Воспоминание о чуде, бывшем в Печерском монастыре

Two noble Kyiv men, John and Sergius, lived in great friendship with each other. One day they came to the Pechersk Church 2112 created by God and saw that the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was shining with a light brighter than the sun. In front of this shrine they entered into a fraternal alliance. Many years have passed. John fell mortally ill. He called the Pechersk abbot, Blessed Nikon, and with him distributed his property to the poor; the same part that he left to his five-year-old son Zacharias - one thousand hryvnias of silver and one hundred hryvnias of gold - he gave to Sergius for safekeeping; John, as a friend and faithful brother, entrusted him with looking after his son Zacharias, asking him to transfer silver and gold to this son when he grew up. Having arranged this, John soon died. When Zechariah was fifteen years old, he wanted to take his silver and gold from Sergius. Seduced by the devil, Sergius, thinking of getting rich, plotted the destruction of soul and body. He answered the young man like this: – Your father gave all his property to God, ask Him for silver and gold; He must give it to you if he shows mercy. I don’t owe either your father or you a single coin. Your father did all this, out of his madness giving away his property in alms, and leaving you poor and wretched. Hearing this, the young man began to cry about the money he had lost. After this, he turned to Sergius with the following request: - If you give me half of my inheritance, then you will have the other half. Sergius rudely reproached his father and himself. Then Zechariah asked for the third part, then the tenth, and when he saw that he was deprived of everything, he said to Sergius: “If you didn’t take anything for yourself, then come and swear to me in the Pechersk Church in front of the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, before which you entered into a fraternal alliance with my father.” Sergius did not refuse, went to church and, standing in front of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, swore that he did not take either a thousand hryvnia of silver or a hundred hryvnia of gold. When he wanted to kiss the icon, he could not get closer to it. Then, as he was leaving the door, he suddenly shouted: - Reverend Anthony and Theodosius! Do not allow this evil Angel to destroy me, but beg the Most Holy Theotokos to drive away from me many demons in whose power I am. Let them take silver and gold sealed in a vessel from my room! Fear took possession of everyone, and from then on no one was allowed to swear before the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. The messengers took the sealed vessel and found in it two thousand hryvnias of silver and two hundred hryvnias of gold: so the Lord, the Giver of the merciful, doubled the money. Zacharias gave all the money to the full disposal of Abbot John; He himself became a monk and ended his life in the holy Pechersk Monastery. With this money, a church was built in the name of John the Baptist, near the main Pechersk church. This church was erected in memory of the nobleman John and his son Zechariah, to whom the money belonged, and in honor of Christ God and the Most Holy Theotokos, the Virgin, even more glorified in this place, from which may Her miraculous grace never depart. Amen. Of course, the church was built in memory of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary by the first monks of the Pechersk monastery (in Kiev). The word “hryvnia” is usually derived from the Sanskrit neck, because hryvnia originally meant a gold or silver chain, used to be worn around the neck as an ornament (See Gen. 41:42; Proverbs 1:9; Sir. 6:25). But later this name began to denote gold and silver coins, which had different values ​​at different times. You might be interested in: