Житие преподобного отца нашего Геннадия Костромского 930

The Monk Gennady, named Gregory in holy baptism, was the only son of a boyar named John and his wife Elena, who lived in the Lithuanian land 931. Since childhood, Gregory loved to visit the Church of God and was constantly among the church clergy, attending all services. The parents were unhappy with their son’s behavior and told him: - Why are you doing this? Are you a church watchman? You shame us in front of people. It’s enough for you to go to church with us, and the rest of the time to be at home and in communication with your peers; especially, one should not deprive oneself of rest at night. - Dear parents, don’t bother me with such speeches: I don’t want to engage in children’s games. God creates what he wants, and man does what he can; The Holy Spirit guides every person on the true path. From then on, Gregory began to think about how he could go to the Russian country and settle there in some holy monastery and fight a good deed. And so, finding a favorable time, he left his parents, took off his light dress and gave it to the poor, and from them he took rags and dressed himself in it. Проходя литовскую землю, пустыни, села и города в виде странника и пришельца, он много претерпел бед и напастей от злых людей. However, protected by God, he reached the Russian land, came to the great and glorious reigning city of Moscow and walked around it, flowing to the shrines of the holy wonderworkers, penetrating into the holy monasteries and discussing where he could take monastic vows and indulge in prayer. В Москве он нашел себе друга по имени Феодора, молодого, но богобоязненного и также искавшего пострижения. Из Москвы они вместе отправились в Великий Новгород и там ходили по святым местам и церквам и обителям. Из Новгорода они отправились на реку Свирь в пустыню к подвижнику преподобному Александру и стали усердно просить его: – Мы желаем, святой отец, Господу Богу молиться: облеки нас Христа ради в монашеское одеяние. The Monk Alexander first turned to Gregory’s friend Theodore and said: - You, child Theodore, will lead the white-headed beast. “And you, child Gregory, will yourself be a shepherd of verbal sheep and a mentor to many monks.” Go, child, to the Komel forest to the Monk Cornelius, and he will teach you how to pray to God and how to shepherd the verbal flock of monks, but it is impossible for young youths to live in our desert. However, rest here, my children, for as many days as you wish. They spent fourteen days in the desert with the Monk Alexander and, having taken his blessing, went to the city of Vologda to the Komelsky forest. They came inside the desert to the Monk Cornelius of Komel 932 and knocked at the gate with the Jesus Prayer. The Monk Cornelius, opening his doors, said to them: - Children, how did you pass through impassable places and why did you enter this wretched desert? What are you looking for? “Our Lord, Rev. Father Cornelius, we were overcome by a great desire to put on monastic attire. For Christ's sake, count us among your God-chosen flock. The Monk Cornelius said to Gregory: “You, child Gregory, enter my wretched monastery, and you, child Theodore, will remain in worldly life, take a wife and give birth to children.” The Monk Cornelius imposed monastic temptation on Gregory according to the tradition of the holy fathers. Gregory lived in this trial for a considerable time, after which the Monk Cornelius, entering the church, tonsured Gregory into the monastic rank and spoke to him a word from the Holy Gospel: “Whoever leaves houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for the sake of My name, will receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and those who are last will be first” (Matthew 19:29–30). Then the elder spoke on fatherly questions and answers to the newly tonsured man and named him Gennady instead of Gregory. Finally he said: – Accept, child, the wisdom of the ancient holy fathers: patience, love and humility, especially common or conciliar prayer, and private prayer, and work in unhypocritical deeds. Gennady's friend Theodore, according to the prophecy of the venerable fathers Alexander and Cornelius, spent his life in peace and died in Moscow at a ripe old age. The Monk Gennady, with the blessing of Cornelius, labored diligently in prayers and labors, especially in the monastic economic services in the cookhouse, bakery, and others. Many of the brethren were indignant at Gennady for such exploits and grumbled. Hearing this murmur, the Monk Cornelius strengthened the saint, saying: “Child Gennady, do not grieve the brethren about this, for they say so under the inspiration of the demons. Then the devil, a hater of good, aroused indignation among the brethren and against Cornelius himself. Seeing this, the monk gave way to anger and, taking with him his disciple Gennady, he left his newly created monastery and went to the Kostroma region, into the wild forest, to Lake Surskoe, sixty miles from his first monastery. A little further than a mile from here lived the Tsar's peasants, the quitrent beekeepers. These peasants were very happy about the arrival of Cornelius and Gennady, built them a cell, brought them bread, honey and other necessary things, since there was a bee farm nearby. The Monk Cornelius and Gennady labored in prayer and fasting, adding labor to labor: they cut down forests, plowed the land, and dug four ponds. One day, the Orthodox Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich was pleased to undertake the task of traveling to White Lake, to pray according to his promise for good fortune. When the Grand Duke reached the desert of the Monk Cornelius and saw that he had departed from there to another place, he was very upset with the brethren and said to her: “For the sake of your murmuring and disobedience, Father Cornelius does not live in his desert. And he immediately sent his servants to ask the monk to return to his first undertaking. The Monk Cornelius came before the Grand Duke Vasily 933, fell at his feet and asked forgiveness for his departure from the desert. The noble prince picked him up and said: “My beloved, Father Cornelius, pray to the merciful God for us, so that the Lord God will grant us the fruit of good fortune as an inheritance for our family and for the establishment of honest monasteries, for the power of the Russian kingdom and for the strengthening of the Christian faith.” Then the Grand Duke spoke to the Monk Cornelius: “Abide, father, here, in your first undertaking and labors, and in the waste desert, according to our command, bless the student you want.” When the Grand Duke left, the Monk Cornelius blessed his disciple Gennady with a new desert and commanded him to erect a church there in the name of the magnificent Transfiguration of the Lord. The Monk Gennady, with the blessing of Father Cornelius and by order of the Grand Duke, arranged everything in the desert: he erected the Church of God and decorated it with icons and books and all the splendor of the church. When the brethren began to multiply in the desert, he built a second church, a warm one, in the name of St. Sergius, the Wonderworker of Radonezh, and decorated it, like the first. The monk himself, working constantly, gave the brethren an example of humility and patience; he arranged comfortable homes for the brethren; He chopped wood during the day and carried it on his shoulders to the fraternal cells at night, worked in the cookery and bakery, washed hair shirts for the brethren, made candles, cooked kutya, baked prosphora - and especially excelled in church services, in fasting and prayer. In addition to this, he wore iron chains and crosses and heavy chains. The monk bore such a great burden to pacify his flesh. As a result, the grace of the Most Holy Trinity rested on him; having been granted it, the monk strove for greater and greater feats, setting an example for his disciples in all customs and morals, for he taught them not so much in word as in deed, showing them what was stated above. “Who is able to depict all the details of his life and all his exploits and patience, or who can list his illnesses and labors and care for his brethren!” So exclaims the compiler of his life, his disciple Alexy, who further, to the praise of the Monk Gennady, and more to the glory of God, narrates about his miracles performed by the grace of God during his life and after death. Here are some of these miracles. One day it happened that the Monk Gennady came to the reigning city of Moscow with his disciples Serapion and Uar. He was received with honor by the noblewoman Juliania Feodorovna, the wife of Roman Yuryevich. Juliania asked Gennady to bless her sons Daniel, Nikita and daughter Anastasia. When the saint blessed Anastasia, he said: “You are a beautiful vine and a fruitful branch, you will be our blessed empress and queen.” Hearing these words, the noblewoman Juliana, together with her children and all the people who were present, were surprised at what kind of incomprehensible speeches Gennady was uttering and where they were announced to him from. The noblewoman Juliania generously provided for Gennady, and for more than one year. Everything that was said prophetically by the elder came true: Anastasia Romanovna became queen, the first wife of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible 934. She had deep faith and respect for the house of the all-merciful Savior and for the Monk Gennady, and sent him honest icons and vestments and other things needed for church services. One day, boyar Boris Paletsky, overcome by illness, came to the monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord to pray. The Monk Gennady was very happy at the arrival of the prince, called the brethren and met the visitor at the holy gates with the appropriate prayer and gave him his staff. From that hour the prince became healthy and glorified God, and everyone rejoiced at the prince’s recovery. Having given sufficient alms to the monk and the brethren, the prince returned to his house with all the people. The prince instructed the priest Vasily, who was with him, to take the road, the elder’s blessing. For some reason this priest became angry with the prince and, blaspheming the saint’s blessing, threw that staff into the Kostroma River. The prince was very sad, having lost the blessing of the elder. When the said priest arrived at his house, he found his wife dead there, and after some time he himself fell into a serious illness. Then he began to repent of his sin, that he had laughed at the prince and the reverend elder about the road, and made a promise to take haircut in the house of Spasov with the elder Gennady. After a little time, this priest came to the monastery of Spasov, fell down to the monk and, telling about what had happened, asked for forgiveness for his insolence and begged the saint to include him among his God-chosen flock. The monk, having blessed him, said: “Brother, Christ said: “He who comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37). Then he ordered him to be tonsured into the monastic rank and called his name Varlaam. Varlaam labored for quite a long time at the monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and then, with the blessing of the holy elder Gennady, he was abbot at the Epiphany Monastery in the city of Kostroma. The aforementioned Prince Boris Paletsky donated a valuable bell to the house of the Spasov, to the Gennadiev monastery. It once happened that the Vologda and Great Perm ruler Cyprian fell into a serious illness. Having zeal for the monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and also having spiritual love for the Venerable Elder Gennady, he sent one of his servants for Elder Gennady, asking him to visit him on the occasion of his illness. The monk came with his disciples, hieromonks Misail and Alexy, to the city of Vologda and asked Bishop Cyprian for a blessing. The Bishop rejoiced at the arrival of the holy elder and, having until that time had no opportunity to get up from his bed, stood up to meet the saint, blessing him and his disciples with the sign of the cross, and, taking the monk by the hand, led him into the inner cell. The saint talked for a long time with the venerable elder. The people, seeing the bishop’s relief from illness as a result of the saint’s visit, were very surprised and glorified God, who works glorious miracles through His saints. After the conversation, both ate the blessed bread. The next day, in front of all the people, the bishop asked the monk: - Desert mentor, Reverend Father Gennady, pray to the merciful God for us, that He will ease my bodily illness and heal the ailment of my leg. The monk said to the saint: – God, a lover of humanity, helps from sorrow and heals mental and physical illnesses and alleviates the infirmity of suffering people – and this is not our great work. My lord, saint, everything is possible from God, but nothing is possible from men. Here you are, my lord, now you are already healthy from the general bodily sorrow, but let your leg remind you of the last hour and not be healed until your last breath. Peace be with you, my lord, holy father! After this, Vladyka lived for another five years and departed to the Lord. The descriptor of the life of the Monk Gennady, his student and successor as abbot Alexy, tells the following about himself. Having been offended by the brethren of the Gennadiy monastery of the All-Merciful Savior, Alexy retired from here to the city of Kostroma and settled in the monastery of the Epiphany of the Lord. But soon he became very ill and could not stand in church. For this reason, he moved from Kostroma to the Adrian Desert near Poshekhonye. But the disease did not stop. By the revelation of God, he returned to the Gennady monastery of the All-Merciful Savior and, flowing with prayer to the tomb of Gennady, asked for forgiveness in his cowardice and received healing. Of the numerous posthumous miracles of St. Gennady, we will also mention the following. A certain boyar’s son, Ivan Likharev, donated one of his villages to the Gennadiev Spasov Monastery, but then changed his mind and transferred this village to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Soon after this, his son Alexy died unexpectedly, and his wife fell into a serious illness. Neighbors and acquaintances began to say that her husband had acted badly, leaving the Savior monastery and giving the village to another monastery, and they advised her to write a letter to her husband, who was in Pereyaslavl Zalessky. The wife wrote and immediately felt relieved. Meanwhile, in Pereyaslavl, John also fell ill: some kind of fear attacked him and his face was distorted. Those around him also reproached him for why he left the monastery to Spasov. Then John heeded the message of his wife and the advice of his neighbors, returned the village to the monastery of the Monk Gennady and promised not to leave it. Soon he received healing from his illness. Those who prayed at the tomb of Gennady with faith and zeal received healing from various diseases: from toothache, from eye disease, from relaxation, especially from frenzy of mind and demonic possession. There was such a miracle. One hierodeacon of the Gennadiy monastery stole church books and tablecloths and, having walked only a few miles to the Andoma River, he felt relaxed and could not move his arms or legs. They let the abbot know, and he sent for the deacon, who was brought to the monastery with books. The deacon confessed to his sin and fell to the tomb of the Monk Gennady, asking for forgiveness and healing of his hands and feet. And, through the prayers of the Monk Gennady, God had mercy on him and restored his health. The townsman of the city of Kostroma, Luka Gustyshov, did not have faith in the miracles of the Monk Gennady and decided not to visit the monastery of Spasova and at the tomb of the saint. Having been chosen as a kisser at the customs (that is, sworn collectors of customs duties), he went with his comrades to collect the sovereign's money. But suddenly he was struck by a serious illness: his cheeks were swollen, his head ached unbearably, and he went into a frenzy. Relatives brought him home, where he lay dying. Having regained consciousness, he remembered his sin, promised to go to the monastery of Spasov and to the tomb of the Monk Gennady. Having served a prayer service there, he received healing through the prayers of St. Gennady. One noblewoman of the Galician district, Korezhskaya volost, from the Laptev family, had four sons, one of whom, named Kirill, wanted to take monastic vows at the Gennady Monastery and wanted to give his share of his father’s estate as a contribution to the monastery. The mother, having learned about this, began to curse her son and did not allow him to give his share to the monastery. Suddenly she suffered from a serious, unbearable headache. Tormented by this illness, she remembered her sin, made a promise to go to the monastery of Spasov to pray at the tomb of the Monk Gennady and contribute her son’s share. Then she felt relief from her illness and soon fulfilled her promise. Her son took monastic vows under the name Cornelius, and she glorified God for the healing given to her. Before his death, the Monk Gennady left a teaching in which he outlined his thoughts and covenants about monastic life both to his disciples and to all Orthodox Christians. This is a simple and edifying lesson. “The Great Lavra of the Life-Giving Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God of the Ipatskaya monastery to the brother in Christ and the ever-present shepherd of the verbal sheep, Abbot Vassian, as well as the Savior monastery of our flock to the builder Joseph and to all our brotherhood. I tell you, my spiritual brothers and fasters: for me the day is already at evening and the ax at the root, for I am already leaving for the judgment seat of Christ. For the sake of the holy commandment of the Lord, do not forget me when you pray, but when you see my tomb, remember my love and pray to Christ that He may infuse my spirit with the righteous. But you, my children, fear God, obey your teachers in everything, according to the apostle. Honor the Orthodox Tsar, please the saints; all abbots obey them with spiritual conscience. And you, my children, living in the monastery of the Savior, obey the abbot, to whom our flock will be entrusted, and submit to him in everything with obedience. I especially beg and bequeath you that you do not leave this place without the blessing of the abbot. Don’t start bickering between brother and brother, strive for the light and leave the darkness. Let your life be according to the tradition of the holy fathers and agree with how the Monk Cornelius wrote to us 935 and how monastic life was established in our monastery. I beg you, pious abbot Vassian, do not leave this monastery with your faith. But you, my brothers and children, do not ruin our common tradition and do not shy away from the church council, for the first abomination for monks is not to go to church; and when you come to church, stand without mocking, do not over-judge, and do not weaken in cell prayer, so that your flesh along with your soul does not faint and so that your work does not perish, for by inciting laziness the evil Satan wants to bring the monk alive to hell. I beg you, my brothers and fasters, be not lazy in all monastic services, do not grieve and do not become discouraged in your labors, for your labors are in order to be able to eat and drink. In any case, do not grumble against the shepherd, for a grumbling monk is preparing his own destruction. In the same way, listen attentively to the teaching word and do good and good deeds, encourage the lazy to serve and pray, do not be absent from the shrines of God: if a monk does not receive Holy Communion for six weeks, then he is not a monk. I also beg you, my brothers, do not steal the monastery’s tools, neither bread nor vegetables, and do not take them outside the monastery for the sake of your whims. Have all the same clothes, do not have any food in your cells, do not take bread out of the meal, except in extreme need and illness. Let your nutrition take place at meals and be equal for everyone; let food and drink be at the proper times; At the meal, do not overeat and do not get drunk, for this is abominable before God, and aggravation and illness are for the flesh. It is also indecent for you to be at enmity with each other, for those who create enmity and foul language will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven; Such are also those crafty hypocrites who send their brethren here and there, but themselves do not touch the matter with a finger. Oh woe! The abyss of bitter hell is filled with careless monks, but the righteous, having suffered a little and kept God’s commandments, will rejoice forever. Christ brings like-minded people into His home. So you too, my children, try to go through the narrow gates and the regrettable path in order to acquire an eternal life. I command the servants and other workers not to be angry and not to be at enmity with each other; one should obey and obey the abbot in everything, and not insult the brethren either in word or deed, not inflict inappropriate insolence, but try to be pleasing to all people. Monastic tools and household items should be protected so that none of them perish. Do not touch other people’s property and do not steal anything, for collecting one’s own property causes great harm to the monk, and consigns the soul to unquenchable fire and eternal torment. And you, my children, beware of such evil and madness and remind other people of these words of ours. Monastic affairs should be performed without grumbling, without laziness and without rebellion, so as not to be hypocrites and people-pleasers, doing only in front of your eyes, but try to be pleasing to God, working behind your eyes with faith and truth. Do not offend the peasants with violence and do not boast among guests, take the last places, and most importantly, do not quarrel with anyone and do not speak false words about the brethren to the abbot. Be, my brothers, hasten to do good and learn the word of God in the Holy Gospel and in the Apostolic Writings. Keep the books we purchased in Spasov’s house; You should, my children, delve into them and apply your mind to understanding them: here are the works of the holy fathers. If anyone keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Christ, he will rejoice forever.” The Monk Gennady died on January 23, 1565; His quiet and peaceful death followed a short illness. The disciple of the Monk Gennady and his successor, Abbot Alexy, in a word of praise to the saint, lists his virtues and notes that he was revered for them in the royal family: he was the successor of the daughter of Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible from his first wife Anastasia Romanovna, to whom he had previously predicted marriage with the Tsar and childbearing. According to the words of Elder Anthony, a monk of the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery, Alexy tells another circumstance about the Monk Gennady. When Gennady was once in Moscow at a service in a church in which the royal servants and boyars' wives stood, a poor and wretched woman entered with children, who were crying, some in her arms, others next to her. Looking at her, the noble noblewomen, sighing to the Lord and the Most Holy Theotokos, thought to themselves: “The Lord gave children to such poor people who have nothing to feed them, but to us, who have the opportunity to raise children from the royal salary, the Lord did not give children, of course, for our sins.” The Monk Gennady understood their thoughts and said to them: - Do not grieve, ladies: if you live piously in your position, then, by the command of God, from now on you will give birth to children. According to the prophecy of the monk, this came true not with one, but with many noble wives. And in other cities, the Monk Gennady predicted childbearing for many pious women. The discovery of the relics of St. Gennady took place in 1644 during the days of the pious Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich and under Patriarch Joseph, when the dilapidated wooden Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was dismantled and construction began on a stone church; While digging ditches, they found a coffin with the incorrupt body and vestments of the saint. The life of the Monk Gennady and the service to him were written by the monk Alexy, a disciple of the monk and abbot of the monastery founded by Gennady. The Life has been preserved in many manuscripts; in some of them there is a request from the descriptor to take his work for review to Tsar Theodore and Metropolitan Dionisio, therefore the life was written between 1584 and 1587. The service, akathist and life, together with the dying teaching, were more than once published in the St. Petersburg and Moscow Synodal printing houses in Slavic font, for example, Moscow, 1888. Life, description of miracles, the teaching and the story about the discovery of the relics were published in full according to manuscripts in the Yaroslavl Diocesan Gazette for 1873 and as a separate brochure in Yaroslavl in 1873. The story of the discovery of the relics of St. Gennady in 1644 says that he was from the city of Mogilev. The Monk Cornelius of Komel died in 1537; His memory is celebrated on May 19. Grand Duke Vasily IV Ioannovich reigned from 1505 to 1533. The first Russian Tsar; ruled the state from 1533 to 1584 (in 1547 he took the title of royal). The Monk Cornelius of Komel wrote a communal charter for his monastery, from which the Monk Gennady came. This charter was published in the History of the Russian Hierarchy and especially in 1812. You might be interested in: