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† Memory of the Saints of Anthony's Cave For all the saints resting in the Anthony Cave, a common remembrance is celebrated on Saturday after the celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord (September 14). Probably, this memory was established when, during the restoration of caves damaged by an earthquake, several relics of ancient ascetics were discovered and the Church of the Holy Cross was built, which was around 1670. 291 Nowadays, in addition to those known on special days of remembrance, St. Mercury, Bishop of Smolensk, apparently rests in the Antonieva Cave. A hierarch's robe hangs above his tombstone. The Lavra sings to him: “Glory to the city of Smolensk, Mercury is the shepherd, who kindly shepherds his chief sheep, but in a spirit of grief I will endure to be inseparable from the face of the saints of Pechersk: even after death, the miraculous sailed in the treasure and in the cave the saint rests in body, but his soul rejoices with the saints in glory forever.” 292 In all likelihood, Saint Mercury at the Smolensk See was the successor of the blessed Bishop Lazarus; since he and his flock experienced the horrors of Batu’s invasion. Before his ordination to the rank of hierarch, he labored in the Pechersk monastery, where, following the example of other disciples of the cave, he found his final rest. 293 On the ancient icon of the Pechersk saints, “Saint Simeon, Bishop of Pereyaslavl” is depicted in holy robes. Meletius Sirig in the Kiev canon prays to the saints: “Hierarch Simeon! You first offered the Lamb of God as a sacrifice to the Almighty, and then you offered yourself as a lamb as a sacrifice; save me with your prayers." 294 – According to the chronicles, Simeon of Pereyaslavl, Bishop, ended his days with a painful death during the Tatar attack on Pereyaslavl, in 1239, at the very time when some hordes of Mongols were sent by Batu against Chernigov, others, like waves, attacked Pereyaslavl. The enemies of Christ's name did not spare anything sacred here: the churches were robbed and desecrated; residents were beaten without mercy; the city with its cathedral was put on fire and Saint Simeon was killed. 295 Now apparently the monks Luke the Economy, Elladius, Alexius, Sisoi, Onesimus and Theophilus are resting incorrupt in the cave. The Monk Luke the Economist is glorified in the canon of the Lavra as a good doer of God’s commandments. Saint Helladius is called by Kalnofoysky a faster and a miracle worker, and Theophilus is known to him by the name of a miracle worker. Lavra sings: “Theophilus is sung gracefully in miracles, since in the lives of many he has surprised many by working miracles, but now the gift of helping others is greater, as if he had preserved Thy commandments, O Savior.” The Church hymn calls the Venerable Sisoes the one who shone forth in fasting. His relics, like those of St. Alexy, were discovered after 1675. 296 In the Anthony Cave lie 12 brothers, the stone makers and hemp painters of the great Pechersk Church. They lie in one common retreat, having accepted monasticism after finishing their work. Blessed Simon says about icon painters: “their retinues (convolutions) are still in the chambers (in the choirs) and their Greek books are preserved as a memory of the miracle.” 297 – During the time of Metropolitan Sylvester, “Their Greek Books” were still kept in the Pechersk storeroom. 298 – For icon painters, it was most natural to bring with them to Kyiv bundles of written instructions on icon painting. And in the Eastern Church of those times, the so-called “originals” were known to us, which in their entirety consisted of three sections: the front original, the rules of icon painting and instructions on the composition of paints. 299 According to Simon, the blessed “masters and painters ended their lives in the monastic order and were placed in their vestibule,” i.e. in a special cave cell where they labored. During the time of Kalnofoysky (1638), other saints, whose relics were subsequently hidden, openly rested in the Anthony Cave. “Opposite Elijah of Muromets (in the picture, next to Elijah), lies the incorrupt body of Saint Ephraim, who was a presbyter, as can be seen from the sacred vestments on the relics”; - St. Jerome the recluse and wonderworker; holy elder Meladius the wonderworker; holy elder Pergius; Saint Eustathius, who was a goldsmith in the world; Holy Father Paul, a wonderfully obedient monk.” 300 About Eustathius in the canon it is sung: “Righteous Eustathius, you were an honest worker of proven silver and gold and then moved on to doing spiritual virtues; decorating your soul with them, you presented it as pure as gold and now you sing: blessed is the God of our fathers.” “Ephraim the priest” is also glorified here. 301 All the saints of the Anthony Cave mentioned by us are shown among the saints and in the handwritten Moscow calendar of the 17th century. 302 When did these saints struggle? Since blessed Simon mentions only 12 brothers and both Simon and Polycarp do not mention others; and on the other hand, the saints Mercury and Simeon, known from the chronicles, completed their earthly feat at the beginning of the 13th century, after the stories of Simon and Polycarp ended, then all the mentioned ascetics of the Anthony Cave lived, in all likelihood, no later than the first half of the 13th century. This is also confirmed by the fact that all the saints of Anthony’s Cave, to whom special days are dedicated to their celebration, undoubtedly belong to the 11th and 12th centuries. Ancient news about an event that took place in the Antonieva Cave under the holy Metropolitan Jonah says: in 1463, under the pious Kiev Prince Simeon Alexandrovich and under the Pechersk Archimandrite Nicholas, Hieromonk Dionysius Shchepa was in charge of the cave. On the great day - Holy Pascha - he entered the cave of the Monk Anthony to offer anointing to the departed saints. Arriving at the place called the community or meal, and incense, he said: “Holy fathers and brothers! Today is a great day. Christ is risen! And suddenly I heard, as it were, the voices of thunder: “Truly he is risen.” – Thus, those who were alive before the Lord, by the power of the risen Lord, gave the news of their participation in the joy of the earth about the risen Lord. 303 Saint Apostle Codratus from the age of 70 Codratus, a disciple of the Apostles, - according to the testimony of Blessed Jerome, - was made a bishop of Athens in the place of Publius, who suffered a martyr's death, and "gathered with his faith and care the Church, scattered by fear." – In 126, he provided Emperor Hadrian with an essay in defense of Christians, one of the consequences of which was that Hadrian issued a decree not to condemn anyone without evidence of guilt. This work, which existed back in the 6th century, has not survived; Only the words quoted from it by the church writer Eusebius are known from it. – “The deeds of our Savior were always obvious, as they really were. – Those healed by Him and raised from the dead were not only then as they were healed and resurrected, but also after that at all times; They lived on earth, but not for a long time after His departure, so that some have survived to our time.” 304 There has also been preserved a letter to Diogenes (an educated pagan who tried to find out what the faith of Christians consists of), which is recognized as the letter of an apostolic man, namely the holy Apostle Codratus. 305 – “Christians,” the message says, “do not differ from other people either in place of origin and residence, or in language, or in civil life... They live in the flesh, but not for the flesh, they obey the laws, but with their lives they stand above the laws. They are not known, but they are accused; they kill them, but they are alive; They are poor, but they enrich others; they have nothing, but are always happy... The soul is in all members of the body, and Christians are in all ends of the earth. This is not the work of man, this is the power of God. – Almighty God Himself, the Creator of the world, sent down from heaven the Truth, His Holy and incomprehensible Word. The Builder of the universe who came to us, the One through whom God made the heavens, set the boundaries of the sea, whose counsels are preserved by the elements, at whose command the sun completes its course, to whom the sky and everything in the sky, the earth and everything that is in it, is subject... Before His coming to earth, no one saw God, no one could know Him; He Himself appeared and now appears to faith; faith is given the privilege of seeing Him. From eternity the good God appointed Him for the world. And the fact that people have hitherto been left to their passions was necessary so that they would learn through experience how little they are capable of achieving the Kingdom of Heaven on their own.” – As a warning against people who “have violated the limits of faith appointed by the Apostles and the tradition of the fathers,” the Apostolic husband points Diognet to the universal Church, where everything that the Word preached to people for their salvation can be found; At the same time, he notes that in Christianity, knowledge and life are closely connected: there can be neither correct knowledge without pure life, nor correct life without knowledge. “Revise with all diligence,” he concludes, “discuss these truths with all attention and you will know with what blessings the Lord rewards those who love Him.” 306 About the redemptive meaning of Christ’s death, he says: “When the time came that the Lord had appointed for the manifestation of His goodness, then He took upon Himself our sins. He gave his own Son as a ransom price for us. – Holy for the wicked, Sinless for sinners, Righteous for the unjust, Immortal for mortals... What an ineffably wise work of the Creator! What a surprise blessing! The untruth of many is covered by the truth of the One. “So we learn here two things - the complete inability, the complete powerlessness of our nature - to participate in life, and then our Savior, by whom the impossible became possible.” 307 Saint Codratus, glorified by the gift of prophecy, after many labors and persecution against him from the pagans, died a martyr, starved to death in prison in 130. The canon of Joseph says (in the 9th century) that the relics of Saint Codratus rested at that time in Magnesia (where he also preached the word of God), and exuded miracles. Discovery of the relics of St. Demetrius of Rostov His incorrupt relics were found in 1752 during the renovation of the monastery church. See October 28. Archim. Innocent in a letter dated March 2. 1674 to Herbinius (Kiowia subterranea p. 43. lenae 1675) wrote: “over 60 years ago, the caves collapsed in some places due to an earthquake.” When comparing the Kalnofoisky caves with their view from Gerbinius, obtained from Archimandrite. Innocent, we see the following: a) both after 1640 and before 1674, the relics of St. George the icon painter were discovered in the Anthony Cave - in the cave meal; Ave. Onesimus, Ave. Erasmus, Ave. Matthew the Seeful - on the western line; St. Mercury Bishop of Smolensk on the north-eastern line; St. John and Theophilus Avenue on the middle line; 6) at the same time, the relics of many saints who rested under Kalnofoysky on the western line, including St. Perga and Theophilus, moved to other places; c) at the same time the Church of the Holy Cross was built and from its altar a passage was built to the altars of two cave churches. Canon to the monk of the nearby cave. K. 1855. Shrines of Kyiv, p. 47. The description of the monastery says (p. 109) that “St. Mercury, Bishop of Smolensk, was killed by Batu in 1247 and is commemorated on November 24.” - But here, mixing the Smolensk bishop Mercury with the Smolensk martyr, the warrior Mercury, whose memory is on November 24. - However, we have no doubt that St. Bishop of Smolensk Mercury was the same Bishop of Smolensk who is mentioned in the chronicles during the Batu invasion of 1238 without his name. Count it as the historian considers. Hier. 1, 324, the successor of Bishop Simeon, mentioned in 1197 (collection l. 1, 150. 151), does not allow the life of St. Abraham of Smolensk, where Simeon's successors are Ignatius and Lazarus. Collection l. 200, 3, 388. Nikon. l. 3, 4. 5. Relics of St. Sisoy and Alexei are not yet found in either Kalvofoisky or Gerbinius, while in the latter we see St. Onesimus, which Kalnofoisky does not yet have; see pr. 291. Nowadays two canons are known to the monks of the Autonium Cave: one Meletius Siriga, ex. in the akathist book K. 1674, another - unknown, eg. in the services of the Venerable Pechersk K. 1855. Since Rev. Sisoy, sung in the last canon, is not visible in Gerbinius, then it makes it clear that this canon was written after 1675. The songs of the venerable Anthony of the Cave, both Sirig and the unknown, were compiled, no doubt, from the inscriptions of the boards that covered the caves of the deceased. Few of these boards that covered the mouths of the caves in the Feodosiya Cave are still known today. See Aug. 28, note 253. The legend of the creation of the Pechersk Church. Shrines of Kiev, pp. 55. 56. Patericon r. 66, w Kiowie 1635. Christian antiquities, Prokhorova, tet. 1. 1862 Sakharov about Russian icon painting. St. Petersburg 1859 Teraturgima r. 16–28. Description K. laurels, pp. 289. 290. In the RKP. The calendar also mentions “priests Meletius, Serapion, Philaret and Peter.” Canon to the Rev. K. 1855 Since now there are no open relics of St. Eustathius, nor Matthew and Ephraim, whom however the canon praises, the canon of the unknown, although written after 1675 (note 296), the work must be attributed to the end of the 17th century. Gerbivius speaks about this. Kiovia subterranea r. 69. 70. Judging by the appearance of the Kalvofoisky cave on the western line, not far from the meal, many saints rested. – Jesuit Aloysius Kulesh in his. by: Wiara prawosławna, Warsaw. 1710, recognizes (p. 72–81) the Pechersk ascetics as saints (swiętemi), only as the Jesuit tries to prove by all means that the “Saints of the Pechersk Kyiv” were in union with the Roman Church - they were Uniates. - The work of Mr. Kulesh was seen with two approvals: with the approval of Tovia Arent, the head of the Jesuits of Lithuania, and the Vilna bishop Konstantin Brzhostovsky. Eusebius N. E. 4, 3. Routh reliquiae f. T. 1. (According to the decree of the Phil. Archbishop of Chernig. Teaching about the Father's Church, part I, p. 40, ed. 2). By decree in Uch. about the Fathers of the Church (Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov) part I, page 41.