One of the most famous revered Russian righteous people is St. Sergius of Radonezh. The saint's memory is celebrated on July 18, but you can venerate the relics any day your soul requests. Why do people visit the tomb? There is a firm belief in Orthodoxy that even after death, saints continue to act as if they were alive. Through the power of prayer, they cast out demons and put the sick on their feet, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit.
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Finding
16 years after the body of the reverend elder was committed to the earth, he appeared to the abbot of the monastery he created and warned of a terrible disaster approaching the holy place. Soon the monastery was plundered and burned by troops of the Tatar Khan Edigei. But the brethren managed to hide in the thicket of the forest, taking with them many church relics:
- icons;
- books;
- church utensils.
As Father Sergius promised his disciple, the trials soon ended and the holy place began to be restored. At this time, another vision of the holy elder happened. He appeared to one layman and asked him to tell the monks who were restoring the holy place that he was upset about being under the thickness of the earth and flooding his grave.
Holy Venerable Sergius of Radonezh
In 1422, preparation of the foundation for the construction of a new Holy Trinity Cathedral, made of stone, began. With the gathering of a large number of common people, noble people, monks of the monastery and Prince Yuri of Zvenigorod (godson of St. Sergius), the relics were raised to the surface and then transferred to a temporary wooden church.
A year later they were solemnly transferred to the Trinity Cathedral, where they are kept to this day.
Read about the saint:
- Icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh
- Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on Ryazanka in Moscow
- Akathist to Saint Sergius of Radonezh
Temples of Moscow, in which there is a particle of the relics of the saint
In the capital's churches you can venerate the icons of St. Sergius of Radonezh with a particle of his relics.
Stories of miraculous help
The editors of the Internet portal “Pravoslavie.Ru” constantly receive stories of miraculous help through prayers to St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Now we have Dashenka
More than 20 years ago, at the spring of St. Sergius of Radonezh, I asked the saint to help my sister get pregnant and give birth to a child. Almost immediately a miracle happened. But before that, my sister couldn’t get pregnant for many years. Thanks to the prayers of St. Sergius, we now have our Dashenka, a gift from the Lord.
The saint helped me find a job
I looked for a job for two weeks, there were a couple of options, but they were uninteresting. After a trip to St. Sergius, they called me and the place turned out to be ideal for me! God bless!
I prayed for admission to university
That summer, when I graduated from school and entered college, I went to church one day for a service. After her, the priest told how St. Petersburg prayed during his student years. Sergius of Radonezh before the exam in order to pass it with a “4”. And I passed it with a “4”... After that, I began to pray that I could pass the entrance test to a university with the minimum passing grade. And I passed... It was the number of points I scored that was passing. Reverend Father Sergius, pray to God for us!
Story
The relics, placed in a simple wooden shrine, became the object of worship for many believers of different classes. Since 1585, they have been resting in a silver casket, which was covered with gilding on top. Over the six-hundred-year history, the holy remains were seriously endangered several times.
The story of the appearance of the Church of All Saints in Sergiev Posad is connected with one of these events. In 1746, a strong fire broke out in the southern part of the Lavra, threatening the Trinity Cathedral and the relics stored in it. She was taken out of the territory of the monastery through the northern gate and placed in a vacant lot, which at that time was located northwest of the monastery.
Reliquary with the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra
After the fire was over, the relics were brought to their original location. And at the place of their temporary residence a church was founded.
Read about the relics of other Orthodox saints:
- Relics of Saint John the Baptist
- Relics of St. Gabriel Urgebadze
- Relics of St. Elijah of Muromets
Tests in Soviet times
Until 1916, the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh remained incorrupt. They were covered with cotton fibers, which were then distributed to parishioners and pilgrims as a blessing. Due to the negligence of the monk assigned to the relic, a spark from a candle got into the shrine. The fire quickly consumed the clothes and flesh of the holy elder. Only bones and remnants of clothes remained in the casket.
The young Soviet government, in the wake of the fight against a religious cult, decided to open the ark with the relics. On April 11, the Lavra was surrounded by military and mounted police, who did not let in the many gathered believers demanding not to desecrate the remains of the holy man. But their voices were not heard. The ark was opened, and the relics were exhibited as an exhibit in an atheistic museum organized on the territory of the monastery. To save the holy remains, priest Pavel Florensky and Count Yuri Olsufiev secretly separated the head from them, which was replaced with the skull of one of the princes of the Trubetskoy family, resting on the territory of the cathedral.
The head of Holy Father Sergius was passed from guardian to guardian for more than 20 years. During the war years, it was hidden in the altar of the church in the village of Vinogradovo, located not far from the capital. In 1945, monastic life in the holy monastery, located in Sergiev Posad, resumed. The holy relics were clothed in robes and returned to the shrine in the Trinity Cathedral. But they and the Assumption Church were officially transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church only a year later. But neither the monks nor the parishioners had any idea about the substitution that had once taken place.
The relic was handed over to Father Hilarion, who participated in its rescue. During the re-dressing of the relics in the new schema, the head was secretly returned to its original place.
Interesting: there is a version that the separation of the head of St. Sergius occurred before the desecration of the relics. But whatever the date of this event, its basic facts remain unchanged.
Miracles past and present
The monastery chronicles contain many records of miracles that occurred through prayer at the relics of the Venerable Father Sergius and sincere faith in the power of the Lord.
Healing of the youth Leonty
The son of one of the elders of the city of Vyshgorod endured severe pain for many years in his diseased hand, which was withered and twisted. The young man visited many holy places in the hope of healing from his illness. And so, in one village belonging to the Trinity Monastery, the Monk Sergius appeared to him and ordered him to go to his monastery for healing.
Ark with a particle of the relics of Sergius of Radonezh
Arriving at the monastery, Leonty approached the shrine with the honorable relics and began a prayer, which was accompanied by prostrations to the ground. After the third, the young man venerated the ark and announced to the people around him that his hand had been healed of its disease.
This miracle strengthened the young man’s Faith, and he went to tell the laity about the miracles of the reverend elder.
Love and care for children
The history of the modern miracle took place in the middle of the 20th century.
At this time, two small children lived on one of the streets of the city of Sergiev Posad - Sofia and Mikhail - and their mother, who worked in a clinic. One day, seeing the approach of a thunderstorm, which the children were terrified of, the woman took time off from work and hurried home, silently asking for help from St. Sergius.
Having run home, she opened the door and entered the room where the kids were sitting calmly and joyfully. They told her that in the first minutes of bad weather, an old man in a monastic robe came to them and calmed them down. He said that mom would come soon and there was no need to be afraid. Sonya became a deeply religious woman and worked at the holy monastery into old age.
Help for a blind pilgrim
One autumn evening, a guide accompanying a tourist group from Germany around the Lavra saw an elderly woman on the steps of the Trinity Church. The grandmother, whose name was Anna, came from Kyiv to venerate the holy relics, and since she had nowhere to go, she was going to spend the night on the street. The eighty-year-old woman was completely blind.
Going on a long journey, she offered prayers to St. Sergius and asked for help. And the holy man helped her by sending good people who bore his name. They accompanied the grandmother to the right train and helped her get to the holy place.
Return of a lost child and fulfillment of wishes
Reverend Father Sergius of Radonezh hears the sincere request of any person, regardless of his appearance and knowledge of temple traditions. This is proven by a miracle that happened to a woman from the town of Krasnoznamensk near Moscow. A misfortune occurred in the family of her husband’s acquaintances - their infant daughter disappeared. The search for the girl did not yield results and Lyudmila decided to go to the Trinity Lavra to offer prayer at the relics of the reverend wonderworker.
Prayer service at the shrine with the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh
The young woman could not help but ask for herself - she had long dreamed of the happiness of motherhood.
It should be noted that the woman was not officially married, was not married to her companion, and arrived at the monastery in trousers and bright makeup on her face. But the holy father heard her fervent prayer. The next day after the trip, the baby was found on the threshold of her own home, and after some time Lyudmila found out about her pregnancy.
Appearing to her in a dream, the Monk Sergius smiled at her with great love and asked if she was satisfied. Since then, Lyudmila regularly attends church and raises her son in love for God.
Where are the relics of Sergius of Radonezh located?
The saints say that troubles are not given to people by chance. Only through sorrow do we begin to understand how fragile and unreliable earthly comfort is, how short-lived the body is. So people realize that they cannot rely on money, social status, or get carried away by pleasures. After all, sooner or later temporary life comes to an end. Having understood this, a person begins to reach for what is truly important - spiritual benefits.
To pray near the relics of Sergius of Radonezh, you should come to the Moscow region . Access to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where the incorrupt body of the saint is located, is open daily. Not everyone can often get out of the city from the capital, but there is no need to worry. After all, you can worship in Moscow churches:
- The icon with the particle is located in the Trinity Church, in the Lavra courtyard . In fact, this is a kind of branch of the monastery, where services are held according to the monastic rite (they are longer than usual for the laity). You need to get to the Tsvetnoy Boulevard metro station and from there go to 2nd Troitsky Lane. 6A.
- At the Kitay-Gorod station there is also a similar shrine, in the Church of St. Nicholas in Klenniki . This temple is well known - St. Alexy (Mechev) continued to support the church community during the years of persecution of the Orthodox faith.
- The Church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God has an entire chapel consecrated in honor of the Russian saint. Located on Dmitrovskoye Highway, 170 (metro station "Altufyevo" or "Petrovsko-Razumovskaya") .
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The Lord glorifies the righteous after death, decorating their bodies not with crosses or rich tombs, but with fragrance and myrrh. In this way, believers can partake of the grace of God operating in a sinful world.
How they help
St. Sergius of Radonezh is one of the most revered Orthodox holy fathers. Thousands of prayers are offered to him every day by people in need of advice, help and intercession. It helps in a wide variety of cases.
For example:
- Father Sergius is the patron of all people receiving education.
- He is asked for help in raising teenage children.
- It protects in life-threatening situations and protects from enemy attacks.
- Through prayer to Saint Sergius, people get rid of pride and vanity, opening their souls to love and humility.
- They pray to him for people subject to addictions and bad influences.
- They pray to the venerable elder before starting important matters and ask for help in difficult everyday situations.
- They ask him for healing from physical and mental illnesses.
Death
The decline of Sergius, who lived to a ripe old age, was clear and quiet. He was surrounded by numerous disciples, he was revered by great princes and the last beggars. Six months before his death, Sergius handed over the abbess to his disciple Nikon and renounced everything worldly, “began to remain silent,” preparing for death.
Monument to Sergius of Radonezh
When the illness began to overcome him more and more, in anticipation of his departure, he gathers the monastic brethren and addresses them with instructions. He asks to “have the fear of God”, to maintain like-mindedness, purity of soul and body, love, humility and love of strangers, expressed in caring for the poor and homeless. The elder passed away into another world on September 25, 1392.
