Holy blessed Basil, holy fool for Christ's sake, Moscow wonderworker - saints - history - catalog of articles - unconditional love. What is St. Basil the Blessed known for and why was Ivan the Terrible himself afraid of him? Holy Fathers about Saint Basil
Original taken from donetsk_elenka How did St. Basil live and who was he?
On August 2, 1552, the most famous holy fool of Rus', the Holy Moscow Wonderworker Basil the Blessed, died. His popularity was so great that for several centuries the name of the saint has been surrounded by new legends.
Myth one: St. Basil was a fool
The most common misconception concerning many holy fools in Rus'. It was born due to a misunderstanding of the very meaning of foolishness. Of course, there were the so-called blessed from birth, but the majority accepted foolishness and pilgrimage consciously, as a feat in the name of Christ. As far as one can judge from surviving legends, this is exactly what St. Basil was like. In his youth he studied shoemaking, but already at the age of 16 he embarked on the path of asceticism. And until his death he did not change him. All his actions, which at first seemed like the stupid antics of a city madman, had their own explanation and deep meaning. Here is a holy fool walking through the shopping arcades and suddenly throwing pies off the tray. Noise, din! The merchants beat Vasily mercilessly, but he only thanks them. And then it turns out that cunning merchants mixed all sorts of nasty things into the pies and rolls. Often they themselves admitted this, feeling shame before the holy fool who exposed them.
Insight, wisdom, the ability to compare facts - these were the features that distinguished Basil the Blessed, but not the feeble-mindedness that is sometimes attributed to the holy fool. His predictions, presented in the form of parables, were not always clear, but more and more often people became convinced of his wonderful prophetic gift, and his fame spread far beyond the borders of Moscow. Ivan the Terrible himself appreciated and feared the ascetic, and he was not afraid to tell him the truth. So the Tsar invites the Blessed One to his chambers for his name day and treats him to wine. And the holy fool pours three glasses out the window one after another. In response to the king’s anger, he replies that in this way he extinguished the fire in Novgorod. Later, messengers sent to verify these words confirmed: at the very time when St. Basil was in the tents, a man similar in appearance to him appeared in the burning city and helped douse the fire. The Great Fire actually happened in 1547.
The holy fool could only pretend to be a fool, surprising and shocking the public with his allegories. This is a conscious role, a game, a mask behind which hides an exposer of human vices, revealing to people the truth about themselves that they are afraid to admit.
Myth two: St. Basil walked naked both in winter and in summer
Vasily Nagoy is the second nickname of the holy fool. In his life it is described that he walked without any clothes at any time of the year, and there is even a legend about how women laughed at his appearance and immediately went blind. And the saint restored his sight to only one merchant, who repented to him. However, another legend intersects with this legend. In it, the Blessed One accepts a fox fur coat as a gift and wears it in the cold. When dashing people wanted to deceive him and asked him to cover his supposedly dead comrade with a fur coat, the holy fool did just that. But as soon as the robbers took possession of the desired prey, they saw that the imaginary dead man really died.
The nakedness of the Blessed One is rather a symbol of contempt for everything earthly, perishable on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven. He was naked and barefoot, since he had no property, but as we see, he did not refuse alms. This lifestyle was accepted by the majority of Russian holy fools, but, of course, they did not walk around completely naked. A spacious canvas shirt covered the body, which was often visible through holes, hence the concept of nudity.
Of course, no images of St. Basil’s during his lifetime have survived, and on all the icons we see him naked. This iconographic image created another legend about the great ascetic.
Myth three: St. Basil had no corner and lived on the street
He was naked, barefoot, had no property and lived on the street. The holy fool's homelessness complements his image of a holy wanderer. However, this fact can neither be refuted nor confirmed for certain. And yet there is evidence that the holy fool still had a roof over his head. In the Piskarev Chronicle we read: “in the belly of Blessed Vasily, his life was in Kulishki with a widowed noblewoman named Stefanida Yurlova.” The latter is by no means a legendary person; a rich boyar family owned many lands. One of the lists of the saint’s life also mentions that he reposed in the house of a certain widow. It is quite possible that we are talking about Yurlova. The fact that the holy fool lived in a rich house, however, is not a surprising fact and does not in any way contradict the morals and customs of that time. Wealthy widows used to look after the orphans and the poor, gave generous alms and gave shelter to God's people.
Myth four: the temple was named in honor of St. Basil because he acted like a fool near its walls under construction
The further historical events move away, the more fables and conjectures they become overgrown with. Some people believe that St. Basil the Blessed and Ivan the Terrible are one person (yes, yes! there are such people), and even guides tell inconsistencies about the Cathedral on Red Square. They say that it was built by Ivan the Terrible in honor of St. Basil the Blessed. Another option is that the cathedral was built by Ivan the Terrible, and St. Basil the Blessed played the fool next to its walls, so the people called the temple in his honor. Both facts are historically incorrect. And they most likely arose because this saint, who died in 1552 (there is information that in 1551), was buried like no other holy fool in Rus'. His coffin was carried by the tsar himself with the boyars, and the funeral service for the holy fool was conducted by Metropolitan Macarius.
The construction of the temple began only in 1555 in honor of the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible. Its full name is the Cathedral of the Intercession Holy Mother of God on the Moat or Intercession Cathedral. The connection with St. Basil is as follows - the holy fool was buried in the cemetery of the Trinity Church in the Moat. And after his death, the Blessed One worked miracles; there is little evidence, but they talk about healings that took place at his grave. Therefore, in 1588 he was canonized. In the same year, by order of Emperor Fyodor Ioannovich, one of the side chapels of the Intercession Cathedral was dedicated to St. Basil the Blessed. But the popularity and veneration of the saint were so great that they soon forgot about the true name, and to this day the temple on Vasilievsky Spusk (also a direct connection with the name of the saint) is known throughout the world as St. Basil's Cathedral.
Myth five: Surikov portrayed St. Basil among the characters in the painting “Boyarina Morozova”
It can also be argued that the features of the great ascetic and denouncer of unrighteous power were embodied in his blessed Nikolka, nicknamed the Iron Cap, and Pushkin (the drama “Boris Godunov”). It just so happens that turning points in Russian history cannot happen without holy fools, who “are not afraid of mighty rulers. But they don’t need a princely gift. Their prophetic language is truthful and free. And he is friendly with the will of heaven” (A.S. Pushkin “Song of the prophetic Oleg”).
(c. 1468 or c. 1462?, c. Elohovo near Moscow? - 08/2/1557?, Moscow), St. Fool for Christ's sake (memorial on August 2, on the Sunday before August 26 - in the Cathedral of Moscow Saints).
The earliest source reporting on V.B. is the “State Book of the Royal Genealogy” (1st edition created ca. 1563). Information from it was borrowed into the life of V.B., known in 3 varieties: complete, abridged and special composition (the latter is a compilation of the first 2 editions, supplemented by a description of the saint’s lifetime miracles). All 3 editions of the life with additions about V.B. were published by Archpriest. I. I. Kuznetsov.
The oldest list of the complete life was preserved as part of the August Chetya Menaion (GIM. Miracle No. 317. L. 60-99, end of the 16th century; entitled “On the same day, a brief life and a word of praise to the holy and righteous Christ for the sake of the ugly, blessed Vasily , the venerable new wonderworker of Moscow"). The life is followed by a word of praise, miracles (24) and 2 legends - about the vision that V.B. had in 1521 before the invasion of Moscow by the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey, and about the saints’ prediction of a fire in Moscow on June 21, 1547 (both borrowed from the Degree Book). The complete life of V.B. was compiled by order of St. Patriarch Job, apparently, soon after the canonization of V.B., not earlier than 1589. The lengthy text of the life contains a brief and inaccurate biography, designed in the style of “weaving words.”
The abbreviated life is known in 3 copies, of which the earliest was published in the Prologue (M., 1660). In this version, the chronology of the saint’s life has been changed, the text of his full life has been shortened and edited. This edition appeared, apparently, ca. 1646, since passages textually similar to it were published in Saints (M., 1646).
Tales of V.B.’s lifetime miracles, which are distinctive feature varieties of life of a special composition are known from lists No. 41 from the collection. Kuznetsov and according to the list of the Intercession Cathedral of 1803 (both manuscripts are lost, known from Kuznetsov’s publications). The description of V.B.’s lifetime miracles was created no earlier than the 2nd half. XVII century, at the same time it was compiled with excerpts from complete and abbreviated lives. In earlier manuscripts only the posthumous miracles of the blessed one are described; in the life of the full edition it is mentioned that “God glorified his life and miracles, and even more so after the death of unspeakable miracles for the sick, a healer, a consolation for the sad” (Life. p. 55). Later monuments dedicated to V.B. strive for detail in the description of the life of the saint, the source of which is Moscow legends.
Information about V.B. is also contained in the “New Chronicler”, the Piskarevsky Chronicler, and a number of short Russian. chroniclers of the 17th-18th centuries, in the notes of J. Fletcher “On the Russian State.”
Life
There is no exact information about the time of birth of the saint. The most ancient life of the full edition does not speak about this, as well as about the age at which the blessed one died. The Saints (M., 1646), reflected in the abbreviated life and not confirmed by earlier lists of the full life, report the death of V.B. in 7060 (1552) at the age of 88. Based on this message, certain chronicles of the 17th century. (RGB. F. 256. No. 262 and State Historical Museum. Musical collection No. 733) place information about the birth of the saint under 6972 (1464) (the first mistakenly indicated 6672). Taking into account the instructions of the Saints of 1646 and the brief chroniclers of the 17th century. that V.B. died at the age of 88 or 94, and considering the most probable year of the saint’s death to be 1557 (the message of his complete life), we can assume that the blessed one was born in 1468 or 1462. In addition, if we assume , following Kuznetsov, that January 1 - the day of the blessed one's name - was the day of his Baptism, then the birth of the saint occurred at the end of the year.
The place of the saint's exploits was Moscow. According to the testimony of a complete life, V.B., having entered the path of foolishness for the sake of Christ, left “his family, and his father’s house, and the city where he was born,” therefore, the saint was not born in Moscow. However, in this part, V.B.’s life quotes verbatim the life of St. Theodore of Edessa (Savaita), who left “the city where he was born” and came to Jerusalem, and thus may be a hagiographic stamp. In the abbreviated biography (in the Prologue of 1660) and in the Saints of 1646 it is reported that V.B. was born “in the reigning city of Moscow at the Most Pure Mother of God of Vladimir on Elokhov” (see Epiphany Cathedral in Elokhov).
The only thing known about the parents of the blessed one from their complete lives is that they asked for a child for themselves through prayers. The Saints of 1646 and the abbreviated life report that V.B.’s father’s name was Jacob, and his mother’s name was Anna. In later sources (the unpreserved Sheparevsky list of the life of the late 18th - early 19th centuries (published by Kuznetsov), in the legend set out in the book of I.M. Snegirev) it is reported that his father sent V.B. to study with a shoemaker in the workshop when the boy discovered a prophetic gift: a bread merchant who came to Moscow ordered boots from the workshop, in response V.B. laughed and cried. After the merchant left, the boy explained his behavior to the master by saying that the merchant was ordering boots that he could not wear, because he would soon die, which came true.
According to the abridged life and chroniclers of the 17th century, at the age of 10 or 16 V.B. took upon himself the feat of foolishness. At first, the blessed one took a vow of silence and was in constant mental prayer. Then, instructed by the Holy Spirit, he “converted himself into foolishness and exposed his body” (Life, p. 43). In the Degree Book, V.B. is called a “righteous naked walker,” “willfully naked of bodily clothing,” “having not a single piece of rags on his body and not possessing shame, like the primordial one who had previously committed crimes... God’s grace has warmed him. The flesh of this righteous man is stronger than fire and filth” (PSRL. T. 21. Part 2. P. 599, 635). The nickname of the blessed Nagaya is found in chronicles of the 16th-17th centuries. (Tikhomirov. P. 201).
The Life says that the blessed one, leading a harsh life, eating very little food and water, “having neither a den nor a stable, remained bloodless [without shelter - K.E.]” (Life. P. 45). However, the Piskarevsky chronicler reports that “in the belly of Blessed Vasily, his life was in Kulishki, with a widowed noblewoman named Stefanida Yurlova” (PSRL. T. 34. P. 200). The Yurlov family (descendants of the Pleshcheev boyars) in the 16th century. owned lands in the Moscow and Tver districts, and S.I. Yurlova was a historical figure. Information that the saint lived and reposed in the house of a certain widow (not named) is also in the list of the abbreviated life of the con. XVII - early XVIII century (Kuznetsov. Holy blessed Vasily and John. S. 78, 152, 242-243). In the descriptions of V.B.’s lifetime miracles, his nakedness is associated with the miracle of the saint’s healing of maidens or merchant women who laughed at his appearance and were punished with blindness for this. Having repented, they were healed through V.B.
V.B. was also revered by foreign merchants who came to Russia. the capital, as the patron of sea travelers (according to his life, the saint, while in Moscow, calmed the storm on the Caspian Sea and saved merchant ships). Early evidence about V.B. notes his gift of foresight. According to the Degree Book, the saint in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral in 1521 had a “fiery vision” from the icon of the Mother of God, heralding God’s wrath on the Muscovites and the imminent invasion of the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey on Moscow. According to the Degree Book, V.B. also foresaw fires in Moscow in June 1547. This is described in more detail in the life: in 1547, after the April fires, V.B. “came to the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Honorable Cross, also called on the Island, and a hundred before the church, in vain, in vain, acting a wise prayer and crying inconsolably” (Life. p. 75). People were perplexed about the reasons for the crying, but on June 21, 1547, it was from the Vozdvizhenskaya Church. A fire started. Later biographies of the saint cite a large number of cases of his insight - foresight of events about which the blessed one spoke allegorically, the ability to see angels, demons, to guess under external piety the lies and actions of the devil, etc.
Tsar John IV Vasilyevich, who talked about V.B. with St., was a witness to the exploits of the blessed one and his admirer. Metropolitan Macarius (apparently after his coronation on January 16, 1547, but before the fire that happened in June of the same year). According to Fletcher, V.B. denounced the king for his cruel treatment of his subjects (Fletcher. P. 113). In later and unreliable sources - the Sheparevsky list of V.B.’s life and in the description of the blessed one’s lifetime miracles - there are legends about V.B.’s relationship with Tsar John IV. One of the legends says that the saint, having somehow received “a certain drink” from the king as a treat, threw out 2 cups one after another out of the window. The king, angry at this act, was told by V.B. that this was how he put out the fire in Vel. Novgorod. A messenger specially sent from Moscow to Novgorod confirmed that in the city they saw the image of a naked man extinguishing the fire above the fire that had started. During the liturgy in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral, as another legend notes, the saint hid in a corner. When asked by John IV why V.B. was not at the service, he replied that he was present, but the king’s body was in the temple, and with his thoughts he was building a palace for himself on the Sparrow Hills.
Another plot from Sheparev’s manuscript is connected with the campaign of John IV to Vel. Novgorod in 1569-1570: at the height of the executions of the Novgorodians, V.B. invited the tsar to a “wretched den” under the bridge over the Volkhov and offered him “a bottle of blood and part of raw meat.” In response to the sovereign’s bewilderment, the saint said that this was the blood and flesh of innocently killed people. Taking the tsar out into the street, V.B. stepped on his foot with his left foot and right hand pointed east. The king saw in the sky the souls of the innocently killed, crowned with martyr's crowns, and waved his handkerchief as a sign of stopping the executions. After this, the blood in the vessel turned into sweet wine, and the meat into watermelon. This plot contradicts all datings of V.B.’s life and is an adaptation of the story about the book. Yu. Tokmakov and Blessed. Nicholas Sallosa, who turned away the royal wrath from Pskov with the offering of bread and salt and the “terrible words” of the holy fool (PSRL. T. 5. Issue 1. pp. 115-116).
The exploits of V.B. very soon after his death became an example to follow. Dr. Moscow holy fool - St. John († 1589) - also walked around the city naked, denounced the rulers and bequeathed to bury himself next to V.B.
In monuments of the XVI-XVII centuries. indicated various years the death of V.B. The complete life dates it to August 2. 7065 (1557) (The date may be inaccurate, since under August 2, 1588, the chronicles contain reports of miracles from the relics of V.B.; the year of death is not confirmed by earlier sources, in particular the Degree Book.) In collections of historical character of the XVII-XVIII centuries. (using the example of manuscripts stored in the Russian State Library) there are next years repose of the saint: in collections from the collection of V. M. Undolsky No. 233 and 771 and similar ones it is named 7060th (1552), in collection from the same collection No. 134 - 7061st (1553), in manuscripts No. 125 and 755 the same meeting and the Monthly Divine Simon (Azaryin) ser. 50s XVII century - 7063rd (1555), in the collection No. 237 - 7065th (1557), etc. In the Chronicler until 1659 from the collection of S. T. Bolshakov (No. 131) we read: “Summer 7064 ( 1556) May 29, Tsarevich Ivan was born, may the deformed Vasily of Moscow pass away.” In the Vyatka “Chronicle of Old Years” of the 1st third of the 18th century. It is noted that V.B. walked naked “from the age of 10” and died on August 1. 7060 (1552) in Moscow, “alive for all 94 years” (Chronicle of old years. P. 322; the same information is given in “Chronicle of the reigning city of Moscow.” P. 333). This news was accepted by certain historians (N.M. Karamzin, N.P. Barsukov, etc.).
The burial of the saint took place with the participation of “kings and princes,” who carried V.B.’s body “on their heads,” and a large number of clergy and many people also took part in the burial. According to the testimony of his life, during the burial of the blessed one, the sick received healing. Tsar John IV and his wife Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna were present at the funeral service. Dr. “kings,” apparently, should be considered the Kazan kings Alexander and Simeon, who took part in the consecration of the chapels of the Cathedral of the Intercession (or the Holy Trinity) on the Moat in October. 1559. The abbreviated life contains the dying words of V.B., who bequeathed “to the pious Tsar John and Queen Anastasia to lay his body... at the Life-Giving Trinity and the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos.” However, this is evidence of a later origin, since Fletcher, who wrote about V.B. in the 1st half. 1589, noted that the saint’s body had recently been transferred to the central Moscow church, in which, according to the Englishman’s description, one can recognize the Church of the Intercession on the Moat (Fletcher, p. 113). Thus, the blessed one was initially buried in another place; his relics were transferred to the Intercession Cathedral, apparently during his canonization in 1588.
Canonization
Chronicle evidence of the first miracles from the relics of V.B. dates back to the time after the death of Tsar John IV. The most reliable are the messages of the “New Chronicler”, the Solovetsky chronicler of the con. XVI century and the Novgorod-Pskov Chronicle of 1630. In the “New Chronicler” ch. “On the Appearance and Miracles of Blessed Basil” (20th) is placed between a short message about the arrival of the Polish Patriarch Jeremiah II in Moscow (on July 13, 1588) and the story about the establishment of the Patriarchate in Russia and the departure of Patriarch Jeremiah (on January 23, 1589). Miracles from the relics of V.B., the order of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich to build a gilded and decorated tomb over the saint’s tomb precious stones and pearls, a silver shrine, and also to build a stone temple in the name of V.B. The “New Chronicler” dates it to 7096, i.e., to the time from September 1. 1587 to 31 Aug. 1588; Aug 2 1588, according to the chronicle, several things were done from the relics of the saint. miracles that became the reason for canonization (PSRL. T. 14. P. 38). The Solovetsky chronicler records: “In the summer of August 7096 (1588), on the 2nd day of God, by God’s will, in the notorious city of Moscow, under the blessed Tsar and Grand Duke Theodore Ivanovich of All Russia and under Metropolitan Iev, the new great miracle worker Vasily Nagoy appeared and forgave three souls, two maidens and a poor old man, and from that day at the miracle worker’s tomb there were great miracles and forgiveness for many people” (quoted from: Tikhomirov, p. 201); the same text is given in the Novgorod-Pskov Chronicle of 1630 (Yakovlev, p. 449).
The Piskarevsky chronicler dates the beginning of miracles from the relics of V.B. and the creation of the shrine to 7093-7094 (1584-1586). (PSRL. T. 34. P. 199-200). In the Mazurin Chronicle, the beginning of miracles is attributed to 7097, i.e., to the period from September 1. 1588 to 31 Aug. 1589 (Mazurin Chronicler. P. 144).
The life of V.B. contains a description of the miracles that took place at the tomb of the saint in the period from August 2. 1588 to 1 Jan. 1591 Presumably this description was compiled by the clergy of the Church of the Intercession on the Moat, possibly with the participation of Archpriest Demetrius, who is mentioned in the story about the first 6 miracles; in 1589-1590 Archpriest Dimitri recorded cases of miracles of the blessed one. John of Moscow. The description of the first 6 miracles of V.B., apparently, was compiled already in August. 1588, it is found separately from the life in one of the earliest manuscripts reporting on V.B. - State Historical Museum. Uvar. No. 1797 (Tsarsk. No. 520), con. XVI century On Sept. and Oct. 1588 miracles 7-21 were recorded, in Aug. 1590 - Jan. 1591 added miracles 22-24 and miracles that took place in the city of Likhvin.
The glorification of V.B. was performed in a solemn atmosphere and, apparently, was connected with the preparation for the establishment of the Patriarchate in Russia, since, among other things, it was necessary to demonstrate to the Greek people who were in Moscow. delegation the wealth of spiritual gifts of the Russian Church. According to Fletcher, the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, where the relics of the saint were transferred, was visited with the greatest respect not only ordinary people, but also the highest nobility, the “emperor” (Tsar Theodore) and the “empress” (Tsarina Irina); Cathedral bells rang day and night, announcing miracles performed through the prayers of V.B. (According to Fletcher, some miracles at the tomb of the blessed one in the period from January to May 1589 were falsified by the monks, for example, the “healing” of an imaginary lame, caught in deception and imprisoned in a monastery, where he accused the monks who forced him to do this - Fletcher P. 219). In 1589, the Tsar and Tsarina placed a cover on the tomb of V.B. in the cathedral.
Boris Feodorovich Godunov took an active part in the canonization of the saint. According to the testimony of Archbishop. Arseny of Elasson, a participant in the embassy of Patriarch Jeremiah, Godunov “arranged many silver-gilded shrines, decorating them with numerous pearls and precious stones, and transferred into them the miraculous relics of the saints who shone in Moscow and throughout Russia,” and among them - “St. Blessed Basil the Wonderworker” (quoted from: Dmitrievsky. P. 161). Apparently, we are not talking about the reign of Godunov, but about the previous reign of Theodore Ioannovich. According to Fletcher, in the winter of 1588/89 Godunov carried his sick infant son to V.B.’s temple; He allegedly did not listen to doctors’ advice, and his son died (Fletcher. P. 1270). English The envoy, apparently, writes about Feodor Borisovich Godunov, who was born in the end. 1588 or early 1589, but it is known that he was killed in the beginning. June 1605
Services and days of memory of V.B.
Judging by the earliest collections (RGB. Rum. No. 1831), already at the end. XVI century there were 2 services to the saint of different composition, and one of them was written before the glorification of V.B. in August. 1588 Most lists (80) contain the polyeleos service beginning with Great Vespers, 28 lists begin with Little Vespers, 12 include only one canon. The most ancient canon of V.B. was compiled by the Solovetsky elder Misail before 1587 (in the list of the service of V.B. - RSL. MDA. No. 99 (412) - by the hand of Euthymius (Turkov), who died in 1587, a note was made to the canon: “The creation of Elder Misail Solovetsky”). Already at the end. XVI century the service spread in handwritten collections (Klyuchevsky, p. 319). Apparently in the 90s. XVI century Elasson Archbishop. Arseny wrote in Greek. service to the blessed one. In the collections with the life there is praise by V.B., compiled on the basis of the ikos of the 3rd song of the canon of the 2nd service and the Praise of the Blessed. Isidor Tverdislov. By 1610, there were 3 services in memory of V.B.
In the “Charter of Church Rites Performed in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral” (30s of the 17th century) under August 2. It is written: “We celebrate St. Basil: the gospel roars, the ringing rings loudly. And the sovereign and the Patriarch attend the feast at vespers; and at the all-night vigil there is only one Patriarch with the authorities and the bell rings for him; and the sovereign listens to matins in his entryway; and the sovereign is at mass. And in the cathedral they sing vespers and matins with polyeleos according to the rules, according to their time; and after Matins at the Patriarch’s, the keys report on release to the service, which will order release to the blessing of water, and the bell will ring in the cathedral as soon as the sovereign goes” (RIB. T. 3. Stb. 100-101). Aug 2 After the end of the service, the Patriarchs distributed alms. All R. XVII century The memory of the saint was also celebrated on January 1 - on V.B.’s name day. Then the archpriest of the Intercession Cathedral came to the Patriarch from St. water and received a gift for this “for a prayer service.” From ser. XVII century the number of celebrations of the saint decreased. Since 1659, memory of V.B. 2 Aug. in the Assumption Cathedral “they no longer celebrated, they sang ordinary”, from 1677 the Patriarchs stopped serving in the Intercession Cathedral, appointing instead the bishops who were present in Moscow. The Charter of 1682 prescribes that the solemn celebration of V.B. should be carried out only in the Church of the Intercession on the Moat, “where his relics lie.”
In Russian Prologues ser. XVII century V.B.'s memory is usually placed under August 2. In the Monthly Words, in addition to this day, others are indicated. In the Monthly Words, with a preface, Ser. XVII century (RGADA. F. 357. Op. 1. No. 25 (138)) and in Svyatsy (M., 1646) the death of V.B. is dated to July 3, the reason for this may be the fact that July 3 falls Russian memory saints - Yaroslavl prince. Vasily Vsevolodovich, Archbishop of Novgorod. Vasily Kalika, Bishop of Ryazan Vasily. In the South-West In Rus', the memory of V.B. first appears in the Anthologion (Lvov, 1651) and is distributed in manuscripts in the 2nd half. XVII century In 1738, Uniate Metropolitan. Afanasy Sheptytsky ordered the removal of the memory of a number of Russians from the Trefoloy of 1694. saints, including V.B.
Reverence
In the chapel of V.B. in the Intercession Cathedral - under the patronage of the saint - the large treasury of the sovereign was kept. (In 1595, Prince V. Lebedev and his accomplices planned to “set fire to the city of Moscow in many places, and to rob the treasury at Trinity on St. Basil’s Moat, which at that time was a great treasury” (New Chronicler. pp. 46-47); the plan was discovered, the attackers were executed.) Groom of Ksenia Godunova, son of the dates. cor. Frederick II Hertz. John of Schleswig-Holstein in 1602 wrote about the Trinity Cathedral on the Moat that “in one of the lower aisles of the cathedral there are always fires day and night wax candles, everyone comes there to pray.” Most likely we are talking about a chapel in the name of V.B.
V.B. was revered in subsequent times as a healer and patron of Moscow. In 1722, the Synod considered a report that oil was being sold in V.B.’s chapel, “which is kept in reverence.” People especially often resorted to the blessed one to heal eye diseases. In 1730, the image of V.B. in the Church of the Intercession on the Moat had 6 pendants of “silver eyes” hanging, indicating the healed part of the body. Tradition says that V.B. was revered by the imp. Elizaveta Petrovna, but there is no documentary evidence of this. During the occupation of Moscow by the French, in 1812, the cancer from V.B.’s tomb disappeared, later. in its place a silver-plated copper tombstone was placed under a carved gilded wooden canopy.
The Intercession Cathedral was closed in 1919, services there resumed in 1991. Every year on August 15. A prayer service at the shrine of V.B. in the cathedral is performed by the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'.
Temple building in the name of V.B.
Not many temples dedicated to the blessed one are known. In 1588, a stone church was erected in Moscow in honor of the saint - a chapel of the Intercession Cathedral, where the relics of the saint were transferred. OK. 1590 G.I. Ladyzhensky (Bolshoi or Menshoi), having got rid of the “black disease” through prayers to the blessed one, in gratitude built a church south of Moscow in the city of Likhvin. in the name of V.B. with a chapel in honor of the Resurrection of the Lord, the temple was consecrated on August 2. (Life. P. 71). In 1591-1594. hierome Herman on Stolobny Island on the lake. Seliger erected a wooden church. Epiphany with a chapel in the name of V.B., in 1671, in its place, the stone Church of the Epiphany with chapels was consecrated. John the Theologian V.B. and the Intercession of the Most Holy. Virgin Mary (in 1702 the chapels were abolished). Temples in the name of V.B. were built in Kaluga (1626), Kashin (mentioned in 1621), Penza (XVII century), in the XX century. in Volgodonsk (Rostov region). Chapels in honor of the saint existed in the Archangel Cathedral in the city of Mikhailov, Ryazan district. (built in 1595), in the Annunciation Church. in Tula (built between 1589 and 1625, there was no chapel already in 1685-1686), in the Novgorod church. in the name of the ap. Mark in Detinets (chapel mentioned in 1617), in the lower church of the Transfiguration Cathedral in the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery (XVII century), in the c. Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Nizhny Novgorod women. Monument of the Origin of the Honest Trees (the chapel was consecrated in 1716), in the c. Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God over the tomb of Counts Musin-Pushkin in Simonov Monastery (consecrated in 1839/40).
Source: Chronicle of many riots and devastation of Moscow. state from internal and external enemies. St. Petersburg, 1771. P. 11; RIB. St. Petersburg, 1876. T. 3. Stb. 100-101; T. 13. St. Petersburg, 1909. Stb. 232; Life of St. Blessed Vasily, Christ for the sake of the holy fool. M., 1881; Materials for history, archeology and statistics Moscow. churches, collected from the books and files of the former Patriarchal orders V.I. and G.I. Kholmogorov under the leadership of I.E. Zabelin. M., 1884. No. 60, 83; Dmitrievsky A. [A.] Archbishop Elassonsky Arseny and his memoirs from Russian. stories. K., 1899. P. 161; “Chronicle of the reigning city of Moscow” // Ibid. P. 333; PSRL. St. Petersburg, 1908. T. 21. Part 2. P. 599, 635, 636; M., 2003. T. 5. Issue. 1. pp. 115-116; M., 2000. T. 14. P. 23, 38; T. 34. M., 1978. P. 199-200; Kuznetsov I.I., prot. St. Blessed Vasily and John, for Christ's sake Moscow. miracle workers. M., 1910. S. 33-98, 132-176; Fletcher G. Of the Russe Commonwealth // Rude & Barbarous Kingdom: Russia in the Accounts of the 16th Cent. English Voyagers/Ed. by L. E. Berry and R. O. Crummey. Madison e. a., 1968. P. 219 (in Russian: Fletcher J. About the Russian State // Driving through Muscovy. M., 1991. P. 25-138); Tikhomirov M. N. Rus. chronicle. M., 1979. P. 201; Akathist to St. Blessed Basil, for Christ's sake the holy fool, Moscow. miracle worker. M., 1999; Yakovlev V.V. Novgorod-Pskov Chronicle // Experiments in source study: Old Russian. bookishness. St. Petersburg, 2001. P. 449; Chronicler of old years // Uo D.K. History of one book: Vyatka and “non-modernity” in Russian. culture of Peter's time. St. Petersburg, 2003. App. 10. P. 322.
Lit.: Karamzin N. M. History of the Russian State. T. 5-8. Book 2. M., 1989р5. Note to T. 8. Stb. 27. Note 173; T. 9-12. Book 3. T. 10. Stb. 161-162; Snegirev I. St. Basil the Blessed // DCH. 1864. Part 2. pp. 293-308; Klyuchevsky. Old Russian Lives. P. 319; [Belyankin A. E.]. The story of the life and miracles of St. Blessed Vasily, Christ for the sake of the Fool, Moscow. miracle worker, based on reliable sources and compiled by the author of a description of Pokrovsky and St. Vasily Blessed Cathedral A. M., 1884; Filaret (Gumilevsky). RSv. St. Petersburg, 18814; [Barbarin V.F.]. Life and miracles of St. blessed Vasily and John, Christ for the sake of holy fools, Moscow. miracle workers. M., 18943; Kovalevsky I., priest. St. blessed Basil and John... P. 5-29; Golubinsky. Kuznetsov I.I., prot. Canonization of saints. M., 19032. S. 118, 235, 241, 252, 256, 424-425; Δημητρακόπουλος Θ . ᾿Αρσένιος ᾿Ελασσός (1550-1626). Βίος καί ἔργο. Συμβολή στή μελέτη τῶν μεταβυζαντινῶν λογίων τῆς ᾿Ανατολῆς. ᾿Αθήνα, 1984; Pylyaev M.I. Old Moscow. M., 1990. S. 275-278; Batalov A. L. Mosk. stone architecture XVI century M., 1996. P. 15, 24-26, 122, 170, 172-173, 175, 221-222, 229-234, 244, 311; Timofeeva N.N. Foreign travelers XVI - early. XVIII century about the Intercession Cathedral // Artist's Pages. heritage of Russia of the 16th-20th centuries. M., 1997. P. 89-101; RGADA: Travel. M., 1999. T. 4. P. 92, 126, 136, 148; Kaliganov I. I. Georgy Novy at the east. Slavs M., 2000. P. 354, 357 (sheets 598 volumes - 601 volumes), 463 (sheets 493-499), 466 (sheets 274 volumes - 281 volumes), 470 (sheets 240 - 250), 473, 476 (l. 345 vol. - 355 vol.), 479 (l. 382-392 vol.), 482 (l. 290-312 vol.), 490, 583 (l. 716-716 vol. .), 588 (l. 568-573), 598 (l. 483 vol. - 488), 603 (l. 419-422), 609 (l. 226-233 vol.); Davidenko D. G. Mosk. Simonov Monastery: AKD. M., 2000. P. 15-16.
K. Yu. Yerusalimsky
Iconography
V.B. was depicted as an old man, completely naked, withered by abstinence, with gray curly hair and the same beard, which corresponded to the information from his life and was included in many. iconographic originals: “The hair is gray, curly, the hair is gray, small, curly, completely naked, in the left hand there is a handkerchief scroll, and the right hand prays, fingers up, hair from the ears” (original of the 18th century, published by S. T. Bolshakov) . In some originals, the shape of V.B.’s beard is compared with the shape of St. John the Baptist, apostle Paul, Alexy, man of God, or St. Pafnutia Borovsky, and the hair color is defined as reddish. In the “Guide to the Writing of Icons...” compiled by V. D. Fartusov (1910) trad. V.B.’s iconography is supplemented by an image of a charter with the text of the saint’s life.
The earliest image of V.B. can be considered a miniature of the Shumilov volume of the Front Chronicle of the 70s. XVI century (RNB. F. IV. 232. L. 833), illustrating the news of the events of 1521, when, during the approach of the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey to Moscow, the “righteous bastard Vasily,” who was praying at night in front of the Assumption Cathedral, heard a noise inside the temple and voice from Vladimir icon The Mother of God, who intended to leave her place (this episode was later included in the stamps of the icon “Our Lady of Vladimir with Acts”, 2nd half of the 17th century from the Yaroslavl church of St. John Chrysostom in Korovniki (YAM)). The stable iconography of V. can be traced back to 1588, when the church glorification of the saint took place. In 1589, a tombstone with a rectilinear figure of V.B. and an image of the Holy Trinity in the segment at the top was created, sewn by order of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich and Tsarina Irina in her workshop (State Historical Museum, Pokrovsky Cathedral Museum). Apparently, a similar image of V.B. was also on the lid of an unpreserved silver shrine from 1588. The existence of icons of V.B. before his church glorification is indicated by information about the compilation of a service for him earlier than 1588, about the construction of a stone tent over his coffin before 1588 .( Batalov, Uspenskaya. P. 37), as well as his image on the icon “Campaign Church” (Tokg) of the 3rd quarter. or 70s XVI century Among the most ancient images of V.B. are also images on the icon case of the icon “Our Lady of Tenderness of Korsun” (VSMZ), embedded in 1590 in the Suzdal Evfimiev Monastery by Demid Cheremisinov: a frontal figure on the right field of the small icon case and an image in prayer on the right field of the big icon case. The repetition of the figure of V.B. indicates that the depositor of the icon, the brother of the royal treasurer Dementy Cheremisinov, revered the recently glorified, “new” miracle worker as a prayer book for the “royal childbearing”, the patron of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich and the entire Russian state.
By the turn of the XVI-XVII centuries. in connection with numerous miracles at the tomb of V.B. and the attention of the authorities to the glorification of the new saint, icons of V.B. became widespread, as evidenced by the dedication of churches that had the corresponding icons in the local row of the iconostasis. In the Inventory of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery of 1601, images of V.B. are mentioned: on the field of the icon of the Mother of God and on the fold, apparently inserted into the monastery between 1588 and 1601. (Inventory of buildings and property of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in 1601: Commentary ed. / Compiled by Z. V. Dmitriev and M. N. Sharomazov. St. Petersburg, 1998. P. 80, 167). From the end XVI century The image of V.B. is often found in menaion icons for Aug. (end of the 16th century, P. D. Korin House-Museum; 1701, Tretyakov Gallery).
VB images are divided into 2 main types. The first is a frontal figure with his right hand (or both hands) raised in prayer to his chest, as on the veil of 1589, on the icon “Marching Church” (TOGK) and on the right wing of the folding with a mother-of-pearl panagia in the center, holidays and selected saints of the turn of the 16th century -XVII centuries (SPGIAHMZ). In this case, the saint can be represented completely naked (cover of 1589), in a loincloth (icon “Marching Church”) or with a handkerchief “scroll” in his left hand, covering his loins (fold from SPGIAHMZ). The second, more common type includes numerous icons of V.B., where he, in a three-quarter turn, with raised hands, prays to Christ, the Mother of God or the Holy Trinity (the last two options are probably associated with the dedications of the most important altars of the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin on the Moat, Intercession and Trinity) - icons of the con. XVI - beginning XVII century from the chapel in the name of V.B. of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat (State Historical Museum, Museum of the Intercession Cathedral), from the Annunciation Cathedral in Solvychegodsk (SIHM), from the collection. I. S. Ostroukhov (Tretyakov Gallery), in the State Russian Museum, etc. In such cases, V. B. was often depicted against the backdrop of a landscape and usually did not have a loincloth or scarf. Complete nudity is his stable iconographic feature, distinguishing him from other holy fools; in that period, according to the testimony of hagiographic texts, it was perceived as the nakedness of the “primordial” Adam (Kuznetsov. 1910, p. 73).
The tradition of representing V.B. in prayer is continued by the icon of the 18th-19th centuries. from the local row of the iconostasis of the Intercession chapel of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat. The development of this version is known in the 18th-19th centuries, but probably appeared in the 2nd half. XVII century images of V.B. praying against the backdrop of the Moscow Kremlin and the Intercession Cathedral, following the widespread practice in the art of the 17th-19th centuries. Russian iconography miracle workers as intercessors for the city and its inhabitants. These are the icons of the 1st third of the 18th century. from the iconostasis of the chapel in honor of V.B. of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat (State Historical Museum, Museum of the Intercession Cathedral), con. XVIII century “Vasily and Tsarevich Dimitry of Uglich” (GIM), 30s. XIX century “Basily and Maxim the Blessed” (GMZK), etc. Unlike most early monuments, these icons, as in many others. In other works of the 18th-19th centuries, V.B. is presented in a loincloth.
In Russian art con. XVI-XIX centuries Paired images of V.B. with another saint are common, for example. works of con. XVI-XVII centuries, in which the Moscow ascetic is represented together with St. Basil the Great, his heavenly patron: the veil of con. XVI century (GRM), folding doors from the Pokrovsky Monastery in Suzdal (VSMZ), etc. Obviously, this is a stable composition, similar to a number of images in other Russian. saints together with their heavenly patrons, is associated with the early stage of veneration of V.B., when in the temple where his relics were located, the memory of St. Basil the Great (Jan. 1). A rarer option is the image of V.B. together with the rights. Artemy Verkolsky (icon of the 20s of the 17th century (?), Tretyakov Gallery), probably due to the peculiarities of veneration and iconography of rights. Artemia, whose appearance and clothes are close to tradition. attributes of holy fools. On the icon XVIII century “Vasily and Tsarevich Dimitri of Uglich” (GIM) saints, depicted against the backdrop of the Moscow Kremlin, are united as local miracle workers and intercessors of the city. It is possible that this monument is based on a legend included in one of the editions of the saint’s life about how V.B. predicted to Queen Anastasia the birth of her son Demetrius and his martyrdom, which does not correspond to the real events of the 16th century. (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 92).
Much more often, V.B. was depicted in a pair with the Moscow holy fools Maxim of Moscow and John the Great Kolpak. The appearance of such compositions may be associated with the belonging of the same saints and the location of the churches where the ascetics were buried: the tombs of V.B. and John were located on the sides of the Holy Trinity aisle of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, and the grave of Maxim was in the neighboring church. Maxim the Blessed (Maxim the Confessor) on Varvarka. The general veneration of V.B. and John was manifested in numerous icons with their image, which apparently existed already in the 17th century. (a 19th-century icon in the State Historical Museum, the Intercession Cathedral Museum), and in the composition of the local row of the iconostasis of the Intercession chapel of the Intercession Cathedral on the Moat, where the paired icons of these holy fools are located (XVIII-XIX centuries). On some icons of that time, V.B. and John are represented in prayer before the image of the Intercession of the Mother of God, the temple icon of the cathedral where their relics rest (the icon of 1780 on the southern facade of the bell tower of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat). In the 19th century Such icons sometimes included an image of the cathedral itself. Joint images of V.B. and his predecessor, Blessed. Maxim Moskovsky, have been known since the end. XVI century (icon “March Church” in TOGK). In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Blessed V. and Maxim were usually depicted against the backdrop of the Moscow Kremlin (icon of the 30s of the 19th century, GMZK). This duo is constantly found on the “Six Days” icons, made in the beginning. XIX century in the workshop of the Palekh icon painter V.I. Khokhlov (CMiAR, collected by P.D. Korin in the State Tretyakov Gallery, etc.): the mark with the figures of Moscow holy fools is on the lower field and closes the row of Russian images. saints in the margins, located symmetrically with the stamp with the figures of blessed Isidore and John and next to the scene of the murder of Tsarevich Demetrius of Uglich. Together with other Moscow saints, V.B. and Maxim were represented on the miraculous Bogolyubskaya Moscow Icon of the Mother of God from the Varvarsky Gate of Kitay-Gorod and its numerous copies. Obviously, this feature of the icon was connected with the legend about the saint’s stay at the Varvarsky Gate, as well as with the fact that not far from the gate there were temples with the burials of these holy fools and the Kulishki tract, where, according to life, V.B. found refuge in the house of Stefanida Yurlova. The icon painting of the 18th-19th centuries is known. with images of 3 Moscow blessed - V.B., Maxim and John (GRM).
Soon after his glorification in 1588, V.B. began to be depicted together with other Russians. holy fools, primarily Rostov and Ustyug. This is a series of 3 icons. XVI - beginning XVII century from the Annunciation Cathedral of Solvychegodsk (SIHM), which includes V.B., Procopius of Ustyug and Isidor of Rostov, who were especially revered in the Stroganov family. This tradition continues through the veil of the 60s. 17th century, commissioned for the same temple by G. D. Stroganov (SIHM), in which, in addition to V. B. and Maxim of Moscow, Procopius and John of Ustyug and Isidore of Rostov are depicted. Together with Maxim of Moscow, Procopius of Ustyug and Vasily the Great, V.B. was presented on the folding doors of the horse. XVI century from the Pokrovsky Monastery in Suzdal (VSMZ), and together with the Ustyug holy fools and St. Alexy, Metropolitan Moscow, - on the back of the altar icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of the Cathedral in the name of St. Procopius in Vel. Ustyug (Description of Great Ustyug in the Ustyug scribal book “letters and measures of Mikita Vysheslavtsov and clerk Agey Fedorov in the years 131 and 132 and 133 and 134” // Being on Ustyuz...: Historical and local history collection. Vologda, 1993. P. 171) . In the latter case, the combination of images of saints may be due to the dedications of the altars of the cathedral and its winter church.
From the end XVI century the figure of V.B. was included in icons with images of the ranks of holiness. the earliest examples are the icon “Rejoices in You” from the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. from the collection of I. S. Ostroukhov (Tretyakov Gallery), where on the left side of the composition the face of holy fools is presented, as well as a series of folded beginnings. XVII century works of the Tsarist or Stroganov masters with the image of the Mother of God of Vladimir and holidays in the centerpiece and the faces of saints on the doors (Tretyakov Gallery, State Russian Museum). In these cases, V.B. was depicted among the Greeks. and Russian holy fools, sometimes there were figures of hermits, Saints Onuphrius, Peter of Athos and others. The comparison of the images of holy fools and saints is known from a number of other Russian. monuments of the 16th-17th centuries, for example. icon “Marching Church” (TOGK), where V.B. and Maxim of Moscow are represented in the same register with the reverends and next to the saint. Mary of Egypt; Icon "Six Days" con. XVII century from c. Mother of God of Tikhvin in Yaroslavl (YAM), cut in Russian. the holy fools, including V.B., are depicted together with the monks Varlaam of Khutyn, Mary of Egypt, Zosima and Onuphry. This principle continues the traditions of Russian. iconography of the late Middle Ages, when images of saints are compared, whose lives and iconographic signs of c.-n. features reminiscent of the feat of foolishness. This feature finds a parallel in the texts of V.B.’s service, where he is likened not only to the holy fools Simeon and Andrei Tsaregradsky, but also Venerable Macarius The Great, Onuphrius the Great and Paul of Thebes.
There are numerous images of V.B. in the host of Russian, and especially Moscow, miracle workers, usually next to other Moscow holy fools. Together with Russian it is represented by the venerables and saints on the folding door of the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. (SPGIAHMZ). The earliest example of the inclusion of V.B. among the Moscow miracle workers is a folding house at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries. letters from Istoma Savin (Tretyakov Gallery), where together with the Moscow metropolitans V.B. and Blessed John and Maxim pray to the Mother of God. Image by V.B. along with other Russian. saints is located on one of the fragments of the veil of 1637 (GMMK), made for the tomb of Vel. Kng. Euphrosyne in the Moscow Ascension Monastery; V.B., blessed Maxim and John are depicted on the icon “Praise of the Mother of God of Vladimir” (“Tree of the Russian State”), written by Simon Ushakov from c. The Holy Trinity in Nikitniki (1668, Tretyakov Gallery), where medallions with their images are placed next to the Moscow saints, and the medallion with V.B. is symmetrical to the image of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, under whom the glorification of the saint took place. A special feature of V.B.’s iconography in this work is the presence of a scroll with an inscription glorifying the Mother of God: “... Rejoice, fragrant aroma that has embraced the hearts of the faithful.” Among the host of Moscow miracle workers, as well as Rostov saints (including holy fools), V.B. is represented on the last icon. Thursday XVII century from the village Demyany near Rostov (SPGIAHMZ), with Moscow miracle workers - on the lower field of the fresco icon “Our Lady of the Sign”, with selected saints, 1st quarter. XVIII century to the east facade of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, on the lower field there are icons from the 80s. XVIII century above the entrance to the chapel in the name of V.B. Cathedral (State Historical Museum, Museum "Pokrovsky Cathedral"), compositionally close to the fresco, as well as on the widespread cast Old Believer folding walls of the 18th-20th centuries. with the image of the twelve feasts on 4 doors (the earliest is a folding, 1711, State Historical Museum), where in one of the stamps against the backdrop of the Moscow Kremlin the Moscow Metropolitans, V.B. and Maxim, are represented praying in front of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.
In addition to works of icon painting and applied art, the image of V.B. is found in facial manuscripts of his life and in engravings of the 18th-19th centuries, including with blessed John and Maxim (Rovinsky. Folk pictures. No. 253) and in the burial scene of V. . B. Met. Macarius.
Life cycles of V.B. are quite rare. it can be assumed that icons with the marks of the saint’s life existed at the turn of the 16th-17th centuries, during the era of his widest veneration. According to the Inventory of Novgorod of 1617, in the iconostasis of the chapel in the name of V.B., built in the church. Mark the Evangelist in Detinets, there were only 2 local images, one of which, “on gold, in action,” could be a temple icon of this chapel (Inventory of Novgorod 1617, M., 1984. Part 1. P. 38) . The cycles of V.B.’s life and individual scenes of miracles are preserved on the frame of the 1st floor. XIX century, executed for the icon of the late. XVI century from the chapel in the name of V.B. of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat (State Historical Museum, Museum "Intercession Cathedral"), depicting lifetime miracles and the burial of the saint, as well as in a number of manuscripts of the 18th-19th centuries. with the texts of the lives of V.B. and John the Great Cap and with a different number of scenes. The most detailed are the cycles of miniatures in the manuscripts of the con. XVIII - beginning XIX century (GIM. Bars. 787 - 37 miniatures; GIM. Muz. 32 - 38 miniatures). Similar cycles include images of V.B., scenes of the saint’s lifetime miracles and posthumous healings at his shrine. A brief hagiographical cycle is presented in a 19th-century manuscript. from the collection of the State Historical Museum (Khlud. 245), with miniatures depicting V.B.’s lifetime miracles, including the deliverance of Novgorod from fire, the miracle with the fur coat and the miracle with the evil innkeeper. Some of the saint's miracles were included in the painting. XIX century chapel in honor of V.B. of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat (rescue of a sinking ship on the Caspian Sea, a miracle with a fur coat) and decorated the longitudinal walls of the shrine of V.B., performed in 1896 (rescue of a ship on the Caspian Sea, deliverance of Novgorod from fire). There are separate images of the miracle of V.B. on the Caspian Metro - an icon of the 18th-19th centuries, located in the basement tier of the iconostasis of the Intercession chapel of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, under the icon of the saint, and an icon of V.B. and John of 1780 to the south. facade of the bell tower of the same cathedral. In the Moscow church of the martyr. Tryphon in Naprudnaya Sloboda, an icon of V.B. was kept with the scene of his burial.
Lit.: Kuznetsov I.I., priest. Intercession (St. Basil) Cathedral in Moscow: St. Basil and John for Christ's sake Fools: Place of Execution. M., 1900. pp. 19-21, 23. Fig. 17, 19, 23, 27, 28; aka, Rev. St. Blessed Basil and John, for Christ's sake Moscow. miracle workers // Zap. Moscow archaeol. in-ta. M., 1910. T. 8. P. 10, 11, 20, 22-24, 266, 366, 374-375, 379-387, 395-396; Bolshakova. The original is iconographic. P. 125; Fartusov. Guide to painting icons. P. 374; Mayasova N. A. Kremlin “brightlitsa” under Irina Godunova // GMK: Materials and research. M., 1976. Issue. 2. pp. 45-46. Ill. 3-4; Markelov. The Saints Ancient Rus'. T. 1. No. 53, 56, 74, 75, 76, 77, 128, 164, 169, 179; T. 2. No. 88. P. 71-72. Rice. 17; Batalov A. L., Uspenskaya L. S. Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat (St. Basil's Cathedral). M., 2002;
Preobrazhensky A. S.
Monk and holy fool: comparison of two types of holiness in Russian. Iconography of the late Middle Ages // Russian Iconography. Severa: Sat. Art. (in the press).
A. S. Preobrazhensky
Icon of St. Basil the Blessed. The middle part is the 16th century, the scenes of life are from the end of the 19th century. Intercession Cathedral on Red Square. Image from varvar.ru
One of the most famous Moscow holy fools is St. Basil the Blessed. In Rus', they have always revered the holy fools for Christ's sake - people who lived in the world according to the law of the gospel spirit, and with their lives aggravated to the limit the contradiction between the everyday and the heavenly, which is why their life sometimes seemed like madness. Disdaining external “decency,” they often pretended to be “fools” themselves in order to hide their holiness and insight and expose the world in spiritual dormancy. The right to reprove the saints was given by dispassion and a pure heart.
An infantile teenager or an exposer of lies?
There are so many cases now where sixteen-year-old teenagers mindlessly break car windows, damage things, and try to “express themselves” through provocative clothing and hairstyles.
At first glance, Saint Basil, at 16, sometimes seemed like young infantiles: he walked around informally dressed in rags and chains (or undressed), acted outrageously in public places - throwing rolls from the counters at the market, pouring kvass from the jugs of traders.
If a good deed doesn't work
Icon of St. Basil the Blessed. Late 16th - early 17th century. Image from varvar.ru
One merchant was unable to build a temple: as soon as the skilled craftsmen installed the stone vaults, the structure fell to the ground with a roar. This happened three times. A confused merchant came to St. Basil the Blessed for help: a good deed, skilled craftsmen, but things are not going well. Why?
The blessed one sent the merchant to Kyiv, telling him to find poor John there and ask him for advice. Of course, he could have answered the merchant himself, but the blessed often hid their insight in order to avoid fame and pride. The merchant immediately went to the indicated place, and when he went to John’s house, he saw the following picture: a poor man was sitting in his hut and rocking a cradle in which there was no child.
The merchant asked John why he was doing this. In response I heard: “I am supporting my mother, I am paying off the unpaid debt for my birth and upbringing.” At that moment the merchant realized:
he could not build the temple because he kicked his mother out of the house.
Having returned, the merchant first asked for forgiveness from his mother and returned her to his home. After this the temple was built.
An evil spirit disguised as a beggar
A modern icon of St. Basil with scenes from his life. Image from sophia.net
St. Basil taught people not to do good formally, much less selfishly. The person’s heart was open to him, and he knew that often a person giving alms thinks something like this: “I will help this poor man, and the Lord will send me success in business for this.” Denouncing such “mercy”, St. Basil said that the evil spirit specifically takes on the appearance of a beggar: when someone gave him money, he immediately settled his everyday issues, thus pushing the person to goodness in the spirit of “you - me, I - you". True mercy is selfless and compassionate, the saint said.
The blessed one himself first of all helped those who did not ask for help, although they needed it.
For example, there was one merchant who for three days did not have even a crumb of bread in his mouth, but did not dare to beg because he was richly dressed. The saint gave him expensive royal gifts, which he himself had recently received.
With affection and prayer
Moscow wonderworker Blessed Basil. Artist Vitaly Grafov, 2005. Image from bankgorodov.ru
How often can you hear sharp words of condemnation addressed to those people who have lost their way in life: this guy like that, drinks, doesn’t work, just sits in front of the computer... But anger and condemnation cannot correct human vices...
The blessed one often approached taverns, where he spoke kindly with those who had “descended” and tried to instill hope in them.
And it helped many people return to normal life. Of course, behind the saint’s affection was his fiery prayer, which quickly reached God.
And if a saint happened to pass near a house from which the sounds of drunken festivities and abuse were heard, he hugged the corner of this house and cried. When the blessed one was asked to explain why he hugged the corners of taverns, he said: “Sorrowful angels stand at the house and lament over human sins, and with tears I begged them to pray to the Lord for the conversion of sinners.”
I put out fires with love
St. Basil the Blessed. Book miniature, 19th century. Image from varvar.ru
One day, Ivan the Terrible invited the blessed one to the royal chambers for a conversation. As a sign of respect, a cup of wine was brought to the blessed one. The blessed one poured it out. They brought it up again and poured it out again, and so on three times. Tsar John Vasilyevich was angry. And Vasily said that this is how he puts out the Novgorod fire.
Soon the king's messengers confirmed the words of the blessed one: according to the testimony of the Novgorodians, during the fire they saw everywhere a naked man with a water-carrier, dousing the flames, causing the fire to stop. The miraculous extinguishing of the terrible Moscow fire in 1547 by Saint Basil is also known.
Basil the Blessed reposed on August 2 (according to the new article - 15) 1552. His burial was headed by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow himself. The relics of the blessed one were initially placed in the Church of the Holy Trinity (on the Moat).
During the reign of Ivan the Terrible's son Fyodor Ioanovich, chronicles write about many miracles that occurred from the relics of St. Basil.
In the 1560s, on the site of the Holy Trinity Church, the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Moat was built. One of the chapels was erected over the grave of St. Basil the Blessed, and since then the cathedral has not been called anything other than by his name among the people.
Basil the Blessed, the most famous of the holy fools with whom Rus' abounded, was born in 1468 in the village of Elohovo, not far from Moscow, into the family of pious peasants Jacob and Anna.
From childhood he led an ascetic life, constantly prayed, and even then the first shoots of Divine grace became noticeable in him. As a boy he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. One day a merchant came into the shop and ordered a lot of new boots. Sixteen-year-old Vasily laughed at him. When the customer left, the owner began to ask the young man about the reasons for his behavior. Vasily replied that it was strange to order so many boots that would last for many years, because this person was supposed to die the next day. His prediction came true. After this, Vasily no longer wanted to stay with the owner or return to his parents and headed to Moscow.
Lost in the noisy city crowd, he chose the ascetic path of feigned madness in order to participate as fully as possible in the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ, completely refusing respect from people. Having no permanent home or even a place to lay his head, he lived almost naked on the streets and in public places, spending his nights in prayer on the church porch. Among the crowd, he maintained silence as strictly as hermits in the desert; forced to speak, he pretended to be tongue-tied. Having no close people, having renounced the world and its attachments, he showed great sympathy for the unfortunate, sick and oppressed. He often visited prisoners in prison who were imprisoned for drunkenness in order to convert them to reform.
In an era when fear and oppression reigned in society, the life of Saint Basil served as a living reproach to the unrighteous boyars and consolation for the disadvantaged. Almost all of his actions had a prophetic meaning. For example, the blessed one many times threw stones at the corners of houses where pious people lived, and when he passed by houses whose owners were stuck in sins, he kissed the corners of the walls. When asked about the reasons for such strange behavior, Vasily replied that in houses where holiness reigns, there is no place for demons, and therefore, seeing them outside, he drove them away with stones. On the contrary, kissing the corners of the wicked houses, he greeted the angels who remained outside, unable to enter inside. At the market, he overturned the counters of dishonest traders. One day, having received money from the king, he, contrary to custom, did not distribute it to the poor, but gave it to a well-dressed merchant, who, having lost his fortune, did not dare to ask for alms and was dying of hunger.
In 1521, when the Tatar army of Mehmet Giray threatened Moscow, Saint Basil, shedding copious tears, prayed for his homeland in front of the gates of the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin. Suddenly, a terrible noise was heard in the church, a flame broke out, and a voice from the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God announced that She was leaving Moscow because of the sins of its inhabitants. The saint intensified his prayers - and the terrible phenomenon disappeared. Mehmet Giray, who had already set the city suburbs on fire, was driven away from the city by an army that arrived in time and fled beyond the borders of Rus'.
Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible loved Blessed Vasily and treated him with great respect, just like Saint Metropolitan Macarius. One day, a saint, invited to the palace for a royal feast, poured wine out the window three times. When the tsar asked him with irritation what he was doing, he replied that he was putting out a fire in Novgorod. A little later, messengers brought news of a big fire that actually happened in Novgorod. The fire, however, did not break out, because a certain strange-looking man walked naked through the streets and sprinkled the burning houses. Seeing Vasily, the messengers recognized him as the man of God who extinguished the flame.
Another time, in 1547, the saint began to cry bitterly in front of the church of the Exaltation Monastery, in the place where, some time later, a great fire began that devastated Moscow. Soon after this disaster, when the king was present at Divine Liturgy The blessed one, standing in the corner, looked at him carefully. After the liturgy, he said to the king: “You were not in the temple, but in another place.” The Tsar began to protest, but Vasily repeated: “You are telling a lie. I saw how in your thoughts you went to Vorobyovy Gory to build yourself a new palace there.” From that moment on, the king began to fear the saint and respect him even more. But this respect did not prevent him from showing cruelty, which became the talk of the town.
Saint Basil also appeared to people on a ship in distress and saved them from death. He performed many more miracles during the 62 years of his feat of foolishness.
At the age of 88, the saint fell ill. Having learned about this, the king and his family immediately hurried to him to ask for his prayers. On his deathbed, Basil uttered prophecies about the future of the kingdom, then his face lit up because he saw a host of angels who appeared to receive his soul. Having come to admiration, he rested in joy on August 2, 1557.
The whole city was then filled with fragrance, and many people gathered for his funeral. The Tsar and his sons carried him on their shoulders to the church, where the Metropolitan and the bishops were waiting for them. On the grave of the blessed one, which became a source of healing for the faithful not only from Moscow, but also from other regions, a temple was built in honor of the Intercession of the Mother of God, in memory of the capture of Kazan. Later, the temple was popularly called St. Basil's Cathedral.
Miracles associated with the saint did not stop. And in 1588, under Metropolitan Saint Job, Basil the Blessed was canonized. On this day, 120 sick people received healing at the relics of the saint.
St. Basil the Blessed is revered as the patron saint of Moscow.
Compiled by Hieromonk Macarius of Simonopetra,
adapted Russian translation - Sretensky Monastery Publishing House
1468, village of Elokhovo near Moscow - August 2, 1557, Moscow
St. Basil the Blessed is a Russian saint, holy fool: sometimes he is called “Basily the Naked.”
The wisdom of the humble, says Jesus, the son of Sirach, will lift up his head and make him sit among the nobles. The pagans will proclaim his wisdom, and the church will confess his praise (Sir. 11, 1; 39, 13)
These wise traits are clearly revealed in the life of the humble servant of God Basil the Blessed, the Moscow wonderworker; his godly foolishness lifted up his head and made him sit with the princes of his people; many praised his intelligence, and his name will be an eternal memory; The Holy Church will tell his praises from ancient times, blessing him as one of the people of God.
Blessed Vasily was born in December 1468, according to legend, on the porch of the Yelokhovsky Church near Moscow in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. The date is determined based on the indications from most sources of “the years of the blessed belly in 88.” Since the year of death 7065 is beyond doubt, we get 7065-88=6977 (1468). His parents Jacob and Anna were simple people, and when the boy grew up, he was sent to study shoemaking. During the teaching of the blessed one, his master had to witness one amazing incident when he realized that his student was an extraordinary person. One merchant brought bread to Moscow on barges and went into the workshop to order boots, asking them to be made in such a way that they would not be worn out in a year. Blessed Vasily shed tears: “We will sew you such that you will not wear them out.” In response to the master’s puzzled question, the student explained that the customer would not even put on new boots, since he would soon die. A few days later the prophecy came true.
At the age of 16, Blessed Vasily fled from his parents’ house, but not into the silent desert, where he could more easily ascend with reverent thoughts into the mountains, but withdrew (which might seem strange) to the populous city of Moscow, where, according to the word of the psalm, lawlessness, untruth, interest and flattery become scarce. The monk showed by his example that it is not a place that saves a person or places obstacles to his salvation, but a pious person sanctifies every place, for he lived in the city as in the desert and among the people he remained as if in the monastery of the penitent.
Having chosen a crowded city as an unusual place for his asceticism, the blessed one also chose an unusual path to the Heavenly City - the foolishness of Christ. Throughout his entire ascetic life, he always had before his eyes the terrible day of the Lord’s retribution and did not wear any clothing, but wished to always be naked, as if he were already approaching the unceremonious judgment seat of the Son of God. Neither in winter nor in summer, he never had shelter, or even any small den, that is, a cave, but suffered from frost and scorching heat. Like the primordial Adam before his crime, he walked naked and was not ashamed, adorned from above with spiritual beauty, not caring about his body and attributing the unbearable frost as if to some kind of warmth, for the body of the righteous, warmed by the grace of God, was stronger than the cold, and fire.
The actions of the blessed one were strange: he would knock over a tray of rolls of bread, or spill a jug of kvass. Angry merchants beat the blessed one, and he
He accepted the beatings with joy and thanked God for them. Then it was discovered that the rolls were baked from flour with harmful impurities, and the kvass was unusable. Thus, a special instructive meaning was revealed in the actions of the blessed one. The veneration of Blessed Basil quickly grew: he was recognized as a holy fool, a man of God, and a denouncer of untruth.
One merchant planned to build on Pokrovka in Moscow stone church, but three times its arches collapsed. The merchant turned to the blessed one for advice, and he sent him to Kyiv: “Find poor John there, he will give you advice on how to complete the church.” Arriving in Kyiv, the merchant found John, who was sitting
in a poor house and rocked an empty cradle. “Who are you rocking?” - asked the merchant. “Dear mother, I pay (that is, repay) the unpaid debt for my birth and upbringing.” Then the merchant only remembered his mother, whom he had kicked out of the house, and it became clear to him why he could not finish building the church. Returning
to Moscow, he returned his mother home, repented of his act, and asked her forgiveness. After this, he successfully completed the construction of the temple.
Constantly exhausting his flesh with extraordinary abstinence and exploits that exceeded human strength, Blessed Basil kept his soul free from passions, living among the people and the rumors of everyday life, as if on a lonely pillar, and remaining silent, as if completely silent, in order to hide his virtue from people. His spiritual appeal to God was expressed in the saint’s body itself, for his head was always raised to heaven and his eyes were fixed on the mountain; therefore, the Lord glorified His saint on earth with wonderful signs and the gift of insight into the future.
When the monk secretly walked around the holy churches at night to pray, the church gates opened for him, like a good man of prayer. The chronicler tells of a wonderful vision that God revealed to Blessed Basil in 1521 before the formidable invasion of Makhmet-Girey. He came one night to the cathedral church of Our Lady and stood for a long time in front of the holy gates, looking sadly at them and secretly praying to God with tears. And then some who stood near him heard a great noise inside the church and saw a terrible flame in it, which came from all its windows, so that the whole church seemed to be on fire, and in time the flames subsided. And another time, the chronicler narrates, the humane God, who did not want our final destruction, but let us cease from anger and let us not rely on fleeting wealth, allowed a terrible fire to happen on June 21, 1543, and again there was a revelation about this in advance to Blessed Basil.
After these fires, at noon on July 8, the blessed one came to the Monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, stood before the doors of the church, which at that time were wooden, and, looking at them, cried inconsolably. The people walking by marveled, not understanding the reason for their crying, and they only found out later, when the next day a terrible fire broke out and the flames from the church spread to the neighboring streets. Neglinnaya, Bolshoi Posad and the entire Great Market and the very courtyard of the Tsar and the Metropolitan burned down - all this was accomplished in the blink of an eye: not only wooden churches, but also stone ones fell apart and iron melted like tin.
No matter how much Blessed Vasily tried to hide the height of his virtue with his foolishness, he could not, according to the word of the Gospel, hide the city standing on top of the mountain. It happened one day that Blessed Basil, on the day of the king’s name, was invited to the chambers. He took the healthy cup into his hand and poured it out of the window three times, thus arousing the indignation of the king, who thought that the blessed one was neglecting him. But St. Vasily boldly said to the sovereign: “Cease from your anger, O Tsar, and know that with the outpouring of this drink I extinguished the flame that engulfed the whole of Novgorod, and the burning stopped.” Having said this, he rushed out of the royal chambers; those who chased him could not overtake him, for when he ran to the Moscow River, he walked straight through the waters and became invisible. The king, who saw this from his tower, was horrified. Although he revered Vasily as a holy man, he nevertheless doubted that he had announced the fire of Veliky Novgorod, and, noticing the day and hour, he sent a messenger there. Only then did the truth emerge. The townspeople testified to the messenger that during the general burning of the city, a naked man suddenly appeared with a water-carrier, who doused the flames, and it went out. This was the very day and hour when the monk fled from the royal feast. Then the king was filled with even greater respect for Blessed Basil. Some time later, people from Novgorod happened to be in Moscow; they recognized Saint Basil that it was the same one who put out the fire in the city. All the people glorified the Lord, marvelous in His saints.
It occurred to the king to build himself a house on the Sparrow Hills, and he began the construction. Having come to the church one day on a holiday, the king was thinking about how to complete the building splendidly. Saint Basil also came to the same temple and, hiding from the face of the king, stood in the corner, looking at the king and observing with his inner eye what was happening in his thoughts. After the Divine service, the Tsar ascended to his chambers, followed by Blessed Basil. The sovereign began to ask him: “Where were you during the liturgy?” The blessed one answered him: “In the same place where you are.” And when the king said that he had not seen him, the blessed one again objected: “I saw you and even where you truly were, in the temple or in another place.” “I have never been anywhere but in the temple,” said the king. “No,” the blessed one exposed his secret thought, “I saw you mentally walking along the Sparrow Hills and building your palace. And so you were not in the temple of the Lord, but Vasily was there, for after singing “Let us now put aside every care of this life,” with the holy Cherubim, he worshiped God, not thinking about anything earthly. To stand in the temple and think about worldly things means not to be in it “The king was moved and said: “So it was true with me,” and he began to fear the blessed one even more as an exposer of his secret thoughts.
“True testimony is also brought from the enemy,” sings the Holy Church, praising Blessed Basil. Indeed, even the very enemies of Christ revealed the miraculous power of God through the visible intercession of the blessed one on their behalf. It happened that a Persian ship, in which there were many people, was sailing along the Caspian Sea. A strong storm arose and the waves began to flood the ship, the helmsman did not steer the ship, for he had lost his way in the midst of the stormy elements - there was no longer any hope of salvation. Along with the Persians, there were several Orthodox Christians on the ship; in the hour of danger, they remembered Blessed Basil and said to the infidels sailing with them: “In Rus', in Moscow, we had Blessed Basil, who walks on the waters, and the waves listen to him: he has great boldness to Christ our God is able to save our ship, which is being drowned by the waves, from sinking, and to save us.” As soon as they uttered this word, they saw a naked man standing on the waters, who, taking their ship by the rudder, directed it through the stormy waves. Soon the waves subsided and the wind stopped, and everyone was saved from impending death. The Persians who returned to their land told their ruler about the former miracle. The Shah wrote about this to Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and when some of the rescued Persians arrived in Moscow on trade business, they met Blessed Basil on the streets of the city and recognized him as the very man who saved them from drowning.
One of the Moscow nobles loved Blessed Vasily, and Vasily himself often visited him. One day, when the holy fool came to him in the bitter cold, the boyar began to beg him to at least cover his nakedness in such a harsh time. “Do you really want this?” “I truly wish,” answered the boyar, “that you put on my clothes, for I love you with all my heart.” The blessed one smiled and said: “Okay, my lord, do as you wish, for I love you too.” The boyar was delighted and brought him his own fox fur coat, covered with red cloth, and Vasily, clothed in it, walked through the streets and squares of the city. Crafty people, seeing the saint in such unusual clothing from afar, set out to cunningly ask him for a fur coat. One of them lay down on the road and presented himself as if dead, while the others, when the holy fool approached them, fell to the ground before him and asked him to give them something for the burial of the false dead. Blessed Vasily sighed from the depths of his heart about their damnation and asked: “Is their comrade truly dead and how long ago did he die?” They answered that at that very moment, and the blessed one, taking off his fur coat, covered the supposedly deceased, saying: “It is written in the psalms: those who are evil will be consumed.” When the righteous man departed, the deceivers discovered that their comrade was indeed dead.
Preaching mercy, the blessed one helped first of all those who were ashamed to ask for alms, and yet needed help more than others. There was a case when he gave rich royal gifts to a foreign merchant, who was left without everything, and although he had not eaten anything for three days, he could not ask for help, since he was wearing good clothes.
Blessed Basil severely condemned those who gave alms for selfish purposes, not out of compassion for poverty and misfortune, but hoping in an easy way to attract God's blessing to their deeds. One day the blessed one saw a demon who took the form of a beggar. He sat at the Prechistensky Gate and provided immediate assistance in business to everyone who gave alms. The man of God unraveled the crafty invention and drove out the demon. For the sake of saving his neighbors, Blessed Vasily also visited taverns, where he tried to see the grain of goodness even in the most degraded people, reinforce them with affection, and encourage them. Once he came to an inn, the owner of which was angry at heart and brought wine with abuse, often repeating the name of the demon. Blessed Basil stood at the door and, grieving in spirit, looked at those who came to drink. Following him, a man stood up, his body shaking from much drunkenness, and began to ask the innkeeper to quickly give him wine for money, but out of impatience, in a fit of anger, he shouted at him: “The evil one will not take you, drunkard, who prevents me from serving you to the best.” Hearing such a word, the newcomer protected himself with the sign of the cross, taking wine from his hands, and Blessed Vasily, as if acting like a fool, laughed loudly and applauded him, saying: “You have done well, man, do so always to be saved from the invisible.” enemy." Those who were in the inn asked about the reason for the laughter, and the holy fool answered them wisely for Christ’s sake: “When the innkeeper called on the name of the evil one, then with his word he went into the vessel; when the one who wanted to drink wine protected himself with the sign of the cross, a demon came out of the vessel and fled from the tavern. I laughed with great joy and praise those who remember Christ our Savior and make the sign of the cross in all their deeds, which reflects all the power of the enemy.”
The holy fool walked through the marketplace for Christ's sake, where women were sitting selling their handicrafts. They laughed at his nakedness and they all went blind. One of them, being more intelligent than the others, as soon as she felt that she was losing her sight, taking advantage of the remaining light, rushed after blessed Basil, begging him to stop. With tears, she fell at his feet, repenting of her sin, and the blessed one good-naturedly told her: “You will see the light if you correct yourself.” He blew on her eyes and she saw clearly. The healed woman begged him to return to her friends, who were sitting in the marketplace in their blindness, the man of God condescendingly fulfilled her desire and restored their sight to all of them.
Many noticed that when the saint passed by a house in which a prayer service was being sung, or the Divine Scripture was being read, or they were talking about God, he collected stones and, with a smile, threw them into the corners of this house. When people who were accustomed to inquiring about his strange actions asked why he threw stones, he answered: “I drive away demons, who have no place in such a house, full of shrines, so that they do not cleave outside it, and I mentally thank the ruler of the house that gives them a place." If he passed by such a house where they drank wine, or sang shameless songs, or danced, then with tears he would hug the corners of the house and answer the questions of those walking by: “What is unbecoming for Christians is happening in this house. The Savior commanded us to pray unceasingly, so that we do not fall into misfortune, and not to console ourselves with vain affairs; it is said in the Gospel: Woe to you who laugh now, for you will weep and weep (Luke 6:24). This house drives away from itself its guardians - the holy angels assigned to us at the font, for they do not tolerate such indecent acts. And since there is no place for them, they sit on the corners, mournful and despondent, and with tears I begged them to pray to the Lord for the conversion of sinners.” Listening to such a reasonable conversation of the holy fool, the people were touched and thanked God for such a wonderful adviser.
He smashed the image on the Varvarinsky Gate with a stone Mother of God, which has long been considered miraculous. A crowd of pilgrims, flocking from all over Rus' for the purpose of healing, attacked him and began to beat him to death.
The holy fool said: “And you will scratch the paint layer!”
Having removed the paint layer, people saw that under the image of the Mother of God there was a “devilish mug”.
Despite the hardships and hardships experienced during his life, Blessed Basil reached a ripe old age. When, at God’s discretion, the time had come for the earthly to turn into the earth, a dying illness seized the righteous man, and for the first time he lay down on his bed. Hearing about his imminent death, Tsar John with his wife Anastasia and children John and Theodore came to accept his blessing. The blessed one, already with his last breath, prophetically said to Tsarevich Theodore: “All your ancestors will be yours and you will be their heir.” At this time, extraordinary joy illuminated the face of Blessed Basil, for he contemplated the coming to him of the Angels of God, into whose hands he betrayed his righteous soul, and a wonderful incense spread from the body of the saint.
The saint died on August 2, 1557 at the age of 88, 72 of which he spent in the feat of foolishness. Almost the entire city gathered for the burial of the great saint of God.
The indication of some sources for the year 1552 (7060) as the year of the death of the Blessed One cannot be accepted, since it does not agree with the facts of the burial of the Blessed One. Let us point out the main ones: firstly, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who, as all sources indicate, was present at the burial and carried the coffin of the Blessed One, could not do this on August 2, 1552, since a month before that he set out from Moscow on the Kazan campaign and was on August 2 near Alatyr (not far from Kazan), secondly, the visit of Blessed Basil by Tsar Ivan the Terrible with Tsarina Anastasia and with his sons Ivan and Fyodor before his death could not take place in 1552, since Tsarevich Ivan was born in 1554, and Tsarevich Theodore - in 1557. The tradition of considering 1552 as the year of the death of Blessed Basil apparently dates back to the printed Saints of 1646. The oldest list of the Life of Blessed Basil known to us, located in the August Minea Chetye of 1600 of the Chudovsky collection of the Synodal Library (GIM, Sin. No. 317), cites the year 1557 as the year of the death of the Blessed One (Cf.: Archpriest I. I. Kuznetsov. Holy Blessed Basil and John, Moscow Wonderworkers for Christ's sake... P. 359-362).
It was a touching sight: the tsar himself and the princes carried his body to the church, and Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow (December 30/January 12) with a host of clergy performed the burial of the saint.
His body was laid at the Trinity Church on the Moat, where the Intercession Cathedral was built in 1554 in memory of the conquest of Kazan. In 1588, by order of Theodore Ioannovich, a chapel was built in the name of St. Basil the Blessed at the place where he was buried; A silver shrine was made for his relics.
Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral)
Blessed Basil was glorified by the Local Church Council on August 2, 1588, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Job (commemorated April 5/18 and June 19/July 2). Even before his glorification, a service was written for him by the Solovetsky elder Misail.
Many different healings and miracles took place at the tomb of Blessed Basil. Many of them are attested by contemporaries. Orthodox Muscovites honor the memory of St. Basil with special spiritual warmth.
The description of the appearance of Blessed Basil contains details: “All naked and with a staff in his hand.” His veneration was so strong that the Intercession Cathedral and the chapel attached to it are still called St. Basil's Cathedral.
The chains of St. Basil the Blessed are kept in the Moscow Theological Academy.
Prayers to Blessed Vasily, the Fool for Christ, the Moscow Wonderworker
First prayer
O great servant of Christ, true friend and faithful servant of the All-Creator of the Lord God, blessed Basil! Hear us, many sinners, now crying out to you and calling your name sacred: have mercy on us who fall today before the race of your relics: accept our small and unworthy prayer, have mercy on our misery, and with your prayers heal every ailment and disease of the soul and body of our sinner, and grant us the flow of this life unharmed from visible and invisible enemies pass without sin, and have a shameless, peaceful, serene Christian death, and receive the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom with all the saints forever and ever. Amen.
Second prayer
(for blindness, leg diseases, skin diseases)
O blessed soul, full of wisdom, the sun of joy has risen for us, illuminating the Russian kingdom: a healer from wounded demons, and even more so, a drive away of demons themselves, sight for the blind, walking for the lame, correction for the sick, healing and health for all who are sick: from troubles and deliverance from sorrows, consolation to the sad.
Prayer three
O saint of Christ, blessed Vasily! Hear us, many sinners, now crying out to you: have mercy on us, servant of God (names), and have mercy on our misery! and with your prayers heal every ailment and illness of the soul and body of our sinner, and grant us the opportunity to pass this life unharmed, from visible and invisible enemies, and to pass sinlessly, and to have a shameless, peaceful, serene Christian death, and to receive the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom, with all the saints , forever and ever.
Troparion to Blessed Basil, Holy Fool for Christ's Sake, Moscow Wonderworker
Troparion, tone 8
Your life, Vasily, is not false and your purity is undefiled! For the sake of Christ, you exhausted your body with fasting and vigil, and frost, and the warmth of the sun, and storms (bad weather) and rain clouds, and your face was illuminated like the sun: and now the Russian peoples are coming to you, kings and princes, and all people, glorifying your sacred Dormition. Therefore, pray to Christ God that he will deliver us from barbaric captivity and internecine warfare, and that the peace of the world will give great mercy to our souls.
Troparion, tone 8
Just as the sun and the moon are not disgraced by their nakedness, so you, the naked servant of Christ Basil, without being ashamed, accepted the robe of the primordial Adam, which he wore before in heaven, but you wore this on earth; and you were a good merchant: as soon as you had it, you left everything and bought the village with the reward of your patience, on which the priceless Bead, Christ, was hidden. For this reason, appear to all sinners as an image of repentance and dwell in the expanse of paradise, and, standing before Christ, do not forget the city in which he dwells, and the people, most blessed, and pray to save our souls.
Kontakion, tone 4
We are led by the Spirit of God, blessed Basil, you shook off the worldly rebellion and the troubles of life, you abhorred, and you put off the garments of perishable things, and put on the robe of dispassion, you fled the trappings of the flattering ruler of the world, and you were strange in your language, and you chose heavenly wealth over earthly wealth, You have tied yourself to the crown of patience, and now, most blessed Basil, pray to Christ God for those who create your holy memory, and we call to you: Rejoice, most blessed Vasily.