For more than two hundred years, believers have received the help of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg, whose memorial day we celebrate on February 6. Lack of money, problems with housing, illness, childlessness, loneliness, anxiety for a child, uncertainty about work - all these problems are “in the department” of Ksenyushka, the beloved Russian saint.
We will tell you in this material who the saint helps and what to do to make her hear your prayer. Let’s also talk about who the holy fool Ksenia of Petersburg was for Christ’s sake.
Prayer of Xenia of St. Petersburg: original text
In Old Church Slavonic:
Oh, our glorious holy blessed mother Xenia, warm for us before God in the prayer book! As before we fell to your tombstone, now, after your glorification, we resort to your relics, we ask: pray to the Lord, may He sanctify our souls and bodies, may He enlighten our minds and purify conscience from all filthiness, unclean thoughts, evil and blasphemous intentions and from all exaltation, pride and arrogance, arrogance and insolence, from all Pharisee hypocrisy, and from all our cold and evil customs; May He grant us sincere repentance, contrition of our hearts, humility, meekness and quietness, reverence, and spiritual understanding with all prudence and gratitude.
Hidden from the wise of this age, but known to God, ask our Russian country for deliverance from severe troubles, for renewal and correction of all our lives, keep us in every pious Orthodox confession the gift of the Christian faith, so that in pleasing you we may be honored all the days to sing, give thanks and glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of One Essence, Life-Giving and Indivisible forever and ever. Amen
In modern Russian:
Oh, our glorious holy blessed mother Xenia, ardent prayer book for us before God! As before we fell to your tombstone, so now we, after your glorification, resorting to your relics, ask: pray to the Lord, may He sanctify our souls and bodies, may He enlighten our minds, cleanse our conscience from all filth, unclean thoughts, evil and blasphemous plans and from all exaltation, pride and arrogance, arrogance and insolence, from all Pharisee hypocrisy, and from all our shameful and evil customs; May He grant us sincere repentance, contrition of our hearts, humility, meekness and calmness, reverence, spiritual intelligence with all prudence and thanksgiving.
Hidden from the wise of this age, but known to God! Ask our Russian country for deliverance from grave troubles, for renewal and correction of our entire life, keep us in every pious Orthodox confession of the Christian faith, so that, glorifying you, we may be worthy all the days to chant, thank and glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of the Consubstantial, Life-giving and Undivided forever and ever. Amen.
Ksenia's prayer for personal petition
In Old Church Slavonic:
Oh, our great heavenly intercessor, holy blessed mother Xenia! Ask the Greatly Gifted God for your servants (names), who flow to you with hope (the content of the petition), and for help and instruction in all everyday needs and needs, and for deliverance from all troubles and sorrows. Amen.
In modern Russian:
O our great heavenly intercessor, holy blessed mother Xenia! Ask the Greatly Gifted God for Your servants (names), who flow to You with hope (the content of the petition), and for help and guidance in all everyday needs and needs, and for deliverance from all troubles and sorrows. Amen.
Prayer for children
Holy Fool Ksenia is the patroness of women and motherhood. Mother is known as a quick and effective helper for the health and well-being of children. They pray to her not only about pregnancy, but also during it, asking her to protect the gifted child.
Having installed the image of the righteous woman at the baby’s crib, they make daily requests to God, the Mother of God and their beloved Xenia for the child’s health.
Mother Ksenia often appears in visions to those praying to her, especially in moments of danger. It warns and saves from disasters, indicates a solution in a difficult situation.
A prayer to Xenia of St. Petersburg for children and a holy icon are not a talisman, but the invisible presence of the old woman calls the grace of God into the house.
In what cases do they pray to Xenia: commentary from a clergyman
Archpriest Viktor Khokhlov, key keeper of the Cathedral, answers the reader’s question:
Believers all over the world received miraculous help from the saint. People who find themselves in difficult life circumstances pray to Blessed Xenia. They pray to her for marital happiness, for peace in the family, for the health of children, for protection from unjust trials, from slander. Saint Xenia never turned away from people's requests.
They also pray to Saint Xenia when they are sick. It has been noticed that the saint helps when looking for work, and saves those in trouble - when people are in danger. The St. Petersburg saint is one of our own and dear to all of Russia.
Troparion, tone 7*
Audio:
0:46
Having loved the poverty of Christ,/ now enjoying immortal meals,/ having exposed the madness of the world through imaginary madness,/ through humility on the cross you have received the power of God./ Segora O you who have acquired the gift of miraculous help, / Blessed Xenia, pray to Christ God // to deliver us from all evil through repentance.
Translation: Having loved the poverty of Christ, now you enjoy the Immortal Table, having exposed the madness of the world with your imaginary madness, by humility on the cross you have accepted the power of God. Therefore, blessed Xenia, who has deserved the gift of miraculous help, pray to Christ God for our deliverance from all evil through repentance.
How and where to pray to Xenia of St. Petersburg
Stories of deliverance from troubles and misfortunes through prayers to the blessed one fill volumes. You can pray to the saint in front of the icon at home according to the prayer book and in church during a prayer service. The tradition of coming to Ksenyushka’s grave at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg began in the 19th century. The burial mound, from which believers took soil for themselves, was replenished more than once.
In the middle of the 19th century, a chapel was erected at the burial site, but the flow of those who venerated the saint was so great that in 1902 a large chapel was erected in the name of St. Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg. When turning to the saints as our intercessors before God, we must remember: our requests should not be selfish, and we ourselves must be pure. This means that our participation in the sacraments of repentance and communion is also important.
The chapel is located at the address: St. Petersburg, st. Kamskaya, 24
You must pray from a pure, sincere heart, with humility and zeal, without anger, without resentment, without vanity, not for show, in every place, at every time. The Giver of life is God, the saints are our intercessors, intercessors before God. In our prayer addressed to the saint, we ask her, “as if alive, as if she were with us,” to “accept our petitions and bring them to the throne of the merciful Heavenly Father.”
We ask Ksenyushka as “one who has boldness towards God.” “Ask for eternal salvation for those who flow to you, a generous blessing for our good deeds and undertakings, deliverance from all troubles and sorrows, appear with your holy prayers before our all-merciful Savior for us, unworthy and sinners.”
As Saint Tikhon said:
God does not require from the person praying beauty of speech and skillful composition of words, but spiritual warmth and zeal.
How to read prayers?
In order for the words of prayer to reach faster, and for the Saint to help, it is better to pray in church in front of the icon of Xenia of St. Petersburg. Before this, you need to light a candle for your health and perform a prayer service for the forgiveness of sins before the face of our Lord, and then light a candle near the holy icon and turn to it in prayer.
If you can’t go to church, you can pray at home. To do this, you need to purchase and light church candles in front of the saint’s image and read the words of the prayer with a pure heart and sincerity. Afterwards we need to cross ourselves, blow out the candle and thank the Almighty and the saint for forgiving our sins and helping us in difficult life situations.
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Whom has Ksenia helped today: testimony of Bishop Alexander
Bishop Alexander (Mileant) 1938-2005 shares his observations:
There are many miracles to her credit. And he gives us miracles. I know a Muscovite, Lyudmila Pavlovna Paramonova, for whom Ksenia Petersburgskaya is a family doctor. She became seriously ill and was scheduled for surgery. I went to St. Petersburg to pray to Blessed Ksenia. I defended three prayer services in a row. And the operation was canceled, the diagnosis was not confirmed. Since then, with all the problems - to Ksenyushka. After pneumonia, her son could not come to his senses - weakness, dizziness, apathy. I went to see my healer. She prayed and asked the saint for her only son. And the teenager slowly began to come to life.
Even such a serious illness as epilepsy is within the power of the great saint of God. Daria Tarasovna Kulichkova from St. Petersburg was exhausted with her eldest daughter, who had epilepsy. She took her everywhere and resorted to whatever means. Uselessly. Kind people told her about Ksenia. I went to the Smolensk cemetery with my daughter. We rented an apartment nearby and faithfully went to the blessed chapel for a week, every day, as if going to work. They ordered a prayer service and prayed in their own words. It helped. My daughter has not had seizures for three years now.
The entire chapel of Blessed Xenia is in notes. The suffering Orthodox Christians each ask for their own thing. They will write a note with a request and stick it in the wall. Or they will stand close to the chapel, press their heads against the cold stone - they ask. I know a St. Petersburg neurologist who, when writing prescriptions for a patient, will definitely add:
And definitely go to Ksenia.
Crowds of people are drawn to the blessed grave, to the small, cramped chapel. They not only apply themselves, but also apply its icon to the tomb. Icons travel to all corners of Russia to heal those who cannot come to St. Petersburg in person. And through her icon, blessed Ksenia bestows healing.
Muscovite Taisiya Sergeevna Klepikova’s baby fell ill, the temperature was creeping up and approaching a critical level. The young mother rushed around the apartment and seemed to come across the gaze of Blessed Xenia from the icon. I rushed - help! Then she opened the akathist and began to read it with lips disobedient from fear. And the temperature began to drop little by little.
Prayer to Xenia of St. Petersburg without weekends and holidays. Our holy helpers do not know fatigue.
Getting rid of an unhappy marriage
It is not for nothing that people pray at the grave of Blessed Xenia for a marriage arrangement. An example of posthumous help to a saint is the following story.
Read about Orthodox marriage:
- Marriage with an unbeliever or a non-believer
- About the patriarchal family
- About chastity before marriage
One of the women the saint knew was a widow and had a young daughter. One day, a representative officer wooed his daughter. This became a great joy for the mother and she agreed to the marriage. The girl was also happy and was preparing for the wedding. By that time, Blessed Xenia had already reposed. The widow, remembering the holiness of her life, went to the grave to serve a memorial service and ask for her daughter’s blessing for the marriage.
Prayer of Xenia of St. Petersburg
Immediately before the wedding, the groom-officer went to the Treasury to draw up some documents. And there the incredible happened: the sentry recognized him. The “groom” turned out to be not an officer, but an escaped convict, dressed in the clothes of a military man he had killed. The dangerous wedding was upset, for which mother and daughter constantly thanked their assistant, Blessed Ksenia.
Important. This witnessed miracle of the saint teaches that not every marriage that seems successful and desirable is useful for saving the soul and life itself. At least one prayer from Blessed Xenia will help in establishing a good marriage and protecting you from misfortunes.
Testimonies of Believers
Ksenia Alferova, theater and film actress, TV presenter, founder of the charity foundation “I am!”:
Blessed Xenia is my patron saint. I know well and feel that she always helps when I ask for her help. She is absolutely alive and dear to me. It’s like sharing with a loved one: he will both protect and help. This is roughly the relationship I have with her. And there are so many similar situations that it’s even difficult to give a specific example. Turning to her and asking for support is the first thing that comes to mind when you are in a family conflict or face other problems. These little miracles happen every day.
We quarreled, but there is no strength to reconcile. And it helps, pacifies hearts, and after a while you suddenly feel softened, the resentment fades away and you find the strength to ask for forgiveness, or the other person comes first.
Alena, 45 years old, teacher, Moscow
I love Ksenyushka very much, I always go to the relics when I’m in St. Petersburg. She is also close to me because she was also a widow. It was no coincidence that we named my youngest Ksenia. When I was pregnant, at the very beginning I was in danger of miscarriage (heavy bleeding, placental abruption). It was very worrying.
At this time, my sister was on a pilgrimage, traveling to various holy places. Everywhere, of course, she prayed for me. She was also in St. Petersburg. Then she calls me and says that when she approached Ksenia’s relics, she felt so calm in her soul for me and she knows for sure that everything will be fine! And so it happened. Thank God, our Ksenia was born. Now Ksenyushka has become even closer to me.
Maria, 43 years old, teacher, Moscow
We got married to Blessed Ksenia on February 6th. We didn’t prepare for the wedding at all: we didn’t know where we would live, our things were all in different apartments. After the wedding, complete uncertainty awaited us. I only now understand that this was impossible. We began to think about whether to go somewhere or not. February, there will be as much money as a wedding gift. I went with these thoughts to the parish library and asked the librarian: “Do you know where we can go after the wedding, so that it’s inexpensive if we get together?”
She said, “I know. It's inexpensive and very good. Near Sergiev Posad." She took a piece of paper, one from the pile that was cut up for notes, and wrote down the phone number with the name of the recreation center. I took the piece of paper, thanked her, began to fold it in half, and suddenly I saw “Blessed Xenia of Petersburg” printed on the back of this piece of paper.
Apparently, the saint knew our absolute disorder and made sure that the beginning of family life would be remembered in some way. It was great there: we were alone at the base for several days, went downhill, skied and skated, and walked in the forest. Already on the way back we were informed that my grandmother, with whom I lived, had broken her arm. Soon, almost immediately, my husband’s mother suffered a concussion. So we wandered between them for the first time. But we will remember Blessed Xenia’s gift for the rest of our lives. If the saints take care of us even about such little things, what can we say about anything else!
Natalya, 59 years old, engineer, St. Petersburg
Now on February 6th, the queue to the chapel of Mother Xenia has been lining up since early morning and right from the entrance to the Smolensk cemetery. When I first came here, back in Soviet times, everything was abandoned, it was impossible to get inside the chapel, the entrance was boarded up, but you could see the trash inside and the remains of a Soviet sculpture of some discus thrower, everything was in ruins - a sad sight.
I knew nothing about Blessed Xenia, I was not even baptized, I studied at the institute, was the secretary of the Komsomol organization. But there was this saying going around our institute during the session, addressed to those who successfully passed the difficult exam: “Apparently, Ksenyushka helped.” I couldn’t understand what kind of Ksenyushka she was, where she worked or lived, or what the institute had to do with it.
But you have to understand that it was also a dangerous time: if I went into church, I saw a man in a black coat following me, watching what and how I was doing. I wanted to be baptized for a long time, but it didn’t work out, because in Leningrad at that time people were baptized only upon presentation of a passport and were immediately told “where they should go”: people lost their jobs and were deprived of the opportunity to continue their education.
But one day I decided to find Ksenyushka at the Smolensk cemetery and went, not knowing anything special. An amazing meeting seriously changed my life. Having wandered alone among the ruins, I came out to the destroyed chapel, and then a little old woman came out to meet me and asked me: “Are you going to Ksenyushka? I’ll tell you everything about her.”
We talked for two hours. The woman briefly described the life of Mother Xenia, faith and prayer, which, despite the prohibitions, destruction, war, never stopped in this place. But most of all I was shocked by the prayer in verse that was born during the blockade. This old woman recalled how there were always people who, despite hunger and lack of strength, came here and prayed to the blessed one, believing that she would not leave the city.
She said briefly to herself: “Everyone for whom I prayed to Mother Ksenia returned from the war alive.” My only request then was to be baptized. And literally after a while I, it seems, on a voucher from the institute, ended up in Yalta, where, during a walk on Palm Sunday, I came across the Alexander Nevsky Church, built in memory of the murdered Emperor Alexander II (here is the connection with St. Petersburg!), in which baptisms were performed without a passport entry, and I received holy baptism. And my life changed, I immediately felt it.
Since then, I have advised everyone in especially difficult situations to turn to God and the patron saint of our city, to come to the Smolensk cemetery. And soon churches began to open, there were more and more believers, but there were also many miracles in those days - they were given almost immediately to everyone who came to the Church and turned to God.
I can testify to one more miracle. A few years later, a friend came to visit me one day, who had been married for 8 years, but suffered from the lack of children. She simply cried that day in despair, saying that there were no prospects, she was tired of going to doctors. And I suggested that she not put it off, but go to Smolenskoye right now. But, as often happens, a person’s path to God is not always simple: a tram ran from my house, and at normal times it took me 20 minutes to get to the Smolensk cemetery, but that time it took two hours.
And the weather was against us, and on the way, my friend suddenly became ill, and she sat on a bench. When we finally arrived, she went to the chapel to pray, and I stayed on the sidelines to wait, only briefly thinking that it would be nice if God had sent me a boy. At that time I already had 2 daughters. And then literally 2 weeks later I found out about my pregnancy, without even doubting that it would be a boy. And my friend gave birth to a son six months after me. But we are both convinced that this is the help of Mother Ksenia of Petersburg.
Alexander, 57 years old, Ramenskoye
I want to talk about my experience of seeking help from Ksenia of St. Petersburg, one of the most beloved saints in our family.
I met her back in 2005 through my wife Irina. She went on an excursion to the town of Sizma, Vologda region. The Chapel of Xenia of St. Petersburg, which is located there, occupies one of the first places in the region in terms of the number of pilgrims. The entire chapel is strewn with notes from people asking for help and support.
After that, we bought several books about the life of the saint and began to pray to her for our nephews for the gift of a spouse.
First for my niece Natalya, starting in 2007, when my older brother (her father) died, she was then 21 years old. In 2013 she got married.
Then in 2010 I began to pray for my niece Tatyana when my sister (her mother) died. Tatyana was 20 years old then. She got married in 2022.
In 2010, he began to pray for his nephew Leonid; by that time he was already 25 years old. He got married in 2022. Lenya’s communication with his future wife Ksenia began precisely at Tatyana’s wedding. Ksenia, as it turned out later, had long since paid attention to him, since Lenya often came to visit her neighbors. Lenya did not take Ksenia seriously for a long time due to the large age difference (about 10 years).
Prayer requests for nephews varied. When visiting any temple, if you found an icon of Xenia of St. Petersburg, then you asked for it for your nephews. Occasionally I read an akathist.
Since 2008, when we moved to live near St. Petersburg, almost every month my wife and I went to the Smolensk cemetery and kissed the tombstone of Xenia of Petersburg.
We recently moved to live near Moscow, but every year my wife and I go to St. Petersburg and always visit the chapel of St. Blessed Xenia of Petersburg at the Smolensk cemetery, as well as the Ioannovsky Convent on the Karpovka River and venerate the tomb of St. Righteous John of Kronstadt.
Help from our appeals to these saints comes quickly and very clearly.
Fotinia, 40 years old, employee of the Orthodox service “Mercy”, Moscow
Of the holy wives, Mother Ksenia immediately seemed closest to me. Her feat of love shocked me and became an example. From romantic St. Petersburg, the city turned into a special place for Mother Xenia, and the desire to come there to visit her chapel became a cherished desire. The fact is that I came to God on my own in high school and almost immediately began to dream of an Orthodox family. Thanks to my confessor, I realized that I needed to pray and trust God in this matter. As in everything else.
We got married in the summer of 2003, and in the fall, after our first trip to see friends who then lived next to the Smolensk cemetery, we learned about pregnancy. I immediately came up with a name for my daughter; there was no doubt that the saint closest and dearest to me, with the name I like, is Mother Ksenia. And miracles began at this stage: my husband, with whom we usually have heated arguments, agreed to a funny argument. “She will already have your last and middle names, let me at least choose something!” We began to come to St. Petersburg almost every year and immediately went to see Mother Ksenia.
Now we have four children, and this became possible thanks to the peaceful, hardworking, problem-free eldest Ksenia, whom her patron saint did not abandon even in serious illness. Many of our friends went to Smolensk and brought us oil and holy water from there during those long hospital months.
How to ask the Saint for help
Little information has been preserved about Ksenia’s childhood and youth, but stories of her miracles are passed down from generation to generation. The saint's grave is located at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg, where many people come for help. In resolving various issues, you can turn to Ksenia of St. Petersburg with prayers.
After the death of her husband, Ksenia renounced earthly goods and decided to devote her life to prayers for her husband, who died and did not repent. She distributed all her property to people, and she began to walk around in her husband’s clothes, with the name Andrei. Some people took her for a madwoman, others pitied her, but over time they began to notice that the blessed woman carried the mercy of the Lord. Those who communicated well with her became happy. If she touched sick people, they were healed.
To receive the support of a saint, you must follow several rules:
- You must apply in front of the icon, which can be purchased in the church.
- It is advisable to memorize the text or read it written down on paper. The intonation should be gentle, as in a conversation with a loved one.
- The prayer is read daily in the morning from 07.00 to 08.00 and in the evening from 17.00 to 19.00.
- When reading, you should be alone so that no one disturbs you.
A little history: who is Ksenia Petersburgskaya
Residents of St. Petersburg in the second half of the 18th century knew well the wanderer, dressed in pitiful rags in the color of her husband’s military uniform in any weather: a red jacket, a green skirt. As soon as Ksenia appeared on the market, everyone was eager to serve her. Merchants opened their counters: take it - I don’t want it. The cab drivers, noticing the red and green rags from afar, drove the horses, begging the blessed one to ride with them at least a couple of steps. The people knew: the blessed one would not take either clothes or shoes for herself, no matter what winds or severe frost chilled the capital. She won’t take anything for herself, she doesn’t need anything - when entering the house,
Ksenia said: “I’m all here.” But he can take some trifle - a gingerbread, a button, a coin. Take it and immediately give it to someone. And luck began to favor both the one from whom Ksenia took and the one to whom she gave. But if Ksenia did not touch other people’s gifts, then there was a reason: she saw, like an x-ray, the unrepentant sins of the giver. That is why, seeing the holy fool, the merchants tested themselves - hoping for luck, understanding: if you were rejected, this is an unkind sign, something in your soul and life is going wrong. But recognition of Ksenyushka’s insight did not come immediately.
History has not preserved the details of that part of Ksenia’s life when everything went as usual, like everyone else: we don’t even know the exact date of her birth; it is believed to be the first third of the 18th century. We know that her father's name was Grigory and that she was married to the singer of the court choir, Andrei Feodorovich Petrov, a colonel. Andrei Feodorovich and Ksenia Grigorievna lived comfortably. That's all that is known about the life of the saint until the moment when twenty-six-year-old Ksenia Grigorievna Petrova's husband suddenly dies.
The suddenness of death did not just mean the unexpectedness of the loss; for the believer Ksenia, the blow was intensified by the way her husband passed away into another world - without having time to confess and receive communion. For a believer, death without church guidance is scary, and for the afterlife it is very uncertain: the death of an Orthodox person used to be treated with reverent severity.
One can only assume that a revolution took place in the heart and consciousness of the widowed Ksenia: she felt the illusory nature of earthly happiness, the fragility of everything earthly in general. And, realizing this, the young woman rejects this entire fragile world and devotes the rest of her earthly life to serving the other world.
What happened next was preserved in the people's memory in every detail. On the day of the funeral, the young widow put on her husband’s clothes and responded to the condolences of her loved ones that Andrei Feodorovich did not die, but she, Ksenia Grigorievna, died - this is understandable, from now on she is dead to the world. Since then, she did not respond to her name and asked to be called Andrei Feodorovich. Her relatives thought that her mind was clouded from grief. Their suspicions intensified when the next day Ksenia distributed her belongings to the poor, took the money to the temple, and gave her house to a friend, making her promise that she would let the poor there.
All this could not help but seem strange, and relatives insisted that Ksenia undergo a medical examination. However, the commission came to the conclusion: Ksenia Grigorievna Petrova, a widow of twenty-six years old, is mentally healthy and has the right to dispose of her property herself. They did not detain her, and so began the holy fool’s forty-five-year wandering through the streets of the capital.
In her husband's shabby suit and tattered shoes, she endured the vicissitudes of the St. Petersburg climate and open-air life with amazing fortitude and meekness. Only once was she seen in anger, when the cruelty of the boys, who threw stones and clods of dirt at her, went beyond all limits. Witnesses to the ugly scene, who at first watched what was happening indifferently, were so shocked by the sight of the angry Ksenia that they immediately stopped the bullying. This was no longer allowed.
The police could not help but be interested in where the woman was spending the night: after following her, they saw that Ksenia spends nights in all weathers in the field on her knees in prayer.
Why is Xenia of Petersburg called blessed?
What does "blessed" mean? What kind of feat is foolishness? The word “blessed” means that the saint became famous for her feat of foolishness for Christ’s sake - the most unusual of all types of holiness. The feat of foolishness for Christ's sake consists not simply in the voluntary renunciation of conveniences, comfort, and any benefits of civilization, but also in the renunciation of one's home, of any property, even clothing, and even of permanent human relationships, that is, of everything that binds a person to the earthly world. But that's not all.
It is difficult to even imagine that a person can voluntarily renounce reason - that part of it that is responsible for everyday well-being. Foolishness for Christ's sake presupposes complete disregard for it. Not personal happiness, not health, not material well-being, but the Kingdom of Heaven becomes the center of a person’s aspiration, therefore everything that interferes with this, even your mind, no longer has value.
By the way, the concentration of the entire personality on God is the main difference between the holy fool and all those who neglect the rules of public life for some other reason. The feat of foolishness requires special courage, because a person opposes himself to the world and thereby invites condemnation, ridicule, and outright mockery. But, patiently enduring everything, he overcomes the most important sin in himself, the root of all sins - pride, which is the most difficult to overcome.
As Seraphim of Sarov explained, foolishness for Christ’s sake requires special strength of spirit, you cannot volunteer for such a feat yourself, you will fall short, it is always called by God. Foolishness is a phenomenon of Russian holiness.
