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St. Theophylact the Confessor, Bishop of Nicomedia Disciple of St. Tarasius the Patriarch (February 25), who was consecrated bishop by him, ruled the Church for nine years. Together with Patriarch Nicephorus, he denounced Leo the Armenian for iconoclasm and in 815 he was exiled to the Strovil fortress for imprisonment, in which he remained for thirty years, until his death, because he was not returned during the general amnesties either under Michael the Tongue-Tie, or under the very restorer of icon veneration, Empress Theodora, who did not love him due to intrigues court clergy. In 847, his remains were transferred to Nicomedia. † Repose of St. Lazar of Murmansk One hundred and sixty miles from Petrozavodsk to the north, 60 from Pudozh to the west, on Lake Onega there is the island Much or Murmansky. Here in the second half of the 14th century. Rev. asceticised. Lazarus, preacher of St. Faith for Lapps and a strict ascetic. He conveyed his story in his dying will, written from the words of his spiritual friend Theodosius. This is the will 99. “I am the sinful monk Lazarus, the servant of my Lord Christ, departing from this short life into the eternal age, to the terrible Judge, I confess before God. To you, holy monk Theodosius, I entrust my soul; I earnestly pray to you, fathers and brothers, the flock gathered by God, to pray for me, a sinner, so that through your prayers the God of eternal torment will deliver me. I was born and raised in the glorious new city of Rome (Constantinople). There I took upon myself the monastic image, in the Vysokogorsky monastery, from the hand of our father Afanasy Diskot. This Athanasius built many monasteries and tended the brethren in a good mood. I’ll also tell you how I came here by the will of God 100 . I lived in Caesarea with Saint Bishop Basil and spent 9 years with him in Cenobium. – From his youth, Vasily went through a fasting life and observed the purity of soul and body. In private he told me: “I want, friend, to leave the bishopric; a thought compels me to go to Novgorod to see holy places, venerate the image of St. Sophia and receive greetings from Bishop Vasily. I forbade him to do this and told him that he should not dare to do this without the revelation of God. He prayed to God about this, and when he fell asleep after the morning singing, an angel of God showed him the Cathedral of St. Sophia and all the churches of Novgorod. Waking up from sleep, he came to me and told me how an angel appeared to him and showed him all the churches of the city. I was surprised, and we glorified God. He ordered me not to tell anyone about it. Having written a letter to Bishop Vasily in his own hand and having prepared many icons and robes of the saints, decorated with gold, in honor, he forced me to go with a letter to Bishop Vasily to Novgorod to describe the image of St. Sophia, and what monasteries and churches stand where. With the blessing of the saint, I set out on my journey, and with the help of God, under the protection of St. Mother of God, we were saved along the way. When I prayed in church to the image of St. Sophia, then he came to the saint for a blessing. Seeing me, he bowed to the ground, and I barely begged him to give me a blessing, and handed him the message of Basil of Caesarea. The saint accepted the message with respect, as did the miraculous icons and holy robes. He gladly put on the clothes sent to him, served a prayer service and ordered me to live with him. By order of Basil of Caesarea, I copied the image of St. Sophia and described all the churches and monasteries that are in the city. Having received the message from Bishop Vasily, I sent myself first with the merchants with whom I came to Novgorod; Bishop Vasily of Caesarea wrote in a letter to Vasily of Novgorod about me, a sinner. And so, after I lived with Vasily of Caesarea for many years in Cenobium, I spent four years with Vasily of Novgorod. From the letters I learned that the spiritual superior and teacher of Caesarea, Vasily, went to the Lord, to eternal dwellings. A 6860 (1352) g. shepherd and teacher of Novgorod and Pskov, good-singing horse, dove of the Heavenly King, Bishop Vasily leaves the bishopric and flies to the eternal monasteries to the Lord, Whom he served faithfully. I, a sinner, with my own hands dressed the holy body of the great Saint Basil of Novgorod in ready-made robes, and shed many tears. The altar of the cathedral church of Sophia, Moses, a saint and reverend in life, showed great favor towards me; he ordered me to stay with him; but I lived according to the commandment of Bishop Vasily, a short time after the death of Vasily, in the monastery he built. Not a little time after the death of Vasily, bitter sadness came over me that I was deprived of both Vasilys; I thought to myself: I will return to where I came from; I prayed a lot about this to the Lord, the Most Pure Mother of God and the great Baptist among the prophets, John. - And so, not long after his repose, Saint Basil, Archbishop of the Great Novgorod, appears to me at night and commands me to go north to the sea; there, he said, there is a large Lake Onega, and he named me the island. But I did not heed this phenomenon. A little time later, another Basil, Bishop of Kesyria, appeared to me and said: “Remember, Lazarus, what Basil of the Great Novgorod told you; go to the place indicated to you; you will bury our brother Macarius, Metropolitan of the Egyptian country; you will have a large monastery, and you will gather many monks.” Then I, a sinner, began to think about the holy place that both bishops had spoken about, and for their appearance I glorified God with all my soul. I began to ask many people about that place; I was told a lot that that place was very convenient for setting up a monastery. At that time there was a very respected mayor in Novgorod, Ivan Zakharovich, - I came to him and asked him to give me the island called Much, in order to build a church and monastery there. The first time he felt sorry for the island and refused me it. I began to pester him, but he was offended and did not give me the island. I was left in grief and wondering what to do. I prayed to God, the Most Pure Mother of God and the holy Forerunner, and when I dozed off, Saint Basil appeared to me with the wise Nicholas and, blessing him, said: “Do not grieve, poor Lazarus; You will receive the place shown to you, where I told you to go.” “When I woke up and came to the tomb of St. Basil, I cried for a long time, kissed his tomb, but when I returned to my cell I didn’t tell anyone. A short time after that, my lord Vasily, Bishop of Novgorod, appeared to Ivan in a menacing form and said: “Ivan! I command you, let the island of Much on Lake Murmansk be given to build a monastery and for our friend Lazar to stay on it; this is your property; but here the name of the Mother of God will be glorified.” After this phenomenon, Lord Ivan called me and said in private: “According to your request, go to the place shown to you, to my homeland, to the island of Much in Lake Onega.” Ivan even tried to persuade me to hit the road immediately. He told me how Bishop Vasily, Bishop of Novgorod, appeared to him at night in a menacing appearance. Your friend Bishop Vasily, said Ivan, appeared to me in a menacing form and strictly ordered me to give you the island of Much for your stay. On that island, Vasily said, there will be a great monastery, many monks will gather and the name of the Most Pure Mother of God will be glorified. Hearing this, I rejoiced, fell at his feet, then left and thanked God and His saint Vasily. But at the suggestion of the devil, Ivan’s parents grieved over the island. Ivan called me and said: Father, my parents are very sad about the island; He put me in front of them and told me how Bishop Vasily appeared to him at night in a menacing form and ordered that this monk be given the ancestral home of our great-grandfathers on the island of Much on Lake Onega to build a monastery. Ivan's parents showered him with abuse for the island. I prayed a lot that they would give me the island of Much with Lake Murmom. They set a price. I gave them 100 hryvnias of silver and some expensive things in payment for the island. After that I began to wait for the time to go to the island” 101. Let us note here that according to the chronicles, the Novgorod detachments marched against Murman for the first time in 1320; and in 1349 there was a second and stronger campaign against Murman 102. Track. and according to the chronicles there is no doubt that under Blessed. Bishop Vasily was very concerned about the conquest of Murmansk Chud under Christian rule. “When Posadnik Ivan decided to send his people to Pomerania to collect tribute,” continues Lazar, “I asked him so that I could go with them. He ordered to take me to Lake Onega. Having thanked God, I came to Saint Moses and told him the reasons for my departure to the island. The saint gave me instructions from the scriptures and predicted to me what happened to me later. I bowed to him to the ground and accepted the blessing with tears; He served a prayer service at the tomb of St. Basil and kissed the tomb with bitter weeping. Then I set off on my journey and, sailing along rivers and lakes, I saw David arguing on the water, a lot of trouble; We were close to drowning, and I barely reached the place where we now see the Church of God. This holy Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is the very first in the entire Pomeranian region. And the monk, brothers, lived on the island before me; it will be discussed later. I will tell you, brothers, that I came to this place alone; there was no one living on the island. I built a cross and a small hut for rest, and then a small church, that is, a chapel. Near Lake Onega lived Lop and Chud, terrible raw food eaters. The Apostle said: “Through many tribulations it is necessary to enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). I suffered many sorrows, beatings, wounds and annoyances from these bestial people. They beat me more than once, driving me away from the island, and burned my hut. From time immemorial, terrible raw foodists were committed to demonic teaching and created dreams; They did not have holy baptism. They settled near me with their wives and children, did dirty tricks on me and said: leave this place. They wanted to kill me and turn my body into food for themselves. Alas for me, a sinner! I left this place many times. But God my Savior did not leave me and did not allow the damned to fulfill their evil intentions. He strengthened me on the path of salvation. – Cruel people were torn from frustration; many times they came to the island day and night and looked out for how to kill me; but the power of God prevented them. Once they gathered on the island. By the providence of God, I was not in the place where the raw foodists came - I was in my hermit’s cave, in a mountain called Teterevitsa, a mile from the island. They, the damned ones, searched a lot for me and did not find me, they were burning with rage and worried. They hoped to find treasures and, finding nothing, they set my hut on fire. I saw all this from afar and shed tears before the Lord. The bestial savages finally left the island. I will tell you, brothers, about a wonderful thing. When I went to the hermitage, I remained in my hut, which was burned, by the image of the Most Pure Mother of God, the blessing of my father Athanasius of Rome. And then I remembered this image, looked around the cave and did not find it. He stayed in the hut. Then it came to my mind: he burned down in the hut that the raw foodists had burned, and with bitter crying and sobbing, praying, I went to my hut. I thought that God did not want there to be a monastery in this place; my labors are unworthy, unclean before God. So I stood and cried at the site of the burnt hut; It would be better for me to burn or be killed by evil people than to lose the image of my Lady. Looking back and forth, I saw from afar, like a ray of sunlight, the image of the Lady Theotokos, standing by a tree and not supported by anyone, three cubits from the ground. With joy I ran to the image of my Lady, fell before the icon and prayed for a long time with tears. Then there was a voice from the icon: “I will look at the humble servants and at this place; I command you to build a church in this place in the name of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary.” Because of this voice I lay for a long time as if dead on the ground. Then he gradually stood up and sang a song of praise to the Mother of God. “I also heard a voice from the icon of the Mother of God: “unfaithful people will be faithful, there will be one Church and one flock of Christ.” The icon fell into my hands, I took it and kissed it and joyfully brought it to my hermit’s cave. From that time on, I placed my trust in my Creator and in the Most Pure Mother of God. I will tell you another miracle, brothers. I hid near Lake Murma, in my hermitage, and waited for death from evil people. They were looking to kill me or drive me away from this island. I suffered in my soul and remembered in my heart the words of the Lord: many waves hit the stones and break, throw foam and can do nothing. Evil raw-eaters scoured the shores of Lake Murma like wolves; others wandered like dogs in the desert. Out of fear, I did not leave my tent for a long time and prayed to God, the Most Pure Mother of God, the great Forerunner John, Saint Nicholas and Bishop Basil. I sang the psalter with canons. From a distance I looked at the place where I first came, and I see a light shining on the island; many handsome men walk around the island and sing in agreement, in ecstasies. In the middle of the island, where the icon stood in the air, I see a holy woman, in an indescribable light, shining with gold: handsome men worshiped the holy woman, and she blessed the place where the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary now stands. I was filled with joy from this vision, I fell with tears before the image of the Lord Christ and the Most Pure Mother of God, I prayed and cried for a long time. After the prayer rule, I began to sing Matins; and when it began to dawn, I sang the psalm: Blessed are the innocent on the way. Arriving at the place shown by God, I placed the miraculous image near the tree where the icon had previously stood in the air. I prayed to the miraculous image and said: here is my peace, here I will dwell and rest forever. He put up a cross and then a tabernacle 103. After a short time, the foreman Lappey came to me, carrying a blind child in his hands, and said: “Heal him, and we will leave this island, as your servants order.” I was amazed at these words. But he made a prayer to the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother, took the child, sanctified him with the priestly prayer, sprinkled him with holy water and applied it to the image of the Lord. And the child received his sight. That man happily left me, and I glorified God about such a miracle. After a little time, the man comes to me and brings some of his property and food. I took one deer skin and some food and prayed for him. He bowed and told me: servants live with you on the island; They beat our wives and children with a stick and send them away from this place. He also told me that they heard ringing in this place. I let him go in peace and thanked God for everything. Soon Lappari and Samoyad, by the providence of God, retired to the ocean. And the aforementioned elder, living on Lake Rondo, later became a monk, and his sons were baptized. Then they began to come to me from distant places and live with me; others took monastic vows and erected a wooden church of the Resurrection of God's Friend Lazarus. In Novgorod the saint was Moses (1352–1360). I came to him for a blessing. The saint asked me about everything in order. And he marveled and praised the place. He gave me an antimension, sacred vessels, plenty of alms, and taught me how to preserve church rites and monastic tradition; handed me a certificate with a blessing. I asked him about the ruler of Novgorod Ivan, and he answered me: he went to the Lord. Coming to his son Theodore, I was received with love, and he said: my father, going to the Lord, ordered me to give you one hundred hryvnia, which he had previously taken from you for the Murmansk Island. I was upset, thinking that he wanted to take the island from me. He noticed my embarrassment and said: “I have a letter from my father to you about the island on which you live.” When a little time later I came to him again, he, by order of his father, gave me 100 hryvnia and a lot of property for the establishment of a monastery and issued a letter written by his father’s hand, with the following content: “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. I gave the posadnik of the Slavic end Ivan Fomin to the Most Pure Mother of God, the priest Lazar and his monks part of my land and water, according to my soul and to my parents, on Lake Onega the island of Much with all the land, Lake Murmansk and near the lake there are rivers and islands, in them there is water, traps, outweighing, which I owned, on the islands there are mowings and overgrown lands and waters. Let the monks of the Most Pure One own the land and water forever. My children should not interfere, and the authorities should not do violence, do not take away either land or water, let them own according to the spiritual and according to the deed of my grandfather forever. Whoever violates our charter will give an answer to God and the Most Pure One.” This spiritual Ivan Fomin attached a lead seal with the image of the Most Pure One and the Eternal Child and with the image of a cross on the other side. Then I went to the tomb of St. Basil, bishop of the great Novgorod, and venerated his holy tomb. Finally, Bishop Moses came to receive a blessing on the way. He blessed me and sent me away in peace. The brothers greeted me with joy and love and sang a prayer service. I began to take more care of the place than before, consecrated the Church of the Resurrection of God's friend Lazarus, set up cells for monks and fenced off this place. “Then monks from Kyiv, Elder Jonah and Elder Euphrosynus, came to me and began to live with me. They erected a beautiful Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. And I was very happy about this, strengthening my hope in God and the Most Pure Mother of God. The number of Christ's disciples multiplied. A lot of time later, the elder of the Holy Mountain, Theodosius, virtuous in life, came to us, with chains on his body. He put John's meal at his own expense. The fame of this holy place spread, and people came here from distant places, took monastic vows and stayed to live with us. The monk Theodosius, skilled in book wisdom, named the Murmansk monastery of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary. I, the sinful monk Lazarus, grew old with old age, and my friend, the great Master Vasily, Bishop of the Great Novgorod, appeared to me and announced to me the end of my life. Having thanked God and Bishop Vasily for such a vision, I called the brethren and said: “brothers! You yourself see that the end of my life has come, and the end has been told to me. Choose from among you a leader and teacher for your God-chosen flock.” They unanimously said in one voice: “Do not leave us, father, orphans; give us a shepherd and teacher yourself.” I blessed Theodosius of the Holy Mountain so that after death he would be my elder and teacher of all the brethren.” This ends the testament of the Rev. Lazarus. Theodosius added a few words about the death of the monk. Saint Abba Lazarus, having received the Holy Mysteries, blessed the brethren and gave up his spirit to the Lord. The brothers buried him behind the altar of the Church of the Resurrection of God's Friend Lazarus. Abba reposed on March 8, 6898 (1391); of all the years of his life were 105,104. His relics rest hidden in a chapel, near the Assumption Church of the long-closed Lazarev Monastery 105. Holy Martyr Theodoret, Presbyter of Antioch During the accession of Emperor Constantine and his children, Constantine's nephew Julian the Apostate, the Church, which had rested under Constantine, was again subjected to persecution. The blood of martyrs flowed again throughout the Roman Empire. At the same time, there followed the destruction of Christian churches and their transformation into pagan temples. The richest cathedral church in Antioch, erected by Constantine, called golden because of the splendor of its decorations, was also devastated. At this time, Theodoret was her presbyter and the keeper of her treasures, and when Prince Julian, the uncle of the apostate king, arrived in Antioch, burst into the church with his detachment to plunder the church, Theodoret courageously resisted giving the robbers precious church property. For this he was captured and tortured. The righteous man was not afraid of them, and suffering did not stop his mouth in denouncing the blasphemers. The soldiers who tormented the faithful presbyter, amazed by his firmness and patience and also by the power of his words, turned to the Christian God and were drowned in the sea... - Go, my children, on your blessed journey in peace! - the martyr admonished them, - I will follow you, and we will rejoice together with eternal joy... And then, prophetically predicting the imminent death of Julian, who had violated the shrine and insulted the altar of the Lord, calmly and with prayer for himself and for the whole world, he bowed his head under the sword, having endured to the end for the sake of the Lord... This time, too, the desecration and blasphemy of sacred objects did not go unpunished... and the prediction of the righteous Theodoret was fulfilled: a sudden, terrible and disgusting illness ended the life of the blasphemous Julian... The will was printed. in history Hier. 5, 115–122, but from the list is very poorly written, with errors and omissions. Undolsky's list is written with diligence; but here the text of the will is supplemented with inserts, and not everything here is a will. We place the first half of the will according to the text of Undolsky, the second - according to the list of the hierarchy. According to the list of sources. Hier. Dark words follow, barely understandable. We read them like this: “I, a sinner, was sent from Constantinople by Bishop Vasily with notification of the white hood and the appearance of an angel, and also in order to become spiritually acquainted with Vasily, Bishop of Novgorod.” According to Undolsky's list: "Patriarch Philotheus of Constantinograd sent us with Bishop Evmenios to Bishop Basil of Novgorod with a notice about the white hood. Arriving safely in Novgorod, we delivered to Bishop Vasily everything sent with us, the white hood and the message. He received us with great honor, in the presence of a crowd of people and with gratitude to God. After a short time We asked for leave. The saint generously granted us and honorably released us to Constantinople. With the prayers of Saint Bishop Vasily, we calmly made the sea journey to Constantinople. But this story about the white hood is a later composition. The testament says that Lazar stayed in Novgorod until the death of Bishop Vasily († 1352) for four years. Track. by order of P. Filofey, he would have been in Novgorod no later than 1348, which could not have happened. In 1348 the patriarch was Isidore Bukhira; and Philotheus was then the Metropolitan of Irakli and was for the first time in the patriarchal see in 1353, that is, after the death of Vasily. Muchch Island near the eastern shore of Lake Onega, 60 versts from Pudozh and 70 versts from Vytegra. Collection l. 4. 49. 59. Suprasl. years, pp. 48. 70. Here ends Undolsky's list, which is obviously not complete. “Abba Lazarus reposed in the 8th day of March 6699 (1191), and all the years of his life were 105.” This is noted at the end of Lazarev’s will, in the source. Hier. 5, 129. But the indication of the year of Lazareva’s death is undoubtedly erroneous. – It should have been written: 6899 (1391). After this, it turns out that Lazar lived on the island for 39 years, and at the time of his death the archbishop. Vasily, in 1352, he was 66 years old. - This is consistent with his story about his life. According to the census of 1582 in the Murmansk monastery village. Church of the Forerunner with a meal, behind the monastery is the Church of St. Lazarus; the Assumption Church and the fence burned down; in the monastery there is an abbot, two hieromonks and 35 brothers (Nevolin about Pyatina, p. 171). According to the census of 1662, there are 34 courtyards behind the Murmansk monastery (Record. R. Architectural Society. 2, 44). Swedish about the monastery 422. East. Hier. 5, 130.