Житие преподобного отца нашего Феодосия, игумена Печерского

After our venerable and God-bearing father Anthony, the great luminary of the Russian Church and the valiant ascetic of the glorious Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was our venerable and God-bearing father Theodosius, glorified by God with numerous deeds and miracles. For everyone who wants to get acquainted with the life of this glorious man, detailed information about him was preserved for us by the Monk Nestor, the chronicler of Pechersk; as a faithful heavenly witness, he offers us reliable information about the life of St. Theodosius. Based on this life, with minor abbreviations, the narrative offered here has been compiled. The birthplace of our reverend and God-bearing father Theodosius was one of the cities of the Russian land - Vasilyev 2933. Faithful parents raised their son in piety from an early age, and when he grew up, they sent him to learn to read and write. Soon Theodosius studied the Divine Scripture so thoroughly that everyone was amazed at his intelligence and wisdom. From his adolescence, Theodosius zealously visited the church of God every day and, listening with attention to everything that was read and sung here, always stood through church services to the end. Already during these years, he shunned his peers and did not take any part in children's games. When Theodosius turned 13 years old, for some reason his parents had to move to Kursk 2934, a city located closer to the center of the Russian land. Here, soon, according to the command of Divine Providence, his father was destined to die, whose righteous soul moved from the earthly vale to the heavenly abodes. Having lost his father, thirteen-year-old Theodosius lived with his mother, strengthened over the years by the grace of God. After the death of his earthly father, Theodosius began to care even more zealously about gaining eternal life in heaven: he thirsted for godly deeds and moved away from any worldly pleasures; stopped dressing in expensive clothes and wore only poor clothes. He always had only one desire - to achieve salvation. One day Theodosius happened to meet with wanderers from Jerusalem. Having become interested in their stories and inflamed with a strong love for holy places, the blessed young man begged them to visit with him those holy places where the Savior of the world lived and shed His priceless blood for our salvation. And so, fulfilling his intention, Theodosius at night, secretly from his mother, sets off on a long journey. His mother searched for him around the city in tears for three days until she found out where he had gone. Then the mother and her youngest son immediately went after him and, having caught up with him, in great anger began to inflict severe beatings on him, throwing him to the ground and trampling him underfoot. Then, having brought him home, she locked him in his room. Theodosius endured all this without complaining, even with gratitude. Finally, his mother took pity on him and, having freed him, with tears began to beg him not to leave her house. Then Theodosius returned to his former exploits and continued to attend church every day. Having noticed once that the Divine Liturgy was often not celebrated in the church due to a lack of prosphora, Theodosius decided to prepare the bread himself to be sacrificed to God. For this purpose, Theodosius bought wheat, ground it with his own hands and baked prosphora from it, which he brought as a gift to the church. If he had to receive some money from those who donated prosphora for the proskomedia, then Theodosius gave it to the poor. He led such a life for two years or a little more, not paying attention to the obstacles that the enemy of the human race, the devil, put before him in this matter. At the inspiration of the devil, Theodosius was indignant for this among his peers, who tried to arm even his mother against him. Mother said to Theodosius: “I beg you, child, leave your work; with it you raise complaints against your family. The blessed youth answered her with humility: - Listen to me, mother, I beg you! The Lord our God Jesus Christ Himself humbled Himself for our sake and thereby gave an example to us, so that we too should humble ourselves for His sake. At the Last Supper He Himself transformed bread into His body; Why can one blame or reproach the person who prepares the bread on which this great mystery of the transformation of bread into the body of Christ is to be accomplished? Hearing such an answer, the mother was very surprised at the wisdom of the boy and from that time on left him alone. However, the devil did not cease to incite her against the humble and hardworking youth and inspired her to forbid her son to prepare prosphora. After a year, the mother, seeing Theodosius baking prosphora and sunburnt from the heat of the stove, again began to convince him to stop baking prosphora. She influenced her son sometimes with caresses, sometimes with threats, and sometimes even with beatings. The blessed young man, not knowing what to do, got up at night and secretly left the house. Having left here for a neighboring city, he settled with a presbyter, where he continued his labors. His mother found him again and, beating him, forced him to return to his city again. The governor of the city of Kursk, noticing the humility and reverent prayers in the church of Blessed Theodosius, gave him light clothes to wear. After wearing the new clothes for a short time, Theodosius gave them to the poor. The governor of the city dressed him again in even better clothes, but the boy gave those too to the poor. Theodosius did this many times. After this, the blessed one went to the forge and instructed the blacksmith there to forge himself an iron belt in the form of a chain. He put this tight belt, which cut into his body to the point of blood, directly onto his body and from then on never took it off. Once on a holiday, the head of the city ordered Theodosius to attend his dinner party, wanting the youth to serve his guests. When going to dinner, the boy, according to his mother’s instructions, should dress in festive clothes. And so, when he began to get dressed, his mother saw blood on his tunic (underwear), no matter how hard the boy tried to hide it from her. Wanting to find out why the boy’s body was covered in blood, the mother began to look more closely and, noticing an iron belt on the boy’s body, became convinced that blood was flowing from the wounds from the iron belt that had cut into the body. Angry with Theodosius, the mother tore his tunic and, with beatings, removed the belt from her son. And the blessed one, as if he had not experienced anything offensive, got dressed and with great modesty served the chief of the city and his guests at dinner. After some time, Theodosius had to hear the gospel words in the church: “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37); and again: “My Mother and My Brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:21). Inflamed by these words, Theodosius secretly left home for the city of Kyiv. Here he heard about the strict monastic life in the cave of the Monk Anthony and, interested in the stories about him, wanted to visit the venerable elder. Arriving at Anthony’s cave, Theodosius fell on his knees before him and with tears began to beg him to be accepted into his monastic labors. The Monk Anthony, having listened to him, answered him like this: “Young man, you see how dark and cramped this cave is; you can't stand the discomfort here. To this the divinely inspired young man answered with emotion: “God brought me to your holy cave, clearly foretelling that I should be saved through you. I will do whatever you tell me to do. Then the Monk Anthony lovingly received him and, having blessed him, gave him into the care of an educated priest, Blessed Nikon, who soon tonsured the young man into monasticism. Theodosius took tonsure at the age of 23, shortly after the death of the noble prince of Kiev Yaroslav Vladimirovich 2935. Having accepted the holy monastic order, the Monk Theodosius devoted himself entirely to serving God and diligently fulfilled the will of his elder Anthony. He zealously performed great monastic labors, like an ascetic who accepted the yoke of Christ. Overcoming drowsiness, he stayed awake all night, praising God; During the day, suppressing his flesh with abstinence and fasting, he performed various hard jobs. Such good behavior, humility, cheerfulness and hard work of the young man aroused surprise even in the Monk Anthony and Blessed Nikon; Seeing the righteous life of Theodosius, both of them glorified God for this. Meanwhile, Theodosius’s mother, having searched in vain for her son in her city and its environs, already mourned him as if he were dead. Only later, after a long time, did she learn about the tonsure of her son in Kyiv with the Monk Anthony in a cave. Then she went to this old man and asked him to come out of the cave to her. When the elder finally came out to her, she turned to him in tears with an earnest request to show her her son. Having learned from the elder about his mother’s request, the young man was greatly embarrassed because he could not hide from her; however, heeding Anthony’s admonitions, he left the cave to his mother. Seeing her son as a monk with a face thinner from great feats and labors, the mother fell on his chest and, weeping bitterly, said to him: “Return to my house, my son, and do according to your will everything that you consider useful for the salvation of your soul.” When I die, bury my body in the earth and then return to this cave. I can't live without you. The blessed young man answered her: “Stay, mother, here in Kyiv, and take monastic vows at the nunnery, and then you will have the opportunity to sometimes come to me for a date.” By this you will gain salvation for yourself and be worthy to see God in eternal life. But the mother did not want to listen to her son. Then the blessed one, returning to the cave, began to fervently pray to God for the salvation of his mother’s soul. And God heard the prayer of His saint. A few days later his mother came to him and said: “My son, I act on your advice and will not return home again.” Having taken monastic vows according to the will of God, I will spend the rest of my days in a nunnery, because I am convinced, as you told me, that this short-lived world is nothing. Having learned about this, the blessed one rejoiced in his soul and told the Monk Anthony about his mother’s intention. The latter glorified God for turning his mother’s heart to the path of truth and, leaving the cave, taught her for a long time with soul-saving conversations; and then he sent her to the convent of St. Nicholas, where she took monastic vows. Having lived here piously for several years, Mother Theodosius went to God in peace. Having finally renounced all worldly concerns after his mother's tonsure, Blessed Theodosius, together with the Monk Anthony and Blessed Nikon, began to strive even more zealously in monastic labors. In the community of elders, Theodosius soon showed his power to defeat evil spirits, influencing them with fasting and prayer. God Himself helped them in this, who said: “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). When Blessed Nikon needed to leave the monastery for a more intensified feat in another place, Blessed Theodosius, by the will of God and at the request of the Monk Anthony, was ordained a priest in 2936. Having accepted this dignity, he tried to celebrate the Divine Liturgy every day with great reverence. Soon after the dedication of Theodosius, the Monk Anthony, having gathered 12 monks from the brethren in a cave, appointed Blessed Varlaam as abbot, and he himself left from there and began to asceticize in another cave, dug by himself. Then our venerable and reverent father Theodosius, who remained in the Anthony Cave together with the blessed abbot Varlaam, jointly erected a small church over the cave in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, designating it for common fraternal prayer. Saint Theodosius then surpassed everyone with his great exploits: fasting, vigor, manual work, and most of all, humility and obedience. He helped the brethren: sometimes carrying water, sometimes delivering firewood from the forest, sometimes at night he performed the work assigned to other monks; and besides, he always stayed awake all night, standing in prayer. Sometimes at night in the summer he climbed to the top of the cave and, exposing his body to the waist, exposed it to the sting of numerous gadflies and mosquitoes. At this time, he spun a wave with his hands, and chanted verses from the psalter with his lips. Due to numerous stings and wounds from insects, his whole body was stained with blood, but he sat motionless, not moving from his place until they struck for Matins. He again came to church first and, standing in his place, relentlessly performed church prayers, without being entertained by vain thoughts. And he left the church after everyone else. Seeing all this, everyone marveled at his humility and patience and treated him with love, like a father. Some time later, Blessed Varlaam, the chief of the brothers of the cavemen, was appointed by Prince Izyaslav 2937 as abbot to the monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius. Then, at the desire and request of all the brothers, the Monk Anthony, calling Saint Theodosius to himself, blessed him to be abbess over the twelve brothers who were then in the Pechersk monastery. This venerable abbot, our reverend father Theodosius, even in this high rank did not change his humble way of life and still strictly monitored his actions, “setting himself an example of good deeds” (Titus 2:7); he completed work before everyone else, came to church earlier than everyone else for worship, and left later than everyone else. Through the godly prayers of this righteous man, the Pechersk monastery began to bloom and grow rich from that time on. Thus, what was said in the Divine Scripture was fulfilled: “the righteous bloom like a palm tree, they rise like a cedar in Lebanon” (Ps. 91:13). And indeed, just as a seed by the grace of God in good soil bears fruit a hundredfold, so Saint Theodosius increased the number of cave brothers. Little by little, he gathered about a hundred brethren into his monastery, whose lives blossomed with good morals; many of the brethren bore “fruits worthy of repentance” (cf. Matt. 3:8). Due to the significant increase in the number of brethren, the cave turned out to be cramped, which prevented the monks from strictly leading a silent life; Also, the church turned out to be too crowded for general prayer. As a result, the Monk Theodosius chose one beautiful place, located not far from the cave, large enough to erect monastery walls on it, and intended to build a monastery here. With the blessing of St. Anthony, he asked the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav for this place and then, with the help of God, soon built a spacious wooden church on it in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Then he erected monastery walls there and, having built a sufficient number of cells, moved with the brethren to a new monastery. Blessed Ephraim visited this monastery once; It was from him that God brought Theodosius to become acquainted in detail with the Studio Rule of Monastic Life 2938. Having received from Ephraim a complete list of the rules of the holy Studion monastery, Theodosius began to follow it in everything and in the affairs of his monastery. And subsequently, all other Russian monasteries adopted this charter, following the example of the ancient Pechersk Monastery. The Monk Theodosius diligently taught his disciples, awakening them to true repentance. This reverend teacher had the custom of walking around the brethren’s cells every night; In this way he became acquainted with the way of life of the brethren and learned the degree of zeal in the exploits of each brother. He rejoiced and praised God when, walking around the cells, he heard the monk’s prayer; When, after evening prayer, he heard a conversation between two or three monks who had gathered in a cell for a conversation, Theodosius, making his presence known, struck the door with his hand and walked away with a contrite heart. The next day, he called the guilty ones to him and, without directly denouncing them, used parables to call them to repentance. The meek-hearted brother immediately, realizing his guilt, asked for forgiveness, but the hardened one, thinking that the abbot was speaking in parables about a stranger and not about himself, did not admit his act until the monk, directly denouncing him, imposed penance on the guilty one. So Theodosius taught the brethren to pray diligently to God, not to talk after evening prayer, and especially not to go from cell to cell to talk; he taught everyone to pray in his cell, and when performing manual work, to always read aloud the psalms of David. During his life, the monks seemed to be equal in their exploits to the Angels of God, and the Pechersk Monastery was likened to a heavenly monastery. Indeed, in his monastery our venerable father Theodosius shone with the light of good deeds, like a great heavenly lamp. For his righteous life, Theodosius, even during his lifetime, was glorified by God before people, being illuminated by visible light. This happened under the following circumstances. Once on a dark night, the abbot of the monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael, Sophrony, returned to his place past the Theodosian monastery. Suddenly an extraordinary light appeared to his eyes, shining over the monastery of the righteous man. Struck by the extraordinary phenomenon, Sophronius glorified God, saying: “How great is Your mercy, Lord! You gave the people in this place a lamp, in the person of Theodosius, and it enlightens the monastery with its radiance.” Similar phenomena were observed many times by other people, and since the people talked a lot about this, rumors about it reached the prince and his boyars. These radiances were a reflection of the light of the righteous life of the holy elder. This is how everyone explained this phenomenon to themselves. Blessed Theodosius enjoyed great love from the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav, who took the princely throne in Kyiv after his father Yaroslav. Izyaslav often came to the monk to enjoy his divinely inspired conversation. It should be noted that our reverend father Theodosius gave his gatekeeper a strict order: during the period of time between mass and vespers, do not open the gates and do not let anyone into the monastery. By this he wanted to give the brethren the opportunity to rest during the day before long night prayers and morning hymns. One day at these hours the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav arrived on horseback, accompanied by a youth (before that time the prince had never ridden to the monastery on horseback). Getting off his horse, Izyaslav went up to the gate and knocked, ordering the gatekeeper to open it. The gatekeeper explained to him that, by order of the abbot, the gates should not be opened for anyone before Vespers. Then the prince, wanting to explain to the gatekeeper who he was, said: - It’s me, open it to me alone. The gatekeeper, not knowing what the prince was saying to him, answered: “I tell you: the abbot did not order anyone to open the gate, not even the prince himself, if he came.” Therefore, if you want, wait a little until Vespers. “I am a prince,” said Izyaslav, “won’t you open the door for me?” The goalkeeper, bending under the gate, was convinced that it was the prince, but still did not open the gate, but went to inform the monk about this. The prince was forced to wait patiently at the gate. Then the monk came out and, seeing the prince, bowed to him. Then the prince began to say to Saint Theodosius: “How strict, father, is your order: the monk says that you did not order even the prince himself to be allowed in.” “This is so, good sir, that the brethren rest a little at noon before the upcoming night prayer work.” But your laudable desire for our Most Holy Lady Theotokos is good and saving for your soul; and we greatly rejoice at your coming to us. Then they went to church; here, after a prayer read by the monk, the Christ-loving prince enjoyed a soulful conversation with Saint Theodosius. Then the prince, with great benefit for himself, returned to his home, glorifying God. From that day on, Izyaslav became even more attached to the saint and, seeing in him a man similar to the ancient holy fathers, he began to be guided in everything by his advice. Despite the respect shown to him by the prince and nobles, our reverend father Theodosius was not at all proud of this, but truly, just as a light shines brightly in the darkness, so he, clothed in even greater humility, began to work even more, teaching his disciples not only in words, but also in deeds. Despite his rank as abbot, Saint Theodosius often went into the bakery and worked there together with the bakers, kneading dough and rolling out loaves. The monk did not hide in the ground the talent of physical strength given to him by God, but always joyful in spirit, he strengthened others with his vigor, urging them never to weaken in zeal for their work. One day, on the eve of the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the cellarer Theodore came to the monk and said that there was not enough water in the kitchen, and there was no one to carry it. Then the monk got up and immediately began to carry water from the well. One of the brethren, seeing the abbot at this activity, hastened to tell the other monks about this, and they gathered with great haste and brought water in abundance. There was another similar case. Once they did not prepare enough firewood for cooking food; The cellarer again appeared to the monk and said: - Order, father, someone, unoccupied, from the brethren, to go prepare the required amount of firewood. “I’m not busy, I’ll go,” answered the monk. This conversation took place at lunch hour. The blessed one, taking an ax, went and began to chop wood himself, and ordered the rest of the brethren to go to dinner. Coming out of the refectory after dinner, the monks saw their abbot at work. Ashamed of his humility, the monks themselves took up axes and prepared so much firewood that there was enough for several days. When Blessed Nikon 2939, who had tonsured the monk, returned to the Pechersk Monastery from his ascetic journey, the venerable Theodosius showed him every respect as a father, despite the fact that he himself was then in the rank of abbot. And when blessed Nikon had a shortage of threads for stitching books (he did this), Theodosius spun threads for him. Such was the humility and simplicity in the various works and activities of the divinely inspired man. And the abbot wore modest and poor clothes: on his body a stiff hair shirt, and on top of another, very worn; He wore this one so as not to show people his prickly hair shirt underneath. One day the monk went on some business to the Christ-loving prince Izyaslav, and since the latter was at that time far from the city, Theodosius had to delay there until the evening. When he began to get ready to go home, the Christ-loving prince ordered him to be taken to the monastery in his chariot. On the way, the youth who was driving him, seeing the poor clothes on the monk and thinking that this was not the abbot, but a simple monk, said to him: - Chernets, sit on the horse, and I will sit on the chariot. The monk immediately humbly stepped down from the chariot, giving way to the youth on it, and he himself either walked alongside, or, when tired, mounted a horse. So they rode at night. At dawn, they began to meet nobles on their way to the prince. The latter, recognizing the monk, dismounted and bowed low to him. Then the monk turned to the youth and said: “It’s already day, get up from your chariot and mount your horse.” The youth, seeing that the nobles were bowing to the monk, was frightened and, getting off the chariot, sat on his horse. Meanwhile, those he met began to greet the monk even more often when he got into the chariot. The boy accompanying him became even more confused. When they arrived at the monastery in this way, all the brethren came out to meet the monk and greeted him with a bow to the ground. The boy was even more horrified, wondering who it was that everyone worshiped. The monk, taking him by the hand, led him to the refectory and there ordered him to be fed and given water, then sent him away with gifts. This incident became known to everyone from the boy himself, but the monk did not tell anyone about it, since he always taught the brethren never to be proud of anything, but to always remain in humility and place themselves below everyone else. This is the kind of humility the monk taught his brethren. By the way, he taught at the beginning of any business to ask for a blessing from an elder, remembering the words of Scripture: “Whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Cor. 9:6). He demonstrated the validity of this saying in practice. He had a custom: when pious people came to him because of their need, the monk, having taught Divine instruction, would give them bread and hot food from the monastery reserves. One day the prince himself, having tasted the monastery food from him, said to the monk: “You know, father, that my house is filled with all the blessings of the world, but I have never eaten with such sweetness as here.” My slaves, although they prepare various expensive dishes, are not as sweet as these. I pray you, father, tell me why there is such sweetness in your food? Blessed Theodosius answered this: “If, good lord, you want to know why this is, listen, I’ll tell you: when our brethren are going to cook hot food or bake bread, they follow this order: first of all, the monk comes to the abbot and takes his blessing, then, bowing before the holy altar three times to the ground, lights a candle from the altar and with this fire kindles the wood in the cookhouse and bakery. And when it is necessary to pour water into the cauldron, the monk says to the elder: “Bless, father.” The latter replies: “God bless you, brother.” Thus, every business for us begins with a blessing, which is why there is sweetness in food. And your slaves, I think, work, cursing, grumbling and slandering each other, maybe even often taking beatings from their bosses. Therefore, their work, not done without sin, is not sweet. After listening to this, the prince said: “Truly, father, it is as you say.” When the monk happened to hear about some food that it was not being made with the blessing of an elder and contrary to the monastic rules, then, calling this food enemy, he did not allow his blessed flock to taste it; food prepared in this way was ordered to be thrown into water or fire. This also happened when the monk and his brethren set off for the feast of the holy great martyr Demetrius at the neighboring monastery named after this saint. On this day, some pious people sent very tasty bread to the monastery. Theodosius ordered the cellarer to serve them that same day for the meal of the remaining brethren. But the cellarer did not listen to his orders, thinking to himself: “When all the brethren gather tomorrow, then I will serve these breads for dinner, and today let the remaining monks eat ordinary monastery bread.” So he did. The next day the abbot and his brethren returned to the monastery for lunch. During the meal, the monk, noticing that the bread that had been sent as a gift was served, called the cellarer and asked him: “These loaves were brought yesterday, but I did not serve them that day because few brethren were present at the dinner; I thought it would be better to offer delicious bread to all the brethren when they gather together.” The monk said to him: “It would be better for you not to worry about the coming day, but to do according to my orders.” After all, the Lord, who always cares about us, would today give us everything we need, and even more. Then he ordered the cut pieces of bread to be collected in a basket and thrown into the river, and he imposed penance on the cellarer, as if he had disobeyed his orders. He did the same with other monks when they disobeyed their elders in some way. Noticing that the monks did not completely abandon concern for the future and the acquisition of temporary goods (and this was contrary to monastic vows), the Monk Theodosius taught his brethren to follow the virtue of non-covetousness. He said that monks should be enriched by faith and hope in God, and not seek perishable property. He often went around the cells and, if he found someone with something extra that was not required by the rules, whether it was food, clothing or something else, he took it and threw it into the oven, as coming from the devil and contrary to the rules of the monastery. The monk thus exhorted the brethren to the virtue of non-covetousness: “It is not good for us, monks who have renounced everything worldly, to collect vain things in our cells. How will we offer pure prayer to God when we keep perishable treasure in our cell! After all, you have heard the words of the Lord: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). And again: “Mad! This night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared? (Luke 12:20). Therefore, brothers,” he said, “we will be content with the established clothing and food offered at the meal, but it is not appropriate for us to have anything like that in our cells. So, with all zeal, from the bottom of our hearts, let us offer pure prayer to God. This is how Saint Theodosius admonished the brethren with great humility and tears. The monk was merciful, meek, not hot-tempered, and showed attention to everyone. So, when it happened that someone from his non-covetous flock weakened in spirit and left the monastery, then the monk, in great sadness and sorrow for the departed one, prayed with tears to God that He would return back the sheep that had been separated from his flock. So he prayed until the one who had left returned. Among his brethren there was one monk who was distinguished by great inconstancy. He often ran away from the monastery, and every time he returned, the monk joyfully took him back, saying that God would not leave him and would not allow him to end his life outside the monastery: “Although he leaves us many times,” said the monk, “he will still end his life in our monastery.” And with tears he prayed to God to grant his brother patience. One day this brother disappeared for a particularly long time, but nevertheless returned and, as usual, began to ask the monk to accept him again. The truly merciful Theodosius now accepted him with joy and added the returning lost sheep to his flock. Returning after a long absence, the brother brought and placed in front of the monk a small amount of money that he had earned with his own hands (he was engaged in sewing clothes). Then the monk said to him: “If you want to be perfect, take this and throw it into the burning furnace, because what you bring is a matter of disobedience.” He, like a true repentant, collected everything and, at the command of the monk, threw it into the oven and burned it. From that time on, the brother, without leaving, lived in the monastery, spending the rest of his days in repentance, and here, according to the prediction of the monk, he died in peace. The Monk Theodosius was very merciful to the poor. He built a courtyard with a church near the monastery in the name of the Holy First Martyr Stephen and settled there the poor, the blind, the lame and lepers, and released everything they needed from the monastery. A tenth of the monastic income was used for this. In addition, the monk sent a cart of bread every Saturday to prisoners in dungeons and prisons. Our venerable father Theodosius was merciful not only to the poor, but even to those who harmed his monastery. So, one day, in the vicinity of the monastery, they caught robbers who had come there to steal, and brought them to the abbot. Seeing them tied up and in a depressed state of mind, the monk shed tears and ordered to untie them. Having fed and watered them, he taught them not to offend anyone, but to be pleased with everyone with the fruits of their labors. Then, having given them enough money, he released the repentant robbers in peace. The Monk Theodosius firmly hoped that the Lord Himself would preserve from the robbers everything that the brethren needed. That this hope was not in vain was confirmed by the following miracle. With the increase in the number of brethren, our Reverend Father Theodosius needed to expand the monastery, since it was necessary to build new cells. Together with the brethren, the monk began work and began to erect a large fence. And so, when the old fence was broken and the monastery was left without its protection, robbers came to the monastery on a dark night and began to reason among themselves like this: “The monks’ property is hidden in the church chambers; let's go there." But when the robbers approached the church for this purpose, they heard singing. Assuming that this was being sung by the monks who had gathered for evening prayer, the robbers left from there into the dense forest. After hesitating there for a while, they again approached the church. This time, singing was also heard and a wonderful light was seen inside, and a fragrance spread from the church. This happened because there were Angels in the church praising God. The robbers, assuming that it was the brethren who were now performing the midnight singing, left again. They decided to wait a little longer, so that when the monks dispersed, they could enter the church and steal everything in it. Thus, they repeatedly approached the church and each time they also heard the singing of Angels. Meanwhile, it was time for Matins and the sexton, as usual, began to ring the bell. Hearing the ringing, the robbers retreated into the forest, talking to each other: “What should we do? After all, we must have seen a ghost in the church. Let’s do this: when the monks gather in church, we will block their exit and, having killed them all, we will take possession of their wealth.” Having waited until all the monks and their mentor, Blessed Theodosius, had gathered in the church for morning prayer, the robbers rushed to the church. They were already approaching the church with criminal intent, when suddenly they were amazed by a terrible miracle: the church with the monks in it began to rise and stopped in the air at such a height that the robbers could not reach it even with a shot. They were greatly frightened when they saw this, and returned home in great fear and horror. Struck by the miracle, the robbers promised themselves that from that time on they would no longer rob, and their chief and three comrades, coming to the Monk Theodosius, repented and confessed to him all their crimes. After listening to him, the monk glorified God, who preserved not only church property, but also the lives of the brethren. The robbers, released with the saving instructions of the abbot, left, glorifying and thanking God and His saint Theodosius. A similar miracle took place a second time during the abbotship of St. Theodosius in the same monastery church. Truly, this church was guarded from heaven by God Himself, as if standing invisibly in the air under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos Herself. One of the boyars of the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav happened one night to drive through a field fifteen miles away from the monastery of St. Theodosius. Suddenly he saw in the distance a church standing in the air under the clouds. The boyar was greatly horrified by such a vision, however, he and his servants immediately accelerated the horse’s running to find out what kind of church it was. When he approached the monastery of St. Theodosius, the church in his eyes began to descend to the ground and ended up in its place within the monastery fence. Then the boyar knocked on the gate and, entering the monastery, told the monk about his vision. From that time on, the boyar began to visit the monk often and listened with pleasure to his divinely inspired speeches. Subsequently, this boyar devoted a lot of his money to building a monastery and decorating the church preserved by God. As will be seen from the following incident, the Lord miraculously preserved not only the church itself, but also the property that belonged to the monastery of St. Theodosius. It happened once that some people needed to deliver captured robbers to the city to the judge. The road went past a village that belonged to the Pechersky Monastery. When the bound robbers were escorted past this village, one of them, nodding his head towards the village, said: “One night we came to this village, intending to kill people and rob the entire monastery. However, we did not succeed, because when we arrived, the village turned out to be at such a height that it was absolutely impossible to approach it.” Thus, the Provider God protected the property of the monastery, listening to the prayers of the saint who trusted in Him. Theodosius used to go around the monastery at night with prayer, and with it, like a strong wall, he protected the monastery with everything in it. During the abbotship of St. Theodosius, God and the Most Holy Theotokos not only protected the monastery from robbers, but also helped from above to decorate it. One boyar of the mentioned prince Izyaslav, named Sudislav Geievich, in holy baptism - Clement, going with his prince to war, made the following promise: “If God grants me to return home in good health, then I will donate two hryvnias 2940 gold to the church of the Feodosiev-Pechersk Monastery, and for the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos I will make a golden crown.” Many people fell in this battle, but still the enemies were defeated. The boyar, returning unharmed from the battlefield, forgot about his promise. A few days later, he was sleeping peacefully in the afternoon in his house, when suddenly he was awakened by a terrible voice calling him by name: Having awakened, he saw in front of him the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was in the monastery of St. Theodosius, and heard a voice emanating from it: - Why, Clement, did you not sacrifice to Me what you promised? So now I remind you of this; try to fulfill your promise. As soon as the voice uttered these words, the icon immediately disappeared from the boyar’s eyes. The boyar was terribly frightened by the vision and prepared as much gold as promised, and also, having made a golden crown to decorate the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, immediately went to the monastery and gave it all to the Monk Theodosius. After some time, the boyar wished to donate the Gospel to the same monastery. With this intention, he came to the monk, having under his clothes the Holy Gospel prepared for donation. Having prayed, they wanted to sit down, but since the boyar still did not show the Gospel, the monk said: - Brother Clement, first take out the Holy Gospel promised to the Most Holy Theotokos, which you are hiding under your clothes, and then we will sit down. Hearing this, the boyar was horrified by the monk’s foresight, since he was convinced that no one knew anything about the Gospel he brought. Immediately, taking the Holy Gospel out from under his clothes, the boyar gave it to the monk. After this, they sat down, and the boyar, having enjoyed a spiritual conversation with Theodosius, returned home. The Lord, by His many miracles, proved that the hope and trust in God of the Monk Theodosius was not in vain. Divine help to the Pechersk Monastery was especially noticeable when there was a shortage of something in the monastery. The monk lived in his cell with the monk Hilarion; Usually Saint Theodosius, quietly reciting the verses of the Psalter, would spin a wave or do something else, and Hilarion would write books day and night. This monk then told about the following incident. One evening, when they were each going about their business as usual, a housekeeper named Anastasius entered the cell and said to the monk: - Tomorrow we have nothing to buy food supplies for the brethren and we have no money to satisfy other needs of the monastery. – Now, as you see, it’s evening, and tomorrow is still far away. So go and wait patiently. Pray to God: He will take care of our needs and have mercy on us if it is His will. After hearing this, the steward left. The monk immediately got up and went to the inner cell to sing his rule as usual. Returning after prayer, he sat down and continued his work. The steward entered the cell again and began talking about the same thing. Then the monk said to him: “Didn’t I tell you to pray to God?” Tomorrow go to the city and borrow what you need for the brothers from the merchants, and then, when God helps, we will repay the debt. Jesus Christ truly said: “Do not worry about tomorrow” (Matthew 6:34): God will not forsake us of His grace. As soon as the steward left, a youth shining with light in military clothing entered the cell. Having bowed, he placed a hryvnia of gold on the table near the saint and, without saying anything, went out. The monk stood up and, taking the gold, prayed to God with tears of gratitude. The next morning the monk called the gatekeeper and asked if anyone had come to the monastery the previous night. The gatekeeper answered: - No, as soon as the sun set, I immediately closed the gates and from that time on I did not open them, because no one came to the monastery. Then the monk called the steward and, giving him a hryvnia of gold, said: - How can you say, brother Anastasius, that we have nothing to buy what we need for the brethren - so take the gold and go buy what you need. The housekeeper, realizing that this was sent by the grace of God, bowed to the saint’s feet, asking for forgiveness. And the monk taught him on this occasion like this: - Brother, never fall into despair, but always strengthen your faith in God and in every sorrow hope for the help of the Lord, for He will take care of us if it is His will. So, prepare a festive meal for the brethren, because this is God’s visit. When we become poor, God will then take care of us, just as He did today. In a similar way, one day a cellarer named Theodore came to the monk and said: “I don’t have anything edible that I could offer the brethren for dinner.” The monk, as before, answered: - Go, be patient a little and pray to God; He will take care of us; and if we are not worthy of His mercy, then serve boiled wheat with honey for dinner. But we must hope that the Lord, who sent bread to disobedient people in the desert (Ex. 16:15), can also give us food. Having heard this, the cellarer left, and the monk began to earnestly pray to God. And so, at the secret inspiration of God, the first boyar of Prince Izyaslav, named John, sent the saint to the monastery three full carts with food supplies: bread, fish, vegetables, millet and honey. Having received all this, the monk glorified God, and said to the cellarer: “You see, brother Theodore, God will not abandon us if only we trust in Him with all our hearts.” So, go and prepare a meal for the brethren, since this is a visitation from God. So the monk rejoiced spiritually with his brethren during the meal and thanked God for the fact that “those who fear Him have no poverty” (Ps. 33:10). God often performed similar miracles in the Pechersk monastery through the prayer of the monk. One day a priest came from the city to the monk with a request to borrow wine to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Immediately Saint Theodosius called the church warden and ordered him to fill the vessel with wine with which the priest came. The elder said that they themselves had so little wine that there was barely enough for three or four liturgies. The monk answered him: “Pour all the wine out to this man, and God Himself will take care of us.” The elder, stepping aside and not obeying the order of the saint, poured some wine into the priest’s vessel, and saved the rest for himself for tomorrow to perform the Divine service. Then the priest went and showed the monk how little wine the elder had poured for him. The monk again called the elder and told him: “Didn’t I tell you to give away all the wine and not worry about tomorrow?” The Lord will not allow His Mother's church to remain without service tomorrow; He will send wine in abundance today. Then the elder gave all his wine to the priest and sent him away. Meanwhile, after dinner, towards evening, according to the monk’s prediction, three carts of barrels filled with wine were brought. This was sent as a gift to the monastery by one of the housekeepers of the Christ-loving Prince Vsevolod. Seeing what had happened, the church elder glorified God, marveling at the fulfillment of the prediction of the Monk Theodosius, who said that God would send wine to the monastery in abundance today. The same church warden witnessed another, similar miracle that took place through the prayers of the saint. It happened like this. When, on the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, there was no oil necessary for lighting church lamps, the church elder decided to prepare it from seeds and replace the wooden oil with this oil during worship. The headman asked permission for this from the Monk Theodosius, and since he did not object to him, the headman did as he intended. But when he intended to pour the prepared oil into the lamps, he saw that a dead mouse was floating in the vessel with oil. Then the elder hurriedly went to the monk and said: “I carefully covered the vessel with the oil I prepared and I don’t know how a mouse could get there.” The monk, realizing that this happened at the discretion of God’s Providence, said to the elder: “We should have hoped in God that He would give us everything we needed, and it was not good to act without faith in the omnipotence of the Lord: go and pour oil on the ground.” Let's wait a little and pray to God; Today He will give us wood oil in abundance. The elder did as he was told, and meanwhile the monk began to pray. By evening, one rich man actually brought a very large barrel of wooden oil as a gift to the monastery. The monk glorified God, who so quickly heard his prayer. Not only were all the lamps filled with the resulting oil, but more than half of it remained. In this way, the brethren celebrated with due solemnity the bright feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos. Here is another of the same miracles, through which the Lord, through the prayer of St. Theodosius, satisfied the urgent needs of the monastery. The Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav, who had true Christian love for the Monk Theodosius, often visited him, finding pleasure in his pleasant conversation. On one such visit, he discreetly talked with him until the time of evening singing; then the prince went to church with the monk. By God's arrangement, suddenly at this time it began to rain heavily. Noticing this, the monk, calling the housekeeper, ordered him to prepare dinner for the prince. “Father,” said the sacristan, “we have absolutely no honey to treat the prince and his companions.” Then the monk asked: – Don’t you have at least a little? “Yes, father, not at all,” answered the housekeeper, “I even turned the empty vessel in which the drink was in, placing it bottom up.” The Monk Theodosius, filled with grace-filled gifts, as his very name indicates, said: - So be it. However, go, according to my command and by faith in the power of the name of our sweet Lord Jesus Christ, you will find honey in that vessel. The clerk went with faith in the omnipotence of the Lord and saw that the barrel was standing in its place and filled with honey, as the monk had predicted. The sacristan, in fear, hastened to tell the monk about what had happened. “Be silent,” the monk told him, “and don’t tell anyone about this.” Go and serve that honey to the prince and his companions; let them eat as much as they want. Treat your brethren to this honey: this is a blessing from God. After some time, the rain stopped pouring and the prince went home. There was still so much honey left in the monastery that it lasted the brethren for a long time. Another time, a senior baker came to the monk and said that there was no flour in the monastery for baking bread. “Go and look around the granary,” the monk answered him, “maybe you will find a little flour there and somehow we will have enough until the Lord takes care of us again.” The baker said to the monk: “I’m telling you the truth, father: I cleaned the granary myself, but there’s nothing there except three or four handfuls of bran left in the corner.” Then the monk said to him: “Believe me, son, that God can turn this remaining bran into flour and fill our granary with it, just as in the time of Elijah He created so much flour from one handful that a widow and her children ate it in times of famine until the harvest brought an abundance of bread to everyone (1 Kings 17:8-16). And now God is so powerful that he can create for us an abundance out of our lack. So, go and see if the Lord will not bless with mercy the place where our flour is stored. After hearing these words, the baker left. Entering the granary, he saw that the formerly empty barn was now, through the prayer of the Monk Theodosius, so full that flour was pouring onto the ground over the edges of its walls. The monk was horrified to see such a glorious miracle; Having returned, he told everything to the monk. “Go, brother,” the monk told him, “and don’t tell anyone about what happened, bake your own bread as usual.” God sent us this mercy through the prayers of our holy brothers. Praising and thanking God for His great blessings, our venerable father Theodosius spent all nights in prayer: shedding tears and falling to his knees, he thanked God for His great blessings. The brethren of the monastery, who came to the monk every day before matins to take a blessing for the beginning of the service, always heard from behind the door how the abbot was praying in tears, often hitting his head on the ground. The monk, hearing their steps, fell silent and assumed the appearance of a sleeper, so that the brethren sometimes had to knock on the door three times, each time saying the words: “Bless, father!” Then the monk, showing that he had just woken up, answered: – God bless you! And, having given the blessing, he came to church first of all. It was said that he did this every night. In addition to these exploits, the monk, during his abbess, labored in many other labors. He was never seen resting on his bed, and when, due to bodily weakness, he needed to rest after daytime prayers, he fell asleep only for a short time and then while sitting; then he soon woke up and went to the all-night vigil, where he prayed, often kneeling. He is also never seen washing his body for pleasure; he washed only his hands and face with water. And when the monastic charter prescribed dry eating for the brethren, he himself also ate dry bread and stew cooked in oil, and drank only water. Moreover, they never saw him sadly sitting at a meal: he always had a cheerful face, because his heart was strengthened not by food, but by the grace of God. Every year the monk moved during Great Lent to a cave (where his venerable body was subsequently laid) and there he secluded himself until the onset of Vai (flower-bearing) week; on the Friday before flowering week, during Vespers, he returned to the brethren. The brothers thought that he was living hopelessly in a cave known to them, but in fact at night, secretly from everyone, he went to one monastery village and there, in another cave, located in a hidden place, he remained alone, so that no one except God knew about his actual whereabouts. From there, before Friday in the sixth week of Lent, he again went at night to the first cave, from which on Friday he went out to the brethren, so that everyone thought that he spent the entire fast in the cave known to them. The evil spirits in the cave then instilled in the monk many sorrows and vain thoughts, which sometimes even inflicted wounds on him. But God gave him invisible power to defeat them, and the spirits could not force the blessed one to leave the cave. The monk was alone in a dark cave and was not afraid of the many regiments of the prince of darkness. But he himself, like a good warrior of Christ, with prayer and fasting drove away the demons from himself so that they did not dare to approach him and only appeared to him from afar in ghostly forms. Once, after evening singing in the cave, Theodosius sat down, wanting to rest a little. Suddenly a terrible scream was heard. It seemed that many demons had gathered in the cave: some rode chariots, others beat tympans, and others played pipes. The whole cave shook from the noise and voices. Hearing all this, the monk was not afraid, not horrified, but, protecting himself as if with a weapon, with the sign of the cross, he stood up and began to sing verses from the Psalter. The earthquake and noise immediately stopped. But when after prayer he sat down to rest again, the same noise and voice of countless demons were heard again. The monk stood up and began to sing again, and again the noise stopped. For so many days and nights, evil spirits bothered him, not allowing him to sleep even a little. This continued until the monk, with the help of the grace of God, finally defeated them and received such power over them that they no longer dared to approach the place where the monk stood in prayer. The demons themselves began to run away from him, as is confirmed by the numerous cases below. In the room where bread was baked for the brethren, demons annoyed the brethren a lot with their intrigues: they scattered flour, spilled kvass prepared for the bread, and did many other troubles for the brethren. One day the senior baker told the Monk Theodosius about the machinations of demons. Then the latter went into that room and, closing the doors behind him, stayed there until Matins, praying to God all the time. From that hour, the demons left this place alone forever and no longer did anything evil there. Another time, a brother from a monastery village came to the monk one day and told him that demons had appeared in the barn where the cattle were being driven, causing great harm by not allowing the cattle to eat. Repeatedly the priest read a prayer and sprinkled holy water on the cattle shed, but nothing helped. Then the monk, strengthened by prayer and fasting, went to that village. When evening came, he entered the barn, closed the doors behind him and stayed there in prayer until the morning. From that hour, demons no longer appeared in this place and could not do anything evil to anyone in that village. The monk not only defeated demonic power himself, but also taught others how to get rid of demons. If he found out that one of the brethren was suffering from demons, he taught such a brother not to leave that place, but to protect himself with prayer and fasting and to call on God to defeat the demons. The monk taught the brethren this way about the wiles of the devil: “At first, something similar happened to me. One night, when I was singing the usual psalms in my cell, a black dog suddenly appeared in front of me and, moreover, so close that I could not bow to the ground. He stood there for a long time, and I was about to hit him, when suddenly he disappeared. I was then seized by such fear and trembling that I intended to flee from that place if the Lord had not helped me. Having recovered a little from my horror, I began to pray fervently and make frequent bows. Since then, I have completely ceased to be afraid of demonic obsessions, even if demons appeared before my eyes. One of the brethren, Hilarion (who was mentioned above), said the following: “The demons did a lot of harm to me in my cell.” So, when I went to bed at night, suddenly a multitude of demons appeared, who, grabbing me by the hair and stepping on me with their feet, dragged me along the ground; others of the demons, raising the wall, said: “Let’s drag him here and crush him under the wall.” They did this to me all night, and I, not being able to endure it, went and told everything to the Monk Theodosius, intending to move from there to another cell. The monk told me: - No, brother, do not leave, so that the demons cannot boast of their victory over you and say that you fled from them. If you leave, then from that time on the demons will do you even more evil, as they have gained power over you. Pray earnestly in your cell, and God, seeing your patience, will help you defeat them so that they will not dare to approach you. I again told the monk: “I pray you, father, allow me to move to another cell; Now I don’t have any strength to stay in the old cell any longer, because many demons live there. Then the monk, making the sign of the cross over me, said: - Go, brother, to your cell. From now on, crafty demons will not dare to cause you any harm. I listened with faith to the words of Saint Theodosius and, bowing to the monk, left. From that time on, the daring demons no longer dared to approach my cell, having been driven away once and for all by the prayers of St. Theodosius. As much as the Monk Theodosius was persistent in the fight against invisible enemies, he was just as courageous in the fight against the visible enemies of Christ the Lord. He had this custom: often, getting up at night, secretly from everyone, he went to the Jews and there courageously entered into a dispute with them about Christ. He reproached and denounced them, calling them criminals of the law and murderers of God. He, as a true imitator of Christ, passionately desired to accept death for confessing His name precisely from those people from whom our Lord Jesus Christ Himself accepted death. That this courageous confessor of the name of Christ really had a desire to suffer for the truth is confirmed by the following incident. During his abbotship, an invisible enemy, the prince of darkness, aroused a feud between the three Russian princes. Two brothers according to the flesh: Svyatoslav, Prince of Chernigov, and Vsevolod of Pereyaslav - raised an unjust war against their elder brother, the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav of Kyiv, and drove him out of the capital city of Kyiv 2942. Having sat down in his place in Kyiv, they sent to ask the Monk Theodosius to come to them for lunch. The monk answered their invitation with courage and determination: “It is not worthy for me to go to the table of unrighteousness, as to the table of Jezebel 2943.” When Vsevolod retired to his Pereyaslav region, and Svyatoslav sat in Kyiv in the place of Izyaslav, the Monk Theodosius began to constantly denounce Prince Svyatoslav for the fact that he had not rightfully sat on the brotherly throne. The monk asked the princely ambassadors who came to him to tell the prince that he did not approve of his action. One day he sent him a large accusatory letter, in which he wrote, among other things: “The voice of the blood of your half-brother cries out against you to God, like the blood of Abel against Cain” (Gen. 4:10). As a lesson to him, he recalled in a letter the names of many wicked ancient fratricides. Prince Svyatoslav was so angry when he read this letter that he angrily threw it to the ground and from that time began to look for an opportunity to imprison the Monk Theodosius in a monastery. The brethren of the monastery, greatly saddened by the prince’s intentions, begged the monk to stop denouncing the prince. In the same way, many boyars who visited the saint, conveying to him about the prince’s anger, advised him not to contradict the prince. “After all, the prince,” they said, “intends to imprison you.” The monk, hearing what they were saying about imprisonment, rejoiced in his soul and said: “I rejoice greatly at this, brothers!” There is nothing more pleasant for me in life than to be expelled for telling the truth; For her I am ready to go to prison and to death. From that time on, the monk began to reproach the prince even more for his hatred of his brother, as if wishing to provoke an order for his imprisonment. Despite his anger, the prince did not dare to do any harm to the monk, knowing his righteousness and holiness, since he had previously envied his brother Prince Izyaslav for having in his region such a righteous man as the great Theodosius. Soon after this, the Monk Theodosius, realizing that his cruel reproaches were not successful with the prince, condescending to the requests of the brethren and nobles, stopped denouncing the prince and from that time on began, with tears, to convince him to return his region to his brother. When, a few days after this, Prince Svyatoslav learned of the intention of the Monk Theodosius to stop the denunciations, he was very happy about this and sent to ask the monk whether he would allow him to come to the monastery or not. And when he gave permission, the prince happily went with the boyars to the monastery. The monk and his brethren, leaving the church, met the prince with honor, so that all the brethren bowed to the prince. “I did not dare to come to you, father, thinking that you, being angry, would not let me into your monastery,” the prince said to the monk. The monk answered him: - What does it mean, good lord, that our anger is under your power? But it is fitting for us to reprove and say what is saving for the soul, but you should listen to it. They entered the church and prayed, and then the Monk Theodosius taught him for a long time from the Divine Scripture, talking about brotherly love, since the prince blamed his brother for many things. After a long, soulful conversation, the prince returned to his home, praising God for being honored to talk with such a husband, and from then on he began to often visit his monastery. Repeatedly, the Monk Theodosius himself later went to this sovereign prince Svyatoslav, reminding him of the fear of God and love for his brother. On one of these visits, the monk met musicians playing various instruments at the prince’s place. Everyone was having fun. For a long time the monk, with downcast eyes, sat silently next to the prince; then he said: – Will it be like this in the next world? The touched prince shed tears and ordered the players to immediately stop the music. And from then on, when the monk had to find music in the palace, the prince, having learned about the arrival of the blessed one, immediately ordered it to stop. When the prince was notified of the arrival of the monk, he often came out with a joyful face and met him in front of the doors of the palace. Filled with joy, the prince said to the arriving monk: “Father, truly I tell you, if they had told me that my own father had risen from the dead, I would not have rejoiced as much as I did at your coming, but at the same time I would not have been afraid of him as much as I am afraid of your holy soul.” “If it is as you say,” answered the monk, “then fulfill my request: return to your brother the throne that your blessed father gave him.” The prince was silent to this, not knowing what to answer to the saint; The enemy inflamed him with anger so much that he did not even want to hear about his brother. However, the Monk Theodosius prayed to God day and night for the Christ-loving prince Izyaslav and at church services ordered to remember him as the legitimate prince of Kyiv and elder brother, and forbade Svyatoslav to be remembered in his monastery as having illegally sat on the brotherly throne. And only then, begged by the brethren, the monk ordered to remember both of them, but still Izyaslav first, and Svyatoslav second. Not wanting to witness such a strife between the Russian princes, the aforementioned blessed Nikon (who tonsured the Monk Theodosius and subsequently helped him in everything), withdrew from the Pechersky Monastery for the second time to the Tmutarakan Peninsula, where he founded his monastery. The Monk Theodosius, after his departure, continued his labors alone. Since during his abbot the number of brethren increased so much that the old Pechersk monastery turned out to be too cramped for the brethren, our reverend father Theodosius began to think about how and where, with God’s help, he could move to a larger place and there build a large stone church, also in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos. God heeded the prayer of the righteous man, approved the place he had chosen for relocation and blessed the construction of a large stone church. The Lord revealed His will through wondrous miracles. One pious and God-fearing man once walked past the dilapidated Pechersk Monastery on a dark night and saw the following. A bright light emanated from the monastery, and the Monk Theodosius stood in front of the church, raising his hands to heaven and offering prayer to God. The passerby continued to look at this in surprise, when suddenly the vision changed, and he saw another miracle: a very large flame appeared above the church roof and, taking the form of an arc, moved to another hill, precisely the one on which the Monk Theodosius later began to build a new stone church. And thus one edge of the fiery arc stood over the old church, and the other over the place where it was planned to build a new church. He who saw this miracle subsequently reported it to the monastery of St. Theodosius. Another time at night, the surrounding residents were awakened by the singing of many voices heard near the monastery. They got up and, leaving their houses, went to an elevated place to see where exactly these voices were being heard. Then they saw the following. The ancient Pechersky Monastery was flooded with bright light; many monks, leaving the old church, went to a new place: some carried an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, and others accompanied the first with hymns, carrying lighted candles in their hands. At the head of everyone was the father and mentor of the monks, the Monk Theodosius. Having reached a new place, they performed singing and prayer there, and then, returning back, singing again entered the old church. Many witnesses later confirmed the reality of this miracle. And since not a single monk took part in the above-mentioned procession, everyone understood that these people had seen Angels. In this way, on a place marked by God with such great miracles, a stone church began to be built in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos 2944. The Monk Theodosius himself took a great part in the construction of this church through his labors: he came there every day, carefully observed the work and, as far as possible, helped build, working together with the masons. While working, he dressed so poorly that he could be mistaken for the last novice, but not for the abbot. One day, when the monk was going to build a church, a widow, offended by the judge, met him and asked: - Chernets, tell me, where is your abbot? Isn't he in the monastery? “What do you need from him,” answered the monk, “after all, he is also a sinful person?” The woman responded to this: “I don’t know whether he is a sinner or not; I only know that he saves many from sadness and evil. That’s why I’m going to ask him to protect me from the insults of an unjust judge. The monk, having found out her case, took pity on her and said: “Go home now, and when our abbot returns, I will tell him about you, and he will save you from trouble.” After listening to him, the woman went home, and the monk went to the judge. Heeding the requests of Saint Theodosius, the judge entered into the position of a widow and, making leniency, returned to her everything in which she had been offended by him. With such and similar deeds worthy of a righteous man, the Monk Theodosius accompanied the construction of the Pechersk church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos. He did not completely rebuild this church during his lifetime, but even after his death, with his prayers pleasing to God, he helped St. Stephen in this, who after him accepted the abbess and continued the construction of the church begun by St. Theodosius. Meanwhile, the godly life of our reverend father Theodosius began to decline. Anticipating his departure to God, on the day of his death the monk ordered to gather all the brethren, calling to him not only those in the monastery, but also everyone who was absent for some reason and busy with work, and even all the monastery servants. When everyone had gathered, he began to convince everyone to fulfill the duties entrusted to him with all diligence and fear of God. With tears, he spoke about the salvation of the soul, about a godly abstinent life, about diligently attending church, about the reverent fear with which everyone should stand at divine services, about love and obedience in relation not only to elders, but also to their peers. Having spoken about the duties of each, he blessed the brethren and sent them away in peace. Then the pious Prince Svyatoslav came to visit the monk. With his grace-filled lips he taught him piety, the preservation of Orthodoxy and care for the holy churches. Then he told him: – I will pray to the Lord God and His All-Immaculate Mother to strengthen you in piety. May God grant that your reign be quiet and serene. And so, I entrust to your piety this holy Pechersk monastery and the church of the Most Holy Theotokos, created by her will. The alternating terrible chills and painful scorching heat so relaxed the saint’s body that he had to lie down in a bed that he had never laid down on before. In bed he said: - May God's will be done! As the Lord wills, so let Him do it! But I pray to You, my Master, Jesus Christ, be merciful to my soul: may it escape the evil demons, may Your Angels meet it and, having led it past the airy ordeals, may they present it to the light of Your mercy! For three days the monk could neither speak nor open his eyes, so that he could have been mistaken for dead if there had not been a noticeable faint breath on his lips. The dangerous illness of the holy elder caused great grief and sadness to the brethren. Having spent three days in such an illness, the monk rose from his bed and said to all the brethren gathered: - My brothers and fathers! My life is ending—the Lord revealed this to me in the cave during Great Lent. Think among yourselves who you would like to have as abbot instead of me. The brothers, greatly saddened by these words, began to cry. Having left the monk and having consulted, all the monks agreed to elect Stefan, the guide 2945, as abbot. The next day the monk again called all the brothers and asked them: - How did you decide among yourselves, children? Which of you is worthy to be abbot? Everyone said that Stefan was worthy of the abbess. Calling Stephen to him, the monk blessed him to become abbess in his place and said to him: - Here, child, I am handing over the monastery to you; take good care of it; What order I have established in the services, you should also observe the same, and adhere to the monastic tradition in everything. Do not change the rules, but do everything according to the law and monastic order. The monk taught the brethren for a long time, commanding them to obey the new abbot. Then he released everyone, predicting to them the day of his death - Saturday. “After sunrise,” he said to the brethren, “my soul will leave my body.” Then the monk again called Stephen alone and privately taught him a lot about how to shepherd the holy flock. Since the monk was greatly weakened by illness, Stefan, without leaving, served him with humility. On the following Saturday, at dawn, Saint Theodosius sent for the brethren. When all the monks had gathered, the saint, saying goodbye, lovingly kissed each one; They wept bitterly, foreseeing the imminent loss of such a good shepherd. Saint Theodosius, already completely prepared for death, said to them: - My dear children and my brothers! I kissed you all because I am going to my Master, Jesus Christ. Here is the abbot, whom you yourself chose; honor him as your spiritual father, obey him and, at his command, do everything pleasing to God. May God, who created everything by word and wisdom, Himself bless you and protect you from the slander of the evil one; May He preserve in you until your last breath your firm and unshakable faith and love for each other. Then, I pray and conjure you, bury me in the clothes in which I am now, and put my body in the cave where I stayed during Great Lent; Do not wash my wretched body under any circumstances. Let none of the worldly people see my burial; you alone, monks, lay me in the place I indicated. Listening to the words of the saint, the brethren wept greatly. The monk again began to console them, saying: “I promise you, brothers and fathers, that although I leave you in body, I will always remain with you in my soul.” After these words, the monk let everyone go, leaving no one with him. One of the brethren, who constantly served him, drilled a hole in the door and looked at what he was doing. The monk, rising from his bed, fell on his face, and with tears prayed to the merciful God for the salvation of his soul. In his prayer, he called on all the saints for help, and most of all, our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, to whom he entrusted his flock and his very monastery. After the prayer, he lay down again on the bed, and then, having rested a little, raised his eyes to heaven and, with joy on his face, said in a loud voice: “Blessed be God! If this is so, then I am no longer afraid, but I depart from this world with even greater joy.” One must think that, while uttering the above words, he contemplated some kind of vision. Then he, straightening his legs and folding his hands crosswise on his chest, betrayed his holy soul to God and joined the ranks of the holy fathers. This happened in 1074, May 3, on Saturday, as the monk predicted, after sunrise. Warmly mourning the death of Saint Theodosius, the brethren took his holy body to the church and there performed the usual prayers and chants for the deceased. By Divine dispensation, a lot of people immediately learned about the death of the saint. The people and many of the boyars, who gathered of their own zeal at the monastery gates, awaited the time when the body of the saint would be taken out of the monastery for burial in a cave. The brethren, having closed the gates, did not allow anyone into the monastery, waiting for the time when the people dispersed in order to bury the body of the saint, as he himself bequeathed about this, in the absence of the laity. And so, by the will of God, the sky suddenly became covered with clouds; It began to rain heavily. The people had just dispersed when the sun shone again. Then the brethren carried the body of the saint out of the church and honorably laid it in cave 2946. At the time of the death of the righteous man, Prince Svyatoslav is not far from the Pechersky Monastery; suddenly he sees a pillar of fire above the monastery, stretching from the ground to the sky. Having guessed about the death of the monk, the prince said to those present: - It is, as I think, today that the Monk Theodosius reposed from earth to heaven; I visited him yesterday and saw that he was in a very serious illness. He sent to find out about the monk and, when he was convinced of his death, he cried a lot. In the year of the death of Blessed Theodosius, through his prayers, all the monastery treasures began to multiply, there was an abundance in the fields, and a large offspring in the monastery animals. There has never been a year like this before. Seeing this, the brethren remembered the promise of their holy father and glorified God for having vouchsafed His blessed gift to His saint, Blessed Theodosius. The gifts of grace were revealed after the death of Saint Theodosius by many miracles that the saint performed through the fervent prayer of all who called on him for help. At the time described, Prince Svyatoslav became very angry with one boyar. Many said that the prince wanted to send him to prison. The boyar fervently prayed to God and called upon the Monk Theodosius for help, saying: “I know, Father, that you are holy; Here I am in trouble; be merciful to me: with your prayer to the heavenly Lord, deliver me from trouble.” When the boyar fell asleep, the monk appeared to him in a dream and said: - Why are you so sad? Do you really think that I have completely left you? Even if I am away in body, I am always with you in soul. Tomorrow the prince will call you back without any anger and again restore you to your former rank. Having come to his senses and come to his senses, the boyar saw the monk coming out of the room from behind, near the door. What was predicted by Saint Theodosius actually came true, and from that time on the boyar began to have even greater love for the Pechersk Monastery. Getting ready to set out on a journey, one man brought a silver reliquary to the monastery of St. Theodosius and gave it to his friend monk named Konon for safekeeping. Monk Nikolai found out about this and, at the demonic instigation, stole that reliquary and hid it. Konon, who returned, did not find silver in his cell and, greatly saddened by this, began to pray to God with tears, calling on the Monk Theodosius for help. Having fallen asleep after prayer, Konon saw the Monk Theodosius appear to him, who told him: “The silver that you are sad about was taken by the monk Nikolai at the devil’s suggestion and hidden in a cave. Then, revealing where the gold was hidden, he said to him: - Go and, without telling anyone about it, take yours. Having woken up, the delighted monk quickly got up and, lighting the candle, went to the indicated place. Having found the stolen goods, he thanked God and His saint, the Monk Theodosius. The following incident also took place. One cleric of the great holy cathedral Church of St. Sophia of Kiev became very ill: his whole body was burning from strong internal heat. Having come to his senses, he prayed to God and His saint Theodosius, asking him to ease his suffering. He had barely fallen asleep when he saw in a dream the Monk Theodosius, who, handing him the staff, said: “Take it and walk with it.” Waking up, the patient felt that the heat in his body was weakening and the illness was stopping. And when after this he recovered, he went to the Pechersk Monastery and told the brethren how he was healed of his illness through the prayers of St. Theodosius. The monks glorified God, who gave such grace to the righteous man. There was also such a case. During his abbotship at the Pechersk Monastery, the Monk Theodosius decreed that on Friday of the first week of Great Lent, completely clean bread, always with honey and poppy seeds, should be served for the meal of the brethren, as good ascetics who have labored in abstinence. This decree was always observed by Blessed Stephen 2947, who was appointed abbot by the Monk Theodosius himself. After Stephen, Blessed Nikon 2948 accepted the abbess at the Pechersk Monastery, and on the coming Friday of the first week of Great Lent he ordered the cellarer to do according to the establishment of the Monk Theodosius. The cellarer disobeyed the command of the abbot and did not fulfill what was established by the Monk Theodosius under the pretext that there was no flour for such bread. But God Himself did not allow the custom established by the Monk Theodosius to perish. When, after the liturgy, the brethren were heading to the refectory for a Lenten lunch, from somewhere they unexpectedly brought them a cartload of clean bread. Seeing this miracle, the brethren glorified God and His saint, who did not leave them even after his death. They glorified their father and mentor, the Monk Theodosius, who preserved his institution for the welfare of the monks and fulfilled his promise - to always provide help to the monastery, the right to ask for which from the Lord he earned through his godly deeds. Encouraged by the holy, bold prayers of St. Theodosius, may we also be worthy to receive the gift of God - eternal life with Christ Jesus, our Lord, glorified with God the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Having risen to virtue, from childhood having loved the monastic life, you valiantly achieved your desire, you moved into the cave, and having decorated your life with fasting and lordship, you remained in prayers as if you were incorporeal, shining in the Russian land like a bright light, Father Theodosius: pray to Christ God to save our souls. Today we will honor the Russian star, which shone from the east and came to the west: having enriched this entire country with miracles and kindness, and all of us with the deeds and grace of the monastic charter of Blessed Theodosius. Vasilev with the name Vasilkov still exists today and is a district town in the Kyiv province; it is located 36 versts southwest of Kyiv and is located along the Stugna River, a tributary of the Dnieper. – The Monk Theodosius was born between 1035–1038. The reason that prompted Theodosius's parents to move to Kursk was the prince's order to move Father Theodosius from Vasilyev to serve in Kursk. In Vasilevo, as in Kursk, Father Theodosius probably performed the duties of a princely “tina” or judge, a peace mediator (in non-criminal cases). This was in 1055–1056. Yaroslav I Vladimirovich reigned from 1019 to 1054. Izyaslav I Yaroslavich reigned from 1054 to 1073, then again from 1076 to 1078. Saint Ephrem traveled to Constantinople, where he copied the charter of the Studite monastery. This charter was compiled by the Monk Theodore Studite, abbot of the Studite monastery in Constantinople, at the beginning of the 9th century. At the end of the 9th century. he was introduced into the leadership of the Russian Church and remained in it until the middle of the 14th century, when he began to give way to the Jerusalem one (this charter was introduced by the Monk Savva the Sanctified in the Palestinian monasteries in the 6th century - The memory of St. Savva is celebrated on December 5, the cenobitic rules of the monastic life of St. Basil the Great. The memory of St. Ephraim is celebrated by the Church on January 28 The Monk Nikon retired to the south of Russia, to Tmutarakan. Hryvnia (from Sanskrit, griva - neck) - actually a necklace, a chain, usually gold, worn around the neck as a decoration. The custom of wearing a hryvnia around the neck took root in our Rus' from the Tatars. Subsequently, the name hryvnia began to be adopted by a gold bar of a certain size (from 72 to 96 gold), which circulated as a coin. Theodosius, translated from Greek, means “given from God”; in a figurative sense: “endowed with gifts from God.” Svyatoslav II Yaroslavich reigned in Kiev from 1073 to 1076, and Vsevolod I Yaroslavich from 1078 to 1093. Jezebel was the wife of the Israeli king Ahab, who was distinguished by extreme wickedness and debauchery. Blindly submitting to her influence, Ahab surpassed all his predecessors in wickedness and indulged in the most shameful idolatry. He built a church to Baal in Samaria, planted sacred groves, and allowed Jezebel to erect altars to the deities of Tire and Sidon (1 Kings 16:31–33). Jezebel maintained four hundred false prophets who ate from her table (1 Kings 18:19). Obviously, it is this “meal” that Saint Theodosius means in this case. The church was founded in 1073. The Monk Theodosius did not have time to complete the construction of the church and monastery. It was brought to completion by the successors of Theodosius: Stefan (who was abbot from 1074 to 1078), Nikon (who ran the monastery from 1078 to 1088) and John (elected abbot in 1088 or 1089). The stone church of the new monastery, founded by the Monk Theodosius, was completed under Stephen in 1075, but, probably due to the lack of funds for finishing, which was carried out slowly, it was consecrated only 14 years later, in 1089. In 1108, the construction of the refectory for the brethren was completed, and in 1182 the monastery was surrounded by a stone wall. The old monastery, after the construction of the new one, was not destroyed, but continued to exist with a small number of brethren remaining in it; the cave near which this monastery was located, after the brethren left it, began to serve as a tomb or cemetery for the monastery. In 1240, the Pechersky Monastery was largely destroyed by the Tatars. The restoration of the monastery followed at the end of the 13th century. In its modern form, the monastery has preserved from the pre-Mongol period only the lower part of the “great” or main church and, perhaps, the gate church in honor of the Holy Trinity. The current stone walls of the monastery were built on the site of wooden ones (replacing the stone walls destroyed by the Tatars) at the end of the 17th century, and in general all the modern buildings of the monastery were built in the 18th century. (with the exception of the mentioned lower part of the main church and the gate church in honor of the Holy Trinity). Charter - choir director, regent. In 1091, the venerable relics of St. Theodosius from the cave where they were originally placed were transferred by the brethren to the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where they were placed in the vestibule on the right side. During the Tatar invasion, the holy relics of Theodosius were placed, for preservation, under cover at the western doors of the same church, where they rest to this day. The event of the transfer of the venerable relics of St. Theodosius is celebrated on August 14. In 1108, Metropolitan Nikephoros (from 1103 to 1121) decided at the council to “inscribe Theodosius in the synodik for all bishops.” From that time on, they began to celebrate everywhere both the repose of St. Theodosius and the transfer of his venerable relics. The Monk Theodosius edifies generations distant from him not only through his ascetic life, but also through his written instructions, which have come down to us mainly in the form of teachings on various occasions. Unfortunately, the question of the authenticity of some of the works of St. Theodosius has not yet been definitively clarified. Without a doubt Rev. The following five teachings should be attributed to Theodosius: 1) the teaching on Wednesday of the 3rd week of Lent “at the hours” “about patience and love”; 2) a lesson on Thursday of the 3rd week of Lent “about patience, about love and about fasting”; 3) a lesson on Thursday of the 3rd week of fasting “for the hours” “about patience and almsgiving”; 4) a lesson on Friday of the 3rd week of Lent “about patience and humility”; and, finally, 5) a lesson on Friday of the 3rd week of fasting “for hours” “about going to church and about prayer.” In addition, the following teachings are attributed to St. Theodosius: 1) the teaching “to the cellarer” (about his duties); 2) the teaching “about the executions of God” (it is believed that it was said by the Monk Theodosius in 1067 after the unfortunate battle with the Polovtsians); 3) teaching regarding “dinner and drink” (for the brethren); 4) “the word of a certain lover of Christ and zealot for the right faith”; 5) “punishment from the spiritual father to the children about drunkenness”; 6) “a word about how Vladimir was baptized when he took Korsun”; and finally 7) some excerpts from the teachings. Rev. Theodosius is also credited with two teachings on Tuesday and Wednesday of the 3rd week of Lent with the name of St. Theodore the Studite, as well as some. Friend. Then the Monk Theodosius wrote several letters (probably two or three) to the Grand Duke Izyaslav (these messages in the monuments that have reached us are called “questions” of Prince Izyaslav). All of the listed works of St. Theodosius are written very simply and with great feeling. Teachings and messages of Rev. Theodosius is alien to any rhetorical floridity. As for their content, in those of them that were assigned to the brethren, the Monk Theodosius speaks of monastic vows and duties; He dwells in particular detail on the vow of non-covetousness, while in his teachings intended for the people, the Monk Theodosius energetically rebelled against various pagan customs, which at that time were very widespread in Rus' and had just begun to be eradicated by Christian preachers. Especially strongly Rev. Theodosius armed himself against idolatry and drunkenness. Finally, some more prayers are attributed to St. Theodosius, placed with his name in some copies of the ancient Psalters. Stephen - abbot from 1074 to 1078. Nikon - abbot from 1078 to 1088. You might be interested in: