The first author of the work “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh,” a brief summary of which is presented here, is Epiphanius the Wise. He took up this work the next year after the death of the monk, that is, in 1393 according to the new style. Unfortunately, the death of Epiphanius prevented him from finishing work on his life, and the official original signed by Epiphanius’s hand has not reached us, only lists have reached us. It is difficult for an unprepared modern reader to perceive a text written in the 14th century, so today they most often read not it, but a modern adaptation, the author of which is “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh”.

Features of life

When you start reading the life of a saint, you need to have an idea of ​​the peculiarities of the genre and understand that this is not a one hundred percent reliable story, but also not an absolute fiction. As I present the work “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh,” a brief summary of which will follow below, I will note some features of the life as a genre.

Childhood and youth

The future ascetic was born into the family of a princely servant, Kirill, and his wife, Maria, and the child was given the name Bartholomew. As Epiphanius writes, little Bartholomew showed strict piety from infancy. (By the way, this is a canonical moment for life - emphasizing the fact that the future saint differed from others in behavior even in childhood.) Bartholomew had a hard time learning, even despite his diligence, but one day he met an old man in the forest, took him to his home, where they prayed together. The elder gave Bartholomew a prosphora and the Psalter opened at one of the most difficult moments. After eating the mallow, the young man began to read aloud without hesitation, although he could not do this before. After the death of his parents, Bartholomew goes to a secluded life with his brother Stefan. The invited abbot Mitrofan tonsured him into monasticism with the name Sergius.

Young ascetic

“The Life of Sergius of Radonezh,” a brief summary of which does not make it possible to properly describe the ascetic life of the Monk Sergius, reports that at about 20 years old he retired to desert places, where he worked, prayed, exhausted himself with exploits and fasted for a long time. Demons and the devil himself tried to seduce and frighten the saint, but he did not succumb. (By the way, mentions of satanic intrigues and temptations in life are practically obligatory.) Animals began to come to Sergius, including the memorable bear.

The monastery around the cell of Sergius

Having heard about the wonderful ascetic, people came to him with their sorrows and worries, seeking consolation. Gradually, a monastery began to gather around a secluded cell in the forest. Sergius refused to accept the rank of abbot, but insisted on a very strict charter of the monastery. One day the monastery ran out of bread. There was nowhere to get food from, the monks began to grumble and go hungry. Sergius kept praying and instructing his companions about patience. Suddenly, unknown merchants arrived at their monastery, unloaded a lot of food and disappeared in an unknown direction. Soon, through the prayer of Sergius, a source of clean, healing water began to flow near the monastery.

Miracle Worker

Many stories have been preserved about the miracles of St. Sergius. You can read about them in the original, but in our version - “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh: a summary” - it should be said that the saint always hid his good deeds and was very upset, showing true Christian humility when they tried to reward or thank him. Nevertheless, the saint's fame grew more and more. It is well known that it was St. Sergius of Radonezh who blessed Dmitry Donskoy as a Saint; he devoted almost all his time to hard work and prayer, and spent the rest in soul-saving conversations with everyone.

Righteous death

The humble holy ascetic knew about his death for six months (which is also a canonical element of life). He died in 1393, at the end of September, and was buried in the right vestibule of the monastery church. Over many centuries of existence and prosperity, through the prayers of its monastery, it turned into one of the largest and most significant laurels in the world - the Holy Trinity

You have read the article “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh: a summary,” but, without a doubt, Epiphanius’s work is worth reading in its entirety.

Preserved as part of the Long Edition of the 16th century - in its first part (up to the chapter “On the Identification of the Source”). The text is printed according to the MDA manuscript, No. 88, omissions are filled in according to the MDA list, No. 50 (or according to the meaning) and are enclosed in square brackets.

The life of our venerable and God-bearing father, Abbot Sergius the Wonderworker. Copied quickly from the wise Epiphanius Preface

Glory to God for everyone’s sake, for the sake of them the great and Trisagion Name is always glorified, which is ever glorified! Glory to the Most High God, who is glorified in the Trinity, who is our hope, our light and life, in Him we believe, in Him we are baptized, in Him we live, and we move, and we are! Glory to the one who showed us the life of a holy husband and spiritual elder! The message is that the Lord glorifies Him, glorifies Him and blesses Him, and His saints always glorify Him, glorifying Him with a pure, and God-pleasing, and virtuous life.

We thank God for His great goodness that was upon us, as the apostle said: “Grace to God for His ineffable gift!” Moreover, now we must thank God for everything, every day we have given such a gift to the holy elder, I say the Lord Reverend Sergius, in our land of Russia, and in our country at midnight, in our days, in the last times and years. We have his tomb before us, and faith always flows to him; great consolation is acceptable to our souls and we benefit greatly from this; Yes, it is truly great, that is, we have been given a gift from God.

I am amazed at how many years have passed and his life has not been written. We were greatly sorry for this, since such a holy elder, wonderful and kind, reposed 26 years ago, no one wrote about him in mockery, neither distant nor near, neither greater nor lesser: the greater, as if not by his will, but the lesser I don't laugh. In the summer, one or two after the death of the elders, I, blessed and all-wise, dared to do this. Having sighed to God and called the elder to prayer, I began to write something in detail from the life of the elder, and secretly said to myself: “I am not grasping before anyone, but I am writing for myself, but for the sake of reserve, and for memory, and for the sake of benefit.” Over the course of 20 years, I have prepared scrolls of this type, and in them are written certain chapters about the life of the elders for the sake of memory: ova in scrolls, ova in tetratech, even if not in a row, but from the front to the back, and the back to the front.

And I am waiting for the summer in such times, and I am yearning for that, so that someone more intelligent than me would describe me, as if I had gone to bow to him, and teach me and enlighten me. But having tried, and heard and known, it is known that no one anywhere, as it was said, wrote about him, and so whenever I remember or hear, I think and reflect: how quiet, and wonderful, and virtuous his life remained without writing. many times? For several years now, I have been idle in thought, immersed in thoughtlessness, offended by sadness, surprised by my mind, and overcome by desire. And I have an insatiable desire to know how and in what way to begin writing, as it is too little, about the life of the venerable elder.

And I found a certain old man who was wise in his answers, reasonable and reasonable, and asked about this, so that my desire would be granted, and I would decide if it was worthy of writing. They answered, saying: “Because it is absurd and not proper to torture and write down the lives of the unclean, it is not proper for men to abandon the lives of saints, and not to write them, and to consign them to silence and put them into oblivion. If the husband’s holy life is written down, then there is great consolation for the writer, the narrator, the listener; If the life of the holy elder is not written, and if his self-visions and memorials disappear, then it would be necessary to put so much of this benefit into oblivion, and consign it to the depths of silence. If his life is not written, then why should those who did not know or see him know what he was like, or where he was from, how he was born, and how he grew up, and how he cut his hair, and how he grew up, and how he lived, and what the end of his life was. If it is written, and someone hearing this, will be jealous to follow his life and will receive benefit from this. The Great Basil also writes: “Be zealous for the righteousness of those who live, and write their life and deeds on your heart.” See, as he commands to write the lives of the saints not only on charters, but also on your heart for the sake of good, and not to hide or conceal: for the secret of the king is hidden, and the works of God are good and useful to preach.”

And that is why we need to quickly search and interrogate the ancient elders, who diligently know what is truly known about his life, as the Holy Scripture says: “Ask your father, and he will tell you, and your elder will tell you.” I heard and understood so much - my fathers told me, I heard as much from the elders, and as much as I saw with my own eyes, and as much as I heard from my own lips, and as I learned from those who followed him for a lot of time, and I rejoiced at the guide’s hand, and I heard and understood as much as I could. from his brother the eldest Stefan, who was the father of Theodore, Archbishop of Rostov; ova from other ancient elders, reliable former witnesses of his birth, and upbringing, and book learning, his growth and youth, even before his tonsure; The friends of the elders were self-visionists and testified to the truth of his tonsure, and the instructions for his desert life, and his appointment as abbess; and according to a number of other things, other announcers and storytellers were present.

Otherwise, looking at the many works of the elders and the great correction of him, he is silent and idle in bewilderment from the horror of what happened, not finding the words needed, similar to his deed. How can I, poor thing, in this day and age write out all of Sergius’s life and tell of his many corrections and countless works? Where shall I begin, since the listener has heard of all the deeds and deeds he has done according to the merit of this? Or what should be remembered first? Or which conversation leads to his praise? Where will I acquire the cunning to be able to tell such a story? Why is it that such a great story is not convenient for us to tell, and we don’t know that it is through our power that this is done? As it is not powerful to eat a small body, the burden that is imposed on us is great and heavy to bear, and our weakness and mind are subject to conversation.

Even if our badness overcomes us, we still pray to the all-merciful and all-powerful God and His Most Pure Mother, that he will understand and have mercy on me, rude and unreasonable, and that he will give me a word in disgust of my mouth, not for my sake, so to speak, of unworthiness, but for the sake of prayer holy elder. And I call on Sergius himself for help and the spiritual grace that overshadows him, so that he and his word will be an accomplice to the word, and also his God-called flock, a blessed gathering, a gathering of honest elders. I fall down to them with humility, and I touch their feet, and I call and force them to pray. It’s great that I always demand those prayers, and even more so now, when I sometimes begin this undertaking and strive towards it with the words of the story. And no one will be a spectator of this teasing: neither am I an imam, or am I happy with such an undertaking, unless the love and prayer of that venerable elder attracts and torments my thoughts and forces me to speak and write.

It is worthy of saying more clearly, that if we were powerful because of my unworthiness, then it is fitting for us to remain silent with fear and put it on our lips, knowing our weakness, and not to wear out the verb from our lips, which is not in the likeness, nor to tear at a great undertaking, through one’s own wealth. But on the other hand, sadness came to me, and pity followed me: such is the great saint of the elder, the notorious and verbose life of his life is carried everywhere, both in distant countries and in the city, his husband is revealed and named by all who confess - and for so many years his life was abandoned and not described Byshe. Nepshchevah consign this to silence, as if to be plunged into the depths of oblivion. Even if the elder’s life is not written down, but is left entirely without remembrance, then this will in no way harm that holy elder, if he does not receive from us remembrance and writing: for God has written their names in heaven, so there is no need for him from people demand writing and remembrance. But we ourselves do not benefit from this, leaving only so much benefit. And for the sake of this, having collected everything, we begin to write, as if others, even those who have not seen the elder, will read and be jealous of the elder’s virtues and believe in his life; “Blessed,” he said, “I have not seen your faith.” But another friend’s sadness will accept me and support me: even though I don’t write, and no one writes, I’m afraid of the condemnation of the parable of that lazy servant, who hid his talent and became lazy. He is a good old man, a wonderful passion-slayer, without laziness he always strives for good deeds and never becomes lazy; Not only do we not strive ourselves, but we are too lazy to record the finished works of others in his life in writing, and the listener heard them do this.

Now, if God willing, I would like to write from his very birth, and his infancy, and his childhood, and in his youth, and in his monastic life, and in his abbess, and until his repose, so that so much of his corrections would not be forgotten, but not forgotten His life will be pure, and quiet, and pleasing to God. But I’m afraid I hesitate to touch the story, I don’t dare and I’m perplexed as to how to do it right, the beginning of the signing, as if the task is beyond my strength, as if I am weak, and rude, and unreasonable.

But I rely on the merciful God and on His saint, the reverend elder, for prayer, and from God I ask for mercy, and grace, and the gift of speech, and reason, and memory. And if God gives me, and enlightens me, and instructs me, His inexorable servant, I will not despair, fearing His good mercy and His sweet grace. He does all he wants and is able to do, to give sight to the blind, walking to the lame, hearing to the deaf, and speaking to the dumb. Sitsa can enlighten my darkness, and enlighten my foolishness, and give my inability the ability to pay, and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, saying: “Without Me you cannot do anything; seek and you will find, ask and you will receive.” I call on this Lord God, Savior, to help: for you are God our great giver, and giver of good things, and giver of rich gifts, teacher of wisdom, and giver of meaning, exponent of meaningless things, teach man reason, give skill to those who do not know how, give prayer to those who pray, give to those who ask wisdom and understanding, give every gift that is good, give a gift for the benefit of those who ask, give cunning to the kindly, and give the child the feeling and sense that the telling of his words enlightens and gives reason to a baby.

Having already finished the preface here, having remembered God and called upon Him for help: for it is good to begin about God, and to end about God, and to talk to God’s servants, to write a story about God’s servants. Let’s begin the foundation of the word, let’s talk about the beginning of the story; and so we begin to write the rest of the elder’s life about God.

The beginning of the life of Sergiev. Bless, father

Our venerable father Sergius was born from a noble and noble parent: from a father called Cyril, and from a mother named Maria, who was a servant of God, truthful before God and before men, and fulfilled and adorned with all kinds of virtues, as God loves. God forbid that if I want such a child to be born to an unrighteous parent. But first God prepared and arranged such a righteous parent for him and then from her he produced his saint. O prekhvalnaa vrsto! O good husband, like such a child of a parent! First of all, it is appropriate to honor and praise his parents, and from this, as a kind of application of praise and honor, he will be. However, it was fitting for him to be given by God to many people for success, for salvation and for good, and for this reason, it would not be wrong for such a child to be born from unrighteous parents, nor would it be wrong for another, that is, an unrighteous parent to give birth to such a child. But this is the only gift from God that came: moreover, good came to good and better to better.

And a miracle happened before he was born: even if something had happened, it was not worthy of consigning it to silence. Even though he was carried in his mother’s womb, on one of the days, the last day of the week, his mother went into the church according to custom, at the time when the holy liturgy is sung. Both with other wives in the pretense, and even even for the honor of honor the Holy Euagelia, Lyudet Mlice, then an absthana of the baby begins to yell in the uterine of the mother, as well as many from such a flasher, horrified about the pre -Slavic, who is about the baby. Again, when I first began to sing the Cherubic song, saying “Like the Cherubim,” then suddenly the baby began to squeal in the womb with a commanding voice, even more loudly than the first one, as his voice went out to the whole church, as if his mother was terrified of standing there, and the living wives standing there, and not thinking within themselves, saying: “What then will happen to this child?” Then the priest cried out: “Hear us, holy saints!” Then the baby cried out again.

His mother could not help but fall to the ground from great fear, and was overwhelmed with great trembling, and, horrified, began to cry within herself. The other faithful wives approached her, beginning to ask her, saying: “Have you wrapped a baby in swaddling clothes in your bosom, and you can hear his baby’s voice, squealing in the whole church?” She, in bewilderment from crying so much, could not speak to them, but answered them in silence: “Torture,” she said, “indeed, because I am not an imam.” They asked, torturing among themselves, and searched, and did not find. Then he turned to her, saying: “We searched throughout the whole church and did not find a baby. What kind of baby are you, who has a voice that squeaks?” His mother, unable to hide what was happening and experiencing, answered them: “I am not a baby in the bosom, as you think, I have in the womb, not yet born before the time. This one proclaimed there is.” The wives asked her: “How can a child in the womb be given a voice before birth?” She said: “I myself am surprised at this and I am all in passion, I tremble, not knowing what is happening.”

The wives, sighing and beating their breasts, each returned to their place, only saying to themselves: “What will happen to this boy? And the will of the Lord be done about him.” The men in this church, having heard and seen everything, were horrified by the silence, until the priest celebrated the holy liturgy, and took off his robes, and dismissed the people. And I burst into tears every now and then; and there was fear on all who heard this.

Mary, his mother, from that day, therefore, there was such a sign and manifestation, from then on she remained until the time of his birth and the baby in the womb, carrying like some treasure of great value, and like a precious stone, and like wonderful beads, and like a chosen destiny. And when you carry this in yourself and are not idle with it, then you yourself are kept from all filthiness and all uncleanness, protected by fasting, and all kind of fat food is avoided, and from meats, and from milk, and not from eating fish, with just bread and potions , and feeding on water. And from drinking you get shaky, but instead of drinking anything, you drink only water, and then you drink it out of poverty. At first, secretly, alone, with sighs and tears, praying to God, saying: “Lord! Save me, keep me, your poor servant, and save and preserve this baby carried in my womb! For You protect the baby, Lord, and Thy will be done, Lord! And may Your name be blessed forever and ever. Amen".

And while creating the baby, it remained even until his birth; Velmi is diligent above all to fasting and prayer, as that very conception and birth is full of fasting and prayer. For she was also a virtuous being and greatly feared God, as before his birth she had seen and understood such a sign, and manifestation, and surprise about him. And she talked with her husband, saying: “If there is a male, promising to bring it to the church and give it to the benefactor of all, God”; as it will be. Ole faith is good! O warmth of goodness! As before his birth, she promised to bring him and give good things to the giver God, just as Anna the prophetess of old, the mother of Samoil the prophet.

When the days were spent to give birth to her, she gave birth to her child. And he received Christmas very sadly, but his parents called their little ones, and their friends, and neighbors, and rejoiced, glorifying and thanking God, who gave them such a child. After he was born, the child was suddenly wrapped in swaddling clothes, needing to bring everything to the breast. Yes, sometimes if his mother happened to taste some food from meat, and her life was full and her womb was full, then she did not touch the baby in any way. And this happened more than once, but sometimes for a day or two the baby did not get enough to eat. From now on, the horror of this together and the pain of the woman who gave birth and her relatives. And barely understanding that the baby does not want to be fed by the meat of the nourisher to be that milk, but he will not be relieved from fasting. And from then on, the mother’s food, shaking and fasting were born, and from then on, we always fed the baby according to custom.

And the day the promise of his mother was fulfilled: as soon as the days of six weeks, which is the fortieth day after his birth, his parents brought the baby into the Church of God, repaying, as they had promised to reward him to God, who gave him; together the priest commands that through divine baptism he will achieve and... The priest, having announced him, and prayed a lot over him, and with spiritual joy and diligence baptized him in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit - Bartholomew in holy baptism he named him. Having raised him up from the bathing water of baptism, he received richly the grace of the Holy Spirit, and foresaw the Divine Spirit, and foresaw, destined to be the chosen child. His father and mother’s understanding of the Holy Scriptures are not worse, and she told the priest how we carry him in his mother’s womb, proclaiming in the church three times: “What then will happen, we do not know.” A priest named Michael, wise in books, told him from the Divine Scripture, from both the laws, the Old and the New, saying: “I recited to David in the Psalter, as follows: “Your eyes have seen what I have done”; and the Lord Himself, with His holy lips, said to His disciples: “As you have always been with Me.” There, in the Old Law, Jeremiah the prophet was sanctified in his mother’s womb; Here, in Novy, Paul the Apostle wrote: “God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who called me from the womb of my mother, to reveal his son in me, that I may preach the good news throughout the countries.” And there are many other stories from the saints in Scripture. About the baby, I speak to the parents: “Do not mourn over this, but rather rejoice and be glad, for you will be a chosen vessel of God, the abode and servant of the Holy Trinity”; That's it. And having thus blessed the boy and his parents, sent her to the house.

Then, in time, a little past day, about the baby, another miracle was performed by another sign, something strange and unknown: on Wednesday and on Friday I didn’t take either milk or milk of blood, but from now on I was afraid of him and I didn’t suck, and I didn’t eat abide him all day. Besides Wednesday and Friday, on other days I ate as usual; If you wake up on Wednesday and Friday, then the baby remains hungry. And it happened not once, not twice, but also many times, and it happened throughout all Wednesdays and heels. This makes one think that the child is sick; Because of this, his mother mourned your grief. And with other wives, with other nurses, I thought about it, as if this had happened to the baby due to some illness. But above all, I looked at the baby everywhere, as if it was not painful, and as if no sign of illness was found in him, either manifested or not manifested: he was neither crying, nor tired, nor decrepit. But my face, my heart, my eyes are cheerful, and I am joyful in every way, just as I play with my hands. Then everyone sees, and knows, and understands, as if the baby did not receive milk on the heels and on Wednesday for the sake of illness, but a manifestation of some kind was manifested, as if the grace of God was not on him. Having already shown the image of the future, as if there is no time in the coming times and years in Lenten life, ask him; That's it.

Another mother of his brought to him a wife, a certain milkmaid, who had milk, so that she could feed him. The baby should not in any way be fed by someone else’s mother, but rather by its own mother. And having seen this, other wives came to him, women and mothers, and so did the same as before. And so, with our existence, we only nourish matter, and the bottom is drained. Even so, the nations beheld that this was also a sign, that the root of goodness and the spring of goodness might be nourished by the undefiled milk.

It seems to us that this baby was the Lord’s caretaker from his youth, who in the very womb and from the womb of his mother clung to the wisdom of God, who from the very swaddling clothes knew God and truly understood, who was in swaddling clothes in the very cradle accustomed to fasting; like we feed milk from our mother, together with dense milk we learn to shake; I am a child by nature, but I begin fasting above nature; who was a pure baby when he was nursed; who was brought up more quickly with piety than with milk; Even before his birth, he was chosen by God and given the name, when we carry him in the womb, he was proclaimed three times in the church, which surprises those who hear.

It is more appropriate to marvel at this, as a baby in the womb has not been tested except by the church, without the people, or somewhere, in secret, alone, but only in front of the people, as if there will be many hearers and witnesses to this truth. And again, as soon as you proclaimed it, not little by little, but to the whole church, so that the word about him would go out to the whole earth; and whether to his present mother, either at a feast, or sleeping at night, but in church, and even more so at prayer, let the prayer worker be strong towards God. And how not to check not in any stable or in a clean place in any way and inadvertently, but especially in the church, standing in a clean place, in a holy place, and it is fitting to destroy the shrine of the Lord - so that the perfect holy thing will be revealed The Lord is in the passion of God.

Again, he deserves to wonder that for the sake of not proclaiming one or twice, but rather the third, as if the disciple of the Holy Trinity would appear, since the three-numbered number is greater than any other number. Everywhere the three-numbered number is the beginning of all good things and the announcement of wine, as I say: three times the Lord called Samoil the prophet; Smite Goliad with a sling of three stones; Three times Ilia ordered water to be poured onto the log, rivers: “Triple,” - triple; Elijah will blow on the youth three times and resurrect him; three days and three nights Jonah the prophet in the whale of three days; three children in Babylon extinguished the fiery furnace; the three-numbered hearing of Isaiah the prophet seraphim-seer, when in heaven he heard the singing of the angels, drinking the trisagion: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!” Three years later, the Most Pure Virgin Mary was brought into the Church of the Holy Holies; Thirty years ago Christ was baptized by John in Jordan; Christ placed three disciples on Tabor and was transformed before them; for three days Christ rose from the dead; Three times after His resurrection Christ said: “Peter, do you love Me?” What am I announcing in three numbers, and what for the sake of not remembering the great and terrible thing, which is a three-numbered Deity: three shrines, three images, three properties, in three persons one Divinity of the Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; triune Godhead, one power, one authority, one dominion? It was right for this child to proclaim three times, in the womb of his mother, before birth, it was signified from this, that there will once be a trinity disciple, who will come and bring many to reason and to the knowledge of God, teaching the verbal sheep to believe in the Holy Trinity of one essence, into one Divinity.

Will there not be an indication that this will be a marvelous and strange thing in the future? Please, isn’t this a sincere sign, let it seem, even though it will make the deeds seem miraculous in the end! It is fitting for those who have seen and heard first and to believe last. As before his birth, God foretold it: not just such a sign and wonder that happened before, but a precursor to the future. Behold, we were forced to say, but Elma is wonderful, the husband is wonderful, and his life is told.

It’s good to remember here the ancient saints who lived in the Old and New Laws; and many saints’ conceptions and births were somehow revealed by divine revelation. We are not uttering a word from ourselves, but from the saints, taking words from the scriptures and adapting the story to the story before us by remembering it: and therefore God sanctified Jeremiah the prophet in his mother’s womb, and saw him through before his birth, as the seer of God, as if he would be the host of the Holy Spirit , fills this abye with grace from youth to adulthood. Isaiah the prophet said: “Speak the Lord, who called me from the womb, and from my mother’s womb, he called me.” The Great Holy John the Prophet, the Forerunner, was still in the womb of his mother, knowing the Lord, carried in the womb of the Most Pure, Ever-Virgin Mary; and the child leaped with joy in the womb of his mother Elisaphi, and then with the lips of prophecy. And then cry out, saying: “Where do I come from, that the mother of my Lord come to me?” The holy, glorious prophet Elijah the Tezbite, when his mother gave birth to him, then his parents saw a vision of beautiful and white-looking men calling his name, and they would midwife him with fiery shrouds, and let him eat flames of fire. His father, going to Jerusalem, made him a bishop. They decided to him: “Don’t be afraid, man! For the life of this child will be light and the word of judgment, and he will judge Israel with weapons and fire”; That's it.

Saint Nicholas the miracle worker, as soon as he was born and began to wash him, suddenly the baby stood on his leg and stayed there for an hour and a half. Our holy reverend father Ephraim the Syrian, when the baby was born, his parents saw a vision: grapes were planted on his tongue, and he grew up, and consumed the whole earth, and the birds of the air came to the parishioners and ate from his fruit. The grapes showed a willing mind to yield to him. The Venerable Alympius the Stylite, before his mother was born, had a dream such as a red lamb carried in his hand, having a candle on its horn. And from this understanding, as if he wants to be born as a child and it will be good; as it will be. Like our holy father, the Venerable Simeon the Stemite, who worked miracles on the Divnaya Mountain, was conceived without a promise, the Forerunner of the Baptist told his mother. And be born, I will always let him be, careless of the left breast. I will show God about this, as the right way of the commandment of the Lord is to love him. Saint Theodore Sikeot, a miracle worker, when there was a baby in his mother’s womb, his mother saw a vision: a star descended from heaven and fell on her womb. Behold, the star showed every virtue of adolescence. He writes in the life of the Great Euthymia, as before his birth, in one night, with his parents praying in one night, a certain appearance of God appeared to him, saying: “Be comforted and comforted! Behold, God has given you the joy of the youth of the same name, as in kinship with him God has given the grace of his church to his churches.” And again in the life of Theodore of Edessa it is written that his parents Simeon and Mary, through prayer, gave birth to their son. One of these days, on the first Saturday of Great Lent, in the church of those praying, a sweet vision appeared to them, an individual appeared to them: I was afraid to see the great martyr Theodore Tyrone together with Paul the Apostle, standing and saying: “Truly the gift of God will be the revered youth , there is Theodore"; That's it. He writes in the life of our holy father Peter the Metropolitan, a new miracle worker in Rus', that something great had happened. And before he was born, I was still present in his mother’s womb, alone from the nights that rolled around the days of the week, seeing this vision of his mother: I thought she was afraid of trembling the lamb in her hand; in the middle of its horn the tree grew in blessing, and was surrounded by many flowers and fruits, and in the midst of its branches there were many shining lights. And awakened, wondering what this was, or what was happening and the end of such a vision. Moreover, even if it was not even imagined, the end of the event will come with surprise; God has enriched His saint with great gifts.

And what is proper for the listener to speak otherwise and create lazy rumors by the length of the word? The satiety and longevity of the word warrior is heard, just as the food of the body has increased. And let no one overlook my rudeness, as I continued the word about this: and remembering from other saints from their lives, and bringing evidence for notification, and adapting them to the subject of the story of this wonderful man, the things are wonderful and tell. A new miracle was heard, and its proclamation was conceived in the womb. It is wonderful to see the nurturing of babies in swaddling clothes - it is not bad for this sign imagines itself to be. So it is fitting for such a child to be born with a miracle, because from this other people will know that such a man is wonderful, his conception, his birth, and his upbringing are wonderful. The Lord surprised him with such grace, more than other newborn babies, and with such banners he showed God’s wise providence for him.

I want to tell you the times and years in which the venerable one was born: in the years of the pious, glorious Tsar Andronik, the Greek self-government, who reigned in Constantinople, under the Archbishop of the city of Konstantin Calista, the Ecumenical Patriarch, in the land of Russia in Great reign of Tfer under Grand Duke Dimitri Mikhailovich, under Archbishop the Reverend Peter, Metropolitan of All Russia, always the army of Akhmulov.

The child was despised, and the word first came about him, because after holy baptism he passed away for a period of time for a month, when he was given up by the law of nature, and was weaned from the breast, and was released from the swaddling clothes, and was freed from the cradle. And so, as a child, the rest of the time, according to the custom of bodily growth, he prospered in soul, body, and spirit, and was filled with reason and the fear of God, and the mercy of God was upon him; Donda reached the age of seven, when his parents taught him to read and write.

The reviled servant of God Cyril has three sons: the first is Stephen, the second is Bartholomew, the third is Peter; they will be brought up with all punishment in piety and purity. I hastily learned to read and write for Stephen and Peter, but I will not quickly get the hang of writing for this youth, but rather slowly and not diligently. His teacher taught him with much diligence, but the boy did not pay attention and did not know how, and was not faithful to his squad who were studying with him. For this reason we used to scold you a lot from our parents, we languish more from the teacher, and we reproach you from the squad. The boy secretly often prayed to God with tears, saying: “Lord! Give me this letter, teach me and enlighten me.”

As if book intelligence was given to him from God, and not from people

Therefore, the sorrow of his parents was not small; His teacher has no small sense of vanity for himself. All this I grieve, not knowing about him the highest structure of God’s providence, which God wants to create in seven seven years, as if the Lord would not forsake His venerable one. Behold, it was according to God’s will that this should happen, as if the book teaching would come to him from God, and not from men; That's it. Let us also say this, that from God’s revelation he should be able to read and write.

One day, his father’s ambassadors are swearing at him for punishment. Behold, all the fates of the all-wise God, as the First Royal Books inform about Saul, who was sent by his father Kiss to recover donkeys; He went to find the holy prophet Samoel, and from him he was anointed to the kingdom, and above the work you will receive a share. Sitsa and the blessed youth above the work will find a share; He was sent by his father Cyril to look for cattle, having found an old monk, a holy elder, strange and unknown, with the rank of prosviter, sacred and angular, standing in the field under an oak tree and diligently doing prayer with tears. The youth, having seen, first made a humble gesture to him, then approached and stood near him, waiting for the end of the prayer.

And as the old man rested and looked at the youth, and saw his inner eyes, as if he wanted to be chosen for the Holy Spirit. And having invited, called him to yourself, and bless him, and give him a kiss in Christ, and ask him, saying: “What are you looking for, or what do you want, child?” The lad said: “If my soul loved me, I would desire above all to be able to read and write, even though I had been studying for a long time, and now my soul is very sad, but I still learn to read and write and do not know how. You, Holy Father, pray for me to God, so that I might be able to read and write.”

The elder, raising his hands and eyes to heaven and sighing to God, prayed diligently and after prayer said: “Amen.” And he will take from his sword like some kind of treasure, and from there, in three simple steps, he will give him something like an anaphora, with a vision like a small piece of white wheat bread, hedgehog from the holy prosphyra, saying to him: “Zin your lips, child, and corrupt me. Accept this and snow, for you are given a sign of the grace of God and the wisdom of Holy Scripture. Even though what is given is little to be seen, the sweetness of tasting it is great.” The boy opened his mouth and took it away; and there was sweetness in his mouth, like honey. And he said: “Isn’t it what was said: “How sweet is your word to my throat! More than honey with my mouth"; and my soul loves it dearly.” And the elder said to him: “If you believe, you will see more of these. And about literacy, child, do not grieve: let him know that from this day onwards the Lord will grant you to be able to read and write well, more than your brothers and more than your peers.” And teach him about the goodness of the soul.

The youth worshiped the old man and made the land fertile and good, taking the seeds into his heart, standing, rejoicing with soul and heart, as if he were worthy to find such a holy old man. The old man was anxious to go on his way; The boy threw himself on the ground with his face before the elder’s feet and with tears prayed for the elder to live in his parents’ house, saying: “My parents love people like you, father.” The elder was amazed at his faith, going to his parents’ house.

When they saw him, they came out to meet him and worshiped him. I bless the elder; They prepared the meal to set before him. The elder did not first taste the meat, but first went into the temple to pray, and eat it at the hour of the hour, taking with him the child consecrated in the womb. And the “Hours” began to be sung, and he commanded this youth to say a psalm. The boy said: “I don’t know how to do this, father.” The elder said: “Reh, for from this day the Lord grants you to be able to read and write. You speak the word of God without hesitation.” Then there was a great surprise: the boy received the blessing from the elder, began to verse the good and the harmonious; and from that hour I became much more literate. And the prophecy of the wise prophet Jeremiah came true, saying: “Thus says the Lord: “Behold, you have given the words of Moa into your mouth.” His parents and brothers saw and heard this, were amazed at his quick intelligence and wisdom and glorified God, who had given him such grace.

And having gone out with the old man, he placed the guard before him. The elder tasted the meat, bless his parents and wanted to take it away. His parents prayed to the elder, asking him and saying: “Father, Lord! Wait a little longer, let us ask you to resolve and console our poverty and our sadness. This humble child of ours, you bless and praise him, and you offer many good things about him. But we are surprised about him, and sadness about him greatly depresses us, but a terrible, strange and unknown thing has happened about him - sadly: I still exist for him in the womb, for a short time of his birth, having checked three times in the womb, in the church existing, in front of the people, at the time when the holy litorgy is sung. And nowhere have we heard or seen this great thing, and we are afraid of it, not thinking that this will be the end of this, or that it will come true in the future.”

The holy elder foresaw and knew the future in spirit and said: “Oh, blessed is the future! O good husband, and the parents of such a child! You will be afraid with fear, even without fear. But above all, rejoice and be glad, for such a child was honored to give birth to, his God chose him even before he was born, and his God was signified while still existing in the womb. And now the end of the conversation is finished, and then I convey the word: behold, be a sign of my words coming true to you, for after my arrival you will see a good lad who can read and write and all other holy books that understand. The second sign and notification to you is that this child will be great before God and men, for the sake of a virtuous life.” And the old man departed, signifying a dark verb to them, like: “I hope that my son will have the abode of the Holy Trinity and will lead many to follow the divine commandments.” And this river came from them. They will show him off before the gates of the house; he was suddenly invisible from them.

They, perplexed, thought that an angel had been sent to quickly grant the boy the ability to read and write. His father and mother, having received the blessing from the elder and placing his words on their hearts, returned to their home. After the departure of this old man, the youth would suddenly acquire all the reading and writing from there, being able to understand it well, and change in a strange way: and he would spread out the book everywhere, so that the venerable one could understand it. This good youth is worthy to receive spiritual gifts, who from the very shrouds has known God, and loved God, and has been saved by God. She obeyed her parents in everything: she was vainly afraid of disobeying her commands and disobeying her in nothing, just as the Holy Scripture says: “Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long on earth.”

Out of despondency

Let's say another thing about this blessed youth, even in a young body the meaning of the show is old. After several years of severe fasting, the show and [all] arose from everything, but on Wednesdays and Fridays you did not eat anything, on other days you lived on bread and water; Many times during the night, without sleep, I remained in prayer. And so the grace of the Holy Spirit infused her.

Mother him with motherly words and admonish him, saying: “Child! Do not crush your flesh from too much abstinence, and do not fall into an ide, since you are still young, your flesh is growing and blossoming. No one so young would touch such a cruel post in your lifetime; no one from your brethren and from your peers has gained any kind of wealth, like you. The essence of the diet is that they eat up to seven times a day, that start very early in the morning and end the night long, drinking innumerably. But you, sometimes one day, and sometimes not one, but every other day. Stop, child, from such prolonged treatment, bring it to this spinning, before you have time. Everything is good, but in due time.” The kind lad answered her, and begged her, saying: “Do not do anything to me, mother, lest I disobey you out of need, but leave me to remain like this. Aren’t you the ones who said, “When you were in swaddling clothes and in a cradle, then,” he said, “on every Wednesday and on the heel of the day I will not eat milk.” Yes, hearing I, how can I, with such great strength, not rise up to God, so that he may deliver me from my sins?”

To this his mother answered, saying: “And don’t live with two for ten years, you will remember your sins. What are your sins? We do not see on you the signs of sin, but we see on you the sign of grace and piety, for you have chosen good honor, which cannot be taken away from you.” The boy said: “Stop, mother, what are you saying? Behold, you speak like a mother, like a lover of children, like a mother having fun about her children, supported by natural love. But hear the Holy Scripture say: “Let no one boast among men, no one is pure before God, even if he lives only one day; no one is without sin, except God alone without sin.” Have you ever heard the divine David, I remember speaking about our badness: “Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and in sins gave birth to my mother.”

And then he said, since the right dispensation trembles, I help God for his good will. This kind and all-kind youth stayed in the house of his parents for a long time, grew up and prospered in the fear of God: he did not go near children playing and did not pester them; the wasteland that flows and those who toil in vain is not heeded; those who are foul-mouthed and ridiculous, you will never get along with. But once you have practiced the glorification of God and have enjoyed it, you diligently attend to the Church of God, at Matins, and at the Liturgy, and at Vespers, you always attend and often reverence the holy books.

And in everything you always toiled your body, and dried up your flesh, and maintained spiritual and physical purity without defilement, and often in the place of mystery, alone with tears, praying to God, saying: “Lord! If this is so, as my parents told me, that even before I was born, Your grace and Your election and sign were upon me, I am afraid, Your will be done, Lord! May Your mercy be upon me, Lord! But give it to us, Lord! From childhood with all my heart and with all my soul, as from my mother’s womb I am bound to You, out of deceit, from the birth of my mother - You are my God. As when I was always in my mother’s womb, then Thy grace visited me, and now do not forsake me, O Lord, as my father and mother forsake me. But You, Lord, accept me, and take me to Yourself, and number me among the flock chosen by You: for I am left to You as a beggar. And from infancy, deliver me, Lord, from all uncleanness and from all defilement of the flesh and soul. And vouchsafe me to create holiness in Thy passion, O Lord. May my heart rise up to You, Lord, and may all the sweet things of this world not delight me, and may all the red things of life not touch me. But let the soul of Moa come after You, but let Your right hand receive me. And let nothing sweeten the beauty of this world to our weakness, and do not rejoice in the least at the joy of this world. But fill me, Lord, with spiritual joys, inexpressible joys, divine sweets, and Your good spirit will guide me to the right land.” The elders and other people, seeing such a stay of the husband, marveled, saying: “What will happen to this man, whose gift of virtue God has vouchsafed to him from childhood?”

Until now, all of this has been written off, as much as it has disappeared, even though Cyril previously lived in any part of the region, even within the boundaries of the Rostov principality, or near the city of Rostov. He wants to say a word like some kind of resettlement: for fear Kiril has moved from Rostov to Radonezh. Why or what did they settle down for, even if the imam talks a lot, but otherwise we need to quickly write about this.

O relocation of the saint's parent

This much-maligned servant of God, Cyril, formerly had a great life in the Rostov region, a boyar, one of the glorious and deliberate boys, abounding in much wealth, but in his old age he became poor and impoverished. What and what for the sake of impoverishment, let’s say this too: like frequent trips to the Horde with the prince, frequent Tatar armies to Rus', honest Tatar ambassadors, honest tributes and exits to the Horde, frequent grain famines. It is necessary for all these, and especially when the great army of the Tatars, the verb of Fedorchyukov Turalykov, came, when in a year there was only one rape, that is, the great reign went to the great Prince Ivan Danilovich, and the reign of Rostov went to Moscow. Alas!

When I left at the command of the Grand Duke, a certain commander from the nobles, named Vasily, nicknamed Kocheva, and with him Mina, was quickly sent from Moscow to Rostov. And when she entered the city of Rostov, then there was a great need for the hostage for the city and for everyone living in it, and the persecution multiplied greatly. And not a few of them from Rostovets to Muscovites gave up their estates in need, and they themselves took away the wounds on their bodies with reproach and with vain hands they walked away. The same image of the last misery, as if not only the name was naked, but also the wounds on his flesh were raised, and the ulcers were pitifully worn and worn out. And what is proper to say a lot? Such a mockery of Rostov was met with, as if that same eparch of the city, the oldest boyar of Rostov, the name of Averkia, rushed headlong, and laid his hands on her, and left him desecrated. And there was great fear on all who heard and saw this, not only in the city of Rostov, but throughout all its borders.

And such, for the sake of need, the servant of God Kiril rose from the weight of this prophesied Rostov; and he left with all his house, and with all his family, and moved away from Rostov to Radonezh. And he came and sat down near the church, named in the name of the Holy Birth of Christ, which still stands as a church. And she is still alive with her family. This is not the only one, but with him many others have settled from Rostov to Radonezh. And there were settlers in foreign lands, from them there is George, the son of the archpriests, with this family, John, Theodore, the Tormosov family, Duden, his son-in-law, with this family, Onesimus, his uncle, who later became a deacon. Onesimus and Protasius of the thousand say that they came [to] the same entire, verb Radonezh, and gave the prince great sons to his little prince Andrey. And install Terentia Rtishch as a governor in it, and give many gifts to the people, and promise to give the same great benefits to the people. She, for the sake of benefit, scattered a lot, just as the Rostovskaya, for the sake of need and anger, scattered a lot.

The good youth, the good son of the good parent, about whom the conversation is remembered, like the ever-remembered ascetic, who came from good and faithful parents, the good root of a good branch sprout, the good root of the right-shaped baker of all kinds. From the young nails, like a noble garden, appeared and like a fruitful fruit, it flourished, quickly growing up kindly and beneficially. As he grows up to the best, I will succeed even more, but I will not attribute the beauty of life to him as anything, and I will trample on all the vanity of the world as if it were mere possessions, as if I decided to despise that very nature, and to overcome, and to overcome, the hedgehog and David’s words in myself, I often whispered. : “What good is there in my blood, shall I ever fall into decay?” Night and day you never cease to pray to God, who is the moving firstfruits of the intercessor for salvation. How can the imam tell his other virtues: quietness, meekness, silent words, humility, lack of anger, simplicity without variegation? I have equal love for all people, never for rage, nor for stumbling, nor for offense, nor for weakness, nor for laughter; but even if I want to ease up on him, the need for this befalls him, but even then with chastity and with trepidation. Always walking around, like becoming decrepit; Moreover, when weeping, at times the tears are sharpening from the eyes to the cheeks, thus signifying a deplorable and sad life. And the Psalter in your mouth never became scarce, you always flaunted your trembling, you rejoiced at the physical torment, you accepted the thinness of the vestment with zeal. They never taste beer or honey, bring it to their mouth or smell it. The fasting life is for this reason voluntary, and the same thing is not happy with the hedgehog who imputes nature.

The Kirilovs' sons, Stefan and Peter, got married; The third son, the blessed Bartholomew, had no desire to marry, but also strongly desired to live a monastic life. Oh, seven times he prayed to his father, saying: “Now let me go, lord, according to your word, and with your blessing, let me go to the life of a monk.” His parents reprimanded him: “Child! Wait a little and worry about it: for now we are in old age, and in poverty, and in sickness, and there is no one to serve us. Behold, your brothers Stefan and Peter got married and are worried about how to please their wife; You, not having married, are concerned about how to please God - rather, you have chosen the good part, and it will not be taken away from you. Just serve us a little, and when you see your parent through to the grave, then you will create your thought. When you give us over to the grave and bury us in the earth, then you will fulfill your desire.”

The first-born one joyfully promised to serve them until his belly, and from that day on, he strived every day to please his parents, so as to inherit prayer and blessing from them. And so he remained for some time, serving and admiring his parents with all his soul and pure conscience, until he entered the rank of the Monk, leaving each of them in his own time to his own monastery. And having lived a few years in monkhood, he left this life, departed to God, and took away his son, the blessed Bartholomew, blessing him all his days with many blessings until his last breath. The blessed one carried away his parents to the grave, and sang funeral songs over them, and wrapped the bodies with it, and kissed them, with much honor and betrayed them to the coffin, and covered them with earth with tears, like some valuable treasure. And with the tears of your father and mother who died with prayers and holy liturgies, decorate the memory of your parent with prayers, and alms to the poor, and beggars. And stay until 40 days, creating the memory of your parents.

And he went to his home, rejoicing in soul and heart, because he had acquired some valuable treasure, full of spiritual wealth. The reverend young man himself greatly desired Mnishe’s life. He entered the house after the death of his parents and began to exercise himself from the everyday sorrows of this world. Do not count the house and even the necessary things in the house as anything, but remember in your heart the Scripture, which says that “there is much sighing and despondency in the life of this world.” The prophet said: “You will go out from among them, and be separated, and do not touch the unclean world.” And another prophet said: “Retreat from the earth and ascend to heaven.” And David said: “The soul of Moa came after You, but Your right hand accepted me”; and again: “Behold, I ran away, and went into the desert, hoping for God to save me.” And the Lord said in the Gospel: “Whoever wants to come after Me, unless he renounces all who are in this world, cannot be My disciple.” Having thus harmed his soul and body, and having called Peter, his brother according to the flesh, his younger brother, he leaves him his father’s inheritance and everything that is in his house for everyday needs. He himself did not take anything for himself, according to the divine apostle, who said: “I take all this knowledge to account, so that I may gain Christ.”

Stefan, his eldest brother by race, did not live with his wife for many years, and his wife died, having given birth to two sons: Clement and John, who later became Theodore Simonovsky. Stefan did not leave the world for many reasons and go to the monasteries of the Holy Mother of God at the Intercession, also on Khotkovo. Blessed Bartholomew came to him, begging Stephen, to go with him to find a deserted place. Stefan, having been forced by the words of the blessed one, went away.

He walked through the forest for many places and then came to one place of the desert, in the depths of the forest, property and water. Having visited that place and loved it, I instruct them rather than God. And having said the prayer, he began to cut the wood with his own hands, and carried the logs into place on his frame. First he built a single cell and a hut and covered it, then he built one cell, and covered the little church and the log structure. And when the church was completely finished and prepared, as if it was time to consecrate it, then the blessed one said to Stephen: “Now you are the eldest brother in my race and in the flesh, and even more so in spirit, and you have the right to have in my father's place. And now there is no one to ask about all your development. Moreover, I pray to you and ask you about this: behold, the church has already been established and completed for everyone, and the time is now to sanctify it; Tell me, on what name will the feast of this church be, and in the name of which saint will I sanctify it?”

Having answered, Stefan said to him: “Why are you asking me and tempting and torturing me? And you yourself are no worse off than my father and mother, our parents, since they told you so many times before us saying: “Watch, watch, child! And you are not our child: but God’s gift: God chose the tree for you, while still in your mother’s womb, and it was announced about you even before your birth, when you proclaimed it three times to the whole church at the time when the holy liturgy is sung. As if all the people standing there and hearing it seemed to be surprised and horrified, saying: “What will happen to this baby?” But the priests and elders, holy men, clearly judged and interpreted about you, saying: “Now about this baby the trinity number was depicted, and with this it was signified that one day there would be a disciple of the Holy Trinity. And not only will he himself begin to believe piously, but he will also bring many others and teach them to believe in the Holy Trinity.” Yes, it is right for you to consecrate this church above all others in the name of the Holy Trinity. This is not our plan, but God’s will, and sign, and election, I will do this to God. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever!” And I spoke this to Stephen, but the blessed one took a breath from his heart and said: “Truly the word, my lord. I like to eat this too, and I want and think the same thing. And my soul desires to restore [and] consecrate the church in the name of the Holy Trinity. But for the sake of humility I asked you; and behold, the Lord God has not forsaken me, and has given me the desire of my heart, and has not deprived me of my desire.”

And then reksha, and took both blessing and sacredness from the saint. And a priestess came from the city from Metropolitan Theognostus, and brought with her the consecration, and the antimis, and the relics of the martyred saints, and other things that were needed for the consecration of the church. And then the church was sacred in the name of the Holy Trinity [from] the Right Reverend Archbishop Theognostus, Metropolitan of Kyiv and All Rus', under the Grand Duke Simeon Ivanovich; I remember that he said at the beginning of his reign. Indeed, this church was named in the name of the Holy Trinity: but it was established by the grace of God the Father, and the mercy of the Son of God, and the haste of the Holy Spirit. Stefan, having built the church and ordained it, lived a little in the desert with his brother, and saw deserted labor, a miserable life, a harsh life, crowded conditions everywhere, shortcomings everywhere, and those who had neither food nor drink from anywhere, nor anything else they needed. There was no passage, no bringing from anywhere; there were no villages, no courtyards, or people living in them; no human path from anywhere, and not passing by, not visiting, but all around that place from all over the country there is all forest, all desert. He, seeing this and being cold, left the desert, together with his brother, the venerable desert-lover and desert-dweller, and from there he went to Moscow.

And having come to the city, he moved into the monastery of the Holy Epiphany, and found himself a cell, and while living in it, he strived hard for virtue: for even he who loved to live hard, living in his cell lived harshly, with fasting and watering, and abstained from everything, and beer is not piyashe, and vestments are not scrupulous. At that time, in that monastery, Metropolitan Alexy was still alive, he had not yet been appointed metropolitan, but he was honestly going through his temporal life. With him, Stefan is both very lively in spiritual life, but in the church on the choir, both of them, in a row, are waist-length; likewise, a certain Gerontius, a deliberate and famous old man, lived in the same monastery. The great prince Simeon heard about Stephen and his good life, and ordered Metropolitan Theognostus to place him in the rank of prosviter, in the priestly rank, and then order him abbess in that monastery, and accept him into his fatherland as a clergyman; so did Vasily the thousand-year-old, and Theodore, his brother, and other older bolyars, all in a row.

The all-good, blessed, faithful young man, who is the brother and only mother of that Stephen, even though he was born of the same father, even though he bore one womb with her, but not the same will of her. Haven't you both become brothers? Didn't they agree with unanimity, sitting on the spot? Aren't both equally destined to sit in that desert? How did they unharness themselves from each other? One is arbitrary, the other is different; So, in the city monastery, struggle to judge, and make the desert like a city.

Do not overlook my rudeness, because even before here I have written and continued the word about his infancy, and about his childhood, and so on about his entire Beletsky life: and although he was still in the world, his soul and desire for God fell apart. I want to show those who honor and listen to his life what kind of faith and pure life he was from his youth and childhood, and adorned with all good deeds - his actions and walks in the world. To this good and blessed youth, even if he lived in a worldly dispensation then, but God looked down on him from above, visiting him with His grace, watching over him and protecting him with His holy angels, and preserving him in every place and every way he walked, and every time he walked . God is the seer of the heart, the only one who knows the heart, the only one who knows the secrets, seeing the future about him, as if he has in his heart much virtue and love, diligence, seeing that the life will be chosen in him according to His good will, as he will be the abbot of many brethren and the father to many monastery But then Velmi wanted to be clothed in the image of Chernech: he greatly desired the monastic life and the fasting and mortal sojourn.

About his tonsure, which is the beginning of the saint’s monasticism

Our reverend father himself had not yet received the Angelic image, but the entire monastery had already been built up from above: both the ecclesiastical order and other keys, even for the needs of me. And always, at all times, with great diligence, and with desire, and with tears, praying to God, so that I might be worthy of that angelic image and be honored as a monk. And having called to herself a certain spiritual elder to the forsaken hermitage, she was adorned with the priestly rank, honored with priestly grace, with the rank of abbot, in the name of Mitrofan. He commands and prays to him with humility, and joyfully bows her head to him, even though she has clothed herself with him in monastic life. And always saying to him: “Father! Create love, tonsure me into the rank of mystic, for I have badly wanted it since my youth and for many years, but the need of my parents has driven me. Now I am free from all these, and I thirst for this, and in this way the tree desires for the springs of water; The soul of the moa desires a monastic and desert dwelling.”

The abbot immediately entered the church and tonsured him and into the image of Angels, on the 7th day of the month of October, in memory of the saints Martyr Sergius and Bacchus. And his name in the rank of Mnishe was called Sergius: so then the naritsakh was not given names at all, not from the name; but on the same day, if the memory of a saint is commemorated, the name of the prophetess who is tonsured will be in that name. The saint was then 23 years old, when he accepted the monastic form. The church, I remember, Sergius himself came from here and called it the Holy Trinity, in that church he was appointed abbot and tonsured, and then celebrated the Divine Liturgy. Blessed Sergius, a newly tonsured priest, as if he was perfect, then a participant in the communion of the holy mysteries, in the most pure body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he was worthy, was honored with such a shrine. And so, after holy communion and, and in that very communion, grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit entered into us. How can this be known? Having received for fear that nativity at that time, as truly as a true witness, as when Sergius received communion of the holy mysteries, then suddenly the whole church was filled with fragrance: not only in the church, but also around the church, smelling the fragrant stench. And she saw everything and saw and glorified God, who is also glorifying His saints.

Behold, the first priest in that church and in that desert was tonsured. The first is beginning, the last is wisdom, the first is number, and the last is labor. And the river is both the first and the last: many were tonsured in that church, but not a single one reached his spin; many of the same nachasha, but not all abiye sitsa okonchasha; The many then in that place and with it, and in it you spent the night, truly all are good, but not all are equal in the measure of it. Behold, like the first monk of that place, the beginning-like worker, the image of everyone else living there. When he has tonsured himself, he not only cuts the hair of his head, but coupled with the removal of inhuman hair and flesh, he cuts off desires; and whenever the garments of the world are satisfied, I put them aside. Behold, you are the one who has put on the old man and put it off, but has put on the new. And having strengthened your loins, prepared to take on spiritual deeds as a man, leave the world and renounce it and all that exist in the world, property and all other things of life. And with one simple decision and break all the bonds of worldly life, like some eagle, hiding with a light wing, like soaring to the heights of the air, so did this venerable one leave the world and those who are in the world, fleeing all other worldly things, leave the race yours and all neighbors and snakes, home and fatherland, according to the ancient patriarch Abraham.

The blessed one remained in the church for seven days, eating nothing except the prosphyra, which was taken from the hand of the abbot, from all exercise except diligence in fasting and prayer. I always have the song of David in my mouth, the words of psalms, I myself amuse myself with them, and I praise God with them. Silently walk and thank God, saying: “Lord! I have loved the beauty of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells; The holiness of the Lord is fitting for your house throughout the days. Since Thy village is loved, Lord of hosts! My soul desires and ends in the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. For the bird will find itself a temple, and the bird will find a nest for itself, so go and lay your chick. Blessed are they who live in Your house; They will praise You forever and ever. For it is better to eat one day in Your courts than to eat; I deign to be welcomed into the house of my God rather than to live in the villages of sinners.”

ѣ When he released the hegumen, who had tonsured himself, and with much humility, Sergius spoke to him: “Behold, father, you are leaving this day from here, and you are leaving me, the humble one, who is also arbitrary, alone. But for a long time and with all my thoughts and desires I wanted this, to live alone in the desert, without any person. For a long time now, I have been asking God for this, always hearing and remembering the prophet, drinking and saying: “Behold, I have gone away, running, and settled down in the desert, the chakh of God, who saves me from cowardice and from the storm. And for this reason, God heard me and heeded the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who will not forsake my prayer and His mercy from me.” And now for this I thank God, who has granted me, according to my desire, to be the only one in this desert to live and be united and be silent. But you, father, even now leaving here, bless me, who am humble and pray for my solitude, and teach me how to live alone in the desert, how to pray to God, how to live without harm, how to resist the enemy and his evil thoughts. . Because I am a new-sighted, and a newly tonsured, and a new monk, as if I must ask you questions.”

The abbot, as if in horror, was surprised, answering: “Or are you asking me, you don’t bear us any worse, oh honest head! It is customary for us to show this image of humility. Both now and I say that it is easy for me to answer you with words of prayer, saying: “Let the Lord God, who has chosen you before, show you compassion, teach you to understand, teach you and fulfill you with spiritual joy.” And I had a few spiritual conversations with him, and I already wanted to leave. The Monk Sergius bowed to him to the ground, saying: “Father! Pray for me to God, that He may help me to endure carnal warfare, and demonic attacks, and bestial desires, and desert labors.” The abbot answered, saying: “Paul the Apostle said: “Blessed is the Lord, who did not allow us to be tempted through strength!” And again he said: “I can do everything to God who strengthens me.” And when he departs, he betrays him to God and leaves him alone in the desert, silent and united.

Sergius, having released the abbot, again asked for blessings and prayers from him. The hegumen said to St. Sergius: “Behold, I am leaving here, and leaving you to God, who will not allow His venerable one to see corruption, who will not give the rod of sinners to the lot of the righteous, who will not let us be caught by their teeth. For the Lord loves the righteous and will not forsake His saints, but will preserve them forever; The Lord will preserve your coming and going out from now on and forever, amen.” And then the abbot said, having said a prayer and blessed him, he left him, left, and came from there.

It is necessary to inform those who venerate this: how many years has the monk been tonsured? For more than twenty years with visible growth, for more than a hundred years with reasonable wit; Even though the young are mature in body, but the old are mature in spiritual meaning and are perverted by Divine grace. After the departure of the abbot, the Monk Sergius exercised in the desert, alone alive and without any person. And who can tell of his labors, or who is content to utter his exploits, how he suffered, the only one alive in the desert? There is no way to tell us how powerfully it is with great spiritual labor and with much care that we began to live alone, since the times and summers in this deserted forest were so satisfying. She is the most solid and holiest soul, undoubtedly suffering without the approach of any human face, correcting the rule of the monastic rule immaculately, immaculately and shamelessly.

Who is the mind or what is the language of desire, and the initial warmth, and the love of him even for God, about the secret virtues of his correction, as one can imagine, or can tell, or the scripture revealed to betray that solitude, and teasing, and groaning, petition and constant prayer, which is always brought to God, warm tears, spiritual weeping, heartfelt sighs, all-night vigils, sober singing, unceasing prayers, unsettled groans, diligent readings, frequent kneeling, alcania, greed , on the land of legania, spiritual poverty, poverty of everything, everything disadvantages: what you remember is not there. To this and all and the demonic army, visible and invisible warfare, struggle, entanglement, demonic insurance, diabolical dreams, desert monsters, anticipation of unforeseen troubles, bestial influx and those supernatural aspirations. And still, with all this, it is necessary for him to be fearless in soul and fearless in heart, and not be horrified in mind by such enemies’ intrigues, and cruel pretexts, and undertakings. Many animals then often come to her, not only in the night, but also in the days; beahu beasts - herds of wolves, howling and roaring, and sometimes bears. The Monk Sergius, even if he was in a small way afraid, like a man, but still diligently extended prayer to God, and even more so armed himself, and thus, by the grace of God, remained unaffected by them: the beast therefore departed from him, and he did more than one dirty trick. Whenever the place begins to be put right, then the Monk Sergius a lot of embitterment and scrubbed away from demons, and from animals, and reptiles. But I will not touch anything from them, nor harm him: for the grace of God has protected him. And let no one marvel at this, knowing the truth, for God dwells in man, and the Holy Spirit rests in him, and everyone repents to him, just as Adam of old was honored before transgressing the commandments of the Lord; otherwise, when he lives alone in the desert.

About driving away demons through the prayers of a saint

One day the Monk Sergius went into the church at night, although he was singing the morning service. And when I began to sing to him, suddenly the church wall parted, and behold, the devil came out with a multitude of demonic howls, as if he did not enter by the door, like a thief and a robber. Appear to him: he was wearing clothes and caps of Lithuanian islands: and he set his sights on the blessed one, wanting to destroy the church and the place from its foundations. And gnashing its teeth at the blessed one, and threatening him and frightening him, wanting to kill him, and saying to him: “Escape, get out of here and therefore do not live here in this place: it is not because we are dying on you, but rather you have found us If you don’t escape from here, we’ll tear you apart and you’ll die in our hands, and besides, you won’t be alive.” The custom is for the devil and his pride: when he begins to boast or threaten someone, then he wants to consume the land and dry up the sea, and not have power over the pigs. The Monk Sergius, armed with a prayer to God, began to say: “God! Who can be like You? Do not be silent or subdue, O God! As if Thy enemies made noise.” And again he said: “May God rise up and be enraged to defeat Him, and may all who hate Him flee from His face. As the smoke disappears, let the tacos disappear; As everything melts before the presence of fire, so let sinners perish before the presence of God, and righteous women rejoice.” And so Sergius, in the name of the Holy Trinity, having the Holy Mother of God as a helper and intercessor, and having the honorable cross of Christ as a weapon, and defeat the devil, like David of Goliad. And the devil became invisible with his demons, and everything disappeared, and there was no trace. The venerable one brought great thanks to God, who delivered him from such demonic sedition.

Not many days later, when the blessed one in his hut was performing his all-night vigil alone and incessantly praying, suddenly there was noise, and trouble, and much rebellion, and confusion, and fear, not in a dream, but in reality. And behold, many mobs descended on the blessed one in a flock, disorderly, drunkenly and with reproach, saying: “Get away, get away from this place! What did you come seeking into this desert? What do you want to find in place seven? What do you want, sitting in this forest? Are you starting to live here? Are you visiting here? Don’t hope to live here: it’s the wrong thing to do for an hour. It is, as you yourself see, the place is empty, the place is useless and impenetrable, the whole country is far from people, and no one is present here from people. Aren't you afraid that when you die here from hunger, or when the murderous robbers come along, they will crush you; All kinds of animals and many carnivorous animals are found in this desert, and the forces of gravity come here in herds. But there are many, many evil things to do, and many and all menacing monsters appear here, there is no number of them; Elma has long been an empty place, but it is common and indecent. And what do you need to eat, if the animals found here are devoured for you, or if you die to some other useless, useless, vain death? But without any expectation, standing up, quickly running away from here, without thinking, without hesitation, without looking back, this and ovamo, so that it’s not for you from here that we’ll quickly marry or kill you.”

The venerable one has strong faith, love, having acquired hope in God, and I am diligent in praying to my enemies with tears, so that he can get rid of such demonic sneakiness. The good God who loves mankind, quick to help, is ready for mercy, does not leave His servant to fight and give much guidance; but as soon as the hour has passed, I think, He sent His mercy, so that the devil, smite, will be put to shame from here, and from this they will know God’s help and their weakness. The venerable one, strong in soul, who visibly and invisibly always fights against demons, let the conqueror of demons appear, but soon the Divine power suddenly came to that autumn, and the evil spirits were quickly dispersed firmly, and to the end, without a trace, I, and the venerable comfort, and Fill someone with divine joy and delight his heart with spiritual sweetness. He, having recognized the quick help, and the mercy, and the grace of God, having understood, gratefully praised God, saying: “I thank you, Lord, because you did not forsake me, but when you heard quickly, you had mercy on me. Do a sign for good with me, and let those who hate me see and be ashamed, because You, Lord, helped me and consoled me. Thy right hand, O Lord, is glorified in strength; Thy right hand, Lord, crush our enemies, demons, and destroy them with the mighty strength of Thy to the end.”

Behold, let everyone who has a mind understand and reason that this is the work of the evil devil and the beginning of the evil one, and the evil one, and the evildoer. The devil wanted to drive St. Sergius away from that place, having seen our salvation, and fearing, but some empty place would be raised up by God’s grace, and the monastery would be rewarded with his patience, and even with his own diligence and diligence, as if he would completely fill something, or as if he will populate a certain village, and as if he will reclaim a city, a sacred monastery, and will make the settlement with them a source of praise and unceasing singing to God. As it was by the grace of Christ, we see it today: not only did you build this great monastery, like the Lavra in Radonezh, but you also set up other different monasteries and built a multitude in them according to the fatherly custom and tradition.

After a time of satisfaction, the devil won with the blessed one in various apparitions, working in vain together with his demons: even though he brought in many different dreams, but in any case he could never lie to his strong soul and brave ascetic. Moreover, later, due to various dreams and dirty apparitions, the Monk Sergius became more courageous, armed himself and weeping at the demons, looking desperately, trusting in God’s help; and so, by God’s grace, we preserve it to remain without harm. Sometimes it’s demonic intrigue and insurance, sometimes it’s beastly aspirations, many beasts, as they say, then I find myself in that desert. They are howling in a herd, roaring as they pass by, but friends are not in multitude, but either two or three, or one by one passing by; Ovia is far away, and friends are close to the blessed one, approaching and surrounding him, as if sniffing him.

And from them there is only one beast, the recommended Arkuda, who says the bear, who always customarily comes to the monk. And the monk saw that the beast was not coming to him for the sake of malice, but rather to take something from the trash for food for himself, and he took a piece of bread from his hut and put it on him either on a stump or on a log, as if he had come according to custom beast, and as if I am ready to find food for myself; and we will take our lips and depart. If I don’t get the bread, and when the beast arrives according to custom, it doesn’t find its usual food, then I don’t go away for a long time. But standing looking at this and waiting, like some evil debtor, although he accepted his debt. If it were necessary for one to acquire a piece of food, then the monk would need to divide it into two parts, so that he would keep one for himself and offer the other to the beast: since then Sergius did not have various taverns in the desert, except for one bread and water from the source the existing one, and the same for the lack. Many times you won’t even be able to find daily bread; and whenever this happens, then both of them remain hungry, himself and the beast. Sometimes the blessed one, unaware of himself, became greedy himself: even if you found a single piece of bread from him, it was marked before the beast. And please, without eating on that day, drink more than offend the beast and let it go without poison. He usually comes not once, nor twice, but many times every day, as he does this many times a year.

The blessed one dealt with all the trials that came his way with joy, thanking God for everything, and neither cold nor despondent in grief. Elma acquired reason and great faith in God, with it he is able to extinguish all the arrows of hostile enemies, and with it he is able to bring down every exaltation that rises to the mind of God, and let him not fear those who come near him from the demon. It is written: “The righteous man walks like a lion, and strives for faith in everything, not as if he were tempting God, but rather trusting in her: “Whoever trusts in the Lord, like Mount Zion, will never fail.” Truly, my hope is strong in the Lord, since this blessed one, like a brave warrior and like a strong swordsman, is armed and clothed with the power of the Spirit, and as it is always necessary to care for God, so God speaks about him: “I am with him in sorrow; I will ism and glorify and. I will fill him with the length of days and show him My salvation.” The weak and lazy in his affairs cannot have such hope; but she constantly remained with God in all her corrections, and approached Him with kindness for the sake of her deeds, and pursued her heart with His goodness, generously and unswervingly, like David the prophet said: “My eyes have disappeared from those who trust in my God.”

The Monk Sergius had such hope, and with such zeal I dared to go into this desert, to unite and be merciless, even though I had tasted the divine sweets of silence, and did not want to retreat and leave. And you are not afraid of bestial aspirations and demonic dreams, as it is written: “You will not be afraid from the fear of the night, from the arrow flying in the day, from the thing that passes in the darkness, from the gristle and demon of midday and midnight.” Armed against desert insurance with prayer, as in the Ladder it was said: “In them,” he said, “we are afraid of the places, not lazy to pass through without prayer, but armed with prayer, and with outstretched hands, beat the warriors in the name of Jesus. If we quickly jump up to pray, our good guardian angel will come and pray with us.”

And so the venerable one cast his sorrow upon the Lord, and put his trust in God, and put the Most High in his refuge, to remain from fear without fear, and without dirty tricks, and without harm. God is a good lover of mankind, who gives quick and firm consolation to His servant, who always spares and preserves His saint, just as the Holy Scripture says: “For His angels commanded to keep [thee].” Here and here God sent His mercy and His grace to help him, to save him from all conditions, visible and invisible. The monk, seeing how God covers him with His grace, glorifies God day and night and sends grateful praise to God, who does not leave the evil of sinners to the lot of the righteous, who will not let us through the power of being tempted. First, having read the holy book, so that from there virtue may be born to everyone, with secret thoughts you strive your mind to desire eternal blessings and to enjoy the promised good treasures. And what’s even more amazing is that no one knows the cruel, virtuous life of a secret life, only God alone, who is a secret in vain, and a tester of secrets, and who is not revealed before the eyes of those who have a silent and serene life can be deprived of desire. But it loves to be imagined by him, that in private he should offer frequent and diligent and secret prayers to the one and only God, and to communicate with the one and only God, and to the Almighty Omnipresent One, to approach Him alone, and to be enlightened by His grace, and to exercise Himself in that way. I'm overwhelmed with thoughts , as if the hedgehog would be favorable for these feats and without shame; and for this reason, every day you feel warmer, you always send frequent prayers to God. God did not at all despise his prayers, for mercy has many bounties, and it is not in the habit of despising the prayers of those who fear Him and do His will. According to the time of several, that is, the one who united him in the desert, or two years, or more, or less, I don’t know - God knows.

And now God, seeing his great faith and his great suffering, had mercy on her, although to ease his desert labors; put it in the hearts of some of the brethren who fear God, and begin to come to him. This was the building and providence of the all-powerful, merciful Lord God, as it is not only Sergius who wants to live in this desert, but many brethren, as the Apostle Paul said: “Do not seek your own good, but the good of many, that you may save them.” Or decide that God wants to raise up that place, and transform that desert, and build that monastery, and bring together many brothers. I will do this to God, starting to visit him first, first one at a time, then sometimes two, sometimes three. And I pray to the venerable one, falling down and saying: “Father, accept us, we want to live with you in this place and save our soul.”

And the monk not only did not accept them, but also forbade them, saying: “For you cannot live in this place and cannot endure the labor of the desert: hunger, greed, misery, crampedness and poverty, and shortcomings.” They decided: “We want to endure the labors of this place, but if God gives it, then we can.” The monk again asked, saying: “Can you endure the labors of this place: hunger, and thirst, and all kinds of disadvantages?” They decided: “Here, honest father, we want and we can, I help God to us, and help us with your prayers. This is all we pray to Your Reverence: do not separate us from your presence and do not drive us away from this beloved place.”

The Monk Sergius saw their faith and diligence, and was surprised at them and said to them: “I will not destroy you, since our Savior said, like: “He who comes to Me is not [and] I will be consumed”; and again he said: “And these are two or three of My combined name, and I am in the midst of them.” And David said: “Behold, how good and how good is the life of the brethren together.” Because, brothers, I want to live alone in this desert and thus die in this place. If I please God, and if He pleases, there are seven monasteries in place and many brethren, may the will of the Lord be done! I accept you with joy, just try to build your own cell for yourself. But be aware: if you come to live in this desert, if you want to stay with me in this place, if you came to work for God by nature, get ready to suffer pain, troubles, sorrows, all kinds of hardships, and needs, and shortcomings, and lack of wealth, and lack of sleep. And if you work for God willingly and willingly, prepare your hearts from now on, not for food, nor for drink, nor for rest, not for carelessness, but for suffering, to endure every temptation, and all hardship and sorrow. And get ready for labor, and for fasting, and for spiritual deeds and for many sorrows: “Through many sorrows it is fitting for us to enter the kingdom of heaven”; “The path is narrow and sorrowful; it leads you into eternal life, and there are few who find it”; “We must have the kingdom of heaven, and the needy will dry it up”; “Many are the ranks, but few are chosen.” For there are few who are being saved, even less are the chosen flock of Christ, about whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: “Do not be afraid, my little flock! For this reason My Father has deigned to give you the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed Sergius spoke this to them, and they promised with joy and zeal, saying: “We do everything commanded by you and will not disobey you in anything.”

And each one built for himself his own cell and dwelling about God, looking at the life of St. Sergius and being equally shaped by his strength. The Monk Sergius, living with his brothers, endured many labors, and performed great feats and sweats in his postnic life. It is cruel to live a Lenten life; I praised his virtues: hunger, thirst, vigil, dry eating, lying on the ground, purity of body and soul, silence of the lips, known mortification of carnal desire, bodily labor, unfeigned humility, unceasing prayer, good judgment, perfect love. , the thinness of death, the memory of death, meekness with quietness, the fear of God unceasing. “For wisdom has conceived the fear of the Lord”; just as the flowers of berries and every vegetable began to bloom, so the seed began to bear the fear of God for every virtue. He embraced the fear of God within himself, and thereby protected himself, and taught the law of the Lord day and night, like a fruitful tree, planted by the waters that issue up, which in due time will yield its fruit.

And yet, when he was young, I gave him strength in the flesh, because I was strong in body, as strong as two men, but the devil tried to wound him with lustful arrows. Reverend, be wary of the enemy, restrain the body and enslave it, curb it with fasting; and so by the grace of God I was quickly delivered. For fear, teach me to arm myself in the battle of demons: as if I wanted to shoot with a demonic sinful arrow, against those reverend ones who shoot with pure arrows, shooting at the darkness of the right in heart.

Sitsa is alive with his brothers, even though he was not quickly appointed as a priest, but he was a leader with them in the Church of God. And all the days I celebrated with the brethren in church the Midnight Office, and the Matins, and the Hours, and the Third, and the Sixth, and the Ninth, and Vespers, and Nephimon, according to what was said: “Seven times a day we praised Thee about the judgments of Thy righteousness.” In between these frequent prayers, for this reason have ceased, to pray to God without ceasing, both in church and in cells, according to Paul, who says: “Pray to God without ceasing.” And for mass you called a certain stranger, a priest with a rank of priest or an abbot of the Star, and you accepted him and commanded him to perform the holy liturgy: Sergius himself did not want to be appointed presbytery or abbess, for the sake of many things and ultimate humility. For you have much meekness in yourself and great true humility, in everything you always imitate your master, our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave in to the imitation of those who want to imitate Him and follow Him, who said: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, for I have rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart.” And for the sake of such humility, Sergius did not want to take the priesthood or take away the abbess: for ever, as the conception and root is the love of sanity, even the desire for abbess.

The people who gathered together were not very numerous, but as if they numbered up to two in ten: from them only Elder Vasily, referred to as Sukhi, who came from the heights of Dubna to the right of the country; and from them, by the name of Jacob, he is referred to as Yakut - this one is in the rank of an envoy, and I send him to service every now and then, as if for a necessary need, without it it is not possible to get by; the other's name is Onesimus, who is also a deacon, the father of deacons, Elisha the verb. The cells were built and fenced with a fence, not very spacious, but also placed the goalkeeper of those at the gates, from which Sergius himself built three or four cells with his own hands. But the rest of the monastic business, even for the brethren in need, served: they carried wood for their frames from the forest, and as for the cells, they crushed it and cut it, in different ways, into logs. But what do I remember about firewood? It’s truly amazing to see then: I don’t exist far from them in the forest, as we can see now, but where the cells were built, the same trees appeared above them, as if they were overshadowing, rustling to the stoach. Around the church, logs and singing are often found everywhere, and various seeds are planted, like potions for making money. But let us look back at the conversation that was spoken about, about the ascetic labor of St. Sergius, how the brethren served without laziness, like a bought slave: and firewood for everyone, as it was said now; and eat lively food, grind it in gruel, and bake bread, and boil it, and other wastes that the brothers have prepared for their needs; shoes and ports are edge and shiash; and from the source that exists, you took two water-pots of water on your siram to the mountain and delivered them to each of the cells.

At night you remained in prayer without sleep; subsisting only on bread and water, and taking that because of poverty; and never remained idle for an hour. And the body has been depressed by many tremblings and great labors. In him, he also created carnal movements without moving, and put forth great feats upon deeds, and grieved about the stay of that place, as if his labor would only be favorable. And as soon as it is done, the psalm is always louder in his mouth, saying: “I will bring forth the Lord before me, as he is at my right hand; I won’t move.” I remain with him in prayers and labors, the flesh of this and drying up, the desire to be a citizen of the mountainous city and the inhabitants of the highest Jerusalem.

In the summer, the same abbot, who was tonsured more than blessed Sergius, fell ill, and after being ill for some time, he reposed from this life and departed to the Lord. The Monk Sergius was very sad, and praying to God, and praying diligently, he sent out prayer, as if God would give an abbot, a place of mentor, father and ruler, who could steer the spiritual ship of universal life to the haven of salvation from the pressure of drowning, from evil spirits. And I pray to God and ask the abbot and the true builder of this place, God, having heard the prayer of His saint and accepted his prayer, so that David does not show David a liar, saying: “He will do the will of those who fear Him, and He will hear their prayer, and He will save them.” He wants to give the petitioner himself the abbot, the right ruler; Yes, insofar as Sergius asked, in so much you will receive, and you will acquire in truth a right ruler who can rule that place. Do not specifically ask for yourself, but for someone else, God will give him; God, like a seer, foresees the future and although you will raise and arrange this place and glorify it, you will not find anything better than that, but in the same way that he asked to be granted, knowing that such management can be managed for the glory of His holy name.

How and in what way did the beginning of Sergius' abbess happen? God put it in the hearts of his brothers, as if to raise him to the top leadership. There was some reflection among his brethren; and having first gathered among themselves, they created the world; Having thus been strengthened by faith, everything came together to St. Sergius, saying: “Father! We cannot live without the abbot! Now we have come to you to show our thoughts and desires: we strongly desire that you be our abbot and mentor to our souls and bodies, so that we may come to you in repentance, confessing our sins; may we receive forgiveness from you, and blessings, and prayer all the days and see you all the days celebrating the holy liturgy; May we, every time from your honest hand, partake of the most pure mysteries. Hey, honest father, we want this from you, just don’t deny it.”

The Venerable Sergius sighed from the depths of his soul and said to them: “I have not even a thought of wanting to become abbess, but this is the desire of my soul to die in this place. Don’t force me, but leave me to God, and he will do whatever he wants for me.” They decided: “We, father, want you to be our abbot, but you deny it. We say to you: either be the abbot yourself, or go and ask the saint for the abbot. If not, then for the sake of necessity, let’s all leave this place.” The Monk Sergius groaned from his heart and said: “Now let us each go to our own cell, and let us all pray diligently to God about this, that he may show and reveal to us what is proper to do.” They each went into their own cells.

After a few days, the brethren again came to the Monk Sergius, saying: “Now, Father, we have descended upon this place, having heard from you the beginnings of your good struggle and the church foundation that you created with your own hands. Having the grace of the Holy Trinity, we have come running to that, and our hope and hope have all been placed under your guidance, henceforth you will be both our father and abbot. And you will stand before the throne of the Holy Trinity, send the Seraphim’s thrice-holy hymn to God, and perform the bloodless service, and with your own hands give us the most pure body and the divine blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and having laid to rest our old age, give us over to the grave.” Sergius, the father, denied and did not want to, praying to them, consoling them with the verb: “Forgive me, my fathers and my Lord! Who am I, dare to tease them like that, but with fear and horror the angels cannot reach them? How can I, the unworthy one, show up without having time to do so? I couldn’t begin to begin with the stone charter and life; How dare you approach or touch this shrine? And if I could cry over my sins, and through your prayer achieve this good, the most desired, which I have desired since my youth.” And this, and having informed many of these to them, he departed to his cell.

Blaziya, the elders of the day, came back and began to talk to him, speaking the foretold verbs, and multiplying them, and deciding: “We, spiritual father, are not the same imams with you: I will instruct us to God, we descend to you in this place, and I wish for your life and good behavior, and hope for future blessings of pleasure. If you do not want to be a shepherd of our souls and a shepherd of verbal sheep, you do not want us to be, then we are moving away from this place and from the Church of the Holy Trinity and we are involuntarily falling away from our vow. And we will go astray, like a sheep without a shepherd, into the mountains of contempt and discord; Having given ourselves over to an evil thought, we will become a mental beast, that is, the devil. You are here to answer before the innocent judge, the Almighty God.” Behold, the brethren spoke to him, rebuking him and threatening him with thunderstorms: much earlier, for many days, begging him, forcing him to show humility, but to be quiet and caressing, and sometimes with rebuke and cruel words I resist, complaining. He, strong in soul, firm in faith, humble in mind, neither obeys caresses nor fears rebuke, but will find a husband above rebuke.

When his brethren are in great need of being an abbess, he is humble and wise, but he does not want to accept him, nor do he want to abandon the godlike humility that has grown in him. He shook off such a prayer, being a sinner and unworthy of his verbs, he also said: “As my verbs do not agree with your words, yet you are unnecessarily forcing me to be abbess, and I am denying it too much. Elma, because I myself want to demand teaching and learn more than to teach others: I myself want to be possessed by them rather than to possess and rule over others. I am afraid of God's judgment; food will be so pleasing to God, as you command me, the will of the Lord be done!” Otherwise, I was driven away from my merciful brotherly love and from my zeal and vanity, barely obeying their prayer. And promised to be their request and obeyed the will of their being, rather than declaring, the will of God to be. And thus, for all of them, the Monk Sergius arose from the depths of his heart, and placed all his thought and hope in the Almighty God, speaking to them in humility of soul: “Father and brothers! I say nothing to you, having submitted to the will of the Lord: He is the message of the heart and the womb. Let’s go to the city to see the bishop.” Metropolitan Alexy of All Rus' was then in Tsarigrad, and in the city of Pereyaslavli he ordered Bishop Afonasy of Velyn to be in his place. Our venerable father Sergius came to him, took two elders with him, and went in to worship before the bishop. Bishop Athanasius, seeing him, blessed him and asked for his name. He is Sergius in his name. Athanasius, having heard, was glad to give him a kiss about Christ: before that he had heard about him, the fruits of his good struggle, and the restoration of the church, and the founding of the monastery, and all the well-pleasing deeds, even those who love the brethren with diligence, and many good deeds . And had a spiritual conversation with him; and when the conversation ends, abiy do worship before the bishop.

Our blessed father Sergius began to pray to the saint, asking the abbot to give a mentor to their souls. The Monk Athanasius, filled with the Holy Spirit, said: “Beloved! God, by the Holy Spirit, spoke from the mouth of David: “I will bring out the chosen one from among my people”; and again: “For the hand of Moa will help him, and the arm of Moa will strengthen him.” The Apostle Paul said: “No one accepts honor or rank, except he who is called from God.” To you, son and brother, God called from your mother’s womb, even as many have heard about you, that you may henceforth be the father and abbot of the brethren, the God of the congregation in the monastery of the Holy Trinity.” Denying Venerable Sergius and expressing his unworthiness, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, Athanasius spoke to him: “Beloved! You have acquired everything, but you have not obeyed.” Our Father Sergius bow down and say: As in the year of the Lord, so be it; Blessed be the Lord forever!” And we say to everyone: “Amen.”

The holy Bishop Athanasius ordered Abiy to be taken into the holy altar as a cleric; I myself sing of blessed Sergius, having labored to go into the holy church. And having clothed himself in sacred vestments, and drinking blessed Sergius, he commanded that the image of the holy faith be expounded upon him, which is: “I believe in one God.” And after the end of that, I bowed to Sergius’s head, and the saint made a sign of the cross, and said an ordained prayer, and made him a subdeacon, and the same as a deacon, and celebrated the Divine Liturgy, and partook of the divine body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nautria ordained him to the priesthood and again commanded him to perform the holy liturgy and make a bloodless sacrifice with his own hands. Reverend Father Sergius commanded everything to him with fear and spiritual joy.

Bishop Athanasius personally taught him, and the rules of the apostles, and patristic teachings, which are about the structure and correction of the soul, and the conversation to him: “You must, beloved, according to the apostle, “bear the infirmities of the weak, and not pretend to yourself.” But let everyone guess for the benefit of his neighbor.” And he sends again to Timothy, saying: “Teach this to the faithful, who will achieve and teach others.” Also: “Carry each other’s burdens, and thus you will end the law of Christ.” Having corrected Sia, you yourself were saved, and I am with you.” And these rivers, having established him with spiritual gifts, give him a kiss in Christ, and let him go truly as abbot, and shepherd, and guard, and doctor of the spiritual brethren.

Not only was she God-loving in character, but she was not except for God’s providence; as if he did not take the abbess for himself, but God entrusted him with the leadership. He neither jumped on this, nor exceeded anyone, nor made promises from this, nor gave bribes, as people who love dignity create, jumping in front of each other, spinning and intercepting, not understanding the Scripture that says: “Neither to the one who wants, nor to the flowing , but to a merciful God, from Him every good gift, every perfect gift is from above, coming from God the Father as light.” As if here by God’s grace, the leadership will be entrusted to him, since he wants to bring so many monks, like spiritual armies, brave, to the common Master of all. And because of the purity of his life, he is worthy of such grace, worthy of intercession, a shepherd to his flock; The leader appeared to the flock of verbal sheep and to the sacred monastery, God having promoted His saint to the abbess.

About the beginning of the saint's abbess

Our venerable father, abbot Sergius, came to his monastery, to the monastery of the Holy Trinity. The brothers saw him and bowed to the ground before him, filled with joy. He, having entered the church, fell face down on the ground, with tears making a prayer to the invisible king, looking at the icon of the Holy Trinity, calling for help to the Holy Mother of God, the servant of his throne, the heavenly powers of the Forerunners, the wise apostles, and these are the principal saints - Basil the Great , and the Theologian Gregory and John Chrysostom and all the saints. With their prayers, ask from the right hand of the Almighty, so that the statues of the Life-Giving Trinity would be unconditionally removed from the throne of glory and touch the hands of the lamb of God, for the peace of the slain Christ, the Son of God.

And the blessed one began to speak to the brethren as spoken by the Lord: “Strive, brethren, to enter through the narrow gate; “We must eat the kingdom of heaven, and the needy women will snatch it up.” Paul said to the Galatians: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, good faith, meekness, self-control.” David said: “Come, children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord.” And bless the brethren, he said to them: “Pray, brethren, for me: for I am full of rudeness and foolishness. The talent came from the Most High King, about whom we can give a word about the shepherd of the verbal sheep. Fears frighten me, the word spoken by the Lord: “Whoever seduces one from these little ones, it would be good for him so that the donkey’s millstone is bound on his neck and thrown into the sea.” How much more will the soul immerse itself in its foolishness! Or can I expressly say: Behold, I and the children whom you have given to me, O Lord! And will I hear this divine voice above and below the shepherd, the great Lord, graciously proclaiming: “Good servant, faithful! Enter into the joy of your Lord."

And these rivers, thinking in the mind of the lives of the great luminaries, who lived in the flesh on the land of the Angels, the river Anthony the Great, and the Great Euthymia, Sheba the Sanctified, Pachomius the Angel-like, Theodosius the hostel and others. The blessed one was amazed at their life and disposition, how they, beings of flesh, defeated their incorporeal enemies, who lived together as angels, who were terrible to the devil. Kings and people were amazed at them, and came to them, those who were suffering from various ailments, healed, and in troubles, warm deliverers, and quick intercessors from death, on the road and on the sea, easy march, for those who were lacking in abundance, for the poor, for the poor, for widows and orphans. treasured treasure to the divine apostle: “As if nothing is possessed, everything is confounded.” These lives are in the heart, the blessed one praying to the Holy Trinity, so that he may irrevocably walk in the footsteps of these venerable fathers.

Serving the Divine litorgy every day, it is not difficult to sing the morning and evening prayers about the humility of the whole world, and about the goodness of the holy churches, and about Orthodox kings, and princes, and about all Orthodox Christians. Verb to the brethren: “It is no small feat that we must strive against the invisible enemy: for like a roaring lion he walks, seeking to devour anyone.” Small were the words you spoke to punish the brethren, but the very image of your former brethren was greater than the deeds.

Who will achieve true confession of his virtuous life, grace blooming in his soul? Armed with the forces of opposition, we rise by force to the Holy Trinity. Many times the devil tried to frighten him, sometimes as beasts, sometimes as serpents. And to cleanse himself either in the cell, or when in the forest the blessed one was gathering wood for the needs of the monastery, suddenly a manifold evil enemy attempted to turn his thoughts away from prayer and from his virtuous labors. Our God-bearing father Sergius is all hostile to his dreams and intrigues, like dispersing smoke and like squashing spiders, we arm ourselves with the power of the godmother, placing the angelic word on his heart, spoken by the Lord: “I have given you the power to step on the serpent and the scorpion and all the power of the enemy.” At the beginning of his abbess, there were more brothers, numbering two out of ten, besides the abbot himself, the third out of ten. This number is two per tenth that was found in them, and then I lived for two years, and for three years, multiplying more than that, and decreasing less than that. And if one of them either dies or leaves the monastery, then another brother will arrive in his place, but the number will be exhausted. But the same number of two abides on the tenth day, as if some were saying from this: “What will happen then? Or always two by ten deem to be in this place, according to the number 12 of the apostle, as it is written: “The Lord called His disciples, and chose from them 12, who were also called apostles”; or two according to the ten tribes of Israel; or there will be a spring of water according to the number of 12, or according to the number of the chosen stones of the other 12, which were on the vestments of the bishops according to the order of Aaron.” And the name of the abiding, until Simon, Archimandrite of Smolensk, came to them, and he destroyed the number two by a tenth; and from there the brethren multiplied from that day more, and was already numbered as a greater number than two by a tenth.

Elma briefly mentioned Simon’s speech, and I’m not too lazy to talk about him in more detail, his memory is not hidden, and the conversation about him actually creates him, and his virtues are revealed a little earlier.

This wonderful man Simon is the oldest archimandrite, glorious, deliberate, and moreover, virtuous, living in the city of Smolensk. And from there he heard about the life of our reverend father Sergius and became enraged in soul and heart: he leaves the archimandrite, leaves honor and glory, leaves the glorious city of Smolensk, together with him leaves the fatherland and friends, neighbors, neighbors, and everyone he knows and loves; and takes on the image of humility and chooses to wander. And from there it moved, from such a distant land, from Smolensk, to the Moscow borders, which is in Radonezh. I came to the monastery to our venerable father, Abbot Sergius, and with much humility prayed to him, so that he would come to live under his strong hand in obedience and obedience. Bring the property with you and give it to the abbot to build the monastery. The Monk Sergius received him with joy. Simon lived for many years in submission and obedience, and moreover in pilgrimage and humility, and was filled with all the virtues, and in his old age he reposed kindly towards God. Abbot Sergius escorted him to the grave and buried him honorably with the brothers. And so his memory will be eternal.

About Ivan, son of Stefanov

Stefan, Sergiev’s close brother, came from Moscow, bringing with him his son named John the Less. And going into the church, holding the hand of his son’s right hand, he handed him over to Abbot Sergius, ordering him to be tonsured as a monk. Hegumen Sergius tonsured him and called his name in the rank of the Monishes Theodore. The elders saw and were amazed at Stefan’s faith, for he did not spare his son as a child, but from his infancy gave him over to God, just as Abraham of old did not spare his son Isaac. Theodore, from a young age, was quickly brought up in fasting, and in all piety, and in purity, as if he had learned from his uncle, he was fulfilled and adorned with all the good wills of his husband, and until he attained maturity in the measure of his husband. Nice decided to be tonsured for ten years, and two others for ten years; The rest of his deeds will be written someday, as for another time the word is likewise required. It is up to us to return to the word before us, so that we do not bring an end to the current story.

Many people from various cities and countries came to him and lived with him, their names are in the books of animals. And so little by little the monastery spread, the brothers multiplied, the cells were built. The Monk Sergius, seeing the brethren multiplying, multiplying their labors with labor, became an image to his flock, as the Apostle Peter said: “Shepherd the flock that is in you, not by need, but by will, not as possessing the brethren, but I am an image of the flock.” " And again it is written in the books of the fathers, recited in the Pateritsa: “The holy fathers came together, prophesied about the last generation and decided that the last generation would be weak.” Sergius, God strengthen himself in the last generation, as one father from the ancient saints. God made him a laborer, a monk to the multitude, a mentor, an abbot and leader to the multitude of brethren.

And again, where did this begin from, since that place was once a forest, a thicket, a desert, where there were live hares, foxes, wolves, and sometimes gray bears, another one and a devil were found, and now the church was quickly built there, and the great monastery was fenced it happened, and the monk gathered a lot of praise, both in the church and in the cells, and incessant prayer to God? It all started because of our venerable father Sergius. And see how the Lord surprised His venerable one. And from then on he was quickly appointed abbess, and throughout the holy days there was a litorgy, but he himself was saddened by the prosphyra: before, he melted and ground the wheat, and smelted the flour, and kneaded the dough and leavened it. Having baked the prosphyra in such a way, serving God from your righteous labors, you did not give it to anyone else, even if you really wanted a lot of prosphyra from the brethren. But the venerable one strives to be a teacher and doer: he cooks kutia himself, and makes candles, and creates canons.

Our venerable father, Abbot Sergius, even accepted the title of eldership, but still do not change the rules of his clerical rule, having in mind the remark: “Whoever wants to be an elder among you, let him be the least of all and the servant of all.” You looked at that teaching of the Savior, humbled yourself, and created the least of all, and created an image for everyone, and proceeded to work before everyone else, and to church singing before everyone else, and in no way leaned on the wall; and from there the place flourished, and the brethren multiplied.

At the beginning of his abbess’s tenure he had a custom: to everyone who comes to him and wants to be like him, and who wants to have his hair cut, do not cut off anyone, neither old, nor wise, nor rich, nor poor; but we welcome everyone with diligence and joy. But you did not tonsure him, but first commanded him to clothe himself in a retinue that was made from black cloth and spend a good amount of time with the brothers in it, until the whole structure of the monastery became accustomed to it. Tache will still clothe her in Mnishe’s clothes, as she is skilled in all services; and he will clothe you with a robe and a hood. And when a monk has awakened, he is skilled in pure living, and such a one is honored to receive the holy schema.

Elma, after all, at the beginning of his abbess, always prayed to the Monk Sergius in his place, in the monastery we call “like in Radonezh”, and his name was always carried everywhere, throughout the countries and in the city - the news is that virtue has been revealed to create no less , more than the one who wears the candle - then there is a lot of Christ-loving love for God's sake who comes to him from afar; and abandoning the vanity of life, and putting yourself under the good yoke of the Lord. Therefore, I always devote myself to him as a disciple: I call upon him from the source of grace of a virtuous soul, like the bounty of words, desiring spiritual water.

The blessed one has corrected this custom: late and long in the evening after evening service, as I live deep at night, especially during dark and long nights, I say a prayer in my cell, and through prayer I leave my cell, and go around all my cells. Having concern for his brethren, he cared not only for their bodies, but also for their souls, to know at least one of their lives or desires for God. And if you hear someone, or make a prayer, or make a bow, or do your handicrafts with silence and prayer, or read holy books, or cry and lament about your sins, rejoicing over these, and thanking God, and praying to God for them, so that they complete their good proposal. “It’s best,” he said, “to be saved until the end.”

Whenever you hear someone talking, two or three people gathered together, or laughing, you are indignant about this, and don’t worry about such things, hitting the door with your hand, or sweating at the window, leaving. In this way, he signaled his approach and visit to them, and ruined them with an unknown spell of idle conversation. So on this day, Nautria called to himself: and I did not quickly forbid them, and not with rage did I reproach and punish, but as if from afar with quietness and meekness, as if leading in parables, I spoke to them, although I would recognize their diligence and diligence to God. And if the brother woke up, and was humble, and warm in faith and in the love of God, then soon, recognizing his guilt, he humbly fell down to worship him, asking for forgiveness from him. If the brother were to be disobedient, his heart was covered with the darkness of demons, so it would be wrong for me to talk about him, having created clean things myself, until the venerable one denounced him for a long time, according to what was said: “The righteous will show me with his mercy, he will convict me." And you burdened your disobedient brother with penance, because he had not recognized his own guilt and did not forgive the guilt of sins; and this, which you have strengthened for correction, has released. And so everyone is learning to pray diligently to God, and not to talk with anyone during evening prayer, and not to leave one’s cell without doing great things in other people’s cells, but in one’s own cell to pray to God in secret, alone and with one’s own handicrafts. , as his hand can do according to his strength, all the days the psalms of David are always in his mouth.

O abundance of necessities

However, it was right that when we began to build that place, then there were many shortcomings; deprivation of all the latter necessities for the sake of lack of acquisition and, ultimately, emptiness, so that they cannot have any consolation from anywhere, but also all other necessary needs, from where can they even have any requirement. Elma was empty before that place, and then there were no villages nearby or courtyards around that place. There are many times and extensive paths not to reach that place, but along some narrow and painfully cramped path, like a pathlessness, I need to come to them. The great and wide path of all people is far away, not approaching that place, but carried on; around that monastery everything is empty, the whole country is forested, there is desert everywhere: deserts have been called deserts. And the children who lived by them were filled with days of years, as, I remember, multiplied by five by ten.

Once again, as if in the days of the reign of the great Prince Ivan, Ivan’s son, Simion’s brother, the Christians began to come and walk through all these forests, and fell in love with that life. And many people, desiring, began to sit down in that place, and began to cut down the forests, as if I were forbidding them from anyone. And you created for yourself many different things, distorted the desert as before and did not spare it, and created the desert as if there were many pure fields, as the essence is visible to us even now. And she established villages and many courtyards, and she settled down, and produced fruit, and multiplied greatly, and began to visit and attend the monastery, bringing in diverse and varied demands, and there is no number for them. But we will leave this speech for now, and turn to the foretold conversation, which began to tell from the beginning of the word: about all the badness and about the lack of necessary needs, without them it is impossible to acquire.

“The Life of Sergius of Radonezh” was written by Epiphanius the Wise in 1417-1418. Sergius of Radonezh played a significant role in the political and church life of Rus' in the second half of the 14th century and managed to gain the highest moral authority for himself through his pious deeds. The wise and virtuous Sergius took an active part in resolving the political problems of the Fatherland. In particular, he fully supported the unifying efforts of Moscow to exalt and strengthen the Russian state. The blessing of Dmitry Donskoy on the eve of the Battle of Kulikovo was of particular importance.

By recognizing Sergius as a “pleaser of God,” Epiphanius the Wise thereby sanctified and exalted the personality and political views of Sergius of Radonezh, which during that period of internecine strife in Rus' were not shared by everyone.

The basis of the “Life...” are the miraculous events that took place in the life of Sergius from early childhood, and if you read carefully. even before the birth of the baby, who, while still in the womb, made a triple voice during a service in church.

Epiphanius the Wise sought, according to the major researcher of the literature of Ancient Rus' N.K. Gudziya, to “possibly greater factuality and documentary presentation,” but in the text of “The Life...” there is lyricism, human warmth, and bright, unexpected figurative and expressive means for literature of this kind in the Middle Ages. Comprehending the artistic merits of the text allows us to experience a sense of pride in the literature of Ancient Rus' and to be convinced of the talent of ancient Russian authors.

1. How do you imagine the author of “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh”? Why was Epiphanius called the Wise?
2. Explain why Epiphanius the Wise decided to write “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh.”
3. “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh,” like lives in general in the literature of Ancient Rus', preaches goodness, mercy, and compassion.

   Continue the series you started, writing out words and phrases from the chapters given in the textbook that are meaningfully related to the theme of love, goodness: virtuous...

4. Epiphanius the Wise is very restrained in his use of epithets. More often than others, he uses the epithet “great.” Who and what does it refer to?

   “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh” is a story about a person’s choice of path. “Path” is a polysemantic word: it is a strip of land used for driving and walking, a road; this is a place for passage, passage; this is a journey, journey, movement; a path is a direction, a route; finally, this is useful, useful, useful. This is how V.I. defined the meaning of the word “path”. Dahl.

5. Formulate a thesis about how you see the difference between the geographical and spiritual paths for a person. What path - spiritual or geographical - are we talking about in passages a, b, c:
   1. “And you, baby, will be called the prophet of the Most High, for you will come before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to make His people aware of salvation in the forgiveness of their sins, according to the gracious mercy of our God, with which the East has visited us from above, you will enlighten those sitting in darkness and shadow mortal to direct our feet in the way of peace” (Gospel of Luke);
   2. “An angel of the Lord appears to Joseph in a dream and says: get up, take the Child and His Mother, and flee to Egypt, and be there until I tell you: for Herod wants to look for the Child in order to destroy Him. He arose, took the Child and His Mother by night, and went into Egypt” (Gospel of Matthew);
   3. “Then the next morning he called the guilty ones to him; but even here he did not immediately forbid them to talk, and did not rebuke them with rage, and did not punish them, but from afar, quietly and meekly, as if telling parables, he spoke to them, wanting to know their diligence and zeal for God. And if the brother was submissive, and humble, and ardent in faith and in love for God, then soon he realized his guilt. with humility he fell and bowed before Sergius, begging to forgive him. If the brother was disobedient, with a heart filled with demonic darkness, and stood, thinking that the saint was not talking about him, considering himself pure, while the monk patiently rebuked him, as it is said: “Let the righteous punish me and let him convict me with his mercy.” , - then the noisy imposed penance on such a disobedient brother, because he did not understand his guilt and did not realize his sins; and so, having guided the offender on the path of correction, he let him go” (“Life of Sergius of Radonezh”).
6. What epithets characterize the victory on the Kulikovo Field?
7. Write down words and phrases that demonstrate the author’s attitude towards the enemies of Rus'.
8. In what sense is the word “banner” used in the phrase “The crusader banner drove away enemies for a long time, killing countless numbers of them...”? Test yourself using a short explanatory dictionary 1.
9. Tell us in detail how the “Life...” conveys grief over the death of St. Sergius of Radonezh.
10. You have already noticed that hagiography usually ends with a description of a miracle. What miracles happened after the death of Saint Sergius?

    Epiphanius the Wise quite rarely resorts to allegory and other special means of expressive artistic speech in “The Life of...”: the author needs to emphasize, first of all, his objectivity. However, the available means of artistic expression testify to the high skill of the author of “The Life of...” and his ability to master the literary word.

11. Read this fragment and, based on it, confirm the thesis formulated. Give other examples of artistic speech from the Life of Sergius of Radonezh.

    “And there was a wonderful sight and an amazing victory; those who had previously shone with weapons were then all bloodied with the blood of foreigners, and carried all the trophies of victory. And then the prophetic word came true: “One pursued a thousand, and two darkness.”

For you, curious ones

The Monk Sergius (in the world Bartholomew) was born in the city of Rostov the Great from pious parents Cyril and Mary. When he was seven years old, he was sent to study, but he studied with difficulty due to poor memory.

One day, while walking in an oak grove, Bartholomew saw a monk praying and, bowing low, stood waiting for the end of the prayer. After praying, the monk asked: “What do you want, child?” The youth answered:

“Father, they sent me to learn to read, and I just can’t understand anything that my teacher teaches me. And because of this I grieve and don’t know what to do. Pray to the Lord for me, that He may enlighten me with your holy prayers.” The monk, having made a prayer, blessed him and said: “From now on, child, God will grant you the understanding that you ask for, so that you can teach others.”

From that time on, the future saint comprehended book wisdom without difficulty. Soon his parents moved to a place called Radonezh, and a little later they took monastic vows and peacefully departed to the Lord. Left alone, the boy gave away all his inheritance and went into the desert, 2 where he built himself a hut. At the age of twenty-three he took monastic vows and was given the name Sergius.

This saint lived an amazing life. Saint Alexy himself, Metropolitan of Moscow, used the advice of the monk and wanted to see him as his successor. Grand Duke Dmitry (Donskoy) visited him more than once, was inspired by him and blessed for the battle with the Tatars, in which he won a victory on the Kulikovo Field.

During his godly life, St. Sergius was honored to see the Most Pure Mother of God with two apostles - Peter and John.

The Monk Sergius of Radonezh laid the foundation of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, glorious in the history of Russia.

People turn to St. Sergius of Radonezh for help in their studies.

Z.I. Zinchenko

1 A short explanatory dictionary is located at the end of the second part of the textbook.

2 Deserts - a place where a hermit lives.

Analysis of the ideological and stylistic content of the episode “The last years of the life of Sergius, death, posthumous miracles”, Faculty of Philology of Omsk State Pedagogical University, 1st year, teacher: Olga Petrovna Evchuk

Unfortunately, the Life of Sergius has not reached us in its original form: in the middle of the 15th century. the life, which came from the pen of Epiphanius, was revised by the official hagiographer Pachomius Logothetes. Pachomius, writing after the “discovery of the relics” of Sergius in 1422 and focusing primarily on the “miracles” that took place at the saint’s tomb, reinforces the element of praise to the saint in a new panegyric style. Satisfying the requirements of customers, Pachomius gave the “Life of Sergius” a ceremonial form. But even in its revised form, the Life of Sergius testifies; the extraordinary education of its author. The Bible and Gospel are repeatedly quoted and paraphrased in the lives; in some cases, a unique montage is created from biblical quotations, as, for example, in the prayer of Sergius after his tonsure, which is composed of small excerpts from Psalms 25, 83, 92. Monuments of Byzantine hagiography were also well known to the author of the Life of Sergius - scientists cited parallels to various episodes of the Life of Sergius from the lives of Anthony the Great, Fyodor of Edessa and others.

2. Weaving words

One of the main features of the literature of the era of the second “South Slavic influence” is its ornamentation. A word in poetic speech retains its usual “dictionary meanings”, but acquires a certain “surplus element”, expressed in new shades of meaning, sometimes new expression, emotionality, shades of ethical assessment of the phenomenon defined by the word. The surplus element becomes somewhat common to a whole group of words, it destroys the isolation, isolation of the word, grows in the context of poetic speech and above its context.

Interest; the inner life of man determined the attention of writers; the ability of a word to convey the essence of what is depicted. This explains the accumulation of epithets, love; combinations of words of the same root; Writers' words sometimes seem to lose their semantic function and are connected by assonance and alliteration.

Thus, an important event in the analyzed episode is Sergius’s refusal of the metropolitan throne, offered to the saint by the aged Metropolitan Alexei. Epiphanius especially emphasizes the modesty of Sergius: (“Who am I, a sinner and the worst of all people?” - the saint answers Alexei’s proposal). The contrast of the jewelry presented by the Metropolitan and the poor life of Sergius himself emphasizes this feature of the Venerable (“the Metropolitan commanded to bring out a cross with a paramand, gold and precious stones, decorated, and presented it to the saint. He bowed with humility, saying: “Forgive me, Vladyka, but I haven’t worn gold since my youth, but in my old age I especially want to live in poverty”). To some extent, Sergius is contrasted with Michael, who took the throne of Alexy (“The blessed one heard that Michael was taking up arms against him, and told his disciples that Michael, who was taking up arms against this holy monastery, would not be able to get what he wanted, because he was defeated by pride, and he would not be able to see Constantinople And so it happened, as the saint prophesied: when Mikhail sailed to Constantinople, he was struck by an illness and died." The mention of Michael's death also draws our attention to the saint's prophetic gift.

We see repeated manifestations of Sergius’s prophetic gift in previous events. We become witnesses to one of them in the chapter “about the foundation of the monastery on the Kirzhach River” (“The holy elder, crossing him with his hand, said: “May the Lord fulfill your desire!” And when he blessed Isaac, he saw some huge flame come out from the hand of Sergius and all of Isaac surrounded").

In the chapter “about Bishop Stephen,” the disciples see how Sergius suddenly “rose from the meal, stood for a while, and said a prayer.” At the end of the meal, they began to ask him about what had happened. “He revealed everything to them, saying: “I stood up when Bishop Stefan was walking along the road to the city of Moscow and opposite our monastery I bowed to the Holy Trinity and blessed us, the humble ones.” He also indicated the place where it happened.”

Another miraculous event occurs in the chapter “about the vision of an angel serving with blessed Sergius,” this is how Sergius explains what is happening to his student: “O beloved children! If the Lord God has revealed it to you, can I hide it? The one you saw is the angel of the Lord; and not only today, but always, by the will of God, I, the unworthy, serve with him. But don’t tell anyone what you saw until I leave this life.”

The picture of Prince Dmitry’s victory over Mamai’s army also opens before Sergius: “The saint, as was said, possessing a prophetic gift, knew about everything, as if he were nearby. He saw from afar, from a distance of many days’ walk, in prayer with his brethren turning to God for the granting of victory over the filthy.”

We also learn about the activities of Sergius’s disciples: about the creation of a monastery on the Kirzhach River, Andronikov, Simonovsky, Golutvinsky, Vysoky monasteries, and about the monastery on the Dubenka River.

Returning to the chapter on the elevation of Sergius to the metropolitan throne, we can add that Sergius’s decisive refusal marked the limit that he did not want to cross. This final choice of Sergius was very important for him. Now Sergius is a recognized image of piety and simplicity, a hermit and teacher who has earned the highest society. Unlike worldly activities, there is no fatigue, disillusionment, or bitterness. The saint is almost beyond. He is enlightened, imbued with spirit, transformed during his lifetime.

Miracles and visions become the most important elements of the entire narrative. By all means, Epiphanius strives to prove the innate righteousness of his teacher, to glorify him as the pre-elected “pleaser of God,” as a true servant of the Divine Trinity, who has acquired the luminous power of knowledge of the Trinity mystery. This is the main task of the writer. Hence the mystical and symbolic subtext of his work, organized both substantively and compositionally and stylistically.

At the end of his life, Sergius received especially high revelations. Particularly significant of which is the visit of Sergius to the Mother of God. In his prayer, Sergius repeatedly utters such words that are close in semantics as “intercessor”, “patron”, “helper”, “defender”, which fully reveal to us the image of the Mother of God.

The moment of the appearance itself is especially noteworthy: “And then a dazzling light, shining brighter than the sun, brightly illuminated the saint; and he sees the Most Pure Mother of God with two apostles, Peter and John, shining in unspeakable light. And when the saint saw her, he fell on his face, unable to bear this unbearable light.” The word “light” is repeated several times, which is reinforced by the cognate “lordship”, which is close in meaning to “sun”. The picture is complemented by the words “shining”, “brilliant”, “unbearable”, “illuminated”, repeatedly pronounced with the sounds -з-/-с-, -в-, -л-. All this together allows us to imagine a space completely permeated with wonderful divine light.

Further chapters are connected by the theme of miracles accompanying the actions of the saint and the ever-increasing glory of the Saint.

Thus, Epivanius tells us about a certain bishop who decided to visit the monastery. “He heard many things about the saint, for a great rumor about him spread everywhere, right up to Constantinople,” but “this bishop was possessed by unbelief regarding the saint.” Further mention of the blindness that struck the bishop and his subsequent insight becomes a kind of reflection of spiritual delusion and a return after meeting Sergius to the “right path”: “God has vouchsafed me to see today a heavenly man and an earthly angel,” the bishop says publicly.

In the episode “about the healing of a husband through the prayers of Sergius,” the style of “weaving words” is also clearly manifested. In the following sentences: “And so, after consulting, they carried the sick man to the saint and, laying him at the feet of Sergius, begged the saint to pray for him. The saint took the consecrated water and, having made a prayer, sprinkled it on the sick man; and at that very hour the patient felt that his illness was passing. And soon he fell into a long sleep, compensating for insomnia from his illness.” We repeatedly encounter the words “holy”, the cognate “illuminated”, the phonetically close “consulting”, the cognate words “prayer”, “to pray”, the words “sick” are repeated several times, “ disease”, the cognate words “sleep” and “insomnia” are contrasted. So these words become key and allow us to feel the destructive power of the “disease” and the miraculous power of the saint and his prayer.
The author also mentions the servant whom Prince Vladimir sent with food and drink for Sergius and his brethren. The servant, while he was walking to the monastery, was seduced by Satan and tried what was sent by the prince. Exposed by the insightful Sergius, he deeply repented, fell at the feet of the saint, cried and begged for forgiveness. Sergius, having ordered him not to do this again, forgave him and accepted what was sent, asking him to convey his prayer and blessing to the prince.

At the chapter “about the vision of the sacred fire”, again we encounter multiple repetitions of the word “saint”, the same root words “sees”, “vision”, “seen”, “seeing” appear several times, creating a kind of network that unites and gives special significance to the episode .

In the final chapter “about the death of the saint”, the words “divine singing”, “divine feats”, “approaching God”, having one root - god - / - god, and thus acquiring a key meaning, signaling the upcoming reunion of the saint with By God. The impression is strengthened by the sounds -zh-/-sh-, -b- repeated in almost every word of these sentences (“lived (...) in perfect abstinence”, “without avoiding divine singing or services”, “and the more he aged, the strengthened and rose more”, “exercising courageously and with love”, “and old age did not defeat him”).

The episode of Sergius presenting the abbess to his successor Nikon is emphasized by the cognate words “student”, “teacher”; the theme of continuity is developed by the words “handed”, “next”, and the statement “in everything, without exception, to the next teacher”.

A characteristic syntactic feature of the style of “weaving words” is reflected in the last instructions of Sergius: “And he led a proper conversation, and taught useful things, commanding us to remain steadfast in Orthodoxy, and bequeathed to maintain like-mindedness with each other, to have spiritual and physical purity and unfeigned love, from evil and to beware of bad lusts, to eat sober food and drinks, and especially to adorn oneself with humility, not to forget love of hobbies, to shy away from contradiction, and to place nothing on the honor and glory of this life, but instead expect reward from God, heavenly eternal blessings of pleasure.”

3. Posthumous miracles

Sergius “stretched out his hands to heaven and, having completed a prayer, betrayed his pure and sacred soul with prayer to the Lord, in the year 6900 (1392) of the month of September on the 25th day; The monk lived seventy-eight years.”

Almost thirty years after the death of Sergius, on July 5, 1422, his relics were found incorrupt. Thirty years later, in 1452, Sergius was canonized. The Church celebrates his memory on September 25, the day of his death, and July 5, the day of the discovery of his relics. The posthumous fate of Sergius is his new life and his deeds in the consciousness and feelings of the people.

Returning to the text of the Life, we learn about the miracles that accompanied the death of the saint. After his death, “Then a great and indescribable fragrance spread from the body of the saint.” The miraculous events accompanying the death of the saint are emphasized by Epiphanius and on the phonetic level - the repeatedly repeated sounds -l-, -s- “The saint’s face was as bright as snow.” The great sorrow of the sacred brethren is intensified by the statements that are similar in semantics: “and in weeping and sobbing,” “they shed streams of tears,” “they cried, and if they could, they would have died then with him.”

We see here some analogy with the previously uttered phrase “God has vouchsafed me to see today a heavenly man and an earthly angel,” here the statement “like an Angel of God” has even greater power and significance, Sergius is no longer compared with an earthly angel, but with Angel of God.

The word of praise to the monk has a special loftiness and solemnity, which is emphasized by the repeated repetition of the word “God”, the cognate words “glorified”, “glorify”, “glorify”, close to them in semantics “exalted”, “greatness”, “praise”, “ praise": "even though he was a man like us, he loved God more than us," "and he followed Christ zealously, and God loved him; since he sincerely tried to please God, God exalted and glorified him”, “those who glorify me,” it is said, “I will glorify,” “whom God has glorified, who can hide his greatness? We should also truly worthily glorify and praise him: after all, our praise of Sergius does not bring benefit to him, but for us it will be spiritual salvation. Therefore, we have established a useful custom, so that honors from God to the saints are passed on to subsequent generations in the scriptures, so that the saint’s virtues do not sink into the depths of oblivion, but, speaking about them in reasonable words, they should be communicated about them so that they will benefit the listeners.” The importance of this episode is emphasized by the cognate words “benefit”, “useful”.

The final episode is also distinguished by the complexity of syntactic constructions (“a wonderful old man, adorned with all sorts of virtues, a quiet, meek disposition, humble and good-natured, friendly and good-natured, comforting, sweet-voiced and soft, merciful and kind-hearted, humble-wise and chaste, pious and poor-loving, hospitable and peace-loving and God-loving; he was a father to fathers and a teacher to teachers, a leader to leaders, a shepherd to shepherds, a mentor to abbots, a leader to monks, a builder of monasteries, praise to fasters, support to the silent, beauty to priests, beauty to priests, a true leader and a true teacher, a good shepherd, righteous teacher, incorruptible mentor, intelligent ruler, all-good leader, true helmsman, caring physician, wonderful intercessor, sacred purifier, creator of community, giver of alms, hardworking ascetic, strong in prayer, and guardian of purity, model of chastity, pillar of patience").

Epiphanius draws parallels with the main characters of the Old and New Testaments: “truly the saint was no worse than those Old Testament divine men: like the great Moses and after him Jesus, he was a leader and a shepherd to many people, and truly the gentleness of Jacob had the hospitable love of Abraham, the new legislator , and heir to the kingdom of heaven, and the true ruler of his flock. Didn't he fill the deserts with many worries? The Great Savva, the creator of the community, was intelligent, but didn’t Sergius, like him, have a good mind, so that he created many community monasteries?”

4. Symbolism of numbers

The most noticeable, literally striking narrative element of the “Life of Sergius of Radonezh” is the number 3. Undoubtedly, the author attached special significance to the troika, using it in connection with the Trinitarian concept of his work, which, obviously, was determined not only by his own theological view of the world , but also the trinitarian concept of the ascetic life of his hero. The first chapters are the most saturated in this regard, but this theme is continued in the final part of the work: a mention of the Holy Trinity: (“and the All-Holy Trinity received illumination,” “The body of the saint was laid in the church that he himself created, and erected, and arranged , and founded it, and decorated it with all appropriate decorations, and named it in honor of the holy, and life-giving, and indivisible, and consubstantial Trinity,” “and may we all receive it by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is due all glory, honor, and worship with his beginningless Father and with his all-holy, good, and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages", "Now, Lord Almighty, hear me, your sinful servant praying to you! Accept my prayer and bless this place , which, by your will, was created for your glory, in praise and honor of your most pure Mother, her honorable Annunciation, so that here too your name, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, will always be glorified”), threefold repetition of syntactic constructions (“such was the life father, such talents, such miracles of his manifestation”).

The number 3 is also hidden behind the description of the phenomena of heavenly powers that predict the fate and death of the saint: this is a vision of an angel serving the liturgy in the temple together with Sergius; this is a visit to Sergius by the Mother of God, who promises to take care of the monastery he founded; this is the appearance of fire overshadowing the altar during the liturgy served by Sergius. These miracles are often mentioned in the research literature as an indication of the depth of Sergius’s mystical mood, only partially revealed in the Life.

Three times Sergius performs healings and resurrections: he resurrects a dead youth, heals a demon-possessed nobleman and a sick man who lived not far from the Trinity Monastery. Sergius shows insight three times in his Life: when with his mental vision he sees Bishop Stephen of Perm passing several miles from the Trinity Monastery; when he finds out that the servant of Prince Vladimir Andreevich tried the brushes sent by the prince to the monastery; when with his spiritual gaze he sees everything that is happening on the Kulikovo field. Three times, by God’s will, sweet bread was brought to the monastery when the monks lacked food.

The images of monks in the Life are also combined into triads. In this episode, the disciples of Sergius are united - Simon, Isaac and Micah. The Life also mentions the spiritual communication of Sergius with Metropolitan Alexy and Stefan of Perm - Sergius and two bishops also form a triad. IN. Klyuchevsky viewed these three Russian shepherds precisely as a spiritual triad, a trinity: “At this very time, in the early forties of the 14th century, three significant events took place: the modest forty-year-old monk Alexy, who was hiding there, was summoned from the Moscow Epiphany Monastery to the church-administrative field; At the same time, one 20-year-old desert seeker, the future St. Sergius, was in a dense forest<…>He built a small wooden cell with the same church, and in Ustyug a son was born to a poor cathedral cleric, the future enlightener of the Perm land, St. Stephen. None of these names can be pronounced without remembering the other two. This blessed triad shines like a bright constellation in our 14th century, making it the dawn of the political and moral revival of the Russian land. Close friendship and mutual respect bound them together. Metropolitan Alexy visited Sergius in his monastery and consulted with him, wanting to have him as his successor. Let us recall the heartfelt story in the life of St. Sergius about the passage of St. Stephen of Perm past the Sergius Monastery, when both friends at a distance of more than 10 versts exchanged fraternal bows” (Klyuchevsky V.O. The significance of St. Sergius of Radonezh for the Russian people and state // Life and Life of Sergius of Radonezh. P. 263).

So, in the Epiphanian edition of the “Life” of Sergius of Radonezh, the number 3 appears in the form of a variously designed narrative component: as a biographical detail, an artistic detail, an ideological and artistic image, as well as an abstract constructive model or for constructing rhetorical figures (at the level of a phrase, phrase) , sentence, period), or to construct an episode or scene. In other words, the number 3 characterizes both the content side of the work and its compositional and stylistic structure, so that in its meaning and function it fully reflects the hagiographer’s desire to glorify his hero as the teacher of the Holy Trinity. But along with this, the designated number symbolically expresses the knowledge, inexplicable by rational and logical means, about the most complex, incomprehensible mystery of the universe in its eternal and temporal realities. Under the pen of Epiphanius, the number 3 acts as a formal-substantive component of historical reality reproduced in the “Life”, that is, earthly life, which, as a creation of God, represents the image and likeness of heavenly life and therefore contains signs (three-numbered, triadic) by which existence is evidenced God in his trinitarian unity, harmony and perfect completeness.

The above also presupposes the final conclusion: Epiphanius the Wise in “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh” showed himself to be the most inspired, most sophisticated and subtle theologian; creating this hagiography, he simultaneously reflected in literary and artistic images about the Holy Trinity - the most difficult dogma of Christianity, in other words, he expressed his knowledge of this subject not scholastically, but aesthetically, and, undoubtedly, followed in this regard the tradition of the symbolic, known since ancient times in Rus' theology. In exactly the same way, by the way, his great contemporary Andrei Rublev theologized about the Trinity, but only through pictorial means: colors, light, forms, composition.

5. References:

Monuments of literature of Ancient Rus' in 12 volumes. – M., 1978-1994
Likhachev D.S. The Great Path: the formation of Russian literature of the 11th - 17th centuries. - M.: Sovremennik, 1987.
Kirillin V. M. Epiphanius the Wise: "The Life of Sergius of Radonezh"
Toporov V.N. Holiness and saints in Russian spiritual culture. Volume II. Three centuries of Christianity in Rus' (XII–XIV centuries)
Ranchin. A. M. Triple repetitions in the life of St. Sergius of Radonezh.