What does it mean to find the relics of Sergius of Radonezh. Finding the relics of St. Sergius, hegumen of Radonezh

On July 18, the Russian Orthodox Church commemorates the uncovering of the holy relics of St. Sergius, hegumen of Radonezh, which took place in 1422.

The relics of St. Sergius (d. 1392; his memory is September 25) were uncovered on July 5, 1422, under the Monk Abbot Nikon (d. 1426; his memory is November 17). In 1408, when Moscow and its environs were invaded by the Tatar hordes of Edigey, the Trinity Monastery was devastated and burned, the monks, led by Abbot Nikon, took refuge in the forests, preserving icons, sacred vessels, books and other shrines associated with the memory of St. Sergius. In a night vision on the eve of the Tatar raid, St. Sergius informed his disciple and successor of the coming trials and predicted as a consolation that the temptation would not last long and the holy monastery, having risen from the ashes, would flourish and grow even more. Metropolitan Philaret wrote about this in the Life of St. Sergius: “In the likeness of how Christ was to suffer, and through the cross and death enter into the glory of the resurrection, so everything that Christ is blessed for length of days and glory, like to test his cross and his death." Having passed through a fiery cleansing, the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity resurrected in the longitude of days, and St. Sergius himself rose to dwell in it forever with his holy relics.

Before the start of the construction of a new temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity on the site of a wooden one, consecrated on September 25, 1412, the Monk appeared to one pious layman and ordered to inform the hegumen and brethren: “Why do you leave me so much time in a tomb, covered with earth, in water, oppressing my body? » And during the construction of the cathedral, when ditches for the foundation were being dug, the incorruptible relics of the Monk were opened and worn out, and everyone saw that not only the body, but also the clothes on it were unharmed, although there really was water around the coffin. With a large confluence of pilgrims and clergy, in the presence of the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Zvenigorodsky Yuri Dimitrievich (d. 1425), the holy relics were worn out of the ground and temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (now the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is located on that place). During the consecration of the stone Trinity Cathedral in 1426, they were transferred to it, where they remain to this day.

Epiphanius the Wise

From the "Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh"

"The Life of Sergius of Radonezh" was written by an outstanding Russian writer of the late XIV - early XV centuries. Epiphanius the Wise. From 1380 he was a monk of the Trinity Monastery, knew its founder, observed the life and work of St. Sergius until his death in 1392. Personal impressions, as well as numerous stories and legends about St. Sergius, whose records were constantly kept by Epiphanius, served as the basis for the creation around 1418 of the Life of Sergius of Radonezh, one of the best works of Russian hagiography.

Saint Sergius was born of noble and faithful parents: from a father whose name was Cyril and a mother named Maria, who were adorned with all sorts of virtues.

And a miracle happened before his birth. When the child was still in the mother's womb, one Sunday his mother entered the church during the singing of the holy liturgy. And she stood with other women in the porch, when they were supposed to start reading the holy Gospel and everyone stood silently, the baby began to cry in the womb. Before they began to sing the Cherubic Hymn, the baby began to scream a second time. When the priest proclaimed: “Let us listen, holy to the holy!” The baby screamed for the third time.

When the fortieth day after his birth came, the parents brought the child to the church of God. The priest christened him with the name Bartholomew.
The father and mother told the priest how their son, still in the womb, in the church shouted three times: “We don’t know what this means.” The priest said: "Rejoice, for there will be a child, the chosen vessel of God, the abode and servant of the Holy Trinity."

Cyril had three sons: Stefan and Peter quickly learned to read and write, but Bartholomew did not quickly learn to read. The lad prayed with tears: “Lord! Let me learn to read and write, enlighten me.

His parents were sad, his teacher was upset. Everyone was sad, not knowing the highest destiny of Divine Providence, not knowing what God wants to create. At the discretion of God, it was necessary that he received bookish teaching from God. Let's say how he learned to read and write.

When he was sent by his father to look for cattle, he saw a certain black-bearer standing and praying in the field under an oak tree. When the elder finished praying, he turned to Bartholomew: “What do you want, child?” The lad said: “The soul desires to know the letter. I'm learning to read and write, but I can't beat it. Holy Father, pray that I may learn to read and write.” And the elder answered him: “About literacy, child, do not grieve; From this day on, the Lord will grant you the knowledge of literacy.” From that hour he knew the letter well.

The servant of God Kirill used to have a great name in the Rostov region, he was a boyar, he owned great wealth, but towards the end of his life he fell into poverty. Let's also talk about why he became impoverished: because of frequent trips with the prince to the Horde, because of Tatar raids, because of heavy Horde tributes. But worse than all these troubles was the great invasion of the Tatars, and after it violence continued, because the great reign went to Prince Ivan Danilovich, and the reign of Rostov went to Moscow. And many of the Rostovites gave their property to Muscovites involuntarily. Because of this, Kirill moved to Radonezh.

Cyril's sons, Stefan and Peter, got married; the third son, the blessed young man Bartholomew, did not want to marry, but strove for a monastic life.

Stephen lived with his wife for a few years, and his wife died. Stefan soon left the world and became a monk at the Monastery of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God in Khotkovo. The blessed young man Bartholomew, having come to him, asked Stephen to go with him to look for a deserted place. Stefan obeyed and went with him.
They went around many places through the forests and finally came to one deserted place, in the thicket of the forest, where there was also water. The brothers looked around the place and fell in love with it, and most importantly, it was God who instructed them. And having prayed, they began to cut down the forest with their own hands, and on their shoulders they brought the logs to the chosen place. First they made a bed and a hut for themselves and built a roof over it, and then they built one cell, and they allotted a place for a small church and cut it down.
And the church was consecrated in the name of the Holy Trinity. Stefan lived for a short time in the desert with his brother and saw that life in the desert is difficult - in everything there is need, deprivation. Stefan went to Moscow, settled in the monastery of the Epiphany and lived very well in virtue.

And at that time Bartholomew wanted to take monastic vows. And he called to his hermitage a priest, hegumen rank. The hegumen tonsured him on the seventh day of the month of October, in memory of the holy martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. And the name was given to him in monasticism, Sergius. He was the first monk to be tonsured in that church and in that wilderness.

Sometimes he was frightened by demonic intrigues and horrors, and sometimes by attacking animals - after all, many animals lived in this desert then. Some of them passed in flocks and with a roar, and others not together, but two or three, or one after the other, passed by; some of them stood in the distance, while others came close to the blessed one and surrounded him, and even sniffed him.
Among them, one bear used to come to the reverend. The monk, seeing that it was not out of malice that the beast came to him, but in order to take something from food to feed himself, he took out a small piece of bread for the beast from his hut and put it on a stump or on a log, so that when the beast comes as usual I found food ready for myself; and he took her into his mouth and went away. When there was not enough bread and the beast that came as usual did not find the usual piece prepared for it, then it did not leave for a long time. But the bear stood looking back and forth, stubborn, like some cruel creditor who wants to get his debt. If the monk had only one piece of bread, then even then he divided it into two parts, in order to keep one part for himself and give the other to this beast; After all, then Sergius did not have a variety of food in the desert, but only bread and water from the source that was there, and even then little by little. Often there was no bread for the day; and when this happened, then they both remained hungry, the saint himself and the beast. Sometimes the blessed one did not take care of himself and remained hungry himself: although he had only one piece of bread, he threw that to this beast. And he preferred not to eat that day, but to starve, rather than to deceive this beast and let him go without food.

The blessed one endured all the trials that were sent to him with joy, thanked God for everything, and did not protest, did not lose heart in difficulties.
And then God, seeing the great faith of the saint and his great patience, took pity on him and wanted to lighten his labors in the desert: the Lord put a desire in the hearts of some God-fearing monks from the brethren, and they began to come to the saint.

But the monk not only did not accept them, but also forbade them to stay, saying: “You cannot survive in this place and you cannot endure hardships in the desert: hunger, thirst, inconvenience and poverty.” They answered: “We want to endure the difficulties of life in this place, and if God wants, then we can.” The monk again asked them: “Will you be able to endure the hardships of life in this place: hunger, and thirst, and all sorts of hardships?” They answered: “Yes, honest father, we want and we can, if God helps us and your prayers support us. Only one thing we pray to you, reverend: do not remove us from your presence and from this place, dear to us, do not drive us away.
The Monk Sergius, convinced of their faith and zeal, was surprised and said to them: “I will not drive you out, for our Savior said: “I will not cast out the one who comes to me.”

And they built each separate cell and lived for God, looking at the life of St. Sergius and imitating him to the best of their ability. The Monk Sergius, while living with his brothers, endured many hardships and accomplished great deeds and labors. He lived a harsh fasting life; his virtues were as follows: hunger, thirst, vigil, dry food, sleep on earth, purity of body and soul, silence of the mouth, careful mortification of carnal desires, bodily labors, unfeigned humility, unceasing prayer, good mind, perfect love, poverty in clothes, the memory of death, meekness with gentleness, constant fear of God.

Not very many monks gathered, no more than twelve people: among them was a certain elder Vasily, nicknamed Sukhoi, who was among the first to come from the upper reaches of Dubna; the other monk, named Jacob, nicknamed Yakut, he was a messenger, he was always sent on business, for especially necessary things, without which it was impossible to do; another was named Anisim, who was a deacon, the father of a deacon named Elisha. When the cells were built and fenced with a fence, not very large, a gatekeeper was also placed at the gate, while Sergius himself built three or four cells with his own hands.

And in all the other monastic affairs that the brethren needed, he participated: sometimes he carried firewood on his shoulders from the forest and, breaking it and chopping it, cutting it into logs, carried it around the cells. But why do I remember firewood? Indeed, it was truly amazing to see what they had then: there was a forest not far from them - not like now, but where the cells under construction were set up, here above them and the trees were, overshadowing them, rustling over them. Around the church there were many logs and stumps everywhere, but here various people sowed seeds and grew garden greens.
But let us return again to the abandoned story about the feat of St. Sergius, he, without the laziness of the brethren, served as a bought slave: he chopped firewood for everyone, and crushed grain, and baked bread, and cooked food, sewed shoes and clothes, and water in two buckets on his he carried them uphill on his shoulders, and put each one by the cell.

For a long time the brethren forced him to become hegumen. And finally heeded their pleas.

It was not by his own will that Sergius received the hegumenship, but from God he was entrusted with the administration. He did not strive for this, did not snatch the rank from anyone, did not promise promises for this, did not give payment, as some ambitious people do, who snatch everything from each other. And Saint Sergius came to his monastery, to the monastery of the Holy Trinity.

And the blessed one began to teach the brethren. Many people from various cities and places came to Sergius and lived with him. Little by little the monastery grew, the brethren multiplied, cells were built.

The Monk Sergius multiplied his labors more and more, tried to be a teacher and performer: he went to work before anyone else, and he was the earliest to go to church singing, and he never leaned against the wall during the service.
This was the custom of the blessed one at first: after late Compline or very deep in the evening, when night was already falling, especially on dark and long nights, having completed the prayer in his cell, he left it after the prayer in order to go around all the cells of the monks. Sergius cared about his brethren, not only thought about their body, but also cared about their souls, wanting to know the life of each of them, and strove for God. If he heard that someone was praying, or making bows, or doing his work in silence with prayer, or reading holy books, or crying and complaining about his sins, he rejoiced for these monks, and thanked God, and prayed for them God, so that they bring their good undertakings to the end. “The one who endures,” it is said, “to the end, will be saved.”

If Sergius heard that someone was talking, having gathered two or three together, or laughing, he was indignant about this and, not enduring such a thing, would strike with his hand on the door or knock on the window and leave. In this way he let them know about his coming and visit, and by an invisible visit stopped their idle conversations.
Many years have passed, I think more than fifteen. During the reign of the great Prince Ivan, Christians began to come here, and they liked living here. They began to settle on both sides of this place, and built villages, and sowed fields. They began to visit the monastery often, bringing various necessary things. And the venerable hegumen had a commandment for the brothers: do not ask the laity for what they need for food, but sit patiently in the monastery and wait for mercy from God.

The dormitory is installed in the monastery. And the blessed shepherd distributes the brethren according to the services: he appoints one cellarer, and the others in the kitchen for baking bread, he appoints another one to the weak to serve with all diligence. All this is wonderful that man arranged well. He commanded to firmly follow the commandment of the holy fathers: do not own anything of your own to anyone, do not call anything your own, but consider everything common; and the other positions were all surprisingly well arranged by the prudent father. But this is a story about his deeds, and one should not talk much about this in his life. Therefore, we will shorten the story here, and return to the previous story.

Since the wonderful father arranged all this well, the number of disciples multiplied. And the more they became, the more valuable contributions they brought: and as far as contributions increased in the monastery, so much hospitality increased. And none of the poor who came to the monastery left empty-handed. The blessed one never stopped charity and ordered the servants in the monastery to give shelter and help the needy to the poor and strangers, saying this: “If you keep this commandment of mine meekly, you will receive recompense from the Lord; and after my departure from this life, this abode of mine will grow greatly, and for many years it will stand indestructible by the grace of Christ.

So his hand was opened to those in need, like a full-flowing river with a calm current. And if someone found himself in the monastery in the winter, when the frosts are severe or the snow is swept by a strong wind, so that it is impossible to leave the cell, no matter how long he stays here because of such bad weather, he received everything he needed in the monastery. Wanderers and the poor, and especially the sick among them, lived for many days in complete peace and received food, as much as anyone needed, in abundance according to the order of the holy elder; and it still holds up to this day.
And since the roads here passed from many places, the princes, and governors, and countless warriors - all received the sufficient sincere help they needed, as from inexhaustible sources, and, setting off on a journey, they received the necessary food and sufficient drink. All this was served in abundance by the servants in the monastery of the saint. So people knew exactly where everything needed was in the temples, food and drink, and where bread and jam, and all this multiplied because of the goodness of Christ and his miraculous saint, St. Sergius.

It became known that by God's allowance for our sins, the Horde prince Mamai gathered a great force, the entire horde of godless Tatars, and goes to the Russian land; and all the people were seized with great fear. The great prince, who held the scepter of the Russian land, was then the famous and invincible great Dmitry. He came to Saint Sergius, because he had great faith in the elder, and asked him if the saint would order him to speak out against the godless: after all, he knew that Sergius was a virtuous man and possessed the gift of prophecy.
The saint, when he heard about this from the Grand Duke, blessed him, armed him with a prayer and said: “You should, sir, take care of the glorious Christian flock entrusted to you by God. Go against the godless and, if God helps you, you will win and return unharmed to your fatherland with great honor. The Grand Duke replied: “If God helps me, father, I will establish a monastery in honor of the Most Pure Mother of God.” And, having said and received a blessing, he left the monastery and quickly set off.

Gathering all his warriors, he spoke out against the godless Tatars; seeing the very numerous Tatar army, they stopped in doubt, many of them were seized with fear, thinking what to do. And suddenly, at that time, a messenger appeared with a message from the saint, saying: “Without any doubt, sir, boldly enter the battle, with their ferocity, not at all afraid, God will surely help you.”

Then the great prince Dmitry and all his army, filled with great determination from this message, went against the filthy ones, and the prince said: “Great God, who created heaven and earth! Be my helper in the battle against the opponents of your holy banner. So the battle began, and many fell, but God helped the great victorious Dmitry, and the filthy Tatars were defeated, and they were completely defeated: after all, they saw the wrath and God's indignation sent against themselves, cursed by God, and everyone fled.

The crusading banner drove the enemies for a long time. Grand Duke Dmitry, having won a glorious victory, came to Sergius, bringing gratitude for good advice, glorified God and made a great contribution to the monastery.
Sergius, seeing that he was already departing to God, in order to pay off his debt to nature, to transfer his spirit to Jesus, called on the brotherhood and led a proper conversation, and, having made a prayer, he committed his soul to the Lord in the year 6900 (1392) of the month of September on the 25th day.

Notes:

1. This story from the "Life of Sergius of Radonezh" served as the plot of the famous painting by M.V. Nesterov "Vision to the youth Bartholomew."

2. In the XIII-XIV centuries. Rostov princes, like many other rulers of North-Eastern Russia, were forced to travel regularly to the Horde, to seek confirmation of their rights to reign. It cost them considerable expenses, including gifts for the khan and his close associates.

3. We are talking about the invasion of the Tatar army in response to the uprising in Tver in 1327, after which Ivan Kalita received a label for a great reign and annexed part of the Rostov principality to his possessions.

4. Radonezh - a city in the Moscow principality in the XIV-XV centuries, subsequently fell into decay and was no longer referred to as a city. At present, there is a village on the site of ancient Radonezh (4 km east of the Abramtsevo station, not far from Sergiyev Posad, where the Trinity-Sergius Lavra is located).

5. One of the oldest monasteries in the Moscow region. Known since the beginning of the 14th century. The buildings of the monastery have survived to this day in the city of Khotkovo (8 km south of Sergiev Posad).

6. The Epiphany Monastery was founded at the end of the 13th century. east of the Moscow Kremlin. The cathedral of the monastery of the 17th century has been preserved.

7. Sergius and Bacchus - dignitaries of the Roman emperor Maximus (286-310), who, having learned that they were Christians, sent them to the ruler of Syria, Antiochus, known for his harshness towards the adherents of Christ. There they were tortured and beheaded. In memory of one of them, Sergius of Radonezh adopted his monastic name, which was very rare in contemporary Russia.

8. Reverend - we are talking about Sergius.
9. Here is Vespers, a church service celebrated in the evening.

10 This refers to the reign of Ivan Kalita (1325-1340).

11. The communal charter existed in a number of ancient monasteries of the Orthodox East. In accordance with it, the monks gave all their property to the monastery, led a common household, had a common meal. The community was adopted in the first monasteries in Russia, in particular in the Kiev-Pechersk. However, in the XIV century. in Russian monasteries, the “special life” of monks spread, when each of them lived separately, kept property, ate separately, etc. Sergius of Radonezh introduced a dormitory in the Trinity Monastery founded by him. The same charter was introduced in other monasteries founded by him and his students.

12. Love for strangers, pilgrims, the poor, the desire to give them alms.

13. The most detailed description of the blessing of Dmitry Donskoy by Sergius of Radonezh before the Battle of Kulikovo is described in the “Tale of the Battle of Mamaev”. It also says that Sergius sent with Dmitry two warrior monks, Peresvet and Oslyabya, who became the heroes of the Battle of Kulikovo.

Appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius of Radonezh. Carved icon, 16th century

SERGIUS OF RADONEZH

Born May 3, 1314 in a village in the vicinity of Rostov the Great. At birth, he was named Bartholomew (he received the name Sergius later when he was tonsured a monk).

Bartholomew's parents - the boyars Kirill and Maria Ivanchin - were known as simple people, despite their wealth and noble family. Very often wanderers and beggars stayed in their house. Then until late there were conversations about God, faith, about what interesting things happened in the world.

Bartholomew was a gentle, affectionate and shy child. He was not given a letter at all, and this circumstance served as a reason for ridicule from other children. In such cases, Bartholomew went aside and could not object to anything.

In the evenings, it was customary in their family to read the Holy Scriptures, everyone did it in turn, except for Bartholomew. And then one day a monk who was passing by the village stopped for the night. In the evening, as usual, after dinner, the whole family gathered in a large hall and began to read the Gospel of John. After reading a little, the children passed the Scriptures to each other until it was Bartholomew's turn. "Why don't you read?" the monk asked the child. "I can't," the boy answered timidly. “You will read. Pick up a book!" The monk gave the embarrassed Bartholomew a book and put his hand on the child's head.

Youth Bartholomew and a monk. Nesterov M.V.

Due to Tatar raids and internecine wars, Bartholomew's father and his family moved to the village of Radonezh seventy miles from Moscow. It happened in 1330. Bartholomew's parents and brother Stepan became monks in Khotkovsky monastery.

Khotkovsky Convent

To Bartholomew himself, life in the monastery seemed too vain, so he persuaded his brother to go together into a dense thicket and create a monastery there in 1337.

On the site of the future Trinity-Sergius Lavra, they built a chapel and a cell and began to live in complete solitude. Unable to withstand a too harsh and ascetic lifestyle, Stefan soon left for the Moscow Epiphany Monastery, where he later became hegumen. Bartholomew, left all alone, called for a certain hegumen Mitrofan and received tonsure from him under the name of Sergius, since on that day the memory of the martyrs Sergius and Bacchus was celebrated.

Having performed the rite of tonsure, Mitrofan introduced Sergius to St. Secrets. Sergius spent seven days without going out in his “church”, praying, “tasting” nothing, except for the prosphora that Mitrofan gave. And when the time came for Mitrofan to leave, he asked his blessings for the desert life.

The abbot supported him and reassured him as much as he could. And the young monk was left alone among his gloomy forests.

Life in solitude suited him, he read a lot and prayed. Yes, Sergius did not feel lonely, the forest world was full of life - there a squirrel jumped from branch to branch, there a hare went hunting for a mouse, and a fox ran after him, hundreds of birds chirped from morning to late evening in different voices. Sergius fed the birds and two squirrels, and they completely ceased to be afraid of a person, they began to take food directly from his hands.

Not far from his cell there was a whole plantation with wild berries, the young monk picked berries, dried them for a long cold winter. Once, having heard a noise from the opposite side of the clearing, Sergius looked closely and saw a wild bear among the bushes.

Youth of St. Sergius. Nesterov M.V.

Neither man nor animal was in a hurry to give up their occupation. The animal occasionally rose on its hind legs, as if listening, but did not leave.

The next day, the same thing happened again, and a day later, when Sergius went home, the bear followed the man, keeping a short distance from him. And now, wherever Sergius went, he relentlessly followed him, as if guarding him.

Sergius lived alone for about three years. But no matter how lonely the monk was at that time, there were rumors about his hermitage. And now people began to appear, asking to be taken to them, to be saved together. Sergius responded. He pointed to the difficulty of life, the hardships associated with it. Stefan's example was still alive for him. Still, he gave in. And he accepted a few ... And soon there were twelve people.

Twelve cells were built. They surrounded it with a tyn to protect it from animals. The cells stood under huge pines and firs. The stumps of freshly felled trees stuck out. Between them, the brethren planted their modest garden. They lived quietly and harshly.

The territory of the monastery was divided into three parts - residential, public and defensive.

Sergius set an example in everything. He himself cut cells, dragged logs, carried water in two water carriers uphill, ground with hand millstones, baked bread, cooked food, cut and sewed clothes. And he must have been a good carpenter by now. In summer and winter he walked in the same clothes, neither frost took him, nor heat. Bodily, despite the meager food, he was very strong, "had strength against two people."

He was the first in the service.

Works of St. Sergius. Nesterov M.V.

The abbot of the monastery was at first hegumen Mitrofan, who tonsured Sergius as a monk. After the death of Mitrofan, the abbot of the monastery, the brethren wanted Sergius to become abbot. And he refused.
- The desire to be abbess, - he said, - is the beginning and root of the love of power.
But the brethren persisted. Several times the elders “approached” him, persuaded him, persuaded him. After all, Sergius himself founded the hermitage, he himself built the church; who should be abbot, celebrate the liturgy.
The insistence turned almost into threats: the brethren declared that if there was no abbot, everyone would disperse. Then Sergius, spending his usual sense of proportion, yielded, but also relatively.
- I wish, - he said, - it is better to study than to teach; it is better to obey than to rule; but I fear the judgment of God; I do not know what is pleasing to God; the holy will of the Lord be done!
And he decided not to argue - to transfer the matter to the discretion of the church authorities.

Metropolitan Alexy was not in Moscow at that time. Sergius, with two of the elders of the brethren, went on foot to his deputy, Bishop Athanasius, in Pereslavl-Zalessky.
Sergius returned with a clear assignment from the Church - to educate and lead his desert family. He took care of it. But he did not change his own life as abbess at all: he rolled candles himself, cooked kutya, prepared prosphora, ground wheat for them.

In 1344, thirty-year-old Sergius received the rank of abbot.

In 1355, a new communal charter was introduced in the monastery.

He worked non-stop - he carried water from a spring, chopped wood for all the monks, plowed "like a bought slave." At the same time, he himself ate only bread and water, and had strength for two.
When there was no food at all, Sergius, taking an ax, went and worked in a neighboring village - he built a canopy for someone, a house for someone, often a piece of bread was a payment for his work.
By this he showed an example of tolerance and obedience. Sergius forbade his monks to beg in neighboring villages, believing that it was better to earn food than to beg.
I had to go far for water, and the way back was uphill, it took a lot of time and effort. And then Sergius noticed that after rain in one place the water did not dry up for a long time, he prayed, picked up a pickaxe and struck several times in this place. A source of holy water gushed out of the earth, which is still active today.
By the way, the water in this source has a completely different taste, depending on when to collect it. If you took it before sunrise, it is sweetish, after sunset - with bitterness, and during the day it does not taste like one or the other. And the taste does not change, no matter how much water stands, no matter where it stands and in what dish.

In the fifties, Archimandrite Simon from the Smolensk region came to him, having heard about his holy life. Simon was the first to bring funds to the monastery. They allowed the construction of a new, larger church of the Holy Trinity.

Since then, the number of novices began to grow. The cells began to be placed in a certain order. Sergius' activities expanded. Sergius did not cut his hair immediately. He observed, studied intently the mental development of the newcomer.
Despite the construction of a new church, the increase in the number of monks, the monastery is still strict and poor. Everyone exists on their own, there is no common meal, pantries, barns. It was customary that in his cell a monk spends time either praying, or meditating on his sins, checking his behavior, or reading St. books, rewriting them, iconography - but not in conversations.

Sergius monastery continued to be the poorest. The necessities were often lacking: wine for celebrating Liturgy, wax for candles, lamp oil… Liturgy was sometimes postponed. Instead of candles - torches. Often there was no handful of flour, no bread, no salt, not to mention seasonings - butter, etc.
In one of the attacks of need, there were dissatisfied people in the monastery. Starved for two days - murmured.
“Here,” the monk said to the monk on behalf of everyone, “we looked at you and obeyed, and now we have to die of hunger, because you forbid us to go out into the world to beg. Let's endure another day, and tomorrow we will all leave here and never return: we are unable to endure such poverty, such rotten bread.

Sergius turned to the brethren with an admonition. But before he had time to finish it, a knock was heard at the monastery gates; the porter saw through the window that they had brought a lot of bread. He himself was very hungry, but still he ran to Sergius.
- Father, they brought a lot of bread, bless them to accept it. Here, according to your holy prayers, they are at the gate.

Sergius blessed, and several wagons loaded with baked bread, fish and various food entered the monastery gates. Sergius rejoiced and said:
- Well, you hungry, feed our breadwinners, call them to share a common meal with us.

He ordered to hit the beater, everyone to go to church, serve a thanksgiving service. And only after the prayer he blessed to sit down for a meal. The loaves turned out to be warm, soft, as if they had just come out of the oven.

Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Lisner E.

Soon a blind monk settled in the monastery, and Sergius began to treat him with water from the source and prayer. The monk has matured!!! And the fame of miraculous healing spread far beyond the nearby villages.

From everywhere, those in need of help reached out to Sergius, and he began to heal people from many diseases. Once a lifeless boy was brought to him, his parents, distraught with grief, asked to return their son to them. Sergiy was able to help the child, who fell into a coma from a high temperature and fell into a lethargic sleep.

Sergius sewed a cassock for himself from plain fabric and walked around in it until the fabric turned into tatters, setting an example of modesty. Other monks wore clothes much richer than those of their abbot, and for this many pilgrims did not recognize Sergius as the main one.

The Bishop of Constantinople - a Greek - did not believe that there could be such holy people in Russia. He decided to see for himself if this was true.
But the bishop chose the path of deception - which Saint Sergius did not like. The Greek dressed his companion in his own clothes, thereby deciding to test Sergius, who not only now treated people, but could also read human thoughts and foresee the future.
When the retinue began to drive up to the Sergius monastery, the bishop's eyes suddenly began to water and burn terribly, the last meters of the journey were terribly painful. Sergius immediately found out about the substitution and pointed it out to the bishop. By the laying on of hands, the saint relieved the pain of the arriving guest, and he was able to open his eyes.

A rich man took a pig carcass from a poor man. To Sergius' persuasion to return the carcass, he refused. And when in the morning the rich man looked at this carcass, he saw that worms were eating it, although it was bitterly cold outside and the carcass was all icy.

Sergius constantly reconciled with each other the Russian princes, who waged internecine wars.

On August 18, 1380, Demetrius of the Don with Prince Vladimir of Serpukhov, princes of other regions and governors arrived in the Lavra.

The prayer began. During the service, messengers arrived - the war was going on in the Lavra - they reported on the movement of the enemy, warned to hurry. Sergius begged Demetrius to stay for the meal. Here he said to him:
- The time has not yet come for you to wear the crown of victory with eternal sleep; but for many, without number, wreaths of martyrdom are woven to your employees.
After the meal, the monk blessed the prince and the whole retinue, sprinkled St. water.
- Go, don't be afraid. God will help you.
And, bending down, he whispered in his ear: "You will win."
There is something majestic, with a tragic tinge, in the fact that Sergius gave two hermit monks as assistants to Prince Sergius: Peresvet and Oslyabya. They were warriors in the world and went to the Tatars without helmets, shells - in the form of a schema, with white crosses on monastic clothes. Obviously, this gave the army of Demetrius a sacred crusading appearance.
On the 20th Dimitri was already in Kolomna. On the 26-27th, the Russians crossed the Oka, Ryazan land advanced to the Don. On the 6th of September it was reached. And they hesitated. Whether to wait for the Tatars, whether to cross?

Senior, experienced governors suggested: wait here. Mamai is strong, Lithuania is with him, and Prince Oleg Ryazansky. Demetrius, contrary to the advice, crossed the Don. The way back was cut off, which means everything forward, victory or death.

Sergius these days was also in the highest rise. And in time he sent a letter after the prince: “Go, sir, go ahead, God and the Holy Trinity will help!”
September 8th, 1380!

According to legend, Peresvet, long ready for death, jumped out to the call of the Tatar hero, and, having grappled with Chelubey, struck him, he himself fell. A general battle began, on a gigantic front for those times, ten miles away. Sergius correctly said: "Martyr's wreaths are woven for many." A lot of them were woven.
The monk, at these hours, prayed with the brethren in his church. He talked about the course of the battle. He called the fallen and recited prayers for the dead. And in the end he said: "We won."

After this victory, Sergius of Radonezh began to be considered the patron of the Russian army.

On September 25, 1392, at the age of seventy-eight, Saint Sergius of Radonezh passed away into another world.

Icon - finding the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh

Cancer with its incorruptible relics is now in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, founded by himself. Miracles of healing take place at the relics of the saint.

Cancer with the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Trinity Cathedral

Trinity Cathedral

Sergius of Radonezh provides heavenly patronage to people born on October 8 (new style). Male babies in this one can be called Sergeys.
Sergius of Radonezh is asked for help in a difficult study, for getting rid of pride.
July 5 (18)- the memory of St. Sergius, hegumen of Radonezh, wonderworker of all Russia: the acquisition of honest relics (1422).
Memory July 18, October 8, in the Cathedrals of Vladimir and Radonezh saints.

In 1408, when Moscow and its environs were invaded by the Tatar hordes of Edigey, the Trinity Monastery was devastated and burned, the monks, led by Abbot Nikon, took refuge in the forests, preserving icons, sacred vessels, books and other shrines associated with the memory of St. Sergius. In a night vision on the eve of the Tatar raid, St. Sergius informed his disciple and successor of the coming trials and predicted as a consolation that the temptation would not last long and the holy monastery, having risen from the ashes, would flourish and grow even more. Metropolitan Philaret wrote about this in the Life of St. Sergius: “In the likeness of how Christ was to suffer, and through the cross and death enter into the glory of the resurrection, so everything that Christ is blessed for length of days and glory, like to test his cross and his death." Having passed through a fiery cleansing, the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity resurrected in the longitude of days, and St. Sergius himself rose to dwell in it forever with his holy relics.

Before the start of the construction of a new temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity on the site of a wooden one, consecrated on September 25, 1412, the Monk appeared to one pious layman and ordered to inform the hegumen and brethren: “Why do you leave me so much time in a tomb, covered with earth, in water, oppressing my body? » And during the construction of the cathedral, when ditches for the foundation were being dug, the incorruptible relics of the Monk were opened and worn out, and everyone saw that not only the body, but also the clothes on it were unharmed, although there really was water around the coffin. With a large confluence of pilgrims and clergy, in the presence of the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Zvenigorodsky Yuri Dimitrievich († 1425), the holy relics were worn out of the ground and temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (now the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is located in that place). During the consecration of the stone Trinity Cathedral in 1426, they were transferred to it, where they remain to this day.

All the threads of the spiritual life of the Russian Church converge to the great saint of Radonezh and miracle worker, throughout Orthodox Russia, grace-filled life-giving currents spread from the Trinity monastery founded by him.

The veneration of the Holy Trinity in the Russian land began with († 969; information about her on July 11), who erected the first Trinity Church in Russia in Pskov. Later, such temples were erected in Veliky Novgorod and other cities.

The spiritual contribution of St. Sergius to the theological doctrine of the Holy Trinity is especially great. The monk deeply saw through the innermost mysteries of theology with the “intelligent eyes” of the ascetic – in prayerful ascent to the Trinitarian God, in experienced communion with God and becoming like God.

“The co-heirs of the perfect light and contemplation of the Most Holy and Sovereign Trinity,” explained St. Gregory the Theologian, “will be those who are perfectly united with the perfect Spirit.” The Monk Sergius experienced by experience the mystery of the Life-Giving Trinity, because by his life he united with God, joined the very life of the Divine Trinity, that is, he reached the measure of deification possible on earth, becoming "a partaker of the Divine nature" (). “Whoever loves me,” said the Lord, “he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. Abba Sergius, who kept the commandments of Christ in everything, is one of the saints, in whose soul the Holy Trinity “created a monastery”; he himself became "the abode of the Holy Trinity", and all with whom the Reverend communicated, he erected and attached to Her.

The Radonezh ascetic, his disciples and interlocutors, enriched the Russian and Ecumenical Church with new theological and liturgical knowledge and vision of the Life-Giving Trinity, the Beginning and Source of life, revealing Himself to the world and man in the catholicity of the Church, fraternal unity and the sacrificial redemptive love of her shepherds and children.

The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, erected by St. Sergius, “so that by constantly looking at Her, the fear of the hated strife of this world was overcome,” became the spiritual symbol of the gathering of Russia in unity and love, the historical feat of the people.

The veneration of the Holy Trinity in the forms created and bequeathed by the holy hegumen of Radonezh has become one of the deepest and most distinctive features of the Russian Church. In the Life-Giving Trinity, St. Sergius pointed out not only the holy perfection of eternal life, but also a model for human life, a spiritual ideal to which mankind should strive, because in the Trinity, as Indivisible, strife is condemned and catholicity is blessed, and in the Trinity, as Neslianny the yoke is condemned and liberty is blessed. In the teaching of St. Sergius on the Holy Trinity, the Russian people deeply felt their catholic, ecumenical vocation, and, having comprehended the universal significance of the holiday, the people adorned it with all the diversity and richness of the ancient national custom and folk poetry. The entire spiritual experience and spiritual aspiration of the Russian Church was embodied in the liturgical creativity of the feast of the Holy Trinity, Trinity church rites, icons of the Holy Trinity, temples and monasteries named after Her.

The miraculous icon of the Life-Giving Trinity of St. Andrew of Radonezh, nicknamed Rublev († 1430), monk-icon painter, tonsurer of the Trinity Sergius Monastery, painted with the blessing of St. Nikon in praise of St. Abba Sergius, became the embodiment of the theological knowledge of St. Sergius. (At the Stoglavy Cathedral in 1551, this icon was approved as a model for all subsequent church iconography of the Holy Trinity.).

"Hateful strife", strife and turmoil in worldly life were overcome by the monastic community planted by St. Sergius throughout Russia. People would not have division, strife and wars if human nature, created by the Creator in the image of the Divine Trinity, was not distorted and shattered by original sin. Overcoming by their co-crucifixion with the Savior the sin of specialness and separation, rejecting “their own” and “themselves”, the civic monks, according to the teachings of St. Basil the Great, restore the Primordial unity and holiness of human nature. The monastery of St. Sergius became for the Russian Church a model of such restoration and revival; holy monks were brought up in it, who then carried the mark of the true path of Christ to distant lands. In all their labors and deeds, St. Sergius and his disciples brought life to the Church, giving the people a living example of the possibility of this. Not renouncing the earthly, but transforming it, they called to ascend and themselves ascended to the Heavenly.

The school of St. Sergius, through the monasteries founded by him, his disciples, and the disciples of his disciples, covers the entire space of the Russian land and runs through the entire subsequent history of the Russian Church. One fourth of all Russian monasteries, strongholds of faith, piety and enlightenment, were founded by Abba Sergius and his disciples. The people called the founder of the House of the Life-Giving Trinity "abbot of the Russian land". and, and, Athanasius of Serpukhov and Nikita Borovsky, Feodor Simonovsky and, Andronik of Moscow and, and - all of them were students and interlocutors of the "wonderful old man" Sergius. and, the Metropolitans of Moscow, the Archbishop of Suzdal, and the Bishop of Perm, were in spiritual communion with him. Patriarchs Kallistos and Philotheos of Constantinople wrote letters to him and sent their blessings. Through the Monk Nikita, spiritual succession goes to and the squad of his students, through Cyril Belozersky - to, to, and.

The Church also honors those of the disciples and associates of St. Sergius, whose memory is not specially noted in the Menologion, under a separate day. We remember that the first to come to the Monk on Makovets was Elder Vasily Sukhoi, so named for his incomparable fasting. The second was the monk Yakut, that is, Jacob, from ordinary peasants, he resignedly carried out the troublesome and difficult obedience of a messenger in the monastery for many years. Among other disciples, deacon Onesimus and his son Elisha came to the Reverend from Radonezh. When 12 monks gathered and the built cells were surrounded by a high fence, the deacon Onesimus was appointed by the abba as a gatekeeper, because his cell was the last one from the entrance to the monastery. Abbot Mitrofan spent his last years under the shadow of the Holy Trinity Monastery, the same one who once tonsured St. Sergius into an angelic image and instructed in monastic deeds. The grave of the blessed elder Mitrofan, who soon died, became the first in the monastery cemetery. In 1357, Archimandrite Simon came to the monastery from Smolensk, leaving the honorary position of rector in one of the Smolensk monasteries in order to become a simple novice to the God-bearing Radonezh abbot. As a reward for his great humility, the Lord vouchsafed him to be a participant in the marvelous vision of St. Sergius about the future multiplication of his monastic flock. With the blessing of the holy abba, the blessed elder Isaac the Silent, whose silence for the monks and outsiders was more instructive than any words, took upon himself the feat of prayerful silence. Only once during the years of silence did the Monk Isaac open his mouth - to testify how the Angel of God he saw served in the altar to the Monk Sergius, who celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Ecclesiarch Simon was also an eyewitness to the grace of the Holy Spirit, assisting the Monk, who once saw how the Heavenly fire descended on the Holy Mysteries and the saint of God "participated in the fire without reproach." Elder Epiphanius († c. 1420), who later, under Abbot Nikon, was the confessor of the Sergius flock, the Church calls the Wise for his high learning and great spiritual gifts. He is known as the compiler of the lives of St. Sergius and his interlocutor, St. Stephen of Perm, commendable words to them, as well as the "Words on the life and death of Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy." The Life of St. Sergius, compiled by Epiphanius 26 years after the death of the Monk, that is, in 1418, was then revised by the monk hagiographer Pachomius Serb, nicknamed Logothetes, who arrived from Athos.

To St. Sergius, as to an inexhaustible source of the prayerful spirit and the grace of the Lord, thousands of people at all times went to worship - for edification and prayer, for help and healing. And he heals and revives each of those who resort with faith to his miraculous relics, fills strength and faith, transforms and elevates to his luminous spirituality.

But not only spiritual gifts and grace-filled healings are given to all who come with faith to the relics of the Reverend, but he was also given grace from God to protect the Russian land from enemies. With his prayers, the Monk was with the army of Demetrius Donskoy on the Kulikovo field; he blessed his tonsured monks Alexander Peresvet and Andrey Oslyab for the feat of arms. He pointed out to Ivan the Terrible a place for the construction of the fortress of Sviyazhsk and helped in the victory over Kazan. During the Polish invasion, St. Sergius appeared in a dream to a citizen of Nizhny Novgorod, Kozma Minin, ordering him to collect the treasury and arm the army for the liberation of Moscow and the Russian state. And when, in 1612, the militia of Minin and Pozharsky, after a prayer service at the Holy Trinity, moved towards Moscow, the blessed wind fluttered Orthodox banners, “as if from the tomb of the Wonderworker Sergius himself.”

The period of the Time of Troubles and the Polish invasion includes the heroic “Trinity Sitting”, when many monks, with the blessing of the Monk Abbot Dionysius, repeated the sacred feat of arms of Sergius disciples Peresvet and Oslyabya. For a year and a half - from September 23, 1608 to January 12, 1610 - the Poles besieged the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity, wanting to plunder and destroy this sacred stronghold of Orthodoxy. But by the intercession of the Most Pure Theotokos and the prayers of St. Sergius, “with much shame” they finally fled from the walls of the monastery, persecuted by the wrath of God, and soon their leader Lisovsky himself died a cruel death just on the day of the remembrance of the Monk, September 25, 1617. In 1618 the Polish prince Vladislav himself came to the walls of the Holy Trinity, but, powerless against the grace of the Lord guarding the monastery, he was forced to sign a truce with Russia in the village of Deulin, which belonged to the monastery. Later, a temple was erected here in the name of St. Sergius.

In 1619, Patriarch Feofan of Jerusalem, who arrived in Russia, visited the Lavra. He especially wished to see those monks who, in a time of military danger, dared to put on themselves military chain mail over monastic robes and, with weapons in their hands, stood on the walls of the holy monastery, repulsing the enemy. , hegumen, who led the defense († 1633; information about him on May 12), presented more than twenty monks to the patriarch.

The first of them was Athanasius (Oshcherin), the most advanced in years, a gray-haired old man to the point of yellowness. The patriarch asked him: "Did you go to war and command the soldiers?" The elder replied: “Yes, Vladyka, holy, I was compelled by bloody tears.” - "What is more characteristic of a monk - prayerful solitude or military exploits in front of people?" - Blessed Athanasius, bowing, answered: “Every thing and every deed is known in its own time. Here is the signature of the Latins on my head, from a weapon. Six more memories of lead in my body. Sitting in a cell, praying, how could I find such stimuli to sigh and groan? And all this was not our will, but with the blessing of those who sent us to God's service. Touched by the wise answer of the humble monk, the patriarch blessed and kissed him. He blessed the rest of the warrior monks and expressed his approval to the entire brotherhood of the Lavra of St. Sergius.

The feat of the monastery in the difficult Time of Troubles for the whole people is described by cellarer Avraamy (Palitsyn) in “The Tale of the Events of the Time of Troubles” and cellarer Simon Azaryin in two hagiographic works: “The Book of the Miracles of St. Sergius” and “The Life of St. Dionysius of Radonezh”. In 1650, Simeon Shakhovsky compiled an akathist to St. Sergius, as the “chosen governor” of the Russian land, in memory of the deliverance of the Trinity Monastery from the enemy situation. Another existing akathist to the Monk was compiled in the 18th century; the author is considered to be the Metropolitan of Moscow Platon (Levshin; † 1812).

In the subsequent time, the monastery continued to be a never-failing beacon of spiritual life and church enlightenment. From her brethren, many illustrious hierarchs of the Russian Church were elected to serve. In 1744, the monastery for services to the Motherland and faith became known as the Lavra. In 1742, a theological seminary was established in its enclosure, and in 1814 the Moscow Theological Academy was transferred here.

And now the House of the Life-Giving Trinity serves as one of the main gracious centers of the Russian Orthodox Church. Here, by the will of the Holy Spirit, the deeds of the Local Councils of the Russian Church are performed. The monastery is home to His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, who bears the special blessing of St. Sergius, being, according to the established rule, "the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, archimandrite".

The fifth of July, the day of the uncovering of the relics of St. Abba Sergius, hegumen of the Russian land, is the most crowded and solemn church feast in the monastery.

The finding of the honest relics of St. Sergius. The relics (+ 1392; his memory is September 25) were found on July 5, 1422 at (+ 1426; his memory is November 17). In 1408, when Moscow and its environs were invaded by the Tatar hordes of Edigey, the Trinity Monastery was devastated and burned, the monks, led by Abbot Nikon, took refuge in the forests, preserving icons, sacred vessels, books and other shrines associated with the memory of St. Sergius. In a night vision on the eve of the Tatar raid, St. Sergius informed his disciple and successor of the coming trials and predicted as a consolation that the temptation would not last long and the holy monastery, having risen from the ashes, would flourish and grow even more. Metropolitan Filaret wrote about this in the Life of St. Sergius: “In the likeness of how it was fitting for Christ to suffer, and through the cross and death to enter into the glory of the resurrection, so everything that Christ is blessed for the length of days and glory, like to test his cross and his death." Having passed through a fiery cleansing, the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity resurrected in the longitude of days, and St. Sergius himself rose to dwell in it forever with his holy relics.

Before the start of the construction of a new temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity on the site of a wooden one, consecrated on September 25, 1412, the Monk appeared to one pious layman and ordered to inform the hegumen and brethren: “Why do you leave me so much time in a tomb, covered with earth, in water, oppressing my body? " And during the construction of the cathedral, when ditches for the foundation were being dug, the incorruptible relics of the Monk were opened and worn out, and everyone saw that not only the body, but also the clothes on it were unharmed, although there really was water around the coffin. With a large confluence of pilgrims and clergy, in the presence of the son of Dmitry Donskoy, Prince Zvenigorodsky Yuri Dimitrievich († 1425), the holy relics were worn out of the ground and temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (now the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is located in that place). During the consecration of the stone Trinity Cathedral in 1426, they were transferred to it, where they remain to this day.

The spiritual contribution of St. Sergius to the theological doctrine of the Holy Trinity is especially great. The monk deeply saw through the innermost mysteries of theology with the "intelligent eyes" of the ascetic - in prayerful ascent to the Trinitarian God, in experimental communion with God and likeness to God.

“The co-heirs of the perfect light and contemplation of the Most Holy and Sovereign Trinity,” explained St. Gregory the Theologian, “will be those who are perfectly united with the perfect Spirit.” The Monk Sergius experienced by experience the mystery of the Life-Giving Trinity, because by his life he was united with God, he joined the very life of the Divine Trinity, that is, he reached the measure of deification possible on earth, becoming "a partaker of the Divine nature" (). “Whoever loves me,” said the Lord, “he will keep my word; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our abode with him” (). Abba Sergius, who kept the commandments of Christ in everything, is one of the saints, in whose soul the Holy Trinity "created a abode"; he himself became "the abode of the Holy Trinity", and all with whom the Reverend communicated, he erected and attached to Her.

The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity, erected by St. Sergius, "so that by constantly looking at Her, the fear of the hated strife of this world was conquered, became the spiritual symbol of the gathering of Russia in unity and love, the historical feat of the people."

"Hateful strife", strife and turmoil in worldly life were overcome by the monastic community planted by St. Sergius throughout Russia. People would not have division, strife and wars if human nature, created by the Creator in the image of the Divine Trinity, was not distorted and shattered by original sin. Overcoming the sin of specialness and separation by their crucifixion with the Savior, rejecting "their own" and "themselves," the civic monks, according to the teachings of St. Basil the Great, restore the Primordial unity and holiness of human nature. The monastery of St. Sergius became for the Russian Church a model of such restoration and revival; holy monks were brought up in it, who then carried the mark of the true path of Christ to distant lands. In all their labors and deeds, St. Sergius and his disciples brought life to the Church, giving the people a living example of the possibility of this. Not renouncing the earthly, but transforming it, they called to ascend and themselves ascended to the Heavenly.

The Church also honors those of the disciples and associates of St. Sergius, whose memory is not specially noted in the Menologion, under a separate day. We remember that the first to come to the Monk on Makovets was Elder Vasily Sukhoi, so named for his incomparable fasting. The second was the monk Yakut, that is, Jacob, from ordinary peasants, he resignedly carried out the troublesome and difficult obedience of a messenger in the monastery for many years. Among other disciples, deacon Onesimus and his son Elisha came to the Reverend from Radonezh. When 12 monks gathered and the built cells were surrounded by a high fence, the deacon Onesimus was appointed by the abba as a gatekeeper, because his cell was the last one from the entrance to the monastery. Abbot Mitrofan spent his last years under the shadow of the Holy Trinity Monastery, the same one who once tonsured St. Sergius into an angelic image and instructed in monastic deeds. The grave of the blessed elder Mitrofan, who soon died, became the first in the monastery cemetery. In 1357, Archimandrite Simon came to the monastery from Smolensk, leaving the honorary position of rector in one of the Smolensk monasteries in order to become a simple novice to the God-bearing Radonezh abbot. As a reward for his great humility, the Lord vouchsafed him to be a participant in the marvelous vision of St. Sergius about the future multiplication of his monastic flock. With the blessing of the holy abba, the blessed elder Isaac the Silent, whose silence for the monks and outsiders was more instructive than any words, took upon himself the feat of prayerful silence. Only once during the years of silence did St. Isaac open his mouth - to testify how the Angel of God he saw served in the altar to St. Sergius, who celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Ecclesiarch Simon was also an eyewitness to the grace of the Holy Spirit, assisting the Monk, who once saw how the Heavenly fire descended on the Holy Mysteries and the saint of God "participated in the fire without disgrace." Elder Epiphanius († c. 1420), who later, under Abbot Nikon, was the confessor of the Sergius flock, the Church calls the Wise for his high learning and great spiritual gifts. He is known as the compiler of the lives of St. Sergius and his interlocutor, St. Stephen of Perm, words of praise to them, as well as the "Words on the life and death of Grand Duke Dimitri Donskoy." The Life of St. Sergius, compiled by Epiphanius 26 years after the death of the Monk, that is, in 1418, was then revised by the monk hagiographer Pachomius Serb, nicknamed Logothetes, who arrived from Athos.

To St. Sergius, as to an inexhaustible source of prayerful spirit and the grace of the Lord, thousands of people at all times went to worship - for edification and prayer, for help and healing. And he heals and revives each of those who resort with faith to his miraculous relics, fills strength and faith, transforms and elevates to his luminous spirituality.

But not only spiritual gifts and grace-filled healings are given to all who come with faith to the relics of the Reverend, but he was also given grace from God to protect the Russian land from enemies. With his prayers, the Monk was with the army of Demetrius Donskoy on the Kulikovo field; he blessed his tonsured monks Alexander Peresvet and Andrey Oslyab for the feat of arms. He pointed out to Ivan the Terrible a place for the construction of the fortress of Sviyazhsk and helped in the victory over Kazan. During the Polish invasion, St. Sergius appeared in a dream to a citizen of Nizhny Novgorod, Kozma Minin, ordering him to collect the treasury and arm the army for the liberation of Moscow and the Russian state. And when, in 1612, the militia of Minin and Pozharsky, after a prayer service at the Holy Trinity, moved towards Moscow, the blessed wind fluttered Orthodox banners, "as if from the tomb of the Wonderworker Sergius himself."

The period of the Time of Troubles and the Polish invasion includes the heroic "Trinity Sitting", when many monks, with the blessing of the Monk Abbot Dionysius, repeated the sacred feat of arms of Sergius disciples Peresvet and Oslyabya. For a year and a half - from September 23, 1608 to January 12, 1610 - the Poles besieged the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity, wanting to plunder and destroy this sacred stronghold of Orthodoxy. But by the intercession of the Most Pure Theotokos and the prayers of St. Sergius, “with much shame” they finally fled from the walls of the monastery, persecuted by the wrath of God, and soon their leader Lisovsky himself died a cruel death just on the day of the remembrance of the Monk, September 25, 1617. In 1618 the Polish prince Vladislav himself came to the walls of the Holy Trinity, but, powerless against the grace of the Lord guarding the monastery, he was forced to sign a truce with Russia in the village of Deulin, which belonged to the monastery. Later, a temple was erected here in the name of St. Sergius.

The first of them was Athanasius (Oshcherin), the most advanced in years, a gray-haired old man to the point of yellowness. The patriarch asked him: "Did you go to war and command the soldiers?" The elder answered: “Yes, Vladyka, holy, I was compelled by tears of blood.” - "What is more characteristic of a monk - prayerful solitude or military exploits in front of people?" - Blessed Athanasius, bowing, answered: "Every thing and every deed is known in its own time. Here is the signature of the Latins on my head, from weapons. Six more lead memories in my body. Sitting in a cell, in prayers, could I find such stimuli to sighing and groaning? And all this was not our will, but with the blessing of those who sent us to God's service. Touched by the wise answer of the humble monk, the patriarch blessed and kissed him. He blessed the rest of the warrior monks and expressed his approval to the entire brotherhood of the Lavra of St. Sergius.

The feat of the monastery in the Time of Troubles, which is difficult for the whole people, is described by the cellarer Avraamy (Palitsyn) in "The Tale of the Events of the Time of Troubles" and by the cellarer Simon Azaryin in two hagiographic works: "The Book of the Miracles of St. Sergius" and "The Life of St. Dionysius of Radonezh". In 1650, Simeon Shakhovsky compiled an akathist to St. Sergius, as the "chosen governor" of the Russian land, in memory of the deliverance of the Trinity Monastery from the enemy situation. Another existing akathist to the Monk was compiled in the 18th century; the author is considered to be the Metropolitan of Moscow Platon (Levshin; † 1812).

The fifth of July, the day of the uncovering of the relics of St. Abba Sergius, hegumen of the Russian land, is the most crowded and solemn church feast in the monastery.

Today, July 18, Orthodox Christians remember St. Sergius of Radonezh- one of the most famous Russian saints. For any believer, St. Sergius of Radonezh is the greatest miracle worker, from whose holy relics many receive healing and help. For a secular person - the most famous historical and political figure of the fourteenth century, a talented diplomat.


Icon of the Holy Reverend Sergius of Radonezh

They pray to St. Sergius of Radonezh in any difficulty, especially for the gift of humility and the taming of pride, for help in teaching, for saving the lives of soldiers. Remembrance Day of St. Sergius for Orthodox Russians is of particular importance: the saint is considered the heavenly patron of Russia and Moscow.

The Holy Monk Sergius of Radonezh the Wonderworker did not leave behind a written heritage, but his ascetic life had a significant impact on Russian spirituality. He introduced certainty into the monastic statutes, which had not previously had a clear statutory unity, and raised them to a higher level of requirements for the service of those who preferred “life in Christ” to everything earthly, and also introduced new religious and philosophical ideas into national self-consciousness Russia.

He created the monastery, which later became the Trinity-Sergius Lavra - the world-famous Russian Orthodox shrine, which people come to worship and admire as a unique phenomenon of Russian religious culture, not only from all over Russia, but from all over the world. Under the Lavra, there is a seminary, education in which is equal to humanitarian university education, and in some ways even surpasses it.

The life, activity and ascetic labors of St. Sergius proceeded during the period of the formation of Muscovite Russia, during the reign of Ivan Kalita and his grandson Demetrius, later called Donskoy.

Saint Sergius knew how to act with “quiet and meek words” on the most cruel and hardened hearts. With his call to spiritual unity and mutual love, the saint had an unprecedented moral impact on the Russian people. By the decision of His Holiness Patriarch Pimen and the Holy Synod of December 26, 1978, the Order of St. Sergius of Radonezh was established. The order is awarded to representatives of churches - for ecclesiastical and peacekeeping services, state and public figures - for fruitful work to strengthen peace and friendship between peoples.

Founded by Sergius of Radonezh, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra is the spiritual center of Russia, it is also the largest historical and architectural museum, a cultural monument of world significance. Created by Father Sergius in 1337, a small monastery with a wooden church in the name of the Holy Trinity quickly became the spiritual center of the Moscow lands, supported by the Moscow princes. It was here in 1380 that Father Sergius blessed the army of Prince Dimitri Ivanovich, who was going to battle with Mamai. In 1392, St. Sergius died, and the monastery he founded was the cultural and religious center of the Russian state for several centuries. Chronicles were compiled in the monastery, manuscripts were copied, icons were painted. Here was created the "Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh", written in 1417-1418 by his student Epiphanius the Wise. "The Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh" is one of the largest monuments of old Russian literature, the most valuable historical document.


	Icon of the Holy Reverend Sergius of Radonezh

St. Sergius was buried in the monastery he founded, and 30 years after his death, his relics and clothes were found incorrupt. In 1452, Sergius of Radonezh was canonized by the Russian Church and canonized as a saint.

Today's day of remembrance of the great holy ascetic is established in memory of a miraculous event - the acquisition of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh.

In 1408, when Moscow and its environs were invaded by the Tatars, the Trinity Monastery was burned down, the monks, led by Abbot Nikon, took refuge in the forests, preserving icons, sacred vessels, books and other shrines associated with the memory of St. Sergius. Before the start of the construction of a new temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity, St. Sergius appeared to a pious layman and ordered him to convey to the brethren: “Why do you leave me so much time in a tomb covered with earth, in water that oppresses my body?” And during the construction of the cathedral, when ditches were dug for the foundation, the incorrupt relics of St. Sergius were found, it is surprising that not only the body, but also the clothes on it were unharmed, although there really was water around the coffin. With a large gathering of people, the holy relics were removed and temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is now located on this site). During the consecration in 1426 of the stone Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the holy relics were transferred to it, where they are kept to this day in a silver reliquary. This shrine still performs numerous miracles and healings.