Today, October 4, the Church celebrates the discovery of the relics of St. Demetrius of Rostovtranslated

The discovery of the relics of the famous Orthodox spiritual writer and preacher St. Demetrius of Rostov is celebrated by the Church on October 4.

Saint Demetrius (+ 1709), later Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl, was from the town of Makarov in the Ukrainian Hetmanate.

He entered the history of Russian Orthodoxy as an outstanding spiritual writer, preacher and teacher. His special merits are the founding of the Rostov Grammar School and the compilation of the “Four Menias” - a multi-volume collection of the lives of saints.

In 1702, having arrived at the Rostov See, Saint Demetrius first of all visited the monastery of St. James. There, in the cathedral church in honor of the Conception of the Most Holy Theotokos, he celebrated the Liturgy, after which, in front of everyone, he determined on the right side of the church the place of his future burial with the words: “Behold my peace, here I will dwell forever and ever.”

After the death of the saint, in November 1709, despite his wishes, the clergy and residents of Rostov asked the locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Stefan of Yavorsky, who had arrived for the funeral, to bury St. Demetrius in the cathedral church of the city, next to his predecessor St. Joasaph.

Metropolitan Stefan insisted on...