Dionysius. Venerable Dionysius Dionysius of Radonezh life

With. 345¦ 283. Old Testament Trinity.

Beginning of the 16th century. School of Dionysius 1 .

1 According to the legend reported by Yu. A. Olsufiev, this icon is associated with the name of Dionysius, as well as the recently disappeared local icon of the church in the village. Sandyrakh near Kolomna, depicting Elijah the prophet, with life.

The iconography approaches Andrei Rublev's Trinity, but the coloring and composition are somewhat different. Blue tones are replaced with blue-green and bluish-green, and reddish-brown hues are replaced with pinkish-purple. The figures of angels fill the board in such a way that there is much less space for the background than with Rublev. The vohrenie is dense, reddish ocher over olive sankir. The color is bright and saturated. Paints - bluish-green, violet-pink, olive, orange-yellow with gold, blue-green. Against the background, along the contours of the mountain, the outlines of the middle and left angels, as well as in the lower left corner and in the margins - an ancient gesso with the original painting was carved during restoration in the 18th century. When the icon was opened in the 1940s by V. G. Bryusova, the colorful renovations, together with the 18th-century gesso, were removed; a new gesso was applied (without pictorial additions).

The board is linden, the dowels are counter, mortise. Pavoloka, gesso, egg tempera. 132×104.

Comes from the Resurrection Cathedral in the Kremlin in Kolomna 2 .

2 In the first half of the sixteenth century Bishop of Kolomna was Vassian Toporkov, who received in 1484-1486. participation in the works on murals headed by Dionysius in the Joseph Volokolamsky Monastery (see V. I. Antonova, Newly discovered works of Dionysius in the State Tretyakov Gallery, M., 1952, p. 18). It is possible that the Trinity - one of the large icons of the Cathedral of the Bishop of Kolomna - is associated with the era of Vassian Toporkov.

Disclosed in the GTsKhRM in 1945 and in the State Tretyakov Gallery in 1949 by V. G. Bryusova.

Received from TsGRM in 1933. With. 345
¦

The author focuses on the life and work of the great ascetic of piety, St. Dionysius of Radonezh, as well as the cultural memory of him, preserved in Russia and passed on to posterity. For readers interested in the history and culture of Russia and the Tver land.

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The following excerpt from the book Venerable Dionysius of Radonezh in Russian history and culture (Marina Voloskova) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.

Devotees of piety - from St. Sergius Radonezh

to St. Dionysius of Radonezh

§1. Predecessors of St. Dionysius of Radonezh

The great Russian land has always been famous for the ascetics of piety, who left a significant mark on the history and culture of our state. These are St. Sergius of Radonezh, Joseph Volotsky, Tryphon of Pechenga, the saints of the Russian land Gury, Herman and Barsanuphius, the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Job, St. Dionysius of Radonezh and many others. Knowing Russian history, it is easy to see that most of these names are associated with the Tver land.

And the path of spiritual asceticism began with St. Sergius of Radonezh. St. Sergius of Radonezh (in the world Bartholomew, May 3, 1314 - September 25, 1392) is considered one of the most revered saints from the time of Ancient Rus' to the present. He founded several monasteries, and first of all the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, popularly referred to as the “abbot of the Russian land”1.

Sergius of Radonezh lived in an era when Rus' was under the Mongol-Tatar yoke and fought for its independence from the Horde. “Sergius himself never took up a sword, but with his word he inspired the soldiers to victory”2.

During the Mamai invasion of Rus' in 1380, Sergius of Radonezh blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy for the Battle of Kulikovo and sent the monks Peresvet and Oslyabya with him. By this he showed that the Church, together with its people, is fighting on the Kulikovo field. The victory over Mamai on the Kulikovo field significantly strengthened the Moscow principality.

The biographer of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Epiphanius the Wise, reports that the future ascetic of the Russian land was born in the village of Varnitsy (near Rostov) in the family of the boyar Kirill, a servant of the Rostov appanage princes, and his wife Maria.

The Russian Church traditionally considers his birthday on May 3, 1314. At the age of 10, young Bartholomew was sent to study literacy in church school together with his brothers: the eldest, Stefan, and the youngest, Peter. Unlike his brothers, who were successful in studies, Bartholomew was significantly behind in learning. The teacher scolded him, his parents were upset and admonished, he himself prayed with tears, but his studies did not move forward. And then an event happened, about which all the biographies of Sergius report. On the instructions of his father, Bartholomew went to the field to look for horses. During the search, he went out into the clearing and saw under the oak an old hermit, “holy and wonderful, with the dignity of a presbyter, handsome and like an angel, who stood in the field under the oak and prayed earnestly, with tears.” Seeing him, Bartholomew first bowed humbly, then approached and stood close, waiting for him to finish the prayer. The elder, seeing the boy, turned to him: “What are you looking for and what do you want, child?” Bowing to the earth, with deep spiritual emotion, he told him his grief and asked the elder to pray that God would help him overcome the letter. After praying, the elder took out the ark from his bosom and took a particle of prosphora from it, blessed it and ordered it to be eaten, saying: “That is given to you as a sign of God’s grace and understanding of the Holy Scriptures.<…>about literacy, child, do not grieve: know that from now on the Lord will grant you good knowledge letters, more than your brothers and peers. After that, the elder wanted to leave, but Bartholomew begged him to visit his parents' house. At the meal, the parents of Bartholomew told the elder many of the signs that accompanied the birth of their son, and he said: “A sign of the truth of my words will be for you that after my departure, the lad will know the letter well and understand the sacred books. And here is the second sign and prediction for you - the lad will be great before God and people for his virtuous life. Having said this, the elder was about to leave and finally said: “Your son will be the abode of the Holy Trinity and will lead many after him to an understanding of the Divine commandments.”

Around 1328, the greatly impoverished family of Bartholomew was forced to move to the city of Radonezh. After the marriage of the eldest son Stephen, the aged parents took the schema to the Khotkovo-Pokrovsky monastery. After the death of his parents, Bartholomew himself went to the Khotkovo-Pokrovsky Monastery. Striving for "the strictest monasticism", for desert living, he did not stay here for long and, having convinced Stefan, together with him founded the desert on the banks of the Konchura River, on Makovets Hill, in the middle of the deaf Radonezh forest, where he built (about 1335) a small wooden church in the name of the Holy Trinity, on the site of which now stands the cathedral church also in the name of the Holy Trinity.

Unable to withstand a too harsh and ascetic lifestyle, Stefan soon left for Moscow. Epiphany Monastery where he later became abbot. Bartholomew, left all alone, called on hegumen 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.

After two or three years, monks began to flock to him; a monastery was formed, which in 1345 took shape as the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (later the Trinity-Sergius Lavra), and Sergius was its second hegumen (the first was Mitrofan) and presbyter, who set an example for everyone with his humility and diligence. Forbidding accepting alms, Sergius made it a rule that all monks should live from their labor, himself setting an example for them in this. Gradually his fame grew; everyone began to turn to the monastery, from peasants to princes; many settled in the neighborhood with her, donated their property to her. At first, suffering extreme need in everything necessary, the desert turned into a rich monastery. The glory of Sergius even reached Constantinople: the Ecumenical Patriarch Philotheus sent him with a special embassy a cross, a paraman, a schema and a letter in which he praised him for his virtuous life and advised him to introduce kinovia (strict community life) in the monastery. On this advice, and with the blessing of Metropolitan Alexei, Sergius introduced the communal rule in the monastery, which was later adopted in many Russian monasteries. Highly respecting the Radonezh abbot, Metropolitan Alexei, before his death, persuaded him to be his successor, but Sergius resolutely refused.

Sergius, with quiet and meek words, could act on the most hardened and hardened hearts, very often reconciled the warring princes, persuading them to obey the Grand Duke of Moscow (for example, the Rostov prince - in 1356, Nizhny Novgorod - in 1365, Ryazan Oleg, etc. .), thanks to which, by the time of the Battle of Kulikovo, almost all Russian princes recognized the supremacy of Dmitry Ioannovich. According to the version of life, going to this battle, he, accompanied by princes, boyars and governor, went to Sergius to pray with him and receive a blessing from him.

In 1382, when the army of Tokhtamysh approached Moscow, Sergius left his monastery and went to defend Prince Mikhail Alexandrovich of Tver.

After the Battle of Kulikovo Grand Duke began to treat the Radonezh abbot with even greater reverence and invited him in 1389 to seal a spiritual testament legitimizing the new order of succession to the throne from father to eldest son.

In addition to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, Sergius founded several more monasteries (Blagoveshchensky on Kirzhach, Staro-Golutvin near Kolomna, Vysotsky Monastery, Georgievsky on Klyazma), he appointed his disciples to all these monasteries. More than forty monasteries were founded by his disciples: Savva (Savva-Storozhevsky near Zvenigorod), Ferapont (Ferapontov), ​​Kirill (Kirillo-Belozersky), Sylvester (Voskresensky Obnorsky) and others, as well as his spiritual interlocutors, such as Stefan of Perm.

According to his life, Sergius of Radonezh performed many miracles. People came to him from different cities for healing, and sometimes even just to see him. According to the life, he once resurrected a boy who died in his father's arms when he carried the child to the saint for healing.

Having reached a ripe old age, Sergius, having foreseen his death in half a year, called the brethren to him and blessed his disciple, Reverend Nikon, who was experienced in spiritual life and obedience, to be abbess. On the eve of his death, the Monk Sergius called the brethren for the last time and addressed with the words of the testament: “Pay attention to yourself, brethren. First have the fear of God, purity of soul and unfeigned love…”4

On September 25, 1392, Sergius died, and 30 years later, on July 18, 1422, his relics were found incorrupt, as evidenced by Pachomius Logofet; July 18 is one of the saint's commemoration days.

The veneration of Sergius of Radonezh arose before the formal rules for the canonization of saints appeared. Church historian E. E. Golubinsky does not give unequivocal reports about the beginning of his veneration5. In his opinion, the general church veneration of Sergius of Radonezh became one of the actions of Metropolitan Jonah.

Currently, the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh rest in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The most famous source of information about him, as well as a remarkable monument of ancient Russian literature, is the legendary Life of Sergius, written in 1417-1418 by his student Epiphanius the Wise, and in the middle of the 15th century significantly revised and supplemented by Pachomius Logothetes.

In the Tver diocese in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, as we calculated from church reference books, 74 altars were consecrated in churches, churches were built and consecrated in the following settlements:

Tver (1780),

linear Sergiev Hermitage of the Bezhetsk region (1829),

With. Pestovo Forest District (1881),

With. Gubino, Kalyazinsky district (1793),

Kashin (1803),

With. Filippovo, Kimry region (1898),

With. New Eltsy, Ostashkovsky District (1867),

With. Sergievskoye, Kalininsky district (1767)

In addition, in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh, chapels were consecrated in the following districts of the Tver region:

linear Sergiev Hermitage of the Bezhetsk region (1869),

linear Sergiev Hermitage of the Bezhetsk region (1881),

linear Lutes of the Bezhetsk region,

the village of Negachevo, Rameshkovsky district (1892),

the village of Suslovo, Vesyegonsky district (1862),

village Bolshaya Kamenka, Sandovsky district (1859),

village Lvovskoye, Sandovsky district (1891),

village of Nakhodno, Vyshnevolotsky district,

Vyazmikha, Vyshnevolotsky district,

village of Sergino, Udomelsky district,

village of Manuylovo, Vyshnevolotsky district,

village of Glebtsevo, Vyshnevolotsky district,

village Obukhovo Spirovskiy district,

village of Starikovo, Konakovsky district (1893),

Gorki, Kesovogorsky district6.

The Monk Joseph Volotsky (in the world Ivan Sanin; November 14, 1439/1440 - September 9, 1515), a native of a noble family, in 1479, 20 kilometers from the city of Volokolamsk, founded the Assumption Monastery. Later, the monastery began to be called Joseph-Volokolamsk or Joseph-Volotsk. He was the first in the family to take the tonsure, but later all three of his brothers and father became monks. From the age of eight, he learned to read and write with the elder Arseny in the Volotsk Holy Cross Monastery. Around 1459, together with a friend from the same class, Boris Kutuzov, they decided to become monks.

Ivan Sanin first went to the Savvin Monastery in the city of Tver, but soon moved to the city of Borovsk to the monastery of Pafnutiy Borovsky. In 1477, dying, Paphnutius appointed Joseph as his successor. Appointed abbot of the monastery, he tried to introduce a strict cenobitic charter, but met with a strong rebuff from the monks. Then Joseph founded in 1479 in his homeland, in the possession of the Volotsk prince, 20 km from the city of Volokolamsk, the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery. The monastery, led by Joseph, was distinguished by a special strictness of behavior. Joseph died on September 9, 1515.

Joseph Volotsky became famous as a talented church writer. He wrote the book "Illuminator" and several messages. The authority of Joseph, his writings created a special spiritual trend, from which came out outstanding missionaries, publicists, preachers, church hierarchs. In the second half of the XVI century. representatives of this church movement began to be called "Josephites".

In 1579, Joseph Volotsky was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a saint. Powers and chains Reverend Joseph kept in the Cathedral of the Assumption Holy Mother of God Joseph-Volotsky Monastery. On June 14, 2009, a bronze monument to St. Joseph of Volotsky7 was erected next to the monastery.

In the name of the Monk Joseph Volotsky, 6 thrones were consecrated in the temples of the Tver region. In addition, in the village of Sakharovo near Tver, on the estate of Field Marshal IV Gurko, in 1902 a church was consecrated in the name of St. Joseph Volotsky.

The Monk Tryphon of Pechenga (in the world Mitrofan; 1495 - December 15, 1583) came from a family of a clergyman from the city of Torzhok. In 1775 Novgorod city Torzhok became a county town of the Tver province. WITH early years Mitrofan was "a fine faster, meek, merciful." Having once heard a voice commanding him to go "to a deserted, thirsty land, where no one has yet walked", Mitrofan is poisoned with Christ's sermon to the pagan Lapps, whose life he knew from the stories of the fishermen.

Arriving on the Kola Peninsula, on the Pechenga River, to the Lapps, he studied their language and customs and began to preach the faith of Christ to them. For many years the future saint labored zealously, enduring hardships, persecution and beatings, but even under pain of death he did not depart from his apostolic service. Apparently, then he took the tonsure with the name Tryphon.

Gradually, by his wise and meek word, many pagans turned to Christ. In 1532, Tryphon built a temple and founded a monastery under him in the name of the Holy Trinity. Tryphon endured many difficulties in setting up a monastery in a wild country.

Once Tryphon, having kneaded the dough, left his cell. At this time, a big bear came in and, knocking over the sourdough, began to eat the prepared dough. Having forbidden the beast to move in the name of God and having punished it, the ascetic released the beast. Since then, neither bears nor wolves have attacked the monastery herd of deer.

Another time, Tryphon bought hand millstones for monastic needs in the city of Kolya. The path was long and tiring: it was about 150 miles to the Pechenga Monastery. All the way, the saint himself carried the millstone, and at the request of the disciples to hand over his burden to them, he answered: “It is better for me to hang a mill stone around my neck than to embarrass the brethren with my idleness.”

Showing an example of humility, the monk evaded the position of abbess, appointing his disciple as rector.

During the years of crop failure, the saint, with several monks, went to the Novgorod lands, asking for alms and sending what he collected to the monastery. Having reached old age, Tryphon rested on December 15, 1583 at the age of 88 years9. In Russian Orthodox Church Saint Tryphon is revered as an intercessor and helper for those traveling on the seas.

Kazan saints Guriy (in the world Grigory Grigorievich Rugotin, c. 1500 - December 5, 1563), Herman (in the world Grigory Fedorovich Sadyrev-Polev, 1505 - November 6, 1567) and Barsanuphius of Tverskoy (in the world Ivan Vasilievich, c. 1495 - April 11, 1576) are the first bishops Orthodox diocese in Kazan. It is noteworthy that these three saints are associated with the Tver region. Herman was born in Staritsa, Guriy ruled the Trinity Selizharov Monastery for about a year, Varsonofy from 1567 to 1570. Bishop of Tver and Kashinsky.

The future Saint Guriy of Kazan, in the world Gregory, was born in the city of Radonezh near Moscow into a noble family. His parents were not rich, so from a young age he had to serve with Prince Ivan Penkov as the manager of the estate. From his youth, Gregory was pious, kind, humble.

He did not want to marry. Slandered before the prince in a criminal connection with his wife, Gregory was imprisoned in a dungeon. This seriously damaged his health, but strengthened and deepened his faith. In the dungeon, the prisoner wrote small books to teach children to read and write. He distributed the money for the proceeds of the alphabet to the poor.

Coming out of the dungeon, Gregory took the tonsure with the name Gury in the Joseph-Volokolamsk monastery. In 1543 he was elected hegumen of this monastery by the monks and ruled it for about nine years, and then left the abbess and lived for two years as a simple monk. Before the bishopric, Gury ruled the Trinity Selizharov Monastery in the Tver diocese for one year.

He was elected to the Kazan cathedra by lot, and on February 3, 1555, he was ordained archbishop of the new Kazan diocese. Supported by Bishop Barsanuphius, Gury contributed a lot to missionary activity. During the eight years of his hierarchship, four monasteries were built, the Annunciation Cathedral and more than ten city churches were built.

In 1561, Archbishop Gury fell seriously ill. On holidays, he was brought to church, and he sat or lay there, unable to walk or stand. Shortly before his death, he received the great schema from Bishop Barsanuphius. He died on December 5, 1563 and was buried in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery10.

The future Saint Herman, in the world Gregory, was born in the city of Staritsa, Tver region. Descended from the nobility. In his youth, Gregory took the tonsure with the name Herman in the Joseph-Volokolamsk Monastery from Abbot Guria. In the monastery, Iknok Herman was engaged in book writing, he was acquainted with Maxim the Greek.

In 1551, the brethren of the Staritsky Assumption Monastery, having learned about the piety of their compatriot, elected him archimandrite. At their request, Herman accepted from the Bishop of Tver, Akaki, ordination to the priesthood and was elevated to the rank of archimandrite.

Having taken over the management of the monastery, Archimandrite German, with pastoral zeal, took care of its improvement, both external and internal. For the monks, he was a model of humility and meekness. He exhorted everyone to strictly observe monastic duties, and for guidance he introduced in his monastery the charter of the Monk Joseph Volotsky.

But two and a half years later, Archimandrite Herman left the Staritsky Monastery, handing over the leadership in it to his tonsure, the holy monk Job, later the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Love for solitary deeds brought him back to his native Volokolamsk monastery, where Archimnadrite Herman was saved as a simple monk. When a new heretic Matvei Bashkin appeared in Moscow, who did not recognize the Holy Mysteries and denied faith in the Holy Trinity, Archimandrite Herman, together with his father (who had taken tonsure in the Volokolamsk monastery with the name Philotheus) was summoned to the Moscow Cathedral of 1553. The council condemned the heretic Bashkin and decided to send him for admonition to the Volokolamsk monastery to Saint Herman, a zealot of the Christian faith known for his holy life.

In 1555, after the conquest of Kazan, an episcopal chair was established there, to which the former abbot of the Volokolamsk monastery Guriy was appointed archbishop. He was instructed to arrange the Assumption Monastery in the city of Sviyazhsk. Herman was appointed rector of the new monastery of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos in Sviyazhsk at the direction of Archbishop Guria. A stone cathedral with a bell tower and monastic cells was built. The abbot himself lived very modestly, in a cramped cell under the cathedral bell tower. St. Herman was especially concerned about the collection of the monastery library. Soon his monastery became famous for its wide charity and became the center of education in the Kazan region.

On March 12, 1564, after the repose of Archbishop Guria, Herman was consecrated Bishop of Kazan. The short time of his management of the department was marked by concern for the construction of temples and the enlightenment of the region.

In 1566 St. Herman was summoned to Moscow by Ivan the Terrible and commanded that he be elected to the Moscow metropolitan see. Archbishop German at first refused the burden placed on him. The king did not tolerate objections, and he had to settle in the metropolitan chambers before being elevated to the rank of metropolitan.

At this time, talking with John the Terrible in private, he wanted to test his heart: he began to talk to him, as the primate should, about sins and Christian repentance, quietly, modestly, but with some force. He mentioned death, the terrible judgment, the eternal torment of the evil ones. John fell into thought, left him with a gloomy face, recounted the speeches of the archbishop to his favorites and asked what they thought? Alexei Basmanov replied: “We think, sir, that Herman wants to be the second Silverst: he terrifies your imagination and hypocrisy, in the hope of taking possession of you, but save us and yourself from such an archpastor.” “You have not yet been elevated to the metropolis, and you are already taking away my freedom,” the tsar conveyed to the archbishop through his favorites and ordered that St. Herman be expelled from the metropolitan court and kept in Moscow under supervision. Philip (Kolychev) was elected Metropolitan of Moscow.

The archbishop spent about two years in disgrace. He alone raised a sincere voice for St. Philip when the tsar demanded his condemnation. November 6, 1567 died. He was buried in the church in the name of Nikola Gostunsky11.

The future Saint Barsanuphius of Tver, in the world Ivan was born in the city of Serpukhov in the family of a priest. In 1512 he was captured Crimean Tatars and sold into slavery. Three years later he was bought by his father, during his life in the Crimea he studied the Tatar language. Having been released, by vow, he came to the Andronikov Monastery in Moscow and received monastic tonsure with the name Barsanuphius. In the monastery, Varsonofy became famous for his virtuous life, and in 1544 Metropolitan Macarius was appointed hegumen of the St. Nicholas Pesnoshsky Monastery. In 1553, Tsar Ivan IV visited the monastery and drew attention to the talented abbot, who knew the Tatar language. In 1555, the Kazan diocese was formed and, at the direction of Tsar Varsonofy, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and, together with Gury and German, was sent to set up a new diocese.

In Kazan, the Transfiguration Monastery of the Savior was founded in 1557, and Varsonofy consecrated the first temple in it - a stone church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and later Transfiguration Cathedral monastery. By 1565, the number of inhabitants of the monastery reached 100 people. Varsonofy, knowing the Tatar language and the customs of this people, conducted missionary activities. He secretly wore chains and was revered as capable of healing bodily ailments, which attracted many local residents who, after his preaching, adopted Christianity. In 1563, the first Kazan bishop Guriy died, Varsonofy performed his funeral, and Herman was elected a new bishop.

In 1567, after the death of Bishop Akakiy Varsonofy of Tver, he was ordained Bishop of Tver and Kashinsky by Metropolitan Philip in Moscow. During the period of his bishopric, Barsanuphius continued the life of an ascetic, prayed at night, sewed hoods. In 1570 he returned to Kazan and settled at rest in the Transfiguration Monastery of the Savior. He died on April 11, 1576 and was buried by Archbishop Tikhon next to Archbishop Gury at the altar of the Transfiguration Cathedral of the monastery12.

Saints Guriy and Barsanuphius were canonized by decree of the first Russian Patriarch Job. Their first biography was compiled by Patriarch Hermogenes. Since 1630, the relics of St. Gurias have been in cathedral Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Kazan.

The relics of St. Herman were found in 1595. They were located in the Sviyazhsky Bogoroditsky Monastery. In 1923, the shrine with the relics of St. Herman was opened, and after the monastery was closed in 1925, the relics disappeared. In 2000, a particle of the relics of St. Herman was found, which was hidden in the ark under the throne of the cemetery church of the Yaroslavl Wonderworkers, where it was transferred in 1929 from the abolished John the Baptist Monastery. It was divided into two parts for the Sviyazhsky and John the Baptist monasteries.

Until 1918, the relics of St. Barsanuphius were in the Transfiguration Cathedral in Kazan, and then they were transferred to the Kazan Bogoroditsky Monastery, which was closed in 1929. Since that time, the location of the relics of St. Barsanuphius is unknown. Details of his shrine have been preserved in the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Saint Job (in the world Ivan, c. 1525 - June 29, 1607), the first Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. The Time of Troubles fell on the period of his patriarchate. After the death of Boris Godunov and the victory of False Dmitry I, Patriarch Job was arrested during a divine service in the Dormition Cathedral of the Kremlin and sent into exile in the Holy Dormition Cathedral. monastery in his native city of Staritsa, where he died in 1607.

End of introductory segment.

Dionysius of Radonezh, reverend

The Monk Dionysius of Radonezh was born in the city of Rzhev, Tver province. In holy baptism he was given the name David. In the Kashinsky district of the Tver province there is the village of Zobnino; probably, the parents of the Monk Theodore and Juliana came from this village, from the name of which they got their surname - Zobninovsky. Even in the days of David's childhood, his parents moved to the nearby town of Staritsa, where his father took over the eldership of the Yamskaya settlement. The monks of the Staritskaya monastery Gury and Herman, who taught the boy to read and write, spoke about his virtuous life. From a young age, he was distinguished by kindness, meekness and love of reading. Holy books, had humility and simplicity of heart, beyond human custom. Neglecting children's games, in the fear of God, he diligently listened to the teaching and observed in his heart zeal for the virtues. His spiritual father, named Gregory, marveled at his humility and strong mind, for with his inner eyes he saw the grace of the Holy Spirit that was in him and more than once said to his spiritual children: “Look, child, at this son of mine in spirit, who himself will be spiritual fire for many."

Young David endured many insults from his peers for the sake of his humility, even the very blows, as sometimes happened from violent children who were annoyed that he did not want to share games with them. But he endured everything with meekness and tried, as far as possible, to evade them, having incessantly the name of God in his mouth. When he learned to read and write and reached the age of majority, by the compulsion of his parents, although against his will, he had to marry. For his piety, he was early awarded the priesthood and appointed to the Church of the Epiphany in the village of Ilyinsky, which belonged to the Staritsa monastery, 12 miles from the city. But after 6 years, his wife Vassa and two baby sons Vasily and Kosma died. Then already he, free from worldly cares, left his house, came to Staritsa, accepted monasticism with the name of Dionysius in the monastery of the Mother of God, striving for his salvation.

Dionysius passionately loved book teaching. And it happened to him one day to be in Moscow for church needs. And he entered the auction, where books were sold. One of those who were at the market, looking at his youth and his magnificent face, thought evil of him and began to impudently insult him with words, saying: “Why are you here, monk?” But the monk was not embarrassed and his heart was not embittered; sighing from the depths of his soul, he meekly said to the offender. “Yes, brother, I am exactly as sinful as you think of me. God has revealed to you about me, for if I were a true monk, I would not wander through the market among worldly people, but would sit in my cell. Forgive me, a sinner, for God's sake." Those who were present were touched, listening to his meek and humble speeches, and turned with indignation at the impudent offender, calling him an ignoramus. “No, brethren,” monk Dionysius told them, “it is not he who is ignorant, but I; he was sent to me from God for my confirmation and his words are truthful, so that henceforth I would not wander around this marketplace, but sit in a cell. Then the offender himself was ashamed and wanted to ask forgiveness for his insolence, but the monk disappeared. It was the Monk Dionysius, then treasurer of the Staritsky Dormition Monastery. In 1605 he was consecrated to the archimandrite of the Staritsky Assumption Monastery.

Soon after Dionysius assumed the post of rector, Patriarch Job, deposed by the will of the first impostor, was brought to the Staritsa monastery. Although Dionysius was ordered to keep Job as strict as possible, “in mournful anger,” the saint received the deposed patriarch with love and began to ask him for instructions and orders in everything, trying to calm the innocent sufferer. The Monk Dionysius, together with Metropolitan Paphnutius of Krutitsa and Archbishop Feoktist of Tver, buried him in his monastery in 1607.

The spiritual communion of Archimandrite Dionysius with His Holiness Patriarch Job, it can be assumed, was also the fault of His Holiness Patriarch Hermogenes, who was favorable to the venerable disposition. The patriarch often pointed to him, marveling at his mind: “Look at Archimandrite Staritsky, how he labors; he never leaves the cathedral church, and at the royal meetings he is always there. And in troubled times, the Monk Dionysius was the closest assistant to Saint Hermogenes, being inseparably with him, and the king had in Dionysius one of the zealous defenders of the throne.

Once, adherents of Lithuanian and Moscow villains, having seized His Holiness Patriarch Hermogenes, with all sorts of curses, dragged him to the place of execution; some pushed him, others threw sand in his face and on his honest head, while others, seizing his percy, boldly shook him, and when all the others trembled, only Dionysius in such trouble did not retreat a single step from the patriarch, but suffered with him and with bitter tears he exhorted everyone to stop from such impudent excesses, as many of the witnesses testified to this.

In 1610, Patriarch Hermogenes transferred Archimandrite Dionysius to the position of rector of the Trinity Lavra, which had not yet recovered from the siege of the Poles and needed a good beautifier.

Great and powerful was the name of St. Sergius at that time. He was respected and feared by the very enemies of the fatherland, the Poles and all kinds of thieves. And if, it happened, someone these unkind people stopped on the road and he said Sergiev, he was let through without harm. It happened to the Monk Dionysius to return from Yaroslavl with one boyar. The road was then dangerous and a lot of blood was shed from the barbarian people. Therefore, Archimandrite Dionysius conspired with his companions to be called Sergius. “If,” he said, “we simply go by the road, the thieves will rob us and even kill us; but if we are called by the name of the miracle worker Sergius, then we will be saved.” He did not yet know that he had already, in fact, become "Sergiev", for he had been appointed to the monastery of the miracle worker as abbot. So they passed through many dangerous places. Before reaching the Lavra, the minister Troitsky met them and asked: “Which government is coming?” They answered: "The elders of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, we are going from the monastery villages." But he, knowing all his elders, did not believe and asked: “Isn’t this the archimandrite Staritsky, to whom I was sent with letters from the autocrat and the patriarch?” And he handed Dionysius the letters, from which the monk learned of his new appointment and hurried to Moscow. The Monk Dionysius was amazed at the fate of God and shed profuse tears: for it never even crossed his mind - that which, by the will of God, came to the heart His Holiness Patriarch and benevolent king. And this was, one might say, their last precious gift, with which they benefited Russia, placing the chosen one from the people of God on such a level, from the height of which he could defend his earthly homeland in the difficult time of her disasters.

Giving thanks to the tsar and the saint for their election, Dionysius hurried back to the Lavra of Sergeyev, which had just been freed from the Lithuanian siege and glorified by this immortal feat. A great feat awaited him himself, to contribute, together with the zealous cellar Avraamy Palitsyn, to the liberation of not just one laurel, but the entire kingdom, and for twenty-three years he struggled to save his flock, in unceasing prayer and fasting.

That was a terrible and difficult time for the Russian land - a time that the Russian people in their memory called "hard times." Moscow was in the hands of the Poles. The people suffered from the atrocities of the Polish and Cossack gangs. Crowds of Russian people of both sexes, naked, barefoot, exhausted, fled to the Trinity Convent, as to the only reliable defense that withstood the pressure of enemies. Some of them were mutilated by fire, others had their hair torn out of their heads; many cripples lay on the roads; some had skin straps cut out on their backs, others had their arms and legs cut off, others had burn marks on their bodies from hot stones. By all means the fugitives strove for the house Life-Giving Trinity and there were no number of tears; exhausted, broken, they asked the spiritual fathers. The entire monastery of the Holy Trinity was filled with those who were dying from nakedness, famine and wounds; they lay not only around the monastery, but also in the settlements, and in the villages, and along the roads, so that it was impossible to confess everyone and partake of the Holy Mysteries.

Seeing this, Archimandrite Dionysius decided to use the entire monastery treasury for a good deed. With tears he prayed to the cellar, and the treasurer, and all the brethren, to condole and sympathize with the unfortunate in all their needs. “Christian love,” he said, “at all times helps those in need, all the more it is necessary to help in such a difficult time.” The cellar and the brethren with the servants answered hopelessly sadly: “Who, Father Archimandrite, gathers his mind in such trouble? It is impossible for anyone here to provide, except for the One God. But Dionysius, with much sobbing, again said: “In such and such temptations, firmness is needed. The great God delivered us from the siege by the prayers of our Lady and the great miracle workers, and now, for our laziness and stinginess, He can humble and insult us even without a siege. The cellar, the brethren, and the servants were touched by his weeping, and began to ask for advice in their bewilderment. Dionysius began to pray to everyone in this way: “Show your mercy in this, my lords, the cellar and treasurer, and all the holy brethren! Please listen to me: everyone saw that Moscow was under siege, and the Lithuanian people scattered all over the earth, but in our monastery there are many people, but few military and able, and they die from scurvy, from hunger and from wounds; we, sovereigns, promised to die in monasticism, to die, and not to live. If in such troubles we don’t have military people, then what will happen? So that we have rye bread and wheat and kvass in the cellar, we will give everything, brethren, to the wounded people, and we ourselves will eat oatmeal bread, without kvass, with only water, and we will not die. Let everyone do everything he can for others, and the house of the Holy Trinity and the great miracle workers will not be deserted, if only we begin to pray to our Lord to give us reason. This advice was pleasant to all and firm, for the sake of tears.

And so the activity kicked in. The Monk Dionysius sent monks and monastic servants to pick up the unfortunate from the neighborhood, bring them to the monastery and treat them. First of all, with the blessing of Archimandrite Dionysius, the monastery treasury began to build wooden houses for the sick and homeless, and doctors were found for them. And it was ordered that the military people be treated and calmed by the best good brotherly food. At that time, the prayers of Dionysius were the multiplication of flour in the bread, for the sake of the great miracle worker Sergius. All this time I did not cry, I did not ask for mercy from this great lamp; everyone with humility ate only a little oatmeal bread, and then once a day, and on Wednesday and Friday they ate nothing at all.

“I myself am a sinner,” writes the cathedral dean John, “how much in my memory I tonsured, communed and buried, together with my brother Simon: we buried the dead up to four thousand and, as I remember now, that on the same day they buried in a log house on Klementyev , at St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, 960 people, and in another wretched house - 640, and on Terentyev Grove - 450. With priest John, we walked around the surrounding settlements and, by the will of Dionisiyeva, calculated that in 30 weeks we buried more than three thousand, but in winter and in the spring I buried every day those who did not want to be laid in miserable houses and daily there were up to six or more burials, and in one grave they never laid one person, but not less than three, and sometimes up to fifteen; All these troubles lasted a year and a half.

With the blessing of St. Dionysius, as soon as a naked dead man was found, everything needed for burial was immediately sent; bailiffs rode horses through the forests to watch so that the animals did not eat those tortured by enemies, and if anyone else was alive, they brought them to the hospice, and those who died, those thin clothes were distributed to the poor: women sewed and washed shirts and shrouds incessantly, for which they were satisfied from the monastery with clothes and food. The attendant of Dionysius, Elder Dorotheos, day and night carried towels and money from him to the sick and wounded. Lavra provided such benefits to the suffering all the time while Moscow was fighting the Poles. Kelar Simon believes that during this time there were more than 7,000 dead alone, and up to 500 remained at the Lavra in various services: one can judge from this how large was the number of all who used benefits from the monastery.

If the Lord punished us with a righteous judgment during the siege, the writer of his life notes, then did he not enrich us later with His purely grace, as is now visible to all people. With how many riches He expanded and adorned the village of His glory, the abode of the Most Holy Trinity, with the prayers of the great miracle worker Sergius. The Lord raised up, as once Joseph to feed Egypt and Tobias the righteous in Babylon, this wondrous man Dionysius, through whom many were able to receive a good end with parting words.

But this was not enough for the holy soul of Dionysius: his loving heart was tormented by the suffering of the entire Russian land. He had a great feat, fervently praying for the deliverance of the reigning city; during the entire year and a half, when Moscow was under siege, he stood at prayer incessantly both in the church of God and in the cell with great weeping. And in 1611-1612. in the cell of the archimandrite, scribes gather and rewrite the messages of Dionysius and his cellar Avraamy Palitsyn. These letters to Ryazan, to Perm with districts, and to Yaroslavl, and to Nizhny Novgorod, to Prince Dimitri Pozharsky and Kosma Minin, and to the cities of Ponizovsky, to Prince Dimitri Trubetskoy and to Zarutsskoye near Moscow, and to Kazan to the builder Amfilohiy, and there were many in those letters of illness of Dionisiyev about the whole state of Moscow. “Orthodox Christians,” it was written in these messages by humble monks, valiant sons of the fatherland, calling on the Russian people to fraternal unanimity and to defend their native land devastated by enemies, “remember the true Orthodox faith and show your feat, pray to service people to be all Orthodox in unity and stand together against the Christian traitors (traitors to the fatherland) and against the eternal enemies of Christianity, the Polish and Lithuanian people! You can see for yourselves what ruin they have inflicted on the Muscovite state. Where are the holy churches of God and God's images? Where are the monks, blooming with gray hair, nuns, adorned with virtues? Is not everything utterly ruined and defiled by evil reproach? Neither elders nor infants are spared... But if there are those who are discontented within your borders, then for the sake of God, put aside all this for a while, so that you all suffer unanimously for deliverance. Orthodox faith, while the enemies have not yet dealt any blow to the boyars and governors. If we resort to the Most Generous God and the Most Pure Mother of God and to all the saints and promise to accomplish our feat together, then the Gracious Master, the Lover of mankind, will turn away His righteous wrath and deliver us from fierce death and Latin enslavement. Have mercy and pray! But immediately do the work of delivering the Christian people, help the military people. Much and tearfully with all the Christian people we beat you about that forehead.

Messengers from the Lavra hurried with such appeals to different cities and regiments of Russia. The Trinity letters encouraged the people: the enthusiasm was especially strong in Nizhny Novgorod. Here, the ever-memorable husband Kosma Minin rose up to defend his native land. At his call, the militia gathered and, under the command of Prince Pozharsky, moved to defend besieged Moscow. The Lord heard the prayer of the righteous man, who called to Him day and night, for the deliverance of Orthodox Christians from bloody misfortunes, for peace and silence for the Muscovite state. When Prince Dimitry Pozharsky and Kosma Minin moved towards Moscow with many troops and reached the Sergius Monastery, this great ascetic, having performed prayer singing for them, escorted the governor and military people to the mountain called Volkusha with the whole cathedral, and there he stopped with a cross in his hands to overshadow them, the priests sprinkled them with holy water. At that time, a strong wind blew towards the soldiers and their hearts were troubled with excitement; the governors were also worried, how to go on a long journey with such a stormy wind? The Monk Dionysius, blessing the troops, encouraged the soldiers, inspiring them to call on the Lord, His Most Pure Mother and the Radonezh saints Sergius and Nikon for help. And after them, he overshadowed those walking with the Life-Giving Cross, and a sudden miracle happened: the wind instantly changed and became favorable to the Orthodox army from the monastery itself, as if from the Church of the Holy Trinity and the miraculous relics, therefore there was considerable joy for the governors and the army. The high level of monastic achievement, achieved by the monk through unceasing prayer, gave him such a gift of miracles, which he carefully guarded from people.

This legend, says the writer of his life, we heard from the lips of Prince Demetrius himself, who with many tears confessed to us what a miracle God had vouchsafed to him, by the intercession of the Most Pure and great miracle workers and the prayers of the holy Archimandrite Dionysius! The Lord poured out His grace on him, for the sake of his strong life, and the wonderful right hand of God generously gave him that which His marvelous saint prayed with tears from the Lord. The unceasing prayers of Dionysius alone could make the prince ignore all the danger that threatened them in the country from unrest and conspiracies, and move first from Yaroslavl, and then from under the monastery to complete the great deed. Kelar Abraham was released by the archimandrite and was inseparably with the troops, acting no less than Prince Dimitry Pozharsky and Minin. His gifted pen handed down modern exploits to posterity, just as his wise speeches restored peace and silence in the midst of a warring camp.

Pozharsky and Trubetskoy, united near Moscow, were not peaceful among themselves, but the Monk Dionysius wrote them a heartfelt, eloquent exhortation about peace and love.

The siege still lasted: the Poles settled in the Kremlin and Kitai-gorod, and again there were indignations between the Cossacks. They complained about their poverty and the wealth of the leaders, they wanted to kill them and run away. What about the archimandrite and cellarer? The last treasure of the Lavra - vestments and surplices planted with pearls, they send to the camp with a tearful prayer not to leave the fatherland. And the Cossacks set off, entered into the mind and fear of God, and, returning the donations to the monastery, swore to endure hardships. Soon the Monk Sergius appeared in a dream to the Greek Archbishop Arseny, imprisoned in the Kremlin, and consoled him with the message of deliverance. Kitay-gorod was taken by storm, the Kremlin surrendered. WITH God's help the capital was cleared of enemies. With solemn singing, St. Dionysius and the whole sacred cathedral went to the temple of the Assumption and wept at the sight of the desolation of the shrine. Both, the archimandrite and the cellar, were at the election of Michael, which took place in Moscow in their Trinity Compound. Abraham announced this to the people from the place of execution, and he himself, among the honorary ambassadors, went to invite the young man to the kingdom. He begged him to exchange the silence of the Ipatiev monastery for a stormy throne, shaken by all the horrors of war and internal turmoil. When, through much weeping, the young tsar was begged, on his way to the capital he diligently bowed to the reliquary of St. Sergius, and Archimandrite Dionysius blessed Michael for the saved kingdom.

Among these worries and labors for the salvation of the fatherland, Dionysius managed to correct the laurel entrusted to him. Its towers and walls were dilapidated after the siege; the cells that survived the fire stood almost without a roof; the estates were ruined and the workers fled. At the request of Dionysius, the king confirmed the rights of the Lavra with letters and ordered the fled peasants to return to their places. The activity of the abbot gradually erased the traces of ruin in the monastery.

The amendments to the economy of the monastery, which had begun, had not yet been completely completed, when the Monk Dionysius had to begin ascetic labors for the holy faith. It seemed that after such great merits of the saint for the fatherland and the Lavra, the time had come for him to rest and calm down. Not that God judged. Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, knowing the piety and scholarship of Dionysius, instructed him by a letter dated November 8, 1616 to correct the Trebnik from gross errors that had crept in from time to time. Dionysius and his collaborators, Elder Arsenius and Priest John, took up this matter with diligence and prudence; for aid, in addition to many ancient Slavic breviaries, among which was the breviary of Metropolitan Cyprian, there were also Greek breviaries. Many errors were found and others are extremely rude: “On the incarnation of the Son of God in the clerks of writing and in the clerks, the release of the first seals was found, as the Father God with the Son became incarnate.” A year and a half later, they submitted the breviary corrected by them to Moscow for consideration by the Council. The Council of 1618, following the slander of the saint's enemies, without guilt condemned him as a heretic, to defrocking and imprisonment. Dionysius was also accused of "ordering the name of the Holy Trinity to be soiled in books and does not confess the Holy Spirit, as if there is fire." This meant that the correctors thought to make changes in the doxology to the Holy Trinity, ending with different prayers, and in the order of the blessing of water they excluded the word: “and by fire”, as introduced by the arbitrariness of ignorance. In his defense speech, Rev. Dionysius said: “It is written in all old written breviaries, including parchment ones, in a prayer: By Your will, from non-existence, Thou hast brought all kinds of things into existence. You and now, Master, sanctify this water with Your Holy Spirit. So there are words in parchment and in paper lists, and there is no word in them: and by fire. So it is in the lists sent from Moscow - in the book of Metropolitan Cyprian (and Metropolitan Cyprian is a saint, as everyone knows) and in two other lists! So it is in the Greek books! But not so in the Moscow printed missal, where it is printed: by Your Holy Spirit and fire. We do not know why it was printed: and with fire. We thought that it was printed so in accordance with the words of the Evangelist Luke: He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire. But knowing that the evangelists Mark and Matthew did not say: and by fire, but only by the Spirit, they took as a foundation the words of the Lord to Nicodemus: unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. The Evangelist Luke himself, offering the promise of the Lord, writes: you should be baptized with the Holy Spirit, but he did not say: and with fire. According to the book of the Acts of the Apostles, on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit descended on the apostles and appeared to them dividing the tongues like fire; It is not said: Tongues of fire appeared, but as of fire. And the book of Acts does not determine in what form the Holy Spirit descended on those who were baptized. By fiery baptism, only a fiery test is signified. It is very curious and instructive what Arseny said about the addition of the word “and by fire” in the rite of baptism. Of the 12 Slavic lists, he wrote, 10 did not have this on the left; in one it is written in the field "and by fire", and in the other the same word is written above the line; in the printed breviary, this word is already in the line. Here is the origin of the additions for which the zealots of imaginary antiquity stand so stubbornly! Rev. Dionysius had to endure many, many undeserved insults.

But gangs of Lithuanians and Poles still roamed all over the Russian land, so that Dionysius could not reach the place of imprisonment, and therefore he was returned to Moscow, imprisoned in the Novospassky Monastery, starved, languished in the smoke of the baths, forced to make a thousand bows every day. The monk, strengthened by the Lord, not only carried out the imposed penance, but also from his zeal made another thousand prostrations every day. On holidays he was taken, and sometimes he was taken on horseback, even before Mass, to the Metropolitan for humility. Here, in chains, he stood in the open courtyard in the heat of summer until vespers, not refreshed even with a bowl of icy water.

And the rude, vicious ignoramuses swore at him in every possible way, threw mud at him. But the monk was like a baby, and he accepted everything with humility and consoled the brethren who suffered with him, saying: blow job!" He was imposed a fine of 500 rubles for the fact that "I did not confess the Holy Spirit, as if there is fire." The monk, standing in the glands, pushing and spitting on him, said: “I have no money, and there is nothing to give for: it’s famously for a black man if they tell him to cut his hair, and if only to cut it off, then he will have a crown and joy. They threaten me with Siberia and Solovki, but I am glad that this is my life. When others said with compassion: “What is this trouble with you, father?”, he answered: “There is no trouble, but the mercy of God; Saint Jonah, Metropolitan, humbles me according to my deeds, so that I would not be proud. Such misfortunes and misfortunes are the grace of God, but the trouble is if you have to burn in hellish fire; May God deliver us from this!” And an absurd rumor was spread around Moscow, as if Dionysius and his employees wanted to completely extinguish the fire. What will not be invented and what the ignorance of the people will not believe! And what? For the sake of this reckless slander, the mob went out into the street in droves, when the holy elder was taken from the monastery or to the monastery on a thin horse in order to make fun of him and throw stones and mud at him; but he, like a gentle baby, did not mourn at anyone.

And the main accusers of the saint of God were their own, the Trinity monks: the headman Loggin and the usher Filaret. They were extremely daring, ignorant people; Filaret, out of ignorance, even spoke blasphemous heresies. Their insolence even before reached the point that during the divine service they tore books out of the hands of the archimandrite. It happened one day, in the absence of choristers, that Dionysius himself, leaving the kliros, wanted to read the first article. Loggin, rushing towards him, snatched the book out of his hands and overturned the lectern with great noise, to the temptation of all the brethren. The monk only crossed himself and silently sat down on the kliros. Loggin read the article and, going up to the archimandrite, instead of forgiving, began to spit on him. Then Dionysius took his pastoral baton in his hands, waved it, saying: “Stop, Loggin, do not interfere with the singing of God and do not embarrass the brethren; we can talk about that even after matins.” Loggin was so furious that, snatching the staff from the hands of Dionysius, he broke it into four pieces and threw the pieces at the abbot. Dionysius wept and, looking up to the image of the Lady, said: “You, Lord Lord, know everything; forgive me a sinner, for I have sinned against you, and not he. Leaving his place, he stood in front of the icon of the Mother of God and wept all morning: all the brethren could not force the bitter Loggin to ask for forgiveness from the archimandrite. The installer Filaret was a friend of Loggin. This one was even more amazing. He monastics in the monastery for over 50 years. But "from the simplicity of not learning the thought of wisdom is not good" he had in himself, and in one and the same person there was both a dark ignoramus and an impudent heretic. Rev. Dionysius mourned over Philaret, telling him that he was destroying his many years of exploits by the self-will of his ignorance. Both bitter monks, irritated with the saint, wrote against him to other monasteries, to the reigning city, raising various intrigues against him, from which he suffered greatly. That's what his slanderers were like. “I dare to say about those who build lies on us,” wrote the monk Arseniy, who suffered along with Dionysius, that they do not know either Orthodoxy or falsehood, they pass scriptures letter by letter and do not try to understand their meaning. What and always are the zealots of the old letter.

There were, however, bright moments in the life of the great ascetic, when, after all the temptations he endured for the purity of the dogmas of the Church and after peace, which for a time put the impoverished Russia to rest, Patriarch Theophanes of Jerusalem himself, sent in 1619 ecumenical patriarchs to maintain Orthodoxy in Rus', he came to bow to the great miracle worker Sergius and marvel at the exploits of the defenders of the Lavra. Where else could one find another Dionysius, another Abraham, and brethren like them? The Jerusalem Patriarch suggested to Patriarch Filaret, who had returned from Polish captivity, to alleviate the position of the monk, and in his defense pointed to the Greek breviary. Dionysius was released from prison.

Hearing about the monastery of the Most Glorious Trinity, how during the ruin of the Muscovite state and the reigning city itself, that small place was saved from the Polish and Lithuanian peoples, the patriarch was surprised and wanted to see with a heartfelt desire not a place, but the marvelous guardian of the place, the great Sergius the Wonderworker. When he came to his monastery, Archimandrite Dionysius did him the honor befitting royal majesty, and went out to meet him outside the monastery, in a multitude of sacred ranks. The next morning, the patriarch came to serve the liturgy. But first, having finished the prayer service, with many tears he sprinkled the image of the Life-Giving Trinity and the Most Holy Theotokos with holy water and, having approached the relics of the miracle worker, ordered the archimandrite to open the holy face of Sergius - horror seized him and his heart trembled when he saw the incorruption of the saint and touched his hands and legs.

“O great Sergius the Wonderworker, the glory of your holy life has reached even to the east of the sun: thanksgiving to the Creator of all Christ God, who gives hope to people who believe in Him at the end of the century not to fall away from the rules of faith, for the sake of the prayers of His Most Holy Mother, and you sake, with all the saints who labored in piety. Having said this, he celebrated the Liturgy himself.

After the Liturgy, Dionysius prayed to him to bring peace to himself and to all who came with him from Jerusalem, and at the meal he was honored, as the kings of Moscow, when they come to worship on holidays. His Holiness Theophan, sitting at a plentiful meal with the brethren, did not eat anything and was inconsolable from weeping, although the celebration was performed with the singing of faces. But the patriarch, understanding their grief in spirit, said to Dionysius and all the brethren: “Why are you embarrassed? Do not grieve over my tears, for my heart rejoices over you with joy; I am not looking for anything of yours, but for you yourself, according to the apostle's saying: "You are my joy and my crown" (1 Thess. 2:19), for I have found you who are healthy. Before, all the Eastern Churches heard your sorrow and labor, which they lifted up for Christ from those persecuting you, for the sake of the right faith, and I was not ignorant of all the troubles that happened. Now I ask you to see something else, so that I may rejoice according to my desire. I heard that during the trouble of the military, some monks of your monastery dared to put on armor and, taking up arms, fight hard; let me see them."

A touching spectacle was presented by the conversation of the patriarch with the elders - the defenders of the Lavra, who labored during its siege. The Monk Dionysius accepted this demand with bewilderment, but the ascetics voluntarily volunteered: “Show us, Father, to our master; be all according to his will. And more than twenty monks were presented to the patriarch, "below the first was the name of Afanasy Oshcherin, a green old man, and all already turned yellow in gray hair." The patriarch asked him: “Did you go to war and command before your martyrs?” Athanasius answered: "To her, Vladyka saint, I was compelled by tears of blood." The patriarch also asked: “What is more characteristic of you, is monasticism in prayers especially, or a feat in front of all people?” Athanasius, bow down, answered: “Every thing and deed, holy lord, is known in due time: you, holy fathers, have the power of the Lord God to forgive and knit, and not everyone; what I do and will do - in the commandment of obedience. And baring his gray head, he bowed to him and said: “You know, my lord, behold the signature of the Latins on my head from the weapon; also, in my feet, six memories of lead are found; and sitting in a cell, in prayer, how could one find such alarm clocks from the will to sigh and moan? And all this was not our will, but those who sent us to the service of God. The Patriarch, no doubt, satisfied with the knowledge that the spirit of monastic piety, humility and simplicity nevertheless dominates the militant animation, blessed Athanasius, kissed him "kindly", and dismissed his other associates "with commendable words."

Then the patriarch ordered to sing the final prayer service to the Most Holy Trinity and, signing himself at St. icons, went up to the tomb of the great wonderworker, took off his hood and wiped Sergius's knee and legs to the sole with it, and put it under his splash with many tears, leaning prayerfully to the tomb. And he ordered Dionysius to stand without a hood, with his head bowed, and, taking his hood from under the feet of the miracle worker, he kissed and let the archimandrite kiss, laid his hand on his head. The archdeacon proclaimed: "Let's go," and the archimandrite of Mount Sinai three times: "Kyrie eleison." The patriarch, laying his hood on Dionysius with a prayer, blessed and kissed him on the mouth, with these words: “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I gave you a blessing, my son, and marked you in great Russia among your brethren, may you be the first in eldership with our blessing, and whoever will be after you, may bear our blessing in this holy place, magnifying and boasting of our humility and joyfully informing everyone: this is a sign given to them that the patriarchs of the East - worshipers are the essence of this holy place, and left their honor before the Holy Trinity, having removed the memory from their head, by themselves, and put it under the feet of the great guardian and guardian, God-bearing Sergius the Wonderworker! Then he ordered to sing on both kliros: “Save Christ God, our father Archimandrite Dionysius” and, turning to the brethren, said: “Write down for yourself all this that I did with the archimandrite, and if henceforth one of our brethren comes here to worship, let our will will be known to the coming births, so that you do not forget our humility and love, and remember in your prayers.

The whole life of the monk was the life of a true ascetic of God. He spent most of his time in prayer. “The cell should not have a charter,” the monk used to say, and in the cell he read the Psalter with bows, the Gospel and the Apostle, proofread the akathists and canons in full; in church, standing up all the prescribed services, Dionysius performed, in addition, six and eight prayers daily. He went to bed three hours before matins and always got up so that he still had time to make three hundred prostrations before it. In church, he strictly observed the church charter, he himself sang and read on the kliros, having a marvelous voice, so that everyone consoled himself, listening to him: no matter how quietly he read, every word was heard in all corners and vestibules of the temple. Grateful to the benefactors of the monastery, he demanded that synodics be read in full on the proskomedia; during the conciliar service, all the hieromonks in stole stood in the altar and commemorated the names of the deceased contributors. Every morning he went around the church and inspected whether everything was in the church. He went out with the brethren to work at the monastery. He also had icon painters and silversmiths. The noble princes loved him and helped him, but there were also power-hungry people who not only did not help him, but even insulted him in word and deed. However, this did not stop Dionysius, until the end of his life, from the zealous custom of building and renovating churches, and after his death there were many utensils prepared by him for the renovation of temples. He diligently took care of the churches of God, not only in his monastery, but also in the monastery villages, where he built several churches after the Polish defeat. One of these temples in 1844 was moved from the village of Podsosenya to the then newly founded Gethsemane Skete near the Lavra of St. Sergius, where even now it attracts all pilgrims with its graceful simplicity. With the blessing of Archimandrite Dionysius and with his own handwritten revision of the manuscripts, a collection of Menaions was compiled.

Under him, there were 30 hieromonks and 15 hierodeacons in the monastery, and up to 30 singers stood on the kliros. Every morning, the archimandrite himself went around the whole church with a candle in his hands, to see if there were any absent, and if anyone was not, he sent wake-up calls for him; if someone really was ill, he took care of him as a spiritual and bodily doctor and put him to rest in the hospital. By the example of his humility, he inspired equality among the brethren, and his ascetic life aroused others to ascetic deeds: following his example, even the venerable elders were not ashamed to go ringing the bell tower. In dealing with the brethren, he was meek and straightforward, affable and patient. In everything he tried to imitate the great in his humility, the founder of the Lavra, St. Sergius, and the miracle worker apparently helped him in everything. “I, a sinful one,” writes the cellarer Simon, “and the rest of the brethren who lived with him in the same cell, never heard anything offensive from him. He was always in the habit of saying, "Do it if you like," so that some, not understanding his simple disposition, left his command without execution, thinking that he was leaving the matter to their will. Then the good mentor, after a short pause, said: “It’s time, brother, to fulfill what was commanded: go and do it.”

Of the disciples of St. Dionysius, Dorotheus is especially famous, nicknamed "the great worker." Kelar Simon Azaryin writes about him: “He was so firm in piety that he never left church service , corrected the position of sexton in the church of the miracle worker Nikon and at the same time was a canonarch and book keeper. In his cell, he followed an unusual rule: every day he read the entire Psalter and made up to a thousand prostrations; while writing books. He slept very little and never lay down to sleep. His food was a piece of bread and a spoonful of oatmeal, and, moreover, not every day; only on the conviction of the archimandrite did he begin to eat bread with kvass. And another writer of the life of Dionysius, the sacrist John (priest John Nasedka), who was also a witness of the strict life of Dorofeev, testifies to him that he always, according to the order of Dionysius, carried money and clothes from the generous rector and for whole nights to the sick and wounded, tormented by enemies remained to sit with the sick and crippled. The brothers, who secretly watched his way of life, saw that even for a week he sometimes did not touch any food; some of the cell-attendants laughed at him and had a debate: some said that he was a saint, others that he was insane. Once I myself laughed at him, while still a layman, the writer humbly admits, but at that moment Dionysius, who ascended, looked sternly at me, but said nothing to me. Ten years later, when I was with the archimandrite in Moscow for a spiritual conversation, I asked myself forgiveness with tears for my act, and with a meek smile, he blessed me and said: , to the laity our secrets; it is written: shuytsa and not know what the right hand is doing. However, at my insistence, the elder continued: “You are laymen, if you hear something bad about the blacks, you condemn them absurdly, and it’s a sin for you, but if you hear good things, you don’t get jealous, but only praise, and from your praise the temptation comes even more. for from this comes greatness and pride; Therefore, it is more useful for us to cover up our affairs from you so that no one hears about us. When I asked: “What did his stern look mean when he met me in the cell at Dorotheus?” Dionysius answered: “Do not be angry, you laughed at the holy man and it’s a sin for all of you, because he didn’t live according to you. I know that not only did he not eat for a week, but often up to ten days he did not drink a spoonful of water, and went to all services naked, and barefoot, and hungry, and even without washing his face or hands, and when he went for the sick , then did not shun any stinking wounds. Being young in age, he was tormented by fornication thoughts, and therefore he fought so strongly against the enemies of mental hunger and thirst; instead of water, tears served him to wash his face, perseus and hands, which he constantly shed when doing his good deeds, and therefore your ridiculousness became painful for me.

In 1622 the holy archimandrite got ready to go to Moscow. The brethren came to ask for a blessing, and Dorotheus went out to him in severe weakness, asking for his last forgiveness: “Already my time is coming,” he said, “and death is approaching; I grieve for one thing, that you are leaving here and I will not be worthy of burial from your reverend hand. Dionysius, as if jokingly, told him with a prohibition: “Until my arrival, be alive, and do not dare to die until I return from the autocrat; then you will die, if the Lord wills, and I will bury you.” - “The will of the Lord be done,” answered Dorotheus. The archimandrite was in the capital and returned to the Lavra. When, with a prayer, he entered the vestibule of his cell and again received the blessing from him, the brethren, Dorotheos also came out, already in utter exhaustion, asking for forgiveness. The monk blessed him and took leave of him, and he himself, having put on his clothes, went to church to sing a prayer service for the royal health, according to the custom that was kept in the Trinity monastery, upon the arrival of the authorities. But he had not yet had time to begin the prayer service when they came to tell him that Dorotheus had departed to the Lord. Dionysius shed a tear and buried the worker in a cathedral, with all the brethren.

Until the end of his days, God led the meek elder of God to endure sorrows and temptations from his brethren, for the eternal enemy of the human race took up arms against the saint in order to somehow remove him from the monastery of the miracle worker Sergius. The devil aroused one monk named Raphael, who was sent under command to the monastery of Sergius from Patriarch Filaret and even chained for various seditions and deeds, unworthy of a monastic title. Trying to free himself from the bonds, Raphael slandered the Monk Dionysius before Tsar Michael and Patriarch Philaret, and the elder was demanded to Moscow. The brethren mourned a lot about this, testifying to his righteous life, and soon he was released into the Lavra, and his slanderers were exiled to prison, having received a worthy reward for their iniquity. This temptation was soon followed by another. The housekeeper of the monastery of Sergius, being power-hungry, not harboring the fear of God in his heart, slandered the archimandrite, as if he imputed the royal and hierarch's command to nothing; by his cunning he brought the blessed husband to such dishonor that he was cast into a dark and stinking place, where he secretly spent three days in captivity.

And so great was the patience and humility of the saint's wisdom that no one even knew about his suffering, except for the confessor; after many threats from the patriarch, however, he was released into the Lavra. But the steward, with secret letters, continued to slander him, as if Dionysius was arranging for himself the patriarchate, and reached such madness that “once at a council with all the brethren, not ashamed of his honest face,” he dared to beat his cheeks, and with dishonor locked the abbot in cell, from where he did not let him out for church singing for four days. The right-believing sovereign himself, having heard about it, freed the sufferer by sovereign power and, being in the monastery, before all the brethren, made an investigation about his sufferings. But the Monk Dionysius covered everything with love and presented everyone to himself as well-wishers, presenting himself alone as guilty of everything. Thus, the king's anger was turned to mercy, to the general amazement of all the boyars who were under the king. Since then, the autocrat no longer believed in any slander against the holy husband until the end of his life.

When the time came for the repose of the monk, according to the testimony of those who were with him, he did not excommunicate from the church, but even in his very weakness, even on the eve of his death, he served mass and even on the day of his exodus he was at matins and mass, not wanting to reduce his feat in any way. . At the very hour of Vespers, he got up and, putting on a klobuk and a mantle, wanted to go to church, but, feeling utterly exhausted, he began to ask for schemas. The monk could hardly stand from his illness and sat on the bed before the last prayers were completed. He managed to bless some of the brethren and, having crossed his face, lay down on the couch, closed his eyes, folded his hands crosswise and gave his pure soul into the hands of the Lord, leaving behind great lamentation and lamentation of the brethren. When his body was laid in the coffin, everyone looked at him with delight, because his face was magnificent, his eyes and lips were cheerful, and at that moment many of the icon painters, for the sake of love, wrote off the splendor of his face, so that such a blessed husband would have everyone in abode eternal memory. Patriarch Filaret himself wished to perform a funeral service for him, for which his holy relics were transported to Moscow, to the Epiphany Monastery, and then returned to the Lavra for burial.

From the relics of the monk, Prince Alexei Vorotynsky, who was much loved by the archimandrite, received healing. The sick man was lying on his bed and could not himself come to bow to the deceased, but, remembering his eternal love, he sent a memorial service for him, and as soon as they brought him kutya after the service, he was immediately healed of his illness.

The priest of the Lavra settlement Theodore mourned a lot that he could not see the death of the monk. And in a dream he sees that he is in a hurry with others to accept the forgiveness of Dionysius, but the saint says to him: “Why are you in a hurry? Those blessings are asking because they are staying here, and you will soon follow me.” Eight days later, Theodore died.

And his lifelong disciple Simon, the writer of his life, who was not present at his blessed death, because he was sent by his teacher to be the abbot of the Altyrsky Monastery, which then depended on the Lavra, experienced the power of his posthumous prayers. Being innocent of anything, he was betrayed for the sins of others, and salvation was not expected from anywhere. One nun of the Khotkov monastery, named Vera, hearing about Simon's misfortune, prayed for him with tears, calling for help from the Monk Dionysius. And so she sees in a dream a magnificent temple and saints in vestments ascending the steps, and after them Dionysius, supported by two deacons. The nun fell at his feet, as if to a living one, asking for help to the helpless, and exclaiming: “Lord! The one whom You loved is now suffering greatly and has no help from anyone. Dionysius, touching her with his hand, raised her, saying: "Do not grieve, God's mercy will be on him and deliverance from such an adversity, but from me you will be blessed." With these words, he disappeared and, indeed, Simon was soon freed from the misfortune, informed of the miraculous vision by the son of nun Vera Michael.

The monk Porfiry, who lived for a long time in the same cell with the monk, was already an archimandrite in the Nativity monastery in the city of Vladimir when he heard of his death. He grieved greatly, recalling to himself all his sufferings, and prayed to the almighty God to show him: did the monk accept his reward for his long-suffering feat. After a long prayer, he saw Archimandrite Dionysius, whom he desired, sitting, crouching at his feet, with joyful tears he asked for blessings and said to him: “Father Dionysius, tell me, have you received grace from the All-Generous Giver for such long-suffering and strong deeds?” Dionysius, having blessed him, said a comforting word: "Rejoice with me, Porfiry, for I received great grace from God." Subsequently, this Porfiry was sent as an archimandrite to Pskov, and then transferred to Moscow, to the Androniev Monastery, where he died.

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(Zobninovsky (Zobninov, Zobninsky) David Fedorovich; c. 1570, Rzhev - 1633, c. 5.05, Trinity-Sergius Monastery), St. (commemorated May 12, a week after June 29 - in the Cathedral of Tver Saints, July 6 - in the Cathedral of Radonezh Saints, a week before August 26 - in the Cathedral of Moscow Saints), Radonezh.

The main source of information about the life of D. is the Life written by his student Simon (Azaryin) at the request of Bogolep (Lvov), a resident of Kozheezersky in honor of the Epiphany Monastery. Simon was tonsured in 1624 at the Trinity-Sergius Mon-re, after he was miraculously healed through the prayer of D., and several. lived for years in the cell of the monk. Simon began work on the Life in the 2nd floor. 40s 17th century When writing the text, he interviewed the inhabitants of the monastery, other people. Dissatisfied with his work, he turned to one of D.'s closest associates, Rev. John Nasedka with a request to write down memories of D. and attached the received extensive note to the Life. Simon writes about the creation of the main part of the Life by 1648 (according to OA Belobrova, the Life was completed between 1648 and 1654). The life is preserved in Simon's autograph - State Historical Museum. Syn. No. 416 (Belobrova and B. M. Kloss do not consider this rkp. completely written by Simon, according to researchers, the scribe only corrected it). In this list, along with the Life and note of John the Nasedka, Simon placed the troparion and canon created by him to the monk, as well as a set of materials related to the trial of D. in connection with the book right undertaken by the reverend. In the 19th century The life of D. was published according to other lists, not in full. In editions of the Life of 1808-1834. a canon is placed that is different from the canon of Simon (Azaryin); according to Archim. Leonid (Kavelin), the 2nd canon was compiled by Metropolitan. Plato (Levshin).

D. genus. in an urban family. When he was 5-6 years old, his parents moved from Rzhev to Staritsa, where his father became the headman of the Yamskaya Sloboda. The boy was taught to read and write by local priests Gury Rzhevitin and Georgy Tulupov (herman in monasticism). At the insistence of his parents, D. married, then became a priest at c. Epiphany in one of the possessions of the Staritsky monastery in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary - with. Ilyinsky Ramenskoy par. Staritsky at. After the death of Vassa's wife and children c. 1601-1602 priest David was tonsured at the Staritsky monastery with the name Dionysius. Here he soon became treasurer, then, apparently in the middle. 1605 or Aug. 1607, archimandrite. The Dormition Staritsky Monastery, which enjoyed the special patronage of Tsar John IV Vasilyevich and his tonsured patriarch St. Job, was at the beginning. 17th century a large rich monastery in which 73 monks lived. In the mon-re there was a collection of manuscripts with the writings of St. Ephraim the Syrian and Simeon the New Theologian, St. Gregory the Theologian; during the years of D.'s deanery, the library of the mon-rya increased due to the collection of books of svt. Job. Contrary to the instructions of False Dmitry I, D. gave a warm welcome to the deposed Patriarch Job, exiled to the Staritsky Monastery. Researchers suggest that D. accompanied the saint during the trip in Feb. 1607 to Moscow, when Muscovites asked for forgiveness from the primate for his exile; At the same time, D. met the patriarch schmch. Hermogenes. Through the labors of D. at the grave of St. Job had a stone tombstone.

In the Staritsky mon-re, D. stayed as rector for more than 2 years. During the siege of Moscow by the troops of False Dmitry II, D. was in the city, where, according to Simon (Azaryin), he became one of the closest assistants to Patriarch Hermogenes. Together with the primate, D. supported Tsar Vasily Ivanovich Shuisky, showing determination and steadfastness in the most difficult circumstances. Feb. 1610 D. was appointed archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. In Sept. the same year, Patriarch Hermogenes gave a significant (100 rubles) contribution to the Trinity Monastery.

As abbot D. found himself in the face of very difficult tasks. In a monastery that had just survived a months-long siege by the Polish-Lithuanians. troops, as well as in his district there were a large number of sick and wounded people who were dying of hunger and disease. According to the testimony of St. With. Klementiev John Nasedka, D., despite the resistance of part of the brethren, led by cellar Abraham (Palitsyn), ensured that the funds of the monastery treasury were used to support these people. For the charity of the sick and wounded, houses were built in the Sluzhnaya Sloboda and in Klementyev. Special bailiffs collected and brought there the sick and the needy, gave them food and clothing. Mon-ry paid for the services of people who cooked food for them and washed clothes, doctors were found. The priests communed the dying and performed the burial. D.'s closest assistants in these concerns were his disciple, Rev. Dorotheus, who distributed aid, and John Nasedka.

When in con. In the winter of 1611, an uprising began against the Polish-Lithuans who had captured Moscow. interventionists, D. sent his letters to the "troubled cities", calling for unity to fight the enemy. In these unpreserved letters, according to John Nasedka, D. gave examples of how God Himself "was a poor helper, and desperate, and thin, and unable to stand against the adversary." When on March 19, 1611, in the Trinity-Sergius Mon-re, they learned about the uprising in Moscow, 50 monastery servants and 200 archers were sent to reinforce the troops of the First Militia that were gathering near Moscow. At the suggestion of D., the Trinity monks handed over stocks of rye and wheat flour and kvass to the wounded warriors who came to the monastery “from near Moscow, and from Pereyaslavl, and from all sorts of roads”, while they themselves ate oat and barley bread and water.

"Archim. Dionysius dictates a patriotic letter to the monks." Lithograph after fig. V. M. Vasnetsova. 1911 (SPGIAKhMZ)

"Archim. Dionysius dictates a patriotic letter to the monks." Lithograph after fig. V. M. Vasnetsova. 1911 (SPGIAKhMZ)

Worried about the fate of both the First Militia and the entire country, in July 1611 D. sent letters to many. cities (preserved a copy sent to Kazan) with an appeal, "so that all Orthodox Christians in the union become common and at the same time" and that the cities would rather help "military people and the treasury", "so that ... many people of the Christian army here in Moscow for the sake of poverty did not differ. Social contradictions led to internal conflicts in the First Militia, the murder of P. Lyapunov by the Cossacks, and the beginning of the departure of boyar children from Moscow. In the autumn of 1611, the troops of Hetman Ya. Khodkevich with supplies for the Polish. garrison began to approach Moscow. Oct 6 D. again sent letters in pl. city ​​(preserved copy sent to Perm). Reporting on the appearance of Khodkevich's troops on the Kolomna road, D. and the Troitsk brethren again called for assistance to the First Militia by "military people." The Trinity letter came to Nizhny Novgorod at the time when K. Minin spoke before the zemstvo hut, and contributed to the fact that the Nizhny Novgorod people decided to go to the aid of the “Moscow State”.

D. played a major role in uniting the forces of the First and Second Militias to fight the common enemy. The conflict between the militias was caused by the oath of the regiments near Moscow to the "Pskov thief" - False Dmitry III. On March 2, 1612, the Trinity-Sergius Mon-ry refused to swear allegiance to the new impostor, in many ways. cities and near Moscow letters were sent from the monastery with an appeal not to be seduced "to thieves' factories." As a result, not only many south and app. the cities refused to swear allegiance to False Dmitry III, but one of the main leaders of the First Militia, Prince. D.T. Trubetskoy, on March 28, sent his ambassadors to the mon-ry, offering the mon-ryu to contribute to the unification of the forces of the First and Second militias in order to "hunt on the Polish and Lithuanian people and on those enemies who have now brought unrest."

The Trinity monks, led by D., really acted with such an intermediary mission, sending a message to the authorities of the Second Militia. The message said that the boyar children, headed by Prince. Trubetskoy kissed the cross "unwillingly" and seek cooperation with the Second Home Guard, and the cities that refused to swear allegiance to the "thief" are also waiting for "providing and advice." The Trinity brethren urged the authorities of the Second Militia to go “hurriedly” to the Trinity-Sergius Mon-ryu and promised to make every effort so that the defenders of the country could gather “in a single chosen place for a well-chosen zemstvo council”, where the legitimate ruler of the Russian state would be determined.

The authorities of the Second Militia did not follow this advice, but the Trinity message removed the accumulated tension, and the firm position taken by the mon-rem contributed to the fact that in the camp near Moscow the forces that could cooperate with the Second Militia took over. Having received from the book. Trubetskoy information that a new arrival of Khodkevich's troops near Moscow is expected, the Troitsk brethren, headed by D., twice sent to Prince. D. M. Pozharsky to Yaroslavl elders, prompting him to go with the army near Moscow as soon as possible. On June 28, the Trinity cellar Abraham (Palitsyn) went with such a request. Aug 14 In 1612, D. and his brethren received in the monastery the army of the Second Militia advancing towards Moscow. When the abbot with the brethren went out to see off the army on the campaign, a strong headwind arose, which was taken as a bad omen; after D. blessed the warriors and sprinkled them with St. water, the wind changed, and with it the mood of the troops changed. This was told many years later to Simon (Azaryin) by Prince. Pozharsky. (The testimony of Simon that D. was near Moscow during the battles of the First and Second Militias with the army of Khodkevich, D. I. Skvortsov considers unreliable.)

After the departure of Khodkevich from near Moscow, D. continued to make efforts to unite the First and Second Militias and create a single government. Researchers consider him the most likely author of the message "to princes Dmitry about love." Addressing the princes Trubetskoy and Pozharsky, the author wrote: “Make love over all the Russian land, call everyone into love with your love” - and suggested that the military leaders drive away “slanderers and troublemakers” from themselves. The message spoke about the meaning of the commandment of love for every Christian, about how the true leaders of the people should behave so as not to provoke the wrath of God and destroy the country, about the need for repentance. Position D. earned him the respect of both leaders, after. they gave the Trinity Mon-ryu a number of rich contributions, Prince. Trubetskoy was buried in the monastery in 1625. During the liberation of Moscow on November 27. In 1612, D. performed a prayer service at the Execution Ground in front of the Russian who entered the capital. army. 26 Apr. In 1613, the monk received Mikhail Feodorovich, who was on his way to Moscow, at the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, and on July 11 he participated in his coronation to the kingdom.

After the end of the Time of Troubles, important economic tasks arose before the rector and brethren of the Trinity Monastery. The Trinity patrimony during the years of the Troubles was subjected to severe ruin, its population decreased by almost half. The peasants who remained on the land were for the most part "newcomers" who enjoyed benefits for acquiring a household. According to M. S. Cherkasova, by the time the Troubles ended, the “old” peasants made up no more than 10% of the population of the monastic estates. At the request of the Troitsk authorities, headed by D. and cellar Abraham (Palitsyn), in 1613/14, a “boyar sentence” was adopted to return to the possession of the monastery the peasants who left their allotments or were taken out “by violence” after September 1. 1604 When the boyar children appointed to carry out the investigation and return of the peasants from the order of the Grand Palace, having not fully completed their tasks, went home, then at the request of D. and Avraamy, these duties in the beginning. 1615 were assigned to local governors and clerks. As a result of the efforts made in 1614-1615. a significant number of former Troitsk peasants were returned to their old places.

From the former Russian The rulers of the monastery received many different rights and privileges, now it was necessary to seek their confirmation by the new royal power. This task was generally successfully solved. A number of letters confirming the previous awards were received by the Trinity authorities already in 1613. So, on May 20, the tsar confirmed the tradition. the right of the mon-rya not to pay "subscription and printing fees" when issuing letters to him. Aug 13 the right to collect duties on the sale of horses at the “horse platform” in Moscow was confirmed. Nov 3 the monastery was confirmed the right not to pay duties for ships heading to Astrakhan for fish and salt. Of particular importance was the confirmation in Aug. general charter of tsar Vasily dated June 11, 1606 on the lands of the Trinity-Sergius monastery in 28 districts - most of the possessions of the monastery. For the monastic authorities, the right to collect and transfer to the state was confirmed. treasury taxes from these lands. The completeness of the judicial and administrative power of the mon-rya over the population of his possessions was also confirmed. Then, in August, the charter of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich of 1586 was confirmed, giving the authorities of the mon-rya the right to have in their possessions a labial organization subordinate to the Rogue Order.

The first years of D.'s archimandriteship were marked by the appearance of a number of ascribed monasteries as part of the Trinity possessions. These changes were the result of the efforts of the brethren of small or ruined monasteries, who hoped, with the help of an organizationally stronger monastery, to protect themselves and their possessions from "thieves' people." Militia governments in 1611-1612 attributed to the Trinity-Sergius monastery Nikolsky Chukhchenemsky (Chukhcheremsky) monastery and the Alatyr monastery in the name of the Holy Trinity. By 1616, Mon-ri Avnezhsky in the name of the Holy Trinity, Stefanov Makhrishchsky in the name of the Holy Trinity, Makarieva was empty became part of the Trinity patrimony. in the suburbs of Bezhetsk, in 1616-1617. they were followed by the Stromynsky monastery in honor of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos. The Trinity authorities began to conduct a census of the property of these monasteries and send their elders to manage them. The efforts of D. and the brethren were aimed at ensuring that the rights and privileges of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery were extended to the possessions of the ascribed monks. This was done in a new charter of 1617, which spread the tradition. rights and privileges and new acquisitions of the Trinity Mon-rya.

After the abolition in 1584 of tarkhan non-conviction letters of possession of the mon-rya, they had to pay in the state. treasury all major taxes, but in 1598-1599. Tsar Boris Feodorovich Godunov freed the monastic arable land from taxation, and the arable land of the monastic servants and peasants was to be taxed not according to the norms established for church lands, but according to more preferential norms established for local lands. In the first years of the reign of Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich, these regulations ceased to be fulfilled. Dec. 1616 D. and Avraamy (Palitsyn) filed letters of Boris Godunov to the Local Order. Royal letters of 1617 and 1619 recognized the corresponding rights for the monastery, but in practice they were not always respected due to the arbitrariness of officials.

In the first years of the reign of Mikhail Feodorovich, a lot of work began to put in order the extensive Trinity archive. In 1614 - early. In 1615, a copy book was compiled by “the whole council” - a collection of lists of the most important letters of commendation received by the monastery and acts of donations. In an extensive preface to the book, its author (according to a number of researchers, D.), citing the rules of the V and VII Ecumenical Councils and the 75th ch. Stoglav, argued the right of the Church to receive land donations in order to be able to ensure the eternal commemoration of the souls of contributors. At the same time, the preface emphasized the duty of the brethren to continuously make such a commemoration. On March 25, 1616, the compilation of the “black books of the serf treasury” began in the mon-re, containing copies of current documents entering the monastery.

Permanent satisfaction in 1613-1618 various petitions of the Trinity authorities speaks of the warm, close relations established between the monastery and the young tsar during these years of D.'s presidency. Nov. the same year, the tsar granted the Trinity Monastery "the town of Radonezh with all sorts of land" - the only land grant of the royal house of mon-ryu in the 1st half. 17th century

The order in Oct. 1615 to send to Moscow the scientists of the Trinity elders Anthony (Krylov) and Arseny the Deaf, as well as John Nasedka to prepare for the publication of the Trebnik. However, the spravschiki said that they alone could not take up this work, and on 8 November. In 1616, the tsar instructed D. to correct the Trebnik in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and to involve in this work those elders who “are truly and meritoriously accustomed to book teaching and know how to grammar and rhetoric.” D. and the elders had not only to make corrections, but also to update the composition of the book so that it contained “many essential things, without which your priestly rank and all Orthodox Christian cannot be." The work on editing the liturgical books by that time had already begun in the monastery: in 1615/16, the elder Arseniy Glukhy prepared 2 manuscripts of the Canon - one by “command and intention”, the other by “help and command” D. (RSL. F. 304 / I. No. 281, 283). Not only was the text checked against similar lists, but also the services and canons written by "unskillful creators of literate teaching" were corrected.

Work on the implementation of the royal order to correct the Trebnik continued for a year and a half. D.'s main assistants were the elders Arseny Glukhoy and Anthony (Krylov), as well as John Nasedka. The handlers did not know Greek. language and limited themselves to comparing the glories at their disposal. manuscripts. Preference was given to reading older lists. In a number of cases, the scribes asked the archbishop. Arseny Elassonsky to make inquiries in the Greek he had. manuscripts. As a result, the text of the Trebnik was corrected and significantly expanded in comparison with the edition of 1602. The scribes went beyond the scope of the task, taking up the editing of other liturgical books - the Triodion of the Colored, the Octoechos, the General Menaion, and the monthly Menaia.

The researchers' observations show that the matter was not limited to the comparison of lists. The Trinity scribes also paid attention to the content of the text, rearranging punctuation marks, replacing some words and expressions with others. The referees strove to correct semantic errors, as well as to remove individual erroneous readings that had crept in from the texts. Many of the amendments they proposed were later included in Moscow editions of the 17th century. On the initiative of D., a systematic revision of the final doxology in the prayers was carried out. From the final doxology of prayers addressed to God the Father or to God the Son, an appeal to other Persons of the Holy Trinity was withdrawn. An appeal to all 3 Hypostases of the Trinity was placed in the doxology of only those prayers where "there were no special names." The amendment that caused the last the sharpest reaction was made in the prayer for the blessing of water, which was read on the eve of the Epiphany. From the petition: “Yourself and now, Lord, sanctify the water with Your Holy Spirit and fire” - the words “and fire” were removed. The references were based on the fact that in the earlier Missal these words were absent, and in the manuscripts of the 2nd floor. 16th century they were placed in the margins or above the line.

The work was completed by May 1618. D. presented the corrected texts to the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Jonah (Arkhangelsk), Met. Sarsky and Podonsky, so that the work done is evaluated Church Council. The minutes of the meetings of the Council, which began work on July 4, 1618, have not been preserved; information about the Council is contained in a number of polemical writings that appeared later. At the Council, D. and his assistants were opposed by a group of Trinity monks led by such influential elders as the usher Filaret, the headman Longin Korova, and the sacristan Markell. They accused D. that he "scraped and cut out and wrote in that place according to his own will in many books." They were supported by Archim. Chudov in honor of the Miracle of the Archangel Michael in Khonekh of the Avraamy Monastery. After long and persistent arguments, D. and his co-workers were convicted. The council condemned them for the fact that they "ordered the name of the Holy Trinity in the books of morati and do not confess the Holy Spirit, as if there is fire." The first of these accusations was related to the correction of the final doxology in prayers. The 2nd accusation meant the removal of the words "and by fire" by the interpreters in the prayer at the great consecration of water. To the beginning 17th century It was customary to immerse lighted candles in water when consecrating water. The justification for this practice was seen in the words of St. John the Baptist about Christ: “He baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16), which were incorrectly interpreted as identifying the Holy Spirit with fire.

D. and John Nasedka were forbidden to serve, the elders Arseny Glukhoy and Anthony (Krylov) were deprived of communion. The abbot and the elders had to go into exile in different mon-ri. Within 4 days after the decision was made, D. was brought "in response to the patriarch's court with great dishonor and disgrace", then to the cells of the nun Martha in the Moscow monastery in honor of the Ascension of the Lord and to the metochion of Metropolitan. Iona, where the saint was beaten. It was decided to send D. into exile in Kirillov Belozersky Monastery in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but since Moscow at that moment was surrounded by Polish troops. Prince Vladislav, D. was imprisoned in the Novospassky Moscow Monastery in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, where a penance was imposed on him - a thousand bows a day. The monk had supporters among the Trinity brethren, from whom D. received a "consoling message" found in the papers of the saint after his death.

D.'s situation improved after his arrival in April. 1619 to Moscow Patriarch Theophan IV of Jerusalem. D.'s supporters notified the patriarch of what had happened, and, apparently, thanks to his intervention, D. was released. In June 1619, D., together with Met. Jonah met in with. Khoroshov near Moscow, returning from Poland. the captivity of Filaret. A week after the elevation of Filaret to the patriarchal throne, a Council was convened to review the case of D. and his assistants. According to the testimony of John Nasedka, D. answered the accusations against him for 8 hours. The initial part of D.'s speech has been preserved. In it, refuting the arguments of the accusers, the monk noted that, with the exception of the quoted words of St. John the Baptist from the Gospel of Luke, the rest of the Gospels and the Apostolic Acts speak of Baptism with water and the Holy Spirit. From this followed the conclusion: "The Holy Spirit was given by the apostolic prayer to those being baptized, but not in fiery visions." In this regard, D. pointed out the absence of the words "and fire" in the prayer read during the blessing of water in the rite of Baptism. D. also argued that God, the Creator of the whole world, cannot be identified with one of the elements - fire. Comparison of the surviving part of D.'s speech with Op. John Nasedka "Exquisite from many divine books evidence of the butt of fire ”showed that D.’s speech was one of the main sources of the initial part of this work (it is possible that the rest of the text of the work of John Nasedka is based on the speech of the reverend).

The work of the Council ended with the complete justification of D. and his assistants. Arseniy Glukhoy and Anthony (Krylov) became directors of the Moscow Printing House, and John Nasedka became a priest at the court of the Annunciation Cathedral. D. returned to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery and ruled it until his death. When, shortly after the decisions of the Council, the monastery was visited by Patriarch Theophan, he, according to the testimony of John Nasedka, took off his klobuk and, bowing with it to the cancer of St. Sergius, laid on the head of D. - "may you be the first elder over many monks with our blessing" (Life. S. 460) (the hood of the Jerusalem Patriarch is not mentioned in the descriptions of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra).

The beginning of the 2nd period of the administration of D. Trinity-Sergius Mon-Rem was marked by a number of important works, the purpose of which was to give the Trinity authorities material about the true state of the monastery's possessions. In 1621, a group of cathedral elders headed by Macarius (Kurovsky) made an inventory of letters of commendation and land deeds kept in the monastery treasury. In 1623, the so-called. detective books, in which evidence of documents about monastic possessions were supplemented by records of surveys of the population on the ground by Trinity servants. Intrapatrimonial descriptions of the Troitsk possessions were also continued, of which only a small part has survived.

During the 2nd rectorate of D., the land holdings of the Trinity Monastery slightly increased due to the addition of 2 small monasteries to it: Antoniev Pokrovskaya is empty. in Pereyaslavl (previously in the possession of the metropolitan see) in 1627-1628. and Cherdyn monastery in the name of the Apostle John the Theologian in the Urals in 1632. Starting from the 2nd decade of the 17th century. the land ownership of the mon-rya began to grow noticeably due to the contributions of both the nobility and representatives of the top of the prikaz bureaucracy, as well as small and medium-sized provincial boyar children. One of the reasons for such an expansion of the Trinity patrimony was, as Simon (Azaryin) testifies, D.’s special efforts to organize a constant congratulatory and funeral commemoration of contributors (at the liturgy, serving requiems, prayer services), the monk “did not want a single coffin” of contributors “commemorate” (skip) (these orders of the rector, which increased the time of worship, caused discontent among part of the brethren). By the 20s. 17th century researchers attribute the appearance of the protograph of the surviving Trinity deposit books of 1639 and 1673 to

The study of the acts deposited in the Trinity archive, intra-patrimonial and state. descriptions of the Trinity lands made it possible to find out 2 important features of that economic policy, which were carried out in the possessions of the mon-rya by the Trinity authorities, headed by D. To the last. decades of the sixteenth century. in the Trinity patrimony there was everywhere a significant lordly plowing. In the 20s. 17th century the size of the plowing was much reduced, more and more peasants were transferred to cash or food dues. In order to restore economic life in desolated possessions, it was widely practiced to give them away for life to secular landowners, which helped to strengthen the ties of the monastery with a wide circle of its neighbors.

Problems for the authorities of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery were created by the abuses of the monastic secular servants during the withdrawal of the fugitive Trinity peasants from the possessions of the boyars and boyar children. According to Simon (Azaryin), pl. monastic servants, selecting under various pretexts peasants in other people's possessions, did not take them to the monastery at all, but to the possessions of their relatives. When court cases were initiated based on the complaints of the offended, the exported serfs and peasants were hidden in other places. As a result, the secular servants of the Trinity Mon-rya, by their actions “until the end, bring this monastery into the last reproach and into hatred from all the people Russian state, from the nobles and from the simple. Confirmation of Simon's statements is given by numerous court cases initiated by secular landowners against the Trinity-Sergius Mon-rya. Such actions of the Trinity servants caused D.'s deep indignation, but he could not put an end to them, since the servants ignored his orders, relying on the help of "some malicious accomplices." They, according to Simon (Azaryin), “press on him, although they deprive him of power.”

The secular monastic servants found support and patronage from the steward of the Trinity Monastery, who was not named in the Life by the name. According to Skvortsov, it was the influential elder Alexander (Bulatnikov), the Trinity cellar in 1622-1641. Kelar, like the monastic servants, wanted to profit at the expense of the mon-rya, trying to exchange the wasteland that belonged to his relative for one of the monastery's possessions, supposedly deserted, but in fact in good condition. Close relationship with royal family(Alexander was the godfather of the royal children in Baptism) allowed the cellar to achieve the approval of the transaction by the king and the patriarch, but D. opposed its implementation. Then Alexander accused D. of not following the king's orders. The archimandrite was summoned to Moscow, where "he was thrown into a stingy and dark place, and for three days he remained in the stench." He managed to justify himself, but the cellar filed a new denunciation, accusing D. of wanting to become a patriarch. It got to the point that when at the monastery cathedral the rector did not agree with the opinion of the cellarer, he hit D. and locked him in a cell. D. was released by order of the king who visited the monastery. The monk did not insist on punishing the cellarer and even asked to be forgiven, which won the favor of the monarch. Subsequent denunciations of D. were unsuccessful.

In the beginning. 20s and for the Trinity brethren, and for D., it was important to achieve confirmation of the rights and privileges of the mon-rya during the undertaken state. the power to revise letters of commendation. This goal has been largely achieved. According to letters of commendation received by the monastery on 17 Oct. 1624 and 11 Apr. 1625, the monastery also retained the completeness of the judicial adm. power over the population of their possessions, and the right to collect taxes and pay them to the state. treasury. In accordance with these charters, the status of the mon-rya has seriously changed. If earlier, like other monasteries, the Trinity-Sergius Monastery was subordinate to the order of the Grand Palace, then according to the letters of 1624 and 1625. the supreme judge for the Trinity brethren was the patriarch "or whom he, the great sovereign, will command to judge them." After that, court cases concerning the mon-rya began to be considered either personally by Filaret, or by judges of the Patriarchal rank. With the participation of the patriarch, some important issues of the inner life of the Trinity-Sergius monastery were also resolved. So, when the peasants began to keep taverns in the Assumption Stromynsky Monastery, and the monks began to get drunk, while both of them did not want to obey the Trinity authorities, the patriarch not only put an end to the conflict, but also issued in 1625 a letter with a list of measures, to-rye Trinity authorities must carry out in the ascribed mon-re. The establishment of direct judicial jurisdiction of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery to the patriarch, located to D., undoubtedly contributed to the fact that those that took place in the monastery at the beginning. 20s 17th century conflicts did not continue and the position of the abbot was strengthened. Since that time, the tsar and the patriarch began to make contributions to the monastery: from a silver chalice and gold tsats with precious stones for the icon of the Holy Trinity, donated in 1626, to a printed altar Gospel with a gold salary, decorated with precious stones, which entered the monastery in 1632; in Apr. In 1625, the primate donated 100 rubles to the monastery.

Rev. Dionysius of Radonezh. Fragment of the icon "Cathedral of the Holy Disciples of St. Sergius of Radonezh". 2nd floor 19th century (Assumption Cathedral TSL)

Rev. Dionysius of Radonezh. Fragment of the icon "Cathedral of the Holy Disciples of St. Sergius of Radonezh". 2nd floor 19th century (Assumption Cathedral TSL)

The revival of economic life after the end of the Troubles made it possible for D. to resume in the 1920s. work on the improvement and decoration of the monastery. In 1621, a stone church was added to the old refectory chamber. in the name of Rev. Mikhail Malein - heavenly patron Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich. In 1622, it was dismantled, then the church was rebuilt over the tomb of St. Nikon, consecrated 21 Sept. 1624, the next year the icons in this church were overlaid with silver. One of the main temples of the monastery, the Assumption Cathedral, was also decorated: in 1621 “the icon cases above the altar were signed”, in 1625 the icons of the Savior, holidays and prophets were overlaid with silver and gilded. In the Trinity chapel churches, copper and tin liturgical vessels were replaced by silver ones, and D. “applied his silver” to make new utensils. Outbuildings were also erected in the mon-re: in 1624, brick chambers “near Kelarsky” and brick forges were built, in 1628-1629. brotherly cells were restored after the fire. According to Simon (Azaryin), pl. the work was done because D. "fed" the masters in the mon-re and paid them "from his private wealth." The alms received from the “lovers of God” were also spent on the arrangement of the monastery. Outside the monastery, D. also built new churches and renovated old ones, supplying them with utensils.

The abbot of D. brought changes in the order of worship in the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. D. established the custom for pl. feasts to serve all-night vigils with litia, to perform the blessing of bread after each Sunday vigil. On Sunday litias, he introduced the singing of the Theotokos stichera of Paul of Amorite and the dogmatists (probably the Oktoechos of the Theotokos for small Vespers) 8 tones. Such a prescription was already read in the Canon of 1615/16 (RGB. F. 304 / I. No. 281). In the manuscript of Simon (Azaryin), the corresponding texts and the instruction to sing them at Sunday services are placed together with the Life of D. According to the testimony of Fr. John Nasedka, D. also established the custom to read in great post and on many holidays, especially on the day of the Holy Trinity, the words of St. Gregory the Theologian, Discourses on the Gospels and the Apostle of St. John Chrysostom. The accuracy of this testimony is confirmed by the entry on the manuscript of the Words of St. Gregory the Theologian, which belonged to the mon-ryu: “They honor it at the cathedral, and at the Trinity, and at the meal” (Ibid. No. 136). Works of Saints Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom, St. John of Damascus, schmch. Dionysius the Areopagite was a constant cell reading of D. The list of the Words of St. Gregory the Theologian (Ibid. No. 710). The words of St. Gregory the Theologian and Discourses on the Gospels of St. John Chrysostom, on the orders of D., was copied and sent to various monasteries and churches, and even to the book depository of the “great first church” - the Moscow Assumption Cathedral.

According to Simon (Azaryin), D. drew attention to the half-forgotten by that time manuscripts of translations and writings of St. Maxim the Greek. Thanks to the efforts of D., the grave of St. Maxim at the Holy Spirit Church. Already to the horse. 20s 17th century The name of the learned Greek was surrounded by special reverence in the monastery: the Trinity elders referred to it during disputes about editing books. In the 20s. 17th century Serious work was undertaken to collect and copy the works of St. Maxim, then the Trinity collection of his works was compiled (Ibid. No. 200).

Dr. a major undertaking undertaken with the participation of D. is associated with the name of his teacher German (Tulupov). Having taken tonsure in the Trinity-Sergius Mon-re ca. 1626/27, he "by command and blessing" D. in 1627-1632. compiled Chet'i-Minei, in which a larger place than usual was taken by the Lives of Rus. saints. In addition, Herman compiled a collection of Lives of Rus. saints (Ibid. No. 694) and a collection containing the Lives of St. Sergius and Nikon of Radonezh and services to them (Ibid. No. 699). In the last manuscript, the text was corrected by D.

D.’s activity was aimed at raising the unsatisfactory level of education of the inhabitants of the Trinity Monastery, some of whom, led by the headmaster Filaret and headmaster Longin Korova (the authority of the latter was affected by the revision of the Charter, published in 1610 with the participation of Longin), resisted innovations and continued to call the monk a heretic . The attacks on D. were largely the result of the fact that the monk repeatedly, in a personal conversation, denounced the vanity of Longinus and the false views of Philaret (according to John Nasedka, Philaret taught that God the Son was born not “before the age”, but after the Annunciation, in addition, Philaret of God "says ... a humanoid being and all the uds having a human likeness"). Justifying his correctness in terms of changes in worship, D. referred to the ancient charters, including "charate". Thanks to the patience and tact of D., who tried not to aggravate the differences, the conflicts eventually ceased.

Simon (Azaryin) and John Nasedka describe D. as a man who had perfect humility and gentleness, was patient with those who offended him and rejoiced in suffering. D. was convinced of the importance of the monastic feat and sought to ensure that the Trinity monks were at the height of their service; he punished the guilty immediately, but he was quick to forgive. The saint was meek in relation to the brethren, he acted not by order, but by persuasion, he spoke alone with the guilty about misconduct. D. served as an example for the brethren in church prayer, was the first to appear in church for divine services, encouraged the brethren to pray, and had the gift of tearful prayer. In the cell where D. lived with several. As disciples, in addition to the rule, the saint practiced psalmody, made numerous prostrations, and daily read the canons on holidays. Distinguished by bodily strength, D. devoted a lot of time to matters related to the management of the mon-rem and its possessions, together with the brethren participated in field work. He treated the monks and servants of the mon-rya like a kind father, attentive to their needs. At his insistence, the fraternal cathedral allowed monastic workers to have families and build courtyards. D. supported I. Neronov (later a member of the zealots of piety circle, one of the teachers of the Old Believers), who, being a reader in the village. Nikolsky near Yuryev-Polsky, came into conflict with local priests, accusing them of "depraved life." After the latter complained to Patriarch Filaret, Neronov was forced to flee and found shelter with D., who settled him in his cell, then obtained Neronov's forgiveness from the patriarch. With the support of D. Neronov became a priest.

The contributions made by the reverend to various monasteries are known. Possibly, in connection with his tonsure, D. (“priest David”) gave to the old Assumption monastery between 1589 and 1598, under archim. Tryphon, “robes, surplice, trakhil and entrustment, and three books of Trefoloy ... yes, two Oktai for eight voices, yes the Charter, yes Sobornik.” D.'s handwritten note about this (partially lost) has been preserved on one of the nested Oktoihs (Bucharest. BAN of Romania. Slav. No. 344), possibly rewritten by the contributor (Panaitescu P. P. Catalogul manuscriselor slavo-române şi slave din Biblioteca Academici Române. Bucureşti , 2003. Vol. 2. P. 121-122); things from this contribution are mentioned in the “Descriptive Books of the Staritsky Monastery” of 1607. Being the rector of the Staritsky Monastery, the monk ordered for the icon Mother of God in the Assumption Cathedral, decorated with pearls and precious stones, “lower”. While living in the Trinity-Sergius monastery, D. continued to make contributions to the monastery, where he took the tonsure: during this period, the icons of the Assumption of the Blessed One came from him. Mother of God and the Holy Trinity, silver vessels and a censer, a silver altar cross, the Gospel and the Prologue (RGB. Rogozh. No. 462, XVI century). Empty in Nilova. the monk together with the Rostov Metropolitan. Varlaam donated 20 icons, later a striking clock. In Kalyazin, monks D. and Avraamiy (Palitsyn) donated covers for the coffin of St. Macarius. Manuscripts have been preserved (Service Menaion for April, Prologue, September half) - D.'s contributions to himself and his parents in the temples of the Service Settlement. In one of the books there is an inscription - the autograph of D. The contributions of the monk to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery were not particularly significant: in 1617 for 20 rubles. a bowl for water blessing was bought, at the same time he gave money (47 rubles) and iron for the construction of the roof of the Assumption Cathedral. After the death of the Monk Mon-Rue, money and property left his cell, valued at a large sum - 510 rubles.

Until the last day, despite his illness, D. performed worship. Before his death, he asked to be tonsured into the great schema, and during the ceremony he died. The exact date of the death of the monk in the Life is not indicated. The remains of D., at the behest of Patriarch Filaret, were brought to Moscow to the Epiphany Church. behind the Vetoshny Row (see the Moscow monastery in honor of the Epiphany), where the primate performed the funeral service. On May 10, D. was buried in the Trinity-Sergius Mon-re near the southwest. porch of the Trinity Cathedral. In present time the relics of the saint rest under a bushel in the Serapion tent near the Trinity Cathedral.

veneration

D. in the Trinity-Sergius Mon-re and in the Tver region was established immediately after his death. Simon (Azaryin) added to the Life stories about 13 miracles of the monk, of which the last occurred in 1652. The first known miracles through prayers to D., dating back to 1633-1634, were performed in the circle of his disciples and followers. Simon wrote down stories about the phenomena of D. to his student, formerly. Archimandrite of Vladimir in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Monastery Perfilius, Fr. Servant of the Settlement of Theodore, Mon. Vera from the Khotkovo monastery in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos - D. blessed them or consoled them.

saints and reverend fathers resting in the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra". Lithography. 1845 (SPGIAKhMZ). Far right - St. Dionysius

Holy and reverend fathers resting in the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. Lithograph. 1845 (SPGIAHMZ). Far right - St. Dionysius

One of the early centers of veneration for D. was the Kozheezersky husband in honor of the Epiphany. mon-ry. Here the elder Bogolep (Lvov) recorded the story of the appearance of St. Nikodim Kozheezersky Metropolitan. St. Alexy together with D. and sent a note to Patriarch Joseph. In 1648, a story about the appearance of D. Venerable. Nicodemus was heard by P. Golovin, who was then governor on the river. Lena. In the same year, the Don Cossacks came to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery to venerate the coffin of D., who told that the monk was “great” to them, “he gave help by appearing at sea to the opposite”. In 1650, according to the words of monk Anthony (Yarinsky), the story of the Don Cossacks was recorded about the appearance of their “elder” of the Mother of God with the apostles Peter and John and with the Monks Sergius, Nikon and D. and about the prediction of defeat from the Turks.

In con. 19th century at Vladimirskaya c. in Rzhev, a chapel was built in the name of D. In the Assumption Cathedral of the Staritsky Monastery, a chapel dedicated to the monk was consecrated on September 28. 1897, miter D. was kept in the monastery.

Simon (Azaryin) included D.'s name in his approx. ser. 50s 17th century Monthly calendar under May 10 (RGB. F. 173. No. 201. L. 316 rev.). With the same memorial day, D. is named in the Description of Russian Saints (end of the 17th-18th centuries). Moscow Metropolitan St. Filaret (Drozdov) established a “prayer service” for D. in the Gethsemane skete of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra on May 5, but already at the end. 19th century D. was commemorated at the Lavra on May 12. The canonization of D. is confirmed by the inclusion of his name in the Cathedral of the Saints of Tver (the holiday was established in 1979), the Cathedral of the Radonezh Saints (the holiday was established in 1981), the Cathedral of the Moscow Saints (the holiday was established in 2001).

Source: [Simon (Azaryin)] . Canon Rev. our father Dionysius, archim. Trinity-Sergius Lavra, Wonderworker of Radonezh, with the addition of his Life. M., 18556; he is. The Book of the Newly Appeared Miracles of St. Sergius of Radonezh // Kloss B. M . Fav. works. M., 1998. T. 1. S. 460, 470-492; SGHD. T. 2. No. 275; AAE. Vol. 2. No. 190, 202, 219; T. 3. No. 1, 11, 66; AI. T. 3. No. 2, 58, 69; DAI. 1846. Vol. 2. No. 35, 37, 49; Leonid (Kavelin), archim. Inscriptions of the Trinity Sergius Lavra. SPb., 1881; Descriptive books of the old Assumption monastery. 7115/1607. Staritsa, 1912. S. 2, 13, 19, 38; Collection of letters of the College of Economy. Pg., 1922. T. 1: Diplomas of Dvinsky district. No. 316, 340, 491, 529a, 530; The Tale of Abraham (Palitsyna) / Prepared. text and comments: O. A. Derzhavina, E. V. Kolosova; Ed.: L. V. Cherepnin. M.; L., 1955; VKTSM; Tkachenko V. A . This charter granted by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich “to the house of Rev. Life-Giving Trinity and St. miracle worker Sergius” to the town of Radonezh from 5 November. 1616 // Communication. Sergiev Posad Museum-Reserve. M., 1995. S. 38-48; Rev. Dionysius of Radonezh: Life; The story of the miracles of St. Dionysius. Serg. P., 2005 [rus. trans.]; Life of Archim. Trinity-Sergius Monastery of Dionysius / Prepared. text, trans. and comments: O. A. Belobrova // BLDR. 2006. V. 14. S. 356-462.

Lit .: Filaret (Gumilevsky). RSv. May. pp. 81-95; Kazansky P. WITH . Correction of church-liturgical books under Patr. Filarete. M., 1848; SYSPRTS. SPb., 1862. S. 84-85; Smirnov A . P . Holy Patr. Filaret Nikitich of Moscow and All Russia. M., 1874. 2 hours; Kedrov S. AND . Avraamiy Palitsyn // CHOIDR. 1880. Prince. 4. S. 71-76; Barsukov. Sources of hagiography. Stb. 168-169; Skvortsov D . AND . Dionysius Zobninovsky, archim. Trinity-Sergius Mon-rya (now laurels). Tver, 1890; he is. Dionysius Zobninovsky, archim. Trinity-Sergius Mon-rya: (Essay on his life and work, mainly before his appointment as Trinity archimandrite). Tver, 1890; Leonid (Kavelin). Holy Rus'. pp. 146-147; Dimitri (Sambikin). Monthly. May. pp. 18-23; Nikolsky N . TO . On the history of writers' punishments in the 17th century. // Bibliography. chronicle. 1914. T. 1. S. 126-128; Grechev B . Rus. Church and Rus. state in troubled years: Patr. Hermogenes and Archim. Dionysius. M., 1918; Fedukova (Uvarova) N . M . Editions of the "Life of Dionysius": (On the problems of studying the literary history of the works of Simon (Azaryin)) // Lit-ra Dr. Rus': Sat. tr. M., 1975. Issue. 1. S. 71-89; Belobrova O . A . Autograph of Dionysius Zobninovsky // TODRL. T. 17. S. 388-390; she is. Dionisy Zobninovsky // SKKDR. Issue. 3. Part 1. S. 274-276 [Bibliography]; she is. From a real commentary on the Life of Dionysius, archim. Trinity-Sergius Monastery // Trinity-Sergius Lavra in the history, culture and spiritual life of Russia: Materials of the Intern. conf. Sep 29 - Oct 1 1998 M., 2000. S. 132-146; she is. On the sources of the life of Dionysius, archim. Trinity-Sergius Monastery // TODRL. 2001. V. 52. S. 667-674; Cherkasova M . WITH . Large feudal patrimony in Russia. XVI-XVII centuries (according to the TSL archive). M., 2004; Kirichenko L . A . Actual material of the Trinity-Sergius Mon-rya 1584-1641. as a source on the history of land ownership and economy. M., 2006 (by order).

B. N. Florya

Iconography

The first images of D. appeared immediately after his death. In the Life of the saint, it is noted that when his body was placed in a coffin, “there was no likeness of his face on paper from the icon painters” (Arseny, hierome. Source information about icon painting in TSL // SbODI for 1873, M., 1873. P. 120; Belobrova, 2005. P. 87). Archbishop Filaret (Gumilevsky), referring to the words of Simon (Azaryin), gave a description of the appearance of D.: “Tall growth, with a magnificent face, with cheerful eyes, with a long and wide beard; a portrait was taken from him of the deceased" - and he mentioned the "ancient portrait" stored in the TSL with the inscription: "The image of St. Dionisy, Archimandrite of Trinity" ( Filaret (Gumilevsky). RSv. May. S. 86).

Obviously, the image of D. on canvas was implied, close in style to the parsuna, which in the present. The time is presumably dated to the 18th century. (TSL, comes from the metropolitan chambers). The saint is shown as a medieval man with long dark hair and a beard of medium size, half turned to the right, in a red ornamented phelonion with a shoulder and a miter with an edge, in right hand hegumen's staff, in the left - a light rosary, a halo and an inscription on a dark background, possibly made later. It is possible that the portrait was created on the basis of posthumous sketches of the appearance of D., although it differs from verbal description with the mention of a long beard (according to I. M. Snegirev, shortened, “so as not to cover his vestments.” - Rovinsky. Dictionary of engraved portraits. T. 4. St. 197-198). The excerpt and details of the image (the pattern of the phelonion ornament) were reproduced later. masters who worked in TSL, for example. in the painting of 1883 of the refectory part of c. Rev. Sergius of Radonezh to the east. slope of the window in the altar of St. Joasaph of Belgorod (in height). A copy of the portrait was exhibited at the Rumyantsev Museum, chromolithograph after fig. F. G. Solntseva was published (Snegirev I. M. Antiquities of the Ros. 1857 in TSL - Belobrova, 2005, pp. 89, 92).

On the early single icons, created shortly after the death of D., he was depicted as a medieval man with a wide, bushy beard, in full growth, in prayer to the Holy Trinity of the Old Testament and the image of the Mother of God "The Sign", dressed in a phelonion, a underdress with a club, an epitrachelion and a miter, in the right hand is a cross, in the left - the Gospel. A copy of 1854 by the icon painter D. A. Bolobonov is known (from the collection of TsAM SPbDA, not preserved?) from the image of the 17th century. in a bassinet frame with an applied crown and a crown, with an inscription on the back: “Ivan Ivanov s [s] n Oshvusov prays to this image” (was in the church. Vladimir icon Mother of God at the almshouse in Rzhev in the chapel in the name of D.). Dr. similar copies were sent by E. V. Bersenev to the Tver Museum ( Zhiznevsky A Prp. Dionysius of Radonezh. Fragment of the icon. 2nd floor 19th century (private collection)

In a 17th century manuscript (GIM. Khlud. No. 214) in the upper part of the headband opening the Life of D., there is another early version of his iconography - a half-length frontal image with a halo, middle-aged, also in liturgical vestments, with a blessing right hand and the Gospel in his left hand . A similar type of image - in the painting of the altar Sophia Cathedral in Vologda, made in 1686-1688. Yaroslavl masters (in 1684 they worked in the TSL), where the monk has a very large rounded beard with wavy strands and an expressive face. Obviously, already at this time, the image of D. correlated with the image of St. Maxim the Greek, also placed in the murals of the altar. Probably, the tradition of the rectilinear iconography of D. went back to the “old” icon on his tomb, which was in the end. 19th century together with the same images of saints Serapion, archbishop. Novgorodsky, and Joasaph (Skripitsyn), Met. Moscow, was in the vestibule of the Assumption Church. Skete of Gethsemane TSL (Skete of Gethsemane. Serg. P., 1898. P. 22).

In the icon-painting original of 1694, under May 10, it is said about the appearance of D.: “Little crouching, Vlasieva’s beard is twice as wide, robes of the monks, the hand of prayer, and indus in robes and a hat [mitre]” (RNB. O.XIII.6. L. 178v.). In the manuscript of con. 18th century added: "...inde in schema" (BAN. Strict. No. 66. L. 105v.), in the list of the 30s. 19th century - the beard of the saint “has been streaked” (IRLI (PD). Peretz. No. 524. L. 159). Most detailed description is contained in the consolidated original of G. D. Filimonov of the 18th century: archimandric robes, and in a hat; Netsy write venerable robes even in schema” (Filimonov. Icon-painting original. P. 54, see also: Bolshakov. Icon-painting original. S. 97-98; RSL. Und. No. 130. L. 135 v.). In some manuscripts, only the version of the image of D. in venerable attire is indicated (RNB. O.XIII.11. L. 126; BAN. 45.10.1. L. 112v.).

Several have been preserved. images of D. as part of the composition of the Cathedral of the Radonezh Saints. The earliest example is on the icon “St. Sergius of Radonezh with his disciples in prayer to the Holy Trinity "con. XVII century, made in the workshop of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery (SPGIAHMZ, see: St. Sergius of Radonezh in the works of Russian art of the XV-XIX centuries: Cat. vyst. [M.], 1992. S. 97. Cat 14. Il. 18): the figure of D., in a phelonion and miter (embossed on the setting), with a large brown beard, with the Gospel in his hands, is placed in the bottom row, 1st from the left, next to St. Stefan Makhrishchsky, opposite St. Maxim Grek. The image of D. is found on 2 icons similar in composition “Cathedral of the Holy Disciples of St. Sergius" 2nd floor. 19th century from the Assumption Cathedral of the TSL (located on the western side of the southwestern pillar and on the eastern side of the northeast pillar): in the 1st row of the right group, between the Monks Nikon of Radonezh and Maxim the Greek.

Saints Dionysius and Anthony of Radonezh. Icon. Beginning 21st century Icon painter hierome. Philadelph (Zakharov) (sacristy TSL)

Saints Dionysius and Anthony of Radonezh. Icon. Beginning 21st century Icon painter hierome. Philadelph (Zakharov) (sacristy TSL)

The image of D. is also found in circulation graphics, for example. on an engraving with a view of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in 1725 by I.F. Zubov (RNB. See: Rovinsky. Folk pictures. T. 2. Stb. 295; Trinity Cathedral of the TSL. Serg. P., 2003. P. 38) , on the lithograph "Holy and Reverend Fathers Resting in the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra" 1845 (SPGIAHMZ) - on the right behind the back of St. Nikon, together with St. Maxim Grek, with palms spread apart. Apparently, the image of D. was introduced into the compositions of the Cathedral of the Moscow Wonderworkers, as presumably (according to another version, Dionysius, Metropolitan of Moscow) on a drawing c. 1902 V. P. Guryanov from the icon of the Savior of Smolensk with the Saints of Moscow, 2nd half. 17th century from the Old Believer prayer house Preobrazhensky cemetery in Moscow (Markelov. Saints of Dr. Rus'. T. 1. S. 340-341; Belobrova. 2005. S. 88).

All R. XIX - beginning. 20th century D.'s iconography became more diverse, appeared in academic works, which emphasized the patriotism of his service. So, the round composition of 1851, artist. M. I. Scotti (SPGIAKHMZ, from the church in honor of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Sign” (Trifonovskaya) in Moscow) reproduces D.’s parting words (depicted in profile, with a blond sharp beard, in a black hood, with a pointing finger and a scroll) to a warrior - to the defender accepting the patriotic letter. On the sowing The facade of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior housed the sculptural composition “St. Dionysius blesses the book. D. M. Pozharsky and citizen K. Minin for the liberation of Moscow from the Poles "ser. 19th century the work of A. V. Loganovsky, and D. was presented in a mantle with tablets and a hood. The full-length image of the monk was also included in the painting of the 70s. 19th century app. parts of this temple near the plot “The Appearance of the Mother of God to St. Sergius", on the other hand - St. Maxim Grek (Mostovsky M. S. Cathedral of Christ the Savior / [Compiled by concluding part B. Sporov]. M., 1996p. S. 36, 84).

On the growth icon of the 2nd floor. 19th century (private collection) with the inscription: “S. Dionysius archimandra [it] T[oi] tse-Sergiev[oy] laurel[s]" - he is dressed in a blue phelonion and a white hood with a cross, his eyes are filled with tears, his right hand is stretched upwards, in his left hand is a staff and an unrolled scroll. In monastic robes, D. is represented in the Russian group. ascetics of the 17th century. in the mural of the gallery leading to the cave c. Rev. Job of Pochaevsky in the Pochaev Dormition Lavra (painting of the late 60s - 70s of the XIX century by Hierodeacons Paisius and Anatoly, renewed in the 70s of the XX century). According to the drawing by V. M. Vasnetsov in 1911, the lithograph “Prp. Dionysius dictates a letter calling on the Orthodox people to save the Fatherland ”(SPGIAHMZ) - D., with an unfolded scroll and a rosary in his hands, sits at the head of the table, the monks write down his words. In 1911-1914. MAO announced a competition for the project of a sculptural monument to the ssmch. Patriarch Hermogenes and D., which was supposed to be installed on Red Square. in Moscow (projects by sculptor N. A. Andreev, State Tretyakov Gallery).

Several images of D. in traditional. iconographic style was created in the 3rd quarter. 20th century mon. Juliania (Sokolova) - a half-length rectilinear image (TSL sacristy), the icon "Radonezh miracle workers" (photo from the icon - Aldoshina. 2001. S. 227), the image of D. (among the Radonezh saints) was introduced into the painting in 1955 of the old fraternal refectory laurels, in the composition "All Saints, Shining in the Russian Land" con. 20s - early 30s 20th century (Sacristy TSL) and its repetitions. His icon-painting (50-60s of the 20th century) is laid on the tomb of D. in height, with his arms crossed on his chest and the Gospel, his eyes are closed. Icon of the ambassador thurs. 20th century from the sacristy of the TSL (Hegumen of the Russian Land: St. Sergius of Radonezh. Serg. P., 2005. P. 313) repeats the image from the iconostasis of the Nikon Church. In the painting of the 70s. 20th century in the cells of the Varvara Lavra Corps, D. holds in his hands a large unfolded scroll with an appeal to the Orthodox. Christians. On the icon of the beginning 21st century hierome letters. Philadelphus (Zakharova) (TSL sacristy) D. is shown full-length, with his arms outstretched, together with another archimandrite of the Lavra - St. Anthony (Medvedev).

Lit .: Nekrasov I. WITH . About portrait images Rus. saints in their lives // SbODI for 1866. M., 1866. Det. 2. S. 128; Rovinsky. Dictionary of engraved portraits. T. 4. Stb. 129, 228, 236; Skvortsov D . AND . Dionysius Zobninovsky, archim. Trinity-Sergius Mon-rya (now laurels). Tver, 1890, p. 408; Pokrovsky N . IN . Church-archaeol. Museum of SPbDA: 1879-1909. SPb., 1909. S. 130-131, No. 52; Belobrova O . A . Portrait images of Dionysius Zobninovsky // Soobshch. Zagorsk State ist.-art. museum-reserve. Zagorsk, 1960. Issue. 3. S. 175-180; The same // Belobrova O . A . Russian essays. artistic culture of the XVI-XX centuries: Sat. Art. / RAS, IRLI (PD). M., 2005. S. 86-92. Il. 21-26; Macarius (Veretennikov), Archim. The first image in the iconography of Rus. saints // He. Rus. Holiness in History, Icons and Literature: Essays in Rus. hagiology. M., 1998. S. 83-84; Markelov. Saints Dr. Rus'. T. 1. S. 228-229, 340-341; T. 2. S. 99-100; Aldoshina N . E . Blessed work. M., 2001. S. 181, 227, 231-239.

(in the world David Fedorovich Zobnikovsky) - Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra; genus. in the city of Rzhev around 1570-71. Was a village priest; after the death of his wife, he became a monk of the Bogoroditsky monastery (in Staritsa); in 1605 he was appointed archimandrite there; he often traveled to Moscow on monastery business, met with Patriarch Hermogenes and went out with him more than once to exhort the people who were indignant against Shuisky. At the beginning of 1610, Dionysius was elevated to the rank of Trinity archimandrite. First of all, he had to organize the Lavra after the siege by the Poles, which lasted 16 months, to look after the sick and hungry and bury the dead. The news has survived that during the 3 weeks following his arrival at the monastery, more than 3,000 people were buried. Letters were also an important service, which he sent with messengers to the cities, calling on all military people to save the fatherland from the Poles and inciting the rich to donate. In this matter, he was greatly assisted by the cellar of the monastery, Avraamy Palitsyn. According to some researchers, Minin and Nizhny Novgorod were raised by Dionysius' letter. When Pozharsky and Minin went to Moscow, Dionysius and Palitsyn wrote letters to them, hurried them to go faster to warn Khodkevich, persuaded the Cossacks to join Pozharsky's detachment and thereby contributed to the final liberation of Moscow from the Poles.

When, after the accession of Mikhail Fedorovich, the Printing Yard was restored in Moscow and the printing of the Church Treasury began, this work was entrusted to Dionysius, giving him as assistants the Trinity monks Arseniy and Anthony, who were well acquainted with "book teaching, grammar and rhetoric" and the priest. Ivan Nasedka. Examining the old "Requirement", Dionysius found in it irregularities and errors and decided to eliminate them. Then he corrected some others liturgical books, printed and sent out the gospel and apostolic discourses, once translated by Maximus the Greek. This aroused many monks and priests against him, who found support from the Krutitsa Metropolitan Jonah and the Tsar's mother, and Dionysius was summoned to Moscow, where he had to defend himself against the accusations. Strong opponents soon declared him a heretic and sentenced him to a fine of 500 r. and, for lack of money, they tortured him for several days, and then imprisoned him in the Novospassky Monastery in Moscow. Installed in 1619 as patriarch, Filaret, together with the Jerusalem Patriarch Theophan, considered the case of Dionysius, found him right and "with honor returned" to the Trinity Monastery. Taking various measures to improve the economy and life of the monastery, Dionysius tried to eradicate the vices of the monks, but by this he armed them against him; they quarreled with him even with Filaret, who subjected him to a 3-day prison arrest, and all the rectorship of Dionysius made him a time of severe trials and tribulations, taking advantage of his meek and kind character. Dionysius died in May 1633.

Wed Gorsky, "Historical description of the Lavra"; Zabelin, "Pozharsky" (M., 1884); Kostomarov, "Russian history in biographies", vol. I; Pospelov, "St. Dionysius, Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery" (in "Readings of the general love. spiritual enlightenment" for 1865, part II); Skvortsov, "Dionysius Zobnikovsky, architect of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery" ("Ist. Research", Tver, 1890).

V. Rudakov.

Encyclopedia Brockhaus-Efron

The great champion of the fatherland and the Church, who actively loved Rus', the Monk Dionysius, Archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, was born in the city of Rzhev, in the Tver region, and in holy baptism bore the name of David.

Soon his father moved to the neighboring town of Staritsa, where he was the headman of the Yamskaya settlement. Here David learned to read and write from two monks of the local monastery, and in his adolescence he already aspired to the kingdom of God.

He was not inclined to family life, but, at the insistence of his parents, he married and had two sons.

For his piety, he was made a priest and assigned to a church in one of the villages that belonged to the Staritsky Monastery. Six years later, his wife and children died, and he took the vows in the Staritsa monastery.

Soon Dionysius was elected treasurer in his monastery, and then elevated to the rank of archimandrite. He began to visit Moscow often and show himself among the people. He felt that he could be useful to his native land, and embarked on the path of serving the Motherland, on which he earned indelible glory and immortality.

That was the time great turmoil. Not far from Moscow, in the village of Tushino belonging to the Sergius Monastery, Polish-Lithuanian troops were stationed with Russian traitors, intending to capture the capital city.

There was a terrible precariousness in people then, everyone was divided: one brother sat in Moscow in council with Tsar Vasily, and the other in Tushino, with the Tushinsky thief. Many had a father in Moscow, and a son in Tushino, and so every day son against father and brother against brother converged to battle.

Once, Lithuanian-Moscow villains seized Patriarch Hermogenes and dragged him with a curse to the Execution Ground: some pushed the saint, others threw sand in his face and on his head, others, grabbing him by the chest, shook him boldly. All close associates of the patriarch fled and left him defenseless. Only Dionysius did not step back from him, suffered with him and with bitter tears persuaded him to stop this outrage.

Patriarch Hermogenes appreciated Dionisy's steadfastness and, setting him as an example to the clergy, said: “Look at the Staritsky archimandrite: he never excommunicates from the cathedral church; on royal and ecumenical councils always here."

Together with the zealous cellarer Abraham Palitsyn, Dionysius began to build the liberation of the entire fatherland from the liberated Trinity Monastery.

According to the compiler of his life, he was friendly to the brethren and patient with those who annoyed him, hospitable and not greedy, not acquisitive and not a lover of power, following the good custom of St. Sergius, getting rid of troubles in his name. No one departed mournfully from his cell, but all departed from his cell, marveling at his gentleness, for an angry word never came from his lips.

All day he prayed, interrupting his prayers only to receive the brethren; served five and six prayers, sang canons to the Sweetest Jesus and the Mother of God. He went to bed only three hours before the Annunciation for Matins, and when the sexton came to receive a blessing from him, he, lighting a candle at his place, placed three hundred prostrations, and then went around his cell brethren, saying: "It's time for matins."

He was a great temple builder: he rebuilt some churches, renovated others after the ruin and supplied the necessary utensils, which he always had in stock. He kept painters and goldsmiths to work on churches. Partly he arranged from his own wealth, partly from what the pilgrims brought him, knowing his care for the poor and for the churches.

He immediately transferred these sacrifices to where they were needed, and he himself did not spare his strength in church and cell prayers for the salvation of the souls of generous givers, whom he always wrote down in the commemoration book, reading their names daily on the proskomedia.

He not only renewed, in this way, everything dilapidated in the Trinity Monastery, but also replaced copper and tin vessels with silver ones in all the parishes that depended on him. After his death, there were many utensils prepared by him for the renovation of temples.

He strictly observed all the rites of the Church, and he himself sang in the choir and read, having a marvelous voice, moreover, so clear that if he uttered any word quietly, it was heard in all corners and vestibules.

He was so handsome and dignified that hardly anyone could equal him. His face, unusually splendid, was framed by a long, wide beard, descending below his chest, his eyes were clear and cheerful.

Every morning, the archimandrite himself went around the whole church with a candle in his hands, to see if there were any absent, and for such he sent alarms. He accustomed the brethren to such equality that even the elders went to ring the bell tower. He himself went out with the brethren to work in the field and in the gardens.

But greatest value Archimandrite Dionysius - in those works that he did to appease Russia after the great turmoil, when Moscow was devastated, and all the highest people in Rus', from young to old, were in captivity, and every rank, and age, and sex suffered under fire and with a sword. There was no city, no forest, no cave where the Orthodox could hide.

Houses, churches, and mansions were everywhere burned and desecrated. Not only the laity, but also the sacred order wandered everywhere naked, barefoot and tormented by hunger. And then, along all the paths, the fugitives sought to the Trinity Monastery. The entire monastery was overflowing with those dying of hunger and wounds. Not only lay around the monastery, but also in the settlements and villages, and along the roads, so that it was impossible to confess everyone and partake of the Holy Mysteries.

Archimandrite Dionisy began to discuss with the brethren how to help the unfortunate. The brethren and servants of the monastery promised: “If from the monastery treasury, after the dead or living, zealous people and contributors are given to the poor for food, clothing and treatment, and workers for service and burial, then we will not stand up for our heads and for our lives.”

Work boiled over. At the expense of the monastery began to build wooden houses for the poor and homeless. There were also doctors for them. One monk later recalled that he and his brother had buried up to four thousand dead. As soon as a naked dead man was found in the vicinity of the Lavra, which were all littered with corpses after the actions of the Polish army for sixteen months, then everything needed for burial was immediately sent. The bailiffs rode horses through the forests to see that the animals did not eat those tortured by the enemies, and if anyone was alive, they brought them to the hospice. Clothes from the dead were distributed to the poor. Women sewed and washed shirts and shrouds incessantly, for which they were given clothes and food from the monastery.

The liberation of Moscow was the dearest dream for Dionysius. All the year and a half, while Moscow was under siege, he, without ceasing, in the church of God and in the cell with great weeping stood at prayer.

He had a cursive writer, who, according to his words, wrote to the cities to the clergy, to the governors and to ordinary people about the need to unite, to rise with the whole world and go to the rescue of Moscow. He wrote these letters to Ryazan and to the north, to Yaroslavl and Nizhny, and to lower cities, and to Moscow and Kazan.

These letters were distributed throughout Rus' and prepared the great liberation movement that arose in Nizhny Novgorod. When wounded, hungry, exhausted people came from Moscow, Dionysius exhorted the brethren to feed them and persuaded them to a touching decision: to grant them everything they had.

For forty days, the Trinity brethren ate only a small amount of oatmeal bread once a day, and on Wednesday and Friday they ate nothing at all and, sitting at the meal, prayed with tears.

The brethren served the weak and wounded from morning till evening. They were brought warm and soft bread and various fruits, as many times as they wanted a day, so that neither at noon nor at midnight there was no rest for the servants, for the bailiffs forced them to immediately satisfy those who asked.

Dionysius himself did not give himself rest for an hour, constantly going around the sick, supplying them with food and clothing, and even more so with spiritual medicine. Many wanted to confess their sins, demanded unction, others, exhausted by blood and tears, asked for eternal guidance. And everyone at the hour of death partook of the Divine Body and Blood, so that no one left uncleansed, with unwashed wounds, not only spiritual, but also bodily.

And the Lord crowned the efforts of Dionysius. His letters raised the people, gathered the “last” Russian people for the great cause. Prince Dmitry Pozharsky and Kozma Minin moved to Moscow with an army and reached the Sergius Monastery.

Dionysius performed a prayer service, escorted the governor and military men to Mount Volkusha with the whole cathedral and stopped there with a cross in his hands to overshadow them, while the priests sprinkled holy water.

At that time, a strong wind blew towards the soldiers: it was difficult for the rati to move on the road with such a stormy wind. Tears streamed down Dionysius' cheeks. He encouraged the army, advising them to call on the help of the Lord and his Most Pure Mother and the Radonezh wonderworkers Sergius and Nikon. He also overshadowed the departing army life-giving cross how the wind suddenly changed and blew in the rear of the army from the monastery itself.

When Moscow was liberated from the Poles, Dionysius and the entire consecrated cathedral entered the Kremlin with solemn singing, and they wept at the sight of the desecration of Moscow shrines by the Polish and Lithuanian people.

Archimandrite Dionysius and cellar of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra Avraamy Palitsyn were present at the great Zemsky Sobor, at the election of the young Mikhail Feodorovich Romanov to the kingdom.

Avraamy Palitsyn, together with others, announced the election of the people from the Execution Ground, and himself, among the great embassy, ​​went to notify Michael of his election to the kingdom. He begged the young tsar to exchange the silence of the Ipatiev monastery for the throne.

On the way to the capital, Michael, in the Trinity Monastery, prayed to the relics of St. Sergius, and Dionysius blessed Michael for the saved Russian kingdom. Subsequently, the enemies accused Archimandrite Dionysius of damaging church books, the correction of which he was in charge of. But at the trial, in the presence of Patriarch Philaret and the great old woman Martha, the complete correctness of the monk was revealed.

Poselyanin E. Heroes and ascetics of hard times of the 17th century