics onto his shoulder with holy crosses and icons, and the Deacons with censers and candles; Then a great multitude of people flocked to see and venerate his relics, glorifying God and His Pleasant.” During the construction of the new church, the relics were, according to legend, in the Chudov Monastery, or in one of the Kremlin cathedrals, since the discovery of the relics is depicted on the local icon of St. Maxim, also on the icon located on the outer northern side and on the western wall inside the church, in transferring them with the procession through the Spassky Gate to the Kremlin. The newly built church, which now exists in its original form, is dedicated to the name of St. Blessed Maximus with a chapel in the name of St. Maximus the Confessor. The relics of Blessed Maxim, kept incorrupt for up to three hundred years, rested openly for only 39 years - from 1698 to 1737. In this year of May, on the 29th day, during the great fire, known as the Trinity Fire, from which a significant part of the whole of Moscow burned, “The Maximov Church burned out completely, and the shrine from the canopy of the Wonderworker Maxim burned down, just in the place where that shrine with holy relics stood, on the stone platform the relics of the holy bones remained, which the priest Jacob Grigoriev with the deacon and the clergyman, having collected it in a box, locked it and placed it in the altar. According to the determination made by the Synodal Chancellery on the 6th day of June of the same 1737, these holy relics, then sitting in the Synodal Chancellery, His Eminence Veniamin, Bishop of Kolomna and the Archimandrites, were examined and described and upon inspection, in a deliberately made box, those relics of His Eminence were placed by hand, and after closing and sealing by the Synodal the seal was given to the synodal sacristan for storage” 17. The burnt-out Maximovsky Church was renovated and consecrated, as stated in the inscription on the newly built iconostasis, in 1742 on the 30th day of May. And the final decision on the return of the remains of the relics of Blessed Maxim took place on January 21, 1768. In 1770, as stated in the church inventory, “a new carved shrine was built for the relics of St. Maxim the Blessed, above it there was a canopy on eight carved pillars, and above the pillars there was a carved canopy.” All of the above is gilded with red gold.” In 1812, “the relics of St. Maximus remained in their place, hidden, in their original form. The pulpit is raised, the altar in the warm church is overturned, the frames and logs in the windows are burnt out, the roof is also burnt out and all the church utensils are burnt out; except for the hidden most necessary things, everything was looted” 18. In 1876, instead of a dilapidated wooden one, a new metal gilded shrine was built, into which, after its consecration, a cypress reliquary with the relics of Blessed Maxim, more than an arshin in length and up to three-quarters in width, was transferred with due honor. The said priest Jacob Grigorievich donated a gilded silver cross with particles of St. stored in it. relics, and with such a wonderful inscription on it: “This holy and life-giving cross of the Lord was built with the care of the Maximov Church of Jeremiah Jacob Grigoriev on November 5th, 1737 in memory of the former terrible great fire of this year May on the 29th day of the week of Pentecost in memory of his mother Ksenia Fominichna who was burned that day and his priest Thekla Yakovlevna and the children of his burnt babies Elizaveta, Hierophy, Jacob.” At the same time, we consider it our sacred duty to report, for the glorification of the Pleasant of God, about two cases of his miraculous help, reported directly by those persons who were honored to receive it. Hereditary honorary citizen Ivan Alekseevich Smirnov repeatedly spoke with tears of tenderness about his miraculous healing from illness through the prayers of St. Maxim, which the ever-memorable Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret, in his letter dated November 15, 1848 to the abbot of the Holy Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius, Archimandrite Anthony, describes as follows: “The headman of the church in which the relics rest St. Maximus the Blessed, working diligently on the restoration of this church, fell ill with a sore throat that he lost hope of staying alive, and at the thought that he would not see the consecration of the church, he began to cry while lying in bed. At this time he sees before him Blessed Maxim, who places the sign of the cross on him and says: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The sick man said: Amen, he wanted to kiss the hand of the righteous, but he ceased to be visible. Following this, an abscess in the throat opened, pus came out, and the elder, with increased jealousy, celebrated the renovation of the church, which took place on October 17, 1848.” 19 “In 1867, the Moscow merchant widow, a well-known supplier of clothing to the Highest Court, who had her own house and workshop in it near the Kazan Church in Sushchevo, Belkin (name not indicated), was in the Maximovsky Church to listen to the prayer singing of Blessed Maxim, and reported the following clergy: A handsome man appeared to her in a dream (time not specified) the elder said to her: a great misfortune threatens you; for deliverance from him, resort with prayer to Blessed Maxim the Moscow Wonderworker. She did not know in which church the reliquary of the relics of Blessed Maxim was located and arrived at the cathedral church of St. Basil. There she found out where the relics of St. Maxim the Blessed rest. Arriving at the Maximovsky Church, she asked the clergy to serve a prayer service for the Pleasant and fervently prayed to him for his intercession. The appointed day, on which, according to the prediction of the old man she saw in a dream, misfortune would befall her, passed safely. Night has come; Everyone in her house was already asleep. She alone did not sleep in anticipation of misfortune. Around midnight there was a fire in her house. She immediately woke everyone up; sent a messenger to the Sushchevskaya unit with news of the fire. All property, by her order, was pulled out of the house and stored. The fire brigade soon arrived and the fire was stopped as soon as it started. The loss from it was insignificant. Thus, Blessed Maxim, whose holy body, which remained incorruptible for up to three hundred years, was not spared by God’s permission during the great Trinity fire, by his intercession before God, delivered the designated servant of God from the fire 20 . His memory is celebrated by the All-Russian Church on the 11th day of November and locally in the Maximovsky Church on the 13th day of August. “Pray, O Pleasant of God, Blessed Maxima, for us who are committed to the earth, so that we, in imitation of your angel-like life on earth, will not get bogged down in the vain worries of life and in earthly pleasures; We are not seduced and do not cleave with all our souls to the corruptible blessings of this world, but may the Lord, by His grace, turn our thoughts and desires to heavenly ones, and strengthen the desire to perceive future incorruptible treasures. May He give us the weak the strength to conquer the passions, thoughts and desires of sin. May our arrogant mind be captivated into the obedience of faith, deliver us from conceit, superstition, false destructive teachings, and grant us spiritual wisdom. May our hearts be warmed with love for Him, our Creator and for our neighbors 21 . Pokhv. word to St. Maxim ch. 3 Pokhv. sl. Ave. Max. Ch. 5 Volume I, pp. 402, 418, 423, 433, 450 Acts of Saints ed. 1737 vol. III, ch. 24–27 Creation Ave. Max. vol. II, p. 306 Pokhv. sl. p. Max. T. 1, ch. 14 Creation II. Max. vol. I. page 20 Menaea M. November 11th day from the canons of songs 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 From life history. St. Maxima Filar. archbishop Chernig. Reposed on May 14, 1474. From life history. St. Maximus Philar. Archbishop Chernigov. Decree of the Holy Synod of April 30th. 1764 From the testimony of the priest. Ignatius Ivanova Archbishop. Augustine Letters of Met. Filar. to Archim. Anthony