Житие преподобного отца нашего Исаакия Исповедника

Soon after the discovery of the most venerable and Life-giving Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ during the reign of the great Constantine, his life on May 21 and a hater of the Christian race and especially of Christ Himself, our Savior, an opponent of the holy faith, through his cunning introduced confusion into the Church of God, namely: he inspired the evil and lawless emperor Valens 3527 to defend the heresy of Arius 3528 and promote its distribution. This wicked emperor launched a persecution against true Christians; He ordered the holy churches to be locked so that the usual Divine sacrifices would not be performed in them, others he turned into stables for horses, and others he destroyed to the very foundation. This persecution continued for a long time. And at this time there was great weeping and great sorrow among Christians, who prayed to the Lord all day and night, asking Him to have mercy on His holy Church and to bring righteous judgment and vengeance on the wicked king. At that time it was like in the days of the Apostles, when King Herod “lifted up his hands against some of those who were of the church to do them harm” (Acts 12:1). After some time, God raised up His servant the monk Isaac to defend the Church, just as in ancient times he raised up the prophet Daniel to defend the innocent Susanna 3529. This blessed Isaac initially labored in the eastern desert, imitating Saint Elijah the Prophet and leading an angelic life. Having learned about the persecution raised by the Arians against the Church of God, and also learning that the king had contributed to the spread of heresy, he was very saddened; leaving the desert, he came to Constantinople in order to confirm the believers in piety; his word was like a burning candle; The Spirit of God rested on him and heavenly grace shone around him. Having seen with his own eyes the great troubles that believers suffered from the evil king and his like-minded people, he prayed to God, asking Him to look down from the height of His throne on those innocently persecuted and to show them His mercy, and to humble the pride of the persecutors. God, who once heard His saint Moses, who prayed for his people who were in trouble (1 Samuel 28:17-22), also heard His servant Isaac, and raised up barbarians against the wicked king Valens, namely: the barbarians who lived at that time along the Danube River, having gathered all their regiments, began a war with the Greeks; they had already captured Thrace and were approaching Constantinople. It was necessary for King Valens to gather soldiers in order to enter into battle with the enemies; but here the same thing happened to the king that once happened to Saul, the king of Israel, the enemy of David; for Saul did not return from the battlefield, according to the prophecy of Saint Samuel, because he had angered God (1 Kings 22:1-53). While Valens was leaving Constantinople with his regiments, blessed Isaac went ahead of him and loudly exclaimed: - King! Open the churches for the faithful, and then the Lord will prosper your path. But the king did not answer him, despised him as a simpleton and a madman; without attaching any importance to his words, he continued on his way. The next morning the blessed elder, approaching the king, again said: - Open, king, churches for the faithful, and then the war will end happily for you: you will defeat your enemies and return home in peace and good health. The king, heeding his words: “you will return home in peace and good health,” wanted to open the church doors and give the churches to the faithful, and had already begun to consult with his nobles about this. But one military leader, who adhered to Arian wickedness, advised the king not to listen to the monk, but to drive him away from himself with dishonor. Having scolded the elder, the king drove him away from him with dishonor and beatings and set off on his further journey. And on the third day the blessed elder again approached the king; Taking the bridle of the horse on which he was sitting, Isaac began to ask and exhort the king even more earnestly to open the churches; otherwise he threatened him with God's judgment. There was a deep abyss in that place, at the bottom of which thorns grew and there was a swamp; when any animal fell into this swamp, it could no longer get out of here, but was sucked into the swamp and died. The king ordered Isaac to be thrown into this swamp so that he would die here; then he set off on his further journey. Saint Isaac, being thrown into this swamp, was protected by the right hand of God and did not suffer any harm here: he was not hurt by thorns and was not swallowed up by the swamp; he lay among the thorns, as if on a soft bed among flowers, praising and thanking God until three bright men appeared to him, who took him out of the swamp healthy and unharmed and put him in a dry place; they themselves became invisible. Then the Monk Isaac realized that it was the Lord Himself who sent His Angels to extract him from that abyss; falling on his knees, he gave thanks to his Savior for the fact that He cared for His servants and did not abandon everyone who feared Him and trusted in Him. Having prayed for a sufficient time and strengthened by the Holy Spirit, Isaac stood up; then he hurriedly went around the roundabout path and, overtaking the king, stopped on his way. Seeing the saint, the king was very frightened and was silent out of fear and surprise. The saint boldly said to him: - So you wanted to destroy me in thorns and swamps; but the Lord kept me alive and sent me His Angels, who led me out of that abyss. Listen to me, king! Open the churches for the faithful; then you will defeat your enemies and return back with glory; but if you do not listen to me, you will not return from the battlefield, but will die on it. The king was very surprised at the monk’s boldness and the brightness of his face, but despite this he did not listen to him, since his heart was hardened and removed from God. Then the king gave the blessed one to his two dignitaries, Saturninus and Victor, and ordered them to keep him in bonds. At the same time he told them: “Keep this annoying old man with you until I return and give him retribution for his shamelessness and daring.” The Monk Isaac, being filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, was inflamed with even greater jealousy (as once the prophet Micah was against Ahab, the king of Israel) and loudly called out to Valens: - “If you return in peace,” then know that “it was not the Lord who spoke through me. And he said, “Listen, all the people!” (1 Kings 22:28). I tell you that, having brought your troops to battle, you will not defeat the barbarians, but you will flee from them, be taken by them and burn alive in the fire. When the saint said this, the king angrily set off on his further journey, and the saint was taken into prison. Meanwhile, the Greeks became friends with the barbarians; the battle was very fierce; by God's permission, the barbarians defeated, according to the prophecy of Saint Isaac; many of the Greeks fell by the sword; King Valens himself was wounded and, not being able to resist the enemies, fled. The barbarians pursued the Greeks and cut the Greek warriors like grass; They were already overtaking the king himself, who fled with only one adviser, a military leader, an Arian, who advised him not to listen to Isaac. Arriving at a certain village, he saw a barn in which straw lay; since his horse was already tired, he got off it and hid in that barn along with his adviser. But he did not hide from the punishing hand of God, because the barbarians who pursued him, having reached that village and learned that the Greeks were hiding in that barn, set it on fire from all sides and burned it to the ground. This is how the accursed king and his evil adviser perished. After that battle, the Greek army that remained intact went to meet the Roman Emperor Gratian in 3530, who was coming to the aid of the Greeks. Arriving in the Greek regions, Gratian elected Theodosius, called the Great, as king of the Greeks 3531. Theodosius, having gathered soldiers, went against the barbarians, defeated and drove them away and returned in triumph to Constantinople. Meanwhile, some of the Greek soldiers, who did not yet know about the death of Valens, soon after his death came to the Monk Isaac, who was being held in bonds, and said to him: “Get ready for an answer, because soon the king will return from the battlefield and will interrogate and torture you.” “Seven days have already passed since I smelled the stench from his burnt bones; for, as I said, it is burned. Those who heard this fell into great fear; and indeed soon the news came about the death of Valens. After this, Saint Isaac was freed from his bonds, and everyone began to venerate him as a prophet of God. When Theodosius entered the city in triumph, the above-mentioned nobles, Saturninus and Victor, told him everything about the Monk Isaac, they spoke about his boldness and his prophecy. The king, respecting such a man, ordered him to be brought to him with great honor and bowed to him, considering him a great saint of God and asking him to pray to God for him and for his entire kingdom. The monk exhorted the king to remain in piety, to return peace to the Church and to console the persecuted. The king listened to the saint and did as he said: he drove the Arians out of Constantinople, which the believers were very happy about. Blessed Isaac, having thanked God for everything, intended to go into the desert in order to struggle there; but Saturninus and Victor begged the monk not to leave the royal city, but to remain near them and promote the peaceful life of Christians with their prayers and teaching; the saint deigned to fulfill their request. At this time, a dispute arose between Saturninus and Victor, since each of them wanted the monk to settle in his house. Having learned about the reason for their dispute, the saint said, turning to them: - Children! I see your love for me. But since you have a desire to put my humility to rest, then, I tell you, I will stay with him all the days of my life whoever first builds a house for me. And they both began to worry about quickly building a house for the saint of God. Saturninus had a very beautiful place outside the city, very convenient for the life of monks; in this place he hastened to build a monastery for the saint of God; This is where the Monk Isaac settled. In the same way, Victor built a beautiful dwelling for the saint and was very sorry that Saturninus had preceded him. Having come to the saint, he began earnestly to ask him to move to the cell built for him. But the monk continued to asceticize in the monastery of Saturninus, although sometimes he came to Victor and lived with him for several days, not wanting to upset him with a refusal. Meanwhile, many began to gather to the monk, wanting to labor with him in monastic labors. Thus, a large monastery was built at the expense of the God-loving men Saturninus and Victor. And the monk was a mentor and abbot of many monks, a useful teacher to the laity, for he led everyone on the path of salvation both by word and by the example of his virtuous life. The monk was very merciful to the poor, so that if sometimes he had nothing to give to the one who asked, he took off his clothes and gave them away; The saint did many other godly deeds. Finally, having reached old age, he approached death. Having convened all the brethren and given soul-helping instruction to everyone, Saint Isaac appointed as hegumen in his stead a certain honest man who led a holy life, blessed Dalmatus, after whose name the monastery later began to be called Dalmatian. Having labored in many godly deeds, the Monk Isaac departed to the Lord for eternal rest 3532; the whole city gathered for his burial; his honorable body was laid in the church of the Holy First Martyr Stephen; His holy soul stands before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, in the face of the holy and reverend fathers, and prays with them for us to the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the one God in the Trinity, to whom glory is given eternally. Amen. As a faithful saint of God, he was kindled with zeal for the Church of Christ, holding the reins of Walent, prophetically predicting a disastrous death for the church about the closure of the church. In the same way, constantly pray for us, who honor you, O Reverend Isaac. Valens reigned from 364 to 378. About the Ariev heresy, see below in the supplementary article on the 1st Omni. Cathedral The story of Susanna is told in Daniel 13 Emperor Gratian reigned from 375 to 383. Theodosius the Great ruled the eastern half of the Roman Empire from 379 to 395; western - from 393 to 396 The death of Saint Isaac followed at the end of the 4th century. His relics were initially placed in the church of St. Stephen, located next to the Dalmatian monastery; then transferred to the Church of All Saints. You might be interested in: