Names of Russian saints, lives of Russian saints. Holy Ascetics in Rus' Lives of Russian Saints
For our readers: holy people in Rus' with detailed descriptions from various sources.
Russian saints...The list of saints of God is inexhaustible. By their way of life they pleased the Lord and thanks to this they became closer to eternal existence. Each saint has his own face. This term denotes the category to which the Pleasant of God is classified during his canonization. These include the great martyrs, martyrs, saints, saints, unmercenaries, apostles, saints, passion-bearers, holy fools (blessed), saints and equal to the apostles.
Suffering in the name of the Lord
The first saints of the Russian Church among the saints of God are the great martyrs who suffered for the faith of Christ, dying in severe and long agony. Among the Russian saints, the first to be numbered in this rank were the brothers Boris and Gleb. That is why they are called the first martyrs - passion-bearers. In addition, the Russian saints Boris and Gleb were the first to be canonized in the history of Rus'. The brothers died in the internecine war for the throne that began after the death of Prince Vladimir. Yaropolk, nicknamed the Accursed, first killed Boris while he was sleeping in a tent while on one of his campaigns, and then Gleb.
The face of those like the Lord
Reverends are those saints who led an ascetic lifestyle, being in prayer, labor and fasting. Among the Russian saints of God one can single out St. Seraphim of Sarov and Sergius of Radonezh, Savva of Storozhevsky and Methodius of Peshnoshsky. The first saint in Rus' to be canonized in this guise is considered to be the monk Nikolai Svyatosha. Before accepting the rank of monasticism, he was a prince, the great-grandson of Yaroslav the Wise. Having renounced worldly goods, the monk labored as a monk in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. Nikolai Svyatosha is revered as a miracle worker. It is believed that his hair shirt (a coarse woolen shirt), left behind after his death, healed one sick prince.
Sergius of Radonezh - the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit
The 14th century Russian saint Sergius of Radonezh, known in the world as Bartholomew, deserves special attention. He was born into the pious family of Mary and Cyril. It is believed that while still in the womb, Sergius showed his chosenness of God. During one of the Sunday liturgies, the not yet born Bartholomew cried out three times. At that time, his mother, like the rest of the parishioners, was overcome with horror and confusion. After his birth the monk did not drink breast milk, if Mary ate meat that day. On Wednesdays and Fridays, little Bartholomew went hungry and did not take his mother's breast. In addition to Sergius, there were two more brothers in the family - Peter and Stefan. Parents raised their children in Orthodoxy and strictness. All the brothers, except Bartholomew, studied well and knew how to read. And only the youngest in their family had a hard time reading - the letters blurred before his eyes, the boy was lost, not daring to utter a word. Sergius suffered greatly from this and fervently prayed to God in the hope of gaining the ability to read. One day, again ridiculed by his brothers for his illiteracy, he ran into the field and met an old man there. Bartholomew spoke about his sadness and asked the monk to pray to God for him. The elder gave the boy a piece of prosphora, promising that the Lord would definitely grant him a letter. In gratitude for this, Sergius invited the monk into the house. Before eating, the elder asked the boy to read the psalms. Timidly, Bartholomew took the book, afraid to even look at the letters that always blurred before his eyes... But a miracle! – the boy began to read as if he had already learned to read and write for a long time. The elder predicted to the parents that their youngest son would be great, since he was the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit. After such a fateful meeting, Bartholomew began to strictly fast and pray constantly.
The beginning of the monastic path
At the age of 20, the Russian saint Sergius of Radonezh asked his parents to give him a blessing to take monastic vows. Kirill and Maria begged their son to stay with them until their death. Not daring to disobey, Bartholomew lived with his parents until the Lord took their souls. Having buried his father and mother, the young man, together with his older brother Stefan, set off to take monastic vows. In the desert called Makovets, the brothers are building the Trinity Church. Stefan cannot stand the harsh ascetic lifestyle that his brother adhered to and goes to another monastery. At the same time, Bartholomew took monastic vows and became the monk Sergius.
Trinity-Sergius Lavra
The world-famous monastery of Radonezh once originated in a deep forest in which the monk once secluded himself. Sergius was in fasting and prayer every day. He ate plant foods, and his guests were wild animals. But one day several monks found out about the great feat of asceticism performed by Sergius and decided to come to the monastery. There these 12 monks remained. It was they who became the founders of the Lavra, which was soon headed by the monk himself. Prince Dmitry Donskoy came to Sergius for advice, preparing for the battle with the Tatars. After the death of the monk, 30 years later, his relics were found, performing a miracle of healing to this day. This 14th-century Russian saint still invisibly welcomes pilgrims to his monastery.
The Righteous and the Blessed
Righteous saints have earned God's favor by living godly lives. These include both lay people and clergy. The parents of Sergius of Radonezh, Cyril and Maria, who were true Christians and taught Orthodoxy to their children, are considered righteous.
The blessed are those saints who deliberately took on the image of people not of this world, becoming ascetics. Among the Russian Pleasers of God, Basil the Blessed, who lived during the time of Ivan the Terrible, Ksenia of St. Petersburg, who abandoned all benefits and went on long wanderings after the death of her beloved husband, Matrona of Moscow, who became famous for the gift of clairvoyance and healing during her lifetime, are especially revered. It is believed that I. Stalin himself, who was not distinguished by religiosity, listened to the blessed Matronushka and her prophetic words.
Ksenia is a fool for Christ's sake
The blessed one was born in the first half of the 18th century into a family of pious parents. Having become an adult, she married the singer Alexander Fedorovich and lived with him in joy and happiness. When Ksenia turned 26 years old, her husband died. Unable to bear such grief, she gave away her property, put on her husband’s clothes and went on a long wandering. After this, the blessed one did not respond to her name, asking to be called Andrei Fedorovich. “Ksenia died,” she assured. The saint began to wander the streets of St. Petersburg, occasionally visiting her friends for lunch. Some people mocked the grief-stricken woman and made fun of her, but Ksenia endured all the humiliation without complaint. Only once did she show her anger when local boys threw stones at her. After what they saw, the local residents stopped mocking the blessed one. Ksenia of Petersburg, having no shelter, prayed at night in the field, and then came to the city again. The blessed one quietly helped the workers build stone temple at the Smolensk cemetery. At night, she tirelessly laid bricks in a row, contributing to the speedy construction of the church. For all her good deeds, patience and faith, the Lord gave Ksenia the Blessed the gift of clairvoyance. She predicted the future, and also saved many girls from unsuccessful marriages. Those people to whom Ksenia came became happier and luckier. Therefore, everyone tried to serve the saint and bring her into the house. Ksenia Petersburgskaya died at the age of 71. She was buried at the Smolensk cemetery, where the Church built by her own hands was located nearby. But even after physical death, Ksenia continues to help people. Great miracles were performed at her tomb: the sick were healed, those seeking family happiness were successfully married. It is believed that Ksenia especially patronizes unmarried women and already accomplished wives and mothers. A chapel was built over the tomb of the blessed one, to which crowds of people still come, asking the saint for intercession before God and thirsting for healing.
Holy sovereigns
The faithful include monarchs, princes and kings who have distinguished themselves
a godly lifestyle that strengthens the faith and position of the church. The first Russian saint Olga was canonized in this category. Among the faithful, Prince Dmitry Donskoy, who won a victory on the Kulikovo field after the appearance of the holy image of Nicholas, stood out to him; Alexander Nevsky, who did not compromise with Catholic Church to maintain their power. He was recognized as the only secular Orthodox sovereign. Among the faithful there are other famous Russian saints. Prince Vladimir is one of them. He was canonized in connection with his great activity - the baptism of all Rus' in 988.Empresses - God's Pleasants
Princess Anna, the wife of Yaroslav the Wise, was also counted among the saints, thanks to whom relative peace was observed between the Scandinavian countries and Russia. During her lifetime, she built a convent in honor of St. Irene, since she received this name at baptism. Blessed Anna revered the Lord and sacredly believed in him. Shortly before her death, she took monastic vows and died. Memorial Day is October 4 according to the Julian style, but in the modern Orthodox calendar this date, unfortunately, is not mentioned.
The first Russian holy princess Olga, baptized Elena, accepted Christianity, influencing its further spread throughout Rus'. Thanks to her activities that contributed to the strengthening of faith in the state, she was canonized.
Servants of the Lord on earth and in heaven
Saints are saints of God who were clergy and received special favor from the Lord for their way of life. One of the first saints ranked among this rank was Dionysius, Archbishop of Rostov. Arriving from Athos, he headed the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery. People were drawn to his monastery, since he knew the human soul and could always guide those in need on the true path.
Among all the saints canonized by the Orthodox Church, Archbishop Nicholas the Wonderworker of Myra especially stands out. And although the saint is not of Russian origin, he truly became the intercessor of our country, always being at the right hand of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Great Russian saints, the list of which continues to grow to this day, can patronize a person if he diligently and sincerely prays to them. You can turn to the Pleasers of God in different situations - everyday needs and illnesses, or simply wanting to thank Higher power for a calm and serene life. Be sure to purchase icons of Russian saints - it is believed that prayer in front of the image is the most effective. It is also advisable that you have a personal icon - an image of the saint in whose honor you were baptized.
7 first canonizations of saints in Rus'
The first Russian saints - who are they? Perhaps as we learn more about them, we will find insights into our own spiritual path.
Boris Vladimirovich (Prince of Rostov) and Gleb Vladimirovich (Prince of Murom), at baptism Roman and David. Russian princes, sons of Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich. In the internecine struggle for the Kiev throne, which broke out in 1015 after the death of their father, they were killed by their own elder brother for their Christian beliefs. Young Boris and Gleb, knowing their intentions, did not use weapons against the attackers.
Princes Boris and Gleb became the first saints canonized by the Russian Church. They were not the first saints of the Russian land, since later the Church began to honor the Varangians Theodore and John who lived before them, martyrs for the faith who died under the pagan Vladimir, Princess Olga and Prince Vladimir, as equal-to-the-apostles enlighteners of Rus'. But Saints Boris and Gleb were the first married elects of the Russian Church, its first miracle workers and recognized heavenly prayer books “for the new Christian people.” The chronicles are full of stories about miracles of healing that took place at their relics (particular emphasis was placed on glorifying the brothers as healers in the 12th century), about victories won in their name and with their help, about the pilgrimage of princes to their tomb.
Their veneration was immediately established as a nationwide one, before church canonization. The Greek metropolitans at first doubted the holiness of the miracle workers, but Metropolitan John, who doubted the most, soon himself transferred the incorrupt bodies of the princes to the new church, established a holiday for them (July 24) and composed a service for them. This was the first example of the firm faith of the Russian people in their new saints. This was the only way to overcome all the canonical doubts and resistance of the Greeks, who were generally not inclined to encourage the religious nationalism of the newly baptized people.
Rev. Theodosius Pechersky
Rev. Theodosius, the father of Russian monasticism, was the second saint solemnly canonized by the Russian Church, and its first reverend. Just as Boris and Gleb forestalled St. Olga and Vladimir, St. Theodosius was canonized earlier than Anthony, his teacher and the first founder of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. Ancient life of St. Anthony, if it existed, was lost early.
Anthony, when the brethren began to gather to him, left her in the care of the abbot Varlaam, whom he had appointed, and shut himself up in a secluded cave, where he remained until his death. He was not a mentor or abbot of the brethren, except for the very first newcomers, and his lonely exploits did not attract attention. Although he died only a year or two earlier than Theodosius, by that time he was already the only focus of love and reverence not only for the monastic, already numerous brethren, but for all of Kyiv, if not all of southern Rus'. In 1091 the relics of St. Theodosius were opened and transferred to the great Pechersk Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which spoke of his local, monastic veneration. And in 1108, at the initiative of the Grand Duke Svyagopolk, the Metropolitan and the bishops performed his solemn (general) canonization. Even before the transfer of his relics, 10 years after the death of the saint, Rev. Nestor wrote his life, extensive and rich in content.
Saints of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon
In the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, in the Near (Antonieva) and Far (Feodosieva) caves, the relics of 118 saints rest, most of whom are known only by name (there are also nameless ones). Almost all of these saints were monks of the monastery, pre-Mongol and post-Mongol times, locally revered here. Metropolitan Petro Mogila canonized them in 1643, instructing them to compile a common service. And only in 1762, by decree of the Holy Synod, the Kyiv saints were included in the all-Russian month books.
We know about the lives of thirty of the Kyiv saints from the so-called Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. Paterikas in ancient Christian writing were the names of summary biographies of ascetics - ascetics of a certain area: Egypt, Syria, Palestine. These eastern patericons were known in translations in Rus' from the first times of Russian Christianity and had a very strong influence on the education of our monasticism in spiritual life. The Pechersk Patericon has its own long and complex history, from which one can fragmentarily judge ancient Russian religiosity, Russian monasticism and monastic life.
Rev. Avraamy Smolensky
One of the very few ascetics of pre-Mongol times, from whom a detailed biography remains, compiled by his student Ephraim. Rev. Abraham of Smolensk was not only revered in his hometown after his death (at the beginning of the 13th century), but also canonized at one of the Moscow Macarius Councils (probably 1549). Biography of St. Abraham conveys the image of an ascetic of great strength, full of original features, perhaps unique in the history of Russian holiness.
The Monk Abraham of Smolensk, preacher of repentance and the coming Last Judgment, was born in the middle of the 12th century. in Smolensk from wealthy parents who had 12 daughters before him and prayed to God for a son. From childhood he grew up in the fear of God, often attended church and had the opportunity to study from books. After the death of his parents, having distributed all his property to monasteries, churches and the poor, the monk walked around the city in rags, praying to God to show him the path of salvation.
He took monastic vows and, as an act of obedience, copied books and performed the Divine Liturgy every day. Abraham was dry and pale from labor. The saint was strict both towards himself and towards his spiritual children. He himself painted two icons on the topics that occupied him most: on one he depicted the Last Judgment, and on the other - torture at the ordeal.
When, due to slander, he was forbidden to perform sacred functions, various troubles appeared in the city: drought and disease. But through his prayer for the city and its inhabitants, heavy rain began to fall, and the drought ended. Then everyone became convinced of his righteousness and began to highly honor and respect him.
From the life we see an image of an ascetic, unusual in Rus', with an intense inner life, with anxiety and agitation breaking out in stormy, emotional prayer, with a gloomily repentant idea of human destiny, not a healer pouring oil, but a stern teacher, animated, perhaps prophetic inspiration.
The holy “blessed” princes constitute a special, very numerous rank of saints in the Russian Church. One can count about 50 princes and princesses canonized for general or local veneration. The veneration of the holy princes intensified during the Mongol yoke. In the first century of the Tatars, with the destruction of monasteries, Russian monastic holiness almost dried up. The feat of the holy princes becomes the main, historically important, not only national matter, but also church service.
If we single out the holy princes who enjoyed universal, and not just local, veneration, then this is St. Olga, Vladimir, Mikhail Chernigovsky, Theodore Yaroslavsky with their sons David and Konstantin. In 1547-49, Alexander Nevsky and Mikhail Tverskoy were added to them. But Mikhail Chernigovsky, the martyr, takes first place. The piety of the holy princes is expressed in devotion to the church, in prayer, in the construction of churches and respect for the clergy. There is always a love of poverty, concern for the weak, orphans and widows, and less often justice.
The Russian Church does not canonize national or political merits in its holy princes. This is confirmed by the fact that among the holy princes we do not find those who did the most for the glory of Russia and for its unity: neither Yaroslav the Wise, nor Vladimir Monomakh, with all their undoubted piety, no one among the princes of Moscow, except Daniil Alexandrovich, locally revered in the Danilov Monastery built by him, and canonized no earlier than the 18th or 19th centuries. But Yaroslavl and Murom gave the Church holy princes, completely unknown to the chronicles and history. The Church does not canonize any politics, neither Moscow, nor Novgorod, nor Tatar; neither unifying nor specific. This is often forgotten nowadays.
Saint Stephen of Perm
Stephen of Perm occupies a very special place in the host of Russian saints, standing somewhat apart from the broad historical tradition, but expressing new, perhaps not fully explored, possibilities in Russian Orthodoxy. Saint Stephen is a missionary who gave his life for the conversion of the pagan people - the Zyryans.
St. Stephen was from Ustyug the Great, in the Dvina land, which just in his time (in the 14th century) from the Novgorod colonial territory became dependent on Moscow. Russian cities were islands among a foreign sea. The waves of this sea approached Ustyug itself, around which settlements of Western Permians, or, as we call them, Zyryans, began. Others, eastern Permians, lived on the Kama River, and their baptism was the work of the successors of St. Stefan. There is no doubt that both the acquaintance with the Permians and their language, and the idea of preaching the Gospel among them date back to the saint’s adolescence. Being one of the smartest people of his time, knowing the Greek language, he leaves books and teachings for the sake of preaching the work of love, Stefan chose to go to the Perm land and become a missionary - alone. His successes and trials are depicted in a number of scenes from life, not devoid of humor and perfectly characterizing the naive, but naturally kind Zyryansk worldview.
He did not connect the baptism of the Zyryans with their Russification, he created the Zyryans writing, he translated the divine service for them and St. Scripture. He did for the Zyryans what Cyril and Methodius did for the entire Slavs. He also compiled the Zyryan alphabet based on local runes - signs for notching on wood.
Rev. Sergius of Radonezh
The new asceticism, which arose from the second quarter of the 14th century, after the Tatar yoke, is very different from the ancient Russian one. This is the asceticism of the desert dwellers. By taking upon themselves a most difficult feat, and, moreover, necessarily associated with contemplative prayer, the desert monks will raise spiritual life to a new height, not yet reached in Rus'. The head and teacher of the new desert-dwelling monasticism was St. Sergius, the greatest of the saints of ancient Rus'. Most of the saints of the 14th and early 15th centuries are his disciples or “interlocutors,” that is, they experienced his spiritual influence. Life of Rev. Sergius was preserved thanks to his contemporary and student Epiphanius (the Wise), biographer of Stephen of Perm.
His life makes it clear that his humble meekness is the main spiritual fabric of the personality of Sergius of Radonezh. Rev. Sergius never punishes spiritual children. In the very miracles of his reverends. Sergius seeks to belittle himself, to belittle his spiritual strength. Rev. Sergius is the exponent of the Russian ideal of holiness, despite the sharpening of both its polar ends: mystical and political. The mystic and the politician, the hermit and the cenobite were combined in his blessed fullness.
Who: Nikolai Ugodnik.
Why they are revered: He beat Arius for heresies, this happened during the Ecumenical Council, and according to the rules he was immediately deposed for a fight. However, on the same night, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to all participants of the Ecumenical Council in a dream and categorically ordered that it be returned. Nikolai Ugodnik was a fiery, fiercely religious man, he was kind, he saved many people from unfair lawsuits. He is best known for giving gifts at Christmas. And it was like this: his neighbor went bankrupt and was planning to marry off his daughters to unloved, old, but rich people. When Nikolai Ugodnik learned about this injustice, he decided to give his neighbor all the gold of the church in which he was a bishop. He found out about this just before Christmas. Nikolai Ugodnik went to the temple, collected gold, but there was a lot of it, he couldn’t carry it in his hands, and then he decided to pour it all into a sock, and threw the sock to his neighbor. The neighbor was able to pay off his creditors, and his girls were not harmed, and the tradition of giving Christmas gifts in socks has been preserved to this day.
It is worth noting that Nikolai Ugodnik is an endlessly revered saint by the Russian people. In Peter’s times, the main argument for not wanting to trim beards was the following: “How can I appear before St. Nicholas the Pleasant without a beard!” He was very understandable to the Russian people. For me, this is a very warm saint, I cannot explain or motivate it, but I feel it very strongly in my heart.
Who: Spyridon of Trimifuntsky.
Why they are revered: He distinguished himself at the same Ecumenical Council as Nicholas the Ugodnik, proving the dual nature of Christ. He squeezed a brick in his hand and received sand and water, thus proving that there can be two natures in one. But another incident related to this saint is much more interesting. It is known that Gogol was finally strengthened in the Orthodox faith after his visit to Corfu. Gogol and his English friend got to carry out the incorruptible relics of Spyridon of Trimifuntsky. During this procession, the saint’s relics are carried on a special stretcher, in a crystal shrine. Watching the procession, the Englishman told Gogol that this was mummification, and the seams were not visible because they were on the back and covered with clothing. And at that moment the relics of Spyridon of Trimifuntsky moved, he turned his back to them and threw off the robes thrown over his shoulders, showing a completely clean back. After this event, Gogol finally turned to religion, and the Englishman converted to Orthodoxy and, according to unconfirmed reports, eventually became a bishop.
Who: Ksenia Petersburgskaya.
Why they are revered: Her story is known to everyone. She was the wife of the director of the royal choir. She loved her husband dearly, and when he died, she went out into the street in his clothes and said that it was Ksenia who died, and not Ivan Fedorovich. Many people took her for crazy. Later everything changed; she performed miracles during her lifetime. The merchants considered it a great honor if she came into their shop - because then trade went much better.
I have felt her help many times in my life. Whenever I come to St. Petersburg, the main purpose of my trip is not to visit the Hermitage or other museums and churches, but to visit the chapel of Xenia of Petersburg and the temple where she prayed.
Who: St. Basil the Blessed.
Why they are revered: At one time, Basil the Blessed was the only person, besides Metropolitan Philip, who decided to tell Ivan the Terrible the truth, without thinking about how his fate might develop in the future. He had the gift of working miracles.
True, nothing personally touched me with him, except for the views of St. Basil's Cathedral, but I feel in my heart that he is a great saint, he is very close to me.
Who: Praskovya Friday.
Why they are revered: They pray to her for children. Once I was in Yugoslavia, went there for Easter, just when the Americans were just starting to bomb these territories. I visited the Praskovya Friday monastery and prayed for my children, of which I have many. There they gave me the simplest icon of it, an ordinary cardboard one. I brought her to Moscow. I decided to bring it to the temple to show it; my friend was carrying it in his bag, since I had nowhere to put it. And the entrance to the temple was through a gate with a bell tower over the gate. I decided to climb the bell tower, and my friend went further. Then I remembered that I had forgotten to take the icon of Praskovya Friday from him, and called out to him. My friend took a step towards me, and at the same moment a hammer fell from the bell tower to the place where my friend had just stood. He fell with such force that he broke through the asphalt and entered it to the very handle. This is how Praskovya Friday saved my friend.
Who: John the Warrior.
Why they are revered: They pray to him to protect against theft. I myself didn’t pray to him for protection from theft, but he’s just my saint. This is a military man. At one time he was a major Roman military leader. He accepted Christianity, transferred all his property to the nascent church, thereby giving a strong impetus to the development of Christianity. They did not dare to execute him because he was a hero, but simply sent him into exile.
Who: Venerable Kuksha of Odessa.
Why they are revered: Favorite saint of Odessa residents. Almost our contemporary, he died in December 1964. He was so revered that on the day of his death, the authorities banned accepting messages about this on telegraphs, so as not to provoke a flow of believers to Odessa. The Monk Kuksha was infinitely kind, bright and cheerful. He was not a martyr, but he could calm and soothe any emotional trauma with his words. He healed people both before his death and after. The Monk Kuksha of Odessa is very close to my heart.
Who: Alexander Svirsky.
Why they are revered: He is famous for the fact that when the Most Holy Theotokos appeared to him and ordered him to go across the lake to build the Svirsky Monastery, he stood on a stone and swam across the lake on the stone. I really like this poetic image. And in my heart I feel that he can help me and will not leave me in prayer.
Who: Seraphim of Sarov.
Why they are revered: His story is known to everyone. Along with Nikolai Ugodnik, he is a saint very close and understandable to the heart of the Russian people.
Who: 40 Martyrs of Sebaste.
Why they are revered: I’ll tell their story modern language. These were 40 contract soldiers, an invincible cohort, veteran soldiers who had faithfully served the emperor for many years, but converted to Christianity. In those days, attitudes towards Christians were extremely contradictory. And this fact seemed extremely suspicious to local officials. They drove them into the lake in winter so that the warriors would cool their hot minds, come to their senses and abandon Christianity. The military did not want to give up their beliefs and remained standing in the lake until everyone died. One of them became faint-hearted, got out of the water and went to warm himself in the bathhouse, which was heated on the shore, and there he died due to a sharp temperature change and the lack of God’s protection. And the bath attendant, seeing the courage of the soldiers, considered it an honor to share their convictions and death. I really like the spirit of collective feeling in this story.
Who: Feodor Ushakov.
Why they are revered: This is the well-known Admiral Ushakov. Ushakov was Orthodox person and an ideal military man who shared all the hardships with his soldiers. Thanks to his courage, his faith in the power of Christ, he won many victories. He is recognized as a saint, including in Greece.
Who: Daniil Moskovsky.
Why they are revered: Daniil of Moscow is one of those people who, in bloody times for Rus', decided everything peacefully. Did not participate in civil strife. When dividing his father's inheritance, he inherited the rather worthless territory of the Moscow Principality. During the years of his reign, he managed not to enter into intrigues, not to encroach on other people's territories, and when his own brother went to war against him, he defeated him with a small army, and then let him in. And this elder brother, pacified by the nobility and peacefulness of Daniil of Moscow, when he was dying, bequeathed his principality to him, and as a result, Daniil of Moscow became the most powerful prince. With all my humility.
Who: Saint Boniface.
Why they are revered: He was a slave at the court of a rich Christian woman. He lived with his mistress in a civil marriage and led an extremely riotous lifestyle. Back then it was considered very honorable to have a reliquary in your home church. At that time, and this was already the end of the Roman Empire, quite a lot of Christians were still executed. So he went, on the orders of his mistress, to look for the relics of the martyrs. He walked for a long time, found nothing, but ended up being executed by Christians, and during this execution he decided to declare himself a Christian and sacrifice himself for his mistress. Then his relics were given to this woman. And after some time she left worldly life and devoted herself to God. This is the story.
The Baptism of Rus', its influence on the further development of the spirituality of the Russians. Canonization. Virtues and sins. Saints in Rus'. Some saints of the Russian people: Elijah the Prophet, St. George the Victorious, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Boris and Gleb.
Introduction. About holiness
1. canonization
2. virtues and sins
Saints in Rus'
1. Some saints of the Russian people:
a) Elijah the prophet
b) St. George (George the Victorious)
c) Nicholas the Wonderworker
d) Boris and Gleb
Conclusion.
“If the world can be saved, it will be saved by spirituality. Politicians, bankers, soldiers, businessmen, even writers and artists are not the most important people. We need saints. The most significant individuals are not those who understand the world, but those who can give something to the world from outside, who can serve as a channel of God's mercy... God does not force humanity to survive, but at least in every generation there are enough saints to show we have this opportunity. The saints lead society, and spiritual world a separated future will not only be a better place, but also a much safer place.”
Lord Rees - Mogg
"Independent".
Saints are mythical or historical persons who in various religions (Christianity, Islam) are credited with piety, righteousness, piety, and mediation between God and people.
The veneration of saints was legitimized by local councils of the 4th century - Gangra and Laodicea. The doctrine of veneration of saints was developed by church writers of the 4th century (Efrem the Syrian, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and others). The Church fought against opponents of the cult of saints - the Paulicians, Bogomils, Albigensians, Hussites, etc. Seventh Ecumenical Council(787) declared anathema to all those who refused to venerate the saints. The Church established for each saint a day of his memory. Initially, individual Christian communities had their own saints, then canonization and the introduction of the cult of a new saint were centralized through canonization (the inclusion of a person among the saints). In Russia, canonization was introduced in the 16th century and placed under the control of the tsar, and since the time of Peter I was carried out according to imperial decrees on the proposal of the synod.
The number of saints included “martyrs”, “ascetics”, “those who suffered for the faith”, as well as many popes (Gregory I, Leo III, etc.), princes (for example, Vladimir Svyatoslavich, Alexander Nevsky, Boris and Gleb), sovereigns ( Charlemagne, French King Louis IX, etc.).
· The Church created biographies of saints - lives of saints. Lives of Saints - biographies of clergy and secular figures canonized by the Christian Church. The lives of saints began to take shape in the Roman Empire as tales of Christian martyrs (martyrologies). Then (from the 4th century) 3 main types of collections of the Lives of Saints were created: calendar collections for the year -
· “menaia” (lengthy lives for church services);
· “synaksari” with brief Lives saints arranged in calendar order;
· “patericon” (Lives of saints, selected by the compilers of collections).
The Byzantine Symeon Metaphrastus (106) reworks the lives, giving them a moralizing, panegyric character. His collection of Lives of Saints becomes a model for hagiographers (saints) of the East and West, who, while creating images of ideal “saints,” increasingly move away from the real circumstances of their lives and write conventional biographies. The lives of the saints absorbed a number of narrative plots and poetic images, often pre-Christian (myths about slaughter, etc.), as well as medieval parables, short stories, and anecdotes.
The lives of saints came to Ancient Rus' with the beginning of writing - through the southern Slavs, as well as in translations from Greek. language. Original lives of the first Russian saints - Boris and Gleb, Theodosius of Pechersk (11th century) - began to be compiled. In the 16th century, Metropolitan Macarius expanded the “host” of Russian saints and led the compilation of their lives, which were combined in the “Great Four - Menaions” (12 vols.).
The objects of cult in the Christian religion are images of Saints (icons). Icon (image, image) in the Christian religion (Orthodoxy and Catholicism) in in a broad sense– an image of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and saints, to which the church ascribes a sacred character; in a narrow sense - a work of easel painting that has a cult purpose. In Orthodoxy, picturesque images on wood predominate. The holiness of icons is symbolized by a halo (shine in the form of a circle around the head).
Stories of heroic deeds, virtuous living, and courageous deaths were valued and circulated among believers. In fact, this process began already in the time of the New Testament (Hebrews 11, 12). Hence the desire to honor these men and women. This desire reveals the germs of canonization - the procedure by which certain people are officially canonized as saints.
Christianity knows many virtuous lives and heroic deaths; Modern Christians draw faith and inspiration from the stories of such people. Therefore, in the Christian calendar there are days dedicated to individual saints canonized by the church. Special honor is given to the disciples of Christ, but there are many others.
People are canonized because of their holiness. Holiness implies renunciation of sin, victory over temptations and the cultivation of Christian virtues.
Over time, Christianity developed the idea of 7 deadly sins: vanity, envy, anger, despondency, stinginess, gluttony and extravagance. The Bible does not limit sins to this number, but it does speak of their "mortality." “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Sin is a serious matter. It is rooted in hostility or indifference to God, to His truths and standards established for us. According to Jesus, sin can enslave us to such an extent that we cannot free ourselves from it (John 8:34). But thanks to the atoning sacrifice of I. Christ, we can receive forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies us - gives us strength to fight and overcome.
“Salvation” means the freedom to become fully human. I. Christ points to a world in need of our help, he calls for love and service in His name and power.
Christian novitiate allows one to open oneself to the Holy Spirit so that one can grow in faith, hope and love. These three virtues above all are distinctive features holiness.
Faith.
In a certain sense, faith is universal. Christians are called “believers” not because they alone live by faith, but because they live by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith does not replace reason; in fact, she has a different basis in her mind.
Hope.
* Christian hope means confidence in the future
- Christian hope is joyful. Saints are often thought of as inaccessible, majestic figures whose appearance should remind us of death and suffering. But overall, the New Testament breathes joy, and people who live close to God are joyful and serene.
Love.
Love (“agape”) is the selfless, sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, showing deep compassion for those in need and especially for those who have been rejected by society. By his death on the cross he proved that love can be heroic.
Love is the highest sign and main condition of holiness, whether we are talking about a formally canonized saint or about a person living in obscurity. This is the most important quality. The Apostle Paul ends his great hymn of love with the following words: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but love is the greatest of these.” (Corinthians 13:13)
According to Christian doctrine, saints are people of high righteousness who glorified themselves by serving God. With this righteousness they “acquired grace”: their human nature, darkened by sin, but initially created in the image and likeness of God, was purified and transformed, and they found eternal life. It was believed that the plan of Jesus Christ for man had already been embodied in the saints: for the sake of redemption human sins he sacrificed himself: “God became man so that man could become God.”
There are already stories about such people, about saints. Old Testament. Following the story of the creation of the world and the fall of Adam and Eve, it talks about the beginning of the restoration of the connection between man and God, about the people who served this restoration with their righteousness. These people were considered saints in Christianity.
The New Testament, which talks about the incarnation of God for the sake of people, about bringing them a saving creed, also speaks of many people who have truly approached God. As Christianity spread throughout the world, many people became famous for their righteousness, were considered to have acquired grace, and were canonized.
In Rus', martyrs who died for their faith during the persecution of Christians were revered as saints; the hierarchs of the church who approved its doctrine; monks who renounced worldly temptations for the sake of serving God. Along with the saints inherited by Ancient Russia with the adoption of Christianity, it also had its own righteous people. In their acquired height, saints are the connectors between God and people, their intercessors and intercessors before him.
People sought to get closer to the saints, to comprehend them, to convey their prayer to them. For this purpose, the memory of the saints was carefully preserved: everything that was said about them in the Old and New Testaments, in the ancient stories and apocrypha that filled out this was comprehended. About those of them who became famous for righteousness after the spread of Christianity, information was carefully collected (sometimes this began to be done even during the life of the righteous person), and when the glorified person was canonized after death, he was canonized, on the basis of this information a life was compiled that helped understand what his righteousness consisted of. And, helping this understanding, the saints were always remembered and identified at church services.
His images—icons—were supposed to serve this same goal of comprehension, of approaching the saint in whom he trusted, to whom he turned in prayer. Striving towards this goal, to express the truth about the person depicted, the features of his appearance, once gleaned from lifetime images, or from ancient verbal descriptions, were carefully preserved over the centuries - the icon of the saint embodied a living, concrete human personality. Icons of the Saint made visible, preserved in human memory what the word conveyed about the saint: the text of the Bible, the text of the Gospel, lives written in honor of the saint, hymns, services.
There were a great many saints revered in Rus'. But among this multitude there were those especially beloved and revered by the people - among them those about whom the Old and New Testaments spoke, and those who became famous after the spread of Christianity, and those who “shone in the Russian land.” Let's look at some of those saints on whose intercession the people especially firmly trusted: Elijah the Prophet, St. George, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Boris and Gleb.
Having adopted Christianity, Ancient Rus' also took from Byzantium the church calendar, where one day a year (or several) was dedicated to each of the Saints. The calendar (“saints”) became the basis that connected into one whole the names of Orthodox saints, the experience of the peasant - tiller, artisan - of all segments of the population with primordially Russian rituals and holidays. The Byzantine saints in the Slavic consciousness were transformed beyond recognition. So, for example, Saint Athanasius the Great was the archbishop of Alexandria, frantically and fiercely defended the Christian church from heretics. In the Russian “saints” he became Afanasy Lomonosov, since on January 18, the day of veneration of the saint, there were the bitterest frosts, from which the skin peeled off the nose. The stern prophet Elijah (a prophet is one who has been given the gift of prophecy, a prophet of the future illuminated by God. God took the righteous Elijah alive to heaven. On this day, the waters of the Jordan part before Elijah and his disciple, the prophet Elisha, and a chariot of fire appears, which carries Elijah away, and he disappears in the sky) turned into a grain god - “Ilya the prophet is a grain god,” the peasants used to say and named wooden village churches after him. Over time, the Byzantine saints became so Russified that their Greek origin was barely recognizable.
Saint George, George the Victorious, is one of the revered and beloved saints of Ancient Rus'.
St. George belongs to the holy martyrs - to that type of holiness, as they say, which developed in the first centuries of the existence of Christianity. The fact is that at the very emergence of Christianity, the Roman authorities treated it with contemptuous indifference. But then everything changed. Even during the lifetime of the apostles, persecutions fell upon Christians, which were characterized by terrible cruelty, especially under the emperors Nero (37-68) and Diocletian (243-318). Christians were crucified on crosses, subjected to sophisticated torture, and thrown into circuses to be torn to pieces by wild animals. And extraordinary, immortal was the firmness with which the persecuted endured these torments - a firmness that was rooted in the very religion that they professed and for which they died. After all, this religion gave them the belief that a person’s existence does not end with his earthly life, that, having atoned for sins in this life through suffering, a person gains the right to the Kingdom of Heaven. Suffering was understood as the path to this kingdom. It likened and brought a person closer to Jesus Christ, who voluntarily suffered for people. The martyrs who died in persecution were deeply revered by Christians as “those who acquired grace in faith,” which strengthened their human nature and allowed them to endure the unbearable. The Church canonized them as Saints.
He suffered torment and death for his faith and St. Georgiy, who actually lived in the 3rd century AD. The first life of St. George appeared in the 5th century, then it was reworked more than once. In Rus', the version of life that developed in the 11th century was mainly used.
This life tells that St. George was a Christian, although he comes from a noble family. When persecution broke out under Diocletian, George renounced his wealth and title and went to the emperor to defend his faith. By the power of his faith, St. George converts Empress Alexandra to Christianity, but Emperor Diocletian imprisons him. George is subjected to monstrous tortures, each of which is enough to break a person’s will or simply kill him: he is killed, “flogged in the air” (a suspended body with such a section has no support), molten tin is poured into his throat, and he is placed on a red-hot metal bull , they are tortured by wheeling (the person tied to the wheel is rotated, pressed against sharpened peaks). They stabbed George with spears, but the spears bent; they poisoned him, but he remained alive, they tore his body into pieces, crushed his bones and threw him into a well, but he remained unharmed; finally, he was sawed up and boiled in a cauldron, but he was resurrected. George endures all this, drawing strength from faith, from God’s grace that he has acquired. Then, by order of the emperor, he is killed again (his head is cut off).
In the life itself, in the story of the miraculously endured torture, the motive of the victory of George, who became a saint pleasing to God, is clearly heard.
The aura of terrible torment made him one of the most popular saints: cities, countless churches and monasteries bore his name; image of St. George was printed on coins and depicted on coats of arms. The church life of the holy martyr George was so colored by popular imagination that it became like a fairy tale.
In the country of Libya, as the life says, there lived an idolater king. For their sins, God sent a terrible serpent to the city, which began to destroy the inhabitants of the Libyan country. To appease the monster, young men and women were given to him to be devoured. The turn came to the king’s daughter; there was nothing to do, and she went to the lake where the snake lived. At this time, George was passing by the lake; he stopped to water his horse. “Run,” sir,” the princess warned him, “the dragon is already close.” But Georgy did not even think about running away. The battle of George, or Yegor, as he was called in Rus', was told by passers-by Kaliki - wandering singers - performers of spiritual songs.
Yagoriy ran into a fierce snake,
The snake is fierce, fierce, fiery.
Like fire from the mouth, flames from the ears,
Fire streams pour from the eyes into them.
Yagorya wants to consume
George, feeling that the serpent was stronger than him, as it is said in the life, began to pray: “Lord, give me your strength so that I can cut off the dragon’s head, so that everyone will know that you are with me, and glorify your name forever and ever.” . In the folklore interpretation, George's prayer sounded like a fairy tale.
Yagorius light said:
Oh, fierce snake, fierce, fiery!
Even if you eat me, you won’t be full,
The piece is not even, it’s a snake, you’ll choke.
After such furious words, the serpent humbled himself, obeying Saint George.
The folklore image of the warrior-hero became one of the most beloved in Ancient Rus'. He was revered by great princes and simple warriors, peasants and artisans. Icon painters were commissioned to create large hagiographic icons, but most often the “Miracle of St. George.” This theme in Iconography represented the moment of the saint’s victory over the monstrous serpent: a young man on a rearing snow-white horse pierces the monster with a golden spear.
There is another, expanded iconographic version of the “Miracle”: a young warrior on a horse and a princess, followed obediently by a humble serpent, are met on the city walls by the king, queen, and residents of the Libyan country saved by George. Folk poems told about this in a completely fairy-tale way:
And she leads the snake on her belt,
Like a cow that has been milked.
The same motif is quite often found in icon painting: a young princess leads a snake on a leash - a belt.
Saint George, also known as Yuri or Egor in the popular calendar, had many worries:
Yuri, get up early,
Unlock the ground
Release the dew
For a warm summer,
To a lush life,
To people's health...
The people revered Saint George as both a glorious warrior, a defender of the Russian land, and the master of Russian nature. Icons of St. George always look unusually festive, bright, and colorful.
Many other Byzantine saints also changed beyond recognition on Russian soil. Saint Nicholas entered the history of the church as one of the strictest defenders of dogma, a ruthless persecutor of heresy; This is how Byzantine painters imagined him - an unforgiving, stern ascetic. On Russian soil he became Nikolai, an assistant in all good endeavors, a great worker.
Saint Nicholas, Miracle Worker of Myra – Saint Nicholas is a revered saint of the Russian Church, one of the most beloved saints of the Russian Church.
Saint Nicholas belongs to the holy saints, i.e. to the saints who during their lifetime were saints - bishops, metropolitans, who occupied the highest positions in the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church, and gained holiness in serving it. This type of holiness arose when the Christian religion became increasingly widespread and its church hierarchs were glorified, when Christianity, from a persecuted doctrine, became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire and spread widely beyond its borders.
It was during this time that Saint Nicholas lived. A native of Asia Minor, he witnessed both the persecution of Christians and the leading position that the Christian Church occupied under Emperor Constantine the Great. He was a bishop in the city of Myra in Lycia (hence his name), a miracle worker, i.e. who worked miracles, a saint of God, as they said about him in Rus'. There are many lives of Nicholas the Wonderworker. In Rus', lives written in Greek were also known. the writer Simeon Metaphrastus, and lives created and expanded in the Slavic lands and in Rus' itself. On their basis and on the basis of festive chants dedicated to Nicholas, the idea of Nicholas the Wonderworker was formed and firmly entered into the people's consciousness.
His life acts only as a service to God and the Church. Saint Nicholas did good, performed miracles for people with the help of God’s acquired grace. In the stories about the accomplishments of St. Nicholas’s good deeds firmly echo a thought that is very important for Christianity: good should be done not in anticipation of a reward, not to satisfy pride, but out of genuine love for one’s neighbor; It is best to create it anonymously, remaining unrecognized.
Lives tell that already during his lifetime the appearance of St. Nicholas spoke of his holiness, pointing to the transformation that had taken place in him. “The ancient legend that has reached us,” writes the Greek author. life, - represents Nicholas as an old man with an angelic face, full of holiness and the grace of God. A certain radiance emanated from him, and his face sparkled more than Moses’ (according to the Bible, Moses’ face shone after he received the tablets of the Covenant from God).
The holiness of the Bishop of Myra, according to the lives, is confirmed by his death. When the time came for him to die, he sang funeral chants and joyfully awaited his departure to another world. When his body was brought to the city temple, it began to exude myrrh; and after his death healings took place at the grave.
Lives known in Rus' also mention an event that happened several centuries after the death of the saint. Asia Minor, including the city of Myra, where St. Nicholas, were conquered by Muslim Arabs in the 8th century. And in 1087, an Italian merchant managed to transfer the remains of the saint - his relics - to Christian land, to Italy, where they were buried in the cathedral of the city of Bari and where they are still given due veneration.
In memory of St. Nicholas, two holidays were established: December 6 (19) in honor of his presentation - death (this holiday in Russian is usually called “Winter St. Nicholas”) and May 9 (22) in honor of the transfer of his relics to Bar-grad (feast of -in Russian it is called “Nikola the Spring”). In the hymns of these holidays, what the lives told about the saint was clearly and accurately reflected. The hymns of St. are called “the rule of faith and the image of meekness.” Nicholas, they call him “quick in help,” a saint of God.
To match St. Nicholas were the apostles Peter and Paul and even the Mother of God herself.
Saint Peter walks behind the plow,
St. Paul drives the oxen,
The Blessed Virgin is wearing,
Carry the truth, ask God,
God, freak out the wheat,
All arable land.
The Byzantine martyr in the popular consciousness became the spinning goddess Paraskeva Friday, the patroness of trade and bazaars; she is a wedding planner, a benefactor of women.
The twin brothers Flor and Laurus were famous as holy horse breeders; it is no coincidence that the icons with their image also depicted the Archangel Michael holding two stately horses on a leash; it was he who taught Flor and Laurus horse breeding.
Boris and Gleb remained in the people's memory as holy warriors and great workers. The brothers Boris and Gleb are real historical figures, the heroes of the story “On the Murder of Borisov,” which was included in the Russian chronicle in the year 1015. Boris and Gleb were the sons of the great Kyiv prince Vladimir, nicknamed “The Red Sun” in epics for his gentleness and clarity of mind. The eldest son of the prince, Boris, reigned in Rostov, the youngest, Gleb, went to Murom. After the death of Vladimir Svyatoslavich (980-1015), the squad wanted to place Boris on the Kiev throne. Svyatopolk, Boris's half-brother, killed both Boris and Gleb, hoping to take his father's throne by force. People's memory branded his name with the nickname Damned. After the burial of the murdered brothers, rumors spread that miracles were performed at their graves: “the lame can walk, the blind receive their sight.” “Healing gifts,” as the people believed, they gave not only to individual people, but to “the entire Rustei of the earth.”
Prince Yaroslav obtained the canonization of the brothers from the Byzantine patriarchs; Boris and Gleb became the first Russian national saints, and not only Russians: their cult was recognized in Byzantium, the Czech Sazavsky monastery. “The Tale of Boris and Gleb” was translated into Armenian in the 13th century.
Boris was 26 years old when Svyatopolk the Accursed killed him, Gleb even younger. Boris “is tall, thin in stature, handsome in face, kind in appearance, his beard and mustache are small, for he is still young,” it is written in the interpretation of the iconographic original. According to the interpretation, the icon painters depicted Boris. Gleb, remembering his tender age, was written beardless; dressed the brothers in princely robes embroidered in gold, decorated with gold brooches - clasps with precious stones, lalams and yakhonts. The brothers hold a sword and a cross in their hands - symbols of their princely power and martyrdom.
Thus, in the world, many people, as Christianity spread, were canonized as saints, as they became famous for their righteousness and were considered to have found grace. Over time, a pantheon of national saints emerged in Rus': saints, martyrs, saints, and righteous ones. Among them are warrior-princes, boyars, church and secular political figures who laid down their lives for the Motherland and the spiritual unity of the people: Alexander Nevsky, Metropolitans Alexei and Peter, Sergius of Radonezh and many others. They revered among the saints and people from the lower classes - “fools”, such as, for example, Basil the Blessed, Procopius of Ustyug; under the guise of visible madness, they spoke the truth to the powers that be, and, as their fellow citizens believed, saved them from troubles and misfortunes through the power of prayer.
The lives of saints were told about the “miracles”; Hagiography (hagiography) is part of the great literature of Ancient Rus'. On its basis, an iconographic tradition developed. Icons, as a rule, were painted many years after the death of the hero of the life in the “image and likeness” of an already famous saint. The icon painter did not set goals for specific similarities, remembering that all people, and especially saints, as the Bible says, are created “in the image and likeness” of God. The hallmarks of hagiographic icons represented feats from the hagiography, that is, specific historical events in the consciousness of a medieval person.
Hagiographic icons of Russian saints are the embodiment in visible images of Russian history and the spiritual ideals of the Russian people using pictorial means.
List of used literature:
Likhachev D.S. Man in the literature of ancient Russia. - M., 1970.
Ranovich A. How the lives of saints were created. - M., 1961.
Young D. Christianity. - M., 1999, pp. 189-208.
Taktashova L.E. Russian icon. - Vladimir, 1993.
Barskaya N. An Subjects and images of ancient Russian painting. - M., 1993.
Uspensky L.A. Theology of the icon of the Orthodox Church. - M., 1989.
Sergeev V.N. Andrey Rublev. - M., 1981.
Alpatov M.V. Old Russian painting. - M., 1978.
IntroductionMain part... 3
1. Prince Vladimir… 3
2. Boris and Gleb...5
3. Sergius of Radonezh…9
Conclusion... 11
List of used literature... 11
Introduction
Every society, like every person, needs a bright spiritual ideal. Society especially urgently needs it in an era of troubled times. What serves us, the Russian people, as this spiritual ideal, the spiritual core, the force that for a whole millennium united Rus' in the face of invasions, unrest, wars and other global cataclysms?
There is no doubt that such a binding force is Orthodoxy, but not in the form in which it came to Russia from Byzantium, but in the form in which it acquired on Russian soil, taking into account the national, political and socio-economic characteristics of Ancient Russia. Byzantine Orthodoxy came to Rus' having already formed pantheon of Christian saints, for example, such as Nicholas the Wonderworker, John the Baptist and others, deeply revered to this day. By the 11th century, Christianity in Rus' was only taking its first steps and for many ordinary people of that time it was not yet a source of faith. After all, in order to recognize the holiness of the visiting saints, it was necessary to believe very deeply, to be imbued with the spirit Orthodox faith. It’s a completely different matter when before your eyes there is an example in the person of your own, Russian person, sometimes even a commoner, performing holy asceticism. This is where the most skeptical person towards Christianity will come to believe. Thus, towards the end of the 11th century, a purely Russian pantheon of saints began to form, revered to this day on an equal basis with general Christian saints.
What made me take up writing a work on this topic was my interest in this period of time in Russian history, my interest in the historical role of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the certain unpopularity of this topic among students (with the possible exception of theological seminary students). In addition, this topic is more relevant than ever in our time of transition, when many talk about Orthodox ideals and values, often without adhering to them, when the emphasis is only on the visible side of worshiping God, and when many of us do not live according to the commandments that formed the basis of Christianity.
Main part
Turbulent Russian history has brought forward many bright, extraordinary personalities.
Some of them, thanks to their ascetic activity in the field of Orthodoxy, thanks to their righteous life or deeds as a result of which the name of Russia gained greatness and respect, were awarded the grateful memory of their descendants and canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
What kind of people were these, Russian saints? What was their contribution to history? What were their deeds?
Prince Vladimir
A special place both in Russian history and among the saints canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church is occupied by Prince Vladimir (? -1015 son of Prince Svyatoslav, Prince of Novgorod (from 969), Grand Duke of Kiev (from 980), who received the nickname Red Sun in Russian epics. How remarkable is this prince and how did he take his place in the pantheon of Russian saints?
To answer these questions, it is necessary to analyze the situation that developed in Kievan Rus by the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th centuries. During his lifetime, Prince Svyatoslav transferred the Kiev throne to his son Yaropolk, another son Oleg became the Drevlyan prince, and sent Vladimir to Novgorod.
In 972, with the death of Prince Svyatoslav, civil strife broke out between his sons. It all started when the Kiev governor essentially initiated a campaign against the Drevlyans, which ended with the victory of the Kyivans and the death of the Drevlyan prince Oleg. During the retreat, he fell into the fortress moat and was trampled by his own warriors. Having learned about these events, Prince Vladimir gathers Scandinavian mercenaries, kills his brother Yaropolk and seizes the Kiev throne. If Yaropolk was distinguished by religious tolerance, then Vladimir at the time of the conquest of power was a convinced pagan. After the victory over his brother in 980, Vladimir built a pagan temple in the Kiev pagan temple with idols of especially revered pagan gods, such as Perun, Khors, Dazhdbog, Stribog and others. In honor of the gods, games and bloody sacrifices with human sacrifices were organized. And Vladimir began to reign in Kyiv alone, says the chronicle, and placed idols on the hill in the tower courtyard: wooden Perun with a silver head and golden mustache, then Khors, Dazhdbog, Stirbog, Simargl and Mokosh . And they made sacrifices to them, calling them gods... And the Russian land and that hill were defiled with blood" (around 980). Not only those close to the prince, but also many townspeople treated this approvingly. And literally a few years after the reign in Kyiv, in 988-989 , Vladimir accepts Christianity himself, and also converts his subjects to it. But how did a convinced pagan suddenly believe in Christ? It is unlikely that he was guided only by an understanding of the state benefits of Christianity.
Perhaps this was caused by repentance for the atrocities committed, fatigue from the wild life. Metropolitan Hilarion of Kiev, monk Jacob and chronicler Venerable Nestor (11th century) named the reasons for Prince Vladimirak’s personal conversion to the Christian faith, pointing out the action of the calling grace of God.
In his “Sermon on Law and Grace,” St. Hilarion, Metropolitan of Kiev, writes about Prince Vladimir: “A visit from the Most High came upon him, the All-Merciful Eye of the Good God looked upon him, and his mind shone in his heart. He understood the vanity of idolatry’s delusion and sought the One God, who created everything visible and invisible. And especially he always heard about the Orthodox, Christ-loving and faith-strong Greek land... Hearing all this, his spirit burned and he desired in his heart to be a Christian and to convert the whole Earth to Christianity.”
At the same time, Vladimir, as an intelligent ruler, understood that a state consisting of separate principalities that were always at war with each other needed some kind of super idea that would unite the Russian people and keep the princes from civil strife. On the other hand, in relations with Christian states, the pagan country turned out to be an unequal partner, with which Vladimir did not agree.
There are several versions regarding the question of the time and place of the Baptism of Prince Vladimir. According to generally accepted opinion, Prince Vladimir was baptized in 998 in Korsun (Greek Chersonese in Crimea); according to the second version, Prince Vladimir was baptized in 987 in Kyiv, and according to the third - in 987 in Vasilkov (not far from Kyiv, now Vasilkov). Apparently the second one should be considered the most reliable, since the monk Jacob and the Monk Nestor agree on the year 987; the monk Jacob says that Prince Vladimir lived 28 years after baptism (1015-28 = 987), and also that in the third year after Baptism (i.e. in 989) he made a campaign against Korsun and took it; The chronicler Reverend Nestor says that Prince Vladimir was baptized in the year 6495 from the creation of the world, which corresponds to the year 987 from the Nativity of Christ (6695-5508 = 987). So, having decided to convert to Christianity, Vladimir captures Chersonesus and sends messengers to the Byzantine Emperor Vasily the Second demanding that he give him the emperor’s sister Anna as his wife. Otherwise, threatening to approach Constantinople. Vladimir was flattered to become related to one of the powerful imperial houses and, along with the adoption of Christianity, this was a wise step aimed at strengthening the state. The people of Kiev and residents of the southern and western cities of Rus' reacted calmly to baptism, which cannot be said about the northern and eastern Russian lands. For example, to conquer the Novgorodians, it even took an entire military expedition of the Kievites. The Christian religion was viewed by the Novgorodians as an attempt to infringe on the ancient primordial autonomy of the northern and eastern lands.
In their eyes, Vladimir seemed to be an apostate, trampling on primordial liberties.
First of all, Prince Vladimir baptized 12 of his sons and many boyars. He ordered all the idols to be destroyed, the main idol of Perun to be thrown into the Dnieper, and the clergy to preach a new faith in the city.
On the appointed day, a mass baptism of Kievites took place at the confluence of the Pochayna River into the Dnieper. “The next day,” says the chronicler, “Vladimir came out with the Tsaritsyn and Korsun priests to the Dnieper, and countless people gathered there. You went into the water and stood there, some up to their necks, others up to their chests, young people near the shore up to their chests, some holding babies, and some adults wandering around, while the priests said prayers, standing still. And there was joy in heaven and on earth over so many souls being saved... People, having been baptized, went home. Vladimir was glad that he knew God and his people, looked at the sky and said: “Christ God, who created heaven and earth!” Look at these new people and let them, Lord, know You, the true God, as the Christian countries knew You. Establish in them a right and unwavering faith and help me, Lord, against the devil, so that I may overcome his snares, trusting in You and in Your strength.”
This most important event took place, according to the chronicle chronology accepted by some researchers, in 988, according to others - in 989-990. Following Kiev, Christianity gradually came to other cities of Kievan Rus: Chernigov, Novgorod, Rostov, Vladimir-Volynsky, Polotsk, Turov , Tmutarakan, where dioceses are created. Under Prince Vladimir, the overwhelming majority of the Russian population accepted the Christian faith and Kievan Rus became a Christian country. The Baptism of Russia created the necessary conditions for the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church. Bishops headed by the Metropolitan arrived from Byzantium, and priests came from Bulgaria, bringing with them liturgical books in the Slavic language; Temples were built, schools were opened to train clergy from the Russian environment.
The chronicle reports (under 988) that Prince Vladimir “ordered to cut down churches and place them in the places where the idols had previously stood. And he built a church in the name of St. Basil on the hill where the idol of Perun and others stood and where the prince and the people performed their services for them. And in other cities they began to build churches and appoint priests in them and bring people to Baptism in all cities and villages.” With the help of Greek craftsmen, a majestic stone church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Tithe) was built in Kiev and the holy relics of Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga were transferred to it. This temple symbolized the true triumph of Christianity in Kievan Rus and materially personified the “spiritual Russian Church.”
Many of Vladimir's orders, designed to strengthen Christianity, were imbued with a pagan spirit. At first, Vladimir tried to embody the Christian ideal, refused to use criminal penalties, forgave robbers, and distributed food to the poor. The merit of Vladimir is that, through the adoption of Christianity, he put Kievan Rus on a par with powerful European states and also created conditions for cooperation between Rus and other Christian nations. The Russian Church became a unifying force for residents of different lands, since a multinational state, such as Rus' in those days, could develop not on the basis of a national, but on the basis of a religious idea. Orthodoxy brought with it to Rus' many achievements of Byzantium, such as stone architecture, icon painting, frescoes, chronicle writing, school and copying of books. Thanks to the combination of these factors, Rus' entered the community of civilized states, which served as an impetus for the spiritual and cultural development of Rus' at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. Under Vladimir, defensive lines were built along the Desna, Sturgeon, Trubezh, Sula and other rivers, Kiev was re-fortified and built up with stone buildings. After his death, Prince Vladimir was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. His memorial day is celebrated on July 15.
Boris and Gleb
One of the first Russian princes canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church were the beloved sons of Vladimir, princes Boris of Rostov and Gleb of Murom, who received the names Roman and David at baptism and suffered martyrdom in 1015 from their brother Svyatopolk, who earned the nickname “The Accursed” by his actions. Fratricide is without a doubt a terrible sin, one of the first sins of humanity (remember the biblical brothers Cain and Abel). Was it really true that in Rus' before that time there were no fratricides like Svyatopolk and those killed like Boris and Gleb? Yes, of course they were. The sin of fratricide also lay with Prince Vladimir himself, who killed his brother Yaropolk in 979 during the struggle for the Kiev throne. From the point of view of Christianity, this was forgivable for Vladimir, as if he were a pagan, a dark man, especially since Vladimir’s subsequent actions, which led Rus' to Christianity, seemed to atone for all his sins committed by the prince when he was a pagan. Why exactly were Boris and Gleb subjected to canonization? Maybe it's because of their princely origin?
After all, it is still easier for the princes to get into History than for the common man; they undoubtedly had chroniclers who were able to record in writing the deeds of their brothers.
The lives of the holy passion-bearers Boris and Gleb have survived to this day thanks to the Pechersk chronicler monks Jacob and Nestor. Nestor says this about the brothers: Like two bright stars in the midst of dark clouds, two holy brothers shone, among all the twelve sons of Vladimir; He released everyone to the destinies given to them, but kept them with him, as he was more beloved, for Gleb was still in childhood, and blessed Boris, although he had matured, his parents were reluctant to part with him. From his youth, Boris was filled with the grace of God, and reading divine books was his favorite pastime. He loved most of all the lives of the holy martyrs, as if anticipating his own fate, and, reading them, he prayed to the Lord with tears: “My Lord, Jesus Christ, grant me one among Your saints, grant me to walk in their footsteps, so that my thought will not be exalted in the vanity of the world.” this, but my heart will be enlightened by the understanding of Your commandments; do not deprive me of the gift that you have granted to those who have pleased You, for You, the true God, have had mercy on us and brought us from darkness to light.” So often he cried out to God, and Saint Gleb, sitting with his brother, listened earnestly to reading and prayed with him, for he was inseparable from his blessed brother, constantly learning from him, and although he was still in childhood, his mind had already matured; following the example of his parents, he had mercy on orphans and widows, since he saw that his poor-loving father not only received the poor in his princely courtyard, but also sent them to look for them in their homes and deliver food to the sick, who could not come on their own. Svyatopolko was afraid that after the death of his father, the Kiev table, bypassing seniority, would go to Boris as one of Vladimir’s favorite sons.
In 1015, the Grand Duke of Kiev dies. Hearing about the death of his parent, Svyatopolk rode to Kyiv from Vyshgorod and sat on the princely throne.
At this time, Boris was returning after a successful campaign against the Pechenegs,
when he was overtaken by the news of the death of his father and the installation of his brother on the Kiev throne
Svyatopolk. But he did not yet know that his brother Glebuzhe was forced to flee from the machinations of Svyatopolk. From the chronicles of Netor we see how Boris reacted to these events: Boris began to sob and, shedding streams of tears, prayed to God for the repose of his father in the bosom of the righteous. “Woe is me,” he exclaimed, “my father, to whom will I resort and from whom will I be nourished?” good teaching, why was I not here when the light of your eyes set, so that at least I would be worthy to kiss your sacred gray hairs and bury your honest body with my own hands! I would like to turn to my brother Svyatopolk, if I have not yet become concerned about worldly greatness. However, I will not resist him, I will go to my brother and tell him: “You are my oldest brother, be my father and master!” It is better to be a martyr to my God than to rebel against my brother; I will at least see the face of my younger brother, my dear Gleb: the will of the Lord be done!”
Thus, we see that Prince Boris unquestioningly recognized the legitimacy of Svyatopolk’s reign. But Svyatopolk has finally decided for himself to get rid of his brothers, so he rides to his estate in Vyshgorod at night, gathers people loyal to him and orders them to kill Boris.
On the one hand, Svyatopolk’s action seems a little illogical; Why would it seem to kill someone who swore allegiance to you? On the other hand, Svyatopolk understood perfectly well that times are changing and those who are loyal to
Tomorrow you can claim your rights to the princely throne, and no one needs competitors. The conclusion from this is: a good competitor is a dead competitor.
So the faithful people reported to Boris about the impending assassination attempt on him, but the blessed one did not want to believe them: “Can it be,” he said, “or don’t you know that I am the younger brother and am not disgusted with the elder?” Two days later, other messengers came to him, saying that his brother Gleb had already fled from Kiev; but the holy prince calmly answered: “Blessed be God, I will not run away and will not move away from this place, for I do not want to be an adversary to my elder brother; but whatever God pleases, so it will be done! It’s better for me to die here than on a foreign side.” Contrary to all logic, Boris disbands his squad of about 8 thousand soldiers and goes to meet his killers. This is what Boris responded to the proposal of the combatants
go with him to Kyiv and expel Svyatopolk from there: “No, my brothers, no, my fathers, let this not happen, do not anger the Lord and my brother, so that he does not stir up sedition against you. It is better for me to perish alone than to destroy so many souls with me; I don’t dare resist my elder brother and I can’t avoid God’s judgment, but I beg you, brothers, go home, and I will go to my brother and fall at his feet, and he, seeing me, will have mercy and will not kill me, being confident in my obedience.”
Boris sent one of his servants to his brother with an order of peace, but Svyatopolk, keeping the messenger with him, hastened to send out his brother’s killers. Boris, seeing that the messenger was not returning, set off on his own to go to his brother; On the way, he met more faithful people who were in a hurry to warn the prince that Svyatopolk had already sent assassins against him and that they were close. On the shore of Alta, Boris ordered a secluded tent to be erected and there he remained to await his fate, surrounded only by his youths. Further, to make the picture of the murder clearer, let us turn to the chronicles: “They, like wild beasts, rushed at the saint and thrust their spears into him. One of the upcoming youths rushed at his prince to cover him with his body, the murderers pierced him and, thinking that the prince was already dead, left the tent; but the blessed one, having jumped up, still had enough strength to get out from under the tent; He raised his hands to heaven and offered up a fiery prayer, thanking the Lord for having made him, unworthy, worthy to be a partaker of the suffering of His Son, who came into the world to save people: “The message of my father was to protect his people from their enemies, and now I am wounded by the servants of my father ! But, Lord, forgive them their sin and give me rest with Your saints, for into Your hands now I commend my spirit.”
The hard-hearted were not touched by the touching prayer of their prince, who prayed to the Lord for them; one of them, even more cruel, struck him in the heart with a sword; Boris fell to the ground, but did not give up his ghost yet. Many youths were beaten around; from his beloved youth, George, a Hungarian by birth, who sought to save him, covering him with their body, they wanted to tear off the golden hryvnia given to him by the prince, and in order to quickly remove the hryvnia, they cut off his head. The damned wrapped the body of blessed Boris in that very tent, in who committed the murder, and who was still breathing was taken to Vyshgorod, and meanwhile they sent word to Svyatopolk about the murder committed. But Svyatopolk, having heard from the messengers that his brother was still breathing, sent two Varangians to meet him to complete his murder, and one of them pierced him with a sword in the heart; Thus the blessed one died in the twenty-eighth year of his age, on the 24th day of May, having received the crown of the righteous from Christ God. He was taken to Vyshgorod and placed in the Church of St. Basil for the time being.
Natural ending; a man who had spent his entire adult life striving to accomplish the feat of martyrdom and who had prepared his younger brother for it, achieved his cherished goal. It is impossible to understand the saints with a sober mind, and this is not required, for this there is God’s providence. What about Gleb?
It is not known where the young prince was at that time, no doubt already in his Murom region, for the chronicle says that as soon as he heard this bitter news, he immediately mounted his horse and hurried with a small retinue to the Volga; but on the way his horse stumbled under him, and the prince broke his leg. With difficulty he reached Smolensk and from there he wanted to go down the Dnieper to Kyiv, but, at the mouth of Smyadyn, another, more truthful messenger from Novgorod from his brother Yaroslav came to him: “Do not go to Kyiv,” Yaroslav sent to tell him, “for our father has passed away, and our brother Boris was killed by Svyatopolk.” Gleb responded to this like this: “O dear brother and ruler! If you have received boldness from God, pray for orphanhood and despondency, so that I may be honored to live with you, but not in this vain world.”
That is, it is obvious that Gleb was internally ready to commit the act of his brother. And then the killers sent from Svyatopol arrived along the Dnieper. Seeing the boat from afar, young Gleb swam towards it, not suspecting anything evil. In vain did the prince's servants warn him not to give himself into the hands of the enemy; like Boris, but Gleb did not want a quarrel with his brother and put his entire squad ashore, wanting to die alone for all, because he did not expect such inhumanity from his brother. The killers were delighted when they saw Gleb’s rook and as soon as they caught up with it, instead of the usual greeting, they pulled the rook towards them with hooks and jumped into it from their ships with drawn swords. Then Gleb realized the cruel fate that awaited him, but he still thought to appease the villains with pitiful pleas. “Do not kill me, my brothers,” he exclaimed, “what offense have I caused to my brother or to you? If there is an offense, take me to your prince and mine, spare my youth, do not reap an ear that is not yet ripe; If you thirst for my blood, am I not always in your hands? When young Gleb begged the murderers to spare him, their leader Goriser gave a sign to the cook, who was sitting as the prince, named Torchin, to stab his prince; and, raising the knife, the servant cut Gleb’s throat.
Immediately, the grave of the passion-bearers in the Church of St. Basil in Vyshgorod was marked by many miracles. After the church burned down, the graves were opened and everyone was surprised at the incorruptible bodies of the saints. The coffins were transferred to the small temple that was next to the church. The elder of the city had a lame son, whose leg was crooked and he could not walk except on a wooden support. The youth often came to the tomb of the miracle workers and prayed for their healing; One night, both passion-bearers Roman and David appeared to him and said: “Why are you crying out to us?” when he showed them his dry leg, they crossed it three times. When the boy woke up, he felt healed and told everyone about his wonderful vision. Following this, another miracle marked the holiness of the martyrs: a blind man, who came to their tomb, fell to the sacred shrine, placing his eyes on it, and suddenly received his sight. Prince Yaroslav was informed about all the miracles and, after consulting with Metropolitan John, he decided to build a church in the name of the passion-bearers and establish a day to celebrate their memory. Within a year, a five-domed temple was erected, richly decorated on the inside with icons. The relics of the saints were brought into the temple and July 24, the day of the death of Prince Boris, was appointed to celebrate the memory of both holy brothers.
We can safely say that the reason for the canonization of Boris and Gleb is not that they fell victims of fratricide, but the way they accepted their death. They accepted her with humility and faith, just as the first Christians accepted her. Their faith turned out to be stronger than the fear of death. It seems to me that this was not even faith in its everyday understanding, but some kind of obsession with faith that we can only meet in our time among Muslim fanatics. Boris and Gleb showed all Orthodox Christians that only faith can overcome the most difficult trials sent to us by fate.
In addition, according to the canons of Christianity, martyrdom is a great feat. The basis of the Christian religion itself is the feat of martyrdom committed by Jesus Christ. Historical paradox: the sons of the Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir the Baptist of Rus' become the first Russian martyrs, that is, martyrs according to the canons of the very faith that Vladimir brought to Russia. In this regard, one can recall the persecution of Christians during the time of the Roman emperor Nero, which is where one can draw examples of martyrdom! Princes Boris and Gleb were rightly canonized precisely because of their feat of martyrdom, incredible fortitude and deep faith in the Lord.
Sergius of Radonezh
Another grandiose figure in the history of the Russian state and in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church is St. Sergius of Radonezh, in the world Bartholomew Kirillovich (1321-1392), who became a remarkable figure of the Russian revival, the spiritual father of the unification and national liberation policy pursued by Prince Dmitry Donskoy.
The Monk Sergius was born into the family of the Rostov boyar Kirill. Some miracle happened before he was born. When the child was still in the womb, one Sunday his mother entered the church during the singing of the Holy Liturgy, stood with other women in the vestibule, when they were supposed to start reading the Gospel and everyone stood silently, the baby began to scream in the womb. Before they began to sing the cherubic song, the baby began to scream a second time. When the priest exclaimed: “Let us take in, holy of holies!” the baby cried out for the third time. When the fortieth day came after his birth, the parents brought the child to church. The priest christened him with the name Bartholomew. The father and mother told the priest how their son, while still in the womb, shouted three times in church: “We don’t know what this means.”
The priest said: “Rejoice, for the child will be a chosen vessel of God, a monastery and servant of the Holy Trinity.” Unlike his brothers, he had a hard time reading and he sought solitude from childhood. His parents were sad, his teacher was upset. He received book teaching, let’s say, from God When he was sent by his father to look for cattle, he saw a certain monk standing and praying in the field under an oak tree. When the elder finished praying, he turned to Bartholomew: “What do you want, child?” Bartholomew said: “My soul wants to learn to read and write. but I cannot overcome it. Holy Father, pray that I can learn to read and write."
Bartholomew's father owned property in the Rostov region, but towards the end of his life he fell into poverty. The reason for this was his frequent trips with the prince to the Horde, Tatar raids and tributes, and finally the last straw that completed the ruin was the pacification of Rostov by Ivan Kalita, who brutally suppressed the anti-Horde uprising. After these events, the family had to move to the town of Radonezh
Moscow Principality. Cyril's sons, Stefan and Peter, got married; Bartholomew did not want to marry, but strived for monastic life.
Deciding to become a monk, Bartholomew transferred his share of the inheritance to his younger brother and begged his older brother Stephen to go with him to look for a deserted place suitable for founding a monastery.
Finally they came to a deserted place, in a thicket of woods, where there was water.
And they began to cut down the forest with their own hands and carry logs to the chosen place. First, the brothers built a cell and cut down a small church. The church was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity. 1342 is considered the year the monastery was founded.
At the same time, Bartholomew wanted to take monastic tonsure and therefore called a priest to his hermitage who tonsured him on the seventh day of October, in memory of the holy martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. And the name was given to him in monasticism, Sergius. Gradually, people began to flock to the monastery, wanting to share the hardships of monastic life with Sergius. In 1353, the Monk Sergius became abbot of the monastery. Sergius possessed a rare combination of such qualities as noble birth, non-acquisitiveness, religiosity and hard work.
During the reign of Ivan the Red, people began to settle near the monastery, built villages and sowed fields. The monastery began to gain wide popularity. Gradually, through the efforts of Sergius, the monastery began to turn into one of the main centers of Russian Orthodox culture.
The number of students multiplied, and the more they became, the more they contributed to the monastery. The monastery became a significant figure with its own political weight, with which even the great Moscow princes were forced to reckon. Sergius never stopped his charity and ordered the servants of the monastery to give shelter to the poor and wanderers and help those in need. The monastery also served as a transit base for passing Russian troops.
Peasants and other people were fed from the monastery's reserves during years of crop failures and natural disasters.
In 1374, Sergius became a confidant of the Moscow princes, being one of the confessors of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy and the godfather of his sons. Why exactly did Sergius occupy such a responsible and important post? There is no doubt that a statesman of such magnitude as Dmitry, having decided to free himself from the Tatar yoke, needed a wise mentor, because in order for Rus' to free itself from centuries-old slavery, it was necessary to concentrate not only military but also spiritual strength. It is natural that two great men of their era joined forces in a difficult time for their homeland. Dmitry understood that only deep faith in victory could raise the Russian people to fight against the Horde, and the personification of this faith was undoubtedly the figure of Sergius of Radonezh. In 1380, Sergius admonished the prince with these words: “ You should, sir, take care of the glorious Christian flock entrusted to you by God. Go against the godless, and if God helps you, you will win and return unharmed to your fatherland with great honor.” Dmitry replied: “If God helps me, father, I will build a monastery in honor of the Most Holy Mother of God.” Further events that led to the defeat of the Horde on the Kulikovo Field are known to us from history.
It is also known that in 1385 the Monk Sergius traveled on a diplomatic mission to Ryazan, successfully preventing war between Moscow and Novgorod. By reconciling the Russian princes, Sergius contributed to the unification of the Russian state.
The saint died on September 25, 1392 and was buried in the founded immonastery and canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. In April 1919, during the struggle against the religious consciousness of the masses, the relics of Sergius were publicly uncovered but surprisingly left in place.
Sergius's merit is that he, as a significant figure of his time, made a significant contribution to the process of liberating Rus' from the Mongol-Tatar yoke and unifying the state. The historian R.G. Skrynnikov noted in connection with this: “The Church would never have been able to acquire exclusive power over the minds if among its leaders there had not appeared ascetics who served the idea without sparing their bellies.
One of these ascetics was Sergius.
Sergius was able to create and develop a new type of cenobitic monastery for the Russian lands of the 14th century, which relied not on alms but on his own economic activity, which led to the formation of a rich and influential monastic corporation.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, in this work it is simply impossible to create a historical portrait of all Russian saints of that time. Therefore, as characters for my work, I chose, in my opinion, the most prominent historical figures, whose contribution to the political, spiritual and cultural life of Rus' was the most significant. Russian saints are an integral part of Russian history, one might say its best part. If there were no scientific and historical works, history could be studied from the lives of Russian saints, for each of them is the greatest representative of his people and the era that demanded him.
Bibliography
Klibanov A.I. , Spiritual culture of medieval Rus', M. 1995
Kartashev A.N. , Essays on the history of the Russian Church in 2 volumes, M. 1990
FedotovG.P. , Saints of Ancient Rus', M. 1991
Shakhmagonov F.F. Grekov I.B. , World of History, M. 1988
Lives of Russian saints. 1000 years of Russian holiness. Collected by nun Taisiya. Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius, 1991
MoscowPsychological-Social
Institute
Faculty of Economics and Law
Abstract on the discipline History of the Fatherland
On the topic, Saints of Ancient Rus',
1st year student
Kulika Evgenia
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Who won the Thirty Years' War? The winners can be considered France and Sweden, which acquired a number of important territories. On the other hand, the Habsburg coalition did not achieve its goals.
According to the peace signed, France received Alsace and achieved confirmation of its rights to the bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun. Sweden received an indemnity, the island of Rügen, the western part of Pomerania with several coastal cities. The independence of Switzerland and Holland was recognized. The rights of Calvinists with the rights of Lutherans and Catholics were equalized in Germany. France became the hegemon in European politics.
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Aksakov Sergey Timofeevich Writer, corresponding member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. His home became one of the centers literary life Moscow. In 1827-1832. censor, then chairman of the Moscow Censorship Committee, from 1833 inspector, then director of the Konstantinovsky Land Survey Institute. In the second half of the 1840s, despite deteriorating health, the intensive literary activity of Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov began. “Notes on Fishing,” published in 1847, brought him wide literary fame. Aksakov Konstantin Sergeevich A prominent figure in Slavophilism, publicist, poet, linguist and historian, the eldest son of Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov. While still a student, he joined the philosophical circle of N. V. Stankevich. Author of studies on the Russian language, critical articles on the works of N. V. Gogol, I. S. Turgenev, A. N. Ostrovsky. Collaborated in magazines in the 1830s-50s “Telescope”, “Rumour”, “Moscow Observer”, “Moscowite”, “Sea Collection”, “Russian Conversation”, published a number of historical works in the early 1850s. Aksakov Ivan Sergeevich Public figure, one of the leaders of Slavophilism, publicist, poet, journalist-publisher, youngest son of Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov and brother of Konstantin Sergeevich Aksakov. From the beginning of the 1850s he became the most influential representative of Slavophilism. In 1857 he met with A.I. Herzen, becoming his secret correspondent. In 1857-1858 edited the newspaper "Molva", was the editor of the Slavophile journals "Rural Improvement" and "Russian Conversation", and in 1859 he began publishing the newspaper "Parus". Alyabyev Alexander Alexandrovich Russian composer. Author of many other vaudeville operas that were staged in theaters in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In 1825, Alyabyev was arrested on false charges of murder; in December 1828, he was stripped of his ranks, orders, and nobility and exiled to Tobolsk. Alexander Aleksandrovich Alyabyev was a representative of musical romanticism in Russia, the author of classic romances such as “The Nightingale”, “Winter Road”, “Beggar Woman” and “Evening Bells”. Alyabyev wrote music for a number of dramatic performances at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow. Anichkov Dmitry Sergeevich Prominent philosopher and mathematician. In 1762, he received the title of master and remained at the university as a teacher of mathematics, compiled manuals on all sections of elementary and applied mathematics, also taught courses in logic and metaphysics, and taught philosophy. Anichkov named the main reasons for the emergence of religion as human fear of the unknown forces of nature, the play of imagination and the deception of people by priests. The elements of materialism contained in the dissertation provoked sharp criticism from professors. Antropov Alexey Petrovich Famous Russian painter. He participated in the execution of decorative paintings of palaces in St. Petersburg (1744-1750), its suburbs and in Moscow, St. Andrew's Cathedral in Kyiv (1752-1755). Antropov Alexey Petrovich is known as a portrait painter. Among Antropov’s works one can note both ceremonial portraits of Peter III, Archbishop S. Kulyabka, and chamber portraits of A. I. Izmailova, F. I. Ataman Krasnoshchekov, A. V. Buturlin, M. A. Rumyantseva. According to his artistic principles, Antropov was a bright exponent of the Baroque.
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The Great War in the USA is a war between the Eastern states of the USA and the 11 slave states of the Modern Age, which arose from the Acquired States of America and rose up to preserve the slave state in the territory ї USA Day.
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Wars of the second half of the 17th - early 18th centuries.
Results and consequences of wars
1652-1654 1665-1667 1672-1674Anglo-Dutch wars.
Recognition of the English Navigation Act. The dominance of the British on world trade routes and in the colonies. The Netherlands became a second-rate power.
1667-1668 1672-1678 1688-1694Wars of Louis XIV: The War for the Rights of the Queen. Dutch War. New European war.
France returned most of the territories it had captured, except Strasbourg.
1683-1699 War of the Cross and Crescent (war with the Ottoman Empire)
The Ottomans ceded the lands they had conquered to Austria, Venice and Poland. The beginning of the Turkish retreat from Europe.
1701-1714 War of the Spanish Succession.
Peace of Utrecht. The balance of power is changing not only in Europe, but throughout the world.
The war put an end to France's predominant position in the international arena. The leading role passed to Great Britain. Two new kingdoms appeared: Prussia and Sardinia.
1700-1721 Great Northern War.
The conclusion of the Nystad Peace Treaty, Russia gains access to the Baltic Sea. Proclamation of Russia as an empire.
Holiness is a purity of heart that seeks the uncreated divine energy manifested in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as many colored rays in the solar spectrum. Pious ascetics are the link between the earthly world and heavenly kingdom. Imbued with the light of divine grace, they, through God-contemplation and God-communication, learn the highest spiritual secrets. In earthly life, saints, performing the feat of self-denial for the sake of the Lord, receive the highest grace of divine Revelation. According to biblical teaching, holiness is the likening of a person to God, who is the only bearer of all-perfect life and its unique source.
The church procedure for canonizing a righteous person is called canonization. She encourages believers to honor a recognized saint in public worship. As a rule, ecclesiastical recognition of piety is preceded by popular glory and veneration, but it was the act of canonization that made it possible to glorify saints by creating icons, writing lives, and compiling prayers and church services. The reason for official canonization can be the feat of a righteous person, the incredible deeds he has performed, his entire life or martyrdom. And after death, a person can be recognized as a saint because of the incorruption of his relics, or miracles of healing occurring at his remains.
In the event that a saint is venerated within one church, city or monastery, they speak of diocesan, local canonization.
The official church also recognizes the existence of unknown saints, the confirmation of whose piety is not yet known to the entire Christian flock. They are called revered departed righteous people and requiem services are served for them, while prayer services are served for canonized saints.
That is why the names of Russian saints, who are revered in one diocese, may differ and be unknown to parishioners of another city.
Who was canonized in Rus'
Long-suffering Rus' gave birth to more than a thousand martyrs and martyrs. All the names of the holy people of the Russian land who were canonized are included in the calendar, or calendar. The right to solemnly canonize the righteous initially belonged to the Kyiv, and later Moscow, metropolitans. The first canonizations were preceded by the exhumation of the remains of the righteous so that they could perform a miracle. In the 11th-16th centuries, the burials of princes Boris and Gleb, Princess Olga, and Theodosius of Pechersk were discovered.
From the second half of the 16th century, under Metropolitan Macarius, the right to canonize saints passed to church councils under the high priest. The unquestioned authority of the Orthodox Church, which had existed in Rus' for 600 years by that time, was confirmed by numerous Russian saints. The list of names of the righteous glorified by the Macarius Councils was replenished with the naming of saints by 39 pious Christians.
Byzantine rules for canonization
In the 17th century, the Russian Orthodox Church succumbed to the influence of the ancient Byzantine rules for canonization. During this period, mainly clergy were canonized because they had church rank. Missionaries carrying the faith and associates in the construction of new churches and monasteries also deserved to be counted. And the need to create miracles has lost its relevance. Thus, 150 righteous people were canonized, mainly from among the monks and high clergy, and the Saints added new names to Russian Orthodox saints.
Weakening church influence
In the 18th and 19th centuries, only the Holy Synod had the right to canonize. This period is characterized by a decrease in the activity of the church and a weakening of its influence on social processes. Before Nicholas II ascended the throne, only four canonizations took place. During the short period of the reign of the Romanovs, seven more Christians were canonized, and the calendar added new names of Russian saints.
By the beginning of the 20th century, generally recognized and locally revered Russian saints were included in the monthly calendar, the list of whose names was supplemented by the list of deceased Orthodox Christians for whom memorial services were performed.
Modern canonizations
The beginning of the modern period in the history of canonizations carried out by the Russian Orthodox Church can be considered the Local Council held in 1917-18, by which the universally revered Russian saints Sophrony of Irkutsk and Joseph of Astrakhan were canonized. Then, in the 1970s, three more clergy were canonized - Herman of Alaska, Archbishop of Japan and Metropolitan Innocent of Moscow and Kolomna.
In the year of the millennium of the baptism of Rus', new canonizations took place, where Xenia of Petersburg, Dmitry Donskoy and other, no less famous, Orthodox Russian saints were recognized as pious.
In 2000, the anniversary Council of Bishops took place, at which Emperor Nicholas II and members of the Romanov royal family were canonized “as passion-bearers.”
First canonization of the Russian Orthodox Church
The names of the first Russian saints, who were canonized by Metropolitan John in the 11th century, became a kind of symbol of the true faith of the newly baptized people, their full acceptance of Orthodox norms. Princes Boris and Gleb, sons of Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, after canonization became the first heavenly protectors of Russian Christians. Boris and Gleb were killed by their brother in the internecine struggle for the throne of Kyiv in 1015. Knowing about the impending assassination attempt, they accepted death with Christian humility for the sake of autocracy and peace of their people.
The veneration of princes was widespread even before their holiness was recognized official church. After canonization, the relics of the brothers were found incorrupt and showed miracles of healing to the ancient Russian people. And the new princes ascending the throne made pilgrimages to the holy relics in search of blessings for a just reign and help in military exploits. Memorial Day of Saints Boris and Gleb is celebrated on July 24.
Formation of the Russian Holy Brotherhood
Next after princes Boris and Gleb, the Monk Theodosius of Pechersk was canonized. The second solemn canonization carried out by the Russian Church took place in 1108. The Monk Theodosius is considered the father of Russian monasticism and the founder, together with his mentor Anthony, of the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. Teacher and student showed two different ways monastic obedience: one is severe asceticism, renunciation of everything worldly, the other is humility and creativity for the glory of God.
In the caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, bearing the names of the founders, rest the relics of 118 novices of this monastery, who lived before and after the Tatar-Mongol yoke. They were all canonized in 1643, making up a common service, and in 1762 the names of Russian saints were included in the calendar.
Venerable Abraham of Smolensk
Very little is known about the righteous people of the pre-Mongol period. Abraham of Smolensk, one of the few saints of that time, about whom a detailed biography, compiled by his student, has been preserved. Abraham was revered for a long time in his hometown even before his canonization by the Makarievsky Cathedral in 1549. Having distributed to the needy all his property left after the death of his rich parents, the thirteenth child, the only son begged from the Lord after twelve daughters, Abraham lived in poverty, praying for salvation during the Last Judgment. Having become a monk, he copied church books and painted icons. The Monk Abraham is credited with saving Smolensk from a great drought.
The most famous names of saints of the Russian land
Along with the above-mentioned princes Boris and Gleb, unique symbols of Russian Orthodoxy, there are no less significant names of Russian saints who became intercessors of the entire people through their contribution to the participation of the church in public life.
After liberation from the Mongol-Tatar influence, Russian monasticism saw its goal as the enlightenment of pagan peoples, as well as the construction of new monasteries and temples in the uninhabited northeastern lands. The most prominent figure of this movement was St. Sergius of Radonezh. For godly solitude, he built a cell on Makovets Hill, where the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius was later erected. Gradually, the righteous began to join Sergius, inspired by his teaching, which led to the formation of a monastic monastery, living on the fruits of their hands, and not on the alms of believers. Sergius himself worked in the garden, setting an example for his brothers. The disciples of Sergius of Radonezh built about 40 monasteries throughout Rus'.
St. Sergius of Radonezh carried the idea of godly humility not only ordinary people, but also to the ruling elite. As a skilled politician, he contributed to the unification of the Russian principalities, convincing the rulers of the need to unite dynasties and disparate lands.
Dmitry Donskoy
Sergius of Radonezh was greatly revered by the Russian prince, canonized, Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy. It was St. Sergius who blessed the army for the Battle of Kulikovo, started by Dmitry Donskoy, and sent two of his novices for God’s support.
Having become a prince in early childhood, Dmitry in state affairs listened to the advice of Metropolitan Alexy, who cared for the unification of the Russian principalities around Moscow. This process did not always go smoothly. Sometimes by force, and sometimes by marriage (to a Suzdal princess), Dmitry Ivanovich annexed the surrounding lands to Moscow, where he built the first Kremlin.
It was Dmitry Donskoy who became the founder of a political movement that aimed to unite the Russian principalities around Moscow to create a powerful state with political (from the khans of the Golden Horde) and ideological (from the Byzantine Church) independence. In 2002, in memory of Grand Duke Dmitry Donskoy and St. Sergius In Radonezh, the Order “For Service to the Fatherland” was established, fully emphasizing the depth of influence of these historical figures on the formation of Russian statehood. These Russian holy people cared for the well-being, independence and tranquility of their great people.
Faces (ranks) of Russian saints
All the saints of the Universal Church are summarized into nine faces or ranks: prophets, apostles, saints, great martyrs, holy martyrs, venerable martyrs, confessors, unmercenaries, holy fools and blessed ones.
The Orthodox Church of Russia divides saints into faces differently. Russian holy people, due to historical circumstances, are divided into the following ranks:
Princes. The first righteous people recognized as saints by the Russian Church were princes Boris and Gleb. Their feat consisted of self-sacrifice for the sake of the peace of the Russian people. This behavior became an example for all rulers of the time of Yaroslav the Wise, when the power in whose name the prince made a sacrifice was recognized as true. This rank is divided into Equal-to-the-Apostles (spreaders of Christianity - Princess Olga, her grandson Vladimir, who baptized Rus'), monks (princes who became monks) and passion-bearers (victims of civil strife, assassination attempts, murders for the faith).
Reverends. This is the name given to saints who chose during their lifetime monastic obedience(Theodosius and Anthony of Pechersk, Sergius of Radonezh, Joseph of Volotsky, Seraphim of Sarov).
Saints- righteous people with church rank, who based their ministry on the defense of the purity of faith, the spread of Christian teaching, and the founding of churches (Niphon of Novgorod, Stefan of Perm).
Fools (blessed)- saints who during their lifetime wore the appearance of madness, rejecting worldly values. A very numerous rank of Russian righteous people, replenished mainly by monks who considered monastic obedience insufficient. They left the monastery, going out in rags onto the streets of cities and enduring all the hardships (St. Basil, St. Isaac the Recluse, Simeon of Palestine, Xenia of Petersburg).
Holy laymen and women. This rank unites murdered babies recognized as saints, laymen who renounced wealth, righteous people who were distinguished by their boundless love for people (Yuliania Lazarevskaya, Artemy Verkolsky).
Lives of Russian saints
The Lives of the Saints is a literary work containing historical, biographical and everyday information about a righteous person canonized by the church. Lives are one of the oldest literary genres. Depending on the time and country of writing, these treatises were created in the form of biography, encomium (praise), martyrium (testimony), and patericon. The style of writing lives in the Byzantine, Roman and Western church cultures differed significantly. Back in the 4th century, the Church began to unite saints and their biographies into vaults that looked like a calendar indicating the day of remembrance of the pious.
In Rus', lives appear along with the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium in Bulgarian and Serbian translations, combined into collections for reading by month - monthly books and menaions.
Already in the 11th century, a laudatory biography of princes Boris and Gleb appeared, where the unknown author of the life was Russian. The names of saints are recognized by the church and added to the monthly calendar. In the 12th and 13th centuries, along with the monastic desire to enlighten the northeast of Rus', the number of biographical works also grew. Russian authors wrote the lives of Russian saints for reading during the Divine Liturgy. The names, the list of which was recognized by the church for glorification, now received a historical figure, and holy deeds and miracles were enshrined in a literary monument.
In the 15th century there was a change in the style of writing lives. The authors began to pay the main attention not to factual data, but to skillful mastery of artistic expression, the beauty of literary language, and the ability to select many impressive comparisons. Skillful scribes of that period became known. For example, Epiphanius the Wise, who wrote vivid lives of Russian saints, whose names were most famous among the people - Stephen of Perm and Sergius of Radonezh.
Many hagiographies are considered a source of information about important historical events. From the biography of Alexander Nevsky you can learn about political relations with the Horde. The lives of Boris and Gleb tell of princely civil strife before the unification of Rus'. The creation of a literary and church biographical work largely determined which names of Russian saints, their exploits and virtues, would become best known to a wide circle of believers.
The encyclopedia includes 1283 articles containing lives and biographies of Russian saints and ascetics of Orthodoxy, who for a millennium determined the spiritual face of the Russian nation, its priorities and directions of development. Russian saints were the main bearers of the fundamental values of Russian civilization - spiritual integrity, inseparability of faith and life, Philokalia, non-covetousness, monarchical consciousness, conciliarity and patriotism.
In preparing the encyclopedia, all the most authoritative sources about the lives of saints were used and taken into account, starting with the Great Menaions of Metropolitan Macarius, the Menaions of Metropolitan Demetrius of Rostov, the Lives of Saints Philaret (Gumilevsky), and to the biographies of saints published in the 20th - early 21st centuries. Some of the materials used in the encyclopedia were collected by the compiler during many years of pilgrimage to monasteries and holy places in Russia in the 1970s - the first half of the 1990s.
544 illustrations are presented - icons and portraits depicting saints and ascetics of Orthodoxy, photos from archives and rare books.
Important information about Russian saints, first of all, about St. Andrei Rublev, unknown from earlier sources, wrote down in the con. XV centurySt. Joseph Volotsky , whose memory is honored the day after St. Andrey Rublev! Moreover, this valuable information was gleaned by Joseph Volotsky from the words of “Elder Spiridon”, abbot of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (Chapter 10 of the “Spiritual Testament” // “Answer to the curious and a brief legend about the holy fathers who were in the monasteries in the Rus land existing"). St. Joseph Volotsky became one of the first connoisseurs and collectors of Rublev icons, and with him to Volok from the Pafnutiev-Borovsky Monastery he brought 4 icons as a contribution to the future monastery, of which 3 were “ Rublev's letters to Andreev"(Zhmakin V. Metropolitan Daniel and his works. M., 1881. P. 57). Subsequently, the Volotsk abbot received several more Rublev icons as a gift from the son of the icon painter Dionysius - Theodosius (Messages of Joseph Volotsky. M.; Leningrad, 1959. P. 212). "Answering" by St. Joseph of Volotsky brought to us the subtle features of the spiritual appearance of St. Andrei Rublev, who through “great care for fasting and monastic life” was able to “ raise the mind and thought to the immaterial and Divine light" On holidays, when it was impossible to paint icons, Andrei Rublev and Daniil contemplated the icons " and, steadily looking at those, I am filled with Divine joy and lordship"(VMC. September. Days 1-13. Stb. 557-558)": http://expertmus.livejournal.com/61853.html
Russian saints and devotees of Orthodoxy. Historical encyclopedia.
M.: Institute of Russian Civilization, 2010. 896 pp., 544 illus.
ISBN 978-5-902725-63-3
Institute of Russian Civilization, 2010
O. A. Platonov, compilation, bibliography, 2010.
Publisher: Institute of Russian Civilization
Publication Date: 2010
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