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Saint
Sergius of Radonezh
On October
8th (September 25th, old style) the Church commemorates the great
Russian wonderworker, Saint Sergius of Radonezh.
In 1314 the
righteous noble couple, Cyril and Maria, who lived near Rostov the
Great, gave birth to a son, Bartholomew. The infant refused his
mother’s milk on Wednesdays and Fridays, and also on those days when
Maria ate meat. At the age of seven Bartholomew was sent to school
together with his brothers Stephen and Peter. Inspite of his
diligence, learning came poorly to Bartholomew, and he tearfully
prayed for the gift of “understanding book learning.”
One day
Bartholomew saw a monk standing under an oak tree and praying. After
finishing with his prayers, the elder gently asked the youth: “What
do you want, child?” Bartholomew replied: “Pray to God for me and
ask Him to open up my mind to book learning.” The elder prayed, then
gave the youth a piece of prosfora and said: “Take this, child, and
eat. It is given to you as a sign of God’s grace and for the sake of
understanding the Holy Scriptures.” The monk then visited
Bartholomew’s house, blessed his parents and commanded Bartholomew
to read the Psalter. The boy began to fluently read the psalms.
In 1328
Cyril and Maria moved to Radonezh. Bartholomew’s brothers chose
married life, while he had the sole desire to leave the world and
dedicate himself to God. Shortly before their death, the saint’s
parents became monastics. Having become widowed, Stephen also entered
the holy orders. After burying their parents, Bartholomew and Stephen
went into a deep forest several miles away from Radonezh, where they
built a monastic cell and a small church in honor of the Holy Trinity.
Soon afterwards, unable to endure the difficulties of solitary
dwelling, Stephen departed for Moscow and entered the monastery of
Theophany.
On October
7, 1337 Bartholomew was ordained a monk with the name of Sergius. News
of the new monk Sergius spread all over the environs and soon 12
brothers gathered around him. Several cells were built around the
church and were surrounded by a high fence to protect them against
wild animals. This was the beginning of the future Trinity-Sergius
Lavra (1337). For a long time there was no abbot, nor priest. Due to
his great humility, St. Sergius declined to be ordained a priest. He
joined the others in building cells, baked bread, cooked the food,
sewed clothes and shoes for the brothers, carried water. In 1354,
after persistent pleas from the other monks, he became a priest and
was given the rank of abbot. He served the Divine liturgy every day.
The number
of brothers increased. Many laymen began settling around the
monastery, attracted by rumors of the abbot’s gift of
miracle-working. By his prayers a spring of water welled up at the
walls of the monastery, a dead youth was resurrected, a nobleman
possessed by demons was made well. The Lord also glorified His
righteous servant with the gift of clairvoyance.
Once St.
Stephen, hierarch of Perm and a close friend of St. Sergius, traveled
to Moscow. Passing close by to the monastery, he stopped, said a
prayer and bowed down towards the monastery with the following words:
“Peace be with you, spiritual brother.” At that time St. Sergius
was eating with the brothers. Seeing his friend with his spiritual
eyes, he, too, said a prayer, bowed in the direction of St. Stephen
and replied: “May you also rejoice, shepherd of Christ’s flock,
and may the peace of God be with you!” The brothers were quite
amazed, but afterwards the saint explained to them the meaning of his
words and named the place where St. Stephen had stopped.
One night,
while standing in prayer, the saint heard a voice calling him and saw
a wondrous light shining from heaven and a multitude of beautiful
birds. The mysterious voice said: “The Lord has accepted your prayer
for your spiritual children. Thus will the number of your disciples
multiply and will not become scarce even after you pass away; they
will be adorned with great virtues if they follow in your steps.”
This happened even during the saint’s lifetime. His disciples
established numerous monasteries all over Russia.
St.
Sergius’ monastery was a haven for wanderers, the poor and the sick,
who received lodgings and food there. In the words of the first writer
of the life of St. Sergius, “the hand of Sergius was stretched out
to the needy like a great river.” His disciples saw an Angel
concelebrating the liturgy with their abbot, they saw fire surrounding
the altar and St. Sergius, and fire entering the Holy Chalice as the
saint took communion.
One night
St. Sergius, together with his cell attendant, St. Micah, was honored
by a visit from the Holy Mother of God, accompanied by the apostles
Peter and John. The Holy Virgin said: “Fear not, My chosen one, I
have come to visit you. Your prayer on behalf of your disciples has
been heard; do not grieve also for your monastery: from now on it will
have abundance in everything, not only during your lifetime, but even
after your departure to the Heavenly Realm. I will never abandon this
place and will always protect it.”
In 1380,
while preparing for his campaign against Mamai, the holy Prince
Dimitri Donskoy visited the monastery of the Life-giving Trinity and
received St. Sergius’ advice and blessing.The saint said: “Go
forth, my lord, fearlessly! The Lord will help you against the godless
enemy. You shall conquer your enemies.” To aid the Prince in battle,
St. Sergius also gave him two of his schema-monks - Alexander (Peresvet)
and Andrei (Oslabya) - former warriors.
On
September 8, 1380, on the day of the Nativity of the Holy Mother of
God, the Russian army defeated the Tatars on the Kulikovo field,
making the first step towards liberating Russia from the Tatar yoke.
While the battle was in progress, St. Sergius gathered all his monks
in the church and prayed to the Lord for success in battle, and
afterwards offered thanks to God for the victory that had been
granted.
St. Sergius
was a great peacemaker among the warring Russian princes, convincing
them with his meek and humble words to accept the sovereignty of the
prince of Moscow.
Six months
before his death St. Sergius was granted a revelation of it. He
gathered his monks around him, handed the administration of the
monastery over to his disciple, St. Nikon, and gave himself over to
solitude. Before his departure from this world, he once again gathered
his monks and instructed them to remain in faith and unity, to
preserve spiritual and physical purity, to have great love among
themselves, to refrain from evil desires and passions, to keep
moderation in food and drink, to espouse hospitality, to be humble and
shun earthly glory and vanity. The saint then partook of the Holy
Mysteries and quietly said: “Into Thine hands I give up my spirit, o
Lord.” Immediately an indescribable fragrance issued from his body,
while his face shone with heavenly rapture. This took place on
September 25, 1392.
On July 5,
1422 the fragrant relics of the saint were uncovered and found to be
incorruptible. They were placed in a new casket and set in the wooden
church, from whence they were transferred to the Trinity Cathedral
which was later built by St. Nikon, where they remain up to this day,
giving comfort and healing to all who venerate them.
Troparion
to St. Sergius of Radonezh
4th Tone
As
a virtuous ascetic athlete, and true warrior of Christ our
God fighting fiercely the good fight against the passions
during this earthly life, labouring in song, vigil and
fasting thou wast an example to thy disciples. Wherefore,
the Holy Spirit made His abode in thee Whose activity
adorned thee with radiant beauty: Since thou hast great
boldness towards the Holy Trinity remember thy flock wisely
gathered by thee and forget not as thou didst promise to
visit thy children, O holy Father Sergius
Reproduced
from the website of
Holy Transfiguration Church in Baltimore
www.holy-transfiguration.org
