Житие преподобного отца нашего Николая Исповедника, игумена Студийского

Our venerable father Nicholas was born in 1158 on the island of Crete, 1159, in a village called Kydonia, where the holy martyr Basilides, who suffered among the ten martyrs on the island of Crete, was from. The parents of Blessed Nicholas were Christians. In early childhood he was given to be taught the word of God. When the boy was ten years old and he was already quite skilled in reading the sacred books, his parents sent him to Constantinople, to his uncle, Blessed Theophan, who was a monk in the Studite monastery 1160. Theophan kindly received his nephew and took him to the abbot of the Studite monastery, St. Theodore. The Monk Theodore, foreseeing that the youth was to be a chosen vessel of God, blessed him and ordered him to remain outside the monastery for the time being, in a special building where a school for young men was located. When Nicholas came of age, the abbot, seeing his prudence, as well as his meek and humble disposition, placed him inside the monastery and tonsured him into the monastic rank. After several years of virtuous life in the monastery, the abbot forced Nicholas to accept the priesthood. His brother, named Titus, also came here to the Studite monastery to visit Nicholas. He fled from the island of Crete after an attack on the island of the Saracens in 1161, and came to his brother with the sad news that their parents had been taken captive. Titus conveyed this news to his brother with great sorrow and tears. Nikolai, having received such sad news, although his heart ached for his parents, tried to console his brother, admonishing him not to grieve. “It was so pleasing to God,” he told his brother, “for without His will not a hair falls from the head (cf. Matt. 10:30; Luke 12:7). He knows what to do for a person's benefit. Therefore, let us cast upon Him our sorrow and provision for our parents. We ourselves need to take care that we are not captivated by carnal lust and the delights of this age, and that the hand of invisible enemies does not lead us into the land of darkness and unenlightening gloom. Titus was touched and consoled by these words of his brother and, at his insistence, was tonsured and himself became a good monk. At that time, the Church of Christ, ruled by good shepherds, was in peace and quiet, but its calm was suddenly disturbed by a storm of indignation caused by heretical iconoclasts, headed by the evil king Leo the Armenian 1162. Leo the Armenian was a patrician 1163 during the reign of the pious Tsar Michael, nicknamed Rangav 1164, but by cunning he removed Michael from the throne, taking it himself. For this purpose, he took advantage of the war between the Greeks and the Bulgarians. The king, going to war, put Leo in charge of the eastern detachments of his army, not suspecting that he was trying to overthrow him from the throne by deception. When the battle took place, the Greeks began to win and the Bulgarians were ready to flee. But Leo, having agreed in advance with his own bribed military leaders, suddenly put his troops to flight, although no one pursued them. The Bulgarians, seeing the causeless retreat of the Greeks, at first suspected their deception on the part, but then, seeing that the Greeks did not stop fleeing, they took heart and, advancing against them, pursued them for a long time, destroying a large number of Greek soldiers, so that Tsar Michael suffered a complete defeat. Leo achieved his goal, because the army and the people considered the king cowardly and cowardly, unable to fight. He hastened to take advantage of this mood of the people and troops against the king. After the defeat, Michael returned to Constantinople. Leo, remaining with the troops in Bithynia 1165 to guard the border, immediately began to fulfill his long-conceived evil intention against the king. He spread a rumor that the Greeks were defeated only because of the king’s cowardice and complete inexperience in military affairs. By this he aroused his entire army against Michael, who refused to recognize Michael as king and proclaimed Leo himself king. When rumors of such an act by Leo reached Michael, the king, despite the advice of those around him, refused to oppose him, saying that he did not want even one drop of Christian blood to be shed for his sake in an internecine war. Secretly from others, he sent Leo the royal crown and purple, and said to him: “I cede the kingdom to you, come to Constantinople fearlessly and reign.” But Leo dealt very cruelly with Michael, who so humbly ceded the reign to him. Having entered Constantinople with great pomp, he immediately imprisoned Michael and his wife on one of the islands; He ordered his two sons Theophylact and Ignatius to be castrated. Some time after his accession to the throne, the wicked Leo rebelled against both Christ God Himself and His Holy Church. He convened an unholy council against the veneration of icons, and ordered the holy icons to be thrown out of the churches of God. His Holiness Patriarch Nicephorus, with a council of pious bishops and archimandrites and all God-inspired fathers, opposed such wickedness of the king, admonishing him not to embitter or confuse the Church of Christ with heresy. But the wicked king dishonorably expelled everyone from the chambers where the pious meeting took place and sent them into captivity in various countries. Saint Theodore of Studium and his disciple, Blessed Nicholas, had to suffer especially much at the hands of the evil Leo, since they especially strongly and boldly opposed the wickedness of the king. At first, both of them were exiled together by the king to an area near Lake Apolloniad, to the fortress of Metopa 1166. Remaining here in prison for a whole year, they still continued to preach the true teaching about the veneration of holy icons and managed to turn many away from heresy. Hearing about this, the king sent them to the eastern countries, to the town of Vonita 1167. Here they were again imprisoned, where, by order of the king, they were kept under the strictest supervision, so that no one could enter them and they could not talk with anyone. But the confessors, unable to teach people about piety orally, preached their teachings in writing. They sent their messages from prison to the believers and, thus, as if with thunderous trumpets, they destroyed heretical teachings, like the walls of Jericho, correcting and restoring the dogmas of piety destroyed by the heretics. Having learned about this, the king sent a cruel warrior named Anastasia to punish them. Anastasius, having arrived at the place, subjected the confessors to cruel torture, inflicting terrible wounds on them through beatings, from which their bodies were torn into pieces. Going back, the tormentor again locked the blessed ones in prison, completely closing the entrance to them, and ordered them to starve. The holy prisoners had to experience terrible torment, both from terrible wounds and from hunger and thirst, for the guards gave them bread and water in the smallest quantities - and then only after three, four days, and sometimes after seven days, and threw food to them through the window with curses and mockery. The prisoners remained in this confinement for three years. But before the wounds on the prisoners’ bodies had yet properly closed, they had to experience even more terrible torment from a new tormentor sent by the king. This ambassador came to inquire about the letter intercepted and delivered to the king. The letter was written to the Orthodox on behalf of Theodore by the hand of Blessed Nicholas. This message contained the most severe denunciation of royal wickedness and the soul-destroying iconoclastic heresy, and at the same time contained excellent instructive instruction in piety. The ambassador called the prisoners from prison, showed them the letter and asked if they recognized it as theirs, to which the confessors openly answered that the Monk Theodore wrote it with his lips, and Blessed Nicholas wrote it with his own hand. Then the angry ambassador began to torture the prisoners. First he approached Blessed Nicholas. By order of the torturer, Nikolai’s clothes were torn off, and, having exposed him, they stretched him out on the ground and beat him for a long time. Leaving the beaten half-dead Nikolai, he began to torture Theodore, who was beaten on the body, almost breaking his bones. Leaving Theodore half-dead, the tormentor again turned to Nicholas, wanting to gently persuade him to agree with the tsar. But the blessed one did not heed his words and did not bow to his caresses, remaining unshakable in piety. Having become extremely angry, the torturer ordered Nikolai to be tortured in the most cruel way. They beat him all over his body for a long time and, having inflicted numerous wounds on him, left him naked all night, prostrate on the ground; but it was winter, cold, for it was the month of February. But the blessed one endured all the torment, thanking the Lord. After this, the torturer again imprisoned both confessors and, having closed the entrance to them, returned to the king. The venerable fathers experienced terrible suffering from the numerous wounds inflicted on them, for the ulcers on their bodies penetrated to the bones, and their skin was so torn that it hung on them like rags. The sight of the tortured sufferers was so terrible that it aroused compassion even in the rough hearts of the soldiers who guarded them. Out of pity, the warriors served them warm water and oil. The sufferers washed their wounds with a lip soaked in water and anointed them with oil, which is why their wounds gradually began to close; They cut off the skin that was hanging and not attached to the body with a small knife. But ninety days passed, as the blessed ones languished in prison, and traces of the terrible wounds still remained on their bodies, when the evil king summoned them to the borders of Smyrna 1168 and there, again mercilessly torturing them, ordered them to be imprisoned, having their feet put in stocks. Here the blessed languished for twenty months, amidst sorrows and oppression. And God heard His servants crying out to Him day and night and, providing for the prisoners, He deigned that the wicked king should perish: Leo was killed by his soldiers in the church. After the death of Leo, Michael took over the scepter of the Greek kingdom, called Valvos 1169. This king, although he himself leaned towards the side of the iconoclasts, did not persecute believers for venerating holy icons, and allowed everyone to believe as they wished. He even issued a command to release everyone who was imprisoned for icon veneration. At this time, blessed Nicholas and the great Theodore, released from prison, arrived in Chalcedon 1170 to Patriarch Nicephorus, who was imprisoned here. Blessed Nikephoros was greatly consoled by their coming and, seeing their suffering wounds on their bodies, he revered them on a par with the holy martyrs. After staying in Chalcedon for some time, they, together with Patriarch Nicephorus, went to Constantinople, with the goal of convincing the king himself to abandon iconoclasm and persuade him to piety. But the holy confessors of piety were not successful in their good deed, for the king, due to his deep ignorance, did not heed their admonitions and did not bow down to the veneration of the holy icons, although as before he did not forbid others to worship them. However, without forbidding the installation of holy icons in the surrounding area and in the outskirts, the Tsar strictly forbade doing this in the reigning city itself. For this reason, the holy fathers Theodore and Nicholas, having said goodbye to the patriarch, left Constantinople in order to be able to freely preserve their piety, in conjunction with the veneration of holy icons. They settled in Akrit 1171, near the church of the holy martyr Tryphon. Here Saint Theodore, after some time, ended his earthly career and reposed in peace to God 1172. Blessed Nicholas, remaining at the tomb of his spiritual father, spent his life in monastic exploits. After the death of Michael, his son Theophilus reigned in 1173. This king was a zealous iconoclast and with all cruelty began the persecution of believers for the veneration of holy icons. Again the believers began to suffer persecution and torment from the iconoclasts. At this time, two brothers in flesh and spirit, the venerable fathers Theodore and Theophan the Inscribed, suffered a lot. Then blessed Nicholas left his residence at the tomb of his spiritual father Theodore and wandered, moving from place to place, until the iconoclast Tsar Theophilus died. After the death of Theophilus, royal power passed to his wife, the pious Queen Theodora, who ruled the state together with her son Michael 1174. In the Church of Christ, ruled in Constantinople by Patriarch Saint Methodius, silence fell again, and piety shone again. Then blessed Nicholas came to the Studite monastery. Here, after the death of Naucratius the Confessor in 1175, under the Patriarch Saint Ignatius, who followed Saint Methodius, he was appointed abbot. Three years later, Blessed Nicholas, having left his abbess to Blessed Sophrony, a virtuous husband, himself retired into solitude, where he remained in silence. But, after four years, as soon as Sophrony reposed in the Lord 1176, the brethren came to the Monk Nicholas and, after many requests, convinced him to again accept the abbess. After this, Blessed Nicholas served as abbot for several years. Meanwhile, Tsar Michael, having matured, became very depraved in disposition. On the advice of his uncle, his mother’s brother, named Varda, he expelled his mother, blessed Theodora, from the royal chambers and forced her to take monastic vows in one of the women’s monasteries, and he himself invited uncle Varda to reign together. This act of the king and his mother aroused great excitement among the people. The temptation was even stronger because the king’s co-ruler, Varda, allowed himself to commit terrible lawlessness, leaving his wife and taking his son’s wife instead. His Holiness Patriarch Ignatius, wanting to correct such corruption of the kings and stop the lawlessness of Bardas, constantly admonished them, but without any success. One day, King Varda appeared on a holiday with the intention of receiving communion of the Most Pure Mysteries; the patriarch not only did not allow him to receive communion, but before all the people he exposed him for lawlessness and excommunicated him from the Church. Vardas was inflamed with the strongest anger at the patriarch and incited Michael against him: both kings, agreeing, deprived the patriarch of the throne, sending him into exile, and in his place they installed Photius the asinkritus as patriarch 1177. Seeing such disorder in the Church, Blessed Nicholas left his monastery and, taking his brother, went with him to one monastic village, on the island of Prikonesse 1178, and there he spent his life in silence, not wanting to hear anything about the lawlessness of the kings. But here he did not live long, being expelled from here. One day both kings were sailing on a ship past the place where the saint had his stay. Knowing that Nikolai, as a virtuous man, enjoys great fame among people, they turned to him in order to incline him to like-mindedness with themselves, so that he would confirm in his words the justice of the expulsion of the patriarch, and would also recognize the lawless marriage of Varda. But he not only did not approve of their atrocities, but also predicted to them that they would die a sudden and evil death if they did not repent of their evil deeds, which was later fulfilled. Hearing this from the saint, the kings became embittered with him and expelled him from there, and, by their command, another was appointed abbot of the Studian monastery. And so blessed Nicholas again in his old age was forced to wander from place to place 1179. But even after this, the lawless kings did not leave him alone. At their command, he was again taken and brought in chains to the monastery, where he languished in prison for two years 1180, until both kings actually died an evil death: Bardas was killed by the servants of Michael during a quarrel between the kings, when they were on a campaign against the Saracens on the island of Crete, and Michael was killed by his household in his palace. After Michael, the pious Vasily took the royal throne in 1181. He immediately returned Ignatius to the patriarchal throne, and blessed Nicholas was released from prison. The king called him to himself and convinced him to again take control of his monastery. Nicholas, due to his old age, strongly did not want this, and only at the urgent request of the tsar agreed to take over the management of the monastery. The king often called the saint to himself, talked with him, learning a virtuous life from his instructions, and gave the saint great honor. God gave His saint the gift of healing illnesses in people. The Tsar's wife Evdokia suffered a serious illness, so that she, not receiving any help from doctors and completely despairing of her healing, expected an imminent death. But then one day, having lost herself in a dream, she saw an old man in monastic attire, shining with the light of glory. Approaching her, the elder said: - Trust in God, for you will not die today, but you will receive healing and be healthy. Waking up, she immediately told her husband what she had seen in her dream and begged him to call to her from all the monasteries the elders known for their virtuous lives. Together with other elders invited to the queen’s chamber, blessed Nicholas appeared, whose face shone with light, like Moses’. The queen recognized him as the old man she had seen in a dream, and, getting up, bowed to him, and immediately became completely healthy. Another woman named Elena, the wife of the patrician Manuel, also became seriously ill. She was close to death, and her relatives had already prepared funeral clothes for her; but blessed Nicholas, hastily coming to her house, crossed her head and her whole body with his hand, and the dying woman arose from her sick bed, completely healed of her serious illness. Her husband Manuel himself also became seriously ill. Despairing of recovery, because the doctors did not provide any help, Manuel awaited the approach of death. Before his death, he wished to accept the monastic rank; He turned to Blessed Nicholas with a request for tonsure. But this time Nicholas refused to fulfill his desire and predicted to him that God would heal him, and that he would occupy the highest position at court, properly performing his ministry, and then, having been tonsured into the monastic rank, he would go to another world with good deeds. His prediction came true. Manuel soon recovered, occupied the highest ranks at court, and then, towards the end of his life, having become very ill, having been tonsured by Blessed Nicholas, he went to God in the monastic rank. Another patrician, named Theophilus Melissen, and his wife were in great sorrow, because all their children, after birth, suddenly died. When one day their daughter was born, they brought the newborn to the saint and asked him to be her recipient from the font, believing that the saint’s prayers would save her from death. The blessed one refused to be the recipient, but, laying his hand on the baby, prayed to God and said to the patrician: “The Holy Spirit says: Your daughter will live, and you will see her sons’ sons.” And everything came true according to his prediction: their daughter grew up in full health and, being a beautiful girl, was soon given in marriage and had good children. Towards the end of his life, blessed Nicholas fell ill. When all the brethren surrounded his bed, the blessed one turned to the monks with a question: “Tell me, brothers, what are you currently lacking?” They, surprised by this question, answered: The blessed one said to them: “God, who fed Israel in the wilderness, will not leave you either: on the third day, after my death, He will give you wheat in abundance.” Having installed Clement, who was a housekeeper, as abbot, the Monk Nicholas rested in peace on the fourth day of February, having lived seventy-five years, and was buried with honor in 1182. On the third day, as the saint predicted, a ship with wheat sent by Tsar Vasily arrived at the monastery. Clement joyfully accepted the king's gift and said to the monks: - Behold, fathers and brethren, our reverend father Nicholas fulfilled his promise, sending us wheat in abundance. In the same monastery there was a monk named Anthony, who suffered from the disease of bleeding for many years. Having lost hope in doctors, he was close to death. The abbot ordered him to occupy the hut of the Reverend Father Nicholas, in which he would remain until his death. And so, when Anthony, having entered that hut, lay down and lost himself in sleep, the Monk Nicholas appeared to him and asked: - Child Anthony, what are you sick with? He told him his illness. The monk said: - Don’t be afraid, from now on you will be healthy. Having quickly awakened, Anthony, not in a dream, but already in reality, saw the monk leaving the hut, in which a strong fragrance remained. He immediately felt healing and stood up healthy. After this, Anthony lived for fourteen years and did not have any illness through the prayers of St. Nicholas. Through his intercession may we also be delivered from all illnesses, mental and physical, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory forever. Amen. The island of Crete (aka Candia) is located in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. Due to its vastness and fertility, it was formerly called the “queen of the islands” of the Mediterranean Sea. Christianity here began in apostolic times; its first foundations were laid by eyewitnesses of the event of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, for the Cretans were also present (Acts 2:11). Then it was approved and distributed here by the Apostle Paul, as can be seen from his letter to Titus, whom the Apostle appointed bishop in Crete (Titus 1:5). In the 17th century, the island of Crete came into the possession of the Turks. The Studio monastery is one of the oldest and most famous in Constantinople. It was built (in the name of St. John the Baptist) by the patrician Studius, who, under the emperor Constantine the Great, moved from Rome to Constantinople; from his name the monastery received its name “Studio”. The monks lived in this monastery until the reign of Emperor Copronymus, observing the charter of the “Unsleeping Ones.” (These monks were called “unsleeping” because, being divided into three sections, they maintained constant worship in the church). But the evil Copronymus, having aroused the Church of God by iconoclasm, expelled all monks from Byzantium, and the Studite monastery was deserted. After Copronymus, monks again began to live at the Studite Church, but in small numbers. The Studite monastery, throughout its existence until the fall of Constantinople, enjoyed extraordinary fame and benefits for the services rendered by its tireless and fearless monks to the state and the Church, especially during the time of iconoclasm, when the Studite monks showed themselves to be fearless warriors of Christ. Famous for many centuries, the Studite monastery is now in ruins: the monastery itself has been converted into a Mohammedan monastery, and the temple into a Mohammedan mosque. Saracens are inhabitants of Arabia. Initially, this name was used to refer to a nomadic bandit tribe, and then Christian writers transferred this name to all Arabs and Muslims in general. Leo V the Armenian - Byzantine emperor - iconoclast, reigned from 813 to 820. In the Roman and Eastern, Byzantine Empire, patricians were people of the upper class, corresponding to our noble nobility. Michael I Rangav, Byzantine Emperor, reigned from 811 to 813. Bithynia is the northwestern province of Asia Minor, located along the shores of the Black Sea, Bosporus and the Strait of Constantinople. In the XIV century. Bithynia was subordinated to the Turks, under whose rule it is now. This lake is located near Apollonia, an ancient city in Illyria. Mesope or Metope is the fortress of Apollonia. Vonita or Bonit - in Anatolia, otherwise Asia Minor. This was in 819. Smyrna is an ancient famous trading city on the western coast of Asia Minor; Currently it is one of the most prosperous cities in Asia Minor, with a population of over 120,000 inhabitants. Michael II Travlius, (Balba) i.e. tongue-tied, reigned from 820 to 829. Chalcedon is the main city of Bithynia, on the northwestern coast of Asia Minor, at the southern end of the Strait of Constantinople, opposite Constantinople. Chalcedon is known in the history of the Church for the fact that the 4th Ecumenical Council took place there (451) Akritus is a cape in Bithynia, near Nicomedia, opposite Constantinople. The Monk Theodore the Studite died at the age of 67 on November 11, 826. Emperor Theophilus reigned from 829 to 842. Emperor Michael III (from 842–867) took the throne for 4 years, and therefore the state was ruled by his mother, the holy queen Theodora, until 865 Naucratius the Studite, confessor, died on April 18, 848. In the Greek church his memory is remembered on June 8th. Sophrony was abbot of the Studite monastery from 851 to 854. Saint Photius served as patriarch from 857 to 867 (Asyncrit is a court rank close to the king). This island is located near Cyzicus, a city in the northwestern part of Asia Minor, on the southern shore of the Sea of ​​Marmara. At that time he was in Mytilene (on the island of Lesvos) and on the Chersonese peninsula. Under Abbot Savva of Studii. Basil I of Macedon reigned from 867 to 886. Saint Nicholas died on February 4, 868. You might be interested in: