Daily life of saints, their exploits and miracles–an incomprehensible mystery. Of course, everything secret attracts. How are the lives of saints written and which ones exist?« laws of the genre» in one of the most important types of church creativity– hagiographic literature, says Archimandrite Sylvester (Stoichev), senior assistant to the rector of the KDA for educational and methodological work, member of the diocesan commission for the canonization of saints.

Archimandrite Sylvester (Stoichev)

– The lives of saints occupy a central place in the Christian education of a person. From the first centuries of Christianity, many generations of believers were brought up based on the life examples of saints of God. Up to the present day. Father, please tell us what the lives of the saints are and what is their function?

– Writing the life of a saint is part of the canonization process. The life is created on the basis of a detailed study of biographical materials and testimonies. The purpose of the life is not just to provide biographical information, but to illustrate by what criteria the Church identifies a saint in a person and how exactly She did this in a particular case.

–How is a life written?

– In the Ancient Church, the basis for writing lives was acts of martyrdom and testimonies left by eyewitnesses. Naturally, over time, the process of canonization became somewhat more complicated, including regarding the compilation of the life. At the present stage, during canonization, sources of biography are collected and studied in detail, often involving narrow specialists in various fields: historians, lawyers, of course theologians and canonists. The result of such painstaking work is, among other things, the writing of a life, if a decision is made about canonization.

– Why do they say that the lives of the saints are the life of the Lord himself?

The Apostle Paul has these words: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). St. John Chrysostom, Blessed. Theodoret of Cyrus, bl. Theophylact, explaining them, emphasizes that the grace of God changes a holy man so much that he does not do anything willful that would contradict the teachings of Christ the Savior, but everything he does complies with the word of the Gospel so much that one can say: “It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in to me". Paul, as if continuing this thought, says in another Epistle: “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

– By virtue of His nature, God cannot be cognized by people, as the essence of things in the sensory world is cognized: directly, entirely and in its entirety. Gaining a true understanding of God is beyond human capabilities. How can Christians know God?

– It should be taken into account that, on the one hand, in Christian theology there is a doctrine of the so-called natural Revelation, which implies a certain kind of path based on natural abilities, by revealing which a person can come to the idea of ​​the Creator.

But he cannot move further through his own natural abilities, so the Lord reveals himself. Thus, knowledge of God presupposes Revelation. It is with the Revelation of God that the Sacred History of Humanity begins. The goal of religion is not just the idea of ​​God, but a connection with Him, a relationship. And in this regard, the process of cognition includes the fulfillment of the will of God. The Lord reveals Himself and at the same time shows the way to Himself. The Creator does not just say that He exists, but declares: in order to come to Him, you need to follow His law. The Orthodox Church, by canonizing saints, once again in its history shows everyone: this is the path along which you can come to God, this path was followed by the saint we glorify, and all of you who want to be saved, follow this same path, for many have walked it before you and multitude of God's people.

Shebuev Vasily Kozmich (1777–1855) “Dimitri Rostovsky”. Rostov Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve

–The first book was published in 1689« Lives of the Saints» Demetrius of Rostov (September, October, November). What made him take on this work? What sources did he use?

– It is necessary to understand the historical realities of that time. In the field of theology, this is a time of Western influence. Much research has been written on this topic. It would be naive to believe that influence was limited only to theological systems. The degree of influence is assessed differently, but in any case it was quite large-scale and affected many aspects of church life.

Saint Demetrius faced the difficult task of writing the lives of the saints, given that the number of sources was limited. There are saints about whose lives a lot of material has been preserved or, on the contrary, information is scanty. All we know about individual saints is that they were born, retired somewhere for Christian deeds, and died righteously, for example, 50 years later. That's all. It is impossible to write a lengthy life based on these data. The task of the author of hagiographies in such cases becomes much more complicated. Under such conditions, the work of the author of hagiographies can be compared with the work of an icon painter, who often has no information about the saint he will paint. In such cases, in icon painting there is a tradition of depicting according to the deeds suffered: martyrs in such and such a color scheme, saints in such and such, monks in such and such. That is, it is precisely the image that is created that reflects the Church’s idea of ​​the feat of martyrs, bishops, righteous laymen, etc. And the indication of the name indicates who exactly is depicted. The compiler of hagiographies sometimes uses similar methods when there is a lack of data. And this is natural, since, I repeat, the life of a saint is not a biography in the generally accepted sense of the word and not the memoirs of his contemporaries, but a verbal icon of the saint. There are studies on exactly how such a genre of spiritual literature as hagiography developed in Byzantium and Rus'.

All Saints Cathedral

–Father, were there any standards in hagiographic work?

– In studies devoted to hagiographic literature, one can come across the statement that in Byzantium the life of St. Fyodor the Studite and some other saints. But this does not mean at all that the facts of his biography were attributed to other saints, but only suggests that the indicated life was a kind of guideline when writing similar texts. For example, if I want to write a good sermon, I will be guided by an existing good sermon, for example, by St. Philaret Drozdov.

– Was approximately the same scheme used in relation to the lives?

- Yes. In each biography it was necessary to indicate the primary worldly position: the origin of the saint, his upbringing, the internal spiritual revolution that led either to faith in Christ, or to the decision to accept martyrdom, or to the desire to enter a monastery. And, finally, the crown of life is martyrdom, confession, the acquisition of gifts: prayer, tears, insight, etc. This is roughly the pattern, so to speak, that lives were compiled according to. But there was not always information available to cover all these circumstances. And we are not just talking about ancient saints.

Take the lives of the new martyrs. Often we know that a priest studied, for example, at the Kyiv Seminary, which he graduated from in such and such a year, was ordained as a priest and sent to such and such a diocese, and that’s all. From the investigation file we learn that he was accused of such and such. And then - a death sentence. But we have no information about what filled this man’s life, what circumstances he had to endure, what feats he endured, what experiences he experienced in the cell.

– That is, we do not have the opportunity to know in detail how a person lived and felt during tests of faith, torture and abuse?

- Undoubtedly. But we need to understand that even a short life reveals to us the greatness of the feat of this or that ascetic, and even more so of a martyr.

When Saint Demetrius wrote his texts, he also encountered similar things. Therefore, it must be taken into account that for writing each individual life he had different volumes of source material. The hagiographer has lives that are not very detailed, which can be called a hagiography. But in any case, he did a tremendous job, which testifies that a whole host of saints have been revealed in the Orthodox Church, that they were, are and will be.

Because the Church cannot exist without saints, for Her task is holiness. We are called to holiness. The task of the church writer is to point out this holiness.

–The Lives of the Saints is an eternally unfinished book...

- Absolutely right. Since there are and will be saints in the Church, for the Holy Spirit abides in Her.

– What materials did Saint Demetrius use, and where did he look for them?

– I think that exploring the sources used by the saint is the future task of church science. The main thing to understand when talking about his works is that he had a mission to enrich church writing with hagiographic literature. He has done a great job in this direction.

–Father Sylvester, whatINDo you imagine the Church of the future?

- Good question. I’m not a futurist, I don’t look into the future (laughs). A variety of circumstances may occur, various situations and situations may arise. But the main task of the Church was, is and will be salvation. I am sure that the Church coped with this mission in the Byzantine era, and during medieval Rus', and during the Soviet times. She will fulfill her destiny both now and in the future too.

Interviewed by Natalya Goroshkova

READING THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS

Don't go into heavy reading, it's not helpful at all. The most instructive reading is the Lives of the Saints; theoretical knowledge is not given here, but living examples of imitation of Christ the Savior are presented. Let the saints be your mentors, do not have other teachers, so as not to be troubled in spirit, especially those who try to distract from the Orthodox Church, run away from such mentors.

For example, reading the Lives of Saints. When we read them, at least the life of St. vmchts. Catherine, then the Saint begins to pray for such a person before the throne of God, and the prayer of the saints, of course, is important. Perhaps some soul was on the verge of destruction, but by reading the Lives of the Saints, she attracted their prayer for herself and was saved. Buy these books: they are not so expensive, others will get more, and by reading them we gain enormous benefits.

Learning to fight your passions is very important and even necessary. The best guidance in this will be for you to read the Lives of the Saints. The world has long since abandoned him, but do not conform to the world, and this reading will give you much comfort. In the Lives of the Saints you will find instructions on how to fight the spirit of evil and remain victorious. May the Lord help you.

I have always advised and advise you to read the Lives of the Saints, and you will find great consolation in this reading. Your sorrows will seem insignificant to you in comparison with those that the saints endured. Reading the Lives of the Saints, you will have a desire, if possible, to imitate them. You will want to pray and ask the Lord for help, and the Lord will help.

In the world, reading the Lives of the Saints, and especially in the Slavic language, has been completely abandoned; Do not conform to the customs of this age, but engage in this saving reading.

Monasticism... how many times have we talked about it, and I always advise, if you don’t join a monastery yourself, then at least read descriptions of the lives of holy monks and saints. They can teach us a lot.

The world of evil spirits is now looking at us and is already forging chains, wanting to destroy the words of the sinful Barsanuphius, but do not be afraid! The Lord will save us from their evil power. Read Holy Scripture, the Gospel, the Epistles, and the Lives of the Saints. This reading is of great importance, but here’s what’s sad: The Lives of the saints are published, perhaps acquired by some, but the majority do not read them. Meanwhile, what benefits can be derived from this reading! In it we will find answers to many of our questions, they will teach us how to get out of a difficult situation, how to resist when darkness envelops the soul on all sides, so that it seems as if God has abandoned us.

What empty books are given to children to read and destroy young souls. Reading the Lives of the saints fills their pure souls with light. After all, the word “holy” comes from the word “light,” since saints shed the Light of Christ around them. By reading the Lives of the Saints, you will not gain knowledge in physics or chemistry, but you will learn to go deeper into yourself, how to know yourself. There are the most learned people who seem to be comprehensively educated, but lacking faith, they do not know their souls at all.

I remember my childhood. We lived in a village. My parents were believers. My father usually read aloud the life of some saint before dinner on holidays. I remember I was not even 7 years old, but I listened to my father with enthusiasm. I used to run my little hands through my brown curls and I was afraid to utter a word from what my father was reading.

“Daddy,” I tell him, “I want to be a saint.” But it’s painful to go into the furnace or into the tin pot.

“You can become a saint in another way.”

“I have no time to talk to you,” the father answers and continues reading.

I remember how my soul lit up from this reading. I was still little then, and my soul was pure. Reading was of great importance for my later life. Now, although I am unworthy, I am still a monk. Our family was Orthodox: we all kept fasts and went to church. It is a pity that now all the decrees of the Church are violated, which is why children become spoiled and often grow up completely unfit.

When I was already an officer, the works of Spielhagen were in fashion. Once they persuaded me to read “From Darkness to Light.” I started reading and was disappointed. Everything there is only darkness, heroes and heroines are also filled with darkness; When will the light appear, I thought, but I read and read, and didn’t even get to the light, it was all just darkness. I left this book unread. One day I entered the orderly’s room to give him some instructions: I saw that he was sleeping, and on the table, next to him, was a little book about Philaret the Merciful. I became interested in her, woke up the orderly so that he would open the doors if anyone came, and I took the book and went out into the garden. From the very first pages I could not restrain myself from tears and read with great desire (I generally read quickly) the whole story. I gave the book to the orderly. He smiles:

— Did you like the book?

“I liked it very much,” I answer, “I read it with pleasure.”

- Spielhagen? Well, did you like it?

- Where I like it, I read one page, didn’t understand anything, read another, too, and then quit.

- Yes, I don’t like it either, yours is better.

- So why are you reading?

“Yes,” my orderly concluded thoughtfully, “there is only emptiness there.”

And he was right.

I have read a lot of secular books, and, for the most part, there is really nothing but emptiness in them. True, sometimes something will flash, like a distant lightning, and disappear, and then darkness again. The current literature of all the Andreevs and Artsybashevs gives absolutely nothing useful and comforting to either the mind or the heart. It becomes scary for the younger generation, which is brought up on such literary garbage. Both poetry and art greatly influence the human soul and ennoble it. For example, a talentedly executed picture, especially if it has something lofty as its subject, even happens to regenerate a person’s soul, of course, by the grace of God.

Patristic creations

Works of the bishop. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) are necessary, they are, so to speak, the alphabet, the syllables. The works of the ep. Feofan Vyshensky - the essence is already grammar, they are deeper. Even the Successful Ones read them with some difficulty...

Today, while signing a book by one of my spiritual daughters, entitled “Invisible Warfare” and setting the date January 6, I remembered that this is precisely the day of the death of Bishop Theophan, who translated this book from Greek into Russian.

Bishop Theophan did not translate it word for word, but conveyed the spirit of this book, like Zhukovsky, who, when translating Schiller, was so imbued with the spirit of this poet that the translation was difficult to distinguish from the original.

5th volume of the bishop's works. Ignatius, contains the teaching of St. fathers in relation to modern monasticism and teaches how to read the writings of the saints. fathers. Bishop looked very deeply. Ignatius and even, perhaps, deeper in this regard, Bishop. Feofan. His word has a powerful effect on the soul, because it comes from experience...

"Fatherland" ep. Ignatius (Brianchaninova)

It's good that you started reading this book. It is composed as follows: ep. Ignatius wrote out what answered the monastic questions of concern. From this point of view, his work is irreplaceable. Many perplexities are immediately destroyed by some extract. D.N.

Creations of the Holy Spirit. Petra Damaskina

This book is deeper than Abba Dorotheus. Of course, Abba Dorotheos is the ABC of monastic life, although by reading it, you can discover more and more new things, and for everyone it is consistent with his state. It has a shore, and from the shore you can walk first up to your knees, then deeper and deeper. Another - immediately into depth.

There are strange mysterious places in this book. There you will see how the saints began to understand the meaning of visible nature. They do not care about the visible mechanism of things, but they understand their meaning. Just as we use a watch, and we have nothing to do with the structure of the mechanism and its chemical composition. Or, we taste an apple, feel a pleasant taste and do not care about its chemical composition... Saints, indeed, begin to learn the meaning of visible nature.

The description of the invisible world must be understood spiritually and not literally

All this must be understood spiritually, this is only a hint of reality itself, and some, not realizing that everything is said here in the highest spiritual sense, are tempted. For example, in heaven before the Throne of God there is a curtain that was parted when blessed Theodora approached her... Of course, this must be understood in a spiritual sense. Just as they say that the Jews had a veil over their eyes, this does not mean that there really was some kind of material veil over them. Or they also say about the seraphim that they covered their faces with wings. What kind of wings could they have? This means that they cannot see the full glory of God...

MIRACLES

Once, when I was about six years old, there was such a case: we lived in a dacha on our estate near Orenburg. Our house stood in a huge garden-park and was guarded by a guard and dogs, so it was impossible for an outsider to enter the park unnoticed.

One day my father and I were walking in the park, and suddenly, out of nowhere, an old man appeared in front of us. Approaching my father, he said: “Remember, father, that this child will one day drag souls from hell.”

A year before I entered the Skete, on the second day of the Nativity of Christ, I was returning from early mass. It was still dark and the city was just beginning to wake up. Suddenly an old man came up to me, asking for alms. I realized that I didn’t take my wallet with me, and there were only twenty kopecks in my pocket. I gave them to the old man with the words: “I’m sorry, I don’t have them with me anymore.” He thanked me and handed me the prosphora. I took it, put it in my pocket and just wanted to say something to the beggar, but he was no longer there. I looked everywhere in vain; he disappeared without a trace. The next year on this day I was already in Skete.

If you look at life carefully, it is all full of miracles, but we often do not notice and pass by them indifferently. May the Lord give us the wisdom to carefully spend the days of our lives, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.

The former abbot of the Meshchovsky Monastery, Fr. Mark, now living in retirement in Optina Pustyn: “I remember, it was, it seems, in 1867. I was very sick and did not expect to get up. At this time I lived in Optina. One day I see, as if in a subtle dream, as if I was standing in a clearing near Kozelsk, and opposite three Churches. The sun is rising. There are some creatures standing next to me on the right and left sides. I notice that the sun that I see is an icon standing in the attic of the Ascension Church. To my question to the one who stood next to me on the left side, he answered: “I am George! The icon you see is the icon of the Akhtyra Mother of God.” When he woke up, he told Fr. Ambrose. A search began in all the churches of the city of Kozelsk, but the icon of the Akhtyrskaya Mother of God was not found anywhere. They also searched in the Ascension Church. After a long and unsuccessful search, the priest of that Church, Fr. Demetrius discovered this icon in the attic of the Church, lying in dust and debris. The holy icon was then solemnly brought to Optina, and I, having venerated it after the prayer service, received relief from my illness and soon recovered completely.”

After this miracle, many came to her with faith from this icon. To this day, St. This icon is located in the Church of the Ascension in the city of Kozelsk and is revered by the residents as miraculous.

When I was returning from Manchuria by rail, I wanted to be alone at night - whether I was sad or something else, I don’t remember. I went into the hallway of the carriage, so to speak, I mean that small room, of which there are usually two in every carriage: in front and in back; they have 4 doors: one leads to the carriage, the other to the platform to the next carriage, and two to the right and left for passengers to exit. I went out and leaned on one door and thought: “Glory to You, Lord. I’m going to dear Optina again.” And I wanted to go to the opposite side door, I walked and suddenly, as if by some force, I was pushed away. I stopped in the middle and, looking closely, I saw that the door was pushed to the side (there are doors of such a device), which I did not notice in the dark, but wanted to lean my elbows on it. And what would have happened... The Lord saved...

THE FOOL-FOOLS, THE BLESSED

Skete ryasophore monk Fr. Athanasius told me about a certain servant of God for Christ’s sake who acted like a fool, the following. His name was Sergei Nikolaevich. Played the fool in the city of Livny, Oryol province. Descended from peasants. He died at the age of 70. He always wore rags and led a wandering life. Living in the world, Fr. Afanasy once started pouring bread. The deal was profitable. He somehow brings bread to Livny on Sunday morning and sells it to a merchant. We made a deal and finished the matter. At that time, Sergei Nikolaevich, who was visiting the merchant, came to them and responded to the words of Fr. Afanasy tell him something, says: “It’s a sin to take a merchant’s hands!” He did not understand these words then. Their meaning was subsequently explained by the Liveni monks, that is, that it is sinful to trade on holidays.

The same holy fool went to a Livny merchant and shit in his front corner. Soon after this, a great misfortune happened to the merchant - two men were buried in his well by a collapsed log house. The court came and the merchant had to fork out money.

We also saw Sergei Nikolaevich, how one day he crossed the river along its bottom, disappearing under the water. He also said to one girl, the daughter of a poor bourgeois widow in Livny: “You and I will die together!” And so it happened. When this girl died, the holy fool came to the widow, sat down on the right side of her coffin and died. They were buried together on the same day. They were taken out of the city Church at 8 o'clock in the morning, and brought to the cemetery in the evening. Requiem services were served all along the way. There were a lot of people, almost the entire city gathered to bury the righteous.

Fr. told me today, January 22, 1896. Demetrius the artist, a skete monk, who recently came to Shamordino, the holy fool John, who lived in the village of Khlopov, 30 versts from Shamordin. He came to the cell of nun Olga, whose daughter was sick with consumption. He showed with signs that she needed to receive unction and prepare for death. Then he demanded the key to the locked box, and when it was unlocked at his request, he took out the icon lying there - the blessing of the sick woman from Fr. Ambrose. He placed the image on the goddess and ordered an unquenchable lamp to be lit before it. Then he left.

Blessed ones. Blessed Annushka

When I entered, she began to quickly undress, even began to take off her shirt, so that even her breasts became visible: I turned away. She says: “Give me that green caftan.” I handed her a caftan that was hanging on the wall. Having put it on, she began to say: “You see how beautiful I have become, do you see?” For me this was completely incomprehensible... And this meant that I needed to renew my soul. Finally, I asked her: “How will it all end for me?” She took it and wrapped her head in a caftan and sat down like that. I left her while she was still in that state. I didn't understand anything and asked about it. I was told that this means monasticism. And then I didn’t even think about going to the monastery. At first I was afraid to go to her, thinking that maybe it was a demonic charm. But spiritual people assured me that this was truly a truly blessed soul. When I was with her, she had been lying on her bed of three pieces of wood covered with felt for 40 years: she had paralysis of her legs.

She was an orphan, and some old woman was following her. Poor to the last degree, but the entire furnishings of her room were clean.

Blessed Ivanushka

His family considered him a fool, but the people respected and loved him. One day he came running to the hayfield. They ask him: “What do you want, Ivanushka?” And he immediately ran in the direction of the Zhizdra River. In this very place there was a steep cliff and one of the deepest places in the river. They look - he's gone. Everyone thought he had drowned. What to do? And he, having passed under the water to the other shore, came out of the water, bowed to everyone and left. In the summer they let him go, and in the winter they tied him by the leg.

I was still a military man then, although not in uniform. I come in, and Ivanushka says:

- Father has come.

They tell him:

“This is not Father,” thinking that he was mistaken. And Ivanushka again:

- Father has come.

Then he told me to take a whip and whip the “kitten”.

- Do you see her running after you? Well, that's it, that's it, that's it.

I was whipping through the air, not understanding anything. He continued:

- Oh, she ran away. What? Oh, she's a kitten.

Then it was 3 o'clock in the afternoon, dawn was beginning. I began to say goodbye to him. He turned to the window directly at Optina Pustyn at dawn and began to look. I don’t know what he saw; of course, he didn’t tell me. But it was clear that he was seeing a wondrous vision. So I left him.

In the old days, reading the Lives of Saints was one of the favorite pastimes of all strata of the Russian people. At the same time, the reader was interested not only in historical facts from the life of Christian ascetics, but also in the deep edifying and moral meaning. Today the Lives of the saints have faded into the background. Christians prefer to spend time on Internet forums and social networks. However, can this be considered normal? The journalist is thinking about this Marina Voloskova, teacher Anna Kuznetsova and Old Believer writer Dmitry Urushev.

How was created hagiography literature

The study of Russian holiness in its history and its religious phenomenology has always been relevant. Today, the study of hagiographic literature is managed by a separate direction in philology, called hagiography . It should be noted that hagiographic literature for medieval Russian people was not just a relevant type of reading, but a cultural and religious component of his life.

The lives of saints are essentially biographies of clergy and secular persons glorified for veneration by the Christian Church or its individual communities. From the first days of its existence, the Christian Church carefully collected information about the life and activities of its ascetics and communicated it to its children as an edifying example.

The lives of saints constitute perhaps the most extensive section of Christian literature. They were the favorite reading of our ancestors. Many monks and even laymen were engaged in rewriting lives; richer people ordered hagiographic collections for themselves. Since the 16th century, in connection with the growth of Moscow national consciousness, collections of purely Russian lives have appeared.

Eg, Metropolitan Macarius under Tsar John IV, he created a whole staff of scribes and clerks, who for more than twenty years accumulated ancient Russian writing into an extensive literary collection Great Fours. In it, the Lives of the saints took pride of place. In ancient times, in general, reading hagiographic literature was treated, one might say, with the same reverence as reading the Holy Scriptures.

Over the centuries of its existence, Russian hagiography has gone through different forms and known different styles. The lives of the first Russian saints are works " The Legend of Boris and Gleb", lives Vladimir Svyatoslavich, Princess Olga, Theodosius of Pechersk, abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, and others. Among the best writers of Ancient Rus' who devoted their pen to glorifying saints, Nestor the Chronicler, Epiphanius the Wise and Pachomius Logothete stand out. The first Lives of the Saints were tales of martyrs.

Even Saint Clement, Bishop of Rome, during the first persecution of Christianity, appointed seven notaries in various districts of Rome to daily record what happened to Christians in places of execution, as well as in prisons and courts. Despite the fact that the pagan government threatened the recorders with the death penalty, recordings continued throughout the persecution of Christianity.

In the pre-Mongol period, the Russian church had a complete set of menaia, prologues and synoxarions corresponding to the liturgical circle. Patericons—special collections of the lives of saints—were of great importance in Russian literature.

Finally, the last common source for the memory of the saints of the Church is calendars and month books. The origin of calendars dates back to the very first times of the Church. From the testimony of Asterius of Amasia it is clear that in the 4th century. they were so complete that they contained names for all the days of the year.

From the beginning of the 15th century, Epiphanius and the Serb Pachomius created a new school in northern Rus' - a school of artificially decorated, extensive life. This is how a stable literary canon is created, a magnificent “weaving of words”, which Russian scribes strive to imitate until the end of the 17th century. In the era of Metropolitan Macarius, when many ancient inexperienced hagiographic records were being redone, the works of Pachomius were included in the Chetii-Minea intact. The vast majority of these hagiographic monuments are strictly dependent on their samples.

There are lives almost entirely copied from the ancients; others use established literary etiquette, refraining from providing precise biographical information. This is what hagiographers involuntarily do, separated from the saint by a long period of time - sometimes centuries, when the popular tradition dries up. But here, too, the general law of the hagiographic style, similar to the law of icon painting, operates. It demands the subordination of the particular to the general, the dissolution of the human face in the heavenly glorified face.

Valuable That, What modern?

Currently, classical hagiographic literature is fading into the background. In its place are news feeds, social networks, and, at best, reports from printed church media. The question arises: have we chosen the right path for church information life? Is it true that we only occasionally remember the exploits of famous saints, but pay more attention to the events of our day - high-profile, but forgotten tomorrow?

Not only lives, but also other ancient literary monuments are of less and less interest to Christians. Moreover, in the Old Believers this problem is felt more acutely than even in the Russian Orthodox Church. There is a lot of hagiographic literature on the shelves of bookstores of the Moscow Patriarchate, just have time to purchase and read. Some Old Believers express the idea that everything can be bought there. Their bookstores are overflowing with a variety of church literature, biographies of Sergius of Radonezh, Stephen of Perm, Dionysius of Radonezh and many others.

But are we really so weak that we ourselves cannot (or do not want) to publish a collection of lives or publish a brief overview of the life of this or that saint in the parish newspaper? Moreover, literary monuments published in non-Orthodox church publishing houses are replete with inaccuracies in translations, and sometimes with deliberate historical or theological falsifications. For example, today it is not difficult to stumble upon the publication of Domostroy, where in the chapter on church customs all ancient customs are replaced with modern ones.

Now the periodicals of the Old Believers are filled with news materials, but there is practically no educational information there. And if there is no such thing, then people will not have sufficient knowledge. And it is not surprising that many traditions are forgotten, once most important names, symbols and images are erased from memory.

It is no coincidence that, for example, in the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church and other Old Believer communities there is not a single temple dedicated to holy noble princes Boris and Gleb. Although these princes were the most revered Russian saints before the church schism, today, except for an entry in the calendar and a rare service (and then if the day of remembrance falls on a Sunday), they are not venerated in any way. What then can we say about other, less famous saints? They are completely forgotten.

Therefore, we must do everything possible for spiritual enlightenment. Hagiographic literature is a faithful assistant in this matter. Even a five-minute reading of the Life sets a person up for a good time and strengthens him in faith.

By publishing, even if abbreviated, the Lives of saints, teachings, sermons, possibly collections of church rules, apologetics, we will thereby help a person learn more about his faith. This can save many believers from superstitions, false rumors and dubious customs, including those borrowed from heterodox confessions, which are quickly spreading and turning into a “new church tradition.” If even older, experienced people often become hostage to ideas received from dubious sources, then young people can even faster become victims of harmful information.

There is a request for ancient literary works, including the Lives of Saints. For example, parishioners of the Rzhev Church in the name of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos have repeatedly expressed the opinion that they would like to see interesting hagiographic stories about local, Tver saints in the parish newspaper “Pokrovsky Vestnik”. Perhaps other Old Believer publications should think about this as well.

Coming back To Old Russian traditions enlightenment

Today, many Old Believer authors and journalists consider it important to publish hagiographic literature, reviving the reader’s sense of respect for the names of ancient ascetics. They raise the question of the need for more educational work within the Old Believers themselves.

Anna Kuznetsova - journalist, member JV Russia, teacher additional education V G. Rzhev

It is not only possible, but also necessary, to publish the lives of saints, only in a convenient and not very expensive format. We have saints who were canonized after the schism of the 17th century. But for the most part, people remember only Archpriest Avvakum and Boyarina Morozova, and therefore associate only them with the Old Faith.

And judging by the way our leading hagiographers are engaged in research on these issues about people who lived one and a half to two centuries ago, it turns out that we are “behind” by just two centuries. In this sense, there is no clear book church policy, because apart from the archpriest and the “victims like him” we don’t know anyone...

Dmitry Aleksandrovich Urushev - historian, member of the Union of Journalists of Russia

The Apostle Paul writes: “Remember your teachers, who spoke the word of God to you; as they look to the end of their lives, imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7).

Christians must honor their mentors - saints of God, and imitate their faith and life. Therefore, from ancient times the Orthodox Church established the veneration of saints, devoting every day of the year to one or another righteous person - a martyr, ascetic, apostle, saint or prophet.

Just as a loving mother takes care of her children, so the Church took care of her children, for their benefit and edification by recording the lives of the saints in the book Prologue. This book consists of four volumes - one for each season. In the Prologue, short lives are arranged day by day; in addition, one or more teachings of the holy fathers are given for each day. A more extensive collection of lives and teachings is called the Four Menaions and consists of twelve menaia - monthly volumes.

Bulky Chet'i-Minei are rare and hard-to-find books. The compact Prologue, on the contrary, was very popular in Ancient Rus'. It was often rewritten and published several times. Previously, Old Believers also read the Prologue with pleasure, receiving great benefit and true instruction in a righteous life.

Reading the lives of the saints of God and soul-helping teachings, Christians of the past had before them the example of holy martyrs and ascetics, they were always ready to courageously stand for Orthodoxy and piety, they were ready to fearlessly confess their faith before the enemies of the Church, without fear of executions and torture.

But the Prologue is written in Old Church Slavonic. And during the years of Soviet power, its knowledge among Christians decreased significantly, and the circle of reading Slavic books itself narrowed exclusively to liturgical books. Now the sad fact noted by V.G. has become obvious. Belinsky back in the middle of the 19th century: “Slavic and ancient books in general can be a subject of study, but not at all of pleasure; they can only be dealt with by learned people, not by society.”

What to do? Alas, we will have to put on the shelf the Prologue, the Chetii-Minea and other soulful reading in Old Church Slavonic. Let's be realistic, now only a few experts can delve into this ancient source of wisdom and draw the water of life from it. The average parishioner is deprived of this pleasure. But we cannot allow modernity to rob and impoverish it!

It is impossible to force all Christians to study the language of ancient Russian literature. Therefore, instead of Old Church Slavonic books, books in Russian should appear. Of course, creating a complete translation of the Prologue is a difficult and time-consuming task. Yes, probably unnecessary. After all, since the middle of the 17th century, since the schism, new saints appeared in the Church, new teachings were written. But they are not reflected in the printed Prologue. We must work to create a new body of soul-helping reading for Christians.

This will no longer be the Prologue and the Cheti-Minea. These will be new essays, written simply and entertainingly, designed for the widest audience. Let’s say this will be a selection of educational literature, including publicly available books about the Holy Scriptures, church history, Christian theology, the lives of saints, textbooks on Orthodox worship and the Old Church Slavonic language.

These are the publications that should be on the bookshelf in the home of every Old Believer. For many they will be the first step on the ladder of the wisdom of God. Then, by reading more complex books, a Christian will be able to rise higher and grow spiritually. After all, to be honest, many Old Believers do not understand anything about their old faith.

I was unpleasantly surprised when I encountered this phenomenon: a person lives a Christian life, prays and fasts, regularly attends services, but knows nothing about the teachings of the Church and its history. Meanwhile, Soviet times, when to go to church it was enough that “my grandmother went there,” are a thing of the past. New times ask us new questions and require new answers about our faith.

What can we answer when we don’t know anything? Therefore, we must not forget that Christianity has always been based on books. Without them, our faith and history seem inexplicable.

Holiness is a purity of heart that seeks the uncreated divine energy manifested in the gifts of the Holy Spirit as many colored rays in the solar spectrum. Pious ascetics are the link between the earthly world and the heavenly Kingdom. Imbued with the light of divine grace, they, through God-contemplation and God-communication, learn the highest spiritual secrets. In earthly life, saints, performing the feat of self-denial for the sake of the Lord, receive the highest grace of divine Revelation. According to biblical teaching, holiness is the likening of a person to God, who is the only bearer of all-perfect life and its unique source.

What is canonization

The church procedure for canonizing a righteous person is called canonization. She encourages believers to honor a recognized saint in public worship. As a rule, ecclesiastical recognition of piety is preceded by popular glory and veneration, but it was the act of canonization that made it possible to glorify saints by creating icons, writing lives, and compiling prayers and church services. The reason for official canonization can be the feat of a righteous person, the incredible deeds he has performed, his entire life or martyrdom. And after death, a person can be recognized as a saint because of the incorruption of his relics, or miracles of healing occurring at his remains.

In the event that a saint is venerated within one church, city or monastery, they speak of diocesan, local canonization.

The official church also recognizes the existence of unknown saints, the confirmation of whose piety is not yet known to the entire Christian flock. They are called revered departed righteous people and requiem services are served for them, while prayer services are served for canonized saints.

Already in the 11th century, a laudatory biography of princes Boris and Gleb appeared, where the unknown author of the life was Russian. The names of saints are recognized by the church and added to the monthly calendar. In the 12th and 13th centuries, along with the monastic desire to enlighten the northeast of Rus', the number of biographical works also grew. Russian authors wrote the lives of Russian saints for reading during the Divine Liturgy. The names, the list of which was recognized by the church for glorification, now received a historical figure, and holy deeds and miracles were enshrined in a literary monument.

In the 15th century there was a change in the style of writing lives. The authors began to pay the main attention not to factual data, but to skillful mastery of artistic expression, the beauty of literary language, and the ability to select many impressive comparisons. Skillful scribes of that period became known. For example, Epiphanius the Wise, who wrote vivid lives of Russian saints, whose names were most famous among the people - Stephen of Perm and Sergius of Radonezh.

Many hagiographies are considered a source of information about important historical events. From the biography of Alexander Nevsky you can learn about political relations with the Horde. The lives of Boris and Gleb tell of princely civil strife before the unification of Rus'. The creation of a literary and church biographical work largely determined which names of Russian saints, their exploits and virtues, would become best known to a wide circle of believers.

This page presents lives of saints, revered by the Orthodox Church. In the monuments of early Christian antiquity, until the half of the 4th century. and even until the 5th century, both Eastern and Western Christians had the word saint- Greek ἅγιος, lat. sanctus - according to Martigny (“Dictionnaire des antiquites”) has not yet been acquired by the so-called now canonized saints, that is, neither the apostles, nor the martyrs, nor in general persons who later became, under the name saints, the subject of special veneration of the church, and when mentioned they were called simply by name, for example, Paul (without adding “apostle” or “saint”).

The Roman calendar, published by Bucher and then by Ruinard with his Acta Sincera, brings the list of persons especially honored in the church to the 4th century. inclusive (up to Pope Liberius), and never once gives them the name sanctus. Only in the calendars of the Carthaginian church, in the 3rd-5th centuries, when commemorating the dead, especially revered by the church, the word sanctus is found often.

The first calendar in which the word sanctus constantly appears in the name of one or another especially revered church person is the calendar of Polemius (“Acta Sanctorum”; vol. 1). In a less distant era, this word is sometimes found in mosaics when depicting the apostles, but it is not yet present when depicting St. John the Baptist even in 451, and it is found with the name of the Baptist no earlier than in 472, in the image of St. Agathia in Suburra, in Rome.

According to Ciampi's research, it is also found in the depiction of Cosmas and Damian in 531. The words sanctus and sanctissimus on marble burials, undoubtedly ancient, have, according to Martigny, the meaning carissimus. The reason why Christians of ancient times avoided the epithets: Sanctus, Sanctissimus, is, according to some scientists, that the word Sanctus was often used in undoubtedly pagan inscriptions, which Christians did not want to imitate. On epigraphic documents of the 5th century. found in names, at some distance, one letter S, which can be mistaken for the initial letter of the word Sanctus, but also for the beginning. letter of the word Spectabilis. Instead of the title " saint"(lat. Sanctus) or together with it, another name - dominus, domina - often stood with the name of a person revered by the church.

Martigny is inclined to think that the words dominus and domina in ancient times specifically meant “martyr and martyr.” From the stories about the burial of deceased Christians, it is clear that those in charge of the burial proclaimed: ad sanctos! ad sanctos! (or ad martyres, ad martyres), that is, they ordered to carry the deceased to a specially Christian cemetery. In addition to denoting the personal holiness or high piety of a person, the word sanctus, (agioV;), as once in paganism, was also applied in Christianity to indicate that this or that person or place is dedicated to some sacred service. Christians in Sogrog in the ancient church (for example, in the letters of the Apostle Paul) were called saints. In the Gospel, holiness and sanctification are presented everywhere as a property of Christianity, in all its manifestations: hallowed be thy name (Matt. VI, 9), holy father, sanctify them in thy truth (John XVII, II, 17).

Veneration and invocation of saints

The Orthodox Church reveres the righteous not as gods, but as faithful servants, saints and friends of God; praises their exploits and deeds accomplished by them with the help of the grace of God and for the glory of God, so that all the honor given saints, refers to the majesty of God, whom they pleased on earth with their lives; honor the saints with annual remembrances of them, national festivals, and the creation of temples in their name)

Holy Scripture resolutely forbids rendering Divine worship and service to anyone other than the one true God (Second. VI, 13; Isa. XLII, 8; Matt. IV, 10; 1 Tim. 1, 17), but does not at all forbid rendering due respect (doulexa) to the faithful servants of God, and, moreover, in such a way that all honor is attributed to Him alone, as “wonderful in saints their own” (Psalm LXVII, 36).

King David cried out: “I was greatly honored by Your friends, O God” (Psalm CXXXVIII, 17); the sons of the prophets solemnly “bowed down to the ground to the faithful servant and friend” of God - Elisha (4 Kings II, 15). In the New Testament, Jesus Christ himself, having confirmed the law: “Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone” (Matt. IV, 10), said to his disciples: “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John. XV, 14), and testified before them: “Whoever receives you receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives him who sent Me” (Matthew X, 40), showing that the honor given to His faithful servants and friends applies to Himself, also in Revelation through the mouth of John the Theologian: “To him who overcomes I will give to sit with Me on the throne Mine, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Apoc. III, 21). The Apostle Paul also says: "Remember your teachers, who preached the word of God to you, and, looking at the end of their lives, imitate their faith "(Heb. XIII, 7).

About the saints

Having arisen in the Christian Church in its very early days. existence, faith in the godliness and salvific value of due honor saints was expressed in the establishment of special holidays in memory of martyrs and other saints, following the example of Sunday and other holidays, with the performance of appropriate prayers and liturgy (testimonies of Tertullian and St. Cyprian; Decrees of the Apostles. Book VI, Chapter 30; Book VIII, Chapter 33). Starting from the 4th century. everywhere the saints are openly and solemnly celebrated, legitimized by two local councils of the same century: Gangra and Laodicea. At the same time, the very doctrine of veneration of saints develops and is defined (Efrem the Syrian, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom). This was facilitated by the emergence of various heretical false teachings.

There were, for example, heretics who not only honored the Mother of God with the veneration due to her, as the holiest of all saints, but also gave her divine honors, worshiped and served her on an equal basis with God. This caused St. Epiphany both to expose the erring and to clarify the true church teaching on the veneration of saints. At the beginning of the 5th century, heretics appeared who began to reproach the church for allegedly allowing divine honoring of saints with the same worship and service to them, and this restored ancient pagan idolatry and overthrew faith in the true God, who alone must be worshiped and served. The Spaniard Vigilantius became the head of this kind of false teachers, consisting mainly of Eunomians and Manichaeans. The blessed spoke out against him. Jerome and Augustine.

The belief in the obligatory and salutary value of honoring saints was invariably preserved in the church in subsequent centuries; This is confirmed by the testimony of both individual pastors of the church (Salvian, Cyril of Alexandria, Gregory the Great, John of Damascus), and entire councils - the local Carthaginian (419−426) and especially the seventh ecumenical (Nicene II). Opponents of this teaching in the Middle Ages were the Albigensians, Paulicians, Bogomils, Waldensians and Wyclefites, and in modern times - Protestants in general.

Honoring the saints as faithful servants, saints and friends of God, the church, at the same time, calls on them in prayers, not as any gods who can help us with their own power, but as our representatives before God, the only source and dispenser of all gifts and mercies. creatures (James 1:17) and our intercessors, who have the power of intercession from Christ, who “is one” in the proper sense and an independent “mediator between God and men, who gave himself as a ransom for all” (1 Tim. II, 5 −6)

Beginning of the prayer call saints seen even in the Old Testament church: King David cried out to God: “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel our fathers” (1 Chron. XXIX, 18). The Apostle James teaches believers the commandment to pray for one another and adds to this: “the fervent prayer of the righteous can accomplish much” (Tak. V, 16). The Apostle Peter promised the believers even after his death not to interrupt his care for them (2 Peter 1:15). The Apostle John testified that the saints offer up their prayers in heaven before the Lamb of God, remembering in them their fellow members in the militant church (see Apoc. V, 8; VIII, 3-4).

Based on the Holy Scriptures and together the Holy. According to legend, the church has always taught to call upon the saints, with full confidence in their intercession for us before God. This teaching and belief of the church is contained in all the most ancient liturgies, for example the Apostle James and the Jerusalem church, which appeared in the 4th century. and the rites of the liturgy of St. who entered the church's liturgical life. Basil the Great and John Chrysostom clearly prove that the calling of saints at this time was a universal phenomenon. At the seventh ecumenical council, the fathers, discussing the veneration and calling of saints, among other things, decided: “whoever does not confess that all are saints... venerable in the eyes of God... and does not ask for prayers from them, as from those who, according to church tradition, have the boldness to intercede for Peace - anathema.”

The doctrine of the calling of saints has been preserved and is preserved to this day in Christian societies that separated from the universal church from ancient times, such as the Nestorian, Abyssinian, Coptic and Armenian. Opponents of this teaching were the rationalistic and mystical sects that emerged from the Western Church in the Middle Ages. Luther rejected the veneration and invocation of saints, mainly on the basis that he saw in them a kind of mediators between God and believers, which mediation was excluded by his personal, immediate faith. It seemed to him that even those glorified by their saints would alienate believers from Christ, just as here on earth members of the church hierarchy alienate them from Him. Therefore, he insisted on the idea that the veneration of saints is a humiliation of the merits of Jesus Christ, as the only intercessor between God and people. saints, according to Luther, are only remarkable historical figures who need to be remembered with reverence, spoken of with respect, but to whom one cannot turn in prayer.

Saints in Orthodoxy

Saints placed in heaven according to the faces of holiness (the Last Judgment icon, Poland, 17th century) At all times, Orthodox teaching has combined two fundamental features of spiritual life, firstly, the constant striving for holiness, for a sinless life: " Anyone born of God does not commit sin... he cannot sin, because he is born of God" (1 John 3:9), on the other hand, this is awareness of one’s sinfulness and trust only in the mercy of God in the matter of one’s salvation: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:3), “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13).

This combination is expressed, for example, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “To me, the least of all saints, has this grace been given...” (Eph. 3:8) - a phrase that combines the awareness of the calling of all believers in Christ to holiness and at the same time time the humiliation of the Supreme Apostle himself, found, for example, in 1 Cor. 15, 8-9: "...and after all he appeared to me, as to a certain monster. For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." One way or another, the desire for holiness is the natural desire of every Orthodox Christian. It was revealed to the Apostle John the Theologian that “lukewarm” Christians would be cast out from the mouth of God (Rev. 3:15-16)

The Apostle Paul in his letters calls all members of the Church saints, including addressing them as “called saints” (Cor. 1, 2; Rom. 1:7) or simply “saints” (Ephesians 1:1; Phil. 1:1 ; Col. 1:1) and the Apostle Peter says to Christians: “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a special people” (1 Pet. 2:9). At the same time, holiness in Orthodoxy is not a status, but, as it were, a state of the human spirit: “the Kingdom of God will not come in a noticeable way, and they will not say: behold, it is here, or: behold, there. For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21), “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

In general, holiness in Orthodoxy has synonymous analogues, the words Communion with God and Vision of God. They are based on the Orthodox teaching that the Saints in the Kingdom of Heaven are constantly in communion with God himself and is illustrated, for example, by these words from Scripture:

“And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as one speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11)
“One thing I have asked of the Lord, this only I seek, that I may abide in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to contemplate the beauty of the Lord and to visit His [holy] temple” (Ps. 26:4)
“Philip said to Him: Lord, show us the Father, and it will be enough for us” (John 14:8)
“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he loves Me; and whoever loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21)
“But I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you; and on that day you will not ask Me anything” (John 16:22-23)
“Our fellowship is with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3)
During the rite of the Orthodox funeral service, the Church (according to ancient custom) repeatedly asks God to canonize the deceased: “With the saints, may Christ rest the soul of your departed servant!” The same words are sung during the glorification of the saint before singing glorification as a new saint.

In Orthodoxy, the following saints are distinguished by the face of holiness:

Apostles - disciples of Christ
saints - holy bishops (bishops)
venerables - fasters, hermits, etc., usually monks
blessed - holy fools for Christ's sake
martyrs
passion-bearers (victims of wicked co-religionists)
new martyrs (those who suffered for their faith during the years of persecution of religion in the 20th century)
holy martyrs
venerable martyrs
Reverend Confessors
confessors
Equal to the Apostles (baptists), etc.
righteous saints
from the Old Testament:

The Most Holy Theotokos occupies a special place among Orthodox saints!

Holiness is a state experienced by a believer according to the words of the Apostle James, “Draw close to God, and he will draw close to you” (James 4:8). But it is also said, “You are the light of the world. A city standing on the top of a mountain cannot be hidden” (Matt. 5:14). Thus, on the one hand, the only one who knows the heart of his saints is the Lord himself. But He Himself glorifies His saints with miracles: the gift of tongues (in the first centuries), prophecies, healings, working miracles during life, incorruptible relics, healings through the prayers of the saint.

Miracles are not a prerequisite for veneration, according to the words of the Apostle Paul about the highest gift: “Love never fails, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished” (1 Cor. 13:8) - but they are, as it were, an indication of the Lord to honor his faithful servant. For example, as described immediately after the glorification of Saint Jonah of Moscow about the healing of one woman:

Brought to the temple, she fervently prayed before the miraculous icons of Vladimir and Velikogoretsk, but did not receive what she wanted; she then fell at the tomb of the wonderworker Peter and grieved a lot that her work was in vain; then she heard a mysterious voice: “Go to the tomb of Jonah, the wonderworker.” “I don’t know, Lord, where he is,” the blind woman humbly answered, and when they brought her to the honest shrine, she began to touch it with her hands with a warm prayer for insight, but as soon as she leaned close to the relics to venerate herself, she felt, as it were, a warm breath from her lips saints, right into her eyes, and at that very moment she received her sight.

Orthodox churches recognize as saints, as a rule, only Orthodox Christians or Christians who lived before the division of churches. However, there are exceptions, for example, in 1981, the ROCOR Council canonized all the servants of the royal family who died with them in the Ipatiev House, including Catholics and Protestants.

Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna, member of the Holy Synod, chairman of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church:

The main criteria for the canonization of church-wide and locally revered ascetics of the faith in the Russian Orthodox Church are righteous living, impeccable Orthodox faith, popular veneration, miracles, and, if any, incorruptible relics.

It is impossible to single out more “authoritative” and less “authoritative” saints, but in the Orthodox Russian tradition, especially among the laity, the most revered saints are John the Baptist, Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nicholas the Wonderworker), Sergius of Radonezh, Seraphim of Sarov, Alexander Nevsky, Prince Vladimir and also locally revered saints.

Lives of the Saints