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† Repose of St. Savvaty of Solovetsky Under the rightful Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich and under Metropolitan Photius, the monk Savvaty labored in the monastery of St. Kirill of Belozersky. 432 Where he came from and where he was from remains unknown. According to the notes of Abbot Dosifei, he labored long and diligently at the Cyril Monastery, performing various services with complete obedience to the abbot. According to one church song, he had to endure “annoyance and dishonor.” 433 Having taken vows of monasticism, he did not spare himself any more than before: with tearful prayer, vigil and hunger, he served the Lord day and night. Unrequited obedience to the abbot, meek love for the brethren and strict life began to gain him respect in the monastery. But the general attention in the crowded Cyril’s monastery began to weigh on him, and he decided to hide in a silent place. Having heard that in the Novgorod side on Lake Nevo (Ladoga) there is the island of Valaam and on it a monastery, separated from the world by water, the lover of humility and silence got ready to go to the quiet island; The Belozersk monks parted with the ascetic of God, not without sorrow. On Valaam, Savvaty appeared as an obedient monk and unrequitedly carried out orders without asking himself why this or that was required. During strict fasting he was meek and always the same. The abbot and the brethren distinguished him with respect; but this alone worried the humble old man: he was afraid that he would lose a heavenly reward for an earthly reward. On the other hand, although life on Valaam was not easy, the Elder of God craved greater severity for himself, and his soul yearned for silent loneliness. On Valaam, Savvatiev heard that even further to the north there was the Solovetsky Island, not inhabited by anyone, not very easy to stay on, and rarely accessible even to fishermen. The soul of the desert-loving old man was eager to live there in amiable silence. When he announced his desire to the abbot and the brethren, they did not want to part with the great elder. Wonderful jealousy for harsh deeds! The gray-haired old man fled from Valaam at night. When he reached the shore of the White Sea and began asking coastal residents about Solovetsky Island, they told him that the island was large, with lakes, forests, mountains, but uninhabited because communication with it was very inconvenient. This story inflamed the old man’s desire to settle there even more. Noticing this desire in the old man, the interlocutors, no matter how accustomed they were to the harsh northern winter, looked at his gray hair and smiled at his intention. “How will you eat and dress there, old man, when you are so poor and decrepit?” they asked. “I have,” answered the monk, “such a Lord, who gives strength to fresh youth even in decrepitude and feeds the hungry to satiety.” The holy elder decided to stay for a while in a chapel that stood near the mouth of the Vyga River, in a place called Soroki. “Here he met the hermit Herman and from him learned even more how favorable the island is for silence. Herman expressed his readiness not only to accompany him to the island, but also to settle with him there. On a small boat, two of them set off across the restless sea and, protected by the Lord, on the third day they happily reached the shore. Near Mount Sekirnaya, at a distance of 12 versts from the current monastery, they erected a cross and their own tents. These were the first hermits on the distant Solovki. And their exploits since 1429 have sanctified the inhospitable island of the harsh north. This hermitage is far more difficult than the eastern hermitage. It was impossible to have any plant food on the local soil, and the terrible cold of winter and the dampness of autumn squeezed the very life in the body. - The ascetics of God patiently endured all the climate changes in their poor huts, warmed by love for the Lord; they prayed and sang psalms, expecting a blessed eternity. No matter how unattractive life on a cold island is, people’s envy became painful that others lived there. Those who lived near Kem sent one family from them to Solovetsky Island, so that, having become more familiar with the island’s facilities there, it would open up the conveniences for others to settle. But the Lord greatly enlightened human stupidity. One day Savvaty was singing the Sunday all-night vigil with his friend and came out of his cell to confess to the cross placed in front of the cell. Suddenly he hears a scream and a cry and, in embarrassment, rushes to his cell to tell Herman about it. Fencing himself with the sign of the cross, Herman follows the voice of the cry and sees a woman sobbing bitterly. “What are you crying about?” he asked. “I was going to my husband,” she answered, and suddenly two bright young men met me, with anger they began to cruelly beat me and said: run away from here, this is not a place for you, hosts of monks will glorify God here - run away, so that otherwise a quick death will not befall you. And they instantly disappeared." “Herman told the elder what he had learned, and both glorified the Lord for His wondrous will. In the sixth year of Solovetsky hermitage, Herman went to the dry bank of the Onega River for the needs of his cell. After him, in the same year, the holy elder was notified of his imminent release from bodily bonds. “He hurried to solid ground to partake of the Holy Mysteries, and in two days he reached the shore on a fragile boat. 10 miles from the mouth of the Vyga River he met Abbot Nathanael, who lived in a chapel on Vyga; Having told about himself, where he lived, Savvaty asked to be given permission and to be given the Holy Mysteries. “Nathanael hurried to bid farewell to the sick man and asked the holy elder to go to the chapel and wait for him there until the morning. “You don’t know what will happen in the morning,” said the elder, and asked not to delay the fulfillment of his request until the morning. The abbot fulfilled the wish of the holy elder and asked him to wait in the chapel to enjoy a spiritual conversation. “As the Lord wills, so it will be,” answered the elder and went to the chapel. At this time, the Novgorod merchant John arrived ashore. After praying in the chapel, he went into the cell and here he saw a handsome old man. In a conversation of love, the holy elder taught him instructions for life that penetrated deeply into his soul. – The rich merchant, enjoying the conversation of the holy elder, offered him a rich alms. “I don’t need this,” the elder said, “give it to the poor,” and explained how much giving alms means to the soul. “The merchant was saddened that the holy elder did not accept anything from him for himself. The elder said with the caress of love: “stay, friend, until tomorrow: you will not regret it, and your path will be calm.” The merchant replied that he must go to sea now. But as soon as he left his cell, a storm arose on the sea. I had to resist my desire to stay on the shore. In the morning, a good merchant came to receive the blessing from the elder, pushed the door with a prayer, there was no answer, he went into the cell and saw the elder sitting in a doll and robe, with a censer in his hand, but did not hear an answer to the greeting, the elder died with prayer on his lips. It was September 27, 1435. Abbot Nathanael, who came, buried the saint together with John at the chapel. 434 30 years later, when a monastery had already been established on Solovetsky Island, the elders of the Cyril monastery wrote to the Solovetsky monastery: “you are deprived of a great gift - the Monk Savvaty is not with you, who before you worked for God in your place, spent his life in fasting and labor, labored in all virtues, like the ancient fathers; Having loved Christ with all his soul, he withdrew from the world and died a blessed death. - Some of our brethren, who were in the great Novgorod, heard the story of the God-loving John about Elder Savvaty, that while traveling on trade business, he was honored to see the Monk Savvaty alive, heard his spiritual teaching and, together with Abbot Nathanael, buried his deceased. The same John told our brethren that through the prayer of the Monk Savvatius, the Lord saved his brother Theodore from drowning at sea. “We heard that signs and wonders were performed at his tomb. He pleased the Lord. “And we ourselves are witnesses of his virtuous life: the blessed father lived with us for quite a few years in the house of the Most Holy Theotokos, in the Cyril Monastery. - Therefore, we write to your holiness and advise: do not be deprived of such a gift, bring the Venerable and Blessed Savvaty to you; the path will be laid for his relics where he worked for many years.” - Excited by this, the Monk Zosima and the brethren decided to transfer the monk to the monastery. When they dug up the secluded grave, the air was filled with incense, and when they opened the coffin, they saw an incorrupt body, not damaged in the least, and all the clothes were intact. The transferred relics were placed behind the altar of the Transfiguration Church of the monastery. This was in 1465. From that time on, the sick began to receive healing at the tomb of Savvaty. The merchants John and Theodore, favored by the monk, sent an image of Savvaty, which was placed on the tomb. On August 8, 1566, the relics of St. Zosima and Savvaty were transferred to the side-chapel of the Transfiguration Cathedral, dedicated to them. 435 In the letter of Patriarch Philaret we read: “Elder Daniel would have been sick and lost his sight; he would not have seen anything for six weeks. On September 27, in memory of the wonderworker Savvaty, the wonderworker Sergius and the Solovetsky wonderworker Savvaty appeared to him at night, in a subtle dream. Savvaty begged the wonderworker Sergius for the healing of Elder Daniel - to forgive and heal him. At his request, the wonderworker Sergius anointed his eyes and healed him. At that same hour he received his sight and began to see as he had seen before. Now the elder builder, by the grace of God, is healthy.” 436 In 1822, Zosima and Savvaty healed a deaf, dumb youth with crooked limbs. 437 Holy Apostles from 70: Mark, Aristarchus and Zina Holy Apostles from 70: Mark, Aristarchus and Zina. See it in the cathedral LXX, January 4. Holy Martyr Callistratus and his squad The warrior Kallistratus was the great-grandson of the warrior Neokor, who, being among other witnesses of the suffering, death and resurrection of the Savior, believed in Christ, received holy baptism from the apostles in Jerusalem, and then, returning home, enlightened his entire family with the Christian faith, so that from his son the holy faith was passed on to his grandson and great-grandson Kallistratus, who crowned with martyrdom the holy work of faith erected in his family, from generation to generation, has witnessed the humiliation of the earthly and the divine glory of the God-man. Saint Callistratus, about whom, during severe persecution, it was reported from Diocletian that he spends his nights in prayer, in which he remembers the name of Christ, was called for interrogation, during which, unwaveringly confessing himself to be a Christian, he suffered in Byzantium along with 49 other soldiers (of whom Gymnasius is known by name), who, being amazed by his firmness during torture and miraculous manifestations of God's help During the suffering of the Christian, falling at the feet of Callistratus, they begged him to lead them to his God-Christ, about whom they realized then that “He alone is true and great.” The relics of all the martyrs, beheaded while they were praying in prison in preparation for death, were buried by Christians and a church was subsequently built over them. From the service compiled in honor of the holy martyr Callistratus, it is clear that “his relics exuded miracles in Constantinople under Joseph the Songwriter. In the service, Gymnasium is sung, and the Constantinople Church is called his church, in which he exuded healing.” 438 Holy New Martyr Aquilina Far from our time are those centuries when the world, gripped by the struggle of two hostile principles - the natural human state and the revealed one, shed martyr's blood for the maintenance of the truth that came to earth and resurrected humanity, which was dying a spiritual death. The truth has triumphed. But even to this day the victims in the struggle, although exhausted, but still active, of darkness against the light, are not exhausted. And faith is predominantly observed and defended, i.e. the truth is in the hearts of the “small” of this world, unaffected by the influence of either the earthly greatness that corrupts for the most part, or the riches and other worldly blessings that often drown out all that is good in the soul - and, finally, little subject to the influence of modern intelligent fabrications... Such examples are especially clear in the history of relations between the Muslim East and enslaved Christian peoples. What many more victims there are among them, not only during wars that periodically flare up between fighters of hostile beliefs, but also in peacetime - in the last centuries, far removed from the centuries of general persecution of Christians! Such a sacrifice in the second half of the last century (1764) was the young commoner remembered today, on the day of her martyrdom, barely out of childhood, but who had already contained in her immaculate soul, raised by a Christian mother, the entire covenant, born and passed on by numerous generations of ancestors enlightened by the Orthodox faith. 15-year-old Aquilina (born in Zakliveri in the Adrianople diocese) firmly rebelled against both her own father and the strong rulers when they demanded that she convert to the hated Islamism, which was alien to the soul of a Christian. This happened for the following reason: Aquilina’s father, although Orthodox by origin from Orthodox parents, but apparently cowardly and weak in faith, once quarreled with a Turk and killed him, in order to avoid the death penalty for such a crime, he converted to Islam, justifying himself, perhaps, by the fact that in the depths of his soul no one can stop him from maintaining his beliefs... He reacted in the same way to the conversion of his daughter to the Muslim faith, which was demanded of her, as the daughter of someone who accepted the Mohammedan confession, when she was 15 years old. “Listen to me, daughter,” her father said to Aquilina, “accept Islam; The Turks are urgently approaching me so that I convert you to their faith... Sooner or later, but you cannot avoid this, so hurry up to fulfill their demand so that they leave me alone..." “I will never be so lacking in faith as to renounce my Lord Jesus Christ, Who suffered death on the cross for us!” - answered Aquilina, - and if they force me, then I would rather agree to accept martyrdom than to yield... Having lost hope of convincing his daughter to become a Turk, the apostate father allowed his fellow believers to do with her as they wanted. “The fanatics immediately sent for Aquilina to her mother’s house. The mother understood why they were demanding her child for trial, and, saying goodbye, with tears she persuaded Akilina to remember her constant instructions... - “The hour has come for which I constantly prepared you! “- she said to her daughter, “be strong, and let nothing separate you from Christ!” “Don’t be afraid, mom, God will help me, pray for me,” answered the crying girl, with difficulty tearing herself away from her mother, who, however, followed her until the very court, where Aquilina was presented alone... Here, neither caresses, nor threats, nor the most severe beatings could persuade the daughter of a true Christian to renounce the beliefs in which her mother raised her from childhood. “Is there anything in your faith that could force me to exchange our wonderful faith in Christ for it?” And you are all the living dead! “Aquilina boldly responded to the convictions of her executioners. Annoyed by her resistance, the Turks attacked her with increased fury and “beat her until she, tied to a post, hung on it as if dead. The entire floor was covered with blood and pieces of her tortured body.” 439 Then, having untied the dying woman, she was sent to her mother’s house. Waking up some time later, the martyr said to her mother: “Mom, I fulfilled your will: I promised to keep the faith and kept it...” Unearthly delight then replaced the mother’s inconsolable sadness about her injured daughter. The gracious, dying conversation between the martyrs for Christ lasted for some more time, among which Aquilina gave up her soul into the hands of God. Her remains were buried by Christians. Before the commoner child showed such firmness of soul and height of faith, she was apparently no different from the crowd, she was part of it, this simple crowd, which, all of them, and taken individually, sacredly guards the treasure of the spirit, conceals it invisibly, but manifests it at these moments in a crushing way in relation to the hostile spirit. Didn’t this serve as a hope and guarantee that even if the truth is eclipsed and corrupted in the minds of individual individuals, the masses of “small” simple people, uncorrupted in heart, will still bear it within themselves and keep it victorious until the end of centuries... Dositheus' Life of Ave. Zosima and Savvatiya, with minor changes in the Menea of St. Dimitri Apr 17 Stichera of the service for August 8, M. 1646 This is how the year of Savvaty’s death is shown in the Solovetsky Chronicle. According to the following psalter, he died in 1462. But this is a mistake: at that time there was already a monastery on the island and therefore there was no reason for Savvaty to look for a confessor on Vyga. – The dictionary has its own strangeness: the monk died on September 27. and was buried in May. Chet-menaion of St. Demetrius, Apr. 17, l. 237. Having described. Solovets. monast., p. 42. 44. 304. 305. The widespread celebration of St. Savvatius was established by the cathedral of 1547 A.E. I. 203. Service on St. Savvatiy at Tsarskoe, in the RCP. 1592 No. 563. Certificate dated January 23. 1628 in description Solovetsky Monastery No. 216. 217. The miracle is described in Christ. Thurs. 1822, part 7. 360–364. “Monthly. East." archim. Sergius, vol. II, p. 307. “Christ. martyrs in the East”, priest Peter Solovyov, – page 193.