Nikolai Kochanov of Novgorod. Blessed Nikolai Kochanov, Novgorodian, holy fool for Christ's sake (1392). Complete Life of Blessed Nikolai Kochanov, Novgorodsky

In Novgorod, in the middle of the 14th century, the son Nikolai was born into the family of rich and pious parents Maxim and Juliana. The whole family was very pious, but Nikolai's mother was especially distinguished for her righteous life. She put a fiery love for God into her son's heart, taught him to love prayer and fasting. As a child, Nikolai did not like to play, and as an adult, he avoided the company of cheerful peers. He diligently visited the temple, generously distributed alms. From his youth, he loved God, diligently went to church, and prayer was his consolation in everything. “From his mouth,” says the ancient story, “prayer to God flowed like a fragrant censer: he loved cleanliness, fasting, kneeling. When he led such a virtuous life, people, including noble ones, began to please and glorify him. The blessed one did not want human glory and began to act like a fool for the Lord. Nikolai left his rich house, distributed his fortune to the poor, and he himself wandered around the city in rags until the end of his days. He did not have a roof over his head, not even warm clothes in the cold. Then people went from praise and admiration to the other extreme - they began to slander, offend and even beat him. Blessed patient endured everything. “The martyrs at a certain time endured suffering,” says the ancient news, “and he endured torment all the days of his life, endured the ridicule and shocks of the ignorant, praying for them.”

Playing fools, he walked around the city, doing indecency, and in his mouth there was always a prayer to God ... The Lord said in the Gospel: “Whoever loves a father or mother more than Me, is not worthy of Me ...” (Matt. 10, 37). For His sake, blessed Nicholas left everything he had: villages, estates, many slaves and servants - he reached complete poverty, endured many sufferings with patience and courage, enduring winter frosts and poverty. The martyrs suffered only at one known time, but he endured torments all the days of his life, endured the ridicule and shocks of the ignorant, praying for them.

There is a known case when one wealthy Novgorodian, starting a feast, invited Nikolai to it. The blessed one answered him humbly: “As God pleases, so be it!” When he came to the nobleman's house, he was subjected to arrogant ridicule and insults from the servants. As usual, Nikolai, not in the least embarrassed, sat on a stick and galloped off to the whistling and hooting of the mob. When the owner, who did not know what had happened, ordered wine, mead and all kinds of drinks that were in the house to be served, the barrels turned out to be empty. The frightened servants confessed that they had subjected Blessed Nicholas to beatings and ridicule. The nobleman ordered to immediately go in search of the holy fool, ask his forgiveness and call him to the house. Finding Nikolai on a heap of dung, the servants bowed at his feet, tearfully asked for forgiveness, begged him to return. The blessed one answered, as was his custom, with humility: “As it pleases God, so be it!” Entering the house, he went to the barrels, which were again full.

Foolishness, Nicholas always not only wanted to humble himself, but also wanted by his actions to reason with the violent, obstinate Novgorodians, to bring them to repentance. From the life it is known that on the Trade side of Novgorod, divided by the Volkhov into two parts, lived another holy fool, Fedor. Loving each other with all their hearts, the blessed, however, did not allow a brother to enter their side, expelling him for the amusement of the crowd. Once such an episode happened: Nikolai was chasing Fedor along the Sofia side, and he, not getting on the bridge, ran, as if on dry land, through the water; Nikolay threw cabbages after him. This incident, having become known throughout the city, not only gave the blessed one the nickname "Kochanov", but also reconciled the wayward Novgorodians for a long time, saving the city from senseless bloodshed and skirmishes on the bridge.
Nicholas reposed in the Lord on July 27 (August 9, according to a new style), 1392, and was buried at his request on the outskirts of the Yaroslavl monastery cemetery, in the middle of the road, in order to be trampled on by people. His grave was not forgotten by Novgorodians, through prayers to him, numerous miracles took place, which were included in the life of the saint, and therefore in 1554 a stone church was laid over the tomb of Blessed Nikolai Kochanov in the name of St. vmch. Panteleimon. According to the established tradition, for a long time on the day of the blessed one, the Archbishop of Novgorod himself served the Divine Liturgy at his grave.

The relics of the saint remained hidden. With the closing of the monastery, apparently in the 18th century, the temple became a parish, and the street was called Nikolo-Kochanovskaya. During the years of Soviet power, the temple, in which the holy relics rest, was closed and remained in desolation for a long time. Currently, there, on Tikhvinskaya Street, there is a city disinfection station.
Few Novgorodians today know about their wonderful countryman. Time and the godless authorities did a good job of erasing the name of the saint and everything connected with him from the people's memory. But everything is the will of God. The monks of one of the oldest in Russia, the Novgorod Yuriev Monastery, repeatedly held divine services near the former temple, praying to the saint for the return of his relics to the Church and asking for intercession for the city and country. In 1859, His Imperial Highness Nikolai Nikolayevich built a chapel in the name of the righteous Nikolai at this church (Nikolai Nikolayevich was born on the day of memory of St. Nikolai Kochanov on July 27, 1831 and was named after this saint).
Let us add that on the icons of Blessed Nicholas, unlike other holy fools for Christ's sake, they are not depicted barefoot and half-naked, barely covered by old clothes. In the icon-painting original, it is said about him as follows: "In the likeness of a gray hair, bald head, a beard of duty like Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, bifurcated at the end, a princely fur coat, underwear azure, girded with a scarf."

During the years of Soviet power, the temple, in which the holy relics rest, was closed and remained in desolation for a long time. Alas, today in it (on Tikhvinskaya Street, opposite the first maternity hospital) there is a city disinfection station. The monks of one of the oldest in Russia, the Yuriev Monastery, repeatedly held services near the former temple, praying to St. Nicholas for the return of his relics to the Church, asking for his intercession for Novgorod and Russia. But ... "As God pleases, so be it," - blessed Nicholas liked to repeat.

Today, when our people are gradually coming to their senses, their shrines are returning to them by the grace of God: the relics of saints, miraculous icons, temples and monasteries. It is to be hoped that the time has come to remember Saint Blessed Nicholas, whose name is undeservedly forgotten, and whose relics are trampled under foot.
As God pleases, so be it!

Troparion
By your patience and courage of Christ, for the sake of Christ, you turned into foolishness, blessed Nicholas, having thinness of the sacristy, you suffered the burden of the daytime bar / and you endured the winter scum. your dormition is honestly glorifying, and pray to Christ God to be saved for our souls.

Born and lived in the XIV century in Novgorod. From his youth, the blessed one led a virtuous life: he diligently attended the temple of God, loved fasting and prayer. Not desiring human glory, the saint took upon himself the feat of foolishness for the sake of Christ and ran around the city in rags, enduring beatings and ridicule. At this time, on the other side of the Volkhov River, another blessed one was ascetic - Theodore, the holy fool for Christ's sake (Comm. 19 January / 1 February). These two holy men were presented as irreconcilable enemies and thus vividly portrayed to the Novgorodians their internecine strife. Once, catching up with his imaginary enemy, blessed Nikolai went along the river as if on dry land and threw a head of cabbage at blessed Theodore, from which he was named Kochanov.

The Lord glorified His saint with the gift of clairvoyance and miracle-working. Saint Nicholas died on July 27, 1392.

Complete Life of Blessed Nikolai Kochanov, Novgorodsky

Blessed Nikolai Kochanov lived in the 14th century. He was born in Novgorod into a wealthy and noble family of Maxim and Juliana. From his youth, Saint Nicholas was distinguished by deep piety, diligently visited the temple of God, loved fasting and prayer, generously distributed alms to the poor. Seeing his virtuous life, the Novgorod nobles began to glorify him. The blessed one, frightened of the glory “from man,” began to play the fool for the sake of the Lord. He left his rich house, dressed in sackcloth and so wandered around the city at any time of the year, enduring cold and poverty, with a secret prayer in his heart. Reckless people slandered the saint, inflicted all sorts of insults and even beatings on him, but he rejoiced and prayed for his offenders. The Lord strengthened him in his feat.

Blessed Nicholas lived on the Sofia side of Novgorod. At the same time, Blessed Theodore, also a holy fool for Christ's sake, labored on the Merchant side (Comm. 19 January/1 February). Both saints, denouncing the feuds of the Novgorodians of the Sofia and Trade sides, allegedly were at enmity. They drove each other out when each went to the wrong side. Once, catching up with his "irreconcilable enemy", Blessed Nikolai went along the Volkhov as if on dry land and threw a head of cabbage at Blessed Theodore, which is why he was named Kochanov.

The Lord glorified His saint with the gifts of clairvoyance and miracles. Here the blessed one did not hide from the rumors, for everyone looked at him as a man of God. Once, a Novgorod posadnik invited him to a feast of all the eminent men of the city, and the servants, without the knowledge of the owner, drove the saint away. When he left, the wine in the vessels disappeared. The posadnik, having learned that blessed Nikolai had come and that he had been driven away, sent to bring him back. And when the saint returned, the wine was found again in the vessels.

After the death of Blessed Nicholas on July 27, 1392, his body was buried according to the will of the saint on the edge of the cemetery, located around the Jacob Cathedral, near the road.

In 1554, a stone church was built over the grave of the saint in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon, but among the people it is called the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Kochanov. This temple enjoyed special veneration of the Novgorod saints, who necessarily (according to the charter of the St. Sophia Cathedral) visited it on Thursday of the week of Myasopustny: “And on the same day (Thursday of Myasopustny) the saint goes to St. Nikola Kochanov to the church to say goodbye.” In the 17th century, on the day of memory of Blessed Nicholas in that church, the service was performed by the bishop.

In 1815, a new carved tomb with a canopy was built over the relics of Blessed Nicholas. On the icons, blessed Nicholas, unlike other holy fools for Christ's sake, is not depicted barefoot, half-naked, barely covered with old clothes, but ... "a prince's fur coat, underwear azure, girded with a scarf," with a head of cabbage in his hand.

Troparion of Blessed Nicholas Kochanov

With your patience and courage / for the sake of Christ, you turned into foolishness, blessed Nicholas, / having thinness of the sacristy, / you suffered the burden of the bar of the day / and you endured the scum of winter. yours, / give healing, your Assumption honestly glorifying, / and pray to Christ God to be saved to our souls.

John Troparion of Blessed Nikolai Kochanov

Highly wise, / living holy and running away from the glory of the world, / you chose the foolishness of Christ for the sake of blessed Nicholas, / and now, in the Highest Trinity, you are coming, / to us, your honest memory glorifying / and with faith to the race of your relics coming, / give healing / and pray to Christ God to be saved for our souls.

Kontakion of Blessed Nicholas Kochanov

You were the disciple and heir of Blessed Andrew, / following the same footsteps, holy fool Nikolai Kochanov, / and accepting humiliation and panting from worldly children, / praying to Christ God for their sins. to yourself, / like an inexhaustible treasure, / give more healing / by faith to the race of your relics who come / and honestly glorify your Assumption.

THE LIFE OF THE Blessed NICHOLAS KOCHANOV, CHRIST

FOR THE SAKE OF THE YURODIVE, NOVGOROD WONDER WORKER

Blessed Nikolai Kochanov lived in the 14th century. He was born in Novgorod
in a rich and noble family of Maxim and Juliana. From his youth, Saint Nicholas was distinguished by deep piety, diligently visited the temple of God, loved fasting and prayer, generously distributed alms to the poor. Seeing his virtuous life, the Novgorod nobles began to glorify him. The blessed one, frightened by the glory “from man,” began to play the fool for the sake of the Lord. He left his rich house, dressed in sackcloth and so wandered around the city at any time of the year, enduring cold and poverty, with a secret prayer in his heart. Reckless people slandered the saint, inflicted all sorts of insults and even beatings on him, but he rejoiced and prayed for his offenders. The Lord strengthened him in his feat.

Blessed Nicholas lived on the Sofia side of Novgorod. At the same time, Blessed Theodore, also a holy fool for Christ's sake, labored on the Merchant side (commemorated January 19/February 1). Both saints, denouncing the feuds of the Novgorodians of the Sofia and Trade sides, allegedly were at enmity. They drove each other out when each went to the wrong side. Once, catching up with his "irreconcilable enemy", blessed Nikolai went along the Volkhov as if on dry land and threw
in blessed Theodore a head of cabbage, which is why it was called Kochanov.

The Lord glorified His saint with the gifts of clairvoyance and miracles. Here the blessed one did not hide from the rumors, for everyone looked at him as a man of God. Once, a Novgorod posadnik invited him to a feast of all the eminent men of the city, and the servants, without the knowledge of the owner, drove the saint away. When he left, the wine in the vessels disappeared. The posadnik, having learned that blessed Nikolai had come and that he had been driven away, sent to bring him back. And when the saint returned, the wine was found again in the vessels.

After the death of Blessed Nicholas on July 27, 1392, his body was buried according to the will of the saint on the edge of the cemetery, located around the Jacob Cathedral, near the road.

In 1554, a stone church was built over the grave of the saint in the name of the Holy Great Martyr Panteleimon, but among the people it is called the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Kochanov. This temple enjoyed special veneration of the Novgorod saints, who necessarily (according to the charter of the St. Sophia Cathedral) visited it on Thursday of the meat-fare week: “And on the same day (four meat-fare) the saint goes to St. Nikola Kochanov to the church to say goodbye.” In the 17th century, on the day of memory of Blessed Nicholas in that church, the service was performed by the bishop.

In 1815, a new carved tomb with a canopy was built over the relics of Blessed Nicholas. On the icons, blessed Nicholas, unlike other holy fools for Christ's sake, is not depicted barefoot, half-naked, barely covered with old clothes, but ... "a prince's fur coat, underwear azure, girded with a scarf," with a head of cabbage in his hand.

NIKOLAY KOCHANOV
Novgorodsky, holy fool for Christ's sake (sk. 07/27/1392), the son of wealthy Novgorod citizens Maxim and Juliana. The mother put love for God and neighbor in her son's heart, taught him to pray. As a child, he did not like to play, and as an adult, he avoided the company of his cheerful peers. Many began to revere the pious young man. But this he feared most of all, which made him take upon himself the cross of the foolishness of Christ for the sake of it. He began to live on the street, in poor clothes, barefoot, pretending to have lost his mind. Many insulted him, but the blessed one endured everything patiently. Most of all, he loved to visit the church, taught the townspeople about salvation, admonished the erring, and consoled the sad. Nicholas lived on the Sofia side, and on the Trade side lived another Christ for the sake of the holy fool - blzh. Theodore of Novgorod. Both sides were at odds with each other. One day bl. Theodore appeared on the Sofia side and immediately attacked him. Nikolay. "How dare you come to this side?" he shouted to Theodore. Fleeing from him, he rushed to run to Volkhov and ran straight through the water. Finally, Nicholas stopped and threw St. Feodoru a head of cabbage. Theodore caught him, and Nikolai shouted: “Theodore! Give me the head of cabbage, it's mine, not yours! The case with the head of cabbage was repeated more than once, and blzh. Nicholas was nicknamed Kochanov. He died in 1392, in the same year as his associate Blessed. Theodore. Buried St. Nicholas in the Church of St. Vmch. Panteleimon, later renamed Nikolo-Kochanovsky. From his grave they began to take sand and water, consecrated on great holidays. Memory blzh. Nicholas is celebrated on July 27/August 9. NICHOLAS THE WONDERWORKER OF MYRA
archbishop, miracle worker (sc. c. 345). There is not a single church in our country, not a single pious family, where the icon of St. Nicholas. The provincial bishop from Asia Minor touched the mysterious Slavic soul so much that he became the patron father of distant vast Russia. The name of the city of Mira, in which the saint episcopated, resonated surprisingly with Russian ears. Here and chrism - svyashch. incense, by the anointing of which the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit are communicated to a Christian emerging from the baptismal font, a king who is crowned the kingdom, thrones and antimins of churches; and fragrant myrrh, flowing from miraculous icons or relics of glorified saints; it is both the world as a state of mind and the world as the universe; here is a derivative layman - a person who does not have a dignity, but peacefully, according to church laws, lives in the world ... The future saint was born in the city of Patara. Edified by pious parents, he worthily spent his childhood, from a young age he devoted himself to the Church and became the archbishop of the World of Lycia. He was distinguished by modesty and simplicity; worked, fasted, prayed; He helped everyone - rich and poor, old and young, sick and healthy, and, most importantly, healed those who were suffering from sinful ulcers. In extreme old age he peacefully passed away to the Lord, but did not leave the whole Christian world under his care. They pray to him for the upbringing of children, for peace in the family, for deliverance from poverty and poverty, for the aversion of fornication or encroachment, for pilgrims, sailors, travelers, for deliverance from bonds or from death, for the strengthening and purity of the Orthodox faith ... No such a situation in which Nicholas the Wonderworker would not have helped the suffering. Buried was St. Nicholas in the city of the Worlds of Lycian, in the south of Asia Minor (hence its name - Myrlikian). But in the last thurs. In the 11th century, when the Muslim Turks often began to devastate these areas of Byzantium, the threat hung over the great common Christian shrine - the relics of St. Nicholas. And so the merchants from Italy, among whom there were many Greeks, in 1087 decided to save St. strength from imminent death. They even went to violence against the monks who guarded the relics of the saint: wrapping the relics fragrant with the world, the merchants carried them to their ship. Almost all of the merchant-thieves were from the city of Bari (in the southeast of Italy), where they brought the shrine. The relics were solemnly placed in the church of St. Stephen, and a year later a special temple was built for them, where they are to this day, gathering many pilgrims - both Catholics and Orthodox from all over the world.
On the degree of veneration by the Russian people of St. Nicholas can be judged by the fact that the Russian Church assigned him a special service on Thursdays and every week along with the apostles. Before the Baptism of Rus', Thursday was considered the day of the main pagan god Perun, on which he was worshiped and sacrificed. After the adoption of Christianity, many holidays and solemn days, during which Perun was revered, were supplanted by the veneration of saints, and above all St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. This largely explains why the Russian people from ancient times honored St. Nicholas, and more often than other saints, they turned to him with prayer. In the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1227 about the Galician prince. Daniel we read: “Let Danil go to Zhidichin bow and pray to St. Nikola, and calling and Yaroslav to Luchsk; and his boyars decided to him: accept Luchesk, where is their prince; to him I answered: as if you were coming here to say a prayer. Or in another place: “Begin to send Mikhail and Izyaslav thundering: give our brothers, or we will come to war with you. Danilov praying to God and St. Bishop Nikola, who is his own miracle. Our ancient kaliki passers-by in one of their poems sing about St. miracle worker Nicholas, that he, the miracle worker, is powerful by God, he is an assistant to everyone. In a similar way, the current Little Russian elders sing in their poems about St. Nicholas the Wonderworker:
Oh! Who, who loves Nicholas,
Oh! Who, who serves Nicholas,
Therefore Saint Nicholas
Help at any time.
In the Tale of the Saints, St. Nicholas is given a special prayer for intercession from all sorts of troubles and misfortunes. From time immemorial, not a single saint in Orthodox Rus' was erected as many temples and chapels as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Alexander Guagnin of Verona, who traveled around Russia in the 16th century, noticed that the Russians, among the saints, especially venerated St. Nicholas, they almost give him divine worship; in his name they erect special temples and tell many wonderful things about him. A foreign traveler said that the Russian St. Nicholas is considered the patron of their fatherland, and, among other things, he added that the Russian people even believe that St. Nicholas the Wonderworker could have been God, but he did not want this honor, and, in any case, after God he takes the first place. The Russian people have long been attached to the very name of St. Nicholas; it is still one of the most common names that Russians are used to calling themselves. Image of St. Nicholas can be found in almost all Orthodox Russian homes. Before him, a Russian man prayed for help in all the more or less difficult circumstances of his life. Russian peasants spoke of St. miracle worker Nicholas: “There is no champion against us against Nikola”, “Ask Nikola, and he will tell the Savior”, “All the gods are on the boots, but Nikola is more that he walks more”, or: “There are thirty-three Nikola from Kholmogor to Kola”, or also: “The good wonderworker Nicholas has two holidays a year, and Kasyan the merciless one every four years”, “What is crooked and blind, then Nicholas the world”, etc.
The universal worship of Nicholas the Wonderworker among the Russian people was largely due to his spiritual qualities, in which our ancestors found much in common with the Russian folk character. This is an open statement by Nicholas the Wonderworker in defense of oppressed innocence, this is a resolute and bold intercession for the unjustly condemned and persecuted, which St. Mirlikisky during his life, especially somehow go to the character of an open, courageous and kind Russian nature. Such features of the personal character of the miracle worker, without any doubt, made the image of this saint of God especially attractive and worthy of respect in the eyes of the Russian people: it is they, by the way, it seems, that made it possible for the Russian people to become in a particularly short relationship with this saint. How simple-hearted and sincere in dealing with Nicholas the Wonderworker in this latter case, the best proof of this is (apart from the folk proverbs already mentioned by us) folk legends about this saint, such as the legend of the merchant Sadko and St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk, a story about the patronage of one peasant, St. miracle worker Nicholas and his rivalry in this matter with St. Elijah the Prophet, etc. St. Nicholas was revered in Russia not only as an intercessor in general from all troubles and misfortunes, but also, in particular, as a keeper on the waters, and in the Tale of the Saints he was supposed to have a special prayer for protection on the waters. Russian sailors almost always had an icon of this saint and, in case of danger, carried it out on deck, begging him to get rid of the shipwreck and storm.
Obviously, the miracles of St. Nicholas, for which this saint at sea became famous. Chet'i Menaion about St. the miracle worker Nicholas is told this way: once it happened that the ship on which St. Nicholas to venerate St. places, endangered by stormy waves at sea. But when St. Nicholas prayed for salvation, the storm subsided, and the ship safely arrived at its destination. Having fulfilled his vow in Palestine, St. Nicholas on the same ship intended to go to his homeland, but the shipbuilders, who promised to bring him to Lycia, deceived and sent their ship in the other direction. Suddenly, through the prayer of St. Nicholas, a storm arose, and the ship, despite all the efforts of the shipbuilders, was brought to the shores of Lycia. On another occasion, a ship on its way to the Lycian countries was overtaken by a strong storm, which threatened shipwreck. Shipbuilders only by hearing about St. Nicholas as an assistant to all the unfortunate on the waters was remembered. St. Nicholas, and he, having appeared on the ship himself, began to steer and forbade the wind to rage over the sea. In the 17th century prologue Among the miracles of the miracle worker Nicholas, it is told about the miracle of the miracle worker of Christ Nicholas, which was in Kiev, in the church of St. Sophia". The miracle was that the drowned child of St. Nicholas kept alive. “So the servant of the Lord,” says Nineai, “commanded the sea and the winds and obedient to him were.” On this basis, the Russian Church in its hymns in honor of St. Nicholas calls him a traveling companion and a real ruler at sea. On the day of December 6 in honor of St. Nicholas, the so-called brothers were timed in the old days. We meet very frequent references to brotherhoods in chronicles and other ancient monuments of ours, and brotherhoods that took place on the feast of St. Nicholas, received the name Nikolytsina.
With special solemnity in the old days, Nikolytsins were performed during the temple feast in honor of St. Nicholas. Then our ancestors gathered in church, served St. Prayers to Nicholas, together they put a large candle to this saint, and then concluded their meetings with treats and fun. In agricultural life, the day of St. Nicholas served as a term for all sorts of transactions, payments and other business contracts. Finally, Russian peasants on St. Nikolai was connected by the following signs based on observation about the weather and the state of winter: "Nikola will nail what Yegori will pave." - "Praise the winter after Nikolin's day." - "The first frosts of Nikolsky." - "In front of Nikola, frost - oats will be good." - "Hoarfrost on Nikola - to the harvest." - "Prices for bread are being built by Nikolin bargaining." - "The Nikolsky convoy for the boyar treasury is more expensive than gold."
Celebration of the memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker takes place on December 6/19 and May 9/22 (transfer of relics in 1087).
I.P. Kalinsky NIKOLAI JAPANESKY
equal to the apostles, archbishop (1.08.1836-3.02.1912). Glorification in the guise of Equal-to-the-Apostles is awarded to ascetics who have enlightened entire countries and peoples with the light of Christ. St. Nicholas (in the world - Ivan Dmitrievich Kasatkin) became the apostle of Japan. He was born in the Smolensk province, in the family of a deacon. His biography usually began for the son of a poor rural clergyman: the district theological school, the Smolensk Seminary and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, within the walls of which St. Nicholas and took monastic vows. It is providential that he was tonsured in an academic church, consecrated in honor of the 12 apostles, and consecrated to the rank of hierodeacon on the feast of the supreme app. Peter and Paul, and to the rank of hieromonk - on the day of memory of the 12 apostles. The Lord Himself, as it were, pointed out to St. Nicholas the way he should have gone. At his own request, the young monk was appointed to Japan as rector of the consular temple in the city of Hakodate (1860). It took eight years to study the country, people, language, manners and customs. The Japanese at that time were sharply hostile to foreigners and to Christianity. Despite this, St. Nicholas began the construction of churches, schools, religious schools, translated the necessary liturgical books into Japanese, and compiled an Orthodox theological dictionary. In 1880 archim. Nicholas was consecrated bishop. By 1911, after half a century of apostolic activity, there were 33,017 Christians in 266 communities, 2 bishops, 35 priests, and 116 catechist preachers. In 1970, Archbishop Nicholas was canonized by the Local Russian and Autonomous Japanese Orthodox Churches.
Memory is equal to Nicholas is celebrated on February 3/16. NICHOLAS I PAVLOVICH
(06/15/1796 - 02/18/1855), Russian emperor (since 1825), third son of Paul I. Accession to the throne of the imp. Nikolai Pavlovich was overshadowed by an event of exceptional importance - the revolt of the Decembrists. Alexander I died on November 19, 1825. Immediately upon receipt of this news of the search, they took the oath to Konstantin Pavlovich as the legitimate heir, since no one in St. Petersburg knew about his abdication. Konstantin Pavlovich himself took the oath to his younger brother, Nikolai Pavlovich. As a result, an indefinite situation was created that lasted 22 days. When on December 14 the oath of the St. Petersburg garrison of imp. Nikolai Pavlovich, two guards regiments, deceived by their officers, raised an uprising and went to Senate Square. Count Miloradovich, who tried to convince the rebels of their error, was killed, as was the commander of the grenadier regiment, Colonel Shturler. Then they had to fire an artillery salvo at the rioters, which stopped the rebellion.
The reasons for the "December" rebellion were much deeper than it seemed to the then Russian society and the most noble knight of the imp. Nikolai Pavlovich. In 1820, there were 32 Masonic lodges in Russia, numbering 1,700 members among them, almost all belonging to high society. When secret societies were banned, not everyone obeyed the decree, and a number of lodges continued to exist. These lodges were in contact with the "Carbonari" of Italy, the German "Tugenbund" and the French "Friends of Liberty" through the Englishmen Heinam and Boole, who lived in Russia. All participants in the December riot were in the "Northern" or "Southern" Masonic Leagues, and the goals of the conspiracy went much further than the establishment of a "constitution". Among the "goals" that later became known was the destruction of all members of the dynasty. The death of Alexander I took the conspirators by surprise and forced, under pressure from Ryleyev, the Northern League to act at its own expense, putting the Southern League before a fait accompli. They decided to kill Nikolai Pavlovich, arrest all other members of the imperial family and declare Prince. Trubetskoy.
The court sentenced 36 people to death, but the sovereign pardoned a significant majority and only five were executed: Pestel, Ryleev, Kakhovsky, Bestuzhev-Ryumin and Sergei Muravyov-Apostol.
In all his foreign policy, the imp. Nikolai Pavlovich was forced to fulfill the agreements signed during the previous reign. Count Nesselrode, an Austrian by father and a Jew by mother, then Count Brunnov from Courland played a big role in diplomacy.
In 1827 there was a war against Turkey, like almost all the wars that Russia waged in the South, for the protection of Christians. In 1829, General Dibich took Apdrianople, and Count Paskevich took Kars and Erzerum. The independence of Greece and the autonomy of Serbia, Moldavia and Wallachia were proclaimed. But in 1830 a bloody uprising began in Poland, which, although it was suppressed by the same generals, greatly weakened the results of the Turkish war. The Polish uprising, as well as the European revolutions of 1848, again forced the emancipation of the peasants to be postponed. In 1850, the Amur Territory was annexed to Russia by Count Muravyov-Amursky, and soon after the Ussuri Territory and Northern Sakhalin. In 1853, the war against Turkey began again and the famous Sinop battle of Admiral Nakhimov took place, but France and England declared war on us and landed their troops in the Crimea. The siege of Sevastopol began, which lasted 11 months, in which Admirals Kornilov, Nakhimov and Istomin died.
During the Sevastopol defense died imp. Nikolai Pavlovich.
In the internal life of the country, the reign of Nicholas I was a complete turn towards a purely national Russian path. The nobility, after the revolt of the Decembrists, lost its importance and the trust of the king. Speransky compiled the "Code of Laws" and put the legislation in order. General Kankrin - streamlined the financial department. Count Kiselev introduced "rural societies" and "gatherings" for state peasants. Count Uvarov significantly increased the number of schools and established the formulation of Russian statehood: Autocracy. Orthodoxy. Nationality.
Deep and sincere Orthodoxy imp. Nikolai Pavlovich had a very beneficial effect on the position of the Church. The general religious mood of the population is confirmed by countless miracles performed in front of the icons of the Mother of God. However, no significant reforms were made in the spiritual department.
In 1833, one of the most remarkable ascetics of God, St. Seraphim of Sarov. His enormous beneficial influence on the Russian people can be compared with the influence of St. Anthony of the Caves and St. Sergius of Radonezh. Glorified and numbered among the Saints, in the Russian land Resplendent, in 1903, St. Seraphim is the last glorified saint of God before the revolution of 1917.
N. Sakhnovsky NICHOLAS II
(Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov) (05/19/1868-07/17/1918), Russian tsar, Russian emperor, martyr, son of Tsar Alexander III. Nicholas II was brought up and educated under the personal guidance of his father, on a traditional religious basis, in Spartan conditions. The teaching of subjects was conducted by outstanding Russian scientists K. P. Pobedonostsev, N. N. Beketov, N. N. Obruchev, M. I. Dragomirov and others. Much attention was paid to the military training of the future tsar.
Nicholas II ascended the throne at the age of 26, earlier than expected, as a result of the premature death of his father. Nicholas II managed to quickly recover from the initial confusion and began to pursue an independent policy, which caused dissatisfaction with part of his entourage, who hoped to influence the young tsar. The basis of the state policy of Nicholas II was the continuation of his father's desire "to give Russia more internal unity by asserting the Russian elements of the country."
In his first address to the people, Nikolai Alexandrovich announced that “henceforth, having imbued the precepts of his deceased parent, he accepts a sacred vow before the face of the Almighty to always have as a single goal the peaceful prosperity, power and glory of dear Russia and the happiness of all His loyal subjects.” In an address to foreign states, Nicholas II declared that “he would devote all his concerns to the development of the internal well-being of Russia and in no way deviate from the completely peaceful, firm and straightforward policy that so powerfully contributed to the general calm, and Russia will continue to see in respect for the right and legal order is the best guarantee of the security of the state.
The model of a ruler for Nicholas II was Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who carefully preserved the traditions of antiquity.
However, the time in which Nicholas II fell to reign was very different from the era of the first Romanovs. If then the folk foundations and traditions served as a unifying banner of a society that was revered by both the common people and the ruling class, then to n. 20th century Russian foundations and traditions become the object of denial on the part of an educated society. A significant part of the ruling stratum and intelligentsia rejects the path of following Russian foundations, traditions and ideals, many of which they consider obsolete and ignorant. Russia's right to its own path is not recognized. Attempts are being made to impose on it an alien model of development - either Western European liberalism or Western European Marxism.
The tragedy of the life of Nicholas II consisted in an insoluble contradiction between his deepest conviction to preserve the foundations and traditions of Russia and the nihilistic attempts of a significant part of the educated strata of the country to destroy them. And it was not only about preserving the traditional forms of governing the country, but about saving the Russian national culture, which, as he felt, was in mortal danger. The events of the last eighty years have shown how right the Russian emperor was. Throughout his life, Nicholas II felt the psychological pressure of these united forces hostile to Russian culture. As can be seen from his diaries and correspondence, all this caused him terrible moral suffering. A firm conviction to preserve the foundations and traditions of Russia, combined with a sense of deep responsibility for its fate, made imp. Nicholas II as an ascetic of the idea for which he gave his life.
“Faith in God and in one’s duty to the Tsar’s service,” writes the historian S. S. Oldenburg, “were the basis of all the views of Emperor Nicholas II. He believed that the responsibility for the fate of Russia lies with him, that he is responsible for them before the Throne of the Most High. Others may advise, others may hinder Him, but the answer for Russia before God lies with him. From this followed the attitude to the limitation of power - which He considered shifting responsibility to others who were not called, and to individual ministers who, in His opinion, claimed too much influence in the state. "They will spoil - and answer me."
The educator of the heir to the Throne, Gilliard, noted the restraint and self-control of Nikolai Alexandrovich, his ability to control his feelings. Even in relation to people unpleasant for him, the emperor tried to behave as correctly as possible. Once, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, SD Sazonov, expressed his surprise at the calm reaction of the emperor in relation to a person who was not morally attractive, and the absence of any personal irritation towards him. And this is what the emperor said to him: “I managed to completely silence this string of personal irritation a long time ago. Irritability will not help anything, and besides, a harsh word from me would sound more offensive than from anyone else.
“Whatever happened in the soul of the Sovereign,” recalls S. D. Sazonov, “he never changed in his attitude towards the people around him. I had to see him close at a moment of terrible anxiety for the life of his only son, on whom all his tenderness was concentrated, and, apart from some silence and even greater restraint, the suffering he experienced did not affect him in any way.
“In the appearance of Nicholas II,” wrote the wife of the English ambassador Buchanan, “there was true nobility and charm, which, in all likelihood, was more likely hidden in his serious, blue eyes than in the liveliness and gaiety of character.”
Describing the personality of Nicholas II, the German diplomat Count Rex considered the tsar to be a spiritually gifted man, of a noble way of thinking, prudent and tactful. “His manners,” the diplomat wrote, “are so modest and he shows so little outward determination that it is easy to conclude that he lacks a strong will; but the people around him assure that he has a very definite will, which he knows how to put into practice in the most calm way. The stubborn and tireless will in the implementation of their plans is noted by the majority of people who knew the king. Until the plan was carried out, the king constantly returned to him, seeking his own. The already mentioned historian Oldenburg notes that “the sovereign, over an iron hand, had a velvet glove. His will was not like a thunderclap. It manifested itself not in explosions and violent clashes; it rather resembled the steady run of a stream from a mountain height to the plain of the ocean. He goes around obstacles, deviates to the side, but in the end, with constant constancy, he approaches his goal.
For a long time it was believed that the king subordinated his will to the queen, since she had a stronger character and spiritually guided him. This is a wrong and very superficial view of their relationship. Many examples can be cited, in their letters they are often found, how the sovereign steadily carried out his will, if he felt the correctness of his decision. But he could be persuaded to reverse his decision if he discovered his error and the truth of the queen's statements. The empress did not put pressure on her husband, but acted by persuasion. And if she somehow influenced him, it was kindness and love. The king was very responsive to these feelings, since among many relatives and courtiers he most often felt falsehood and deceit. Reading the royal letters, we are convinced with what perseverance Nicholas II pursued his plans and rejected the proposals of his beloved wife, if he considered them erroneous.
In addition to a strong will and a brilliant education, Nikolai possessed all the natural qualities necessary for state activity, above all, a huge ability to work. If necessary, he could work from morning until late at night, studying the numerous documents and materials received in his name. (By the way, he also willingly engaged in physical labor - sawing firewood, removing snow, etc.) Possessing a lively mind and a broad outlook, the king quickly grasped the essence of the issues under consideration. The king had an exceptional memory for faces and events. He remembered by sight most of the people he had to deal with, and there were thousands of such people.
Imp. Nicholas II, noted Oldenburg, and many other historians and statesmen of Russia, had a completely exceptional personal charm. He did not like celebrations, loud speeches, etiquette was a burden to him. He did not like everything ostentatious, artificial, any broadcast advertising. In a close circle, in a one-to-one conversation, he knew how to charm his interlocutors, whether they were senior dignitaries or workers in the workshop he visited. His large gray radiant eyes complemented the speech, looked straight into the soul. These natural data were even more emphasized by careful upbringing. “In my life I have never met a more educated person than the current reigning Emperor Nicholas II,” Count Witte wrote already at the time when he, in essence, was the personal enemy of the emperor.
The reign of Nicholas II is the most dynamic period in the growth of the Russian people in its entire history. In less than a quarter of a century, the population of Russia has increased by 62 million people. The economy grew rapidly. Between 1885 and 1913, industrial output increased fivefold, exceeding the rate of industrial growth in the most developed countries of the world. The Great Siberian Railway was built, in addition, 2 thousand km of railways were built annually. The national income of Russia, according to the most underestimated calculations, has grown from 8 billion rubles. in 1894 to 22-24 billion in 1914, that is, almost three times. The average per capita income of Russian people has doubled. The incomes of workers in industry grew at a particularly high rate. For a quarter of a century, they have grown at least three times. The total expenditure on the share of public education and culture increased by 8 times, more than twice the expenditure on education in France and one and a half times - in England.
The personality of Nicholas II played a huge role in the church life of Russia, much more than the role of his royal predecessors. The deep faith of the tsar, his constant pilgrimages to Orthodox shrines brought him closer to the indigenous Russian people. During the reign of Nicholas II, more saints were glorified than in the entire 19th century. And, above all, canonized St. Seraphim of Sarov. Thousands of new churches were built. The number of monasteries increased from 774 at the beginning of the reign to 1005 in 1912.
The time of Nicholas II is not only a period of national upsurge, but also a time of energetic organization of anti-Russian forces, their penetration into many vital centers of Russia. Taking advantage of the war imposed on Russia and the difficulties associated with it, Russia's internal enemies carried out a coup d'état. The king was forced to abdicate and was imprisoned. He was held first in Tsarskoe Selo, then in Tobolsk and Yekaterinburg, where he and his family were murdered by Jewish Bolsheviks. As can be seen from the materials of the investigation, carried out at the direction of A. V. Kolchak by investigator N. A. Sokolov, the murder of the last Russian tsar was of a ritual nature and had mystical meaning for its organizers as a special action in the act of destruction of the Russian Orthodox state.
O. Platonov NIKOLO-BABAEVSKY Monastery
got its name from the "babyok" - large oars used instead of a rudder when rafting timber along the Volga. When the timber merchants started rafts at the mouth of the Solonitsa, they did not need babayks, or oars, and they were piled up in favor of the monastery. On such a babayka, the ancient miraculous icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is the main shrine of the monastery.
Its location is very beautiful: the monastery stands on the elevated right bank of the Volga, at the confluence of the Solonitsa River, halfway from Kostroma to Yaroslavl. In the spring flood, the water reaches the very walls of the monastery, and then its buildings seem to be standing on the water or on an island.
The beauty of these places amazed the monks of the Moscow Nikolo-Ugreshsky monastery, who owned nearby salt pans, and at the end of the 14th century they founded a new monastery. The first church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was consecrated in 1375 by St. Sergius of Radonezh, in whose name a chapel was later built in it. In 1650, the cathedral church of St. Nicholas. Above the Holy Gates was placed the temple of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Many famous Russian boyar families: the princes Sitsky, Khilkov, Lvov, Golenishchev-Kutuzov, Saltykov, Khitrovo, Choglokov and others - did good to the monastery, and the kings and patriarchs were its contributors.
Among the shrines of the monastery was the largest particle in Russia of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, miraculous icons of the saint, Mother of God of Kazan and Iberia (1596). In honor of the latter, who lived in retirement in the monastery of St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov at the expense of him and his brother in the middle. 19th century the grandiose Iversky Cathedral was built (blown up in the 1930s).
The significance of the monastery for Russian spiritual culture is enormous. It was here that famous Russian spiritual writers experienced special inspiration and worked on their writings. St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), living in the monastery in 1847-48 and from 1861 to April 30, 1867, who died and was buried here, wrote in the Nikolo-Babaev monastery “Offering to modern monasticism”, “Paternal Father”, many didactic letters.
Here, the sagacious monk Abel (1757 - 1841) finished his first book of prophecies about the fate of Russia, "wise and wise." In 1906, the famous Russian ecclesiastical writer S.A. spent six months in the monastery. Nilus. Here in 1908 he met with the "dear Father", St. rights. John of Kronstadt, the miracle worker, who blessed him to study spiritual writings. It was here that Nilus met with his future spiritual censor, also a spiritual writer, the well-known editor of the Trinity Sheets, Bishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky) of Vologda.
In the 1920s the monastery was closed and devastated. During the war years of 1941-45, a hospital was housed in it, later a nursing home and an orphanage were housed in the monastery buildings.
I. Popov NIKOLO-CONVERSATION Monastery
Novgorod Ep., in the vicinity of Tikhvin. Founded in 1510 led. book. Vasily Ioannovich, at the site of the appearance of the Mother of God with St. Nicholas to cleric George. In the monastery there was an ancient letter depicting this miraculous event, the “Conversation” icon “The Appearance of the Mother of God to Cleric George”. In the chapel of the monastery, a very revered cross was kept, made from a log on which the Mother of God sat when she appeared to George; here was the icon of the Lord of hosts, written on a board from the same deck. The day of the appearance of the Mother of God to George, August 14, was celebrated in the monastery with special solemnity.
S. V. Bulgakov NIKOLO-VOLOSOV Convent
Bishop of Vladimir, at the village of Velisova. Mentioned in the 15th century. All R. 18th century was abolished; restored in 1775; since 1877 he was assigned to the Bogolyubov Monastery. It was male, but in 1909 it was converted to female. NIKOLO-PESHNOSH METHODIEV Monastery
Bishop of Moscow, in the vicinity of Dmitrov, at the confluence of the Peshnosha River in Yakhroma. Founded in 1361 by a student of St. St. Sergius of Radonezh Methodius Peshnoshsky (sk. 1392), who was the first abbot here. In the church of St. Sergius over the relics of st. Methodius arranged a copper gilded cancer; she kept his abbot's staff. The monastery also kept a wooden chalice, which he used during the performance of the sacrament, and there was a miraculous icon of the Mother of God, called Before and after Christmas the Virgin.
S. V. Bulgakov NIKOLO-STOLPENSK desert
Bishop of Tver, in the vicinity of Vyshny Volochok, on the left bank of the river. Creators. Founded before 1581. Here was the ancient miraculous icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. NIKOLO-UGRESH Monastery
Moscow Bishop, on the banks of the Moscow River, in the vicinity of the city of Lyubertsy. Founded in 1380 led. book. Dimitry Donskoy, at the place where the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker during the stay here with the troops before the campaign against Mamai. Delighted by the manifestation of God's blessing and animated by hope, led. the prince exclaimed: “This is all sin (warmed) my heart,” and vowed to create a monastery on this place, which was called Ugreshsky. In the ancient Nikolaevsky Cathedral there was a revealed icon of St. Nicholas, famous for miracles. In the Church of the Assumption there was a particularly revered miraculous icon of the Mother of God, of ancient writing, called Vygranie, which appeared in 1795.
S.V. Bulgakov NIKOLO-ULEIMINSKY Monastery
Bishop of Yaroslavl, in the vicinity of Uglich, at the confluence of the Uleima and Vorzhekhot rivers. Founded in 1406. Devastated in 1609 and 1619 by the Lithuanians, it was reopened in 1624. The miraculous image of St. Nicholas was located in the monastery cathedral church. Nicholas of Myra, preserved in the monastery from the time of its foundation, with a particle of the relics of St. Nicholas, brought from Bari by Peter I.
S.V. Bulgakov NIKOLSK
1. a city in the Vologda region, the center of the Nikolsky district. Located on the slopes of the Northern Ridges, a pier on the river. South (tributary of the Sukhona). Population 9.2 thousand people
Originated in the 15th century. as a pier called Nikolsky Pogost (Nikolskaya Sloboda).
2. a city in the Penza region, the center of the Nikolsky district. Located in the central part of the Volga Upland, on the river. Vyrgan.
The city was formed on the site of the villages of Nikolsky (known from 1668) and Pestrovka (known from the 1680s). From 1761 p. Nikolo-Pestrovka. NIKON
(Nikita Minov) (1605-17.08.1681), Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' (1652-67).
Holy Patr. Nikon, in St. baptism Nikita, was born in with. Velmanov Knyagininsky u. Nizhny Novgorod province. Having lost his mother early and endured a lot of grief from his evil stepmother, the smart boy managed to learn to read and write, and having joined the gifts of church grace through reading and personal piety, he was jealous of monastic service.
At the age of twelve, he secretly went to the Trinity Makariev Zheltovodsky Monastery and spent eight years there as a novice, preparing to take monastic vows. During this time, the lad studied church services well, acquired extensive knowledge in the monastery library, gained spiritual experience, surprising the brethren with the strength of his character and the severity of life.
Nevertheless, Nikita had to leave the monastery, yielding to the requests of his relatives, he returned home and got married. Soon he was invited as a priest to a neighboring village, where Moscow merchants, who came to the famous Makariev Fair, met the young smart shepherd. They persuaded him to move to a priestly place in Moscow, where Father Nikita served for about ten years. When the children born in marriage died, he persuaded his wife to take the tonsure, and he himself retired to the Anzersky skete of the Solovetsky Monastery.
Having cut his hair there with the name of Nikon, he indulged in severe feats of piety. Over time, having moved to the Kozheozersky Epiphany Monastery, in 1643 he was elected hegumen there. While three years later in Moscow on monastic business, Nikon first met with Tsar Alexei. The majestic appearance of the abbot, his clever speeches and broad education made an indelible impression on the young sovereign, sincerely attached to the Church. Since that time, their rapprochement began, which soon turned into a close friendship.
Wishing to have his "sobin" friend near him, the tsar ordered him to be transferred as archimandrite of the Novospassky monastery in Moscow, where the Romanovs' family tomb was located. Alexei Mikhailovich often came to the monastery to pray for the repose of his ancestors. In turn, Nikon had to come to the sovereign every Friday to report on the needs of the poor, offended and oppressed. Joint charity brought them even closer.
In 1648 Nikon was determined to become Metropolitan of Novgorod. From the king, he received special powers - to oversee the entire administration and release, at his discretion, prisoners from dungeons. In the second year of his bishopric, a riot broke out in the city: the people unknowingly took the bread exported to Sweden (as a ransom for Orthodox fugitives who sought protection from Russia) as a sign of boyar treason. Vladyka fearlessly went out to the rebels, admonishing the rebels, first meekly, and then with all the strength of metropolitan authority and archpastoral boldness. The mob beat him half to death. Waking up, Nikon gathered his last strength, served a liturgy in St. Sophia Cathedral and went to the rioters in a procession. Struck by his firmness, they humbled themselves, asked for forgiveness and Nikon's petition to the king.
“Oh, strong warrior and sufferer of the King of Heaven, oh, my beloved, beloved and co-servant, holy master,” the tsar wrote to Nikon two years later, inviting him to Moscow to take part in the election of a new patriarch to replace the deceased Joseph. “Come back, for the Lord’s sake, quickly to us ... but without you we won’t take on anything at all.” Nikon's influence grew despite the boyars' discontent, and at the cathedral in Moscow he was named among the "twenty spiritual men" who, at the behest of the tsar, were presented by the clergy as candidates "for election to the patriarchal throne."
On July 22, the clergy who gathered at the cathedral were invited to elevate the most worthy of them - "a reverent and reverend man" to the patriarchal throne. Metropolitan Kornily of Kazan informed the tsar of Nikon's election, but the latter's consent was far from immediate. Understanding the hardships of the upcoming service, knowing about the hostile attitude towards him from the side of the boyars, Nikon refused for a long time. Even brought against his will to the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin, he did not agree there either.
Only when the king and all those present fell to the ground and with tears asked him not to renounce again, he, moved, agreed, but demanded from those present the obligation to “contain the gospel dogmas and observe the rules of the holy apostles and the laws of pious kings.” “If you promise to obey me,” Nikon asked, “as your chief archpastor and father in everything that I will proclaim to you about the dogmas of God and the rules, then, at your request, I will no longer renounce the great bishopric.” The tsar, the boyars and the consecrated cathedral made a vow before the holy Gospel and miraculous icons to fulfill what Nikon had proposed, after which he took the place of the patriarch of all Rus'.
“A close friendship united Nikon with the tsar. They prayed together, talked about business, sat down to eat. The patriarch was the recipient of the royal children. Not a single state matter was decided without the participation of Nikon. The great mind of the latter is imprinted on the happy years of the reign of Alexei, ”writes church researcher N. D. Talberg, comprehending the role of the patriarch in Russian life of that time from the height of the 20th century.
The sovereign merits of the primate are great and undoubted. He played almost a decisive role in the annexation of Little Russia, blessed the tsar for a war with Poland for the sake of the reunification of Russian lands. Going on a campaign in 1654, Alexei left Nikon as the ruler of the state, despite the obvious discontent of the well-born boyars. Upon his return from the war, met by the patriarch in Vyazma, the tsar, out of joy at the meeting, awarded Nikon with the title of "great sovereign."
The “father and pilgrimage” of the tsar, “the great sovereign, His Holiness Nikon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia” became the brightest and most authoritative exponent of the Russian view of the “symphony of authorities” - the fundamental idea of ​​​​Orthodox statehood, affirming the understanding of spiritual and secular power as independent religious services, church obediences, called by mutual harmonious efforts to govern the “people of God” in good manners and peace, necessary for the salvation of the soul. In the preface to the Missal, published in August 1655 with his blessing, it is said that the Lord gave Russia "two great gifts" - a pious and Christ-loving great sovereign-tsar and His Holiness the Patriarch.
“This God-chosen and God-wise pair,” as follows from the text, is the basis of the well-being and prosperity of Rus'. “May (the Lord) give them, sovereign, according to the prophet (that is, according to the prophetic words of the Holy Scripture. - Approx. Aut.), the desire of their hearts ... may all who live under their power rejoice ... as if under a single by their state command, all the Orthodox people living everywhere, with consoling songs glorify our true God who raised them up, ”the conclusion says. It was the violation of this mutual combination of powers, which was the result of a number of reasons of a political, religious and personal nature, that formed the basis of the ensuing drama (and, in the longer term, led to the horrors of Soviet theomachism after the October Revolution).
Nikon was stern and strict - equally to himself and the tsar - where it came to the spiritual health of society, the authority of the Church and its ability to beneficially influence the state institutions of Russia. “The patriarchal archers constantly bypass the city,” wrote Pavel of Aleppo, “and as soon as they meet a drunken priest and monk, they immediately take him to prison and subject him to all kinds of reproach ... Those noticed in drunkenness or negligent performance of pastoral duties are exiled to Siberian monasteries.”
The sovereign's people also trembled before Nikon. His exactingness and inflexibility seemed insulting to the proud boyars. “Sometimes there was no such dishonor, so that now the sovereign would betray us to the metropolitans,” the disgruntled dignitaries grumbled. “What should they have felt when Nikon became the second“ great sovereign ”, began to give his orders and decrees, forced them to stand in front of him and listen to his will with humility, publicly denounced them for this or that, not sparing their name and honor ? Could they not use all their efforts to overthrow Nikon? - says Macarius, Met. Moskovsky, author of an extensive work on the history of the Church.
In 1658, the tsar filed a complaint against Nikon. A plausible pretext for her was the accusation of the patriarch of unacceptable innovations, and the real goal was to shake his position, to “drive a wedge” between the sovereign and the primate. The patriarch surrounded himself with inaccessible grandeur, “he loved to stand high, to ride widely,” the complainants complain. This accusation - of encroaching on the rights and integrity of the tsar's power - became a powerful tool with which Nikon's ill-wishers consistently and patiently destroyed his friendship with the tsar.
In fact, the magnificence and splendor of the patriarchal court had nothing to do with the ambitious aspirations of which the most holy one was stubbornly accused. They by no means extended to his personal life, which was still distinguished by severe austerity. The greatness of the Church and its paramount role in Russian life - that's what, according to Nikon's plan, his solemn, majestic services should have marked.
“We were amazed at the amazing regularity and order of all these ceremonies and sacred rites,” foreign witnesses write. “Despite the fact that we felt a strong cold and great fatigue due to a long standing without movement, we forgot about it from spiritual admiration, contemplating such a triumph of Orthodoxy.”
Suspicion and slander of some, wounded pride and indefatigable vanity of others, cowardice and foolishness of others did their job. Gradually, relations between Alexei Mikhailovich and the patriarch began to cool, and this cooling inevitably manifested itself in business. The tsar canceled some orders of the patriarch, began to appoint priests and abbots without the consent of Nikon. Finally, in the summer of 1658, an open break occurred.
“The Royal Majesty is angry with you,” Prince Yuri Romodanovsky, the Tsar’s envoy, announced to His Holiness. “You neglected the Royal Majesty and write as a great sovereign, and we have one Great Sovereign - the king.”
The outward appearance of the accusations should not be given too much importance, but their real meaning is undeniable. The boyars, who in this case managed to involve the tsar in their plans, declared their intention to significantly increase the influence of the state in church life, while at the same time reducing the influence of the Church on secular power.
Nikon well understood the perniciousness of such claims. At the same time, he was clearly aware that open internecine strife, "strong" resistance to the royal will on the part of the spiritual authorities could cause another turmoil in Russia, the results of which would be a tragedy for all of Rus', undermining the centuries-old roots that nourish the religious foundation of Russian life. After lengthy prayerful reflections, he chose the only possible path for himself: not to obey illegal claims, not to enter into open confrontation; pointing to the intolerance of the situation, counting on sobering and repentance on the part of the secular authorities, to leave the chair of the Moscow primate and retire to the Resurrection Monastery "New Jerusalem" near Moscow.
Rejecting the advice of his fellow boyars to “cease from such boldness and not to anger the great sovereign,” the patriarch on the morning of July 10, after celebrating the liturgy and pronouncing the prescribed teaching from the conversations of John Chrysostom, announced aloud that he was leaving the patriarchal cathedra, put a patriarchal to the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God staff and wrote a letter to the king in the sacristy.
The embarrassed tsar wanted to reassure Nikon, but their reconciliation was in no way included in the plans of the boyar elite. Sent by Alexei Prince. Trubetskoy had no disposition to reconcile the patriarch with the tsar, and instead of soothing speeches, he brought down a hail of reproaches on the primate. Nikon accused the envoy of unworthy intrigues, changed his clothes and set off on foot from the Kremlin to the Iberian Compound. The people simply wept and held the doors of the temple, trying to prevent the departure of the archpastor. From the courtyard, the patriarch left for the Resurrection Monastery, from where he sent a blessing to manage the affairs of the church Metr. Pitirim Krutitsky, leaving behind three monasteries, especially close and dear to his heart. He wrote a warm, touching letter to the Tsar, in which he humbly asked for Christian forgiveness for his imminent departure.
There were cases in Rus' earlier of leaving the throne by hierarchs, but such a public departure (and retaining the patriarchal title without managing affairs) did not happen. Nikon became, as it were, a living reproach for those who set the tsar against the primate.
In his monasteries, the patriarch arranged a life exemplary and deanery. He ordered all wanderers and pilgrims to be fed and watered for three days free of charge, he accepted them as monks free of charge, giving everyone a dress at the expense of the monastery. On holidays, he always ate with the brethren and personally washed the feet of all pilgrims and visiting travelers.
However, the former friendship with the sovereign made itself felt from time to time, frightening the boyars with the possibility of Nikon's return. The tsar approved the leaving behind him of three requested monasteries with estates, inquired about his health, during the raid of the Crimean Khan - he took care of safety. Notifying the patriarch with a letter about the illness of the boyar Morozov (brother-in-law and former educator), along the way he asked to forgive him if there was any “vexation” from him. Nikon replied with a heartfelt letter - it seemed that relations were getting better again.
But this hope was not destined to come true. Intrigues and slander brought their bitter fruits - with a few mutual harshnesses, the patriarch and the tsar cut off the thin thread of the resurgent unanimity completely. In 1662, as the last argument, Nikon wrote "The Ruin" - an extensive work, numbering more than 900 pages of text, to refute the opinions of his opponents and in defense of his position.
Time passed, and the position of the Russian Church, deprived of legal government, became unbearable. Finally, in 1666, Russian pastors gathered in Moscow for the Council, and Patriarch Paisius of Alexandria and Macarius of Antioch, specially invited on this occasion by the Tsar, arrived, having authority from the rest of the Orthodox patriarchs to decide the fate of Nikon.
The decision of the cathedral court was: to deprive Nikon of the patriarchate and priesthood, to exile him to the Ferapont Monastery. “From now on you will not be a patriarch, and you will not act sacred, but you will be like a simple monk,” the judges solemnly announced to Nikon. However, the people loved him, despite the intrigues of the boyars and the rulings of the court, so that, removing the former patriarch from Moscow, fearing unrest, he was surrounded by numerous guards, and the Muscovites were addressed with a lengthy manifesto listing the “guilts” of the deposed primate.
The king did not hold evil on Nikon. According to his will, the position of a prisoner in the monastery was not burdensome: he was allowed to have his own church, services in which were performed by priestly monks of patriarchal ordination, who voluntarily followed him into captivity.
In the monastery, Nikon was revered more and more. Loving ascetic labors, he cleared forest areas, developed a field for sowing grain and oats. Crowds of people flocked to him for a blessing. Alexei Mikhailovich sent gifts to the disgraced monk, they exchanged letters of commendation. Nikon rejoiced at the second marriage of the tsar, who married Natalia Kirillovna Naryshkina, and the birth of Tsarevich Peter. “From my spiritual father, the great lord of the most holy Nikon, hierarch and blessed shepherd - if he is not on the throne now, God willed it so - forgiveness and permission,” the tsar wrote in his will.
Upon learning of the death of the monarch, Nikon shed tears and said: “The will of the Lord be done. Imitating my teacher Christ, who commanded to forgive the sins of others, I say: God forgive the deceased.”
With the accession of Feodor Alekseevich, Nikon's position worsened. His well-wisher boyar Artamon Matveev was removed from Moscow, the Naryshkins who favored him lost their importance. The Miloslavskys and Khitrovo, the enemies of the exiled archpastor, were of paramount importance at the court. He was transferred to the Kirill-Belozersky Dormition Monastery, where Nikon faced “the last period of trials, from which he emerged like gold tempted in the furnace” (M.V. Tolstoy). Suffering from intoxication in smoky cells, losing the remnants of his health, the elder almost died from "inexpressible languor", thinking only about eternity, leaving worldly cares and worldly fuss.
The wise aunt of the tsar, Princess Tatyana Mikhailovna, who always treated Nikon with great love, persuaded the new sovereign to raise the question of allowing the elder to return to the Resurrection Monastery, whose brethren filed a petition with a plea for the fate of the exiled primate. Patr. Joachim did not agree for a long time, but the news of Nikon's acceptance of the schema and his deplorable bodily condition decided the matter: a blessing for the return was given.
Nikon foresaw the day of his liberation in advance by secret gracious foreboding. To everyone's amazement, he suddenly ordered his cell brethren to gather and gave the order to prepare for the journey. This path, which became his last earthly journey, served at the same time as the path of his spiritual triumph. Inhabitants of the surrounding monasteries came out to meet the elder, and the local residents who flocked reverently asked for the archpastoral blessing. But his strength was already finally leaving him, and on August 17, 1681, in the monastery of the All-Merciful Savior, Nikon rested peacefully in the circle of his faithful companions and spiritual children.
Tsar Theodore, not yet knowing about Nikon's death, sent his carriage to meet him. Having learned about what had happened and having read the will of the deceased, in which the saint appointed him his executor, he said with tenderness: “If so, the most holy Patriarch Nikon placed all hope on me, the will of the Lord be done, and I will not put him in oblivion.” Participating in the burial, the sovereign himself carried the coffin with the body of the deceased on his shoulders, and then, shortly before his own death, he asked the deceased for permission from the four patriarchs, restoring Nikon to patriarchal dignity and recognizing his ecclesiastical merits ...
Historians often complain that Nikon's behavior in a dispute with state power was politically ill-conceived, contradictory and inconsistent. Unable to explain this in an intelligent and strong-willed patriarch, they invented a fairy tale about his “willfulness” and “hard character”. There are no words, every person has his own weaknesses, and Nikon was no exception, but all his activities, nevertheless, were strictly consistent and clearly understood - to see this, you just need to look at it from a church point of view.
Nikon fully reflected the self-consciousness of the Russian Church, the self-consciousness of spiritual power, firmly understanding its highest calling and greatest responsibility; rejecting the possibility of any concessions and indulgences in the holy area of ​​her pastoral care; carefully guarding the Divine authority of the hierarchy and ready to confessively defend it in the face of any temptations and sorrows.
The “inconsistency” and “inconsistency” of the patriarch’s behavior, an example of which is usually seen in his “inexplicable”, “ill-conceived” decision to leave the cathedra (which strengthened the positions of the enemies, “without a fight” weakening the influence of the primate himself), is actually rooted in depths of the Orthodox worldview. Nikon perfectly understood all the twists and turns of political intrigues. But, understanding the providence of what is happening, remembering the saying of Holy Scripture that “the heart of the king is in the hand of God,” the primate from a certain moment stepped aside from the court struggle, placing his personal fate and the future of the Fatherland and the Church entirely at the discretion of God.
Metropolitan John (Snychev)

Church history has left us the names of many saints who proved by their faith devotion to God, boundless love for Him and for all people. At the same time, it was not always possible to describe all the exploits of these people, who often performed them in secret. If anything was discovered from their secret labors, then by the will of God, who deigned to reveal their life for the edification of others, for our salvation. That is why the memory of the holy saints of God has long been kept and is kept in the minds of the people.
Especially significant for Russia was the age of the Renaissance, which not only shone with the names of St. Sergius of Radonezh, Saints Peter, Theognost, Alexy, but also contributed to the flowering of a new feat in Russia - the foolishness of Christ for the sake of, before that, little widespread. It is known that the first ascetic in Rus' of this kind, for the sake of the holy fool, was the Kiev-Pechersk monk Isaac (11th century), tonsured by St. Anthony. The forerunners of foolishness were first Procopius of Ustyug in the 13th century, and then Blessed. Nikolai Kochanov in the 14th century, after which literally a host of blessed began to appear in all parts of Rus'.
What was the sign of this time?
From the economic and political side, Rus' was divided and only gathered forces to overthrow the Tatar yoke. In addition, the 14th century is the century of the black plague, which exterminated a third of the population of Europe. But, as hegumen John Economtsev notes, it was precisely this crisis that sharply raised the importance of the human factor. More and more people began to think about the meaning of life. The content of the South Slavic and Russian libraries shows that the works of the hesychasts of spiritual and ascetic content aroused the greatest interest in the Slavic countries. The hesychast trend permeated all aspects of Russian spiritual and cultural life and largely determined the flourishing of Russian monasticism.
At that time, the teaching of Gregory Palamas about the Holy Trinity, about the nature of a person who, unlike his misanthrope, the devil, was able to create, imitating our Lord Jesus Christ Himself both in words and deeds, was very widespread at that time. The teachings of the holy Church quickly spread throughout all the great cities of holy Rus', in particular Moscow, Veliky Novgorod, Suzdal, and found a lively response in the hearts of believers.
So, Novgorod in the 14th century alone gathered under its roof many saints: the Monks Nikita, Cyril, Nikifor, Clement, Isaac, the Alfanov brothers, who founded the Sokolnitsky monastery and built in 1389 a wooden church of St. Nikola; Saint Basil, ordained Archbishop of Novgorod by the Holy Metropolitan Theognost; teacher Leonty Karikhovsky, who founded a monastery near Novgorod; teacher Lazar of Murmansk, who lived for several years with St. Basil, and then went to the Murmansk island of Much, which belonged to a Novgorod posadnik; St. Moses of Novgorod, who accepted the flock of Novgorod after St. Vasily; teacher Pachomius of Nerekhta, appointed by St. Alexis the head of the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir. The holy names could not be completely exhausted, but each of them was spiritually connected with each other. More than once one saint came to another to enjoy a spiritual conversation and offer up a prayer for scattered Rus' to God, to strike the Tatar yoke with a spiritual sword and plant faith in the hearts of people. Many came on foot to enjoy a spiritual conversation with St. Sergius of Radonezh.
Blessed Nikolai Kochanov was also born in Novgorod into the same rich, noble family of Maxim and Juliana. It is not known in honor of which saint he received his name: whether the martyr of Sebaste, schemamonk Nicholas, or Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. One can only say for sure that in Novgorod St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Martyrs of Sebastia, in whose honor even temples were built. Pious parents baptized the baby early, went to church with him, did generous alms, and soon their son's special love for God was revealed. The Tale of Blessed Nicholas says: “Beginning childhood, I commanded to keep faith in God, and God’s grace appeared on him: a prayer to God came out of his mouth, as if incense was incense, and loving cleanliness, and fasting, and kneeling. In such a virtue he dwells, the beginning of his nobles and people of goodness and glory. This one, not even glory from a man and desiring the heir to be the kingdom of heaven, began to act as a fool for the Lord for the sake of", "creating furious and buoy", "walking through the haystacks, acting obscenely, always having prayer in his mouth to God."
To understand this avoidance of worldly glory, it is necessary to remember the life of the Blessed Ones. Procopius of Ustyug, who found himself in a similar situation when his faith began to shine like the sun.
It is known that Procopius, being a wealthy German merchant, arrived in Novgorod. What struck him? The glory and power of the city, the many churches that shone in all the pyatinas of Novgorod, i.e. throughout Novgorod. Piety distinguished many Novgorodians, but constant strife, disagreements between princes, Tatar raids contributed to the fact that the city authorities did everything to survive, even breaking the law. The people, though accustomed to endure violence, but also tried to establish their right to a quiet and serene life, seeking relief in useless complaints. But, alas, the judgment of this world was by no means unjust. Saved by faith.
People very quickly singled out those who were distinguished by special piety, sought to communicate with them, find consolation and peace, which was so lacking in life. The fame of a pious man spread very quickly even in the surrounding cities. And so Procopius, in order to avoid the nets of the devil from glorious bonds, hastened to retire to Ustyug and hide under the shelter of foolishness, and a century later blessed Nicholas repeated his path, but he, imitating blessed Andrew, remained foolish in the city in which he lived. Despite the fact that Nikola's parents had rich property, vast fields, supported trade affairs, he also despised everything for the sake of Christ, dressed in rags and wandered around the city at any time of the year, enduring cold and poverty, with secret prayer in his heart.
How heavy is the glory of man and how light is the glory of God, for through the contempt of one glory, Nikola, the man of God, acquired another, eternal, having taken upon himself, not without God's blessing, the feat of foolishness. He probably thought: “How terrible it is to become proud of constant praise in what I really do not have myself! For I am powerless and nothing good can come from me. The grace that people notice on me is in fact given to everyone as a gift, with divine and holy baptism. If I continue to draw attention to myself, will I not lose Grace and stay with my weak human powers? No! I’d rather live in such a way that I constantly recognize my weakness and the more strongly cling to the Grace of God.
Through various deeds, the saints, on the one hand, recognized their weakness and acquired a sense of their own impotence. And, on the other hand, they entrusted themselves to God, having unceasing love and an ardent desire for the grace of Christ to act in them unceasingly. Just this ardent love for people was acquired by Christ for the sake of the holy fool Nicholas, who worried with his soul for every person who stopped paying attention to unfair accusations, spitting and beatings, considering himself worthy of them. On the other hand, with all his being he sought to help a person. For this, the most humble way was chosen - to take on someone else's yoke of sin and appear with it in the face of the true owner. The absurd actions seemed so only at first glance. The blessed one denounced the Novgorodians either by his imitative behavior, or by his meekness in response to reproach and humiliation, or by his strength of faith, blurring the boundaries between the natural and the unnatural. Many began to look closely at this eccentric freak, or in other words - the fool, to extract meaning from his behavior for themselves personally. But to influence one or another person turned out to be small for the saint. He denounced the people, and the veche, and the princes. Only it was necessary to take a closer look, listen - and then the power of prayer removed the stones from the dead souls and opened the gaze to the clear sky, where civil strife never happens; turn their hearts to God.
This hard mental and physical labor of the blessed can be explained precisely by the teaching of St. Gregory Palamas about what is natural and spontaneous for God, requires the highest tension of spiritual and physical strength in a person. It is a sacrifice, an ascent to Calvary. And a person is not able independently, without the help of God, to climb it, to accomplish his creative feat. On the feat of foolishness there should have been a special blessing from God.
Without a doubt, blessed Nicholas saw the finger of God for this feat, as did the holy fool Andrew of Tsaregradsky, whom he revered for Christ for the sake of. No wonder the service of rights. Nicholas, as noted in the Polish Menaia of 1646, is the same as that of Andrey the holy fool. It is noted that only in 1831 did the press service, completely different from the service of blzh. Andrew, was issued by the Holy Synod to the Nikolo-Kochanovskaya Church. It was significantly changed from the previous one, but this service is absent in our Menaion.
What similarity do these blessed saints of God have? First, they are the soldiers of Christ. After all, the life of a Christian, especially a saint, is a battlefield. Blessed Andrew, at the beginning of his path to holiness, saw a vision that opened the way for him to a new life - a holy fool. He saw a "disgrace" in which the Belarusians - holy people who pleased God, cannot resist the black-born "Ethiopians", i.e. demons. The Ethiopian, who came out from the side of the demons of enormous growth, frightened the Belarusians: no one wanted to fight him. Not wanting does not mean not being able. But the Lord blesses those who, at the present moment in the development of society, can fight it most easily, and most importantly, with great edification for the people around them. This is the meaning of various feats, paths of holiness. God shows how easy it is to reject the vanity of the world, thus opening the way to your salvation. On the other hand, society itself creates the conditions for this or that feat of holiness to flourish. It becomes, as it were, the most susceptible to this or that influence on their consciousness in the sphere of human existence. There was a time when our people especially gravitated towards wanderers, moving from house to house and telling about miracles, the lives of saints. For some time there was a flourishing of monasticism, foolishness, and so on in Russia. In a word, society itself gave birth to those people who, knowing all its pitfalls, could best show at this historical moment how to avoid them.
The vision of the blissful Andrew is a vivid proof that God blesses from now on the little-known path of foolishness for Christ's sake. The blessed one agreed to walk on it himself. But before embarking on this path of struggle with the black Ethiopian, he asked the young man to teach him "klok", i.e. wrestling tricks. The young man revealed the main secret of demons: the formidable and fearful Ethiopian "rotted out and was weak." In addition, the young man said that in the fight everything must be done so that the Ethiopian falls: “shut him down and see the glory of God.” In other words, Andrei was offered to overturn the demon with a bandwagon in the struggle. And so it happened. The demon fell, hitting his forehead against a stone. The time has come for the Belarusians to rejoice, and the blacks parted with great shame, ridiculed.
A.L. Yurganov explains it this way. The trip to the demon is an allegory of foolishness. The demon must be lured, its vigilance lulled, and then ridiculed - this is the essence of victory. Blessed Nicholas, like Blessed Andrew, laughed at the devil and at all the charms of the world that are in his power, in order to expose the futility of his efforts to finally destroy humanity and give impetus to the development of a new feat in Russia. And the first follower of the blessed one, even during his lifetime, was the bliss. Theodore. It is said that "St. Theodore began the foolishness, jealous of Christ for the sake of the holy fools Andrei, Simeon, and especially the blessed Nicholas, who at the same time was foolishness in Veliky Novgorod. Until the end of life, Nicholas, he was a faithful assistant to him in exposing various disorders in Novgorod. Imaginary enemies invariably pointed to the path of salvation, looking not at the faces, but at the souls of people.
What were the "sticks" of the blessed in the duel with the evil one? Demons believe that people who beat saints are worthy of condemnation, which means that their posthumous fate is also determined. Demons have no doubt that condemnation is inevitable! The “trip” to them lies in the fact that, for the sake of Christ, the holy fools beg God not to punish sinners. The obvious becomes non-obvious, the expected becomes unexpected for that force that longs for the fall, and not for the salvation of man. This is where a real miracle occurs: by the power of God, the flames of fire destroy the sins of people who do not know what they are doing. In the saints, that power of humility is manifested, which leads to ridicule of the demonic confidence that no one is able to forgive insults and violence. For the pride of the devil, this is an axiom.
Thus, the holy fool "swears at the world and everything", causing "fire on himself." People beat him like a "rude". The demons rejoice every time that these people die. And every time they are wrong, because the saint asks God not to punish them. Demons do not receive their victims. They are ridiculed, and the more they want to harm the saint, to test him, like the long-suffering Job. God allows this to happen in order to help a person be cleansed of sins and glorify the Lord with victory with even greater power. Blessed life. Nicholas on the streets of the city is a true confirmation of this: “being outside his father’s house, he had nothing of his own, but ate what reverent people gave him”; “They say that there is a word inappropriate, both very instructive and useful for some upcoming ones: sometimes appearing strange movements, both giving temptation to a single one, more than admonishing many, appearing sometimes earthly persecuting, in the mind without having the help of the poor and beggars, - of them many save from great need and sin: for yourself, always without desiring in your heart the exactness of heaven and God ”; “Most of all, I love being in the temples of God and with all my heart praying to God in them.”
Unfortunately, it is not known exactly what event prompted the young man to the feat of foolishness, but some events, no doubt, were reflected in the life of St. Nicholas.
In 1352 the people of Novgorod had to experience a terrible ordeal. An epidemic of the plague spread rapidly in many countries. In Pskov, 1/3 of the population survived, in Novgorod - 2/3. Many were buried outside the city, in the forests, because there was no longer enough space in the cemeteries. Fearing infection, people did not want to bury even their loved ones. Some went to the monastery, others distributed their property, preparing for eternity. What did the saints do? Archbishop Vasily hurries to Pskov, where the epidemic has spread the most, makes religious processions and, finally, falls ill himself. Of course, when a terrible plague visits Novgorod, St. Nicholas, also not afraid of death, shows an example of love for people, both living and dead, constantly praying for the people and helping those in need. Soon the disaster ended, and the memory of death only brought the blessed one closer to an even greater feat of humility. Subsequently, he will say: “Do not bury me in the middle of the cemetery, but from the very edge, so that my mortal body is trampled underfoot, for I am worthy.” But the hour of the saint's death has not yet come. I also had to pray for the order of church affairs.
In the period from 1353 to 1359 Novgorod was ruled by John II Ioannovich, who took monastic vows before his death. At this time, Patriarch Philotheus, instead of one legitimate metropolitan for Russia, installed two at once in Constantinople: St. Alexy and Roman. The clergy did not know whom to obey, and the indefatigable spirit of the saint continued to look for a way to appeasement in contradictory situations. His prayer to the Heavenly Father was heard. The Patriarch appointed the Metropolitan of Kyiv and Vladimir St. Alexy, and the Metropolitan of Lithuania and Volyn - Roman.
But the problems of the Novgorodians did not end there either. Even in the time of Metropolitan Alexy, the heresy of the Strigolniks was discovered, named so on behalf of Karp Strigolnik, who claimed that Russian priests, being supplied for money, are predators of this important rank and that true Christians should move away from them. Many people, thinking in accordance with him, stopped going to church, while the people, embittered by their impudent speeches, drowned in the Volkhov the three main culprits of the schism, Karp and deacon Nikita and his comrades. But, as the holy saints did not warn, excessive severity did not diminish, but multiplied the heretics. Finally, the prayers of the saints of Novgorod were answered. Archbishop Alexy of Novgorod wrote about the turmoil to Patriarch Nil, who authorized Dionysius, who later became metropolitan, to eradicate evil by means of prudent persuasion, which he did, proving to the Novgorodians that the payment determined by law is not extortion.
The more blessed Nicholas gained divine wisdom, the more the gift of clairvoyance was revealed in him. By virtue of the grace bestowed upon him, he received a special sight - to see what no one else can see - and a special gift - to help those who no longer know where to get help from.
The feat of St. Nicholas is also great because he did it without hiding himself from all those who knew him from childhood. It was a complete transformation of a man who left everything for the sake of Christ. Such a person, in the context of modern culture and the rating system, looked like a hooligan running around the city in shabby clothes, without shoes and carrying some kind of nonsense, full of deep meaning, causing criticism and ridicule. But external cruelty was suddenly replaced by a childish innocent smile, and then one could observe how the saint of God asked for alms and distributed them, was persecuted, how stones were thrown at him, but he did not respond to any attacks. Two lives were united in one: one - for the sake of our own humility and love for God, who endured even greater suffering for us; the second - for the sake of saving a neighbor who had to pay attention to a similar act, compare it with his own and repent.
In this, Nicholas was assisted by another blessed one, Theodore, who early noticed the feat of the holy foolishness of the saint and wished to imitate him in everything. But Nikolai Kochanov labored on the Sofia side of Novgorod, and Theodore on the Trade side. Both saints pretended to hate each other, and were constantly in an imaginary struggle. When Blessed Nicholas came to the Merchant side, Theodore ran after him and drove him to half of the Volkhov bridge, saying: "Do not go to my side, live on yours."
Nicholas did the same when he noticed Theodore on the Sofia side. One incident gave rise to perpetuate these mutual relations in the nickname of Blessed Nicholas "Kochanov". Some boyar, a resident of the Sofia side, turned to the blessed Theodore with a request to visit his house. Theodore at first refused to go across the river, citing the hostility of Blessed Nicholas towards him. “I will never go where the evil Nikola lives, he will kill me for this,” he said, but then yielded to the increased requests and went along with the one who invited him. At this time, blessed Nicholas was fooling around in the streets. Hearing about the arrival of his opponent on the Sofia side, he quickly found Theodore and began to beat him with a whip taken from a horseman passing by, saying: “Why did you, Theodore, come to our side, or do you want to steal something from us?”
Hiding from Nicholas, blessed Theodore ran through the streets, then through the gardens and, finally, along the Volkhov River, walking on water as if on dry land. Nikolai continued the pursuit to half the river and from here threw a head of cabbage torn out in the garden before at the hiding fugitive. Seeing that Theodore took the head of cabbage with him, he stood for a long time and shouted after him: "Theodore, give back the head of cabbage - it is mine, not yours."
It is interesting that the Volkhov River for the second time in the entire history of Novgorod became like dry land for the saints, along which it was possible to safely escape from evil oppressors. So in the Novgorod chronicle of the 12th century, a case is described when, after the Novgorod citizens wanted to send St. John out, the archbishop. Novgorodsky, on a raft downstream, an incredible thing happened. The raft, contrary to expectation, swam against the current directly to the St. George's Monastery, located three miles from Novgorod. Seeing this, the people repented, and the saint granted forgiveness to everyone. Upon his death, Archbishop John was placed in the vestibule of the St. Sophia Church. Of course, Nikolai Kochanov repeatedly went to the St. Sophia Church and asked for the intercession of St. John. With an imaginary enmity with the blessed Theodore, he pointed to the endless troubles that took place in Novgorod and were associated with the Volkhov bridge - a place of reprisal, opposition of the opinions of people who lived on both sides of the city.
The fact is that the Volkhov River was, as it were, the border between two enemy camps. Disagreement in the affairs of internal government, based on the decrees of the council or on the general will of the citizens, gave rise to frequent rebellions, which are the main evil of freedom, always restless and always kind to the people. Half of the inhabitants rebelled against the other, swords and spears flashed more than once on both banks of the Volkhov. But through the prayers of the saints of God, the threats did not lead to bloodshed, but ended in a fraternal agreement. Bishops usually hurried here to prevent or stop the battle (“Stories from the History of the Russian Church” by Count Tolstoy, “The History of the Russian State” by N.M. Karamzin). And about walking on the waters of the blessed, it is mentioned that this happened more than once, which corresponds to the facts of the constant civil strife of the Novgorod freemen, who even because of trifles came to plundering property and setting fire to houses.
The duty of the holy fools, in addition to prayer and fasting, was to “swear at the world”, i.e. live in the world, among people, exposing the vices and sins of the strong and the weak, not paying attention to social decency. The shabby clothes in which the blessed ones dressed, taking off even their shoes, were in themselves “ruga”, i.e. reproach, and for enduring ridicule (rug), God gave them light robes invisible to people. So, visible clothes blzh. Nicholas humbled himself, becoming a personal enemy of the devil, who is intolerant of seeing this property in people. With invisible clothes, he mocked the deceiver with the fact of his autocratic humility before the Lord. By this, the holy fool, as it were, reminded the devil of his shameful fall due to the pride that arose in the soul of the angel and the desire to become higher than God. Moreover, faith and hope in God St. Nicholas Kochanov were so great that even his pious parents became both martyrs, patiently accepting everything that was said about their son, and righteous, often praying, fasting and giving generous alms to people. It is known that the righteous Juliana reposed in 1384 and is revered as a saint of God, whose memory is celebrated on December 21. In the chapel built on the site of her burial, general memorial services were performed over her coffin every year.
Meanwhile, the foolish son has already been vouchsafed such indescribable communion with God in the sanctuary of the Spirit, that with a frank face of the soul he looked at the heavenly Bridegroom face to face. In a spiritual and inexpressible light, he entered in union with Him, having received the rich grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit. Now it was not he himself who was looking for someone in need of spiritual help, but he was searched for and brought to the house in necessary cases. Some, even bowing to the ground, asked St. Nicholas to visit their homes in order to “instruct them on the path of salvation, admonishing sinners with tears to repentance”, and thus “twist your hearts with tenderness, I cease from sins, and I will correct my life with true repentance.”
Of the miracles with which God glorified His chosen one during his lifetime, only the following is recorded.
There lived a rich mayor in Novgorod. Once he arranged a feast, to which he called many eminent men of the city. Before the feast, this nobleman met on the street of St. Nicholas. Deeply respecting the blessed one for his holy life, he bowed to him to the ground and said: “Servant of Christ! make love: come to me now to eat my bread.” To this invitation the blessed one replied: “As God pleases, so be it,” and after a little time he came to the nobleman’s house. But at that time the posadnik left somewhere, and the servants, without the knowledge of the owner, drove away the stranger they knew, not missing the opportunity to mock him: some pushed him, others beat him, others mocked him and spoke indecent words. The blessed one meekly endured all these insults and, expelled from the boyar house, "jumped" through the streets of the city, as he usually did. But then the posadnik returned, and the invited guests gathered for the feast. It's time for a meal. At the order of the owner to serve wine, mead and other drinks, the servants went after them, but with amazement they saw that the wine from the barrels had disappeared. In fear, the servants informed the master that the full barrels were empty. The nobleman, not believing, went down to the cellar himself, and seeing confirmation of what was said, he already ordered to send for drinks to the Varangian court, but then he remembered the blessed one: “Did the holy fool Nikolai Kochanov come here? I called him a lot." “Yes, he was,” they answered, “but some of your ignorant servants did him many insults, and he, without saying a word, left the house.” The good master, realizing the sin of his servants, immediately sent the best of them to look for the blessed throughout the city. “If you find him, call him with all humility, so that he will show his mercy to me, a sinner,” said the master. With great difficulty, the messengers found the holy fool and, bowing to the ground, said: “Servant of Christ! the servants of our master offended you, forgive their sin and show mercy to our master: visit his house. The blessed one answered: "As God pleases, so be it." The gentle blessed one went with them to the nobleman's house. Informed about this, the owner gladly met Nicholas on the porch (“on the shoot”), bowed to him to the ground, seated him together with distinguished guests and turned to him: “Blessed Nicholas! forgive me the sin of my servants and bless me to bring drink. “Let it be as you wish,” answered the blessed one. Then the master bowed again and went with the servants to the barrels, to the cellar. The barrels turned out to be full, as they were before, and, moreover, with drinks incomparably better than before. The blessed one, seeing the grace of God that appeared in the boyar’s house with his arrival, and not wanting human glory, said to the boyar: “Do not tell anyone about the grace sent to you until God takes me away from here,” and secretly left the house.
In the spring of 1382, the appearance of comets foreshadowed the pious people about the formidable Tokhtamyshev invasion, but only the unshakable faith of all the saints who shone in the Russian land left an inimitable trace of love among the people - hope in God. Only in 1392 did the first blzh. Theodore, then Nikolai Kochanov (apparently in old age), and after him, literally a few months later, Rev. Sergius of Radonezh, but the torch of their love was picked up by other saints, who, like them, had the fear of God and remembered repentance, raising a person to God.
In the Tale of Bl. Nicholas there is such a mention: “God, observing him, like the apple of his eye, according to many times, took him into the Heavenly Kingdom of His saints” (Life and Miracles of Blessed Nicholas Kochanov; About the Russian Saints Count Tolstoy and Holy Rus'). It's amazing that St. Nicholas, although he died after his mother, who preceded his death by less than 9 years, did not want to rest next to her, near the Jacob Cathedral, but bequeathed to be buried near the road.
The body of the Nicholas was buried according to the will of the saint on the edge of the cemetery. But it did not fall into oblivion. Every year the saint was commemorated on July 27 (August 9), the day of his death. The death of a righteous person never alienates him from people, but brings him even closer to them thanks to the Truth that proclaimed eternal love for God and people as a faithful companion of a person. It is this love that purifies and revives the conscience of everyone and gives strength to do good deeds.
In the spring of 1554, over the coffin of blzh. Nicholas, a stone church was laid in the name of St. Great Martyr Panteleimon, but among the people it was called the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker Kochanov. Subsequently, on Yakovl Street, the Nikolo-Kochanovskaya Church was consecrated, in which his relics rest under a bushel. In addition to the plentiful donations of numerous benefactors for the reconstruction and decoration of the temple, the ancient touching church rite, preserved in the handwritten service charter of the St. Sophia Cathedral, was celebrated in Novgorod on Cheese Week on Thursday. The bishop, having performed the well-known rite or prayer to the Last Judgment in a week, the whole next week had to travel to the monasteries and churches designated in the charter, pray in them, preparing for St. Fortecost, to speak sermons and say goodbye to the people. Moreover, in addition to the city and surrounding monasteries, former city cathedrals, the charter indicates the only parish church - Nikolo-Kochanovskaya: “And on the same day (meat-empty quarter) the saint goes to St. Nikola Kochanov to the church to say goodbye.
In 1611, during their attack on Novgorod, the Swedes destroyed, among others, the Nikolo-Kochanovsky temple. Only seven years later it was restored by the support of benefactors and the Sofia or spiritual treasury. It is known that in the same century, on the day of memory of Blessed Nicholas, the bishop himself served him, and the Nikolo-Belsky abbot with the cathedral priest and deacon sent vespers and prayers. In 1772, a new gilded iconostasis was built in the Nikolo-Kochanovskaya church, and the following year it was expanded with an addition to it with a meal and a new chapel in the name of St. Dimitri Rostovsky. In 1815, over the relics of the blessed. Nicholas, a new carved gilded tomb with columns and a canopy was arranged.
July 27, 1831, i.e. on the day of the memory of the blessed, the third son is born to Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich. The sovereign, in commemoration of the special favor to the citizens of Novgorod, named his son after the patron of Novgorod, Nikolai Kochanov. After all, the saint of God, even after his death, remained an indefatigable prayer book for his people, thanks to which, according to the Highest Rescript, the Novgorodians remained “worthy sons of the fatherland” amid public disasters from cholera and unrest from outraged surrounding military settlements, as in former times. Since that time, abundant royal bounty poured on the Nikolo-Kochanovskaya church. Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich himself, and later his August son, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolayevich, donated the necessary money and things, so that in 1832 a silver riza was made for the image of the saint of God, written in full growth on the upper part of the shrine, in 1844 the iconostasis was renewed, and in 1847 a chapel was built over the tomb of the righteous Juliana to replace the former one, destroyed to the ground by the fall of the dilapidated Cathedral of Jacob on it, and a stone fence was circled around this chapel. In 1858, a chapel in the name of blzh. Nicholas.
Having glorified His saint with miracles even during his earthly life, the Lord granted him the power of miracles even after his resettlement to heaven. From the ancient story of the blessed one, it can be seen that there were quite numerous cases when the blessed one rendered his help to those in need of it. One is described in some detail.
On Yakovlevskaya Street, not far from the place of burial of Blessed Nicholas, lived a rich man named Nikifor. One day his neighbors and acquaintances, Isaac and his son, asked him to borrow some money. He gave them, as the story says, "half a hryvnia of silver." For his peace of mind, Nicephorus wanted to take a loan letter from them. But since neither Isaac nor his son knew how to write, for this he invited the sexton of the church of St. vmch. Panteleimon, named John, who wrote for them a receipt for them to receive a loan, before the conditional time, of the indicated amount. After the agreed time, Nicephorus began to ask Isaac to return the money he had taken, but the debtor began to refuse the receipt, scolded and did not want to return the debt. Then Nikephoros took the bailiffs and took Isaac to the city judges, but he, not fearing either God or His judgment, continued to refuse from the debt, from the loan letter, on the contrary, blaming the lender and the clergyman. Since at that time the sexton John was not in the city (he left for the feast of the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas to Ladoga, to the chapel of the Epiphany Monastery on the Syas River), there was no one to protect Nikifor. Upon his return to Novgorod, John greatly grieved over the misfortune that had happened to Nicephorus and in such sadness decided to turn to blessed Nicholas, who had helped him more than once in various troubles. He went to his temple, in trembling fell before the tomb of the blessed one, and with tears he prayed to the saint of God: “Blessed saint of Christ Nicholas! you did not leave my hope before, when I was in need in Moscow, you ordered me to go on my way and oversaw me on the road; don't leave me now." Calmed after such a prayer, John went to his house and at noon lay down to rest. Thinking about what happened, he fell into a kind of oblivion. At this time, blessed Nicholas appeared to him and said: “Do not grieve, brother, and do not be afraid - tomorrow go to the judges; God will justify your handwriting. Isaac will confess before everyone that he has slandered you.” Encouraged by this, John went to the judges the next morning and told them in detail how he had written the letter. However, Isaac even now with anger renounced everything and stubbornly continued to conceal his sin. Three days have passed. People, having learned the truth, began to reproach Isaac. Finally, he could not stand it, his conscience spoke in him, frightened him with the judgment of God, and he went to the porch of the cathedral church of St. app. James, to confess here before the people. With sincere repentance, he admitted his lie in front of everyone. Thus the words of the blessed seer were justified, and innocence was protected by his prayer.
Local residents and pilgrims from everywhere flocking to the tomb of the blessed one often spoke about the miracles of the saint of God Nicholas. Much was told about healings from various ailments of children. For this, from the hole under the former shrine, pious people took sand from the grave of the blessed one; and since 1815, when a new shrine was built, the hole under which was no longer made, they began to take holy water, which was constantly stored in the church in a special vessel after the consecrations. Thus, a case is described when Bishop Luke, who suffered from an incurable illness, after a revelation to him in a dream that he would serve a prayer service with the blessing of water before the relics of Blessed Nicholas, was immediately healed upon completion of it.
On the icons of the blessed Nikolai, unlike other holy fools for Christ's sake, was practically not depicted barefoot, half-naked, barely covered with old clothes. On the contrary, on one ancient icon he is depicted in a boyar dress, consisting of a crimson fur coat, with a golden lace and a round recumbent collar in the form of a small hood. The face is pale, long hair and a beard with graying, a blue tunic under outer clothing, a scroll in his left hand, shoes on his feet. On another icon, the blessed one is depicted in a princely fur coat, “azure underwear, girded with a scarf,” with a head of cabbage in his hand. There are images of the saint in one blue tunic, barefoot and without a bundle. In the icon-painting original, the appearance of the blessed one is described as follows: “In the likeness of gray hair, bald head (i.e., the front part, and the rest of the head is covered with long hair, as it is in the image in his image), the brada of duty, aka Alexy Metropolitan of Moscow, bifurcated at the end” . Often the blessed one was portrayed like St. Theodore Boyarin, the miracle worker of Chernigov, or Alexy, the man of God.

Troparion, tone 8
For the sake of your patience and courage of Christ, you turned into foolishness, blessed Nicholas, Having different thinness, you suffered the burden of the daytime bar and you endured the scum of winter. And now, standing in the Highest Trinity, to us, who come with faith to the race of your relics, give healing, honestly glorify your dormition, and pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Ying troparion, same voice
Highly philosophic, holy living and the glory of the world, fleeing the foolishness of Christ for the sake of Christ, you have chosen, blessed Nicholas, and now, in the Highest Trinity, standing before us, glorifying your honest memory and coming with faith to the race of your relics, give healing and pray to Christ God to be saved to our souls .
Kontakion, tone 4
You were the disciple and heir of Blessed Andrew, following the same footsteps, holy fool Nicholas Kochanov, and accepting humiliation and phanation from the worldly children, praying for their sins to Christ God. According to your honest assumption, Great Novograd, to have your relics in yourself, like an inexhaustible treasure, give healing by faith to the race of your relics to those who come and honestly glorify your assumption.

Literature

1. Budovnits I.U. Holy fools of ancient Rus' // Questions of religion and atheism. M., 1964. Issue. XII.
2. Gribanov A.B. Notes on the genre of visions in the West and East // East-West. Issue. 4. M., 1989.
3. Lives of Russian saints (in two volumes). Volume 1. / Ed. advice - d.ts.i. A.I. Sidorov. - M .: Publishing house "Siberian Annunciation", 2003.
4. Lives of saints honored by the Orthodox Church. July August. – M.: Sretensky monastery edition, 2000.
5. Zeeman K.D. Techniques of allegorical exegesis in the literature of Kievan Rus // TODRL. T. 48, St. Petersburg, 1993.
6. Karamzin N.M. History of Russian Goverment. Volumes I-IV, Volumes V-VIII, - Kaluga: Golden Alley Publishing House, 1993.
7. Kovalevsky I. The feat of foolishness. - M .: "Lepta", 2000.
8. Kuznetsov A. Foolishness and pilgrimage. Religious-psychological, moral and social research. - S.-Pb., Ed. Moscow Compound of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 2000.
9. Economists I. Orthodoxy. Byzantium. Russia., Ed. "Christian Literature", M., 1992.
10. Yurganov A.L. Ridiculous Nothing, or What the Saints of Ancient Rus' Laughed at // Uchenye zapiski of the Moscow Humanitarian Pedagogical Institute. – M.: MGPI, 2004.