July 18, the day of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius, is the most crowded and solemn church festival in the Trinity Lavra.
Finding the relics
Shortly before the start of the construction of a new temple in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity (1422-1423), 30 years after his repose, the Monk Sergius appeared to one pious man and ordered the abbot and brethren to announce: “You have left me for a while in a tomb, covered with earth, water oppressing the body my?". Starting to create a stone temple, the Monk Nikon on July 5, 1422, while digging ditches, removed the relics of the saint from the ground. An extraordinary fragrance spread when the brethren opened the coffin. Not only the body, but also the clothes of the abbot of the Russian land turned out to be incorruptible, although there was water on both sides of the coffin. The relics were temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (now in its place is the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit).
The council of clergy and the disciples of the blessed one with the great princes made a good decision to build a stone church over the tomb of the saint. The saint's closest disciple, Nikon, together with his brethren, began, with the help of Christ-loving princes who had faith, love and zeal for the saint, to build the holy temple of the Consubstantial Trinity in praise of their father. And he erected a beautiful church, and covered it with wondrous paintings, and filled it with decorations. Photo: stsl.ru
Miracles of St. Sergius and the role of the Trinity Monastery in the history of the Fatherland
All who come with faith to the relics of the saint are given not only spiritual gifts and grace-filled healings. The saint was also given the grace to protect the Russian land from enemies. With his prayers, Abbot Sergius was with the army of Demetrius Donskoy on the Kulikovo field; he blessed his tonsured monks Alexander Peresvet and Andrei Oslyabya for feats of arms; showed Ivan the Terrible the place to build the Sviyazhsk fortress and helped in the victory over Kazan. During the Polish invasion, Abba appeared in a dream to the Nizhny Novgorod resident Cosmas Minin, ordering him to collect the treasury and arm the army for the liberation of Moscow and the Russian state.
The heroic “Trinity Sitting” dates back to the period of the Time of Troubles and the Polish invasion, when many monks, with the blessing of Abbot Dionysius (May 12/25), repeated the feat of arms of the disciples Sergius Peresvet and Oslyabi. For a year and a half (from September 23, 1608 to January 12, 1610), the Poles besieged the monastery, wanting to plunder and destroy it, but through the prayers of the saint, they fled “with much shame.” In 1618, the Polish prince Vladislav himself came to the walls of the monastery, but was forced to sign a truce with the Russian kingdom in the village of Deulino, where a temple was later erected in the name of St. Sergius.
"Defense of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra." Painting by Sergei Miloradovich (wikipedia.org)
In 1744, the monastery began to be called the Lavra for services to the homeland and faith. In 1742, a theological seminary was established in its enclosure, and in 1814 the Moscow Theological Academy was transferred here.
The Lavra is still one of the centers of Orthodox life in Russia. Here the acts of the Local Councils are carried out, the seat of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, who bears the special blessing of St. Sergius, being the “Holy Trinity St. Sergius Lavra, the sacred archimandrite.”
Troparion to St. Sergius, tone 8
From your youth you received Christ in your soul, reverend, / and most of all you desired to evade worldly rebellion, / you courageously moved into the desert / and you raised the children of obedience in it, the fruits of humility. / Thus you became the Trinity, / your miracles of all You have enlightened those who come to you by faith, / and abundantly provide healing to everyone. / Our Father Sergius, pray to Christ God that He may save our souls.
Kontakion to St. Sergius, tone 8
Today, as the sun has shone brightly, rising from the earth,/ your honorable relics have become incorruptible,/ like a fragrant flower, shining with many miracles,/ and exuding various healings to all the faithful,/ and joyfully your chosen flock,/ gathered wisely, you shepherded them well. / For these you stand before the Trinity now, praying, / and to grant a victorious army against your enemies, / and let us all cry out to you: Rejoice, O wise Sergius.
Greatness
We bless you, Reverend Father Sergius, / and honor your holy memory, teacher of monks and interlocutor of angels.
Prayer to St. Sergius of Radonezh
Oh, sacred head, venerable and God-bearing Father Sergius, by your prayer, and by faith and love, even for God, and by the purity of your heart, you have settled your soul on earth in the monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, and have been granted angelic communion and the visitation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and the gift received miraculous grace, after your departure from earthly people, you drew closer to God, and partook of heavenly powers, but also did not retreat from us in the spirit of your love, and your honest power, like a vessel of grace full and overflowing, was left to us! Having great boldness towards the All-Merciful Master, pray to save His servants, His grace existing in you, believing and flowing to you with love. Ask us from our great God for every gift that is beneficial to everyone, observance of the immaculate faith, establishment of our cities, peace, deliverance from famine and destruction, preservation from the invasion of foreigners, consolation for the grieving, healing for the sick, restoration for the fallen, restoration for the lost. return to the path of truth and salvation, for those who strive - strengthening, for those who do good - success and blessing in good deeds, for an infant - education, for the young - instruction, for the ignorant - admonition, for orphans and widows - intercession, for those departing from this temporary life to the eternal - good preparation and parting words. , those who have departed - blessed repose, and all of us, through your prayers, are worthy to be delivered from the last part on the day of the Last Judgment, and the right hands of the country will be commoners and hear the blessed voice of the Lord Christ: come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Amen.
The text was prepared using materials from the portal Azbyka.ru
M The relics of St. Sergius († 1392; commemorated on September 25) were found on July 5/18, 1422 under the Venerable Abbot Nikon († 1426; commemorated on November 17).
In 1408, when Moscow and its environs were invaded by the Tatar hordes of Edigei, the Trinity Monastery was devastated and burned, the monks, led by Abbot Nikon, took refuge in the forests, preserving icons, sacred vessels, books and other shrines associated with the memory of St. Sergius.
In the night vision the day before Tatar raid The Monk Sergius informed his disciple and successor of the coming trials and predicted as a consolation that the temptation would not last long and the holy monastery, rising from the ashes, would prosper and grow even more.
Metropolitan Philaret wrote about this in “The Life of St. Sergius”: “In the likeness of how it was fitting for Christ to suffer and through the cross and death to enter into the glory of the resurrection, so it is similar for everything that is blessed by Christ for long days and glory to experience its cross and his death."
Having gone through fiery purification, the monastery was resurrected in the length of days Life-Giving Trinity, St. Sergius himself arose to dwell in it forever with his holy relics.
Before the start of the construction of a new church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity on the site of a wooden one, consecrated on September 25, 1412, the Reverend appeared to one pious layman and ordered to inform the abbot and brethren: “Why do you leave me for so long in a tomb, covered with earth, in the water oppressing my body? »
And during the construction of the cathedral, when they dug ditches for the foundation, the incorrupt relics of the Saint were opened and worn out, and everyone saw that not only the body, but also the clothes on it were unharmed, although there was indeed water around the coffin.
With a large gathering of pilgrims and clergy, in the presence of the son of Dimitri Donskoy, Prince of Zvenigorod Yuri Dimitrievich († 1425), the holy relics were carried out of the ground and temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is now located on that site). During the consecration of the stone Trinity Cathedral on July 5/18, 1426, they were transferred to it, where they remain to this day.
All the threads of the spiritual life of the Russian Church converge to the great Radonezh saint and wonderworker, throughout Orthodox Rus' blessed life-giving currents spread from the Trinity Monastery he founded.
The veneration of the Holy Trinity in the Russian land began with Saint Olga Equal-to-the-Apostles († 969;), who erected the first Trinity Church in Rus' in Pskov. Later, such temples were erected in Veliky Novgorod and other cities.
The spiritual contribution of St. Sergius to the theological teaching about the Holy Trinity is especially great. The monk deeply discerned the hidden mysteries of theology with the “intelligent eyes” of an ascetic - in prayerful ascent to the Trinitarian God, in experienced communion with God and likeness to God.
“The co-heirs of the perfect light and contemplation of the Most Holy and Sovereign Trinity,” explained Saint Gregory the Theologian, “will be those who are completely united with the perfect Spirit.” St. Sergius experienced the secret of the Life-Giving Trinity, because through his life he united with God, joined the very life of the Divine Trinity, that is, he achieved the measure of deification possible on earth, becoming “a participant in the Divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4).
“Whoever loves Me,” said the Lord, “will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Abba Sergius, who kept the commandments of Christ in everything, is one of the saints in whose souls the Holy Trinity “created an abode”; he himself became the “abode of the Holy Trinity,” and he raised and introduced everyone with whom the Reverend communicated to Her.
The Radonezh ascetic, his disciples and interlocutors, enriched the Russian and Universal Church with new theological and liturgical knowledge and vision of the Life-Giving Trinity, the Beginning and Source of life, revealing itself to the world and man in the conciliarity of the Church, fraternal unity and the sacrificial redemptive love of its shepherds and children.
The spiritual symbol of the gathering of Rus' in unity and love, the historical feat of the people, became the temple of the Life-Giving Trinity, erected by St. Sergius, “so that by constantly looking at Her the fear of the hated discord of this world would be overcome.”
The veneration of the Holy Trinity in the forms created and bequeathed by the holy abbot of Radonezh has become one of the most profound and original features of Russian church life. In the Life-Giving Trinity, St. Sergius indicated not only holy perfection eternal life, but also a model for human life, a spiritual ideal to which humanity should strive, because in the Trinity, as Undivided, strife is condemned and conciliarity is blessed, and in the Trinity, as Unmerged, the yoke is condemned and freedom is blessed.
In the teaching of St. Sergius about the Most Holy Trinity, the Russian people deeply felt their catholic, universal calling, and, having comprehended the worldwide significance of the holiday, the people decorated it with all the diversity and richness of ancient national customs and folk poetry. The entire spiritual experience and spiritual aspiration of the Russian Church were embodied in the liturgical creativity of the feast of the Holy Trinity, Trinity church rites, icons of the Holy Trinity, churches and monasteries named after Her.
The implementation of the theological knowledge of St. Sergius was miraculous icon Life-Giving Trinity St. Andrew Radonezh, nickname († 1430), monk-icon painter, tonsure of the Trinity St. Sergius Monastery, written with the blessing of St. Nikon in praise of St. Abba Sergius. (At the Council of the Stoglavy in 1551, this icon was approved as a model for all subsequent church iconography of the Holy Trinity).
“Hateful strife,” discord and turmoil in worldly life were overcome by monastic community, planted by St. Sergius throughout Rus'. People would not have divisions, strife and wars if human nature, created by the Creator in the image of the Divine Trinity, had not been distorted and fragmented by original sin.
Overcoming with their co-crucifixion with the Savior the sin of particularity and separation, rejecting “their own” and “themselves,” the communal monks, according to the teachings of St. Basil the Great, restore the Primordial unity and holiness of human nature. The monastery of St. Sergius became for the Russian Church a model of such restoration and revival; holy monks were brought up in it, who then carried the mark true path Christ's to the distant limits.
In all their works and deeds, St. Sergius and his disciples churched life, giving the people a living example of the possibility of this. Not renouncing the earthly, but transforming it, they called to ascend and themselves ascended to the Heavenly.
The school of St. Sergius, through the monasteries founded by him, his students and the students of his students, covers the entire space of the Russian land and runs through the entire subsequent history of the Russian Church. A fourth of all Russian monasteries, strongholds of faith, piety and enlightenment, were founded by Abba Sergius and his disciples. The people called the founder of the House of the Life-Giving Trinity “Hegumen of the Russian Land.”
Reverends Nikon and Micah of Radonezh, Sylvester of Obnor, Stefan Makhrishchsky and Abraham Chukhlomsky, Athanasius of Serpukhovsky and Nikita Borovsky, Theodore Simonovsky and Ferapont of Mozhaisk, Andronik of Moscow and Savva Storozhevsky, Dimitry of Prilutsky and Kirill Belozersky - all of them were students and interlocutors of the “wonderful old man” Sergius . Saints Alexy and Cyprian, Metropolitans of Moscow, Dionysius, Archbishop of Suzdal, and Stefan, Bishop of Perm, were in spiritual communion with him.
The Patriarchs of Constantinople Callistus and Philotheus wrote messages to him and sent their blessing. Through the Reverends Nikita and Paphnutius Borovsky there is spiritual continuity to the Reverend Joseph of Volotsky and the squad of his disciples, through Kirill of Belozersky - to Nil of Sorsky, to Herman, Savvaty and Zosima of Solovetsky.
The Church also honors those of the disciples and associates of St. Sergius, whose memory is not specifically noted in the monthly book, under a separate day. We remember that the first to come to the Reverend on Makovets was Elder Vasily Sukhoi, so named for his incomparable fasting.
The second was the monk Yakut, i.e. Jacob, from simple peasants, he resignedly carried out the troublesome and difficult obedience of a delivery boy in the monastery for many years. Among other disciples, his fellow countrymen from Radonezh, Deacon Onisim and his son Elisha, came to the Reverend.
When 12 monks had gathered and the built cells were surrounded by a high fence, Abba appointed Deacon Onesimus as a gatekeeper, because his cell was the farthest from the entrance to the monastery. In the shadow of the Holy Trinity Monastery I spent my recent years Hegumen Mitrofan, the same one who once tonsured St. Sergius into an angelic image and instructed him in monastic exploits. The grave of the blessed elder Mitrofan, who died soon, became the first in the monastery cemetery.
In 1357, Archimandrite Simon came to the monastery from Smolensk, leaving the honorary position of abbot in one of the Smolensk monasteries in order to become a simple novice of the God-bearing Radonezh abbot. As a reward for his great humility, the Lord vouchsafed him to be a participant in the wondrous vision of St. Sergius about the future multiplication of his monastic flock.
With the blessing of the holy abba, the blessed elder Isaac the Silent took upon himself the feat of prayerful silence, whose silence for monks and outsiders was more instructive than any words. Only once during the years of silence did St. Isaac open his lips - to testify how the Angel of God he saw served at the altar of St. Sergius, who committed Divine Liturgy.
An eyewitness of the grace of the Holy Spirit assisting the Reverend was also Ecclesiarch Simon, who once saw how Heavenly fire descended on the Holy Mysteries and the saint of God “communed the fire without burning.”
Elder Epiphanius († c. 1420), who later, under Abbot Nikon, was the confessor of Sergius's flock, is called by the Church the Wise One for his high learning and great spiritual gifts.
He is known as the compiler of the lives of St. Sergius and his interlocutor St. Stephen of Perm, words of praise for them, as well as “Words about the life and repose of the Grand Duke.”
In those days, it became known that by God’s remission for our sins, the Horde prince Mamai had gathered a great force, the entire horde of godless Tatars, and was going to the Russian land; and all the people were seized with great fear. The great prince who held the scepter of the Russian land was then the famous and invincible great Dmitry. He came to Saint Sergius, because he had great faith in the elder, and asked him if the saint would order him to speak out against the godless: after all, he knew that Sergius was a virtuous man and possessed the gift of prophecy.
The saint, when he heard about this from the Grand Duke, blessed him, armed him with prayer and said: “You should, sir, take care of the glorious Christian flock entrusted to you by God. Go against the godless and, if God helps you, you will win and return unharmed to your fatherland with great honor.” Grand Duke replied: “If God helps me, father, I will build a monastery in honor of the Most Pure Mother of God.” And, having said and received the blessing, he left the monastery and quickly set off on his journey.
Gathering all his soldiers, he set out against the godless Tatars; Having seen the Tatar army, which was very numerous, they stopped in doubt, many of them were seized with fear, wondering what to do. And suddenly at that time a messenger appeared with a message from the saint, saying: “Without any doubt, sir, boldly enter into battle, with their ferocity, without being at all afraid, God will definitely help you.”
Then the great prince Dmitry and his entire army, filled with great determination from this message, went against the filthy ones, and the prince said: “Great God, who created heaven and earth! Be my assistant in the battle with the opponents of your holy banner.” So the battle began, and many fell, but God helped the great victorious Dmitry, and the filthy Tatars were defeated and suffered complete defeat: after all, the accursed saw the anger and God’s indignation sent against them by God, and everyone fled.
The crusader banner drove away the enemies for a long time. Grand Duke Dmitry, having won a glorious victory, came to Sergius, offering gratitude for his good advice, glorifying God and giving a great contribution to the monastery.
Sergius, seeing that he was already going to God in order to repay his debt to nature and transfer his spirit to Jesus, called on the brotherhood and led an appropriate conversation, and, having completed the prayer, he betrayed his soul to the Lord in the year 6900 (1392) of the month of September on the 25th day.
The Life of St. Sergius, compiled by Epiphanius 26 years after the death of the St. Sergius, i.e. in 1418, was then revised by the monk hagiographer Pachomius the Serb, nicknamed Logothet, who arrived from Athos.
Thousands of people have always come to worship St. Sergius, as an inexhaustible source of the spirit of prayer and the grace of the Lord, for edification and prayer, for help and healing. And he heals and revives each of those who resort with faith to his miraculous relics, fills them with strength and faith, transforms them and raises them to his luminous spirituality.
But not only are spiritual gifts and grace-filled healings given to everyone who comes with faith to the relics of the Reverend, but he was also given grace from God to protect the Russian land from enemies. With his prayers the Saint was with the army of Demetrius Donskoy on the Kulikovo field; he blessed his tonsured monks Alexander Peresvet and Andrei Oslyab for feats of arms.
He showed Ivan the Terrible the place to build the Sviyazhsk fortress and helped in the victory over Kazan. During the Polish invasion, the Monk Sergius appeared in a dream to the Nizhny Novgorod citizen Kozma Minin, commanding him to collect the treasury and arm the army for the liberation of Moscow and the Russian state.
And when in 1612 the militia of Minin and Pozharsky, after a prayer service at the Holy Trinity, moved towards Moscow, the blessed wind fluttered the Orthodox banners, “as if from the tomb of the Wonderworker Sergius himself.”
The heroic “Trinity Sitting” dates back to the period of the Time of Troubles and the Polish invasion, when many monks, with the blessing of the Venerable Abbot Dionysius, repeated the sacred feat of arms of Sergius’ disciples Peresvet and Oslyabya. For a year and a half - from September 23, 1608 to January 12, 1610 - the Poles besieged the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity, wanting to plunder and destroy this sacred stronghold of Orthodoxy.
But through the intercession of the Most Pure Mother of God and the prayers of St. Sergius, “with much shame” they finally fled from the walls of the monastery, driven by God’s wrath, and soon their leader Lisovsky himself died a cruel death just on the day of memory of the Rev., September 25, 1617.
In 1618, the Polish prince Vladislav himself came to the walls of the Holy Trinity, but, powerless against the grace of the Lord protecting the monastery, he was forced to sign a truce with Russia in the village of Deuline, which belonged to the monastery. Later a temple was erected here in the name of St. Sergius.
In 1619, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophan, who came to Russia, visited the Lavra. He especially wished to see those monks who, in a time of military danger, dared to put on themselves military chain mail over their monastic robes and, with weapons in their hands, stood on the walls of the holy monastery, repelling the enemy. The Monk Dionysius, the abbot who led the defense († 1633), introduced more than twenty monks to the patriarch.
The first of them was Afanasy (Oshcherin), the most advanced of years, a gray-haired old man. The Patriarch asked him: “Did you go to war and command the soldiers?”
The elder replied: “Yes, Holy Master, I was forced by tears of blood.”
- “What is more characteristic of a monk - prayerful solitude or military exploits before people?”
- Blessed Athanasius, bowing, answered:
“Every thing and every matter is learned in due time. Here is the signature of the Latins on my head, from the weapon. Six more lead memories in my body. Sitting in my cell, praying, would I be able to find such incentives to sigh and groan? And all this was not our will, but with the blessing of those who sent us to God’s service.”
Touched by the wise answer of the humble monk, the patriarch blessed and kissed him. He blessed the rest of the warrior monks and expressed approval to the entire brotherhood of the Lavra of St. Sergius.
The feat of the monastery in difficult times for all the people Time of Troubles described by cellarer Avraami (Palitsyn) in “The Tale of the Events of the Time of Troubles” and by cellarer Simon Azaryin in two hagiographic works: “The Book of the Miracles of St. Sergius” and the Life of St. Dionysius of Radonezh.”
Constant reading of the akathist to St. Sergius at his relics in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra
In 1650, Simeon Shakhovsky compiled an akathist to St. Sergius, as the “elected governor” of the Russian land, in memory of the deliverance of the Trinity Monastery from enemy conditions.
Another existing akathist to the Saint was compiled in the 18th century; its author is considered to be Metropolitan of Moscow Plato (Levshin; † 1812).
In subsequent times, the monastery continued to be an unfailing light of spiritual life and church education. From her brethren many illustrious hierarchs of the Russian Church were elected to serve.
In 1744, the monastery began to be called the Lavra for services to the Motherland and faith. In 1742, a theological seminary was established in its enclosure, and in 1814 the Moscow Theological Academy was transferred here.
And now the House of the Life-Giving Trinity serves as one of the main grace-filled centers of the Russian Orthodox Church. Here, by the will of the Holy Spirit, the actions of the Local Councils of the Russian Church are carried out. The monastery has the residence of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', who bears the special blessing of St. Sergius, being, according to the established rule, the “Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius, the sacred archimandrite.”
The fifth of July (old style) is the day of the discovery of the relics of Saint Abba Sergius, abbot of the Russian land, and is the most crowded and solemn church festival in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.
SERGIUS OF RADONEZH
Troparion, tone 8
From your youth you received Christ in your soul, reverend, / and most of all you desired to avoid worldly rebellion: / you courageously moved into the desert / and you raised the children of obedience in it, the fruits of humility. / Thus, having given residence to the Trinity, / through your miracles you enlightened all who come to you by faith, / and abundantly provided healing to everyone. / Our Father Sergius, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Another troparion, tone 4
Today the reigning city of Moscow shines brightly, / as with the radiant dawns, the lightning of your miracles, / it convenes the whole universe / to praise you, the wise God Sergius; / your most honorable and glorious abode, / even in the name of the Holy Trinity, you have created many of your labors, father, / having your disciples in your flock, / filled with joy and gladness. / We, celebrating the glorious discovery of your honorable relics, in the hidden lands, / like a fragrant flower and a fragrant censer, / I kindly kiss you, various healings are acceptable / and through your prayers we are honored with the forgiveness of sins, / Father Reverend Sergius, / pray to the Holy Trinity / to save our souls.
Kontakion, tone 8
Today, as the sun has shone brightly, shining from the earth, / your honorable relics have become incorruptible, / like a fragrant flower, shining with many miracles, / and exuding various healings to all the faithful, / and joyfully your chosen flock, / having gathered them wisely, you have shepherded them well. / For them even now stand before the Trinity, praying, / and grant a victorious army against their enemies, / and let us all cry out to you: / Rejoice, O wise Sergius.
Memorial Day - 07/18/05/07 (new/old style)
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Discovery of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh |
The relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh († 1392; 09/25 - commemoration) were found on 07/05/1422 during the abbess of St. Nikon († 1426; 11/17 - commemoration). During these years, Moscow and the surrounding territories were under the yoke of the Tatar hordes of Edigei. The monastery of the Holy Trinity in 1408 was completely plundered and burned. The monks of the monastery, led by Abbot Nikon, found refuge in dense forests, where they managed to hide icons, books, sacred vessels and other shrines directly related to St. Sergius. Sergius himself visited in a night vision, immediately before the Tatar raid, his student and successor and informed him of the upcoming trials. As a consolation, the elder said that the trouble would not last long and, rising from the ashes like a phoenix, the holy monastery would be reborn, begin to prosper and rise higher than before. |
Sergius of Radonezh appeared to one pious layman just before the beginning of the foundation of a new church in honor of the Trinity to replace the old wooden one. The monk asked to tell the brethren and the abbot the following: “Why are you leaving me for so long in a tomb, buried in the earth, flooded with water, constricting my body?” Indeed, during the construction of the temple, while digging ditches under the foundation, the incorruptible relics of the Venerable One were discovered. The truth appeared to all those present that neither the body nor the clothes of the perfect saint had suffered from time, although there was indeed water everywhere. In front of countless numbers of pilgrims and clergy, with the testimony of Prince Yuri of Zvenigorod († 1425), son of Demetrius Donskoy, the relics of the saint were taken out of the ground and transferred to the wooden Trinity Church. Later, in 1426, the holy relics were transferred to rest in the stone Trinity Church (consecrated at the same time), in which they rest in our time.
St. Sergius of Radonezh serves as an inexhaustible source of the Lord’s grace, both in the past and in the present, attracting thousands of people to worship for prayer and receiving edification, for heavenly help and miraculous healing. Every believer who venerates his miraculous relics receives, through their faith, healing and rebirth, a charge of strength and faith, and comprehends the power of his luminous spirituality.
Also, the abbot of the Russian land is endowed with grace from God to protect the Russian land from all enemies. With his prayers the monk was united with the army of the Grand Duke Donskoy at the Battle of Kulikovo. He blessed his monks Alexander Peresvet and Andrei Oslyabya for their feat of arms. Sergius pointed out to Tsar Ivan the Terrible the exact place for the construction of an impregnable fortress - Sviyazhsk and provided all possible assistance in the victory over Kazan. During the invasion of the Poles, Sergius of Radonezh appeared in a dream to a citizen of Nizhny Novgorod, Kozma Minin, and ordered the treasury to be collected and a glorious army to be equipped for the liberation of Mother Moscow and the entire Russian state from self-proclaimed enemies. And finally, in 1612, when the militia under the leadership of Minin and Pozharsky, having performed a prayer service at the Holy Trinity, advanced to Moscow, the blessed wind fluttered the Orthodox banners.
The Monk Sergius was born in the village of Varnitsa, near Rostov, on May 3, 1314, into the family of pious and noble boyars Kirill and Maria. The Lord chose him from his mother's womb. The Life of St. Sergius tells that during the Divine Liturgy, even before the birth of her son, Righteous Mary and those praying heard the baby cry three times: before the reading of the Holy Gospel, during the Cherubic Song, and when the priest said: “Holy to the Holies.”
Venerable Sergius of Radonezh
God gave the Monk Cyril and Mary a son, who was named Bartholomew. From the first days of his life, the baby surprised everyone by fasting; on Wednesdays and Fridays he did not accept mother’s milk; on other days, if Maria ate meat, the baby also refused mother’s milk. Noticing this, Maria completely refused to eat meat. At the age of seven, Bartholomew was sent to study with his two brothers - the elder Stefan and the younger Peter. His brothers studied successfully, but Bartholomew lagged behind in his studies, although the teacher worked with him a lot. The parents scolded the child, the teacher punished him, and his comrades mocked him for his stupidity. Then Bartholomew with tears prayed to the Lord to grant him book understanding. One day his father sent Bartholomew to fetch horses from the field. On the way, he met an Angel sent by God in a monastic form: an old man stood under an oak tree in the middle of a field and prayed. Bartholomew approached him and, bowing, began to wait for the end of the elder’s prayer. He blessed the boy, kissed him and asked what he wanted. Bartholomew replied: “With all my soul I wish to learn to read and write, Holy Father, pray to God for me, so that He will help me learn to read and write.” The monk fulfilled Bartholomew's request, raised his prayer to God and, blessing the youth, said to him: “From now on, God gives you, my child, to understand literacy, you will surpass your brothers and peers.” At the same time, the elder took out a vessel and gave Bartholomew a piece of prosphora: “Take, child, and eat,” he said. “This is given to you as a sign of God’s grace and for the understanding of Holy Scripture.” The elder wanted to leave, but Bartholomew asked him to visit his parents’ house. The parents greeted the guest with honor and offered refreshments. The elder replied that first one should taste spiritual food, and ordered their son to read the Psalter. Bartholomew began to read harmoniously, and the parents were surprised at the change that had taken place in their son. Saying goodbye, the elder prophetically predicted about St. Sergius: “Your son will be great before God and people. He will become the chosen abode of the Holy Spirit.” From then on, the holy youth easily read and understood the contents of books. With special zeal, he began to delve deeper into prayer, not missing a single service. Already in childhood, he imposed a strict fast on himself, did not eat anything on Wednesdays and Fridays, and on other days he ate only bread and water.
Around 1328, the parents of St. Sergius moved from Rostov to Radonezh. When their eldest sons got married, Cyril and Maria, shortly before their death, took the schema at the Khotkovsky Monastery of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, not far from Radonezh. Subsequently, the widowed elder brother Stefan also accepted monasticism in this monastery. Having buried his parents, Bartholomew, together with his brother Stefan, retired to live as a desert in the forest (12 versts from Radonezh). First they erected a cell, and then a small church, and, with the blessing of Metropolitan Theognostus, it was consecrated in the Name of the Holy Trinity. But soon, unable to withstand the difficulties of life in a deserted place, Stefan left his brother and moved to the Moscow Epiphany Monastery (where he became close to the monk Alexy, later Metropolitan of Moscow, commemorated February 12).
Bartholomew, on October 7, 1337, took monastic vows from Abbot Mitrofan with the name of the holy martyr Sergius (October 7) and marked the beginning of a new residence for the glory of the Life-Giving Trinity. Enduring temptations and demonic fears, the Reverend rose from strength to strength. Gradually he became known to other monks who sought his guidance. The Monk Sergius received everyone with love, and soon a brotherhood of twelve monks was formed in the small monastery. Their experienced spiritual mentor was distinguished by his rare diligence. With his own hands he built several cells, carried water, chopped wood, baked bread, sewed clothes, prepared food for the brethren, and humbly performed other work. St. Sergius combined hard work with prayer, vigil and fasting. The brethren were surprised that with such a severe feat, the health of their mentor not only did not deteriorate, but became even stronger. Not without difficulty, the monks begged St. Sergius to accept the abbess of the monastery. In 1354, Bishop Athanasius of Volyn ordained the Rev. a hieromonk and elevated him to the rank of abbot. Monastic obediences were still strictly observed in the monastery. As the monastery grew, so did its needs. Often the monks ate meager food, but through the prayers of St. Sergius, unknown people brought everything they needed.
The glory of the exploits of St. Sergius became known in Constantinople, and Patriarch Philotheus sent the Rev. a cross, a paraman and a schema, as a blessing for new exploits, a Blessed Letter, and advised the chosen one of God to establish a cenobitic monastery. With the patriarchal message, the Reverend went to Saint Alexy and received from him advice to introduce a strict community system. The monks began to grumble about the severity of the rules, and the Reverend was forced to leave the monastery. On the Kirzhach River he founded a monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Order in the former monastery began to quickly decline, and the remaining monks turned to Saint Alexis so that he would return the saint.
The Monk Sergius unquestioningly obeyed the saint, leaving his disciple, the Monk Roman, as abbot of the Kirzhach Monastery.
During his lifetime, St. Sergius was awarded the grace-filled gift of miracles. He resurrected the boy when the desperate father considered his only son lost forever. The fame of the miracles performed by St. Sergius began to quickly spread, and sick people began to be brought to him both from surrounding villages and from distant places. And no one left the Reverend without receiving healing of ailments and edifying advice. Everyone glorified St. Sergius and reverently revered him on a par with the ancient holy fathers. But human glory did not seduce the great ascetic, and he still remained a model of monastic humility.
One day Saint Stephen, Bishop of Perm (April 27), who deeply revered the Monk, was heading from his diocese to Moscow. The road ran eight miles from the Sergius Monastery. Intending to visit the monastery on the way back, the saint stopped and, having read a prayer, bowed to St. Sergius with the words: “Peace be with you, spiritual brother.” At this time, the Monk Sergius was sitting with the brethren at meal. In response to the blessing of the saint, the Monk Sergius stood up, read a prayer and sent a return blessing to the saint. Some of the disciples, surprised by the Saint’s extraordinary act, hastened to the indicated place and, having caught up with the saint, became convinced of the truth of the vision.
Gradually, the monks began to witness other similar phenomena. Once, during the liturgy, an Angel of the Lord concelebrated with the Saint, but out of his humility, Saint Sergius forbade anyone to tell about this until the end of his life on earth.
Close ties of spiritual friendship and brotherly love connected St. Sergius with St. Alexis. The saint, in his declining years, called the Venerable One to him and asked to accept the Russian Metropolis, but Blessed Sergius, out of humility, refused the primacy.
The Russian land at that time suffered from the Tatar yoke. Grand Duke Dimitri Ioannovich Donskoy, having gathered an army, came to the monastery of St. Sergius to ask for a blessing for the upcoming battle. To help the Grand Duke, the Reverend blessed two monks of his monastery: schema-monk Andrei (Oslyabya) and schema-monk Alexander (Peresvet), and predicted victory for Prince Demetrius. The prophecy of St. Sergius was fulfilled: on September 8, 1380, on the day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Russian soldiers won a complete victory over the Tatar hordes on the Kulikovo field, marking the beginning of the liberation of the Russian land from the Tatar yoke. During the battle, St. Sergius stood with his brethren in prayer and asked God to grant victory to the Russian army.
For his angelic life, St. Sergius was awarded heavenly vision from God. One night, Abba Sergius read the rule in front of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Having finished reading the canon of the Mother of God, he sat down to rest, but suddenly told his disciple, the Monk Micah (May 6), that a miraculous visit awaited them. A moment later she appeared Mother of God accompanied by the holy apostles Peter and John the Theologian. From the unusually bright light, St. Sergius fell on his face, but Holy Mother of God She touched him with her hands and, blessing him, promised to always patronize his holy monastery.
Having reached a very old age, the Venerable One, having foreseen his death six months before, called the brethren to him and blessed a disciple experienced in spiritual life and obedience, the Venerable Nikon (November 17), to become hegumen. In silent solitude, the Monk reposed before God on September 25, 1392. The day before, the great saint of God last time called on the brethren and addressed the words of his testament: “Take heed to yourselves, brethren. First have the fear of God, spiritual purity and unfeigned love...”
The relics of St. Sergius († 1392; his feast day is September 25) were found on July 5, 1422 under the Venerable Abbot Nikon († 1426; his feast day is November 17). In 1408, when Moscow and its environs were invaded by the Tatar hordes of Edigei, the Trinity Monastery was devastated and burned, the monks, led by Abbot Nikon, took refuge in the forests, preserving icons, sacred vessels, books and other shrines associated with the memory of St. Sergius. In a night vision on the eve of the Tatar raid, the Monk Sergius informed his disciple and successor of the coming trials and predicted as a consolation that the temptation would not last long and the holy monastery, rising from the ashes, would prosper and grow even more. Metropolitan Philaret wrote about this in “The Life of St. Sergius”: “In the likeness of how it was fitting for Christ to suffer, and through the cross and death to enter into the glory of the resurrection, so it is likewise for everything that is blessed by Christ for long days and glory to experience its cross and your death." Having gone through fiery cleansing, the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity was resurrected in the length of days, and the Monk Sergius himself rose to dwell in it forever with his holy relics.
Before the start of the construction of a new church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity on the site of a wooden one, consecrated on September 25, 1412, the Reverend appeared to one pious layman and ordered to inform the abbot and brethren: “Why do you leave me for so long in a tomb, covered with earth, in the water oppressing my body? " And during the construction of the cathedral, when they dug ditches for the foundation, the incorrupt relics of the Saint were opened and worn out, and everyone saw that not only the body, but also the clothes on it were unharmed, although there was indeed water around the coffin. With a large gathering of pilgrims and clergy, in the presence of the son of Dimitri Donskoy, Prince of Zvenigorod Yuri Dimitrievich († 1425), the holy relics were carried out of the ground and temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is now located on that site). During the consecration of the stone Trinity Cathedral in 1426, they were transferred to it, where they remain to this day.
Prayers
Troparion to St. Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, tone 8
From your youth you received Christ in your soul, reverend, / and most of all you desired to evade worldly rebellion, / you courageously moved into the desert / and you raised the children of obedience in it, the fruits of humility. / Thus you became the Trinity, / your miracles of all You have enlightened those who come to you by faith, / and abundantly provide healing to everyone. / Our Father Sergius, pray to Christ God that He may save our souls.
Kontakion to St. Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, tone 8
Today, as the sun has shone brightly, rising from the earth,/ your honorable relics have become incorruptible,/ like a fragrant flower, shining with many miracles,/ and exuding various healings to all the faithful,/ and joyfully your chosen flock,/ gathered wisely, you shepherded them well. / For these you stand before the Trinity now, praying, / and to grant a victorious army against your enemies, / and let us all cry out to you: Rejoice, O wise Sergius.
Greatness to St. Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh
We bless you, Reverend Father Sergius, / and honor your holy memory, teacher of monks and interlocutor of angels.
Prayer to St. Sergius of Radonezh
Oh, sacred head, venerable and God-bearing Father Sergius, by your prayer, and by faith and love, even for God, and by the purity of your heart, you have settled your soul on earth in the monastery of the Most Holy Trinity, and have been granted angelic communion and the visitation of the Most Holy Theotokos, and the gift received miraculous grace, after your departure from earthly people, you drew closer to God, and partook of heavenly powers, but also did not retreat from us in the spirit of your love, and your honest power, like a vessel of grace full and overflowing, was left to us! Having great boldness towards the All-Merciful Master, pray to save His servants, His grace existing in you, believing and flowing to you with love. Ask us from our great God for every gift that is beneficial to everyone, observance of the immaculate faith, establishment of our cities, peace, deliverance from famine and destruction, preservation from the invasion of foreigners, consolation for the grieving, healing for the sick, restoration for the fallen, restoration for the lost. return to the path of truth and salvation, for those who strive - strengthening, for those who do good - success and blessing in good deeds, for an infant - education, for the young - instruction, for the ignorant - admonition, for orphans and widows - intercession, for those departing from this temporary life to the eternal - good preparation and parting words. , those who have departed - blessed repose, and all of us, through your prayers, are worthy to be delivered from the last part on the day of the Last Judgment, and the right hands of the country will be commoners and hear the blessed voice of the Lord Christ: come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Amen.
The relics of St. Sergius († 1392; his feast day is September 25) were found on July 5, 1422 under the Venerable Abbot Nikon († 1426; his feast day is November 17). In 1408, when Moscow and its environs were invaded by the Tatar hordes of Edigei, the Trinity Monastery was devastated and burned, the monks, led by Abbot Nikon, took refuge in the forests, preserving icons, sacred vessels, books and other shrines associated with the memory of St. Sergius. In a night vision on the eve of the Tatar raid, the Monk Sergius informed his disciple and successor of the coming trials and predicted as a consolation that the temptation would not last long and the holy monastery, rising from the ashes, would prosper and grow even more. Metropolitan Philaret wrote about this in “The Life of St. Sergius”: “In the likeness of how it was fitting for Christ to suffer, and through the cross and death to enter into the glory of the resurrection, so it is likewise for everything that is blessed by Christ for long days and glory to experience its cross and your death." Having gone through fiery cleansing, the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity was resurrected in the length of days, and the Monk Sergius himself rose to dwell in it forever with his holy relics.
Before the start of the construction of a new church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity on the site of a wooden one, consecrated on September 25, 1412, the Reverend appeared to one pious layman and ordered to inform the abbot and brethren: “Why do you leave me for so long in a tomb, covered with earth, in the water oppressing my body? " And during the construction of the cathedral, when they dug ditches for the foundation, the incorrupt relics of the Saint were opened and worn out, and everyone saw that not only the body, but also the clothes on it were unharmed, although there was indeed water around the coffin. With a large gathering of pilgrims and clergy, in the presence of the son of Dimitri Donskoy, Prince of Zvenigorod Yuri Dimitrievich († 1425), the holy relics were carried out of the ground and temporarily placed in the wooden Trinity Church (the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit is now located on that site). During the consecration of the stone Trinity Cathedral in 1426, they were transferred to it, where they remain to this day.
All the threads of the spiritual life of the Russian Church converge to the great Radonezh saint and wonderworker; throughout Orthodox Rus', grace-filled life-giving currents spread from the Trinity Monastery he founded.
The veneration of the Holy Trinity in the Russian land began with Saint Olga Equal-to-the-Apostles († 969;), who erected the first Trinity Church in Rus' in Pskov. Later, such temples were erected in Veliky Novgorod and other cities.
The spiritual contribution of St. Sergius to the theological teaching about the Holy Trinity is especially great. The monk deeply perceived the hidden secrets of theology with the “intelligent eyes” of an ascetic - in prayerful ascent to the Trinitarian God, in experienced communion with God and likeness to God.
“The co-heirs of the perfect light and contemplation of the Most Holy and Sovereign Trinity,” explained Saint Gregory the Theologian, “will be those who are completely united with the perfect Spirit.” The Monk Sergius experienced the mystery of the Life-Giving Trinity, because through his life he united with God, joined the very life of the Divine Trinity, that is, he achieved the measure of deification possible on earth, becoming “a participant in the Divine nature” (2 Pet. 1:4). “Whoever loves Me,” said the Lord, “will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). Abba Sergius, who kept the commandments of Christ in everything, is one of the saints in whose souls the Holy Trinity “created an abode”; he himself became the “abode of the Holy Trinity,” and he raised and introduced everyone with whom the Reverend communicated to Her.
The Radonezh ascetic, his disciples and interlocutors, enriched the Russian and Universal Church with new theological and liturgical knowledge and vision of the Life-Giving Trinity, the Beginning and Source of life, revealing itself to the world and man in the conciliarity of the Church, fraternal unity and the sacrificial redemptive love of its shepherds and children.
The spiritual symbol of the gathering of Rus' in unity and love, the historical feat of the people, became the temple of the Life-Giving Trinity, erected by St. Sergius, “so that by constantly looking at Her the fear of the hated discord of this world would be overcome.”
The veneration of the Holy Trinity in the forms created and bequeathed by the holy abbot of Radonezh has become one of the most profound and original features of Russian church life. In the Life-Giving Trinity, St. Sergius indicated not only the holy perfection of eternal life, but also a model for human life, a spiritual ideal to which humanity should strive, because in the Trinity, as Undivided, strife is condemned and conciliarity is blessed, and in the Trinity, as Unmerged , the yoke is condemned and freedom is blessed. In the teaching of St. Sergius about the Most Holy Trinity, the Russian people deeply felt their catholic, universal calling, and, having comprehended the worldwide significance of the holiday, the people decorated it with all the diversity and richness of ancient national customs and folk poetry. The entire spiritual experience and spiritual aspiration of the Russian Church were embodied in the liturgical creativity of the feast of the Holy Trinity, Trinity church rites, icons of the Holy Trinity, churches and monasteries named after Her.
The embodiment of the theological knowledge of St. Sergius was the miraculous icon of the Life-Giving Trinity of St. Andrew of Radonezh, nicknamed Rublev († 1430), monk-icon painter, tonsure of the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius, painted with the blessing of St. Nikon in praise of St. Abba Sergius. (At the Council of the Stoglavy in 1551, this icon was approved as a model for all subsequent church iconography of the Holy Trinity.).
“Hateful strife,” discord and turmoil in worldly life were overcome by monastic community, planted by St. Sergius throughout Rus'. People would not have divisions, strife and wars if human nature, created by the Creator in the image of the Divine Trinity, had not been distorted and fragmented by original sin. Overcoming with their co-crucifixion with the Savior the sin of particularity and separation, rejecting “their own” and “themselves,” the communal monks, according to the teachings of St. Basil the Great, restore the Primordial unity and holiness of human nature. The monastery of St. Sergius became for the Russian Church a model of such restoration and revival; holy monks were brought up in it, who then carried the outline of the true path of Christ to distant lands. In all their works and deeds, St. Sergius and his disciples churched life, giving the people a living example of the possibility of this. Not renouncing the earthly, but transforming it, they called to ascend and themselves ascended to the Heavenly.
The school of St. Sergius, through the monasteries founded by him, his students and the students of his students, covers the entire space of the Russian land and runs through the entire subsequent history of the Russian Church. A fourth of all Russian monasteries, strongholds of faith, piety and enlightenment, were founded by Abba Sergius and his disciples. The people called the founder of the House of the Life-Giving Trinity “Hegumen of the Russian Land.” Reverends Nikon and Micah of Radonezh, Sylvester of Obnor, Stefan Makhrishchsky and Abraham Chukhlomsky, Athanasius of Serpukhovsky and Nikita Borovsky, Theodore Simonovsky and Ferapont of Mozhaisk, Andronik of Moscow and Savva Storozhevsky, Dimitry of Prilutsky and Kirill Belozersky - all of them were students and interlocutors of the “wonderful old man” Sergius . Saints Alexy and Cyprian, Metropolitans of Moscow, Dionysius, Archbishop of Suzdal, and Stefan, Bishop of Perm, were in spiritual communion with him. The Patriarchs of Constantinople Callistus and Philotheus wrote messages to him and sent their blessing. Through the Reverends Nikita and Paphnutius Borovsky there is spiritual continuity to the Reverend Joseph of Volotsky and the squad of his disciples, through Kirill of Belozersky - to Nil of Sorsky, to Herman, Savvaty and Zosima of Solovetsky.
The Church also honors those of the disciples and associates of St. Sergius, whose memory is not specifically noted in the monthly book, under a separate day. We remember that the first to come to the Reverend on Makovets was Elder Vasily Sukhoi, so named for his incomparable fasting. The second was the monk Yakut, i.e. Jacob, from simple peasants, he resignedly carried out the troublesome and difficult obedience of a delivery boy in the monastery for many years. Among other disciples, his fellow countrymen from Radonezh, Deacon Onisim and his son Elisha, came to the Reverend. When 12 monks had gathered and the built cells were surrounded by a high fence, Abba appointed Deacon Onesimus as a gatekeeper, because his cell was the farthest from the entrance to the monastery. Under the shadow of the Holy Trinity Monastery, Hegumen Mitrofan spent his last years, the same one who once tonsured St. Sergius into an angelic image and instructed him in monastic exploits. The grave of the blessed elder Mitrofan, who died soon, became the first in the monastery cemetery. In 1357, Archimandrite Simon came to the monastery from Smolensk, leaving the honorary position of abbot in one of the Smolensk monasteries in order to become a simple novice of the God-bearing Radonezh abbot. As a reward for his great humility, the Lord vouchsafed him to be a participant in the wondrous vision of St. Sergius about the future multiplication of his monastic flock. With the blessing of the holy abba, the blessed elder Isaac the Silent took upon himself the feat of prayerful silence, whose silence for monks and outsiders was more instructive than any words. Only once during the years of silence did St. Isaac open his lips - to testify how the Angel of God he saw served at the altar with St. Sergius, who performed the Divine Liturgy. An eyewitness of the grace of the Holy Spirit assisting the Reverend was also Ecclesiarch Simon, who once saw how Heavenly fire descended on the Holy Mysteries and the saint of God “communed the fire without burning.” Elder Epiphanius († c. 1420), who later, under Abbot Nikon, was the confessor of Sergius's flock, is called by the Church the Wise One for his high learning and great spiritual gifts. He is known as the compiler of the lives of St. Sergius and his interlocutor St. Stephen of Perm, words of praise for them, as well as the “Words about the life and repose of the Grand Duke Demetrius of Donskoy.” The Life of St. Sergius, compiled by Epiphanius 26 years after the death of the St. Sergius, i.e. in 1418, was then revised by the monk hagiographer Pachomius the Serb, nicknamed Logothet, who arrived from Athos.
Thousands of people have always come to worship St. Sergius, as an inexhaustible source of the spirit of prayer and the grace of the Lord, for edification and prayer, for help and healing. And he heals and revives each of those who resort with faith to his miraculous relics, fills them with strength and faith, transforms them and raises them to his luminous spirituality.
But not only are spiritual gifts and grace-filled healings given to everyone who comes with faith to the relics of the Reverend, but he was also given grace from God to protect the Russian land from enemies. With his prayers the Saint was with the army of Demetrius Donskoy on the Kulikovo field; he blessed his tonsured monks Alexander Peresvet and Andrei Oslyab for feats of arms. He showed Ivan the Terrible the place to build the Sviyazhsk fortress and helped in the victory over Kazan. During the Polish invasion, the Monk Sergius appeared in a dream to the Nizhny Novgorod citizen Kozma Minin, commanding him to collect the treasury and arm the army for the liberation of Moscow and the Russian state. And when in 1612 the militia of Minin and Pozharsky, after a prayer service at the Holy Trinity, moved towards Moscow, the blessed wind fluttered the Orthodox banners, “as if from the tomb of the Wonderworker Sergius himself.”
The heroic “Trinity Sitting” dates back to the period of the Time of Troubles and the Polish invasion, when many monks, with the blessing of the Venerable Abbot Dionysius, repeated the sacred feat of arms of Sergius’ disciples Peresvet and Oslyabya. For a year and a half - from September 23, 1608 to January 12, 1610 - the Poles besieged the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity, wanting to plunder and destroy this sacred stronghold of Orthodoxy. But through the intercession of the Most Pure Mother of God and the prayers of St. Sergius, “with much shame” they finally fled from the walls of the monastery, driven by God’s wrath, and soon their leader Lisovsky himself died a cruel death just on the day of memory of the Rev., September 25, 1617. In 1618 The Polish prince Vladislav himself came to the walls of the Holy Trinity, but, powerless against the grace of the Lord protecting the monastery, he was forced to sign a truce with Russia in the village of Deuline, which belonged to the monastery. Later a temple was erected here in the name of St. Sergius.
In 1619, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophan, who came to Russia, visited the Lavra. He especially wished to see those monks who, in a time of military danger, dared to put on themselves military chain mail over their monastic robes and, with weapons in their hands, stood on the walls of the holy monastery, repelling the enemy. The Monk Dionysius, the abbot who led the defense († 1633), introduced more than twenty monks to the patriarch.
The first of them was Afanasy (Oshcherin), the most advanced of years, a gray-haired old man. The Patriarch asked him: “Did you go to war and command the soldiers?” The elder replied: “Yes, Holy Master, I was forced by tears of blood.” - “What is more characteristic of a monk - prayerful solitude or military exploits before people?” - Blessed Athanasius, bowing, answered: “Every thing and every deed is known in due time. Here is the signature of the Latins on my head, from a weapon. Six more lead memories in my body. Sitting in my cell, in prayers, how could I find such incentives to sigh and groan? But all this was not our will, but with the blessing of those who sent us to God’s service.” Touched by the wise answer of the humble monk, the patriarch blessed and kissed him. He blessed the rest of the warrior monks and expressed approval to the entire brotherhood of the Lavra of St. Sergius.
The feat of the monastery during the Time of Troubles, which was difficult for all the people, was described by cellarer Avraami (Palitsyn) in “The Tale of the Events of the Time of Troubles” and by cellarer Simon Azaryin in two hagiographic works: “The Book of the Miracles of St. Sergius” and the Life of St. Dionysius of Radonezh.” In 1650. Simeon Shakhovsky compiled an akathist to the Monk Sergius, as the “elected governor” of the Russian land, in memory of the deliverance of the Trinity Monastery from the enemy situation. Another existing akathist to the Venerable was compiled in the 18th century; its author is considered to be Metropolitan Plato of Moscow (Levshin; † 1812).
In subsequent times, the monastery continued to be an unfailing light of spiritual life and church education. From her brethren many illustrious hierarchs of the Russian Church were elected to serve. In 1744, the monastery began to be called the Lavra for services to the Motherland and faith. In 1742, a theological seminary was established in its enclosure, and in 1814 the Moscow Theological Academy was transferred here.
And now the House of the Life-Giving Trinity serves as one of the main grace-filled centers of the Russian Orthodox Church. Here, by the will of the Holy Spirit, the actions of the Local Councils of the Russian Church are carried out. The monastery has the residence of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus', who bears the special blessing of St. Sergius, being, according to the established rule, “the Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius, the sacred archimandrite.”
The fifth of July, the day of the discovery of the relics of Saint Abba Sergius, abbot of the Russian land, is the most crowded and solemn church festival in the monastery.
