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St. Great Martyr Barbara
During the reign of the Roman king Maximian, there lived in the East, in the city of Iliopolis, a noble and rich man, Greek by birth, named Dioscorus. He had a daughter named Varvara, whom he cherished and protected like the “apple of his eye,” especially since she was his only daughter. She was distinguished by her remarkable beauty, so that there was no one in that country more beautiful than her. Fearing, therefore, that she would not attract the attention of people who were lower than her in origin, since he considered such people unworthy to marry his daughter, Dioscorus built for her a separate, luxurious room in a high, skillfully constructed tower, where Varvara settled, surrounded by teachers who replaced her deceased mother, and many slaves.
Living in this room in a high tower, Varvara could enjoy the view of the most picturesque area around her home. And in fact, looking around from her high choir, she could not stop admiring the beauty of heaven and earth, mountains and valleys, spreading out before her eyes. The sight of the brilliant sun and the night luminary - the moon and the sky, shining with countless stars, aroused inquisitive thoughts and questions in the mind of the inquisitive Varvara. “Who created all this beauty?” – she asked her mentors. Looking also at the fields, fields and meadows strewn with flowers, she asked: “Who created all this?” “Our gods created all this,” answered those around her.
-What kind of gods are these? – Varvara asked.
- Those gods that your father reveres and keeps in his house are gold, silver, and wood. They created everything that you see, and your father worships them.
But the reasonable girl did not believe these words, and, in her doubts, she reasoned to herself like this: “The gods that my father reveres are made by human hands; gold and silver were made by goldsmiths, stone ones were carved by a stonemason, wooden ones were made by a carpenter. How could these gods, themselves made by someone else’s hands, unable to walk or do anything, create the heavenly spaces and all earthly beauty?
Thinking like this, more and more often I looked closely at the nature of Barbarian and tried to extract from the creature itself the answer to my persistent question: who created him? And so, in one of these moments of holy inquisitiveness, heavenly grace illuminated her soul; the comprehension of the one, unknown and incomprehensible God, who wisely created heaven and earth, was revealed to her mental gaze. With her own mind, she reached the following reasoning: “There can only be such a God, Whom was not created by the hand of man, but He Himself, who has His own existence, creates everything with His own hand.” There can only be one God, who created the heavenly space and established the foundations on which the earth rests, and enlightens the entire universe with the rays of the sun, and the moonlight, and the brilliance of the stars; He also decorates the earth with various trees and flowers and waters it with rivers and water springs. There can only be one God who contains everything and arranges everything, and gives life to everything and provides for everything.
So the young girl Varvara, through the knowledge of creation, learned to know the Creator, and the words of the prophet David came true: “We have learned in all Your works, O Lord, in the creation we have learned Your hand.” And in this comprehension of the Creator of the world, the fire of Divine love flared up in her heart, and her soul was inflamed with such a desire for God that she knew no peace day or night, thinking about only one thing and wanting only one thing: how and from whom she could learn and learn about this God and the Creator of the world. But she could not have such a mentor who would reveal to her the mysteries of the holy faith and guide her on the path of salvation, since her father Dioscorus, surrounding her with strict supervision, forbade anyone to approach her, with the exception of her mentors and slaves. But the Most Wise teacher and mentor the Holy Spirit Himself invisibly taught her and mysteriously inspired her with His suggestions, which revealed to her soul the knowledge of the truth.
And the youth Varvara lived in her solitary tower, like a lonely bird, thinking about the highest, and not about the base; and her heart was not attached to anything earthly, she did not love gold, or precious stones, or fancy jewelry, or anything that was attractive to others at her age. And she never thought about marriage, but, embraced by love for God with all her soul, she deepened only in thoughts about Him.
When the time came for her to be married off, and many rich and noble young men, having heard enough about her beauty, asked Dioscorus for the hand of his daughter, Dioscorus once ascended to the tower of Barbara and began to talk to her about marriage, about various beautiful suitors who were looking for her hand, and proposed that she become engaged to one of them. Having heard such a proposal, the chaste Varvara was greatly embarrassed and blushed all over, ashamed not only to hear, but also to think about marriage. Therefore, with all her strength she resisted the will of her father, since she valued her virginity as the most precious of treasures. For a long time her father tried to persuade her to obey his will, but she persistently objected and finally told him: “Father! If you don’t stop forcing me to marry, then soon you will no longer have to call yourself a father: I will take my life, and then you will lose your only child.”
Hearing this, Dioscorus was horrified and left his daughter, no longer daring to force her and, hoping that, having become older, she would be more reasonable and voluntarily agree to marry, like other girls who had reached adulthood. At the same time, he decided to take a long journey, keeping in mind that his daughter would miss him and, rejoicing at his return, would be more inclined to obey and fulfill his will. When leaving, Dioscorus ordered that a luxurious bathhouse with two windows facing the south be built in his garden, next to a spring there, and allowed his daughter’s mentors to allow her to leave the tower and freely spend time as she wished. Having allowed this, Dioscorus hoped that, meeting and talking with her friends and seeing that many of them were willing to get married, his daughter would come to her senses and follow their example.
When Dioscorus left for a distant country, Varvara, having now received the freedom to leave her house and meet whomever she wished, became close to some Christian girls and, having heard from them about Jesus Christ, rejoiced with all her soul and tried to learn from them as much as possible about Him. They told her about Christ, about His ineffable Divinity, about His incarnation from the Most Pure Virgin, about His voluntary suffering and resurrection, about the future Judgment and eternal torment of idolaters, and about the endless bliss of Christians in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Having listened with pleasure to all these stories, Varvara was inflamed with love for Christ and the desire to accept holy baptism.
At this time, a presbyter accidentally arrived in this area from Alexandria under the guise of a merchant. Having learned about him, Varvara invited him to her place and managed, secretly from everyone, to learn from him the knowledge of the one God, the Creator and Almighty, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, which her soul so thirsted for. Having initiated her into all the sacraments of the faith, the presbyter baptized her in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and, having taught her and instructed her, returned to his side. – And Saint Barbara, enlightened by baptism, devoted herself even more to her love for God and spent days and nights in prayer, observed fasting and worked diligently for the Lord, to whom she had deceived herself with a chaste life.
At this time, a bathhouse was being built in Varvara’s garden, by order of her father before his departure. One day Varvara went to look at this building and, seeing two windows broken through the wall, said to the workers: “Why are you only breaking through two windows? Wouldn't it be better to add a third? And then the wall will be more beautiful, and the bathhouse will be brighter.” But the workers answered her: “So your father ordered us to install only two windows on the south side.” Varvara began to insist that a third window be cut (in her opinion, into the image of the Holy Trinity). And when the workers, fearing to anger her father, did not agree to fulfill her command, she told them: “Do not be afraid, do as I tell you, I will take responsibility before my father and will intercede for you.” “Then they cut a third window in the bathhouse at her command.
There was, as it was said, a source at which the bathhouse was built; this source had a fence made of hewn marble; One day, approaching her and turning to the east, Saint Barbara inscribed on the marble an image of the holy cross, and this image, inscribed by the hand of a pure maiden, was imprinted on the marble as if carved with iron. At the same bath, Varvara’s footprint was also imprinted, and water flowed from it, which became healing for everyone who came here with faith. Yet this: the bathhouse with three windows, arranged in the image of the Holy Trinity, and the marble stone at the source with the image of the cross, and the footprint of Saint Barbara were preserved until the time of Blessed Simeon Metaphrastus, who, according to John of Damascus, described the suffering of St.
Barbara and says in his narration the following: “even to this day there exists that source that heals the illnesses of all Christ-loving people, so that if someone wanted to equate it with the streams of the Jordan, or with the Sheep Fountain, or with the Spring of Siloam, he would not sin against the truth, since in that source the power of Christ acts, producing many miracles.
Walking one day through the rooms in her father’s house and seeing in one of them idols placed in a place of honor, Varvara sighed heavily at the thought of the disastrous delusion of idolaters and, spitting on the face of the idols, said: “Let all those who serve you and demand help from you, soulless ones, be like you...” And having said this, she returned to her dwelling in the tower and indulged in her usual prayer and fasting, and plunged with all my soul into the thought of God.
Soon after, her father Dioscorus returned home. One day, while inspecting the buildings being built in his house, he approached the newly built bathhouse and, seeing three windows in the wall, became angry with the workers, why did they violate his orders and cut out three windows in the wall instead of two. - When Dioscorus, calling Varvara, began to ask her why she ordered to break through the third window, she answered him: “Better three than two windows. You, my father, ordered to cut out two windows in the image, as I think, of two luminaries - the sun and the moon, so that they would illuminate the bathhouse; I also ordered the third window to be cut down - into the image of the Trinity Light, since there are three windows of impregnable, ineffable, impenetrable and unflickering light, through which every person coming into the world is enlightened. – Dioscorus was embarrassed at such completely new for him, truly amazing and incomprehensible words of his daughter.
Having gone with her to the side and standing at the source at the bathhouse, on the fence of which there was a cross inscribed by the hand of Barbara (but Dioscorus had not yet noticed it), the father asked his daughter: “How is it that every person is enlightened by the light from three windows?” The saint answered him: “Listen, my father, and understand what I say. The three faces of the one God in the Trinity, living in the unapproachable light, enlighten and enliven every creature - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And for this reason, I ordered three windows to be built in the bathhouse, so that one of them would serve as an image of the Father, another - the Son, and the third - the Holy Spirit, so that the walls themselves would glorify the name of the Holy Trinity.
Then Varvara pointed to the image of the cross on the marble fence and said: “And here, I also depicted the sign of the Son of God, who, by the good pleasure of the Father, by the action of the Holy Spirit and for the sake of the salvation of the human race, was incarnated from the pure Virgin Mary and voluntarily suffered on the same cross that is depicted here. For His sake, I depicted the sign of the cross here, so that by the power of the cross all demonic power would be removed from here.
Having heard this and much more about the Holy Trinity, about the incarnation and passion of Christ, about the power of the cross and other sacraments of the holy faith from his wise daughter, the hard-hearted father became furious. Forgetting at that moment his natural love for his daughter, he drew a sword and wanted to hit his daughter with it, but she ran away from him; he, like a wolf after a sheep, chased after her with a naked sword in his hand and was already overtaking the immaculate lamb of Christ, as she ran to a stone mountain, which, like a wall, blocked her path... Not seeing where to hide from the sword of her father, or rather the tormentor, and having no other refuge than God, the saint raised her spiritual and physical eyes to Him, asking Him for protection and help. And the Lord was not slow to hear His servant and show her His help. Before Barbara, as once before St. The first martyr Thekla, fleeing from shameless people, cracked the stone mountain, and under its spreading blocks the saint freely hid, as in a cave.
And Dioscorus, whose heart was harder than stone, not suddenly seeing his daughter running away in front of him, was surprised at how she disappeared from his eyes and continued to search for her long and persistently. While going around that mountain and looking for his daughter, he saw two shepherds grazing their sheep on the mountain. They saw Saint Barbara run up the mountain and hide in a cave. Approaching them, Dioscorus asked them if they had seen his daughter running away. One of the shepherds, a kind man, seeing the angry Dioscorus, wanted to save the innocent maiden from him and said that he had not seen her. But another shepherd, silently, pointed to the place where the saint had taken refuge. And Dioscorus hurried there, and the shepherd, who pointed out the saint’s refuge, suffered God’s punishment in the same place: he turned into a stone pillar, and his sheep into locusts...
Having found his daughter in a cave, Dioscorus took her out of there and began to shower her with beatings. Having hit her on the ground, he trampled her under his feet and, grabbing her by the hair, dragged her towards the house along a terrible road. At home, he locked her in a cramped and dark closet, sealed the door with a seal, assigned guards and starved his daughter with hunger and thirst. Then he went to the ruler of that country, named Martian, and announced to him that his daughter had renounced the gods, believed in some crucified man, and began to beg the ruler to persuade her to her father’s faith with threats of various tortures. After that, he brought her out of prison, brought her and handed her over to the ruler, saying: “I renounce her because she has renounced my gods; and if she does not turn to them again and worship them with me, then she will not be my daughter, and I will not be her father. You, the ruler who has the power, torment her as far as it is in your power.”
The ruler, seeing Varvara, was struck by her extraordinary beauty and turned to her affectionately and affably, speaking flatteringly about her beauty and noble origin. He began to persuade her not to deviate from the ancient laws of her father, and not to resist the will of her father, but to bow to the gods and obey in everything her parent, from whom she would inherit all the estates. In response to the ruler’s convictions, the holy maiden Varvara wisely exposed to him all the insignificance of the soulless gods, confessed and glorified Jesus Christ, and said that she rejected all worldly vanity, all riches and earthly consolations and sought only heavenly consolations.
The hegemon continued to admonish her so that she would not dishonor her family and ruin her blooming youth. And finally, he said to her: “Be merciful to yourself, beautiful girl! Decide to make a sacrifice to the gods with us, because although I have mercy on you and wish to spare you, regretting to give up such beauty of yours to torment and wounds, but if you do not listen to me and remain disobedient to us, then you will force me against your will to betray you to fierce tortures.”
The holy maiden answered him: “I constantly offer a sacrifice of praise to my God and I myself want to be a sacrifice to Him, because He alone is the true God, Who created heaven and earth and everything that is on them; your gods are insignificant, soulless and not valid, and they have not created anything, but they themselves are created by the human hand, as the prophet says: pagan idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands, and all pagan gods are demons. The Lord is the Creator of heaven. I listen to these prophetic words and believe in one God, the Creator of everything in the world, but I know and say about your gods that they are insignificant, and that your hope in them is in vain.”
Having heard such words from Varvara, the ruler became angry and immediately ordered her to be naked. And when she appeared naked before the eyes of everyone who was present, shamelessly looking at her naked, pure, virgin body, it was cruel, more severe than any wounds, torment for the pure, chaste and holy maiden.
After that, she, prostrate on the ground, was beaten, at the order of the tormentor, with ox sinews for many hours, so that the entire earth around was covered in her blood... Then they began to rub her wounds with sharp cuttings and cruel hair tissue in order to increase her suffering. However, all these torments, stronger than a storm and a whirlwind, engulfed the young, weak girl’s body, did not shake the martyr Varvara, who was firm in her faith, since her faith was founded, as on a stone, on the Lord Christ, for whose sake it was sweet for her to endure even the most bitter torments.
After that, the hegemon ordered the martyr to be taken to prison until he could figure out how to subject her to even more cruel tests...
Severely wounded, barely alive, Varvara was thrown into prison and there with tears she prayed to her beloved Bridegroom Christ, so that He would not leave her, who was seriously suffering, and cried out to Him with the psalmist David: “Do not forsake me, O Lord my God! Don’t leave me: come to my aid!” “And so, at midnight, in the midst of her prayer, a great light shone in the prison. The saint felt both horror and joy in her heart when she saw the imperishable Bridegroom approaching her, who had come to visit his bride... And the King of glory Himself, the Lord, appeared before her in inexpressible glory. And how the saint rejoiced in spirit and was delighted in heart when she saw Him! He, looking at her kindly, said to her: “Be of good cheer, My bride, and do not be afraid of anything. I am with you, keeping you and looking at your deeds, and alleviating your suffering, preparing your reward for them in My heavenly palace. And so, endure until the end, so that you will soon enjoy eternal blessings in my Kingdom.”
Listening to such broadcasts of Christ the Lord, the heart of Saint Barbara melted like wax from the fire of Divine desire, and like a river overflowed with love for Him. And thus, having comforted and delighted His beloved bride Barbara with His love, the Sweetest Jesus healed her of her wounds, so that not a trace of them remained on her body, and then disappeared from her eyes, leaving indescribable joy in her heart. And Saint Barbara in prison felt as if she were in heaven, inflamed with angelic love for God, glorifying Him with her heart and lips, giving Him thanks that He did not despise His servant, but visited her, who was suffering for the sake of His name.
There lived in that area one woman, a believer and God-fearer, named Juliana, who, after they took Saint Barbara for testing, watched her from the side and was present at her suffering. And when the saint was taken to prison, Juliana sat down under the prison window and thought with amazement how such a young maiden, in the very prime of her beauty and youth, had renounced her father, and her entire family, and wealth, and all worldly goods, and did not even spare her life for the sake of Christ, but with zeal gave it for Him...
When Juliana soon saw that Christ had healed Saint Barbara from her wounds, she herself wanted to suffer for Him and began to prepare for the feat, praying to the Hero of Jesus Christ that He would grant her patience in her torment. And when, at the onset of day, Saint Barbara was taken out of prison to again appear in court and undergo new trials, Juliana followed her from afar.
When Saint Barbara appeared before the hegemon, completely healthy, without any trace of the wounds inflicted on her, and shining with more beauty than before, the hegemon and everyone who was with him were struck with surprise. And then the hegemon said to her: “Don’t you see now, maiden, how much care our gods have for you! You, who were so cruelly ulcerated yesterday, today they completely healed you, and you, exhausted from illness, returned to health; be grateful for such a good deed of theirs and, having bowed to them, make a sacrifice.” “The saint answered him: “What are you saying, ruler, that your gods healed me, when they themselves, being blind, dumb and insensitive, cannot give sight to the blind, nor language to the dumb, nor hearing to the deaf, nor walking to the lame.” and if they cannot heal the sick or raise the dead, how could they heal me? And why should I worship them? I was healed by the Lord my God, Jesus Christ, who heals all kinds of diseases and gives life to the dead.
I worship Him with gratitude, and I offer myself as a sacrifice to Him, to Him, Whom you cannot see with your wicked eyes and blinded mind, since you are unworthy.”
These words of the holy martyr infuriated the ruler; he ordered the martyr to be hanged on a tree and her body to be whittled with a rod and her ribs to be scorched with lighted candles. At the same time, they hit her on the head with a hammer. But Varvara bravely endured all these torments, which could not have been endured if God’s power had not invisibly strengthened the lamb of Christ.
Among the people looking at the torment of Saint Barbara, the aforementioned Juliana stood not far away and she wept bitterly, seeing what cruel tortures the young, tender girl was suffering. Finally, excited by holy zeal and unable to hide her feelings, Juliana raised her voice among the people and began to reproach the merciless ruler for his inhuman torment and at the same time began to blaspheme the pagan gods. When they took her for it and began to ask what her faith was, she boldly confessed herself to be a Christian. Then the ruler ordered her to be tortured in the same way as Varvara. And she was hanged along with Varvara, and she was also planed with iron combs. And the holy great martyr Barbara, hanging in torment, raising her gaze to heaven, cried out to God: “God, who searches the hearts of men, You know that I strive for You, and that having loved Your holy commandments, I have betrayed all of myself to You and handed it over to Your all-powerful Hand.
But you, Lord, do not leave me, but having mercifully looked upon me and Juliana, who is suffering with me, strengthen and confirm us both to accomplish this real feat, because although our spirit is vigorous, our flesh is weak.” – And the holy Lord invisibly responded to such a prayer, giving help to the martyrs in their courageous patience.
After this, the tormentor ordered both of them to have their nipples cut off, and amid increasing suffering, Saint Barbara again cried out to her Doctor and healer: “Do not turn your face away from us, O Christ, and do not take your Holy Spirit from us; Reward us, Lord, with the joy of salvation and with the Lord’s spirit, confirm us in Your love!”
After these cruel tortures, the ruler ordered Juliana to be taken to prison, and Saint Barbara, for the sake of her greater disgrace, to be led naked throughout the city, scolded and beaten.
The holy maiden Varvara, covering herself with shame as her only clothing, turned to her beloved Bridegroom, Christ the Lord, crying out to Him: “You, who clothe the sky with clouds and the earth with darkness, as if you were wrapped in shrouds, You Yourself, O King, cover my nakedness and make my members invisible to the eyes of the wicked, so that people will not completely laugh at my work.” Yours." And then Christ the Lord, Who with all His Angels looked from His height at the feat of His martyr, hastened His help to her and sent a bright Angel to her so that He would cover her nakedness with light-like clothing. And even then the wicked spectators could not see her, and the martyr was returned to her tormentor. After her, Saint Juliana was led naked around the city - to the shame of people and angels. Finally, the tormentor, seeing that nothing could separate these martyrs from their love for Christ or persuade them to worship idols, condemned them both to be beheaded by the sword.
The parent of Saint Barbara, the stony-hearted Dioscorus, reached such demonic bitterness that not only did he not suffer in his heart, seeing the cruel suffering of his daughter, but he was not ashamed to be her executioner himself. Grasping her with one hand and holding a naked sword in the other, he led his daughter to the place of execution appointed on a mountain outside the city. Another soldier led Saint Juliana there too. And as they walked, Saint Barbara prayed to God, saying: “O God without beginning, who spread the sky like a covering over the earth, and founded the earth on the waters, illuminating with the radiance of the sun both the good and the evil, and pouring rain on the righteous and the unjust, Thou now hear me, Thy servant praying to Thee, hear, O King! And grant Your grace to every person who will remember me and my suffering. Let no sudden illness come near him, and may no unexpected death snatch him away: You know, Lord, that we are flesh and blood, and the creation of Your most pure hands.”
And so, while the saint was praying, a voice was heard from heaven, calling her and Juliana to the heavenly monastery and promising her to fulfill what she asked...
And both martyrs, Varvara and Juliana, went to their deaths with great joy, wanting to quickly be freed from the body and ascend to the Lord. Having reached the appointed place, the lamb of Christ, Barbara, bowed her head under the sword and was beheaded by the hands of her merciless father, so that in this case, according to Scripture, “the father will betray his child to death” came true.
And another warrior executed Saint Juliana with a sword, so that she, too, accomplished her feat to the end. And in rejoicing their holy souls ascended to their bridegroom Christ, and to meet the Angels and the Master himself, who received them with love.
Dioscorus and the ruler Martian were struck by sudden divine punishment. Lightning that struck at that time killed one of them while he was descending from the mountain, and the other, sitting in his house, and burned them so that not even their ashes were found...
In that city lived one pious man named Galentian, who, taking the remains of the holy martyrs, transferred them to the city, gave them burial with due honor and built a church over them, in which many wonderful healings began to occur from the relics of the holy martyrs through their prayers, by the grace of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God in the Trinity, to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Saints Barbara and Juliana suffered around 306. In the 4th or 6th century (unknown with accuracy), the relics of St. The Great Martyr Barbara was transferred to Constantinople, where a majestic church was built in her name by Emperor Leo the Wise (886–912). In 1108 St. the relics of the great martyr were transferred from Constantinople to Kyiv by the Greek princess Varvara, daughter of Alexei Komnenos, who married the Grand Duke of Kyiv Svyatopolk II (Mikhail) Izyaslavich, the great-grandson of St. Prince Vladimir, and were laid in the Zlato-Verho-Mikhailovsky Monastery, founded by Svyatopolk. Since ancient times, the veneration of St. was widespread throughout Russia. Great Martyr Barbara and many churches were dedicated to her name, from which the surrounding areas received their names.
“We marvel at your understanding, O wise virgin,” sings the Church of St. Great Martyr Barbara, - Rejoice, more intelligent than the elder of idolaters! Rejoice, wiser than the sages of the world! Rejoice, for God has revealed His unknown and secret wisdom to you. Rejoice, you who have surpassed all the astrologers in the mind of Christ. Rejoice, you who have seen the circle of heaven more clearly than these. Rejoice, for in creation, as in a mirror, you saw the Creator Himself. Rejoice, for you have seen the uncreated light in the created luminaries!”
“Rejoice, kindly dove, who flew from the earthly corvid into the cover of the heavenly Eagle. Rejoice, thou who hast become like the young tree on the aromatic mountains. Rejoice, you who are above those below, who set ascension in your heart, you who love. Rejoice, you who brightly entered through the earthly prison into the heavenly palace. Rejoice, you who obtained the wedding garment for you from your blood! Rejoice, for we trust in you to preserve our existence from unexpected and eternal death!”
“Having heard, Varvaro, the heavens tell the glory of God, you desired to glorify God on earth: grant us His glory too!”
“Like the reddest thorn from the thorn branch, you are the root, virgin Varvaro, stained with your blood shed for Christ, and now saving your Divine memory with love from troubles!”
Relics of St. The Great Martyr Barbara currently rests in Kyiv, in the monastery of St. Archangel Michael. In 1108, the daughter of the Greek Emperor Alexei Komnenos, Varvara, going from Constantinople to Russia to marry the Kyiv prince Svyatopolk - Mikhail Izyaslavich, took with her the relics of St. Great Martyr Barbara. Part of the relics of St. The Great Martyr Varvara is in Moscow, in the church named after her on Varvarskaya Street.
St. exuded and exudes many miracles. relics of the Great Martyr Barbara. The Most Reverend Archbishop of Chernigov Lazar Baranovich (lived in the 17th century), who himself received healing from a serious illness with the honest relics of the great martyr, in his word on December 4, glorifies her as a healer of ailments.
The abbot of the St. Michael's Monastery of Kyiv, Hieromonk Theodosius (Safanovich), in his legend about the miracles that occurred from the relics of the Great Martyr, among other things says: “In 1665, the pious citizen Slutsky came to me and, bringing a hand made of silver, asked to hang it with St. relics of the Great Martyr Barbara. My question is: why is he doing this? He answered in all conscience: “From a serious illness, my hand was so twisted that I could not straighten it. Suffering from this serious illness, I remembered that healings are given with the relics of the Great Martyr, I earnestly prayed to her for the healing of my hand and made a vow to go to venerate her holy relics. Soon, with the help of St. Barbara, my crooked hand was healed. Now, fulfilling my vow, I came with thanksgiving to venerate the holy relics and, as a sign of gratitude for the healing of my hand, brought this silver hand.”
The same abbot Theodosius says: “In 1660, during an internecine war, disturbed by thoughts about the poverty of my monastery and the dangers that threatened the monks, I fell asleep, and now I dreamed that I was standing at St. the relics of the Great Martyr Barbara and I see her lying in the oil of oil, with which the cancer was filled. The saint told me: “Don’t be embarrassed, I’m with you.” Having awakened, I began to explain to myself that in the Holy Scriptures oil means mercy; therefore, the shrine filled with oil of the Great Martyr means that St. through her prayers in our monastery there will be no danger and shortcomings, but preservation from troubles and complete contentment in everything, which has actually come true.”
Kyiv citizen John fell ill with a severe fever (1670); on his painful bed he remembered the miraculous healings taking place at the relics of the great martyr. But since, due to a serious illness, he could not get out of bed himself, he begged one of his friends to go to St. Michael’s Church and there take the water that was poured on the hand of St. Barbarians. The patient was so hot at this time that his tongue had dried out. Relatives advised him to drink something cold. But he answered them: “Even if I died, the imam would not drink anything, until water would be brought from the hand of the holy great martyr”; Such was his faith in the saint. And this faith of the patient in the help of the great martyr was soon justified. When the water was brought from the hand of the great martyr, he drank a little of it with prayer and soon fell asleep, and in a dream it appeared to him as if in the church of St. Archangel Michael, a beautiful maiden, said: “I am the martyr Varvara. Many do not believe that my relics in this St. Michael’s Monastery are true: as a sign of this, you are already healthy.”
Having said this, the saint herself lay down in her race on the decorated place standing. This vision ended - and John woke up and felt completely healthy, as if he was not sick at all. The rumor about this miraculous healing of John soon spread throughout Kyiv and everyone glorified God, marvelous in his saints. This miracle happened in 1670.
No less amazing miracles occurred in subsequent times. Thus, in 1710, during a terrible and deadly epidemic in Little Russia, when the plague raged for 10 months in a row, when entire streets and monasteries were empty in Kyiv and surrounding villages, the destructive plague did not touch the St. Michael’s Monastery, and none of its brothers died, although the monastery gates were open to all who came. The same thing was noticed during the second plague of 1770, and several times in our time, during cholera epidemics, the miraculous power of the relics of St. The Great Martyr is known not only to the residents of the city of Kyiv, but also to all who honor St. Varvara.
Her relics are missing her honest head, cut off by her wicked parent, Dioscorus, and her left hand, which has long been in Greece. Under the Kiev Metropolitan Peter Mohyla, the hand was brought to Poland by a Greek who moved there from the royal family of the Cantacuzenes, Doctor Mosel, and was placed in the Fraternal Church of the Volyn city of Lutsk. Hence the hand of St. the Great Martyrs were kidnapped by the Jews, crushed and tried to burn her in a hot oven; but the villainy of the wicked was revealed, and the shrine they had crushed was put into the ark and brought into his cathedral church by Bishop Gideon of Lutsk. Later, when Gideon, persecuted by the Uniates, moved to Kyiv, he took the shrine with him and placed it in the cathedral St. Sophia Church, where it is now located.
Every year on December 4 - the day dedicated to the celebration of St. Great Martyr, her relics are solemnly carried around the church of the St. Michael's Monastery in front of a large crowd of people. At the beginning of the 18th century, Metropolitan Joasaph of Krokovsky of Kiev composed an akathist to the Great Martyr and established it to be sung weekly on Tuesdays before the liturgy, which has been invariably performed to this day.
In conclusion of our speech, let us once again draw from the edifying life of St. Great Martyr Barbara lessons for our own lives. St. Barbara courageously overcame all obstacles on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. Nothing could turn her away from the faith of Christ; She sacrificed everything to the Lord: youth, beauty, love for her parent, wealth, pleasures, and, finally, herself; and this clearly proved that for true believing Christians who sincerely seek the salvation of their souls, everything is possible. This is how it should be between us Christians. We do not have to fight with worshipers of idols, but temptations in the firmness of faith often confront each of us even now; and our time, unfortunately, suffers from a kind of delusion that is also disastrous and dangerous: faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God in our time is noticeably weakening, false teachers strive to extinguish the lamp of faith and piety, and the sons of the present age are close to paganism.
Therefore, we need to firmly protect the holy heritage of our Orthodoxy, as a valuable, irreplaceable treasure; For this, it is necessary not only to listen with full attention in church, but also at home, if possible, to read the Holy Scriptures more often, especially the Gospel, which contains the life and teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that we may be men perfect in the faith, and not tossed aside as babes, and carried away by every wind of teaching according to the wickedness of men, according to the cunning art of deception (Eph. 4:13-14). Nobility of the family, high education, wealth, physical beauty, all the pleasures of life, all earthly blessings - all this should be used for the glory of God and for the good of others, if only to preserve the purity of one’s faith and love for the Savior. It was not in vain that Saint Barbara sacrificed everything for the faith of Christ and drank the bitter cup of suffering for the name of Christ: the memory of the great passion-bearer is blessed by St. The Church will be blessed throughout all generations, and even more so, her glory will be in heaven, in the palace of her beloved Bridegroom Christ.
The same desired reward awaits every Christian if he loves the Lord Jesus Christ above all earthly things, if he stands firm and unshakable in the faith.
Our Holy Father John of Damascus
St. John of Damascus lived in the 8th century AD in the city of Damascus, which was at that time under the rule of the Arab caliphs. His father Sergius, nicknamed Mansur, although a Christian, was nevertheless in the favor of the Mohammedan ruler and served as a minister at his court. Taking advantage of his position, he did a lot of good to his fellow believers and freed prisoners who were captured by the Saracens during their frequent raids on the surrounding lands. Among these prisoners brought to Damascus, he once saw in the square one monk, to whom the other prisoners addressed him with special respect, while he himself seemed to be very sad. “Why are you grieving, man of God? - the merciful Sergius asked him with sympathy, “what could sadden you, having renounced all the joys of the world?” “I am not thinking about the joys of the world for which I died,” the captive monk answered him, “I am tormented by the fact that, having accumulated great wealth, I do not have an heir to whom I could pass it on...” and, seeing Sergius’s bewilderment, he explained: “I am talking about spiritual wealth, which I possess, having studied many sciences...
I know rhetoric, dialectics, music, astronomy, philosophy, theology... many secrets of nature have been revealed to me... Having received so many talents, I am afraid to appear before the judgment of God, not having an answer to the question: what use have I made of them?..."
Such a “rich man” was exactly the person that Sergius needed and had been unsuccessfully searching for for a long time to provide education to two children: his own son John and his adopted son, Kozma. And this is the source of that remarkable education and spiritual development, for which both students subsequently became famous, so unexpectedly provided to them by the Providence of God, a worthy mentor, since Sergius, immediately freeing this captive monk named Kozma, invited him to his home and entrusted him with raising children, then they, and especially John, generously endowed with abilities, took advantage of lessons from him in all subjects of the then scholarship. Having completed his education, John, although he was disposed to devote his life to scientific studies, had to accept service at the court of the caliph who loved him and then, after the death of his father, he was appointed mayor of Damascus and minister of the caliph.
At this time, in the Greek state under Leo the Armenian, there was a severe persecution of Orthodox admirers of holy icons. John, brought up in love of faith and in firm knowledge and devotion to all the decrees of Orthodoxy, joined the teachers of the church, admonishing and affirming Christians to adhere to the proper veneration of icons bequeathed to them by the church from the very times of the Apostles. He wrote a whole essay in his defense and sent it to Constantinople. Although there was nothing offensive in him personally for Leo, but, seeing his strong influence on the people and not being able to directly oppose John, Leo, wanting to eliminate such a zealous and influential defender of Orthodoxy in any way, ordered a letter to him to be forged under his hand with such content, from which the Caliph could conclude that John was treasonably proposing to betray Damascus into the hands of the Greek emperor... This vile slander achieved its goal: having believed in the heat of the moment Following the forged letter delivered to him by Leo, the Caliph ordered the hand of the traitor to be cut off...
The innocently injured John, returning to his home, spent the whole night in prayer in front of the icon of the Mother of God, begging him to protect his truth and heal his hand, so that she could write praises to Her and Her Son, praises that She herself would inspire to write... When, exhausted from tears and pain, John fell asleep, then in a dream he saw the Mother of God depicted on the icon, who, looking at him with love, said to him: “Your hand is healed, don’t worry about the rest; but work with it tirelessly, as you promised Me..."
And, waking up, John felt his hand growing 48... Then his heart was filled with inexpressible gratitude and was inspired for wondrous chants, which from then on poured out in an abundant stream until the end of his life and enriched the treasury of the most sublime human prayers.
Meanwhile, the miraculous healing of John’s hand amazed the caliph and testified even in his eyes to the innocence of the victim. Having returned his former favorite to his former favors, the caliph convinced him to remain at court, pleasing him with all sorts of brilliant promises. But John, in the trial that befell him and the manifestation of wonderful help from above, felt a calling to a different path... And, despite the insistence of the caliph, he renounced all worldly honors that had always burdened him, and, having distributed all his property to the poor, he retired to the monastery of St. Sava the Sanctified near Jerusalem. Here he subjected himself to the strictest obedience, to such an extent that, having entered under the command of one venerable, but very simple old man, he accepted strict regulations from him and, among other things, submitted to “not writing any messages to anyone and maintaining constant silence”... It was not easy, however, for him, whose mind, enriched with knowledge, and whose soul, filled with feelings, sought to pour itself out in word and letter...
But John humbly endured this overwhelming test, completely unexpected for him... Meanwhile, a great temptation presented itself to him. One monk died in the monastery; the brother of the deceased, in great sorrow for him, begged John to write something to alleviate his grief... And John himself, sympathizing with his brother’s grief, felt the need to pour himself out in words, but hesitated between this consolation and his direct duty. Finally, unable to withstand too painful a temptation, he expressed the impressions that filled his soul in funeral verses 49:
“What sweetness in life is not associated with sorrow?
What glory was unchangeable on earth?
Everything is weaker shadows, everything is more deceptive than sleepy dreams.
One moment - and all this is inherited by death!
But, in the light of Your face, Christ,
In enjoying Your beauty,
As a lover of mankind, rest, whom You have chosen.
Alas for me! What a struggle when the soul is separated from the body!
Alas for me! How she grieves then and there is no compassionate one.
Turns his eyes to the angels? The prayer is in vain.
Does he stretch out his hands to people? No assistant.
My dear brothers! Let us remember the brevity of our life;
Let us pray to Christ that he may rest in peace
And he will give great mercy to our souls!
Vanity is everything human; everything does not survive death.
Wealth does not stay with us,
Glory does not accompany us.
Death came and all this disappeared.
Let us call upon the immortal Christ:
May the one separated from us rest in peace.
Where is the dwelling place for all who rejoice?
Where is the bustling noise of the servants?
All dust, all dust, all shadow.
Come, let us cry to the immortal King:
Lord! Your eternal blessings
Honor him who is separated from us!
May he rest in endless bliss!
I remembered the prophet calling:
And I say to myself: who is here, a king or a warrior?
Who, rich or poor, righteous or sinner?
But, Lord! May Your servant rest with the righteous.
What crying, what groaning and need - separation of the soul.
But - Lord! May your servant rest with the righteous.
Here is hell, and the life of time is death, a disappearing shadow,
A false dream, the work of life remaining in one dream.
ABOUT! Let us flee all sin so that we may inherit heavenly things.”
I cry and sob when I think about death,
And I see beauty created in the image of God,
Lying in a coffin, Ugly, inglorious, without appearance.
Oh miracle, what kind of mystery has happened to us?
How did we give in to decay? How did you deal with death?
Verily, according to the will of God, as it is written,
Giving peace to the departed.”
John consoled his brother, eased his sorrow with this sincere outpouring of it in beautiful harmonies, but this satisfaction was not without suffering... One day, when he quenched his soul by singing these verses in his cell in the absence of his strict elder, he, unexpectedly approaching his cell, heard him singing...
- So you have forgotten your vows and instead of contrition in silence, you rejoice in singing? – the elder menacingly addressed John, entering his cell.
In vain did John justify himself to him, explaining to him the reason why he had broken his vow; in vain, with tears, he begged him to forgive him his disobedience, which he decided on only to console his brother; the stern simpleton, to whom such consolations seemed an unworthy weakness, and breaking a vow a crime, was inexorable and expelled him from his cell. And only after some time, convinced by the intercession of all the brethren for John, the elder decided to accept John again, but not otherwise than after he had fulfilled the most humble of obediences, imposed only on simple novices. John did not disdain to perform a task that was unusual for him and with humility, with his own hand, he cleansed all the unclean places in the monastery. And then the elder, touched by such humility of the former famous dignitary in the world, hugged him and said:
- Oh! what a master of patience I have raised! ABOUT! what a real novice this is! - allowed him to return to his cell. – But nevertheless, John remained doomed to silence...
But the sacred fire was not destined to go out... But the gift sent from above was not destined to be hidden under a bushel... and the Mother of God Herself stood up for the singer.
- Why did you block the source from which sweet and abundant water should flow, the water that David thirsted for, which Christ promised to give to the Samaritan woman? Let this living water flow 50, because it will water the universe, cover the sea of heresies, and those who thirst will be quenched by it... John will accept the prophetic harp, the Davidic psalter and sing new songs to the Lord God!” - said the Mother of God, appearing in a dream to a strict old man who imposed a vow of silence on John of Damascus. And the elder listened to Her with reverence and allowed and blessed with the tenderness of John “to ascend to the high Zion of the Vision of God and, preaching, to evangelize Jerusalem”... - “Forgive me,” added the humble one, “that I, out of ignorance and simplicity, have hitherto prevented you from opening your lips”...
And from then on, the inspired hymns of John flowed to the glory of God. In addition to the hymns that adorn the Divine Services of the Orthodox Church to this day, he composed a dogmatic statement of faith, many prayers, some lives of saints, and wrote a lot and boldly in refutation of various heresies. Summoned by Patriarch John to Jerusalem and ordained a presbyter in order to become a preacher at the Church of St. Resurrection, John, however, did not remain here long and after the death of the patriarch (in 735) he returned to his monastery (Venerable Sava), where he continued his scientific works. Once he traveled to Constantinople to denounce Emperor Constantine Copronymus and the bishops devoted to him, whom he was not afraid to call low people-pleasers. Copronymus, who was indignant to the point of rage at John at the council in 755, himself uttered an anathema to John from the church pulpit. John subsequently answered him with two strong denunciations of the iconoclasts 51 .
Having labored and “stayed on guard of the faith” to the end, St. John of Damascus died in the Lavra of St. Savva in the 104th year of his life, around 777.
The scientist Svida speaks about John of Damascus as the author of remarkable works: “John of Damascus, nicknamed Mansur, a learned and intelligent man, was not inferior to any of the famous learned contemporaries; There are a lot of his works, and among them there are philosophical ones; he wrote parallels to St. Scripture, iambic canons and prose works. In their church songs, he and Kozma (Bishop of Maium) 52 are so high that they remain and will remain inimitable” 53 .
In the Greek service the Church sings St. Damascene:
You decorated the Church of Christ with songs:
You sang sweetly, glorious one, Divine objects;
By the action of the Spirit you struck your zither
Slender, sonorous, like David’s, father!
And shouting out Divine songs,
“You sang, reverend, in songs the ranks of saints,
Pure Mother of God, Forerunner of Christ,
Also Apostles and Prophets,
Together with the devotees of wise teachers,
Righteous and Martyrs;
You yourself are now settling in their dwellings.” 54
It was from these creations that Damascus was called “Golden Jet.” “John is rightly called the “golden stream,” St. writes about him. Theophan, - by the abundance of the grace of the Holy Spirit in him, pouring out both in his words and in his life" 55.
Constantine Acropolis says this about the songs of Damascus: “first, he decorated the glorious Resurrection of the Savior with his melodic stichera; the service he composed for St. Easter, this is the most solemn and sweetest song of joy about the conqueror of death and hell. Likewise, for other holidays, on which we reverently gather to remember the mysteries that our Lord and Redeemer performed when he was a man, John composed many beautiful songs. Then he gloriously honored the memory of the saints 56.
Zealously refuting various heresies that troubled the Church in his time, John of Damascus in his songs theologized against them and introduced into them various dogmas of Orthodoxy. All his Sunday canons and stichera are important in this regard. As an example of the wealth of dogmatic thoughts, one can imagine the Sunday canon of the 7th tone, which contains almost all Christian dogma:
Irmos. By Thy wave, O Lord, the fertile nature of the waters was changed into the form of earth. And therefore, having completed their journey dryly, Israel on foot sings to You a song of victory,
The tyrannical death of the tree was condemned when You, Lord, were condemned to an unrighteous death. Henceforth the prince of darkness was righteously expelled, unable to overcome You.
Hell was approaching You and could not crush Your body, crushing its jaws. Having destroyed, O Savior, the horrors of death, You rose again for three days.
The illnesses of foremother Eve ended; You, having avoided illness, gave birth without skill; why, knowing You, All-Holy Mother of God, we all glorify You gloriously.
Irmos. Savior Lord! Who in the beginning established the heavens with Your omnipotent word and the all-active Divine Spirit, establish me on the immovable stone of Your commandments.
You, who voluntarily ascended to the cross for us, endure torment, blessed Savior, bear ulcers that give peace and salvation to the faithful. Merciful One, we are all reconciled with the One who gave birth to You.
You delivered me from the ulcer, O Christ, wounded in my soul by the sting of the serpent, and the light shone for him who had been lying in darkness and decay since ancient times: by the way of the cross you descended into the tomb, and you revived me together with You.
Through the prayers of Your inexperienced Mother, give peace to the world, our Savior, grant the king victory over the hostile barbarians and honor those who glorify You with Your unspeakable glory.
Irmos. Without leaving your Father’s bosom, You descended to earth, O Christ God: I heard the mystery of Your looking and glorified You, O One who loves mankind.
He gave His backbone for wounds, He who became human from the Virgin, the slave sinned, and the innocent Lord is beaten, He allows my sins.
The One who, as God, created man and judges the earth righteously, stands before the court of lawless judges, as one guilty of judgment is accused and strangled with a mortal hand.
As the true Mother of God, pray to Thy Creator and Son, that I may be directed, Most Immaculate, to the saving refuge of His glorious will.
Irmos. The night is not bright for the unbelievers, O Christ, but for the faithful, with Thy sweet Divine words, it is light. That is why I pray to You in the morning and glorify Your Divinity.
For Thy servants, O Christ, Thou art pierced and suffer blows on the cheeks, redeeming our freedom: I pray before Thee and glorify Thy Divinity.
By Thy Divine power, O Christ, even in the weakness of the flesh Thou hast cast down the mighty; By resurrection, the Savior showed me the conqueror of death.
You gave birth to God, Pure Mother; He became incarnate from You as God; You did not know the bed of a man, but you give birth by the Holy Spirit.
Irmos. I am floating in the rumor of worldly cares, my sins are sinking me along with the ship, I am thrown to the murderous beast: like Jonah, I cry out to You, Christ, deliver me from the murderous depths.
The souls imprisoned in hell, deprived of the inheritance of the righteous, remembered You, and they prayed to You for salvation; You gave them salvation, O Christ, by descending, O Compassionate One, to the underground abodes.
The apostolic countenance despaired of beholding Your church, animated and not made by hands, when it was destroyed by suffering; but beyond his aspirations he bowed to him and preached his re-creation everywhere.
Virgin Bride of God! Who can explain the image of Your Nativity, which took place for us? God the Word indescribably united with You and became flesh.
Irmos. Of old, the burning furnace of the youths poured out dew when they sang and exclaimed: Blessed are You, God of the fathers, and glorified.
Adam is killed by the tree, having arbitrarily committed disobedience; by the obedience of Christ he is created again - for me the glorious Son of God is crucified.
All creation sang of You, Christ, risen from the grave; in hell flourished with You. Glorious, life, resurrection for the dead, for the darkened the light has shone.
Rejoice, daughter of corruptible Adam. Rejoice, one Bride of God. Rejoice, through whom corruption has been destroyed. Rejoice, thou who gave birth to God; Pray to Him, pure one, that we all may be saved.
Irmos. The unburnt bush, engulfed in flames at Sinai, made the tongue-tied and humming Moses know about God; and the zeal of God made the three youths irresistible in the midst of the fire: all the works of the Lord, sing praise to the Lord and exalt them forever.
The pure mental Lamb, slain for the world, put an end to legal offerings; sinless as God, he has purified the world, always crying: sing and exalt all the works of the Lord to all ages.
Our flesh, which the Creator accepted, was not incorruptible before suffering; but after suffering and resurrection she became inviolable to corruption, and made mortals new; they cry: All the works of the Lord, sing praises and exalt the Lord forever.
Your purity and innocence, Virgo, has done that the universe has been cleansed of filth and impurity; You, Most Pure One, were the reason for our reconciliation with God, and that is why we glorify and extol the Virgin in all our deeds for all ages.
Irmos. She did not bear corruptible fruit at birth through temptation; the Mother, who did not know a husband, the Virgin Mary, gave flesh to the wise Word; We magnify You, a container for the Incontainable, a place for the Infinite - Your Creator.
You who attribute suffering to the Divine, stop your lips; You are thinking something strange: we glorify the Lord of glory, crucified in the flesh, but not crucified in the Divine, one in two natures.
You who do not believe in the resurrection of bodies, go to the tomb of Christ and learn; He was put to death and the flesh of the Life-Giver was resurrected, as an assurance of the final resurrection that we await.
We honor the trinity not of Deities, but of Persons, and the unity not of Persons, but of Deity; we persecute and scatter those who divide Her; We cause confusion to those who introduce confusion into what we glorify.
† Repose of St. Guria, Archbishop of Kazan
Where the Rev. lived. Sergius and his parents, before leaving for the desert, St. was born in the town of Radonezh. Gury, baptized Gregory 57; His parents were noblemen Rugotin, poor and not very famous. In the house of a pious father, the son received a pious upbringing and was taught to read and write. The sons of humble nobles usually served then, if not in the service of the Grand Duke, then at the houses of wealthy princely families. - This is how Grigory Rugotin served in the house of Prince Ivan Penkov. Gregory was smart and intelligent, of a meek and compliant disposition, with incorruptible honesty; he loved to go to the church of God to pray, he also prayed in the house; he loved chastity and, protecting it, kept a fast; He gave whatever alms he could to the poor. Gregory's intelligence, strict honesty and pious life gained him a special trust from the prince and his wife: Gregory was entrusted with all management of the princely house. – Gregory’s comrades began to envy Gregory’s happiness. The envy that tormented the poor brought them to the point that they slandered the innocent before the prince in his criminal connection with the princess.
The proud and hot-tempered prince, without sorting out the matter, wanted to kill Gregory. The prince's son was careful; he presented to his father that such reprisals would only disgrace their house, and begged him not to rush into carrying out the sentence, which was so dangerous for themselves. Holding back his outbursts of anger, the prince came up with another measure of revenge. A hole was dug and a frame was lowered into it; This is where he ordered Gregory to be locked up. Only a small hole at the top of the dungeon let light into it, and through the same window they threw a sheaf of oats for Gregory for five days and dipped a little water. The position of the innocent sufferer was difficult: nature turns away from suffering and untruth, and for the first time Gregory could not help but feel bitter sorrow. But his pious soul soon made peace with prison. The martyrs, thought Gregory, endured something else, despite all their holiness; the prison delivered me from worldly temptations and anxieties; this solitude leaves me complete freedom to prepare for eternity - and why live on earth if not for eternity?
And so Blessed Gregory “in such trouble, he especially reaches out to the praise of God, enduring and thanking God for everything.” - The second year of imprisonment had already passed, when one of his comrades in the princely house, who was his friend, begged the stern guard Grigoriev to allow him to go to the window of the dungeon and talk to the prisoner; a good comrade came to the window at night and asked about the condition of the prisoner. volunteered to provide him with decent food. Gregory, thanking his friend for his participation, said: “Without the punishment that I suffer, my soul could have remained unhealed; thanks to God for everything! I have no need for food; and I ask my friend to bring ink and paper - I will write the alphabet, and my friend will sell them and, after buying the paper, will distribute the money to the poor.” So Gregory, even in prison, wanted the children to learn the law of God, just as he wanted to help the poor, while he himself suffered extreme needs. “Two years later, suddenly a light flashed at the door of the dungeon. Gregory, having said a prayer, pushed the door - it opened. The sufferer realized that the Lord would grant him freedom.
He took the icon of the Mother of God that was with him in prison, and went from the prison straight to the monastery of Joseph of Volokolamsk, then known for the strict life of the monks.
Accepted into the ranks of the brotherhood, Gregory took monasticism and the name Guria. - Monastic life was already familiar to him from prison: in prison he became accustomed to fasting, and to silence, and to constant contemplation of God; They weaned him from his will in the princely house. All that remained for him was to grow in spiritual life, and not learn it from the ABCs. - That’s why blessed. Gury “was a wonderful and lively monk according to the monastic order and custom, obeying the abbot and the brethren,” as the blessed one writes. Hermogenes. – Due to his high spiritual life, in 1542 he was elected abbot of the monastery of Joseph. Imbued with concern for the salvation of his soul, he sincerely cared to arouse and maintain concern for his soul among his brethren. His rule was not to equate caring for the external splendor of the monastery with caring for the salvation of souls, much less trying to enrich the monastery. “It’s not good,” he said, to enrich monasteries through need, because they are no longer empty.” Such management of the monastery attracted both monks and lay people to the monastery. Under the guidance of the blessed. Guria entered Theognost Rugotin, former abbot of Selizharovsky.
The king distinguished Blessed Gury with his attention and entered into conversations with him. - Having served as rector of the monastery for nine years without two months, blessed Gury, due to illness (prison life ruined his health for the rest of his life), laid aside the concerns of his superiors and lived for two years in peace, in fasting and contemplation of God. Then, by the will of the king, he was appointed abbot of the Selizharov monastery; but he stayed here no more than a year 58.
For the conquered Kazan kingdom, the council determined to elect an archbishop. This place of service at that time was extremely important: here one had to be with Apostolic zeal and purity of soul in order to fruitfully preach the holy faith to those who did not know it. That is why the election of the archpastor took place in an unusual way. After the metropolitan had performed the prayer service, one of the four lots was taken from the throne, and this was Guria’s lot; then one of the two was taken, and this was again the lot of the blessed man. February 7th, 1555 St. Gury was ordained Archbishop of Kazan by a council of archpastors. On the part of the tsar, a special salary was assigned to the archpastor of the new and so important diocese and various church supplies were donated; The saints and rich monasteries donated many different things from themselves. The departure and journey of the first Kazan Archbishop to his diocese was the most solemn.
On May 26, the Metropolitan, with archpastors and lower clergy, in the presence of the Tsar and his court, served a prayer service in the Assumption Cathedral and accompanied the Archbishop of the newly enlightened region from the Kremlin to the square with a procession of the cross. There was again a prayer service in the square, and the archbishop went along the Moscow River to the Simon Monastery, where he was greeted with the ringing of bells by the cathedral of monks and performed the liturgy in the monastery church. Setting off the next day by water, the archpastor was greeted in every city with prayers and performed prayers himself. Having reached the border of his diocese, where it was planned to build the city of Cheboksary, the saint made a religious procession along the city limits and then served the liturgy. – The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, with which the saint blessed the town, is still intact here, a hotbed of Christianity between the Chuvash and Cheremis 59 . – The saint’s entire journey to Kazan was almost continuous prayer, and it lasted two months 60.
The rules that were to be followed and followed by the saint of the newly enlightened country were as follows: first of all, teach the clergy; confirm the newly baptized in faith and piety; convert wandering Mohammedans and pagans to St. faith with convictions, without resorting to violence; more than others, noble persons who turn to faith teach the truths of the Gospel in the house of the archpastor; for a Mohammedan and a pagan, condemned by a court for a crime, but accepting St. faith, to petition his superiors for forgiveness of his guilt 61. - The saint, fulfilling these rules, added to this for the success of faith after prayers that in his house they found food and help for all poverty and need. Unbelievers saw that his life was holy love, charitable love for everyone without distinction. – In the second year of his ministry, the saint began to build a Zilantov monastery near Kazan. According to the rules of the saint, the monks of this monastery were engaged in teaching children to read and write, mainly the law of God.
The pious desire to introduce children to the Christian faith and rules, awakened in prison, now developed in him with special strength. Even to this day, 300 years later, the residents of Kazan do not begin to teach their children to read and write without asking the blessing of the saint from his relics. This is how the saint’s love for the education of children is known in that region. And the labors of the Gospel preacher in the land of darkness were fruitful. The divine man, testifies Hermogenes, one of his successors, brought many souls to Christ through his teaching.
For the last three years of his life, Saint Gury lay on his sick bed, unable to perform services or even go to church; but his spirit prayed and through prayer brought down heavenly grace upon his flock. – On great holidays they carried it to the liturgy in the Church of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, built by him; here he sat or even lay, listening to God’s service; his cell was already at the chapel of the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb; but his soul burned with the desire to pray with his flock on days of common praise and prayer. - His blessed death followed on December 4, 1563, and his holy body was laid in the Transfiguration Monastery.
32 years after that, they began to build the stone Transfiguration Church on the site of the wooden one, and then the tombs of Saints Gurias and Barsanuphius were opened. “All cancer of St. Guria, says an eyewitness, was filled with fragrant myrrh, and the relics floated; St. the body was incorruptible; only the upper lip was somewhat touched by smoldering. I myself, unworthy, touched St. with my sinful hand. body and felt how it floated; I also touched the funeral vestments, and they were strong; touched the robe and pulled it hard, but it was stronger than new.”
The monk Joasaph was the first to experience the power of incorruptible relics. He had the daring idea to open the shrine to St. Houri; but as soon as he touched it, his hands began to burn and they were writhing in unbearable pain; Having recognized his sin, he prayed to the saint for mercy and was healed not only from a new illness, but also from a fever that had tormented him for a long time. - The cleric of the cathedral, who suffered greatly from an eye disease, so that he could not eat food, on the day of remembrance of the saint, December 4, ordered him to be taken to the saint’s shrine and, venerating the relics, received healing. The healing of clerk Pankratiev is especially remarkable. “He was so sick that he was close to death.” In grave suffering, he prayed to God and called on the help of the newly-minted miracle workers of Kazan. Then, in a subtle dream, it seemed to him that he saw Archbishop Gury in the cathedral church; the saint wanted to take him by the right hand, but he fell to the ground. Quietly lifting him up, the saint said: “Do not grieve, servant of God John; The Lord has had mercy on you, and you will be healthy; but go and be blessed by my friend Barsanuphius.”
The saint himself led him to the right corner of the cathedral, where Bishop Barsanuphius stood, and said: “Brother Barsanuphius! bless John and free him from illness.” Barsanuphius, blessing, said: “Do not grieve, child John! By your faith in God you will be healthy.” – Waking up instantly from sleep, John began to cry in front of the icon of the saint and felt healthy.
Saint Gury, through his piety, raised up sincere servants of God in those close to him. Tsar John gave the saint the boyar John Zastolbsky to take care of everyday affairs. The boyar was a rich man, but he served the saint with all zeal and, under the influence of the saint’s piety, he feared sin more than anything else, loved the truth and was strictly honest; He especially served the saint during his illness. His son Nestor, a meek youth, from his youth began to lead a strict life, under the clothes of the boyar rank he wore a hair shirt, observed fasting, and loved the prayers of the church; with the consent of his good father, he accepted monasticism with the name Nektarios and died as a young monk. Then his father took monasticism, with the name Job; Having been ill for a short time, Jonah commanded that he be buried near the saint, in the tent that he built for him and where he buried his son. – During the discovery of the relics of Saint Gury, the bodies and robes of the monks Jonah and Nektarios, the saint’s faithful disciples, were found incorrupt.
† Repose of St. Gennady, Archbishop. Novgorodsky
Savvaty was always on Valaam, I was his student, and he was an elder to me, so said the blessed one. Gennady to Solovetsky Abbot Dosifei 63. – Then, from 1480, we see Gennady Gonzov, “a dignified, intelligent, virtuous and knowledgeable man in the Scriptures,” archimandrite of the Chudov Monastery 64. In 1482, together with the Rostov Archbishop Joasaph, the former Prince of Obolensky, he took the side of the Grand Duke in a dispute about walking around the church during the consecration of a new church; the dispute ended with a concession to the metropolitan's convictions 65; and before that, he was subjected to severe punishment by Metropolitan Gerontius for allowing the monks of the Chudov Monastery to drink Epiphany water after a meal - but at the request of the Grand Duke and the boyars he was soon forgiven 66. In 1483, he began to build the first stone church in the Chudov Monastery, in honor of St. Alexis, and first of all, in place of the dilapidated refectory, he built a new stone one 67 . The construction of the huge stone church could not be completed soon; and meanwhile, on the 9th day of 1484, Blessed Gennady was consecrated Archbishop of Novgorod 68 .
Revered by the great saint of Russia, Gennady did not abandon his concerns about the church in honor of his name. He instructed pious and knowledgeable people to complete the construction and decoration of the church, providing funds for this from himself 69 .
The main work of his life was the fight against the Jewish heresy - a fight that continued throughout the 19 years of his archpastoral service. As soon as he arrived in Novgorod (at the beginning of 1485), he learned that the heresy of the Judaizers was secretly operating here. The blessed saint burned with zeal for the holy truth of Christ. “Having been let in,” says the reverend. Joseph, against the evil heretics, he rushed at them like a lion, from the thicket of the Divine Scriptures and from the red high mountains of the teachings of the prophets and apostles; he tore with his nails the vile wombs, filled with Jewish poison, crushed and tormented with his teeth, and killed on a stone” 70. The first information about the heresy reached the archbishop almost by accident. Four members of the society, in a drunken state, reproaching each other for secret affairs, discovered the existence of an unholy society. The zealous archpastor began a search.
Testimonies were taken from those accused of heresy and those involved in the case; witnesses to blasphemous cases were questioned; it was already becoming visible that the heresy had grown into a vast society and its wickedness against Christianity should terrify every sincere Christian. But four, given bail, fled to Moscow without waiting for the end of the research. The saint immediately sent a search to the Metropolitan and Grand Duke upon his report; he begged to take proper measures against the terrible evil 71. At the council of 1488, three of those convicted of heresy were recognized as worthy of church excommunication and civil execution, and the fourth was declared free from trial, since there was only one witness against him; nevertheless, they were returned to their archpastor for admonitions and further investigation of heresy, while it was ordered that the unrepentant be sent to a civil court 72 . It was difficult for Gennady to make the matter known precisely: the society kept its affairs in the strictest secrecy; The heretics even renounced their own words with an oath, much less wanted to reveal the secret thoughts of society.
But with the help of the civil authorities, evidence was selected, confirmed by the signatures of some of the perpetrators and witnesses; Liturgical notebooks of heretics, Paschalia compiled according to the Jewish calendar, and some special books were found. Especially much was revealed by the priest Naum, who previously himself belonged to a secret society. Gennady accepted the heretics who sincerely confessed their error to church repentance, and betrayed the others to the civil authorities. He forwarded a detailed report with evidence attached to the metropolitan and awaited orders, especially since some Moscow members of the society were also mentioned 73 . This performance was no longer as successful in Moscow as the previous one. Metropolitan Gerontius died (May 28, 1489); Kuritsyn, a powerful clerk at the court, a secret member of the society, returned from Hungary and took his friends under his protection. Gennady was not invited to the general affairs of the Church. The Novgorod heretics, having learned about all this, fled to Moscow.
Here, under the protection of Kuritsyn, even banned priests performed services, and Dionysius, the court archpriest taken from Novgorod, went so far as to blaspheme the holy cross in the church. Chernets Zacharias, the main leader of the heretics, freely sent letters to the cities, where he denounced Gennady as a heretic. – The unrest grew all the more freely because after the death of Gerontius, the metropolitan see remained idle for a year and a half (until September 1490) 74 . The fiery Gennady did not remain inactive. - He sent a list of previous reports to the Sarsk Bishop Prokhor, who ruled the metropolis; asked by a message from two other bishops, Niphon of Suzdal and Philotheus of Perm, to turn pastoral care to the matter of heretics; He also described to them the new audacity of the wicked. When the new Metropolitan Zosima was elected, Gennady, although dissatisfied with some of his orders, urgently asked Zosima to subject the heretics to conciliar excommunication. Gennady did not yet know that Zosima himself belonged to a secret society and was elected through the machinations of its members.
But Zosima, even if he wanted to, could not then postpone the matter of heretics. The bishops who were at his installation had Gennady’s reports in their hands. The cathedral opened (October 18, 1490). Based on the research presented by Gennady, up to 9 people of clergy were cursed; the Grand Duke sent some to Novgorod to Gennady, and sent others into captivity 75. Gennady betrayed heresy to public shame: heretics were led through the streets in birch bark helmets with bast tassels, with wreaths of straw and with the inscription: “Behold Satan's army” 76. And God’s judgment stamped these people with the seal of wrath. After the conciliar condemnation, Dionysius fell into madness, shouted at different voices and died suddenly; the clerk Istoma's belly is rotten; monk Zacharias suffered a painful death 77. Blessed Gennady was commissioned by the council to calculate the Easter numbers for the eighth thousand years 78 - a subject at that time that was important in many respects.
On the one hand, a false belief has formed among the people that the end of Easter, located for seven thousand years, will certainly be followed by the end of the world 79; on the other hand, the Judaizers, having somehow become familiar with the Jewish chronology, pointed it out to the people to reinforce their ridicule of their faith. Blessed Gennady, whatever he did, did it with all the fullness of his soul. From his letter to Archbishop Joasaph, it is clear that he was deeply concerned about weakening the false rumors of the people regarding the expected end of the world and about suppressing the temptations that provided food for heresy. He was not content with a superficial look at the subject of general attention, but wanted to examine it from all sides. He wrote to his friend: “I think, according to Enoch, that an age works for a man,” - time for a person, and not a person for time, “and 7000 years are laid down for human change,” measuring only the changes that followed with people. “According to the Theologian, we must expect death every hour.”
“Let me wonder,” Gennady continues, “haven’t the heretics stolen our years?” Otherwise, to what extent is Jewish chronology worthy of belief? “Is it true that according to our Easter, the time of doing was not fulfilled?” i.e., should the Greek number of years be replaced by the Hebrew? “Talk about this in detail with Paisiy (Yaroslavov) and Nil (Sorsky), and write to me about it. Also, let me know if it’s possible for Paisius and Nila to visit me? It would be good to talk to them about those heresies.” Blessed Gennady in 1492 compiled a definition of Easter numbers for 70 years of the eighth thousand years and wrote “the Easter rotary key for 532 years,” in which not only in the whole eighth thousand years, but also further one can find the Easter number of both years 80. He sent out a circular message to his flock along with Paschal with the main idea that people are not allowed to know about the day and hour of Christ’s coming, and therefore it is criminal to even talk about it 81 . Blessed Gennady was not only not cruel towards heretics. on the contrary, he was very lenient, but the heretics used his lenience only for evil.
The Monk Joseph of Volokolamsk testifies: “the heretics, fearing execution, began to repent with oaths; Archbishop Gennady, believing their repentance, gave them freedom, and as soon as they received it, they all rushed to run and dispersed to many cities and villages and dispelled their wicked teaching.” The ignorance of the people at that time was fully consistent with the arrogant insolence with which those carried away by false opinions were ready to trample both conscience and the holy faith into the dirt. Less than three years had passed after the severe punishment to which the convicted heretics were subjected, when the heretics who had escaped trial with shameless impudence began to preach their wickedness again. The false belief of the simple-minded about the end of the world, which turned out to be unfounded, gave food to their insolence. “If Christ is the Messiah,” they said, “why does He not appear in glory as you expected?” They now laughed at the resurrection of the dead. During Gennady’s reign, false teachers worried people in villages and monasteries. M. Zosima gave free rein to evil and even punished bold denouncers of wickedness.
At the request of clerk Theodore Kuritsyn, Archimandrite Kassiyan, as daring as he was a heretic of a bad life, was sent to the Novgorod Yuryev Monastery; Hoping for the protection of Moscow, he began to gather heretics who had fled from Novgorod and did not want to look at Gennady. It’s hard to even talk about what wickedness was preached, what abominations were committed in the meetings of Novgorod heretics 82 . What was it like for a fiery zealot of Orthodoxy and a sincere shepherd of souls to look at this situation of his flock! He called the Rev. to help him. Joseph of Volokolamsk, and both of them, despite the strength of heresy at court, firmly rebelled against heresy. They finally achieved that M. Zosima (1494) laid aside his omophorion. The Novgorod archpastor, out of zeal against heresy, sent out translations of works against the Jews - the works of the translator Dimitri Gerasimov. One of the most important services of his Church, of his own and subsequent times, was that he took care to collect all the books of the Holy Scriptures into one general composition 83.
On the one hand, this protected the simple-minded from the deceptions into which heretics drew them, passing off forged and even fabulous works as sacred books 84 . On the other hand, it delivered to the friends of Orthodoxy the book that was necessary for them at all times, while its hitherto fragmented parts were not easy to find even for the Novgorod archpastor himself. Work is blissful. the archpastor was highly valued in St. Churches. Of the currently known copies of the Gennadiev Bible, one belonged to M. Varlaam, who gave it to the Sergius Lavra, as an expensive contribution, for commemoration according to his soul; the other belonged to c. Ivan the Terrible, who sent it to Prince. Ostrozhsky to guide the publication of the Bible; the third was owned by the Ryazan bishop. - Blessed. Gennady, with his zeal for Orthodoxy, was so reasonable that, feeling the need for a complete collection of books by St. scriptures, but not being able to find them all in an ancient translation from Greek, he commissioned the translation of some of them from Jerome’s Latin translation, and the translation was completed by the Slavic priest.
Veniamin 85; The first 9 chapters of the book of Esther were translated directly from Hebrew, probably by the newly baptized Jew Daniel, who came to Gennady from Kyiv, which he himself mentioned in his letter to the metropolitan 86. Although the valiant warrior of Christ’s truth did not have to participate in the actions of the council (from December 1504), which finally overthrew the heresy and its defenders; but he had the consolation of seeing and hearing that his exploits for the holy faith were blessed by the Church and her Lord 87.
The following is known about the activities of the blessed saint on other subjects: Pskov greatly insulted him with all the love that the blessed one showed him. shepherd. In 1485, when he first entered the flock, he sent the Pskovites a “blessed letter” with a rich gift 88. But when in the fall of the same year he sent his boyar to Pskov and with him hegumen Euthymy, who was the treasurer of Pskov, so that they would compile an inventory of churches and monasteries with their clergy, and Euthymy remained his governor in Pskov: “The Pskovites did not comply with his will,” they did not fulfill his will 89. The next year he himself went to them and, since they were worried against the leaders at that time. prince about the rights of slaves, then “he appeared at their veche meeting and, having given a blessing to the people, for a long time offered pastoral instruction and, finally, left a letter” of the same love 90. The insult to the blessed archpastor was even more harsh in 1499 - As was the custom of his predecessors, he arrived in Pskov to perform pastoral prayers for his Pskov flock and then begin to consider court cases.
The Pskovites extended their insolence to the point that they “forbade their priests to serve with him, and the prosphora makers to prepare prosphora” 91. What does this mean? What is the reason for such insolence? “The Pskovites,” says the chronicle, “did not allow him to perform the conciliar service: “you,” they said, “you want to pray to God for the century.” Prince Vasily, and our mayors went to the leader on this matter. book John" 92. So, the fact is that the Pskovites, having declared in their council that the autocratic sovereign’s order regarding the heir to the throne was unfair, rebelled against their archpastor. They subsequently paid Vasily for this gross insult by losing their freedom 93 .
Here is another feat of the blessed archpastor, which brings the greatest honor to both his mind and heart, and for which, however, he suffered many troubles in his time!
“I asked the sovereign,” he writes to the metropolitan, to order the establishment of schools; For the honor of my sovereign and for the salvation of the common, I reminded of this, and it would be easy for us. When they bring a competent protege to me, I order him to learn the litany and I do so, then, having taught him how to perform the Divine service, I release him immediately. And such people do not complain about me. - But then they bring a man to me: I order him to give the Apostle, but he doesn’t even know how to step; I order him to give the psalter, and even then he can hardly walk; I refuse him, and they shout out: “This is the land, sir! We can’t find anyone who can read and write.” You see, he barked at the whole earth, as if there was not a single one who should be elected to the priesthood. They ask me: “Perhaps, sir, order me to teach.” And I order the litany to be taught: but he doesn’t even know how to stick to a word; you tell him one thing, and he says another. I order you to learn the alphabet. After studying a little, they ask to go home, they don’t want to study. “That’s why they scold me, because of their negligence.” I can’t bet on ignoramuses.
That is why I beg the sovereign to establish schools, so that with his reason and thunder, and with your blessing, this matter will come to order... My advice on what to teach in school is this: first the alphabet with a full interpretation and subtitle words, then the Psalter with a lesson; if they learn this, they can then teach a lesson, with preparation, and canonarch and read any book. Otherwise, ignorant men teach for money and only spoil things; moves away from the master and does not know how to do anything; - barely wanders through the book, and does not know the church order at all... Will such people be Orthodox? In my opinion, they are not suitable for priests. “God said about them: “You have rejected My understanding, and I will reject you, so that you cannot be My servant.” Our lord and father! I was concerned about this before the sovereign. prince 94. – The late chronicler speaks with lively gratitude about Bl.
Gennady: “he ordained priests and deacons who had studied with him for a long time; The presbyters and deacons appointed by him were so enlightened that they turned out to be lamps of the world, true shepherds and teachers of the flock entrusted to them, and all people received great benefit from them” 95 .
In a letter (1499) to the Metropolitan, Gennady also wrote: “You, sir, spoke about subdeacons, that those who are appointed young and unmarried, but promise to maintain virginity, are given the freedom to enter the deacon and priestly ranks; but whoever gets married after that cannot receive either the deacon’s or the priest’s rank.” Gennady, for his part, proposed introducing a rule to ordain deacons and presbyters in no other way than married people. Bl. the archpastor repeated his proposal at the council of 1501, and then it was decided to require that those seeking the priesthood be married, and that widowed priests and deacons not perform the liturgy 96 . In August 1503, Gennady signed the council’s resolution not to charge fees for protege affairs either to the bishop or to his treasurer and clerk (secretary), which was a useful measure against the cry of heretics.
In June 1504, the Grand Duke summoned Gennady to Moscow, and here the archbishop presented the bishop with a letter, with which he renounced the management of the diocese and decided to “live monastically in the monastery, in submission and obedience.” The zealous archpastor had many enemies: heretics, ignorant priests with their patrons, and Pskovites. Of course, they took advantage of the tyranny of his clerk and slandered the blessed one. archpastor before V. prince, and he decided to retire into solitude 97. He chose the Miracle Monastery as a place of solitude, where he worked so hard for St. Alexey. Here he “resigned himself to God” on December 4. 1505 98 ; His venerable body was laid in St. Michael’s Church, in the very place where the incorruptible body of the saint lay. Alexy, before moving it to the new church of St. Alexia 99.
Blessed Scriptures Gennady are edifying for subsequent times. He did not condone the passion for ritual piety among his contemporaries and condemned those who used this passion for personal gain. Will not those who trade in external civilization turn this into an instruction for themselves? – In the addition to his Paschal it is written: “Judge both equally.” Firstly, three-fold alleluia, and in the fourth - glory to You, O God, reveals the Trinitarian and inseparable Divinity. And the alleluia reveals one Divinity in two natures. Otherwise, just as a person speaks in his thoughts, so does good.” In the same Paschal, the member of faith about the Holy Spirit reads like this: “and in the Holy Spirit of the life-giving Lord 100.
In memory of his healing, John attached a third silver handle to the icon, which is why this icon, which is still preserved on Mount Athos, received the name “Three-Handed”.
These verses are still used in the church.
Leave the consonances of Damascus!” - the poet translates these words in his famous poem regarding the above incident from the life of St. John of Damascus (see op. by A. Tolstoy).
“Scientist. about the Father Church" Philar., Archbishop. Chernih., § 259, p. 196.
About him, see in life. October 12th.
Extract from decree Philar., army. Black in the book “Histor. Review of the chanter. Greek Churches", § 38.
Enumeration of church hymns and the works of St. in general. John of Damascus, see in the “Review of the hymns of Greek. Church,” Philar., Archbishop of Chernigov, § 38.
We make an extract from the extensive and processed work of M. Gregory: the lives of Saints Gurias and Barsanuphius. St. Petersburg 1853
Inventory of books of Joseph Monastery, pp. 12. 15, 16, in reading. total ist. III, No. 7. Letter from the Tsar to Gury in the previous. other vivl. VI, 241. Proceedings of the Society. ist. 1826 3, 29.
Kazan. lips led 1848, No. 48.
RKP. Hermogenes' writing about the life of St. Guria and Barsanuphia. RKP. Saints: “Rev. Fathers Jonah and Nektarios, bolyars, disciples of St. Gury Archbishop, with him their relics were found in l. 7104 (1595) m. Oct. 4 d."
RKP. Dosithe's Life of Ave. Zosima and Savvati.
Prologue May 20; step. book 1.175.
Collection l. 6, 335, 36. Step. book 1,475.
Collection l. 6, 236. 4, 134. 155. 1 Nikon. l. 6, 119.
Pachomius' Life of St. Alexia with additions of time m. Makaria. Step. book 1. 475. 477. Prologue May 20: “there is enough silver to complete that church and send meals and chambers.” Snegirev monuments Moscow. ancient, p. 135. 136. His own antiquity 3, 83. 100. In the steppe. book 4. pp. 470. 473. 475, printed from a manuscript in which the leaves were broken. After the words on page 470, “by the grace of almighty God and the prayers of the saint,” the words on page 473 should have been printed, “everyone was preserved unharmed.” Now here and there it is nonsense.
Enlightener, page 51. Kazan 1855.
The search and report did not reach us, but a letter from the Metropolitan to Gennady dated February 15 did reach us. 1488 (Ist. act. 1. No. 286), where we read: “you wrote your letters to us, to the lord, my son, to the. the prince, and also to me, that heresies vegetate in Novgorod, blasphemies and insults from priests and from deacons and from clerks and from ordinary people, and you sent lists of those heretics to us, why did you search them, how they blasphemed the Son of God and His Most Pure Mother of God and cursed the St. icons; but they exalt the Jewish faith, and blaspheme our Orthodox Christian faith.” About the same thing in the scripture to Zosima, ancient. Vivl. 14, 479.
East. act. 1. No. 286. Russian. times 2.149.
Gennady in a letter to Archbishop Joasaph and in a letter to Zosima, pp. 479–481. Collection l. VI, 238, book. 1. Step. 471, 476.
East. Russian Ts. 3, 108–111. In 1489, clerk F. Kuritsyn brought with him from Hungary the story of Dracula of Volozhsk, probably translated by him (Karamz. 6, pr. 273) and distributed in copies (Vostokova’s description of music. 512). He also translated the apocryphal message to the Laodiceans (Rudneva history of heresy and dissertation note 93). From the letter of Blessed Gennady to Joseph, we see that Kuritsyn and others like him had prophecy and existence on a par with Menander, logic and the fabulous book: Sylvester, Pope of Rome.
Step. book 1, 476. 477. Collection. l. 3, 143. 4, 158. 159. 6, 38. Illuminator of Joseph, pp. 54. 55. 570. Epistle of Gennady to Zosima in a. e. 1. No. 380. Message to the Council of 1490 in the Orthodox Church. interview 1863.
Illuminator of Joseph, pp. 55. 56. 570.
Collection l. 4, 158. 159, Enlightener, pp. 56. 53.
Karamz. 6. pr. 618. 619. RKP. Psalter of the Sergius Lavra No. 5. The cathedral took place on September. 7000 (1491). In November of the following year, the cathedral made an Easter calculation of holidays for 20 years; Pitirim, the Bishop of Perm sent his calculations for 19 years to Moscow at the same time. Karamz. 6, pr. 620. Gennady himself wrote in the preface to his Paschal: “It was commanded by our lord and father Zosima, Metropolitan. of all Russia to me, Archbishop Ginadiy. led Novgorod and Pskov, make Easter for the seventh thousand and not the same, as we are ending the seventh thousand and the end of the world, and before the end of the sixth thousand, people have gained the opinion” ... (Church Charter. Pogodin, Kalacheva Archive 1. Dept. 3, pp. 4–6).
In the Paschal after 6999, the remark was made: “here is fear, and here is sorrow, just as this circle was in the crucifixion of Christ, this summer appeared at the end, and in it also Your worldwide coming.” Other traces of the same erroneous opinion are found in Shevyrev’s history. Russian verbal. IV. 82–84. O 80) Collection l. 3. 144. 184.
Paschalia for 70 years with a district charter, which also proposes rules on how to calculate Paschalia for all future times, in the Moscow charter. foreign archive cases, in Tolstoy 2. No. 195. 254. 1. No. 63.
Joseph Illuminator, pp. 570–576. 57–61.
The oldest list of the collection of Old Testament books was written in 1499 “in Veliky Novgorod, in the courtyard of the archbishop, by order of the archbishop, archdeacon, under the archbishop. Gennady." Description glory handwritten synod. b. 1. 1. M. 1855.
Gennady in a letter to Archbishop Joasaph: “Do you have Prophecies, Genesis, the Kingdom, Proverbs, Jesus Sirach, Menander, the book of Sylvester of Rome?”
Description handwritten Synod. 1. 127. 128. Here it is shown in detail which books, partly all, partly in parts, were then translated from the Latin language.
East. Rus. C. 3. 112. 116.
Collection 5, 46. Letop. at Karamz. 6, pr. 629.
Letop. at Karamz. 7, pr. 69.
Letop. at Karamz. 6, pr. 459.
Letop. at Karamv. 7, pr. 69.
Ak. e. 1. No. 383. In the chronicles (collected l. III. 144. 184. VI, 491) this definition is erroneously attributed to September. 1503. The Vilna Council of 1509 also decided not to ordain unmarried people as priests. The Council of 1667 said: “since ancient times, the sacred rules of the clergy who did not have wives were not prohibited.” Therefore, he canceled the 1501 ruling on widowed priests.
Collection l. VI, 49. 244. III, 147. 184. Lvov. l. III, 279. 280.
Step. book II, 155. According to one testimony, “the miracle of Michael remained in the monastery for half a third year” (collection fol. VI, 49. 244. Russian times 2:199); according to others, “he was in Moscow for two years, not complete” (Collected fol. III, 147.284); according to the third, “repose 7014 Dec. 4 d." (Collected l. III, 146. 184. 244); and this is in accordance with the time of dedication of his successor. - And so the second testimony is true, and not the first, about the years of rest, although even that is not accurate. Saint Gennady is among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. saints b. total ist. No. 231 and Otensky 1718
Snegireva Russian. old 3. 85. 100.
Paschal of the Solovetsky Monastery. No. 479. Review of spirit. liter., § 106.