Сказание о перенесении мощей святителя Николая, архиепископа Мирликийского 3058

In the summer of 1087, under the Greek king Alexy Komnenos 3059 and under the Patriarch of Constantinople Nicholas Grammar 3060, during the reign of Vsevolod Yaroslavich 3061 in Kyiv and his son Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh in Chernigov 3062, the Ishmaelites invaded the Greek region 3063, both from that and from the other side of the sea. They went through all the cities and villages, from Korsun 3064 to Antioch and to Jerusalem; at the same time, they cut off men, took women and children captive and burned houses and property. Churches and monasteries were deserted, and cities fell into the hands of infidels. Then the Lycian Myra, in which the body of St. Nicholas rested, was devastated, a precious and honorable body that performed wondrous and glorious miracles. This venerable man could have protected his city and the Church from devastation, but, at the command of God, he did not resist, saying: “Lord, I will do what is right in your sight.” But our Lord Jesus Christ could not allow the relics of the saint to rest in a desolate place and not be glorified by anyone, according to what is said in Scripture: let the saints triumph in glory (Ps. 149:5); and again: glory will be to all His saints (Ps. 149:9). In the city of Bari, which then belonged to the Normans 3065, there lived a certain presbyter, Christ-loving and righteous. Saint Nicholas appeared to him in a dream and said: “Go and tell the citizens and the entire church council to go to the city of Myra, take me from there and put me here, for I cannot stay there in a desolate place. This is the will of the Lord." Having said this, the saint became invisible. Waking up in the morning, the presbyter told everyone his former vision. They rejoiced and said: “Now the Lord has magnified His mercy on His people and on our city, for He has vouchsafed us to receive His saint, Saint Nicholas.” They immediately chose reverent and God-fearing men from among them and sent them in three ships to retrieve the relics of the saint. Posing as if they were going to trade, those men loaded their ships with wheat and set off. Sailing to Antioch, they sold wheat and bought everything they needed. Then they learned that the Venetians who were there wanted to warn them and take the relics of St. Nicholas. Immediately the nobles set off in haste, arrived at Myra in Lycia and landed at the city pier. Having conceived a matter to save themselves and their city, they armed themselves and entered the church of St. Nicholas. Here they saw four monks and asked them where the relics of St. Nicholas rested. They showed them the place of the shrine. The nobles dug up the church platform and found a shrine full of peace. They poured myrrh into a vessel, and took the relics of the saint and carried them to the ship, then sailed away. Two monks remained in Myra, and two accompanied the relics of St. Nicholas 3066. They departed from the city of Mir in the month of April on the 11th day, and arrived in the city of Bari in the month of May on the 9th day, on Sunday evening. Seeing that they had arrived from the city of Mir with the relics of St. Nicholas, all the inhabitants of the city of Bari, men and women, young and old, came out to meet the saint with candles and incense, received the relics with joy and great honor and placed them in the church of St. John the Baptist by the sea. The relics of the saint performed many miracles here. They arrived in Bari on Sunday evening and already on Monday morning they healed 47 sick people, husbands and wives, possessed by various ailments: one had a headache, another had a headache, another had an eye ache, another had arms and legs, the heart, and even the whole body suffered from unclean spirits. On Tuesday, 22 sick people were healed, and on Wednesday, 29. On Thursday, early in the morning, Saint Nicholas healed a deaf-mute man who had been ill for 5 years. Then the saint appeared to a certain pious monk and said: “So, by the will of God, I came to you in this country, on Sunday, at the ninth hour, and behold, 111 people were healed by me.” And Saint Nicholas performed other miracles throughout his days, like a source flowing endlessly. And they brought many gifts to the saint, gold and silver and valuable clothes. Seeing his glorious miracles, the citizens were filled with great joy, created a great and beautiful church in the name of the saint and wonderworker Nicholas 3067, and forged a gilded silver shrine for his relics. In the third summer after the transfer of the relics from Myra Lycia, they sent to Pope Urban, asking him to come to Bari with his bishops and the entire church clergy to transfer the relics of St. Nicholas. The pope arrived accompanied by bishops and clergy; They placed the relics of the saint in a silver shrine, then the bishops and nobles transferred it to the new, great church and placed it in the altar, on the 9th day of May. They also moved the saint’s dilapidated coffin, in which he had been brought from Mir, placed the coffin in the church and placed in it part of the hand from the saint’s relics. Many people came and worshiped the saint, kissing his relics and the shrine. Pope Urban, the bishops and all the citizens created a great holiday and glorification of the saint on that day, which they continue to do to this day 3068. In those days they consoled themselves with food and drink and, having given generous alms to the poor, returned to their homes in peace, glorifying and praising God and His holy saint Nicholas. The day of a bright triumph has arrived, the city of Barsky rejoices, and with it the entire universe rejoices with songs and spiritual stumps: today is a sacred triumph, in the presentation of the honest and multi-healing relics of the saint and wonderworker Nicholas, like the unsetting sun, rising with luminous rays, and dispelling the darkness of temptations and troubles from those crying out truly: save us, as our great representative Nicholas. Arose like a star from east to west your relics to St. Nicholas, the sea was sanctified by your procession, and the city of Barsky received your grace: you appeared to share us, graceful, wonderful and merciful. Life of St. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, see under December 6 Alexios I Komnenos ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 to 1118. Nicholas III the Grammar was patriarch from 1084 to 1111. Vsevolod Yaroslavich, son of Yaroslav the Wise and grandson of Vladimir the Saint, reigned from 1075 to 1076 (6 months); then again from 1078 to 1093. Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh ruled from 1073 to 1125. The Ishmaelites here mean the same-tribal eastern peoples: Turks, Pechenegs and Polovtsians. An ancient city in Crimea, near Sevastopol, also called Tauride Chersonese. The city of Bari is located in the south of the Italian peninsula, on its eastern shore near the Adriatic Sea, in an area called Apulia. The population of southern Italy has long been Greek. By the end of the 9th century. The power of the Greek emperor was established here. In 1070, the city of Bari was taken from the Greeks by the Normans, a northern tribe of the Germanic people, but even after that, the Orthodox faith and worship were preserved in some Apulian monasteries, and they were subordinated to the Patriarch of Constantinople. In the service for the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas, it is sung: “Thy procession was by sea to the saint, from Myra of Lycia to Bargrad: for your ark was taken from the tomb, and to the west you came from the east, piously following the monk who was at your tomb, who did honor to you, by the wave of the Lord of all, the most glorious Nicholas” [2nd stichera on the verse. – Editorial office of “ABC of Faith”]. The celebration of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas to Russia was established under Metropolitan of Kiev John II, in 1089. This church still exists to this day. You might be interested in: