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Repose of Saint Photius, Metropolitan of Moscow After the death of Saint Cyprian (September 16, 1406), more than two years passed until the new metropolitan arrived in Russia 1. Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich humbly submitted to the patriarch and the council the matter of the new metropolitan of Russia. Vytautas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, sent Theodosius, Bishop of Polotsk, to Constantinople with an urgent request both for his consecration as a metropolitan and for him to be a separate Metropolitan of Lithuania. The long-standing desire of the rulers of the south-west of Russia to have a special metropolitan this time was revealed in a sharp form because Vytautas and Grand Duke Vasily were at that time waging war among themselves. Patriarch Matthew did not recognize the need to deviate from the ancient custom this time and sent Photius 2, who was well known to him, to the rank of Metropolitan of all Russia. About his life before leaving for Russia, this is what Blessed Photius writes in his dying will: “From a young age I wanted to live for virtue; Therefore, I refrained from the pleasures of marriage, the honors of the world did not seduce me, and I did not desire temporary human glory. I imagined earthly happiness in the form of a ship, which, not seeing what is behind it, encounters only obstacles and constraint in front of it. I wanted one thing, I cared about one thing - to present my immortal soul pure to God and my Master. As soon as I parted with the world, under the cover of God’s grace I directed my thoughts and soul to the bright heavenly villages; I was enlightened by the instructions of the holy elder Akakios, great, equal to the ancient great fathers, whom the king, patriarch and saints respected. I was still a youth when I entrusted myself to this holy mentor; My soul did not yet know evil then, and from a young age, under his guidance and instructions, I imprinted on my soul the image of piety. The great saint loved me and always talked with me as with a beloved son, strengthened me with Faith, kept my body pure, filled my mind with useful knowledge, instructed me how I should live, how I should be dead to the world. And I wanted to live not in connection with the ghostly images of temporary life, but sought with my soul to contemplate the pure, holy, bright objects of that life. And then I, poor thing, met with unexpected misfortune. By the will of the holy elder, the great among the saints, Cyrus Akakios, I arrived from Morea to Constantinople, and the sovereign Emperor Manuel placed a burden on me so that I would receive the great degree of sainthood; God knows that the council forced me to do this for a long time, but I could not get rid of it; His Holiness Patriarch Cyrus Matthew appointed a council, and I went to the most holy Russian Metropolis" 3 . From these words it is clear that it was not easy for blessed Photius to part with the East. To console his soul, he took hieromonks close to him: Pachomius from the Bulgarians, with whom he lived with Blessed Akakios 4, and Patricius. Both in Morea and in Constantinople he made people love him. From Constantinople, the most educated man of his time, the pious teacher of the Church of Constantinople, Hieromonk Joseph Bryennius, maintained friendly relations with him. The Patriarch, in his desk letter, approved of Photius as a very capable mentor in faith and piety 5 . The Monemvasian Church, where he zealously carried out the good orders of its archpastor Akakios, remembered him in prayers as “who increased it with his labors and adorned it with his offerings” 6 . Since there were many Slavs in Morea during the time of Blessed Photius, 7 even if he did not have time to briefly learn their language, as he himself admits, 8 at least the spirit and customs of the Slavs were known to him, which, of course, meant a lot for his service in the Russian Church. On September 1, 1409, Blessed Photius arrived in Kyiv on 9. Since in the southwest they complained that they did not see the metropolitan 10, Photius stayed there for more than 7 months, personally examining the state of affairs and resolving complaints about violations of order. It was especially gratifying to his desert-loving soul to see the caves of the ascetics of God and here to ask for help in his new service from the cave dwellers. Finally, he went to Moscow. On the eve of Easter (April 22, 1410), the Grand Duke and all the Moscow clergy met Photius 11 far outside the city. Photius saw a lot of bitter things in Moscow. After the invasion of Edigei (in December 1408), all the cities of Russia from Ryazan to Rostov and from Nizhny to Tver and Serpukhov were devastated; The Moscow Kremlin was saved, but all the suburbs of Moscow burned down. In the metropolitan house, where the owner had been absent for so long, Photius “found nothing”; even the immovable estates of the metropolis were plundered 12. Photius “began to restore the church estates and income of the metropolis and began to look for where everything was missing, what was taken with resentment by princes and boyars, what was stolen by other selfish people, villages, volosts, income, duties belonging to the house of the Most Pure Mother of God” 13. Having collected the most accurate information about the situation of the metropolitan property, he made a request to the Grand Duke to protect the Church from the willfulness of the people. “I pray to your piety, my son,” he wrote, “to confirm with your letter what was brought as a gift to the Church of God, protect all its customary rights, strengthen its duties” 14. Then he went to inspect another cathedral city of his metropolis - Vladimir. The Vladimir Cathedral Church had recently been painted by the best icon painters Daniil and Andrei Rublev 15 and was famous for his wealth. Photius instructed Patricius, who had arrived with him, to guard the cathedral and went to the Svyatoozersk Hermitage, the favorite residence of St. Cyprian. But he had barely left Vladimir when (July 3, 1410), at the instigation of Prince Daniil Borisovich of Nizhny Novgorod, Tsarevich Talych attacked Vladimir with crowds of Tatars. The robbers devastated and burned villages and churches, broke into the Vladimir Cathedral Church, tore off holy icons, and demanded from Patricius the treasures of the church hidden by him - vessels and treasury. Patrick, true to his duty, did not give it away. They set him on fire, flayed him, dragged him around the city, tied to a horse's tail, and, having tortured him to death, did not force him to betray him 16 . Talycha sent the Tatars to capture the saint himself, but Blessed Photius withdrew with Pachomius into the deep forests of Lake Sineg, which is now in Pokrovsky district. The quiet, serene place resembled the desert of blessed Akaki. Fascinated by the beauty of solitude, Blessed Photius built the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God here. Imagining the worries and labors of pastoral service, he repeated with contrition: “Did I think of parting with the silence and crying about my sins that was so dear to me? And what happened to me? After such peace, so much anxiety, excitement, and work!” The danger from the Tatars had long passed, more than a month had passed since their departure from Vladimir, and the desert-loving shepherd did not think of leaving his dear silence. The Grand Duke sent to him with a request to return to the department. It was necessary to go to Moscow 17. The Emperor greeted the Metropolitan with joy. After a conversation about past troubles, the Grand Duke conveyed to the shepherd the pleasant news of the emperor’s desire to marry the daughter of the Moscow prince and grandson of Vitovt with his son. The saint blessed this union, since it promised many benefits for the Holy Church 18. After the marriage took place, the benevolent saint and prayer book was sent from Constantinople a sakkos with embroidered images of the young royal couple, the Grand Duke, his wife and Photius himself; Along the edges of the sakkos, the Creed is embroidered in gold in Greek, without adding the word: “true” 19. Meanwhile, Photius continued to pursue cases regarding the property of the metropolis. This aroused strong displeasure against him; even the Grand Duke was not entirely happy with this matter, since some income from the disputed lands went to his treasury; and helpful people tried to increase the Grand Duke’s displeasure against the Metropolitan with slander. Anger and untruth showered blessed Photius with slander 20 . The shepherd, not valuing anything earthly, caring only about fulfilling his duty, in a letter to the Grand Duke cited the examples of the great emperors Constantine and Theodosius and the institution of Emperor Manuel regarding church property. “But now everything ancient is silent,” he further said, “and a lot of new things are speaking. I am being blamed. It doesn't matter to me whether I am praised or scolded. Blame does not sadden me, and for praise I will not become worse. Whether they scold me or praise me, I will remain the same as I was: for I am a servant of God, although a sinner. The one who surrenders himself to the will of God in everything and does everything for the glory of God has nothing more to look at. Let it be known to you, my son, that you are a man and reign with God over His chosen flock; therefore, he must strive for His flock and for His truth against every rebellion, even to the point of bloodshed. Know, my son, that you insult the Church of God by violently taking from her what does not belong to you. Speak, my son, to the Church of Christ and to me, your father: “I have sinned, father, forgive me, henceforth you will find in me a dutiful son in everything that the law requires; I will restore the violated rights of the Church, given and approved by my ancestors, but then, abandoned and impoverished for many years, I will return.” This is my petition to the man of God and the Grand Duke of all Russia” 21. With such persistence, the shepherd, although not quickly, although with sorrows, managed to return to the department everything that belonged to it, and managed to acquire something again, either by purchase or from voluntary offerings 22 . The holy shepherd eased concerns about earthly affairs by conversations with modern ascetics of piety, such as the monks Nikon of Radonezh, Sergius and Pavel of Obnor, Dionysius of Glushitsky, Ferapont of Mozhaisk. Out of love for monastic life, Photius founded the Novinsky monastery near him on land belonging to the metropolis 23 . From time to time he retired to Golenishchevo near Moscow, beloved by St. Cyprian 24 . In 1413, Moscow was delighted by the appearance of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God on Koloch, and Blessed Photius solemnly met the holy icon in Moscow 25. An equally comforting event was the conversion to the holy faith of the stubborn pagans of the Mtsensk country. The pagans rejected all the admonitions that were offered to them by the preachers of the holy faith. “Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich sent an army, and Metropolitan Photius sent a priest.” The stubborn pagans suddenly became blind. “Terrified by the force of arms, and even more by sudden blindness, they listened to the sermon, and the inhabitants of both the city itself and its surroundings were baptized” 26. A difficult time has come for the blessed saint. Vytautas, having convened the Russian princes under his control, declared that it was necessary to deny Photius control of the Lithuanian churches and to have a special metropolitan. By common decision they sent to ask the emperor and patriarch for a special metropolitan. The Emperor and Patriarch Euthymius did not find it necessary to fulfill the wishes of Vytautas, and Gregory Tsamvlak, whom they wanted to see as Metropolitan, returned with nothing. Vytautas convened the bishops and archimandrites of his region and offered them his desire and the refusal of the East. The clergy, as Vitautas says, agreed that “due to the distance of the metropolitan, a lot of unrest is coming from their diocese, and that they can consecrate the metropolitan without the patriarch.” According to the chronicles, the clergy for a long time did not agree with Vytautas’s desire and pointed to the church rule (IV Ecumenical Council, rule 12); but they threatened him with the disasters of the Church and forced consent. Confirmation of the accuracy of the chronicle news is that after the conferences, Vytautas again sent his previous request to Constantinople. Sending ambassadors in March 1415, he demanded that a response be sent no later than August 15, adding that otherwise a metropolitan would be elected and consecrated by local bishops. When no response was sent from Constantinople at the beginning of November, then on November 14 Gregory was elevated to the degree of Metropolitan of Lithuanian Russia 27 . The Lithuanian-Russian bishops published two letters, one to Photius, the other to the entire Russian Church. In the first, they announce that during the first visit to Kyiv by Photius, they noticed in him actions that were contrary to church rules, and then heard about an act that exposed him to eruption; but they do not want to dishonor him and only refuse to obey him. In the second, they justify the installation of Gregory as metropolitan: they point to the disadvantages that the Kiev Church suffered from the metropolitan’s stay in Moscow - to the examples of the installation of Metropolitans Hilarion and Clement, to the Apostolic Rule and, finally, to the illegality of the emperor’s arbitrariness. Vitovt issued a letter on his own behalf, where he expressed sharp complaints against the emperor, the patriarch and Photius, and said that he acted in accordance with the will of the princes and only for the honor of the Russian Church 28. Blessed Photius wanted to avert the impending misfortune with a personal explanation with Vytautas, but having been robbed on the border of Lithuania, he was forced to return to Moscow. The shepherd of Russia could not help but give his voice about such an important event as the division of the metropolis. Blessed Photius wrote a district epistle. But neither in this nor in other letters does he say a word about his personality in defense against the charges brought against him by the bishops and Vytautas. This is a remarkable trait and quite appropriate for a shepherd! But every outsider has the right and must tell the truth about blessed Photius. Vitovt wrote that precious utensils, “holy relics, boards of Christ’s suffering, the scepter of the Most Holy Theotokos, Her robe and sandal” were taken from Kyiv to Moscow. If this were true, then the said sacred objects would have been known to Moscow from the chronicles and inventories of Moscow; they, of course, would have been preserved until late times; and no one ever knew about them in Moscow. The bishops talk about some actions of Photius in Kyiv, about which information reached them. But according to the rules of the Church, it was necessary to demand explanations from the accused and then draw up a decision, moreover, in relation to the metropolitan, both had to be done only with the permission of the patriarch. Without any doubt, the offensive reviews of Vytautas and the bishops about Photius were based on rumors spread by bad people who fled from Moscow to Lithuania. “Bad people,” says the chronicle, “made up a lot of slander against him; these are those of his household who fled from Moscow to the Chernigov ruler, and from there to Lithuania to Vytautas” 29. In his district letter, Photius defends the emperor and the patriarch, justifies the unity of the metropolis by its antiquity, reminds the bishops of Lithuania of their oath not to accept another metropolitan except the one sent from Constantinople, and cites one after another up to 30 rules to confirm that those who illegally accept power are not true shepherds and those who dedicate themselves to shepherds are subject to excommunication without permission 30 . This message, like the whole matter about Gregory, was considered at a council of shepherds who gathered in March 1416 to consecrate the Novgorod archpastor 31 . In defense of Blessed Photius and the entire Moscow Church at this time, several miracles were performed from the relics of the first Metropolitan of Moscow, St. Peter, - and Kyiv was robbed and set on fire by the Tatars 32. Blessed Photius wrote in Pskov: “Do not be surprised at what happened... Time supplies its servants. Maintain your true Orthodox faith and customs, and remove from your ears the unrighteous writings of those who violate the holy rules. If anyone from that rebellious country, from Lithuania, comes to live with you, receive them to you as Orthodox Christians who shun unrighteousness” 33. The sad time of the divided metropolis did not last long. Gregory died in 1419 34. Svidrigailo, released from prison (in 1418) by friends of Orthodoxy and always ready to act in defense of the Orthodox, frightened Vytautas and forced him to put aside Jogaila’s plans for papism 35 . Therefore, after the death of Gregory, Vitovt agreed that Photius would again take over the dioceses of the southwest. Blessed Photius went to survey the southwestern metropolis 36. In 1420 he was in Novgorod with Vitovt and in Mstislavl with Prince Simeon Lugven, and in Slutsk he baptized his son with Prince Alexander. Then from Kyiv in 1421 he was in Lvov; spent the holiday of the Nativity of Christ in Vladimir Volynsky, on the day of Epiphany he arrived in Vilna 37. Probably at this time he baptized Mamaev's grandson Prince Oleksa, the ancestor of the Glinsky princes: Oleksa was baptized by the Metropolitan in Kyiv 38. Sorrows did not cease to oppress the caring shepherd. For three years in a row (1420-1422) there was no bread in Russia and the price for it rose to the extreme 39. Since 1417, the pestilence moved from one place to another, and from 1420 it began to act with increasing force in terrible forms 40. The saint sent out messages and teachings one after another, calling the unrepentant to repentance and comforting the discouraged 41 . In these sorrows, the saint was consoled by the help of the Mother of God: with the bringing of the Chir Icon of Hodegetria to Pskov, the plague subsided in Pskov (1420), and the Metropolitan blessed the Chir Icon to be celebrated in Pskov, on the 16th day of July 42. Two years later, the relics of St. Sergius were discovered - as a triumph of the spirit over death and corruption, and around the same time, St. Nikita, the Pereyaslav Stylite, became famous for his miracles. But here are some more worries. At the beginning of February 1425, on the 29th day, Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich died, leaving behind his son Vasily, 10 years old, and four brothers. Three younger brothers, during the life of Vasily Dmitrievich, recognized their nephew as the Grand Duke. Yuri Dmitrievich, Prince of Galich and Zvenigorod, did not seal the spiritual will with his consent, as the brothers did 43. As soon as the Grand Duke died, that same night Metropolitan Photius sent his boyar to Zvenigorod to call Yuri to Moscow to determine his relationship to the throne of the Grand Duke. But Yuri did not go and began to assemble shelves in Galich. The Grand Duke's troops also moved. Forced to flee, Yuri asked for a truce. Moscow saw the need to strengthen the agreement in a more durable form. And so, according to the general voice, Saint Photius went to Galich to convince Yuri to complete submission. He was in such a hurry to fulfill an important assignment that, despite all the requests, he did not stay in Yaroslavl to celebrate the Liturgy on the day of the Holy Forerunner (June 24). Yuri received blessed Photius with honor outside the city, while crowds of people gathered from the villages were located in sight along the mountain in order to frighten Photius. The Metropolitan, understanding Yuri’s thought, said: “Son, Prince Yuri! I have never seen so many people in sheep’s wool.” The saint urged the Grand Duke to end his claims to the throne and conclude eternal peace. Yuri did not agree. The saint left the city without giving the saint's blessing. And the destructive disease, which was already active in different places and in Moscow itself, immediately began to rage in Galich. The people were horrified, and Yuri learned the admonition of God. He hurried after the retreating saint and with tears begged him to return to the city; he agreed to peace so that in the treaty the dispute over the throne would be left to the decision of the khan 44 . Thus, through the efforts of Blessed Photius, bloody civil strife was stopped. The last years of the blessed saint were especially difficult due to the sorrows caused by the intensifying terrible infection among the people. The child-loving archpastor deeply sympathized with the suffering of his flock. “God knows,” he wrote, “how severe were my sorrows over the separation from us of the pious Grand Duke Vasily Dmitrievich. But then an even greater disaster came and I had to cry and sob. And there I fell into deeper sorrow. Pity ate me and, together with the prophet, my eyes disappeared from tears for the flock of Christ, from the immense mortality and devastation of Christian homes that befell us for our unrepentance before God.” This is how the blessed shepherd confesses in his dying will. In his messages and teachings 45 he expressed the same feelings of compassion and taught saving consolations. “The Lord seeks our salvation, and not our destruction,” he wrote in Pskov, when the illness there began to subside. - Having struck many times, He preserves the root so that the fruit can appear. We also had the same visitation of God in Moscow and surrounding cities, in Tver and other places. We give thanks to the unsearchable ways of God’s love for mankind; not suddenly, not suddenly, he steals death, but gives the sick a Christian death, with pure repentance, consecration of oil and with communion of the Holy and Life-giving Body of Christ and His Life-giving Blood. And many go to God in the rank of the great angelic image. For those who depart with such preparation, I trust in God’s love for mankind.”46 In 1430, when 20 years of archpastoral service in Moscow had passed, a messenger came inviting Blessed Photius to another world. On Bright Week on Thursday (April 20), after Matins, Photius lay down to rest. Suddenly an extraordinary light shone. And the saint saw before him a luminous man, with a crown on his head and a staff in his hand. In awe, Photius asked: “Who are you and how did you appear here when the doors are locked?” “I am not one of the people,” answered the visitor, “but an Angel of God was sent to you from the Lord Almighty of Hosts. The Lord commanded me to tell you a word for your confirmation. Take heed to yourself and your flock. Christ God gives you a week to review your life and order about your flock.” Hearing these words, the saint fell in trepidation at the feet of the messenger of God, but he became invisible. This vision and the words of the Angel so shocked Photius that he lay on the floor for a long time until the monks who lived with him came in and laid him on the bed. He was silent and did not open his eyes. Then he came to his senses and told the vision 47 ; the saint submitted himself to the will of God and continued the ministry entrusted to him. 5 months after the vision, the high priest, together with the Grand Duke, was in Lithuania with Vytautas, due to special circumstances. Back in 1429, Emperor Sigismund proposed at the Diet of Lithuania to elevate Vytautas to the rank of king. At the same time, prompted by the requests of Emperor John Palaiologos and the obvious unrest of the Western hierarchy, he declared his firm intention to take up the matter of uniting the Churches, and his thoughts were not at all in favor of the Roman Church 48 . In August 1430 there was to be a congress of princes and sovereigns in Lithuania, and then Vytautas was to be crowned. The Grand Duke of Moscow went to Vilna and Metropolitan Photius went with him, as he was related by rank to the rulers of Moscow and Lithuania. The dream of the elderly Vitovt did not come true. The Poles intercepted the ambassadors sent by the emperor with the crown. Vytautas, struck by grief, was approaching death day by day, and it followed on October 29, 1430. Photius remained in Vilna almost until the death of Vytautas. He later saw the new Grand Duke of Lithuania, Svidrigail, whom all Russians loved for his favorable disposition towards Orthodoxy 49 . Without a doubt, by this time, when they were thinking of reconciling the Eastern and Western Churches, Blessed Photius prepared his works on the procession of the Holy Spirit and on the difference between the Eastern and Western Churches 50 . With them he prepared both the young sovereign of Moscow and others of his flock for the work of uniting the Churches. And of course, the Russian Church benefited from the instructions of the blessed shepherd in that the young Grand Duke so firmly rejected the union of Isidore. Finally, the time appointed for blessed Photius to prepare for eternity died. He died peacefully on July 1, 1431 51. His relics were found in 1471 52. The saint left behind many teachings and messages 53. Some of them later acquired particular importance for the Church. This is his message to Pskov dated August 12, 1419. Here he said to the Pskovites: “Regarding what you write to me about hallelujah in glory, say this: “Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages, amen: hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, glory to Thee, O God,” and 2 more times” 54 . This message was pointed out back in the 15th century by the writer of the letter “to Athanasius, ktitor of the great Lavra of St. Nicholas, on three-pronged hallelujah.” “You should, father, listen to how Christ Himself, the Metropolitan of Kyiv, Moscow and all Russia, Photius, wrote to us at the house of the Holy Trinity in Pskov, sent a letter, sealed with a seal with the incarnation of the Son of God in the pure Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, which letter still lies with the Holy Trinity; it says this: hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, glory to you, O God." 55 It is remarkable that in the Greek triodion of Saint Photius αλγαλ about υια is written three times 56. In one of the three messages against Strigolniki 57 Blessed Photius wrote: “If the rules of the holy apostles and the Ecumenical Holy Councils forbid, even with the threat of damnation, the priestly rank to form separate meetings: much more do they forbid a layman to dare to do anything like that. A layman is not invested with holy orders; he, a verbal sheep, is obliged to obey the church order... Let them say blasphemous things against a bishop or a priest: one should not be excommunicated from communication with him until a trial is carried out and he is deprived of his title.” Addressing the priests, he says: “Admonish them with all your attention; if they do not convert, excommunicate them from the Orthodox faith, so that they are not among you like tares among wheat.” In another letter he wrote: “I hear that some of you, not caring about their Christian name, place God’s great priesthood and monasticism at nothing... The Christian faith was established by the teaching and authority of the apostles; the same power, according to the commandment of Christ, is given to the hierarchical and priestly ranks. The priesthood of God has been given the power to forgive sins. If they do not convert, do not accept offerings from them and cut them off, like rotten members, from the healthy body - the Church of Christ.” He wrote: “Just as heaven is distant from earth, so our dignity is above all worldly things, so Christ’s sacred Sacrament is above everything in the world. Christ Himself performed the sacred act, giving us His Body and Blood for food and drink, and bequeathed through the apostles to do the same. Above all, the priestly hand: it touches the Divine coal. Having accepted a stinking and dead man, by the power of grace Christ created him as God, entrusting us with the task that belongs to the One God - to forgive human sins.” Of the teachings of Blessed Photius, his teachings delivered during public disasters 58 are edifying. Venerable Isaiah, Hermit of Egypt In the monastery desert, south of Nitria, where the shifting sands could only be reached by direction of the stars, Abba Isaiah, a contemporary of the Monk Orsisius, a disciple of the Monk Pachomius (June 15), lived a hermit's life in the 4th century. He left behind many wonderful works after his death; some of them have survived 59. His sayings are placed between the memorable sayings of the fathers. By the way, Isaiah said: “There is nothing more useful for a new monk than reproach: like a tree that is watered, so is a new monk who is reproached and who endures reproach...” Venerable Lamp of the Wonderworker The Monk Lampad labored in fasting and prayer in a cave near Irinople, in Isauria, and was glorified by the gift of miracles. Lived in the 10th century. Venerable Theodosius and Athanasius of Cherepovets Disciples of St. Sergius of Radonezh, founders of the Resurrection Monastery in the place where the city of Cherepovets is now (Novgorod province); Due to the destruction of the monastery by the Poles at the beginning of the 17th century, only scant information about them was preserved in one loose-leaf book. The Monk Athanasius died in 1382. The relics of the saints rest hidden in the Resurrection City Cathedral (the monastery was abolished in 1764) 60 Holy Martyrs Marin and Martha and others with them Marin and Martha, noble Persians, with their sons, Avdifax and Avvakum, suffered in Rome, where they arrived on Bogomolya, under Emperor Claudius II, in 269. Marin and sons are beheaded, and Martha is drowned. Their relics are now in the Church of St. John Kuschnik in Rome. Many others suffered with them, captured during prayer. Saints Thomas Malein and Akakios, mentioned in the Ladder The Monk Thomas was formerly a warrior, famous for his strength and courage; then he left the world and everything in it and retired to the mountainous cape Maleya (the eastern part of Athos), where he led an ascetic life, shining with virtues and miracles. Died in the 10th century. The Monk Akakios, mentioned in the “Ladder” of John Climacus, was a disciple of a certain Sinai elder, very rude and malicious, who often inflicted wounds and grief on him. Having lived with the elder for nine years in patience and obedience, he died young around 550. When that beastly elder informed a certain great ascetic about the death of Akaki, he did not believe it and, coming to the grave (five days after the burial), he exclaimed: “Brother Akaki! are you dead? And the answer was heard: “I did not die, father; it is impossible for the obedient to die.” Then that elder repented of his cruelty and, secluded near Akakiev’s tomb, spent the rest of his life there in tears (see: “The Ladder”). The Suffering of Saint Evangelus, Bishop of Tomis, Epictetus the Presbyter and Astion Blessed Epictetus the presbyter labored as an ascetic and diligently taught others the ways of salvation. The senator's young son Astion accidentally came to him and was so captivated by his instructions that he received baptism from him, but in order to leave his country. The teacher and student came to the Slavs in Lesser Scythia and began to live in a secluded hut near the city of Almiris 61. A strict life, charitable love, gentle conversations began to attract listeners to them. A rich woman brings to Epictetus her son, fifteen years old, mute, deaf, withered. “The Nazarenes, I heard, heal the sick in the name of Christ Jesus, heal my son,” the wife said. “If you believe,” Epictetus answered, “in the One God and Christ Jesus, your son will be healthy.” Then, having healed the boy, he asked him: “Who do you believe in?” “You must believe in Christ Jesus: He does so much good to people,” answered the youth. The inhabitants of Almiris, seeing such a miracle, were baptized, up to a thousand people of both sexes. Blessed Astion, going out to the Danube to fetch water, met a demoniac and, having prayed for him, healed him. He was healed and his parents were also baptized. The governor of Scythia Latronian (this was under Diocletian, 284-306) demanded Epictetus and Astion to trial. "Who are you?" – asked the governor. “Christians,” answered the blessed ones. “From what country?” - “From the kingdom of Christ, where soulless idols are not worshiped.” By order of the governor, they beat the confessors for a long time, burned them with fire, and then threw them into prison. One of the servants who carried out the inhuman will of the governor over the sufferers believed in Christ Jesus, having listened to the instructions in prison from the confessors, and was baptized here. Various tortures of the martyrs continued for 30 days, and finally they were deprived of their heads. Astion's parents, who learned about him from an eyewitness to the suffering, arrived in Almyris after the death of the sufferers. Blessed Evangel, Bishop of Tomis, baptized them. At the beginning of the persecution, he hid from the persecutors for the benefit of his flock. Finally the Lord called him to the end of martyrdom. An ancient epigram says about him: Recognize the Gospel as an angel, He goes to heaven, cut off by the sword 62. In one Western martyrology it is noted that Saints Epictetus and Astion suffered in 290. According to the martyrologies, it is clear that during the Holy Gospel in Tomi many martyrs appeared who shed their blood for the teaching of Christ. In the martyrology of Jerome and Rabanus on July 5th “in Tomes the martyrdom (dues natalis) of Strato, Marinus, Theodotus, Rodefia, Secundus, Thomas, Macrinus”; July 9 “in the Volumes - saints Zeno, Mena, Vitaly, Rufina, Evangel, Uris (Uros), Agnes”; July 10th “in the city of Tomakh the suffering of Martial, Domnus, Tromed, John, Sesin, Emilian and others 36.” In all Western martyrologies, under the 20th day of June, it is written: “in the city of Tomakh” “Saints Paul and Cyriacus, Thomas and Felix, Martyria and Feliciana, Vitaly and Crispinus” died as martyrs; On August 27, Marcellinus the tribune and his wife Mannea, his son John, the cleric Serapion and the warrior Peter suffered “in the city of Tomakh.” In some lists the following information is added about the latter: “They, under the Preses Kulchian, after taming fierce animals, after extinguishing the fire, are cut with a sword, and their bodies are burned.” The tribune Marcellinus and his wife were of course exiled from Rome to Tomi; but of the other sufferers, most, if not all, belonged to Scythia and were Slavs by birth. Repose of the blessed Evdokia - Euphrosyne, Grand Duchess of Moscow Blessed Evdokia, daughter of Dimitri Konstantinovich, Prince of Suzdal, in 1367 became the wife of Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich 63. “The Russian Land was happy about this marriage,” says the ancient narrator 64, and there was something to rejoice about. The union of the daughter of Prince Dimitri of Suzdal with Prince Dimitri Ioannovich served as a guarantee of ending the struggle of the Prince of Suzdal with the Prince of Moscow, which shed a lot of Russian blood. And the young prince, having entered into marriage, delighted everyone: “While still young,” says the same narrator, “he was devoted to spiritual matters, did not like empty talk, did not tolerate shameful words, avoided bad people, but loved to talk with good people, listened to the Holy Scriptures with reverence, was caring about the churches of God, courageously stood guard for the Russian land, he was a child with malice, but a full man with intelligence” 65. The princess was happy when she found such a husband. And with her life she showed that she was worthy of him. She was a tender, meek, pious wife. “Both spouses,” the narrator continues, “lived purely in marriage, not indulging in the aspirations of sensuality, and were attentive to their salvation.” There was someone to support such dispositions of the young spouses. Saint Alexei was their father and guardian in everything. Saint Theodore, abbot of Simonov and nephew of Saint Sergius, was their confessor. The princess gave birth to and raised children in the fear of God. The successor of one of the sons was the Monk Sergius. The princess supported her husband in his struggle with various sorrows, supported him with her prayer and her love. When Grand Duke Dimitri decided to go against the formidable hordes of Mamai, then, completely ready for the campaign, he prayed in the church of the Archangel Michael, calling on the prayers of the celestials; His wife prayed with him here; Here, in bitter tears, she said goodbye to him 66. Throughout the entire terrible time of the war, “Grand Duchess Evdokia, says the chronicle, gave out a lot of alms to the poor and she herself constantly went to church, prayed day and night” 67. Christian hopes did not remain in shame. On September 8, Prince Dimitri won such a victory over the Tatars that from that time on, it was no longer Russia that feared the horde, but the horde that began to fear the forces of Russia. Dimitri thanked the Lord, Moscow triumphantly greeted the winner of Kulikovsky; The princess met her husband at the Spassky Gate and prayed with him in the cathedrals. The pious prince perpetuated the memory of the Battle of Kulikovo by establishing the memorial Saturday of Demetrius. At the first opportunity, the Grand Duchess decided to capture with a monument her gratitude to the Mother of God for the great deed on September 8, 68. “There was joy in Rus',” says the chronicle, “but there was also pity: the land was depleted of commanders and troops.” The exhaustion of Russia gave the Tatars an easy opportunity to maintain temporary success over Russia. Two years after the Battle of Kulikovo, Tokhtamysh, strengthened by the destruction of Mamai, quickly approached Moscow with a huge number of troops; Dimitri left for Kostroma to gather regiments, while the princes of Ryazan, Suzdal and Tver hurried to seek mercy from Tokhtamysh with silent submission. In the frightened Kremlin, excitement began, arguments arose and from arguments they turned to fights; some wanted to fight, others were in a hurry to rob and cowardly flee, but no one wanted to obey. Neither Metropolitan Cyprian nor the Grand Duchess were allowed out of the Kremlin, and they were barely finally released. The Tatars almost captured the Grand Duchess in Pereyaslavl - she retired to Kostroma through Rostov. The Tatars burst into the Kremlin and filled it with corpses and ashes, then scattered to plunder the surrounding cities; but as soon as they heard that Prince Vladimir was standing at Volok, and the Grand Duke was leading regiments from Kostroma, they hastened to get out of Russia. The prince and princess shed many tears when they returned to Moscow devastated; At the expense of the Grand Duke, up to 24,000 people were buried 69. The pious princess, more than before, turned the secret thoughts of her soul towards the afterlife. In 1383, her eldest son Vasily was detained in the horde and in the same year her father died: one grief increased the other. Her pious deed - the founding of the Ascension Convent - dates back to this mournful time. “Reward the monastery with honor,” the Degree Book says about it; “Inside the reigning city of Moscow, a most honorable maiden monastery has been erected, in the name of the Ascension of Christ our God,” says the prologue. According to the chronicle, we see this monastery already in 1387 70. In 1389, the most severe sorrow visited the blessed princess. Grand Duke Dimitri was 39 years old; but he was so exhausted that he no longer hoped to live and prepared a spiritual testament. The princess has just given birth to her last son. The prince-husband, feeling the end was near, ordered her and the children to be called to him. “Here I go to my God,” said the prince. “You, my dear princess, be both father and mother to my children, instruct and strengthen them in piety, so that they are obedient to the commandments of God, fear the Lord and honor you throughout their lives.” 71 In his spiritual testament, the prince fully expressed how highly he respected his wife, what hopes he had for her intelligence and virtues. Having divided the volosts to his children, he said: “You, my children, live together, and obey your mother in everything. If one of my sons dies, then my princess will give him the inheritance of the rest of my sons; to whomever she gives what, it goes to him; my children will not leave her will. If one of my sons’ fatherland decreases, contrary to what I blessed him with, then my princess will allocate some of the inheritance to my sons; and you, my children, obey your mother. If God takes my son, Prince Vasily, to Himself, then his inheritance will go to the son who follows him, and the princess will share the inheritance of the last one with my sons; and you, my children, obey your mother - whatever she gives to whomever she gives, that is... Whichever son does not obey his mother will not have my blessing.” This is how the smart Dimitri Ioannovich understands his wife. He gives her the unaccountable power to distribute paternal lands to sons in certain cases. The prince himself assigned several volosts to her from the inheritances of each son, so that after her death these volosts would return to the appanages to which they belonged; but those volosts that Demetrius himself acquired and gave to his wife or that his wife herself acquired, she has full power to dispose of at her own discretion - “whether to give to any of her sons, or to give to prayers for her soul” 72 . Having buried her beloved husband, the princess decided to fulfill his will in all precision - to replace, as much as she could, the father of the children, to protect both their physical and spiritual life. That is why, without a doubt, having remained a widow, she did not, following the example of other widow princesses, enter the monastery, although she wished to do so. Her penultimate son Ivan soon died, but in addition to Vasily, the Grand Duke, Yuri, Andrei, Peter and the baby Konstantin remained. In 1390, together with all her sons, she respectfully met St. Cyprian outside Moscow in the Cauldron 73. Having received rich estates from her husband’s will, she decided to fulfill in the best possible way the debt of gratitude to the Mother of God for September 8 in memory of her dear husband: she built a stone church in her yard in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God and decorated it with the best icons, books, expensive vessels and other utensils. Saint Cyprian (February 11, 1393) consecrated it in the presence of the entire family of the Grand Duchess. At the request of the pious princess, September 8 was to be celebrated in Moscow with special solemnity, in gratitude for the Kulikovo victory. No matter how richly decorated the consecrated church was, the pious princess wanted to do more for the house of the Mother of God. Two years later it was painted by the best icon painters - Theophan the Greek and Simon the Black with their students 74. The princess generously squandered her funds on the restoration and decoration of churches, so many of which were destroyed and devastated during the invasion of Tokhtamysh. At her expense, the Goritsky Monastery was built in Pereyaslavl 75. In 1395, the terrible Tamerlane was ready to do the same thing to Moscow, if not more, than Tokhtamysh did. The general horror could not help but disturb the pious princess, as a tender mother of children; together with everyone else, she poured out prayers to the Mother of God, and the Mother of God saved Moscow 76. There is no need to say that the princess was the mother of all beggars; she did good to the poor of the desert, including Blessed Kirill of Beloezersky in his northern, wild desert 77 . Princess Evdokia led an ascetic life; but this was known only to the Lord, and before people she appeared as a magnificent princess, wore rich clothes, adorned herself with pearls, and appeared everywhere with a cheerful face. Such a life as a widow princess gave rise to bad rumors. People always and everywhere love to judge others poorly. The bad rumor about the mother that reached the children offended them, and Yuri Dmitrievich could not hide his concern from his mother. The love for secret asceticism now came into conflict with the love for children. The princess mother decided to satisfy both of them as much as she could. She called the children to her prayer room, took off some of her clothes - the sons were frightened when they saw the thinness of her body, exhausted by fasting and worn out by chains. She asked the children not to reveal to others what they had learned, and advised them not to pay attention to people's rumors about her. An angel who appeared announced to her that her death was imminent. She was speechless after this vision and made signs to let her know that an angel would be written to her; two angelic faces were presented to her, and she was not pleased; when the image of Archangel Michael was presented, she rejoiced and began to speak. He - the Archangel - appeared to me exactly in this form, the blessed princess said. This image, says the ancient narrator, still stands in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God. The time has come for the princess to be confined in the monastery to which her soul has long strived. On the way from the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, the blind man shouted to her: “God-loving princess, nurse of us beggars! you promised me in a dream: tomorrow I will give you sight; fulfill your promise.” The princess, not paying attention to the blind man, as if by accident, lowered the sleeve of her shirt, and the blind man, feeling it in his hand, wiped his eyes with it and received his sight. She took on a monastic image with the name Euphrosyne and doubled her exploits. At her expense, a stone church was founded in the monastery. But she is already ripe for the joyful contemplation of Heavenly dwellings. In the same year, 1407, in which the stone church was founded, she died peacefully on July 7th. Her holy relics rest hidden in the church she founded. He who glorifies His saints glorified the blessed princess-nun after her death. More than once candles over her coffin lit up by themselves 78 . Celebration of the Blachernae Icon of the Mother of God This icon, made of wax, was brought from Jerusalem to Constantinople and was placed by Empress Pulcheria in the Church of Blachernae (Blachernae is part of Constantinople); Emperor Heraclius had her with him on his campaign against the Persians. Subsequently, they kept it on Mount Athos and in 1653 sent it as a gift to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. Now it is in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral, in the chapel of the apostles Peter and Paul. Saint Kyriacia suffered in Nicomedia in 289, along with other five virgins, for confessing the name of Christ. Repose of St. Theophilos the Myrrh-Streaming Parents of St. Theophilos 79 - Macedonian Slavs from the town of Sicheva 80, kind and pious Christians, gave their son an excellent upbringing. From a young age, the son, having studied successfully, did not like gaiety and distraction and loved to talk with smart and kind people. He devoted most of his time to reading Christian books and loved to enrich his mind with knowledge. Having become known both for his good life and for his Christian knowledge, he was ordained a priest; in this rank he zealously sowed the seeds of piety in Christian hearts and for this sowing he moved from one place to another. Zeal for spiritual perfection brought him closer to the Randan bishop Akakios, and Theophilus remained to live with him for spiritual edification. The Patriarch of Constantinople Niphon receives letters from Egypt with news of the miracles performed by the Patriarch of Alexandria Joachim to the shame of the Jews, and on the instructions of the Patriarch, Bishop Akakios, with Theophilus and others, goes to Egypt for personal communication with the Patriarch. A message from the Patriarch of Constantinople to the Patriarch of Alexandria was sent with the messengers, expressing joy about the mercies of heaven. Truly wonderful things happened, glorious for Christianity. Plague was raging in Egypt: Misir and its environs were particularly hard hit. A Jew doctor, an avowed enemy of Christianity, spread a rumor among Mohammedans that Christians, the culprits of mortality, were lowering the cross into the water. Word reached the Sultan. He, respecting the patriarch, ignored the report of malice for the first time. The Jew doctor turned to the Jew vizier, the Sultan’s favorite, and he managed to bring the Sultan to the point that the Patriarch was demanded to the Divan for an explanation. The Sultan talked with the patriarch for a long time and finally said: “Let the patriarch, in order to justify the words of the Gospel, move the mountain next to Misir.” The Patriarch asked for several days for prayer. Then, on the appointed day, in the presence of a crowd of people, he said to the mountain: “In the name of the Lord I say: come down from your place.” And the mountain shook and moved. This mountain has since been called “dur dago” - become a mountain. This miracle amazed everyone. But the Jews became even more angry. It is written among them, they told the Sultan: even if they drink something mortal, it does not harm them (Mark 16:18). If this is not a lie, let the patriarch prove it on himself. The Sultan accepted this suggestion of anger and agreed that poison should be served to the patriarch. Full of faith in the power of the Cross of Christ, the patriarch overshadowed the death cup with the sign of the cross and drank poison. Everyone expected him to die immediately. The Patriarch remained unharmed. Having poured a glass with water, the patriarch said to the Sultan: “Let the Jew drink this, served by the faith that is blasphemous to them.” By order of the Sultan, the Jew drank and died instantly. Amazed by such miracles, the Sultan ordered the vizier’s slanderer to be beheaded, and a fine was imposed on all Jews: water pipelines should be built from the Nile to Misir 81 . Akaki and Theophilus were received by the Patriarch of Alexandria with joy, and blessed Theophilus, with his education, attracted the special attention of the great saint. After spending quite some time in Alexandria, the pious travelers went to Sinai, and from there to Jerusalem, were at Tabor and Damascus, where they received letters from the Patriarch of Antioch to Constantinople. From Damascus they returned to Jerusalem, where blessed Akakios fell ill and died. Theophilus delivered the letters of the Patriarch of Jerusalem to Patriarch Pachomius, since Niphon had retired. Patriarch Pachomius loved Theophilus so much that he kept him with him in the position of notary and exarch of the great Church. Theophilus was respected by everyone for his virtues, but he became burdened with this respect and retired to Athos. In the Vatopedi monastery he entrusted himself to the leadership of the retired bishop; Submitting himself to his will, he performed service every day. After the death of the bishop, he moved to the Iveron monastery and here he learned obedience from one, love from another, and patience from a third. On behalf of the monastery, he was engaged in copying books - and many of his books of letters remained in Iver 82. Theophilus became so famous for his spiritual life and education that the Thessalonians strongly desired to have him as their archpastor. Patriarch Theoliptus himself, who was on occasion in Thessaloniki, at the request of the people of Thessaloniki, wrote to Theophilus, summoning him to Thessaloniki. But the humble Theophilus hastened to put on the schema, and answered the patriarch that the serious illness that forced him to take the schema did not allow him to arrive in Thessaloniki. Hegumen Dionysius then labored in solitude near Iver. Blessed Theophilus, having asked his permission, built a small cell nearby. They lived in such love with each other that it seemed they had one soul. Then the blessed one lived in Kareya with Elder Kirill. Here, on the Holy Mountain, Elder Seraphim, Cyril’s confessor, fell in love with Theophilus so much that they remained friends to the grave. When a strong desire for silence drew Theophilus into the secluded cell of St. Basil, which belonged to the monastery of Pantocrator, 83 and meanwhile Theophilus had nothing with which to repair the dilapidated cell and pay the monastery, Elder Seraphim helped him and then, abandoning the position of archpriest, went to live with blessed Theophilus. Their exceptional feat was maintaining their minds through the unceasing Jesus Prayer. The Monk Theophilus thought of nothing more than the Lord Jesus; Jesus was his breath, He was constantly in his heart. Finally, being full of days, the monk foreknew his death and began to prepare for the transition to that life. He wrote a confession of faith and a will. On Friday, at his request, the consecration of oil was performed on him; having said goodbye to everyone, he partook of the Holy Mysteries; He gave the commandment to his disciple Isaac not to bury him, but to drag his corpse somewhere and throw it. The monk gave up his spirit to God on July 1548. Isaac fulfilled the will of the elder and dragged his body into the forest. When rumors about the death of Theophilus spread throughout the mountain, many, acquaintances and friends, came to venerate the saint’s grave. Isaac pointed out to everyone one place that had been dug up as the grave of the deceased. Only the monks of Iver and Pantocrator, for some reason, did not trust Isaac. Some of them began to walk through the forest and, having found the relics of the monk, hid them. When Isaac came to the ravine on the 40th day, to his amazement he did not find the relics of the old man. After a long reconnaissance, he learned that the relics were in the monastery of Pantocrator. He appealed with a complaint to Bishop Macarius of Yeris. He convened the abbots, and they decided to leave the hand of the monk in the monastery of Pantocrator, and give the rest to Isaac in the cell church of St. Basil. Since that time, the relics of the saint exude fragrant myrrh. The Suffering of St. Nicodemus An Albanian Slav, the Monk Nikodim 84, by the will of his parents, was married and had children. Connections and acquaintances with the Turks darkened his soul, and he, carried away by the sensual life of Mohammedanism, renounced the faith of Christ. His passion for Mohammedanism was so strong that, despite the tears of his family, he sent his children away, except for one, who was secretly sent to Mount Athos. When he found out where his son was hiding, he, inflamed with fanaticism, rushed there to snatch his son from the monks and avenge him. The good God, who seeks our salvation, arranged it in His own way. When Nicodemus arrived in Athos and was looking for his son, the feats of fasting, prayer, the silence of the hermits, and the meek treatment of everyone struck him to the depths of his soul. He remembered his past, when hopes for an eternity of spiritual bliss were not alien to his heart; he compared the paradise of Mohammed with the Paradise of Christ and saw that as much as the first was dirty and unclean, the other was just as bright and fragrant; he compared the life of Christian hermits with the life of Mohammedans and saw that while they are meek, kind, affectionate, ready to sacrifice everything for others, others are just as wild, unbridled, proud and self-willed. He remembered that there is only one hope of salvation for sinners, as all people are, - Christ the Son of God; What awaits the unfortunate man who has renounced Christ? And he wept bitterly about himself, about his fall. Without leaving the mountain, he returned to Christianity, cursing Mohammed, and accepted monasticism. For three years he mourned his fall and exhausted himself with exploits. Having heard from some fathers that it is useful for someone who has denied Christ before people to confess Him before people, he decided to undertake the feat of martyrdom. In order not to be deceived in his desire, he turned for advice to the blessed elder Akakios, who lived in the Kavsokalivsky monastery. He cried for a long time at the feet of the elder, asking him to heal his sick man. The elder picked him up with love, prayed for him, then quietly said something to him, gave him his old man’s staff, with the words: “Go with God! God help you! You will accomplish the feat and receive the crown.” Nicodemus, barely moving from the exhaustion of the fast, set off with the blessing of the elder. Even on the Holy Mountain, the Lord strengthened him for a great feat with a vision - he revealed to him both the torment that he would endure and the place where his head would be cut off. Comforted by the goodness of God, Nicodemus firmly went to his feat. He arrived straight to his homeland and then confessed in the hearing of the Turks that he was a Christian and recognized Mohammedanism as a pathetic delusion. The Turks presented him to the Pasha. And before the pasha he confessed that although he accepted Mohammedanism, he was convinced that the Christian faith is a faith that cannot be replaced by anything, and Mohammedanism is a pathetic delusion, terrible for one who values ​​​​his eternity. The enraged pasha ordered him to be thrown from the terrace of his house. He was sure that the Christian would be broken into pieces by the fall. But Nicodemus, by the grace of God, remained unharmed - and again appeared to the pasha. Pasha trembled, thinking that there was a ghost in front of him. Meanwhile, a crowd of fanatics screamed and demanded execution for the one who humiliated Mohammed. Pasha gave Nicodemus to the will of the raging crowd. Furious fanatics tormented the sufferer for three days, forcing him to renounce Christ. When they finally saw that they could not overcome the firmness of the confessor of Christ, they deprived him of his head in the very place that was indicated to him in the vision. The feat ended on July 11, 1722. The relics of St. Nicodemus, transferred to Athos, exude healing to those who touch them with faith 85. Repose of Blessed Serapion, Bishop of Vladimir The Monk Serapion led an ascetic life in the Kyiv Pechersk Monastery. The time of his life was the most bitter. Disasters followed one after another, and the worst of all was the Tatar enslavement. In 1230, May 3, a strong earthquake horrified everyone. For the Pechersk monastery it was all the more striking because it occurred on the day of remembrance of the Monk Theodosius. Metropolitan Kirill, the Grand Duke, the boyars, and many pilgrims stood at the Liturgy in the great Pechersk Church, when the majestic church cracked in four places; During the Lavra meal, stones fell from the vault onto the floors. This earthquake was also felt in the north, in Vladimir. On May 14th there was an extraordinary eclipse of the sun; in the autumn of the same year the winter crops were killed by frost; then famine and pestilence raged for two years 86. Finally, the terrible Batu devastated Russia and imposed a heavy yoke of citizenship on it. Blessed Serapion, through the disasters of time, learned to repent of sins and through the fear of God drove away the attacks of the passions from his soul. In one of his teachings he wrote: “How many times have we seen the dead sun, the darkened moon, changes in the stars. We saw with our own eyes the shaking of the earth. The earth, established and motionless, moves at the command of God, sways from our sins, cannot bear our iniquities... What then did we have? Isn't it hungry? Isn't it pestilence several times? Aren't wars frequent? However, we did not repent. And then, by God’s permission, an unmerciful people came against us, devastated our land, took our cities, and destroyed the holy churches.”87 For his high virtues, blessed Serapion was elected and ordained archimandrite of the Theodosian Lavra. Then Metropolitan Kirill appointed him to the highest rank. According to the chronicle, in 1274, the high priest, arriving from Kyiv to the north, consecrated Serapion, archimandrite of the Kyiv Pechersk Monastery, as bishop of Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod, 88 and the inscription of the rules of the Council of 1274 says that Serapion was consecrated bishop by the archpastors who gathered for this Council in Vladimir. However, blessed Serapion did not rule the Vladimir flock for long. And it’s not surprising: the one who saw the sad events of 1230 with such spiritual understanding was, without a doubt, already a very old man in 1274. He died on July 12, 1275 and was buried in the Vladimir Assumption Cathedral 89. Already according to the list of the 14th century, in the inscription 3 words he is called a saint, in the other three - the venerable, and in the inscription 5 words - blessed. According to handwritten calendars, he is placed among the saints. The chronicle says about him: “he was a teacher and strong in the Divine Scripture” 90. Now 7 of his words are known, breathing with the sincere piety of the Christian shepherd of souls 91. “Children,” he says in one teaching, “I feel in my heart great sorrow for you. For I do not at all see your conversion from lawless deeds. A mother does not grieve when she sees her children sick, as I, your sinful father, grieve when I see you sick with lawless deeds. I have talked with you many times, wanting to turn you away from bad habits. But I don't see any change in you. Is any of you a robber? Keeps up with robbery. Is anyone a thief? Doesn't miss an opportunity to steal. Does anyone hate his neighbor? Has no peace from enmity. Does anyone offend another by taking someone else's property? He is not satisfied with robbery. Is anyone covetous? Doesn't stop taking bribes. But according to the word of the prophet, he is troubled in vain, he treasures treasures, and he does not know to whom I will gather (Ps. 38:7). Poor thing, he will not think that just as he was born naked, so he will die, having nothing but eternal damnation... I beg you, brothers and children, correct yourself, be renewed with good renewal; stop doing evil; fear God who created you; tremble at His terrible Judgment. Who are we going to? Who are we approaching as we leave this life? What shall we say? What answer should we give? It’s scary, children, to fall under the wrath of God... Our languor and torment are already approaching forty years, heavy tributes do not stop; and famine and pestilence, and we cannot eat enough bread. Sighing and sorrow dry our bones. What brought us to this? our iniquities, our sins, our disobedience, our unrepentance. I pray to you, brethren: everyone delve into your thoughts, examine your deeds with the eyes of your heart, hate them, renounce them, repent, and the wrath of God will pass. The mercy of the Lord will be poured out on us. The Lord made us great, but through disobedience we become small. Let us not destroy, brothers, our greatness. Those who do not hear about works and the law are saved, but those who do the law (see: Rom. 2:13). Have we sinned? Let us resort to repentance, let us turn with love to God, we will shed tears, we will give alms to the poor, we will help the poor. Let us also say with David: “Lord, see our humility, forgive all our sins (see: Ps. 24:18). Turn away Your wrath from us. Will You be angry with us forever, or will You forgive Your wrath from generation to generation?” (see: Ps. 84:5–6). You are our God; We glorify You with the beginningless Father and with the Most Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever.” In the word about the rebellion of life he says: “many nobles were prematurely brought to hell, like dogs... People have nothing known, everything is trouble. One seized the neighbor's land, the other took away the property and the village, and even without that someone else's house was taken from him. Others, not being satisfied with their property, seize and sell free people to the poor... There is no truth in the world, children dishonor their parents, fathers abandon their children, husbands commit fornication with their wives... God gave us wealth so that we would share it with the poor: but we also offend orphans, commit violence against widows, rob the poor and accuse the just for money.” This is how the zealous shepherd rebuked sinners! Venerable Sarah the Ascetic According to ancient information, the blessed virgin Sarah was the abbess of the maiden community 92. She lived for sixty years in her cramped cell on the banks of the Nile and never once looked at the river. Her spiritual strength was amazing. Many different temptations happened to her, sometimes illness, sometimes insults; she endured, remaining faithful to her vow. The annoying images of worldly vanity, sometimes charming and enchanting, were driven away by the fear of God. She struggled with the passion of fornication for 13 years and never asked for an end to the struggle, but only prayed: “Give me, Lord, strength.” Once, when the temptation was stronger and more persistent, she, in deep contrition and trembling before Gehenna, ascended to the roof of her cell and indulged in intense, fervent prayer. The demon, appearing to her in human form, bowed to her and said: “You have defeated me, Sarah.” She, understanding the meaning of his praise, answered: “It was the Lord Jesus who defeated you, and not I, a sinner” 93 . The fame of her high asceticism called visitors to her. Two famous ascetics came from the Pelusian desert to see Sarah. Having talked with her about the benefits of the soul, they said goodbye: let’s teach the old woman humility. “See,” they told her, “do not be proud of your mind; Don’t say: “Here are the hermits who come to me to women.” Sarah answered: “Yes, I am definitely a weak, poor woman; but I try, as much as I can, to keep my soul cheerful and courageous.” She said this in those thoughts that the weakness of the sex does not relieve anyone from the duty of Christian struggle and that the title of servant of Christ obliges the wife, as well as the man, to spiritual zeal. She said: “If I want all people to be pleased with me, then I will have to stand with bows at everyone’s door. But I’d rather pray that my heart is pure before everyone.” She especially often thought about death and encouraged herself to be ready to stand at the Judgment of God, not with shame and useless tightness. “When I lift my foot to go up the stairs, I imagine death, and then I go up the stairs.” Among the instructions heard from her, the most common was her insistence on being merciful to the poor. “It’s good,” she said, “to give alms to people; let it be given out of love for mankind, but repeated, it will turn into a matter of pure love for God” 94. Saint Sarah is also commemorated on Cheese Saturday, when all the great ascetics are remembered. Memory of the Holy Fathers of the Six Ecumenical Councils On the 16th day of July and in the 5th or 6th week after Pentecost, the Church commemorates the Holy Six Ecumenical Councils: the First, which took place in 325 after the Nativity of Christ in the presence of Constantine the Great and 318 holy fathers, who, contrary to Arius, with the unanimity of faith, understood in the first eight members of the Creed the consubstantial nature in the Three Hypostases of God and the one worship of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit, who determined the time of celebration of Easter and handed over 20 rules of deanery to the leadership of the Church. The second, who was in Constantinople in 381 under Emperor Theodosius the Great, was among the 150 holy fathers who confirmed, despite Macedonia, the Patriarch of Constantinople, equal worship of the Holy Spirit, together with God the Father and the Son; indicating the importance and immutability of the faith preached by the First Ecumenical Council; who distributed the exposition of the eighth article of faith; who added the last four members and handed over 7 rules of deanery to the leadership of the Church. The third, who was in Ephesus in 431 among the 200 holy fathers under Theodosius II, who confessed against Nestorius the inseparable union of Divinity and humanity in the person of Jesus Christ, and the immaculate Ever-Virgin who gave birth to Him without seed, in fact and truly Mother of God; who confirmed the immutability of the Creed and handed over 8 rules of deanery to the leadership of the Church. The fourth, who was in Chalcedon in 451, under Marcian, was among the 630 holy fathers who confessed the Lord Jesus Christ as perfect in Divinity and perfect in humanity, True God and true man, from soul and body; consubstantial with the Father in Divinity and coessential with us in humanity; in everything similar to us except sin; born before the age of the Father according to the Divinity; for humanity for the sake of our salvation - from Mary the Virgin Mary; One Christ, the Son of the Lord, the only begotten, unfused in two natures, unchangeably, inseparably cognizable, and glorified in these two natures: and the wise Eutyches, Archimandrite of Constantinople, who said that the great mystery of the saving Economy was accomplished by a ghost, who cast out, and with him Nestorius, Patriarch of Alexandria, and Dioscorus, Archbishop of Alexandria, of whom one was the defender and champion of division, and the other - the confusion of Divinity and humanity in Jesus Christ, and who handed over the 30 canons of deanery to the leadership of the Church. The fifth, who was under the emperor Justinian the Great in Constantinople in 553, was among the 165 holy fathers who established the truth of the teaching set forth by the Fourth Ecumenical Council, and who condemned Theodore of Mopsuetus - Nestorian teacher, Origen, Didymus and Evagrius, also written by Theodoret against the right faith and against the twelve chapters Blessed Cyril, and the so-called letter of Iva. The heretics, condemned by the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, rebelled against the Council of Hadkidon, claiming that, having condemned Eutyches, he justified Nestorius, and in support of this they pointed to the writings of Theodore, Bishop of Mopsuet, Theodoret of Cyrus and Willow of Edessa, which allegedly were not condemned by the Council of Chalcedon, while they favored the teachings of Nestorius. Theodore wanted to base the understanding of the Holy Scriptures and the entire teaching of faith on the principles of reason alone; therefore, he rejected the most important dogmas of the Orthodox Church, did not recognize the incarnate God of the Word in Christ, did not honor His Holy Mother as the Theotokos, rejected the fulfillment of prophecies in the person of Jesus Christ, all miracles, etc. Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus, who was in a friendly relationship with Nestorius, before his error and during the Council of Ephesus, out of ignorance of Nestorius’ change of thoughts and through carelessness, for which he later repented, wrote 12 chapters against the well-known 12 anathemas of St. Cyril of Alexandria against Nestorius. Iva of Edessa, in a letter to Marius the Persian, condemned Rabula, his predecessor, for anathematizing Theodore of Mopsuetia as if innocently and not respecting his works for the benefit of the Church. This message served as a temptation for some, while others were attracted to the way of thinking of Theodore and through this to the heresy of Nestorius. At the same time, the false thoughts of Origen (186–254), which had already been condemned more than once by Orthodox teachers of the Church, began to spread in the East. They were condemned during the lifetime of Origen himself by Bishop Demetrius of Alexandria, then by Theophilus of Alexandria (in 399) at a council of bishops of Egypt and Libya. Thus, the Fifth Ecumenical Council approved only the previous decisions about Origen. Origen's false opinions were that he 1) rejected the equality of the persons of the Holy Trinity; 2) he considered human souls to be created before bodies and imprisoned in bodies as punishment for sins committed by souls before being united with bodies; the soul of Jesus Christ was united with the Word before the incarnation; the heavenly bodies are animate forces in which the rational soul dwells; 5) torment after death will have an end, - and 6) Jesus Christ, the Savior of men, will suffer a second time to save demons, etc. Didymus and Evagrius were students of Origen. And the Sixth, who was under Constantine Pogonatus, also in Constantinople in 691, contrary to Sergius, Bishop of Constantinople, and his followers, among the 170 holy fathers, who affirmed that in Jesus Christ two natural wills and two natural actions are inseparable and unmerged; confirming the rules of the Ecumenical and Local Councils and setting out 102 rules of deanery for the approval of the Church. The celebration of the Holy Fathers of the Six Ecumenical Councils, which took place at different times, no doubt did not begin suddenly, but spread little by little, after the First Ecumenical Council. The gradual establishment of the celebration of the Holy Six Ecumenical Councils is indicated by the writings of the holy fathers of different centuries. So St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, a writer of the 6th century, in his letter to John, Patriarch of Constantinople, and other patriarchs wrote about the four Ecumenical Councils: “I accept and honor the 4 Councils as the 4 books of the Holy Gospel, that is, with all devotion I maintain and completely preserve the Nicene, at which the false teaching of Arius was overthrown; Constantinople, in which the error of Eunomius and Macedonius was exposed; Ephesus, where the wickedness of Nestorius was rejected; Chalcedon, where the madness of Eutyches and Dioscorus was rejected.” In the 7th century, the holy Patriarch of Jerusalem Sophronius, in a conciliar letter to Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople, wrote: “The Holy Fathers, wanting to show that their teaching is not new, but consistent with the councils, often list them. We accept four great, sacred Ecumenical Councils, which were for the establishment of the Divine dogmas of the Church, shining with Gospel splendor and adorned with Gospel qualities. In addition to these four great, most respected, most sacred and equal councils, I also accept the Fifth Ecumenical Council, which was besides and after those councils, which met to confirm the famous Council of Chalcedon.” In the By century, Nicephorus, Archbishop of Constantinople, wrote about the six Ecumenical Councils, and calls them saints, moved by God. When commemorating the holy fathers of the six Ecumenical Councils, the Church in the Gospel reading offers the intercessory prayer of Jesus Christ, indicated in the first Passion Gospel and in the 7th week after Easter of the holy fathers of the First Ecumenical Council (see: John 17: 1-13). And in the words of the Apostolic Reading he teaches: Obey your teachers and be submissive, for they are vigilantly watching over your souls as those who are obliged to give an account; so that they do this with joy, and not groaning, for this is not good for you (Heb. 13:17). Repose of St. Leonid of Ustnedumsky Blessed Leonid, born a villager in the Poshekhonsky district, had a dream in the 50th year, commanding him to go to the Morzhevskaya Nikolaev Hermitage, on the Dvina, take there the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos Hodegetria and with it build a church on the Luza River in Turin Mountain. He did not dare to follow this vision, considering it a simple dream, and went to the Kozheozersky monastery, where he took monastic vows and lived for about three years 96. From here he came to the Solovetsky Monastery, where he worked in a bakery. The dream repeated itself here again. He moved to the Morzhevskaya hermitage and a year later revealed his vision to the abbot. Having received the icon of Hodegetria, he went to the Luza River and near Turin Mountain, near the Yakutitsa River (80 versts from Ustyug), he built himself a hut made of brushwood; then, yielding to the violence of the villagers, he retreated two miles along the Luza River and here, with the help of a peasant, he built himself a cell and a chapel; ordained a hieromonk in 1608, he built a church in the name of the Presentation of the Mother of God, where he placed an icon of Hodegetria. Now it is 80 versts from the city of Lalsk. The swamps surrounding this place made the monastery almost inconvenient for a hostel. To drain them, Leonid dug a canal from the Luza River to the Black Lake, from the Black Lake to the Saint and from the Saint to the Black River; In total, he dug 840 fathoms. During this work, Leonid was bitten by a snake near the Black Lake and at first became alarmed by the thought of the consequences of the poison; but then, with trust in God, he decided not to think and remained healthy. On this occasion, he named the canal the Nedumaya River, and the monastery was called Ustnedumskaya. The region where the worker settled was a deserted and deaf region. For a long time afterward it was called “Luskaya Permtsey,” that is, a part of the country of wild Permians. It is now clear what significance the Leonidas desert had for this wild region in church and civil terms. The Monk Leonid is rightly revered as the enlightener of the Permians. How much struggle he endured with inhospitable nature! The canal constructed through his labors significantly drained the swamps; but Luza flooded the deserted monastery during floods. Therefore, the monk was finally forced to move the buildings to the cape overlooking the Black Lake. The church built here was consecrated on May 25, 1652, and in 1654 on July 17, the Monk Leonid ended his toiling life at the age of 100 from birth. His hair shirt is still preserved in the former monastery, now parish, Vvedenskaya Church; here his relics rest in secret 97. Venerable Leonty Karikhovsky The Monk Leonty founded the Karikhov monastery in the Novgorod district, in which he himself died on July 18, 1492. His relics rest hidden in the current parish church of the village of Karikhova. Repose of Blessed Stefan Lazarevich, Despot of Serbia After the painful death of Prince Lazar, his eldest son Stefan remained a minor 98. And Stefan’s mother, the intelligent Princess Milica, took over the affairs of Serbia. Although the Sultan, the winner of Serbia, gave Serbia his administration, Serbia was obliged to field 30,000 troops for each war of the Sultan, and it was also obliged to contribute 20,000 gold ducats to the Sultan’s treasury every year 99 . The situation is not easy! Meanwhile, Vuk Brankovic managed to get himself the title of Stefanov’s guardian and ruler of Serbia. At first, Vuk Brankovic managed to get himself more than half of Serbia. But the intelligent despotissa little by little improved her and Serbia’s affairs. At first, it was necessary to work a lot in order to somehow improve the war-ravaged region. To add insult to injury, discord arose: some proposed entering into an alliance with Hungary and fighting with it against the Sultan. This thought captivated others to such an extent that a conspiracy was hatched to deprive Stephen of his rights as a despot. And other ill-wishers brought to the attention of the Sultan that Stefan was the enemy of the Sultan. The Despotissa herself came to the Sultan with an expression of submission. The Sultan received her kindly. Then the young despot went to Bayazet. After the ceremonial reception, Stefan was in no hurry to leave the palace. “Why did you stay?” – the Sultan asked anxiously. Stefan boldly answered: “Since some people spoke ill of me to Your Majesty, I myself want to tell the truth about myself, albeit unfavorable. Indeed, some advised me to relinquish your authority and become a friend of the Hungarians; but I saw the inappropriateness of this union, I remember the oath and your favors, and then I appeared before the face of your Majesty: my life is in your hands: dispose of it as you please.” Bayazet was amazed at the sincerity, paused and then explained to the young prince that an alliance with the Hungarians was definitely not a smart thing, he would soon humble them. “If you,” added the Sultan, “will share my campaigns, you will be at peace, - I take you for a son, my children, I feel, will quarrel; then the time will come that you will not only rule your country in peace, but you will acquire neighboring ones; In my presence, do this: humble your strong ones and hold them in your hands.” No one expected the formidable Sultan to receive young Stefan so fatherly, and even more so there was joy for Serbia. Bayazet “asked the despotissa Salome, her youngest daughter, to be his wife and promised to accept Stefan as his son.” For the peace of Serbia, the smart Milica agreed to fulfill the Sultan’s wishes. This was in 1393 100. A year after that, in 1395, Stefan and his army went on a campaign to help Bayazet, who was at war with Hungary; and a year later he was supposed to fight with the Sultan’s troops against Bosnia, but this time an untimely deep snow did not allow the Sultan’s troops to reach Bosnia. For this, Serbia was spared the defeats inflicted by Bayazet on the Crusaders, Hungary and Greece. In one of his letters, Stefan wrote: “By the providence of the Almighty, Serbia got rid of the enslavement of Izmail, which began with the Kosovo field: the king of Persia came and crushed Hagaryan; God delivered me from the hand of the Persians.” The terrible Timur demanded that Bayazet humble himself before him - the thunderstorm of the East. “Wouldn’t it be better,” thought the Sultan, “if I defeat my enemies? Then both the east and the west will be in my hands.” And he sent a cruel refusal to Timur, and a messenger was sent to Stefan so that Stefan would hurry with the army to him. Stefan wanted to be faithful to his benefactor. In the terrible battle of Ankyra, Timur's troops surrounded Bayazet. Stefan cut into the enemy's ranks three times to save Bayazet. When his troops were reduced and there was no longer any hope of victory, Stefan fought his way through the ranks of the enemy, saved the life of Bayazet’s son Suleiman and arrived in Constantinople. Constantinople also trembled Timur; but he turned to Egypt and, having defeated it, went to Asia. Stefan sent an ambassador to Timur with a request to release his sister, Bayazet's wife. “What does the hero of Macedon mean? He walked around the whole earth and did not keep anything behind him, to his shame,” this is what Timur said to Ambassador Stefanov. And he added that “he will come back to them not by sea from the east, but by land from the north and will pass the entire west.” Timur thought so highly of himself: and yet he freed Maria, who until that time, naked to the waist, was bringing drink to Timur, while Bayazet was eating crumbs under the table with the dogs 101. Stefan was confirmed in the rank of despot by the Byzantine emperor. Bayazet's sons soon quarreled: Suleiman occupied the western valleys, and the elder brother occupied the eastern ones. Suleiman guarded Stephen on his way from Constantinople to Serbia. Stefan went to Mytilene and from there arrived by ship in Albania. Yuri, married to Stefan's aunt, this time gave him his detachment, and Stefan arrived safely with his brother Vuk in his capital city of Srebrenica 102. But after that, Brankovic united with Suleiman’s pashas in order to subjugate Serbia to the Sultan. Stefan gave half the army under the command of his brother Vuk, and with the other he entered into battle with the pashas and, with a deft maneuver, defeated the pashas on their heads; Vuk was not happy; Yuri destroyed almost his entire detachment. This was in 1402. Bayazet's eldest son then entered into an alliance with Stefan, now as an independent owner. But Vuk, offended by his brother, hurried to Suleiman; Militsa hurried after him to persuade him; Not having caught up with him in Serbia, the undaunted woman came to Suleiman’s headquarters and managed to reconcile the Sultan with Stefan 103. Having entered into marriage with the daughter of Emperor Cantacuzen (in 1403), Stephen had a kind, pious wife in her; only she turned out to be barren, and this saddened both of them. The aged Militsa-Evfrosiniya became a monk under the name of Eugene in the monastery of Ljubotinia, which she built between Karanavac and Krusevac, and soon (November 11, 1405) died. Happy was Stefan, who had such a mother as Princess Militsa was; Intelligent, energetic, pious, she greatly alleviated the plight of the people, over whom the sword of the Turks began to weigh, restored folk churches, for example the Decani monastery, consoled poverty and homeless widowhood. The chronicle says about Militsa: “After the death of her husband, not far from Krushevets, in Russia, she built a monastery, called Lyubostinya, and there she took monastic vows and copulated with many sisters, especially great ladies, who were tired of widows for their husbands beaten with Lazar in Kosovo. And there she died and was buried. And how she pleased God there is evidenced by everyday miracles on the weak who come to her tomb, and myrrh flows from her tomb many times.” She died in the Great Schema on November 11, 1405 104. Stefan, with his intelligent rule, put in order and revived his homeland. He wrote in the letters: “By the grace of God, the lord of the entire Serbian land and Pomoria and the Danube countries” 105. The neighbors respected him. The Hungarian king Sigismund sought an alliance with him. Taking advantage of the silence, Stefan began to decorate Belgrade, which he had chosen for his stay. Having built himself a princely house and a church to St. Nicholas, he set up an extensive hospital with the latter. Then he began to build a monastic monastery, Zadushbina; it is on a mountain near the Ressava River, in the Branichevsky district. The church was built in honor of the Holy Trinity, and it was decorated by the best artists; Monks were invited, especially from Mount Athos. Patriarch Kirill was invited to the consecration of the church with a council of Serbian archpastors; honorary secular people of the principality were also here. On the feast of the Holy Trinity in 1408, the church was consecrated with full celebration 106. According to the life, the church was decorated with marble and expensive musia; the chronicler speaks of his painting: “The gold of Bansko and the writings of Resava cannot be found anywhere” 107. Monks were invited for the hostel, especially from Mount Athos. Brother Vulk rebelled against Stefan. Having promised Suleiman to be his tributary, he and his army went to devastate Serbia. Stefan broke it. Vulk brought more formidable Mohammedan hordes. Stefan, not finding himself able to fight so many enemies, said with grief in prayer to the Lord: “You see if I am unjust,” and ceded half of Serbia to Vulk. Vulka was not in vain with his lies. Soon a stubborn struggle began between the three sons of Bayazet. The eldest son of Musa, not so much cruel as drunk, was driven out of the Sultan's carpet after 5 years of rule; Suleiman remained sovereign. But Musa found help from the Wallachians. The younger brother Mahmud also rose up against Suleiman. On the advice of the Byzantine Emperor The Brankovichi and Lazarevici, with the exception of one Stefan, went over to Suleiman. Musa was defeated in Asia, but in Adrianople those who betrayed him fell into the hands of him, and they all, except Yuri Vukovich, were put to death. Musa triumphed over Suleiman; but the son of the brother he killed, Orkan, rose up with revenge for his father. Musa began to pour out cruelty on those whom he saw as unfaithful to him. The Bulgarian governor Yusuf and Yuri Brankovich fled under the protection of Stefan. In 1413, Musa ascended to Serbia in order to destroy everything in it. Mahmud and Orkan rushed to help Stefan, as did the Hungarians. A terrible slaughter took place, similar to the one in Kosovo; Musa was defeated and, when caught, executed. Stephen was confirmed in the rank of despot by Mahmud 108. When the region calmed down, Stefan continued the work of internal improvement of the country begun earlier. He established the following order of management: the highest management - a council of boyars under his direct command; here he consulted with the best people about the improvement of the Fatherland. The made assumptions were transferred to the middle chamber for new discussions; its decisions were carried out by the lower house. The prince did not allow those serving under him to allow any insult to one another or to offend in any way piety. Sincerely pious, he devoted his free time to prayer and spiritual deeds. He, more than anyone else, was involved in translating Greek works, among other things, Zigabenova’s polemics against the Bogomils 109, and he himself wrote works 110. He gave alms to the poor generously and most often secretly from others; sometimes at night, unseen by others, he would go around the shelters of poverty and leave money either on the window or in another place of the hut. One night a thief known to him met him; He handed him a coin too, with the words: “Take it, thief, and don’t steal.” He answered: “It’s not I who is the thief, but you, because you are stealing the Heavenly Kingdom from yourself, exchanging it for an earthly one” 111 . One beggar came to him four times at night for a handout. The last time the despot told him: “Take it, thief, and stop stealing.” He answered: “And you are a thief, but smarter than me, - you steal Heaven for yourself for the earth” 112. If he heard about some hermit living for the Lord, he hastened to send him what he needed for prayer. In a letter to Hilandar, he wrote: “From my youth and young nails, I have been doing everything to God, in many evil and unbearable temptations, even if they were allowed to die... And the Lord deliver me from all of them... Now the treasures of the great goodness of God have been opened We were humbled (pacified) and with a sigh and the clouds of darkness parted and all the sunshine was given to us. And we say with the Apostle: now is the time of favor, now is the day of salvation” 113. He always had peace for wanderers. He provided support to officials who retired from service, just as he provided assistance to all victims of a fire or other disaster. He did not like any worldly entertainment - neither music nor dancing. He was not carried away by any female beauty - he lived purely like a monk, to the surprise of everyone 114. He acquired such love and respect for himself that even his father’s priests prayed out loud: “We also pray for Despot Stephen and the Serbian country.” The knights of the West considered it a great honor if they received the title of knight from the hand of Stephen. “Despot Stefan himself made me a knight,” they said later. When Sultan Mahmud was asked by many to give freedom to Begu Mikhail, he answered: “I will not release him until I ask the advice of my brother the despot.” Stefan, knowing the prisoner’s cunning, gave the following answer: “If you want to feed a snake in the house, take away its sting.” And Mahmud did not release the prisoner until his death. Orkan gave him freedom and paid dearly for it. When Mahmud died in Adrianople, those close to him advised Stephen to take advantage of the opportunity to take possession of Adrianople. “I swore to the Sultan to do everything good for his children,” answered Stefan. Essentially, the point was that with the division of power and its means between the appanage owners of Serbia, Despot Stefan was not so strong as to happily end the struggle with the heir of Mahmud for the complete freedom of Serbia. These appanage owners too jealously defended their personal benefits, as Stefan saw from the experiences of his life; old customs, unfortunately, stood at one with the painful organization of Serbia. Stefan once again had to experience for himself how difficult it is to fight an old political disease. After the death of Zeta ruler Yuri Bakšić (1420), the despot, relying both on kinship and especially on the desire to strengthen the fortress of Serbia with a single power, besieged Skadra twice; but the Zetans held out under the appanage ruler Chernevich 115 who appeared among them. In his last years, Stefan suffered from his legs. Feeling the approach of death, he invited his son-in-law Yuri, the patriarch, bishops and great boyars. In the presence of everyone, he thanked his faithful servants and declared George his heir. “From now on, recognize him as your sovereign instead of me,” he said. However, this time Stefan was freed from a dangerous illness. He fought with Amurat two more times and made peace with him. At this time, donating five villages to the Mileshevsky monastery, he wrote: “Through their prayers (the Serbian saints) I was saved many times, at sea and on land, in battles and in various needs and in the presence of foreigners. Even my damned soul has returned from the gates of death” 116. Finally he died peacefully on July 19, 1427 117. Serbia wept bitterly over the death of Stefan, feeling that she would no longer have such a smart, so brave and so kind guardian of her peace. A contemporary of Stephen, understanding the significance of Stephen, wrote with animation: “And now You, our God, have shown Your power among Your people, not completely leaving Your inheritance to the plunder of tongues. And now You have left those who did not bow the knee to Baal, in the weakness of their nature. They were strong in battle, preferring to suffer with the people of God rather than drink the temporary sweetness of sin. They suffered for the flock of Christ... It is natural for those who cry to seek relief in touching examples. So I, having found myself a ship, as it were, sail on it through the depths of the sea... Stephen surpassed many rulers in wisdom, but no one surpasses him in mercy and faith" 118. Sister of Basil the Great. The life of her and another sister of Basil the Great, Venerable Theosevia, is described in the life of their mother, Saint Emilia, on May 8. Venerable Diy, abbot and wonderworker From Antioch of Sira, where in his youth he asceticised in piety, the Monk Diy arrived in Constantinople and here he first lived in a deserted cell, and then, with funds given by Emperor Theodosius the Younger, he founded a monastery; died in 430. Repose of the Venerable Avramiy of Chukhloma (Galich) from a young age he loved the Lord and was tonsured a monk by St. Sergius; in his monastery, he first performed obediences in the bakery and cookhouse, then carried firewood and water for the brethren; after a long trial, as having strengthened himself in spiritual life, he was awarded the rank of priesthood, but asked St. Sergius for permission to spend some time in complete silence. Then, striving for the highest spiritual perfection, with the blessing of Sergius, he retired to the then wild country of Galich and here he began to struggle. At one time he was praying under the mountain and heard a voice: “Abrami, go up the mountain, there is an icon of the Mother of God.” He climbed the mountain and saw in the bright light an icon standing on a tree. He set up a cell here. Dry bread satisfied his hunger, and the clean water of the spring cooled his thirst. The villager unexpectedly found a hermit under the mountain and, at his request, promised to secretly bring him one loaf of bread a week. Then the Galich prince Dimitri Feodorovich heard about the wondrous hermit and his wonderful icon and barely begged the monk to visit Galich 120. The monk reached Galich by the lake and was met by the clergy and people at the entrance to the city, where now the Starotorzhsky Nikolaevsky nunnery; the pious prince met the holy icon in the Spassky Church; Here the monk sang a prayer service to the Mother of God with the blessing of water, and many sick people received healing. The pious prince provided the monk with the means to found a church and monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God at the site of the appearance of the holy icon. And the lake on the shore of which the hermit Avramiy settled is called Chukhlomsky, or Chudsky, and the hill on which he spent his last years is called, according to the monuments, “Chudsky town” 122. This already shows what kind of people the Monk Abramius had to deal with. Although the Chud of the Galich country was already familiar with Christianity, it was superficial and weak; customs and morals were rude, paganism still lived in hearts and was revealed in deeds; the Magi of ancient times meant even more to many than pure holy faith. This is what the life of St. Avramia says about the Galich miracle. So there was a need to demonstrate the glory of Christianity both by a special miracle and by a special ascetic. The monk struggled on the Chud side both with the needs of the monastery and with the Chud rudeness. He often gathered superstitious people to himself and persuaded them to give up their superstitions, pointing to the miracles of Christianity; and even more often he prayed for them before the icon of the Mother of God. And his labors were fruitless. Those who received healing from the icon of the Mother of God were themselves sincerely convinced of the superiority of the holy faith, and convinced others of the same. The Assumption Monastery flourished and became crowded; The monk appointed his disciple Porfiry as her rector, and he himself retired into the desert 123. 30 miles from the Assumption Monastery, on the shore of a small lake, he found a beautiful place and began to work as a hermit here. After some time, the disciples learned about the place where their beloved teacher had disappeared, and came to beg him to return to their monastery. The monk agreed only for some of the disciples to remain with him. For them he built a church in honor of the position of the Mother of God's belt; With the help of pious people, a community monastery was soon established here. It was called the great desert of Abraham 124. Escaping the crowds, Avramiy retired to the Vocha River. The disciples found him here and began to set up cells near his hut. A loving father blessed them to build a church in honor of the Cathedral of Our Lady. A monastery was also formed here, for which Abramius appointed his disciple hieromonk Paphnutius as abbot. The monk once again hid from his disciples. Thirteen miles from the Vocha monastery, he found a place where his stay, more than anywhere else, could have beneficial consequences. He settled under the mountain on which there was the “Peipus town”; it was the nest of the old miracle superstition; here a lot of light and Heavenly power was needed to dispel the remaining darkness of paganism. When zealots of spiritual life gathered here, Abramy lovingly founded a church in the town of Peipus in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God; He himself carried earth on his old shoulders to strengthen the steep bank and worked zealously with his disciples in building the monastery. Soon there were up to 100 brethren in the new Intercession monastery. The community of devotees of piety produces a wonderful effect on the hearts. “The poor man, having visited the monastery of monks,” says Saint Chrysostom, “comes from the monastery with consolation for poverty; a rich man visits monks and returns from them better, with sound ideas about things; when someone invested with dignity comes to them, all arrogance disappears; here wolves are turned into lambs; if the desire to lead such a wonderful life has kindled in anyone, while this desire is burning in you, hurry to the Angels and you will burn even more” 125. Such was the significance of Avramia in the Peipus side! He himself lived in solitude under the mountain; but his disciples came here to him to confess their thoughts; The surrounding residents also came here and received useful instructions. The Chukhloma country honored him as its educator. A year before his death, he handed over the management of the monastery to his disciple Innocent and spent the rest of the time in complete silence. Having received Holy Communion, he reposed peacefully on July 20, 1375. His relics rest hidden in a chapel of the church dedicated to his name 126. Memory of St. Onuphrius of Pechersk The life of St. Onuphrius of Pechersk is not described in the Patericon. In Kalnofoisky he is called an old man and a miracle worker, in the canon of the Lavra - a lover of silence. His relics rest openly in Anthony's Cave 127. Repose of St. Cornelius of Pereyaslavl The Monk Cornelius, in the world Konon 128, the son of a Ryazan merchant, in his youth disappeared from his parents’ house and in the Lukyanova Hermitage, 25 versts from Pereyaslavl, lived for 5 years with Elder Paul. Then he came to the Pereyaslavl monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb, which is on the sands; There were then only three monks and the builder Sergius; the monastery was the poorest. Sergius did not agree to accept Konon for a long time, because he was still young - by his appearance they thought he was “no more than 15 years old” - besides, he did not say anything about himself; but Conon's patience brought him to his goal. He did not leave the gates of the monastery, and he was accepted into the monastery, recognizing him as deaf and dumb. Konon diligently went to the church and worked diligently in obedience: he ground rye, carried firewood for the meal, carried water - he did everything that was ordered; and at meals he did not sit with the elders, but after all he was content with what was left; Moreover, he ate food only three times a week. He lived like this for 5 years and, at his request, was tonsured as a monk. From that time on, no one saw him sleeping on his bed, and he continued to perform his obedience with full diligence. The number of brethren had already increased in the monastery, and some laughed at Cornelius as a holy fool; he endured and was silent. Three years later, he asked the builder for permission to live in seclusion. The builder, seeing his ascetic life, built him a cell and blessed him to live in it. Cornelius shut himself up and labored hopelessly in fasting and prayer. But since they found him at his cell barely alive, the cell was locked from the inside and only the window was open. Cornelius lay sick for three months and did not eat anything, but took only water and juice. Having recovered, he remained, according to the conviction of the abbot, to live with the brethren, diligently went to church, corrected the position of sexton, served in the meal, dug the earth, planted vegetables and fruit trees. Excellent apples grew in his garden, and he lovingly gave them away without any money. Strict fasting and labors dried him up so much that he looked like a dry tree; and yet he did not stop working. With his own hands he dug a well for the brothers, and the water of his well was very tasty and clean. He did not break his silence even now, when he lived with his brothers. He lived like this for 30 years, remaining deaf and dumb in the opinion of others. Before his death, which he made known by signs, he went to his common spiritual father, abbot of the St. Nicholas monastery Varlaam, confessed, received communion of the Holy Mysteries and, at his request, was clothed in the schema; Only now, at the request of his confessor, did he tell about himself, who he was, where he was from, how his life went? Returning to the monastery, he unctioned with holy oil and died on the same day. It was July 22, 1693. He was buried in the chapel, near the original schema-monk Adrian, who was killed. Nine years later, during the construction of a new church, its incorruptible relics were found. During the consecration of the church in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God in 1705, St. Demetrius of Rostov, in whose jurisdiction Pereyaslavl was then, testified to the relics, and they were placed in the new church, under cover. The saint wrote the troparion and kontakion to the monk; At the same time, an icon of the saint was painted. The handwritten life records only 17 miracles that took place at the relics of the saint until July 1717; his name is also included in the handwritten calendar. His icon with the inscription: “Image of St. Cornelius, the Wonderworker of Pereyaslavl." Kontakion to the Reverend, the work of St. Demetrius: “Desiring to receive the things on high, you have labored without laziness for the one on high, blessed one; Yes, having inherited the things above, you despised the things below, not only turning away your eyes from seeing vanity, but also imposing silence on your lips and not speaking about vanity: yet, with a silent heart, you sang to God. For now, don’t keep silent when you pray for us, Reverend Cornelius.” 129 Saints Olympias the Deaconess, Candida and Gelassia came from an aristocratic Constantinople family and was very rich. Her father was Senator Anisius Secundus, and her mother was the daughter of the pious Eulavius, prefect of the praetorium under the blessed Constantine. She lost her parents at a young age. Therefore, the guardianship of her estates was entrusted to her uncle Procopius, and her upbringing was carried out by Theodosia, the aunt of Saint Amphilochius and Saint Gregory of Nazianza, intelligent and virtuous, to whom she was entrusted by her father. Since she was rich and learned, many sought her hand, and while still young she was betrothed to Nebridius, the prefect of the capital. Beautiful poems were sent (in 384) by the wondrous Saint Gregory as a gift to Olympias, who was entering into marriage 131. But 20 months after the betrothal, Nebridius died; Olympias remained a widow and at the same time a virgin 132. Many after that sought the hand of the Olympics. Emperor Theodosius the Great himself suggested that she marry Elpidius, a young Spaniard aristocrat, a relative of the king. But she rejected the offer. “If the Lord wanted me to be his wife, he would not have taken Nebridius from me,” she answered. Theodosius repeated his offer, but also received a refusal. The emperor was offended and, going to war with Maximus (388), ordered the prefect of the capital to take custody of her estate until she was 30 years old. The prefect, while serving Elpidia, acted insultingly towards Olympias: she was forbidden to visit bishops, and she was not allowed into the church of God, just to force her into marriage. The Olympics endured everything complacently. She wanted to embarrass herself even more. She wrote to the emperor: “Sire! you showed me a mercy that is worthy not only of a sovereign, but also of a bishop; With guardianship over the estates, I am freed from many worries. For my greater happiness, deign to command that everything be distributed to the churches and the poor. For a long time I have been afraid of the inclinations of vanity, which so easily arise when distributing estates. Temporary blessings, perhaps, could distance my heart from true blessings, spiritual and eternal.” Theodosius then lived in the West and, when, after a three-year absence, he returned to the capital, he returned (in 391) all the estates to its full disposal. “Such a virtuous and intelligent girl knows better than us how to use the blessings of time,” said the sovereign. Having received freedom from her estates, blessed Olympias squandered her funds on works of mercy with a generous hand. There was no city, no village, no desert where they did not enjoy the favors of the famous Olympics. She delivered offerings to churches, monasteries, cathedras, hospices, prisons, and places of exile. It is impossible to count those slaves to whom she granted freedom by paying money to their masters 133 . Saint Chrysostom compared her mercy to an abundant river, which carries its waters to the very borders of the earth and enriches the sea. And he convinced her, and she humbly obeyed, to limit her generosity, to measure it not by requests, but by needs. Despite her wealth, Olympias led the life of a humble servant of God. Brought up in pomp and luxury, she abandoned all the pleasures of the world and led a simple life. She never ate meat; did not take baths, which are so necessary in a hot climate. Night vigils became a habit for her, and her time was devoted mainly to prayer. Her behavior with others breathed with Christian modesty and sincerity. “Her appearance is open, her disposition is sincere, her clothes, even dressed in rags, would seem worthless; her meekness was such that it surpassed the simplicity of children,” says an eyewitness 134. Saint Chrysostom, consoling her in her sorrows, wrote to her from captivity: “You have by nature received the most tender and weak body; the noble breed has provided you with all the ways to nourish him luxuriously; but you have exhausted it so much with various sufferings that it is now no better than dead. You have voluntarily created in your body such a kind of disease that neither the art of doctors nor the power of medicine can cure them... You are not overcome by a passion for carnal pleasures, and therefore there is no difficulty for you to abstain from them. You have trained your body to accept so much bread and drink just to avoid dying. I’ll say a few words about this simplicity and unrefinement that you observe regarding the dress. This virtue seems to be inferior to others; but if you examine it carefully, you will find that it is very majestic, that it requires for itself an intelligent soul, standing above all worldly things, soaring to the sky. For this reason, not only in the new, but also in the old testament, God forbade the passion for clothing and said: the daughters of Zion are exalted and walk with their high necks, and with their eyes crossed and their feet treading, dragging their garments along the path and playing with their feet: and the Lord will humble the chief daughters of Zion... And instead of a stench there will be a stench, and instead of a girdle they will girdle ( Isa. 3:16-23) ... Paul, speaking to secular women, not only rejects them from wearing gold clothes, but does not allow them to dress in valuable clothes (see: 1 Tim. 2:3). For he knew, knew well, that panache is a serious illness of the soul; a disease that is difficult to fight is the surest sign of a damaged heart” 135. Even Saint Nektarios, Patriarch of Constantinople, ordained Saint Olympias as a deaconess. What were Olympias's activities as a deaconess? The first concern is looking after suffering and unhappy wives. “At dawn you can see: many old women and widows crowding around the dungeon; even the famous ones serve the prisoner and spend the whole night with her; delicious treats are brought and holy books are read to them,” this is how the pagan wrote about Christian deaconesses. Deaconesses taught the female sex the Law of God, especially during preparation for baptism. The Fourth Council of Carthage decreed: “Widows or initiates elected to the ministry at the baptism of wives must be so prepared for the position that they can teach simple rural women with clear and ecclesiastical rules how to respond to the woman being baptized at baptism and how to live after baptism.” Deaconesses served women during the performance of the Sacraments over them, at Baptism, at Communion, at Confession, at Marriage; they supervised the decorum of the wives in the house of prayer, decorated the churches and monitored their cleanliness. Serving the sacraments and the sisters was a pleasant experience for Olympias. An eyewitness of her life wrote: “She nurtured the priesthood, respected the clergy, helped widows, fed orphans, visited the sick, cried with sinners, returned the lost to the path of good, many wives who were married to the pagans, instructed them in the faith and gave them the means to subsist.” 136 The virtues of Olympias were the subject of wonder and consolation for the whole Church. Famous saints of that time spoke about her with deep respect. Saint Amphilochius, Saint Epiphanius, Saint Peter of Sebaste, Saint Optatus the Bishop took advantage of her generous charity and praised the Lord for it. She covered the eyes of the dying Patriarch Nektarios and Bishop Optat with her own hands. She also did good to those archpastors who were not distinguished by their moral heights, such as Akakios, Antiochus, Severian; she respected their high rank. A storm of troubles arose over the holy Olympiad from the time the persecution of Chrysostom began. The first enemy of Chrysostom, Theophilus of Alexandria, was the first enemy of the blessed Olympias. She lovingly received him in her house when he was in the capital, treated him and gave him gifts. When she accepted, as she accepted all the monks and sufferers, the great brothers driven out of Egypt by Theophilus’s pride, Theophilus began to disgrace her with vile slander. The empress’s anger, which persecuted Chrysostom, also raged against Olympias, who respected Chrysostom and was respected in the world and the Church. Especially when the fire devastated the St. Sophia Church and the Senate, the anger of Chrysostom’s enemies fell upon those who defended Chrysostom. They said that the fire was their business. Prefect Optatus the pagan took Olympias for interrogation. “Why was this fire started?” - he asked her. “My life, which I have led until now,” answered Olympias, “frees me from the suspicion expressed by you. Whoever gave away so much money to build churches, of course, is not in a position to burn them.” The prefect ordered the innocent party to contribute a commensurate (huge) sum of money to cover the damage to the treasury 137 . Weighed down by sorrows, Olympias fell into illness, which tormented her all winter. At the beginning of spring she was ordered to leave the capital. For a long time she wandered from one place to another, not knowing where to lay her head. In mid-autumn 405, she was ordered to return to the capital. Even now she was accused of allegedly causing discord in the Church. She could not help but consider Chrysostom innocently exiled, and the sufferings of the great saint caused her soul deep suffering 138 . But all the more so did she honor his commandment and did not separate from the Church according to his will. “She submitted to her bishops with all piety,” says a contemporary and adds: “none of those close to her ever noticed that this Christ-bearing woman reproached anyone” 139 . They called her to court many times; shameless servants disgraced her; they tore her dress. Some of her estates were sold at public auction, others were ruined by the mob, and for others they dragged her through the courts. Her own servants, to whom she did good as a mother, rebelled against her at the instigation of her enemies. Her soul suffered greatly; St. Chrysostom wrote to her: “Stop crying, stop tormenting yourself with sadness; do not look at these misfortunes that come towards you incessantly, coming one after another without an interval; think about freedom, which is so close; think about the unspeakable rewards that your misfortunes will bring you... What does it mean to be thrown out of your fatherland, to be transferred from place to place, to be a captive, to be persecuted everywhere, to live in exile, to be dragged through the courts, to receive insults from people who have received thousands of benefits, to be tortured by both slaves and freemen - what does all this mean when for all this the reward is the whole sky” 140. “She taught many other wives,” writes Heraclides about Saint Olympias, and Saint Chrysostom wrote for the Olympias itself: “I am especially pleased that you, having freed yourself from litigation and assignments, put an end to them worthy of you. You did not cowardly reject them, did not delay them in vain, did not humiliate yourself in the courts and troubles associated with litigation” 141. Both the words of Heraclides and the words of Chrysostom make it clear that in her last years Blessed Olympias was the abbess of the sister nuns. By cutting off ties with the world, the blessed one wanted to protect herself from the squabbles of the court, as well as from the accusations that rained down on her indiscriminately, as if she, the first deaconess, was the reason that many did not want to know the new patriarch. The world doesn't like to blame itself for anything; he is always right in his eyes, and only others are to blame; blind from passions, he sees neither himself nor others. Therefore, the anger of the world haunted Olympias in her solitude. Under Attica, the community of sisters of Olympias was expelled from the capital to imprisonment in Cyzicus. Saint Chrysostom wrote then for the Olympics: “How glorious is virtue, which despises all the upheavals of real life! Through those who try to humiliate her, she makes her ascetics stronger, higher, more invincible... This is how, my most God-loving lady, you should amuse yourself and those who are fighting with you in the present glorious struggle! This is how you approve the thoughts and spirit of all (virgins), setting up your squad” 142. The holy virgin Olympias remained in captivity until her death, which followed in 410. “The best inhabitants of Constantinople,” wrote Palladius in 420, “count her among the confessors and are confident that she, who suffered for the truth and for God, inherited a blessed life” 143. Her holy body, placed in the church of an unknown town, performed miracles. 200 years later, savages burned the church, but the saint’s body remained unharmed. When they carried him to Constantinople, blood flowed from him as if from a living person, as a sign of the innocent suffering suffered in earthly life. The relics were placed in the monastery founded by the saint 144. “In the footsteps of the Olympiad,” says Palladius, “blessed Candida, the daughter of the commander Trajan, led her life in a godly manner. She achieved high purity, wisely decorated churches, out of reverence for the Mysteries of Christ, she honored bishops and respected the entire clergy. Having taught her daughter the rules of virgin life, she gave her to Christ as a gift from her heart. Then she herself, having distributed her property, followed her daughter and spent her life in purity and chastity. To exhaust her flesh, she worked whole nights, grinding flour with her own hands and baking prosphora. Since fasting alone is not enough, she said, I add to it a grueling vigil in order to crush Esau’s lust. She did not eat animal meat at all, but ate only fish, butter and vegetables, and that only on holidays; at any other time she was content with water mixed with vinegar and dry bread. Having led such a harsh life, this illustrious wife fell into a blissful sleep and now enjoys the eternal blessings prepared for those who love a virtuous life” 145. Like this pious wife, the glorious Gelasia, the daughter of a tribune, zealously walked the path of righteousness and piously bore the yoke of virginity. This wonderful virgin had a special virtue that the sun never set on her anger on a slave, or on a maidservant, or on anyone else (see: Eph. 4:26). Gelasia was afraid to remember the insult or trouble caused by others. Forgive and you will be forgiven (Luke 6:37), such is the will of God, she told herself. Without loving your neighbor, you cannot love the Lord; and there is no love in him who is angry with another, who does not forgive him for everything. Anger is the work of a corrupt soul (see: John 5:20). Anger is demonic possession (see: Proverbs 27:4). Anger rests in the heart of a fool (see: Eccl. 7:10). Unfortunately, no one's anger is as ugly as the anger of a wife (see: Sir. 27, 33). Further, further from him, perhaps it’s childish kindness: it is so pleasing to the Lord. He told us: unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18:3-4). In this way, through childish kindness, the blessed one entered into the blessed life 146. Memory of Saint Clement, Bishop of Velich, and his collaborators: Angelar, Gorazd, Naum and Sava The enlighteners of the Slavs, Saints Cyril and Methodius, raised zealous, selfless workers and sincere servants of God for the Church of God. Such was Saint Clement, later Archbishop of Velichsky. Such were his collaborators Gorazd, Naum, Angelarius and Savva 147. Saint Methodius, Archbishop of all Moravia, having predicted his imminent death (April 6, 885), appointed as his successor the most experienced of his collaborators, Saint Gorazd, a Moravian by birth, who knew the languages ​​Slavic, Greek and Latin perfectly 148. The German clergy, selfish and corrupted by Romanism, seeing with what zeal the new archbishop began to govern the flock entrusted to him, realized that the second Methodius, who was so bitter for the Germans, could be resurrected in him. Therefore, it hastened to use all measures to place a Viking in his place. Who was this Viking? He was dedicated by Methodius to be his assistant, but was his most insidious and most malicious enemy. The Viking, with a bad heart, was imbued with heresy (about the procession of the Holy Spirit and from the Son) and tried to intoxicate Svyatopolk and others with it, for which Saint Methodius anathematized him. Subsequently, the Germans themselves drove out the Viking as a notorious bad person. But now they needed him, and they did everything according to his wishes, as consistent with their intentions. The people revered Saint Methodius and valued his disciples, but the Germans acted through Svyatopolk. They reported to the prince that Methodius’s disciples were spreading false teachings among the people, inconsistent with the teachings of the pope, and moreover, they were plotting against the power of the prince. Svyatopolk, having listened to the accused and accusers, found the former to be right and accused the latter. But Svyatopolk was busy with the war with Arnulf and gave the clergy of Romanism freedom to act according to their own will. The Germans began violence. “Who can express,” says a contemporary, “how much evil they (the Germans) did with this violence, forcing the Orthodox to accept a bad dogma (π o νηρ ϖ δ o γματι); some became apostates from Orthodoxy.” But there were also those who decided to defend their beliefs. The cunning Viking was on the side of Svyatopolk’s enemy, Arnulf, as the consequences showed; but he knew how to bypass Svyatopolk, so he allowed him to act in his name. The Viking ordered Gorazd, Clement, Naum, Angelarius and many other adherents of Orthodoxy to be seized and imprisoned. After 80 days, seeing the firmness of the confessors of the Gospel truth, they were taken out of prison and, after severe torture, they were handed over to the soldiers in order to be escorted across the Danube, and moreover, by more than one road. “Following the example of the Savior,” continues the contemporary, “who commanded the apostles, if they were expelled from one city, to go to another, the confessors went to Bulgaria, where they hoped to find consolation for themselves. Clement, Naum and Angelyar went to Belgorod, and Savva and Gorazd reached the possessions of Prince Boris by another route” 149. Two ancient monuments testify to the presence of St. Gorazd in southwestern Bulgaria: one is a list of Bulgarian archbishops compiled around 1156, where he is placed among the Bulgarian archbishops between Methodius and Clement, the other is the church and monastery of St. Gorazd, located near Berat in Albania, where the relics of the saint rest in secret 150. Peter the Sicilian, who wrote his essay on the Manichaeans under Patriarch Photius (before 889) and dedicated it to the Bulgarian Archbishop, dedicated it, of course, to an enlightened saint such as Gorazd, who died, most likely, not before 896 151. Since Saint Savva went to Bulgaria with Gorazd, of course he labored with him in southwestern Bulgaria. Saint Clement, Angelar and Naum, when they first entered Bulgaria, encountered a difficult temptation. “On the banks of the Danube in a village, tired of the journey and lack of food, they were looking for a strange-loving and God-fearing man who could put them to rest. They found one and were accepted. He had a son, blooming with the beauty of youth. As soon as the strangers entered the house, this son died, beautiful in appearance, the only joy, the hope of the family. Can you imagine how the father suffered, what he did not say in such grief, having suffered misfortune at the entrance of the strangers? “A good reward for love of strangeness,” he said. “For this reason I opened the house to you, so that it would be closed forever, left without an heir!... But you will not escape punishment, even if you knew all the spells.” You are in the hands of a father who is mourning his son from you - you will pay for all your deeds - with prison and execution.” They suffered no less than their father. Tender and compassionate souls dared to do even more. They decided to turn to prayer. Softening the irritation of the sorrowful and angry father, they said: “We are not magicians, man of God; we curse those who engage in spells and serve the True God; if you think that we are guilty of the death of your son, rest assured, we hope that the Lord will grant him life for us.” They prayed over the boy and - lo and behold! - they presented their living son to the mournful father. The delighted father asked God's servants for forgiveness for his insolence and offered them everything he had in gratitude for saving his son. Pleased with his good dispositions, they accepted what was necessary for their journey and in Belgrade came to the commandant Boritokan. “He asked them who they were, and seeing that they were servants of God, he let Prince Boris, for whom he was a commander, know about them: he knew that Boris loved such people. Having allowed them to calm down from the long journey, he then sent the prince this expensive gift, explaining to him that these were exactly the people he was so diligently looking for. When they came to Boris, they were received with honor befitting people worthy of honor and respect. The prince asked them about their lives. They told him about themselves from beginning to end. The prince, having listened to everything, heartily thanked God, who sent such ministers, so much needed for Bulgaria, who gave teachers and planters of the faith, not just any ordinary ones, but confessors and martyrs. Having given them clothes suitable for sacred persons, he appointed the best chambers for their accommodation and ordered all the necessary maintenance to be provided. He himself wanted to talk with them every day, listened to ancient stories and legends about the lives of the saints, and through their lips reread what was in the scriptures.” Those who were distinguished by nobility and wealth at his court came to the saints, like students to teachers, and asked about what was necessary for the salvation of the soul and, taking from these sources, passed on spiritual water to their household. Each one asked them to visit him in his house, considering visiting teachers as sanctification, believing that where these three teachers were in body, there was the Lord Himself. The saints avoided crowds. They visited houses only on the orders and permission of the prince. So one of the Bulgarians, a dignitary named Ekhach, asked the prince to allow him to receive Naum and Blessed Clement in his house and, when the prince allowed, he received the teachers with sincere joy and with all honor. And Cheslav’s home is sanctified by the installation of the Angelarium; The prince showed him the mercy of allowing him to receive the teacher, but Cheslav did not have long to enjoy the presence of the blessed one: Angelarius, having lived with him for some time, serenely surrendered his spirit into the hands of the Angels.” Clement and Naum lived with Ekhach in full honor; but they provided him with more expensive gifts, sowing spiritual things and reaping material ones 152 . “Prince Boris,” the ancient biographer narrates, “since he did not cease to take every possible care to ensure that the sacred men could achieve every opportunity to fulfill the work of God, according to the admonition of God, he separates Kutmichivitsa from Kotokiy and puts Doveta in charge over it; Dovete gives blessed Clement, or better yet, entrusts Dovete with Clement. Clement is sent by the teacher of Kutmichivitsa, and orders were given to the inhabitants all over the country to receive this saint with zeal and to provide him with everything in abundance... Boris himself provided blessed Clement with three palaces in Debola and, in addition, near Ohrid and Glavenica gave him places to rest.” Clement did not deceive the prince's hopes. Traveling around the country, he “loudly preached the salvation of God to the pagans,” and explained to everyone the concepts of saving dogmas and commandments. In each district he had chosen disciples, and their number extended to 3050; “While talking with them, he revealed deeper passages of Holy Scripture. “He especially brought us unworthy,” says the biography writer, “closer to himself.” And we never saw him idle: he either taught children, showing some the difference between letters, explaining to others the meaning of what was written, others leading his hand to write, or he indulged in prayer, listened to reading, wrote books.” Even under Boris, when he was not a bishop, he built the monastery of St. Panteleimon in Ohrid. Seeing that Prince Boris surrounded Bulgaria with seven cathedral churches, he decided to build his own monastery in Ohrid. So in Ohrid there were three churches, one cathedral and two built by St. Clement, which were smaller, but seemed more pleasant in their roundness.” So he attracted the Bulgarians to piety with the beauty of sacred buildings 153. “It was the eighth year of Klimentov’s teaching,” and this was the last year of Borisov’s reign. “His son Vladimir 154 takes over the leadership; Having lived with power for the fourth year, he became a simple man; his brother Simeon 155 became the heir of everything. Since the rumor greatly praised Clement, Prince Simeon invited him to his place. A personal meeting and conversations completely convinced the prince of Clement’s high merits. Then Clement is appointed bishop of Drembitsa or Velitsa” 156, to the land of the Dregovichi and Saculates, who, since the 7th century, began to gradually accept Christianity at the inspiration of the heavenly leader, the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki 157. Unfortunately for them, they had not yet had a Bulgarian bishop. Clement "is the first of the Bulgarians to be a bishop." This was in 896 158. During his teaching, the blessed one prepared many people who were able to give an account of their faith. Now in the rank of bishop, with consolation, “he appointed from them readers, subdeacons, deacons and presbyters” 159. But he still had to work a lot to educate his flock, and he worked tirelessly. The people and the majority of the clergy were unfamiliar with church services and especially with its high significance. The saint “did not give sleep to his eyes,” teaching everyone and introducing harmonious order into the ministry; “he taught the clergy about church improvement and everything related to psalmody and prayers, so that finally the clergy of his flock were no lower than others who were famous in this kind... There were no holiday teachings in the Bulgarian language”; the priests, not knowing the Greek language, did not themselves know and did not explain to the people the meaning of the holidays. Clement “composed words, simple and understandable, for all the holidays and became the second Paul for the Bulgarians. From his words they began to learn the secrets of the festivities celebrated in the glory of Christ and the Mother of God. The Baptist was not left without praise, and you will learn about the wonderful acquisitions of his head; you will meet the life of prophets, apostles, martyrs. Do you want to know how the monks lived? You will find a lot written about this in Bulgarian by the wise Clement” 160. An early legend says: “he also invented other writing signs, different from those invented by the wise Cyril. And through their words of praise and sacred chants he committed to writing” 161. It is most likely that the early narrator saw Clement’s works written in Glagolitic letters 162. There is no doubt now that the Slavs had their own writing before the invention of the Kirillova alphabet, only those writings were in many ways inconvenient 163 . After this, it must be assumed that blessed Clement, with the help of Kirillov’s invention, improved the ancient cuts, and thus the Glagolitic alphabet was compiled 164. In Glavenitsa, says the Bulgarian storyteller, “pillars on which are inscribed a letter about the communion of the entire people with Christ” have been preserved. According to ancient life, while the Bulgarian country, covered with wild forests, did not have fruit trees, Clement ordered fruit trees from Greece and ennobled the wild ones with grafting. According to a contemporary, God glorified Blessed Clement with the grace of miracles. Once he was returning from Glavenica to Ohrid and he met two paralytic men and a blind man. Compassionate about their misfortune, he raised his eyes to heaven, touched the unfortunate ones, and the paralytic jumped up like trees, and light shone for the blind man. Bowed with old age and exhausted by labor, he wanted to give up the management of the diocese. “Give me,” he said to the prince, “a few days so that I can talk with myself and God in my monastery.” The prince was saddened by such a request and answered: “What are you saying, our father? Can I allow another to sit in your pulpit during your lifetime? If I have saddened you in any way, forgive the sin of ignorance.” The elder yielded to the will of the prince. But when he returned to the monastery, he fell ill and, foreseeing his imminent death, left Bulgaria a parting gift. He now completed the missing triodion, the one sung from the new week until Pentecost. He made a will about the books he wrote and other property, leaving one part to the department, the other to the monastery. He moved to the Lord on July 27, 6924 (916), and his sacred body was laid in the monastery, in a grave prepared by himself, on the right side of the porch 165. The relics of Saint Clement now rest in Ohrid, and icons with his face are often found in Bulgarian churches 166. Saint Naum - according to his life, although not ancient, the youngest of the disciples of Saints Cyril and Methodius, accompanied Clement to Devola (the country adjacent to Lake Ohrid), was his assistant in the Gospel preaching in the wild country and “assisted him in everything until his death. He spent the rest of the time (hence, after 916) in Devola and here he guided people with his wise teaching, freeing them from long-standing fatherly errors and directing them to the path of Orthodoxy. Having lived in holiness and piety, having gone through many labors and deeds, he ascended to the Judge of all deeds, and left his holy relics as a source of healing" 167 . Constantine, the Bulgarian presbyter, says that, following the conviction of Father Naum, he began to compile conversations for Sundays in 896. To this day, the monastery of St. Naum still exists on the southeastern tip of Lake Ohrid, very extensive and with strong buildings. According to local legend, the monastery was built by Prince Boris-Mikhail and served as a shelter for the Monk Naum. Among the monastery stands a small, but already dilapidated and sagging, stone church of St. Naum. On the southern wall of the church in 1711, Saint Naum was painted in monastic robes; near the northern wall there is a chapel with an ancient icon of the Monk Naum and here under the cover of his relics. Those who are sick, especially in soul, not only Christians, but also Mohammedans come here and lie down on the tomb of the saint: the Monk Naum is known to everyone as a miracle worker. At the church there is a closet with a strong lock for those who are imprisoned here 168. In the Ohrid Metropolitan Church there are ancient icons depicting St. Clement in bishop's vestments and St. Naum in monastic robes; in the Bitola church there are two chapels in their name 169. Repose of Saint Joasaph, Metropolitan of Moscow Blessed Joasaph, one of the Skrypitsyn nobles, accepted monasticism at the monastery of St. Sergius and from 1529 was its abbot. Grand Duke Vasily loved and respected him. Abbot Joasaph received (1530) the heir to the throne, John, from the font. Then, in accordance with the long-standing desire of Grand Duke Vasily, he clothed his sick man, before his death, with monasticism 170. On February 6, 1539, Joasaph was elected Metropolitan of Moscow, replacing Daniel, who refused the see 171. In his confession of faith, the one appointed to the metropolitan wrote: “In everything I follow the ancient most holy patriarchs, who observe the true immaculate Christian faith, established by the holy apostles and betrayed by the God-bearing fathers, and not that which Isidore brought from the unholy Latin Council, which shone with wickedness. In addition, I promise not to do anything just to please. a prince or many princes, even if they threatened me with death, forcing me to do something contrary to the Divine and sacred rules” 172. Blessed Joasaph fulfilled his promise with complete firmness. During John’s childhood, the boyars did what they wanted, and the Shuiskys committed villainy. It was necessary to put a limit to the bloody outrages of the Shuiskys, and Prince Belsky was more capable of this. The saint (in March 1540) asked the Grand Duke for an order to release Prince Belsky from prison, and the smart, kind boyar was introduced to the Supreme Council of Boyars. It was easy to foresee that the Shuiskys would cruelly repay the good shepherd for this; but he submitted himself to the will of God. Hopes for Belsky began to be justified: robberies and violence were stopped 173. The Metropolitan did everything he could for the good of Russia. He kept the Grand Duke in Moscow and inspired everyone with courage when he approached Moscow Sagibgirey 174. At his request, favors and fatherhood were returned to Prince Vladimir Andreevich, the brother of the Grand Duke, and freedom was given to the sufferer Prince Dimitri Andreevich, who had been in prison and chains for 49 years 175. But Prince Ivan Shuisky (in January 1542) managed to capture and send Belsky to Beloozero, where he was strangled. Then a frantic crowd almost killed the saint: they threw stones at his cell; he found no protection in the chambers of the Grand Duke himself; at the Trinity Metochion they were ready to kill him, and only in the name of St. Sergius did Abbot Alexy beg to spare the life of the saint. He was sent into captivity in the Beloozersky Monastery 176. In 1553, the former Metropolitan of Moscow Joasaph met the king of the conqueror of Kazan in the Lavra of Sergius 177. He begged for the grace to spend his last years at the place of monastic vows. He had troubles here too: those living with him then were those who themselves had little desire to live in the monastery and who were driven into the monastery only by the troubles of worldly life; they often insulted blessed Joasaph with fits of their worldly self-will 178; Through involuntary and voluntary sorrows, blessed Joasaph purified his soul for the bright joys of heaven and died peacefully on July 27, 1555. His relics rest hidden in the southern porch of the Trinity Cathedral 179. The saint diligently occupied himself with correcting books for the common good. In his collection we read: “With the grace of God and the help of the Most Pure Mother of God, the father rewrote the lives of the holy venerables. I wrote from different lists, trying to find the right one. And I found a lot of things in the lists that were not corrected. And as much as possible for my bad mind, I corrected this; But if it is impossible, I will leave this aside, so that those who have greater understanding than us will correct the uncorrected and replenish the insufficient” 180. His sakkos is still intact, built, according to the inscription, “in the second year of his holiness”, a golden glaset (altabas), with a silver four-pointed cross, on which another, eight-pointed cross was drawn in niello 181. Venerable Paul of Xiropotamia Paul, in the world Procopius, was the son of the Greek emperor Michael Kuropalate, nicknamed Rangave. His birth was joyfully and solemnly celebrated by Constantinople; meanwhile, not royal glory, but radiance in a wretched cell, exceeding in its quiet brilliance all worldly glory, was subsequently to be seen by the child born for the throne... As soon as Procopius was weaned, his father, a pious, peace-loving man, weighed down by the court unrest and in general by all the vanity of the world, all the more noticeable the higher the person was placed in his position, abandoned the throne and entered the monastery he himself built, called Mireleon, where he died in monasticism. The throne after Michael Kuropalatus was occupied by Leo the Armenian and, fearing a future rival for the rights to the throne in the young Procopius, he decided to mutilate him through barbaric emasculation. Procopius was, however, provided with the means to higher education, which he, thanks to his natural rich mental gifts, combined with the graceful spiritual qualities inherited from pious parents, made excellent use of, so that he did not hesitate to become famous among the modern world. But, wise both in his mental and spiritual development, Procopius early realized the entire emptiness of the splendor and greatness of the earth; He was also burdened by his own glory and even feared it, as a dangerous temptation for natural human pride, and therefore decided to leave the world. One day, dressed as a beggar, he left Constantinople and went to Mount Athos. Having first examined the monastery and studied the life of the monks, for the first time he felt an inexpressible calm and remained to live in the monastery of Xiropotamus, founded by Empress Pulcheria and shortly before that devastated by pirates who beat up the monastics there. Here, on the ruins of the monastery, he built himself a small cell and settled in it for prayerful feats, to which both the wondrous nature in the most picturesque area and the undisturbed silence of desert solitude were so conducive. Not far from him lived another hermit, Cosmas; Procopius became close to him and received monastic vows from him with the name Paul. Then he began to strive for a severe feat: he even slept on the bare ground, having a stone instead of a headboard. Paul's strict life surprised the monks themselves and served as a role model for them. Although he hid his title and his learning from everyone, he could not hide his virtue, which glorified him far from the world and more or less contributed to the fact that people learned the way to him and took him out of his secret refuge in order to borrow from him goodness and truth. And goodness poured out into the world from the soul of the humble and wise Paul, prepared and matured in solitary asceticism. Emperor Romanus, who ascended the Greek throne, wished to find Procopius, a relative of his. Those sent for this purpose finally found him on the Holy Mountain, recognizing him in the monk Paul, and despite his reluctance to part with his beloved solitude, they convinced him to go with them to Constantinople to see the sovereign and other relatives who wanted this. Once again, Constantinople solemnly and joyfully welcomed the royal - but no longer a baby, but an ascetic who appeared in the capital in all the humiliation of his monastic rank. Nobles and common people fell to him as to an angel and asked for his blessing. And for greater glory, God Himself glorified him by healing the Emperor Romanus, who was seriously ill at that time, as soon as Paul prayed for the sick man and laid his hands on him. Having loved Paul with all his soul and wanting to benefit from his conversations, the emperor asked him to stay at court to take care of the upbringing and education of his children. The loving Paul did not abandon this work, and for some time the emperor rejoiced as a father - seeing his children under the most precious influence of the man of God. But again, and now more than before, the heart of the hermit grieved amid all the celebrations and splendor of life at court, and it was beyond his strength to bear the spectacle of unrest and the height of human passions. His soul yearned for the soothing desert, and one day he said to the emperor: “Sovereign, like a fish without water, a monk cannot live without the conditions of cell life and desert silence; he is dead to God and lifeless in order to exactly fulfill his duty and obligations towards God. The world is not a monastic element. Therefore, let me return to my desert, where conversation with God is the highest good of my soul." The emperor did not want to be separated from his irreplaceable mentor and his children, he also did not want to keep him by force, and therefore he released him to Athos, providing him with the means to restore the Xiropotamian monastery destroyed by pirates in all its befitting splendor under royal protection. Joy also came for Athos with the return of the glorious monk Paul. Through his labors, the monastery was restored from the ruins, into which many monks gathered who wanted to live the monastic life in a dignified manner under the wise guidance of the experienced Paul. Weighed down, however, by rumors and crowds, Paul, having established a monastery and entrusting its management to one of the most pious brethren, himself retired to the foothills of Athos, where he hoped to find complete silence among strict solitude. But even here his devotees came to him, and in a short time the desert, in which up to 60 of Paul’s disciples settled, took on the appearance of a monastery, which had to be built on the basis of the rules and conditions of desert life and at the same time protected from external attacks given its unsafe position, open from the sea. Thus, through the efforts of Paul, a new monastery arose in the name of St. George, which to this day has retained the name Svyatoslavsky in memory of its founder. Soon after the founding of this monastery, in which Paul himself was abbot, the time came for his death, which he foresaw in advance. Saying goodbye to his brothers who were crying for him, the dying man began to cry and told them: “Stop crying, brothers! Do not disturb my heart with your tears. What to do! The time has come for which my soul constantly thirsted, but my flesh feared..." Having talked with the brethren with the last paternal instructions, he partook of the Holy Mysteries and, saying his usual prayer: “My hope is the Father, my refuge is the Son, my protection is the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity, glory to Thee!” with his face beaming with unearthly delight, he gave up his soul to God. It was July 28, 820. Paul's burial was solemnly performed in Constantinople in the presence of the emperor, the patriarch and the entire clergy 182. Subsequently, during the defeat of Constantinople by the crusaders, the relics of St. Paul of Xiropotamia were transported to Venice. The following monuments to the high spiritual mood and education of St. Paul have been preserved: the Sermon on the Entry into the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, the canon of the forty martyrs and the canon (written in iambic verse) to the Precious Cross. Emperor Romanus the Elder, in his royal charter (chrisovul), given to Paul for the establishment of a monastery on Mount Athos, calls him the greatest of philosophers 183 08D0C9EA79F9BACE118C8200AA004BA90B02000000080000000E0000005F00520065006600340033003200390037003100360034003900000000 . Holy Apostles from 70: Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon and Parmena From among the first seven deacons of the Apostolic Church (see: Acts 6:5), Prochorus was a companion of the Apostle Peter and then John Theologian; founded the episcopal see in Nicomedia and, while preaching in Antioch, was killed by the pagans. Nicanor was killed by the Jews at the same time that Stephen the Archdeacon suffered. Timon was a bishop in Bostra of Arabia, and Parmen, in his exploits of preaching, died a martyr and was buried in the city of Soli, on the island of Cyprus. The 70 are remembered in the cathedral on January 4, Nikanor on December 28, and Timon on December 30. Repose of the Venerable Roman Kirzhachsky According to handwritten calendars, among the saints is “Reverend Roman, builder of the Vvedensky Monastery, also on Kirzhach, disciple of St. Sergius the Wonderworker.” When the anxieties of worldly self-will penetrated into the desert of St. Sergius, Sergius, leaving people to their conscience, retired from the monastery with his disciple Roman to find another place for solitary exploits. He settled in the monastery of the village of Kirzhach, given by the will of Prince John Kalita (1328) to the monastery of rest of the holy Prince Alexander Nevsky. This is in the forests of what is now Pokrovsky district. The elders of the great monastery of Sergius prayed to Saint Alexis to return their father to them. Submissive to the will of the saint, the Monk Sergius entrusted Roman with finishing the construction of the new desert monastery and being a mentor to its inhabitants, while he himself returned to his previous place. Blessed Roman fulfilled the commandments of his father: he built a monastery and was an example of ascetic life for the monks. He died peacefully on July 29, 1392. His relics rest hidden in a church, now a parish, in the provincial town of Kirzhach ‎ 184 . Repose of St. Konstantin Kosinsky The Monk Constantine studied spiritual life under the guidance of the Monk Varlaam and his successor, the Monk Anthony. Around 1220, he left the Khutyn monastery and, 3 versts from Staraya Russa, on a secluded island, he founded his monastery in the name of St. Nicholas. This monastery was called Kosina because the Polist and Snezhnaya rivers, washing the island, form a spit 185. In the handwritten calendar it is noted that “Reverend Constantine, disciple of Varlaam of Khutyn, abbot of the monastery outside Russia, reposed in July on the 29th day,” but the year of death is not shown; here the Monk Constantine is called a wonderworker. Holy Martyr Theodotia and her three children The young widow Theodotia, originally from Nicaea and living in Thessalonica, shared the pious labors of Saint Anastasia the Pattern Maker (December 22) and for this she was accused before Diocletian. One dignitary from the king’s retinue, named Leucadius, seeing Theodotia preparing for torment, was struck by her beauty and begged her for himself. Without having time, however, to either persuade her to renounce Christ or to marry himself, he sent her home to the proconsul of Bithynia, Nikitius, who ordered Theodotia and all her children to be tortured, after which they were all thrown into the oven and burned around 304. (She is commemorated a second time along with Saint Anastasia the Pattern Maker on December 22). Holy Martyr Eustathius of Mtskheta In 541, the son of a priest (magician), named Brobandav, 30 years old, arrived from the Persian village of Arbuketi, which belonged to the city of Ganrakili, to the city of Mtskheta, and began to live here, supporting himself with his labors. Many Christians lived in Mtskheta at that time. Seeing their pious life and sincere service to God Christ, the son of the priest fell in love with the faith of these people and, having learned what the Christian teaching consists of, believed in Christ with all his soul, accepted Holy Baptism, at which he was named Eustathius, and began to live a pure Christian life, at the same time marrying a Christian wife. The Persian's conversion to the Christian faith eluded the attention of his fellow tribesmen for some time, but it was discovered when he did not appear at one of their religious festivals, and when asked why he did not take part in fulfilling what was required by their law, he answered directly that he was a Christian and, enlightened by the bright truth, could not take part in the festival of darkness observed by unenlightened people... Hearing this, Eustathius’s former friends reported to the head of the Mtskheta fortress that their former co-religionist lived in the city, who called himself a Christian and blasphemed the people’s faith and law. The commandant ordered Eustathius to be brought to him. At first the convert was troubled in spirit and even wanted to hide, but, on reflection, he said: “Behold, my former friends have become my enemies... but will I really be afraid of them? I will go, appear before the face of the ruler and confess Christ before him, because I know the words of my God, who says in the Gospel: everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Heavenly Father, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Heavenly Father” (Matthew 10:32-33). Then, having overshadowed himself with the sign of the cross, he said: “The Lord is with me!” - and followed the warrior to the commandant. To the commandant’s questions about his rank, origin and faith, Eustathius answered: “I was a resident of the village of Arbuketi, my father was a magician and he also prepared me to be a magician, but I didn’t like this job. I didn't want to be a magician; Even in my village I realized that the Christian faith is superior to ours, and now I have come to know Christ and believe in Him and I want to serve Him alone...” The commandant tried to turn the confessor away from his Christian beliefs, but seeing his firmness in the new faith, he escorted him to Tiflis, to the satrap of Kartalin Arvand-Gubnab, who alone in all of Georgia had the power to execute or pardon. Here, after a new interrogation and after Eustathius refused to renounce Christ, he was tortured and thrown in chains into prison. After a six-month imprisonment, he was, however, released at the request of the Georgian nobles to Arvand-Gubnab, so that he “released the Mtskheta citizens imprisoned for their adoption of Christianity,” and together with others returned home. But three years after that, when satrap Bezhan-Buzmil, a man of cruel disposition, was appointed in Georgia, Eustathius was again summoned to Tiflis at the insistence of previous informers. This time there was no hope for mercy; calmly and without fear, but knowing that he was now saying goodbye forever in this life to his dear family, Eustathius set off for Tiflis, on his last journey... Upon his arrival in Tiflis, he was again interrogated; Having responded with testimony about his rank and origin, Eustathius continued: “Having moved to Georgia, I told myself; I will compare the faith of Christ with our faith, and whichever turns out to be better, I will accept with all my soul. During the day, my father taught me magic, and at night I secretly went to a Christian church and, going inside, listened to the Christian service. The prayer of Christians and their singing seemed to me like angelic singing, and with the greatest pleasure I listened to their service. Once, entering the church, when I tried to move forward in order to better listen to the singing, Archdeacon Samuel, who knew the law and the Holy Scriptures well, came up to me and asked me: why are you striving with such zeal to go to the church? I answered him: “Sir, you know who I am; I don’t like my native faith, and I wish that someone would explain to me both the Jewish faith and the Christian faith, and which turns out to be holy, I will love that with all my heart and accept it.” Then Samuel said to me: “If you want to know the truth, then I will tell you, but the choice of the true faith does not depend on you, but on the will of the Lord.” I began to ask him and said: “Show me which faith to accept and which to reject...” Then the archdeacon began his story about the Jewish faith and the coming into the world of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and how He suffered from the Jewish people, and about the resurrection, and about the ascension of Christ to Heaven, and about the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, and how the Christian faith later spread, and what change this made in people wonderful, true faith...and about the fate of the Jews scattered throughout the world. And when I learned about all this in detail from Archdeacon Samuel 186, I believed in God, the Originless and Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit, and was baptized in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, and now no one can turn me away from the Lord Jesus Christ. I will remain faithful to Him until my death. But I don’t even want to talk about the faith of my ancestors; How can I, having recognized the Creator, worship His creation? A creation created for the benefit and service of man himself..." Satrap Buzmil, having listened to Eustathius, began to persuade him to renounce the faith of others and save his life for his own family. “If I have already suffered severe torment and disobeyed the ruler who was before you, will I listen to you now? No, this will never happen,” answered the confessor. Realizing from these words that there was no way to turn Eustathius away from Christianity, the satrap ordered him to be imprisoned and secretly cut off his head so that Christians could not pay honor to his body, and then, after the beheading, he ordered him to be thrown outside the city to be devoured by birds and beasts. When the soldiers began to carry out the ruler’s sentence in prison, Eustathius asked them to give him some time for prayer and in these words expressed his dying prayer to the Lord: “Lord God Almighty, Who want all men to be saved, who trust with faith in Your Most Holy Name; You, who heard the prayer of the former martyrs, killed by the swords of the Jews, and those who for the sake of Your name were cast into the lake during a terrible cold and died in Your confession, and burned by fire, and for the confession of Your name were torn to pieces and eaten by beasts, inheriting the eternal blessings You promised! Vouchsafe me, O Lord, to be a participant in their heavenly joy, having vouchsafed me, for the sake of Thy Holy Name, to be also a martyr and confessor in recent times! You know, Master Lord my God Jesus Christ, that I have not preferred my father, my mother, my brothers, my family, my relatives and friends, to Your Most Holy Name; I have loved You alone, my Lord, with all my heart and with all my soul, and for the sake of Your name I lay down my head. My lord! I also ask and pray for Your goodness that my body does not remain here; do not allow it to be eaten by dogs and birds, but command that it be buried in Mtskheta, where You revealed yourself to me, where I received Holy Baptism!” “Now I’m ready,” the martyr turned to the soldiers after the prayer, “do what you were commanded to do to me.” The soldiers hesitated to kill the holy confessor. But knowing that otherwise they would perish along with him, they cut off the head of the martyr Eustathius and, taking his body out of the city, left it in the field. Some Christians found out about this, managed to take away the body of the martyr and secretly transported him to Mtskheta. The local Christians brought this to the attention of Catholicos Samuel, who with great honor interred the body of the martyr under the throne of the Patriarchal Mtskheta Cathedral, built in honor of the Twelve Apostles, where God glorified him with miraculous healings of diseases that continue to this day. This served as the basis for Catholicos Samuel II to canonize the martyr Eustathius and establish a celebration in honor of his memory on July 29, the day of his death 187. An Antiochian, raised in the house of a noble lady of a senatorial family. For confessing Christ she was condemned to dishonor, but when two young men, sent for this purpose, were struck by relaxation, she was scourged and then beheaded (during the reign of Hadrian 117–138). Discovery of the relics of St. Herman of Solovetsky At first he labored in solitude on the Vyga River, near the chapel. Here blessed Savvaty found him, looking for a silent place. Herman pointed Savvatiya to Solovetsky Island as the most silent place. In 1429, he and Savvaty crossed the White Sea on a boat, built a cell under Sekirnaya Mountain and lived here as hermits for six years. After the death of Savvaty, Herman found another adherent of the silent life and, together with the blessed Zosima (in 1436), again settled on the harsh island. Blessed Zosima built himself a cell two miles from the present monastery, and half a mile from him German began to live in a bush. He lived on a cold island for more than 50 years. He was not a bookish man, but through his exploits he acquired spiritual experience, which distinguished spiritual phenomena from natural ones. Convinced that the life of great ascetics brings edification to many, Herman, as his contemporary writes, “not knowing how to write according to the book, but admonished by God’s Providence, ordered the clergy to write down for memory everything that he saw during the life of blessed Savvaty, how he came with him to Solovetsky Island, various events during the life of the blessed fathers; there were quite a few such notes” 189. Blessed Herman loved edifying reading and collected books. Still intact in the Solovetsky Library is a collection that, according to the inscription, belonged to the Monk Herman. This love for edifying books was passed on to him and his student Dositheus: the worthy student enriched the monastery with the most useful books, choosing in Novgorod the best books both in content and in writing and hiring the best scribes to copy them for the monastery 190. Blessed Herman tried to be as useful as possible for the monastery. Both during the life of the Monk Zosima and after him, more than once he traveled to solid ground to fulfill the needs of the monastery. His holy love did not look at the dangers of sailing on the deceptive sea, nor at other inconveniences of the journey, which were not easy especially for decrepit old age. He died in the service of the monastery. Under Abbot Arseny, the successor of Saint Zosima, Abba German, having been sent to Novgorod for the needs of the monastery, in the monastery of St. Anthony the Roman, felt the approach of his death, confessed, received the Holy Mysteries and peacefully transferred his spirit to God. His disciples took his body to the Solovetsky monastery, but due to muddy roads they were forced to leave him on the banks of the Svir River near the chapel of the village of Khavronyina. 5 years later (in 1484), under Abbot Isaiah, they decided to move the Abba’s coffin to the Solovetsky monastery; when the messengers dug into the ground and opened the Abba’s coffin, they found his relics incorrupt; The transported coffin was placed with honor near the altar, on the right side of the Church of St. Nicholas, next to the relics of St. Savvaty. Nowadays the relics of Abba Herman rest in the chapel named after him 191. Here also stands a stone four-pointed cross, which stood in the cell of St. Savvaty and before which Abba Herman prayed with him 192. Here is the ancient troparion to Abba German: “Having adorned yourself, wisely, with a fasting life, you were a faster and cohabitant with the sea father, the venerable father Zosima and Savvaty, having striven in prayers and labors and in fasting, reverend Father Herman: but as if you have boldness towards God, pray to deliver us from the enemy and save our souls.” This troparion was written in 1602 in old Totma by Presbyter Gregory, on the orders of Herman, who appeared to him, and was later approved by him. According to the same vision, the image of the Monk Herman was painted, together with Zosima and Savvaty, and from that image several healings flowed to the sick 193. 4th. Rev. Andrei Rublev Information about Saint Andrei Rublev is very sparse. This is the life of St. Nikon of Radonezh, short and lengthy edition; “Answer to the Lustful” by Saint Joseph of Volotsk; “The Tale of the Holy Icon Painters” of the late 16th – early 17th centuries and chronicle references. An important addition to the limited information about Saint Andrew is his works - icons and paintings. According to the well-known resolution of the VII Ecumenical Council, the Orthodox Church venerates the image “along with the Cross and the Gospel.” Therefore, the creation of an icon is a feat of piety, implying grace-filled help from above. The feat of piety can develop into holiness. Hence the special rank in the Orthodox hierarchy of holiness - the rank of holy icon painters, headed by the holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, who, according to legend, painted the image of the Mother of God. In the Russian Church, Saint Alypius of Pechersk and Saint Dionysius of Glushitsky are canonized as icon painters. The greatest Russian icon painter was Saint Andrei Rublev. His main works: the iconostasis and paintings of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, the paintings and iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, the icon “Our Lady of Vladimir” for the Assumption Cathedral in the city of Vladimir; paintings and iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral in Zvenigorod, the Deesis rite from the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery, paintings and iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, the icon of the “Holy Trinity” from the same cathedral; paintings of the Spassky Cathedral of the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery in Moscow. The most famous of his works is the “Holy Trinity” icon, which, according to the unanimous opinion of experts, was created by him. There is no doubt that Saint Andrew created many more icons and paintings than those listed above, but evidence of his other works has not survived. Historical information about the Monk Andrei Rublev is extremely scarce. Nothing is known about its origin. Some light is shed by the fact that he had the nickname “Rublev,” which he retained as a monk. Apparently, “Rublev” is a family nickname with an ending characteristic of Russian surnames, i.e., essentially, a surname. In the 14th-15th centuries and much later, only representatives of the upper strata of society bore surnames, which suggests that he originated from educated circles. The year of birth of the Monk Andrew is unknown. Presumably - 1360th. He began his training from childhood and soon achieved considerable skill. It is believed that Saint Andrew in the early period of his life could study and work in Byzantium and Bulgaria. The monk lived in an era of major historical events, often very difficult for Rus'. In 1380, a bloody battle took place on the Kulikovo Field, which marked the beginning of the liberation of Rus' from the Tatar yoke. Two years later, Moscow was ravaged and burned by Tokhtamysh. It is likely that these and other similar shocks determined the choice made by Saint Andrew - the monastic path. In 1395, Rus' was subjected to a new invasion - this time the hordes of Tamerlane (Temir-Aksak) fell upon it. The miraculous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God was brought to Moscow from Vladimir. All the people, led by Metropolitan Cyprian, came out to meet the shrine at the place where the Sretensky Monastery was subsequently founded in memory of this event. A miracle happened: the Mother of God appeared to Tamerlane in a dream and threateningly forbade him to go to Moscow. Tamerlane turned back and disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared. Soon after this, with the blessing of Metropolitan Cyprian, Saint Andrew wrote a copy of the image of the Mother of God of Vladimir. The place where St. Andrew was tonsured is also not known for certain. Most likely, this is the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery in Moscow - one of the monasteries with which his life was connected. The second such monastery was the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. In spirit, Saint Andrew is an undoubted disciple of Saint Sergius, although tradition dating back to the end of the 16th century speaks of Saint Andrew as the spiritual son of Saint Nikon of Radonezh. While in the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery, monk Andrei lived in the spiritual environment of the disciples of St. Sergius, with whom he closely communicated during trips related to the fulfillment of orders. In addition to the Monk Nikon, he apparently knew Saint Savva of Storozhevsky, since at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries he worked in Zvenigorod and in the Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery itself. He should also have known the nephew of the Monk Sergius, Saint Theodore, Archbishop of Rostov, who for some time served as abbot in the Simonov Monastery, next door to Andronikov. Another abbot of this monastery and interlocutor of the Monk Sergius, Saint Cyril, left for Beloozero in 1392, but monk Andrei undoubtedly knew about him as a bright personality. Finally, another such person was the direct disciple of St. Sergius, St. Andronicus, the founder and first abbot of the monastery. Living in a highly spiritual environment, in an atmosphere of holiness, Monk Andrei learned from both historical examples of holiness and the living example of the ascetics around him. Monk Andrei and Epiphanius the Wise knew well, and other highly educated people of his time, with whom he communicated closely. Among them is St. Cyprian, Metropolitan of Moscow. The spiritual world of Saint Cyprian, who went through the school of Athonite monasticism, was close to the monk Andrei. Since Metropolitan Cyprian was a disciple of the holy Patriarch Philotheus, a disciple of St. Gregory Palamas, the spiritual genealogy of St. Andrew through communication with the saint goes back to both chapters of Athonite hesychasm. The elevation of “mind and thought” from the contemplation of holy icons to the “immaterial and divine light” (“the elevation of the sensual eye”) - this characteristic was not accidentally given by Joseph Volotsky to the Monk Andrew and his fellow priest Daniil Cherny. Undoubtedly, Monk Andrei knew well Saint Photius, Metropolitan of Moscow, who also belonged to the number of highly educated, spiritual and active hierarchs. He owns a number of messages that Monk Andrei undoubtedly knew. “Superior to all in wisdom,” as St. Joseph put it, Monk Andrei knew well the works of many holy fathers and teachers of the Church. The brief tale of Saint Joseph brings to us a surprisingly bright image of two ascetic artists - Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny, true monks and ascetics. They succeeded in the divine Love that revealed itself to them and attracted them to itself. By the acquisition of great divine grace, the Monk Joseph explains their complete departure from all earthly cares, “as if they had never exercised themselves about earthly things.” Contemplation of icons for them is a holiday that fills the heart with “divine joy and lightness,” since it raises the mind “from material vaps,” that is, from a material, coarsened, motionless imitation to an immaterial Prototype that exudes the life of the world. Hence the special significance of the icon as evidence of the truth, hence the particularly soulful attitude to every movement of the brush. “For this sake,” that is, for the sake of such a high and such a spiritual way of life, “the Lord Christ glorified them even at the final hour of death.” Already after the death of Saint Andrew, his co-faster Daniel, who was not separated from him in his heart and after his death, dying, receives a revelation about the glorification of his spiritual brother in the Kingdom of Heaven: “the sight of ... Andrew in great glory and with joy calling him into eternal and endless bliss.” The SpasoAndronikov Monastery became the eternal resting place of both ascetics. Throughout the 16th-17th centuries, the memory of both icon painters, and especially St. Andrew, was deeply revered. By the resolution of the Stoglavy Council (1551), it was blessed to paint the image of the “Holy Trinity,” like Andrei Rublev and the “notorious Greek painters.” In the Stroganov icon painting original (late 16th century), which enjoyed authority among court icon painters, it is reported: “Reverend Father Andrei of Radonezh, an icon painter, nicknamed Rublev, painted many holy icons, all miraculous... and previously lived in obedience to the Venerable Father Nikon of Radonezh. He commanded to write an image of the Most Holy Trinity with him, in praise of his father, Saint Sergius the Wonderworker...” The name of Saint Andrew (together with Daniel) is also found in old monthly books. The cited sources confirm that in the 15th-17th centuries the holiness of Andrei Rublev was revered, as was the high righteousness of Daniel. According to tradition, in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra the memory of St. Andrew was celebrated on July 4, the day of remembrance of St. Andrew of Crete. This day was also designated for commemorating the saint after the church-wide glorification at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988. The 18th-19th centuries were a time of oblivion of many Orthodox traditions and, in particular, canonical icon painting. The fame of St. Andrew shone again only from the beginning of the 20th century, when interest in the traditions of Orthodox icon painting arose. By the obvious providence of God, it was in the 20th century that the “Holy Trinity” of St. Andrew, as well as his other works, acquired the significance of testifying to the truth of Orthodoxy in the face of the whole world. The Monk Andrew was canonized on the basis of his feat of icon painting, in which he, like the evangelist, testified and continues to proclaim to people the untrue truth about God, glorified in the Trinity. 5th. Venerable Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Varvara Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna was born on October 20, 1864. She was the daughter of the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt Ludwig IV and Princess Alice, daughter of Queen Victoria of England. With the loss of her mother, 14-year-old Elisaveta's childhood ended. According to the memoirs of contemporaries, Elizabeth’s beautiful appearance was consistent with her spiritual qualities. Its main distinguishing properties were religiosity and love for others. It is believed that even in her early youth, Princess Elizabeth gave her heart to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the son of Emperor Alexander II. On June 3, 1884, in St. Petersburg, in the Great Church of the Winter Palace, the wedding of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna took place according to the Orthodox rite, and then in one of the living rooms of the palace there was a wedding according to the Protestant rite (when getting married, Elisaveta Fedorovna remained a Protestant). In Ilyinsky, the estate of the Grand Duke on Moskverek near Moscow, Elisaveta Fedorovna led a simple village life and helped the surrounding peasants a lot. For them, the couple built a hospital, in which baptism of newborns was often performed, and Sergei Alexandrovich and Elisaveta Fedorovna were the recipients. Gradually, Elisaveta Feodorovna became more and more internally closer to Russia and Orthodoxy. In October 1888, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elisaveta Feodorovna, on behalf of Emperor Alexander III, visited Palestine to consecrate the magnificent Church of St. Mary Magdalene, built in Gethsemane. Returning from the Holy Land, full of indelible impressions, Elisaveta Fedorovna decided to convert to Orthodoxy. However, her relatives from Darmstadt did not understand or support her. Only her grandmother, Queen Victoria of England, encouraged her. In a response letter, a grateful Elizabeth wrote to her: “...You cannot imagine how strongly and deeply I was touched by everything that you wrote... The Lord gave me courage... I do this, belonging with all my soul to this Church here, and I feel that I lied to everyone and my old religion, continuing to remain a Protestant. This is a big matter of conscience, where only a person related to this can truly understand the full depth of this step.” On Saturday, Palm Sunday, April 13, 1891, Grand Duchess Elizabeth's conversion to Orthodoxy took place. Now she could rightfully say to her husband, and to every Orthodox Russian person, in the words of the Moabite Ruth: Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God (Ruth 1:16). Converting to Orthodoxy, the Grand Duchess did not want to part with her name, but only chose a new heavenly patroness - the holy righteous Elizabeth, the mother of the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, whose memory the Orthodox Church celebrates on September 5. In 1891, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was appointed governor general of Moscow. Here, Elisaveta Fedorovna’s charitable activities unfolded in all their breadth. Constantly visiting numerous Moscow churches, the Grand Duchess everywhere saw ragged beggars on the porches, crying out for help. She also visited hospitals for the poor, nursing homes, shelters for street children, and prisons. And everywhere she tried to do something to alleviate human suffering, she distributed food and clothing. The residents of Moscow very soon appreciated her kindness, and the Grand Duchess won their sincere love. When Emperor Alexander III died on October 20, 1894, the future empress, Elizabeth Feodorovna's sister Princess Alice, converted to Orthodoxy and took the name Alexander. Elisaveta Fedorovna took an active part in this. July 1903 was marked by a great event in the life of Russia: St. Seraphim of Sarov was canonized. The entire imperial family traveled to Sarov. “So many beautiful and healthy impressions!..” wrote Elisaveta Fedorovna. – What weakness, what illnesses we saw, but also what faith. It seemed that we were living during the time of the Savior’s earthly life.” Soon the tragic Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 began for Russia. Elisaveta Feodorovna, who already had extensive experience in charity work, immediately began active work to help the front. She formed several well-equipped ambulance trains and set up hospitals in Moscow to receive the wounded. She did not forget about the spiritual needs of the Russian people, she sent camp churches to the army, and supplied them with everything necessary for worship. On February 5, 1905, in the Kremlin, terrorist Ivan Kalyaev threw a bomb at Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, which tore him into pieces. Showing amazing fortitude, the Grand Duchess visited the murderer in prison, left him the Holy Gospel and asked the emperor for his pardon. Having experienced a terrible shock, Elisaveta Fedorovna went even deeper into prayer and devoted herself to charity with even greater zeal. Elisaveta Feodorovna bought an estate with four houses and a vast garden in Moscow, on Bolshaya Ordynka. Here she decided to create a monastery in honor of Saints Martha and Mary. The monastery was intended to be like the house of Lazarus, where Christ the Savior often visited. The sisters of the monastery were called to unite in their feat both the high lot of Mary, who listens to the eternal verbs of life, and the ministry of Martha, since they lovingly received Christ in the person of His younger brothers. For this purpose, in addition to the church, a hospital, pharmacy, and shelter were created in the monastery. Elisaveta Feodorovna built a beautiful garden around the buildings. The Marfo-Mariinskaya Convent began its activities on February 10, 1909. When the monastery opened, there were only six sisters in it; within a year their number increased to thirty, and by 1914 it reached one hundred. On April 9, 1910, in accordance with the rite developed by the Holy Synod, Bishop Tryphon (Turkestan) ordained 17 sisters of the monastery, led by Grand Duchess Elizabeth, to the rank of cross sisters of love and mercy. They all made a solemn vow to devote themselves to serving God and their neighbors. Being a sincere and obedient daughter of the Orthodox Church in everything, the abbess did not want to take advantage of her position as a Grand Duchess. Leading a strict ascetic life, Elisaveta Fedorovna did not demand the same from her sisters. She made sure that they had a good table and enough time to sleep. She herself slept no more than three hours a day, on a hard bed, ate a little vegetables and milk, and strictly observed fasts. At night I prayed for a long time, then walked around the hospital wards. The abbess took upon herself all the most difficult responsibilities. She cared for hopeless patients, often spent the whole night with them, and assisted during operations. The patients said that the mere presence of the abbess gave them peace, eased their suffering and helped them undergo operations with ease. They felt the healing power emanating from her. The monastery hospital enjoyed such a reputation in Moscow that sometimes the most seriously ill patients from other hospitals were sent here. And the abbess amazed Moscow doctors with her selfless care for the sick and amazing results. As she herself said, sharing your grief means reducing it, and sharing your joy means increasing it. In the Martha and Mary Convent, through the diligence of the abbess, several churches were built: in the name of the holy women Martha and Mary, in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, and in 1914, under this church, a church was built - a burial vault for sisters in the name of the Heavenly Powers and All Saints. Elisaveta Fedorovna thought that her body would rest there after her death. There she often indulged in prayer. The abbess of the monastery hoped to train special sisters there for the spiritual consolation of seriously ill patients standing on the edge of the grave. “Isn’t it scary,” she said, “that out of false humanity we try to lull such sufferers to sleep with the hope of their imaginary recovery. We would do them a better service if we prepared them in advance for the Christian transition into eternity.” Elisaveta Feodorovna loved to travel to remote monasteries, where she could devote herself entirely to prayer, as well as church charity. Poor parishes and monasteries received especially great help from her. Reverently revering St. Seraphim of Sarov, Grand Duchess Elizabeth repeatedly went to Sarov to pray at the relics of the saint of God. She also traveled to Pskov, Kyiv, Optina Pustyn, and visited the smallest monasteries in remote places in Russia, where she communicated with many Russian monastic ascetics. Having inherited the chairmanship of the Palestine Society from her late husband, Elisaveta Fedorovna showed special concern for Russian pilgrims heading to the Holy Land. On the initiative of Elisaveta Feodorovna in Italy, in Bari, a large plot of land was acquired, where construction of a church and a courtyard began. The news of the beginning of the First World War found the abbess of the Martha and Mary Convent in the remote Seraphim-Alekseevsky monastery of the Perm diocese. When she returned to Moscow, some sisters asked her to let them go to the front. After consulting with the confessor of the monastery, she gave her consent. When in hospitals, the abbess of the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent visited the wounded. As a Christian, she showed mercy to enemy soldiers. This, however, gave rise to slanderous fabrications and even open expressions of hatred towards her, which was very difficult for her and forced her to stop visiting the wounded prisoners. To find peace of mind, Elisaveta Fedorovna went to the Optina elders for several days. Wild fictions about the Marfo-Mariinsky Monastery as a center of German espionage began to spread throughout Moscow. Realizing that military failures could not but affect the philistine mood, Elisaveta Fedorovna tried to find an excuse for people. “They are all very tired. The people are children,” she said meekly, “they are innocent in the present. He has been misled by Russia’s enemies.” One day in the fall of 1916, an angry crowd, excited by rumors, gathered at the gates of the monastery. “Down with the German! Give up the spy!” – stones flew into the windows. When the crowd began to break into the gates of the monastery, they swung open, and she appeared before everyone - completely alone! - Mother Superior. She suggested inspecting all the premises, making sure that there were no spies in the monastery, and not disturbing the sick with noise. Disastrous unrest intensified throughout the country. Worried about the royal family, Elisaveta Feodorovna said to Archbishop Anastasy (Gribanovsky) with some enlightened gentleness: “This will serve to their moral purification and bring them closer to God.” To repeated proposals from diplomats of foreign powers to leave Russia in this troubled and dangerous time, she replied that although she foresaw the onset of terrible times, she would share the fate of the country that had received her, would not leave the sisters of the monastery and prayed to God to grant her the strength to drink the cup of suffering. On the third day of Easter 1918 (the day of the celebration of the Iveron Icon of the Mother of God), His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon visited the Martha and Mary Convent, where he served a prayer service, and then stayed until four o’clock in the afternoon, talking with the abbess, who was experiencing spiritual anguish, anticipating something terrible. Half an hour after the departure of His Holiness the Patriarch, a car with a commissar and Red Army soldiers drove up to the monastery, and Elisaveta Feodorovna was ordered to immediately go with them. She was arrested and taken away from Moscow. Having learned about what had happened, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon tried in vain to achieve the release of Elizabeth Feodorovna. Two sisters went with the abbess - cell attendant Varvara Yakovleva and Ekaterina Yanysheva. In Perm, the exiled abbess and her companions Varvara and Ekaterina were placed in a convent, where they were treated with sincere sympathy. A great consolation for them was the opportunity to attend services in the monastery church. On May 20, 1918, the prisoners were brought to Alapaevsk. They were placed in a school on the outskirts of the city. At first they could go to church, work in the garden, walk in the field, but from June 21 all this was forbidden to them and their living conditions deteriorated sharply. Around the same time, Elisaveta Feodorovna was separated from her companions. They were afraid of the torment that Elisaveta Feodorovna would have to endure. However, Varvara Yakovleva replied that she was ready to sign with her blood: she wanted to share the fate of the abbess. As she was older in age, she was returned to Alapaevsk. The nun Varvara remained faithful to her mother to the end and, together with her, voluntarily went to suffering and death, fulfilling the covenant of Christ: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). On July 5, when the Orthodox Church celebrates the memory of St. Sergius of Radonezh (the day of the angel of Elizabeth Feodorovna’s late husband, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich), Elisaveta Feodorovna and the nun Varvara Yakovleva were woken up at night and taken along the road in the direction of the village of Sinyachikha. Together with them, several carts carried members of the imperial family: Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich with his secretary Fyodor Remez, the sons of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich John, Konstantin and Igor, as well as Prince Vladimir Paley. About 18 kilometers from Alapaevsk, not far from the road, there was an abandoned mine. The executioners chose one of the mine shafts, Nizhnyaya Selimskaya, to carry out their brutal plan. The mine was about sixty meters deep, its log walls were half-rotten, and there was water below. Beating the innocent victims with rifle butts, the executioners began to throw them into the mine, dooming them to a slow, terrible death. A local peasant who happened to be near the mine saw this. The first to be pushed into the gaping hole was Grand Duchess Elizabeth. Making the sign of the cross, she loudly prayed: “Lord, forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing!” The rest of the martyrs, except for Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, who fought with the executioners and was shot in the head, were also pushed into the mine alive. When they threw everyone down, the executioners began throwing hand grenades into the mine. However, as subsequent excavations showed, except for Fyodor Remez, the rest of the martyrs apparently died a slow death from thirst, wounds and hunger. The Grand Duchess nun Elizabeth fell not to the bottom of the shaft, but to a ledge located at a depth of about 15 meters. During the excavations, next to her, they found Prince John with a bandaged head - the martyr Elizabeth, herself severely wounded, made a bandage for him in the dark from her apostle. A peasant, a bystander, heard the Cherubic song heard from the depths of the mine. The new martyrs sang it. When the body of the martyr was discovered, it turned out that the fingers of her right hand were folded to make the sign of the cross. The fingers of the nun Varvara and Prince John were folded in the same way. An icon of the Savior was found on the chest of Elizabeth Feodorovna. On the reverse side of the icon was the inscription “Palm Saturday, April 13, 1891.” This is the date of the transition of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna to Orthodoxy. She clutched the icon to herself with prayer during the terrible dying hours. The bodies of the martyrs were washed, dressed in white clothes and placed in wooden coffins. On the evening of October 5, 1918, a funeral all-night vigil was celebrated by numerous clergy. The next day, a religious procession was made from the Holy Trinity Cathedral to the cemetery church, where a requiem mass was served. Accompanied by the singing of “Holy God...” the coffins were carried into the cathedral. There, after the funeral liturgy, the funeral of the martyrs took place. In connection with the approach of the Red Guard armed detachments, the bodies of the martyrs were transported to Chita and installed in the Pokrovsky convent. In the monastery the coffins were opened. The body of the martyr Grand Duchess nun Elizabeth was not touched by decay. The nuns washed the bodies of the martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and nun Varvara and dressed them in monastic robes. In April 1920, their bodies were taken to Beijing. The sister and brother of Elisaveta Feodorovna, having learned where the remains of the dead were located, wished that the incorrupt bodies of Grand Duchess Elisaveta and nun Varvara be transported to Jerusalem and buried at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, at the consecration of which Elisaveta Feodorovna was present in 1888. The wish was fulfilled, and the coffins were installed in the tomb of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene. The Grand Duchess and Martyr Elizabeth walked through the Russian land like a bright, beautiful vision. Having abandoned her brilliant position, overcoming religious and national barriers, she, a German Protestant by birth and upbringing, accepted Orthodoxy, created a Russian Orthodox monastic monastery, performed many feats of mercy and ended her earthly life with voluntary martyrdom, remaining faithful to her Christian duty to the end. Currently, the relics of the venerable martyrs, Grand Duchess Elizabeth and nun Varvara, reside in the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Jerusalem. By the act of the Consecrated Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992, the venerable martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth and nun Varvara were canonized as saints for church-wide veneration. They are commemorated on the day of their martyrdom, July 5, and on the day of the Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia (movable celebration on the last Sunday of January). 19th. Venerable Seraphim of Sarov The Monk Seraphim of Sarov was born on July 19, 1759 (according to other sources - 1754) in ancient Kursk, into the eminent merchant family of Isidore and Agathia Moshnin. In Holy Baptism he was named Prokhor in honor of the apostle of seventy and one of the first seven deacons of the Church of Christ. His parents, who were engaged in the construction of stone buildings and churches, were people of a godly life, marked by virtue and hard work. Shortly before his death (1762), Isidor Moshnin began the construction of a majestic church in honor of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God and the Venerable Sergius of Radonezh (since 1833 - Kursk Sergius-Kazan Cathedral). Its construction was completed by Prokhor's mother. By the example of her life, she raised her son in Christian piety and constant joy in God. The protection of God over Prokhor was evident from his early years: the Lord kept the baby unharmed when he stumbled and fell from the bell tower under construction. As a youth, Prokhor was miraculously delivered from a serious illness through prayer before the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “The Sign”: during his illness, he was awarded a vision of the Mother of God, who promised to soon visit him again and heal him. From then on, the prayerful glorification of the Queen of Heaven became constant for the monk. After his illness, Prokhor continued his teaching with zeal. He quickly mastered church literacy, daily read the Holy Scriptures, spiritual and edifying books, while revealing a bright mind and clear memory, adorning himself with meekness and humility. Over time, Prokhor began to be taught the trade business, which his brother Alexey was engaged in. This work did not attract the boy, and he carried out instructions solely in obedience to his elders. Most of all, Prokhor loved constant stay in the church, heartfelt prayer and incessant meditation on God, preferring solitude and silence to the bustle of the world. His desire for monastic life increased. The pious mother did not resist this and blessed her son with a copper Crucifix, which he always wore openly on his chest until his death. Before taking monastic vows, Prokhor, together with five peers, four of whom, following his example, dedicated their lives to serving God, went to Kyiv to worship the holy saints of Pechersk and for instructions from the elders. The perspicacious old recluse Dositheus, who labored near the Lavra, 194 and was visited by Prokhor, approved the young man’s intention to accept monasticism and pointed to the Sarov hermitage as the place of his salvation and exploits: “Come, child of God, and abide there. This place will be your salvation. With God’s help, you will finish your earthly journey there. The Holy Spirit, the Treasure of all good things, will guide your life in holiness.” On November 20, 1778, on the eve of the feast of the Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Church, Prokhor arrived at the Sarov monastery, where he was lovingly received as a novice by its rector, the meek and humble hieromonk Pachomius, and was given to teach the elder hieromonk Joseph, the treasurer. Imitating the elders, Prokhor came to the church earlier than others, stood motionless, with his eyes closed, until the end of the service and was the last to leave, regretting that a person cannot continuously, like the Angels, serve God. While in his cell obedience, Prokhor humbly performed other monastic work: in the bakery, prosphora and carpentry, he was an alarm clock and a sexton. He was never idle, but by constant work he tried to protect himself from boredom, considering it one of the most dangerous - for it is born from cowardice, carelessness and idle talk - temptations for new monks, which is cured by prayer, abstinence from idle talk, feasible handicraft, reading the word of God and patience. Following the example of some monks of the desert, Prokhor, having asked for blessings from his mentor, in his free hours goes into the forest for solitude, the Jesus Prayer and spiritual reflection. His asceticism attracted the attention of the brethren and won the fatherly love of the elders. So, during Prokhor’s serious illness, they were constantly with him, taking care of his recovery. For almost three years he resignedly endured intense suffering, rejecting medical help and devoting himself entirely to “the true Doctor of souls and bodies - our Lord Jesus Christ and His Most Pure Mother.” When Prokhor's condition deteriorated significantly, an all-night vigil and Divine Liturgy were celebrated for his health. Having received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, he was soon granted a miraculous vision of the Most Holy Theotokos. Laying her hand on the sick man’s head, She granted him recovery, saying to the apostles Peter and John the Theologian who accompanied Her: “This one is of Our generation.” At the site of the appearance of the Most Pure Virgin Mary, according to the Providence of God, a hospital church was built. Prokhor took upon himself the collection of donations for its construction as a new obedience. He also made a throne from cypress wood for one of the chapels - the Monks Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky, miracle workers, in which, in memory of God's great mercy to him, he made it a rule to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ until the end of his days. On August 18, 1786, Hieromonk Pachomius, rector of the monastery, Prokhor was tonsured a monk with the name Seraphim 195, which so well expressed his ardent love for the Lord, and a year later he was ordained a hierodeacon by Bishop Victor of Vladimir and Murom (Onisimov; 1817). For six years, he performed divine services every day, spending all the time free from monastic obediences in the church. The Lord strengthened him with Heavenly visions: the monk repeatedly contemplated the holy Angels serving with the brethren and singing in the church, and at the Divine Liturgy on Holy Thursday he was privileged to behold the Lord Jesus Christ surrounded by the Heavenly Ethereal Powers. This vision intensified the ascetic’s zeal for solitude: during the day he worked in the monastery, and in the evening he retired to the forest, where in a deserted cell at night he devoted himself to prayer and contemplation of God. On September 2, 1793, at the request of the elders, the Monk Seraphim was ordained hieromonk by Bishop Theophilus of Tambov and Penza (Raev; 1811). “The grace given to us by Communion,” he said to the priest of the Diveyevo community, Father Vasily Sadovsky, “is so great that no matter how unworthy and no matter how sinful a person is, if only in the humble consciousness of his total sinfulness he approaches the Lord, who redeems us all, even if from head to toe covered with sores of sins, - and he will be cleansed by the grace of Christ, more and more brighten, become completely enlightened and be saved...” Anyone who reverently partakes of the Holy Mysteries of Christ (and to begin Communion, according to St. Seraphim, “the more often, the better”), he “will be saved, prosperous and long-lasting on earth itself.” While instructing others, the elder himself followed this rule invariably throughout his life. The year 1794 was marked by a sad event for the monastery: the rector of the desert, Hieromonk Pachomius, died, having done so much for its organization. At the request of the deceased rector, St. Seraphim takes charge of the Diveyevo women's community 196 and does not leave her sisters without spiritual care and material support. On November 20, 1794, on the anniversary of his arrival at the Sarov monastery, the monk asked the abbot, Hieromonk Isaiah, for a blessing for a new feat - living in the desert - and settled in a dense forest several kilometers from the monastery. According to pious custom, he gives names to different places around his wooden hut in memory of the events of the Savior’s earthly life: Bethlehem Cave, the city of Jerusalem, the Jordan River, the Kidron Stream, Golgotha... In the “distant hermitage,” as the holy elder liked to call his secluded home, he daily performs the prayer rule according to the strict rules of the ancient desert monasteries, as well as according to the rite, which he himself compiled and known as the “cell rule of Father Seraphim,” often making up to a thousand bows. With constant zeal, he reads patristic and liturgical books, the Holy Scriptures and especially the Gospel, which he never parted with, reading the entire New Testament during the week (on Monday - the Gospel of Matthew, on Tuesday - the Gospel of Mark, on Wednesday - the Gospel of Luke, on Thursday - the Gospel of John, on Friday - the Acts of the Holy Apostles, on Saturday - the Catholic Epistles of the Apostles and Epistles of the Apostle Paul, on Sunday - Apocalypse) and calling it “supply of the soul” (i.e. preservation, salvation from everything harmful), according to the guidance of which one should arrange one’s life. During his hours of labor, the elder chops wood in the forest, harvests moss in the swamp, works in the bee garden and cultivates the vegetable garden built near the cells, chanting church hymns by heart. The saint's clothing was the same white linen robe; He also wore an old kamilavka and bast shoes, and in inclement weather, a cassock made of black thick cloth and a leather half-mantle and stockings. He never put on chains and hair shirts for mortification, saying: “Whoever offends us in word or deed, and if we bear insults in the Gospel way, here are our chains, here is the hair shirt.” The elder’s lifestyle was extremely harsh. Even in severe frosts, his cell was not heated. He slept sitting on the floor with his back against the wall, or with a stone or logs under his head. He did this “for the sake of mortifying passions.” Procuring his own food, the monk observed a very strict fast, eating once a day mainly on vegetables and stale bread, small reserves of which he shared with birds and wild animals. More than once they saw how the old man fed from his hands the huge bear that served him. Not eating food on Wednesday and Friday and in the first week of the Holy Great Pentecost, the Monk Seraphim eventually refused help from the monastery, intensified abstinence and fasting, eating for about three years only the grass 197, which he himself dried, preparing for the winter. Striving for silence, the elder protected himself from visitors, but he received monks who wanted solitude kindly, without refusing instructions, but he tried not to give a blessing for such a feat, knowing what temptations from the devil one has to endure in solitude. And indeed, the enemy of the human race forced St. Seraphim with “mental warfare” to abandon his exploits and renounce the salvation of his soul. But with God’s help, protecting himself with prayer and the sign of the cross, the elder defeated the tempter. Ascending from strength to strength, the ascetic intensified his labors by taking on a special feat - pillar mongering. Every evening at sunset the monk climbed onto a large granite stone that lay in the forest halfway from the monastery to his cell, and until dawn, with his hands raised to the sky, he repeated the publican’s prayer, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.” With the onset of morning, he returned to his cell and in it, in order to equalize the night’s exploits with the day’s ones, he stood on another, small stone brought from the forest, and left prayer only for a short rest and strengthening of the body with meager food. For a thousand days and nights, despite the frost, rain, heat and cold, he continued this prayerful standing. The shamed devil, finding himself powerless to spiritually defeat the elder, planned to kill him and sent robbers who, threatening with violence, began to demand money from him. Having encountered no resistance, they brutally beat the ascetic, broke his head and broke several ribs, and then, having destroyed everything in the cell and finding nothing except an icon and a few potatoes, they fled, ashamed of their crime. In the morning the monk made his way to the monastery with difficulty. For eight days he suffered from unbearable pain, refusing the help of doctors called by the abbot, leaving his life to the will of the Lord and His Most Pure Mother. And when the hope for recovery seemed to have disappeared, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to the elder in a subtle dream, accompanied by the apostles Peter and John the Theologian, and granted him healing, uttering the words: “This is from my generation.” That same day the monk got out of bed, but remained in the monastery for another five months until he fully recovered. The elder remained bent forever and walked, leaning on an ax or a staff, but he forgave the offenders and asked not to punish them. Returning to the “distant desert,” St. Seraphim did not change his previous way of life. After the death of his abbot and his spiritual leader, Hieromonk Isaiah, he took a vow of silence, comparing it to the cross, “on which a person must crucify himself with all his passions and lusts.” His life becomes even more hidden from those around him: not only the deserts are silent, but also the lips of the old man, who has renounced all worldly thoughts, are silent. “Most of all, one should adorn oneself with silence,” he later loved to repeat the instructions of the Fathers of the Church, “for by silence I have seen many being saved, but by many words, not a single one... Silence is the sacrament of the future age,” which “brings a person closer to God and makes him, as it were, an earthly Angel,” “words are the instruments of this world.” The Monk Seraphim no longer went out to visitors and, if he met anyone in the forest, he fell on his face and did not get up until the passerby had left. Due to leg disease, he could no longer visit the monastery. Food was brought to him once a week by a novice, whom the elder met with his arms folded crosswise on his chest and dismissed without looking at him or saying a word. Only sometimes he would put a piece of bread or a little cabbage on the tray, thereby letting them know what should be brought the next Sunday. The monk spent about three years in silence. The blessed fruit of his ascetic life was the acquisition of “peace of soul,” which he considered a precious gift of God, the most important thing in the life of Christians. “Fasting, prayer, vigil and all other Christian deeds,” the monk said to the monks who addressed him, “no matter how good they are in themselves, the goal of our Christian life is not in doing them alone, although they serve as a means to achieve it. The true goal of our Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God.” “My joy,” the elder instructed, “I pray to you, acquire a peaceful spirit, and then thousands of souls will be saved around you.” Concerned about the long absence of the elder, the new abbot, Hegumen Nifont, and the elders of the desert brethren suggested that St. Seraphim either come to the monastery on Sundays to participate in divine services and receive communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, or to return to the monastery altogether. The elder chose the latter, being unable to travel long distances. But, having settled 15 years later in his former cell, he continued the feat of silence, not going anywhere and not receiving anyone except the hospital servant and the priest who brought him Holy Communion. Life began in seclusion in front of the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness,” which the monk lovingly called “Joy of All Joys.” The oak coffin, made by his hands and installed at his request in the entryway, reminded him of the hour of death. The exploits of the elder in seclusion are unknown, but it is known that it was then that the Monk Seraphim was awarded admiration to the Heavenly abodes. Recalling the bliss he experienced during this time, the holy elder subsequently instructed the novice as follows: “If you knew what sweetness awaits the soul of the righteous in Heaven, then you would decide in your temporary life to endure sorrow, persecution and slander with thanksgiving. If this very cell of ours (at the same time he pointed to his own) was full of worms and if these worms ate our flesh throughout our entire temporary life, then we would have to agree to this with every desire, so as not to lose that Heavenly joy that God has prepared for those who love Him. There is no sickness, no sorrow, no sighing; there is sweetness and joy unspeakable; there the righteous will shine like the sun. But if the holy Apostle Paul himself could not explain that Heavenly glory and joy, then what other human language can explain the beauty of the Mountain Village, in which the souls of the righteous will dwell?! It is impossible to tell you about the joy and heavenly sweetness that I tasted there.” According to the novice, at the end of the conversation the elder was so transformed that he became as if not of this world, revealing with his own eyes the image of an earthly Angel and a Heavenly man. After five years of seclusion, the monk, by a special revelation to him, opened the doors of his cell to all those seeking spiritual guidance, but did not soon lift his vow of silence. Teaching those who came only by the example of silent living, he began to prepare himself to serve people. On November 25, 1825, the Most Holy Theotokos, accompanied by Saints Clement of Rome and Peter of Alexandria, appeared to Saint Seraphim in a dream vision and commanded him to come out of seclusion to heal weak human souls. The ascent to the highest level of monastic achievement - eldership - began. By that time, the Monk Seraphim had acquired purity of soul and was granted the gift of clairvoyance and miracle-working from the Lord. He equally saw the past and foresaw the future and gave advice filled with the spirit of wisdom and goodness. To the interlocutor’s question about how he can, even without listening to the needs of the wanderer, see his heart, the elder said: “As I forge iron, so I have handed over myself and my will to the Lord God: as He pleases, so I act; I don’t have my own will, but what God pleases, that’s what I convey.” “The human heart is open to one Lord, and one God is the Knower of the Heart... And I, sinful Seraphim, consider the first thought that appears in my soul to be an indication of God and I speak, not knowing what is in my interlocutor’s soul, but only believe that this is how God’s will is indicated to me for his benefit.” Through the prayer of the monk, many were healed whose serious illnesses were not amenable to earthly healing. The first person on whom his miraculous power manifested itself was Mikhail Vasilyevich Manturov, a Nizhny Novgorod landowner who was forced to leave military service due to an incurable illness. The memories of eyewitnesses preserved the details of this event, which took place in the elder’s cell two years before his release from seclusion. Having received sincere and ardent assurances from Manturov of unconditional faith in God, the monk turned to him with the words: “My joy! If you believe so, then also believe that to a believer everything is possible from God. Therefore, believe that the Lord will heal you too. And I, poor Seraphim, will pray.” Signifying the sick person with oil, the holy elder said: “According to the grace given to me by the Lord, I heal you first.” Immediately recovering, Manturov threw himself with delight at the feet of the ascetic, but was immediately raised by the monk, who sternly told him: “Is it Seraphim’s business to kill and to live, to bring down to hell and to raise up? This is the work of the One Lord, Who does the will of those who fear Him and listens to their prayer. Give thanks to the Almighty Lord and His Most Pure Mother!” As a sign of gratitude for God’s mercy, “Mishenka,” as the monk liked to call him, took upon himself the feat of voluntary poverty and devoted his entire life to the organization of the Diveyevo women’s monastery, fulfilling the elder’s business orders. Among those who rose from their sickbeds, the saint’s “servant” was the Simbirsk landowner Nikolai Aleksandrovich Motovilov, who all subsequent time was under the guidance of the elder and, in communication with him, wrote down his wonderful teachings about the purpose of Christian life. Leaving the retreat, the ascetic, according to custom, began to retire to his new, “nearby hermitage,” built not far from the monastery, in the forest, next to the “theological” spring, the water of which, through his prayer, began to perform miraculous healings. Spending the day here in spiritual and physical labors, the elder returned to the monastery in the evening. At the same time, he walked, leaning on a stick, carrying a hatchet in his hand, and behind his shoulders a knapsack filled with sand and stones, on top of which the Gospel always lay. When they asked him why he was carrying such a burden, the elder humbly answered with the words of St. Ephraim the Syrian: “I am tormenting the one who is tormenting me.” From all over Russia people rushed to the Sarov monastery, wanting to receive a blessing from the saint of God. From early morning until late evening, the door of his cell in the “near hermitage” was open to everyone, and the heart of the monk did not know the difference between them. He was not burdened by the number of visitors or their state of mind. The elder treated everyone with love, seeing in him the image of God, greeting everyone with a bow to the ground, a kiss, and the invariable Easter greeting: “My joy, Christ is risen!” For everyone, he had a special word that warmed the heart, removed the scales from the eyes, illuminated the mind, made the deepest impression even on those of little faith, turning them to the path of saving repentance. During the last years of his life, the Monk Seraphim constantly took care of the Melnichnaya maiden community. Built by order of the Most Holy Theotokos in Diveyevo, this monastery was the fourth Destiny of the Queen of Heaven on earth, a place of Her primary gracious care. According to the elder’s testimony, the Mother of God Herself walked around this land, giving him a promise to be her ever-present Mother Superior. Subsequently, a ditch was laid around the community, which was started by the reverend. “This groove,” he said, “is the piles of the Mother of God. Here the Queen of Heaven herself walked around her. This groove is high to Heaven. And when the Antichrist comes, he will pass everywhere, but will not jump over this ditch.” Despite his advanced years, the elder worked diligently on the construction of the first monastery buildings - a mill, cells and the Church of the Nativity of Christ, harvesting timber for this, purchased with donations from his visitors. He also drew up the rules of the monastery, which raised the sisters in the spirit of love, obedience and constant achievement. Enduring slander and insults for his paternal care of the Diveyevo orphans, the elder answered the monks who condemned his works in this way: “I confess and testify to God that I did not place a single pebble with them of my own free will, I did not say even a single word of my own to them, and I did not accept a single one of them at my own request, against the will of the Queen of Heaven.” The chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveyevo Monastery contains the prophecies of the monk about the fate of the monastery, and all of them were destined to come true. In his declining years, the Monk Seraphim was honored with one more, twelfth and last during his life, visit to the Most Holy Theotokos, which followed on March 25, 1832, on the feast of Her Annunciation, and was, as it were, an indication of his blessed death: having given the elder a promise of help and intercession in earthly labors, in the establishment of the Diveyevo monastery, the Queen of Heaven said: “Soon, My beloved, you will with Us." Having received a revelation about his impending death, the monk began to diligently prepare for it. The elder’s strength was noticeably weakening; he could not go to his hermitage every day, as before, and receive numerous visitors. “We won’t see you again,” he told his spiritual children. - My life is shortening; in spirit I seem to have been born now, but in body everything is dead.” He sought solitude, indulging in sad thoughts for a long time about the imperfection of earthly life, sitting at the coffin prepared in case of his death. But even in these days, preparing in spirit to move to the Heavenly abodes, the elder did not cease to care about the salvation of human souls, calling on the shepherds everywhere to sow the word of God taught to them: “This one on the good land, this one on the sand, this one on the stone, this one along the way, this one and among the thorns; everything will vegetate somewhere and grow, and bear fruit, although not soon.” On the eve of the day of his death, the Monk Seraphim came, according to custom, to his beloved hospital Zosimo-Savatievskaya Church for the Divine Liturgy, partook of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, bowed to the ground before the images of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Mother of God, put candles to all the icons and venerated them, blessed and kissed the brethren, said goodbye to everyone and said: “Save yourself, do not lose heart, Stay awake, today crowns are being prepared for us.” Several times that day he approached the place near the cathedral that he had chosen for his burial and prayed there for a long time. In the evening, Easter chants were heard from his cell, and on the morning of January 2, 1833, Elder Hieromonk Seraphim was found kneeling, with his hands folded crosswise on his chest, in front of the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”: his pure soul was taken to the Throne of the Lord Almighty during prayer. The body of the deceased elder was placed in an oak coffin made by his own hands and interred on the right, southern side of the altar of the Assumption Cathedral. For seventy years since the death of the elder Father Seraphim, many people, with faith in his intercession before the Lord, came to the grave of the ascetic, finding here consolation in their sorrows and relief in suffering. The expectation of glorification and confidence in this were so strong among the people that long before his canonization, thrones were prepared in honor of the Sarov Wonderworker, a biography and a church image were created. The believing people saw in Elder Seraphim the most dear and hidden features of the ascetic of Orthodoxy, forever placing him as the Spiritual Father of the Russian Land on a par with another mourner and prayer book for us, the Abbot of the Russian Land - St. Sergius of Radonezh. On January 26, 1903, by the decision of the Holy Synod, Elder Hieromonk Seraphim was glorified as a saint. On July 19, the saint’s birthday, with great triumph, in the presence of the Royal Family and in front of a large crowd of people, the discovery of his honest and multi-healing relics took place. The holy elder foresaw this event, as well as the fate of Russia, warning it of the coming difficult trials and persecution of the Orthodox people: “What joy we (in Sarov) will have! In the middle of summer they will sing Easter! And the people, the people - from all sides! - And, after a short pause, he added: - But this joy will be for a very short time; what will happen next... such sorrow, which has not happened since the beginning of the world! The angels will not keep up with receiving souls.” At these words, tears flowed from his eyes. Despite the fact that after the revolution the Sarov and Diveyevo monasteries were closed and the relics of St. Seraphim disappeared, the Orthodox people lived in the hope that sooner or later the priceless shrine would be found again. And the Lord has honored us with this spiritual joy. On January 11, 1991, in the city on the Neva, after many years of concealment, the honest relics of St. Seraphim were rediscovered and transferred to His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'. On February 7, they were solemnly transferred to Moscow, to the Epiphany Patriarchal Cathedral, for the worship of believers, and on July 23, in a procession of the cross, they were taken to the Trinity Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery to the place of the elder’s earthly deeds. The veneration of the Sarov ascetic is special among the believing people. Both in life and in prayerful intercession he is close to the soul of an Orthodox person, invisibly being with him in his sufferings, trials and hopes. Therefore, throughout Russia, both in churches and in houses, there are his holy icons. St. Seraphim is revered by both Orthodox Churches and non-Orthodox Christians. In a number of countries, the name of the Sarov Wonderworker is inextricably linked with ideas not only about Russian Orthodox monasticism and its moral wealth, but also about the characteristic features of Orthodox spirituality in general. His legacy, this inexhaustible source of wisdom, is studied, and his lives are published in Greece, France, Austria, Belgium, the USA and other countries. The elder’s prediction given to N.A. Motovilov is being fulfilled: “The Lord will help you to forever keep this (the teaching about the Holy Spirit) in your memory... especially since it was not given to you alone to understand this, but through you for the whole world.” Our venerable and God-bearing father Seraphim of Sarov, wonderworker of all Russia, a zealous man of prayer and intercessor before the Lord for all the disadvantaged and those in need of help. The words spoken by the elder shortly before his death are addressed to us and our descendants: “When I am gone, you will come to my grave! As the time suits you, you go, and the more often the better. Everything that is in your soul, no matter what happens to you, come to me, and bring all your grief with you to my grave! Crouch to the ground, tell everything as if it were alive, and I will hear you, and all your sorrow will subside and pass away! As you always said to the living, so it is here! For you I am alive and will be forever!” The memory of the Monk Seraphim of Sarov is celebrated twice a year: on January 2 - the repose (1833) and the second discovery of the relics (1991) and on July 19 - the discovery of the relics (1903). 27th. Venerable Herman of Alaska The Monk Herman was born in Serpukhov into a pious merchant family around 1758. From a very young age, the youth Herman had a great zeal for piety and at the age of sixteen he became a monk. First he entered the Trinity-Sergius hermitage in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. After living in the Sergius Hermitage for five or six years, he moved to the Valaam Monastery. With all his soul he fell in love with the majestic Valaam monastery; fell in love with its unforgettable abbot, the great elder Nazarius, and all the brethren. On Valaam, Father Herman underwent various obediences. Having experienced his jealousy in the labors of the community, the wise old man Father Nazarius later released him to live in the desert. This desert was located in a dense forest, one and a half miles from the monastery. The saint's exploits on Valaam lasted fifteen years. This was the time of expansion of Russia's borders to the North: the Aleutian Islands were discovered by the activities of Russian industrialists. With the discovery of the islands, the need was revealed to enlighten their inhabitants with the light of the Gospel. For this holy work, with the blessing of the Holy Synod, His Eminence Metropolitan Gabriel instructed Elder Nazarius to select capable people from the brethren of Valaam. Ten people were elected, including Father Herman. In 1793, the Spiritual Mission, formed to preach Christianity and baptize pagans - residents of Alaska and the adjacent islands, set off from St. Petersburg to Kodiak Island and arrived at their destination in 1794. With the holy zeal of the preachers, the light of the Gospel preaching quickly spread among the new sons of Russia: several thousand pagans accepted Christianity; a school was established for the education of newly baptized children, and a church was built in the place of residence of the missionaries. The Lord blessed monk Herman to work in the New World longer than others. Under the leadership of the head, Archimandrite Joasaph (Bolotov), ​​the Mission achieved great success. In 1794, the first Orthodox Church of the Resurrection of Christ on Kodiak Island was consecrated. In 1799, Archimandrite Joasaph in Irkutsk was consecrated Bishop of Kodiak. Returning from Irkutsk, His Grace Joasaph and his companions died during a storm in the ocean. Elder Herman actually began to serve as head of the Kodiak Mission. They wanted to ordain him as a hieromonk and honor him with the rank of archimandrite with a subsequent appointment to Beijing, but the monk refused the promotion and remained until the end of his days as a simple monk, performing the great feat of eldership. The Monk Herman truly was a good shepherd and defended the inhabitants of Kodiak from the tyranny of colonists and entrepreneurs. Orthodox missionaries came to the inhabitants of Alaska and its islands preaching love and peace and treated the inhabitants who came to them as brothers. Father Herman first lived near the Mission church on Kodiak, and later moved to the nearby Spruce Island, which he called “New Valaam.” His contemporaries were constant witnesses to the ascetic labors of Father Herman, his care for the sick during disastrous epidemics and his fearless intercession for those subjected to violence. The elder’s exploits and cell prayers remained almost unknown to the world, but the light of his grace-filled life, full of self-denial and non-covetousness, could not hide from those around him. The elder’s conversation made an indelible impression on those who listened to him. His interlocutors were especially struck by the clarity of his thoughts, the clarity and depth of his judgments. How Father Herman looked at the native inhabitants of America, how he understood his attitude towards them and how he sympathized with their needs, he himself expresses in one of his letters to the ruler of the colony: “To our dear fatherland,” he wrote, “the Creator seemed to deign to give a newborn baby; this region, which still has neither the strength for any knowledge nor meaning, requires not only protection, but, due to its powerlessness and weak for the sake of infancy, support itself; but he still does not have the ability to make his request to anyone about this. And how the dependence of this people's good by Heavenly Providence, unknown until some time, was given into the hands of the Russian authorities located here, who have now entrusted themselves to your power, for this reason I, the lowest servant of the local peoples and nanny, on behalf of those who stood before you, write to you my request with tears of blood. Be our father and protector. Of course, we don’t know eloquence; but with dumbness, in the language of an infant, we say: “Wipe away the tears of defenseless orphans, cool melting hearts with the heat of sadness, let us understand what joy means!” As the elder felt, so he acted. He helped those in need in any way he could, and the Aleuts and their children often visited him. Who asked for advice, who complained about oppression, who sought protection, who wanted help - everyone received possible satisfaction from the elder. Father Herman's love for the Aleuts reached the point of selflessness. Once, on a ship from the United States, a widespread infectious disease was brought to the island of Sitkha, and from there to the island of Kodiak. The mortality rate was so high that for three days there was no one to dig the graves and the bodies lay unburied. Throughout this terrible illness, which lasted, with gradual weakening, for a whole month, the monk, not sparing himself, tirelessly visited the sick, admonished them to endure, pray, repent, or prepared them for death. The elder especially tried for the moral success of the Aleuts. For this purpose, they set up a school for orphans; he himself taught them the Law of God and church singing. For the same purpose, in the chapel near his cell on Sundays and holidays, he gathered Aleuts for prayer. Here his disciple read various prayers for them, and the elder himself read the Apostle, the Gospel and taught them orally. It was so pleasant to listen to him that the Aleuts talking to him were carried away by his words and often reluctantly left him only at sunset. The Monk Herman was granted many supernatural gifts from God. Once Father Herman converted a sea captain from the Lutheran faith to Orthodoxy. This man was very educated; in addition to many sciences, he knew languages, but could not resist the convictions and evidence of Father Herman and joined the Orthodox Church. When he was leaving America, the elder said to him at parting: “Look, if the Lord takes your wife from you, then you will not marry a German woman; if you marry a German woman, she will certainly damage your Orthodoxy.” The captain gave his word, but did not fulfill it. The elder’s warning turned out to be prophetic. A few years later, the captain’s wife actually died and he married a German woman; He probably abandoned or weakened his faith and died suddenly without repentance. With gentle love, despite their faces, he denounced many of their drunken lives, unworthy behavior and oppression of the Aleuts. The exposed malice armed itself against him, caused him all sorts of troubles and slandered him, accusing the venerable elder of indignation of the Aleuts against the authorities. “Authorities” were sent for inspections and investigations. One day, the servants searched the cell of Father Herman, expecting to find large property on him. When they found nothing valuable, one of them began to turn out the floorboards with an ax. “My friend,” Father Herman told him then, “you took the ax in vain; this weapon will take your life!” After some time, people were needed at a distant fort, and Russian servants were sent there from Kodiak, including this man; and there the locals cut off his sleepy head with an ax. One day there was a flood on Spruce Island. The residents ran to the old man in fright; then he took the icon of the Mother of God to the sandbank and began to pray. At the end of the prayer, turning to those present, he said: “Do not be afraid, water will not flow further than this place where the holy icon stands.” The elder's word came true. The elder promised the same help for the future. Baron F.P. Wrangel, at the request of the elder, wrote a letter under his dictation to a metropolitan. When the letter was finished and read, the elder congratulated the baron on the rank of admiral. The baron was amazed; This was news for him, which was really confirmed only a long time later when he left for St. Petersburg. “I feel sorry for you, dear godfather,” Father German said to the ruler of the colony, “the change will be unpleasant for you!” Two years later, when the ruler was relieved of his position, he was sent bound to the island of Sith. One day the forest on Spruce Island caught fire. While with his disciple Ignatius in the thicket of the forest, the elder drew a line on the ground and said: “Be calm, the fire will not cross this line!” The next day, the fire reached the line with strong pressure, but, having run along it, it stopped without touching the dense forest that was beyond the line. The elder often said that America would have its own bishop, while no one thought about this, and there was no hope that America would have its own archpastor, but his prophecy came true in due time. Shortly before his death, Elder Herman lost his sight, but retained complete clarity of mind and amazing memory. He predicted to his spiritual children the time of his death and the circumstances of his burial. Having commanded that candles be lit before the icons, the elder rested blissfully while reading the Acts of the Holy Apostles. His death followed at the 81st year of his life, on December 13, 1837. A simple wooden cross was placed over the grave of St. Herman, and subsequently a wooden church was built, consecrated in the name of St. Sergius and Herman of Valaam, miracle workers. In the 60s of the 19th century in Russia it was already known about the local veneration of St. Herman in Kodiak. In 1867, one of the Alaskan bishops wrote a note about his life and miracles. Healings through the prayer of Elder Herman were recorded over a long period (from the time of his life until 1970). For the first time, information about the life of St. Herman was published in the Valaam Monastery in 1894. In 1927, Russian Archimandrite Gerasim (Schmalts) arrived on Elovy Island and remained there until the last days of his life. In 1952, a life and akathist to Saint Herman were compiled. In 1969, Archimandrite Gerasim discovered the holy relics of St. Herman and placed them in a specially built small chapel. On August 9, 1970, on the day of remembrance of the holy great martyr and healer Panteleimon, the glorification of Elder Herman was performed on Kodiak Island, whose life and works belong to the glorious pages of the history of the Russian Orthodox Mission in North America. By the determination of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church on December 1, 1970, the name of St. Herman of Alaska was included in the month book. His memory is celebrated on July 27. 28th. Saint Pitirim, Bishop of Tambov Saint Pitirim, Bishop of Tambov, in the world Procopius, was born on February 27, 1645 (or 1644) in the city of Vyazma, Smolensk province. His parents were pious Christians and instilled love for God and the Holy Church in their children. They taught Procopius to reverently honor holy icons and preserve Orthodox rituals and traditions. Having studied literacy, Procopius especially loved reading the Word of God and the lives of the holy fathers and ascetics of the Church of Christ. This contributed to the formation of the spiritual image of the future saint. The boy surprised those around him with his hard work, extensive knowledge and maturity of judgment. Frequent visits to church developed in him a love for worship and church singing. Gifted with a subtle artistic perception, Procopius was a skilled singer and also a painter. Later, he painted copies of the Smolensk miraculous icons revered in Vyazma. Procopius strictly observed fasts, loved to pray and avoided idle entertainment, childish pranks and amusements, which showed his high ascetic mood. Reverently before all the saints, Procopius especially revered his heavenly patron, the Venerable Procopius Decapolitus (VIII; commemorated February 27), on whose memorial day he was born. Having reached the age of majority and deciding to devote himself entirely to God, Procopius asked for the blessing of his parents and entered the Vyazemsky St. John the Baptist Monastery, founded by the Monk Gerasim of Boldin (1554; commemorated May 1). This monastery, located near Vyazma, was distinguished by the strictness of the rules introduced by its holy founder. Having embarked on the path of monastic exploits, the monk Procopius began to strive with zeal in fasting, vigil and prayer. Earnestly fulfilling the monastic obediences entrusted to him, he added voluntary labors to the obligatory ones, trying never to be idle, read the instructions and lives of the holy fathers, trying to imitate their exploits in his life. In the twenty-first year of his life, Procopius was tonsured a monk with the name Pitirim. After some time, he was ordained a hierodeacon and a hieromonk. With his ascetic life, the future saint earned the respect of the monastery brethren and was elected abbot. Experienced in spiritual life, the holy abbot skillfully ruled the brethren, correcting the lost with mercy and meekness, and the example of his life encouraged the monks to greater feats. In 1684 he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite. Concerned about strengthening the spirit of strict asceticism in the monks, Saint Pitirim in his service showed special love for the splendor of churches. Under the guidance of a wise mentor, the Forerunner Monastery reached spiritual blossoming. Saint Pitirim was distinguished by deep humility and meekness. In his labors, he placed all his hope in God's help. Since 1681, when Vyazma became part of the Smolensk diocese, the vicar bishop of the Smolensk Metropolitan settled in the Predtechensky Monastery. On September 1, 1684, Saint Pitirim, with the blessing of Patriarch Joachim (1674–1690), received a new church obedience - he was appointed to the Tambov See. On February 15, 1685, on the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, His Holiness Patriarch Joachim ordained him bishop in the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. However, the saint did not go to Tambov immediately. Obviously, he was left with the patriarch for some time. During his stay in Moscow, Saint Pitirim studied the situation and needs of the Tambov diocese and developed a plan of necessary measures to strengthen piety in his flock and spread Christianity among the Gentiles who made up the majority of the population of that region. These were pagans (Mordovians, Cheremis, Meshchera), Mohammedans (Tatars), and also schismatics, unenlightened by the light of the Christian faith. There were also many exiles and fugitive criminals here. Saint Pitirim had to fight against paganism, sectarianism and harsh morals. Having strengthened himself for the upcoming feat with fasting and prayer and having asked for a blessing from the relics of the Moscow saints and wonderworkers and St. Sergius, Saint Pitirim at the beginning of 1686 left for Tambov. On the way, he stopped in Voronezh for a spiritual conversation with St. Mitrophan of Voronezh (November 23 and August 7). The solemn meeting in the first city of the Tambov diocese - Kozlov - embarrassed the humble saint, so he entered Tambov even before sunrise, accompanied by several monks and his cell attendant Vasily, and only a few pious Christians met him in the church for the early service. Of the deeds of Saint Pitirim preserved in the records, the first one upon his arrival at the Tambov See is the issuance of a charter to the Kozlovsky Monastery on the days of Holy Easter in 1686 for the construction of a stone cathedral church in the name of the Holy Trinity. Churches began to be built everywhere, the splendid decoration of which Saint Pitirim attached special importance to. This matter was especially difficult, but the skillful leadership of the saint made it possible to achieve significant results with few resources. Several churches were built in Tambov - one for each settlement of the city. After the death of the saint, there were 168 churches in the diocese. The saint showed special pastoral care for the monasteries. On his initiative, the men's Trigulyaevsky in the name of the Baptist John (1691) was built seven miles from Tambov, in a deserted place surrounded by forests, and the women's Voznesensky in Tambov (1692), whose abbess was the sister of St. Catherine. Subtly feeling the beauty of his native nature, which aroused in him prayerful gratitude to the Creator of the visible world, Saint Pitirim, whenever possible, walked in the vicinity of Tambov and indulged in the thought of God. One day (it was September 15, 1688), while taking a walk with Saint Mitrophan of Voronezh and the pious monk Innocent, who visited him, he asked them for advice on where to choose a place for a men’s monastery. Thus, on the site blessed by three pious men, the Trigulyaevsky Monastery arose. Trying to beautifully decorate churches and monasteries, Saint Pitirim also took care that the appearance of cities and villages was Christian. So, immediately upon arriving in Tambov, on the fortress gates and in the city settlements, near the guard posts, he installed the crucifixion of Christ the Savior and the icon of the Mother of God, which he brought with him. By fencing the city with icons, the saint entrusted it to the protection of the Lord and the Mother of God and aroused piety in the inhabitants. A copy of the miraculous Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God brought by Saint Pitirim, probably painted by himself, was placed in the Transfiguration Cathedral of Tambov. This icon, brought by the saint of Kazan (presumably also painted by him) and the Ilyinsko-Chernigov icon, which later received the name Tambov icon, and the icon of St. Nicholas became famous for their miracles. The Devpeteruvskaya (Pitirim) icon of the Mother of God, a parental blessing (the saint did not part with it until the end of his life), was bequeathed by Saint Pitirim to the cathedral before his death. The saint put a lot of effort into baptizing pagans and Mohammedans and admonishing schismatics. The region, where robberies and brigandage had previously flourished, became a religious region thanks to the work and prayer of Saint Pitirim. The saint's addresses to his flock were distinguished by meekness and accessibility. Traveling around his diocese preaching the teachings of Christ, the saint, with words of sincere love for his flock, meekness and humility, sowed the seeds of faith and piety in souls. The saint was distinguished by his amazing condescension even towards morally fallen people. He was equally even and meek with everyone, like a true friend and brother. At the same time, he was also demanding in a fatherly way. The doors of his house were open to everyone who came for advice and help. Undemanding in his personal life, he spent all his money on churches, monasteries and the needs of his neighbors. Avoiding all comforts, the saint traveled around the diocese in a simple carriage. Newly opened churches required new shepherds. One of the concerns of Saint Pitirim was the preparation of candidates for priesthood. He strictly demanded that parishioners elect only literate people as candidates. In his house, he set up a special school, where he himself prepared the chosen ones to take holy orders. In 1694, Saint Pitirim began construction of a stone cathedral. He not only closely monitored the construction of the church, but also participated in the construction work himself. The cathedral was completed after the death of the saint. During his time, only the southern chapel on the lower floor was consecrated - in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The saint supplied the new cathedral at his own expense with the necessary utensils and vestments (one of the vestments of Saint Pitirim was later transferred to Saint Innocent of Irkutsk). Saint Pitirim loved worship from childhood. He often served and took care of reverent service, intelligible singing and reading. Often he himself stood on the choir to teach the singers how to sing correctly. The saint taught his flock to treat sacred objects with reverence. Taking care of the solemnity of the services, he established religious processions on holidays from the cathedral church to the church where the patronal celebrations took place. The fame of the saintly labors of the Tambov archpastor spread beyond the borders of the diocese. He was well known at the court of the Moscow sovereigns John and Peter Alekseevich, who repeatedly granted the petitions of Saint Pitirim regarding the needs of the diocese. In 1690, Saint Pitirim participated in the Council of the Russian Church, which elected His Holiness Patriarch Adrian (1690–1700). At the bishop's see, Saint Pitirim not only did not weaken his ascetic labors, but even more strengthened his monastic exploits. Among pious spiritual activities, he did not abandon physical labor. Near the bishop's house, the saint dug a well with his own hands, over which a chapel was later built. Since 1868, a religious procession began to be held to the well to illuminate the water. Once, during the serious illness of Saint Pitirim, the Lord consoled him with a wondrous vision. During his prayer, the saint did not ask for health and prolongation of life, but with love and hope he asked for forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven. He asked his patron, to whom he prayed all his life, to intercede for this, Saint Procopius Decapolitus. During this prayer, the Monk Procopius appeared to him and began to pray to the Lord for him. Through the prayer of the saint, the Savior appeared in a cloud and blessed Saint Pitirim, which after the death of the saint was depicted on the icon above his tomb. After his illness, during which the Lord and the Monk Procopius appeared to the saint, Saint Pitirim lived for about three more years. But his strength did not return to him, he was constantly unwell and therefore could not complete many of his undertakings, in particular, to complete the construction of the cathedral. The death of the saint followed on July 28, 1698, he was 53 years old. He was buried with honor in the St. Nicholas chapel of the new cathedral, consecrated by him. A carved wooden tomb was built over the grave. After the blessed death of Saint Pitirim, his spiritual connection with his flock was not interrupted. The saint's memory was celebrated locally in the Tambov diocese. Healings of the sick were performed from his tomb. At the beginning of the 19th century, a book was started in the Tambov Cathedral in which cases of miraculous healing were noted. These records indicate that not only Orthodox Christians, but also Gentiles turned to Saint Pitirim with requests. Divine revelations prompted people from all over Russia to go to Tambov for the blessed help flowing from the tomb of the not yet glorified saint. On July 28, 1914, Saint Pitirim was canonized as a saint of the Russian Church with the determination to celebrate the day of church remembrance of July - the day of his righteous death. On the 31st. Hieromartyr Benjamin, Metropolitan of Petrograd, and those like him who were murdered, Hieromartyr Archimandrite Sergius and martyrs Yuri and John Hieromartyr Benjamin was born in 1873 into the family of a rural priest of the Olonets diocese, Pavel Kazansky, and his wife Mary, and received the name Vasily in Holy Baptism. After graduating Olonets Theological Seminary, Vasily Kazansky entered the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. During his student years, his determination to devote his entire life to serving the Church of Christ strengthened. In his second year, in 1895, he took monastic vows with the name Benjamin, was ordained to the rank of hierodeacon, and the following year to the rank of hieromonk. In 1897, Hieromonk Benjamin graduated from the Theological Academy with a candidate's degree, and he was appointed teacher of the Holy Scriptures at the Riga Theological Seminary. Soon the St. Petersburg authorities drew attention to the young hieromonk. In 1898, he was already an inspector at the Kholm Theological Seminary, and the following year he was transferred to the same position at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary. In 1902, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector of the Samara Theological Seminary. In 1905, Archimandrite Veniamin returned to St. Petersburg again, having received an appointment as rector of the capital's seminary. A few years later, the Lord calls Archimandrite Benjamin to high episcopal service. On January 24, 1910, Archimandrite Veniamin was consecrated Bishop of Gdov and appointed vicar of the St. Petersburg diocese. Saint Benjamin especially loved to serve and proclaim the word of God in churches on the working outskirts of St. Petersburg (from 1914 - Petrograd) and especially in the churches of the Putilov and Obukhov factories. Bishop Benjamin did a lot to save fallen women. The impact of the services, personal charm and influence of Bishop Benjamin’s instructions were so great that many of them, awakening from a sinful sleep, abandoned their disastrous occupation and returned to an honest life. He was truly loved by the people of God. Like a good shepherd, Vladyka Veniamin always found a way to the hearts of the common people of St. Petersburg. And therefore, when alternative elections for the ruling bishop were held in the Petrograd diocese, the clergy and laity, and in particular the St. Petersburg workers, elected their beloved priest to the department. On August 13, 1917, on the eve of the opening of the Local Council of the Russian Church, Archbishop Veniamin was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan of Petrograd. The new high position not only did not alienate the archpastor from his flock, but brought him even closer spiritually to her. After the October revolution, the ministry of St. Benjamin to the Church of Christ, like many archpastors and pastors, took a direction related to the protection of the rights of the Orthodox people. On January 10, 1918, Metropolitan Benjamin addressed the Council of People's Commissars with a statement denouncing the draft decree on the separation of Church and State. “The implementation of this project threatens great grief and suffering for the Orthodox Russian people,” Vladyka wrote. On January 13, an attempt was made to seize the Alexander Nevsky Lavra by an armed detachment of sailors and Red Guards. On January 19, the capture attempt was repeated. The leader of the armed detachment of sailors and Red Guards demanded that Saint Benjamin clear the metropolitan chambers, and that Bishop Procopius hand over all the Lavra property to them. For refusing to comply with this demand, Bishop Procopius and all members of the Spiritual Council were arrested. At this time, the alarm sounded from the Lavra bell tower. Crowds of people began to flock to the Lavra. There were shouts: “Orthodox, save the churches!” The detachment and its leader were disarmed, and those arrested were released. The monks calmed the indignant crowd. One of them, saving the leader of the detachment, took him through the Tikhvin cemetery away from the crowd. Meanwhile, a new armed detachment arrived. Shots rang out. Archpriest Pyotr Skipetrov was mortally wounded. It took a lot of effort from the clergy to keep people from resisting the Lavra invaders. The next day, deputations from the workers of the glass and porcelain factories, and later from the workers of the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers, visited Metropolitan Benjamin and expressed to him their readiness to protect the Lavra. In the following days, many believers did not leave the Lavra for days. But the matter was not limited to individual cases of seizure of Church property, blasphemy, mockery of pastors, their arrest and even murder. The new authorities boldly attacked the very existence of the Orthodox Church. The Holy Council held in Moscow, assessing the decree and the actions of the authorities, addressed an “Appeal” to the Orthodox people, which said: “For centuries, something unheard of has been happening in our Holy Rus'. People who came to power and called themselves people's commissars, themselves alien to the Christian, and some of them, to any faith, issued a decree (law) called “on freedom of conscience,” but in fact establishing complete violence against the conscience of believers. According to this law, all churches of God and holy monasteries with their shrines and property can be taken away from us... These shrines are your property. Your pious ancestors and you created and decorated the churches of God and holy abodes and dedicated this property to God. Protect and protect the best decoration of the Russian land, created over the centuries - the churches of God, do not allow them to pass into the impudent and unclean hands of unbelievers, do not allow this terrible sacrilege to be committed. It is better to shed your blood and receive the crown of martyrdom than to allow the Orthodox faith to be desecrated by your enemies. Take courage, Holy Rus'! Go to your Golgotha! With you is the Holy Cross, an invincible weapon... And the head of the Church - Christ the Savior - speaks to each of us: Be faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life (Rev. 2:10).” Meanwhile, the world war continued. Metropolitan Benjamin made an order that during this difficult time experienced by the city and the diocese, all diocesan clergy should remain in their places. Miracle-working icons and other revered shrines should not have been taken out - they should have remained with the people for their spiritual consolation and strengthening. On May 29, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon arrived in Petrograd. His presence and prayers encouraged the Petrograd flock, led by Metropolitan Veniamin, on the eve of truly sorrowful days. And such days have come. The position of the Orthodox Church became increasingly difficult. Even representatives of other faiths expressed sympathy for her. In the summer of 1918, Archpriest Philosopher Ornatsky, a famous preacher who did a lot of charity work and organized orphanages for the poor, was arrested and shot; Archpriest Alexy Stavrovsky, rector of the Admiralty Cathedral, and in the fall - Kronstadt Archpriest Grigory Pospelov. Patriarch Tikhon, courageously denouncing the lawlessness of “the arbiters of the Fatherland’s destinies,” wrote: “The blood of our brothers, mercilessly killed at your call, shed in rivers, cries out to heaven and forces us to tell you the bitter word of truth. You divided the entire people into hostile camps and plunged them into fratricide of unprecedented cruelty. You openly replaced the love of Christ with hatred and, instead of peace, artificially incited class enmity. And there is no end in sight to the war you have engendered, since you are striving, with the help of Russian workers and peasants, to bring triumph to the specter of the world revolution.” The year 1919 did not bring relief to the Orthodox Church. The closure of monasteries continued, an order was issued “for the complete liquidation of relics,” and the following year the clergy were deprived of many civil rights. The most difficult years of the civil war were experienced especially painfully in Petrograd. The city was removed from the grain provinces, which increased the suffering from hunger. Many residents fled: representatives of the wealthy classes - abroad or to the south of Russia, workers - to villages where it was easier to feed themselves. Many died from hunger and deprivation. By the end of the civil war, only a tenth of the pre-war population remained in Petrograd. The famine in the country intensified and in 1921 reached terrifying proportions, especially in the Volga region. In the summer of 1921, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon addressed an appeal “To the peoples of the world and to the Orthodox people,” as well as to the heads of individual Christian Churches (Orthodox patriarchs, the Pope, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of York), calling on everyone both at home and abroad to respond to the national disaster that befell Russia. At the same time, His Holiness the Patriarch founded the All-Russian Church Committee for Famine Relief. Saint Tikhon blessed the donation of precious church decorations and items that had no liturgical use. Saint Benjamin, without hesitation, agreed to provide such assistance, declaring that the Orthodox Church, following the precepts of Christ the Savior and the example of the great saints, in order to save those who were perishing from death, always in times of disaster showed an image of high Christian love, sacrificing church property. At the same time, he considered it necessary that donations be only voluntary. But the government recognized the Church Committee as unnecessary, and the voluntary surrender of sacrificed valuables as an unnecessary manifestation of liberalism in relation to the Church. The forcible confiscation of church valuables under the pretext of helping the famine began in Petrograd in March 1922. The parish clergy, intimidated by the events of recent years, reacted to the seizure for the most part passively. However, it understood that if the metropolitan’s actions did not correspond to the intentions of the authorities, he would be immediately eliminated. At the same time, “churchmen” began to take an active part in church life - this is the name given to a large group of lay activists, mainly from the intelligentsia, for whom the events of the revolution caused a great religious upsurge. A large Society of United Petrograd Orthodox Parishes arose in Petrograd, which included most of all the parishes of the city. The Chairman of the Board of this society was Yuri Petrovich Novitsky, a professor at the Department of Criminal Law at Petrograd University. The forcible confiscation of church valuables caused mass protests among believers. Everywhere, people guarded churches; in the event of a commission to confiscate valuables, the alarm called the believers. Ordinary people were indignant and were much more radical than the clergy, often acting not only without their consent, but even contrary to the protests of the priests. The workers of the Putilov plant most energetically opposed the seizure. The authorities failed to openly carry out an action in the Putilov church; I had to do it at night, secretly. At first, the authorities stated that the sole purpose of the seizure decree was to help the starving. But soon the true, “highly secret” goals of the government became apparent: not helping the starving, but consolidating godless power, “rabid and merciless” destruction of the clergy. False accusations were made against the Church of counter-revolution, of resisting the authorities and of its unwillingness to help the starving. Simultaneously with the confiscation of valuables, the task was set to create a split in the clergy - the authorities openly took under the protection of priests who advocated confiscation. On March 24, 1922, a letter appeared in Petrogradskaya Pravda signed by the future pillars of the Living Church: Krasnitsky, Vvedensky, Belkov, Boyarsky and others. The authors of the letter accused the clergy of being counter-revolutionary, of playing politics, of popular hunger, and demanded the immediate and unconditional surrender of all church values ​​to the Soviet government, etc. (Vvedensky, as he himself later admitted, went to the Church to “become a reformer and blow it up from the inside.”) Thus began a schism, which was destined to expand and deepen under external influences. In the spring of 1922, taking advantage of the bringing of Patriarch Tikhon to court, a Petrograd group of “revolutionary clergy” that arrived in Moscow, consisting of Vvedensky, Krasnitsky, Belkov and others, by deceiving the patriarch, seized the highest ecclesiastical power in the Church, forming their own self-appointed “Higher Church Administration.” Returning to Petrograd, Vvedensky appeared before Metropolitan Veniamin on May 25 and presented him with a “Certificate” that stated that “in accordance with the resolution of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, he is a plenipotentiary member of the All-Russian Central Church and is sent on church affairs to Petrograd and other areas of the Russian Republic.” “Why is there no signature of His Holiness the Patriarch here?” – Metropolitan Benjamin asked. “But there is a VCU, and the patriarchal resolution is given in black ink on white paper,” Vvedensky answered slyly. Metropolitan Benjamin exposed the forgery and, realizing the full extent of his archpastoral responsibility, decisively expelled the newly-minted usurpers of church power and excommunicated them from communion with the Holy Church until they brought, according to the canons of the Church, repentance before their bishop. Everyone who joined them was subject to such excommunication. Soon after his excommunication, Vvedensky appeared to Metropolitan Veniamin, accompanied by the chairman of the Petrograd Cheka. They presented the saint with an ultimatum: either he will cancel his decree on Vvedensky, or a process will be organized against him and a number of clergy regarding the confiscation of church valuables, as a result of which both he and those closest to him will perish. The Metropolitan calmly listened to the threats and responded with a categorical refusal. He was soon arrested. On the day of his arrest, Saint Benjamin, returning to his place at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, found the investigator, numerous security officers and guards in his chambers. During the search in the office, Vvedensky was also present as a representative of the VCU, who came to receive the office. Seeing the metropolitan, he approached him for a blessing. “Father Alexander, we are not in the Garden of Gethsemane,” the Bishop said calmly and politely, without giving a blessing. The priest was informed that a case had been opened against him and other persons for resisting the seizure of church valuables. The arrested Metropolitan Veniamin was taken to the “house of preliminary detention”, where he remained for the rest of the time until his martyrdom. In addition to the Metropolitan, the majority of members of the Board of the Society of Orthodox Parishes, the rectors of some churches, some clergy, professors of the Theological Academy, the Theological Institute and University, students and simply people captured during street riots while confiscating valuables were brought to the unjust trial - a total of 86 people, most of whom were taken into custody. Even in the dock, Metropolitan Benjamin remained as he had always been: simple, calm, and gracious. He was the center of the whole process. Both his enemies and the believers who loved him immensely focused their attention on him. Another remarkable person at the trial was Archimandrite Sergius 198. He longed to suffer for his faith. Hence his fiery, inspired speeches at the trial. To eyewitnesses of the trial, Archimandrite Sergius resembled a martyr of the first centuries of Christianity, joyfully triumphant in the face of astonished executioners, while the Metropolitan showed the image of an ancient ascetic, gracious, calm, withdrawn from the world and completely immersed in contemplation and prayer. Besides the two of them, Yu. P. Novitsky 199 was awarded the crown of martyrdom All the accused behaved with dignity, some fearlessly confessed their solidarity with the Metropolitan. The “case” was compiled in such a way that individual episodes that took place during the confiscation of valuables in different Petrograd churches and at different times were connected and declared the result of malicious incitement on the part of a “criminal community” consisting of the Metropolitan and other persons - mainly members of the Board of the Society of Petrograd Orthodox Parishes. “You ask where we see a criminal organization? – said the prosecutor in a speech at the trial. - But she’s in front of you! This organization is the Orthodox Church itself, with its strictly established hierarchy, its principle of subordination of lower clergy to higher ones and with its undisguised counter-revolutionary intentions!” In his last word, the holy martyr said: “I don’t know what you will announce to me in your verdict - life or death. But no matter what you proclaim in it, I will turn my eyes to the mountain with equal reverence, put on myself the sign of the cross (at this the Metropolitan crossed himself widely) and say: glory to You, Lord God, for everything...” Professor Yu. P. Novitsky indicated that his involvement in the case can only be explained by the fact that he was the Chairman of the Board of the Society of United Orthodox Parishes. He is completely innocent of the acts attributed to him. But if a sacrifice is needed in this matter, he is ready to face death without a murmur, asking only that they limit themselves to this and spare the rest of those involved. I.M. Kovsharov stated that he knew what fate awaited him. If at trial he gave explanations in his own defense, it was only in order to cement in the public consciousness that he was dying innocent. The last word of Archimandrite Sergius made a strong impression. He said that the monk, having renounced all the experiences and worries of the outside world, giving himself entirely to the thought of God and prayer, remained tied to this life with only one weak physical thread. “Does it really,” he said, “do the tribunal think that breaking even this last thread could be terrible for me? Do your thing. I feel sorry for you and pray for you..." On July 5, the tribunal announced the verdict. Ten people were sentenced to death: Metropolitan Veniamin, Archimandrite Sergius, Yu. Novitsky, I. Kovsharov, as well as Bishop of Kronstadt Venedikt (Plotnikov), Archpriest N. Chukov (rector of the Kazan Cathedral and rector of the Theological Institute, later Metropolitan of Leningrad and Novgorod), Archpriest L. Bogoyavlensky (rector St. Isaac's Cathedral), Archpriest M. Cheltsov (rector of the Trinity Izmailovsky Cathedral), N. F. Ognev (professor of the Military Law Academy) and N. A. Elachich. There were long days of waiting. Bishop Benjamin said goodbye to his beloved flock in absentia and used the remaining days for final edifications. The words of his last letters to his disciples and co-pastors sound like a testament, like a parting word for the difficult years and decades to come: “Can’t we, Christians, and even priests, show courage even to the point of death, if we have any faith in Christ, in the life of the next century?!” On the night of July 31, four condemned men were taken from prison and shot several miles from Petrograd. The Consecrated Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1992 canonized the new martyrs: the holy martyrs Metropolitan Benjamin and Archimandrite Sergius, the martyrs Yuri and John, establishing their commemoration on July 31 - the day of their martyrdom - and on the day of the Council of Russian New Martyrs and Confessors. The life of Saint Photius is described in detail in: Gorsky A.V., Archpriest. Photius, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Russia / Additions to the works of the Holy Fathers. M., 1852. No. 11 (hereinafter – Gorsky A.V., Archpriest Photius, Metropolitan of Kiev and All Russia. – Ed.). “The Cathedral, Reverend. Cyrus Patriarch Matthew ordained the saint to the Kyiv Metropolis for all Rus',” says Photius in his spiritual testament (see: The Book of Power (hereinafter referred to as the Book of Power. - Ed.). According to the desk charter (Historical Acts, collected and published by the Archaeographical Commission: In 5 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1841–1843. Vol. 1. No. 254 (hereinafter - Historical Acts - Ed.), it is dedicated to March 11, 1393 by Anthony. It must be assumed that in Photius’s will there is a conciliar decision on the sending of Photius to Russia, with the rank of Metropolitan of all Russia. Summer 6917 (1408) Sept. 1 Photius was quickly installed as Metropolitan by Patriarch Matthew” (Nikon. l. 5, 17), “by conciliar election the former Photius was appointed to the metropolis of Kyiv and All Rus' - in l. 6917” (Book of degrees. Part 2). Collection l. 6. 144, 145; Nikon. l. 5, 100–108; The book is sedate. Part 2. The Testament of Photius in another translation and with some abbreviations and additions. Shevyrev writes with all confidence that this Pachomius is the famous Serb biography writer Pachomius Logofet (Shevyrev S.P. History of Russian literature, mainly ancient: In 4 vols. M., 1846–1860. Vol. 3. Preface. P. XVIII (hereinafter referred to as Shevyrev S.P. History of Russian literature. - Ed.). But a) the writer is a Serb and Logothetes, and the one who came with Photius is a Bulgarian; b) a modern note says about the writer Pachomius: “who came from the Serbian land to the great. book Vasily Vasilyevich" (in Tsarsky No. 20, p. 51); c) it is completely incredible that Pachomius, who arrived in Russia in 1408 as a hieromonk and, therefore, not younger than 30 years old, could wander around Russia in 1461 (see: Philaret, Archbishop of Chernigov. Review of Russian spiritual literature, 862–1720. Kharkov, 1859–1861. Book 1, § 99 (hereinafter - Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov. Review of Russian spiritual literature. - Ed.). Historical acts. T. 1. No. 254. Pasini's Codices Manuscripti Bibliothecae Regii Taurinensis Athenaei. Turin, 1749. Fallmerayer, Jakob Philipp. Geschichte der Halbinsel Morea im Mittelalter. Stuttgart, 1830–1836. “Do not despise my humility, for I am not skilled in your writing and language” (Additions to the Historical Acts, collected and published by the Archaeographic Commission: In 12 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1846–1872. T. 1 (hereinafter referred to as Additions to the Historical Acts. - Ed.), “M. Photius to the Russian language I haven’t gotten the hang of it yet” (The book is sedate. Part 2). Nikon. l. 5, 29. 32; The book is sedate. Part 1. Vitovt: “and we did not want to accept Metropolitan Photius, and he swore to be here again and build a church” (Acts relating to the history of Western Russia: In 5 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1846–1853. Vol. 1 (hereinafter referred to as Acts of Western Russia. - Ed.). Collection l. 6, 132. 5, 258; The book is sedate. Part 1. Collection l. 6, 145; Nikon. l. 5, 33; The book is sedate. Part 1. For the teaching, see: Rkp. Sat. Joseph-Volokolamsky Monastery, No. 411; Gorsky A.V., archpriest. Photius, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Russia. As for the letter (Historical Acts. Vol. 1, No. 255), with which Photius allegedly addressed the conscience of the thieves of the metropolitan treasury, it refers to a completely different matter - the theft of private property placed in the church for safekeeping. Nikon. l. 5, 39, 40; The book is sedate. Part 1. The book is sedate. Part 2; Collection l. 5, 256. 6, 139; Nikon. l. 5, 37–39. The last one shows 1411 incorrectly: all the others show 1410. Nikon. l. 5, 39, 40; The book is sedate. Part 2; Ambrose (Ornatsky), archimandrite. History of the Russian hierarchy: In 6 hours. Moscow, 1807–1815. Part VI (hereinafter - Ambrose (Ornatsky), archimandrite. History of the Russian hierarchy. - Ed.). Where, however, Lake Sineg is mistakenly taken for one with the Holy Lake and with the desert, where Metropolitan lived. Cyprian. Nikon. l. 5, 41; Collection l. 6, 139; The book is sedate. Part 2. About Anna’s marriage, see: Ducas. Historia Byzantina. Paris, 1649. Antiquities of the Russian state, published by the highest order of the sovereign Emperor Nicholas Ï In the 6th department. St. Petersburg, 1849–1853. Dept. IV (hereinafter ― Antiquities of the Russian State. ― Ed.); Index for viewing the Moscow Patriarchal (now Synodal) Sacristy / Comp. archim. Savva. M., 1858 (hereinafter ― Index of the Synodal Sacristy. ― Ed.). Nikon. l. 5, 51. 53; The book is sedate. Part 2. RKP. message led book Vasily Dmitrievich in the RCP. Sat. Joseph-Volokolamsky Monastery, No. 414. Nikon. l. 5, 33. 107; Collection l. 6, 145; The book is sedate. Part 2. The Grand Duke came to terms with the demands of Photius: this is evident from the fact that the slanderers were forced to flee to Lithuania (Nikon. l. 5, 53. 54). Ratshin A. Complete collection of historical information about all former and currently existing monasteries. M., 1852 (hereinafter - Ratshin A. Complete collection of information about monasteries. - Ed.); Russian antiquity in monuments of church and civil architecture / Comp. A. A. Martynov, text by I. M. Snegirev: in 3 volumes: in 18 volumes. M., 1846–1859. T. 3 (hereinafter - Russian antiquity in monuments. - Ed.). Russian antiquity in monuments. T. 2. Nikon. l. 5, 48–51; Prologue July 9; The book is sedate. Part 1. Modern note on the RKP: “and this summer (1413) from the Mozhaisk city, 10 versts, in the village of Andrei, Prince Dmitrievich, from the icon of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos there appeared a lot of salaries and forgiveness to people, blind, lame, paralyzed, deaf and others: not to eat powerfully tell or destroy them; the human mind cannot express how much love God has for mankind and what mercy there is on people” (News of the Department of Russian Language and Literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. T. VI (hereinafter referred to as IORYAS. - Ed.). Russian Vivliofika, or a collection of materials for Russian history, geography, statistics and ancient Russian literature / Ed. N. Polevoy. M., 1833. P. 361. Collection l. 5, 259; Nikon. l. 5, 51–59; The book is sedate. Part 2. Acts of Western Russia. T. 1. No. 24, 25; Nikon. l. 5, 59–64. Nikon. l. 5, 53, 54; Collection l. 7, 87; The book is sedate. Part 2. Two people are named here: Savva Avraamiev and Foma Lazarev, who traded in Lithuania. Historical acts. T. 1. No. 19. Collection l. 4, 116. Where the district letter of Photius is briefly proposed and where it is said about the council “on occasion” that assembled, condemning Gregory. Photius mentions his district message in a message dated September 6, 1416 (Historical Acts. Vol. 1. No. 20). Collection l. 3, 116. 6, 140; Lviv. l. 2, 256, 257. Historical acts. T. 1. No. 20. Nikon. l. 5, 73; Collection l. 8, 90. At the end of one Gospel it is noted: “summer 6928 (1420) ind. On the 13th, Metropolitan of Russia Gregorie Tsamblak reposed" (Antonin (Kapustin), archimandrite. Notes of an admirer of the Holy Mountain. K., 1864 (hereinafter referred to as Antonin (Kapustin), archimandrite. Notes of an admirer of the Holy Mountain. - Ed.). Collection l. 4, 117 ;Jan Dlugosz. Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae, lib. I-XII. Lib. XI (hereinafter ― Dlugosz. Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae. ― Ed.). “Again, with Christ, decorate Your Church with peace and bring my humility into Your Church, with the advice of a noble, glorious leader. book Alexandra (Vytautas)” (Additions to the Historical Acts. Vol. 1). Hierodeacon Zosima, of course, took advantage of this peace and lived in Kyiv for six months before going to Jerusalem. “From the Russian country and from the capital city of Moscow,” he writes, from the great Lavra of St. Abbot Sergius, he tried to comprehend the glorious city of Kyiv, which was the mother of all Russian cities. And having reached the city of Kyiv by the grace of God, he remained in the Lavra, which is called the Kiev Pechera, at the tomb of St. Anthony and Abbot Theodosius for half a year. And there we dreamed and longed to see the holy places where Christ walked with His feet.” Ignacy Danilowicz. Latopisiec Litwy i Kronika ruska. Wilno, 1827; Karamzin N. M., Smirdin A. F. Notes on the History of the Russian State, volumes 4–6. St. Petersburg, 1852. Note. 225 to 5 t. Genealogical book // Temporary journal of the Moscow Society of History and Russian Antiquities. 1851. Book. 10 (hereinafter ― Temporary of the Society of History and Antiquities. ― Ed.). “By God’s will, Alex’s desire was to be baptized and sent to Kyiv, and the Metropolitan of Kiev baptized him into the peasant faith and gave him the name Prince Alexander in Holy Baptism.” It also says here that Oleksa’s father, Prince. Mansur-Kiyata founded the cities of Glinsk, Glinetsa and Polteva (Poltava), and the son, after his father, owned these cities. Collection l. 4, 203. 5, 24; Nikon. l. 5, 75, 79. Karamzin N. M., Smirdin A. F. Notes on the History of the Russian State, volumes 4–6. St. Petersburg, 1852. Note. 222, 258, 386 to 5 t. Additions to historical acts. T. 1. No. 180–183. Collection l. 5, 23; Knyazev A. S. Historical and statistical description of the Pskov Cathedral. M., 1858. Collection of state charters and agreements: In 5 hours M., parts 1–4, 1813–1828, part 5, 1894. Part 1, No. 41–42 (hereinafter referred to as the Collection of state charters and agreements. — Ed.). Nikon. l. 5, 82–85; Collection l. 8, 92. 93; The book is sedate. Part 2. In charters (Collection of state charters and agreements. Part 1, No. 43, 44) book. Yuri recognized his nephew as the Grand Duke. Message to Pskov on the indictment of 1426 (Historical Acts. Vol. 1. No. 30). Nikon. l. 5, 98–100; The book is sedate. Part 2. Dlugosz. Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae. Lib. XI. Nikon. l. 5, 96, 97; The book is sedate. Part 2; Dlugosz. Annales seu cronicae incliti Regni Poloniae. Lib. XI. Acts of Western Russia. T. 1. Approx. 32. Another essay against the Latins in the Synod. b-ke. Collection l. 4, 206. 5, 264. 6, 144; Nikon. l. 5, 97. 98; The book is sedate. Part 2. Only in the latter is the death of the blessed. Photia July 2, in all others - July 1. Prologue May 29; The book is sedate. Part 2; Lviv. l. 3, 26. Filaret, Archbishop. Chernigovsky. Review of Russian spiritual literature. Book 1, § 84; Shevyrev S.P. History of Russian literature. T. 3. Message in the collection of the Rumyantsev Museum No. 358, l. 382. RKP. Synod. bibs of the 16th century No. 466, l. 260; Makaryevskaya Menaion m. August l. 815. The writer of the message says that Constantinople was taken by the Turks “for these years.” Constantinople was taken in 1453, therefore, the message was written around 1470. Index to the Synodal sacristy. Historical acts. T. 1. No. 21, 33, 34. His teachings were published in the Orthodox Interlocutor (1860 and 1861). “Sunday Reading” (1856–1858) conveys in the Russian translation of Abba Isaiah to Blessed Theodora the sayings of the holy women. See: Ratshin A. Complete collection of historical information about all monasteries that existed in ancient times and currently exist. M., 1852. Hierocles, recognized as a contemporary of the emperor. Justinian (562), shows the following cities in Lesser Scythia: “in the Scythian region, subject to the voivode, there are 15 cities: Tomis, Dionysopolis, Acres, Callatis, Istres (Dunaec), Constantina, Zeldepa, Tropea, Axioupol, Capidava, Kars, Trosmis, Noviodun (New Dunajec), Egisson, Almyris.” The same with Constantine in Mysia. Ponphyrog. ed. Niebur. T. 3. P. 391, 47, 292, 293, 409, 410. Jordanes (about 552): “The Slavs live from the city of Novitunsky and the lake called Musianus, to the Dniester and north along the Vistula” (Jordanes. De origine actibusque Getarum). Safarik (Safarik P.Y. Slavic antiquities / Translated from Czech. O. Bodyanskago. M., 1852. Appendix (hereinafter referred to as Safarik. Slavic antiquities. -Ed.)) adds that Lake Musianskoe is the same as Lake Miris near the city of Almiris, now Ramzin, on the southern branch of the Danube; and the city of Novitunsky - otherwise called Noviotun - is now Isakchi. So, the inhabitants of Almiris are Slavs. Chetii-Minei July 8; Acta Sanctorum, iulii. II; The life and suffering of St. Epictetus and Astion // Vitis sanctorum. Patrol. Lat. T. 73. The publisher of the latter notes that the description is spoiled by late insertions. Karamzin N. M., Smirdin A. F. Notes on the History of the Russian State, volumes 4–6. St. Petersburg, 1852. Note. 4 to 5 t. Karamzin N. M. History of the Russian State. In 12 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1803–1826. T. V, approx. 70 (hereinafter – Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. – Ed.). Nikon. l. 4, 132–138; Collection l. 6, ext. 100–103. Prologue July 7; Collection l. 6, 134, 8, 81; Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. T. V, approx. 137. Collection of state charters and agreements. Part 1, No. 34; Nikon. l. 4, 188–191. Collection l. 6, 123; Nikon. l. 4, 254; Prologue July 7; Snegirev I.M. Monuments of Moscow antiquity. M., 1842–1845 (hereinafter – Snegirev I.M. Monuments of Moscow antiquity. -Ed.); Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. T. V, approx. 254. Acts collected in libraries and archives of the Russian Empire by the Archaeographic Expedition of the Imperial Academy of Sciences / Add. and ed. The highest commission established: In 4 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1836. Volume 1 (hereinafter referred to as Acts collected by the Archaeographic Expedition. -Ed.). The book is sedate. Part 1; Prologue July 7; RKP. her life in Tolstoy (3, No. 69); Vershinsky D. S. Months of the Orthodox-Catholic Church. St. Petersburg, 1856 (hereinafter referred to as Vershinsky D.S. Mesyatslov. -Ed.). Life of St. Theophilus from the manuscript of the Pantocrator's cell of St. Basil (Athos Patericon, or Biography of the Saints who shone on the Holy Mount Athos: In 2 parts. St. Petersburg, 1860. Part 2 (hereinafter referred to as the Athonite Patericon. -Ed.)). Sichevo is not far from Thessaloniki and Bregalnitsa. These events are spoken of by: a) Trifon Korobeinikov, who was in Egypt in 1583 (The journey of Moscow merchants Trifon Korobeinikov and Yuri Grekov to holy places in 1582 // Tales of the Russian people, collected by I. P. Sakharov. St. Petersburg, 1849); b) Patr. Nectary at Lequen (Michel Le Quien. Oriens christianus in quatuor patriarchatus digestus, in quo exhibentur Ecclesiae patriarchae caeterique praesules totius Orientis. 3 vols. Paris, 1740. V. II (hereinafter - Le Quien. Oriens christianus. - Ed.)). Oh Patr. Joachim see: Christian reading. 1856. No. 1. About the Slavs in Iver, see: Antonin (Kapustin), archimandrite. Notes from a devotee of the Holy Mountain. The Monastery of Pantocrator and its monasteries were and are especially chosen by Russians for their stay. See: Antonin (Kapustin), archimandrite. Notes from a devotee of the Holy Mountain; Sergius (Vesnin), hieroschim. Letters of the Svyatogorets to his friends about the Holy Mount Athos: In 2 books. St. Petersburg, 1850. Book. 2 (hereinafter referred to as Sergius (Vesnin), hieroschim. Letters of the Svyatogorets. -Ed.). The suffering of St. Nicodemus from Νε o ν μαρτυρ o λ. See also: Athonite Patericon. Part 2. On the wall of the church of the Rylsky monastery is depicted “Saint Nicodemus the myrrh-streamer” (Wanderings of Vasily Grigorovich-Barsky in the holy places of the East from 1723 to 1747 / Edited by N. Barsukov: In 4 hours. St. Petersburg, 1885–1887. Part III). Collection l. 1, 193. 3, 128. 129. 4, 29. 7, 136. 137; The book is sedate. Part 1. Word 1 // Addition to the Works of the Holy Fathers. M., 1843. Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. T. IV, approx. 154. Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. T. IV, approx. 153, 154. Four words were found in the Lavra Golden Chain of the 14th century. and published in “Addition to the Works of the Holy Fathers” (M., 1843). The fifth was found and published by Shevyrev (Shevyrev S. Trip to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, in 1847: In 2 parts M., 1850. Part 2). Two more were published in the Orthodox Interlocutor (July 1860). Vitae part. Lib. V, c. 7, n. 19. Dicebant de abbatissa beatae memoriae virgine Sarra et cet. Lib. V, c. 5, n. 10/ Narraverunt de abbatissa Sarra et cet. Vitae part. Lib. V, c. 5, n. 10, 11. Vitae part. Lib. V, c. 7, n. 18. Lib. VI, c. 4, n. 23. Among the Copts, St. Sarah March 15 (11) and April 25 (20). Ludolfi. Ad soam historiam aethiopicam commentaries. Francof., 1691. Kozheozersky Monastery // Moscow Gazette. 1852. No. 33–34. Here he was a cellarer and, therefore, lived for more than one year. Ambrose (Ornatsky), archimandrite. History of the Russian hierarchy. Part VI; Ratshin A. Complete collection of information about monasteries. According to the charter of 1691, “beyond the Nedumskaya desert” there were “15 polovniki households” of those who cultivated the monastery land, with half of the income retained for their own benefit. Grigorovich writes: “the life of Stephen the Despot, written in all likelihood by Konstantin Kostensky, is much more important (the life of Dechansky) for the history of Byzantine and Serbian... As far as I can guess, there are several reviews of this life. One is genuine with details; the other is the one that walks around Russia; the third is included in the Tsarostavnik and Nikon’s Chronicle” (News of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, VII). In Bodyansky (O. Bodyansky. On the time of the origin of Slavic writings. M., 1855 (hereinafter referred to as O. Bodyansky. On the time of the origin of Slavic writings. -Ed.)) “the life of the pious lord despot Stephen, copied by the command and compulsion of St. Patriarch of the land of Sebrsky Cyrus Nikon”, etc. The biographer says: “from the Holy Cyrus Nikon, Patriarch of the Serbian and Pomeranian lands, who came to Belgrade (for the burial of Blessed Stefan), from the military governor (Prince George) and from other best people we received an order to write the life of this holy despot; but due to unfavorable circumstances the matter was postponed. Four years after his departure, the blessed one himself appeared in a dream vision, threatened to punish him for disobedience and ordered him to fulfill his promise. That’s why I tried to write a life.” Raich did not know who was the author of the life of Stefanov (Raich Jovan. History of various Slavic peoples, especially Bulgarians, Croats and Serbs: At 4 hours. Vienna, 1794–1795. Part 3 (hereinafter referred to as Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. -Ed.). But the Serbian chronicle says: “every life is written by Constantine philosopher, for the sake of prayer, synclit” (Safarik. I pismenech crunorizca Chrabra. Pamatky drevniho pisemnictvi Jihoslovanuv. Prague, 1851 (hereinafter referred to as Safarik. Pamatky drevniho pisemnictvi. -Ed.)). Chronicle in: Glasnik Srpsk. scientist Drushtva. Book 5 (hereinafter – Glasnik. -Ed.). Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3; Nikon. l. 3, 244. Laonicis Chalcocondylae. Alheniensis Historiarum: libri decem. Bonnae., 1843. Lib. III; Nikon. l. 3, 245–248. Tsarostavnik see: Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3. Tsarostavnik see: Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3. Life of Stephen, see: Notes of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society. Volume XIII (hereinafter referred to as Notes of the Geographical Society. -Ed.). Glasnik. Book 5. In the charter of Stefan Lazarevich on December 2, 1405, given to Dubrovnik, Stefan’s mother is called the deceased Cyrus Euphrosyne. Entry in the Vulkovsky Hilandar type: “m. November 11th day, leave all the monks of Euphrosyne, friends of the holy prince Lazar.” In the Hilandar charters: “I am the blessed monk Eugenia and with my God-given sons” (Franz von Miklosich. Monumenta Serbica Spectantia Historiam Serbiae, Bosniae, Ragusii. No. 246–251 (hereinafter – Miklosich. Monumenta Serbica. – Ed.)). According to these monuments, book. Before her death, Militsa accepted the great schema and at the same time the name of her baptism, the name of Euphrosyne; and after the death of her husband she became a nun, Eugenia. About the monastery of Lyubostinia, see “Christian Reading” (1865. Part 2). The inscription on his coins (see: Notes of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society. Vol. 1, 9; Glasnik. Book 5) Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3. See: Safarik. Pamatky drevniho pisemnictvi. Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3; Notes of the Geographical Society. T. XIII. “Many scriptures have been translated from the Greek scriptures, especially some of the former ones” (Safarik. Pamatky drevniho pisemnictvi). “Ispisase book of this to the great lord Srublem despot Stefan,” as it is said in the manuscript of the second book of “Panoplia Dogmatica” by Zigaben from the Reverend. Agafangel (see: Vyatka Diocesan Gazette. 1864. No. 4). In addition, by his order, Chrysostom’s conversations on Genesis were translated from Greek into Serbian: one part by Jerome. Jacob, the other - St. Benedict. In the 2nd part on l. 351 is written: “in l. 6934 (1426) in the days of the pious and blessed and God-crowned lord of all the Serbian and Pomeranian lands and the many honorable Ugric and Bosnian lands, the wise and sweet and glorious despot Stephen, these light and Divine books, the hexaday book of John Chrysostom, the transcription of Pope Benedict in the Holy Mountain od of the Greek language of Srbsk, to the glory of God, etc. Mother of God Leshchaiansky" (Description of the Synod. RKP. No. 62, p. 48). Miklosich has an inscription on the book: “in the days of the faithful and Christ-loving lord despot Stephen - in the 24th year of his reign, this book was written by the hand of the sinful eromonk John in the Leshchianskaya desert, commanded by the lord despot himself - then the summer passed 6920 (1412)” (Miklosich. Monumenta Serbica. No. 258). Witty sayings were published in Glasnik (Book 11) and in IORYAS (Vol. VIII). See: Glasnik. Book 5; Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3. See: Abramovich. Description of Serbian antiquities on Mount Athos. Belgrade, 1847. No. 16 (hereinafter – Abramovich. Description of Serbian antiquities. -Ed.); Miklosich. Monumenta Serbica. No. 269, 493, 494. The last two are letters of donation from Stefan Hilandar. See Tsarostavnik in: Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3. For chronicles and charters, see: Maykov A.A. History of the Serbian language according to monuments written in Cyrillic, in connection with the history of the people. M., 1857 (hereinafter referred to as A.A. Maikov. History of the Serbian language. -Ed.); Raich. History of various Slavic peoples. Part 3. Maikov blames the despot for not taking advantage of the estates of Bayazet’s children and, in conjunction with Paleologus and Sigismund, for not expelling the Turks from Europe. But when he reached adulthood, he was in alliance with Hungary and Byzantium; Was it enough to drive the Turks out of Europe? No. The failure of Serbia depended most of all on the fact that Serbia suffered from fragmentation of power. With such an organization, either her own brother took half of Serbia from Stefan, or the Brankovichi or Balsici fought with Stefan, he barely had the strength to fight his domestic enemies. Europe saluted Stefan's courage, his personal selflessness and intelligence. After that, wouldn’t Mr. Maikov want Stefan to appear in history as Don Quixote? The certificate was published in the magazine “Serbian-Dalmatian Store” (1844). See also: Maikov A.A. History of the Serbian language. In the prologue of the 15th century. under July 19: “the end of the temporary life has come, the pious and Christ-loving master Sreblem and the multiplying despot Stephen in l. 6935" (Glasnik. Book 10). The same year of the death of the blessed despot in Tsarostavnik and in the chronicles (see: Safarik. Pamatky drevniho pisemnictvi; Glasnik. Book 5). The same time (July 19th 1427) is shown in the inscription on the stone monument erected at the place of his death, in the castle of Jasenice (Miklosich. Monumenta Serbica. No. 294, 295) Life of St. Stephen the Despot. RKP. life of St. Avramia, see: July Menaion of the Sergius Lavra No. 5; imperial library No. 710. The writer of the life says: “the foreigners of that monastery brought little something written about the life of St. Abraham, it’s old and tattered, but I can barely read it”; further: “It happened to me, the sinner Protasius, to be in that monastery and see miracles. I stayed in the monasteries for three summers, holding the staff of the flock.” So, the author is Abbot Protasius of Chukhloma. This is hardly the same abbot Protasius, who in 1546 revealed the relics of St. Pavel Obnorsky and left a note about St. Pavle. RKP. Life: “Then in Galich, keep the city and the land of Galich blessed. book Dmitry Feodorovich, grandson of blessings. book Vasily Konstantinovich, and Konstantin led the fourth son. book Yaroslav Vsevolodovich." It further says that he led. book Dmitry Ioannovich kicked out the prince. Dmitry Feodorovich from Galich and gave Galich to his son, the prince. Yuri. See: Genealogical book // Temporary journal of the Society of History and Antiquities. Book 10. RKP. life of Abraham; The Glory of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, revealed in the apparitions of Her miraculous icons in Russia: At 3 p.m. Moscow, 1853. Part 3 (hereinafter referred to as the Glory of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos. -Ed.). Historical acts. T. 1. In the Soligalitsky chronicler of the Resurrection Monastery, Chukhloma Lake is called Peipus (Journal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. T. XXII (hereinafter referred to as the Journal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. -Ed.)) According to the inventory of 1662, there are 310 village households behind the Assumption Avramiev Monastery. According to the inventory of 1662, there are 82 courtyards beyond the great desert of Abraham. See: Interpretation of our holy father John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on Saint Matthew the Evangelist. Conversation 68, § 3, 4; Conversation 69, § 3, 4. Ambrose (Ornatsky), archimandrite. History of the Russian hierarchy. Part III; Ratshin A. Complete collection of information about monasteries. RKP. Saints: “St. Abraham Abbot of Gorodetsky, also on Chukhloe Lake, Galich miracle worker, disciple of Sergiev, reposed in L. 6883 (1375) months. July at 20 days.” The same year of death is also in the life of St. Abraham according to the list of emperors. b-ki. According to the 1662 census, there are 310 households behind the Gorodetsky Avramiev Pokrovsky Monastery. Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov), Metropolitan. Description of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Kyiv, 1826 (hereinafter – Evgeny (Bolkhovitinov), Metropolitan. Description of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. – Ed.). In the RKP. Saints: “St. Fathers Onuphry and Anatoly." The relics of St. Onuphry at Kalnofoisky - on the line of the Northern Cave, near John the Long-Suffering; and under Gerbinia (1675) - already in the same place as now, at the table of the fathers. RKP. life of St. Cornelius at Undolsky and in the Pereyaslav Boris and Gleb Church. It is almost literally, in Russian translation, printed by St. Svirelin: Svirelin A.I. Venerable Cornelius, Pereyaslavl Wonderworker M., 1878. Ambrose (Ornatsky), archimandrite. History of the Russian hierarchy. Parts I, III; Ratshin A. Complete collection of information about monasteries. Miracles are described by Svirelin. Her life according to: Palladius of Elenopol. Lavsaik, or the Narrative of the Life of the Holy and Blessed Fathers. St. Petersburg, 1850 (hereinafter referred to as Palladium of Elenopolsky. Lavsaik. - Ed.); Chetiy-Minea July 25th day. In Greek, two lives are known from manuscripts (Labricii bibl. gr. X, 300). Gregory the Theologian. Tips for the Olympics // Creations. / Per. Moscow Theological Academy: At 6 o'clock M., 1843–1848. Part 5. In the Dialogue of Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis, with Theodore, a Roman deacon, telling about the life of Blessed John, Bishop of Constantinople, Chrysostom: “being left an orphan, although she was given in marriage, according to the general opinion, she was not deprived of the purity of virginity: she lived with her husband for about 20 months, and he unexpectedly paid tribute to nature with death.” In Lavsaik: “in reality she was no one’s wife.” In Basil’s Menology: “she was called a bride, but was not a wife: the one who married her went to the Lord, and she remained a virgin and at the same time a widow.” Palladius in “Lavsaik” speaks about her deeds of mercy as an eyewitness of them: “I saw with my own eyes the life and angelic disposition of this blessed virgin, as her spiritual and sincere friend and closest relative, so she instructed me to distribute her wealth.” Palladium of Elenopolsky. Lovesaik. Ch. 126. Our Holy Father John Chrysostom on his letters to Olympias the deaconess / Trans. from Greek St. Petersburg, 1853 (hereinafter - John Chrysostom. Letters to the Olympiad. -Ed.). John Chrysostom. Letters to the Olympics. Palladium of Elenopolsky. Lovesaik. Ch. 126. Chrysostom, going into exile, called deaconesses Olympias, Peutadia and Proklia and the good widow Salvina to be the baptismal baptizer and said to them: “I don’t know whether I will see you; but I ask you, do not separate yourself from the Church for the bishop who will be installed in my place; obey him as you obeyed John.” Palladium of Elenopolsky. Lovesaik. Ch. 126. In the Menologue: “adorned with the crown of confession. She was exiled for telling the truth and suffered many sorrows.” Her memory is in the Greek Church on July 25, in the Roman Church on December 17. Palladium of Elenopolsky. Lovesaik. Ch. 126. In the “Martyrology” of Usuard, on August 29, “the death of the holy virgin Candida.” Joseph Frangois Bourgoin de Villefore. Les Vies des SS. Peres des Deserts et des Saintes Solitaires d'Orient et d'Occident: avec des figures qui representent l'austeri. Amsterdam, 1714. T. 2. Palladium of Elenopolsky. Lovesaik. Ch. 128. Theophylact (Ohrid), Archbishop. Life of Clement of Ohrid / Trans. from Greek // Materials for the history of Eastern, Greek, Roman and Slavic writings. M., 1856. The writer calls himself Clement’s closest student and at the end mentions the Scythian sword, drunk in Bulgarian blood. The latter hints at the war between Svyatoslav and the Bulgarians (967). “Very knowledgeable in both languages, Slavic and Greek” (Theophylact (of Ohrid), Archbishop. Life of Clement of Ohrid / Translated from Greek). According to the life of St. Methodius, “this is your land of freedom, a man taught good in Latin books.” Franz von Miklosich. Vita S. Clementis Episcopi Bulgarorum: graece. Wien, 1847 (hereinafter – Miklosich. Vita S. Clementis Episcopi Bulgarorum. – Ed.). For maps of Ohrid and its surroundings, see: Grigorovich-Barsky V. Essay on a trip to European Turkey. Kazan, 1848 (hereinafter referred to as V. Grigorovich. Essay on the journey. – Ed.). There is also research about the Slavic apostles. Rosenkampf G.A. Review of the Helmsman's Book in historical form. M., 1829. Note. 73. Petrus siculus. Historia Manichaeorum. Ingolstadt, 1604. Clement and Naum were sent to southwestern Bulgaria in 886, and Clement became Archbishop of Bulgaria only in 896. The latter can be explained by the fact that St. was still alive before that time. Gorazd, Archbishop of Bulgaria. Miklosich. Vita S. Clementis Episcopi Bulgarorum. Miklosich. Vita S. Clementis Episcopi Bulgarorum; Brief life of St. Clement / Ed. V. Grigorovich // Journal of the Ministry of Public Education. 1847. No. 1 (hereinafter – Brief Life of St. Clement. -Ed.). The compiler of the short life wrote no earlier than the 12th century. some under the guidance of a lengthy life, which he himself speaks of, others - according to living monuments, and others - according to rumors and completely incorrect ones, for example, about the baptism of Prince. Boris, about the time of Clement’s consecration as a bishop. “The eighth year of Klimentov’s teaching” was not the last year of the prince’s life. Boris, as others understood, was only the last year of Borisov's reign. This is how biographer Klimentov shows the connection between speech. Therefore, Palauzov’s doubt about the time of Boris’s death is in vain (Palauzov S. The Age of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon. St. Petersburg, 1852 (hereinafter referred to as Palauzov S. The Age of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon. -Ed.)); The opinion of the Kharkov Bulletin (1864. No. 2) about the time of Clement’s arrival in the southwestern region of Bulgaria is equally unfair. Clement's biographer, under the influence of the desire to speak eloquently, sometimes expresses himself unclearly and imprecisely and does not always present events in the order of time. Also Bulgarian. In the prologue of the 14th century: “And he (Boris) still lives in the monkhood and in his place Volodymer, his first son, had the blessing of God and Michael on Semeon and received the table, driving away his brother.” Miklosich. Vita S. Clementis Episcopi Bulgarorum. In the list of dioceses imp. Leo shows two “Wieliczkas”: one in the district of the metropolitan Philippopolis of Thracia, the other under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan “Philippi of Macedonia” (Tafel. De Thessalonica ejusque agro dissertatio geogrphica. Berolini, 1839 (hereinafter – Tafel. De Thessalonica. -Ed.)). Clement was in the See of Wieliczka Macedonia (Le Quien. Oriens christianus. V. II). The Greek list of Bulgarian archbishops says: “Clement, appointed bishop of Tiberiopolis or Wieliczka, later received from the Bulgarian Tsar Boris to administer a third part of the Bulgarian kingdom, i.e. from Thessaloniki to Jericho and Kanin or Supiata." If Wieliczka Klimenta is the same as Tiberiopolis, then the Slavs called it Strumnitsa differently. Other cities mentioned here are located on the coast of southern Albania: Jericho and Kanina - near Avlon, Sopoti - in the Delvin district. Grigorovich examined the two Glavenitsa and remained confident that the Glavenitsa of Clement was the one that was located in the province of Drach, on the way from Elbasan to Drach (Brief Life of St. Clement). According to the list of imp. Lev, in the metropolis of Drach the department of “Glavenica or Acrokeravnia” (Tafel. De Thessalonica). In the west of Ohrid, the middle strip of present-day Albania, from Drach to the Acrokeravnia Gulf, was occupied by the Slavs at the beginning of the 7th century; They also conquered the former colonies of the Vlach-Romans. Clement was not moved from Wieliczka to Ohrid: in the news of his student, the place of his department, before his death, differs from the Ohrid monastery. When the independent Bulgarian Archbishop began to live in Ohrid remains unknown, although it is known that the imp. Basil II, with a charter in 1017, approved the rights of an independent Bulgarian archbishop for Archbishop John of Ohril (Notes of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Vol. 5; Temporary of the Society of History and Antiquities. Vol. 5). Nevertheless, it is clear that St. Clement, being the Velich archpastor, was also in charge of Ohrid. Filaret, Archbishop. Chernigovsky. Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica and the Thessalonica Slavs // Read. OIDR. 1847. Book. 6. If St. Clement arrived in Bulgaria in September 885 and remained a teacher for 11 years; he was consecrated bishop in September 896; whereas the book Boris lived as a monk in a monastery. About the works of St. Clement, now famous, see: Filaret of Chernigov. Historical teaching about the Fathers of the Church: In 3 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1859 (hereinafter – Filaret, Archbishop of Chernigov. Historical teaching about the Fathers of the Church. -Ed.). Only the “Commandments on Feast Days” are not mentioned there, but this teaching is in a collection of the 12th century. Sergius Lavra. Brief life of St. Климента. In the oldest list of the Glagolitic alphabet it is called “Bulgarian”. To this day, there are still manuscripts written in Macedonia, Glagolitic, and their language itself is Old Slavic with shades of the Bulgarian dialect (see the works of I. I. Sreznevsky in: Christian Antiquities and Archeology. St. Petersburg, 1865. Notebooks 9, 10; News of the Imperial Russian Archaeological Society. In 10 volumes. St. Petersburg, 1859–1884. T. I (hereinafter referred to as News of the Archaeological Society. -Ed.)). Evidence: a) Monk Khrabr: “Slavs, bastards (pagans) exist, with wombs and cuts to chtyakhu and gatahu”; b) “Easter Chronicle” (Chronicon paschale / Ed. B. Niebur. Bonnae, 1832): “peoples who have their own writings - Scythians, Sarmatians” and so on; c) Constantine Porphyrogenito. De Administrator Imperio says that the Croats, accepting Christianity, confirmed with their own signatures an oath not to fight with the Greek and Roman Christians; d) “The Court of Lyubushi” speaks of boards of righteousness; e) Ibn-Fotslan shows the Slavs inscriptions on grave pillars, Ibn-el-Nedim - evidence cut on wood, Masudi - inscriptions on stones. In the Glagolitic alphabet, the signs “f” and “sh” are taken from the Cyrillic alphabet and, therefore, the former was formed under the influence of the latter. Safarik thought so too, although later he changed his thoughts twice (see the works of Safarik P.P. in: IORYAS. T. I, II). The inconveniences of the Glagolitic alphabet, the ambiguity of its letters, indicated by Sreznevsky (News of the Archaeological Society. Vol. I), also indicate its formation from folk cuts. Since it retained the ancient folk signs, this alone was the reason why the Glagolitic alphabet, despite the confusing meaning of the letters and their ugliness, remained with the Slavs for so long. As for the opinion that the Glagolitic alphabet was invented by the Bogomils (Palauzov S. The Age of the Bulgarian Tsar Simeon), this opinion is not only not confirmed by any historical evidence, but it is also contradicted by the fact that the Gospels, interpretations of the prophets, and liturgical Orthodox books were written in Glagolitic letters, and not a single Bogomil work written in Glagolitic is visible. Miklosich. Vita S. Clementis Episcopi Bulgarorum. Palauzov wrote: “Clement remained in the rank of Bishop of the Great for almost 28 years.” No, if he was consecrated in 896, he was a bishop for 20 years. Grigorovich V. Travel essay. In the “Short Life”: “having passed into a blessed life, he left here (in Ohrid) the holy tomb, a priceless treasure... Every day various diseases are healed here; St. the monastery became a physician’s office for all those running to the tomb.” The legal day of remembrance of St. Clement - July 27, but on some occasions he visited on other days. See: Antonin (Kapustin), archimandrite. Notes from a fan of the Holy Mountain. Life of St. Naum of Bulgaria / Trans. from Greek // Russian conversation. 1859. II. It consists almost entirely of extracts from Clement’s Life; very little is said about Nahum himself. Grigorovich V. Travel essay. Grigorovich V. Travel essay. In 1634, the abbot of the monastery of St. came to Moscow for alms. Naum with a letter signed by all the archpastors of the Bulgarian-Serbian Church (A.N. Muravyov. Relations between Russia and the East on Church Affairs. Parts 1–2. St. Petersburg, 1858–1860. Part 2 (hereinafter referred to as A.N. Muravyov. Relations between Russia and the East. -Ed.)). Karamzin N.M. History of the Russian State. T. VII, approx. 312, 328, 331. Nikon. l. 7, 19; Lviv. l. 4, 116; The royal book, that is, the Chronicler of the reign of Tsar John Vasilyevich, from 7042 to 7061 / Reprint. RKP. Patriarchal b-ki. St. Petersburg, 1769 (hereinafter referred to as the Royal Book - Ed.). Acts collected by the Archaeographic Expedition. T. 1. Nikon. l. 7, 23–27; Royal book. Nikon. l. 7, 33; The book is sedate. Part 2; Royal book; Lviv. l. 4, 138, 139. Book. Dmitry - brother of St. book John, Ignatius. Royal book; Nikon. l. 7, 33, 34; Historical acts. T. 1; Lviv. l. 4, 152–154. Royal book; The book is sedate. Part 2. Historical acts. T. 1; Historical description of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. M., 1842. Church historical month book of the Trinity Lavra. M., 1850. Historical description of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. Index to the Synodal Sacristy. Others believe that St. Paul was buried in the monastery of Perivleptos, which is now the Armenian Sulu monastery (see: Muravyov A.N. Letters from the East in 1849–1850: In 2 parts. St. Petersburg, 1851. Part 1. See: Patericon of Athos or the biography of the saints who shone on Mount Athos: In 2 hours. St. Petersburg, 1860. Part 1. Epiphanius (the Wise). The life of our venerable and God-bearing father, Abbot Sergius the Wonderworker; Ambrose (Ornatsky), archimandrite. History of the Russian hierarchy. Part IV; Ratshin A. Complete collection of information about monasteries. Ambrose (Ornatsky), archimandrite. History of the Russian hierarchy. Part IV; Ratshin A. Complete collection of information about monasteries. Who was later Patriarch of Iversky. Sabinin M.P. Complete biography of the saints of the Georgian Church. St. Petersburg, 1871 (hereinafter referred to as Sabinin M.P. Complete biography of the saints of the Georgian Church. -Ed.). About the life of St. Herman is spoken by his disciple Dosifei in the life of St. Zosima and Savvatiya. A special life was written at the beginning of the 16th century. unknown, who supplemented the legends of Dosifei with the story of someone who saw the transfer of the relics of Abba in 1484. Afterword by Dosifei to the life of St. Zosima and Savvaty (Moscowite. 1846. Part VI). Library of the Solovetsky Monastery // Orthodox interlocutor. 1859. No. 1. RKP. the life of Herman, written from the words of someone who saw the transfer of his relics (Dosifei, archimandrite. Geographical, statistical and historical description of the stavropegal first-class Solovetsky Monastery. M., 1836 (hereinafter - Dosifei (Nemchinov), archimandrite. Description of the Solovetsky Monastery. -Ed.). The truth of the Holy Solovetsky Monastery against the untruth of the petition, called Solovetsky, about faith. Offering to the Holy Solovetsky Monastery. St. Petersburg, 1844; Dosifey (Nemchinov), archimandrite. Description of the Solovetsky Monastery. With the name “Dosifey”, a maiden (old woman) of high spiritual life labored in seclusion in the Kitaev monastery (in the world Daria Tyapkina; f 1776). “Seraphim” – from Hebrew “fiery”. Seraphim are the highest and closest ranks of Angels to God, having ardent love for Him. Founded in 1780 by the landowner Agafya Semyonovna Melgunova (in monastic life - Alexandra; f 1789) for the cohabitation of pious widows. In 1842 it was connected with the Mill girls' community, established by St. Seraphim in 1827 at the direction of the Most Holy Theotokos. Both communities made up the Seraphim-Diveevo community, which in 1861 was transformed into a convent - the largest at that time in Russia (by the beginning of the 20th century there were about 1000 sisters in it). The first abbess was Abbess Maria. In 1991, the monastery was returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. Tomato is a perennial herbaceous plant, young shoots are edible; other names: hogweed, deglitsa, hare cabbage. Archimandrite Sergius (in the world Vasily Pavlovich Shein) was born in 1866 in the village. Kolpna, Novoselsky district, Tula province. He graduated from the School of Law (1893), was a member of the IV State Duma, and was a member of the Secretariat of the Local Council in 1917–1918. Novitsky Yuri Petrovich was born in 1882 in the city of Uman, Kyiv province. He graduated from high school and Kyiv University. Since 1914, associate professor, then professor of the department of criminal law at Petrograd University. Ivan Mikhailovich Kovsharov, originally from Odessa, is a lawyer by training. He was 44 years old at the time of the trial.