What Sergius of Radonezh founded. "The Story of the Great Saint

Sergius of Radonezh a short biography for children and adults is presented in this article.

Sergius of Radonezh short biography

Sergius of Radonezh- hieromonk of the Russian Church, founder of a number of monasteries, including the Holy Trinity Monastery near Moscow (now the Trinity-Sergius Lavra).

Reverend Sergius was born in the village of Varnitsa, near Rostov, May 3, 1314 in a pious and noble boyar family. At birth, the name Bartholomew was given in the biography of Sergius of Radonezh. Lagging behind his peers in learning, Sergius began to study the Holy Scriptures.

Around 1328, Bartholomew's family moved to the city of Radonezh, the name of which, after the youth was tonsured as a monk, was firmly entrenched in his name - Sergius of Radonezh, Sergius of Radonezh. The monastic life of St. Sergius began in 1337, when, together with brother Stefan, a monk of the Khotkovo Intercession Monastery, they settled in the forest on Makovets Hill and built a small wooden church in the name of the Holy Trinity. This event is considered the date of foundation of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery

Then he became abbot and took the name Sergius. A few years later, a thriving temple of Sergius of Radonezh was formed in this place. Even the patriarch praised the life of the monastery, called Trinity-Sergius. Soon the Monk Sergius of Radonezh became highly respected in the circles of all the princes: he blessed them before battles and compared them to each other.

The great abbot has died September 25, 1392. During his life, Sergei of Radonezh founded several monasteries, monasteries besides the Trinity-Sergius: Borisoglebsky, Blagoveshchensky, Staro-Golutvinsky, Georgievsky, Andronnikov and Simonov, Vysotsky.

This is a real historical figure. True, the name of Sergius is currently the source of heated debate between believers and atheists, lovers of the national spirit and skeptic historians. Not everyone believes that he really blessed Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo - let’s say, there is an opinion that this military leader was extremely unpleasant to Sergius of Radonezh, and the holy fathers even condemned him to anathema... In our article we will talk about the life of this Russian saint as it is they tell in church. We will try to present the facts briefly, but not to miss anything important.

Every nation needs its heroes. But in addition, its own saints are also incredibly important for any nation - pious ancestors whom one can sincerely respect and whom one can look up to. And especially the miracle workers, who even after their earthly death help pious people who pray to their icons. When the church in Russia returned to its rights and they finally started talking about faith openly, without criticism, it turned out that over many hundreds of years of veneration of Christ, many righteous people and martyrs were born here, and their names are worth being remembered by future generations. The Monk Sergius is considered one of these righteous people. This saint is so popular that a cartoon about his life is currently being prepared for release, so that even children will be familiar with his name, exploits and miracles.

Sergius's family and his childhood

The future saint was born on May 3 into the family of Rostov boyars Kirill and Maria (later they were also canonized). Although his father served the local princes, historians are sure that he lived modestly and not richly. Little Bartholomew (this is the name Sergius received at birth, it was chosen according to the calendar) took care of horses, that is, from childhood he was not a white-handed one.

At the age of seven the boy was sent to school. His older brother understood science well, but Bartholomew was not good at it at all. He tried very hard, but learning remained alien and incomprehensible to him.

First miracle

One day, while looking for lost foals, little Bartholomew came across a godlike old man. The boy was upset, and the old man asked if he could help him. To which Bartholomew said that he would like the Lord to help him with his studies.

The old man prayed, after which he blessed the boy and treated him to prosphora.

The kind boy took the old man to his house, where his parents sat him down at the table (they were hospitable to strangers). After the meal, the guest took the child to the chapel and asked him to read a psalm from the book. Bartholomew refused, explaining that he couldn’t... But then he picked up the book, and everyone gasped: his speech flowed so smoothly.

Foundation of the holy monastery

When the boy's brother Stefan was widowed, he decided to become a monk. Soon the parents of the young men also passed away. Bartholomew decided to go to his brother, to the Khotkovo-Pokrovsky Monastery. But he didn't stay there for long.

In 1335, he and his brother built a small wooden church. Here, on Makovets Hill, on the banks of the Kochura River, in the once remote Radonezh Forest, a sanctuary still exists - however, these days it is already the cathedral church of the Holy Trinity.

Life in the forest turned out to be too ascetic. Stefan eventually realized that such service was not his destiny, so he left the monastery, moving to Moscow, where he soon became abbot of the Epiphany Monastery.

23-year-old Bartholomew did not change his mind about becoming a monk, and, not afraid of the complete deprivation of serving the Lord, he turned to Abbot Mitrofan and took monastic vows. His church name became Sergius.

The young monk was left alone in his church. He prayed a lot and fasted constantly. Demons and even Satan the tempter sometimes appeared in his cell, but Sergius did not deviate from his intended path.

One day, the most formidable forest animal - a bear - came to his cell. But the monk was not afraid, he began to feed the beast from his hands, and soon the bear became tame.

Despite the desire to renounce everything worldly, messages about Sergius of Radonezh scattered throughout the country. People flocked to the forest. Some were simply curious, while others asked to be saved together. So the church began to grow into a community.

Together, the future monks built 12 cells and surrounded the area with a high fence.
The brothers dug up a garden and began to grow vegetables for food.
Sergius was the first both in service and in work. And even though I wore the same clothes in winter and summer, I didn’t get sick at all.
The monastery grew, and the time came to choose an abbot. The brethren wanted Sergius to become him. This decision was also approved in Moscow.
The cells were already built in two rows. The abbot of the monastery turned out to be strict: novices were forbidden to chat and beg for alms. Everyone had to work or pray, and private property was prohibited. He himself was very modest, not pursuing either worldly goods or power.
When the monastery grew into a Lavra, it was necessary to choose a cellarer - a holy father who was in charge of the household and treasury. They also chose a confessor (to whom the brethren confessed) and an ecclesiarch (he kept order in the church).

During his lifetime, Sergius became famous for his miracles. For example, one person came to him for the elder to pray for the health of his son. But while Sergius was able to see the boy, he died. The father went to get the coffin, and the saint began to pray over the body. And the boy stood up!
But this was not the only miracle of healing. Sergius treated blindness and insomnia. It is also known that he cast out demons from one nobleman.
In addition to the Trinity-Sergius, the monk founded more than five churches.

Sergiy and Dmitry Donskoy

Meanwhile, the era of the Horde, devastating the Russian lands, was coming to an end. The division of power began in the Horde - several candidates for the role of khan killed each other, and meanwhile the Russian princes began to unite, gathering strength.

And so on August 18, the Moscow prince, who would soon be called Donskoy, with the Serpukhov prince Vladimir arrived at the Lavra. There Sergius invited the princes to a meal, after which he blessed them for battle.

It is known that two schema monks left the holy monastery with the prince: Oslyabya and Peresvet (the latter, at the very beginning of the battle with the Tatars, met the Tatar hero Chelubey, defeated him, but also fell dead). Were these people really monks, since history (or rather, legends) brings us names that are not monastic at all? Some historians do not even believe in the existence of such heroes - however, the church believes both in their existence and in the fact that the abbot himself sent them.

The battle was terrible, since in addition to the hordes of Khan Mamai, the Lithuanians, as well as the Ryazan prince and his people, came out against Dmitry. But On September 8, 1380 the battle was won.

It is interesting that while praying on this day with the brethren in his Lavra, by God’s inspiration Sergius named the names of Dmitry’s fallen comrades, and at the end he said that he had won the battle.

Death of a Saint

He left no scriptures behind. However, the example of his hardworking, righteous life still inspires many: some to a modest, quiet life pleasing to God, others to monasticism.

However, Sergius had a student - Epiphanius. He was offended that there was almost no memory left of the elder, and 50 years after his death, Epiphanius began to write the life of this bright man.

In which Russian churches can you pray to Sergius of Radonezh?

About 700 churches are dedicated to this saint, not only in our country, but throughout the world. Of course: Sergius of Radonezh was canonized as a saint back in 1452. Moreover, he is revered by both Orthodox and Catholics.

Icons of Sergius can be found in any temple. But the best thing, of course, is to come on a pilgrimage to the Lavra itself. His cell has been preserved here. There is also a spring gushing out from under the ground, which came to life thanks to the prayer of this abbot (he felt sorry for the brothers who went far for water, and asked the Lord to make sure that the water was closer to the church). Believers claim that the water in it is healing: it cleanses both from diseases and sins.

Where are the relics of the saint kept? At the moment, where they should be - in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Although they have come a long way before this. Sergius' grave was opened for the first time 40 years after his death. Eyewitnesses wrote that the saint's body remained incorrupt. Later, the relics were transported to protect them from fire, as well as to save them from enemy soldiers during the Napoleonic War. Soviet scientists also touched the coffin, placing the relics of Sergius in the museum. And during World War II, Sergius’s body was evacuated, but then returned to the Lavra.

What do they pray to him for?

About helping children study. And besides, students who are afraid of bad grades at the exam also pray to the saint.
It is also not difficult to guess that requests are made to him for the health of children.
People who have a lot of debts also pray to Sergius. It is believed that during his lifetime this man helped poor debtors.
Finally, he is a good helper in reconciliation.
And since Sergius of Radonezh provided considerable support in the formation of the Moscow state, it is to him that high-ranking officials often pray.

But what words are used to address this holy miracle worker? All prayers to Sergius of Radonezh are collected in this video:

Sergius of Radonezh; Venerable Sergius, abbot of Radonezh, wonderworker of all Russia (in the world Bartholomew). Born May 3, 1314 or May 1322 - died September 25, 1392. Monk of the Russian Church, founder of the Trinity Monastery near Moscow (now the Trinity-Sergius Lavra), transformer of monasticism in Northern Rus'. He is revered by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint and is considered the greatest ascetic of the Russian land.

Memorial Days:

September 25 (October 8) - repose (death);
July 5 (18) - discovery of relics;
July 6 (19) - Cathedral of Radonezh Saints.

The main primary source of information about St. Sergius is “the life written by his disciple Epiphanius the Wise,” which is one of the “peaks of Russian hagiography” and “is the most valuable source of information about the life of Muscovite Rus' in the 14th century.” One of the features of this primary source is the absence of direct indications of the year of birth of the future saint, another is its abundance of miracles.

“Our venerable father Sergius was born from noble and faithful parents: from a father whose name was Cyril, and a mother named Maria”, - reports Epiphanius the Wise.

Epiphanius’ narrative does not indicate the exact place of the saint’s birth; it only says that before the resettlement from the Rostov principality, the saint’s family lived “in a village in the region that is located within the Rostov Principality, not very close to the city of Rostov”. It is generally accepted that we are talking about the village of Varnitsy near Rostov. The future saint received the name Bartholomew at baptism in honor of the Apostle Bartholomew.

The first biography of the future saint, Epiphanius the Wise, indicated the year of his birth, using a characteristic intricate formulation: “I also want to say about the time and year when the monk was born: during the reign of the pious, glorious and powerful Tsar Andronik, the Greek autocrat, who reigned in Constantinople, under the Archbishop of Constantinople Callistus, the Ecumenical Patriarch; He was born in the Russian land, during the reign of the Grand Duke of Tver Dmitry Mikhailovich, under Archbishop Peter, Metropolitan of All Rus', when the army of Akhmyl came".

As a result, researchers are faced with the difficult problem of interpreting these data, and the date of the reverend's birth, as opposed to his place of birth, is the subject of considerable controversy. In the literature there are several different dates for his birth. In particular, V. E. Rudakov in the Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron indicates: “Neither in the life of Sergius nor in other sources is there an exact indication of the year of birth of the saint, and historians, for various reasons, fluctuate between 1313, 1314, 1318, 1319 and 1322. The most probable date seems to be 1314.”.

The date May 3, 1319 appeared in the writings of church historians of the 19th century. Modern versions of his life give May 3, 1314 as his birthday. Modern secular researchers, as noted by K. A. Averyanov, are also not unanimous on the issue of the date of birth of Sergius of Radonezh: “According to N.S. Borisov, this event occurred on May 3, 1314, according to V. A. Kuchkin - on May 3, 1322, and in the opinion of B. M. Kloss - at the end of May of the same 1322.”.

Considering this problem, K. A. Averyanov comes to the conclusion that “the future saint was born on May 1, 1322.”

Cyril and Maria, the saint’s parents, had three sons: “the first Stefan, the second this Bartholomew, the third Peter...” At his due date (although it is not indicated by Epiphanius, some modern biographies speak of the age of seven) young Bartholomew was sent to learn to read and write, but his studies didn't progress: “Stephen and Peter quickly learned to read and write, but Bartholomew did not quickly learn to read, but somehow slowly and not diligently”.

The teacher’s efforts did not bear fruit: “The boy did not listen to him and could not learn”. Bartholomew was scolded by his parents, the teacher punished him, his comrades reproached him, but he “prayed to God with tears.”

The encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron describes Bartholomew's training as follows: “At first, his learning to read and write was very unsuccessful, but then, thanks to patience and work, he managed to familiarize himself with the Holy Scriptures and became addicted to the church and monastic life.”.

As Epiphanius reports, even before reaching the age of twelve, Bartholomew “began to fast strictly and abstained from everything, on Wednesday and Friday he ate nothing, and on other days he ate bread and water; at night he often stayed awake and prayed,” which was the source of some disagreements between the son and the mother, who was worried about such exploits of her son.

After some time, Bartholomew's greatly impoverished family was forced to move to the city of Radonezh. Epiphanius indicates in his life how the saint’s father lost his wealth: “Let’s also talk about how and why he became impoverished: because of frequent trips with the prince to the Horde, because of frequent Tatar raids on Rus', because of frequent Tatar embassies, because of many heavy tributes and fees from the Horde, because for the frequent shortage of bread".

But the worst disaster was “the great invasion of the Tatars, led by Fedorchuk Turalyk, and after it the violence continued for a year, because the great reign went to the great prince Ivan Danilovich, and the reign of Rostov also went to Moscow.” It was not easy for “the city of Rostov, and especially the princes of Rostov, since their power was taken away, and the principality, and property, and honor, and glory, and everything else went to Moscow.” The appointment and arrival of the Moscow governor Vasily in Rostov was accompanied by violence and numerous abuses by Muscovites. This prompted Cyril to move: “he gathered with his whole house, and went with all his relatives, and moved from Rostov to Radonezh.”

It remains to add that historians (for example, Averyanov) do not question the reliability of this story.

Various opinions were expressed about when the resettlement took place: either around 1328, or around 1330 (according to the “Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron”). According to Averyanov, the resettlement occurred much later, in 1341.

Even during the life of his parents, the desire to devote himself to monastic life arose and strengthened in Bartholomew’s soul; Having reached the age of twenty, he decided to become a monk. The parents did not object, but asked to wait for their death: “brothers Stefan and Peter lived separately with their families, and Bartholomew was the only support of their parents in the years of painful old age and poverty.” He did not wait long: two or three years later he buried his father and mother, who, following the then widespread custom in Rus' of accepting monasticism in old age, shortly before his death, also took first monastic tonsure, and then the schema in the Khotkovo-Pokrovsky Monastery, which was located three miles from Radonezh and at that time was both male and female.

After the death of his parents, Bartholomew himself went to the Khotkovo-Pokrovsky Monastery, where his widowed brother Stefan had already been monasticized. Striving for “the strictest monasticism”, for living in the wilderness, he did not stay here long and, having convinced Stefan, together with him he founded a hermitage on the banks of the Konchura River, on the Makovets hill in the middle of the remote Radonezh forest, where he built (about 1335) a small wooden church in the name of Holy Trinity, on the site of which now stands a cathedral church also in the name of the Holy Trinity. Unable to withstand the too harsh and ascetic lifestyle, Stefan soon left for the Moscow Epiphany Monastery, where he later became abbot. Bartholomew, left completely alone, called upon a certain abbot Mitrofan and received tonsure from him under the name of Sergius, since on that day the memory of the martyrs Sergius and Bacchus was celebrated. He was 23 years old.

The year 1342 is considered the date of formation of the monastery (later the Trinity-Sergius Lavra); Sergius was its second abbot (the first was Mitrofan) and presbyter (since 1354). Having forbidden begging, Sergius made it a rule that all monks should live from their labor, himself setting an example for them in this.

From the beginning of the 1370s, the position of the monastery changed: around 1374, the widow of Ivan Kalita, Princess Ulyana, whose inheritance included the monastery, died, and Radonezh went to Prince Vladimir Andreevich, becoming his “patrimony”. From that time on, Prince Vladimir often visited the monastery and organized its supply with everything necessary (previously, monks often had to go hungry).

To the period of 1364-1376, researchers attribute the introduction of a hostel in the monastery - instead of the monastery charter (private residence). This reform is associated with the message of the Ecumenical Patriarch Philotheus, who also sent the abbot a cross, a paraman and a schema. The implementation of the communal reform met with active opposition: part of the brethren had the thought “as if they did not want Sergius’ eldership”; Sergius’s elder brother Stefan, a supporter of singular living, presented his rights: “And who is the abbot in this place? Was it not I who sat before in this place?” (words spoken, according to the Life, by Stephen). As a result of the conflict, Sergius temporarily left the monastery and founded a small monastery on the Kirzhach River (now the Annunciation Monastery).

In addition to the Trinity Monastery and the Annunciation Monastery on Kirzhach, the Monk Sergius founded several more monasteries: Staro-Golutvin near Kolomna, Vysotsky Monastery, St. George's Monastery on Klyazma, in all of these monasteries he appointed his disciples as abbots.

The disciples and spiritual children of St. Sergius founded (both during his life and after his death) up to forty monasteries; from these, in turn, came the founders of about fifty more monasteries.

Metropolitan Alexei, who highly respected the Radonezh abbot, before his death, persuaded him to be his successor, but Sergius resolutely refused.

After the death of Saint Alexy, Sergius proposed that Grand Duke Dmitry elect Suzdal Bishop Dionysius to the metropolitan see. But Dmitry wanted to have his confessor of Spassky Archimandrite Mikhail (Mitya) as metropolitan. By order of Prince Mikhail, a council of bishops in Moscow elected him Metropolitan of Moscow. Saint Dionysius boldly opposed the Grand Duke, pointing out to him that the installation of a high priest without the will of the Ecumenical Patriarch would be illegal. Mityai was forced to go to Constantinople. Dionysius wanted to get ahead of Mityai and go to Constantinople himself, but was detained and taken into custody by the Grand Duke. Wanting to free himself, Dionysius promised not to go to Constantinople and presented the sanction of the Monk Sergius for himself. But as soon as he received his freedom, at the call of the patriarch, he hurried to Greece following Mityai. By his actions he caused a lot of trouble for Sergius.

According to one contemporary, Sergius “with quiet and meek words” could act on the most hardened and hardened hearts; very often he reconciled princes warring among themselves, persuading them to obey the Grand Duke of Moscow (for example, the Rostov prince in 1356, the Nizhny Novgorod prince in 1365, Oleg of Ryazan, etc.), thanks to which by the time of the Battle of Kulikovo almost all Russian princes recognized the primacy of Dmitry Ioannovich.

As the first biography of St. Sergius reports, the battle with Mamai was preceded by a meeting between Prince Dimitri and St. Sergius: “It became known that by God’s remission for our sins, the Horde prince Mamai had gathered a great force, the entire horde of godless Tatars, and was going to the Russian land; and all the people were seized with great fear". Grand Duke Dimitri, later known as Dmitry Donskoy, “came to Saint Sergius, because he had great faith in the elder, and asked him if the saint would order him to speak out against the godless: after all, he knew that Sergius was a virtuous man and had the gift of prophecy.” . The Monk Sergius, according to Epiphanius, replied: “You should, sir, take care of the glorious Christian flock entrusted to you by God. Go against the godless, and if God helps you, you will win and return unharmed to your fatherland with great honor.”

Having received a blessing from St. Sergius, the Grand Duke “left the monastery and quickly set off on his journey.” Let us note the fact that Sergius, according to Epiphanius, with his answer (contrary to popular belief) did not predict an unconditional victory and salvation from death for the Grand Duke, since this answer contained the words “if God helps you” and for this reason was not a prophecy. Only later, when the Russian soldiers, who set out on a campaign, saw the “Tatar very numerous” army and “stopped in doubt,” “thinking about what to do,” suddenly “a messenger appeared with a message from the saint,” which said: “Without any doubts, sir, boldly oppose their ferocity, without being at all afraid - God will definitely help you.”

The above-mentioned battle with Mamai is traditionally identified with the Battle of Kulikovo (among other sources, this is stated in the dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron). There is also a version (which was expressed by V.A. Kuchkin), according to which the story of “The Life of Sergius of Radonezh” about Sergius of Radonezh’s blessing of Dmitry Donskoy to fight Mamai does not refer to the Battle of Kulikovo, but to the battle on the Vozha River (1378) and is associated with The Battle of Kulikovo as a larger-scale event later, in later texts (“The Tale of the Massacre of Mamaev”).

According to “The Tale of the Massacre of Mamayev,” Sergius sent two monks of the princely family, who were well-versed in weapons, Peresvet and Oslyabya, to battle. After the Battle of Kulikovo, the Grand Duke began to treat the Radonezh abbot with even greater reverence and invited him in 1389 to seal a spiritual will legitimizing the new order of succession to the throne from father to eldest son.

In 1382, when Tokhtamysh’s army approached Moscow, Sergius left his monastery for some time “and fled from Takhtamyshov to Tver” under the protection of Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver.

According to Epiphanius the Wise, the life of St. Sergius was accompanied by numerous miracles.

In particular, as Epiphanius reports, one of these miracles preceded the birth of the future saint: “When the child was still in the womb, one day - it was on Sunday - his mother entered the church, as usual, during the singing of the holy liturgy,” and before reading the Gospel, “suddenly the baby began to scream in the womb.” Before the singing of “Like the Cherubim,” the cry was repeated: “suddenly the baby began to scream loudly in the womb a second time, louder than the first time,” and for the third time the baby screamed loudly after the priest’s exclamation: “Let us take in, holy of holies!”.

According to life, Sergius of Radonezh performed many miracles. Church historian E. E. Golubinsky in his work lists the following miracles of the saint:

Reproducing the source. Since “the monks found themselves forced to bring themselves water from afar,” a murmur arose, and then the monk, “having found some rainwater in one ditch, made a fervent prayer over it,” after which an abundant source of water opened.
Resurrection of the Youth. One local resident, having a seriously ill son, took him to St. Sergius. But when he entered the monk’s cell and asked for prayers for the sick man, his son died. Heartbroken, he left to pick up the coffin. “But while he was walking, the monk prayed over the deceased - and through his prayer the child came to life.”
Healing a possessed nobleman.
Healing a patient with insomnia, who “did not eat or sleep for twenty days.”
Punishment of the covetous, who “forced one of his poor neighbors to give him a hog” and “did not want to pay money for it.” Sergius turned to the offender with reproof and heard in response a promise not only to “pay for the pig taken from a poor neighbor, but to correct his whole life,” which he soon forgot about, and the pork carcass was eaten by worms, “although it was winter time.”
Healing of the Greek Bishop. “Hearing many stories about St. Sergius, he did not want to believe them...” But when he met the monk, “blindness attacked him,” “and involuntarily he confessed his unbelief to the monk,” after which St. Sergius restored his sight.

As Epiphanius the Wise reports, through work, abstinence and prayer, the monk reached a very old age and warned the brethren of the monastery about his death.

Just before his death, Sergius of Radonezh “took communion of the body and blood of the Lord.” His death occurred on September 25, 1392.

Church historian E.E. Golubinsky wrote about Sergius that “he ordered his body to be laid not in the church, but outside it, in the general monastery cemetery, along with all the others.” This order of his greatly upset the monastery brethren. As a result, “she turned with demand and for advice to Metropolitan Cyprian,” who, “according to reasoning ... ordered it to be placed in the church on the right side.”

Modern researcher A.G. Melnik believes that it was precisely the desire to “establish the veneration of Abbot Sergius” that was the reason for the reluctance of the “monastic brethren to bury him outside the church” and that the burial of Sergius in the church was the beginning of his veneration.

Not everyone knows who Sergei Radonezhsky is, his life and exploits. Ancient chronicles will help you learn about this briefly. According to them, the great wonderworker was born in early May 1314. It is also known when he died - September 25, 1392. You can find out what Sergei of Radonezh is famous for by studying his biography.

Sergei Radonezhsky: short biography:

According to ancient chronicles, the miracle worker became the founder of several monasteries. To this day, one of his most famous creations is known, the Holy Trinity Monastery, located near Moscow.

Sergei of Radonezh, or as he was previously called Bartholomew, lagged behind his peers in the study of sciences. The theme of the Holy Scriptures was closer to him. At the age of fourteen, he and his family moved to Radonezh. There he founded the first church, called the Trinity-Sergius Monastery.

A few years later, the miracle worker decides to become abbot. Since then, he was given a new name - Sergei. After this, he became a respected person among the people. People came to him to bless before the battle and help in reconciliation.

In addition to the Trinity-Sergius, he created more than five more churches. Sergei of Radonezh died on September 25, 1392. Until now, Orthodox people celebrate this date as a day of remembrance of the great wonderworker.

Some interesting facts

Several interesting facts are known about Sergei of Radonezh:

While pregnant, the miracle worker’s mother went to the temple. During the prayer, her child in the womb cried out three times. Each time the volume of crying increased;
According to sources, Sergei of Radonezh helped the monks. They were forced to go long distances to fetch water. The monk found a few drops left from the rain and said a prayer over them. After some time a source of water appeared;
The miracle worker also helped ordinary people. A local resident turned to him with a request to save his sick son. The boy died after he was brought to Sergei of Radonezh. But while his father was walking behind the coffin, he incredibly came to life;
The monk unfailingly helped every person who needed his support. It is known that he healed a possessed nobleman, treated the sick from insomnia and blindness;
The Wonderworker provided assistance in reconciliation and salvation from debt.

Patriarch Kirill gave an interview about this in 2014. According to him, Sergei Radonezh had extraordinary abilities. He could influence the laws of nature and bring man closer to God. The historian Klyuchevsky stated that the miracle worker was able to raise the spirit of the people.

Life of Sergei of Radonezh

50 years after the death of the founder of successful temples, a life was written. The story of the great wonderworker was written by his disciple Epiphanius the Wise. It aroused the interest of the people, and a few years later it received the status of a valuable source of Muscovite Rus'.

The first life was written based on Epiphanius’s own writings. The student was very developed and educated. From the publication it is easy to guess that he loved to travel and visited places such as Jerusalem and Constantinople. He was forced to live with his mentor for several years. Sergei Radonezhsky singled out his student for his unusual mentality.

By 1380, Epiphanius had already become an experienced chronicler with excellent literacy skills.

After the death of the miracle worker, the student began to write interesting facts about him and convey them to people. He did this for several reasons. First of all, he respected the work of his mentor. He was offended that so many years after his death not a single story had been published about him. Epiphanius took the initiative to write his life.

The wise student also believed that his stories would help convey to people the value of life, learn to believe in themselves and cope with difficulties.

Where are the relics of the Saint now?

30 years after the death of Sergei of Radonezh, namely, in 1422, his relics were discovered. This event took place under the leadership of Pachomius Lagofet. According to his glory, despite such a long period, the miracle worker’s body remained intact and bright. Even his clothes remained intact. His relics were moved only twice, in order to preserve them and save them from fire.

This happened for the first time in 1709, and then repeated in 1746. The third and last time the relics were transported was in 1812 during the war with Napoleon.

The re-opening of the grave took place in 1919, by order of the Soviet government. This was done in the presence of a state commission. According to Pavel Florensky, the person in whose presence the autopsy took place, the head of Sergei Radonezhsky was separated from the body and replaced with a head that belonged to Prince Trubetskoy.

The relics of the miracle worker became an exhibit for the museum and are located in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

Sergei Radonezhsky and painting

During the life of Sergei of Radonezh, and for several centuries after his death, a ban on artistic art was introduced. It could only be transmitted to the people in the form of icons. Russian painting first appeared only in the 18th century.

The artist Nesterov succeeded in depicting the image of the miracle worker. In 1889 he completed his painting entitled Motherwort. Sergei Radonezhsky was an idol for the artist from his earliest years. The saint was revered by his loved ones; for them he was an image of purity and innocence. The adult Nesterov created a series of paintings dedicated to the great miracle worker.

Thanks to paintings, lives and chronicles, every modern person can learn about who Sergei of Radonezh was, his life and exploits. It is impossible to briefly study his life. He was an absolutely unique person with a pure soul, sincerity and selflessness aimed at helping other people.

To this day, people visit churches, pray in front of the icon of Sergei of Radonezh and his relics. Each person sincerely believes that he will help them resolve a difficult situation in life.

Video about the Holy Wonderworker

In this video, Father Mikhail will talk about the life and exploits of Sergei of Radonezh: