Saints Tatiana in Orthodoxy. Roman Tatiana

In the generation of our grandmothers, the name Tatyana was the most popular among female names, most likely thanks to Pushkin's "Eugene Onegin." The first known bearer of this name was the holy martyr Tatiana of Rome, whom the icon of St. Tatiana depicts as a beautiful girl. However, despite her youth, Tatiana showed the same resilience in defending Christian faith like the male martyrs.

The Life and Feat of Saint Tatiana

Tatiana was from a noble Roman family, where they revered Christ and raised the girl in fidelity to the Christian faith and piety. Tatiana decided to devote her whole life to Christ and took a vow of chastity. Her kindness knew no bounds: she helped the orphans and the poor with food, clothing and prayer, healed the sick, and in her righteous life became the first deaconess in the history of Christianity (before that, only men could be deacons).

During the time of Emperor Alexander Severus (ruled from 222 to 235), new persecutions of Christians began. Tatiana never hid her faith, she was widely known, so it is not surprising that she was one of the first to be captured and tried to force her to bow before the statue of Apollo in his temple. However, the prayer offered by Tatiana to the True Lord caused an earthquake, during which part of the temple collapsed, and the statue itself was overthrown and shattered.

Then Tatiana was doomed to torture, during which she continued to pray and remained steadfast. When, during the torture, four angels flew to her and a voice was heard from heaven encouraging Tatiana, her executioners were shocked by the miracles and immediately believed in Christ, for which they themselves were executed.

The life of Saint Tatiana describes many episodes of her martyrdom. So, when she was thrown to be eaten by a lion, the saint pacified him!

The judges decided that this was due to sorcery using hair, cut off Tatiana her beautiful long hair and, bringing her to the temple of Zeus, locked her there. When, after three days, the priests came to the temple for sacrifice, the statue of Zeus was broken, and Tatiana was unharmed.

Seeing that the torture did not lead to anything, the judges sentenced the saint and her father to death, and on January 12, 226, they cut off their heads.

Description of the icon of St. Tatyana

On the waist icon Tatyana the Great Martyr is depicted as a beautiful girl. Meekness, humility and, at the same time, fortitude, which allowed her to endure terrible tortures, are written on her face. In her right hand is a cross as a symbol of martyrdom and fidelity to the faith of Christ, in her left is a scroll with a prayer. For a long time, the icon "Holy Martyr Tatyana" has been venerated in memory of the holy passion-bearer, who suffered mortal torments for her fidelity to the Christian faith.

The meaning of the icon "Saint Tatiana"

The icon of St. Tatiana enjoys special reverence in Russia, and this is no coincidence: Tatiana's Day, which falls on January 25 according to the new style, is celebrated here as students' day, since it was on this day that Empress Elizabeth signed a decree on the establishment of Moscow University. Thus, the icon of St. Tatyana is of particular importance for students of Moscow State University.

Each newborn named by this name should receive a personalized icon of Tatyana, who will protect and keep her, and later, when the girl grows up, her parents will definitely need to tell her the story of the saint.

What does the icon of St. Tatyana

St. Tatiana was engaged not only in charitable deeds, but also in spiritual enlightenment, therefore she is revered as the patroness of education, sciences and all those who comprehend them. Prayer before the icon of the saint helps in studying and passing exams, but only for those who believe in God and are not too lazy to study.

At Moscow State University Lomonosov there is a church of St. Tatyana, where it is always crowded during the session. It helps not only students, but also schoolchildren, especially applicants.

Prayer

Oh, holy martyr Tatiano, bride of Your Sweetest Bridegroom Christ! Lamb of the Divine Lamb! The dove of chastity, the fragrant body of suffering as if with royal garments, numbered among the face of heaven, rejoicing now in eternal glory, from the days of youth a servant of the Church of God, observing chastity and loving the Lord more than all the blessings! We pray to you and we ask you: listen to our heartfelt petitions and do not reject our prayers, grant purity of body and soul, inhale love for Divine truths, lead us on the virtuous path, ask God for angelic protection for us, heal our wounds and ulcers, youth protect, old age painless and comfortable grant, help in the hour of death, remember our sorrows and grant joy, visit us who are in the prison of sin, guide us to repentance soon, kindle the flame of prayer, do not leave us orphans, but glorifying your suffering, we send praise to the Lord, now, and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

Holy Martyr TATIANA of Rome (†226)

The Holy Martyr Tatiana was born in Rome into a rich and noble family. (her father was consul three times). Her parents secretly professed Christianity and raised their daughter in piety and faith in God.

Having reached adulthood, Tatiana decided not to marry, but to take a vow of chastity and devote herself to serving the church. Tatiana was amazingly pretty. Her delicate, pale face was framed by thick brown hair. A slender figure, a good disposition, and reasonableness, surprising for her age, attracted the attention of others to her. She did not at all resemble the spoiled Romans of her circle. On the contrary, she was undemanding and executive. Many young people from wealthy families wooed Tatiana, even her father persuaded her to start a family. But she told him: “Father, my heart has long been given to the Lord, and no force will force me to renounce this love!” And her father left her alone, and resolutely refused the suitors.

Tatiana entered the Christian community of Rome, and the bishop, seeing the zeal of the girl, appointed her a deaconess. Now she had many responsibilities: visiting and caring for sick women, preparing for baptism, supervising worship meetings. She was almost never at home, rarely saw her father, but she was happy. For by helping the needy, she served the Lord! Tatiana could not sleep or eat for days, caring for the sick and the homeless. Knowing the kindness of the deaconess, offended, forgotten people went to her.

The Holy Martyr Tatiana suffered during the persecution of Christians under the infant emperor Alexander Severus (reigned from 222 to 235). Alexander Sever was young, inexperienced, and the state was ruled by his close associates - members of the state council. Among them was one, named Ulpian, who was distinguished by a special hatred of Christians. It was he who compiled a collection of laws directed against believers in Jesus Christ. It was by his decree that the blood of Christian martyrs was shed, as in the first years of persecution. Ulpian sent out an order that all Christians were forced to worship the Roman gods, and in case of disobedience, be tortured and killed.

Tatiana knew how cruelly Christians who refused to worship idols were tortured. They were tortured with whips and hooks, tortured with red-hot iron, and wild lions, brought for this purpose from Africa, were lowered on them. But there was no fear in her heart. She felt like she had already experienced it all. Once in a dream she saw herself surrounded by wild, angry faces. They held out to her instruments of torture, which, touching her, became softer than clay. They tied her hands and feet, but the ropes miraculously untied. Next to her, walls collapsed and statues fell, and in the distance, in a radiant radiance, stood Jesus Christ. "Don't be afraid of anything he said, and if you endure all the torments to the end, you will be with Me.

After some time, Tatyana was seized and brought to the temple of Apollo, where they were forced to sacrifice to a pagan idol. Refusing, Saint Tatiana was subjected to cruel torture, however, the firmness of her faith and patience were unshakable. In the midst of torment, she only prayed that God would enlighten her tormentors. “Lord, do not leave me at this difficult hour! Tatiana pleaded. - Give me strength to endure and forgive my tormentors, for they don’t know what they are doing!” And the Lord heard the prayer of the righteous.

When Tatiana was brought to the pagan temple, the earth trembled. And suddenly the statue of Apollo staggered, as if someone invisible had shaken it, fell and shattered to smithereens.

They began to beat Tatiana with whips, but they bounced off her and fell on the executioners themselves.

God! Tatiana pleaded. - Send them the light of truth, so that they may know You, the loving and merciful God!

And suddenly a miracle happened: the tormentors saw four angels surrounding Tatiana, and traces of torment disappeared from her body. These miracles made the tormentors believe in Christ. They fell on their knees in front of the girl.

Forgive us! Forgive me, for it was not of our own free will that we caused you torment! they pleaded.

All eight people were martyred on the same day.

After that, Tatiana was beaten with iron sticks, but each time the tormentors themselves received blows - the angels of God helped the saint.

On the third day, Ulpian ordered Tatiana to sacrifice to the goddess of the hunt, Diana.

On the way to the temple of the goddess Tatiana prayed intensely:

Lord, You know how much I believe in You! How I want the light of truth to enlighten their hearts! Help me, don't leave me!

Suddenly there was a clap of thunder, lightning flashed from behind a cloud and hit the temple. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw that only fragments remained from the temple of Diana ...

Then they took the saint to the judgment seat, hung her up there, and began to torment her with iron hooks. Then they threw her, almost alive, into a dungeon and locked the doors. At night, angels came to the exhausted Tatiana and healed her wounds.

The next morning, Tatiana was taken to the circus - that was the name of the square, surrounded by a row of benches. Here competitions of fighters took place, Christians were also thrown here, on which predatory animals were released. Without ceasing to pray, Tatiana stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for new torments. The cage that kept the predatorsopened it and let out a ferocious lion. Everyone thought that he would tear the girl apart, but the opposite happened! The lion obediently, like a kitten, lay down beside her and began to lick her feet. When they tried to take the lion back to the cage, he suddenly rushed at one noble dignitary and tore him to pieces.

Pacification of a lion (artist Natalya Klimova)

Tatiana was again tortured and then thrown into the fire, but the flames did not harm her.

The judges, deciding that Tatiana was engaged in sorcery with the help of her hair, cut them off and locked her for two days in the temple of Jupiter. On the third day, the priests, having come to the temple to offer sacrifice to Jupiter, found his statue broken, and Tatiana alive.

The signs of the power and truth of the Lord, revealed in the martyrdom of Saint Tatiana, led many to faith in Christ.

Then the frightened persecutors sentenced her to death. Saint Tatiana was condemned to death by the sword. Together with her, her father was executed, who revealed to her the truths of the faith of Christ. martyrdom Tatiana happened January 12, 226 .

Relics of the Holy Martyr Tatiana

Hand of the Holy Martyr Tatiana

Relics (right hand) the holy martyr Tatiana are kept in Holy Dormition Pskov-Caves Monastery since January 27, 1977. The right hand was handed over to the monastery by Hieromonk Father Vladimir (Moskvitin), the brother of Archimandrite Athanasius (Moskvitin), who had previously kept these relics. Father Athanasius served in the village of Spasskoye, Klinsky District, Moscow Region, for 22 years, until the day of his death. This shrine was given to Father Athanasius by the pious spouses of an eminent family, his spiritual children, who later both received monastic vows from Father Athanasius. At one time they bought the holy relics for gold currency during the ruin of the Tsarsko-Selsky sovereign's palace, where they were kept. Due to the cruelty of the past years, the shrine was kept secret both by the spouses and by Father Athanasius, but always with due honors and prayerful standing before her.

The icon of the Holy Martyr Tatiana with a particle of relics is in Novospassky monastery(metro station "Proletarskaya", Peasant Square, 10).

Patroness of Students

Since 1755, the martyr Tatiana has traditionally been revered as the patroness of Russian students. It was on the day of her memory that the famous Moscow University was founded. (On January 12, 1755, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree "On the establishment of Moscow University").

Initially, the University did not have a house church, since it itself temporarily occupied the building of the Main Pharmacy. Only in 1791, in one of the outbuildings of the new building of the university, built by Matvey Kazakov, was organized the house Church of the Martyr Tatiana in memory of the founding day of the university. However, during a fire in 1812, the temple burned down along with other buildings.

The new building of Moscow University on Mokhovaya with the Church of St. Tatyana. G.F. Baranovsky. 1848

The new house church of Moscow University was rebuilt in 1833-1836. from the right wing of the Pashkov estate at the corner of Nikitskaya and Mokhovaya streets by the famous architect Evgraf Dmitrievich Tyurin and consecrated on January 12 (January 25), 1837 by Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) in honor of the martyr Tatiana. From about that time, the tradition began to organize student festivities on Tatyana's day, and to honor the saint herself as the patroness of students. On the attic, the inscription flaunts "The light of Christ enlightens all".

In 1918, the Church of the Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University was closed. A reading room was arranged in the church premises: bookcases of the Faculty of Law were placed in the church. In 1958, the Student Theater was opened here. Only in 1995 the house church of the Moscow state university re-consecrated and opened. Two particles of relics were brought from the right hand of St. Tatiana, who rests in St. Michael's Cathedral of the Holy Assumption Pskov-Caves Monastery: one particle was inserted into the icon of the holy martyr, and the other was placed in the reliquary.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

for the Temple Life-Giving Trinity on Sparrow Hills

*In preparing the material, information from various Orthodox sources was used.

Troparion, tone 4
Your Lamb, Jesus, Tatiana calls with a great voice: I love you, my bridegroom, and seek you, I suffer and crucify and bury myself for your baptism and suffering for your sake, as if I reign in you and die for you, and I live with you, but like a sacrifice receive me without blemish, with love sacrificed to Thee: by prayers, as if Merciful, save our souls.

Kontakion, tone 4
You shone brightly in your suffering, martyr, you are full of your blood, and like a red dove you flew up to heaven, Tatiano. The same pray for the reverence of thee.

Prayer to the Martyr Tatiana of Rome
Oh, holy martyr Tatiano, receive us now, praying and falling to your holy icon. Pray for us, servants of God (names), let us get rid of all sorrows and illnesses of the soul and body and live piously in the present life, and in the next century, vouchsafe us with all the saints to worship in the Trinity the glorious God, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and ever. Amen.

Second Prayer to Martyr Tatiana of Rome
Oh, holy martyr Tatiano, bride of Your Sweetest Bridegroom Christ! Lamb of the Divine Lamb! The dove of chastity, the fragrant body of suffering as if with royal garments, counted among the face of heaven, rejoicing now in eternal glory, from the days of youth a servant of the Church of God, observing chastity and more than all the blessings of the Lord loved! We pray to you and we ask you: listen to the petitions of our hearts and do not reject our prayers, grant purity of body and soul, inhale love for Divine truths, lead us on the virtuous path, ask God for angelic protection for us, heal our wounds and ulcers, youth protect, old age painless and comfortable grant, help in the hour of death, remember our sorrows and grant joy, visit us who are in the prison of sin, guide us to repentance soon, kindle the flame of prayer, do not leave us orphans, but glorifying your suffering, we send praise to the Lord, now, and forever, and forever and ever. Amen.

The Holy Martyr Tatiana was born into a noble Roman family - her father was elected consul three times. He was a secret Christian and raised a daughter devoted to God and the Church. Having reached adulthood, Tatiana did not marry and gave all her strength to the Church. She was made a deaconess in one of the Roman churches and served God, caring for the sick in fasting and prayer and helping those in need. Tatiana's righteousness was to be crowned with a crown of martyrdom.

When sixteen-year-old Alexander Severus (222 - 235) began to rule Rome, all power was concentrated in the hands of worst enemy and persecutor of Christians Ulpian. Christian blood flowed like a river. Deaconess Tatian was also captured. When they brought her to the temple of Apollo to force her to sacrifice to the idol, the saint prayed - and suddenly an earthquake occurred, the idol was blown to pieces, and part of the temple collapsed and crushed the priests and many pagans. The demon who lived in the idol fled with a cry from that place, while everyone saw a shadow sweeping through the air. Then they began to beat the holy virgin, gouged out her eyes, but she endured everything courageously, praying for her tormentors that the Lord would open their spiritual eyes to them. And the Lord heeded the prayer of His servant. It was revealed to the executioners that four angels surrounded the saint and deflected blows from her, and they heard a Voice from heaven addressed to the holy martyr. All of them, eight people, believed in Christ and fell at the feet of Saint Tatiana, asking them to forgive their sin against her. For confessing themselves as Christians, they were tortured and executed, having received Baptism in blood. The next day, Saint Tatiana was again given over to torment: she was stripped naked, beaten, her body was cut with razors, and then instead of blood, milk flowed from the wounds and a fragrance spread in the air. The tormentors were exhausted and declared that someone invisible was beating them with iron sticks, nine of them died immediately. They threw the saint into prison, where she prayed all night and sang praises to the Lord with the angels. A new morning came, and Saint Tatiana was again brought to trial. The amazed tormentors saw that after so many terrible torments she appeared completely healthy and even more radiant and beautiful than before. She was persuaded to make a sacrifice to the goddess Diana. The saint pretended to agree, and she was led to the temple. Saint Tatiana crossed herself and began to pray. - and suddenly there was a deafening thunderclap, and lightning incinerated the idol, the victims and the priests. The martyr was again severely tortured, and again thrown into prison for the night, and again the Angels of God appeared to her and healed her wounds. The next day Saint Tatiana was brought to the circus and a hungry lion was released on her; the beast did not touch the saint and began meekly licking her feet. They wanted to drive the lion back into the cage, and then he tore one of the tormentors to pieces. Tatiana was thrown into the fire, but the fire did not harm the martyr. The pagans, thinking that she was a sorceress, cut off her hair to deprive her of magical powers, and locked her in the temple of Zeus. But the power of God cannot be taken away. On the third day the priests came, surrounded by a crowd, preparing to offer sacrifices. Having opened the temple, they saw an idol thrown into the dust and the holy martyr Tatiana, joyfully calling on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the tortures were exhausted, she was sentenced to death, and the courageous sufferer was beheaded with a sword. Together with her, as a Christian, the father of Saint Tatiana, who revealed to her the truths of the faith of Christ, was also executed.

Saint Tatiana is revered by all branches christian church. AT Catholic Church she is considered a little-known saint and her veneration is not widespread.

In Russia, the situation is different. FROM light hand Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, St. Tatiana became not only a well-known saint in our country, but also the patroness of Moscow University, and the day of memory of the martyr Tatiana - January 25 - began to be considered the day of students. Tatyana's Day in 2005 was officially declared the Day of Russian Students. It is widely celebrated by students not only in Russia, but almost all over the world. former USSR: in Belarus, in Moldova, in Ukraine.

The Holy Martyr Tatiana was born in Rome into a wealthy and noble family (her father was consul three times). Her parents secretly professed Christianity and raised their daughter in piety and faith in God.

Having reached adulthood, Tatiana decided not to marry, but to take a vow of chastity and devote herself to serving the church. Tatiana was amazingly pretty. Her delicate, pale face was framed by thick brown hair. A slender figure, a good disposition, and reasonableness, surprising for her age, attracted the attention of others to her. She did not at all resemble the spoiled Romans of her circle. On the contrary, she was undemanding and executive. Many young people from wealthy families wooed Tatiana, even her father persuaded her to start a family. But she told him: "Father, my heart has long been given to the Lord, and no force will force me to renounce this love!" And her father left her alone, and resolutely refused the suitors.

Tatiana entered the Christian community of Rome, and the bishop, seeing the zeal of the girl, appointed her a deaconess. Now she had many responsibilities: visiting and caring for sick women, preparing for baptism, supervising worship meetings. She was almost never at home, rarely saw her father, but she was happy. For by helping the needy, she served the Lord! Tatiana could not sleep or eat for days, caring for the sick and the homeless. Knowing the kindness of the deaconess, offended, forgotten people went to her.

The Holy Martyr Tatiana suffered during the persecution of Christians under the infant emperor Alexander Severus (reigned from 222 to 235). Alexander Sever was young, inexperienced, and the state was ruled by his close associates - members of the state council. Among them was one, named Ulpian, who was distinguished by a special hatred of Christians. It was he who compiled a collection of laws directed against believers in Jesus Christ. It was by his decree that the blood of Christian martyrs was shed, as in the first years of persecution. Ulpian sent out an order that all Christians were forced to worship the Roman gods, and in case of disobedience, be tortured and killed.

Tatiana knew how cruelly Christians who refused to worship idols were tortured. They were tortured with whips and hooks, tortured with red-hot iron, and wild lions, brought for this purpose from Africa, were lowered on them. But there was no fear in her heart. She felt like she had already experienced it all. Once in a dream she saw herself surrounded by wild, angry faces. They held out to her instruments of torture, which, touching her, became softer than clay. They tied her hands and feet, but the ropes miraculously untied. Next to her, walls collapsed and statues fell, and in the distance, in a radiant radiance, stood Jesus Christ. "Do not be afraid of anything," He said, "and if you endure all the torments to the end, you will be with Me."

After some time, Tatyana was seized and brought to the temple of Apollo, where they were forced to sacrifice to a pagan idol. Refusing, Saint Tatiana was subjected to cruel tortures, but the firmness of her faith and patience were unshakable. In the midst of torment, she only prayed that God would enlighten her tormentors. “Lord, do not leave me at this difficult hour! Tatiana pleaded. “Give me the strength to endure and forgive my tormentors, for they don’t know what they are doing!” And the Lord heard the prayer of the righteous.

When Tatiana was brought to the pagan temple, the earth trembled. And suddenly the statue of Apollo staggered, as if someone invisible had shaken it, fell and shattered to smithereens.

They began to beat Tatiana with whips, but they bounced off her and fell on the executioners themselves.

God! Tatiana pleaded. - Send them the light of truth, so that they may know You, the loving and merciful God!

And suddenly a miracle happened: the tormentors saw four angels surrounding Tatiana, and traces of torment disappeared from her body. These miracles made the tormentors believe in Christ. They fell on their knees in front of the girl.

Forgive us! Forgive me, for it was not of our own free will that we caused you torment! they pleaded.

All eight people were martyred on the same day.

After that, Tatiana was beaten with iron sticks, but each time the tormentors themselves received blows - the angels of God helped the saint.

On the third day, Ulpian ordered Tatiana to sacrifice to the goddess of the hunt, Diana.

On the way to the temple of the goddess Tatiana prayed intensely:

Lord, You know how much I believe in You! How I want the light of truth to enlighten their hearts! Help me, don't leave me!

Suddenly there was a clap of thunder, lightning flashed from behind a cloud and hit the temple. When the smoke cleared, everyone saw that only fragments remained from the temple of Diana ...

Then they took the saint to the judgment seat, hung her up there, and began to torment her with iron hooks. Then they threw her, almost alive, into a dungeon and locked the doors. At night, angels came to the exhausted Tatiana and healed her wounds.

circus in Ancient Rome

The next morning, Tatiana was taken to the circus - that was the name of the square, surrounded by a row of benches. Here competitions of fighters took place, Christians were also thrown here, on which predatory animals were released. Without ceasing to pray, Tatiana stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for new torments. The cage, which contained predators, was opened and a ferocious lion was released from it. Everyone thought that he would tear the girl apart, but the opposite happened! The lion obediently, like a kitten, lay down beside her and began to lick her feet. When they tried to take the lion back to the cage, he suddenly rushed at one noble dignitary and tore him to pieces.

Pacification of a lion (artist Natalya Klimova)

Tatiana was again tortured and then thrown into the fire, but the flames did not harm her.

The judges, deciding that Tatiana was engaged in sorcery with the help of her hair, cut them off and locked her for two days in the temple of Jupiter. On the third day, the priests, having come to the temple to offer sacrifice to Jupiter, found his statue broken, and Tatiana alive.

The signs of the power and truth of the Lord, revealed in the martyrdom of Saint Tatiana, led many to faith in Christ.

Then the frightened persecutors sentenced her to death. Saint Tatiana was condemned to death by the sword. Together with her, her father was executed, who revealed to her the truths of the faith of Christ. The martyrdom of Tatiana took place on January 12, 226.

Relics of the Holy Martyr Tatiana

Hand of the Holy Martyr Tatiana

The relics (right hand) of the Holy Martyr Tatiana have been kept in the Holy Dormition Pskov-Caves Monastery since January 27, 1977. The right hand was handed over to the monastery by Hieromonk Father Vladimir (Moskvitin), the brother of Archimandrite Athanasius (Moskvitin), who had previously kept these relics. Father Athanasius served in the village of Spasskoye, Klinsky District, Moscow Region, for 22 years, until the day of his death. This shrine was given to Father Athanasius by the pious spouses of an eminent family, his spiritual children, who later both received monastic vows from Father Athanasius. At one time they bought the holy relics for gold currency during the ruin of the Tsarsko-Selsky sovereign's palace, where they were kept. Due to the cruelty of the past years, the shrine was kept secret both by the spouses and by Father Athanasius, but always with due honors and prayerful standing before her.

The icon of the Holy Martyr Tatiana with a particle of relics is located in the Novospassky Monastery (metro station Proletarskaya, Krestyanskaya Square, 10).

Patroness of Students
Since 1755, the martyr Tatiana has traditionally been revered as the patroness of Russian students. It was on the day of her memory that the famous Moscow University was established (January 12, 1755, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree "On the Establishment of Moscow University").

Initially, the University did not have a house church, since it itself temporarily occupied the building of the Main Pharmacy. Only in 1791, in one of the outbuildings of the new building of the university, built by Matvey Kazakov, was organized the house Church of the Martyr Tatiana in memory of the founding day of the university. However, during a fire in 1812, the temple burned down along with other buildings.

The new building of Moscow University on Mokhovaya with the Church of St. Tatyana. G.F. Baranovsky. 1848

The new house church of Moscow University was rebuilt in 1833-1836. from the right wing of the Pashkov estate at the corner of Nikitskaya and Mokhovaya streets by the famous architect Evgraf Dmitrievich Tyurin and consecrated on January 12 (January 25), 1837 by Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) in honor of the martyr Tatiana. From about that time, the tradition began to organize student festivities on Tatyana's day, and to honor the saint herself as the patroness of students. On the attic, there is an inscription "The Light of Christ enlightens all."

Church of St. Tatiana at Moscow State University (Moscow)

In 1918, the Church of the Martyr Tatiana at Moscow State University was closed. A reading room was arranged in the church premises: bookcases of the Faculty of Law were placed in the church. In 1958, the Student Theater was opened here. Only in 1995, the house church of Moscow State University was again consecrated and opened. Two particles of relics were brought from the right hand of St. Tatiana, who rests in the Mikhailovsky Cathedral of the Holy Assumption Pskov-Caves Monastery: one particle was inserted into the icon of the holy martyr, and the other was placed in the reliquary.

Troparion, tone 4
Your Lamb, Jesus, Tatiana calls with a great voice: I love you, my bridegroom, and seek you, I suffer and crucify and bury myself for your baptism and suffering for your sake, as if I reign in you and die for you, and I live with you, but like a sacrifice receive me without blemish, with love sacrificed to Thee: by prayers, as if Merciful, save our souls.

Kontakion, tone 4
You shone brightly in your suffering, martyr, you are full of your blood, and like a red dove you flew up to heaven, Tatiano. The same pray for the reverence of thee.

Tatiana the martyr Gallery of Shchigry icons.

The Holy Martyr Tatiana was born into a noble Roman family - her father was elected consul three times. He was a secret Christian and raised a daughter devoted to God and the Church. Having reached adulthood, Tatiana did not marry and gave all her strength to the Church. She was made a deaconess in one of the Roman churches and served God, caring for the sick in fasting and prayer and helping those in need. Tatiana's righteousness was to be crowned with a crown of martyrdom.

When sixteen-year-old Alexander Severus (222-235) began to rule Rome, all power was concentrated in the hands of Ulpian, the worst enemy and persecutor of Christians. Christian blood flowed like a river. Deaconess Tatian was also captured. When they brought her to the temple of Apollo to force her to sacrifice to the idol, the saint prayed - and suddenly an earthquake occurred, the idol was blown to pieces, and part of the temple collapsed and crushed the priests and many pagans. The demon who lived in the idol fled with a cry from that place, while everyone saw a shadow sweeping through the air.

Then they began to beat the holy virgin, gouged out her eyes, but she endured everything courageously, praying for her tormentors that the Lord would open their spiritual eyes to them. And the Lord heeded the prayer of His servant. It was revealed to the executioners that four angels surrounded the saint and deflected blows from her, and they heard a Voice from heaven addressed to the holy martyr. All of them, eight people, believed in Christ and fell at the feet of Saint Tatiana, asking them to forgive their sin against her.

For confessing themselves as Christians, they were tortured and executed, having received Baptism in blood. The next day, Saint Tatiana was again given over to torment: she was stripped naked, beaten, her body was cut with razors, and then instead of blood, milk flowed from the wounds and a fragrance spread in the air.

The tormentors were exhausted and declared that someone invisible was beating them with iron sticks, nine of them died immediately. They threw the saint into prison, where she prayed all night and sang praises to the Lord with the angels. A new morning came, and Saint Tatiana was again brought to trial. The amazed tormentors saw that after so many terrible torments she appeared completely healthy and even more radiant and beautiful than before. She was persuaded to make a sacrifice to the goddess Diana.

The saint pretended to agree, and she was led to the temple. Saint Tatiana crossed herself and began to pray. - and suddenly there was a deafening thunderclap, and lightning incinerated the idol, the victims and the priests. The martyr was again severely tortured, and again thrown into prison for the night, and again the Angels of God appeared to her and healed her wounds.

The next day Saint Tatiana was brought to the circus and a hungry lion was released on her; the beast did not touch the saint and began meekly licking her feet. They wanted to drive the lion back into the cage, and then he tore one of the tormentors to pieces. Tatiana was thrown into the fire, but the fire did not harm the martyr. The pagans, thinking that she was a sorceress, cut off her hair to deprive her of magical powers, and locked her in the temple of Zeus. But the power of God cannot be taken away.

On the third day the priests came, surrounded by a crowd, preparing to offer sacrifices. Having opened the temple, they saw an idol thrown into the dust and the holy martyr Tatiana, joyfully calling on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. All the tortures were exhausted, she was sentenced to death, and the courageous sufferer was beheaded with a sword. Together with her, as a Christian, the father of Saint Tatiana, who revealed to her the truths of the faith of Christ, was also executed.