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Memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra Saint Nicholas was born around 280 in Patara, a city of Libya, in Asia Minor. His parents, Feofan and Nonna, were not poor people, and were distinguished by their piety. From a young age, brought up in the fear of God, he in a short time comprehended book wisdom and studied the Holy Scriptures; from his early youth he surprised everyone with his Christian lifestyle, abstinence and commitment to the church of God. Nicholas, Bishop of Patara, uncle of the future saint, seeing the strict life of his nephew, advised his parents to give him to the service of the Church and elevated him to the rank of presbyter. After the death of his parents, having become the owner of significant property, St. Nicholas used it to help the poor. His charity once saved the honor of an entire family. One, once rich, resident of the city of Patara became so poor that he was unable to support his family, which consisted of three adult daughters. He already intended to let them go to a dishonest house. St. Nicholas, having learned this by a secret voice, threw a bundle of gold through the window of the poor father at midnight. The unfortunate father, waking up in the morning, was struck by unexpected mercy; he fell to his knees, thanked God for His mercies, asked for forgiveness in his vile intention, and soon after this he honestly gave his eldest daughter in marriage. St. Nicholas was happy that his gift was used according to his wishes, and he decided to arrange the fate of the rest of his daughters in the same way. St. Nicholas secretly threw in the same amount of gold for his other daughter, which was used in the same way as the first. The happy father, with tears of gratitude, prayed to God: “God, who first redeemed me with His blood and now has kept my house and children from sin and the wiles of the evil one! Show me yourself who serves as an instrument of Your all-good will; show me that earthly angel who protects us from sinful destruction, so that I know who delivers us from the poverty that oppresses us and keeps us from evil intentions.” Firmly believing that the Lord would not leave his third daughter without care, the father, sought by the mercies of God, wanting to know his secret benefactor, did not sleep for several nights: he waited for an unknown helper and, finally, noticed St. Nicholas with the third offering. Throwing the same bundle of gold as the previous ones, St. Nikolai, who had already moved away from home, was overtaken by the father of his blessed daughters. This last one, having fallen before St. Nicholas on his knees, recognized him and brought him his deepest gratitude. St. Nicholas, who did good deeds not out of love for fame, but out of love for mankind, was very sad that he was recognized, and asked to keep the secret. But God wanted this secret to be revealed for the edification of people. Archbishop of Mir, uncle of St. Nicholas, respecting the great talents of his nephew, upon his departure to the Holy Land, entrusted him with the management of his entire diocese. Upon the return of his uncle, St. Nicholas himself wished to visit places sanctified by the life of Christ the Savior and His miracles. On the way to Jerusalem, the Lord revealed in St. Nicholas the Great Wonderworker. St. Nicholas set off on a ship, and as soon as the ship set out to sea, a strong storm arose and threatened the death of the ship and the people on it. The swimmers, in view of the threatening danger, asked St. Nicholas to pray to the Lord God for salvation. “If you, Holy One of God,” they said, “do not help us with your prayer, then we will drown in this abyss and perish.” St. Nicholas exhorted them to place their hope in God alone and expect speedy deliverance from Him, and he himself began to pray to the Lord with zeal. The Lord heard the prayer of the righteous; the storm subsided and the danger passed; On the same ship St. Nicholas resurrected one sailor who had been killed by falling from a ship's mast. Having reached the Holy Land and having visited places on it that are wonderful for a Christian, Saint Nicholas, upon returning to his homeland, went not to his hometown of Patara, but to the Zion Monastery, founded by his uncle, the bishop. Here he was received by the brethren with great joy, like an Angel of God, sent to instruct them with his conversations and guide them with his virtues to a pious life. Here, in the quiet solitude of the monastic cell, Saint Nicholas thought of finding refuge from the bustle of the world and devoting his life to fervent prayer before God and the feats of monastic life. But the Lord God did not want such a treasure of faith and piety as the saint of God to be hidden in a cramped monastic cell. The time had come when Saint Nicholas had to act as the supreme leader of the Lycian Church in order to enlighten people with the light of the Gospel teaching and virtuous life. – When Saint Nicholas once stood in the solitude of the monastery in prayer, he heard a voice that said to him: “Nicholas! You must come out to serve the people if you want to receive a crown from Me.” Sacred horror seized him when he heard these words; At the same time, he was perplexed as to what exactly the wonderful voice commanded him to do. Then again the same voice said: “Nikolai! This monastery is not the field in which you can bear the fruit I expect from you. Leave here and go into the world among people, so that My name may be glorified in you.” Then Saint Nicholas realized that a wonderful voice - undoubtedly the voice of the Lord Himself - was commanding him to leave the monastery and go into the world to glorify the name of God through faith and good deeds. Always obedient to the will of God, he immediately left the monastery that had sheltered him. Although now it was already certain for St. himself. Nicholas, that he was to take the honorable place of the Christian leader of the people, he still tried to avoid human glory and honor: therefore, having retired from the monastery, guided by the Providence of God, he again chose as his place of residence not his native city of Patara, where everyone knew the holy saint and for his holiness would give him special respect, but the large city of Mura, the capital and metropolis of the Libyan country, where, no one unknown, he could rather escape worldly glory. Here he lived like a beggar, not knowing where to lay his head, but unfailingly attending all church services. As much as the saint of God humbled himself, the Lord, who humiliates the proud and exalts the humble, exalted him. St. Nicholas (from the image of Prof. Nesterov) During the stay of Saint Nicholas in Myra, the Archbishop of the entire Lycian country, John, died in this city. To elect a new archbishop, as usual, all the bishops of the Lycian country gathered in Myra. Many intelligent and honest people were proposed to occupy this high position, but there was no general agreement in the election of any one. The Lord judged a more worthy husband to occupy this position than was in their midst. The bishops who did not come to a general agreement decided that such an important matter as the election of an archbishop should depend entirely on the will of God, and therefore they turned to the Lord with earnest prayer to show them the person most worthy to occupy the Secular Archbishopric. The Lord, who wisely led the bishops, fulfilled their pious request. During fervent prayer, a man appeared to one of the oldest bishops, surrounded by light, and ordered him that night to stand in the vestibule of the church and notice who would be the first to come to the church for the morning service: this is the man pleasing to the Lord, whom the bishops should appoint as their archbishop. At the same time, the name of God’s chosen one was revealed, which was Nicholas. Having received the Divine revelation, the elder bishop informed the other bishops about it, who, in view of God’s mercy, intensified their prayers even more, and when night fell, he himself stood in the vestibule of the church, awaiting the arrival of the chosen one of the Lord Almighty. The time for Matins arrived, and Saint Nicholas, as usual, having stood for prayer at midnight, came to church first. At the entrance to the church vestibule, the bishop who had been granted a vision stopped him and asked about his name. Saint Nicholas, amazed at this question from the oldest of the bishops, was silent at first. When the bishop persistently began to ask for this, he modestly and quietly answered: “I am called Nicholas, servant of your shrine, master!” Convinced by the name and deep humility of the newcomer that he was God’s chosen one who should occupy the Secular Archbishop’s See, the bishop took him by the hand and brought other bishops to the council. They gladly accepted him and placed him in the middle of the church. Meanwhile, the news of the miraculous election of the archbishop, despite the night time, spread throughout the city, and the church was filled with many people who wanted to see the wonderful chosen one of God. The bishop, who was granted the vision, addressed all those present with the following words: “Receive, brothers, your shepherd, whom the Holy Spirit has anointed for you and to whom He has entrusted the stewardship of your souls. It was not a human council, but the judgment of God that set him up. Now we have the one we wanted; found and accepted who they were looking for. Under his wise guidance we can confidently hope to stand before the Lord on the day of His glory and judgment.” Hearing these words and seeing God’s chosen one, the people warmly thanked the Lord for His miraculous help. Saint Nicholas, having learned about the high rank to which they wanted to elevate him, initially refused it for a long time. But, yielding to the persistent requests of the bishops and people, he finally agreed to accept the archbishopric rank. Saint Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople, narrates that the saint of God, even before the death of Archbishop John of Lycia, was forewarned in a miraculous vision of the great dignity awaiting him. One night Saint Nicholas saw that our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, stood in great splendor next to him and gave him the book of the Gospel, set in gold and pearls, and on the other side stood the Most Holy Theotokos and placed the hierarchal omophorion on his shoulders. The Council of Bishops ordained Saint Nicholas as Archbishop of the Church of Myra. Thus, the lamp of faith and piety, which was previously hidden, shone for the entire Myra Church. Upon entering the administration of the Myra Archdiocese, Saint Nicholas said to himself: “Now, Nicholas, your rank and your place require of you that you live entirely not for yourself, but for others.” Therefore, now he no longer began to hide his good deeds, as before, doing this now not out of pride or vanity, but solely for the good of the flock and for the glorification of the name of God, according to the commandment of the Savior: so let your light shine before people, and so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16). He was, according to St. Demetrius of Rostov, “a mirror of good deeds to his flock” and served, according to the Apostle Paul, as a model for the faithful in word, in life, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity (1 Tim. 4:12). He was meek and kind in heart, humble in spirit, alien to all arrogance and self-interest. Despite his high rank, in life Saint Nicholas still observed strict moderation and simplicity: he always wore simple clothes, ate fasting food once a day - in the evening. All day long the great Archpastor practiced acts of mercy and pastoral labors. The doors of his house were open to everyone: he received everyone with love and cordiality, being a father to orphans, a nourisher to the poor, a comforter to those who weep, and an intercessor to the oppressed. In these difficult matters, he was diligently helped by two priests - Paul of Rodia and Theodore Ascalonite, “men known to all Greeks,” notes St. Demetrius of Rostov, "virtuous life and enlightenment". Together with them and other co-workers, Saint Nicholas worked tirelessly and successfully, and his flock flourished. But the envious eye of the devil, who can never calmly look at the prosperity of the Church of Christ and is always trying to cause her some harm, did not leave her alone this time and instigated strong persecution against her. This persecution was all the more terrible because it came after a long period of peace, which the Church of Christ had previously enjoyed. The successors of Valerian, who initiated the persecution of Christians in the middle of the 3rd century, often replacing each other, were forced with all their might to take care either of their fragile power or of repelling the barbarians who attacked the Roman Empire from everywhere. They had no time to even think about persecuting Christians. Only Emperor Aurelian (270–275), having repelled external and defeated internal enemies, “was ready to initiate persecution against us,” writes Eusebius, “but he had barely conceived it and had just wanted to sign a decree against us, when the judgment of God befell him.” And after the short-term Aurelian successors - Tacitus (275), Florian - (276), Provos - (276-282) and Cara - (282-283), Diocletian, who achieved supreme power in the first half of his reign (285-304), was engaged in the organization of a world empire and not only left the universal Church alone, but even apparently favored Christians. Christians began to surround the emperor himself in the positions of the highest dignitaries of the state, and by conscientiously fulfilling their duties and devotion to the emperor, they further strengthened Diocletian’s favorable view of Christians. Taking advantage of the favor of the emperor and his highest dignitaries, church leaders zealously cared about attracting erring pagans into the bosom of the true Church, about building majestic churches to house crowded Christian gatherings. This rapid spread of Christianity irritated the inveterate pagans to such an extent that they decided to suppress it at all costs. As the instrument of their goal, they chose Diocletian’s co-ruler Galerius, “who had all the vices and all the passions of paganism,” who, with requests and false slander, persuaded the old Diocletian, first to remove Christians from the court and army, then to deprive them of public service and destroy their churches, and finally to open, widespread and fierce persecution of them. By virtue of imperial decrees, Christian churches were destroyed “from top to bottom”; divine and liturgical books were burned in the squares; bishops were imprisoned and tortured; all Christians were subjected to all kinds of insults and torments. Everything was allowed in relation to Christians. In the most ordinary everyday affairs, they encountered not judges, defenders of their innocence, but frenzied enemies. According to one Egyptian martyr bishop, Phileas, anyone who wanted was allowed to insult Christians: some were beaten with sticks, others with rods, others with scourges, others with whips, others with whips. The spectacle of executions took turns and contained a lot of evil. Christian blood flowed in torrents; The persecuted could not break free even if they wanted to: there was hardly a place left in the empire where these terrible decrees were not issued and in effect. This persecution, which began in Nicomedia, where on the very day of Easter up to 20,000 Christians were burned in the church, swept through many regions with a deadly storm and reached the Myra Church, whose primate at that time was Saint Nicholas. During the difficult time of persecution for the Church of Christ, the archpastor of the Libyan Church fearlessly supported his flock in the faith, loudly and openly preaching the name of God. For this he was persecuted and, along with many other Christians, was imprisoned. Here he spent a lot of time, patiently enduring hunger, thirst and cramped conditions, not even allowing the thought of renouncing Jesus Christ. While imprisoned in prison, the saint did not cease to care for the Christians imprisoned with him. He fed the hungry here with the word of God, and watered the thirsty with the waters of piety. In this way, he increased their faith in Christ God and confirmed them in strong confession of Him before the tormentors, so that they could suffer for Christ to the end. Thanks to his leadership, many of the prisoners remained firm in the faith of Christ to the end. Such are the associates of St. Nicholas both in church administration and in prison - Criscent, Dioscorides and Nikokles - who, according to St. Andrew of Crete, “with the inspiration and zeal of St. Nicholas weaved a martyr’s crown for ourselves.” The saint of Christ himself, “a martyr by his own readiness,” was preserved during Diocletian’s persecution, because his life was needed for the further glorification of the name of God. Convinced that cruelty towards Christians did not lead to the desired results - the destruction of Christianity, Emperor Galerius (Diocletian had already abdicated the throne at that time) began to weaken the persecution of Christians. In the year 311, Galerius, tormented by a terrible illness sent to him from the Lord as punishment for his cruelty towards Christians and dissolute life, openly “showed his leniency to Christians, allowing them to remain Christians again and build houses for their meetings,” where they “for such leniency should pray to their God for the health” of their former persecutor. Obeying the decree, the city rulers removed and released those imprisoned. According to an eyewitness, Eusebius, “following such an event, suddenly, as if from the depths of the darkness of the night, a certain light shone: church societies, numerous gatherings of Christians and at the same time ordinary gatherings for worship began to appear in every city. Each of the non-believers was greatly amazed by this, marveled at this turn of affairs and proclaimed the Christian God to be great and the only true one.” Upon his release from prison, Saint Nicholas, “martyr by will” and “crown without shelter,” again occupied the See of Myra and devoted himself even more zealously to the fulfillment of his high duties. The terrible persecution, which gave the Church a number of martyrs and confessors, at the same time caused it a lot of harm. Therefore, Saint Nicholas, in addition to the usual labors and worries of his ministry, had to endure new exploits, necessarily caused by the consequences of a long and terrible persecution. Like other pastors of that time, without a doubt, he also had to either renew old or build new churches, restore the order of church services and deanery disrupted by persecution, allow to repentance those who, during the persecution, weakened in faith and fell away from Christ, after the persecution they hurried to be healed, zealously asking for the saving right hand of the strongest; to receive and rest the “noble champions of worship”, delivered from suffering in the mines; and also to announce and prepare for baptism those pagans who turned to Christ, touched by the solemn, touching joy of Christ’s Church. This joy of the Church of Christ was darkened at first by the hostile attitude towards the Church of Galeriev’s successor, Maximin Daii (311–313); but this menacing cloud soon disappeared, since Maximinus was overthrown by Licinius. However, once again Eastern Christians had to undergo short-lived persecution. The conqueror of Maximin and co-ruler of Constantine, Licinius, who together with the latter issued the Milan decrees (312–313), favorable to the Church, suddenly began to press and persecute them. And in Myra, as in general in the cities of the Orthodox East, subject. Licinius, this persecution had a noticeable impact - and the good shepherd Nicholas was again ready to lay down his soul for his persecuted flock. By the grace of God, however, the persecution of Likinievo was not cruel and long-lasting: the persecutor, defeated by Constantine (in 323), soon lost his power and life. After the deposition of Licinius, having visited the Eastern regions, the victorious Constantine began to soften the fate of the innocent Christian sufferers. He brought home the exiles and the imprisoned; freed those sentenced to hard labor; restored the civil and military rights of confessors; the estates of the martyrs were given to their heirs or, in the absence of heirs, to the Church; In general, he rewarded everyone who suffered from persecution in one way or another with an abundance of royal mercy. Dissatisfied with this, the emperor sent out a “teaching on idolatrous error” to all Eastern rulers, and wrote to the heads of the churches in each province to diligently engage in the creation of churches, either correcting those that had survived, or distributing them, or building new ones as needed - and immediately authorized them, “whatever the need arises, to demand assistance from the rulers and regional authorities,” who were ordered to fulfill their demands with all diligence. All such orders of the emperor, according to contemporary Eusebius, “were carried out with great speed.” Thus, the primates of the Eastern Churches - including St. Nicholas - received complete freedom to be zealous for the glory of God and the salvation of their neighbors. Saint Nicholas, in the rank of Archbishop of the Church of Myra, became famous for his special zeal for the establishment of the Orthodox faith and the eradication of paganism and heresies, as a result of which the Church deservedly calls him “the great pillar of piety,” “a firm fortification of Orthodoxy,” “a sword that cuts off the tares of charms.” Four centuries after the death of Saint Nicholas, St. Andrew of Crete, commemorating the God-bearing Father in the Myra Church, these are the words with which he depicts his pastoral zeal for the glory of God and the salvation of his neighbors. “What shall we call you?” he addresses the deceased archpastor. “A farmer? - So! This name, taken in spiritual meaning, is appropriate for you. For you, having destroyed the tares of unbelief throughout the entire Lycian region, fertilized the intelligent pastures, sowed the living word of piety on them and gathered spiritual harvest into souls, as into some kind of granaries. – Shall we call you an architect? - We won't make a mistake. For with the instrument of your word you destroyed idol altars - these nests of demons, erected churches for Christ, built holy churches in honor of the martyrs and, like a hardworking farmer, made these grapes fruitful, and with the architecture of the spirit, like a wise architect of the Church, established it on the basis of the true faith. - Shall we call you a warrior? – The name will be fair: for, fighting with invisible forces, you, like a certain military leader, took on the whole spiritual armor: you girded your loins with the truth, put on the armor of the righteous, and shod your feet with the firmness of the gospel world (Eph. 6:14,15). Reflecting the attacks of passions with the helmet of salvation, you remained firm and motionless, like a stone. Defending yourself with the shield of faith and unshakable hope from the arrows of the enemy, you struck your opponents with your blows and, destroying all their treachery, courageously protected your flock from them.” Saint Nicholas, first of all, could not look indifferently at how many inhabitants of the Libyan region perished in the wicked service of idols. There were still pagan temples in Lycia at that time, which attracted numerous admirers. The goddess Aphrodite was especially revered, whose shameless worship was widespread throughout Asia Minor. Her rich temple adorned itself in the Worlds themselves; The priestesses who served at the temple were distinguished by debauchery, which they indulged in openly and to which they seduced the pagans who came to worship the goddess. Of course, from the very beginning of his archpastorship, Saint Nicholas was indignant at this obscene place, which greatly hindered the successful spread of Christianity, and tried to destroy it. But during the persecution of Diocletian and the pagan emperors who followed him, who tried to restore paganism and suppress Christianity, of course, there could be no talk of destroying the ungodly temple. The time convenient for this came only with the accession of Constantine, who, in his “teaching on idolatrous error,” sent to the rulers of the Eastern Church, recognized the pagan temples as an error and thereby indirectly gave permission for their destruction. And so Saint Nicholas, taking advantage of the pious permission of the emperor, destroyed all the pagan temples in his country, including the temple of Aphrodite, scattering its very foundation to the wind. The destruction of the temples enlightened the pagans and attracted them into the bosom of the true Church of Christ. “The former superstitious people,” writes the church historian Eusebius, “seeing with their own eyes the exposure of their error and actually seeing the emptiness of the churches and idols that were everywhere, turned to the saving teaching.” But the enemy of the human race, with the destruction of numerous pagan temples during the reign of Constantine the Great, having lost his dominance over the superstitious pagan masses, did not stop his malicious attacks on the Church of Christ. He sowed in it the tares of heresies, which soon grew and began to sow discord and discord in it. Many of St. Nicholas’s contemporaries, indulging in speculation, became the perpetrators of heresies that tore apart the Church of Christ for a long time. But these vacillations of a perverted mind, says the Most Reverend Innocent, were completely alien to the God-enlightened shepherd of the Myra Church. Being the successor of the Apostolic Men in the title of shepherd of souls, he was also the successor of their simplicity in faith. Like them, he set the perfection of Christian piety not in delving into the incomprehensible, but in more accurately fulfilling what is known; like them, he valued faith not by words, but by deeds. To think as all true believers think, to teach as the fathers of previous centuries taught - this is the royal path by which St. Nicholas walked himself and led his flock. And in his very dealings with heretics and admonishing them, the great archpastor acted with the meekness and generosity characteristic of a true shepherd of the flock of Christ. He considered the first and most effective means for their conversion to be the sword of the Spirit, that is, the word of God. St. Andrew of Crete gives the following example of such admonition to St. Nicholas of one of the heretics. “Once upon a time,” he turns to Saint Nicholas, “as they say, when you examined the vines of Christ’s grapes and met with the man of blessed memory, Theognius (he was then a Marcionite bishop), with the words of Scripture you convicted him of error until you turned him from lies to truth. But since the irritation that arose from this reproof was hidden in him, you, noticing this, in a sublime voice pronounced this apostolic exhortation to him: let not the sun go down on our anger (Eph. 4:26). My brother! let's make peace." “By the sword of the word of God,” says St. Andrew of Crete about Saint Nicholas, - you have completely slashed the heresy of the division of Ariev and the union of Savelli. Likewise, all those who dared to separate the One from the One and Holy Trinity Christ, the true God, who took on flesh for our salvation, misunderstanding the mystery of the incarnation - or dared not to recognize in the person of the one Christ and God the union of two natures without mixing them, or allowed division in them - all these wrong speculators, deviating either to one side or the other, you, like Phinehas, struck down with one blow of the sword, propitiating in every possible way the God of all.” – At the beginning of the 4th century, the Church suffered especially strongly from the heresy of Arius, who rejected the Divinity of the Son of God and did not recognize Him as consubstantial with God the Father. Neither the wise measures of Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine, nor the paternal care of the shepherds of the Church could suppress this ungodly teaching. It spread in a wide wave throughout the Christian world. Even Eusebius himself was inclined to accept it, to whose enlightenment we owe the history of the first centuries of Christianity. Wanting to establish peace in the flock of Christ, shocked by the heresy of the Aryan teachings, the Equal-to-the-Apostles Emperor, on the advice of Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, sent out district messages to all the bishops of his world empire, inviting them to the first ecumenical council. This council took place in the year 325 after the Nativity of Christ in Nicaea, the main city of Bithynia. Here, under the chairmanship of the emperor himself, 318 bishops gathered, among whom the first places were occupied by Hosea of ​​Corduba, Eustathius of Antioch and Macarius of Jerusalem. At this council, which lasted about two months, the Creed was introduced into general church use, which was subsequently supplemented and completed at the second ecumenical council, which took place in Constantinople in the year 381 after the Nativity of Christ. Meletius was condemned, who arrogated to himself the rights of a bishop, being himself a violator of church rules. Finally, at the same council the teachings of Arius and his followers were rejected and solemnly anathematized. – In refuting the ungodly teachings of Ariev, Saint Athanasius of Alexandria, who was then still a deacon and suffered from them all his life for his zealous opposition to heretics, and Saint Nicholas, most labored. “Saint Nicholas, according to the words of the Most Reverend Innocent, despite all the evil tricks of the heretics, remained firm, like the faith that he professed. Other saints defended Orthodoxy with the help of their enlightenment; Nicholas defended faith by faith itself by the fact that all Christians, starting from the Apostles, constantly believed in the Divinity of Jesus Christ. The holiness of his life, known to everyone, the purity of intentions, recognized by his enemies themselves, the gift of miracles, testifying to direct communication with the Spirit of God - made St. Nicholas an adornment of the Council of Nicea and deserved to be called the rule of faith by the Church.” – A legend has been preserved (according to Demetrius of Rostov, John, the monk of Studium, reports this) that at one of the cathedral meetings, Saint Nicholas, unable to tolerate the blasphemy of Arius, hit this heretic on the cheek in the presence of everyone. The fathers of the cathedral considered such an act an excess of jealousy, deprived Saint Nicholas of the benefits of his holy rank - omophorion - and imprisoned him in one tower. But soon convinced of the correctness of such an act by the great saint of God by a vision in which, before the eyes of some of them, our Lord Jesus Christ gave him the Gospel, and the Most Pure Mother of God placed an omophorion on his shoulder, they freed him from imprisonment, returned him to his former rank and honored him as a great saint of God. The local tradition of the Nicene Church “even to this day” not only faithfully preserves the memory of St. Nicholas, but also sharply distinguishes him from the ranks of 318 fathers, whom he considers all his patrons. The famous traveler to holy places, A. N. Muravyov, when describing the sights of Nicaea in the following words, conveys the above legend, which, in his words, is preserved even by “the Turks themselves, who have deep respect for the saint.” “It was already after midnight,” he writes, when I left Nicaea through the third magnificent gate, called “Constantinople”, because emperors entered from their capital through them; There is also a triumphal inscription on them, which people and time have now laughed at: “here is the final trophy over the horde of shameless Saracens, here our Christ-loving emperors, Leo and Constantine, renewed the city, restoring this tower at the cost of a centarium of gold and seven years of labor.” But another sacred tradition has been preserved about this gate; The Turks themselves repeat it. The watchman, sent to honor me by the ayan or mayor, showed us in one of the huge loopholes, on the right side of the ceremonial gate, the so-called dungeon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker; here, according to local legend, he was imprisoned for having struck down Arius at the council, defending the dogmas of the faith, and was kept in bonds until he was justified from above by the heavenly court, which was marked by the appearance of the Gospel and the omophorion, as it is written on his icons. Deep respect for the saint, one can truly say universal, is found even in the Mohammedans: how can we explain this happy influence that this saint of God, above all others, has on all tribes and languages? We find a story about this legend, in connection with some other interesting historical indications regarding the city of Nicaea, from another later, unidentified traveler, who was in Nicaea in the spring of 1872. “We headed,” he says, across a wasteland to the northern gate of Nicaea, called Constantinople. They consist of three rows of gates: internal, middle and external. The oldest of them are internal. They are from the pagan era. Their two gate pillars are topped with colossal Gorgon heads made of white marble. One still stands in place and looks picturesquely out of the greenery of adjacent trees. The other lies on the ground in a pile of stones. The middle gate - Byzantine construction - is remarkable for its beauty. They could be considered examples of Byzantine art and the like. They are made of gray, regularly hewn stone and consist of an arched span, high and deep, and two niches on the sides on both faces. In the niches you can still discern traces of once-former images. So, in one you can see the faint outlines of St. Nicholas with small images of the Savior and the Mother of God on the sides, the head of the saint, as it is written in our country, and how rarely found in Greek icon painting... Of these three gates, only the middle one is included in the line of the city wall. In the first tower to the east they indicate the place of imprisonment of St. Nicholas. Its lower parts are covered with earth. There is nothing at the top that resembles a dungeon. The legend, however, is alive. This is confirmed by the above-mentioned image of the saint, located on the side of this tower.” Upon his return from the council, St. Nicholas continued his beneficial pastoral activities for the organization of the Church of Christ: he confirmed Christians in the faith, converted pagans to the true faith and admonished heretics, “saving their hosts from destruction, not hesitating from the attacks of heretics and driving away these predatory wolves from the verbal flock of Christ” (St. Andrew of Crete). Like a wise farmer, says St. Demetrius of Rostov, winnowing bread on his threshing floor, collects the wheat in one place, and throws the tares into another; So the prudent worker of the threshing floor of Christ - Saint Nicholas - filled the spiritual granary with good deeds, carefully separating the wheat of the Lord from the tares of heretical teaching and throwing away the latter far from his threshing floor, which is why the Church rightly calls him “the spade that scatters the tares of Arius’ teachings.” – Treating the spiritual needs of his flock with such care, Saint Nicholas did not neglect satisfying their physical needs. Here is one of the cases of his similar concern for the bodily needs of his flock. A severe famine has broken out in the Libyan country. In Myra, food supplies became scarce, and many of the townspeople were in dire need of them. A few more years of this sad state of affairs, and a great national disaster would have occurred. But the miraculous help provided by Saint Nicholas in good time did not bring the city and country to this misfortune. It happened as follows. One merchant, having loaded his ship with bread in Italy, before sailing, saw in a dream the wonderworker Nicholas, who ordered him to take the bread for sale in Line and gave him three gold coins as a deposit. Immediately waking up, the merchant, to his amazement, actually saw in his hand the gold coins handed to him in a dream by the saint. After this, he considered it his duty to fulfill the will of the holy man who appeared to him in a dream, and sailed to Myra, where he sold his bread, at the same time telling about his wonderful vision. The citizens of Mir, recognizing their archpastor Saint Nicholas in the husband who appeared to the merchant, offered the most ardent gratitude to the Lord and His holy saint, who so miraculously nourished them during the famine. Enjoying high respect and influence for his holiness, Saint Nicholas became famous during his lifetime as a pacifier of warring parties, an imperious defender of the innocent and condemned, and a wonderful intercessor, and a deliverer from vain death. Tradition has preserved the following cases of his pacifying those at war and interceding for the innocently convicted. During the reign of Constantine the Great, a rebellion broke out in the country of Phrygia (which lay north of Lycia). To eliminate him, King Constantine sent an army under the command of three commanders - Nepotian, Urs and Erpilion. The latter sailed with an army on ships from Constantinople and, due to strong seas, before reaching Phrygia, they stopped in Lycia, off the Adriatic coast, where the city was located. The sea continued to be rough, and they had to stop here for a long time. Meanwhile, the troops began to run out of supplies. Therefore, warriors often went ashore and, using force, offended the inhabitants, taking away their supplies for nothing. Residents were outraged by such violence, and in an area called Plakomata, a brutal and bloody battle took place between soldiers and residents. As soon as Saint Nicholas heard about what had happened in Plakomat, he immediately hurried there to pacify the rebellion. The news of the arrival of the revered saint of God stopped the disputes between one side and the other and gathered both the inhabitants of the indignant town and the perpetrators of the rebellion - soldiers led by governors - to meet him. Having learned from the latter that they were on their way to Phrygia to pacify the rebellion, Saint Nicholas persuaded them to restore silence and obedience in his army and not allow him to offend the local residents, and invited them to the city and gave them a friendly treat. Having pacified the warring parties in one place, the holy saint of God almost simultaneously appeared as the defender of the innocently condemned in another. While he was in Plakomat, some of the townspeople came to him from Mir, asking him for intercession for their three innocent fellow citizens, whom the mayor of Mir Eustathius, bribed by the envious people of these people, condemned to death. At the same time, they added that this injustice would not have happened and Eustathius would not have decided on such a lawless act if the universally revered archpastor had been in the city. Hearing about this unjust act of the Mir mayor Eustathius, Saint Nicholas immediately hurried to Myra in order to have time to free those illegally sentenced to death, and asked the three royal governors to follow him as well. When St. Nikolai arrived in one place called Lev, he was told that the accused had already been taken to the field of Dioskourovo for the death penalty. Quickening his steps and reaching the church of St. Chriskent, the saint of God saw a field covered with people surrounding the accused. They were completely ready for the death penalty: their hands were tied, their faces were covered, their knees were bowed and their naked necks were stretched out in anticipation of the mortal blow. It seemed that human help was unthinkable. But at this decisive moment, Saint Nicholas appears at the place of execution and, having snatched a naked sword from the hands of the executioner, throws it to the ground and frees the innocently condemned. None of those present dared to stop him: everyone was sure that everything he did was done according to the will of God. Freed from their bonds, the three men, who had already seen themselves at the gates of death, cried tears of joy, and the people loudly praised the saint of God for his intercession. At this time, the head of the city, Eustathius himself, came to the place of execution, on whose orders the execution of the innocent convicts was to take place. Seeing the rightness of the holy saint and realizing his own guilt, for which he could suffer punishment from the tsar, Eustathius fell at the feet of St. Nicholas, begging him for forgiveness. But, inspired by the enemy’s malice, he did not want to plead guilty to the crime and blamed it on two city elders - Simonides and Eudoxius. Such a lie did not escape the saint, who, in view of Eustathius’s stubbornness, wanted to denounce him to the king and threatened him with torment in the next world for unjust governance. Finally, Eustathius frankly admitted that condemning three innocent citizens to death was his business, and with tears of repentance he asked Saint Nicholas for forgiveness. Eustathius's sincere repentance was accepted by the saint of God, and he forgave him. The royal governors who were present marveled at the jealousy and power of St. Nicholas, not suspecting that he would once provide them with the same protection as the three innocently convicted citizens of the city of Mir. Encouraged on their way by the blessing of the saint of the Lord, they quickly and successfully pacified the rebellion in Phrygia and returned home with joy from the successful fulfillment of the royal commission. The king was very pleased with the quick pacification of the rebellion in Phrygia and showered the military leaders with gifts and honors. Unfortunately, they had strong enemies. St. Nicholas delivers innocent prisoners from the sword (from a painting by Professor Repin, in the Museum of Emperor Alexander III) The king's affection for the three military leaders aroused strong envy in the hearts of their enemies, and they decided to destroy them. To do this, they slandered the military leaders showered with royal favors before the Constantinople mayor Eulavius ​​for treason against the king and the desire to overthrow him from the throne. Bribed with gold, Eulavius ​​heeded their slander and assured her king of the truthfulness. The latter, outraged by such black ingratitude of the governors who had just benefited him, ordered them to be imprisoned and thrown into prison. Some time later, the enemies of the military leaders, fearing that their slander might be revealed during the investigation of the case, with new gifts persuaded Eulavius ​​to ask the emperor for permission to immediately execute the military leaders. With a sad face and sad eyes, the self-interested mayor appeared to the king. “Not one of the prisoners wants to repent,” he told the king: on the contrary, they firmly remain in their vile intention against you and harbor the greatest malice towards you. Command, king, to immediately execute them so that they do not fulfill their evil intent against you.” – Misled a second time, the emperor became terribly angry and ordered the execution of the slandered military leaders the next morning. It fell to the prison guard to be the first to convey this sad news to the prisoners. The latter extremely regretted what happened, confident in the innocence of those sentenced to death, and bitterly mourned the upcoming separation from them. “It would be better,” he told them, if I had not met you, if I had not enjoyed conversation and meals with you: then I would not have suffered so much from separation from you, I would not have suffered for the misfortune that befell you, and there would not have been such sorrow in my soul. Tomorrow we will be separated from each other. Woe is me! This separation will be final, forever, forever. Never again will I see your beloved face and hear your beautiful and wise speeches. Your death penalty is scheduled for this morning. Now make a will about your estate in advance. Tomorrow it will be too late.” Having learned about their death sentence and not knowing at the same time anything bad about themselves, the military leaders fell into despair: they tore at their clothes and tore out their hair. “What enemy envied our life? they said. Why are we dying like villains? What have we done that we should be executed for?” At the same time, they called all their relatives, friends and God Himself as witnesses to their innocence. Fortunately, one of the military leaders, Nepotian, remembered St. Nicholas, who saved three unjustly convicted citizens of the city of Mir from imminent death. In the firm hope that the wonderful protector of the innocent would not leave them without help, they turned to the Lord with fervent prayer for intercession through St. Nicholas. “God Nikolaev, who then delivered three husbands from vain death, now look upon us, for we have no helper among people. A great attack has come upon us, and there is no one who can deliver us from it. Our voice freezes from fear, and our tongue from the fire of suffering sticks to our larynx, so that we can no longer offer the usual prayer to You. God! Take us from the hand of those who seek our souls. They want to execute us tomorrow: hurry to our aid and deliver us, since we do not deserve a shameful death.” Their prayer was accepted by the Lover of Mankind, and He delivered them from death through His saint, St. Nicholas. That same night, the saint of God appeared in a dream to the king and menacingly told him: “release three commanders from prison, because they are both unjustly condemned and innocently suffering.” Then he told the king how the military leaders had been slandered, and in conclusion he added: “If you do not listen to me and do not let them go, then I will raise the same rebellion as in Phrygia, and you will perish.” Surprised by the imperious order of the husband who appeared and wondering how he could get inside the palace at night, the king said to him: “Who are you, that you threaten me with war and death?” “I am Nikolai, bishop of the Mir Metropolis,” was the answer of the husband who appeared. After this vision, the king woke up and began to think about what it could mean. That same night, Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to the mayor of the city, Evlavius, demanding the release of the innocently convicted governors. In the morning, the emperor called Eulavius ​​to him and, having learned that he had the same dream, ordered the military leaders condemned to death to be brought to him. “What kind of sorcery have you done,” he sternly told them, to send me a husband tonight, who threateningly demanded to set you free, promising otherwise to raise a disastrous internecine war against me? The military leaders, who knew nothing about the appearance of St. Nicholas in a dream to the Emperor, they were perplexed when they heard such words, and when the Tsar more meekly ordered the truth to be told, they answered him: “Sir! We have never practiced magic and have never thought anything evil against you. If we tell a lie, then let not only us perish, but also our entire family. Since childhood, we have become accustomed to honoring and loving our king, we worked for you to the best of our ability and strength, and proved our loyalty to you by pacifying the rebellion in Phrygia. You yourself first rewarded us with honors for our loyalty, and now, thanks to our enemies, we are condemned innocently and suffer in vain, since we did not plot or do anything bad against you.” After listening to these speeches, the king repented that he had condemned such faithful servants to death and became the author of lawlessness, for which he was subject to the terrible judgment of the Lord. He mercifully and affectionately began to talk to his faithful servants. At this time something extraordinary happened! Before the governor’s eyes, the image of Saint Nicholas appeared, sitting next to the king and with a movement of his hand, promising them mercy and forgiveness. He was visible to them, but not to the king and Evlavius. Then the military leaders loudly exclaimed: “God Nikolaev, who then delivered three husbands in Myra from a vain death, save us from real trouble!” Amazed by this, the emperor asked them: “Who is this Nicholas, and what men did he save from a vain death?” Having heard from the lips of Nepotian the story about the event that took place in Myra, the king was surprised at the holy saint’s zeal for the truth and freed the slandered commanders. “You are free,” he told them, “but it is not I who give you life, but the great servant of the Lord - St. Nicholas, whom you called to help you. Go to him, thank him and tell him from me that I fulfilled his command.” At the same time, the tsar sent Archbishop Nicholas the Gospel and other gifts for his church. Having got rid of imminent death through the intercession of the holy saint Nicholas, the military leaders immediately went to Myra Libya. Here, first of all, they warmly thanked the saint for his wonderful help, gave him royal gifts, distributed a lot of alms to the poor brethren and, encouraged by the blessing of the saint of Christ, returned home safely. During his life, the saint provided help even to people who did not know him at all and had never seen him, as soon as they turned to him with a request for help and with faith in the reality of this help. So great was the readiness of the holy saint of God to help people in the unfortunate situations of their lives! Here is one of many examples of this kind. One ship, sailing from Egypt to Lycia, was subject to a terrible storm: a strong wind broke all the rigging and tore the sails; the waves almost completely swamped the ship. The shipbuilders no longer had any hope of salvation. But, fortunately, at this decisive moment, a saving thought came to them to turn with a prayer for help to St. Nicholas, whom they had never even seen, but only heard about him, that he was an ambulance to all those in trouble. The hope for the help of God's saint did not deceive them. After the shipmen’s prayer addressed to him, he immediately appeared on the ship, stood at the stern and said: “You called me, and I came to your aid, now do not be afraid!” began to steer the ship. By the will of the saint of God, the wind died down and silence fell on the sea. So strong was the faith of St. Nicholas, the faith about which the Lord Himself said: he who believes in Me will do the works that I do (John 14:12); by faith he commanded the sea and the wind, and they obeyed him. After the sea swell subsided, the image of St. Nicholas disappeared. Taking advantage of a quiet fair wind, the shipmen safely reached Mir and, driven by a feeling of deep gratitude to the saint, who saved them from inevitable death, they considered it their duty to personally thank him here. They met him when he was going to church, and, falling at the feet of their savior, they brought him their most sincere gratitude. The wondrous saint of God, who saved them from physical misfortune and death, wanted, out of his mercy, to save them from spiritual death. With his perspicacious spirit, he penetrated into the souls of the shipbuilders and saw that they were infected with the filth of fornication, which so removes a person from God and His holy commandments. Therefore, the saint took care with a fatherly admonition to turn them away from this sin and thereby save them from eternal destruction. “Take a closer look at yourselves,” he told them, and correct your hearts and minds to please God. If it is possible to hide something from people, and even if they have committed serious sins, they can be considered virtuous, then nothing can be hidden from God. It is necessary to strictly maintain mental and physical purity, since, according to the teaching of the Apostle Paul, you are the church of God, and the spirit of God lives in you” (1 Cor. 3:16). Having given the shipbuilders soul-saving advice to avoid shameful sin in the future, the saint of the Lord sent them home with a blessing. – Saint Nicholas became more and more famous for his countless and other miracles: his name, as we have now seen, was invoked by those who lived at a far distance from him and had never seen him, and not only by believers, but also by non-believers. And Saint Nicholas responded with constant wonderful help to everyone who sought him: at the same time, in those he saved from various bodily troubles and infirmities, he aroused repentance for sins and a desire to correct their lives. Thus, Saint Andrew of Crete testifies, “while still living in the flesh, before his departure to Christ, Saint Nicholas appeared to those burdened with various disasters, gave them speedy help in their needs and plucked the victims of death from its very jaws. His word, expressing purely paternal love for one’s neighbor and at the same time inhuman wisdom, acted irresistibly and powerfully; He taught not so much with words as with his deeds, which had, as it were, divine power and meaning. With his virtuous life he shone in the Worlds, like a morning star among the clouds, like a beautiful moon in its full moon. For the Church of Christ, he was a brightly shining sun, he adorned her like a lily at a source, and was for her a beautifully fragrant world (Sir.8:6-8). The Lord allowed His great saint, St. Nicholas, to live to a ripe old age. But the time finally came when he, too, had to repay the common debt of human nature. After a short illness, he died peacefully, happily moving into the blissful life that awaited him. His soul, as a great saint of God, was carried by the holy Angels to the Lord; His honest body, with a large meeting of bishops of the Libyan country, clergy, monastics and people, was buried on December 6 in the cathedral Church of the World. “I magnify you, Metropolitan of Libya,” said St. in the cathedral church of the city of Myra. Andrew, Archbishop of Crete, at the beginning of the 8th century in front of the tomb of St. Nicholas - you acquired a child-loving shepherd; You have placed a dear and imperishable crown on your head. Who is this? - Nicholas, who appears in need with heavenly consolations, a steadfast protector in grievances, great in miracles and terrible in appearances, saving the innocent from destruction, destroying unjust enterprises with dreams. Blessed are you from the cities, Myra! You contain in the depths of such a great benefactor. Come, let us walk by his light” (Is. 2:5). During his lifetime, Saint Nicholas was a benefactor of the human race, and he did not cease to be so even after his death. The Lord granted his honest body incorruptibility and special miraculous power. His relics began to exude fragrant myrrh, which has the gift of miracles. To those who anointed themselves with faith in the saint of God, it imparted healing from all diseases, not only physical, but also spiritual, also driving away unclean spirits, which the saint so often defeated during his lifetime. 700 years have passed since the blessed death of the saint of God Nicholas, the great wonderworker of Myra. His native Lycia began to be subject to frequent invasions by the Saracens and was devastated by their sword and fire. At the end of the 11th century, the Saracens caused terrible devastation in the Eastern regions of the Roman Empire: starting from Kherson, terrible enemies went to Antioch and Jerusalem. All the cities, villages, churches and monasteries lying on the way they set on fire with the sword, the inhabitants were taken prisoner, killed and dispersed, so that all the places they passed through remained a wild desert for a long time. As a result of such devastating Saracen raids, the ancient Worlds were desolate: the remainder of their inhabitants moved to another place, 13 stadia (about 2½ versts) from the former city, where, however, the Temple of Zion still remained, containing the treasure of the honest relics of the warm intercessor and quick assistant Nicholas, guarded by only a few monks. “Really,” asks one contemporary chronicler of the transfer of relics, “the reverend and great bishop could not beg the Lord so that He would not destroy the city of Mir and bring into desolation the church with the relics of His saint?” “Of course I could,” he replies. “But this disaster,” he continues, “was sent down on us for our sins, with which we irritate God’s long-suffering, and should have served for our own healing.” But, having handed over the city, glorified by the relics of the saint of God, to destruction, the Lord predestined to transfer them to the West to a populous city called “Bar”. It pleased the Lord to do this transfer of relics, according to St. Demetrius of Rostov, both in order “so that the relics of such a lamp to the world, whose soul in the heavenly lordships receives the honor worthy of itself, and on earth are not without veneration and hidden, and so that the abundant source of miraculous healings is not without those who draw from it,” and in order “so that the West does not lose the blessings of God received through the intercession of the great bishop.” – The transfer of the relics itself took place under the following circumstances. In the year 1087, under the Greek king and autocrat of Constantine, Alexei I Komnenos (1081–1118) and his patriarch Nicholas III Grammar (1083–1111), in the summer of the Russian princes, the Christ-loving and Grand Duke Vsevolod in Kyiv (1078–1093) and his noble son Vladimir in Chernigov (1078–1094), Saint Nicholas of Christ appeared in a dream to one honest and reverent priest of the Apulian city of Bar, which was the center of Greek power in Italy for two hundred years and only shortly before that submitted to the Normans. “Go and tell the clergy and the people,” the saint who appeared commanded the priest, “so that they take my relics from Myra Libya and transfer them to the local city; for the Lord does not want me to remain there in the wilderness.” The priest went to church in the morning and told the church clergy and people about his vision. The latter, having heard about such mercy towards them from the Lord and His saint, St. Nicholas, were filled with great joy, saying: “The Lord has now sent His mercy to the people and our city.” They immediately equipped three ships and sent priests, clerics and other pious and God-fearing men to them to bring the relics of St. Nicholas. All those who went for the relics of the saint of God, according to the Western chronicler Sigebert, a contemporary of the transfer of the relics, were 47 people (not counting servants and sailors). The sent ones, fearing that someone else would not have time to take advantage of the valuable treasure of miracles that was intended for them by the will of God, decided to hide the purpose of their journey under the guise of a trading enterprise and for this they loaded their ships with wheat. They safely reached Antioch, where they sold their wheat and bought other goods, as if intending to continue trading. But here they received unpleasant news that the Venetian merchants, who were in Antioch at that time, also intended to go to Myra to transfer the relics of St. Nicholas to their city. Deciding to warn the latter, the Barians immediately sailed from the shores of Antioch and, thanks to a fair wind, safely reached the shores of the Line and stopped at Andrian, the pier of the city of Mir. From here they first of all sent ashore 2 Jerusalem pilgrims they had taken with them from Antioch, one a Greek by birth, the other a Frenchman, so that they would find out if there were any relics of the saint of the Turks near the location of the saint that could interfere with them. The messengers, having not encountered anything suspicious in the city and only 4 monks near the church in which the desired shrine rested, returned to the ship and announced to the Baryans that they could easily fulfill their desire. Then 47 Baryan people take up arms and, leaving the sailors and servants to guard their ships, go to the Church of St. Nicholas. Having reached it, they humbly entered the church and bowed to the holy throne. The relics of the holy saint were guarded by only four monk guards, to whom the arriving Baryans turned with a request - to show them the location of the body of the saint. pleaser. When the Barians reveal their intention to the monks - to transfer the relics of the miracle worker to Apulia and, in order to quickly obtain their consent, offer them a ransom of 300 gold pieces, the latter refuse the money and even try to escape from the church in order to notify the residents of the city of Mir about this. But the Baryans, noticing the monks’ attempt to flee to the city, tied them up and stationed their guards at the doors of the church to protect themselves from unwanted witnesses. At this time, one of the two Bar presbyters who arrived at the church of St. Nicholas, holding in his hands a glass vessel, which he filled with holy moisture, wished to take part in the matter that was occupying his comrades (negotiations with the watchmen) and placed the vessel on the top of one, not very high column, which was in front of the altar... A very wonderful thing happened: the bottle suddenly fell from its height and with a great crash hit the marble, under which the moisture was flowing. At his extraordinary knock, everyone present came running and, having found the bottle that had fallen from such a height and with such noise, completely intact, they were surprised at this and gave praise to God. In this sign they saw the expression of the will of St. saint for the immediate transfer of his relics. Then one, the most courageous young man, named Matthias, began to threaten the guard with death if he did not indicate the location of the body of the great saint. Another watchman, wanting to save his comrade from death, pointed out the location of the relics to the enraged young man. At the same time, he said that there were many attempts, even on the part of the emperors, to move St. from here. remains, but they were all unsuccessful. Obviously, the saint did not want to leave Myra. Only last year, according to the watchman, the saint made it known that his resettlement from Myra-Lycia would soon follow. He appeared in a vision to three people, ordering them to announce Peace to the inhabitants of the city, who, out of fear of the Turks, had left from here to the mountain (12 stadia distant), so that they would either return to live and guard the city, or know that he would move to another place, which, according to the watchman, he begins to carry out. - Encouraged by this story, the young man Matthias took an iron hammer in his hands and hit it hard on a marble slab. platform, which was broken into small pieces by the impact. Having taken out the broken slab, Matthias’s comrades began to dig the ground under it and soon found a white sarcophagus (raku), covered with a stone triangular lid. They completely dug it out, but were afraid to hit it, lest some misfortune happen to them. Then the daredevil Matthias, unable to restrain the ardor of his spirit any longer, hit the lid hard and broke it into pieces. When he took it off, he saw that the shrine was full of holy moisture. Suddenly such a fragrant smell spread that everyone present seemed to be in heaven. And not only those present in the church felt this wonderful smell, but, favored by the wind, it reached the very sea, 3 miles away: and here their other comrades felt it and were filled with joy, since in this they saw the consent of the saint of God to carry out their planned enterprise. The brave young man Matthias descends into the shrine and, plunging his palms into the moisture in it, finds the holy relics floating and surpassing all fragrances with their aroma. The watchman, seeing that St. the saint agrees to the transfer of his relics, and indulges in bitter lamentations. Meanwhile, the young man took the relics of St. Nicholas from the shrine and handed them over to the presbyter, who carefully wrapped them in the new paper clothes of his body. Some of the Baryans wanted to take another ancient miraculous icon of St. Nicholas from the church, but they did not succeed, since St. the saint did not want to completely leave the Libyan country. Joyful Baryans with the relics of St. Nicholas went to their ships, where their remaining comrades also joyfully greeted them, all together praising the almighty God, who crowned their desire with success. Meanwhile, the citizens of Mir learned from the guards about the transfer of their shrine by the Baryans to their ship and, seeing in this the will of the saint. saint, gathered in huge numbers to the Master's ships and expressed their grief with loud cries. Unable to restrain themselves, they went to sea in clothes and shoes and here they grabbed the rudders and oars of the ships, saying: “Give up our father and our lord, who protected us from visible enemies with his protection!” If not all, then at least give us a part of it, so that we do not completely lose such a patron.” The barians console the crying Laymen by the fact that they still have the Saint’s coffin, full of holy moisture, and his icon, from which many healings are obtained, and they hastily sail away from the pier. The Barians confessed that the crying of the Laymen standing on the shore could be heard for almost 2 miles, and that there were not many Barians themselves who were not crying, and sympathizing with their grief. We left Mir Baryan in April 1087. At first, on the 1st day after leaving Mir, the Baryans were helped by a fair wind to sail home. But the next day the north wind blew and turned their ship towards the city of Patara (the birthplace of St. Nicholas). The nobles were frightened, thinking that the saint did not want to part with the shores of Libya; and at the same time they were afraid of persecution, because Patara was not far from Mir. Therefore, the Baryans, already tired of the journey, moored for a while at the Makri pier. Here they began to discuss why they had made so little progress during the three-day journey. Some asked whether these were indeed the relics of St. Nicholas; others were afraid that they had angered the saint with their bold act; the third finally came to the thought of whether one of his comrades, out of a sense of zeal and faith, had taken a particle of the relics of St. pleaser. Then they settled on this last guess, brought the Gospel, and each of the sailors was obliged to swear that they had not stolen the slightest part of the relics. Five confessed to this crime and gave up the stolen parts. Then the sea calmed down and a favorable wind blew. The sailors realized that it was their sacred duty to bring the precious treasure to Bar intact, and from then on their journey continued happily. When the sailors passed the Bay of Trachea, Saint Nicholas appeared to one of the swimmers in a deep sleep and said: “Don’t be afraid, I’m with you! In 20 days we will come to the city of Bar.” Waking up, the navigator told his comrades what he had seen, and they were filled with deep joy. On the further path, the following amazing thing happened. One small swallow sat on the right rudder of the ship on which the holy body was being transported. Walking along it without any fear, as if she were a habitual resident of it, she quietly jumped onto the hand of one of the sailors, who was steering the helm at that time. From there she flew to the place where the holy body rested and, singing softly, pecked with her nose the vessel in which the holy relics were hidden. “Benevolent brothers,” notes a contemporary of the event, the Western writer Nikifor, about this event, who left us a story about the transfer of the relics. “How praised is Almighty God, who encouraged not only people, but also dumb animals to praise and venerate His holy confessor. For the bird's singing was praise, and the touch with its beak meant a kiss, which it faithfully offered to St. body. Singing, she flew around each of the ships and all the people, and was visible to everyone, giving praise of bliss to them for bringing such a magnificent and wondrous shepherd. Having fulfilled her duty of obedience, she flew away and disappeared from sight.” Finally, after a long journey, the Baryans arrived at the pier of St. on May 8th. George, the Martyr of Christ, located 4 miles from the city of Bar. From here they let the residents of Bar know about the imminent arrival of the relics of the famous wonderworker of the East in their city, and they themselves began preparing a wooden ark, in which the relics of the saint were placed. Meanwhile, the rumor about the arrival of Baryan with the relics of the great miracle worker spread throughout the city, and the next day, May 9, a huge crowd of people flocked to such a wonderful and desired spectacle. The clergy of Barskoe in sacred vestments came out to receive the body of St. pleaser. The arrivals informed their fellow citizens that when they took the body of the holy saint, they made a sacred vow to erect a worthy church for him in the master’s courtyard, which is called Katapani, and now insist that they fulfill their desires. There was great disagreement about this: some (the majority) approved of their promise, while others wanted St. Nicholas to be buried in the city cathedral (bishopric). Wanting to peacefully resolve such disagreement, the abbot of the Benedictine monastery, named Elijah, persuaded the returning sailors to transfer the body of the saint to the church of his monastery while a new one was being built. The latter agreed to this, since the abbot Elijah was reputed to be a pious man. Sailors stood around the monastery with weapons in their hands, fearing the revenge of the opposing party, dissatisfied with the fact that the cathedral clergy did not have time to get ahead of the abbot Elijah. Meanwhile, the arrival of such a shrine was given to the Barsky Archbishop Urson, who was not in the city at that time. Hearing about this, he immediately arrived in Bargrad and first of all hurried to venerate the relics of the great saint. But he urgently began to demand the transfer of the relics to the cathedral and did not want to allow the construction of a new church. As a result, strong enmity flared up again between the two parties, even ending in an armed skirmish in which four people died. While a bloody feud was taking place under the walls of the Benedictine monastery, some of the sailors, remembering that the court of Catapani, then already owned by Duke Roger, enjoyed the rights of patronage, opened an inconspicuous door in the monastery from the sea, took out the relics of the saint and placed them in the church of St. Martyr Eustachius, who stood in the area of ​​the Catapan palaces and depended on the civil authorities. Then the strife ended. The archbishop allowed the construction of a new church and solemnly marched, accompanied by many bishops, the entire cathedral clergy and a huge crowd of people, without shoes, to the church of the martyr Eustachius to venerate the relics of the great saint. As soon as the body of the holy saint arrived in Bar-grad, numerous healings began to be obtained from him. All kinds of sick people - lame, blind, deaf, possessed - received healing through touching the relics. According to a contemporary of the event, the Western historian Nicephorus, on the first night after the arrival of the relics and the next day, 47 people of various genders and ages were healed. Among them were: one of the noblest townspeople and one Armenian, whose left side was completely withered, three lunatics, one deaf-mute, two withered hands, two hunchbacked babies, three blind people, one of the Pisans - withered and lame, and many others, all of whom would take a long time to list. On the third day, out of the multitude of people who flocked from villages, towns and surrounding cities, 9 sick people were healed in the monastery. Of these, one was a withered baby with an eyesore, one was a deaf beggar and lame on both legs, a demon-possessed baby, a demon-possessed Armenian girl, one Juvenatian woman, completely dry, another woman who suffered from a serious illness, one sleepwalking and paralyzed woman, and one withered-armed and blind wanderer. On the same day, after the holy body was transferred to the Catalan courtyard, 14 more people were healed. On the fourth day, 29 sick people were healed, first - a certain demon-possessed woman, all dry, from a village called Terlizzus, a certain girl from the city of Bitunto, a woman from the city of Asculo and a demon-possessed woman from the city of Taranto, three lunatics, two blind people, one hunchbacked, and one from the city of St. Vita (which is under the fortress of Mount Skagioza), who fell heavily every day, tortured almost to death. Having been carefully questioned by me, writes Nikifor, who saw how healthy she was, she said that one large hawk flew at her, sat on her chest and, spreading its wings, covered her. As he flew away, suddenly there was such a pleasant smell that she thought she was in heaven. Other healed people showed the same thing. Hence, one must undoubtedly believe, say Nikephoros, that it was the Angel of the holy confessor, guarding the body daily. One girl from Bar, who suffered from excessive pain in her knees, was also healed, as were many others. On the fifth day, Saint Nicholas revealed himself in a vision to one venerable monk, ordering him to tell everyone not to despair about healing, for he would go to Greece by the will of Almighty God. However, before he left, everyone saw a great miracle from him. For on that same day, even before sunrise, a young man who had been possessed by a demon for five years, deaf, dumb and blind, was healed. On Saturday, at ten o'clock, upon the return of Saint Nicholas, 11 sick people were healed. Such an abundance of miracles from the relics of St. Nicholas and the promise made earlier by the sailors persuaded Baryan to build a new stone church in honor of St. Nicholas. Work began on the reconstruction of the Corte del Catapano building, which was then donated by Duke Roger so that it would be converted into the Church of St. Nicholas. (Probably, during this restructuring, the above-mentioned church in the name of St. Eustachius was destroyed, since in a short time the relics of St. Nicholas were transferred to a temporary church, in which there was an altar in the name of St. Protomartyr Stephen). The above-mentioned abbot of the Benedictine monastery, Elijah, was elected to oversee the construction of the church and to collect donations. Two years later, in 1089, the construction of the church was completed. By this time, a silver shrine decorated with precious stones was prepared for the relics of the Saint. After the construction of the church, the clergy and people of Bar-grad sent to Rome to Pope Urban II a request that he and his sacred cathedral come to Bar-grad, consecrate the new church in the name of St. Nicholas and, with his sacred hands, place the honest relics of the saint of God in a new shrine. Pope Urban II gladly agreed to the fulfillment of this pious request and immediately arrived with his cathedral in Bar-grad. Here he transferred the relics into a new shrine and transferred them to the newly created Church of St. Nicholas and placed them in the altar. In the new church, a coffin was also placed, in which the relics of the holy saint had previously lay, and in which part of his relics was separated and placed. Then the church itself was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas. This consecration followed on October 1st, and the lower church was consecrated, in which the relics of St. are still located. pleaser. (The upper church could have been consecrated no earlier than June 22, 1197 by Bishop Conrad of Würzburg, with the permission of Pope Celestine III (1196–1198). Some time later, Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to one pious monk and said to him: “By the grace of the omnipotent God, I have come to you in the city of Bar; now I want my relics to be placed under the throne.” The will of the holy saint was immediately fulfilled, and his body was placed under the throne, where it remains today. Here is a brief history of the newly created church, in which the relics of St. Nicholas were placed and now rest. After the death of Archbishop Urson of Bar, which followed shortly before the consecration of the lower church in the name of St. Nicholas, as his successor, according to the general desire, Pope Urban II appointed Abbot Elijah on September 30, 1089, to whom the Pope then gave the title of “Archbishop of Bar, Abbot of the Church of St. Nicholas." Under him, a hospital or shelter was set up near the church to house poor wanderers. This hospice still exists today. Foreigners are allowed to stay there free of charge for three days, while native pilgrims are allowed to stay for one day. Under him, it was established that a religious procession through the city should be held annually on May 9th. After the death of Elijah, which followed in 1105, his successor in managing the church of St. Nicholas was Eustathius, who decorated the church with marbles and mosaics. After his death, the Prior of the Monastery of All Saints Melo was elected in his place, and from that time on, the abbots of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker are called priors (gran priori). Pope Urban II, almost following the placement of the relics of St. Nicholas, removed it from dependence on the local diocesan authorities and subordinated it directly to the papal throne, which was confirmed by Pope Paschal II (1099–1118). There are few churches in the West that enjoy such great and universal respect as the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bargrad. Here, at the relics of St. Nicholas, the famous preacher of the Crusades Peter the Hermit prayed in 1094 and persuaded Duke Bohemond to take up arms to liberate the Holy Sepulcher from the infidels. In the same church, Pope Urban II in October 1098 convinced the spiritual Greeks convened from lower Italy to recognize the Roman doctrine of the procession of the Holy Spirit. Both the rulers and the common people competed in showing their reverence to the miracle worker. The inhabitants of Bargrad, surrendering to the troops besieging their city, always negotiated with the victors the condition that the relics of their patron saint be left with them. The Dukes of Apulia - Robert, Roger, Bohemond - assumed the title of defenders of the Church of St. Nicholas. Emperors, kings, dukes and princes, as well as private individuals, enriched the church with generous contributions and offerings. Pious pilgrims do not cease and still flock in large numbers to worship St. relics. Interior view of the lower church (crypt), in which the relics of St. Nicholas, in Bar-grad And our Russian pilgrims, who visited the holy places of the East, considered it their duty to visit Western Bar-grad for the sake of its great shrine and often left valuable memories of what they saw there. Thus, one of them, Vasily Grigorovich-Barsky, who at the beginning of the last century toured holy places in Europe, Asia and Africa, included in his “Travel” a very detailed description of the church in Bar in which the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker rest. We place this unartificial, but at the same time very interesting story of the Russian pilgrim below in its entirety, changing only the book language of the beginning of the last century. That the description of the church and the rite established for the veneration of the relics made in the last century by V. G. Barsky remains true to this day, this can be seen from the description (also abbreviated below) of another, later, Russian traveler Vladimir Mordvinov, who visited Bar-grad in 1873. On Sunday, July 28, 1724, writes Vasily Grigorovich-Barsky, late in the evening I arrived in Bar-grad. That same day, in the morning, my companion Justin also arrived there. Together we went to the hotel of St. Nicholas of Christ, located near the church in which his relics rest: in this hotel every foreign wanderer is given free lunch, dinner and bed for three days. About 10 or 12 of us then gathered at this hotel, and when they examined our species (patents), they gave us a hearty meal and enough wine; At the end of the meal, the hotel manager gave each of us a bed, on which we slept until the morning. The next day, Monday, we went to the church in which the holy relics of the wonderworker Nicholas of Christ rest. At first, as soon as we entered it, we could not notice where the relics were. But then, seeing a large crowd of people, who were either going down the stone steps, or going up them, we realized that the relics were below, and immediately followed the crowd under the shelter of the church through the right entrance (there are two entrances: one on the right and the other on the left). When we went down, we found another beautiful church there, about half the size of the upper one (it is much shorter and lower than the upper one, but equal in width to it). Its top is supported by twenty-six pillars, which are all the same, except for one - thinner than the others and surrounded by an iron lattice. There are two thrones in it: one is the main one (initial), the other is the side altar (subordinate); On them, priests perform the liturgy every day - from morning to noon. The main altar is very skillfully forged from silver (a gift from the Serbian Tsar Uros in 1319) and is located in the middle of the church above the tomb of St. Nicholas of Christ. The floor of the lower church is covered with marble slabs, and its entire ceiling is decorated with numerous silver lamps: fifty of them especially stand out in size and beauty. There we listened to the liturgy performed in the Roman (Latin) dialect and according to the Roman rite. Having prayed according to the custom of travelers, we venerated the saint’s tomb, since the Romans do not have the habit of opening the tomb, except on very important occasions. The throne (under which there is a coffin with the relics of the saint) is large, in front it is fenced in the likeness of a helicopter with balusters skillfully carved from marble. On this fence on the left stands in a chalice, or silver bowl, manna from the relics of St. Nicholas, flowing out like water. One of the priests often approaches it and anoints it with a cross on the forehead of those people who, after listening to the liturgy, leave the church. So we often came up and smeared ourselves with this manna. Not far from this chalice (with manna), on the other side, in the wall, in a small reliquary, behind an iron grate, there is a separated dry part of the relics of St. Nicholas of Christ: the pilgrims approach and through the grate touch it with their fingers and then kiss their hands, which I was honored to be a participant in. When we then went up again to the large church that stands above, we saw that it was very beautifully built, had three entrance gates, stone pillars and a stone floor, and was very spacious in length, width and height. Thus, we stayed in Bargrad for three days, spending the night in the above-mentioned hotel and supporting ourselves with food. Interior view of the upper church of St. Nicholas in Bar-grad We learned from the priests and from other people that near the church there are four trading shops that sell various types of glass vessels with the image of St. Nicholas of Christ on them: these vessels are sold empty to be filled with manna flowing from the relics of St. Nicholas, which is distributed to everyone in the church. Small vessels are also sold, already filled with manna and tightly sealed. And I bought several of these vessels filled with manna, and two empty ones, which I filled already in the church; my companion Justin did the same. These vessels are made at the church expense, and the money raised from their sale goes to the management of the church and supplying the necessary inns for travelers. Myrrh or manna is given there as much as anyone wants, as long as church vessels with the image of St. Nicholas are bought from the shops, since manna is not given in other vessels. – Priests in the Church of St. Nicholas are called the “guardians” of the tomb of St. Nicholas and are held in high esteem; They strictly guard themselves, people and the tomb of St. Nicholas of Christ, protect church shrines and distribute to those who wish the above-mentioned water, which they call sancta manna, that is, holy manna, and correct their other duties. One of the people in charge of the tomb of St. We asked St. Nicholas the priest how much manna, and how long does it take for it to flow out from the relics of St. Nicholas? He answered us that every morning the tomb becomes full of manna and, as much as it is distributed per day, so much again arrives at night, since it flows incessantly. He also told us that before the feast of the saint, two or three days before, sometimes a lot of manna arrives, sometimes not enough. From this they unmistakably conclude that when a lot of manna arrives, many pilgrims will appear at the tomb of the saint; when there are few, then few pilgrims will gather. The saint of God is so perspicacious that he exudes as much healing manna as the faithful people need! Then we asked him about the above-mentioned marble pillar standing in the small church: why is one of them fenced with an iron lattice, while others are not? He answered us the following. When this church in the name of the saint was just beginning to be built and the foundation was approved, they decided to establish it on 26 pillars and already placed 25 pillars carved from marble in the designated places. But no matter how they looked for marble for the 26th pillar, they could not find it anywhere, as a result of which, of necessity, the construction of the church stopped, and the builder and the entire city were plunged into great sadness. But then, a few days later, through the miraculous providence of the wonderworker and saint of Christ Nicholas, a marble pillar appeared, which, outside the city, floated on the sea like a dry tree. When the fishermen and other people saw him, they wanted to catch him, but they could not do this, because as soon as they wanted to touch him, he sank into the depths, and then swam up again, so they were forced to leave him. At midnight, when everyone was sleeping, bells in the city suddenly began to ring by themselves, when no one touched them. At this time, Saint Nicholas with two Angels carried the floating pillar from the sea to the city and, bringing it to the church under construction, placed it in the place prepared for it. Immediately everyone in the city woke up and hurried to the church, and those who had come to it first clearly saw how St. Nicholas with two Angels set up a pillar and then became invisible. Seeing such a miracle, the residents who flocked to the church glorified God and His saint; In eternal memory of the event, the image of this miracle was written at the top on the right wall of the upper church, where it still resides. We asked for a small part of the relics of the saint of God, but we received nothing, because the Romans do not have the custom (like the Greeks) of cutting off parts from holy relics for distribution. If sometimes they give a part of the relics, then only to the royal person. We again asked about the above-mentioned pillar, why it was surrounded by iron bars. The priest replied that this pillar has healing powers, especially for those suffering from headaches. When it previously stood unfenced, many began to cut off parts of it with iron tools to heal it; That’s why they fenced it off with an iron lattice, so that you can only touch it with your fingers, which is what they do now, accepting healing, as before. In the upper church on the right side there is also a miraculous icon of St. Nicholas of Christ, with many signs and testimonies of the miracles performed in Bargrad after the transfer of the relics hanging. We also saw a hanging image of a ship, which the saint saved from sinking at sea. Then they saw a large bone bound with an iron chain, as thick as a human leg and two fathoms long. The following was told to us about this bone. One of the local fishermen threw a net into the sea in the name of St. Nicholas, being sure that in this case his work would not be in vain. And he immediately caught an extremely large fish, so that he himself could not pull it out, and therefore he begged the same fast assistant who gave him this fish to help him and pull it out, fearing that it would drag him into the abyss of the sea. And only with great difficulty, having initially killed her in the water, did he pull her out dead. Then, taking one bone from her ribs, he brought it to the church of St. Nicholas of Christ and confessed his glorious miracle-working before everyone. They also saw there an ivory tooth, the same size as the aforementioned bone, hanging on an iron chain, which was presented as a gift to St. as a sign of gratitude for the miraculous capture of the elephant. Nikolai. We also saw many other images of the miracles of St. Nicholas of Christ and read Latin inscriptions containing instructions on how and when these miracles occurred. In view of their multitude, there is no time to describe them, and it is impossible to remember them all. Therefore, I wrote only about those that I knew better about, but left the rest. I just can’t yet, dear reader, pass in silence how I myself experienced the gift of healing from the saint of God. Even on the day of my arrival in Bar-grad, for unknown reasons, my right leg ached on the way, so that I could barely walk to the city. Three days later, the pain intensified even more, and my leg was swollen like a log, so that I walked around the city with the greatest difficulty, no longer wearing sandals, but barefoot. I often came to the tomb of St. Nicholas of Christ and with tears asked him to help me in my trouble. And by praying to him, two days later, without any treatment, the swelling on my leg disappeared, and I began to walk as before. I realized that this healing took place with the help of St. Nicholas, and thanked God and His saint. There are eight male and four female monasteries in Bargrad. Bar-grad is surrounded by a stone wall with a gate made of hewn stone. Around the city there are many almond and other orchards, as well as a great abundance of grapes and olives; They do little farming there, and they get their livelihood mainly from the sea, since many ships with foreigners and surrounding residents land on the Bargrad coast. When we had already done everything we needed in Bargrad and wanted to leave it, we felt sorry that we did not see the intact relics of St. Nicholas of Christ, and how the manna flowed out of them, since the saint’s tomb is not opened to anyone. Therefore, we diligently began to ask all the guards of the tomb of St. Christ about this, saying that we came from such distant countries solely to see and kiss the relics of the saint of God, meanwhile we are now leaving without fulfilling our desire; what can we say to others who have not seen, without having seen it ourselves, and so on. Hearing our earnest request, they ordered us to wait until the evening and come to the church before Vespers, before the people gathered there: they wanted to open the coffin for us without strangers, so that there would be no criticism against them, since the relics are usually not shown. We did as we were told, and when we came to church before the start of Vespers, the ecclesiarch led us to the church sacristy, where there are various shrines, of which there are so many, I can’t even remember them all. Then he led us to the lower church, to the great altar, forged of silver, and opened the small doors through which a person can only crawl on his belly. First, the key keeper himself crawled up to his waist and lit a small lamp so that it could be seen. After him, I climbed in and thought that I would see an open shrine, as usually in our countries the shrine of saints is opened everywhere, in the likeness of an ark or just a chest. It’s not like that there: the reliquary with holy relics is never opened, because it is carved from thick and wide marble, like a vessel or an ark, dug into the ground 5 spans deep, placed motionless at the foot of the throne and tightly covered with a large board, also carved from marble. A small round window the size of an efimok or a ruble is carved into the top of this board. Through this window, on an iron chain, a lit candle was lowered halfway into the shrine. Having placed one eye over this window, I saw that the marble shrine was filled, like a well, half full with manna, or the lightest clear water, through which the white bones hidden under the bushel were visible: from these bones the water constantly emanated, while the body itself blurred into the myrrh. When I got out of there, my friend and companion Justin took my place. The priest, who allowed me to look into the shrine, asked me: “Did I see?” I answered that I saw, but I could not understand (which I had heard and read from many before) how the holy myrrh flowed from the right knee? He told me that myrrh had just begun to wear off from the right knee, but now it came out equally from all the bones. When Justin got out, I looked again and understood better. We also asked the guard of the saint’s tomb: “If the tomb is never opened, then how do they draw the ointment?” He replied that they were reaching him through a small window with a specially designed weapon. Then we, having thanked God and His holy saint Nicholas for everything we saw and heard, left Bargrad that same day, July 31, Wednesday, before sunset. Church of St. Nicholas in Bar. Main view A later traveler, Vladimir Mordvinov, who visited Bar-grad in 1873, describes the city of Bar and the Church of St. Nicholas in almost the same way. According to him, the city of Bar, located on the shores of the Adriatic Sea, is a large trading city and has been very well developed in recent years. When approaching it, from afar it flaunts the domes and bell towers of its churches, somewhat reminiscent in its architecture of Orthodox churches in Rus'. The Church of St. Nicholas itself is a rather large building, but without a dome; On some sides there are houses attached to it, on others there is a very small passage. The outer length of the church on the northern and southern sides is about 30 fathoms, and on the western and eastern sides - about 18 fathoms each. The relics of St. Nicholas rest in the lower church, built in the eastern part of the church. They go down to this lower church along one of the two stone staircases leading into it, each with 21 steps. The internal length of the lower church is about 14 fathoms, and its internal width is about 5½ fathoms. This church is built below the surface of the earth, so that its 9 windows are aligned with the pavement with which the passage courtyards, or small platforms on which these windows overlook, are laid. The entire lower church is built under vaults, which are supported by 28 round marble pillars: 2 of them are embedded halfway into the wall, so that they look like only half-pillars. These pillars are made of grayish-red marble and have carved capitals. One of them is surrounded from floor to top by a tetrahedral cast-iron grate. They say about this pillar that it was miraculously erected by Saint Nicholas himself during the construction of a real church, to replace the pillar that was missing from the builders. The lattice has doors that open for those who want to kiss the post. The floor in the lower church is stone, covered with colored tiles matched to the pattern of the rug. (Recently, it has been repaved with marble at the expense of our sovereign Nicholas II, after he visited Bar, when he was still his heir. Along the main eastern wall there are four thrones leaning against the wall itself, along the western side there is an organ, and on its sides there are two confessionals. On the eastern wall, in the space between the pillar and the door leading to one of the church storerooms, there is a special box hung - wooden, carved, walnut, brown. At the bottom of this box is carved in relief the eagle of the Austrian Empire, and on top of the box stands a small statue of St. Nicholas. 10 small round holes were drilled in the side of this box so that one could see the remains of the original box in which the honest relics of St. were brought inside the said box, sealed tightly. Nicholas from Myra Libyan to Bar-grad. On the same eastern wall, above the door leading to one of the church storerooms, hangs a half-length image of St. Nicholas in an omophorion; his head is without a miter; there is a glow around her; with his right hand the saint blesses with a name-bearing finger; in the left he holds a closed Gospel, on which there are three balls (the emblem of three purses of gold, given by the saint to a needy family during his lifetime). The main altar of the lower church is about 3 arshins long and about 2 arshins wide. On the throne there is an ark for St. Gifts and on this last half-length bust depicting St. Nicholas of Christ with an open head, surrounded by radiance, with his right hand teaching a blessing, and in his left holding a closed Gospel with three balls on it. There are 32 candles burning on the throne, and in front of it hang 12 lamps, all of the same size. Moreover, three crystal chandeliers hang in the middle of the church. Directly under the main altar of the lower church there is a white marble tomb with two identical lids. It is not visible from the church, as it is located under the church platform. It is in this tomb that the relics of St. rest. Nicholas, exuding multi-healing myrrh, or, according to the local name, “manna,” a liquid similar to water. Those who are zealous turn to the local clergyman, who, having put on an epitrachelion, will read some prayers in front of the throne and then open the double doors located in the front panel of the throne. A candle is placed inside the throne, which is completely empty, for light. The Bogomolets, going up to the throne itself and kneeling, passes his head and part of his body almost to the waist inside the throne, through the above-mentioned doors. Lowering his head to the bottom, he sees a round hole, the diameter of which is no more than 2 inches. This hole is made in the upper lid of the tomb with the relics of St. Nicholas, above which stands the main throne. Through this hole, as well as through another of the same size, made in the inner lid of the tomb, the pilgrim sees, with the help of a small wax candle, first lowered on a chain into the inside of the tomb, the holy bones of the Pleasant of God lying at the bottom of that tomb, transported from the Libyan World. So I, (says Mordvinov), was honored to venerate the honorable relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, on January 31, 1873. At the same time, at my request, a prayer service was served by local clergy, according to the rite of the Roman Church, for the saint of God, St. Nicholas. The clergyman willingly fulfills this wish of the pilgrims, regardless of their religion; and if a person who does not belong to the Roman Church decided to order a liturgy, then such a one would certainly be served, according to the rules of the Roman Church, on the throne under which the sacred relics of St. Nicholas. Together with other pilgrims, I also received in vials the multi-healing myrrh, or manna, flowing from the relics of the saint of God. This manna is extracted from the tomb with the relics in the following way: through the above-mentioned holes located in the two lids of that tomb, it is lowered into the last sponge so that it can be saturated with sacred moisture; then this sponge is squeezed out over a special vessel in which the sacristan is obliged to store the manna, and from which this manna is taught to all who ask. The pilgrims receive manna for free, but subject to one condition: in the church they do not give bottles for receiving manna; Everyone must bring their own bottle. What's surprising here? you ask. But here's what: if you bring a simple, clean bottle, then they will not pour manna into it for you, and you are obliged, when going to church, to stock up on bottles, especially for this purpose, sold in shops not far from the church itself; On these bottles there is an image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And there seems to be nothing strange about this at first glance. But wait. These bottles are sold in large quantities. Look, however, for at least one in which St. Nicholas is depicted in the same way as they are accustomed to seeing him depicted not only on our Orthodox icons, but even on most Western icons, and you will not find one in the whole city. Decidedly on all the local bottles, just as on some Western icons, the saint is depicted in the vestments and with the staff of a bishop not of the Eastern, but of the Latin Church, despite the fact that in the same church of St. Nicholas, there are very ancient icons of this saint, which by their very antiquity should have served as models for icon painters, and on which the saint is depicted in the garb of a bishop of the Eastern Church. Latin image of St. Nicholas To this we add one more feature concerning the same bottles. All of them, although not expensive, are of very poor workmanship, and the image of St. Nicholas on them is even more than pitiful. You can have more or less decent bottles only in the shop of Trifon Diasparro, but this latter, taking advantage, of course, of the fact that other sellers are not able to compete with him in the preparation of bottles, charges exorbitant prices for his products. However, it is difficult to pass Trifon Diasparro’s shop. Almost everyone who receives St. manna, wants to bring it as a gift to his friends. It is inconvenient to receive a large amount of it in the church at one time in one hand, on the one hand, because there are always “too many people asking,” and on the other hand, this moisture is extracted from the tomb from St. relics each time only in such quantity as a sponge lowered there can be saturated with. Tryphon Diasparro in this case satisfies the wishes of the pilgrims. He is the only merchant authorized by the local spiritual authorities to have St. manna, which can be obtained from him in very small vials specially prepared for this purpose; the latter, already filled with a few drops of manna and sealed, are sold very cheaply, so that a hundred of these vials can be bought for 4 francs, no more. Church of St. Nicholas in Bar. Side view When I was in Bargrad, I heard from some people about a strange phenomenon that often happens: many of those who come to venerate the relics of St. Nicholas is sometimes honored to see the saint’s honest bones, resting at the bottom of the tomb under the throne, but sometimes they are not awarded this honor, and no matter how hard they strain their eyesight, they cannot see whether there is anything contained in that tomb; others never have to see the shrine with their own eyes, no matter how many times they come to church to worship it. I could not verify by personal observation what I heard, after the Lord had vouchsafed me to achieve what I came to Bargrad for. On the eve of my departure from the city, I met the Russian vice-consul in Bargrad, G. (Italian). When I answered him in the affirmative to his question about whether I had seen the relics of the saint, he told me that, although he himself had more than once fallen to the tomb in which the relics of St. Nicholas, but I could never see the relics themselves. At the same time, the same Mr. G... told me that recently a very high-ranking person in Russia came to Bargrad to venerate the relics of the saint of God, so revered by us, but this person, as he personally heard from her, had not seen the relics. Arriving from Bargrad to Naples, I met with Osip Alekseevich Belyaev, who has lived there for more than 30 years, who sells coral products and has his own shop on the very shore of the bay. When I told him about everything I saw and heard in Bar-grad, he, in turn, told me that he himself had the opportunity to be in Bar-grad twice in his life; on his first visit, the Lord brought him to see the honest relics; when he arrived a second time, he could no longer see this shrine in the tomb. Image of St. Nicholas in the Church of the Wonderworker in Bar-grad Behind the high altar there is a door leading to the sacristy of the real lower church; in this sacristy there is a book in which all pilgrims, especially those of Russian origin, are asked to write their names. Here those who wish can receive: 1) photographic images of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker; the saint is represented on them to the waist, without a miter, dressed in a phelonion of a long ancient cut and wearing an omophorion; in his left hand he holds a staff with two horns, bent upward according to Eastern custom, and with a cross at its upper end; the right hand is raised for blessing and the fingers on it are folded in a nomenclature; 2) lithographed images of the interior of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in which his relics rest; These images are sold at the will of one Russian pilgrim who donated them, at 1 franc per copy, for the benefit of the poor. In the church treasury, the entrance to which is not from the lower church, but from the upper one, is kept the donation of the relics of St. who came to Bar-grad at the very beginning of the 14th century to venerate the relics of St. Nicholas by the Orthodox ruler of the Serbian Prince Urosh, the icon of this saint, which, due to its antiquity, is highly revered and is taken out of the treasury only during the procession of the cross, held on May 9 (Western style). This icon, together with the saint himself, depicts: in the clouds of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, giving the saint the Gospel, and the Mother of God, presenting him with the hierarchal omophorion, as well as Prince Urosh himself and his wife, kneeling before the saint. In the same church treasury there are parts of the relics of various saints who pleased God, as well as other shrines. Icon of St. Nicholas in the Church of the Wonderworker in Bar-grad (Serbian Prince Urosh, XIV century) Access to the lower church, in which the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, is not free at all times. This church is open only in the morning from six to eleven o'clock and then in the afternoon from 2 to 3 o'clock in the afternoon. At other times of the day and night it is constantly locked, and, except in cases of emergency, pilgrims rarely manage to enter it at unspecified hours. The Roman Church, like the Russian Church, celebrates the saint of God twice a year: on December 6th and May 9th. The last holiday is considered big and, moreover, not only in Bar-grad, but throughout the entire West, and in Bari it is currently celebrated with unusual solemnity. “The crowd of pilgrims in Bari on May 8 and 9 is huge... The crowd in the cathedral and Soccorpo (crypta - lower church) on these days is impassable; all the altars are illuminated, the service goes on day and night without interruption. In the squares adjacent to the monastery, there is a lively trade, and twice a day, meals from the cathedral are offered to all wanderers on long tables. On the night from the 8th to the 9th, the whole city is illuminated, here and there rockets soar, decorations of fireworks and banners flash, depicting miracles created by the incorruptible relics (of the saint); From the terraces of houses, rich and poor, sparklers spill their fantastic light. The embankment, the port, everything is covered with dense crowds of people who spend the night here. In that crowd we saw representatives of all the tribes inhabiting Italy: the Sicilians, the Calabrians, and the Romans; we heard the Slavic dialect of a Montenegrin and a Serb and, finally, the Russian speech of a fellow pilgrim. View of the city of Bari (Bar-grad) from the sea “At dawn, everyone is crowding even closer to the coast. On the pier, richly decorated in the form of a Catholic altar, the entire clergy of Bari and its environs appears in full vestments; in a specially designated place all civil and military authorities in uniform are located. The disk of the sun floats above the melted gold of the sea; and in this distance, also from the east, a whole squadron of small ships emerges, still barely visible. These ships set out to sea in the evening unnoticed by the residents. They return in the morning solemnly, richly decorated: on the main ship there is an image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, surrounded by clergy; harmonious church singing is heard, to which spiritual singers respond from the shore. The archbishop with all the clergy meets the image of St. saint on the pier, and the religious procession gradually extends from the sea along the streets of the city. Ahead are a hundred children in white clothes with flowers in their hands. Behind them, in their semi-monastic robes, are thousands of members of various religious and charitable congregations. Colossal statue of St. the saint on the shoulders of the pilgrims, countless rows of clergy, with large candles in their hands, bringing up the rear by the archbishop and his staff; waves of people, firing from mortaletti, rockets, singing and music; the ringing of all the bells of ancient Bari and the chiming of the famous bells of the Cathedral of St. Nicholas: all this presents a touching and majestic picture.” This is the impression one gets from this holiday in honor of our dear saint in a foreign city far from us, according to the testimony of one of our Orthodox eyewitnesses to this celebration. In conclusion, we consider it not superfluous to provide the following brief historical information about Bargrad itself, in which the relics of St. Nicholas. The city of Bar is thought to owe its origin to the Greeks, who have long had trading settlements along the shores of the Adriatic Sea in Italy. The time of its foundation is unknown, but its existence was mentioned already during the Roman rule by Horace, who says that this city (Barium) abounds in fish (Satyr. I, 5). The region in which this city is located was in ancient times called Peucetia, later Apulia. In the Middle Ages, Bargrad with its entire region was the theater of constant wars, as a result of which it passed from the hands of one ruler to another. The longest reign of the Greeks was, during which Bargrad served as the residence of the governors of the Byzantine emperors, called Catapans, who lived in a house that was known as Corte del Catapano, that is, the court of the Catapans, or also publico praetorio, - public praetorium, or also corte dominicale, the court of the rulers. Since the end of the 7th century, the Dukes of Benevento more than once wrested this city from the hands of the Greeks; in the 9th century the Saracens appeared here, but their rule did not last long; after a series of bloody wars, the Greeks triumphed, and the Saracens were driven out in 871. However, the triumph of the Greeks this time was not lasting; During the 10th century, the Saracens did not cease to harass this city with their frequent attacks, and in 1070 the Duke of Normandy, Robert Guiscard, took possession of it. Although after that the Greeks managed to regain the city of Bar once again, but in 1156 it was devastated by William “the Evil”, and with this the domination of the Greeks in the said area ceased forever. For several centuries then Bar-grad was in the hands of various sovereign dukes; in 1588 it was annexed to Naples, and currently it belongs to the Kingdom of Italy. The city of Bar conducts large trade with Dalmatia and Trieste. In the Middle Ages, its trade was even more significant. The lordly merchants were in constant trade relations with various countries of the East. It was during this flourishing era of trade between the Bar merchants that the event of the transfer of the honorable relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker from Myra of Libya to Bar-grad took place. Miracles of St. Nicholas, Miracle Worker of Myra During his lifetime, Saint Nicholas was a benefactor of the human race. He did not cease to be one even after his death, being a quick intercessor for all those in trouble, saving from drowning and carrying from the depths of the sea to land, delighting from captivity and carrying into the house, delivering from the death penalty by the sword and other types of death, giving healing: to the blind - sight, to the lame - walking, to the deaf - hearing, to the dumb - speaking. He enriched many when they were in extreme squalor and poverty, served food to the hungry, and was a ready helper, a zealous intercessor, a quick intercessor and defender to anyone in need. And now he also helps everyone who comes to him with faith and delivers them from the troubles that befall them. It is impossible to count or describe all his miracles. The great wonderworker Nicholas is known throughout the East and West, and all ends of the earth are aware of his miracles (St. Demetrius of Rostov). Therefore, the Church, glorifying in its hymns the saint of God Nicholas, the wonderworker of Mirliki, calls on everyone to worship him: may kings and princes flock to him, may shepherds and teachers praise him as a good shepherd who is a doctor in illness, a deliverer in troubles, an intercessor for sinners, a nourisher for the poor, a comforter in sorrows, a companion and a swimmer for travelers. by sea - as a ruler; let everyone praise the great Saint Nicholas. Already from those few stories about the miracles of St. Nicholas, which are placed below and taken from the “Service” to the great wonderworker, pious readers will see how varied the help of the great saint was to all those in need of it. Saving a ship from sinking. The light of the miracles of the deceased saint of God began to shine soon after his blessed death, when his venerable relics began to exude healing and fragrant myrrh, and soon reached the very extreme limits where there were Christians. This is how they learned about them in Greek settlements near the mouth of the Tanais River (now Don). There were pious people there who wanted to go to Myra to venerate the relics of the great saint of God. Having loaded the ships with wheat, they set off for distant Lycia. But the enemy of the human race, whom the holy saint of God so often put to shame during his lifetime, was, of course, unpleasant about such respect for his memory, and he decided to upset the pious desire of the Tanahitians. To do this, he took the form of a wife who, before the pious husbands sailed to Myra, approached them with a vessel filled with oil and addressed them with the following words: “I myself would like to take this oil to the tomb of St. Nicholas,” she told them, “but I am afraid to embark on a long sea voyage, since I am a weak and sick woman. Therefore, I ask you, take this vessel with oil and take it to Myra, and there pour it into the lamp at the tomb of the saint.” With these words, the crafty demon, who took the form of a woman, handed them a vessel of oil, which, as it turned out later, was mixed with demonic vapors, fatal to swimmers. Not suspecting the devil's machinations, on the contrary, seeing a pious intention in the wife's request, the travelers took the vessel from her and set off on their journey. At first they sailed safely for some time. But then a strong wind blew and a great sea swell arose, which made it impossible to continue the journey to distant Lycia. Therefore, the Tanaitians decided to return home without fulfilling their pious desire, and were already turning their ship back. But at that moment Saint Nicholas appeared to meet them in a small boat. “Where are you sailing, good people?” he turned to them. “Why do you leave the journey you started and turn back home? In your hands is the means to calm the storm and unhindered to continue the path you have begun. Know that the course of your ship is opposed by the malice of the devil, who in the form of a woman gave you a vessel of oil: throw it into the sea, and you will make your way safely.” The sailors listened to the wonderful man and threw the vessel of oil into the sea. Suddenly, black smoke, flames and a disgusting stench rose from there; the sea parted and bubbling arose from the bottom of the sea; The drops of the sea themselves turned into fiery sparks. Mortal horror seized the sailors, and they began to scream. The saint of God did not leave them now. Appearing again, he ordered them to leave fear and with his powerful word destroyed the devil’s obsession. Immediately a quiet coolness blew in, and a wonderful fragrance spread in the air. Having reached the city of Mir without hindrance, the Tanaitians fulfilled their pious desire by venerating the relics of the holy saint. Then they returned home safely and here they told everyone what St. had done for them. Nikolai. The miraculous return of the property stolen from him to Vandal. During one of the Vandal raids on Calabria, when everything was destroyed and set on fire, a Vandal robber found an image of St. in the house of an unknown Christian. Nicholas. Not knowing whose image it was, Vandal nevertheless took the image he liked. During the journey, the captive Christians explained to Vandal that this was the image of the famous miracle worker among Christians, St. Nicholas. Returning home to Africa, he erected an icon of St. Nicholas in his house. Then, when he found the need to leave his home and go on a journey, he entrusted the icon of St. Nicholas all his property that was in the house, and turned to her with the following words: “here, I entrust you with all my property, which you must keep intact until I return to my house; If in my absence any of my property perishes, then I will cruelly avenge it on you.” – Vandal set off. In his absence, thieves entered the house and stole all the property there, but left the icon of the miracle worker and Nicholas. Returning home and seeing that all his property had been plundered, the rude Vandal took out his anger on the icon of St. Nicholas. “Didn’t I tell you,” he turned to Saint Nicholas, “that in my absence you would keep my property from thieves? Since you didn’t do this, I will beat you instead of the thieves.” With these words, he scourged the honest image of the saint and even threatened to burn it if the property was not found. When the thieves who stole Vandal’s estate began to divide it among themselves, Saint Nicholas of Christ unexpectedly appeared to them and said menacingly: “What have you done? Why did you steal the estate that was entrusted to me for safekeeping? You sinned, and I remained guilty. Look how cruelly Vandal beat me, what wounds he made on my body and how he mutilated it. Immediately return the property you stole to Vandal. If you do not do this, you will suffer a shameful execution.” Amazed by such words, the thieves said to him: “Who are you, and what right do you have to say so?” He answered: I am Nicholas, the servant of my Lord Jesus Christ.” Hearing the name of the great saint of God, the thieves felt great fear and immediately returned the property to Vandal. After this, they completely stopped stealing and until the very end lived a godly life, bitterly repenting of their previous sins. Vandal, amazed by the quick and miraculous help of God's saint, believed in Christ with his entire house, was baptized and then built a church in honor of St. Nicholas. From that time on, the name of the great miracle worker became famous among the barbarians and became known in northern Africa. Help from St. Nicholas to Bishop Fyodor of Mir. In the Acts of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicea (787), the following story was preserved by one of the later successors of St. Nicholas of Christ about the miraculous help provided to him by this great saint. At the council, assembled, as is known, to establish true veneration of God, shaken by the heresy of the iconoclasts, each father was given the right to speak before everyone in favor of veneration of icons, everything that was known to him. So, the letter from Rev. was read. Nile of Sinai to the Silentiary Iliodorus about the appearance of Saints to the two hermits of Sinai. the martyr Plato, recognized by them from those icons of the saint that were in use in their homeland. After listening to the reading, Theodore, the bishop of the world (at first he adhered to the heresy of the iconoclasts, but at the first meeting of the council he repented and renounced it), spoke before the council. “I had to experience something similar to this story. Once I received an insult at the hands of important people. My archdeacon, a reverent and God-fearing man, tells me: I saw in a dream the patriarch, who told me: let the metropolitan come to us, and his affairs will turn in his favor. I asked the archdeacon: in what form and shape did the patriarch appear to you? He answered: his face is red and his hair is gray. Then I said to him: this is not the kind of patriarch; on the endite (veil or generally sacred vestment) we have an icon of St. Nicholas and, as you say, he is exactly as he appeared to you. He answered: yes, indeed, the one who spoke to me looked like that. From this resemblance to the icon, I understood that St. appeared to him. Nikolai. So, believing the words of the archdeacon, I immediately went to the God-protected reigning city, and all my affairs were managed according to the benefits of my diocese.” Return of gold to the Jew. One Christian borrowed a large amount of gold from a Jew. Since he had no one among the people who could vouch for him, he made St. Nicholas of Christ his guarantor before the Jew. For this they both went to the Church of St. Nicholas, where a Christian vowed to repay his debt before the altar of the saint. But now the deadline set by the Christian for repaying the debt has passed. A Jew came to him and began to ask him to return the gold he had taken. The Christian, having decided to conceal the debt, began to assure the Jew with an oath that he had already returned the gold to him. Then the Jew turned to the judges with a request to judge their case. The latter, having no evidence, decided to bring this matter to the court of the Christian conscience. They ordered him to swear that he had repaid his debt and did not owe anything to the Jew. And the self-interested man dared to take the oath, hoping with the help of one trick to avoid punishment for perjury. He put the gold into a thick stick, which he gave to the Jew to hold during the oath, saying: “I gave you more than I should have,” but after the oath he took it again. But the court of God was not slow to punish the perjurer. When he returned home after committing an oath, a heavy sleep overtook him and he fell to the ground. A fast-moving chariot ran over him and killed him to death, and the stick in which the gold was hidden fell, broke, and the gold from it scattered on the ground. Having learned about this, the Jew was horrified and did not even want to take his gold, which was offered to him. Finally, he said: “Until then I will not take the gold until I see the deceased resurrected through the prayer of St. Nicholas. When this happens, I myself will become a Christian.” As soon as he said this, the dead man came to life. Amazed by such a great miracle, the Jew was baptized with his entire family. The Deliverance of Joseph the Songwriter from Bonds. In the 9th century, the saint of God Nicholas repelled the Mohammedans from the island of Rhodes when they touched Christian churches, and rendered his miraculous intercession to the Venerable. Joseph the Songwriter, for firmness in the veneration of icons to a prisoner on the island of Crete. There, in prison, he languished for six whole years until the death of the iconoclast Leo the Armenian. On that very night and at that very hour when the evil persecutor was killed (December 24, 820), the monk stood in prayer, greeting the approaching feast of the Nativity of Christ with hymns. Suddenly a light illuminated the prison, and a holy man appeared to the prisoner, dressed in holy robes, with gray hair and a bright face, and said: “From Myra in Lycia, I have come to you, sent by God, to bring you good news: the enemy who confused the Church and scattered Christ’s sheep has lost his kingdom and life, having been called to God’s judgment. Now it is fitting for you to return to Constantinople, so that through the grace of the Holy Spirit living in you you may strengthen many.” Having said this, he handed him a certain charter, saying: “Take this main thing and eat it!” It was written there: hasten, O generous one, and strive, as you are merciful, to help us, as much as you can. Joseph, having accepted and read the charter, joyfully swallowed it and said: “How sweet these words are to my larynx!” And the one who appeared commanded that the prisoner sing them. Joseph began to sing, and his bonds fell from him. The saint ordered him to follow him; the prison doors opened before them by themselves - and Joseph found himself on the high road leading to Constantinople. Having settled there, Rev. Joseph built a church in the name of St. Nicholas, his benefactor, and glorified him with many hymns that are still used in the Orthodox Church. Delivering a youth from drowning. One pious husband fervently prayed to St. Nicholas that he would resolve his wife’s infertility and give him a child, promising to bring a golden vessel to the church of St. Nicholas with the child that was to be born. His prayer was heard by St. Nicholas, and soon his son was born. Fulfilling his vow, he gave the “goldener” a lot of gold and ordered him to make a vessel out of it. But when the last one was prepared, he really liked it, and he ordered the “goldener” to make another vessel for the saint. Nicholas, and kept the first one for home use. After making the second vessel, he went by sea to the church of St. Nicholas and took with him the one born through prayer to St. Nikolai's son and both vessels. During the voyage, the father ordered the boy to draw water from a previously made vessel. Fulfilling the will of his father, the boy and the vessel fell into the depths of the sea and drowned. His father, shedding bitter tears over the premature death of his son, continued on his way alone, wanting to fulfill his vow to the saint. Arriving at the church of St. Nicholas, he placed a second vessel in front of his icon. But the vessel was thrown into the middle of the church by an invisible force. Then he placed it in front of the icon a second time, but with the same failure: the vessel was thrown into the middle of the church a second time by an invisible force. Everyone present was amazed by this, not understanding what it meant. But suddenly a youth stood in the middle of the church, holding the previously made vessel in his hands, and told everyone who was there that it had been saved at sea from drowning by Saint Nicholas of Christ. Having given thanks to the Lord, who is marvelously glorified in His saints, the father gave both vessels for use in the church of St. Nicholas and then safely returned home with his son. Release from captivity and prison of the military leader Peter (Athos). Around the 9th century, Saint Nicholas of Christ showed miraculous help to the Greek commander Peter Scholasticus. During the war with the Mohammedans, he was captured and imprisoned in the fortress of Samara, located on the banks of the Euphrates. Having surrounded the prisoner with heavy shackles and thrown him into a stinking prison under strong guard, the enemies forbade all access to him and thus deprived him of all consolation. In this sad situation, he remembered all his previous sins, sincerely repented of them and diligently called for help from St. Nicholas, to whom, even before this, also being in captivity, he ran with a prayer for deliverance, promising, if freed from captivity, not to return to Constantinople to his wife and children, but to go straight to Rome and there to take monastic vows at the monastery of St. Apostle Peter; but, freed from captivity, he forgot his vow. Now, another time having been captured, he again calls upon St. Nicholas and makes a firm vow upon his release to become a monk. In order for the prayer to have greater success, Peter imposed a strict fast on himself, did not eat anything for a whole week and, with tears and sobs, called upon the great wonderworker to help him. Comforter of the sad and quick deliverer of all those in trouble, St. Nicholas appeared on the eighth night to Peter, imprisoned in prison, and told him: “I have heard your prayer; but God’s mercy is still slow to deliver you. Remember the words of Christ: push, and the opening will be opened to you! Don’t give up prayer and trust in the Lord!” Having said these words, Saint Nicholas ordered him to taste the bread and then left. Some time later, Saint Nicholas again appeared to the prisoner in a dream and with a joyful face said to him: “Believe me, Peter, that I am constantly praying for you. The Lord has not yet revealed His will to me, but I will show you another intercessor who will pray to the omnipotent God for you.” - “But who, Peter objected, can pray to God better than you, when the whole world calls you, and you save everyone!” St. Nicholas answered him: “Do you know Simeon the God-Receiver, who received the forty-day-old Infant Christ into his arms?” “I know, Saint of God,” said Peter: “it is also read about him in St. Gospels." St. Nicholas continued: “Pray to him, he is strong with the Lord, since he stands at the throne of the Almighty together with the Most Holy Theotokos and Saint John the Baptist.” Having said this, St. Nikolai left. Waking up, Peter began to pray even more earnestly than before, constantly calling for help from Saint Simeon the God-Receiver together with Saint Nicholas. After this, he saw at his bedside both intercessors, Saint Nicholas and Saint Simeon, of whom the latter held a rod in his hand and said to him: “Will you fulfill your vow and renounce the world? Look, don’t lie like you lied to St. Nicholas." “No, servant, I will certainly do it,” answered Peter. Then St. Simeon told him: “If you truly promise to become a monk, then go from prison without any fear to where you want.” But Peter said: “I cannot go out, because I am imprisoned in chains.” St. Simeon touched with his rod the shackles that weighed down Peter, and at the same time they fell off him. And St. Nicholas told him: “The Lord has freed you from captivity, go now to Rome and do not forget to fulfill your vow, so as not to get you into even greater trouble.” After this, the wondrous elders led the prisoner out of the dungeon, escorted him to a safe road, and there they disappeared from his sight. That same night St. Nicholas appeared to the pope in a dream, holding the hand of the military leader Peter, who had been freed from bonds, and said to him: “We delivered this man Peter, together with Simeon the God-Receiver, from the prison of Samaria from heavy bonds; I instruct you to raise him to the image of a monk and guide him on the path of salvation. You will see him tomorrow in church during Matins, and do what I told you.” After these words, St. Nikolai became invisible. Meanwhile, Peter, assisted by the help of the holy fathers - Simeon and Nicholas, arrived in Rome and appeared at the church of St. Peter and, weeping with joy for his liberation, fell with prayer to the holy Apostles Peter and Paul and his saviors - saints Simeon and Nicholas. The Pope recognized him and on the same day tonsured him into an angelic image. Peter spent the rest of his days in deeds of piety on Mount Athos. The Orthodox Church canonized him and celebrates the memory of the teacher on the 12th day of June. Peter of Athos. Release of Vasily, son of Agrikov from captivity. In the country of Antioch, which was often subject to Saracen raids, there lived one rich and pious man named Agric. Having great faith in the Holy Father Nicholas, he used to go annually, on the day of his memory, to go on pilgrimage to the church, consecrated in the name of this saint of God and located 5 stages (about a mile) from his place of residence, and then treat all his relatives and friends and many beggars to dinner. Once, when the day of remembrance of Saint Christ was approaching, Agric said to his sixteen-year-old son Vasily: “Go to the church of St. Nicholas, pray to the great saint of God and, after listening to Vespers, Matins and Liturgy, come home; and my mother and I will prepare everything necessary for treating the poor.” The boy happily went to fulfill his father's wish. During Matins at the Church of St. Nicholas was suddenly attacked by the Saracens, who captured everyone who was in it, including Vasily, the son of Agrikov, who was taken to the island of Crete and here became a prisoner of the Saracen prince Amira. For Vasily’s extraordinary beauty, Prince Amir made him his cupbearer. Having learned about the sudden captivity of their son, the grief-stricken parents indulged in inconsolable sadness and spent two whole years lamenting over their dead son and did not even celebrate the memory of St. Nicholas. “It would be better, our dear son,” they said, shedding bitter tears, “if we saw you lying on your bed and overtaken by a severe illness, since then we could with our own hands at least somewhat alleviate your suffering; Our heart and soul would not even be so tormented if death had happened to you and we ourselves had betrayed you to the ground.” Seeing the inconsolable sadness of their parents, the neighbors began to console them, advising them to place their hope in St. Nikolai, an ambulance in all troubles. Agric, having calmed down somewhat, said to his wife: “What good is crying and sobbing for us! For the third year now we have been yearning and lamenting, forgetting even the great saint of God, and not going to his holiday. Tomorrow is his memorial day. Let's go, let's bring his oil, candles and incense to the church; Let's pray to him, maybe he will send us consolation; maybe he will return our lost son to us, or at least let us know about him - whether he is alive or dead? His wife fully approved of his intention, and they happily hurried to the church of St. Nicholas, where they duly honored his memory, and returning home, they had a meal, as before, and invited relatives, friends and beggars to it. During the meal, dogs suddenly started barking in the yard. Agric sent servants to see what caused the barking. The servants, returning, said that there was no one and nothing in the yard. The barking, however, continued and intensified. Agric himself went out to look and at first was frightened when he saw in front of him a young man in Saracen dress with a vessel of wine in his hands. But, coming closer, he recognized him as his son and exclaimed with joy: “Is it really you, my son, or are my eyes deceiving me?” “Yes, it’s me, father,” answered the young man: “but how I ended up here, I don’t know. Even now I was serving at the table of the Saracen prince and from this vessel I poured wine into his goblet. But in an instant, someone strong took me by the hand, carried me like a whirlwind, placed me here, and I recognized the great Saint Nicholas in him.” One can imagine the extreme joy and deep gratitude to the saint of God of the parents, who had already lost hope of the return of their son and now again received him safe and sound. Release of the Saracen from prison. On the seashore was the Greek city of Spolitis, opposite which on the other side of the strait was the Saracen city. A resident of the latter, a wealthy Saracen, one day, while riding on the sea, was unexpectedly captured by the Greeks and imprisoned in a dungeon where many criminals were kept. He spent a whole year in prison and learned the Greek language here. Often hearing that his fellow prisoners turned to St. in prayer. Nicholas, he wanted to know who Saint Nicholas, called by Christians, was. One of the prisoners told him about the great benefits of St. Nicholas to the human race and at the same time told him the main truths of the Christian faith. The unfaithful Saracen was deeply touched by the Christian’s story and, waiting until nightfall, turned in simplicity of heart with the following prayer to the true God: “Lord! if You really came down to earth and became incarnate for our salvation, then send Your saint Saint Nicholas to help me. Let him deliver me from captivity, and I will convert to Christianity with my whole house.” Having prayed in this way, the Saracen fell asleep and saw in a dream Saint Nicholas, who removed his shackles and said to him: “Christ delivers you through me, His servant; go, but do not forget your vow; otherwise things will be bad for you.” Having said this, the saint became invisible. The Saracen woke up and, to his greatest surprise, found himself at home, on his bed, where he had been invisibly transported by the will of the saint of God. Together with his wife and children, he thanked God for his incomprehensible salvation and with the story of the miracle that happened to him, he converted many infidels to Christ. The next night, the saint again appeared in a dream to the Saracen and said to him: “Get into the boat immediately, hurry to the Greek coast and tell me how I freed you from prison. The Greeks think you bribed the guards and want to execute them. Don’t be afraid for yourself: I will be with you, and no one will touch you!” The Saracen told his dream to his wife, who tried in every possible way to dissuade him from fulfilling the order given by the saint. But he answered all her convictions and tearful requests with firmness: “St. Nicholas is strong enough to save me from danger another time.” He got into a boat with several servants, whom he did not even allow to take weapons with them, drove up to the very walls of the enemy city and loudly told the people who had come running about the miracle that had happened to him. The Greek boats pursued him in vain: he returned home safely. Soon after this, he went to Jerusalem with his entire family and servants and there he was honored with all of them to receive baptism from the patriarch. Deliverance of the priest Christopher from beheading by the sword. One priest from the city of Mytilene, named Christopher, having great zeal for St. Nicholas, annually went to the city of Myra to venerate the myrrh-streaming relics of the wonderworker. Having received myrrh from them as a blessing, he usually returned home. One day, going to Myra along with 30 admirers, he was captured by the Arabians. Having brought the captives home, the Arabians divided them into 3 parts: one was to be sold, the other was to be locked up in prison, and the third was to be killed. The priest Christopher was condemned to be beheaded by the sword. He and his unfortunate companions had already been taken to the place of execution. Seeing how his comrades had their heads cut off, and trembling at his turn. Christopher began to pray with all his heart to the speedy intercessor of St. Nikolai. “Saint Nicholas of Christ!” he cried out to him: “help me, who am in great trouble, deliver me from a sharp sword, free me from a vain death.” Saint Nicholas immediately appeared to him and said: “Do not be afraid, brother, priest of Christ: I am with you.” The executioner had already approached, ordered Christopher to bow his head and swung his sword. But Saint Nicholas, snatching the sword from the barbarian’s hand, threw it far away. "Where is the sword?" asked the astonished executioner Christopher. “Saint Nicholas took it,” he answered. The executioner went and brought another sword, wanting to cut off Christopher's head. Saint Nicholas again saved the priest and snatched his sword from the executioner. “Who are you that you use such magic?” The executioner, irritated by the failure, asked the prisoner. “No, sir,” Christopher answered him, “I don’t know any magic, but St. Nikolai takes the sword from you.” The executioner looked around and, not seeing anyone, objected: “The person you are talking about is not here,” and went for the third sword. But St. Nikolai invisibly took the sword from him for the third time when he raised it over Christopher’s head. Then the executioner, overcome with horror, asked the priest: “Tell me, who is this Nicholas you are talking about?” Christopher told him in detail about God's saint, how he works miracles. Having heard this, the Arabian confessed that he had heard before about the holiness and greatness of St. Nicholas, and concluded: “now I don’t want to do anything contrary to him,” released Christopher and his three companions, whom he was going to kill after him, from their bonds, and, releasing them to freedom, even showed them the way, saying: “Go in peace!” Saved by St. Nicholas from death, Christopher and his companions returned home safely and glorified their savior before everyone. Saint Nicholas retrieves the patriarch from the depths of the sea. During the reign of Emperor Leontius, there lived in Constantinople a very pious man named Theophanes, who was distinguished by his hospitality and love of poverty. One day he saw St. Nicholas in a dream, who told him to order three icons to be painted: the Savior, the Mother of God and Nicholas the Wonderworker - and, when they were ready, he would show them to the patriarch. Fulfilling the order of the saint of God, Theophanes immediately ordered the then famous icon painter Haggai to paint these images and, when he received them from him, invited the patriarch and his cathedral to honor them with prayerful praises. Entering the room where the icons stood and, first of all, turning to the image of the Savior, the patriarch said: “Glory to Thee, our God, Savior, who created all creation!” Then, looking at the icon of the Mother of God, he added: “The painter painted this image of the Most Pure Mother of God, who gave birth to us the Lover of Mankind, well!” Finally, seeing the image of St. Nicholas, he said with displeasure: “Why is this image of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, here? He was a Smerdovich (of low birth), and it is indecent for his image to stand with these two icons.” The Patriarch ordered, to the displeasure of the owner, to remove the image of St. Nicholas from the room, forbade the painter to paint such icons of him and, having performed a prayer service to the Savior and the Mother of God, sat down at the dining table with the clergy. During the meal, Theophan noticed that almost all the wine was gone and, since it was already late and there was nowhere to get it, he went to a distant room where there was an image of St. Nicholas, taken out of the reception room, by the will of the patriarch, and began to pray fervently before him, so that the saint of God would now increase the supply of wine in his house. Having finished the prayer, Theophanes left this room and found the vessels, which had previously contained no wine, miraculously filled with new, better wine, which the patriarch found extremely tasty. The next day, the patriarch was called to the nearby island of Gerdala to read the Gospel over the daughter of a nobleman, possessed by an evil spirit. On the way back, he was overtaken by a strong storm: the waves threatened to swallow the ship every minute - and one of them, spilling over the ship, carried the patriarch with it into the depths of the sea. While drowning, he remembered his recent sin against the saint of God and exclaimed: “I have sinned before you, Saint Nicholas! Forgive me, and deliver me from this depth and vain death" ... At the same moment, Saint Nicholas appeared near him, walking on the sea as if on dry land, and, taking him by the hand, said: “Are you calling on Smerdovich, whose image you did not even want to look at?” “I have sinned,” said the patriarch: “deliver me, great saint of Christ, from vain death, and I will glorify you, God’s saint, a quick helper in troubles.” “Do not be afraid, brother,” Saint Nicholas answered him: “now the Lord our God is delivering you from the drowning of the sea by me, His servant. Get into the ship, return home and feed well the flock of Christ.” And the patriarch suddenly found himself in his place in the ship. Surprised by his sudden appearance, his companions asked him: “How, sir, did you return from the depths of the sea to the ship?” The patriarch, who came to his senses, told them about his miraculous savior, and everyone glorified God and His saint, Saint Nicholas. Upon returning home, the patriarch called Theophan, begged from him an honest icon of the miracle worker and, having consecrated it, placed it in the St. Sophia Church. Soon after, he built a monastery and church in honor of St. Nicholas and transferred his miraculous icon to him. Saint Nicholas delivers from drowning: a husband named Demetrius, one pious Constantinople and monk Nicholas. One pious man named Demetrius, who lived in Constantinople, used to go on pilgrimage to the church of St. Nicholas, located in the city of Anfirit, at a distance of 10 stadia from Constantinople. Once, when he was traveling there at night with several comrades, having with him candles, oil, incense and other things necessary for the festive service, a strong storm arose, which capsized their ship. Exhausted and carried away by the abyss to the very bottom of the sea, Demetrius incessantly cried out: “Saint Nicholas, help me!” The ambulance immediately appeared to him, took him by the hand, pulled him out of the depths and carried him home to a locked room. Demetrius, not realizing the miracle and considering himself still at the bottom of the sea, shouted loudly: “Saint Nicholas, help me!” His family and neighbors were awakened by this extraordinary cry and, thinking that a thief had entered the room, they entered it with fire. They were extremely surprised to find Dimitri in the locked room - all wet: sea water was dripping from his head, beard and clothes... Only after regaining full consciousness, Dimitri told them what happened to him at sea, and who he called for while plunging into the sea. Everyone understood that St. saved him. Nikolai, and thanked the helper who was quick in troubles. In the same way, Saint Nicholas saved another Constantinople man who was faithful to the Lord Jesus and who lovingly revered the memory of the saint of Christ. This husband, having gone to another country on his business, went to the church of the holy wonderworker, there he prayed to him and, asking for his blessing, set off on his journey. At 9 o'clock at night the wind blew and the sailors began to set sail. Waking up from the noise and talking, this husband got up and walked along the ship, but in the darkness, he stumbled and fell into the sea. On a dark night, with a strong wind, it was impossible to provide him with immediate help. Not expecting salvation from people and plunging into the depths of the sea, the husband began to cry out to the great wonderworker: “Saint Nicholas, help me!” And suddenly he found himself in the middle of the room, continuing to consider himself in the depths of the sea. Only when the neighbors came and explained to him where he was, the drowning man realized that he had been saved by St. Nicholas, and thanked his savior. The elderly hermit Simeon, who spent his life in fasting, solitude and prayer and became famous for the gift of miracles, had a monk named Nicholas, whom he once sent to the distant country of Katavala. The path lay along the sea. During the day the weather was good, and the travelers sailed merrily along the calm and bright sea. At night, moving away from the shore, they lost their way. Unfortunately for them, a strong storm arose. The sea became raging, and the waves, now lifting and then overthrowing the boat, rushed it into the open sea: the oars of the rowers fell out of their hands, the sail was torn. Desperate for their salvation, the rowers fell from fear to the bottom of the boat and with a strong cry prayed to the patron of the seafarers: “Saint Nicholas! help us and save us from trouble.” Monk Nicholas raised his head to look at the sea, and saw St. Nicholas in white robes near the ship, walking on the sea as if on dry land. "Stand up, brother!" he said to him: “and do not succumb to drowsiness.” Then, having entered the ship, he added: “Go to the work entrusted to you with joy, - henceforth I am with you, whom you call with faith. Now peace and blessings be upon you.” Soon the storm subsided: the rowers, encouraged by the words of the great saint, again took to the oars and with the help of his prayers, the ship sailed the distance that usually took two weeks in one hour. The joyful swimmers glorified God and the saint of God, Nicholas, saying: “Wonderful is God in His saints, the God of Israel.” Saint Nicholas miraculously returns a sold carpet. In Constantinople there lived one artisan named Nicholas, who especially revered St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and annually celebrated the day of his memory. Thus he reached a ripe old age and, unable to work, fell into poverty. Nikola’s day was approaching, and the old man began to think about how to celebrate this day, but he could not think of anything. On the eve of the holiday, he said to his wife: “Behold, wife, the feast of our beloved intercessor, St. Nicholas, is approaching, and we have nothing to celebrate this great day with.” “You know, my lord,” answered the pious wife: “we don’t have long to live in the world, we don’t have children; We have no one to take care of the inheritance: so we will sell the last to please God and the great miracle worker. Here we have a carpet left: go, sell it and buy everything you need for tomorrow’s holiday.” The old man listened to his wife, took the carpet and went to sell it. On the road, when he passed the square where the pillar of Constantine the Great stood, and had already passed the monastery of St. Plato, he met a godly old man and asked him: “Where are you going, dear friend!” “I’m going to auction to sell a carpet,” answered the old artisan. “Okay, friend,” answered the elder: “but tell me, how much are you asking for your carpet? I would like to buy it." – “8 gold coins were paid for it at the beginning; and now I’ll take whatever you give” - “Will you take six gold pieces?” “I’ll gladly take it,” replied the artisan. The elder immediately gave him 6 gold pieces, took the carpet and left. The people who were at the trade surrounded the old craftsman and asked him: “Why are you talking to yourself? Do you see anything? They saw and heard only him alone, and did not see the saint and did not hear his words. Meanwhile, Saint Nicholas appeared to the old man’s wife and, returning the carpet to her, said: “Your husband is my old friend; Today he came across me at a trade and asked me to bring this carpet to you.” With these words, the saint disappeared, leaving the old woman upset and annoyed with her husband because he regretted selling the carpet. Pleased with the sale of the carpet, the artisan bought everything he needed for the holiday and returned home with his hands full. But his wife showered him with reproaches: “I don’t want to live with you: you deceived Saint Nicholas. It would be better for you not to promise than to break your promise. Here is your carpet, but you will not see me again, because with this deception you have sullied your entire former honest life.” The craftsman was amazed when he heard his wife’s reproaches and saw the sold carpet again at home. He asked his wife where she got the carpet from? She said that after he left, a very respectable old man came, gave her the carpet and hurriedly left. After listening to this story, the artisan guessed who had bought his carpet, and in the fullness of his heart exclaimed: “Glory to Thee, Christ God, who works miracles through Thy wondrous saint, Saint Nicholas!” Then he told his wife how God’s saint in the form of a venerable old man met him on the road and bought a carpet from him, and in conclusion showed her the food supplies he had brought, wine, prosphora and candles for the holiday. Then the spouses unanimously glorified God and His saint, the great miracle worker. They immediately hurried to the church of St. Nicholas and told everyone who had gathered there for the service what wonderful help they had received from the ambulance to the poor. All listeners also glorified God and Saint Nicholas. When the patriarch was informed about this miracle, he ordered that the old artisan and his wife be fed for the rest of their lives from the income of the St. Sophia Church. Intercession for the innocently convicted. A rich and famous husband, Epiphanius, a dignitary of Tsar Constantine, lived in Constantinople. Having many servants, he wanted to buy another slave. On December 3, taking a lot of gold, he rode on horseback to the auction, where Russian merchants were selling slaves. There, however, he did not have time to buy a slave and, returning home, he put the taken gold in one place and forgot about it. The next day, at the instigation of the spirit of malice, he began to demand gold from the youth who served him, to whom, it seemed to him, he had given the gold the day before. The youth replied that he had not received any gold. Epiphanius, irritated by his refusal, began to reproach him for lying, and then, not believing his oaths, ordered to beat him mercilessly and imprison him, burdened with chains, in one of the rooms of the house, saying: “I will think about him when the feast of St. Nicholas comes.” The beaten, chained and locked servant began to tearfully pray to God to deliver him from the misfortune. Adding tears to tears and prayers to prayers, he turned to St. Nicholas with the following request: “Honest Father, Saint Nicholas, deliver me from this trouble. You know, it's not my fault that they talk about me. Tomorrow is your holiday, and I sit in great trouble.” Night found him praying, and he fell asleep with sadness. In a dream, St., always quick to help those calling him with faith, appeared to him. Nikolai. “Do not grieve,” he said to him: “Christ will deliver you through me, His servant.” And immediately the iron bonds fell from the prisoner’s feet, and he, waking up, praised God and St. Nicholas. That same night St. Nicholas appeared to his master in a dream and said to him menacingly: “Why are you unfairly accusing your servant, Epiphanius! It’s your own fault: you hid the gold yourself, and you’re torturing your faithful servant. However, since you did this not at the inclination of your heart, but at the instigation of the enemy, I appeared to you so that your love for God would not dry out. Get up and release your innocent servant. If you don’t do this, then you yourself will find yourself in great trouble.” And, pointing his finger at the place where he himself had placed the gold, he added: “Take your gold, let the servant go!” Waking up, the boyar immediately found his gold in the place indicated to him, thanked the Lord, the lover of mankind, and thanked St. Nicholas. Then he went to the imprisoned servant, humbly asked him for forgiveness for the sin he had committed, took him out of the seclusion and ordered him to be given everything he needed: he himself spent the rest of the night until Matins in prayer. Hearing the good news for Matins, Epiphanius, taking the gold and a servant, went to the church of St. Nicholas, where after Matins he told all the pilgrims what happened to him and what mercy God showed him through His saint; then, turning to the servant, he added: “child, it is not I, a sinner, but God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and His saint Nicholas forgive you from work. Forgive me too, who out of ignorance committed a lie before you.” At the same time, Epiphanius divided the ill-fated gold into three parts, of which he gave one to the church of St. Nicholas, immediately distributed another to the poor, and handed the third to a freed slave with the words: “Take this gold, child, so that from this day on you will not serve anyone except St. Nicholas; I will take care of your bodily needs like a father.” And everyone joyfully celebrated the feast of St. Nicholas. Healing a paralytic youth. One young man, named Nikolai, was possessed by strong demonic torment: a great fire burned his insides, so that all the members of his body dried up, and the body itself weakened, and the sufferer could neither walk, nor stand, nor stretch, but only crawled hunched over. At first he was treated by doctors, but he treated all his property and fell into extreme poverty. Once, on the day of the feast of St. Nicholas, a sick young man saw people holding candles going to mass in the Church of St. Nicholas. Following their example, he, in all his poverty, bought a candle and crawled to the Church of St. Nicholas. As he crawled, a quick helper in troubles, Saint Nicholas, appeared to him and asked who he was, where he was from and where he was going, what kind of trouble had happened to him, and what did he need? The sufferer, tired from the journey and overcome with fear, sat and told him all his misfortune. “If you want to be healthy,” the elder who appeared told him, “then follow me.” Having brought him to his church, the saint became invisible. The sick man, not seeing the counselor in front of him, lit his candle, crawled into the church and, reaching the image of the saint, recognized in it the face of the elder who led him to the church. Then he exclaimed, turning to the saint: “Saint Nicholas! You told me on the way - if you want to be healthy, follow me - and you yourself brought me here. Have mercy on me and heal me. You owe me - give me your debt! He prayed for a long time, relaxed. Finally, he convincingly began to ask those around him to lift him up and let him venerate the miraculous icon. When his wish was fulfilled, he hugged the image tightly with both hands and kissed it with the words: “warm intercessor, have mercy on me!” And so, the crumpled members of his body began to unbend, he straightened up, with his own hands made the sign of the cross three times over his entire body and anointed him with oil from the saint’s lamp. Having been healed from demonic torment, he, completely healthy, again hugged the honest image of his ambulance and kissed him again. All the witnesses glorified God and His saint, St. Nicholas. Return of sight to the Serbian prince Stefan. Ilutin, the fourth Serbian king after Simeon the Great, the founder of the Serbian state, had a son, Prince Stefan, who already in his youth was distinguished by the fear of God, meekness, humility, friendliness and compassion for the suffering. The enemy of the human race, who always hates virtuous people, intended to destroy the prince. To do this, he aroused strong anger against the prince in the heart of his stepmother, who slandered his son to his father, assuring the latter that Stefan wanted to deprive him of his life and the throne. With her evil slander, she finally achieved the point that the weak-willed Ilutin, who had previously loved his son with all the tenderness of a parent’s heart, now terribly hated him. Despite the fact that the prince knew about the insidious machinations of his stepmother, despite the fact that many of the nobles persuaded him to flee, even volunteering to win over the army to his side in order to protect their safety with weapons, the virtuous prince indignantly rejected the criminal advice and, placing his hope in God, sought help in prayer to the intercessor of all the unfortunate and innocent. The envy of the devil triumphed. The evil stepmother persuaded the unfortunate father to commit a terrible crime - the blinding of an innocent son, which was carried out near the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Stefan lay for a long time, suffering from severe torment, but finally fell into oblivion, and then Saint Nicholas appeared before him, who, holding in his hand the eyes of Stefan, plucked out by his tormentors, said to him: “Do not be afraid, Stefan, your eyes are in my hand!” When Stefan woke up, he felt that the pain in his eyes had decreased significantly. The cruel father did not limit himself to blinding his innocent son: on the advice of his treacherous wife, he sent the prince and his children to his father-in-law, the Eastern Emperor Andronikos Palaeologus, asking him to be kept under strict supervision. In Constantinople, Stefan was imprisoned in the monastery of Pantocrator (Pantocrator), in which the meek and God-fearing prince not only gained the favor of the monks, but even the emperor himself, hearing about his ascetic and virtuous life, was imbued with respect for him, often visited him to talk with him and consulted about the affairs of the state. Far from his homeland, the prince did not cease to care about the prosperity of Orthodoxy and, taking advantage of the emperor’s favor, persuaded him to eradicate heresies in his Orthodox state. The prince spent five years in quiet monastic seclusion. In the sixth year, on the day of remembrance of Saint Nicholas, he, along with other monks, came to the church for matins and, listening to a description of the life and miracles of the great saint, dozed off and saw in a dream Saint Nicholas, who asked him: “Do you remember what I told you five years before?” When Stephen said that he had already forgotten, then the miracle worker said to him: “Then I said that your eyes are in my hand. Now I have been sent to return them to you." With these words, the saint blessed Stephen, touched his darkened eyes with his hand and said: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who healed the man born blind, restores your sight!” When the prince came to his senses, opening his eyes and seeing all the surrounding objects, he could not come to his senses for a long time from amazement and joy, and first of all he thanked the Lord for His ineffable mercy; but, fearing the malicious intent of his stepmother, he did not tell anyone about his miraculous healing and continued to wear a blindfold. Meanwhile, Emperor Andronikos Palaiologos needed help in the war against his enemies, and he sent for it to his son-in-law Ilutin, King of Serbia. Among those sent was the abbot of the monastery in which the blinded prince lived. Hearing from him about the wonderful virtues of his son, whom he had treated so cruelly, and tormented by remorse, the father returned his innocently injured son to himself. The elderly father, shedding Stefan with tears of repentance, humbly asked him for forgiveness for his injustice. The kindly prince cried with joy and, consoling his old father, said: “You are not guilty of anything before me, my sovereign and parent! The Lord through you wanted to punish me for my sins. His Fatherly Providence has assigned each of us our own path: for you to save your soul by vigilant care for the power entrusted to you, and for me to atone for the sins of my life through patience in blindness and suffering. So, blessed be His holy name!” Having reconciled with his son and his conscience, Ilutin soon died. The heir to the throne after him was Tsarevich Stefan, who, having interred the body of his parent, took off the blindfold from his eyes and, to the general surprise and joy of the whole of Serbia, informed everyone of the miraculous return of his sight. Stephen's reign was marked by justice and mercy, happy wars and the establishment of Orthodoxy. His younger brother Constantine decided to take away his father's throne from his brother and went to war against him, inviting him to voluntarily renounce the throne. Stefan at first spent a long time dissuading Constantine from bloodshed and a war disastrous for both sides, offering him to be his first adviser. But the latter refused, and a bloody battle took place between them, in which Constantine was killed, and his army was defeated and went over to Stefan’s side. Same Thus, firmly trusting in the help of the Lord, he repelled the countless hordes of Bulgarians, who threatened Serbia with death and devastation. Finally, the time came for the death of the blessed king. At night Saint Nicholas appeared to him and with a joyful look said: “Stephen! prepare for your departure from this life.” Rising from bed, Stefan thanked the merciful Lord for this foreshadowing with tears of joy. But the peaceful joy of the righteous man was outraged by the sad news of the rebellion that his son, also named Stephen, raised against him, and by his no less sad death. In vain did the virtuous parent exhort the wicked son to abandon his criminal plan, promising to share royal power with him: the monster son, with a large army of foreigners, attacked his father, overthrew him from the throne and sent him into captivity in the city of Zvyachin, where Stefan was soon strangled at the villainous command of his son. After seven years, the incorruptible relics of the martyr king became an inexhaustible source of miracles: the blind and lame, sick and paralyzed, running with faith to the tomb of Stephen, received healing and thanked God, who wonderfully glorifies His saints. The intercessor of all the unfortunate, the great wonderworker, Saint Nicholas, performed many other miracles in the East. According to the church song, no one can erase me, even if I had many tongues and wanted to speak (Akath. Cond. 4th). How widespread was the fame of the miracles of St. Nicholas already in the 9th century A.D., we find evidence of this from John, deacon of Naples (who wrote the life of St. Nicholas around 860 according to the guidance of the writings of Patriarch Methodius). “On the globe,” he says, “there is no place so remote, so deaf, no solitude or desert, where the words and miracles of the most pious Bishop Nicholas the Confessor would not shine forth. Witnesses of this are not only all the regions of the Greeks where he came from, but also the entire Eastern Kingdom. Witnesses are also various tribes of barbarians, speaking various languages ​​and inhabiting almost the whole of Africa, who show him obedience to pious piety. And the inhabitants of Italy, although in our time began to piously and solemnly glorify his deeds, nevertheless willingly learned to constantly rejoice at his miracles; with God’s help, they strive to build and dedicate many churches in his honor, and have him here as a patron and prayer book, and in the future as an intercessor before the Creator of the world Himself.” (Extracted from the book: “The Life and Miracles of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra.” Compiled by A. Voznesensky and F. Gusev) The name and memory of St. Nicholas, as the patron saint of travelers and a helper in all troubles, is deeply revered throughout Orthodox Russia. Locally the days of numerous churches of God and monastic monasteries, founded in the name of St. Nicholas, and the days of St. His icons, revealed and miraculous. The image of St. Nicholas, called Mokry, is especially known and revered among the Orthodox. This image first became known through a miracle that took place during the days of Grand Duke Vsevolod I (1078–1093). When, on the occasion of the upcoming feast of St. Martyrs Boris and Gleb, Orthodox Christians hurried from all sides to Vyshgorod, and one rich Kievite, along with his wife and baby son, went there along the Dnieper by boat. On the way back from Vyshgorod, the mother dozed off and dropped the baby into the river, who immediately drowned. The distressed parents began to call upon St. for help. Nicholas and in extreme grief arrived at their home. That same night, before Matins, the sextons of the Kiev St. Sophia Cathedral, having come to unlock the church, heard the cry of a baby coming from it, and then found the wet baby in it, lying in front of the icon of St. Nicholas. They immediately let the Metropolitan know about this, and the Metropolitan ordered it to be announced throughout the city. The baby's parents were soon found and recognized him as their drowned son, to the amazement of everyone. From that time on, the image in front of which the wet baby was found began to be called the image of Nikolai the Wet. Nowadays this image is in the chapel of the Kiev-Sophia Cathedral, built in the name of St. Nicholas. Kyiv miraculous icon of St. Nicholas "Wet" (XI century) Courtyard image of St. Nicholas, located in the Novgorod Dvorishchensky Cathedral. This icon of St. Nicholas appeared in 1113 near Novgorod in a stream on the island of Lipno, located on Lake Ilmen. The Novgorod prince Mstislav I Vladimirovich, who received a miraculous healing from this icon, founded a monastery on the site of its appearance, called Lipensky-Nikolaevsky, and in Novgorod itself, in the prince’s courtyard - on the Yaroslav’s courtyard - he founded a stone church in the name of St. in 1113. Nicholas the Wonderworker, where the icon is preserved to this day and is called the Dvorishchenskaya and the church itself is Dvorishchenskaya. The Zaraisk or Korsun icon, which resides in Zaraisk - in the cathedral St. Nicholas Church. Previously, this icon was in Korsun, in the church of St. Jacob, in whom Prince Vladimir, Equal to the Apostles, was baptized. In 1224, one Korsun priest named Eustathius, obeying the voice of St. Nicholas who appeared to him repeatedly, set out from Korsun with this icon and arrived in the land of Ryazan. Here the prince of Ryazan Theodore Yuryevich himself and Bishop Euphrosynus the Holy Mountain met the icon, and seeing numerous miracles from it, they created a church in the name of the wonderworker Nicholas, in which it was originally placed. At this church in 1227, Prince Theodore Yurievich of Ryazan, killed by Batu, and his wife and son, Princess Eupraxia, were buried, who, having heard about the murder of Prince Theodore, “abby rushed from her high church and with Prince Ivan to the middle of the earth and became infected to death with her son, and from this guilt is called great the wonderworker Zarazki, as the blessed princess and her son infected themselves.” To the image of St. In ancient times, Nicholas of Zaraisky was held in great reverence; people and great princes went to Zaraysk to venerate the miraculous image of St. Nicholas. Zaraisk miraculous image of St. Nicholas (XIII century) The miraculous military image, which resides in the cathedral church in Belgorod, Kursk province, is carried out annually on May 5th with a procession of the cross, in memory of the deliverance of Belgorod, through the intercession of the saint of God Nicholas, from the invasion of the Tatars, in the 13th century. The Ugreshsky revealed and miraculous image is in the Nikolaev Ugreshsky Monastery, founded in 1381, 12 versts from Moscow, on the occasion of the appearance of this image to the Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich Donskoy, during his campaign against Mamai, in the town of Ugresh. Here, after the glorious victory won by the Russians over the Tatars, the Grand Duke founded the Ugreshsky Monastery. For the veneration of the Ugresh image of St. In ancient times, not only the people, but also the great princes and kings often visited Nicholas. Ugresh miraculous image of St. Nicholas (XIV century) Velikoretskaya icon of St. Nicholas, located in the Vyatka Cathedral. It is also called Vyatskaya. This St. The icon appeared in 1383 during the reign of Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich Donskoy, in the Vyatka country, deep in the forest, near the river known as the Great River, which is why the icon itself received its name. This place is now located in the Oryol district of the Vyatka province, one verst from the village of Velikoretskoye and 65 from Vyatka. The icon appeared to one pious villager who lived near that place. Once, out of necessity, he was in the mountainous part, and he accidentally saw in a thicket under the mountain a great light, the kind that comes from many burning candles. Carried away by curiosity, the villager went into the light and, seeing the icon of the saint, approached it with warm faith, took it and brought it to his house. Here great miracles began to happen from her, which, however, he did not announce to anyone for some time. But the knowledge about these miracles, which spread little by little, prompted local residents to build a chapel at the site of the appearance of the icon, with the icon itself transferred to it, and then, as it multiplied miraculous healings from her, with the blessing of the Moscow Metropolitan, to build a church in the name of the saint, with the placement of a miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, however, not in the very place where she appeared, but not far away in another, miraculously indicated, i.e. where the village of Velikoretskoye is now. 168 years after the apparition, precisely in 1551, the spiritual and secular authorities of the city of Khlynov (the ancient name of Vyatka) decided to move St. the icon from the Great River to their city and, after being transferred, with due honor they placed it in the church built in the name of the saint, and as a consolation, the residents of Velikoretsk made a vow to come annually with St. icon to the place of its appearance. This continues to this day in the month of May. Moreover, it is prescribed that, according to the Sunday of All Saints, in the first week of Peter's Lent, all citizens should fast on the fifth day, that is, on the ninth Friday from St. Petersburg. Easter, celebrate deliberately St. Nicholas with his miraculous icon to perform a religious procession around the city. Place of the miraculous image of the Saint in the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Ugresh Monastery St. Tryphon, Archimandrite of Vyatka, founder of the Khlynovskaya monastery, upon arrival in Vyatka most often visited the church of St. Nicholas, where the miraculous icon called Velikoretsky stood, and called on the saint of God for help. The fame of miracles from the Velikoretskaya icon reached Moscow. Tsar John Vasilyevich wished to see it, and in 1552 it was brought to Moscow for renovation. After the conquest of Kazan, Ivan Vasilyevich, in gratitude to God, built a church in Moscow at the Florovsky Gate in the name of the Holy Trinity (now St. Basil) with a chapel to St. Nicholas of Vyatka. In 1556, the image of Nikolai Vyatsky or Velikoretsky, after renovation, was released with great honor from Moscow to Vyatka. In 1614–15, at the request of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, it was brought to the reigning city. Vyatsky Velikoretsky miraculous image of St. Nicholas (XIV century) Kremlevskaya in the Nikolskaya Tower of the Moscow Kremlin, inscribed on the wall in the likeness of what appeared in 1403 under the Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich, and in 1812, during the destruction of the Kremlin by the French, miraculously survived. The miraculous preservation of the Kremlin icon is evidenced by the following inscription inscribed on it, at the behest of Emperor Alexander Pavlovich: “in 1812, during an enemy invasion, this stronghold was almost completely destroyed by an enemy explosion; but by the miraculous power of God St. the image of the saint of God - St. Nicholas, here inscribed on the stone itself, and not only the image itself, but also the glass that covered it, and the lantern with a candle, remained unharmed.” The truth of this inscription is confirmed by many people who mention the Kremlin icon. At the consecration of the Assumption Cathedral in 1813, August 30th, Augustine, Moscow Archbishop, counting the miracles of God's mercy in Moscow, during the devastation of its enemies, said in his speech: “The St. Nicholas Tower has been half destroyed from above; the wall on the north side is torn off; but the image above the gates of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and the glass that covered the face of this saint, suffered no damage at all. The lantern itself, hanging in front of the image on a weak rope, was not torn off by the explosion of the mine, which destroyed half of the arsenal and the Nikolskaya tower.” “With all the vicissitudes and disasters of Moscow, earthquakes and fires,” says the author of monuments to Moscow antiquity, the icon of St. Nicholas on the Nikolskaya Tower remained unharmed.” Gostunsky or Gustynsky miraculous icon of St. Nicholas, located in the church of the village of Gostuni, Kaluga diocese, Likhvinsky district. According to other legends, the Gostun icon was transferred to Moscow in 1506 by Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich and was located in the Moscow Gostun Cathedral, and when this cathedral was dismantled in 1816, it was moved to the chapel of the bell tower of John the Great, i.e. Climacus. The Kolpino image of St. Nicholas, located in the village of Kolpino, 25 versts from St. Petersburg. The story about the appearance of this image is as follows. “On the 23rd day of December 1713, on the Izhora River, at a saw mill, the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared in a calico image. In the months of November and December of 1713, former workers at that saw mill while at work were suffering from celiac disease and a leg tumor, that is, scurvy, and many workers were dying. And on the same December 22nd day, in the night, the image of the great saint and wonderworker Nicholas appeared in the hospital to a worker of the Kargopol district named Jacob, who was lying with the same illness near death, and ordered this image to be removed in the hospital, since the image lay there unknown to anyone and had not been found and was very dilapidated, and after examining that worker Jacob, this holy image was removed and renewed. From that time on, this illness ceased, and they were healthy after the appearance of the saint and wonderworker Nicholas, which we see to this day.” The miraculous image of St. Nicholas in Kolpino Posad Since ancient times, the Orthodox Russian people have honored St. Nicholas of Myra, as a special chosen one of God, a helper and a miracle worker. Great reverence of rights. Christians to St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was expressed in many circumstances of public and private life. In ancient times, our ancestors pronounced his name in oaths and contracts, as evidence of their loyalty. Alexander, Prince of Iversky, in a letter to John III Vasilyevich in 1492, by the way, calls himself a zealous vower of Nicholas. Monuments of popular reverence for St. Nicholas everywhere in our fatherland, especially in Kyiv, Novgorod, Ryazan, Mozhaisk, etc. The city gates in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Moscow, etc. are named after St. Nicholas. In this capital, the street of China in the city is called Nikolskaya Especially in their prayers, Orthodox Christians floating on the waters call upon St. Nicholas, the common helper for all, because he has repeatedly shown his intercession to those overwhelmed by waves and drowned. However, Russians are not the only ones who honor St. Nicholas. His name is so loud in the East that the Mohammedans diligently light candles in front of his icon, not understanding what feeling draws them to this conqueror of nations, according to the meaning of his name. He is also revered by the pagans - the Transbaikal Buryats, because he shows, as they say, his miraculous help to those who are dying on the seas and waters. The Buryats have his icons and call him the gray-haired old man. † Repose of the blessed. Maxim Metropolitan Blazh. Maxim, a Greek by birth, who arrived in Kyiv as Metropolitan of all Russia in 1283 103, experienced many sorrows during his ministry. - As soon as he arrived in Kyiv, he went to the horde to the khan in order to be confirmed in his rank. The following year, he invited the bishops of Russia to his place, probably in order to announce the contents of the khan's label on the clergy 104. In 1285, he himself traveled to the dioceses of Russia to supervise the deanery 105. It was then that his future successor, Blessed One, met him. Abbot Peter 106. Then he was in Novgorod and Vladimir 107. In 1295, business forced him to come to Vladimir again - he demoted Bishop Jacob from the see here and consecrated Simon 108. In the south, near the Tatars, only with a sword in hand, it was possible at times to have peace. The robbery and violence of the Tatar authorities in 1299 reached the point in Kyiv that it was no longer possible to live. “All of Kyiv fled, says the chronicle; Metropolitan Maxim, not being able to endure the violence of the Tatars, hastily retired from Kyiv to Bryansk; and from here he moved with all his property to the Suzdal land” 109. It was not easy for the saint to part with the ancient place of the pulpit and look for a new one. His predecessor spent most of his time in Vladimir 110, where he lived. prince; but his department remained in Kyiv. Now I had to make another decision. The princes and shepherds of the north, of course, will be pleased with the proximity of the metropolitan to them; but the princes and shepherds of the south will not be happy with his removal from Kyiv. - In the very north the place is so fragile. prince: now he is in Vladimir, now in Pereyaslavl, now in Tver. What to do? The blessed metropolitan poured out warm prayers before the Mother of God and for God’s will to be shown to him. And the Mother of God, the good Mother of the suffering, calmed the saint with Her appearance. The icon, contemporary to the saint, depicts Saint Maximus receiving the omophorion from the hands of the Mother of God. The inscription on the icon, although not contemporary with the icon, says: “This holy and miraculous image of the Most Holy. The Virgin Mary was written quickly in fol. 6807 (1299). According to the vision of Maxim, Metropolitan of Vladimir and All Rus', a miracle worker, Grechin was born; When he came from Kyiv to Vladimir and fell asleep from the traveling procession in his cell, Abiye saw, as if in reality, a great and unusual light, and in that light the Most Pure Virgin Mother of God appeared to him, holding the eternal Child in her hand and the verb: My servant Maxima! You came well to visit My city, and gave him an omophorion, saying: Take this omophorion and feed the verbal sheep in My city. He got excited from sleep and saw no one in his cell. And the omophorion was found in his hand. He was overcome with fear for many hours, and abye told him. book Andrew and built the ark of gold and placed that omophorion in it, and this miracle became famous throughout the Russian land and Palestine. And he commanded that this image be painted in the same likeness as St. Maximus. “And the omophorion of the saint during the time of the godless Tsarevich Talych, when he captured the city and destroyed it, it is unknown where he died” 111. After a calming vision, the saint boldly began to give orders for his department. He transferred Bishop Simeon of Vladimir to Rostov and took over the Vladimir diocese; The entire metropolitan clergy was transferred to Vladimir, and the metropolitan's governors began to live in Kyiv to supervise the deanery 112. – The following year he was in Novgorod, where he consecrated Archbishop Theoktist 113 with two bishops. In the middle of 1301, he sat at the Council of Constantinople, where, by his will, Theognostus, Bishop of Sarai, proposed questions about the needs of the Russian Church for resolution and wrote down the answers 114. - Probably, upon returning from this council, the Metropolitan sent out to “all faithful Christians” the rule on fasting and maintaining a legal marriage 115, - When, after death in. book Andrei, the grand-ducal throne, by right of eldership, should have been taken by the Tver prince Mikhail Yaroslavich, and Yuri of Moscow, out of lust for power, went into the horde to seek the same throne, blessed. The saint with all his love persuaded Yuri to abandon his bad intentions. Yuri was not the type to obey the saint; he didn’t care and brazenly lie to the saint: “I’m going, father, to the horde, but I don’t want a great reign,” said Yuri. This was in 1304. The following year, the saint with consolation placed Blessed One on the grand-ducal throne in Vladimir. Prince Michael 116. – Dec. On the 6th, 1305, the saint completed the feat of his earthly life and was laid in the Vladimir Cathedral 117. – His name is in the ancient calendar, where he is called a saint and a miracle worker 118. The “legend about the holy and blessed Metropolitan Maxim” is also known 119 - New news says that, when adjusting the floor in the Vladimir Cathedral, the lid from his coffin was accidentally moved and his relics and attire were seen in the coffin 120. St. Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, confessor and writer The life of Theophilus provides evidence of the powerful action of Holy Scripture. He was born into paganism, but, having received an extensive education, he wished to become acquainted with the Holy Scriptures and, from reading them, was convinced of the truth of faith in Christ. “I didn’t believe,” he says, “in the resurrection, but now I believe, after thinking carefully; I found St. The writings of the holy prophets, who by the Holy Spirit prophesied about the past as it happened, about the present as it happens, and about the future in the order in which it will happen. And so, when I am sure that what is happening now was predicted, then I no longer remain an unbeliever, but believe and obey God” 121. Having earned his election as bishop to the throne of Antioch (in 168), Theophilus justified this high trust in him by various activities in this field in a true Christian spirit. Eusebius testifies about him as one of the shepherds who “strained their strength in the fight against heretics, ready to destroy the flock of God, and like the tares that devastated the pure field of the Apostolic teaching,” as one of the shepherds who “admonished the brethren partly with exhortations and warnings, partly with instructions to the heretics, sometimes oral, sometimes in writing” 122. He also worked on the interpretation of St. Scripture, and in general, he worked hard to educate the pagans. Book of ep. Theophilus “On Faith,” which has survived to this day, is considered one of the best works of the ancient world: “it shows in the author an extensive acquaintance with pagan philosophers and poets,” the Reverend speaks of it. Filaret, Archbishop. Chernigovsky, his view of Christian teaching is deep and clear. An educated teacher explains the Christian sacraments to an educated pagan according to philosophical principles and at the same time maintains fidelity to the revealed truth. The entire work was written with animation and under the influence of meek love” 123, and it concludes with the conviction on the part of Theophilus: “read his book carefully and impartially.” With the goal of instilling faith in one educated, but adamant pagan to the truth of Christ (Autolicus), for whom Bishop. It was Theophilus who undertook the book “about faith,” he writes, among other things: “you demand: show me your God... - I answer you: show me your man, and I will show you my God. Show that the eyes of your soul see and the ears of your heart hear.” God is visible only to those who can see Him, that is, whose spiritual eyes are open. Everyone has eyes, but some of them are so darkened that they cannot see the light of the sun; nevertheless, the sun does not lose its shine because the blind do not see... If a person has sin, he cannot contemplate God.” “Wickedness darkens you and you cannot see God” (§ 1–4). “Draw me the image of God,” the pagan demands. – “God is incomprehensible and incomprehensible to man; “man sees only the properties of God that are comprehensible to him,” answers the admonished priest. Theophilus writes with Scripture and then describes the properties of God (§ 6) and His works as the Creator and Provider (§ 7–10). - “Let them show me a resurrected dead man. - says the pagan. - Theophilus replies: “I would show you the Risen One, Who is still alive; but you will not believe even that” ... and then shows him in nature itself lessons about the resurrection; by his own example he convinces us to believe the doctrine of the resurrection of St. Scriptures; asks to read it, threatening God's judgment on those who disobey the will of God (§ 18–20) 124. After 13 years of ruling the Church, St. Theophilus died around 181, having survived the persecution that took place under Marcus Aurelius. Collection l. 1, 227. II, 346. V, 20. Nikon. l. III, 76–77. Polotsk Bishop Jacob wrote to Riga: “I was not at home, like my father, the Metropolitan. “Your right love is with my son, with Viten” (Gram. about relations between Russia and Riga No. 6). This undoubtedly happened in 1284, especially since Wiethen took the place of Troyden in 1282 (Ist. Russian Ts. 2, pr. 56). Therefore, the charter was in vain attributed to 1300. Collection l. I, 227. III, 64. Nikon. l. III, 86–88. Collection l. I, 208: IV, 46. Nikon. l. III, 94. Glory to Our Lady 3, 40. 41. M. 1853. Talych was robbed by Vladimir in 1410 under St. Photias. See July 1 The Maximov Icon of the Mother of God is glorified by miracles. See Glory to the Mother of God, 2, p. 41. In step. book 1, 378 on the day of the arrival of the blessed one. Maxima in Vladimir shown on April 18. 1299, i.e. on Easter. Track. on the 18th day of April. there was also an appearance of the Mother of God. Collection l. I, 288. II, 345· III, 221. Nikon. l. III, 96. Dobrokhotov (ancient Vladimir, p. 118. MU. 1849) says that M. Maxim “took control of the diocese of Vladimir, while Suzdal, which belonged to Vladimir, and Nizhny Novgorod formed a special diocese.” No, the chronicle says: “and I sat down in Vladimir and in Suzdal, and in Nizhny Novgorod and other adjacent places.” Nikon. l. III, 96. Collection l. III, 67. 222. IV, 46. V, 203. East. R. Ts. 2, 80–84. Karamz. 4, pr. 181. Music Rumyantsev, pp. 304 and 321. The Metropolitan determines when the Wednesday and heel fasts are permitted; In addition to Great Lent, he appoints the following posts: Apostolic, Assumption and Nativity. “I am also writing about this to my children, so that you, my children, born in the font, newly sanctified, receive wives from St. Catholic and Apostolic Church, - wife - for human salvation. - If you keep them in fornication, without marriage: what kind of help is this to you? No, beg and compel them, let them, whether they are old or young, get married in the Church.” Collection l. V, 207. 208. VII, 188. 189. In the step. book 1, 425. 426, the conviction of Yuri not to go to the Horde is attributed to St. m. Petru; but Peter was not yet a metropolitan. The error also transferred to the oven. prologue November 22. Collection l. I, 228. II, 348. Nikon. l. III, 103. On December 6, the memory of the blessed one was also celebrated. m. Maxim in Vladimir (Dobrokhotova about Vladimir 61). Therefore, the indication for December 16th. as on the day of death (collection l. IV, 47. Step. book. 1. 403) - a scribe’s error. RKP. Saints: “St. Maxim, Metropolitan of Vladimir, the miracle worker, reposed in Vladimir in l. 6800 Dec. 6 and was laid in the cathedral." Description music Room. 526. At the eastern gate Vladim. Christmas. mon. depicted kneeling saints before the Mother of God. Maxim, Metropolitan, St. Princes Andrei and Gleb, with St. on the left. book Alexander and George and M. Abraham. Snegireva antiquity 3, 149. See “Scientist.” about the Father Church" Philar., Archbishop. Chernih., §§ 41–42. Extract. by decree Filar., archbishop. Chernigov., in “Uch. about the Father Churches", § 42.