11-го числа

Hieromartyr Blasius, Bishop of Sebastia Blasius was the bishop of the city of Sevastia (now Sivash, a hundred miles from Tokat). When the general persecution against Christians began during the reign of Diocletian, Blasius first consoled Christians and visited those suffering in prison, and from St. The Great Martyr Eustratius accepted the will (see December 13), and then, without going into torment without the well-known direction of God, he hid from the hands of the tormentors, like many others, so that only hidden Christians remained in the city. This is what he did during the Likinievo persecution; he hid in the desert mountain Argeos (now Gyaur-tag), and there in a cave he spent a silent life in fasting and prayer. Those sent by the commander Agricolaus to catch wild animals, to which Christians were then given to be devoured, opened the refuge of Blasius; Having been informed about him, Agricolaus sent soldiers who found Blasius and told him: “Get out of the cave and go with us to the city; The governor is calling you!” “Let’s go, my children,” answered Vlasiy. - “The Lord remembered me; He appeared to me three times this night and said: Arise and offer Me a sacrifice! Children, it’s good that you came; May my Lord Jesus Christ be with you!” On the way, near Sebastia herself, a poor widow came up to him and complained with tears that the wolf had stolen her only boar (little pig). “Don’t grieve and don’t cry,” the saint told her; “Your boar will be returned to you safe and sound.” Having said this, he continued on his way, and a wolf came running to the widow with a pig in his teeth and let him go before her alive and whole, while he himself fled into the desert. Upon arrival in Sebastia, the next day Blasius was affectionately persuaded to idolatry and, as firm in his faith, he was mercilessly beaten with sticks and again imprisoned. Then the poor widow, hearing about the suffering of St. Blasia slaughtered her piglet for Christ and, having boiled its head and legs, put it on a dish, also took the seeds, fruits and vegetables that she had, and, putting everything in a basket and lighting a candle (because in the old days, prisons were all underground, gloomy), she brought everything into prison to the saint and fell at his feet, asking him to accept an offering from her and eat. St. Blaise tasted the food and, having blessed the widow, said to her: “Every year so fulfill my memory, and none of the necessary things will become scarce in your house; and if someone else, like you, fulfills my memory, he will be filled with the gifts of God and will be blessed throughout his life.” With this commandment the widow returned to her home. The torturer, again demanding the martyr and testing the steadfastness of his faith, ordered him to be hanged naked on a tree and his body to be whittled with a sharp iron; when the martyr did not hesitate for this reason, and even the seven Christian women who looked at his torment clearly confessed their faith, the women were tortured and beheaded on the same day, and St. Blasius, after imprisonment, was first thrown into the lake, and then beheaded outside the city wall. Having learned about the death of the saint, the aforementioned widow honored his memory by gathering neighbors and acquaintances; following her example, many still commemorate the hieromartyr. † Memory of St. Vsevolod-Gabriel, Prince of Pskov Fight the good fight of faith, attain eternal life, for which you were called” (1 Tim. 6:12): this is what the Apostle taught. This means that there may be high-profile deeds on earth and not be worthy of the desires of the immortal soul. Yes, labors and exploits are in vain if they are not animated by holy faith, if they do not matter for a blessed eternity. Are honors, glory, nobility valuable in themselves when they pass like a dream? The life of Prince Vsevolod-Gabriel, both in public and private circles, was a life for eternity 157. That is why his fame is strong. The son of the holy Grand Duke Mstislav and the grandson of the valiant Grand Duke Vladimir Monomakh appears in public life in 1117. This year, the elderly Monomakh summoned Mstislav from Novgorod to Kiev Belgrade in order to have an assistant in him, and ordered his grandson, young Vsevolod, to remain in Novgorod. The worthy son of the great Mstislav did a lot of good for the Novgorodians, but they paid him for it with sorrows. The young, kind prince marked the beginning of his reign with the construction of a magnificent church in St. George's Monastery. “Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich, says the chronicle, founded (in 1119) together with Abbot Kiriak a stone church in Veliky Novgorod, 3 miles from the city, in the name of the Holy Great Martyr George; and they built a great monastery, gathered the brethren; Prince Vsevolod finished the church and consecrated it" 158. “So I Vsevolod gave St. George a silver dish, 30 hryvnia silver; ordered to beat it for lunch, when the abbot is dining”: this is what the humble prince says in addition to his father’s letter, with which he gave the village of Buytse to the monastery 159. Vsevolod also gave the Yuryev Monastery the Lyakhovichi churchyard with land and people and horses and forest and boards and traps 160. – The world wants to live only for its own pleasure. “Honor Jehovah with all your wealth and with all the firstfruits of your income,” says God-inspired wisdom (Proverbs 3:9). And Prince Vsevolod acted not according to the rules of a forgetful world, but according to the inspirations of love for the Lord. In 1122 he married the daughter of St. Prince of Chernigov Nikolai Svyatosha and in the spring of 1123 he made a difficult campaign to Finland with the Novgorod squads; despite the unfavorable weather, bad roads and lack of food, he completely defeated the enemies who were ravaging the border areas of Novgorod 161. The pious prince (1127) built a holy church on Torgovaya Novgorod Square, on Petryatin Yard. John the Baptist, a magnificent church, equipped with expensive icons, a very valuable gospel and all the books, and with a side church where the early liturgy should be celebrated on Sundays. This was a matter of prayer for the son of John. - But the son soon died 162. Some of our prayers are not fulfilled in the form in which we would like to see them fulfilled; are not fulfilled because the All-Seeing and Good One sees us better and more diligently prepares for us the best for us. The prince, reverent of the will of God, mourned the death of his son, like a father, but with a prayer for the deceased, he issued a charter for the new church, remarkable in its content. He provided it with both the maintenance of the church and the maintenance of the clergy, and ordered that the memory of the Forerunner be celebrated magnificently. The church elders collected duties on all trade items. On the church holiday, the bishop performed the liturgy; the next day - Archimandrite Yuryev; on the third - Abbot Antonievsky. Rich gifts are assigned to everyone. So the pious prince was convinced that Novgorod trade would flourish under the influence of prayers and zeal for the Lord. In the same letter he wrote: “at Torzhok I give a waxed pood (duties for the weight of wax), half to St. Savior, and half to St. to the great John on Petryatin’s courtyard.” These words of the prince make it clear that the clergy in more than one Novgorod 163 used his salary. Even more remarkable is his letter for the St. Sophia Cathedral, written at the same time as Predtecheva 164. Here the prince, following the example of St. Vladimir, firstly, provides the Novgorod saint with overseeing trade weights and measures so that half of the duty goes to the Sofia See, and the other to the Church of John the Baptist; of the fine from the guilty officials, one third would go to the benefit of the city; further lists the items of the bishop's court, from which fees should be turned in favor of the saint and the cathedral clergy; finally shows the persons subject to the jurisdiction of the saint. The prince repeats more than once: “neither my children, nor my grandchildren, nor governors, nor tiuns (judges) should interfere in church courts”; and at the end he says: “I order my tiuns not to insult the church court and from the court to give nine parts to the prince, and the tenth to the saint. Sofia." The rules of the charter regarding the rights of brothers and sisters to inheritance are very remarkable. According to the “Russian Truth”, the daughters of a boyar are given a share equally with their sons, and the daughters of a smerd (a simple free man) receive an equal share only when they are not married off; otherwise the brothers give only a dowry. The blessed prince writes: “if after someone there are sons and daughters left, then both sons and daughters should receive an equal share of all property.” The resolution, apparently, is completely consistent with the spirit of Christian love! The prince disinherits only the unchaste daughter; but even at the same time he says: “if a brother, out of desire for self-interest, tells a lie against his sister, then he is guilty of death for that.” In the same year, when the pious prince, out of love for the Lord, poured out so many blessings on the Church of Christ, the Lord visited the Novgorod side with a grave disaster. In the spring there was snow for a long time, and in the fall there were severe frosts and severe famine began. The people ate linden leaves, birch bark, ground straw and moss; people starved and died; parents gave their children to foreign merchants for food. At this sad time, Vsevolod showed all his fatherly love for the people: he was a feeder of the poor and hungry, he exhausted his treasury on them, but it was not enough for the multitude of those asking; the pious prince convinced the sufferers to prepare for eternity 165. In 1130, by the will of his father, the Grand Duke of Russia, Vsevolod and his two brothers went to humble Estov; rebellious enemies were put to the sword, their property was burned, and their wives and children were taken captive. Not so happy was the campaign of Vsevolod alone in Estonia in 1131. The Estonians were subject to tribute, but many Novgorodians were beaten in Klin, in the corner of the present Dorpat district; but in the same year he fought with glory against Lithuania and forced it to pay tribute 166. In 1132, Vsevolod’s uncle, Prince Yaropolk, having ascended the Kiev throne, gave Vsevolod southern Pereyaslavl, which was considered the eldest after Kyiv. The Novgorodians released Vsevolod with displeasure; and meanwhile the younger sons of Monomakh and uncle Vsevolod rebelled for Pereyaslavl against the Grand Duke; he wants, they said, to make his nephew heir to the Kyiv throne. In the morning Vsevolod entered Pereyaslavl and was kicked out by Uncle Yuri before lunch. - Avoiding civil strife, the God-fearing prince returned to Novgorod; but the proud freemen had already forgotten the beneficent reign and loud victories of Vsevolod, and did not want to accept him. “However, this time the Novgorodians soon came to their senses and invited the prince who had done them so much good; They only limited his power with the new rights of their posadniks. In 1133, the prince, caring for the peace of the Novgorodians, went to Estonia and took Dorpat. The following year, his brother Izyaslav, expelled, by the grace of Yuri, from Turov, came to Novgorod for help against Yuri, who boldly insulted the Mstislavichs. The Novgorodians made a noise, volunteering to defend Izyaslav against the power-hungry Yuri, and demanded a campaign; Vsevolod agreed with the will of the veche, set out with an army, but, not wanting to deal with his uncle, he released Izyaslav to Chernigov and returned to Novgorod. The Novgorodians, no matter what, wanted to fight with Yuri. In vain did Metropolitan Michael persuade them and point out the danger of the winter campaign. The mayor David was sent along with Vsevolod and a strong squad to Suzdal. It was December 31st. Blizzards and severe frost haunted the Novgorod army and left them very weak. On January 26 (1135) a bloody battle took place on Zhdanova Mountain. More Suzdalians were beaten than Novgorodians; but victory was not on the side of the latter, and they were forced to make peace. In the same year, the blessed prince, together with the pious archpastor Niphon, founded the magnificent stone church of St. Clement, but he did not have the chance to finish it. In May 1136, a rebellion broke out in Novgorod. The proud self-willed people, angry because they were unable to boast of victory over the Suzdalians, declared Vsevolod deprived of power. Not only that: they imprisoned him in the prince’s house with his wife, children and mother-in-law; He was kept as a criminal for seven weeks, guarded by 30 soldiers. When Prince Svyatoslav Olgovich, a friend of Yuri, arrived at the call to reign in Novgorod, they freed Vsevolod, but kept his son hostage. The good-natured Grand Duke Yaropolk gave the exiled Vsevolod Vyshgorod. The Pskovites, valuing Vsevolod’s good deeds and high qualities, asked him to come to them with lively zeal, and Vsevolod agreed to the call of love. On the road he had the consolation of seeing from experience that Christian love still lived among the princes of his time. Prince Vasily of Polotsk, while he could take revenge on Vsevolod for the insults inflicted by his father, received and saw off Vsevolod with all brotherly love. Vsevolod was received with delight in Pskov. The pious prince immediately laid the stone foundation for the Holy Trinity Church, which was completed the following year. The Novgorodians started a war because Vsevolod was received in Pskov; but the end of the earthly journey of St. The prince was approaching faster than the troops of the ungrateful Novgorodians. The blessed prince loved the Lord and His servants all his life; loved to read useful books and copied them; He loved the poor, whom he generously provided with everything. Anticipating his imminent death, he doubled his feats of holy love: he himself bandaged the wounds of the sick and humbled himself by fasting. Purified by so many sorrows in recent years, blessed Vsevolod died peacefully on February 11, 1138 167. The relics of the blessings. The prince was buried in the Church of the Great Martyr, which he built. Dimitri; found incorrupt 52 years after his death; in 1192 St. the prince appeared in a vision to a God-fearing man and said: “Announce to the authorities that the relics be transferred to the Church of the Holy Trinity; I want to lie down there. The Lord Jesus Christ gave me the city of Pskov so that I could keep it.” The holy relics were reverently transferred to the Trinity Cathedral 168. In 1284, with cancer of St. Prince, a miracle happened over the former Pskov mayor Elisha. The old mayor lay relaxed with his whole body, so that he could not move any of his limbs. By faith in the gracious power of St. Prince, he ordered to carry himself to his relics. When the priest, having performed the prayer service, sprinkled the sick man with holy water, the paralytic stood up and returned to the house without the help of others. In 1363, St. appeared to a sexton sleeping in the vestibule of the church. Prince Gabriel said: “Tomorrow announce to the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity and the posadniks to remove the icons from the church; next night God will show a miracle over my relics.” The order was carried out, and at night the huge vault of the church fell, but did almost no harm to the honorable relics of the saint, only part of the prince’s jaws was broken off. The relics were then placed in the side-chapel Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God. Subsequently, many miracles happened at the relics of St. prince In 1703, a chapel was built in the cathedral in his name. On his tomb hangs his sword with the inscription: “honorem meum nemini dabo,” - I will not yield my honor to anyone 169. † Repose of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky Born of wealthy parents of merchant rank in superstitious Pereyaslavl, Dimitri 170 in his youth was taught to read books; but from his youth he no longer felt any inclination towards his father’s activities; tonsured into monasticism in the Nagorny Boris and Gleb Monastery 171, with a pure life, equal to the angels, he won the love of the brethren. Zealous for the increase in the glory of God, he founded the Nikolaevsky Monastery on the shore of Lake Pereyaslavl, with the rules of strict community life. The abbot of the new monastery soon gathered many disciples who reverently listened to his instructions. God's friends love one another. Rev. Demetrius first met the great hermit Sergius, of course, then, as a venerable. Sergius came to Pereyaslavl to ask for an abbot for his monastery, and no matter how much he refused, he himself was ordained as an abbot. Bishop Athanasius. This was in 1354 172. Since that time Rev. Demetrius often went to Rev. Sergius for spiritual conversations and returned with inspiration for new exploits. Blazh. Demetrius had a very handsome face and his beauty blossomed from fasting: in order to avoid temptations, in a monastery visited by worldly people, he covered his face with a hood and ran away from his wives. One of the eminent wives of Pereyaslavl, having heard about his extraordinary beauty, wanted to see his face, and she succeeded in doing so while the monk was preparing for the priesthood; but the unchaste one was suddenly struck by relaxation. The brethren, seeing her pitiful situation, took pity on her and asked the abbot to forgive her. Touched by the repentance in her tears, he said: “Why did you want to see a sinner who had already died to the world?” and with the sign of the cross he restored her to health. The rumor about the high life of the Monk Demetrius reached the Grand Duke Demetrius, and he invited the monk to his place so that he could be the successor of his children. The monk fulfilled the wish of the good prince and received from him generous gifts for the monastery. But, fleeing human glory, he decided to retire to a remote place. Taking with him his beloved disciple Pachomius, the monk went north, then sparsely populated, to the Vologda forests. Here on the river Great, near the Avnezh village, he built the Church of the Resurrection of Christ; but the surrounding residents, out of attachment to earthly things, not wanting to lose plots of land, did not allow him to build a monastery here. The monk was pleased that he built a church of God where they had an extreme need for it. “The people of this region, says the ancient life, had little spiritual food of Divine Scripture and edification. Having come to this country, the monk saw and heard that there were still few churches of God in it.” Therefore, I vividly felt that it was necessary to multiply churches in it. Not wanting to be a burden to anyone, the monk left Aviezhsky for Vologda; there were churches here and they knew about monasteries, but in the entire north there was no monastic community. - Three miles from Vologda, the monk fell in love with a secluded place near the bow, formed by the knee of the river. Vologda, and here he decided to found a community monastery. The owners of the place (Ilya and Isidore) turned out to be such kind people that they not only gave him their land with love, but even trampled their winter fields, if only the church could be built immediately. The citizens of Vologda also showed ardent zeal. Everyone hurried to donate whatever they could to the monk for the construction of the church. And soon (in 1371) a church was built in honor of the Savior. When they learned about the monk’s installation in Priluki, many of the students moved from Pereyaslavl to their beloved mentor, in Priluki. This is how a community monastery was formed, the first in the Vologda region 173. Grand Duke Demetrius Donskoy, having learned about this, sent donations from himself for the new monastery of the Monk Demetrius. One day the Priluki brethren told their abbot: “We have few books.” The monk answered: “If we praise God without laziness, then ordinary books will be enough. And they, like the trumpet of God, sing day and night; all that is needed is purity of heart, spiritual love and humility.” He himself loved to talk with the Lord in prayer; so that others would not see his tearful prayer, he built a place from boards on the left side of the altar, and here he prayed alone. His monastery stood on the road to great Perm: there were many visitors, but he never left his prayer rules for visitors. “Do not seek not only wealth, but also prosperity,” wrote the Great Basil to the monk; do not seek either earthly glory, or earthly power, or excessive bodily health; do not look for any earthly connections or anything transitory, but constantly seek with all your might, as commanded, the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:38), that is, the salvation of the soul; the salvation of the soul is the most important thing for a person. Therefore, day and night, try to arrange your salvation” 174. This is what the Monk Demetrius did. Not looking for anything from people, he, according to the rule of the Apostle, considered himself a debtor to others only out of love; That’s why the poor people found food in his monastery. Sometimes he gave them benefits secretly from the brothers, so as not to disturb the peace of the latter. Himself, content with only prosphora with warm water (this was his fast even in those days when the charter allowed to eat fish and wine), he walked around the monastery grounds and made sure that everything necessary for the brethren’s meal was delivered on time. He had the same clothes in winter and summer: a sheepskin sheepskin coat, under which he was wet from the heat in the summer, and suffered from frost in the winter. But for his brothers, he went to work with them. For the brethren, he accepted alms from the worldly, but selectively. He said to one of those who thought of being a benefactor: “Take back what you brought to us, and feed the servants and orphans (peasants) living with you, so that they do not suffer from hunger and nakedness; when there is anything left of it, bring it to our poverty.” The one who brought it could hardly beg the monk to allow the brethren to take something from what was brought to bless his labors. Thus he healed a rich miser and at the same time warned the brethren against participating in matters of hypocritical and insincere love. Through exploits of selflessness, the monk achieved high spiritual perfection and was endowed with the gift of insight. His brother, who had no luck in the Pereyaslavl trade, came to his monastery twice for a blessing on the way to trade, “to the filthy people, whose names are Yugra and Pechera, where Chud and Samoyad live.” “The monk gave him a blessing twice, which gave his brother unexpected happiness; Returning the first time, he paid his debts, and the next time he became a rich man. Not content with that, he came a third time. The monk said: “It’s enough, brother, you can live with what you have acquired, don’t go any more, you wouldn’t perish from brutal people.” The brother did not listen and never returned, either with or without booty. One day he and his brothers were doing work in the monastery courtyard and, sighing, said to them: “We, brothers, are building earthly, perishable things; and the blessed Grand Duke Dimitri no longer cares about the vain life.” II from that day began to commemorate Grand Duke Demetrius among the departed. A few days later, news came that the Grand Duke had died, and he died on the very day and hour when St. Димитрий (1389 г., мая 19-го). Having reached a very old age and feeling the approach of his death, the monk appointed his disciple Pachomius as his successor. The brothers asked where to bury him? “Throw,” he answered, “throw my sinful body into the swamp.” He then retired to prayer and died on February 11, 1392. No one was present at the death of the solitary prayer book; but when they came to his cell, his cell was filled with a wonderful fragrance, and he lay as if asleep. “Reverent disciples buried his body in the church that he himself built. 16 years after the death of the saint, a terrible and strange illness visited the residents of Vologda. Quite a few suffered from severe writhing; They were given a stick in their hands so that while they were writhing, holding onto it, they would not harm themselves; many such sufferers were brought to the tomb of the saint; here, wallowing in the throes of writhing, they repented of their sins, called upon the saint’s prayer for help, and at the saint’s grave they received healing; their sticks remained in the monastery as monuments of God’s mercy. This was in 1409. Then the mentioned disease was known in other places, from Ryazan and Moscow to Vologda 175. Not long after that (1417), the Vyatchans attacked Vologda and entered the Prilutsky Monastery, which was not yet fenced with a wall; the most impudent ones burst into the church, and one, tearing off the shrouds from the icons, touched the cover lying on the saint’s tomb. But as soon as he touched the last one, he was thrown to the floor and died in agony. This eliminated the Vyatka leaders so much that they hastened to release the captives of the monastery, and few of the robbers returned to their side. The people of Vyatcha remembered this miracle for a long time, and once together with one monk of the monastery, Zacchaeus, they sent rich alms to the monastery 176. Prince Dimitry Shemyaka, waging an unscrupulous war with Grand Duke Vasily, approached Vologda in winter. The besieged city trembled at the cruel enemy. The next night the nun saw the following vision: the city was surrounded by light, and a holy old man was walking towards it along the road from the Prilutsk monastery; two Belorians came out to meet him from the poor house; the walls of the city shook. The Belorians and the elder, whom they called Demetrius, walked around the city and disappeared. The next day, the citizens of Vologda repelled a strong attack from Shemyaka with a cloud of arrows and stones and defeated many enemies. Shemyaka, after standing for several days, was forced to retire to Galich, but there he was defeated 177. Two churches burned down, one after another, in the Prilutsk monastery, but the saint’s shrine remained intact. When they began to build the third church, there was little wood, and even less food for 200 workers, and work proceeded slowly. One monk sees in a vision a handsome old man carrying trees on his shoulders to the place of the church, and hears a voice: “Look, the Monk Demetrius himself is bringing us wood for the church.” The church was quickly built from that day. The same monk in a new vision, among the holy men he had seen, was looking for the Monk Demetrius, and a voice announced to him: “Are you looking for Demetrius? he’s in Kazan.” At that time, Grand Duke John sent an army to Kazan. This was the first campaign against Kazan. One of the two militias was sent from Vyatka and the icon of St. Demetrius was presented to him. At the hour of victory over the Tatars, the prince saw the saint appear, and upon the army’s return from the campaign, he returned the richly decorated icon of the saint to the monastery. This was in 1545. Bishop Stefan carried the icon with the procession to the monastery of the saint. And from that time on, every year they began to make a religious procession to the monastery on July 3rd 178. In 1609, the Vologda voivode wrote: “here in Vologda the Monk Demetrius showed his mercy and promised to stand with us against the enemies of the sovereign. He appeared to the spiritual elder at the tomb and ordered his image to be transferred from the tomb to Vologda; The archbishop and the governor with all the residents of Vologda and non-residents, having met that image with great honor, placed it with tears and with prayer singing in Vologda on the square, in the Church of the All-Merciful Savior, January 4 days. Nowadays this image stands for reassurance and worship to all Christians. They say that this image of St. Demetrius was painted by St. Dionysius of Glushitsky; in Vologda they want to build a church in the name of St. Demetrius on the square. With firm trust in the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Pure Mother of God, in St. Demetrius and all the saints, we decided to boldly stand against the enemies of the sovereign and all Orthodox Christianity.” 179 †Sorrow of St. George the Martyr Blessed George 180 was born in the Serbian city of Kratovo, which is 10 hours away from Shtip 181. His parents, Demetrius and Sarah, were pious people; For six years he was devoted to studying book science and studied very successfully; then he studied silversmithing and was left an orphan early after his father. Beautiful in face and very stately, George was afraid to stay in his native southern city, lest they take him by force to the Sultan’s court, which often happened then. Therefore he retired to the city of Sofia. Here, settling in the house of the priest Peter, enlightened and pious, he improved his knowledge of the faith and became established in his love for Christian piety. He soon became noticeable for his excellent qualities. The Mohammedans wanted to attract an enviable young man into their caste. They chose a clever one from among their scholars (ulema) to talk with George. The crafty lawyer came to George under the guise of ordering work. Having explained what needed to be done from the brought silver, and setting a generous payment, the Mohammedan teacher praised the master’s art and his talents; then he said: “If you married the daughter of the city aga, you would be showered with honor, you would be the first person in the city.” – George thanked for your participation and said: “Is earthly glory lasting?” The lawyer answered: “Of course, everything on earth is not durable, but Mohammed promised heavenly pleasures to those who do his commandments.” “What are the commandments?” asked Georgy. “In good faith and bodily purity, and purity requires ablutions and prayers,” answered the lawyer. “But if,” asked George, a person lives fornication and indulges insatiably to the pleasures of the flesh and stomach, will he be accepted into heaven? A follower of Mohammed had to admit that without correction of heart you will not go to heaven, but to torment. “However,” continued George, your rulers, judges, leaders indulge in unclean deeds and die, without thinking of giving up a dirty life: aren’t they, in your own words, subject to eternal torment? “God forgives sins for the sake of alms,” said the lawyer. But look how many our sultans and pashas are building mosques, bridges, fountains, and houses of hospitality!” “The sacrifice of an unclean heart is not pleasing to God,” says George. What magnificent buildings were built by pagan kings! What big things have been done! You can’t say that these pagans are in paradise. - Here we have, with the redemption of the sacrifice of the Son of God, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, how many kings, priests, laymen, warriors are among the saints, and they exude healing for those who come with reverence! If you don’t believe me, let’s go, I’ll show you in this city our king Milyutin, who still rests as if asleep and his relics are fragrant. It is clearer than ever that these are people pleasing to God and their faith is confirmed by God, who gives the power of miracles. How do you want me to renounce the faith that leads to God and the eternal kingdom? I am sure that you yourself are aware of all this; but the charms of the world carry you away with them, away from the holy truth. Isn't that right? The lawyer fell silent and left; Anger began to boil in his soul. He felt that the young man, whom he had hoped to easily carry away with him, had knocked him, the famous lawyer, off his feet. He saw that such a defender of Christianity was not only able to hold back those ready to accept Mohammedanism, but - what good? - he will distract hundreds from Mohammed to Christ. He informed his brothers about his conversation with George and added: “if we do not part ways with him, our faith will be in trouble.” The lawyer came to the qadi with a denunciation that George was blaspheming the Mohammedan faith and condemned all the sultans to eternal torment. “If we leave him to be a Christian,” he added, “his faith will expand about ours; this is a dangerous person." The judge ordered George to be brought in, but without violence; told him to tell him that they wanted to place orders for him. – George understood why they called him, but did not shy away from testifying to the truth of Christ. When George entered the qadi, the qadi was amazed at his stateliness. Having made orders to him, he also expressed that Mohammed’s heavenly bliss was worth being a Mohammedan. Georgy was convinced that he was not called for orders; He secretly prayed to the Lord Jesus to give him light and strength. Then he boldly asked: “How can they prove that Mohammed and zealous readers of the Koran enjoy the blessed lot?” - “Have not the kingdoms of the earth submitted to us? answered the qadi. Don't the nations pay us tribute? If God had not loved us, He would not have exalted our kingdom.” George answered: “And before Mohammed they conquered kingdoms with the sword: does this mean that all those victors, even pagans, are pleasing to the Lord? Earthly happiness is not a measure for eternity, but more often it says: you accepted good things in life, there is another lot for you.” “Our lawgiver is Mohammed,” said the judge, “talked with God and received the law from Him.” - “Mohammed did not prove anything, noted George, that he was in communication with God - neither miracles, nor prophecies. You also know that when Moses accepted the law from God, Mount Sinai shook from thunder and lightning: here all the people saw and understood that Moses, the messenger of God, was not conveying to the people his own inventions. What similar things will you find in the life of Mohammed? He said this and that about himself: is that enough to trust him? And what is his law? He taught an easy faith, very pleasing to human passions. I like it not because of its holy content, but because it gives free rein to bestial desires. For mercy’s sake, is it possible with a sound mind to believe that such evil spirits were sent from heaven?” Listening to the irresistible accusations, the Mohammedans lost their temper and shouted: “kill the wicked man, he has disgraced our faith.” The judge ordered him to be tied up and taken to prison. The priest asked the guards to give him bail. “If you love him, convince him to accept Mohammedanism, and then he will be free,” they answered. “The priest turned to the warden of the prison, and he, out of love for the priest, released George for a while. When George came to the priest’s house and they were left alone, the priest hugged the confessor and kissed him and said: “You, George, have now glorified the Lord, like the first martyr Stephen. Be strong and move forward: the martyrs are glorified throughout the entire universe; and what other glory awaits them at the world judgment!” The confessor answered: “I’m afraid I won’t be able to withstand the fire.” “But think,” said the priest, that the fire of Gehenna is more terrible; What does temporary suffering before eternity mean? Our entire earthly life before eternity is a moment.” George asked the priest to try to ransom him, if possible; “I would like,” he added, “to work still on earth for the Lord.” The priest promised to do everything he could and released George. The next day, the literate Turks, with threats and abuse, forced George to renounce Christ. The confessor remained adamant, and he was put in prison, chained. The priest secretly went to the judge and promised him a lot of money for George’s freedom. A week later, the confessor was again brought to trial. The judge, pointing to his son, said that he would love George just like his son and would make him his heir if George fulfilled his well-known desire. The confessor answered: “If you love me so much, leave me to be a Christian; otherwise I don’t need either wealth or fame.” “I do not demand from you,” said the judge, that you renounce Christ; ιι I respect Christ as a prophet who has to judge people; but we also respect Mohammed, since God gave him the keys of paradise.” “Thank God,” said George, that you recognize Christ as the messenger of God, who has to judge the universe: but Mohammed did not prove in any way that he is the messenger of God. The prophets did not foretell about it. Is his sensual paradise a paradise? A dishonor to human sense. Did the Koran fall from the sky for him? Where is the evidence for this? The fables that fill the Koran show. that it is not a smart thing to trust the Koran.” The Mohammedans gnashed their teeth, and the judge barely restrained them from violence. “Burn him,” they shouted: he cursed Mohammed, the Sultan and all the faithful.” The judge, turning to George, said: “Justify yourself; you hear what they accuse you of.” The confessor replied that “he did not blaspheme the creation of God, but only showed the truth, what people like the pagans should expect for themselves; I am ready to die for the truth.” - “Is this blasphemy?”; asked the upcoming judge. “We have heard his blasphemies before,” they answered; If you let him go, we will complain to the Sultan.” The judge, turning to the people, said: “Sin will be on your souls; do what you want." “The enraged people rushed at the confessor and some spat at him with curses, others beat and pushed him. The herald shouted: “believers! bring wood to burn him who blasphemes our law.” When the martyr walked past the Church of St. Sophia, priest Peter came up and told him: “Don’t endure it for long, George; be patient." George answered: “Pray, father, that the Lord will strengthen me.” The guards drove the priest away. Since the priest had one person who, although he wore Turkish clothes, loved the Christian faith and did not profess it only out of fear, the priest instructed this man to follow the confessor and notice everything that would happen. At the same time, the priest asked the priests and all Christians to pray for the confessor of Christ, and everyone prayed: strengthen him, Lord! A large fire was built in the square. Once again, with caresses and threats, they forced George to renounce Christ. “I have already declared more than once that I will not renounce my faith,” answered the confessor. They stripped him and left him in only his shirt. They lit a fire and pushed him into the fire. When the body was blistering, they pulled it out and said: “What is it like? Isn’t it hot?” “I don’t feel it,” answered the saint; Eternal fire is ready for you unfortunates.” “With anger and abuse they threw him into the fire again. His face was turned to the east. “When the ropes binding his hands burned, he protected himself with the sign of the cross and said loudly: “Lord Jesus Christ! I commend my spirit into Your hands.” One of those present, grabbing a stump, hit the martyr on the head with it, and he gave up the ghost. Then, in the clear sun, a cloud appeared in the sky and rain poured down. “The Christians glorified God and asked the authorities to give them the body of the martyr. “Don’t get your hopes up,” the Turks shouted, “we’ll burn everything and scatter the ashes.” The evil ones threw animals into the fire so that the burnt remains could not be recognized. But everything burned down except the body of the martyr. “The priest hopes to get the body, the fanatics said, but we will burn it until tomorrow; if not, we’ll throw him into a ravine of sewage.” “The Christians thought it best to disperse. At night, one secretly took the body of the martyr into his house, from where it was transferred to the cathedral church of St. George. - Priest Peter, appearing before the judge, announced: “Early in the morning I came to the church and found the body of George there: will it be allowed to bury him?” The judge confessed: “George is a saint: those who guarded him said that no matter how much wood they threw in, the body did not burn.” And he gave permission to bury the deceased. The holy martyr suffered on the 11th day of February 1515, during the Meat Week, in the third year of Sultan Selim, under Metropolitan Pankratius 182. The martyr was 18 years old, tall and thin, with high and thick eyebrows, a downward curved nose, thin and long fingers; His disposition was meek and simple; he greeted everyone with a bow and called everyone master; he never laughed in vain and an idle word never came out of his mouth; He did not boast about anything and did not envy anyone. This is the new martyr of Christ 183. Blessed Theodora, daughter of the noble Paphlagonian house, which gave many talented people for the empire, 184, being the wife of Emperor Theophilus, kept her husband as much as she could from persecuting Orthodoxy; secretly worshiping St. icons in her chambers, she fervently prayed to the Lord that He Himself would calm the storm of iconoclasm 185. When Emperor Theophilus died (in 842), she, due to her son’s infancy, having accepted the rule of the empire, immediately began to restore the peace of the Church: many sufferers, sent into exile for confessing the pure faith, were returned to their places of deceased life; the false archpastor is deprived of power and imprisoned in a monastery, and St. Confessor Methodius was elevated to the patriarchal throne. At the same time, it was established to celebrate the triumph of Orthodoxy every year on the first Sunday of Lent 186. Patriarch Methodius proposed to the queen: “It does not serve the honor of the empire if the glorious Patriarch Nicephorus, who was expelled from the throne and died far away for defending the pure faith, remains neglected; it is necessary for his body to return to the capital.” The Empress, agreeing with this, said: “Fulfilling the thought will be an honor to me and my children.” And the holy body was solemnly transferred (March 13, 846) to the capital 187. All the best people paid respect to the queen for managing the civil affairs of the empire: the empire owed her clever orders and firmness (in 852) successes in relations with Bulgaria. But her evil and power-hungry brother Varda rebelled against her. The queen was forced (855) to give up control, and at first lived alone in her country palace, which was later called the palace of St. Theodora 188 . Providing assistance to all poverty, she sought ways to restore deanery in the monasteries that suffered so much from iconoclasm; She summoned experienced elder abbess, such as Saint Athanasia of Aegina, for conversations about the organization of spiritual life. The blessed queen did a lot for St. The Church by instilling in her son, Emperor Michael, a strong devotion to St. Orthodoxy. How much and how long the Church had suffered until then from the Mohammedan hatred of the supreme rulers of the empire towards St. icons! The mother wanted her son’s moral behavior to be worthy of the throne and useful to the empire. She used everything in his youth to give him the best education: Mikhail’s mentors were gifted people with good desires; St. Kirill, the enlightener of the Slavs, was Michael's fellow student. But Mikhail showed by his example that the most diligent education does not overcome the corruption of nature in us: the corruption remains and is revealed in life by one or another bad inclination. The mother tried to be useful to Tsar Mikhail with advice. But Mikhail was only offended by good advice and led a wild life in the company of bad people. The mother suffered. After many useless attempts to reason with her son, she saw that she could only betray her son to the will of God, especially since he was already 17 years old. She broke off all contact with the world and locked herself in a monastery 189. Now her activities were: prayer, fasting, reading spiritual books; The Gospel written by her hand is now known 190. By strict observation of her soul she was purified and elevated in spiritual life; the beautiful qualities of her soul, free from the squabbles of the world, were revealed according to the Gospel law. So she spent eight years in feats of self-denial, and died peacefully on February 11, 867, and soon after her son was killed 191. About the life and miracles of St. sq. Vsevolod’s story was written by Vasily, famous for his talkativeness (Rumyants. musical countries. 602. 605): he has more words than actions and there are mistakes. In the steppe books. I, 252–265, Vasily’s narrative is shortened. Collection l. 3, 314. 5, 4. 2. 5. 123. Diploma in III part. labor. General ist. sq. 1 pp. 1–24. The certificates were published in history. Hier. 6, 774, 775. Collection l. 3, 5. 4, 3. Nick. l 2, 62, in Izvest. acad. VIII, 354–355. Collection l. 5, 123. 214. 4. 5. The certificate was published in the Orthodox Church. Interview 1861 III, 210. 221–226 according to the list of 1493. This is the oldest list. The second list in the supplement is similar to it. to the source act. 1, No. 3 and in hon. 1. 77 –79. The first list of certificates in addition. to the source act. 1, No. 3 of the later edition. The charter to the cathedral according to the list of 1493, compared with others, was published in the Orthodox Church. Interview 1861 III, 212–221. Other lists of it are in the story about the beginning of Pechersk. mon. M. 1831, 41–44, by Rev. Macarius 2, 359–362, in collection. memory ancient disposition 406–410. St. Petersburg 1839 Since this charter speaks of the Forerunner Church, it is clear that it was not given before 1127. Collection l. 3, 5. 123. 124. 4. 3. Degree. book 1.254.260. Collection l. 3, 6. 4. 3. 4. In step. in the book, or what is also in Vasily, about the campaign of 1130 it is added: “blessed Vsevolod and their city Rigu ratov.” But Rigi with St. Vsevolod was not there yet. Vasily plummeted the campaign of another prince Vsevolod Mstislavich in 1220 (Nikon. l. 2, 346. Collected l.7:124) to St. sq. Vsevolod. Collection l. 3, 5–8. 4, 4–6. 175. 177. 5, 8. 156–158. Nikon. l. 2, 64–74. Prologue November 27. Pogodina research. IV, III. 93. Degree. book 1, 262–264. Collection l. 3, 20. Prologue November 27: relics found November 27. Music. Rumyantsev p. 602. Degree. book 1. 264. 265. Prologue November 27. Music Rumyantseva p. 603. 6o5. View of the Pskov Cathedral in 1638, taken from the ancient icon of St. Gabriel, - in Knyazev’s description. Pskov. personal pp. 10–13. M. 1858. There is also the sword of St. Prince pp. 20, 78. 79; ancient icons of it pp. 51. 52. 10. 13. RKP. book, where the service is for February 11, the life of the holy prince. until his death, service on November 27. The Legend of the Transfer of Relics to the Trinity Cathedral and the 21 Miracles, pp. 65. 66. New Cancer 1834, pp. 26–29. Relics of St. The princes, who died openly, were closed under Peter I, and since that time have remained under wraps. RKP. life of St. Demetrius, description. abbot. Macarius, partly from the words of his student Pachomius, in the collection. Sergius Lavra, No. 8. Rumyants. No. 96. 153. In the Synodal RCP. 15th century No. 556 and XVI century. No. 90. 555. In the Menea of ​​Macarius; extraction in prologue Feb 11 They wrote: “he took monastic vows in his native Pereyaslavl in the Goritsky Monastery.” This could not have happened: the Goritsky Monastery was built by St. Princess Evdokia in 1392 (see July 7 days); except Nikitsky, at the beginning of the 14th century. Nagorny Borisoglebsky existed in Pereyaslavl, also known from the life of St. Nikita. See May 24 days. See about Sergiy Ave. Sep. 23 in East Hier. and in Vladim. Lip. Led. 1849 No. 2 show that the Pereyaslav Nikolsky Monastery was founded in 1392. This is an obvious mistake: in 1392 the death of St. Demetrius in the Prilutsk monastery. – This mistake is even stranger where they wrote together that the Prilutsk monastery was founded in 1371 (Christ. Reading, 1861 September, 176. 187). Life: “there was no common life in that land, from the Volga great river even to the last sea... Behold, the first common monastery in Vologda was the great St. Demetrius, and like that the saint began to relentlessly live with the brethren in a compartment and many foreigners came to him.” Creations of Vasily led. 5. 260. M. 1846 About the Vyatchan war in the Dvina country. Collection l. 5, 260. 6, 141. 3, 106. Biographer of the teacher. abbot. Macarius adds: “the same terrible miracle once happened in the city of Surozh. The Prince of Russian Novgorod, coming with an army, took the city and took captive not only people, but also sacred vessels and even the coffin of St. Stefan, covered with expensive coverings (pavoloki); the prince himself began to pull off (the covers) and was invisibly struck in the face; immediately his face turned back. - He came to repentance; Having believed in Christ, he was baptized and released the captives. Then he again became healthy through the prayers of Stephen, having received healing, he went home.” Father Macarius obviously has in mind the currently unknown life of St. Stephen of Sourozh, translated from Greek. In the oven service teacher Demetrius (min. February 11th day) mentions all the circumstances of the life of the teacher. Demetrius and all the miracles we mentioned: the service was compiled under Tsar Ivan the Terrible. RKP. service on February 11 at Tsarskoye No. 563. The last miracles of the teacher. Dimitry at Rumyantsev No. 153. East. Hier. 6, 221, 222. Service of the teacher. Demetrius on the 3rd day of June at Tolstoy 2. No. 368. According to the description of miracles, the campaign near Kazan a) was the first under Ivan Vasilyevich; b) was after the construction of the church in the monastery. And the church in the monastery was consecrated in 1542, having been founded in 1537 (historical Jer. 6, 217); track. due to both differences, this is the campaign of 1545 - About the campaign of 1545 Artsybashev 2, 162. 163: “teacher. Demetrius the Wonderworker" in gram. 1563. East. auto 1.320. Letter of grant to the monastery in 1546 in A.E. 1, No. 208. The suffering of St. George, described by an eyewitness in the Serbian language, ed. in the summer archaeogr. com. St. Petersburg 1864, translated into Greek. language, with changes, in new martyrology, pech. in Venice 1799. Abbreviated description in the prologue and four-minutes. May 26th. About Kratovo, see Jan. 15. Prologue: “the first nobles of the great city of Sredets were called his father.” Not true. About the killing of several monks. Evsigmen and Dionysiates by fanatical Turks in 1534 and 1535. modern notes from a devotee of the Holy Mountain p. 123. K. 1864 Service of St. George the New Martyr on May 26, the day of the transfer of the relics, at Tsarskoe No. 563. Du-Cangii famil. byzant. r. 133. 135. Constantin. chr. p. 156. Vasily's menologist for February 11th. The tale of the prologue is a translation from the Menologue, with the addition of news about the afterlife of Theophilus. Leo the grammarian r. 449. Skilitza r. 515. Zonara r. 114. Le-Quien Or. chr. I, 243–245. Speech by Presbyter Theophan in Philippi. Chronicop. 102. 103. Lipsiae 1687. Du-Cangii Constant, chr. 174. famil. byzant. p. 134. Kodin: “Monastery of St. Euphrosyne, called Lugovoi, was built in a small and poor form by Irene of Athens. When Michael, the son of Emperor Theophilus, quarreled with his mother, the Orthodox Theodora, and his sisters, he expelled them from the palace and sent them to this monastery; then he enriched him with property and jewelry. He was called Euphrosyne after one of his sisters, Euphrosyne, who lived and labored well.” Ed. Beckeri p. 97. Comparing the news of the Byzantines about the monastery where St. Queen Theodora and where her relics lay (in Du Vange Constant, chr. p. 110. 147. 156), we must assume that the Euphrosyne monastery and the Gastrian monastery are one and the same, and not two, as in Du Cange... Originally built by Irina, it was extended by Euphrosyne, the mother of Emperor Theophilus, who lived and died in it. Mother of St. Theodora, Theoktista, had her own house near his, and also did charity to the monastery of prayer. He was even more enriched by St. Theodora. He was called Euphrosyne after the mother of Theophilus; and Emperor Michael did not have a sister, Euphrosyne; his sisters who lived in the monastery were: Anna, Anastasia and Pulcheria. According to Svilitza, Vasily Maked. sent her (Theodora) daughters to her grandmother’s monastery called Gastria.” Du-Cangii famil. byzant. p. 134. Constant, chr. p. 156. This gospel, written in small letters, is now in the St. Petersburg Public Library, where it was donated in 1829 by Sylvester, the archimandrite of the monastery of St. John of Poktsky. Catalog de manuscrits grecs bibliot. imperiale publque, Petersburg. 1864. p. 29.30. Bollandistae ad II d. Februariii p. 552–556. Weiss Leben d. Heiligen 3, 11. 12. Relics cb. Queen Theodora lay in the Gastrian monastery. Du-Cangii Constant, chr. p. 110. 156.