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Isaiah (the name means: the Lord will save; given, probably, as an expression of the faith of Isaiah’s parents in the promised Savior), who lived 750 years BC, was the son of Amos, brother of Amaziah, king of Judah; was born in Jerusalem and lived here during six reigns: Amaziah, Azariah or Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Manasseh. Despite his relationship with the royal house, Isaiah was distinguished by such humility that, of his own free will, he lived in poverty with his also God-pleasing wife and children. He spent his life in complete abstinence and exhaustion of the body, even wearing a hair shirt, expressing a person’s contrition for his sins. For such humility and love for God, Isaiah was honored to be called to prophetic service. He was one of those (and the first of the 4 great prophets) through whom “God spoke to the fathers in many ways and in many ways of old,” and his calling was accomplished as follows: He “saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the whole church. Six-winged seraphim stood around Him and called to each other and said: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of His glory!” The pillars of the building shook from these exclamations and a fragrance spread throughout the church. In awe, Isaiah exclaimed, “Woe is me! I'm dead! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people also of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts!” “Then one of the seraphim flew to me,” continues Isaiah, “and in his hand he had a burning coal, which he took with tongs from the altar, and touched my mouth and said: behold, this has touched your mouth, and your iniquity is taken away from you, and your sin is cleansed. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Whom shall I send? and who will go for Us? - and I said: here I am, send me. “And He said, Go and tell this people: You will hear with your ears and not understand, and with your eyes you will look and not see.” For the heart of this people is hardened, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, that I might heal them. - And I said: How long, Lord? “He said: until the cities are desolate and left without inhabitants, and the houses without people, and until this land is completely desolate.” “But as from terebinth and as from an oak, when they are cut down, their root remains, so the holy seed will be the root of it” (of that land); that is, even after the destruction of the people, a holy remnant will remain, from which a new tribe will arise - the new Israel, believing in Christ. From that time on, Isaiah set out to serve the people of Judah and for 60 years proclaimed to them the will of God and threatened them with punishment for their iniquities and ingratitude to God. He prophesied by the Spirit of God and all his prophecies were set forth with perfect accuracy and clarity. He predicted the fall of many kingdoms and cities (the kingdom of Assyria, Tire, Sidon, Egypt), the captivity of the Jews in Babylon and their liberation after 70 years from captivity, the victories of the Persian king Cyrus, whom he called by name more than 100 years before his birth... Prophesying about the destinies concerning Judea, Isaiah turned with special love to the times of the Messiah and with such clarity represented the life and suffering of Jesus Christ that he is called the Old Testament Evangelist... “The Lord Himself will give a sign,” he proclaims, “Behold, the Virgin will receive in her womb and give birth to a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel, who is, as we say, God with us” ( Isaiah 7:14). “And a branch will come from the root of Jesse (i.e., from the line of David), and a branch will grow from his root,” continues Isaiah, “and the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety.” “He will judge the poor with righteousness, and decide the affairs of the afflicted with truth; and with the rod of his mouth he will smite the earth, and with the breath of his mouth he will slay the wicked.” “They shall not do evil or harm in all my mountain: for the earth shall be filled with the vision of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” “And it shall come to pass in that day that the Gentiles shall return to the root of Jesse, which shall stand as a banner for the nations, and His rest shall be the glory” (XI). “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; on those who live in the land of the shadow of death the light will shine. They (the people) will rejoice before You, for You will break the yoke that weighed them down, and the rod that struck them, and the reed of their oppressor.” “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; the government will be upon His shoulder, and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Depicting the sufferings of Jesus Christ, Isaiah speaks about them as vividly as if he himself, as St. fathers, stood at the cross during the Savior’s suffering: “He was despised and humbled before men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with pain; and we turned our faces away from Him; He was despised, and we thought nothing of Him. But He took upon Himself our infirmities and bore our illnesses, and we thought that He was struck, punished and humiliated by God. But He was wounded for our sins and tormented for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed.” “He was tortured, but He suffered voluntarily, and did not open His mouth; as a sheep was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb is silent before its shearers, so He opened not His mouth.” “He will give His shoulders for wounds, His cheeks for blows, but He will not turn His face away from the shame of spitting” ... “and He will be counted among the villains” ... “He was taken from bondage and judgment; but who will explain His generation? For He is cut off from the land of the living; for the crimes of My people I suffered execution” ... (chapter LIII). Finally, this is how the prophet proclaims the triumph of the Church of Christ and its worldwide spread, as well as the second coming of Christ and the end of the age: “Arise, shine (Jerusalem); for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. “For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and darkness the nations; and the Lord will shine upon you, and His Glory will appear upon you. “And nations will come to your light, and kings to the radiance that rises above you. “And the sons of those who oppressed you will come to you in submission, and all who despised you will fall at your feet, and they will call you the city of the Lord, Zion of the Holy One of Israel. “No more violence will be heard in your land, no more devastation and destruction will be heard within your borders; and you will call your walls salvation and your gates glory. “The sun will no longer serve you as the light of day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God your glory. “Your sun will no longer go down, nor will your moon be hidden: for the Lord will be an everlasting light to you, and the days of your mourning will be ended. “And all your people will be righteous, they will inherit the earth forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, to my glory. “From the small will come a thousand, and from the weakest a strong nation. The Lord will hasten this to be done in due time... Thus says the Lord: heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; where will you build a house for me, and where is my resting place? For my hand did all this, and all this happened, says the Lord. But this is the one I will look upon: the one who is humble and contrite in spirit and who trembles at My word... Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word. Your brothers, who hate you and drive you out for My name’s sake, say: “Let the Lord reveal Himself in glory, and we will see your joy.” But they will be put to shame. As his mother comforts someone, so I will comfort you, and you will be comforted in Jerusalem. And you will see this, and your heart will rejoice, and your bones will blossom like new greenery, and the hand of the Lord will be revealed to His servants, and He will be angry with His enemies... For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and His chariots like a whirlwind, to pour out His anger with fury and His rebuke with blazing fire. For the Lord will bring about judgment on all flesh with fire and His sword, and many will be slain by the Lord. For I know their deeds and their thoughts; and behold, I will come to gather all nations and languages, and they will come and see my glory. And I will put a sign on them, and I will send those who have been saved from them to the nations who have not heard of Me or seen My glory, and they will proclaim My glory to the nations... And all flesh shall come before Me to worship... And they shall go out and see the corpses of the people who have departed from Me: for their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched; and they shall be an abomination to all flesh”... (chap. LX and LXVI). In addition to prophecies, the book of the prophet Isaiah contains many high moral truths, for example. about what kind of fasting can be pleasing to God: “They ask me about the judgments of righteousness, they want to get closer to God: “Why do we fast, but You don’t see? We humble our souls, but You don’t know?” Behold, on the day of your fast you do your will and demand hard labor from others; Do you not fast at this time so that your voice is heard on high... This is the fast that I have chosen: loose the chains of unrighteousness, untie the cords of the yoke, and set the oppressed free, and break every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry, and bring the wandering poor into your home; When you see a naked person, clothe him, and do not hide from your half-blood. Then you will call, and the Lord will hear; You will cry out, and He will say: Here I am! When you remove the yoke from among you, stop raising your finger and speaking offensively, and give your soul to the hungry, and feed the soul of the sufferer... And the Lord will always be your guide, and in times of drought he will satisfy your soul and make your bones fat, and you will be like a garden watered with water and like a spring whose waters do not fail.” The prophet proclaims the meaning of sacrifices: “Hear the word of the Lord, O princes of Sodom; Hear the law of our God, O people of Gomorrah! Why do I need your multitude of sacrifices? - says the Lord, - I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle, and I do not want the blood of lambs. Bear no more vain gifts; smoking is disgusting to Me; I can’t stand the new moon and Saturdays, holiday gatherings; lawlessness - and celebration! And when you stretch out your hands, I close My eyes from you; and when you multiply your prayers, I do not hear; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourself, make yourself clean; remove your evil deeds from before my eyes; stop doing evil. Learn to do good; seek the truth; save the oppressed; protect the orphan; stand up for the widow. Then come and let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; if they are red as crimson, I will be as white as wool”... (chapter I). Like all proclaimers of the truth, Isaiah was constantly persecuted. Only under the pious king Hezekiah did he enjoy honor and was one of his closest advisers. With the power of his prayers, Isaiah truly called for God’s propitiation on the kingdom of Judah, which was in distress at that time. When the Assyrian king began to threaten the kingdom and entered the country with an army, then, through the prayer of Isaiah, in one night the Angel of the Lord struck 180,000 Assyrian soldiers. Another miracle was accomplished through Isaiah’s prayer: “In those days Hezekiah fell mortally ill, and prayed to the Lord, saying: O Lord! Remember that I walked before Your face faithfully and with a heart devoted to You, and did what was right in Your sight. - And Hezekiah cried a lot. “And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah and said: Go and tell Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears, and behold, I will add 15 years to your days.” to verify this, through the prayer of Isaiah, the shadow of the sun was returned by 10 degrees in the sundial... Thus, Isaiah appears not only as a prophet, but also as a miracle worker. During the siege of Jerusalem, from which the water was diverted by the enemy and the inhabitants were languishing without water, Isaiah miraculously brought out from Mount Zion a spring, according to legend, the same Siloam, which is mentioned in the Gospel and with the water of which Christ healed the man born blind. The subsequent circumstances of Isaiah's life are unknown. According to ancient legend, he lived until the time of King Manasseh, by whose command he was sawed between the boards with a saw. The main reason for condemning the prophet to death, according to the rabbis, was that he called the princes of Jerusalem the princes of Sodom, and the people the people of Gomorrah... God-fearing people buried his body near the source of Siloam, near the royal tombs. A font was built near this source, in which a man blind from birth was subsequently healed by Jesus Christ. And to this day this water has healing powers against various diseases. Basil's Monthly Book 174 speaks about the position of Isaiah in the church of St. Lawrence in Blachernae, after being transferred to Constantinople. Kedrin dates the transfer of his relics to the year 35 imperial. Theodosius the Younger (408–450) or 443 AD, and Kodin - to the time of Emperor Marcian (450–457). Marcian and Pulcheria are also credited with building a church to the prophet 175. Venerable John, Wonderworker of Zedaznia, Chief of the Syrian Fathers John was born, raised and reached adulthood in Antioch. According to the custom of that time (at the beginning of the 6th century) and most importantly, following his inner calling, he entered into monasticism and was a zealous and humble ascetic. He did not leave the knowledge and spiritual enlightenment he acquired under wraps and taught the inhabitants of the Antiochian country the knowledge of God and the fulfillment of Christian duties. The fame of the good mentor soon began to attract countless people to him, and then, burdened by the constant violation of his beloved solitude, John retired to a deserted place. Only a few disciples followed him here, and all of them completely devoted themselves to the thought of God and prayer. - Feeding on their labors, they secretly sold their handicrafts in the city, until people finally opened the way to them and into the desert and again began to flock to their father John, who miraculously knew how to heal their mental and physical ailments. Some time later, according to a revelation that came to him, in which he saw the will of the Mother of God, so that he would go to Iberia to establish the Church planted there, John, choosing by lot 12 people from his disciples, set off with them on this long and difficult journey. Barefoot and in rags, the Syrian monks were greeted with reverence by the Iveron Catholicos (patriarch) Eulavius ​​and the people and received an invitation from Eulavius ​​to stay with him. Soon abundant streams of Divine teaching flowed from their lips and their preaching, accompanied by miracles, confirmed the Ivertsev in their faith in the Holy Trinity and enlightened almost the entire country of Kartalinskaya. The Holy Fathers walked around all the places where Blessed Nina, Equal to the Apostles, taught the faith of Christ, venerated those places that were marked by some incident in her life, and marveled at the Apostolic activity for which the Lord strengthened the weak woman. Having worked hard to spread and establish in the hearts of the people the gospel truths planted by them and before them, the holy fathers prayed to God to show them a place of permanent residence. They were attracted by the high and inaccessible Mount Zaden 176, on the left bank of the Aragva River, 8 versts northeast of Mtskheta, the capital of Iveria, and 15 versts north of Tiflis. Having prayed and received the blessing of the Catholicos, who, although he held them back, was not able to refuse their desire to retire to this wilderness, St. The fathers left Mtskheta and, with great difficulty, making their way through the thorny bushes at the base of the mountain and the dense forest on the mountain, they finally climbed to the top of Zaden, where they decided to struggle in silence. – John turned the cave found here into a church, around it the hermits built huts made of tree leaves; their food was various herbs and roots growing on the mountain. As soon as rumors spread about the settlement of Syrian monks on the mountain, the people opened the road to them; The sick, the crippled, and sufferers of all kinds again rushed to them to receive from them both mental and physical - wonderful benefits, and they were not deceived in their trust in the God-pleasing people, personally glorified by God. At this time, the bishops of the dioceses of Tsilkan and Iekres died. Catholicos Evlavius ​​decided to replace them with one of the 13 Syrian aliens. He went to them on the mountain and decided to choose those of them who would perform the Divine Liturgy that day. These were Aviv and Ise 177 . He greeted them, one as the bishop of the mountains. Nekresi, the other - the bishop of the mountains. Tsilkani. It was hard for them to part with Elder John, but when he reminded them that they had come to work and sow the word of God here, they did not resist and were soon ordained bishops. After their departure from the mountain, John’s visitors multiplied, many of them left the world, settled with him, and a path was paved along the impassable mountain and a monastery was created for those who were kindled with the desire to devote themselves to serving God under the guidance of the good and wise teacher John. One day the blessed vision of the Mother of God with St. Ninoy, who ordered him to send his disciples to different places in Iberia to preach the word of God and teach the people. This is what John did. Having admonished his disciples with holy edification, endowing them with particles of the relics of St. martyrs, so that they would be inspired by the memory of them and imitate their example, he sent them throughout Georgia, leaving with him only one disciple - Deacon Elijah, who served as a support for his senile weakness; He himself devoted himself to vigilant spiritual exploits, which completely enslaved his flesh. Enriched with all the gifts of grace, but always humble in spirit, John visited his disciples in order to support them in their spiritual exploits. And they visited John and, strengthened by the spiritual joy of being with him, returned to their places of service. The mountain on which John lived, barely cleared here and there of dense forest, was at first completely waterless; They worked in the sweat of their brows to extract water from Aragva, which washes the base of the highest mountain Zedazen. John took pity on them, and behold, through his prayers, a life-giving spring flowed on the mountain, the waters of which still testify, without ceasing, of the miracle created by God to glorify His servant... After a long life, glorified by deeds and miracles, as if to fulfill the words of the Savior: “He who believes in Me will do works like Me, and even greater than Me”... blessed John received a revelation of his death. With fear and trembling, he directed his mental gaze beyond the boundaries of the earthly world... “If the great Apostle Paul could say to himself: what I had to do, I did, and yet I remain the inextricable servant of the Lord,” the last earthly idea flashed through the memory of the person standing before the Heavenly Judge, “then can I consider myself safe?” Having commanded his disciples to bury him in the cave in which he labored, John received Holy Communion of Christ the Savior. Upon receiving the Holy Mysteries, Divine delight overshadowed his soul and, amid inexplicable joy, he betrayed his pure soul to God. After his burial, many miracles began to flow from his tomb, which have not been exhausted to this day. Now the toiling body of Blessed John, who enlightened the people of Iveron not only by the example of his own life, but also through his disciples, rests at the altar itself in the chapel of the church in honor of John the Baptist, built on the southern side of the cave where John labored and was buried. The Iverskaya Church celebrates his memory on May 7 with 12 of his disciples. The death of John of Zedazni followed between 557–560 under Catholicos Macarius. Venerable Shio (Simeon) of Mgvimsky Life of Rev. Shio (translated into other languages, this name can mean: Simeon) is also the fertile fruit of the soil, fertilized by Christian education, which pious parents tried to give him, who from childhood carefully instilled the word of God into the understanding of their only son. And the love for the word of God was so deeply rooted in the heart of young Shio that he constantly kept it in his mind, and even always carried with him the Gospel, the epistles of the Apostle Paul and the psalter. “His parents, finally fearing their son’s excessive mental stress and wanting to give him rest, decided one day to take these books away from him. - Why did you interrupt my Divine studies? - the saddened youth objected to them, - whoever does not constantly learn the law of God moves away from the Kingdom of Heaven... Give me back my treasures... And the parents, admonished by the words of their wise son beyond his years, no longer began to restrict his freedom... Over time, he convinced them to spend the rest of their lives in monasticism, and he himself, having used the property left behind for the benefit of the poor and the monastery, came to John (of Zedaznia), who was still shining in Antioch at that time, and, having received monastic vows from him, became his disciple. He was one of those 12 whom John took with him to Iberia to confirm the believers, converts to St. Nina. Having served this cause, Rev. Shio wished to live as a hermit and, with the blessing of Catholicos Evlavia, headed his way west from Mtskheta - into the impenetrable wilds of the forest. Here, in the desert, protected by sheer and completely steep walls of a sandy mountain from human sight, Shio settled in a cramped cave, barely large enough to hide in it... Difficult asceticism lay ahead of the lonely, helpless fighter in the midst of the harsh, wild desert, but the wonderful Provider about him was the One to whom he constantly turned with prayer: “The Lord is my enlightenment and Savior; Who am I afraid of? The Lord is the Protector of my life—whom shall I fear?” A spring opened in the rock, flowing water for the hermit, and a dove flew to him with food... This dove, by the will of God, which determined not to leave the blessed lamp hidden, opened the dwelling of Shio to people... Someone - Evagrius, a noble courtier, hunting as usual for the Bura River, followed the dove carrying food to the hermit, and found him, immersed in prayer, with his hands raised to the sky... He was so amazed by the meeting with this hiding place from the world as a man standing in prayer in the desert before the face of the One God, who suddenly realized in himself the renunciation of everything worldly and began to labor in a cave under the guidance of a hermit who completely surrendered to God... From then on, Shio became known to other people in the area. Many began to settle near it and thus up to 25 voluntary desert dwellers gathered... At the place chosen by revelation to Blessed Shio, they built a church in the name of the example of desert dwellers - John the Baptist. Subsequently, King Parsman VI, who visited his former favorite Evagrius in the desert and treated the ascetic Shio with reverence, gave him land for a monastery and provided him with significant funds for the construction of churches 178. – The number of brethren of the new monastery increased to 2000, for whom there were no more free places in the gorges, and they settled beyond the gorge, in the east and in the west beyond the Kura River, where the vast Kvaytakhevsky Lavra was subsequently formed. Here blessed Shio labored and became famous for his gift of miracles. Here his former teacher John of Zedazni visited him and, after staying for three days, he had the joy of verifying the high degree of spiritual perfection of the new monks. But the desire for complete solitude prevailed in Shio’s soul. He left the monastery he founded, said goodbye to the brethren with the most edifying words, left 160 written teachings for them and, interrupting all communication with the world, doomed himself to a reclusive life in a dark, deep cave. The saint's food was lowered there along a rope. Who can comprehend and count the unspeakable exploits of this angel in the human body, whose spirit anticipated communication with God, that is, heaven on earth... Therefore, there are no words in human language to express such a mental state. Having foreknowledge of the time of his death, Shio wished to receive the priest with the Holy Gifts. John of Zedazni himself came to him and stayed with him until that wonderful moment when Shio, having received Holy Communion. Tain and exclaiming: “In Your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit! Accept my soul, given by You!” - ended his earthly life. His body was buried in the same cave where he died. His former beloved teacher, John of Zedaznia, and his beloved disciple, Evagrius, wrapped the ascetic in his own clothes and buried him in the ground, while from above, around the opening of the cave, the funeral, parting singing of the monks, who had gathered to attend the burial of the great recluse, now standing before God as a prayer book and about themselves, was heard. And after death he was a strong helper and patron in the troubles and sorrows of all who worshiped his tomb with faith. Holy Martyr Christopher After terrible torture, he was beheaded in Lycia during the Decian persecution, around 249. St. Ambrose testifies that Christopher, through the miracles performed on him during his suffering, converted up to 48,000 pagans to the Christian faith. “There is no doubt 179 that St. The martyr performed miracles long after his death, both in the West and in the East. According to Western martyrologies, the relics of St. Christopher's were first transferred from Libya to Toledo, and then to the Abbey of Seve-Denis in France. In the West, they mostly resort to it for contagious diseases.” Commemoration of the transfer of the venerable relics of St. Nicholas to Bargrad The transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas from Myra-Lycia to the southern Italian city of Bar occurred in 1087. The worlds at this time had already been under the rule of the Seljuk Turks for ten years, and even from earlier times they had fallen greatly both in piety and in the number of Christian inhabitants. The citizens of Bar, as a result of the appearance of the saint to one pious presbyter and the command to take his relics from Mir, sent selected people on three ships for the holy relics. Under the guise of Bogomolets, they arrived at the church where the relics lay (about two versts from the then city), dug up the ground and, opening the reliquary, found it full of fragrant myrrh, which flowed from the holy relics. The priests carried them to the ship; They were followed by two of the four monks who were at the church. The travelers safely arrived with the precious treasure in Bar on the evening of Sunday, May 9th; the inhabitants with bishops, priests and monks greeted them brightly, glorifying the Lord, and established the celebration of this day. In Russia they began to celebrate in 1091, out of great respect for this saint and his miraculous intercession, which was repeatedly revealed in our fatherland. For in the very year of the transfer of the relics to Bar, the miracle of saving the drowned baby took place. (For more detailed information, see the December book, under the 6th day). See "Full" months East" archim. Sergius, vol. II, part 2, countries. 128. Here in 109 BC the idol of Zaden was erected by the Georgian king Farnadzh, which was subsequently destroyed by St. Nina. Pam. St. Aviva - November 29th, and St. Ise – December 2nd. The main one was the church in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God; the second - in honor of the Nativity of John the Baptist, where the remains of the saint rest. Shio. Both of these churches are dilapidated and in the monastery, which was once flourishing, there is now such poverty that there is often no bread and wine to celebrate the liturgy... Such is the fate of many Iveron churches, standing in ruins in places that witnessed their flourishing state in ancient times... “Full. months East" archim. Sergius, vol. II, part 2, countries. 129.