Kiev Pechersk Patericon summary.
Pechersk Patericon
One of the most famous monuments of our ancient church writing. Like other patericons (see), it is a collection of several individual works; named after its place of origin (Kievo-Pechersk Monastery). The core of the collection was two epistles written in the 13th century. The first of them is a letter from the former Kiev-Pechersk monk, later Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, Simon, to his student and friend, the Kiev-Pechersk monk Polycarp. The last one is blessed. Polycarp - wrote the second letter addressed to the Kiev-Pechersk Archimandrite Akindinus. Simon's goal was to teach Polycarp Christian humility and meekness by narrating the wonderful lives of the ascetics who glorified the Pechersk monastery. The final chapters of Simon's story are devoted to the history of the creation and decoration of the monastery (about architects, painters). Polycarp's letter also contains stories about the monks of the monastery, which he heard from his “master,” Bishop Simon. Subsequently, to both messages, collectors added legends about the beginning of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery, about the first Kiev-Pechersk ascetics, etc. Then the collection included various other articles that have known attitude to the subject of P., and sometimes without any connection with it. Some lists contain Theodosius' answer to Grand Duke Izyaslav's question about the Latins, legends about the origin and initial state of the Russian Church, the baptism of the Slavs, etc. There are many editions of the Patericon; the oldest - the 15th century, the latest - the 17th century. They differ from each other in the degree of completeness, as well as in changes in the order of arrangement of the collection’s material. The most important handwritten editions: 1) Arsenyevsky list, compiled in Novgorod. Bishop Arseny of Tver; 2) two Cassian (and), compiled by order of the Kiev-Pechersk clirosan, later the monk Cassian. In the Arsenyev edition, from both messages only stories about saints and Simon's story about the creation of the Pechersk Church of the Most Holy are preserved. Mother of God, and everything else is released. In the lists of the Cassian edition, the works of Simon and Polycarp are placed completely in their original form; only the story about the creation of the church is divided into 2 parts: the first, about the church itself, is placed at the very beginning of the patericon, and the other, about the binding of the shrine of Theodosius, is placed after the life of St. Feodosia. In the city, the first printed edition of the Pechersk Patericon appears in Kyiv, edited by Bishop Sylvester Kossov, in Polish, with significant changes that damaged the original character of the collection, written in simple, unartificial language. The compilers of the first printed patericon took from various parts Patericon legends about a famous saint and then combined them into one whole, giving a series of separate biographies. Articles of purely secular content have also been added. The appendix includes the lives of Nestor, Simon and Polycarp. In Kyiv, a new printed edition of the patericon appears in the Slavic language, repeated three times over the next two decades. The new Patericon, printed in the printing house of the Moscow Synodal Office (), is based on the Kiev edition, carefully revised; it was considered necessary to exclude from it a number of individual passages that were “subject to doubt” due to their disagreement with the teaching Orthodox Church, and to substantiate their views, the compilers cited special “reasons” against each place excluded from the Patericon. All the images that decorated the previous printed editions of the patericon were also released. Individual components have been translated into Russian. A wonderful translation of the Pechersk Patericon into modern Russian was published in Kyiv. language the early deceased Maria Alexandrovna Viktorova (born Princess Mikulova).
See A. M. Kubarev, “Research on the Patericon” in “Readings of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities” (1847, No. 9 and 1858, No. 3); His Eminence Macarius, in “News of the Academy of Sciences” (vol. V); M. Viktorova, “Compilers of the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon and its later fate” (Voronezh, 1871); G. Georgievsky, “Printed Patericon” (in “Russian Review”, 1893, books 5 and 6).
Annotation
Kiev-Pechersk Patericon. Complete collection lives of the saints who labored in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Compiled by three Pechersk saints: Nestor, the chronicler of Pechersk, Simon, bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, and Polycarp, archimandrite of Pechersk. 7th edition (2008), Kiev Pechersk Lavra, based on the translation by E. Poselyanin (1900).
The sections “From the Translator” and “Preface” were added from the second edition of the Patericon, translated by E. Poselyanin, Moscow, 1900.
FROM THE TRANSLATOR
PREFACE
PART ONE
The life of our venerable and God-bearing father Anthony, the leader of the Russian monks who began to labor in caves
Praise to our venerable and God-bearing father Anthony of Pechersk, the pioneer of monastic life in Rus'
The life of our venerable and God-bearing father Theodosius, abbot of Pechersk, chief of the Russian monks who began to labor in monasteries according to the rules
The legend of the transfer of the venerable relics of our venerable and God-bearing father Theodosius of Pechersk
Praise to our venerable and God-bearing father Theodosius, abbot, head of the monastic charter in Rus'
The legend of the holy miraculous church of the Pechersk, stone, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
About icon decoration
The life of our venerable father Stefan, who was hegumen of Pechersk after Ven. Feodosia
Life of our venerable father Nikon, abbot of Pechersk
Life of our venerable father Varlaam hegumen
Life of our Reverend Father Ephraim the Eunuch
The Life of Our Venerable Father Isaiah the Wonderworker
The Life of Our Venerable Father Damian, Presbyter and Healer of Pechersk
The Life of Our Reverend Father Jeremiah the Visionary
The Life of Our Venerable Father Matthew the Visionary
The life of our venerable father Isaac, the recluse of the cave
Testimony of our venerable father Nestor
PART TWO
The Life of Our Venerable Father Nikita the Recluse
The Life of Our Venerable Father Lawrence the Recluse
The life of our venerable father Alipius the icon painter
The life of our venerable father Agapit, a free doctor
Life of our Venerable Father Gregory the Wonderworker
Life of our Reverend Father Moses Ugrin
The Life of Our Venerable Father John the Long-Suffering
The Life of our Venerable Father Prokhor the Wonderworker
The Life of Our Venerable Father Mark the Caveman
The Life of Our Venerable Fathers Theodore and Vasily
The Life of Our Venerable Father Pimen the Much-Sick
The life of our venerable fathers Spiridon and Nikodim, prosphora bearers of Pechersk
Message from our Reverend Father
PART THREE
The Life of our Venerable Father Eustratius, Faster and Martyr
The Life of Our Reverend Father Nikon Sukhoi
Lives of our venerable fathers
The Life of Our Venerable Father Athanasius the Recluse
The Life of Our Reverend Father Nikola Svyatoshi, Prince of Chernigov
Life of our Venerable Father Erasmus
The Life of Our Venerable Father Arefa
Life of our Venerable Father Titus the Presbyter
Life of our Venerable Father Niphon
Message from our venerable father Simon, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal to Blessed Polycarp, Monk of Pechersk, who was not yet an archimandrite at that time
ADDITION TO ALL THREE PARTS OF THE PATERICON
The Life of our Venerable Father Nestor, Russian Chronicler
Life of our Venerable Father Simon, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal
Life of our venerable father Polycarp, Archimandrite of Pechersk
The Legend of the Finding of the Honorable Relics of Saint Juliana the Virgin
The Legend of a Miracle in a Cave That Happened During Easter
The Legend of the Myrrh-Streaming Chapters
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE LIVES OF THE PLEASES OF GOD RESTING IN THE FAR CAVES
Preface
Venerable Longinus, goalkeeper of Pechersk
Venerable Ignatius, Archimandrite of Pechersk
Venerable Silouan the schema-monk
Venerable Agathon the Wonderworker
Venerable Zinon the Faster
Venerable Macarius Deacon
Venerable Akhila Deacon
Venerable Hypatius the Healer
Reverend Fathers Paisios and Mercury
Venerable Lawrence the Recluse
Venerable Moses the Wonderworker
Venerable Hilarion the schema-monk
Venerable Arseny hardworking
Venerable Pimen the Faster
Venerable Athanasius the Recluse
Venerable Sisoi the schema-monk
Venerable Gregory the Wonderworker
Venerable Leonty and Geronty, canonarchs of Pechersk
Reverend Paul obedient
Reverend Nestor the Unbook
Reverend Titus the Warrior
Reverend Pamvo, obedient and reclusive
Venerable Zechariah the Faster
Venerable Theodore, Prince of Ostrog
Venerable Sophronius the Recluse
Venerable Pankratiy Hieromonk
Reverend Ammon the recluse
Venerable Mardarius is a recluse, non-covetous
Reverend Rufus the recluse
Reverend Benjamin
Venerable Theophilus, Archbishop of Novgorod
Venerable Martyrius Deacon
Venerable Euthymius Hieroschemamonk
Reverend Cassian the recluse
Venerable Pior the recluse
Venerable Paphnutius the Recluse
Reverend Joseph multi-morbid
Venerable Dionysius, priest and recluse
Venerable Euphrosyne, Abbess of Polotsk
Venerable Lucian the Hieromartyr
Venerable Theodore the Silent
Venerable Anatoly the Recluse
Venerable Martyrius the Recluse
Part of the relics of St. baby of Herod killed for Christ
Afterword
To the glory of the Holy, Consubstantial, Life-Giving
and the Undivided Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit,
in praise of the holy saints of God,
This book “Paterik of Pechersk” was published.
Cathedral of the Holy Saints of Kiev-Pechersk.
“Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is abundant in heaven” (Matthew 5:12)
FROM THE TRANSLATOR
(to the first edition)
The original ascetics of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra will always be dear to the entire Russian people.
Orthodox faith, sown on the grateful Russian soil, immediately sprouted with rich seedlings, and among these seedlings the best were St. Anthony and Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk, with a whole squad of spiritual heroes who grew up in their monastery. This spiritual army is the first lush flowers in the spring of Russian Orthodoxy, the first great candles lit before the universal face of Spasov on behalf of the Russian land.
Like a reverend of later hard times, grueling government work and bondage Rev. Sergius of Radonezh, and these Kiev-Pechersk monks who lived during the times of Russian expanse will remain forever treasured treasures in the Russian treasury. Russian people will trust themselves by their lives and deeds; they, as a measure of the spiritual height to which a Russian person is capable of rising, stand before us as unflickering guiding lights and ideals.
With such significance of the Kiev-Pechersk saints, it is understandable that the deep veneration that from ancient times surrounded the places of their exploits, overshadowed by wondrous memories, marked by great miracles. The legend about the ascetics of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery has always been a favorite reading for Russian believers. These narratives, which make up the so-called “Kievo-Pechersk Paterik” (i.e. “Fatherland”), in addition to their content, attracted Russian people also by the names of their compilers - Rev. Nestor the Chronicler, St. Simon, Bishop of Vladimir, Venerable. Polycarp, Archimandrite of Pechersk. The holiness of the compilers elevated the power of the narratives, giving them undoubted truthfulness and special dignity.
This translation is an attempt to give the reader the Patericon in its entirety in Russian, without the slightest omission.
Honorably, widely and deservedly famous work Ms. Viktorova does not have a life of the Rev. Theodosius, which certainly forms part of the ancient lists of the Patericon, also does not include some other parts included in the Patericon later.
This publication does not pursue any scientific purposes. The translator tried only to translate the Slavic narrative into Russian as closely as possible to the text, according to the latest edition of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
The purpose of the translation is to provide a generally accessible, affordable and understandable spiritual reading, precious in content and personality of the compilers.
E. Villager.
PREFACE
To the Orthodox reader, refuting the blasphemy against the saints of Pechersk.
Through the action of the Most Holy Giver of Life and the help Holy Mother We printed it with the lives of the saints, reverends and God-bearing fathers of our Pechersk for the benefit of your life, Orthodox reader. "God is not God of the dead, but alive” (Matthew 22:32), says Scripture.
Everything on earth and in human life is full of struggle and leads to death - and therefore the lives of people who were not overcome by death will be joyful for you, for they did not live earthly life, but heavenly, so that they could say with the apostle: “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20).
Our heavenly life is Christ God Himself. TO...
KIEV-PECHERSK PATERIK
PATTERICON OF PECHERSK, DEDICATED TO THE CREATION OF THE CHURCH, SO THAT EVERYONE KNEW HOW THE LORD HIMSELF, BY THE PROVISION AND WILL AND HIS MOST PURE MOTHER, BY PRAYER AND GRACE, WAS CREATED AND COMPLETED, THE GODLY, HEAVEN-LIKE CHURCH OF BOGORO DITSY, ARCHIMANDRITE OF THE WHOLE RUSSIAN LAND, WHICH IS THE LAUREL OF OUR HOLY AND GREAT FATHER THEODOSIA
WORD 1. BLESS, FATHER
There was in the Varangian land Prince African, brother of Yakun the Blind, who lost his golden cloak in battle, fighting on the side of Yaroslav with the fierce Mstislav. This Africanus had two sons, Friand and Shimon. When their father died, Yakun expelled both brothers from their domain. And Shimon came to our blessed prince Yaroslav; he accepted him, held him in honor and sent him to his son Vsevolod, so that he would be his eldest, and Shimon received great power from Vsevolod. The reason for Shimon’s love is for that holy place.
During the reign of the Blessed and Grand Duke Izyaslav in Kyiv, when the Polovtsians came to the Russian land in 6576 (1068) and three Yaroslavichs - Izyaslav, Svyatoslav and Vsevolod - went to meet them, this Shimon was with them. When they came to the great and holy Anthony for prayer and blessing, the elder opened his honest lips and without concealment predicted the destruction awaiting them. This Varangian, falling at the feet of the old man, prayed to be protected from such a misfortune. The blessed one said to him: “O child! Many will fall at the edge of the sword, and when you flee from your enemies, they will trample you, inflict wounds on you, and you will drown in water; But you, saved there, will be laid in the church that will be created here.”
And so, when they were on Alta, both armies met, and by God’s wrath the Christians were defeated, and when they fled, the commanders and many soldiers were killed in this battle. The wounded Shimon was lying among them. He looked up at the sky and saw a great church - such as he had seen before on the sea, and he remembered the words of the savior and said: “Lord! deliver me from this bitter death through the prayers of your most pure mother and the venerable fathers Anthony and Theodosius!” And then suddenly some force pulled him out from among the dead, he was immediately healed of his wounds and found all of his people safe and healthy.
And he returned back and came to blessed Anthony, and told him a wondrous story, saying: “My father Africanus made a cross and on it painted the divine likeness of Christ, the image new job, as the Latins honor, of great size - ten cubits. And honoring him, my father decorated his loins with a belt weighing fifty hryvnias of gold, and placed a golden crown on his head. When my uncle Yakun expelled me from my possessions, I took the belt from Jesus and the crown from his head and heard a voice from the image; turning to me, he said: “Never place this crown, man, on your head, carry it to the place prepared for it, where the church of my mother is being built by the Monk Theodosius, and give it into his hands so that he hangs it over my altar.” I fell from fear and, numb, lay as if dead; then, getting up, I hastily boarded the ship.
And as we were sailing, a great storm arose, so that we all despaired of salvation, and I began to cry out: “Lord, forgive me, for for the sake of this belt I am dying because I took it from your honest and humanoid image!” And then I saw the church above and thought: “What kind of church is this?” And a voice came to us from above, saying: “She that will be created by the venerable one in the name mother of god, in it you too will be placed.” And we saw its size and height, if you measure it with that golden belt, then twenty measures in width, thirty in length, thirty in the height of the wall, and with the top - fifty. We all glorified God and were comforted by the great joy that we were delivered from bitter death. And until now I did not know where the church that was shown to me at sea and on Alta, when I was already dying, would be created, until I heard from your honest lips that here I would be placed in the church that would be created.” And, taking out the golden belt, he gave it away, saying: “This is the measure and the basis; let this same crown be hung over the holy altar.”
The elder praised God for this and said to the Varangian: “Child! From now on you will not be called Shimon, but Simon will be your name.” Having called blessed Theodosius, Anthony said: “This Simon wants to build such a church,” and gave him the belt and crown. From then on, Simon had great love for Saint Theodosius and gave him a lot of money to build a monastery.
One day this Simon came to the blessed one and after an ordinary conversation said to the saint: “Father, I ask you for one gift.” Theodosius asked him: “O child, what does your greatness ask from our humility?” Simon said: “Great, greater than my strength, I ask you for a gift.” Theodosius answered: “You know, child, our misery: often there is not enough bread for daily food, but I don’t know anything else, which is what I have.” Simon said: “If you want to give me a gift, then you can, according to the grace given to you from the Lord, who called you reverend. When I removed the crown from the head of Jesus, he said to me: “Take it to the prepared place and give it into the hands of the monk who is building my mother’s church.” This is what I ask of you: give me your word that your soul will bless me both during your life and after your and mine death.” And the saint answered: “O Simon, your request is greater than the power, but if you see me departing from here, from this world, and if after my departure this church is established and the statutes given to it are observed in it, then let it be known to you, that I have confidence in God, but now I don’t know if my prayer is being delivered.”
Simon said: “The Lord gave me a testimony, I myself heard this about you from the pure lips of his holy image, therefore I pray to you - both for your monks, and for me, a sinner, and for my son George, and to the last of my generation." The saint, having promised him this, said: “I pray not for them alone, but for all who love this holy place for my sake.” Then Simon bowed to the ground and said: “Father, I will not leave you unless you confirm me with your writing.”
The monk, prompted by love for him, wrote the following prayer: “In the name of the father and son and the holy spirit,” which is still placed in the hands of the dead to this day. And since then, the custom of placing such a letter with the deceased has been established; before, no one had done this in Rus'. This was also written in the prayer: “Remember me, Lord, when you come into your kingdom to reward everyone according to his deeds, then, lord, grant your servants Simon and George to stand at your right hand, in your glory, and hear your good voice: “Come, you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
And Simon asked: “Add to this, Father, so that the sins of my parents and my neighbors may be forgiven.” Theodosius, raising his hands to the sky, said: “May the Lord bless you from Zion, and may you see the grace of Jerusalem all the days of your life and to the last of your family!” Simon accepted the prayer and blessing from the saint as a kind of treasure and great gift. He who was formerly a Varangian, now by the grace of Christ became a Christian, enlightened by our holy father Theodosius; He abandoned the Latin error and truly believed in our Lord Jesus Christ with his entire household, about three thousand souls, and with all his priests, for the sake of the miracles that came from Saints Anthony and Theodosius. This Simon was the first to be buried in that church. Since then, his son, George, had great love for that holy place. This George was sent by Vladimir Monomakh to the Suzdal land and entrusted to him his son, George. Many years later, Georgy Vladimirovich sat down in Kyiv; He entrusted the Suzdal region to his thousandth George, as his own father.
THE WORD ABOUT THE ARRIVAL OF THE CHURCH MASTERS FROM TSARGRAD TO ANTONY AND THEODOSIUS. WORD 2
And this, brothers, I will tell you another wondrous and glorious miracle about that God-chosen Church of the Mother of God. Four church masters, very rich people, came from Constantinople to the cave to the great Anthony and Theodosius, and they asked: “Where do you want to build a church?” They answered: “Where the Lord designates the place.” Those who came said: “How can it be?” own death foreseeing, “they haven’t assigned a place yet, having handed us so much gold?” Then Anthony and Theodosius, calling all the brethren, began to question the Greeks, saying: “Tell the truth: how did it happen?”
These masters said: “Once, when we were still sleeping in our houses, early, at sunrise, handsome eunuchs came to each of us, saying: “The queen is calling you to Blachernae.” When we went, taking with us our friends and neighbors, we all arrived at the same time and decided that each of us had heard the same command from the queen and that we had the same messengers. And then we saw the queen and many soldiers with her, we bowed to her, and she told us: “I want to build a church for myself in Rus', in Kyiv, but I command this to you, take gold for yourself for three years.” We bowed and said: “O lady queen! You send us to a foreign country, to whom will we come there? She said: “I am sending to them, to Anthony and Theodosius.” We said: “Why, madam, do you give us gold for three years? Order them about us, so that we need from them for food, and you will give us whatever you want.” The queen said: “This Anthony, having only given his blessing, will depart from this world to eternal rest, and this Theodosius, two years after him, will go to the Lord. Take the gold in abundance, but as for honoring you, no one can do it like I can: I will give you what has never been heard of and what has never entered the heart of man. I myself will come to see the church and live in it.” She also gave us the relics of the holy martyrs: Artemia and Polyeuctus, Leontius, Akakios, Arethas, Jacob, Theodore, telling us: “Put this as a foundation.” We took gold in abundance. And she told us: “Go outside, look at the church.” And we saw the church in heaven, and, returning, we bowed to the queen and asked: “O lady, what is the name of the church?” She said that she wanted to call her by her own name. We didn’t dare ask her: “How your name? She said: “There will be a church of the Mother of God,” and she gave us this icon, saying: “It will be local.” We, having bowed to her, went to our homes, carrying this icon received from the hands of the queen.”
And then everyone glorified God and the one who gave birth to him. Anthony replied: “O children, we never left this place.” The Greeks swore: “We took the gold from your hands in front of many witnesses, and they escorted you to the ship with them, and a month after your departure we set off, and now it’s the tenth day since we left Constantinople. We asked the queen about the size of the church, and she told us: “I sent a measure - my son’s belt - according to his command.”
And Anthony answered: “O children, Christ has honored you with great grace, for you are the executors of His will. Those who called you, those beautiful eunuchs, are the most holy angels, and the queen in Blachernae is herself, who visibly appeared to you, our most holy, pure and immaculate mistress, the Mother of God and the ever-virgin Mary, and the warriors standing with her are bodiless angelic forces. Those who are like us, and the gold given to you, God knows, since he himself created and accomplished this with his slaves. Blessed is your coming, and you have a good companion, this honest icon of the lady, and she will give you, as she promised, what the ear has not heard and what has not entered the heart of man: no one can give this except her and her son, the Lord God and Our Savior Jesus Christ, whose belt and crown, brought here by the Varangians, are the measure of the width, and length, and height of that most honorable church, a voice from heaven announced this from great glory.”
The Greeks bowed to the saints with fear and said: “Where is that place? Show". Anthony said: “We will pray for three days, and the Lord will indicate to us.” And on the first night, when he was praying, the Lord appeared to him and said: “You have found grace before me.” Anthony said: “Lord! If I have found grace before you, let there be dew all over the earth, and let the place that you wish to sanctify be dry.” The next morning they found the place where the church now stands dry, and there was dew all over the ground. The next night, having also prayed, Anthony said: “Let it be dry throughout the whole earth, and let there be dew in the holy place.” Let's go and find it like this. On the third day, having stood in that place, prayed and blessed the place, they measured the width and length with a golden belt. And, raising his hands to heaven, Anthony said in a loud voice: “Hear me, Lord, now mark the place with fire, let everyone understand that it pleases you.” And immediately fire fell from the sky and burned all the trees and thorns, licked the dew and burned the valley like a ditch. And all those who were with the saints fell from fear as if they were dead. This was the beginning of that divine church.
A WORD ABOUT WHEN THE PECHERSK CHURCH WAS FOUNDED. 3
This divine Church of the Mother of God was founded in 6581 (1073). During the reign of the blessed prince Svyatoslav, son of Yaroslav, this church was founded, and he himself began to dig a ditch with his own hands. The Christ-loving Prince Svyatoslav gave one hundred hryvnias of gold to help the blessed one and determined the size with a golden belt, as commanded by a voice heard from heaven on the sea. You will find more about this in the Life of St. Anthony. From the Life of Theodosius, everyone knows how a pillar of fire appeared from earth to heaven, sometimes a cloud or a rainbow descended from the top of the old church to this place, many times the icon moved - the angels carried it to the place where it was supposed to be.
What, brothers, is more wonderful than this? Having looked through all the books of the Old and New Testaments, nowhere will you find such miracles about the holy churches as about this one: from the Varangians, and from our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and his honest and divine and humanoid image - the holy head of Christ, the crown, and the divine voice was heard from the image of Christ, who ordered the crown to be carried to the prepared place, and a heavenly voice ordered to measure the church with this belt, which was seen even before its creation. And from Greece the icon came with masters, and the relics of the holy martyrs were placed under all the walls, and these saints were depicted above the relics along the walls.
We must praise the faithful princes who departed before, and the Christ-loving boyars, and the honest monks, and all Orthodox Christians. Blessed and most blessed is he who was honored to be buried here; he will be honored with great grace and mercy of the Lord through the prayers of the Holy Mother of God and all the saints. Blessed and most blessed, he is written down here in remembrance, for he will receive remission of sins and the heavenly reward will not pass him by. After all, it is said: “Rejoice and be glad, for your names are written in heaven” - this church is loved by God more than the heavenly one. The one who gave birth to him wished to create it, as she promised the craftsmen in Blachernae, saying: “I will come to see this church, and I will live in it.” It is a good and noble thing to be in her holy and divine church, and what glory and praise will be gained by the one placed here and recorded in her memorial books - he will always be remembered before her eyes.
And again, my beloved, I will offer you a word to strengthen you. There is nothing more evil than to renounce such light, and to love the darkness, and to reject the God-named church, to leave what was built by God and to seek what was created by people for a bribe from violence and robbery, which itself calls out to God for its builder. The creator, and organizer, and artist, and creator of this same church is God himself, who with his divine fire burned corruptible things, and leveled trees and mountains for his mother’s house for the benefit of his slaves. Understand, brothers, the foundation and beginning of it: God the Father blessed from above with dew, and a pillar of fire, and a cloud of light; God the Son gave the measure with his belt: although it was a wooden cross, it was clothed with God’s power; the holy spirit, with immaterial fire, dug out a ditch where to lay the foundation, and on such a stone the Lord created this church that even the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Likewise, the Mother of God: she gave gold to the builders for three years, and bestowed an icon of her most pure image and set it up as a substitute - from this icon many miracles are accomplished.
A WORD ABOUT THE ARRIVAL OF ICON PAINTERS TO IGUMEN NIKON FROM TSARGRAD. 4
And here is another wonderful miracle that I will tell you about. Icon painters came from the same God-protected city of Constantinople to Abbot Nikon and began to say: “Place before us those with whom we have been arguing, we want to fight a lawsuit with them: they showed us a small church, so we settled with them in front of many witnesses, the same the church is very big; Here, take your gold, and we will return to Constantinople.” In response to this, the abbot asked: “Who dressed up with you?” The icon painters told who they looked like and what their appearance was, and named the names of Anthony and Theodosius. And the abbot said to them: “O children, we are not able to show them: ten years ago they departed from this world, and now they incessantly pray for us, and relentlessly guard this church, and take care of their monastery, and care for those living in him."
Hearing such an answer, the Greeks, horrified, brought many other merchants, Greeks and Caucasians, who came with them from those lands. And they said: “We dressed up in front of them and took the gold from the hands of those elders, but you don’t want to call them here. If they died, then show us their image: let everyone see if they are the same?” Then the abbot brought out their icons in front of everyone. Seeing the faces of the saints, the Greeks and Caucasians bowed, saying: “Truly, these are they, and we believe that they are alive even after death, and can help, and save, and protect those who resort to them.” And they gave the mosaic, which they had brought for sale, to the monastery; the holy altar is now decorated with it.
The icon painters began to repent of their sin. “When,” they said, “we came to Kanev on boats, we saw this church in the heights. And we asked those who were with us: “What church is this?” And they answered us: “Pecherskaya, which you should paint.” We got angry and wanted to swim back. And that same night a strong storm arose on the river. In the morning, when we woke up, we saw that we were at Trepol, and the boat itself was moving against the current, as if some force was pulling it. We held it with difficulty and stood all day, thinking, what does it mean that we covered in one night, without rowing, such a distance that others hardly cover in three days? The next night we again saw this church and a wonderful local icon, telling us: “People, why are you rushing about in vain, not submitting to the will of my son and mine; If you do not listen to me and want to run away, I will take you all and put you right in the boat in my church. And know that you will not leave there, but, having taken monastic vows in my monastery, you will die there, and I will grant you mercy in the next century for the sake of the builders of this church, Anthony and Theodosius.” We got up the next day and wanted to swim down and rowed with all our might, but the boat went up, against the current. Then we, obeying the will and power of God, submitted, and soon the boat itself landed under the monastery.”
Then all together, the Monkmen and the Greeks, the masters and icon painters, glorified the great god and his holy mother, a miraculous icon, and the holy fathers Anthony and Theodosius. And over time, both of them, masters and icon painters, ended their lives in the monastic order in the Pechersky Monastery and were laid in their vestibule; Their retinues still lie on the floors, and their Greek books are kept in memory of such a miracle.
When Abbot Stefan, a de-mestvennik who was expelled from the monastery, saw glorious miracles - how the craftsmen came, brought an icon, told about the vision of the queen in Blachernae, he himself created a church on Klova in the likeness of Blachernae. The noble prince Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, then still young, witnessed that wondrous miracle when fire fell from the sky and the hole burned out, where the foundation of the church was then laid according to the size of the belt. The rumor about this spread throughout the Russian land. That is why Vsevolod and his son Vladimir came from Pereyaslavl to see that great miracle. Then Vladimir was sick, and they girded him with that golden belt, and he immediately recovered through the prayers of our holy fathers, Anthony and Theodosius.
And during his reign, the lover of Christ Vladimir, taking the dimensions of that divine church of Pechersk, created a similar church in everything in the city of Rostov of the same height, width and length and wrote down on the charter where and in which place of the church which holiday was depicted, and all this was repeated according to the model of that great church marked by God. His son, Prince George, who heard from his father Vladimir about everything that happened to this church, and during his reign, he himself built a church in the city of Suzdal to the same extent. And all those churches fell down over time; This one, the Mother of God, alone remains forever.
ABOUT JOHN AND SERGIA AN UNUSUAL MIRACLE IN THE DIVINE CAVE CHURCH, PERFORMED IN BEFORE THE MIRACLE-WORKING ICON OF THE VIRGIN. WORD 5
There were two certain famous people from that city, friends with each other, John and Sergius. One day they came to the church named after God and saw a light, brighter than the sun, on the wonderful icon of the Mother of God, and they entered into spiritual brotherhood.
Many years later, John fell ill, and he was left with a five-year-old son, Zechariah. And so the sick man called Abbot Nikon and distributed his property to the poor, and gave his son’s share, a thousand hryvnias of silver and a hundred hryvnias of gold, to Sergius. He gave his young son, Zacharias, into the care of his friend, as a faithful brother, bequeathing to him: “When my son grows up, give him gold and silver.”
When Zechariah was fifteen years old, he wanted to take his father’s gold and silver from Sergius. The same one, incited by the devil, decided to acquire wealth, deciding to destroy his life and soul for this, and he said to the young man: “Your father gave all his wealth to God, ask him for gold and silver: he owes you, maybe he will have mercy on you. I don’t owe either your father or you a single piece of gold. This is what your father did to you out of his madness, giving away all his property in alms, and leaving you poor and wretched.”
Having heard this, the young man began to grieve about his deprivation. He turned to Sergius with a prayer, saying: “Give me at least half, and leave half for yourself.” Sergius reproached his father and himself with cruel words. Zechariah began to ask for a third and even a tenth. Finally, seeing that he had lost everything, he said to Sergius: “Come and swear to me in the Pechersk Church, before the miraculous icon of the Mother of God, where you entered into brotherhood with my father.”
The same one went to church and, standing in front of the icon of the Mother of God, said, swearing that he had not taken either a thousand hryvnia of silver or a hundred hryvnia of gold, and wanted to kiss the icon, but could not get closer to it. And when he left the door, he began to cry out: “O Saints Anthony and Theodosius, do not order this unmerciful angel to destroy me, pray to the Holy Mother of God that she will drive away from me the countless demons to whom I am devoted. Take the gold and silver: it is hidden in my house.” And fear gripped everyone. Since then, no one has been allowed to swear by that icon of the Holy Mother of God.
They sent to Sergius’s house, took a sealed vessel and found in it two thousand hryvnias of silver and two hundred hryvnias of gold: so the Lord doubled the wealth, rewarding those who gave alms. Zacharias gave all the money to Abbot John so that he could use it as he wanted. He himself cut his hair and ended his life here. With silver and gold, the Church of St. John the Baptist was built, where the sunrise is on the floor, in memory of John the Boyar and his son Zechariah, whose gold and silver were.
THE STORY ABOUT THE HOLY ALTAR AND ABOUT THE SANCTIFICATION OF THAT GREAT CHURCH OF THE MOTHER OF GOD. WORD 6
The Pechersk Church was consecrated in 6597 (1089), in the first year of the abbot of John. And there was no stone slab to build the altar on. And they searched for a long time for someone who could make a stone altar and did not find a single craftsman; then they made a wooden board and laid it down. But Metropolitan John did not want such a great church to have a wooden altar, and because of this, the abbot was in great sadness. Several days passed, but there was still no consecration. On the thirteenth day of August, the monks entered the church to sing vespers, according to custom, and saw that near the altar fence lay a stone slab and supports for building an altar. They immediately let the Metropolitan know about this. He praised God and ordered the consecration and vespers to be performed.
For a long time they searched for where this slab was brought from and by whom, and how it was brought into the church when it was locked? And everywhere they asked where it was brought from, whether by water or by land, and nowhere were there any traces of those who brought it. They sent three hryvnias of silver to where such things are made, so that the master would take money for his work. The messengers went around all the places and did not find the master. The wise creator and helper of all, God, who created this miracle, made an altar, and laid it, and established it with the hands of the saints for the offering of his most pure body and holy blood, desiring that he be sacrificed for the whole world all the days on that altar that bestowed it himself.
The next day, Bishop John of Chernigov, Isaiah of Rostov, Bishop Anthony of Yuryev, Bishop Luke of Belgorod came with Metropolitan John, not invited by anyone, they came to the rite of consecration. And the blessed metropolitan asked them: “Why did you come when you were not invited?” And the bishops answered: “Vladyka, a messenger from you told us that on the fourteenth of August there will be a consecration of the Pechersk Church, and we should all be with you at the liturgy. We did not dare to disobey your word, and here we are.” Anthony, Bishop of Yuryevsky, said: “I was sick, and that night a monk came to me and told me: “Tomorrow the Pechersk Church is being consecrated, be there.” And as soon as I heard this, I immediately recovered, and here I am here at your command.”
The saint wanted to find those people who were calling them, and suddenly a voice was heard: “Let him who experiences his destiny disappear!” Then the Metropolitan raised his hands to the sky and said: “ Holy Mother of God! just as for your dormition you gathered the apostles from all over the universe, in honor of your burial, so now, for the consecration of your church, you called their governors and our co-workers!”
And everyone was horrified by the great miracles. They walked around the church three times and began to sing: “Lift up your heights, O gates,” and there was no one in the church who could sing the funeral service: “Who is this king of glory?”, because every single one of them left the church, marveling at the arrival of the bishops . After a long silence, suddenly a voice like an angel was heard from the church: “Who is this king of glory?” They began to look for what kind of voices they were, where they came from and whose. When they entered the church, all the doors were closed, and not a single person was found in it. And it became clear to everyone that everything was accomplished by God’s providence for that holy and divine church.
After this, we will say: “O the depth of wealth, and wisdom, and knowledge of God! Who knows the mind of God or who can be his companion?” May the Lord protect you and watch over you all the days of your life through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God and our venerable and blessed fathers of Pechersk, Anthony and Theodosius, and the holy monks of that monastery. With them may we also be worthy to receive mercy in this age and in the future in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
NESTOR, MONK OF THE PECHERSKY MONASTERY, A TALE ABOUT WHY THE MONASTERY WAS NAMED PECHERSKY. WORD 7
During the reign of the autocrat of the Russian land, the blessed Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich, God deigned that an enlightener of the Russian land and a mentor of monks should appear, about whom this legend will be told.
There lived in the city of Lyubech a certain pious man, in whom the fear of God was instilled from a young age, and he wanted to become a monk. The philanthropic Lord put into his soul the desire to go to the Greek country and there become a monk. He immediately set off on his journey, wandering for the Lord who wandered and worked for our salvation, and reached Constantinople. And he came to the Holy Mountain, and walked around the holy monasteries of Athos, and, seeing these monasteries on the Holy Mountain and the life of the monks, surpassing human capabilities - remaining in the flesh, they imitated the angelic life - he became even more inflamed with love for Christ and wanted - repeat the feats of these monks. He came to one of the monasteries there and begged the abbot to place on him the angelic image of the monastic order. The abbot, seeing that he would accomplish great good deeds, listened to him, tonsured him under the name of Anthony, instructing him and teaching him monastic life. Anthony, pleasing God in everything, otherwise labored in humility and obedience, so that everyone rejoiced for him. And one day the abbot said to him: “Antony, go to Rus' again, so that you will be there as another example of their success and affirmation in the faith, and the blessing of the Holy Mountain will be with you.”
Anthony came to the city of Kyiv and began to think about where he should live. He walked around the monasteries and did not want to settle in any of them: because God did not want to. And he began to walk through forests and mountains and different places, and, having come to Berestovo, he found a cave that the Varangians had once dug, and settled in it, and lived in it in great abstinence. Some time after this, Grand Duke Vladimir died, and the godless and accursed Svyatopolk seized power, and, sitting in Kyiv, began to beat his brothers, and killed saints Boris and Gleb. Anthony, seeing such bloodshed committed by the accursed Svyatopolk, again withdrew to the Holy Mountain.
When the pious prince Yaroslav defeated Svyatopolk, he sat down in Kyiv. And since the God-loving prince Yaroslav fell in love with Berestovo and the local church of the Holy Apostles, he kept many priests with it. There was among them a presbyter named Hilarion, a pious man, an expert in the Divine Scriptures and a faster. And he walked from Berestov to the Dnieper, to the hill where the old Pechersky monastery is now, and here he prayed, for then there was a dense forest there, and he dug here a small two-story cave, and, coming from Berestov, he sang psalms and prayed to God in secret.
And, after some time, God put a good thought in the heart of the blessed Grand Duke Yaroslav: in 6559 (1051) he gathered bishops and installed Hilarion as metropolitan in St. Sophia, and his cave was preserved.
When Anthony was on the Holy Mountain, in the monastery where he was tonsured, there was a message from God to the abbot: “Let Anthony go to Rus', he said, I demand him.” The abbot called him and said to him: “Antony! Go to Rus' again, this is the will of God, and a blessing from the Holy Mountain will be with you, and many will become monks from you.” Having blessed him, he released him and said to him: “Go in peace!”
When Anthony returned to Kyiv and came to the hill where Hilarion had dug a small cave, he fell in love with this place and settled here. And he began to pray to God with tears, saying: “Lord, establish me in this place, and may there be a blessing on it from the Holy Mountain and the prayer of my father, who tonsured me.” And he began to live here, praying to God. His food was dry bread, and he drank water in moderation, and he dug a cave, and, not giving himself rest either day or night, he lived in constant labor, being in vigil and prayer. Then people found out about him and began to come to him and bring him what he needed. And fame spread about him as about the great Anthony, and they began to come to him, asking for his blessing.
Then, when he died Grand Duke Yaroslav, his son Izyaslav took power and sat on the Kiev table. By that time, Anthony had already become famous throughout the Russian land. Prince Izyaslav, having heard about his life, came to him with his retinue, asking him for blessings and prayers. And the great Anthony became known to everyone, and everyone revered him. And God-loving people began to come to him to have their hair cut, and he accepted them and tonsured them. And his brethren gathered together, twelve in number. And Theodosius, coming to him, took tonsure. And they dug a large cave, and a church, and cells, which are still intact in the cave, under the old monastery.
When the brethren gathered, the great Anthony said to them: “It is, brethren, that God has united us, and the blessing of the Holy Mountain is upon us, with whom the abbot of the Holy Mountain tonsured me, I tonsured you, and may the blessing be upon you, firstly, from God and the Most Pure Mother of God, and secondly, from the Holy Mountain!” And he said to them: “Now live on your own, and I will appoint an abbot for you, and I myself will go to another mountain and remain alone there. After all, I’ve already gotten used to being alone.” And he made Varlaam abbot, and he himself went to the mountain and dug himself another cave, which is now under the new monastery, in which he died, having lived in virtue for forty years, without leaving the cave, in which they lie honest relics him, working miracles to this day.
The abbot and the brethren continued to live in the cave. And their number increased, and they could no longer fit in the cave, and they decided to build a monastery next to the cave. And the abbot and the brethren came to Saint Anthony and said to him: “Father! There are so many brethren that we cannot fit in the cave, may God bless the Most Pure Mother of God and your prayer, that we may build a small church outside the cave.” And the monk gave them permission. They bowed to him to the ground and left. And they built a small church over the cave in the name of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God.
And God, through the prayers of the Most Pure Mother of God and St. Anthony, began to multiply the monks, and the brethren, after consulting with the abbot, decided to build a monastery. And they went again to Anthony and said to him: “Father, the brethren are multiplying, and we want to build a monastery.” Anthony rejoiced and said: “Blessed be God for everything, may the prayer of the Holy Mother of God and the Fathers of the Holy Mountain be with you!” And having said this, he sent one of the brethren to Prince Izyaslav, saying this: “Pious prince, God multiplies the brethren, and the place is small, we ask you to give us the mountain above the cave.” Prince Izyaslav, hearing this, rejoiced and sent his boyar to them to hand over that mountain to them.
The abbot and the brethren founded a large church and a monastery, surrounded it with a fence, and erected many cells, and, having erected the church, decorated it with icons. And from then on the monastery was nicknamed Pechersk, because the Monkmen previously lived in a cave. And since then it has been called the Pechersk Monastery, and it bears the blessing of the Holy Mountain.
When the monastery was already founded, and Varlaam was the abbot there, Prince Izyaslav established the monastery of St. Demetrius and transferred Varlaam to the monastery of St. Demetrius as abbot; Hoping for wealth, he wanted to make his monastery higher than Pechersk. Many monasteries were established by kings, boyars and wealth; but they are not the same as those established through tears and fasting, prayer and vigil. Anthony had neither gold nor silver, but acquired everything through tears and fasting, as I have already said.
When Varlaam went to the monastery of St. Demetrius, the brethren, after consulting, went to Elder Anthony and said to him: “Father, give us an abbot.” He asked them: “Whom do you want?” They answered him: “Whom God wants, both the Most Pure Mother of God and you, honest Father.” And the great Anthony said to them: “Who else is there among you as obedient, meek and humble as blessed Theodosius? Let him be your abbot.” All the brothers were glad, bowed to the ground to him, and installed Theodosius as abbot. There were twenty brothers then.
Having accepted the monastery, Theodosius introduced strict abstinence, fasting and prayers with tears. And he began to receive many monks, and gathered a hundred people to the brethren. And he began to look for the monastery charter, and at that time he found himselfhere is the honest monk Michael from the Studite monastery, who came from Greece with Metropolitan George. And Theodosius decided to ask him about the charter of the Studite monks, and having found the charter from him, he copied it. And he established in his monastery how to sing the monastic chant, how to bow and read the reading, how to stand in the church, and the whole order of the church, and how to sit at meals, and what to eat on what days. According to the charter, Theodosius determined and introduced all this in his monastery, and all Russian monasteries adopted this charter from the Pechersky Monastery. That's why it's an honor Pechersky Monastery, since he is the most ancient of all and in honor above all.
And so, when Theodosius lived in the monastery, leading a virtuous life, observing the monastic rule and accepting everyone who came to him, I, the sinful and unworthy servant Nestor, came to him, and he accepted me, and I was then seventeen years old. And so I wrote this and explained in what year the monastery was founded and why it is called Pechersky. And we’ll tell you about the life of Theodosius below (...)
During the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, there lived a pious man in Lyubech who wanted to become a monk. He came to Holy Mount Athos and became a monk in one of the monasteries there. He was tonsured under the name Antonia. One day the abbot ordered him to return to Rus' to serve as an example for others there.
Anthony, having come to Kyiv, did not want to settle in any of the monasteries. He found a cave in Berestov, which had once been dug by the Varangians, and settled there. When Svyatopolk the Accursed became prince, having killed Boris and Gleb, Anthony again retired to the Holy Mountain.
Soon the pious Yaroslav took the princely throne. At that time there lived a priest Hilarion, he served in the Berestovskaya church and also dug himself a small cave on one of the Dnieper hills and prayed there. The prince installed Hilarion as metropolitan, but his cave was preserved.
One day, the abbot of the Athos monastery, where Anthony was, obeying God’s voice, ordered Anggonius to go to Rus' again. When the monk returned to Kyiv, he began to live in a cave dug by Hilarion and pray to God there. Many people came to him for blessings. Those who wanted to become monks also came.
During the reign of Izyaslav, a brethren of twelve people had already gathered with Anthony, including Saint Theodosius. The monks dug a large cave. Anthony appointed Varlaam abbot; he himself was accustomed to solitude and therefore made himself a special cave. But the brethren no longer fit in the cave. The monks erected a small above-ground church and decided to build a monastery. Anthony blessed this intention, and Prince Izyaslav gave them a mountain above the cave to build. Since then, the monastery has been called Pechersky, because previously the monks lived in a cave.
Prince Izyaslav soon transferred Varlaam to the abbess at the monastery of St. Dmitry. Then the brethren elected Theodosius as abbot. Saint Theodosius gathered one hundred monks in the monastery. He introduced the charter of the Greek Studian monastery into the monastery. Theodosius, among others, tonsured seventeen-year-old Nestor, who wrote this legend.
About the humble and long-suffering Nikon the Monk
A monk named Nikon was captured by the Polovtsians. He was kept in chains. Relatives came to ransom Nikon, but he refused, deciding that it was God’s will that he be captured.
The relatives left, and the Polovtsians, wanting to receive a ransom, began to bug the monk. He was starved, thirsty, and kept in the cold in winter. Nikon hoped that the Lord would deliver him. He told his tormentors that he had a dream in which he was told: “In three days you will be in the monastery.” The Polovtsians decided that Nikon wanted to escape, cut his legs and kept a tight guard. But on the third day he suddenly became invisible.
At that moment he found himself in the church of the Pechersky Monastery. The astonished brethren surrounded the monk. Nikon was wearing shackles, and he was all wounded. The monk wanted to hide the miracle, but it was impossible. When he told the brethren everything, they removed his shackles and reforged him into things needed for the altar.
After a while, the Polovtsian, who had Nikon in captivity, came to Kyiv. In the monastery he saw his former captive. Then the Polovtsian, together with his family, was baptized and became a monk.
Nikon could work miracles. While he was in captivity, his comrades fell ill from hunger, but he healed them with prayer, and they fled, becoming invisible. And once, when a Polovtsian was dying, he ordered Nikon to be crucified over his grave. Nikon healed him with prayer and delivered himself from death.
About Saint Athanasius the recluse, who died, and the next day came to life again and then lived for twelve years
One brother named Athanasius, who led a holy life, died after a long illness. He remained without burial for the whole day because he was poor and no one wanted to bury him.
At night, the abbot heard a voice that said that Athanasius had been lying for the second day without burial. The abbot and his brethren went to the deceased, but found him alive, sitting in tears. To all questions he repeated only: “Save yourself!” - and advised to remain in obedience and repentance. He lived as a recluse in his cave for another twelve years and never spoke to anyone. Before his death, he repeated the instructions to the brethren about obedience and repentance.
One of the brethren, Vavila, who suffered from pain in his legs, touched the body of Athanasius and was healed. He said that Athanasius appeared to him in a vision and said: “Come, I will heal you.”
About Aref the Monk, how the wealth stolen from him by thieves was imputed to him as alms, thanks to which he received salvation
In the monastery there lived a monk named Arefa, a Polovtsian by birth. He was rich, but he did not give anything to the poor. One day, all his wealth was stolen from him. Arefa began a search and accused the innocent. The brethren tried to console him and persuaded him not to look for the missing person, but he did not want to listen.
After some time, Arefa fell seriously ill. When he was dying, he saw angels and demons arguing about his soul. The angels said that if a person thanks God for the loss of wealth, then this is more than alms. Then Arefa exclaimed: “Lord, I have sinned, everything is yours, but I do not complain.” Then the angels wrote down the goods stolen from him as alms.
Arefa recovered and told about everything. From then on, his disposition completely changed, and he praised God for everything.
About two brothers who were at war with each other, Tite the priest and Evagrius the deacon
There lived two brothers in spirit, Deacon Evagrius and priest Titus. They loved each other very much, but the devil sowed enmity and hatred between them. Thus, they lived in enmity for a long time.
One day Titus became very ill and sent to Evagrius with a plea for forgiveness. But Evagrius did not forgive and did not want to go to the sick man. The elders brought him by force, wanting to reconcile the brothers. The patient tearfully asked for forgiveness, but the deacon mercilessly refused. At these cruel words, Evagrius suddenly fell and died. And Titus also unexpectedly recovered.
Then Titus said that at that moment he saw an angel with a fiery spear. The angel struck Evagrius with a spear, and Titu offered his hand and lifted him up.
About Nikita the recluse, who later was Bishop of Novgorod
A monk named Nikita lived in the monastery. He wanted people to glorify him, and began to ask Abbot Nikon to go into seclusion. The abbot did not allow him. But Nikita did not listen and locked himself in his cell.
A few days later he was seduced by the devil. The demon appeared before the monk in the form of an angel. He ordered Nikita not to pray, but only to read books. Nikita obeyed. Soon he began to prophesy, and fame began to spread about him as a saint.
Nikita knew it by heart Old Testament, but didn’t even want to hear about the New. And everyone understood from this that he was seduced by the devil. Then reverend fathers who lived in the monastery drove the demon away from Nikita. The monk immediately forgot the Old Testament and all the books in general, so it was with difficulty that he was taught to read and write.
After this, Nikita became an obedient, humble, virtuous monk and could even perform miracles. He was installed as Bishop of Novgorod.
About the holy and blessed Agapit, a selfless doctor
Under Blessed Anthony, a Kievite named Agapit became a monk. He always helped his sick brothers and served them. The Lord gave him the gift of healing. Many sick people recovered through his prayers.
At that time there was one skilled doctor, an Armenian by birth and faith. When he saw hopelessly sick people, he immediately predicted the day of their death, and his words always came true. He predicted death for one person in eight days. But Saint Agapit gave this sick man food from the monastery, and he recovered. Then the Armenian sent a man condemned to death to the monastery. In front of Agapit, he was given a deadly potion. Agapit fed the dying man his food, and he received healing. Then the Armenian, tormented by envy, persuaded his co-religionists to poison Agapit. But the poison did not harm the saint.
Prince Vladimir Monomakh became seriously ill. The Armenian's treatment did not help him. The prince began to ask Agapit to come to him. But the monk refused, because he made a vow never to leave the monastery, and if he went to the prince, he would have to go to other sick people. The prince's envoy asked Agapit to at least give him medicine. Agapit again sent his food, and Vladimir recovered.
Monomakh went to the Pechersk Monastery to thank Agapit, but he disappeared. Then the prince sent the boyar with gifts to Agapit, but the monk refused to take anything. The boyar persuaded the monk to accept the gifts for the sake of the prince, he agreed and said that the prince should give all his wealth to the poor. Then Agapit slowly threw the gifts out of the cell. The prince listened to Agapit and distributed the property to the poor.
Then Agapit himself fell ill. The Armenian came to visit him. He began to talk with the monk about the art of medicine and realized that Agapit did not understand anything about it. The Armenian told the sick monk that he would die in three days. “If this doesn’t happen, then I myself will become a monk,” he added. And Agapit himself said that he would die in three months - so God told him.
At this time, a sick man was brought to Agapit. The monk stood up as if he was not sick, gave the suffering man his food, and he became healthy. Having learned that the Armenian doctor was a non-believer, Agapit kicked him out of his cell. The saint died, as he predicted, three months later
And the Armenian doctor renounced Armenian faith and became a monk at the Pechersk Monastery. He said that blessed Agapit appeared to him after his death and reminded him of his promise to take on a monastic image.
About Saint Gregory the Wonderworker
Gregory came to the monastery and learned from Saint Theodosius monastic life. He could cast out demons.
One day the enemy of the human race taught evil people steal from Gregory his only wealth - books. Gregory, while in church, felt that thieves had come to his cell. Through his prayer, God sent a dream to the villains. They woke up only five days later. Grigory fed them and released them. The ruler of the city, having learned about this, captured the thieves. And Gregory gave his books to the ruler so that he would release these people. He sold the rest of the books so that no one would be tempted to steal them, and he gave the money to the poor. The forgiven thieves repented and began working in the Pechersky Monastery.
Another time, thieves wanted to steal fruit from a garden that belonged to Gregory. But, having taken the burden, they could not move, and stood there for two days. Gregory said that they, like lovers of idleness, would stand here idly until the end of their days. The thieves swore that now they would work and not steal. Then the saint released them, and they, having fulfilled their promise, also began to work in the monastery in the garden.
Three people came to the wonderworker Gregory. They said that one of them was condemned to the gallows, but could get rid of death with a ransom. Gregory gave his books to the deceivers, grieving the imminent death of one of them. The liars were delighted and decided to sell the books and also rob the fruit trees in the monastery. They locked Saint Gregory in a cave so that he would not interfere with them. One of them (the same falsely convicted one) climbed a tree, but the branch broke off. His comrades ran away, but he caught his necklace on a branch and hanged himself. The next morning, when the brethren released the locked Gregory from the cave, he ordered the dead man to be removed, and said to his comrades: “So your thought has come true.” The repentant deceivers ended their days in the Pechersk Monastery.
When blessed Gregory went to the Dnieper for water, he met Prince Rostislav Vsevolodich with his brother Vladimir. They were going on a campaign against the Polovtsians, and on the way they wanted to go to the Pechersky Monastery. The prince's servants began to mock the saint. And the elder persuaded them to repent, predicting that they and their prince would soon die in the water. Prince Rostislav, angry, ordered Gregory to be drowned. This is how the holy wonderworker died. The brethren searched for him for two days, and on the third day Gregory’s body miraculously appeared in the cave.
Rostislav, out of rage, did not enter the monastery, but his brother Vladimir went. And when, fleeing the Polovtsy after the battle, the princes crossed the river, Rostislav drowned with his squad, and Vladimir escaped.
About the Venerable Moses Ugrin
Blessed Moses was a Hungarian by birth. He served Prince Boris. During the murder of Boris, Moses managed to escape death. He began to live with Prince Yaroslav's sister, Predslava. The Polish king Boleslav, who went to Rus' together with the exiled prince Svyatopolk the Accursed, took Yaroslav's sisters and many boyars captive, and with them Moses. He was chained in irons and guarded.
A young noble widow saw Moses. She wanted to persuade the young man to commit adultery and was even ready to marry him. But Moses refused - he wanted to maintain mental and physical purity.
Then the woman ransomed Moses, and he became her slave. She tried to seduce the young man, dressed him in precious clothes, fed him sweet foods, but this led to nothing. The widow decided to starve him, but one of her servants secretly fed Moses. And others were surprised at his tenacity and advised him to marry a noble lady. But Moses strove for monasticism.
The widow planned to seduce Moses with ambition. They took him around the towns and villages that belonged to her, and everyone bowed to the young man. But he was completely indifferent to this.
At that time, one monk came from the Holy Mountain. He tonsured Moses into monasticism.
The woman began to threaten the young man with death and ordered him to be beaten with sticks. She turned to King Boleslav, wanting to take revenge on the slave for her shame. Boleslav ordered the woman to come and bring Moses. Seeing the young man’s inflexibility, Boleslav allowed the noble widow to do whatever she wanted with the slave. Moses predicted imminent death for him and his mistress.
The widow, despairing of fulfilling her desire, ordered Moses to be castrated. And Boleslav expelled all the monks from his country. But soon he suddenly died, and a riot arose in the country, during which the lady of Moses was killed.
Moses came to Kyiv, to the Pechersky Monastery. He could heal other people from carnal passion.
About the monk Prokhor, who made bread from a grass called quinoa through prayer, and salt from the ashes
During the reign of the unrighteous and evil Svyatopolk in Kyiv, there were many strifes, the Polovtsy carried out raids and there was famine in the Russian land.
In those days, a man from Smolensk came to the Pechersk abbot John. He took monastic vows and the name Prokhor. The new monk was distinguished by amazing abstinence: he did not even eat bread, but collected quinoa and baked bread from it. When the great famine came, people, imitating Prokhor, also began to bake quinoa bread. And Prokhor worked especially hard at this time: he gave his bread to everyone. If he himself gave this bread, then it was very tasty. And if someone stole bread from Prokhor, it became completely bitter, so that it could not be eaten.
One of the brethren stole bread from Prokhor and could not eat it. This happened several times. The guilty brother told Abbot John about his sin. The bread was bitter. Then the abbot sent to ask for bread from Prokhor: so that one piece of bread would be taken from his hands, and the other - secretly. When these two loaves were brought to the abbot, the stolen one changed before his eyes: it looked like earth and tasted bitter. After this miracle, the fame of Prokhor spread throughout the entire earth.
When the strife began due to the blinding of Prince Vasilko, there was no salt in the entire Russian land, because merchants were not allowed in. And Prokhor collected a lot of ashes, distributed them to those who came to him, and these ashes, through the prayer of the saint, turned into salt. He distributed this salt to everyone free of charge, so that the price of salt at the market dropped greatly. Those selling salt came to Prince Svyatopolk and began to complain about Prokhor. The prince decided to take the salt from the monk and sell it himself at a high price. But when they took the salt from Prokhor, they saw that it was just ashes.
The prince kept these ashes for three days, and then ordered them to be thrown away. It immediately turned into salt, and the townspeople collected it. The prince, having learned about this miracle, went to the Pechersky Monastery and brought repentance to Abbot John (although he had previously been at enmity with John and even tried to imprison him in Turov).
From then on, Svyatopolk began to love and honor the holy monastery, especially Prokhor. He promised not to do any more evil and asked Prokhor to put him in the coffin with his own hands if the prince died earlier. And if Prokhor dies earlier, the prince himself will put him in the coffin.
When Prokhor fell ill, the prince was at war. The saint sent to him with a request to come and fulfill his promise. Svyatopolk disbanded the army and came to Prokhor. Before his death, he instructed the prince. When Prokhor died, Svyatopolk placed his body in a coffin. After this, he continued the war and defeated his enemies.
From that time on, when Svyatopolk went to war, he always first came to the monastery to venerate the saints buried there.
About St. Spyridon the prosphora-maker and Alimpia the icon painter
Spiridon came to the monastery from the village; he quickly learned books. By order of the abbot, Spyridon baked prosphora and at the same time constantly sang the Psalter.
One day Spiridon flooded the oven, and the flames caused the roof of the bakery to catch fire. Then Saint Spyridon tied the sleeves of his shirt, ran to the well and poured water into his shirt. Miraculously, the water did not spill out of the shirt, and Spiridon managed to extinguish the flame.
The Monk Alimpius's parents sent him to study icon painting. This was when Greek icon painters painted the churches of the Pechersk Monastery.
The craftsmen decorated the altar of the church with mosaics, and suddenly a radiant image of the Virgin Mary appeared by itself. Flew from the mouth of the Mother of God White dove and flew into Spasov’s mouth. The artists tried to find the dove in the church, but in vain. Then they saw the miracle happen again. And Alimpy, who helped the masters, saw this.
Under Abbot Nikon, Alimpiy took monastic vows. He learned icon painting well, painted many icons and did not charge anything for it. Alimpiy also updated dilapidated icons and put them in their places. The abbot made him a priest.
One rich Kiev resident was a leper. Doctors could not cure him. A friend persuaded the leper to go to the Pechersky Monastery. There he was washed and given water from the well of St. Theodosius. But because of his unbelief, the leper became even more ill.
Having thought about his sins, the sick man came to the Monk Alimpius and repented. Alimpiy absolved him of his sins and painted his face with paints, covering up the scabs and giving him his former beauty. Then the leper received communion, washed himself with holy water and immediately received healing.
Another husband from Kyiv built a church and wanted to make icons for it. He gave two monks money and icon boards so that they would give all this to Alimpius, and he would paint the icons. The monks took the silver, but did not say anything to Alimpius. They lied to the customer that Alimpiy demanded more money. The man gave more money, and the monks again appropriated it and squandered it. The same thing happened a third time, and then the monks said that Alimpiy took the money, but did not want to paint icons.
Then the offended customer and his retinue went to the monastery and began to complain about Alimpy. Alimpiy was only surprised because he didn’t know anything. The abbot ordered the monks who took the money to be brought and the icon boards to be brought. The deceivers continued to slander Alimpy that he did not want to paint icons. But the icons, to everyone’s amazement, turned out to be already painted - created by God himself.
The deceiving monks were expelled from the monastery, but they did not stop slandering: now they claimed that they themselves had painted the icons. But miracles showed that these icons were not simple. The church where they were located burned down, but the icons remained intact. Prince Vladimir, having learned about this, took one of the icons and sent it to Rostov, to the church there. This church collapsed, but the icon remained. She was placed in a wooden church, which burned down, but the fire did not touch the icon.
One person ordered an Alimpia icon for the holiday. The icon painter fell ill, the icon remained unpainted, but the customer grieved and bothered the monk. He advised to trust in God: the icon will be ready on time. The customer came to Alimpiy on the eve of the holiday, and the monk was very ill. The man began to reproach Alimpiy: why, they say, didn’t warn him, he would have transferred the order to another icon painter. The customer left in sadness, and an angel appeared in the saint’s cell and began to paint an icon. At first Alimpiy thought that it was a simple man, but the speed of his work showed that it was an angel. The icon was completed in three hours.
And the man who ordered the icon went to his church the next morning and, seeing the shining new icon, fell from fear. He came to the abbot of the monastery and told about the miracle. Everyone hurried together to Alimpius and saw that he was dying. They began to ask him about the creation of the icon, and the monk said that it was painted by an angel. Alimpius saw this angel, ready to receive a soul, at his bed. When the holy icon painter died, his body was placed in a cave with the reverend fathers.
IN eastern church Patericon or Fatherland were books containing the lives, deeds and memorable sayings of the Desert and Community Fathers, famous for their wisdom, virtues and holiness. Following this example, the Patericon of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was compiled. It contains legends from different times about the Lavra itself, the lives, deeds, miracles and instructions of its Fathers. There is no doubt that from the very beginning of this monastery the brethren retold to each other what they saw or heard, and others wrote it down for memory; The most enlightened collected these legends and notes and compiled special articles from them. The Monk Nestor, the first Russian chronicler, who saw the first founders of the Pechersk Monastery and lived there for about 40 or 50 years, is revered as the first such collector. But not all of his descriptions have reached us, and those that have reached us were probably corrected and supplemented by others. This is why in some places they disagree with his chronicle. Simon, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, who lived after him about 100 years later, from his brief description of the life and miracles of St. Anthony and the transfer of the relics of St. Theodosius, composed a most extensive and added information about the binding of his shrine with the subsequent circumstances, also about the creation, decoration and consecration Great Church Pecherskaya; and yet Nestor’s description of these latest incidents was lost in military times, as stated in the preface of the printed Slavic Patericon of Pechersk. But in the written ones there is a brief one, which Kosov translated in his Polish Patericon.
Ten Lives of the Venerable Pechersk Saints are attributed to the Venerable Nestor himself, placed in the first part of the Patericon, starting from the Venerable Theodosius to Isaac the Recluse, and the Life of Anthony, written briefly by him, was distributed by Simon, as stated above. He probably wrote many others. For his century was the century of flourishing holiness of the Pechersk Monastery. He himself says in the afterword to the biographies: “It is truly a wonderful miracle to see the Brotherhood in the Pechersk Monastery. The Lord has gathered together such monks in the monastery of His Mother, who, like the most bright luminary in the Russian land, siyahu with virtues,” and so on. In the life of Lavrenty the Recluse it is said that at that time in the Pechersk Monastery there were thirty monks still alive, of whom unclean spirits were afraid.
The second part of the Patericon, containing 13 lives, starting from Nikita the Recluse to Spiridon and Nicodemus, was written by the Pechersk monk Polycarp to Archimandrite Akindinus from the legends of his relative, the aforementioned Simon, Bishop of Vladimir and Suzdal, under whom he lived for some time in Vladimir. In the Epistle to Akindinos, he says that he described the lives not of contemporary saints, but of those who were 160 years old, and, therefore, some from the Nestorian century, counting the number of these years from the copulation of the brethren in the Far Cave under the Venerable Anthony around 1054 or from the creation of the first Pechersk monastery in the Far Caves in 1058. From this chronicle it is also clear that this Polycarp wrote his lives around 1218, in the third year of Simonov’s bishopric, and, therefore, is not the same Polycarp, the archimandrite, who is described in the additional ones under Archimandrite Innocent Gisela to the Patericon Lives, who died in 1182, which will be discussed in more detail below in the list of abbots of Pechersk. This Polycarp added many moralizing remarks to the lives of the Saints, which he described, which are all included in the Slavic printed Patericon in his Epistle to Akindinos, and for this reason it is more extensive in the printed version than in the written ones.
The third part of the Patericon, containing 9 Lives, starting from Eustratius the Faster and the Martyr to Niphon, was written by Bishop Simon of Vladimir himself and sent to the aforementioned Polycarp, Monk of Pechersk, with an instructive message, which is found with the same lives in the printed Slavic Patericon. But it also included many of his moral teachings to Polycarp, placed in his various biographies, which is why in the written Patericon this Epistle is shorter than the printed one, and in other lists there are discrepancies, as can be seen from a comparison of it with the list of the 16th century, printed in Monuments of Russian Literature of the XII century, published in Moscow 1821
The originals of all these biographies have not reached us, and even the copies of the entire Patericon older than the 14th century are unknown to this day, of which the oldest is in the Moscow Patriarchal Library. But the subsequent lists are largely contradictory, even those whose signatures show that they were copied from the Kiev-Pechersk 4o. In ancient collections there are many individual articles from the Patericon; but until the 17th century the whole was not printed anywhere. Already around 1635, during the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Pechersk Archimandrite Peter Mogila, Sylvester Kosov, Bishop of Mstislavsky, Orsha and Mogilev, having found a list in the Pechersk archive, at the request of that metropolitan, he printed it in the printing house of the Pechersk Lavra in 1635 in 4 sheets, but not in Slavic, but in Polish, and, moreover, shortened it it is from Slavic, and some places explained with notes from Greek, Latin, Slavic and Polish writers. In the preface he placed some of the objections of non-believers and non-believers against the relics of Pechersk with his own refutation, and at the end he added the Chronology of the Metropolitans of Kyiv to Peter the Mogila. 26 years later, in 1661, the complete Slavic Patericon under Archimandrite Innocent Gisela with facial images and the addition of the lives of the three authors of the Patericon, that is, Nestor the Chronicler, Simon the Bishop, and Polycarp, a collection of the latter, was printed in the same printing house in sheet form. former Fathers, as stated in the title of these Lives. The second edition, corrected by the same archimandrite, was published in 1678; the third with him, 1680, 4 sheets; fourth under Archimandrite Varlaam Yasinsky 1688; the fifth, and after correction the third, under Archimandrite Joasaph Krokovsky in 1702, also on the sheet with a dedicatory preface to Tsar Peter Alekseevich. And from this third edition, the Patericon has been printed until now without change in the Kiev-Pechersk printing house, and two editions were in Moscow in 1759 and 1783, also in sheet form, but without facial images. In 1830, the fifteenth edition of the Patericon was published from the Kiev-Pechersk printing house, more efficient than the previous ones, with the addition of the story of the discovery of the holy relics of Princess Julia of Olshanskaya.
Sylvester's Patericon is divided into 37 articles with 4 additional notes, and the Slavic into 47. Between the lives of Sylvester there is one, the Monk Onesiphorus, who was under the abbot of Pechersk Pimen between 1132 and 1141, with the inclusion of a story about a monk who secretly poisoned himself, but in this Slavic edition no article. On the contrary, there are no lives in Sylvester’s Patericon St. Ephraim, Bishop of Pereyaslavl, Isaiah the Wonderworker, Bishop of Rostov, Mark of the Cave and Markov's disciple Theophilus, who are laid down in the Slavic. The order of many of Sylvester's lives is not the same as in the Slavic. In many places there are discrepancies between the Slavic and Sylvester Patericon. From this we can conclude that both of them were published not from the same original, or, to be fairer, Sylvester adhered to the original more than the publishers of the Slavic Patericon. But all the Lavra originals perished in the fire of the Lavra in 1718, and when from c. The Synod in 1746 by Decree ordered His Eminence Metropolitan Raphael of Kyiv to find in the Lavra and Kiev monasteries the most ancient originals, showing whose hands they were and, especially, from which original, and in which year exactly the Patericon began to be printed, it is responsible that neither in the Lavra, not in all the Kyiv monasteries were any originals found, and in the Lavra not the first editions, below any news about it,
In the Patericon that has come down to us there are not even one life of the Saints who rested in the Far Caves, as well as many from the Near Ones. Without a doubt, these too were lost, and the names of these Saints were already copied from the ancient Synodics or Memorials; Only in the general Service to the Reverend of both caves in the Canons their exploits are briefly described. But those described in the Patericon published are sufficient for example in all virtues. " Reverend Anthony and Theodosius, as stated in the preface of the printed Slavic Patericon, according to the apocalyptic prototype (Chapter II, Art. 14) are two olive trees and two candlesticks standing before the God of the Earth. They are still fruitful in the house of God, the Mother of God, in their dignity, adopted by the Lord, like olive plants, also burning and luminous in the creation of deeds and teaching. By sowing this praiseworthy pair, the zealous ones, firstly the abbots of the Holy Miracle-Working Lavra of Pechersk, Stefan and Nikon and the still non-existent Lavra Varlaam, will teach you in this book, Orthodox reader, patience in adversity, Ephraim zeal for the Holy Places, Isaiah the increase of faith. Damian, Prokhor, Marko and Pimin fasting, Jeremiah to his non-departure from the monastery, Matthew to his non-departure from the Church, Isaac and Nikita to repentance through temptation, Lawrence to zeal for seclusion, Alipius to feat in handicrafts, Aga Pete to serving the sick, Gregory to repentance, Moses and John patience for purity, Theophilus for tears, Pimen another for patience in illness, Theodore and Vasily for patience in slander, Spyridon and Nicodemus for psalmody, Eustratius and Kuksha for suffering for Christ, Nikon Sukhoi for patience in captivity, Athanasius for repentance and obedience to the Pechersk Monastery, Saint for contempt glory, Erasmus for the decoration of the church, Aretha for thanksgiving for the stolen, Titus of love, Niphon of zeal for Orthodoxy, after Nestor, Simon and Polycarp will teach you here, Orthodox reader, not just the lives of the Holy Reverend and God-Bearing Fathers of our Pechersk Pechersk, but also on oneself I will depict good deeds and create them in the books of the eternal life and inscribe being, we earnestly wish,”
Selected works on the history of Kyiv, Metropolitan Bolkhovitinov E., 1995
