Память преподобного Михаила Клопского

Fifteen miles from Veliky Novgorod, on the banks of the Veryazhi River, there was a monastery called Klopsky, and in it a church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity 479. In previous years, this monastery was known to few people, but later received wide fame thanks to the miracles of St. Michael. In this monastery the abbot was Theodosius, a virtuous man; It was with him that Blessed Michael 480 came to the Klop Monastery. It remains unknown until now where Saint Michael came to the monastery from and who his parents were. This event took place in the summer, at a time when all the brethren were at Matins; on the ninth song of the canon, the hieromonk, who was performing the Divine service, poured cense over the church and went to do cense in his cell, which was located near the church; Finding the cell open, while he had locked it when leaving for the church, the hieromonk entered it and saw a sitting man in monastic clothing; A candle was burning in front of him, and he was copying the book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles. Returning to the church, the hieromonk told the abbot and the brethren about what he had seen. At the end of the service, they went to the cell and found it locked from the inside. The abbot said a prayer, but there was no response from the cell. They started knocking on the door; but it remained locked. Then the abbot ordered the roof over the entryway to be dismantled; Having entered them, they found the inner door locked. When, by order of the abbot, it was broken into and everyone went to the cell, they found the elder there, sitting and writing. The abbot asked him: “Tell me, are you a man or a spirit?” The elder repeated the words of the abbot. The abbot said a prayer, the elder said the same prayer words as the abbot. Then the abbot began to make the sign of the cross and shower the stranger with incense; the elder shied away from censing and behaved like a holy fool. Together with the brethren, Saint Michael entered the church for the liturgy, during which he sang in the choir with the monastery singers. The abbot instructed him to read the Apostle, and everyone was comforted to the depths of their souls by the beauty and inspiration of his reading. Upon leaving the meal, at which the saint performed the prescribed reading, the abbot led the Monk Michael into the cell assigned to him for residence, and from that time the blessed one remained in the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity, bearing the obedience of the reader in the church and at the meal, and everyone who listened to his reading experienced great heartfelt tenderness. Neither the abbot nor the brethren could find out, however, the name of the newly arrived brother, where he came from and what his origin was. Once Prince Konstantin Dimitrievich 481 visited the Klops monastery; Having heard the reading of Saint Michael during the meal, the prince came close to him, recognized him and said: - This is Mikhail, the son of Maximov. The monk responded to this: “The One who created me knows who I am.” “My son, why don’t you tell me your name?” And the saint confirmed that his name was Michael 482. During his life in the Klopa monastery, the Monk Michael ate only bread and water, moreover, once a week and in small quantities. When, after great feats of prayer, the saint felt tired, he rested, lying directly on the ground; in his cell he had no property or clothing except that which covered his body. There is no way to talk about the great labors that the monk undertook for Christ’s sake; from his exploits and abstinence his body became like a shadow. At that time, in Great Novgorod and its environs there was a drought that lasted three years: not only streams, but also rivers dried up. Then, through the prayers of the Monk Michael, a shaking of the earth occurred near the monastery and a spring of abundant water began to gush out, which to this day serves the needs of both the brethren and strangers 483 . After the drought, famine set in in that area, during which crowds of the poor began to come to the monastery for pieces of bread. The abbot, fearing the depletion of supplies, did not know what to do; but the Monk Michael, pointing out that the Lord fed four thousand people with seven loaves of bread, persuaded the abbot to feed all the hungry. When the brothers complained about this, the monk led them with the abbot to the grain barn, and they saw with amazement that the supplies of bread, through the prayers of the saint, did not decrease. The Monk Michael prophesied a lot about the capture of Veliky Novgorod 484 and, having performed many miracles in the name of Christ, he rested peacefully in the Lord 485. His honest and long-suffering body was given over by the abbot and his brethren to burial in the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity 486, where the Monk Michael labored, and was placed on the right side of the cathedral church; Here it rests to this day, exuding various healings with faith flowing in, to the glory of Christ our God. Even though on the earth of Christ, for the sake of the will, you were transformed into violence, you hated the beauty of this world at all, and, having withered carnal play with fasting and thirst, and on the earth by lying down, you never turned away from the heat and cold, from rain and snow, and from other airy burdens, but you purified your soul with virtues, like gold in a furnace, Father Reverend God-bearing Michael, and now in Heaven you stand before the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity. But since you have much boldness, pray to Christ God that our souls may be saved. By the power of the Holy Spirit, you became likened to the God-speaking ancient prophet, saying unknown and secret things, and every year the destinies of God came into being, and doing many miracles about Christ, and surprising people, you created a triumphant cry, crying out: Glory to God, who glorifies His saints. The exact time of foundation of this monastery is unknown; it is located south of Novgorod, three miles from Lake Ilmen. It was June 23, 1408, under the Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich (1389–1425) and St. Metropolitan of Photius. The youngest son of Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich Donskoy was born in 1389, four days before the death of his father. His brother, Grand Duke Vasily Dimitrievich, gave him Toshiya and Ustyuzhna as an inheritance, but in 1419, when Konstantin Dimitrievich disobeyed his brother, he took away this inheritance, and Konstantin fled to Novgorod, where earlier, in 1408, he was the deputy of the Grand Duke. He spent two years in exile; he built a stone church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity in the Klop Monastery. Rev. Mikhail Klopsky came from a boyar family. Until now, in the Klops monastery they show a well, built, according to legend, from the source that was brought down by the prayer of Blessed Michael during a drought. June 23, the day of the arrival of St. Michael to the monastery, there is a procession of the cross from the surrounding villages. Once Blessed Michael was in the Vyazhitsky Monastery. Suddenly he unexpectedly found himself in the bell tower and began to ring all the bells. When the people asked what this meant, the blessed one, acting like a fool, answered: Now there is joy in Moscow, and added that the Grand Duke had a son, Ivan, who would be a threat to the neighbors, take possession of Novgorod, change its customs, take away their gold and completely subjugate them to his power. Indeed, on January 22, 1440, Prince Ivan Vasilyevich was born, who conquered Novgorod in 1471. Novgorod was finally annexed to the Moscow state in 1480. At the Klop Monastery, Ven. Michael lived for 44 years and died in 1452. Memory of Rev. Michael is supposed to be celebrated everywhere with a council in 1547. You might be interested in: