14-го числа

Rev. father, beaten in Sinai and Raifa At the beginning of the 4th century (311–13), hermits who lived in the city of Sinai, Horeb and in the Raif desert (on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, two days' journey from Sinai), and who led a strict, ascetic life, were attacked by the Saracens (an Arab tribe that at that time unbridledly indulged in robbery on the occasion of the death of their leader). Almost all the monks (out of 40 - 38) were killed. Among them were extraordinary ascetics who showed true Christian greatness during this attack and torture from the barbarians, who sought the wealth they mistakenly assumed from the monks. “Aren’t we preparing for death every hour,” their abbot Paul convinced the embarrassed monks, “if God wants to free us from earthly life, then should we really grieve and be afraid? Shouldn't we rejoice and give thanks! Let us surrender ourselves to God and face death courageously!” “And the abbot himself was the first to suffer martyrdom from the barbarians, who in vain tried to find out from him where he was hiding non-existent gold... This beating was described by eyewitness Ammon, one of the monks who labored in Egypt. The second time the same bloody beating of monks by the Saracens took place in the 5th century; it is described by the fasting Nile, who then labored in Sinai (his memorial is November 12), who was previously the prefect of Constantinople. The barbarians ravaged the Sinai monastery, put many monks to death, and took others into captivity, including Nilov’s young son Theodulus, who was later sold into slavery; but from slavery he was redeemed by the bishop of Elusa, in whose house he was met by his father Neil, and consecrated priest by the bishop, both of them returned to the Sinai monastery, where they labored peacefully until the end of their lives. Their incorrupt remains were transferred to Constantinople under Emperor Justin the Younger (565–578) and placed in the church of St. Apostles in Orphanotrophy. ...St. Equal to the Apostles Nina, enlightener of Georgia St. Nina, enlightener of Georgia A miraculous phenomenon is represented in the history of the spread of the Christian faith by the enlightener of Iberia (Georgia), St. Equal to the Apostles Nina. A high lot fell to her lot, as if responding to the fertile soil of her soul, prepared by the influence of pure beings with whom she had been surrounded since childhood, during the years of her initial upbringing. Life of St. Nina provides a new example of how important and, one might say, omnipotent is the importance of educational influence on a young soul: it can be said to almost exclusively determine the fate of a person’s entire future destiny. Oh, if parents and educators were sufficiently imbued with an awareness of the significance of educational influence, then a great and saving fear would settle in their souls for the responsibility associated with the matter of education; They would then treat with the strictest attention to what they usually treat completely thoughtlessly and with destructive frivolity. The great Nina, the enlightener of nations, was not brought up among children's balls and non-children's theaters, not among luxurious surroundings and an example of the eternal social dispersion of her parents. She was not surrounded by a host of teachers (mostly one-sidedly developed and not at all of a Christian direction), filling the minds and memories of children with various educational subjects that had nothing to do with the education of a child’s heart. Nina was the daughter of truly pious parents. Her father, Zebulun, a man of a famous family, and her mother, Sosanna, raised their daughter in the fear of God and in love for God and people. Their homeland was the city of Kolastra in the Cappadocia region, but when Nina was 12 years old, they moved to Jerusalem, where Zabulon wished to devote himself to the desert life, and Sosanna, having accepted the blessing of her brother, wished to enter the service of the poor sisters. Nina was given to be raised by the elder Sarah-Niofora, who was also Nina’s teacher and mother. In communication with this pious old woman (Armenian by origin), the grace-filled sprouts planted by Christian parents in the heart of the blessed child blossomed in luxurious bloom. “Elder Niophora, who thoroughly studied St. Scripture, could know a lot and largely satisfy the pious curiosity of her pupil. Nina, accustomed to hearing about Christ, having become accustomed, so to speak, to His image, in the company of her parents, who were devoted to Him with all their thought and deed, was extremely interested in everything that she could hear about Christ. Thus, she often asked Niophora about the suffering of Christ, about the crucifixion, about burial, about His resurrection. With faith and love, the old woman poured into the child’s soul everything with which her own soul was filled, and told Nina various information about the God-man, about His teaching and disciples and about the various countries where they passed preaching the Gospel, and about their native land, Armenia and Kartalinia with the city of Mtskheta, where, according to legend, the tunic of Jesus Christ was located” 184. – What kind of people live in these countries? – asked Nina. “That people lives in the darkness of paganism,” the old woman said, “they worship idols and know nothing about Christ... No one has yet enlightened them with the light of the Gospel teaching.” – How can you live without Christ? - the heart of the wise child, already filled with holy, fiery love for God, was perplexed - and pity for the dark idolaters brought Nina to true suffering; she could not come to terms with the idea that there were people who did not know about Christ. ...Following the impressions of her pupil, penetrating into her reasonable and loving soul, Elder Niofora, as if foreseeing the strength to which she would mature, told her one day, in the midst of one of their intimate conversations, “I see, my child, your strength is equal to the strength of a lioness, which is more terrible than all four-legged animals; or you can be likened to an eagle soaring in the air. For her, the earth seems like a small pearl, but as soon as she sees her prey from above, she instantly, like lightning, rushes towards it and attacks... Your life will definitely be the same.” The old woman’s words sank deeply into Nina’s soul. An impulse was fired within her to see those countries in which such unfortunate people, who do not know the light, live: she wanted to tell them about the wonderful Jesus Christ, she also wanted to find and worship the tunic of Jesus Christ hidden in that land, bound by the Mother of God... (“The tunic was not sewn, but all woven on top”... John 19:23). Nina fervently prayed to the Mother of God that She would fulfill her cherished desires... And so, the Mother of God visited her in a dream and blessed her with a cross made of vines, telling her: “Accept this cross, it will be your shield and fence against all your visible and invisible enemies; by his power you will plant in that country the banner of faith in My Son.” Another time, Nina saw the Savior in a dream, who handed her a scroll with the words: “Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). With delight, Nina hastened to announce to her uncle, the Bishop of Jerusalem, about these dreams and the commands she had received. The bishop and her mother blessed her for the feat for which she inspiredly and irresistibly strove, and indeed the Lord led Nina to accomplish it. She reached Iberia. Based on one legend, we can conclude that she was looking for salvation in this country from the persecution erected by Diocletian (see life of the martyr. Hripsimii, September 29). According to another legend, she was taken prisoner by the Iberians. Soon after Nina’s arrival in Iveria, who miraculously and alone reached the city of Mtskheta, she had to attend a popular celebration in honor of one of the main pagan gods, the name of Armaz. Following the crowd here, Nina reached the place where an idol stood on a raised platform, in front of which a sacrifice was being made. King Mirian, Queen Nonna, soldiers and people reverently worshiped the idol. Nina, who carried in her soul the image of the Crucified Christ, was extremely amazed by this spectacle. Her soul was filled with great sorrow at the sight of so many unfortunate people who were mistaken and did not know the true God. She fervently prayed that the Lord would enlighten them, and as if in response to her prayerful cry, a miraculous phenomenon occurred: in the middle of a clear day, lightning suddenly flashed, a terrible storm arose... The sacrifice was stopped, the entire crowd hurried to hide from the thunderstorm and scattered to their homes. The abandoned idol-god was crushed to pieces; the walls of the church collapsed; a strong wind blew everything into the abyss of the mountain, so that soon there were no signs of the idol’s church left on the mountain. Saint Nina, protected by God, stood unharmed in the cleft of the rock. This happened on August 6, the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord. After this incident, Nina headed east, along the border of the mountain, where in ancient times there was a mountain. Armazik; walking along the river Chickens approached the royal garden, where the patriarchal church is now located. Seeing a small watchman’s house here, she approached it and was cordially received by the watchman’s wife Anastasia, who, after talking with Nina for some time, began, together with her husband, to persuade the wanderer to settle with them. Nina lived with them for a while, but then she wanted to retire and, having found something like a hut made of leaves and blackberry branches outside the city wall (the altar of the upper church, called Samtavro, is now located in this place), she settled in it. Here she spent days and nights in prayer, awaiting instructions and admonition from God for her future activities. Soon she became famous in the surrounding area, because God sanctified her prayers with miraculous power to heal all the illnesses of people suffering from various ailments who came to her for advice. People began to flock to her in large numbers, and then, while treating and healing illnesses, Nina at the same time preached to the people about Jesus Christ. Her words and wondrous life had a strong effect on the people, and many began to accept faith in the true God. From here Nina sometimes went into the city, and in the Jewish quarter she tried to find out where the tunic of the Lord was, which her teacher Niofora told her about, who had heard about it from the Jews who came from Iberia to Jerusalem for the Easter holiday. In the city, the Jewish high priest Abiathar (a descendant of Elioz, who brought the tunic of the Savior to Mtskheta) turned to Nina, wanting to hear from her about Christ, and soon, together with his daughter Sidonia, they accepted the Christian faith and began to help Nina in spreading it among the residents. Thus St. Nina laid the foundation of faith in Jesus Christ, but those converted by her, in the absence of a priest, were not yet enlightened by holy baptism. The convert Abiathar told St. Nina knows that she knows from her father and that there is a tradition among many others that the tunic of Jesus Christ is kept under a cedar tree in the vineyards of the royal garden, where Nina lived before. Under his shadow, she often prayed that the Lord would lead the people of Iberia to the knowledge of the true God. Wonderful visions reinforced the faith with which she awaited the fulfillment of her prayers. One day, falling asleep after the usual prayer, she saw a dream, which was then repeated more than once: she imagined many black birds flying towards the Aragva River; Having descended into the water, they flew out of it - white as snow, and, scattered on the branches of the cedar, filled the entire neighborhood with wondrous singing. St. Nina told her disciple Sidonia this dream. - “Jerusalem, Jerusalem! - Sidonia responded with inspiration, - you spread your wings wide and gather to yourself all the peoples from all over the universe! So this wife Nina, who came here from you, will change the customs and law of this country.” and then, turning to Nina, she added: “your dream means that this place will be turned by you into a spiritual garden that bears Divine fruits forever... These words inspired St. Nina, and she openly preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God with increased zeal. Together with her, those enlightened by her, Abiathar, his daughter Sidoniya, six Jewish women and the watchman of the royal garden with his wife took part in the sermon. Of these, Abiathar, the former high priest, was similar in his zeal to the Apostle Paul and, well acquainted with the Old Testament, he successfully acted on his fellow tribesmen. With many miracles and signs, God confirmed the truth of the gospel of St. Nina. The rumor about the wonderful wanderer reached the king. At this time, his wife Nonna became very ill. Not receiving any help from the doctors who treated her, she turned to St., famous for healing the sick. Nina. In the name of Jesus Christ, Nina healed her, the queen believed in the power of the teachings of Christ; King Mirian soon turned to the true God. On the advice of Nina, he sent to ask Tsar Constantine to send a bishop and priests to perform the sacrament of baptism over the people. When the bishop arrived in the capital with priests and deacons, the king and all the people - with a strong desire to be baptized - were greeted with great honor and joy, and soon the celebration of St. baptism (326). First of all, St. The king is baptized, followed by the queen and children. After this, having prepared the baptismal place at the bridge, on the river. Kure, where the house of the high priest Elioz stood, the bishop performed the blessing of water and baptized all the royal nobility - this place is still called the “font of the nobles,” and a little lower than the font of the nobles, two priests and deacons baptized at the same time all the people who received the saint. Baptism was so diligent and he strived for it with such haste that there was a lot of confusion in the performance of the mysterious rite. Such zeal came from the fact that the people well remembered the instructions of St. Nina, who told them that whoever does not accept baptism cannot find eternal light. Thus, almost all of Kartalinya accepted St. baptism, with the exception of the Caucasian highlanders who remained in the darkness of paganism" 185. Following this, the king sent ambassadors to Constantinople with a request to the emperor to send architects to Iveria to build churches. The emperor received the ambassadors well, fulfilled their request, and together with them sent many architects and priests to the newly enlightened region, placing at the disposal of the bishop a large sum of money for the construction of churches. Prompted by holy zeal, Nina continued to preach the Gospel. She tried to spread the word of God among the mountaineers and finally went to Kakheti, located in another part of Iberia. Here she settled in the Bodbe Gorge and converted many people and the Queen of Kakheti Sophia herself to the knowledge of God, and after 33 years of her Equal-to-the-Apostles feat, she died peacefully on January 14, 335, in the 67th year from birth, having built many churches in the name of St. Great Martyr George, who was her relative. Body of St. Nina was buried in a place bequeathed by her, near the village of Budi, in a bush that she herself had built. This grave exists to this day in the Bodbe Church, built by King Mirian at the site of her burial and restored by the late Metropolitan John of Georgia (who died in 1837). Now the tomb of St. Due to poverty, Nina does not have a single lamp that would illuminate the darkness of the small chapel.” Meanwhile, from the depths of fifteen centuries the words of the blessed King Mirian can still be heard, who said to the bishops before his death: “see that the place (where the remains of St. Nina rest) does not fall into desolation.” The Georgian Church honors St. Mirian, his wife Nonna and their son Bekar, as spreaders of the faith of Christ in Georgia. Their grave is located in the Samtavra church; above it is the poorest, barely noticeable slab of cobblestone, level with the floor, at the entrance from the small church to the large church on the left. The tunic of Jesus Christ came to Georgia in the following way: for a long time, having dispersed after the captivity of Babylon, some Jews lived in Iberia, but, true to their customs, they visited Jerusalem during the celebration of Easter; There they heard stories about Jesus Christ, about His teachings, about His miracles, and, passing on what they heard about Him upon their return to Iberia, they struck and touched in particular the heart of one married, elderly Jewish woman. The sensitive piety of her soul comprehended the mystery of the incarnation of God; the long distance did not prevent her from following with her mental gaze what was happening at that time in Jerusalem... and when the Savior was dying on the cross, she suddenly exclaimed: “Today the fall of the kingdom of Israel has taken place,” and fell dead. Her son Elioz was at that time in Jerusalem, saw the suffering of the Savior and bought His robe from the warrior, who received it by lot. He brought this tunic home, where he no longer found his mother, and gave the tunic to his sister Sidonia. She, pressing him to her chest, died then and there... And they buried her in the royal garden, along with her tunic... In the same place a majestic cedar grew. Sabinina - biography. Saints of the Georgian Church, pp. 49–50.