Orthodoxy Tikhon of Zadonsk. About the Cathedral of Voronezh Saints

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk (1724-1782)

Save yourself in Christ, dear brother.

St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

The author experiences very special feelings when touching on this topic. After all, my childhood and youth passed in Zadonsk, the last earthly refuge of St. Tikhon. And to this day I come with special reverence to this small, originally Russian provincial town, once famous for its spiritual abodes and devotees of holiness.

Zadonsky Bogoroditsky Monastery, founded in 1610-1620. among the impenetrable forests by the elders of the Moscow Sretensky Monastery Kirill and Gerasim, after restoration work it acquires its former splendor and beauty. “Located among the small town of Zadonsk, on the sloping bank of the Don River. Surrounded by shady gardens and forest thicket, the monastery truly represents that quiet corner of silent contemplative life, where the bustle world with its worries and passions is more easily forgotten.” One of the pre-revolutionary authors described the monastery with these lines. This is probably how Saint Tikhon, who arrived in Lent 1769 to Zadonsk after many years of righteous labors, which undermined his health early.

The whole life of this amazing ascetic of holiness is an example Christian virtue, obtained through harsh labor, and sometimes hardship and sorrow. “In youth there is poverty and need, in courage there are labors and illnesses, in old age there are exploits and illnesses.” Being from a poor family, he only miraculously learned to read and write, and then, among the 200 best students, he was accepted into the seminary. Once, almost freezing in winter on the way due to the lack of warm clothes, but saved by a passing merchant, from his youth dreaming of solitude and distance from the world, the saint, in an outwardly not so significant life, accumulated truly priceless inner wealth, managing to achieve spiritual heights and love to all. Even during his earthly life, he achieved the glory of a great preacher and was generously endowed by God's mercy with such gifts as insight and healing.

Since childhood, I have heard stories about his exploits, the holy “Tikhon’s” spring, which healed many diseases, about the incorruptible relics taken from the temple after the revolution. Despite the negative attitude towards everything related to religion in those days, every August was marked by the gathering of many people to Zadonsk who preserved the memory of the famous Russian saint. As I remember now, the majority of those who arrived were ordinary people, often poorly dressed, many came (or were coming) from remote places, remote towns and villages. But how strong and fair is the memory of the people, that even two centuries later, unforced and even persecuted by anyone, people continued to flock here every year to pay tribute to the sacred memory of the one who earned sincere love and reverence among the people. On the other hand, how quickly officially exalted heroes and celebrities are sometimes forgotten. Several decades pass, or even less, and the memory of them grows like thorns...

Relatively recently (August 26, 1991) the holy relics of Tikhon of Zadonsk were solemnly returned to Zadonsk. Thousands of people took part in this significant event. A beautiful sunny day, a flower-strewn road to the monastery, a majestic procession towards newfound faith and spirituality... Is it not through the prayers of the saints of God that our souls begin to see the light?! How long have we tried to “extinguish in our souls the feeling of God, the memory of God, the idea of ​​the Divine, the sacred, the gracious, the super-sensually otherworldly; take away the citizen’s need for prayer; every light of spiritual perfection and every ray of holiness" ( AND. Ilyin). And yet the “national deception” failed, and the triumph of the Christian spirit once again finds its true reality.

Before we begin to describe miraculous healings, let us first become familiar with some aspects of the moral character of St. Tikhon, relating, in particular, to his Trans-Don period of life. All biographers emphasized his exceptional simplicity in everyday life, clothing, and manners. He sold almost all of his rich attire required by his rank (a silk dress, warm and cold cassocks and cassocks with warm fur, etc., the attire required for the rank of bishop, as well as a feather bed with pillows, blankets, a silver pocket watch, etc.), giving the money to the poor. He always dressed simply. “He who lives in idleness constantly sins,” was his favorite saying.

He loved to work in the monastery garden to the best of his ability, mowing the grass and chopping wood himself. Access to the saint was open to everyone. Doing good was his favorite thing, especially if it could be done secretly. The saint’s cell attendant later wrote in his memoirs: “He loved to do charity so much that on the day when he had more poor people coming and when he gave out more money and other things, that evening he was more joyful and cheerful, and if on what day there were few petitioners, or no one at all; that evening was more deplorable.” And the cell attendant also said: “I will boldly say that he, at the call of the saint, had a blind eye and a lame leg: his doors were always open for everyone who came, and everyone (whoever came) found food, drink and peace ready with him.” . St. Tikhon himself loved to care for the sick, feeding them tea with medicinal infusion; comforting, encouraging, praying for them, and soon, as a rule, the desired recovery came. A case is described when one of the inhabitants of the monastery caught a severe cold, fell ill and was already dying. But through the prayer of the saint he quickly recovered. Possessing the gift of insight and foresight, the saint accurately predicted the victory of Russia in the future war with the French, as well as the great flood in St. Petersburg. There is a known case when St. Tikhon approached the little grandson of the old man Rostovtsev and, stroking the boy on the head, suddenly said: “Get ready, Sasha, to the heavenly Jerusalem, get ready, my dear, to the heavenly fatherland.” Three days later, the previously healthy boy died.

It was clear to him when it would end earthly path(up to the day of the week) and that he will be canonized. To the question of how he sees the inner in a person, the saint once answered (to a certain Nikandr Aleksandrovich): “You need to improve your inner eyes, then the outer ones will open. Throw, for example, a handful of wheat into a glass of water, and look - the grains are visible. So our thoughts are visible to the seer.”

The day of the celebration of the Nativity of Christ in 1779 was the last day he left his cells for church. In a night dream, he saw a beautiful crystal building, and someone’s voice asked: “Is it good here?”, to which the saint replied: “Very good,” feeling great joy. “In three years, you too can enter here,” he was told in the same dream, “now go and work.” For another three years, without leaving his cell, the elder will continue his spiritual labors. His earthly sojourn will end by midnight from August 12 to 13, 1783. “His death was so peaceful, as if he had fallen asleep,” his cell attendant would later write. Despite his considerable pension (500 rubles a year) and rich donations, he left behind only 14 rubles 50 kopecks in total cash, and he bequeathed even that to the poor. Nevertheless, he used his funds to help the needy poor, the disadvantaged and the offended. This was a truly holy life, and that is why miraculous healings became possible, some of which are recorded and will be given below.

The first discovery of the saint's incorruptible relics took place in 1845, when construction work was underway on the construction of a new temple designed by the architect Ton. The old temple had to be demolished. Despite being in a damp grave for 63 years, the relics of St. Tikhon turned out to be incorrupt, which was certified by Archbishop Anthony of Voronezh, Archimandrite Seraphim of Zadonsk and others. But only 16 years later did the official ceremony of opening the incorruptible body and canonization take place. This happened on August 13, 1861. In one of the books dedicated to the saint, the following description of this event appears: “The abundance of God’s grace was visible and tangible to everyone. It often happened to see how several people carried a paralytic, sick or possessed person, some with cramped arms, legs, or other parts of the body damaged, to the shrine of St. Tikhon, and as soon as the sufferer was applied to the saint. relics, - recovery was sent to him from above. Miracles were performed publicly, in the eyes of everyone, and no one could doubt the reality of the healings: they were so obvious and amazing!”

Indeed, there were many miracles that day: “many sick people recovered, some who were blind from birth received their sight, and the dumb received the gift of speech.” According to eyewitnesses: “miracles were performed not only at his tomb, but also everywhere, wherever the saint was called for help...”. “The sick were healed with one promise to venerate Saint Tikhon, or during the service of a requiem mass at his tomb, or by anointing with oil from the lamp that was over his tomb; others were delivered from an unforeseen mortal danger with one prayerful call on the saint for help. Many, before healing, suffered from such serious illnesses that the most skilled doctors recognized them as hopeless for recovery. Seeing their sick then healthy, they declared in writing that their healing could only follow by the grace of God, above all medical benefits.”

Below is only a small part of the truly recorded cases of healing, the description of some of them is abbreviated, others are given verbatim:

Healing from dropsy of nun Kashkina, Kaluga Kazan nunnery, daughter of Major General.

Sofya Dmitrievna Kashkina suffered from this serious illness for 6 years and was healed after visiting Zadonsk and praying to St. Tikhon. The healed woman herself left these notes on this matter: “For six years I was sick with a watery disease that was in my stomach and legs, for which I received a lot of treatment, but did not receive recovery. Seeing that my illness was increasing more and more, I had great zeal to go to Zadonsk, to pray to the saint of God, Bishop. Tikhon. Upon arrival there, through the prayers of the saint and the grace of God (September 1), I received complete healing from a six-year-old water illness, which apparently disappeared within 24 hours (which was witnessed by a Zadonsk resident from the nobility, Tatyana Fedorovna Karpova), and now I, Since that date, I have not felt the slightest swelling or heaviness, by the grace of the Most High Creator and saint of God, St. Tikhon.”

This case certainly deserves attention; its “miraculousness” is also confirmed by the written testimony of the doctor who treated Ms. Kashkina, which is given below:

“1845, the daughter of a major general, the girl Sofya Dmitrievna Kashkina, was in a sick condition for several years and was treated during all this time by different cities. doctors, invited me to investigate her illness, which I found in the following form: the patient suffered from a clear hardening of the liver, accompanied by a disorder in the digestive and thoracic organs, as a result of which water disease formed in the abdomen and chest, reaching such a stage of development that it threatened danger regarding life... In such a terrible situation, Mrs. Kashkina went to the city of Zadonsk to venerate Saint Tikhon, where she stayed for several days. Upon returning from Zadonsk, Mrs. Kashkina announced to me that at the tomb of St. Tikhon she was honored to receive healing from her illnesses and now feels completely healthy, and indeed, after a thorough medical examination, it was found that the hardening of her liver and respiratory organs were completely destroyed and digestion were found in an ordinary natural state, there were no signs of water disease and in general there was not a trace left of those painful disorders from which she suffered so much and for so long. So, taking into account everything that has been said above, I conclude with full confidence that the healing of Mrs. Kashkina from such severe painful attacks could have followed solely by the grace of God and above all physical and medical laws. That this certificate, as a result of the request of Mrs. Kashkina, was given fairly, in accordance with the rules of medical science and the duty of the oath, I certify with my signature with the application of the state seal of the Kaluga province. Meshovsky district, medical surgeon, court councilor Orlinsky, November 1847, 14 days.”

So, judging by the testimony of Dr. Orlinsky, Ms. Kashkina apparently suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, complicated by ascites. Doctors know well how serious the prognosis of this disease is. All the more striking is the fact of the above miraculous healing, reflected in the case of a specially created commission on behalf of St. Synod.

Healing from demonic possession. Modern medicine regards these patients as suffering from hysteria, but does not provide convincing explanations for some of the features of the course of the disease and the specificity of a number of characteristic points. So, it is completely unclear why these people begin to experience such hostility towards everything that concerns Christian shrines (they are turned away from church, cannot stand divine services, prayers, are sometimes unable to perform sign of the cross And so on).

1. Below is just one description of the miraculous healing from demonic possession, identified in the case of the commission of St. Synod No. 7. Despite the brevity of the description, most of the characteristic points inherent in demonic possession are visible in the text.

   “The city of Yelets merchant wife Pelageya Gavrilov was healthy before her marriage; but after marriage, when she was 16 years old, she soon began to be possessed, and especially when she spoke about something holy, or when she saw something related to a clergy person or object; moreover, she fell into unconsciousness and, according to the assurance of others, moreover, it happened, she screamed at that time in different voices and tormented herself with her hands; so two or three strong man they could barely hold her. After these attacks, which lasted for two hours, relaxation usually followed. She was in such a painful situation for two years; in 1835, her relatives took her to Voronezh, but the seizures continued, then, when a memorial service for St. Tikhon was celebrated in Zadonsk and she received Holy Communion. Sacraments, the seizures stopped and have not resumed to this day.”

Healing from severe bleeding.“The wife of official Martynov, who lives in Zadonsk, began to continuously suffer from bleeding during pregnancy, from which she became so weak that she could not walk around the room without help and gave birth prematurely. dead child. After giving birth, this disease was accompanied by constant swelling of the legs and fever in the mouth. The sick woman turned to the saint with prayer and after many prayers at home, finally in October she went to the monastery church and there she prayed to him fervently, after which she fell asleep and had a dream in which some monk told her to pray more to Saint Tikhon and that he would help her, when she woke up she felt completely healthy.”

Healing from severe paralysis.“The ryassophore novice of the Zadonsk monastery Cassian, formerly called Ivan Solovyov, a former peasant of the Tula landowner, Efremov district, village of Alekseevka, lieutenant Anna Mikhailovna Leontyeva, on January 11, 1851, was struck by paralysis so that for three years he was without memory, mute, insanity and didn't own right hand. Six weeks after the onset of the illness, control of the hand returned, but dumbness remained and mental abilities were impaired; The doctor declared this condition incurable.” A miraculous healing occurred in Zadonsk the same year, on June 6th. After drinking a little oil in front of the tomb of St. Tikhon, the patient recovered.

Healing children. A peasant boy, “Vasily Goloshubov, until the age of 5 could not say anything, although he listened. His parents wanted to teach him to say: “Lord, have mercy,” but were unsuccessful. When they made a vow to go to Zadonsk and venerate the tomb of the saint of God, the boy began to pronounce these words: when they fulfilled their vow, they came to the tomb and prayed to St. Tikhon, they put the boy to the coffin, then he began to say everything, and the parents glorified God.”

Healing from cholera. This miraculous healing from such a terrible disease occurred through the prayer of the wife of the merchant of the 3rd guild Ardalion Mikhailov Lyapin, when he was already in a state of crisis. It is not possible to explain the healing by a coincidence (if it really was cholera, which was rampant at that time).

In addition to the above cases, the monastery book mentions healings from inflammatory diseases, eye diseases, hemorrhoids, growths in the area of ​​the right nostril, hysterical seizures and other diseases.

Respect, love and veneration of St. Tikhon was so great in Russia that, for example, in one place they even erected a monument to him (on the estate of the actual Privy Councilor I.V. Lopukhin near Moscow). The monument depicted a burning candle as a symbol of the hot and pure love of St. Tikhon to God. Even now, people’s love for the saints of God, the saints and righteous people of our land will not become scarce.

PRAYER TO ST. TIKHON

“O great Pleasant of God and glorious Wonderworker, Our Hierarch Tikhon!

With tenderness, we bend our knees and fall before the race of your honorable and multi-healing relics, we praise, glorify and magnify God, who glorified you and showed great mercy to us unworthy in you, and who diligently, with faith and love, honors your holy memory, we pray to you: bring our prayer to the all-containing the Lord who saves mankind, and now you stand before Him as an Angel and with all the Saints, so that He may establish Him in His holy more Orthodox than the Church the living spirit of right faith and piety, and all its members, purified from wisdom and superstition, worship Him in spirit and truth, and are diligently concerned about keeping His commandments, may its shepherd give holy zeal for the salvation of the people entrusted to them - the right of believers and to observe, Strengthen the weak and infirm in the faith, instruct the ignorant, and reprove the contrary.

And again, with hope, like the children of our father, we pray to you, Saint Tikhon, for we believe that you, living in heaven, love us with the same love with which you loved all your neighbors, so that you may remain on earth forever, ask the all-merciful Lord and give us all a gift that is beneficial to everyone and everything that is useful for the temporal and eternal life, peace, peace of our cities, fruitfulness of the earth, deliverance from famine and destruction, preservation from the invasion of foreigners, prosperity to the afflicted, blessing to parents, children in distress The Lord's upbringing and teaching, knowledge and piety by a mentor, admonition to the ignorant, help and intercession to the orphaned, poor and needy, departing from this temporary life to eternal good preparation and guidance, departing from blessed rest. All of these, especially, ask us, Saint Tikhon, from the Generous God, for you have great boldness towards Him: for you are the owner of the ever-present intercessor and warm prayer book for us before the Lord, to whom all glory, honor and worship is due, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit , now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen".

Many healings occurred on the day the elder’s relics were found. The reliquary with the incorruptible relics of the saint gathered a lot of people, and everyone could see with their own eyes how, by venerating the relics, the most seriously ill patients were healed: the blind gained sight, the deaf began to hear, and the tongue-tied instantly got rid of speech defects; mental illness.

The holy image of Tikhon of Zadonsk helped to get rid of protracted, advanced, and complex illnesses. A nun, who had suffered from dropsy, cirrhosis of the liver, and ascites for 6 years, came to Zadonsk to pray to the saint, and within 24 hours her illness, so firmly rooted in her body, disappeared.

Hand of Tikhon of Zadonsk
(Photo from the site svt-georg.orthodoxy.ru)

Tikhon often appeared to those asking for recovery in a dream. After giving birth to a stillborn child with heavy bleeding, a woman recovered just like that. She for a long time I prayed to Tikhon both at home and in church. After a monk appeared to her in a dream, to her surprise, she woke up absolutely healthy.

Having consumed the blessed oil over the tomb of Tikhon of Zadonsk, a Tula peasant was healed from three years of severe paralysis. The parents of a 5-year-old boy made a promise to Saint Tikhon to venerate his tomb if he would help their child get rid of speech problems. After his parents’ vow, the boy began to speak individual words, and when he visited Zadonsk with his parents, all speech difficulties stopped.

Prayerful appeals to Tikhon of Zadonsk for help even led to healing from cholera. Thus, through fervent prayers, the loving wife achieved the recovery of her already dying husband. There are numerous healings with the help of St. Tikhon from severe inflammatory diseases, vision problems, and hysteria.

To this day, the holy spring of Tikhon of Zadonsk attracts many people suffering from eye diseases. Vision problems go away almost instantly after praying to the saint. There is a known case when Tikhon appeared little boy who was losing his sight due to an undiagnosed disorder. In a dream, the child began to cry, and when he woke up, he opened his eyes and realized that he could now see and that his illness had passed.

A woman with a growth in her lower eyelid listened to the doctors’ disappointing forecasts: the growth was growing, and the eye was about to lose its functions. Arriving in Zadonsk, the woman wiped her eye with a blanket from the saint’s tombstone - and miraculously the formation disappeared from the century.

Tikhon Zadonsky. Icon
(Image from pravoslavie.ru)

With their last hope they turned to Tikhon Zadonsky to heal panic attacks, frightening visions and mental disorders. One young girl experienced these conditions very acutely, and every day her suffering increased threefold. The patient's seizures lasted for several hours, and their source remained unknown to the doctors. In the intervals between attacks, Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk appeared in the dreams of the girl, as well as her mother. It was his image that the woman asked a nun she knew to bring.

Touching the image of the saint only slightly reduced the strength of the girl’s attacks, but her calming was obvious. Subsequently, the patient was taken to the monastery to the tomb of the saint. After staying in the monastery for several weeks, the girl began to feel better, but her illness did not leave her, periodically returning in the form of terrible attacks. Only after a year of diligent prayers to the mother of the suffering girl, an old man appeared in a dream, saying that she had only one doctor, and she should ask him for recovery. A second trip to Tikhon’s tomb and sincere prayers over the relics finally freed the girl from seizures that never returned. After being healed from fits of rage, the exhausted woman, having spent two days at the relics of Tikhon of Zadonsk, gained so much strength that she was able to walk more than 24 miles to her home.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk is one of the largest theologians of the Russian Church, and in a truly patristic sense - theology from his own experience. Tikhon Zadonsky had to live in the 18th century - the century of atheism par excellence, where faith was understood as an ethnographic feature common people. In Russia, this was complicated by the deep decline of the Church after Peter's reforms. Averintsev called Tikhon Zadonsky “the main Russian Christologist,” and indeed the figure of the Savior, especially the suffering one, occupies a central place in the works of Tikhon Zadonsky. Other characteristic his creativity - fear for the future of Christianity, an understanding of atheism not just as a sin, but as something fundamental in the destinies of Europe. Dostoevsky was fascinated by his work: Elder Zosima (especially his theology) was copied, often verbatim, from Tikhon of Zadonsk, and not from Optintsev, as is often thought.

Childhood and study.

The future saint was born in 1724 into the family of the poorest clergyman in the village of Korotsk (Valdai district). In the world his name was Timofey Savelyevich Kirillov. Upon entering the Theological School, according to the custom of that time, the surname was changed: he began to sign himself Sokolovsky or Sokolov.

The father died early and the mother was left with six children: Timofey had 3 brothers and 2 sisters. The family remained in such poverty that one day the mother decided to give her youngest son to a rich coachman who wanted to adopt him. Her eldest son, Peter, who took his father’s place as clerk, begged her not to do this. "We'll teach Tim to read,- he said, - and he will be a sexton somewhere!” But the years passed, and Timofey often worked for the peasants all day for one piece of black bread.

In 1735, a decree of Empress Anna Ioannovna was issued, ordering that all dropout children of representatives of the clergy be recruited as soldiers. This prompted his relatives to send Timofey to Novgorod religious school. His mother, already ill, took him, and soon died in Novgorod. Thanks to his older brother Peter, who served as a sexton in Novgorod and took him into his custody, in 1738 Timofey was enrolled in the school. Two years later, he was admitted to the newly established Theological Seminary, one of 200 candidates, out of a total of 1000, as the most capable of science, at public expense. From that time on, he began to receive free bread and boiling water. “It used to be that when I received bread, I would keep half for myself, and sell the other and buy a candle, with which I would sit at the stove and read a book. My comrades, the children of rich fathers, will find the furnaces of my bast shoes and begin to laugh at me and wave their bast shoes at me, saying: “We magnify you, holy saint!”

Timofey studied at the seminary for almost 14 years, since there was an acute shortage of teachers. Despite all the difficulties, Timothy was one of the best students at the seminary. He excelled so much in Greek that he began teaching it at the same seminary without even graduating! After graduation, he was a teacher of rhetoric and philosophy for some time. But Timothy did not want to marry and get a position as a priest, no matter how much his family tried to persuade him.

He later said that two incidents especially turned his mind and will. One day, standing on the monastery bell tower, he touched the railing, and it collapsed. high altitude, so he barely had time to lean back. The danger he experienced gave him a vivid feeling of the proximity of death and the perishability of everything momentary. Another time, he experienced the feeling of God’s closeness one night. I went out to the porch to freshen up a little. “Suddenly the heavens opened up,- he said, - and I saw such a light that it is impossible to say with a mortal tongue and to grasp with the mind. It was on a short time, and the heavens rose in their form. From this wonderful vision I developed a more ardent desire for a solitary life...”

Monasticism and ordination to the episcopacy.

In 1758 he was tonsured a monk with the name Tikhon. The following year he was appointed rector of the Tver Seminary, where he lectured on moral theology. Moreover, he read them in Russian, and not in Latin, as was customary before him. In addition to students, many strangers came to his lectures. But a new, even higher field awaited him...

In 1761, on Easter Day, in St. Petersburg, members of the Holy Synod elected a bishop to Novgorod. One of seven candidates had to be chosen by lot. The Smolensk bishop proposed to also attribute the name of the Tver rector Tikhon. The first present of the Synod said: "Still young...", who wanted to make Tikhon archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, but wrote down his name. The lot was cast three times and each time Tikhon's lot fell out. “That’s right, God wants him to be a bishop.”- said the Prime Present. On the same day of Tver, His Eminence Athanasius, against his will, remembered him, still an archimandrite, on the Cherubim Song as a bishop: “ May the Lord God remember your bishopric in His Kingdom.”, - and only then, noticing his slip of the tongue, he added with a smile: “God grant you to be a bishop.”

In great excitement, Bishop Tikhon entered Novgorod, the city in which he spent his youth. There he found his older sister living in great poverty. He received her with brotherly love, wanted to take care of her, but she soon died. The saint performed the funeral service for her, and in the grave the sister smiled at him. In Novgorod her grave was revered.

Voronezh department.

In 1763 he was transferred to the Voronezh department. The Voronezh diocese, from Orel to the Black Sea, at that time was one of the most difficult for church administration and was considered “wild”.

Catherine's reign began with the confiscation of church estates into the treasury. Monasteries and bishops' houses were assigned extremely meager maintenance, which is why they fell into disrepair. The bishop's house in Voronezh completely collapsed, the cathedral was destroyed, the broken bells did not ring. Catherine's government was more tolerant of schismatics and sectarians. The schismatics were freed from the double per capita salary, churches of the same faith began to emerge and schismatic centers were formed in Moscow. The sects of the Doukhobors, Molokans, Khlysty, and Skoptsy flourished in Ukraine. There were many schismatics in Voronezh diocese. There were also a lot of Cossacks and fugitives there. The people are all rowdy and dissolute. The French freethinking ideas of Voltaire and the encyclopedists were widespread among the upper classes. Russian society was poorly educated and picked up fashionable ideas without criticism and followed them blindly, sometimes to the point of caricature. Blasphemy and stupid antics against the Church were considered a sign of an educated, progressive person. Anyone who did not preach atheism was considered an ossified fanatic and a hypocrite. Even on the way to Voronezh, the saint felt very bad; and having arrived and seeing confusion and impoverishment, he asked the Holy Synod to retire him. The Synod did not respect this request, and the saint meekly bore his cross.

He spent only 4 years and 7 months at the Voronezh department, but his activity as an administrator, teacher and good shepherd was great. He traveled around a huge diocese, almost all covered with dense forests or steppe, often just on horseback. First of all, he set about training the clergy, who were uneducated and careless to the extreme. It’s hard to believe that the priests not only didn’t know the service, but didn’t even know how to read properly and didn’t have the Gospel! The saint immediately ordered that, after checking, those who did not know the services and readings should be sent to him. He ordered everyone to have in their hands New Testament and read it with reverence and diligence.

He preached a lot, including especially for the clergy, calling for this purpose teachers from the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy, publishing books and sending them to the district towns of the diocese. Vladyka constantly participated in the education of future archpastors, opening Slavic schools in all cities, and then establishing two theological schools in Ostrogozhsk and Yelets. In 1765, through his works, the Voronezh Slavic-Latin school was transformed into a theological seminary. At the same time, the bishop was the first to prohibit corporal punishment of clergy in his diocese.

In the very first year of his priestly ministry in Voronezh, Bishop Tikhon wrote a short sermon "On the Seven Holy Mysteries." Then came the work “Addition to the priestly office of the mystery of holy repentance.” This work is of particular interest because in it the saint teaches two approaches to constructing a confession for the laity: feeling a person’s deep repentance and contrition for his sins, the clergyman must encourage and console him, reminding him of God’s mercy and forgiveness in order to prevent the penetration of despondency in his heart. Otherwise, the priest needs, on the contrary, to remind the person of judgment, of posthumous reward, in order to awaken in him regret for sins.

He taught the people to honor God's temple and priests, and from the rich and noble he demanded mercy towards the poor. And morals began to soften. The saint called public festivities, immodest games, and drunken fun on holidays a fire that devastates souls.

In menacing sermons he denounced the excesses of Maslenitsa and especially the pagan holiday “Yarilo”. This holiday began on Wednesday after Trinity and lasted until Tuesday of Peter's Lent. On Wednesday, from early morning, people from Voronezh and surrounding villages walked to the square outside the Moscow Gate, where fair booths with various baits were set up. A young man in a paper cap, decorated with bells, ribbons and flowers, with a whitened and rouged face, portrayed Yarilo. He danced a frantic dance, and behind him a drunken crowd danced and raged. All this was accompanied by fights and swearing. And then one day - it was May 30, 1765 - in the midst of the ugliness, the saint unexpectedly appeared on the square and, menacingly denouncing the “stinking” holiday, threatened with excommunication. He spoke with such prophetic power and fiery persuasiveness that in an instant, right there, in front of the saint’s eyes, the crowd tore the booths and shops to pieces and sedately went home. The following Sunday, the saint preached a denunciatory sermon in the cathedral, during which the entire church groaned and sobbed loudly. And after that, many people came to the Vladyka in his country house and, on their knees, repented with tears. The Yarile holiday was never repeated.

For poor and needy people to St. Tikhon always had free access. He called the poor (according to Chrysostom) Christ’s and his brethren. The people loved their shepherd. They said about him: “We must obey him, otherwise he will complain to God.”

At rest

Meanwhile, the intense labors upset the health of Saint Tikhon. He asked to be dismissed from his position and spent the last 16 years (1767-1783) of his life in retirement in the Zadonsky Monastery.

General view of the Tikhonovsky male monastery. Lithograph from 1915

All of his time, with the exception of 4-5 hours of rest, was devoted to prayer, reading the word of God, doing charity work and composing soul-helping essays. Every day he came to the temple. At home, he often fell to his knees and, shedding tears, like the worst sinner, cried out: “Lord have mercy. Lord have mercy!" Without fail, every day he read several chapters from Holy Scripture(especially the prophet Isaiah), and I never went on the road without a small Psalter. His entire 400-ruble pension went to charity, and everything he received as a gift from friends went there. Often, in simple monastic clothes, he went to the nearest city (Elets) and visited prisoners in the local prison. He consoled them, encouraged them to repent and then gave them alms. He himself was extremely non-covetous, living among the simplest and poorest surroundings. Sitting down at a meager table, he often thought about the poor who did not have food like him and began to reproach himself for the fact that, in his opinion, he had worked little for the Church. Here bitter tears began to flow from his eyes.

The saint's character was hot-tempered, irritable and prone to arrogance. He had to work hard to overcome these qualities in himself. He fervently cried out to the Lord God for help and began to excel in meekness and gentleness. When he heard, passing by, how the monastery servants or the abbot sometimes mocked him, he said to himself: “This is how God pleases, and I am worthy of this for my sins”.

One day he was sitting on the porch of his cell and was tormented by thoughts of conceit. Suddenly the holy fool Kamenev, surrounded by a crowd of boys, unexpectedly ran up to him and hit him on the cheek, whispering in his ear: “Don’t be arrogant!” And a wonderful thing, the saint immediately felt how the demon of arrogance retreated from him. In gratitude for this, Saint Tikhon decided to give the holy fool three kopecks daily.

Another time, in the house of an acquaintance, he entered into a conversation with a Voltairian nobleman and meekly, but so strongly refuted the atheist in everything that the proud man could not stand it and, forgetting himself, hit the saint on the cheek. Saint Tikhon threw himself at his feet and began to ask for forgiveness for causing him irritation. This humility of the saint had such an effect on the daring offender that he turned to the Orthodox faith and later became a good Christian.

But the most difficult temptation for the saint was unaccountable melancholy and despondency. At such moments, it seems that the Lord retreats from a person, that everything is plunged into impenetrable darkness, that the heart turns to stone, and prayer stops. There is a feeling that the Lord does not hear, that the Lord turns away His Face. Such a graceless state is unbearably painful, so that monks in such periods move from one monastery to another, and often completely abandon the monastic feat. The saint struggled with attacks of despondency using various means. Or he worked physically, digging beds, chopping wood, mowing grass, or leaving the monastery, or working hard on his compositions, or singing psalms. Often it helped in such moments of grief to communicate with friends whom he visited for a long time, sometimes for three months or more. The friends who dispersed the clouds of Saint Tikhon’s spiritual sadness were Schemamonk Mitrofan, the Yelets merchant Kuzma Ignatievich and the elder Theophan, whom the saint called “Theophan, my joy.” The unwise, kind and naive old man often consoled Saint Tikhon with his childish clarity and simplicity of conversation. But sometimes the despondency was excessive.

One day, despondency fell upon the saint, reaching the point of despair; this happened in the 6th week of Great Lent. For eight days he did not leave his cell, did not take food or drink. Finally I wrote to Kuzma to come immediately. He was alarmed and, despite the spring thaw and high water, he arrived immediately. Both the love of a friend, who responded to the call at the risk of his life, and the conversation with him completely calmed the saint. And then an incident occurred that all the biographers of Saint Tikhon mention: he unexpectedly entered Father Mitrofan’s cell and found him and Kuzma Ignatievich at dinner. Both were extremely embarrassed, since they ate fish soup and fish aspic during the Lenten time, which was not prescribed by the rules. The saint not only reassured them with the words “Love is higher than fasting,” but also tasted the fish soup himself, which moved them to tears.

In retirement, Saint Tikhon wrote his best spiritual works. The fruit of his reflections on nature and people, which Saint Tikhon completed in retirement, were “Spiritual Treasure, Gathered from the World” (1770) And “On True Christianity” (1776).

Saint Tikhon carefully concealed his grace-filled gifts of insight and miracle-working. He could clearly see the thoughts of his interlocutor, predicted the flood of 1777 in St. Petersburg, and in 1778, the year of the birth of Emperor Alexander I, predicted many events of his reign and, in particular, that Russia would be saved, and the Invader (Napoleon) would die.

Demise

Saint Tikhon devoted the last years of his life to prayer and almost complete solitude, preparing for death. Three years before his death, he prayed every day: “Tell me, Lord, my death.” And a quiet voice at dawn said: "On the day of the week." After this he was told in a dream: "Work hard for three more years".

The saint had clothes and a coffin prepared for his death: he often came to cry over his coffin, which stood hidden from people in a closet: “This is what man has brought himself to: being created by God immaculate and immortal, like cattle burrowing into the ground!”

Shortly before his death, he saw in a dream a high ladder that he had to climb and many people following him and supporting him. He realized that this ladder marked his path to the Kingdom of Heaven, and the people were those who listened to him and would remember him.

The saint died on Sunday, as was announced to him, at the 59th year of his life August 13, 1783. “His death was so calm that I seemed to fall asleep.” The funeral service was performed by his close friend, the bishop Voronezh Tikhon(Malinin). Saint Tikhon was buried in the Zadonsk Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery.

Zadonsky Bogoroditsky monastery

Zadonsky Bogoroditsky Monastery, now called the Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery diocesan monastery, was founded at the beginning of the 17th century. Two pious elders-schemamonks of the Sretensky Moscow Monastery, Kirill and Gerasim, arrived on the banks of the Don River with the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God and founded a monastery here. The first temple they built in 1630 was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is where the history of the monastery begins, which later gained the glory of Russian Jerusalem.

Zadonsky Nativity of the Theotokos Monastery, Cathedral Vladimir icon Mother of God

A few years later, Saint Tikhon appeared in a dream to Schemamonk Mitrofan and said to him: "God wants to glorify me". The incorrupt relics of St. Tikhon were found in 1845, and on August 12, 1861 he was canonized. During the years of Soviet power, the holy relics of Tikhon of Zadonsk were confiscated. Their second acquisition took place in 1991. Nowadays the relics of the saint rest in the Bogoroditsky monastery in the city of Zadonsk, Lipetsk region.

7 Testaments of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk

Based on materials from the Russian Seven portal (

1. Look for happiness in grief

More than once in his writings, Saint Tikhon emphasized the importance of victory over oneself, calling precisely this victory the true happiness of a Christian. “Pride is overcome by humility, anger by meekness and patience, hatred by love”... If you remember this high goal, it becomes clear how the saint managed to rejoice in numerous disasters - after all, they helped him see the evil that lies in his heart, and therefore overcome it . We also read from Dostoevsky the words of Elder Zosima: “Life will bring you many misfortunes, but they will make you happy...”

2. Look for God everywhere

There is no place where God is not present, and it is useful to remember this. On the one hand, so that it would be a shame to sin, on the other hand, so as not to seek approval from anyone but Him: “He is in every place, but is not confined by a place: He is with me and with you, and with every person. Although we do not see Him as an invisible spirit, we often feel Him present in our sorrows, helping in temptations, comforting in sorrows, awakening spiritual and holy contritions, desires, movements and thoughts, revealing sins in our conscience, sending us sorrows for our benefit, comforting the repentant and mourning. Man does everything he does before Him, speaks before Him, thinks before Him - good or evil.”

3. About the stupidity of sin

Sin is terrible, dark and... stupid. After all, if you look at it with clear eyes, you will see how you gain nothing by doing it: “Every person sins and thereby punishes himself! His sin itself is his execution. He offends another - and is offended himself, offends - and is offended, embitters - and becomes embittered, beats - and is beaten, kills - and is killed, deprives - and is deprived of, slanderes - and is slandered, condemns - and is condemned, blasphemes - and is blasphemed, scolds - and is mocked, deceives - and is seduced, deceives - and is deceived, humiliates - and is humiliated, laughs - and is ridiculed. In a word, no matter what evil he does to his neighbor, he does greater evil to himself. So the sinner fills himself with the measure that he measures for his neighbor in abundance!”
“To sin is a human thing, but to persist in sin is a devilish thing,”- wrote Tikhon of Zadonsky, giving hope to the repentant and frightening sinners.

4. Think before you become a boss

Bosses are a topic that is both simple and complex, open and delicate at the same time. It is difficult for a boss, but it is necessary to be a real Christian, conquering his passions. “It is bad and unthinkable to command people, but to be dominated by passions,”- writes the saint. The boss needs reason and a good conscience so as not to be like a blind man, without a path, and to create, and not ruin, society. “Honor changes human character, but rarely for the better. Many would be saints if they were not in honor. Think about this, Christian, and do not take on a burden beyond your strength.” Tikhon Zadonsky calls the covetous people the biggest pests of society, saying that they are more terrible than foreign enemies. “The duty of leaders is to save, not to destroy.”

5. Don't look down on yourself

Boss or non-boss, it’s not easy for everyone to see themselves, to find and not be afraid to look into the depths of their conscience. Especially now, when many theories are intertwined without any system in a person’s head, and he knows how to look at everything from ten angles. Saint Tikhon is here, like many holy fathers, for his simplicity. And to make it simple, he gives a clear metaphor: "How with high mountain those looking at the valley often do not see the ditches, pits, and sewage flowing through them; this also happens to the highly intelligent. They, looking down on themselves, see only their surface, and do not see the disgusting impurities of their hearts, often secret, but no less ugly and vile.”

6. Measure strength by temptations

The saint advises those who have severe temptations to rejoice, because God will not allow a person to be tempted beyond his strength. If temptations increase, this may mean that a person is growing stronger spiritually and can take on more. This can mean God's attention and His love. “The master hits a crystal or glass vessel lightly so that it does not break, but he hits silver and copper ones firmly; So the weak are given easy temptations, but the strong are allowed the most grievous temptation.”

7. Learn true love

It seems that both troubles and happiness, according to St. Tikhon, are a sign of God’s love for man. And if a person loves Him in return, then he loves everything that the Lord loved. And that means every person. “This is true love - to love without any selfishness and to do good without hope of reward,”- writes Tikhon Zadonsky. And he adds about joy: “A clear sign of God’s love is heartfelt joy in God. For what we love, we rejoice in. Yes and God's love cannot be without joy.” It is not for nothing that people pray to this bright and loving shepherd in despondency and for a cure for depression, asking him to teach a person to rejoice in God.

Troparion, tone 8
From my youth I loved ece Christ, blessed one, you were an image in word, life, love, spirit, faith, purity and humility; In the same way, and dwell in the Heavenly abodes, where you stand before the Throne of the Most Holy Trinity, pray to Saint Tikhon for our souls to be saved.

Another troparion, tone 4
A teacher of Orthodoxy, a teacher of piety, a preacher of repentance, a zealot of Chrysostom, a good shepherd, new Russia O luminary and wonderworker, thou hast provided for the good of thy flock, and thou hast taught us all with thy writings; decorated with the same crown of incorruption from the Chief Shepherd, pray to Him to save our souls.

Kontakion, tone 8
The successor of the apostles, the adornment of the saints, the teacher of the Orthodox Church, the Lady of all, pray to grant greater peace to the universe and great mercy to our souls.

THE LIFE OF ST. TIKHON, BISHOP OF VORONEZH

When describing the lives of Russian saints, the appearance of saints of God on the Russian land is comforting and encouraging for our hearts, clearly proving that God’s grace has not failed for us either, always replenishing what is lacking in the weak human nature. And what a triumph for the Orthodox Church, glorified by its faithful sons! The Lord crowned them with crowns of incorruption as evidence of their exploits and the right confession of that Church, which to this day is the pillar and affirmation of the truth.

Origin of St. Tikhon is the most wretched: his father Savely Kirillov was a sexton in the Novgorod province, in the village of Koretsk (Korotsk) of the Valdai district, and left behind a widow with five young children. The future saint was born in 1724 and was named Timothy. Having lost his father in infancy, he was left in the care of his mother Domnika and his older brother Evfimy. “As I began to remember myself,” Saint Tikhon later recalled, “in the house of our mother (I don’t remember my father) there were four brothers and two sisters; The older brother was assigned to the position of sexton, but the middle brother was taken into military service, and we were still young and lived in great poverty...” In this situation, Timofey could hardly hope to receive a sufficient education even to fulfill the church position of sexton. A certain rich childless coachman fell in love with Timofey and wanted to adopt him. He repeatedly asked Domnik about this, promising to raise Timofey as his own son. Saint Tikhon recalled this: “My mother, although she refused him (the coachman) - she was sorry to give me up - but the extreme lack of food forced her to give me up... I remember well how, taking my hand, she led me to the coachman. The older brother was not at home at the time. When he returned, he asked his sister: “Where is mother?” She answered: “I took Tim to the coachman.” The brother, having caught up with his mother, knelt down in front of her and said: “Give him to the coachman - he will be a coachman. I’d rather go around the world with my bag, but I won’t give up my brother... I’ll try to teach him to read and write, then he can decide to join some church
to become a sexton or a sexton.” And mother returned home. Thus, the mysterious Providence of God guided the future great ascetic from his very adolescence. Brotherly love saved Tikhon, and it also prepared in him a worthy servant of the Church. But remaining in his parents’ house, he continued to languish under the yoke of severe poverty, eating only black bread, and then very abstinently. “When it used to be that there was nothing to eat at home,” he told the cell attendant in last years of my life, remembering my childhood, “I went for the whole day to harrow the land of some rich plowman, so that he would just feed me.” This is how Timofey worked, living in his parents’ house until he was fourteen years old.

In 1737, two decrees of Empress Anna Ioannovna were issued, which strictly ordered “to sort out the clergy children and send the extra ones, especially those who are not students, to military service.” In the Novgorod diocese, which did not have a bishop at that time, the implementation of these decrees was especially zealous.

The mother of the youth Timothy, due to extreme poverty from the previous crop failure, although she did not find enough funds to support her son
at theological school, but brought him to Novgorod for consideration by the authorities, hoping to save her son from military service. Her hopes almost remained in vain: Timofey had already been nominated for exclusion from the clergy for assignment to a military school, when his elder brother, who served as a cleric at one of the Novgorod churches, again took pity on him. Despite extreme poverty, he decided to take his brother into his support and begged the authorities to send him to a religious school. And on December 11, 1738, he was enrolled in the Novgorod Theological Slavic School at the bishop's house.

In 1740, through the efforts of the new Bishop of Novgorod Ambrose, the Slavic theological school was transformed into a theological seminary. Of the total thousand students of the theological school, Timofey, as one of the most capable of science, was transferred to the newly opened seminary and accepted into government pay. The authorities of the Novgorod Seminary awarded him new surname- Sokolovsky. Saint Tikhon later recalled his years of seminary life: “I continued my studies on the government kosht and suffered great need, due to the lack of what was needed for maintenance, and so it happened: when I receive government bread, then I will leave half of it for food for myself,
and I’ll sell the other half; I’ll buy a candle, sit on the stove with it and read a book. My comrades, the children of rich fathers, sometimes would find the heaps of my bast shoes and, laughing at me, would begin to wave them at me, saying: “We magnify you.” They also had the opportunity to burn incense for the bishop. Tikhon incense.

The young man, who always stood ahead of all his peers, successfully moved to the upper classes. He studied at the seminary for almost 14 years: two years in grammar and four years each in rhetoric, philosophy and theology. The long period of study is due to the fact that there was a shortage of teachers in the recently opened seminary.

In 1754, Timofey graduated from the seminary. One of the researchers characterizes the years of his stay in it as follows: “During the general enthusiasm for scholasticism, when in the very seminary that educated the saint, scholastic scholarship prevailed over everything, when there was no difference between word and deed, between thought and reality. almost nothing in common, when they talked about a lot and very well, but did very little or did nothing at all, Saint of Za-Donsk was a person completely alien to the indicated shortcomings and contradictions.” Timofey was appointed teacher first Greek language, then rhetoric and philosophy. The young teacher, distinguished by his extraordinary cordiality, modesty and pious life, was very much loved and respected by everyone - the students, the seminary authorities, and the Novgorod bishops.

During that period of his life, the future saint increasingly devoted his mind and heart to God, studying His wondrous ways and striving for monasticism and the thought of God. The providence of God prepared in him a valiant ascetic and a luminary of the Russian Church and, protecting him from danger, clearly pointed to his high destiny.

Saint Tikhon, by the grace of God, acquired the ability of special spiritual vision. One May night, Timothy left his cell and saw the heavens opening and a wondrous light. Soon after his vision, he finally decided to become a monk.

On April 16, 1758, on Lazarus Saturday, Timofey Sokolovsky was tonsured a monk with the name Tikhon. After tonsure, he was summoned to St. Petersburg, where Novgorod Bishop Dimitri (Sechenov) ordained Tikhon as a hierodeacon, and in the summer of the same year - as a hieromonk. In the same year, Hieromonk Tikhon began teaching philosophy and was appointed prefect of the seminary, but did not remain in this position for long. Bishop of Tver Afanasy (Volkhovsky), who knew well the talents and pious life of Father Tikhon, interceded
about his transfer to his diocese. By decree of the Holy Synod of August 26, 1759, Hieromonk Tikhon was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Tver Archbishop, who elevated him to the rank of archimandrite and appointed him rector of the Zheltikov Monastery. In the same year, Arch-Mandrite Tikhon was appointed rector of the Tver Seminary and abbot of the Otroch Monastery. At the same time, he was present in the spiritual consistory and a teacher of theology at the seminary.

Tikhon moved so quickly in the spiritual field, like a lamp that could not remain hidden. Many already knew his inner dignity, and the highest degree of episcopacy awaited him. He spent two years as rector, and the theology lessons he compiled for the students of his seminary served as the basis for his wonderful book about true Christianity, for the edification of the entire Russian Church, since he himself was completely imbued with the spirit of Holy Scripture and creations of our fathers. Tikhon, in his deep humility, never thought that he could ever achieve the degree of bishop, but the Providence of God mysteriously pointed him out to the supreme shepherds of the Russian Church.

Once on the day of Easter, at the Divine Liturgy, during the Cherubic Song, he, along with other presbyters, approached the bishop, who was taking out particles from the altar, and to his usual petition, “Remember me, holy master,” the Right Reverend Athanasius, having forgotten himself, answered: “Bishopric.” May the Lord God remember yours in His Kingdom.” The humble archimandrite was embarrassed, but the archpastor, smiling, said to him: “God grant you to be a bishop.” And on this very day, Metropolitan Dimitri, the leading member of the Synod, together
together with Bishop Epiphanius of Smolensk, they elected a vicar to Novgorod. The names of seven candidates had already been written, the choice of which should be decided by lot, when the Bishop of Smolensk asked to add to them the name of the Tver rector, and although the Metropolitan noticed that he was still young, he ordered it to be written down. They cast lots three times, and three times Tikhon's lot fell out. “Apparently God wants it this way,” said Demetrius, “although I didn’t think of appointing him there, but to the arch-man-d-rites of the Sergius Lavra.”

On May 13, 1761, Archimandrite Tikhon was consecrated Bishop of Kexholm and Ladoga, vicar of the Novgorod diocese, so that, while managing the Khutyn Monastery, he would be the vicar of the Archbishop of Novgorod. Thus, in the 37th year of his life, seven years after completing the seminary course and three years after accepting monasticism, Archimandrite Tikhon, by the will of God, was invested with the rank of bishop.

The people of Novgorod lovingly greeted their new shepherd, brought up
in their circle, whom they have long been accustomed to respect due to his monastic life. Many of his comrades who laughed at his bast shoes were already priests and deacons in Novgorod. With great embarrassment they presented themselves to their ruler, expecting reproaches from him, but Bishop Tikhon met them meekly, as Joseph once did to his brothers in Egypt, with a word of peace: “Do not be afraid, I am God’s.” Bishop Tikhon, smiling, recalled their childhood years: “You waved furnaces at me, and now you will wave censers,” and, seeing their embarrassment, he added, “I’m telling you this jokingly.” Sister Tikhon, who lived in Novgorod, saw the solemn meeting of her brother and did not dare to come to him, but he himself invited her the next day and they remembered with tears the difficult years of their childhood in extreme poverty. “You, dear, will never bore me,” Tikhon told her, “because I honor you as an older sister.” But she lived under the brotherly roof for no more than a month - he himself performed her funeral service.

The saint was destined to remain in Novgorod for a short time—a little more than a year. On February 3, 1763, after the death of Bishop Ioannikiy (Pavlutsky) of Voronezh and Yelets, he received a new appointment to the Voronezh see.

The Voronezh diocese, which, in addition to the Voronezh province, included some cities of the Tambov, Oryol and Kursk provinces, as well as the land of the Don Army, then needed transformations. Up to 800 churches and more than 800 thousand inhabitants made up the vast flock of St. Tikhon, but it was deprived of all material resources, because at that very time church property was taken away, and the salaries required by the new states had not yet been made. In vain did St. write about this. Tikhon addressed the secular and spiritual authorities, presenting the difficulty of his position, the decline of spiritual education, the destruction of the church buildings themselves and the squalor of the cathedral church.

An even greater disaster in the life of the Voronezh region was the split. From the end of the 17th century, the wide steppes of the Don became a convenient and favorite hiding place for Old Believers and sectarians persecuted by the government. It was not easy for Saint Tikhon to struggle with the discord in church life. His good intentions were hindered both by individuals and by all authorities. Therefore, he had to seek help from above and in the strength of his spirit, in the grace-filled abundance of his pastoral zeal.

At the same time, the saint took up the construction of physical churches and the renewal of those not made by hands, which made up the Church living god
(2 Cor. 6:16), paying special attention to the development and correct organization of school spiritual education. Since his cathedral was falling into complete disrepair, Saint Tikhon, the very next year of his arrival, began to build another stone Archangel Cathedral with only alms, which he had the consolation of completing during his reign. Instead of a seminary, he found in the bishop's house, with meager support, only a wretched school of the Slavic language, because the new states had abolished the previous collections from church property. St. Tikhon tried as much as he could to support this school with his own funds, started others in the cities and, as soon as the first insignificant salary was received, he immediately collected
in Voronezh full seminary (1765) and assigned spiritual teachers for her from Kyiv and Kharkov, so that in a short time she reached a flourishing state. And how could it be otherwise, when the shepherd himself constantly took care of her, knowing that she would serve for the moral strengthening of the flock entrusted to him. He often visited classes and became acquainted with the character of the students, acting
on them with your personal presence, much more than through trusted people. He showed them the best order to follow for the education of young men, noted edifying passages from spiritual writers, and himself taught the students verbally; He encouraged those who differed among them with gifts, handing over a book or a dress, sometimes he also encouraged them with a monetary salary or accepted them
for full government support. And moreover, the saint instituted open teaching of the Law of God in the cathedral church for seminarians on Sundays.

The saint felt very well that for the moral improvement of his flock, it was first of all necessary to prepare worthy shepherds who would directly lead them. Theological education was also of decisive importance in the fight against schism and sectarianism. That is why his first concern was both the organization of schools for the poor children of the clergy, and for the clergy themselves. Soon after his arrival, he wrote a special book for the clergy entitled “The Priestly Office of the Seven Sacraments” and sent it to all monasteries and parishes for free distribution to priests. Book of St. Tikhon was like a small catechism, in which the teaching about each sacrament was set out in questions and answers with a convincing suggestion to perform them reverently. IN next year he supplemented this catechism by adding to it a more detailed instruction “On the Sacrament of Repentance” for the guidance of inexperienced priests during confession: how to talk to them
with people who want to open their souls to them. Not content with this, he wrote a year later a “District Epistle” to the clergy of his flock, instilling in the presbyters a modest and sober life, mutual brotherly love and love for parishioners, and reminding them in the words of the Gospel of the high duty of their calling. And the saint tried to appoint worthy persons to spiritual positions and especially demanded that every clergyman have the New Testament and read it daily. At the same time, he also drew up guidelines for spiritual rights with an exhortation to maintain justice and the oath. Thus, nothing was forgotten by the caring archpastor for the admonition of those placed on spiritual guard.

Saint Tikhon was close to the people both by his poor origin and by his initial upbringing, and therefore he especially loved people of ordinary rank and knew how to get close to them with a sincere word that was accessible to everyone’s heart. Considering the spiritual needs of the people, good shepherd compiled four small books under the titles “A short exhortation for the everlasting memory of death”, “Notes from the Holy Scriptures for awakening sinners from sinful sleep”, “Instruction in the mutual duties of parents and children”, “Flesh and spirit - mutual their struggle is in man.” The saint ordered the priests to read these books to the people instead of church teachings.

IN Voronezh region Old pagan rituals still took place. The spirit of the saint was especially indignant at the existence of the “annual celebration” in honor of the pagan deity Yarila, the extravagance and drunkenness during Maslenitsa.

In his works, which appeared in Voronezh, we read: “The souls of many are in a bad state... relaxed, sick, in need of medicine and a healing plaster”; “no traces of the Christian faith and life have been seen”; “insolence, atrocities, rape, bitterness and other lawlessness from evil and destructive people are multiplying more and more”; “Many, especially in this century, people put off repentance until illness, then old age, or until death... it is a grave sin, and definitely a deception of the devil. The sign is extreme
about the salvation of negligence and sinful sleep.”

Saint Tikhon took the most decisive measures against this. One day he himself appeared at Yarila’s holiday. Seeing the saint before them, some “fled from the playground out of shame,” others, “in remorse,” silently fell at the feet of the saint, and others, “in the fervor of their repentance, asked for forgiveness.” The gaming and market tents were destroyed in the presence of the saint.

And the next day the archpastor called all the city priests and the best citizens to his monastery and in an accusatory word explained to them all the disgraces of the former celebration, begging them to leave it forever. On the coming Sunday he appointed a national meeting in cathedral and there again he uttered a strong word against the pagan treble. Having first outlined the extent to which it is lawless and unworthy of Christians, he reminded the Orthodox that they were enrolled in the army of Christ and had already renounced Satan and his angels at holy baptism, but, having forgotten their high rank, they began to commit outrages in lawless games they even go so far as to commit murder to please the devil, for this treasury has been established since the times of paganism. Then he turned to the priests who were placed on guard of the house of God, and reminded them of their strict responsibility if, through their carelessness, they allowed the destruction of Christian souls. He was not afraid to say a strong word to the secular authorities present in the cathedral, so that they would firmly fulfill their duty, observing the deanery of the people. He exhorted both the fathers of families and the elders of the townspeople: not to remain indifferent to such a shame, but to keep their children and subordinates from participating in demonic battles, so as not to give the enemies of Orthodoxy an opportunity to blaspheme the Holy Church and dishonor the very city where it is happening. such a blasphemous festival, whose unworthy name should be exterminated from the memory of the people.

This word, animated by simplicity and pastoral zeal, had an amazing success; the sobs in the church drowned out the voice of the preacher, everyone repented with contrition of heart, and to the eternal glory of the good shepherd, the pagan custom was abandoned forever in Voronezh. It was a triumph of Christianity and love worthy of the first times of preaching the word of God. Tikhon humbly thanked God for the success given to him. With the simplicity and power of his preaching, Saint Tikhon also returned more than one thousand Old Believers to Orthodoxy. “His influence on the schismatics was great,” notes the historian. “Even the most stubborn of them, who did not return to the fold of Orthodoxy, undoubtedly honored him.”

Saint Tikhon was extremely active, not a single free minute
it was not in vain for him, he took everything too close to his loving heart. Caring for the shepherds and the flock, the saint
I did not forget about church splendor: about the repair and improvement of churches,
about church utensils, sacred vessels and holy icons. Saint Tikhon did not miss a single festive church service and did not leave his flock without edification. In his teachings, he especially took up arms against the love of money and various types of theft, immoral amusements, against luxury, stinginess and lack of love for others. The saint boldly exposed these and similar vices in all their nakedness and ugliness.

It happened, however, that the meek shepherd endured condemnation for his pious zeal, for he did not find favorable soil everywhere for sowing the word of God. Weak people sometimes did not like the fact that the saint, during a general disaster, imposed special fasts on citizens, but the fear of offending him forced them to obey, for they already saw in him a saint of God and said to each other: “It is impossible not to obey. He will complain to God." Indeed, there were cases when the Lord apparently punished those who disobeyed. One day Tikhon was traveling to the funeral of a landowner through the village of Khlevnoye, along the Moscow road. There the rude inhabitants detained him for a long time, without giving him horses, under the pretext that they were not there, when, on the contrary, they were very rich in them. Soon after that, almost all their horses fell, so that they fell into extreme poverty and felt guilty that they had offended the man of God. A few years later, when Tikhon was already living in retirement in Zadonsk, they came to ask him for permission for their guilt, complaining that the meek saint had cursed them. Tikhon lay sick and could not receive them, but ordered them to be told that he would never
I didn’t think of cursing them, but only God punished them for disrespect for their shepherd.

Constant work and worries, from which Saint Tikhon never had a rest, as well as troubles and frequent difficulties in fulfilling good intentions, greatly upset the health of the saint. Bishop Tikhon regretted that he could not work with the same tirelessness for the benefit of the Church of God. And in 1767 he was forced to leave the management of the diocese and retire. He was given a pension and allowed to live where he wished.

St. Tikhon's church and social activity at the Voronezh See was short-lived - four years and seven months, but even in such a relatively short period of time he left a beneficial mark in the field of spiritual enlightenment, and in church improvement, and in missionary work. After leaving the staff of St. Tikhon spent more than 15 years in retirement in the monasteries of the Voronezh diocese: until 1769 - in the Tolshevsky Transfiguration Monastery, and then - in the Zadonsky Monastery.

The secluded Tolshevsky Monastery, forty miles from Voronezh, attracted the attention of the saint with its deep silence among dense forests. He hoped that fresh air and tranquility during rural work would restore his strength, but the swampy area turned out to be unfavorable for his health. The saint hesitated for more than a year and finally, the next year 1769, during Lent, he decided to change his place, choosing for his peaceful refuge the Zadonsk monastery, favorable in climate, where he settled forever
in a small stone house attached to the bell tower at the very gate.

Having settled in this monastery, Saint Tikhon became a great teacher of Christian life. In those years, he wrote his best spiritual works, in which he developed with deep wisdom the ideal of true monasticism. These are the “Rules of Monastic Life” and “Instructions to those who have turned from the vain world.” The saint embodied this ideal in his life. He strictly kept the statutes of the Church and zealously (almost daily) visited the churches of God, often sang and read in the choir, and over time, out of humility, he completely abandoned participation in the services and stood at the altar, reverently protecting himself with the sign of the cross . His favorite cell pastime was reading the lives of saints and patristic works. He knew the Psalter by heart and usually read or sang psalms on the way. Through his life, the saint taught everyone around him how to live in order to be saved. The ascetic life of Saint Tikhon and his unearthly kindness confirmed people in their thoughts about the high dignity of the Christian faith.

As his strength strengthened, the saint began to experience heartfelt sorrow over his imaginary idleness, as is typical of active people who suddenly feel free. The abundance of time weighed on his soul just as much as the lack of time for pastoral activities once did. It seemed to him that he was completely useless to society, and yet he was receiving a pension for his previous service. Moreover, he even reproached himself for the fact that he accepted, although short time, the rank of bishop, considering himself unworthy of it. Such gloomy thoughts troubled his heart, and he often spoke about it to his friends; he even wrote to the leader of the Holy Synod, Metropolitan Gabriel, who knew him personally and respected him. Thinking to calm him down, the Metropolitan offered him the management of the Valdai Iversky Monastery, near the place of his homeland, but Tikhon
He did not dare, struggling with his thoughts, to once again change the place he had chosen for rest. But, completely submitting himself to the will of God, he firmly said: “Even though I die, I will not leave here!” And from that moment on I became calmer. He was also reassured by the word of a simple old man, as a secret indication of the Providence of God. There was a certain Aaron in Zadonsk, whom he respected for his strict life. One day, the saint’s cell attendant, having met a monk at the holy gates, said that the bishop had an urgent desire to leave Zadonsk for the Novgorod diocese. Aaron answered: “ Mother of God doesn’t tell him to leave here.” When the cell attendant conveyed to him the old man’s words, Saint Tikhon humbly answered: “Yes, I will not leave from here” -
and tore up the already prepared request. Completely putting aside every thought
about moving from Zadonsk, he decided to devote himself completely to serving his neighbors in order to be useful to the Church, although not in the cathedral.

The saint loved to talk with everyone about the salvation of the soul. He gathered children around him and taught them to pray to God, entered into conversations with peasants and taught them the love of work and the fear of God, and shared the sorrows of the unfortunate. Sometimes I went out
to friends, and more often when they were not expecting him, but needed his advice. Many beggars flocked to him, and he gave alms to all of them when he returned from church, or on the porch through the cell attendants, but at no time did he refuse any of the poor. He often entered into conversation with the monastery brethren, with novices and simple pilgrims, allowing everyone to come to him under his blessing and trying, if possible, to hide his high rank from them, so that they could more freely reveal their souls to him; Therefore, he met them in the courtyard or at his porch in simple monastic clothes, asked them about their needs and labors, and for each he had an edifying word. In addition to oral conversations, he conducted pious correspondence, expressing his thoughts in letters. When it happened that one of the neighboring peasants suffered from a crop failure or a fire, the good shepherd gave him, if possible, an allowance with money that he himself borrowed from benefactors. If one of the pilgrims fell ill on the way, he took him into his home and kept him until he recovered, and sent others food or medicine to their home; none of the sick among the monastery brethren
did not remain without his charity. Not only did he provide help to ordinary people, but he also did not refuse orphans from the noble rank. Enjoying general respect, he interceded in the courts for the oppressed and gave letters of petition on his own behalf, which had a beneficial effect. Therefore, one can judge to what extent the entire surrounding population was attached to him.

The child-loving shepherd also had compassion for those imprisoned for debts and crimes and often visited them. The prisoners greeted him like a father, and he cordially sat among them, as if in a family circle, asked each about his guilt and tried to awaken in him repentance or instill patience to endure his fate.

The Znamenskaya women's monastery in Yelets also owes its revival to Saint Tikhon. There was a big fire in 1769, from which the maiden monastery burned down, and all the nuns were transferred to Voronezh. Only one novice decided, with the blessing of the saint, to settle on the ashes of the former monastery, for he predicted that, through the prayers of the departed elders, the monastery would again be renewed. The novice found there a poor old woman who had built herself a cell from a stone cellar, and little by little several sisters gathered to join them. With the help of the saint and one of the pious citizens of Yelets, a small wooden church was built in the name of the Sign of the Mother of God and a community was formed around it, which was erected into a nunnery.

Over the years, Saint Tikhon increasingly increased his exploits. The saint lived in the simplest surroundings: he slept on straw, covering himself with a sheepskin coat. His meal was the most meager, but even here he used to say, as if reproaching himself for luxury: “Thank God, this is what good food I have, and my brothers: some poor people sit in prison, others eat without salt - woe to me, the accursed one." He had the simplest clothes, because he wanted to be a monk and ascetic
in the full sense of the word. He never went to the bathhouse and did not like to be served, except when he was sick. His humility reached
so much so that in response to the ridicule that often rained down on him, St.
did not pay attention, pretending that he did not hear them, and said afterwards: “God so pleases that the ministers laugh at me, and I am worthy of it for my sins.” He often said in such cases: “Forgiveness is better than revenge.” All his life, the saint “thou joyfully endured vexation, sorrow, and insult, thinking that there is a crown without victory, victory without feat, feat without battle, and there is no battle without enemies” (6th hymn of the canon).

In moments of temptation, he would shut himself up in his cell and, throwing himself on the ground, with sobs he prayed to the Lord to deliver him from the evil one. He spent most of the night in vigil and prayer, and only at dawn did he give himself four hours of rest and about another hour after dinner. Then he went for a walk in the monastery garden, retiring somewhere into the thicket of trees, but even here he loved to immerse himself in the thought of God. The fruit of his thoughts about nature and people were the works that the saint completed in retirement, “Spiritual Treasure Collected from the World” (1770), “On True Christianity” (1776).

Through exploits of self-denial and love, the soul of the saint rose to the contemplation of the heavenly and the insights of the future. He predicted many of the destinies of Russia, in particular, he spoke about the victory of Russia in the Patriotic War of 1812. More than once the saint was seen in spiritual admiration, with a changed and enlightened face, but he forbade talking about it.

Three years before his death, Saint Tikhon prayed every day and asked God with tears: “Tell me, Lord, my death and the number of my days!” And then one day at dawn he heard a quiet voice: “On a weekday will be the end of your life.” The saint revealed this to his closest friend Father Mitrofan. The spiritual, blessed peace that comes after struggle,
at that time he already inhabited the holy soul of the ascetic.

On the feast of the Nativity of Christ in 1779, St. last time I was in church for the Divine Liturgy. On January 29, 1782, the saint drew up a spiritual will, in which, giving glory to God for all His blessings
to him, in the words of the Apostle Paul, he expressed hope in the mercy of God beyond earthly life. The saint foresaw and predicted his death three days in advance, allowing all his acquaintances to come to him to say goodbye that day.
On August 13, 1783, “on the day of the week,” at six hours and forty-five minutes in the morning, the soul of the saint was separated from his body. “His death was so calm that he seemed to fall asleep.” This is how Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk ended his difficult life in the 59th year of his birth.

Until the very day of the burial, many villagers and city residents from Yelets and Voronezh came to the monastery and demanded memorial services for the deceased, so there were not enough hieromonks for the service and the assistance of the surrounding priests was needed. After the funeral service, which took place only on August 20, the body of Blessed Tikhon was transferred by the hands of the priests under the altar of the cathedral church to a crypt specially prepared for him.

The memory of Saint Tikhon in Zadonsk was reverently honored not only by those who knew him personally, but also by those who only heard about him or read his edifying works. Requiem services for the saint were incessantly performed over his tomb, and soon after his blessed death, signs and healings began, testifying to his heavenly glory.

And on August 12, 1861, Saint Tikhon was canonized as a saint of the Russian Church. The next day, in the city of Zadonsk, with a huge crowd of pilgrims from all over Russia, Metropolitan of St. Petersburg and Ladoga Isidore (Nikolsky), in the co-service of numerous hierarchs and clergy, the relics of St. Tikhon were revealed. On the day of remembrance of St. Tikhon's cathedral liturgy was performed, after which a religious procession began with holy relics not only around the cathedral, but also around the Zadonsk monastery, where he rested from his labors. It was a touching sight. The entire monastery courtyard, all the roofs, the fence and the high bell tower were filled with people who, holding each other, sat like that from early morning just to take their seats; even all the monastery trees were covered with people. The people threw ubruses and canvases along the entire length of the way of the cross; canvases and towels flew through the air over the heads of those passing by, so that more than an arshin in height (0.71 m) were thrown along the road where the procession took place, and up to 50 thousand arshins of canvas were collected, which were distributed to the poor so that St. Tikhon and on the day of his glorification, as happened during his lifetime, he dressed the poor. So the lamp was placed on the candlestick, “let it shine on everyone who is in the temple.” And the day of memory of St. Tikhon was set on August 13/26.

Tikhon Zadonsky

Tikhon of Voronezh, Zadonsk, bishop (1724-13.08.1783), son of a poor sexton of the Novgorod bishopric, at the age of 13 he was sent to school at the bishop's house. After graduating from the Novgorod seminary, he remained there as a teacher and took monastic vows with the name Tikhon. From here he was transferred to the rector of the Tver Seminary, and then made an archimandrite Zheltikov Dormition Monastery, Then Youth of the Assumption Monastery . In 1761 archim. Tikhon was consecrated Bishop of Kexholm and Ladoga, and two years later he was appointed to the Voronezh See. For four and a half years the saint edified his flock. life, living preaching, archpastoral messages and soul-helping works. He distributed all his property to the poor in prisons and almshouses, and he himself performed the most simple work. He had to work a lot, renovating churches that were in extreme squalor, instructing and admonishing pastors, eradicating superstitions and pagan customs among the people, correcting and improving monastic life. In 1767, due to illness, he retired to Tolshevsky Spaso-Preobrazhensky (founded in 1646), and then to Bogoroditsky Monastery Zadonsk, where he died peacefully after 14 years of ascetic life. St. Tikhon became a great teacher of monasticism. With deep practical wisdom, he outlined the ideal of true monasticism in his works: “Rules of Monastic Life”, “Spiritual Treasure Collected from the World” and many others. etc., and with his life showed the possibility of realizing this ideal.

Other biographical materials:

Reznichenko A.I. Russian Orthodox ascetic ( New philosophical encyclopedia. In four volumes. / Institute of Philosophy RAS. Scientific ed. advice: V.S. Stepin, A.A. Guseinov, G.Yu. Semigin. M., Mysl, 2010, vol. IV).

Semenenko-Basin I. V. Bogoslov ( Russian philosophy. Encyclopedia. Ed. second, modified and expanded. Under the general editorship of M.A. Olive. Comp. P.P. Apryshko, A.P. Polyakov. – M., 2014).

Zenkovsky V.V. He had a great influence on the formation of the Russian worldview in the 18th-19th centuries. ( Great Encyclopedia of the Russian People).

John Kologrivov. Covenant of all-encompassing joy ( Great Encyclopedia of the Russian People).

Read further:

Philosophers, lovers of wisdom (biographical index).

Russian national philosophy in the works of its creators (special project of KHRONOS).

Essays:

Op. In 5 volumes. M., 1899. (Vol. 5 contains notes (memoirs) of V. Chebotarev and I. Efimov, cell attendants of the saint).

Works like the saints of our father Tikhon of Zadonsk, vol. 1-5, 1994;

A spiritual treasure collected from the world. Tuzov, 1904.

Literature:

Gippius A. N. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. Bishop of Voronezh and All Rus', miracle worker. Paris, [b. G.].

Kazansky P.S. The Life of Our Father Tikhon, Bishop of Voronezh, Like the Saints, Wonderworker of All Russia. St. Petersburg, 1871;

Lebedev A. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, his life and writings. St. Petersburg, 1865;

Popov T. Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk and his moral teaching. M., 1916.

Evgeniy (Bolkhovitinov), Metropolitan. Full description life of His Eminence Tikhon<...>Bishop of Voronezh... St. Petersburg, 1843;

Florovsky G. Ways of Russian theology. Paris, 1937 (Vilnius, 1991). pp. 123 -125:

John (Kologrivov), hieromon. Essays on the history of Russian holiness. Brussels. 1961. pp. 303-346;

John (Maslov), schiarchim. The teaching of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk about salvation. M., 2008;

Nikolai (Pavlyk), hieromon. Sin and virtue according to the teachings of St. Tikhon of Zadonsk. M., 2011;

Janezic S. Imitazione di Cristo secondo Tihon Zadonskij. Triest, 1962;

Knechten H. M. Evangelische Spiriruaiitat bei Tiehon von Zadonsk. Waltrop, 2006 (Studien zur russischen Spiritualitat, 2).