“The Life of Theodosius of the Pechersk” was written by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery Nestor, to whom most researchers attribute the creation of the “Tale of Bygone Years.” On the question of the time of the origin of the life, the opinions of scientists differ. Some (A.A. Shakhmatov, M.D. Priselkov) attribute the work to the 1080s, believing that it was compiled shortly after the death of the Pechersk abbot, when the memory of him was still fresh. This can explain the abundance of historical and everyday details, internal chronology and amazing accuracy in Nestor’s story about the life of Theodosius. The hagiographer knows that the future saint was born in the city of Vasilyev near Kyiv, and that his family later moved to Kursk. According to Nestor, Theodosius’s father died when the boy was 13 years old, and his mother could not find her son, who had become a monk, for four years. According to other researchers (S.A. Bugoslavsky, I.P. Eremin), the life of the saint was created at the beginning of the 12th century, when an aura of legend had already appeared around the personality of Theodosius. However, in this case, it seems strange that the work does not mention such landmark events in the history of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery as the consecration of the Assumption Cathedral (1089) and the transfer of the relics of the saint (1091).
Theodosius of Pechersk died on May 3, 1074, therefore, his life could not have been written before this date. All-Russian canonization of the saint, undertaken on the initiative of Prince of Kyiv Svyatopolk Izyaslavich, occurred in 1108. It was preceded by local, monastic veneration of the saint, as evidenced by the discovery and transfer of the relics of Theodosius to the Pechersk Church of the Assumption of the Virgin. The presence of a life is an indispensable condition for canonization, so Nestor’s work was most likely timed to coincide with this event. In any case, the life of Theodosius appeared after the “Reading about Boris and Gleb,” which the author mentioned in the introduction.
Researcher's opinion
According to V.N. Toporov, Nestor’s experience in creating a hagiographic work about Boris and Gleb could not ensure his success in working on the biography of Theodosius of Pechersk. When writing “Reading about Boris and Gleb,” the author’s entire attention was focused on the last episodes of the heroes’ lives, on the most acute conflict and the poetics of crying. "The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk" belonged to another type of hagiographic works. In addition, this is Nestor’s first independent creation, since in “Reading” he acted as a “secondary” author - “a compiler, editor and distributor of what he knew from “The Tale of Boris and Gleb” or some other text about them, which by 1072 (at the latest) must already have existed."
“Copying a life” is a long and painstaking work, requiring literary training and skill. This is not a one-time act, but a process that could last for decades. Oh big preparatory work This is evidenced, in particular, by how many “self-witnesses” of the life and miracles of the saint were interviewed by Nestor. Among the hagiographer’s informants is a cellarer Kiev-Pechersk Theodore Monastery, to which Mother Theodosius told about her conflict with her son; one of the monastery brethren, who, having made a hole in the door, saw the saint die; Abbot of the St. Michael's Monastery Sophrony, who spoke about the appearance of "divine light" over the monastery of Theodosius; a charioteer youth to whom the saint gave an object lesson in Christian humility.
“The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk” shows how fluently the ancient Russian author mastered the art of hagiographical storytelling. Following the genre canon, Nestor filled the work with traditional images and motifs from life. In the introduction, using the literary device of self-deprecation, the author introduced himself to the reader as “sinful Nester,” “rude and unreasonable,” who “dared” to write about Theodosius of Pechersk, who laid the foundation for monasticism in Rus', so that those who read the life of the Russian saint would be strengthened in faith and filled with pride for your people. Talking about Theodosius’s childhood, Nestor noted the spiritual maturity of the hero, who “did not approach children playing, as is the custom, and also abhorred their games.” Theodosius preferred reading the books of Holy Scripture and visiting church to communicating with his peers. Having become abbot, Theodosius works miracles: with the help of prayer he overcomes demons and fills the empty bottom in the monastery pantry with flour; when the brethren have nothing to buy food with, the “bright youth” brings Feodosius a golden hryvnia. The Pechersk abbot amazes everyone with his hard work, asceticism and humility. He wears a hair shirt made of prickly wool, covering it on top with a shabby suit. Because of his “thin vestments,” the abbot is often mistaken for a beggar, and the “foolish” laugh at him. As befits the life of a saint, Theodosius predicts the day of his death, managing to say goodbye to the brethren of the monastery and address them with a lesson, and greets death itself with dignity and calm. On the day of the saint’s repose, a pillar of fire is visible above the monastery, rising to heaven. Theodosius's body remains incorrupt, and people who turn to him with prayer receive help: one is healed; to another, Theodosius, appearing in a dream, reveals the name of the thief who robbed him; the third, a disgraced boyar, regains the favor and favor of the prince.
Relying on the genre canon and actively using monuments of Byzantine hagiography as sources - the lives of Anthony the Great, Sava the Sanctified, Euthymius the Great and other saints, Nestor boldly goes beyond the limits of the lives of the "writer" permitted, showing artistic originality and independence. Even in the story about the fiery arc that indicated the place for the construction of the Assumption Church, Nestor is far from blindly copying a similar miracle in the life of St. Savva the Sanctified. The treatment of the traditional plot led to the fact that it was firmly inscribed in the Russian reality of the 11th century, and the reference to a literary source only emphasized the equivalence of Theodosius of Pechersk to authoritative figures of the Christian church.
Nestor violates one of the main rules of the genre - to depict the saint outside the specific signs of time and space as a kind of moral standard for all times and peoples. The author of the life of Theodosius strives to convey the unique flavor of the era, which turns the work into a valuable source of historical information. From it we learn what charter regulated life in the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, how it grew and became rich, intervened in the struggle of princes for the Kiev table, and contributed to the development of education and book publishing in Rus'.
The main part of the saint’s life resembles the “hagiographical chronicle” of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, since it includes stories about the spiritual mentors, associates and students of Theodosius. In close-up, sometimes obscuring the figure of the main character, the life shows the image of Nikon the Great, who several times escaped from the princely wrath in distant Tmutarakan and founded a monastery there similar to Pechersk. The conflict between Theodosius and his mother largely repeats the story of Varlaam's tonsure. His father, the Kiev boyar John, returns his son home by force, but he refuses his wife’s love, food and clothing. Fearing that his son will die from hunger and cold, boyar John resigns himself and releases Varlaam into the cave to Anthony. Relatives and servants, parting with the monk, mourn him as if he were dead. Later, from the life of Theodosius, we learn that Varlaam became the abbot of the Dmitrov Monastery, made two trips to Jerusalem and Constantinople, and bequeathed the icons and church utensils purchased there to the Pechersk Monastery. Nestor's creation of the whole galleries of images of the companions of Theodosius, close to him in character and destiny, should, according to G. Podskalski, testify to the fruitfulness of the process of forming the “spiritual elite of the young Russian church.” Episodes associated with the activities of Anthony and Nikon, Varlaam and Ephraim, Isaiah and Stephen burst into the narrative of Theodosius, giving the work propatheric character. This creates the conditions for the early inclusion of the life of Theodosius in the Kiev-Pechersk Patericon - a collection of stories about the history of the monastery and its ascetics.
The researchers note that the Russian hagiographic hero is more active than the heroes of translated hagiographies, since monasticism for him is a manifestation of an active life position, the struggle for a new state ideology - Christianity. This path was followed by energetic, talented people who sought to break out of the old family way of life in order to participate in church and state building. Theodosius of Pechersk in the portrayal of Nestor is not a reclusive monk, but a zealous owner, builder and diplomat, who managed to transform the monastery from a cave monastery to a land one, introduce a cenobitic Studite Charter, and attract patrons from the rich and influential boyar-princely environment to his activities.
Theodosius of Pechersk had the talent of an educator and writer-publicist: he instilled in monks a love of spiritual food, participated in the process of making books, and was a master of the word and pen. When Svyatoslav settled on the Kiev throne, having driven out his elder brother Izyaslav, Theodosius refused all afternoon prayers ah to mention his name as the name of the Grand Duke, he turned to Svyatoslav with an “angry epistole”. This message has not reached us, but its content and style can be judged by the reaction of the prince: “And as you read that epistole, you became very angry, and like a lion, rushing at the truth, and strike it on the ground. I am condemned to be blessed to be imprisoned." Only the authority of the monastery and its abbot saved Theodosius from the prince's revenge. Svyatoslav understood that his power needed sanctification by the church, so he did not “scatter” the monastery, as he threatened, but, having humbled his anger, “loved” the saint and his monastery.
The enormous importance of Theodosius’s personality in the process formation of Christian morality. Throughout his life, Nestor’s hero tirelessly improved his spiritual nature. He, like a father, took care of the monastic brethren entrusted to him, knocking on the cell door to remind them that the monk was called to work day and night. “Being the image of everyone,” Theodosius also educated the laity, including the princely family. In this sense, the scene of the feast at Svyatoslav Yaroslavich is indicative. The princely mansions are noisy with music and fun, only Theodosius sits next to the prince, lowering his eyes to the ground, and suddenly, leaning towards Svyatoslav, quietly asks: “Is this how it will be in the next world?” - which causes the prince to have tears of tenderness and repentance.
Russian hagiographers of the 11th–12th centuries. made many discoveries in the field of imaging the inner world of man. It is no coincidence that the author of “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk” spoke in too much detail about the hero’s childhood, his parents and early love for God. The beginning of the life is at first glance overloaded with biographical details. The reason for this is not only Nestor’s good knowledge, but also the desire of the hagiographer, violating the canon, to show spiritual growth of Theodosius, improvement of his virtues from working as a child with the stinkers in the field or in the “peklyanitsa”, where he baked prosphora and even turned black from the heat of the stove, to the fight against the idleness of the monks, which he wages already as abbot. “I did not give rest to my hands or my feet,” setting an example for the brethren, Theodosius was the first to begin any work in the monastery and the last to leave the church after the service.
Real life path The saint's life was swift and short (he died before he was 40 years old), but the abundance and diversity of what he accomplished, as V.N. Toporov noted, gives rise to the illusion of the length of his life and ascetic activity. The work of Theodosius of Pechersk sharply expanded the scope of his communication; it included people from various walks of life who manifested themselves as sympathizers or opponents of the saint. Thus, The traditional chronotope for life was disrupted. The living space of a monk was supposed to be limited by the walls of a cave, cell, or monastery, while his soul climbed the ladder of Christian virtues and discovered the world of eternal values. However, Theodosius’s tonsure as a monk only strengthened and diversified his connections with the “earthly”, therefore The heroic world of life is not narrowing, but rapidly expanding. If before leaving for the monastery Theodosius’ social circle did not go beyond the family and small town, where his parents lived, the Kiev period of the monk’s life was rich in meetings with people of different religions, social status, and character. Theodosius enters into a debate about faith with the Jews, defends a widow from an unrighteous judge, gives lessons in humility and piety to the laity, from Prince Svyatoslav to the nameless charioteer. Through his students and followers, Theodosius communicates with other cities of Rus' and the largest centers of the Orthodox world.
Nestor endowed the hero with a sensitive heart: the saint cries with joy when Nikon tonsures him as a monk; Having met him after a long separation, Theodosius bows to the teacher to the ground, hugs him, falls to his knees and cannot hold back his tears. Saint, “if you see poverty or wretchedness, in sorrow and in poor clothing, pity him for his sake and greatly grieve for this and with that mourning is over.” Theodosius's compassion and mercy were not the whim of an idle heart, they were translated into good deeds, which Nestor never tires of listing, characterizing the hero through the actions he committed. Thus, for the poor and wretched, Theodosius ordered the construction of a church next to the monastery in the name of Stephen the First Martyr, giving a tenth of the monastery property for their maintenance. He accepted both rich and poor into his monastery, and he did not tonsure them right away, letting them get used to strict rules monastic life. With “spiritual joy” he accepted the fugitives back, warming them with faith in the possibility of moral rebirth. At the same time, Theodosius showed an inflexible character when it came to violating the monastic charter or the order of succession to the Kyiv throne. He threw clothes and food found in the cells of the monks into the oven, in excess of what was permitted by the charter; forbade opening the monastery gates at odd times, even if there was someone standing in front of them Grand Duke. The main thing for Nestor was to create a “portrait of the soul” of the hero. Theodosius of Pechersk "neither angry, nor furious, but merciful and quiet." At the same time, the hagiographer noted the rare endurance and physical strength Theodosius, who “was powerful and strong in body” and could do the hardest work in the monastery: carry water and firewood from the forest, grind flour and knead dough.
The hagiographic antihero often appeared in the form of an “evil wife,” who was likened to a “vessel of the devil.” In Nestor’s work, after the traditional characterization of the saint’s parents as pious people, he depicts conflict between Theodosius and his mother, who passionately loves her son and wants to see him as the heir to a rich estate. In a brief portrait sketch, the hagiographer emphasized the masculine appearance of a woman, strong in body, strong and decisive, with a rough, low voice and terrible in anger. Having been widowed early, she resists the desire of her eldest son to go to a monastery or become a pilgrim. Having overtaken the fugitive, “out of rage and wrath... hit them by the hair, and on the ground, and plowed with their feet”; Having returned Theodosius home, she beats him to exhaustion and puts him in chains. Appearance women, scenes of wild reprisals against a disobedient son - all this inspires disgust, but one cannot help but sympathize with the mother’s grief when, after Theodosius’s next escape, she walks “in her city and in the surrounding cities and as if you will not find it, crying for it fiercely, beating in pierce yourselves as we die." The mother assigns a large reward for the news of her missing son, and, having found Anthony’s cave in Kyiv, she either begs or shouts in anger at the elder: “Show me my son, so that I will not die ill, for I will destroy myself before the doors of this cave, if You won’t show it to us.” Seeing Theodosius, exhausted from labor and fasting, his mother hugs him and cries bitterly, begging him to return home. It was not the strength of her son’s faith, but her love for him that forced the woman to take monastic vows at the Kiev St. Nicholas Monastery in order to be able to see Theodosius. Nestor’s image of the saint’s mother loses its one-dimensionality and becomes full-blooded and alive. The story about Theodosius’s struggle for the right to live not with “earthly” love, but with “heavenly” love, acquires intrigue and plot tension, and begins to resemble a “pious novel.”
Nestor builds the main part of the monastic biography of Theodosius as a cycle of short stories, each of which illustrates one of the virtues of the saint: humility, hard work, asceticism, beauty and fortitude. Gives plot poignancy to the hagiographic narrative an abundance of everyday scenes from the life of the Pechersk abbot. We see Theodosius riding a horse instead of a charioteer when he returns to the monastery late in the evening from Prince Izyaslav. The driver was misled by Theodosius's shabby clothes; he thought that this was an ordinary monk in front of him, and invited the idle “all day long” monk to work in his place, while he settled into the cart and slept all night. When in the morning the driver saw that those he met were bowing to Theodosius with respect, and the monks were greeting him as an abbot, he realized his mistake. Theodosius did not punish the driver for rudeness and laziness, but ordered him to be fed and released, generously rewarded. Thus, the traditional hagiographic plot, which should testify to the humility of the saint, under the pen of Nestor acquires the concreteness of an everyday situation, is overgrown with dialogic scenes that enliven the story, and the underlying motive of the episode turns it into a miniature of a novelistic nature. From this episode we learn about the people’s attitude towards monasticism, far from piety, and the very image of the saint, who, in order not to fall asleep and not fall from his horse, walks at night next to the horse, turns out to be firmly inscribed in everyday life.
Full of everyday details miracles, created by Theodosius. The housekeeper, convincing the abbot that there was not a drop of honey in the monastery pantry, “spoilt everything and nothing” as proof. The flour, which, through Theodosius’s prayer, filled the empty bottom, is poured over the edge, although the eldest of the bakers remembers that in the corner of the bottom he swept there were only three or four handfuls of bran left. These details make what Nestor depicts visible and convince readers of the reality of the miracles taking place.
Closely connected with monastic life and demonological motives lives reminiscent of folk tales. Demons sometimes “play dirty tricks” in the stable, sometimes in the house where the brethren bake bread, scatter flour or pour out leaven. They prevent Theodosius from praying, “appearing” in the cave where the saint secluded himself during Lent, and they beat the tambourines and blow so loudly that the “demonic music” shakes the walls.
Life has classical three-part composition, where the biographical part is framed by a rhetorical introduction and conclusion. Individual episodes of the hagiographic “median” are united by the personality of the main character and the author-narrator. They are arranged “in a row,” obeying either the chronology of events in the life of Theodosius and the Pechersk Monastery, or the general theme of stories about the virtues of the saint and his miracles. In the life of Theodosius, miracles are grouped mainly according to thematic characteristics. They are quite similar, representing different variations of the biblical motif of miraculous feeding. When the monastery lacks money or flour, wine for the liturgy or wooden oil for lamps, after the prayer of the saint the situation changes for the better. The next day, a certain boyar, or one of the rich Kievites, or the housekeeper of Prince Vsevolod send the necessary things to the monastery, and Nestor, with the care of a documentarian, describes exactly what and in what quantity was included in the gift to the monastery.
The hagiographic narrative is built on contrasts. If ordinary monks eat porridge with honey and white bread on holidays, then Theodosius is content with dry bread and boiled vegetables without oil, washing them down with water. Nestor contrasts the concepts of bodily and spiritual food, noting that the Pechersk abbot, “like a good shepherd,” shepherded the monks, teaching and comforting and exhorting their souls with words, feeding and watering without ceasing,” i.e. saturating and quenching their spiritual thirst with his teachings.
In creating the life of the monk, Nestor uses the characteristics characteristic of this genre symbolic paths. Theodosius of Pechersk is “a luminary visible in the whole world and shone in all the blacks,” and his monastery is like “heaven, and in it our blessed father Theodosius shone with good deeds more than the sun.” The epithetics of the life is traditional, where the author’s assessment of the moral essence of the heroes is given through definitions (the “Christ-loving” Prince Izyaslav) or comparisons (the robbers who came to rob the monastery, “like the beast we are wondrous”). The sublimity of the style of life is given by the use of complex words (“mellow words”, “God-inspired abbot”), as well as the combination in one context of words with concrete and abstract meaning, which emphasized the main antithesis - the opposition of the material and spiritual principles in a person’s life (“light” clothes and “bright” soul). The author of the life actively turns to a system of comparisons and allegorical pictures, rooted in the books of Holy Scripture. Varlaam hurries into the cave to Anthony like a bird escaped from a net, or a chamois from a trap. The monks absorb the instructions of Abbot Theodosius, “like the earth thirsting for water.” God, Nestor assures, “did not allow” Theodosius to become a wanderer, so that he would not leave his country: the shepherd would leave, and the pasture would become empty, and become overgrown with thorns and weeds, and the flock would scatter. The style of life becomes aphoristic when Nestor directly or covertly quotes the Gospel text, for example, calling on the monks through the lips of Theodosius to imitate the “birds of the air” who do not think about tomorrow, relying on the fact that God will “nourish” them. Or he recalls the Gospel parable about a worthy servant who multiplied the talent given by his master, and an unworthy one who hid his talent; or argues that “death is rest for the righteous.”
The hagiographer is stingy landscape sketches, who in the life of Theodosius appear in their symbolic function. The pillar of fire above the monastery on the day of the death of Theodosius serves as proof of his holiness. After the death of the Pechersk abbot, “the sky became clouded and the rain stopped” to disperse the crowd that had gathered at the gates of the monastery. When “it was dawn and sunshine”, the monks were able, as Theodosius bequeathed, to transfer his body to the cave without unnecessary honors.
Associated with the concept of spirituality and holiness in life symbolism of the number three. Only the third escape from home was successful for Theodosius, when he walked to Kyiv for three weeks following a merchant train. Before his death, the abbot addresses his instructions to the brethren three times, and each time Nestor develops this traditional motif in a new way, varying both the meaning and form of Theodosius’ address to the Pechersk monks. The first time I saw my sight quick departure from life, but having hidden this from the brethren, the abbot pronounces “a word about the salvation of the soul,” which intrigues the monks and gives rise to a guess: apparently, Theodosius wants to leave the monastery and settle in a deserted place. The abbot addresses his second teaching to the brethren after an illness, the severity of which was aggravated by the recently completed Lent. Theodosius was shaking with chills and burning in the heat; for three days he could not say a word or speak with his eyes, and everyone thought that he had died. When it became easier, he gathers the brethren around him and admits that the time of his earthly life is running out and he must hurry with the choice of a new abbot. After installing Stephen as abbot, Theodosius again lectures the brethren, announcing the day of his death.
Nestor’s “Life of Theodosius of Pechersk” laid the foundation for the development of the genre of monastic life in Russian literature and influenced the poetics of hagiographic works about Sergius of Radonezh and Cyril of Belozersky, Paphnutius of Borovsky and Joseph of Volotsky, Zosima and Savvatiy of Solovetsky.
The first experiments of Russian literature in the hagiographic genre prepared the flowering of hagiography during the mature Middle Ages, made the lives of saints a school of morality, a treasury of spiritual experience, a beloved popular reading. It is no coincidence that modern writers turned to the literature of hagiographies in search of the origins of the Russian national character.
The life describes the life of Theodosius of Pechersk from birth to his death. About the path Theodosius took, from a simple baker to the abbot of the monastery. Throughout his life, many laughed at his poor clothes, but Theodosius meekly accepted not only these ridicule, but also beatings from his own mother. More than once the abbot showed miracles to the novices of his cell, assuring them that God would not leave them without food and shelter.
The main idea of this work lies in the main postulate of Christianity - humility and submissive acceptance of one's fate.
Read a summary of the Life of Theodosius of Pechersk
Once in the city of Vasiliev, not far from Kyiv, a son was born to believers and pious people, who was given the name Theodosius on the eighth day, and baptized forty days later. From childhood, Theodosius was marked by the grace of God, and it was immediately clear that he would devote his life to serving God. Theodosius even refused to play with other children and wore old, shabby clothes like a poor man. He learned to read and write early and was very smart.
When Theodosius was 13 years old, his father died, then he decided to work to feed his family. But his mother stopped him in every possible way, sometimes beating him when he disobeyed her. At that time, all of Theodosius’s thoughts were occupied by one Holy place, where Jesus Christ himself once walked, and he really wanted to visit those places. Once, pilgrims stopped in their city who were going to visit those same holy places. Theodosius asked to go with them, and they allowed him. But three days after he left, his mother went in search of her son. When she found him, she beat him terribly, and, bringing him back home, tied Theodosius so that he would not run away. But he was glad for everything he had endured and all this time he just prayed. When his mother recovered from her anger, she untied Theodosius, but shackled his legs so that he could hardly walk. After promising not to run away anywhere else, the mother freed her son from his shackles.
Then Theodosius began to bake prosphora in the church, since due to the unprepared prosphora, the liturgy was not held in the church. Many laughed at this activity of his, but he accepted it all with humility. The mother tried to persuade her son to give up this business, but Theodosius refused, being sure that he would be more connected to Jesus. After much persuasion from his mother, Theodosius left home and began to live with the priest. But his mother found him again, brought him home and tied him up.
In their city there lived a ruler who fell in love with Theodosius for his humility, for which the saint was given new clothes. But Theodosius refused to wear it, gave it to the poor and put on his rags again. One day Theodosius went to the forge and asked to forge a chain for himself, which he tied on his belt, and walked all the time, so that the chain grew into the body of the saint, but he did not notice such heaviness. One day his mother noticed a chain on his belt and tore it off in anger, but Theodosius accepted this test too.
Over time, Theodosius began to think about leaving his mother and becoming a monk. But in all the monasteries of Kyiv he was refused. Then Theodosius went to Elder Anthony, who lived in a cave, and asked to come to him. Although Anthony knew that this young man would one day build a monastery on this site, he did not immediately give him consent. While Theodosius devoted all his time to serving God, his mother tried in vain to find him, she even announced publicly that whoever showed her the whereabouts of her son would receive a reward. So she ended up in Kyiv, but searches in all the monasteries did not lead to success. Appearing in Anthony's cave, she angrily asked to see her son, but he himself refused to see his mother. The next day after meeting her and empty persuasion to return home, Anthony persuaded her to take monastic vows to the monastery in order to see her son more often. Mother Theodosia lived in the monastery for many years and died.
Meanwhile, the number of novices in the monastery was expanding, and it was necessary to build new cells. One day, the robbers, who decided that untold wealth was stored in the cell, decided to launch a raid on the monks, but a miracle that happened before their eyes instantly dissuaded them from doing so. They saw the church soar into the air along with all the novices. This was not the only miracle that took place in the holy place. There were cases when food or oil appeared by the will of the Lord.
In those days, the brother princes went to war against the third brother, Izyaslav. Theodosius tried to reason with Svyatoslav, who seized the throne that did not rightfully belong to him. Although Svyatoslav heeded the advice of Theodosius, he did not give the throne to his brother.
One day Theodosius wanted to build a large church for all the brethren. He himself helped build it, and when the construction was completed, everyone moved to a new place. Theodosius knew the date of his death in advance. He gathered all the novices and ordered them not to elect a new abbot. Theodosius blessed him with his own hands. When Saturday arrived, the supposed date of Theodosius’s death, he sent everyone away, dying alone, with a prayer on his lips. Many people seemed to sense the death of Theodosius and came to the church, but they were ordered to disperse. After this, the monks buried the saint in a cave.
Picture or drawing Life of Theodosius of Pechersk
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This life was written by Nestor after the life of Boris and Gleb.
Who is Theodosius of Pechersk? This is a monk, and then he becomes the abbot of the famous Kiev-Pechersk monastery.
This life differs from the one we discussed above in the greater psychologism of the characters, the abundance of living realistic details, the verisimilitude and naturalness of the lines and dialogues.
If in the previous life the canon triumphs over the vitality of the situations described, then in this work miracles and fantastic visions are described very clearly and so convincingly that when the reader reads what happens on these pages, he cannot help but believe what he is reading about . Moreover, it seems to him that he saw everything described in the work with his own eyes. It can be said that these differences are not only the result of Nestor's increased skill. The reason is probably that these are different types of lives. 1 life, which we considered, is the life-martyrium, that is, the story of the martyrdom of a saint. This main theme determined the artistic structure of the life, the opposition of good and evil, and dictated special tension in the description of the martyrs and his tormentors, since the climax scene should be painfully long and moralizing to the extreme. Therefore, in this type of hagiography-martyrium, as a rule, the torture of the martyr is described, and his death occurs, as it were, in several stages, so that the reader empathizes with the hero longer.
At the same time, the hero always turns to God with prayers, which reveal such qualities as his steadfastness and humility and expose the crimes of his killers. “The Life of Theodosius of Pechersk” is a typical monastic life, a story about a pious, meek, hardworking righteous man, whose whole life is a continuous feat. It contains many everyday descriptions of scenes of communication between the saint and monks, laymen, princes, and sinners. In hagiographies of this type, a prerequisite is the miracles that the saint performs, and this introduces an element of plot entertainment into the hagiography and requires special skill from the author so that the miracle is described effectively and believably.
Medieval hagiographers were well aware that the effect of a miracle is well achieved by combining only realistic everyday details with a description of the action of otherworldly forces - the appearance of angels, mischief perpetrated by demons, visions, etc.
The composition of the life is always the same:
- 1. Long introduction.
- 2. The story of the saint’s childhood
- 3. Mention of the piety of parents and the future saint himself.
- 4. The life of a saint, full of hardship and torment.
- 5. Death of a saint, miracles at the tomb.
However, in this work there are differences in the description of the saint’s childhood from other lives. The image of Theodosius's mother is completely unconventional, full of individuality. We read the following lines about her: she was physically strong, with a rough male voice; passionately loving her son, she could not come to terms with the fact that he, the heir of villages and slaves, does not think about this inheritance, walks around in shabby clothes, flatly refusing “bright and clean” clothes, thereby disgracing his family, and all his spends time in prayer and baking prosphoras. His mother tries by any means to break her son’s piety (although his parents are presented by the hagiographer as pious and God-fearing people!), she brutally beats her son, puts him on a chain, and tears off the chains from his body. Despite this, Theodosius manages to go to Kyiv in the hope of taking monastic vows in one of the monasteries there. His mother stops at nothing to find him: she promises a large reward to anyone who shows her the whereabouts of her son. Finally, she finds him in a cave, where he lives with another hermit Anthony and Nikon (from this abode the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery will later grow).
And here she resorts to a trick: she demands that Anthony show her his son, threatening suicide at his door. And when she sees Theodosius, she is no longer angry, hugs her son, cries, begging him to return home and do whatever he wants there, but Theodosius is adamant. At his insistence, the mother took monastic vows in one of the nunneries. The mother realized that this was the only way she could see her son at least occasionally, so she agreed to this.
The hagiograph also shows the character of the future saint: complex, possessing all the virtues of an ascetic: meek, hardworking, adamant in the mortification of the flesh, full of mercy, but when a princely feud occurs in the principality (Svyatoslav drives his brother Izyaslav off the throne), Theodosius is actively involved in a purely worldly struggle and boldly denounces Svyatoslav.
The most remarkable thing in the life is the description of monastic life and especially the miracles performed by Theodosius. Here is a description of one of the miracles: the elder over the bakers comes to him, then already the abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, and reports that there is no more flour and there is nothing to bake bread for them from. In response, Theodosius sends him to look again in the chest. He goes to the pantry, approaches the bottom and sees that the bottom, previously empty, is full of flour. This episode contains both lively dialogue and the effect of a miracle, enhanced precisely thanks to skillfully found details: the baker remembers that there are 3 or 4 handfuls of bran left - this is a concretely visible image and an equally visible image of a bottom filled with flour: there is so much of it that it even spills over the wall onto the ground.
Another episode is also very interesting: Theodosius stayed with the prince and must return to his monastery. The prince orders that a certain youth give him a ride in a cart. He, seeing a modestly dressed man, boldly addresses him: “Chrnorizche!” Because you are apart all day, and you are hard (you are idle all the days, and I am working). I can’t ride a horse.” Theodosius agrees. But as you get closer to the monastery, you meet more and more people who know Theodosius. They respectfully bow to him, and this youth begins to worry: who is this wretched monk? He is completely horrified when he sees how the monastic brethren greet his fellow traveler with honor. However, the abbot does not reproach the driver and even orders him to be fed and paid. We cannot say for sure whether such cases occurred with Theodosius. Only one thing is certain: Nestor knew how to describe such interesting incidents with the saint; he was a writer of great talent.
Over the next centuries, many dozens of different lives will be written - eloquent and simple, primitive and formal, vital and sincere. Nestor was one of the first Russian hagiographers, and the traditions of his work will be continued and developed in the works of his followers.
Fifty miles from the capital city of Kyiv there is the city of Vasilyev. This is where the saint’s parents lived, professing the Christian faith and shining with all kinds of piety. Their blessed child was born, and then, on the eighth day, they brought him to the priest, as befits Christians, to give the child a name. The priest, looking at the youth, saw in his mind’s eye that from a young age he would devote himself to God, and named him Theodosius. Then, when their child was 40 days old, they baptized him. The boy grew up, was nurtured by his parents, and was marked by divine grace, and the holy spirit entered into him from birth.
Who will comprehend God's mercy! After all, he did not choose a shepherd and a teacher for monks among the wise philosophers or the rulers of the city, but - may the name of the Lord be glorified by this - the inexperienced in wisdom became wiser than the philosophers!...
We will return again to the story of this holy youth. He grew in body, and in his soul he was drawn to divine love, and he went to God’s church every day, listening with all attention to the reading of divine books. At the same time, he did not approach children playing, as is the custom of minors, but he avoided children’s games. His clothes were shabby and in patches. And more than once his parents persuaded him to dress cleaner and go play with the children. But he did not listen to these persuasions and still walked like a beggar. In addition, he asked to be given to a teacher so that he could study divine books, and he achieved this. And he mastered reading and writing so quickly that everyone was amazed at how smart and intelligent he was and how quickly he learned everything. And who will tell about the humility and obedience with which he distinguished himself in his teaching, not only before his teacher, but also before his students?
At this time, the days of his father’s life expired. The divine Theodosius was then 13 years old. And from then on he became even more diligent in his work, so that together with his slaves he went out into the fields and worked there with great humility. His mother held him back and, not allowing him to do this, again begged him to dress cleaner and go play with his peers. And she told him that with his appearance he was disgracing himself and his family. But he did not listen to her, and more than once, becoming enraged and angry, she beat her son, for she was strong and strong in body, like a man. It happened that someone, without seeing her, would hear her speak and think that it was a man.
Meanwhile, the divine youth kept thinking about how and in what way he would save his soul. He once heard about the holy places where our Lord Jesus Christ walked in the flesh, and he longed to visit those places and worship them. And he prayed to God, crying out: “My Lord, Jesus Christ! Hear my prayer and deign me to visit your holy places and bow to them with joy! "And he constantly prayed like this, and then strangers came to his city, and when he saw them, the divine gonosha rejoiced, approached them, bowed, and greeted them cordially and asked where they came from and where they were going. The wanderers replied that they were coming from holy places and again, by divine command, they wanted to return there. The saint began to beg them to allow him to go with them, to take him as a traveling companion. They promised to take him with them and bring him to the holy places. Hearing their promise, blessed Theodosius rejoiced and returned home. When the pilgrims gathered for the journey, they told the young man about their departure. He, getting up at night, and secretly from everyone, left his house, taking with him nothing except the clothes that he was wearing, and even those were old. And so he followed the wanderers. But the merciful God did not allow him to leave his country, for even in his mother’s womb he showed him to be a shepherd of intelligent sheep in this country, for if the shepherd leaves, then the pasture, blessed by God, will become empty and overgrown with thorns and weeds, and the flock will scatter. Three days later, Theodosius’s mother found out that he had left with the pilgrims, and immediately went in pursuit of him, taking with her only her son, who was younger than Blessed Theodosius. When, after a long pursuit, she finally overtook him, she grabbed him and, in rage and anger, grabbed his hair, and threw him to the ground, and kicked him, and, showering reproaches on the strangers, returned home, leading Theodosius, bound like a robber. And she was in such anger that, when she came home, she beat him until she was exhausted. And then she brought him into the house and there, tying him up, locked him, and she left. But the divine young man accepted all this with joy and, praying to God, thanked him for everything he had endured. Two days later, his mother came to him, untied him and fed him, but, not yet cooled down from anger, shackled his legs and ordered him to walk in chains, fearing that he would run away from her again. So he walked in chains for many days. And then, taking pity on him, she again began to beg and persuade him not to leave her, because she loved him very much, more than anyone else in the world, and could not live without him. When Theodosius promised his mother that he would not leave her, she removed the shackles from his legs and allowed him to do whatever he wanted. Then Blessed Theodosius returned to his former asceticism and began to attend God’s church every day. And, seeing that there was often no liturgy, because there was no one to bake the prosphora, he was very saddened by this and, out of his humility, decided to take on this himself. And so he did: he began to bake prosphora to sell, and whatever he received over the price he gave to the poor. With the rest of the money he bought grain, ground it himself and baked the prosphora again. It was God who so wished that the prosphora brought to church were clean - the work of a sinless and immaculate youth. So he spent twelve years or more. All the youths, his peers, mocked, condemning his activities; the enemy taught them this. But the blessed one accepted all reproaches with joy, silence and humility.
From time immemorial, the evil enemy who hated good, seeing that he was being defeated by the humility of the God-inspired youth, did not sleep, thinking of turning him away from such an activity. And so he began to inspire Theodosius’s mother to resist his asceticism. The mother herself could not come to terms with the fact that everyone was reproaching her son, and began to tell him with tenderness: “I beg you, my child, give up your business, you are disgracing your family, and I can no longer hear how everyone laughs at you. Is it proper for a boy to do this!” Then the divine youth answered his mother humbly: “Listen, mother, I pray you, listen! After all, the Lord Jesus Christ himself set us an example of humiliation and humility. Yes, and we, in his name, must humble ourselves. After all, he endured insults, was spat on, and beaten, and endured everything for the sake of our salvation. And we should endure all the more, for in this way we will draw closer to Christ. And as for my work, my mother, listen: when our Lord Jesus Christ reclined at supper with his disciples, he took bread in his hands and blessed it, broke it and gave it to them with the words: “Take and eat, this is the body.” mine, broken for you and for many others, so that they may be cleansed from their sins." So if the Lord himself called our bread his flesh, then I am all the more joyful that he has vouchsafed me to partake of his flesh." Hearing this, the mother was surprised at the wisdom of the boy and from then on left him alone. But the enemy did not sleep, urging her to prevent the boy’s humility. And somehow, a year later, seeing him again baking prosphora and turning black from the heat of the stove, she became saddened and from that time on she again began to convince him, now with affection, now with threats, and sometimes with beatings, so that he would give up his occupation. The divine youth fell into despair and wondered what to do. And then at night he secretly left his house and went to another city nearby, and, settling with a priest, began his usual business. The mother, having searched and not finding him in her city, mourned the boy. When, many days later, she found out where he lived, she immediately, in anger, went after him, and, arriving in the mentioned city, found him in the priest’s house, and, seizing him, took him to her city with beatings. Having brought him home, she locked him, saying: “Now you won’t be able to run away from me; and if you go anywhere, then I, having caught up and found you, will tie you up and bring you back with beatings." Then Blessed Theodosius again began to pray to God and go to church daily, for he was humble in heart and submissive in disposition.
When the ruler of that city, seeing such a humble and obedient youth, fell in love with him, he ordered him to constantly stay in his church, and gave him light clothes to walk in them. But Blessed Theodosius did not wear it for long, for he felt as if he was carrying some kind of weight. Then he took it off and gave it to the beggars, and he himself dressed in rags and wore them that way. The ruler, seeing him in rags, gave him new clothes, even better than the previous ones, begging the boy to walk in them. But he took this one off himself and gave it away. He did this several times, and when the ruler found out about this, he fell in love with him even more, marveling at his humility. At the same time, the divine Theodosius went to the blacksmith and asked him to forge an iron chain, and began to walk, girded with this chain. And he pulled his lower back so hard that the iron cut into his body, but he walked as if nothing was stopping him.
Then, when many days had passed and the holiday had arrived, the mother ordered the boy to change into light clothes and go serve the city nobles, who had been summoned to a feast with the ruler. Blessed Theodosius was also ordered to serve them. That's why his mother forced him to change into clean clothes, and also because she heard about his action. When he began to change into clean clothes, then, in his simplicity, he could not protect himself from her gaze. And she didn’t take her eyes off him and saw blood on his shirt from wounds rubbed with iron. And in a rage she attacked him, tore his shirt and, beating him, tore off the chains from his lower back. But the divine youth, as if he had suffered nothing from her, got dressed and, having arrived, with usual humility served those reclining at the feast.
Some time later he happened to hear what the Lord says in the Holy Gospel: “If someone does not leave his father. or his mother will not follow me, then he is not worthy of me." And again: “Come to me, all you who suffer and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my burden upon yourself and learn from me meekness and humility, and you will find rest for your souls." The divinely inspired Theodosius heard this and was filled with love for God and divine zeal, thinking about how and where to take haircut and hide from his mother. Somehow, by the will of God, it happened that his mother went to the village and stayed there for several days. The blessed one rejoiced and, having prayed to God, secretly left home, taking with him nothing except clothes and a little bread to maintain his strength. And he headed towards the city of Kyiv, because he had heard about the monasteries that were there. "But, not knowing the road, he prayed to God that fellow travelers would meet and show him the desired path. And by God’s providence, merchants rode along the same road in heavily loaded carts. The blessed one, having learned that they were going to the same city, glorified God and followed them, keeping a distance and not showing themselves to them. And when they stopped for the night, the blessed one, stopping so that he could see them from afar, spent the night here, and only God protected him. And so, after three weeks of travel, he reached the previously mentioned city. Having arrived there, he visited all the monasteries, wanting to become a monk and begging to be accepted. But they saw the boy’s poor clothes and did not agree to accept him. It was God who so wished that he would come to the place where God had called him since his youth.
Then he heard about Blessed Anthony living in a cave, and, inspired by hope, he hurried there. And he came to the Monk Anthony, and, seeing him, fell on his face and bowed with tears, and began to ask permission to stay with him. Great Anthony began to talk with him and said: “Child, don’t you see this cave; It's a sad place and more unsightly than all the others. And you, I think, are still young and will not be able to endure all the hardships while living here." He said this, not only testing Theodosius, but also seeing with his perspicacious gaze that he himself would establish a glorious monastery in this place, where many monks would gather. The divinely inspired Theodosius answered him with tenderness: “Know, honest father, that God himself, who foresees everything, led me to your holiness and orders me to be saved, and therefore I will fulfill everything that you command me.” Then blessed Anthony answered him: “Blessed is God, who strengthened you, child, for this feat. This is your place, stay here! "" Theodosius again fell on his face, bowing to him. Then the elder blessed him and ordered the great Nikon, a priest and wise monk, to tonsure him, and he tonsured Theodosius according to the custom of the holy fathers and clothed him in monastic clothes,
Our father Theodosius gave all of himself to God and the Monk Anthony, and from then on he began to languish his flesh, spending whole nights in incessant prayers, overcoming sleep, and to exhaust his flesh he worked tirelessly, always remembering what is said in the psalms: " “Look at my humility and at my work and forgive all my sins.” So he humbled his soul with all kinds of abstinence, and exhausted his body with labor and asceticism, so that the Monk Anthony and the great Nikon marveled at his humility and obedience and the fact that he, still young, was so well-behaved, strong and cheerful, and they fervently praised God for all this.
The mother searched for Theodosius for a long time, both in her city and in neighboring ones, and, not finding him, beat her chest and wept bitterly for her son, as if for a dead person. And it was announced throughout that district that if anyone had seen the boy, he should come and notify his mother and receive a great reward for information about him. And so they came from Kyiv and told her that four years ago they saw him there, how he was looking for a monastery where to take haircut. Hearing about this, she was not too lazy to go there. And without hesitation at all, and not being afraid of the long journey, she went to the mentioned city to look for her son. I came to that city and went around all the monasteries in search of it. Finally they told her that he lived in the cave of the Monk Anthony. She went there too to find him. And so she began to call the elder by cunning, asking her to tell the monk to come out to her. ""I supposedly long haul passed to talk with you, and bow to your holiness, and receive a blessing from you." They told the old man about her, and then he came out to her. She, seeing him, bowed. Then they both sat down, and the woman began a lengthy conversation with him, and only at the end of the conversation did she mention the reason for her coming. And she said: “I beg you, father, tell me if my son is here? I really grieve for him, not knowing if he is alive." The simple-minded old man, not realizing that she was being cunning, answered: “Your son is here, and do not cry for him, for he is alive.” Then she turned to him again: “So why, father, don’t I see him? I walked a long way to your city just to look at my son. And then I will return home." The elder answered her: “If you want to see him, then go home now, and I will go and persuade him, for he does not want to see anyone. You will come and see him in the morning." She obeyed and left, hoping that tomorrow she would see her son. And the Monk Anthony, returning to the cave, told Blessed Theodosius about everything, who, having heard him, was very sad that he could not hide from his mother. The next morning the woman came again, and the elder spent a long time persuading the blessed one to go out and see his mother. He didn't want to. Then the elder came out and told her: “I begged him for a long time to come out to you, but he doesn’t want to.” Then she began to talk to the elder without the former humility, shouted in anger and accused him: “You kidnapped my son, hid him in a cave, you don’t want to show him to me; Bring me, elder, my son, so that I can see him. I can't live until I see him! Show me my son, otherwise I will die a terrible death, I will destroy myself in front of the doors of your cave, unless you show me your son! " Then Anthony, in confusion and sadness, entered the cave, and began to beg the blessed one to go to his mother. He did not want to disobey the elder and went out to her. He, seeing how contrite her son was, for his face had changed from incessant labor and abstinence, hugged him and wept bitterly. And as soon as she calmed down a little, she sat down and began to persuade the servant of Christ: “Go, child, to your home, and do whatever you need or for the salvation of your soul at home, as you please, just don’t leave me. And when I die, you will bury my body, and then, as you want, you will return to this cave. But I can’t live without seeing you." The blessed one answered her: “If you want to see me every day, then stay in our city and take monastic vows in one of the nunneries. And then you will come here and see me. At the same time, you will save your soul. If you do not do this, then - truly is my word - you will no longer see my face." With these and many other words, day after day he persuaded his mother, but she did not agree and did not even listen to him. And when she left him, the blessed one, entering the cave, fervently prayed to God for the salvation of his mother and for his words to reach her heart. And God heard the prayer of his saint. The prophet speaks about this this way: “The Lord is next to those who sincerely call him and are afraid to break his will, and he will hear their prayer and save them.” And then one day my mother came to Theodosius and said: “Child, I will do everything that you tell me, and will not return to my city again, but, as God commanded, I will go to a nunnery and, having taken monastic vows, will spend the rest of my days in it.” theirs. It was you who convinced me that our short-term peace is insignificant. Hearing these words, blessed Theodosius rejoiced and, entering the cave, told the great Anthony, and he, having heard, glorified God, who turned her heart to repentance. And, going out to her, he taught her for a long time, for her benefit and for the salvation of her soul, and told the princess about her, and sent her to the convent of St. Nicholas. There she took her hair, put on the monastic robe and, having lived for many years in sincere repentance, died peacefully...
Always after eating meat, our holy father Theodosius went into his holy cave, where his body was later buried. Here he secluded himself alone until Palm Week, and on Friday of that week, at the hour of evening prayer, he came to the brethren and, stopping at the church door, taught everyone and consoled them in their asceticism and fasting. He spoke of himself as unworthy, and that in not a single week could he equal them in asceticism. And many times evil spirits they harmed him, appearing in visions in the cave, and sometimes inflicted wounds on him, as they write about the holy and great Anthony. But Anthony appeared to the saint and ordered him to dare, and invisibly, from heaven, gave him the strength to defeat them.
Who would not marvel at the blessed one, how, being alone in such a dark cave, he was not afraid of countless hordes of invisible demons, but stood in the fight against them, like a mighty brave man, praying to God and calling on the Lord Jesus Christ to help him. And he so overpowered them with the power of Christ that they did not dare to approach him and only appeared to him from afar in visions. After the evening singing, he sat down to take a nap, for he never went to bed, and if he wanted to sleep, he sat on a chair and, having dozed for a little while, got up again for the night singing and kneeling. When he sat down, as they said, he immediately heard a noise in the cave from the stomping of countless demons, as if some of them were riding in chariots, others were beating tambourines, others were blowing their noses, and everyone was screaming so loudly that even the cave was shaking from the terrible hubbub of evil spirits. Our father Theodosius, hearing all this, did not lose heart, was not horrified at heart, but, protecting himself with the sign of the cross, stood up and began to sing the psalms of David. And then everything in the cave became quiet, but as soon as he sat down after prayer, the voices of countless demons were heard again, as before. And again the Monk Theodosius stood up, and again began to sing psalms, and immediately this noise fell silent. That's how the evil spirits harmed him for many days and nights, so as not to let him sleep for a minute, until he defeated them with God's help and received power over them from God, so that since then they did not even dare to approach that place. where the blessed one prayed.
And the demons also played dirty tricks in the house where the brothers were baking bread: they scattered flour, they spilled leaven for baking bread, and they did many other different dirty tricks. Then the senior baker came and told Blessed Theodosius about the tricks of unclean demons. He, hoping that he would receive power over them from God, went to that house in the evening and, locking himself, remained there until Matins, praying. And from that time on, through the saint’s spell and prayer, demons could not appear in that place and do dirty tricks.
Our great father Theodosius used to go around every night monastic cells, wanting to know how the monks spend their time. If he hears someone praying, then he himself will stop and glorify God, and if, on the contrary, he hears that someone is talking, two or three of them gathered in a cell, then he will knock on their door, letting them know about his comes and goes away. And the next morning, having called them to him, he did not immediately begin to denounce them, but started a conversation from afar, with parables and hints, in order to see what their commitment to God was. If a brother was pure in heart and sincere in his love for God, then such a one, soon realizing his guilt, fell on his face and, bowing, asked for forgiveness. And it happened that another brother’s heart was covered with a devil’s scab, then he stood there, thinking that they were talking about someone else, and did not feel guilty until the blessed one denounced him and released him, confirming him with penance. This is how he constantly taught to pray to God, and not to talk to anyone after evening prayer, and not to wander from cell to cell, but to pray to God in his cell, and if anyone can, engage in some kind of craft, while singing the psalms of David. ...
Theodosius was truly a man of God, a luminary visible to the whole world and shining to all the monks: with humility, and reason, and obedience, and other asceticism; Working all his days, he gave neither his hands nor his feet any rest. He often went to the bakery - he happily helped the bakers knead dough or bake bread. He was, as was said before, strong and strong in body. And he instructed, strengthened and consoled those who were suffering, so that they would not become weary in their deeds.
Once, when they were preparing for the feast of the Holy Mother of God, there was not enough water, and the cellarer at that time was the previously mentioned Fyodor, who told me a lot about this glorious man. And so that Fedor went and told our blessed father Theodosius that there was no one to bring water. And the blessed one hastily stood up and began to fetch water from the well. And then one of the brethren saw him carrying water and hurried to tell several monks about this, and they readily ran and brought water in abundance. And another time there was no firewood for cooking, and the cellarer Fedor, coming to Blessed Theodosius, asked him: “Order that one of the free monks should go and prepare as much firewood as needed.” The blessed one answered him: “I am free, I will go.” Then he ordered the brethren to go to the meal, for it was time for dinner, and he himself, taking an ax, began to chop wood. And so, after having lunch, the monks came out and saw that their venerable abbot was chopping wood and working like that. And they each took an ax, and then they chopped so much wood that there was enough for many days.
Such was the zeal for God of our spiritual father, Blessed Theodosius, for he was distinguished by his extraordinary meekness, in everything imitating Christ, the true God, who said: “Learn from me how meek and humble in heart I am.” Therefore, looking at his exploits, Theodosius humbled himself, setting himself up as the most unworthy of all, and serving everyone, and being an example for everyone. He went to work before everyone else, and was the first to go to church, and the last to leave. The great Nikon used to sit and write, and the blessed one, sitting on the edge, would spin threads for weaving books. This is what they were like: the humility of this man and his simplicity. And no one ever saw him lie down or wash his body with water - except to wash his hands. And his clothing was a hair shirt made of prickly wool, and on top he wore another retinue. And even that one was shabby, and he dressed it only so that they would not see the hair shirt he was wearing. And many foolish people scoffed at this wretched clothing, reproaching him. And the blessed one listened with joy to their reproaches, constantly remembering the word of God, with which they consoled himself and encouraged himself: “Blessed are you,” says God, “when they reproach you, when they revile you with rude words, slander you for your commitment to me. Rejoice and be glad on that day, for for this a great reward awaits you in heaven." The blessed one remembered these words and took comfort in them, enduring reproaches and insults.
One day our great father Theodosia went on some business to the Christ-loving prince Izyaslav, who was far from the city. He came and stayed on business until the evening. And the lover of Christ ordered, so that Theodosius could sleep at night, to take him to the monastery on a cart. And already on the way, the driver, seeing how Theodosius was dressed, and thinking that he was a poor monk, said to him: ““Chernorizets!” Here you are with nothing to do every day, but I’ve worked hard. I can't sit on a horse. But here’s what we’ll do: I’ll lie down in the cart, and you can ride on a horse.” Blessed Theodosius humbly rose and sat on his horse, and he lay down in the cart, and Theodosius continued his way, rejoicing and praising God. When drowsiness overcame him, he got off his horse and walked next to him until he got tired, and then sat on horseback again. It began to dawn, and the nobles who were traveling to the prince began to meet, and, recognizing the blessed one from afar and dismounting, they bowed to our blessed father Theodosius. Then he said to the youth: “It’s already dawn, child! Get on your horse." The same, seeing how everyone was bowing to Theodosius, was horrified and, jumping up in trepidation, mounted his horse. So they continued their journey, and the Monk Theodosius sat in the cart. And all the boyars he met bowed to him. So they reached the monastery, and then all the monks came out to meet them and bowed to Theodosius to the ground. The boy was even more frightened, thinking to himself: “Who is this, that everyone worships him so much?” And Theodosius, taking him by the hand, led him into the refectory and ordered him to be fed and given enough to drink, and, giving him money, he let him go. The driver himself told all this to the brethren, and the blessed one did not mention what had happened to anyone, but still constantly taught the brethren not to be arrogant, but to be a humble monk, and to consider himself the most unworthy of all, and not to be vain, and to be submissive to everyone. “And when you walk,” he told them, “press your hands to your chest, and let no one surpass you in your humility, and bow to each other, as befits monks, and do not go from cell to cell, but let each of you pray in his cell." With these and other words, every day he taught them incessantly, and if he again heard that someone was suffering from a demonic obsession, then he called him to himself, and - since he himself had experienced all the temptations - he taught him and punished him how to resist the devil's to the machinations, without yielding to them in anything, do not weaken from visions and demonic misfortunes and do not leave your cell, but protect yourself with fasting and prayer and constantly call on God to help him overcome the evil demon. And he told them: “All this happened to me before. One night I was singing the usual psalms in my cell, and suddenly a black dog stood in front of me, so that I could not even bow. He stood like that in front of me for a long time, but as soon as we incited him, I wanted to hit him, he immediately became invisible. Then fear and trembling seized me, so that I wanted to run away from there if the Lord had not helped me. And so, having recovered a little from my fear, I began to pray diligently and kneel incessantly, and gradually fear left me, so that from then on I ceased to be afraid of demons, even if they appeared before me." And he told many other things, strengthening the monks to fight evil spirits. And so he sent them away, joyful and praising God for what their wise mentor and teacher was teaching them.
And this is what one of the monks, named Hilarion, told me, telling me how much harm evil demons caused him in his cell. As soon as he lay down on his bed, many demons appeared and, grabbing him by the hair, dragged him and kicked him, and others, lifting the wall, shouted: “Drag him here, we’ll crush him with the wall!” And they did this to him every night, and No longer able to endure it, he went to the Reverend Father Theodosius and told him about the dirty tricks of demons. And he wanted to move to another cell. But the blessed one began to beg him, saying: “No, brother, do not leave this place, otherwise the evil spirits will boast that they defeated you and caused you grief, and from then on they will begin to cause you even more evil, for they will gain power.” above you. But pray to God in your cell, and God, seeing your patience, will grant you victory over them, so that they will not dare to approach you." The monk again said: “I pray to you, father, I can no longer live in the cave because of the many demons living in it.” Then the blessed one, having crossed him, again said: “Go and stay in your cell, and from now on not only will the insidious demons not cause you any harm, but you will not see them again.” He believed and, having bowed to the saint, went to his cell and lay down, and slept sweetly that night. And from then on, the insidious demons did not dare to approach that place, for they were driven away by the prayers of our venerable father Theodosius and fled.
And here’s another thing the monk Hilarion told me. He was a skilled book writer and spent days and nights copying books in the cell of our blessed father Theodosius, while he quietly sang psalms and spun wool or did something else. Also, one evening they were each busy with their own business, and then the steward came in and told the blessed one that there was nothing to buy food for the brethren or anything else they needed. The blessed one answered him: “Now, you see, it’s already evening, and the morning is far away. Therefore, go, be patient a little, praying to God: maybe he will have mercy on us and take care of us as he pleases." The housekeeper listened to him and left. And the blessed one returned to his cell again to sing twelve psalms as usual. And, having prayed, he sat down and got to work. But then the housekeeper came in again and started talking about the same thing again. Then the blessed one answered him: “I told you: go and pray to God. And the next morning you will go to the city and ask the sellers for a loan that is needed for the brethren, and then, when God has mercy, we will repay the debt, because the words are true: “Don’t worry about tomorrow, and God will not leave us.” As soon as the steward came out, the light shone, and a youth appeared in military clothing, bowed to Theodosius and, without saying a word, placed a hryvnia of gold on the pillar and also silently left. Then blessed Theodosius stood up, took the gold, and prayed to himself with tears. He immediately called the goalkeeper and asked him: “Who came to the gate that night?” But he swore that the gate was still locked before dark, and from then on he did not open it to anyone, and no one approached it. Then the blessed one called the steward to him and gave him a hryvnia of gold with the words: “What do you say, brother Anastasy? Don’t have enough money to buy what you need for your brothers? So go and buy everything you need. And in the morning God will take care of us again." Then the steward understood everything, and fell on his face and bowed to him. The blessed one began to teach him, saying: “Never despair, but be strong in faith, turn with your sadness to God so that he will take care of us as he wants. And now arrange a great holiday for the brethren." God continued to generously give him everything that that divine flock needed. ...
The brethren increased in number, and our father Theodosius needed to expand the monastery and build new cells: there were too many monks and visitors to the monastery. And he and his brethren built and fenced the monastery courtyard. And when the monastery fence was destroyed and no one was guarding the monastery, then one dark night robbers came to the monastery. They said that the monastery's wealth was hidden in the church. And therefore they did not go to the cells, but rushed straight to the church. But then we heard the voices of those singing in the church. They, thinking that the brethren were singing evening prayers, walked away. And, after waiting for some time in the forest, they decided that the service had already ended, and again approached the church. And then they heard the same voices and saw a wonderful light pouring from the church, and a fragrance emanated from it, for angels sang in it. The robbers thought that these were the brethren whining for midnight prayers, and they moved away again, waiting for them to finish singing, so that they could then enter the church and take away everything that was in it. And so they came several more times and heard the same angelic voices. And now the hour of matins has already arrived, and the sexton already struck the beater. And the robbers, going a little deeper into the forest, sat down and began to reason: “What are we going to do? It seems to us that the ghost is in the church. But here’s what: when everyone has gathered for church, we will approach and, without letting anyone out of the door, we will kill everyone and seize their wealth." It was the enemy who taught them this way in order to expel the holy flock from this place. But not only could he not do this, but he himself was defeated by the brethren, for God helped them through the prayers of our venerable father Theodosius.
The villains waited a little while until the reverend flock gathered in the church with their blessed mentor and shepherd Theodosius and began to sing the morning psalms, and they rushed at them like wild animals. But as soon as they ran up, a terrible miracle suddenly happened: the church, along with everyone in it, separated from the ground and ascended into the air, so much so that even an arrow could not reach it. But those who were with the blessed one in the church did not know about this and did not feel anything. The robbers, seeing such a miracle, were horrified and, trembling, returned to their home. And from then on, out of emotion, they decided not to harm anyone again, so their ataman and three other robbers came to blessed Theodosius to repent and tell him about everything that had happened. Hearing him, the blessed one glorified God, who saved them from death. And he taught the robbers about the salvation of the soul and released them, glorifying and thanking God for everything that happened to them.
One of the boyars of the Christ-lover Izyaslav later saw the same miracle with the same church. One night he was driving across a field, 15 fields from the monastery of Blessed Theodosius. And suddenly I saw a church under the very clouds. In horror, he galloped off with his youths to see what kind of church it was. And when he galloped to the monastery of Blessed Theodosius, the church sank down right before his eyes and stood in its place. The boyar knocked on the gate and, when the gatekeeper opened it for him, he entered the monastery and told the blessed one about what he had seen. And from then on he often came to him, and was saturated with his spiritual conversation, and donated his wealth to the needs of the monastery.
And somehow another boyar of the same Christ-lover Izyaslav, setting off with his Christ-lover prince against the enemy army, which was already preparing for battle, promised in his thoughts: if I return home unharmed, then I will donate to the Holy Mother of God in the monastery of Blessed Theodosius 2 hryvnias of gold and a salary I will order bind on the icon of the Holy Mother of God. Then there was a battle, and many fell in battle. In the end, the enemies were defeated, and the victors returned home safely. And the boyar forgot what he promised to the Holy Mother of God. And a few days later, when he was sleeping during the day in his house, suddenly a terrible voice was heard above him, calling him by name: “Clement!” He jumped up and sat down on the bed. And he saw in front of his bed an icon of the Holy Mother of God, which was in the monastery of the blessed one. And a voice came from the icon: “Why, Clement, didn’t you give me what you promised? Now I tell you: hasten to fulfill your promise!” The icon of the Holy Mother of God said this and became invisible. Then that boyar, frightened, took what was promised to them, carried it to the monastery and gave it to blessed Theodosius, and also forged the frame for the icon of the Holy Mother of God. And some time later, the same boyar decided to bring the Gospel as a gift to the blessed monastery. And so, when he came to the great Theodosius, hiding the Gospel in his bosom, and after prayer they were about to sit down, and the boyar had not yet taken out the Gospel, the blessed one suddenly said to him: “First, brother Clement, take out the holy Gospel that you have in your bosom and which you promised as a gift to the Holy Mother of God, and then we will sit down." Hearing this, the boyar was horrified by the monk’s foresight, for he had never told anyone about this before. And he took out that holy Gospel and gave it into the hands of the blessed one, and so they sat down, and, having had their fill of spiritual conversation, the boyar returned home. And from that time on, he fell in love with blessed Theodosius, and began to come to him often, and received considerable benefit by talking with him.
And when someone came to Theodosius in the same way, after a spiritual conversation he treated those who came to dinner from the monastic supplies: they served bread, lentils and a little fish. More than once the Christ-lover Izyaslav dined in the same way and cheerfully said to Theodosius: “Here, father, you know that my house is full of all the blessings of the world, but I have never eaten such delicious dishes as you have today. My servants constantly prepare various and expensive dishes, and yet they are not so tasty. I ask you, father, tell me why your dishes are so delicious?” Then the divinely inspired Father Theodosius, in order to strengthen the prince’s piety, said to him: “Since you want to know this, good lord, listen, I’ll tell you. When the monastery brethren want to cook, or bake bread, or do something else, then first of all one of them goes and receives a blessing from the abbot, after that he bows three times before the holy altar to the ground, and lights a candle from the holy altar, and from that candle lights a fire. And then, when he pours water into the cauldron, he says to the eldest: “Bless, father!” And he replies: “God bless you, brother!” And so all their deeds are done with blessing. And your servants, as you know, do everything by quarreling, laughing, quarreling with each other, and are often beaten by their elders. And so their entire service is spent in sins." The lover of Christ listened to him and said: “Truly, Father, as you said.” ...
One day the days of the Feast of the Dormition of the Holy Mother of God came, and it was necessary to celebrate it in the church, but there was not enough wood oil to pour into the lamps. And the housekeeper decided to extract oil from flaxseed and, pouring that oil into the lamps, light it. And he asked permission from Blessed Theodosius for this, and told Theodosius to do as he intended. And when he was about to pour oil into the lamps, he saw that a mouse had fallen into the vessel and was floating, dead, in the oil. He hurried to the blessed one and said: “With what diligence I covered the vessel with oil, I don’t understand where this bastard got through and drowned!” But the blessed one thought that this was the divine will. And, reproaching himself for his lack of faith, he said to the steward: “We, brother, should place our hope in God, for he can give us everything we desire. And not like we, having lost faith, do what we shouldn’t. So go ahead and pour that oil on the ground. And let's wait a little, let's pray to God, and he will give us wood oil in abundance today." Evening had already come when, unexpectedly, some rich man brought a huge pot full of wooden oil to the monastery. And, seeing this, the blessed one glorified God, who had so quickly heeded their prayers. And they filled all the lamps, and most of the oil remained. And so they arranged it the next day Holy holiday holy mother of God.
The God-loving Prince Izyaslav, truly pious in faith to our Lord Jesus Christ and to the Most Pure Mother and who later laid down his life for his brother at the call of the Lord, as they say, sincerely loved our father Theodosius and often visited him and was saturated with his spiritual conversations. One day the prince came, and they were sitting in the church, talking about God, and it was already evening. And so that lover of Christ ended up with the blessed one and the honest brethren at the evening service. And suddenly, by the will of God, he went heavy rain, and the blessed one, seeing that it was too late, called the cellarer and told him: “Prepare dinner for the prince.” Then the housekeeper came to him, saying? "" Mister our father! I have no honey for the prince and his companions." The blessed one asked him: “Not at all?” He answered: “Yes, father! There wasn’t any left, I told you that I overturned the empty vessel and laid it on its side.” The blessed one sends him again: “Go and have a better look, maybe there is something left or a little has been collected.” The same one says in response: “Believe me, Father, that I turned over the vessel where the drink was and put it on its side.” Then the blessed one, truly filled with spiritual grace, said to him like this: “Go and according to my word and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ you will find honey in that vessel.” He, believing the blessed one, went out and went to the pantry, and a miracle happened according to the word of our holy father Theodosius: the barrel that had been overturned was standing there and was full to the top of honey. The frightened housekeeper immediately returned to the blessed one and told him about what had happened. The blessed one answered him: “Keep quiet, child, and don’t say a word about this to anyone, but go and carry as much as the prince and his companions need; and give it to the brothers, let them drink. This is all a blessing from God." Meanwhile, the rain stopped, and the lover of Christ went to his home. And such was the blessing at the monastery that there was still enough honey for many days to come.
One day, a monastery monk came to blessed Father Theodosius from a certain village, telling him that demons lived in the barn where the cattle were kept. And they do a lot of harm there, not allowing the livestock to eat. Many times the priest prayed and sprinkled holy water, but all in vain: evil demons remained there and to this day torment the cattle. Then our father Theodosius armed himself to fight them with fasting and prayer, for the Lord said: “This demonic race will not be destroyed by anything, only by prayer and fasting.” Therefore, the blessed one hoped that he would be able to drive demons out of the stable, as he had previously driven them out of the bakery. And he came to that village, and in the evening, entering alone into the stable where the demons lived, he locked the doors and prayed there until the morning. And since then they have not appeared there again and have not harmed anyone in the yard. Thus, with the prayers of our venerable father Theodosius, as if with a weapon, the demons from the village were driven away. And the blessed one returned to his monastery, like a mighty warrior, having defeated the evil spirits that were harming him in his area.
Some time later, the elder of the bakers came to our blessed and reverend father Theodosius and said that there was no flour left to bake bread for the brethren. The blessed one answered him: “Go look in the bottom of the barrel and see if you can find a little flour in it until the Lord takes care of us again.” The same one remembered that he had swept the bitch and swept all the bran into one corner, and even those were not many: about three or four handfuls, and therefore said: “I’m telling you the truth, father, I swept the bitt myself, and there is nothing there, except bran.” a little in one corner." Theodosia’s father answered him: “Believe me, child, that God is great and from that handful of bran he will fill our mouths with flour, just as under Elijah he turned one handful of flour into many, so that a certain widow could survive with her children in times of famine, until the time came.” harvest. This is how it is now: God can make a lot out of little. So go and see, suddenly that little bitch will be blessed." Hearing these words, he went out, and when he approached the bottom, he saw that through the prayers of our reverend father Theodosius, the bottom, previously empty, was full of flour, so that it even poured through the walls onto the ground. He was horrified, seeing such a glorious miracle, and, returning, told the blessed one about everything. The saint answered him: “Go, child, and, without telling anyone, bake bread for the brethren, as usual. It was through the prayers of our venerable brethren that God sent down his mercy to us, giving us everything we desire." ...
At that time there was discord - at the instigation of a crafty enemy - among three princes, brothers by blood: two of them went to war against the third, their eldest brother, the lover of Christ and truly the lover of God, Izyaslav. And he was expelled from his capital city, and they, having come to that city, sent for our blessed father Theodosius, inviting him to come to them for dinner and join their unrighteous alliance. But that monk, filled with the holy spirit, seeing that the expulsion of the lover of Christ was unjust, answered the messenger that he would not go to the feast of Beelzebub and would not touch those dishes filled with blood and murder. And much more, condemning them, he spoke and, releasing the messenger, punished him: “Tell all this to those who sent you.” Although they did not dare to be angry with Theodosius for such words, seeing that the man of God spoke the truth, they did not listen to him, but moved against their brother in order to expel him from his inheritance, and then returned back. One of them sat on the throne of his father and brother, and the other went to his inheritance.
Then our father Theodosius, filled with the holy spirit, began to denounce the prince that he had acted unrighteously and had not sat on the throne according to the law, expelling his elder brother, who had been his father instead. And so he denounced him, either sending him letters, or condemning the lawless expulsion of his brother before the nobles who came to him and ordered them to convey his words to the prince. And then he wrote him a long letter, threatening him with these words: “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to God, like Abel’s blood against Cain!” And, citing as examples many other ancient oppressors, murderers, brother-haters, and in parables exposing his act, described all this and sent it. When the prince read this message, he became enraged and, like a lion, roared at the righteous man and threw his letter to the ground. And then the news spread around everyone that the blessed one was in danger of imprisonment. The brethren, in great sadness, begged the blessed one to retreat and stop denouncing the prince. And many boyars, coming, spoke of the prince’s anger and begged not to resist him. “He,” they said, “wants to imprison you.” Hearing what they were saying about his imprisonment, the blessed one perked up and said to them: “This makes me very happy, brothers, for nothing in this life is sweet to me: does it bother me that I will lose prosperity or wealth? Or will the separation from my children and the loss of my villages sadden me? I did not bring any of this with me into this world: we are born naked, so it is fitting for us to leave this world naked. Therefore, I am ready to die." And from then on he continued to denounce the prince’s brotherly hatred, wishing with all his soul to be imprisoned.
However, the prince, no matter how much he was angry with the blessed one, did not dare to cause him either harm or sorrow, seeing in him a reverend and righteous man. It was not for nothing that he had previously constantly envied his brother Izyaslav, that there was such a light in his land, as the Monk Pavel, abbot of one of the monasteries that were in his inheritance, said, who heard this from Svyatoslav.
And our blessed father Theodosius, after many requests from his brethren and nobles, and especially seeing that he had achieved nothing by his reproof, left the prince alone, and from then on no longer reproached him, deciding to himself that it would be better to beg him so that returned his brother to the region that belonged to him.
Some time later, the good prince noticed that Theodosius’s anger had subsided and that he had stopped reproaching him, and he rejoiced, for he had long longed to talk with him and be satiated with his spiritual conversation. Then he sends to the blessed one: will he allow him to come to him in the monastery or not? Theodosius ordered him to come. The prince was delighted and arrived with the boyars at the monastery. And the great Theodosius and his brethren left the church and, as expected, met him and bowed, as befits a prince, and the prince kissed the blessed one. Then he said: “Father! I didn’t dare come to you, thinking that you were angry with me and wouldn’t let me into the monastery." The blessed one answered: “But can our anger, good lord, control your power? But it is fitting for us to reprove you and talk about the salvation of your soul. And you should listen to this." And so they entered the church and after prayer they sat down, and Blessed Theodosius began to speak in the words of the Holy Scriptures, and more than once reminded him of brotherly love. He again placed all the blame on his brother and because of this did not want to reconcile with him. And after a long conversation, the prince returned home, praising God for being able to talk with such a man, and from then on he often came to him and was satisfied with spiritual food, more than honey and well-fed, such were the words of the blessed one coming from his honey-drenched lips. Many times Theodosius visited the prince and reminded him of the fear of God and love for his brother.
One day our good and God-bearing father Theodosius came to the prince and, entering the chamber where the prince was sitting, he saw many musicians playing in front of him: some strummed the harp, others rattled the organs, and others whistled to the music, and so everyone played and had fun. , as is the custom among princes. The blessed one sat down next to the prince, lowering his eyes to the ground, and, bending down, asked him: “Is this how it will be in the next world?” He was moved by the words of the blessed one, burst into tears and ordered the music to stop. And from then on, if, having invited musicians to his place, he learned about the arrival of the blessed one, he ordered them to stop playing.
And many times later, when the prince was informed about the arrival of the blessed one, he went out and joyfully met him in front of the doors of his mansions, and so both entered the house. The prince once said to the monk with a smile: “Here, father, I’m telling you the truth: if they had told me that my father had risen from the dead, I would not have been as happy as I am at your coming. And I was not as afraid of him and embarrassed before him as I was before your reverend soul." The blessed one answered: “If you are so afraid of me, then do my will and return to your brother the throne that the blessed father handed over to him.” The prince remained silent, not knowing what to answer; his enemy had so embittered him against his brother that he did not want to hear about him.
And our father Theodosius prayed to God day and night for the lover of Christ Izyaslav and in the litany ordered him to be mentioned as the prince of Kyiv and the eldest above everyone, but Svyatoslav - as we said, sat on the throne against the law - did not order to be remembered in his monastery. And the brothers barely begged him, and then he commanded that they both be remembered, but first the lover of Christ, then this good one.
The Great Nikon, seeing the princely strife, retired with two monks to the previously mentioned island, where in the past he founded a monastery, although Blessed Theodosius begged him many times not to be separated from him while both were alive, and not to leave him. But Nikon did not listen to him and, as we said, went to his previous place.
Then our father Theodosius, filled with the holy spirit, decided, by the grace of God, to move to a new place and, with the help of the holy spirit, to create a large stone church in the name of the Holy Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. The old church was wooden and could not accommodate all the brethren.
Many people gathered for the foundation of the church, and some pointed out one place where to build it, others - another, and there was no better place than on the nearby princely field. And so, by the will of God, the good prince Svyatoslav drove by and, seeing a crowd of people, asked what was happening here. And when he found out, he turned his horse and rode up to them and, as if moved by God, showed them to that very place in his field, ordering them to build a church here. And immediately, after the prayer, he himself began to dig first. And Blessed Theodosius himself worked every day with the brethren, building this building. But, however, he did not finish it during his lifetime, and after his death, under the abbess of Stephen, with God's help through the prayers of our father Theodosius, the work was completed and the building was built. The brethren moved there, but a few of them remained in the same place, and with them were a priest and a deacon, so that the holy liturgy was celebrated here every day.
This is the life of our venerable and blessed father Theodosius, which I briefly described from youth to old age. And who can describe in order all the wise management of this blessed man, who can praise him according to his merits! Although I try to give worthy praise to his deeds, I cannot - I am ignorant and unreasonable.
Many times the princes and bishops wanted to tempt that blessed one, to overcome him in a verbal debate, but they could not and jumped away, as if hitting a stone, for he was protected by faith and hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, and the holy spirit abided in him. And he was a protector of widows and a helper of orphans, and a protector of the poor, and, simply put, he let go of everyone who came to him, teaching and comforting, and he gave to the poor what they needed for food.
Many of the foolish reproached him, but he joyfully endured all the reproaches, as he more than once endured reproaches and annoyances from his disciples, still, however, praying to God for everyone. And many more ignorant people scoffed at the old vestments. And he did not grieve about this, but rejoiced at the reproach and reproaches, and in great joy he praised God for this.
When someone who did not know Theodosius saw him in such clothes, he could not even think that this was the same blessed abbot, but took him for a cook. So one day he was walking to the builders who were erecting a church, and a poor widow, offended by the judge, met him and turned to the blessed one himself: ““Chernorizets, tell me, is your abbot at home?” “The blessed one also asked her: ““What do you want?” from him, for he is a sinful man?” The woman answered him: “I don’t know whether he is a sinner, but I only know that he saved many from sorrows and misfortunes, for this reason I came, so that he could help me, for I was offended by the judge not according to the law." Then, having asked about everything, the blessed one took pity on her and said to her: “Go home now, and when our abbot comes, I will tell him about you, and he will save you from sorrow.” Hearing this, the woman went home, and the blessed one went to the judge and, after talking with him, freed her from oppression, so that the judge himself sent to return to her what he had taken away.
This is how our blessed father Theodosius interceded for many before judges and princes, delivering them, for no one dared to disobey him, knowing his righteousness and holiness. And they honored him not for the sake of expensive outfits or bright clothes and not for the sake of great wealth, but for his immaculate life, and for his bright soul, and for the many teachings boiling with the holy spirit in his mouth. The goatskin was a valuable and bright garment for him, and the hair shirt was the royal scarlet of honor, and, remaining great in them, he spent his days pleasing to God.
And then the end of his life came, and he already knew in advance the day when he would go to God and the hour of his peace would come, for death is peace for the righteous.
Then he commanded all the brethren and those who had gone to the villages or on some other business, and, having called everyone, began to instruct the tiuns, and the guards, and the servants, so that everyone would carry out the work entrusted to him with all diligence and with the fear of God, with obedience and love. And again he taught everyone with tears about the salvation of the soul, and about a life pleasing to God, and about fasting, and about how to take care of the church and stand in it with trepidation, and about brotherly love, and about obedience, so that not only elders, but also peers love your own and submit to them. Having taught them, he sent them away, and he himself entered the cell and began to cry and beat himself in a heap, bowing to God and praying to him for the salvation of his soul, and for his flock, and for the monastery. The brethren, going out into the courtyard, began to say among themselves: “What is he saying? Or, having gone somewhere, he wants to hide in an unknown place and live alone without us? "For more than once he was already planning to do this, but he yielded to the pleas of the prince and nobles, and especially to the pleas of the brethren. And now they thought the same thing.
Meanwhile, the blessed one was shaking with chills and burning in the heat and, already completely exhausted, lay down on his bed and said: “God’s will be done, whatever he pleases, let him do to me!” But, however, I pray you, my lord, have mercy on my soul, may it not be met by the devil’s treachery, but may your angels accept it and, through the obstacles of hellish torment, lead it to the light of your mercy.” And having said this, he fell silent and was no longer able to speak.
The brethren were in great sorrow and sorrow because of his illness. And then for three days he could not say a word or look at a story, so many already thought that he had died, and few could notice that his soul had not yet left him. After these three days, he stood up and addressed all the assembled brethren: “My brothers and fathers! I already know that the time of my life has expired, as the Lord announced to me during fasting, when I was in the cave, that the hour had come to leave this world. “You will decide among yourselves: who should you appoint as abbot instead of me?” When the brothers heard this, they were saddened and wept bitterly, and then, going out into the courtyard, they began to confer among themselves and by common agreement decided that Stefan, the church regent, should be their abbot. .
The next day, our blessed father Theodosius, again calling all the brethren to him, asked: “Well, children, have you decided who is worthy to become your abbot?” They all answered that Stephen was worthy to accept the abbot after Theodosius. And the blessed one, calling Stephen to himself and blessing him, installed him as abbot in his place. And he taught the brethren for a long time to obey him and let them all go, telling them the day of his death: “On Saturday, after sunrise, my soul will leave my body.” And, again inviting one Stefan to himself, he taught him how to shepherd that holy flock, and he no longer left him and humbly served Theodosius, for he was getting worse.
When Saturday came and dawn, the blessed one sent for all the brethren and began to kiss them all, one after another, crying and crying out that they were being separated from such a shepherd. And the blessed one said to them: “My beloved children and brothers! I bid you farewell with all my heart, for I am going to my Master, our Lord Jesus Christ. And here is the abbot you yourself wished for. So listen to him, and let him be your spiritual father, and fear him, and do everything according to his command. May God, the one who created everything with his word and wisdom, bless you and protect you from the evil one, and keep your faith unbreakable and firm in unanimity and mutual love, so that you will be together until your last breath. May grace be upon you to serve God impeccably, and to be all one body and one soul in humility and obedience. And you will be perfect, just as your heavenly father is perfect. May the Lord be with you! And this is what I ask and conjure you: in whatever clothes I am wearing now, put me in the cave where I spent the days of fasting, and do not wash my insignificant body, and let none of the people, except yourself, bury me in the place that I indicated to you." The brothers, hearing these words from the lips of the holy father, cried, shedding tears.
And the blessed one again consoled them, saying: “I promise you, brothers and fathers, that although I am leaving you in body, I will always be with you in soul. And know: if one of you dies here in the monastery, or is sent somewhere, then even if he commits any sin, I will still be responsible for him before God. But if someone leaves the monastery of their own free will, then I have nothing to do with that. And from this you understand my boldness before God: if you see that our monastery is thriving, know that I am near the Lord of Heaven. If you ever see the impoverishment of the monastery and it falls into poverty, it means that I am far from God and do not have the courage to pray to him."
After these words, he sent everyone away, leaving no one with him. Only one monk, who always served Theodosius, made a small hole and watched through it. And so the blessed one stood up and bowed down, praying with tears to the merciful God for the salvation of his soul, calling on all the saints for help, and most of all, our holy mistress, the Mother of God, and prayed to her in the name of the Lord God, our savior Jesus Christ, for his flock and the monastery. And again, having prayed, he lay down on his bed and, after lying down for a while, suddenly looked up at the sky and exclaimed loudly with a joyful face: “Blessed is God that this has happened: now I am no longer afraid, but I rejoice that I am leaving this light! "" And one might think that he said this after seeing a certain phenomenon, because then he straightened up, stretched out his legs, and folded his arms crosswise on his chest, and gave his holy soul into the hands of God, and communed with the holy fathers. Then the brothers wept bitterly over his body, and then, picking him up, they carried him to the church and sang the funeral service, as was customary. And immediately, as if by some divine order, a multitude of pious people gathered from everywhere, and they readily came and sat down in front of the gate, waiting for the blessed one to be carried out. And the noble prince Svyatoslav, who was not far from the blessed monastery, suddenly saw that a pillar of fire rose to the sky above that monastery. And no one else saw this, only the prince alone, and therefore he guessed that the blessed one had died, and said to those around him: “Now, as it seems to me, blessed Theodosius has died.” He had recently visited Theodosius and saw his serious illness. Then, having sent and heard that he had indeed died, the prince wept bitterly for him.
The brethren locked the gate and did not let anyone in, as the blessed one ordered, and sat over his body, waiting for the people to disperse, so that they could bury him, as he himself commanded. And many boyars came and stood in front of the gate. And then, by God’s command, the sky became cloudy and it began to rain. And all the people fled. And immediately the rain stopped again and the sun began to shine. And so they carried Theodosius to the cave about which we spoke before, and laid him down, and, having sealed the coffin, they separated and remained without food all day.
Our father Theodosius died in the year 6582 (1074) of the month of May on the 3rd day, on Saturday, as he himself predicted - after sunrise.
After our venerable and God-bearing father Anthony of Pechersk, 1 great lamp of the Russian Church and valiant ascetic of the glorious Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was our reverend and God-bearing father Theodosius, glorified by God by numerous deeds and miracles. For everyone who wants to get acquainted with the life of this glorious man, detailed information about him was preserved for us by the Monk Nestor, the chronicler of Pechersk 2; as a faithful heavenly witness, he offers us reliable information about the life of St. Theodosius. Based on this life, with minor abbreviations, the narrative offered here has been compiled.
The birthplace of our reverend and God-bearing father Theodosius was one of the cities of the Russian land - Vasilyev 3. Faithful parents raised their son in piety from an early age, and when he grew up, they sent him to learn to read and write. Soon Theodosius studied the Divine Scripture so thoroughly that everyone was amazed at his intelligence and wisdom. From his adolescence, Theodosius zealously visited the temple of God every day and, listening attentively to everything that was read and sung here, always stood through church services to the end.
Already during these years, he shunned his peers and did not take any part in children's games.
When Theodosius turned 13 years old, for some reason his parents had to move to Kursk 4, a city located closer to the center of the Russian land. Here, soon, according to the command of Divine Providence, his father was destined to die, whose righteous soul moved from the earthly vale to the heavenly abodes. Having lost his father, thirteen-year-old Theodosius lived with his mother, strengthened over the years by the grace of God. After the death of his earthly father, Theodosius began to care even more zealously about gaining eternal life in heaven: he thirsted for godly deeds and moved away from any worldly pleasures; stopped dressing in expensive clothes and wore only poor clothes. He always had only one desire - to achieve salvation.
One day Theodosius happened to meet with wanderers from Jerusalem. Having become interested in their stories and inflamed with a strong love for holy places, the blessed young man begged them to visit with him those holy places where the Savior of the world lived and shed His priceless blood for our salvation. And so, fulfilling his intention, Theodosius at night, secretly from his mother, sets off on a long journey. His mother searched for him around the city in tears for three days until she found out where he had gone. Then the mother and her youngest son immediately went after him and, having caught up with him, in great anger began to inflict severe beatings on him, throwing him to the ground and trampling him underfoot. Then, having brought him home, she locked him in his room. Theodosius endured all this without complaining, even with gratitude. Finally, his mother took pity on him and, having freed him, began to beg him with tears not to leave her house. Then Theodosius returned to his former exploits and continued to attend church every day.
Having noticed once that the divine liturgy was often not celebrated in the church due to a lack of prosphora, Theodosius decided to prepare the bread himself to be sacrificed to God. For this purpose, Theodosius bought wheat, ground it with his own hands and baked prosphora from it, which he brought as a gift to the church. If he had to receive some money from those who donated prosphora for the proskomedia, then Theodosius gave it to the poor. He led such a life for two years or a little more, not paying attention to the obstacles that the enemy of the human race, the devil, put before him in this matter. At the inspiration of the devil, Theodosius was indignant for this among his peers, who tried to arm even his mother against him. Mother said to Theodosius:
I beg you, child, leave your work; with it you raise complaints against your family.
The blessed youth answered her with humility:
Listen to me, mother, I beg you! Our Lord God Jesus Christ Himself humbled Himself for our sake and thereby gave an example to us, so that we too should humble ourselves for His sake. At the Last Supper He Himself transformed bread into His body; Why can one blame or reproach the person who prepares the bread on which this great mystery of the transformation of bread into the body of Christ is to be accomplished?
Hearing such an answer, the mother was very surprised at the wisdom of the boy and from that time on left him alone. However, the devil did not cease to incite her against the humble and hardworking youth and inspired her to forbid her son to prepare prosphora. After a year, the mother, seeing Theodosius baking prosphora and sunburnt from the heat of the stove, again began to convince him to stop baking prosphora. She influenced her son sometimes with caresses, sometimes with threats, and sometimes even with beatings. The blessed young man, not knowing what to do, got up at night and secretly left the house. Having left here for a neighboring city, he settled with a presbyter, where he continued his labors. His mother found him again and, beating him, forced him to return to his city again.
The governor of the city of Kursk, noticing the humility and reverent prayers in the church of Blessed Theodosius, gave him light clothes to wear. After wearing the new clothes for a short time, Theodosius gave them to the poor. The chief of the city dressed him in another best clothes, but the boy gave that too to the poor. Theodosius did this many times.
After this, the blessed one went to the forge and instructed the blacksmith there to forge himself an iron belt in the form of a chain. He put this tight belt, which cut into his body to the point of blood, directly onto his body and from then on never took it off.
Once on a holiday, the head of the city ordered Theodosius to attend his dinner party, wanting the youth to serve his guests. When going to dinner, the boy, according to his mother’s instructions, should dress in festive clothes. And so, when he began to get dressed, his mother saw blood on his tunic (underwear), no matter how hard the boy tried to hide it from her. Wanting to find out why the boy’s body was covered in blood, the mother began to look more closely and, noticing an iron belt on the boy’s body, became convinced that blood was flowing from the wounds from the iron belt that had cut into the body. Angry with Theodosius, the mother tore his tunic and, with beatings, removed the belt from her son. And the blessed one, as if he had not experienced anything offensive, got dressed and with great modesty served the chief of the city and his guests at dinner.
After some time, Theodosius had to hear the gospel words in the church: " He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." (Matthew 10:37); and also: " My Mother and My Brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it"(Luke 8:21). Inflamed by these words, Theodosius secretly left home for the city of Kiev. Here he heard about the strict monastic life in the cave of St. Anthony and, interested in the stories about him, wanted to visit the reverend elder. Arriving at the cave to Anthony, Theodosius fell on his knees before him and with tears began to beg him to be accepted into his monastic labors. Reverend Anthony, having listened to him, answered him like this:
Boy, do you see how dark and cramped this cave is; you can't stand the discomfort here.
To this the divinely inspired young man answered with emotion:
God brought me to your holy cave, clearly foretelling that I should be saved through you. I will do whatever you tell me to do.
Then the Monk Anthony lovingly received him and, having blessed him, gave him into the care of an educated priest, Blessed Nikon 5, who soon tonsured the young man into monasticism. Theodosius took tonsure at the age of 23, shortly after the death of the noble prince of Kyiv Yaroslav Vladimirovich 6.
Having accepted the holy monastic order, the Monk Theodosius devoted himself entirely to serving God and diligently fulfilled the will of his elder Anthony. He zealously performed great monastic labors, like an ascetic who accepted the yoke of Christ. Overcoming drowsiness, he stayed awake all night, praising God; during the day, oppressing his flesh with abstinence and fasting, he performed various hard work. Such good behavior, humility, cheerfulness and hard work of the young man aroused surprise even in the Monk Anthony and Blessed Nikon; Seeing the righteous life of Theodosius, both of them glorified God for this.
Meanwhile, Theodosius’s mother, having searched in vain for her son in her city and its environs, already mourned him as if he were dead. Only later, after a long time, did she learn about the tonsure of her son in Kyiv with the Monk Anthony in a cave. Then she went to this old man and asked him to come out of the cave to her. When the elder finally came out to her, she turned to him in tears with an earnest request to show her her son. Having learned from the elder about his mother’s request, the young man was greatly embarrassed because he could not hide from her; however, heeding Anthony’s admonitions, he left the cave to his mother. Seeing her son as a monk with a face thinner from great feats and labors, the mother fell on his chest and, weeping bitterly, said to him:
Return to my house, my son, and do according to your will everything that you consider useful for the salvation of your soul. When I die, bury my body in the earth and then return to this cave. I can't live without you.
The blessed young man answered her:
Stay, mother, here in Kyiv, and take monastic vows at the convent, and then you will have the opportunity to sometimes come to me for a date. By this you will gain salvation for yourself and be worthy to see God in eternal life.
But the mother did not want to listen to her son. Then the blessed one, returning to the cave, began to fervently pray to God for the salvation of his mother’s soul. And God heard the prayer of His saint. A few days later his mother came to him and said:
My son, I act on your advice and will not return home again. Having taken monastic vows according to the will of God, I will spend the rest of my days in a nunnery, because I am convinced, as you told me, that this short-lived world is nothing.
Having learned about this, the blessed one rejoiced in his soul and told the Monk Anthony about his mother’s intention. The latter glorified God for turning his mother’s heart to the path of truth and, leaving the cave, taught her for a long time with soul-saving conversations; and then he sent her to the convent of St. Nicholas, where she took monastic vows. Having lived here piously for several years, Mother Theodosius went to God in peace.
Having finally renounced all worldly concerns after his mother's tonsure, Blessed Theodosius, together with the Monk Anthony and Blessed Nikon, began to strive even more zealously in monastic labors. In the community of elders, Theodosius soon showed his power to defeat evil spirits, influencing them with fasting and prayer. God Himself helped them in this, saying: " For where there are two or three in My name, then I am in the midst of them"(Matthew 18:20).
When Blessed Nikon needed to leave the monastery for a more intensified feat in another place, Blessed Theodosius, by the will of God and at the request of the Monk Anthony, was ordained a priest 7 . Having accepted this dignity, he tried to perform the Divine Liturgy every day with great reverence. Soon after the dedication of Theodosius, the Monk Anthony, having gathered 12 monks from the brethren in a cave, appointed Blessed Varlaam as their abbot, 8 and he himself left from there and began to asceticize in another cave, dug by himself. Then our venerable and reverent father Theodosius, who remained in the Anthony Cave together with the blessed abbot Varlaam, jointly erected a small church over the cave in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos, designating it for common fraternal prayer.
Saint Theodosius then surpassed everyone with his great exploits: fasting, vigor, handmade, and most of all, humility and obedience. He helped the brethren: sometimes carrying water, sometimes delivering firewood from the forest, sometimes at night he performed the work assigned to other monks; and besides, he always stayed awake all night, standing in prayer. Sometimes at night in the summer he climbed to the top of the cave and, exposing his body to the waist, exposed it to the sting of numerous gadflies and mosquitoes. At this time, he spun a wave with his hands, and chanted verses from the psalter with his lips. Due to numerous stings and wounds from insects, his whole body was stained with blood, but he sat motionless, not moving from his place until they struck for Matins. He again came to church first and, standing in his place, relentlessly performed church prayers, without being entertained by vain thoughts. And he left the church after everyone else. Seeing all this, everyone marveled at his humility and patience and treated him with love, like a father.
After some time, Blessed Varlaam, the chief of the brothers of the cavemen, was appointed by Prince Izyaslav 9 as abbot to the monastery of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius. Then, at the desire and request of all the brothers, the Monk Anthony, calling Saint Theodosius to himself, blessed him to be abbess over the twelve brothers who were then in the Pechersk monastery. This venerable abbot, our reverend father Theodosius, even in this high rank did not change his humble way of life and still strictly monitored his actions, " set themselves an example of good deeds"(Titus 2:7); he completed the work before everyone else, came to the church for worship earlier than everyone else, and left later than everyone else. Through the godly prayers of this righteous man, the Pechersk monastery began to bloom and grow rich from that time. Thus, what was said in the Divine Scripture was fulfilled: " the righteous bloom like a palm tree and rise like a cedar tree in Lebanon"(Ps. 91:13). And indeed, just as a seed by the grace of God in good soil bears fruit a hundredfold, so Saint Theodosius increased the number of cave brothers. Little by little he gathered about a hundred brethren into his monastery, life which blossomed with good morals; many of the brethren brought " fruits worthy of repentance" (cf. Matt. 3:8).
Due to the significant increase in the number of brethren, the cave turned out to be cramped, which prevented the monks from strictly leading a silent life; Also, the church turned out to be too crowded for general prayer. As a result of this, the Monk Theodosius chose one a nice place, located not far from the cave, large enough to erect monastery walls on it, and intended to build a monastery here. With the blessing of St. Anthony, he asked the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav for this place and then, with the help of God, soon built a spacious wooden church on it in honor of the Assumption Holy Mother of God. Then he erected monastery walls there and, having built a sufficient number of cells, moved with the brethren to a new monastery.
Blessed Ephraim 10 visited this monastery once; It was from him that God brought Theodosius to become acquainted in detail with the Studio Rule of Monastic Life 11. Having received from Ephraim a complete list of the rules of the holy Studion monastery, Theodosius began to follow it in everything and in the affairs of his monastery. And subsequently, all other Russian monasteries adopted this charter, following the example of the ancient Pechersk Monastery.
The Monk Theodosius diligently taught his disciples, awakening them to true repentance. This reverend teacher had the custom of walking around the brethren’s cells every night; In this way he became acquainted with the way of life of the brethren and learned the degree of zeal in the exploits of each brother. He rejoiced and praised God when, walking around the cells, he heard the monk’s prayer; when, after evening prayer, he heard a conversation between two or three monks who had gathered in a cell for a conversation, Theodosius, making his presence known, struck the door with his hand and walked away with a contrite heart. The next day, he called the guilty ones to him and, without directly denouncing them, used parables to call them to repentance. The meek-hearted brother immediately, realizing his guilt, asked for forgiveness, but the hardened one, thinking that the abbot was speaking in parables about a stranger, and not about himself, did not admit his act until the monk, directly denouncing him, punished him. penance on the culprit. So Theodosius taught the brethren to pray diligently to God, not to talk after evening prayer, and especially not to go from cell to cell to talk; he taught everyone to pray in his cell, and when performing manual work, to always read aloud the psalms of David. During his life, the monks seemed to be equal in their exploits to the angels of God, and the Pechersk monastery was likened to a heavenly monastery. Indeed, in his monastery our venerable father Theodosius shone with the light of good deeds, like a great heavenly lamp. For his righteous life, Theodosius, even during his lifetime, was glorified by God before people, being illuminated by visible light. This happened under the following circumstances.
Once on a dark night, the abbot of the monastery of the Holy Archangel Michael, Sophrony, returned to his place past the Theodosian monastery. Suddenly an extraordinary light appeared before his eyes, shining over the monastery of the righteous man. Struck by the extraordinary phenomenon, Sophronius glorified God, saying: “How great is Your mercy, Lord! You gave the people in this place a lamp, in the person of Theodosius, and it enlightens the monastery with its radiance.”
Similar phenomena were observed many times by other people, and since the people talked a lot about this, rumors about it reached the prince and his boyars. These radiances were a reflection of the light of the righteous life of the holy elder. This is how everyone explained this phenomenon to themselves.
Blessed Theodosius also enjoyed great love from the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav, who took the princely throne in Kyiv after his father Yaroslav. Izyaslav often came to the monk to enjoy his divinely inspired conversation. It should be noted that our reverend father Theodosius gave his gatekeeper a strict order: during the period of time between mass and vespers, do not open the gates and do not let anyone into the monastery. By this he wanted to give the brethren the opportunity to rest during the day before long night prayers and morning hymns. One day at these hours the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav arrived on horseback, accompanied by a youth (before that time the prince had never ridden to the monastery on horseback). Getting off his horse, Izyaslav went up to the gate and knocked, ordering the gatekeeper to open it. The gatekeeper explained to him that, by order of the abbot, the gates should not be opened for anyone before Vespers. Then the prince, wanting to explain to the gatekeeper who he was, said:
It's me, open it to me alone.
The gatekeeper, not knowing what the prince was saying to him, answered:
I tell you: the abbot did not order anyone to open the gate, not even the prince himself, if he came. Therefore, if you want, wait a little until Vespers.
“I am a prince,” said Izyaslav, “won’t you open the door for me?”
The goalkeeper, bending under the gate, was convinced that it was the prince, but still did not open the gate, but went to inform the monk about this. The prince was forced to wait patiently at the gate. Then the monk came out and, seeing the prince, bowed to him. Then the prince began to say to Saint Theodosius:
How strict, father, is your order: the monk says that you did not order even the prince himself to be allowed in.
The monk answered:
This is so, good lord, that the brethren rest a little during the day before the upcoming night prayer work. But your laudable desire for our Most Holy Lady Theotokos is good and saving for your soul; and we greatly rejoice at your coming to us.
Then they went to church; here, after a prayer read by the monk, the Christ-loving prince enjoyed a soulful conversation with Saint Theodosius. Then the prince with great benefit for himself he returned to his home, praising God. From that day on, Izyaslav became even more attached to the saint and, seeing in him a man similar to the ancient holy fathers, began to be guided in everything by his advice.
Despite the respect shown to him by the prince and nobles, our reverend father Theodosius was not at all proud of this, but in truth, just as a light shines brightly in the darkness, so he, clothed in even greater humility, began to work even harder, teaching his disciples not only in words, but also in deeds. Despite his rank as abbot, Saint Theodosius often went into the bakery and worked there together with the bakers, kneading dough and rolling out loaves. The monk did not hide in the ground the talent of physical strength given to him by God, but always joyful in spirit, he strengthened others with his vigor, urging them never to weaken in zeal for their work.
One day, on the eve of the feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, the cellarer Theodore came to the monk and said that there was not enough water in the kitchen, and there was no one to carry it. Then the monk got up and immediately began to carry water from the well. One of the brethren, seeing the abbot at this activity, hastened to tell the other monks about this, and they gathered with great haste and brought water in abundance.
There was another similar case. Once they did not prepare enough firewood for cooking food; The cellarer again appeared to the monk and said:
Order, father, someone, unoccupied, from the brethren, to go and prepare required amount firewood
“I’m not busy, I’ll go,” answered the monk.
This conversation took place at lunch hour. The blessed one, taking an ax, went and began to chop wood himself, and ordered the rest of the brethren to go to dinner. Coming out of the refectory after dinner, the monks saw their abbot at work. Ashamed of his humility, the monks themselves took up axes and prepared so much firewood that there was enough for several days.
When blessed Nikon 12, who had tonsured the monk, returned to the Pechersk monastery from his ascetic journey, the venerable Theodosius showed him every respect as a father, despite the fact that he himself was then in the rank of abbot. And when blessed Nikon had a shortage of threads for sewing books (he did this), Theodosius spun threads for him. Such was the humility and simplicity in the various works and activities of the divinely inspired man. And the abbot wore modest and poor clothes: on his body a stiff hair shirt, and on top of another, very worn; He wore this one so as not to show people his prickly hair shirt underneath.
One day the monk went on some business to the Christ-loving prince Izyaslav, and since the latter was at that time far from the city, Theodosius had to delay there until the evening. When he began to get ready to go home, the Christ-loving prince ordered him to be taken to the monastery in his chariot. On the way, the youth who was driving him, seeing the poor clothes on the monk and thinking that he was not an abbot, but a simple monk, said to him:
Chernets, sit on the horse, and I will sit on the chariot.
The monk immediately humbly stepped down from the chariot, giving way to the youth on it, and he himself either walked alongside, or, when tired, mounted a horse. So they rode at night. At dawn, they began to meet nobles on their way to the prince. The latter, recognizing the monk, dismounted and bowed low to him. Then the monk turned to the youth and said:
It's already day, get up from your chariot and mount your horse.
The youth, seeing that the nobles were bowing to the monk, was frightened and, getting off the chariot, sat on his horse. Meanwhile, those he met began to greet the monk even more often when he got into the chariot. The boy accompanying him became even more confused.
When they arrived at the monastery in this way, all the brethren came out to meet the monk and greeted him with a bow to the ground. The boy was even more horrified, wondering who it was that everyone worshiped. The monk, taking him by the hand, led him to the refectory and there ordered him to be fed and given water, then sent him away with gifts. This incident became known to everyone from the boy himself, but the monk did not tell anyone about it, since he always taught the brethren never to be proud of anything, but to always remain in humility and place themselves below everyone else.
This is the kind of humility the monk taught his brethren. By the way, he taught at the beginning of any business to ask for a blessing from an elder, remembering the words of Scripture: “ He who sows generously will also reap generously"(2 Cor. 9:6) He demonstrated the truth of this saying in action. He had a custom: when pious people came to him because of their need, the monk, having taught divine instructions, gave them bread from the monastery reserves and hot food. One day the prince himself, having tasted the monastery food from him, said to the monk:
You know, father, that my house is filled with all the blessings of the world, but I have never eaten with such sweetness as here. My slaves, although they prepare various expensive dishes, are not as sweet as these. I pray you, father, tell me why there is such sweetness in your food?
Blessed Theodosius answered this:
If, good lord, you want to know why this is, listen - I’ll tell you: when our brethren are going to cook hot food or bake bread, they follow this order: first of all, the monk comes to the abbot and takes his blessing, then, bowing before the holy altar three times to the ground, lights a candle from the altar and with this fire kindles the wood in the cookhouse and bakery. And when it is necessary to pour water into the cauldron, the monk says to the elder: “Bless, father.” The latter replies: “God bless you, brother.” Thus, every business for us begins with a blessing, which is why there is sweetness in food. And your slaves, I think, work, cursing, grumbling and slandering each other, maybe even often taking beatings from their bosses. Therefore, their work, not done without sin, is not sweet.
After listening to this, the prince said:
Truly, father, it is as you say.
When the monk happened to hear about some food that it was not being made with the blessing of an elder and contrary to monastic rules, then, calling this food enemy, he did not allow his blessed flock to taste it; food prepared in this way was ordered to be thrown into water or fire. This also happened when the monk and his brethren went to the neighboring monastery named after this saint for the feast of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius. On this day, some pious people sent very tasty bread to the monastery. Theodosius ordered the cellarer to serve them that same day for the meal of the remaining brethren. But the cellarer did not listen to his orders, thinking to himself: “When all the brethren gather tomorrow, then I will serve these breads for dinner, and today let the remaining monks eat ordinary monastery bread.”
So he did. The next day the abbot and his brethren returned to the monastery for lunch. During the meal, the monk, noticing that the bread that had been sent as a gift was served, called the cellarer and asked him:
Where do these breads come from?
The cellarer replied:
These loaves were brought yesterday, but I did not serve them that day because few brethren were present at the dinner; I thought it would be better to offer delicious bread to all the brethren when they gather together.”
The monk said to him:
It would be better for you not to worry about the coming day, but to do according to my orders. After all, the Lord, who always cares about us, would today give us everything we need, and even more.
Then he ordered the cut pieces of bread to be collected in a basket and thrown into the river, and he imposed penance on the cellarer, as if he had disobeyed his orders. He did the same with other monks when they disobeyed their elders in some way.
Noticing that the monks did not completely abandon concern for the future and the acquisition of temporary goods (and this was contrary to monastic vows), the Monk Theodosius taught his brethren to follow the virtue of non-covetousness. He said that monks should be enriched by faith and hope in God, and not seek perishable property. He often went around the cells and, if he found someone with something extra that was not required by the rules, whether it was food, clothing or something else, he took it and threw it into the oven, as coming from the devil and contrary to the rules of the monastery. The monk thus exhorted the brethren to the virtue of non-covetousness:
It is not good for us, monks who have renounced everything worldly, to collect vain things in our cells. How will we offer pure prayer to God when we keep perishable treasure in our cell! After all, you have heard the words of the Lord: " Where your treasure is, there your heart will also be" (Matt. 6:21). And also: " Insane! This night your soul will be taken from you; who will get what you have prepared?“(Luke 12:20). Therefore, brethren,” he said, “let us be content with the established clothing and food offered at the meal, but in our cells it is not appropriate for us to have anything like this. So, with all zeal, let us offer up with all our hearts to A pure prayer to God.
This is how Saint Theodosius admonished the brethren with great humility and tears.
The monk was merciful, meek, not hot-tempered, and showed attention to everyone. So, when it happened that someone from his non-covetous flock weakened in spirit and left the monastery, then the monk, in great sadness and sorrow for the departed one, prayed with tears to God that He would return back the sheep that had been separated from his flock. So he prayed until the one who had left returned.
Among his brethren there was one monk who was distinguished by great inconstancy. He often ran away from the monastery, and every time he returned, the monk joyfully took him back, saying that God would not leave him and would not allow him to end his life outside the monastery: “Although he leaves us many times,” said the monk , “but will still end his life in our monastery.”
And with tears he prayed to God to grant his brother patience. One day this brother disappeared for a particularly long time, but nevertheless returned and, as usual, began to ask the monk to accept him again. The truly merciful Theodosius now accepted him with joy and added the returning lost sheep to his flock. Returning after a long absence, the brother brought and placed in front of the monk a small amount of money that he had earned with his own hands (he was engaged in sewing clothes). Then the monk said to him:
If you want to be perfect, take it and throw it into the burning furnace, because what you brought is a matter of disobedience.
He, like a true repentant, collected everything and, at the command of the monk, threw it into the oven and burned it. From that time on, the brother, without leaving, lived in the monastery, spending the rest of his days in repentance, and here, according to the prediction of the monk, he died in peace.
The Monk Theodosius was very merciful to the poor. He built a courtyard with a church near the monastery in the name of the Holy First Martyr Stephen and settled there the poor, the blind, the lame and lepers, and released everything they needed from the monastery. A tenth of the monastic income was used for this. In addition, every Saturday the monk sent a cart of bread to prisoners in dungeons and prisons.
Our venerable father Theodosius was merciful not only to the poor, but even to those who harmed his monastery. So, one day, in the vicinity of the monastery, they caught robbers who had come there to steal, and brought them to the abbot. Seeing them tied up and in a depressed state of mind, the monk shed tears and ordered to untie them. Having fed and watered them, he taught them not to offend anyone, but to be pleased with everyone with the fruits of their labors. Then, having given them enough money, he released the repentant robbers in peace.
The Monk Theodosius firmly hoped that the Lord Himself would preserve from the robbers everything that the brethren needed. That this hope was not in vain was confirmed by the following miracle.
With the increase in the number of brethren, our Reverend Father Theodosius needed to expand the monastery, since it was necessary to build new cells. Together with the brethren, the monk began work and began to erect a large fence. And so, when the old fence was broken and the monastery was left without its protection, robbers came to the monastery on a dark night and began to reason among themselves like this: “The monks’ property is hidden in the church chambers; let’s go there.”
But when the robbers approached the church for this purpose, they heard singing. Assuming that this is chanted by the monks gathered at evening prayer, the robbers left from there into the dense forest. After hesitating there for a while, they again approached the temple. This time, singing was also heard and a wonderful light was seen inside, and a fragrance spread from the church. This happened because there were angels in the church praising God. The robbers, assuming that it was the brethren who were now performing the midnight singing, left again. They decided to wait a little longer, so that when the monks dispersed, they could enter the church and steal everything in it. Thus, they approached the church many times and each time they also heard the singing of angels.
Meanwhile, it was time for Matins and the sexton, as usual, began to ring the bell. Hearing the ringing, the robbers retreated into the forest, talking to each other: “What should we do? After all, we must have seen a ghost in the church. Let’s do this: when the monks gather in the church, we will block their exit and, having killed them all, we will take possession of their wealth ".
Having waited until all the monks and their mentor, Blessed Theodosius, had gathered in the church for morning prayer, the robbers rushed to the church. They were already approaching the temple with criminal intent, when suddenly they were amazed by a terrible miracle: the church with the monks in it began to rise and stopped in the air at such a height that the robbers could not reach it even with a shot. They were greatly frightened when they saw this, and returned home in great fear and horror. Struck by the miracle, the robbers promised themselves that from that time on they would no longer rob, and their chief and three comrades, coming to the Monk Theodosius, repented and confessed to him all their crimes. After listening to him, the monk glorified God, who preserved not only church property, but also the lives of the brethren. The robbers, released with the saving instructions of the abbot, left, glorifying and thanking God and His saint Theodosius.
A similar miracle took place a second time during the abbotship of St. Theodosius in the same monastery church. Truly, this church was guarded from heaven by God Himself, as if standing invisibly in the air under the protection of the Most Holy Theotokos Herself.
One of the boyars of the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav happened one night to drive through a field fifteen miles away from the monastery of St. Theodosius. Suddenly he saw a church in the distance, standing in the air under the clouds. The boyar was greatly horrified by such a vision, but he and his servants immediately quickened the horse’s pace to find out what kind of church it was. When he approached the monastery of St. Theodosius, the church in his eyes began to descend to the ground and ended up in its place within the monastery fence. Then the boyar knocked on the gate and, entering the monastery, told the monk about his vision. From that time on, the boyar began to visit the monk often and listened with pleasure to his divinely inspired speeches. Subsequently, this boyar devoted a lot of his money to building a monastery and decorating the church preserved by God.
As will be seen from the following incident, the Lord miraculously preserved not only the church itself, but also the property that belonged to the monastery of St. Theodosius.
It happened once that some people needed to deliver captured robbers to the city to the judge. The road went past a village that belonged to the Pechersky Monastery. When the bound robbers were escorted past this village, one of them, nodding his head towards the village, said: “One night we came to this village, intending to kill people and rob the entire monastery. However, we did not succeed, because when we arrived, the village turned out to be at such a height that it was absolutely impossible to approach it.”
Thus, the Provider God protected the property of the monastery, listening to the prayers of the saint who trusted in Him. Theodosius used to go around the monastery at night with prayer, and with it, like a strong wall, he protected the monastery with everything in it.
During the abbess of St. Theodosius, God and the Most Holy Theotokos not only protected the monastery from robbers, but also helped from above to decorate it. One boyar of the mentioned Prince Izyaslav, named Sudislav Geievich, in holy baptism - Clement, going with his prince to war, made the following promise: “If God grants me to return home in good health, then I will donate two hryvnia to the church of the Feodosiev-Pechersk Monastery 13 gold, and for the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos I will make a golden crown."
Many people fell in this battle, but still the enemies were defeated. The boyar, returning unharmed from the battlefield, forgot about his promise.
A few days later, he was sleeping peacefully in the afternoon in his house, when suddenly he was awakened by a terrible voice calling him by name:
Clement!
Having awakened, he saw in front of him the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, which was in the monastery of St. Theodosius, and heard a voice coming from it:
Why, Clement, did you not sacrifice to Me what you promised; So now I remind you of this; try to fulfill your promise.
As soon as the voice uttered these words, the icon immediately disappeared from the boyar’s eyes. The boyar was terribly frightened by the vision and prepared as much gold as promised, and also, having made a golden crown to decorate the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, immediately went to the monastery and gave it all to the Monk Theodosius.
After some time, the boyar wished to donate the gospel to the same monastery. With this intention, he came to the monk, having under his clothes the holy gospel prepared for donation. After praying, they wanted to sit down, but since the boyar still did not show the gospel, the monk said:
Brother Clement, first take out the Holy Gospel promised to the Most Holy Theotokos, which you are hiding under your clothes, and then we will sit down.
Hearing this, the boyar was horrified by the monk’s foresight, since he was convinced that no one knew anything about the gospel he brought. Immediately, taking the holy gospel out from under his clothes, the boyar gave it to the monk. After this, they sat down, and the boyar, having enjoyed a spiritual conversation with Theodosius, returned home.
The Lord, by His many miracles, proved that the hope and trust in God of the Monk Theodosius was not in vain. Divine help to the Pechersk Monastery was especially noticeable when there was a shortage of something in the monastery. The monk lived in his cell with the monk Hilarion; Usually Saint Theodosius, quietly reciting the verses of the Psalter, would spin a wave or do something else, and Hilarion would write books day and night. This monk then told about the following incident.
One evening, when they were each going about their business as usual, a housekeeper named Anastasius entered the cell and said to the monk:
Tomorrow we have nothing to buy food supplies for the brethren and we have no money to satisfy other needs of the monastery.
The monk answered:
Now, as you see, it’s evening, and tomorrow is still far away. So go and wait patiently. Pray to God: He will take care of our needs and have mercy on us if it is His will.
After hearing this, the steward left. The monk immediately got up and went to the inner cell to sing his rule as usual. Returning after prayer, he sat down and continued his work. The steward entered the cell again and began talking about the same thing. Then the monk said to him:
Didn't I tell you - pray to God? Tomorrow go to the city and borrow what you need for the brothers from the merchants, and then, when God helps, we will repay the debt. Jesus Christ truly said: " Don't worry about tomorrow"(Matthew 6:34): God will not forsake us of His grace.
As soon as the steward left, a youth shining with light in military clothing entered the cell. Having bowed, he placed a hryvnia of gold on the table near the saint and, without saying anything, went out. The monk stood up and, taking the gold, prayed to God with tears of gratitude.
The next morning the monk called the gatekeeper and asked if anyone had come to the monastery the previous night. The gatekeeper answered:
No, as soon as the sun set, I immediately closed the gate and from that time on I did not open it, because no one came to the monastery.
Then the monk called the steward and, giving him a hryvnia of gold, said:
How can you say, brother Anastasy, that we have nothing to buy what we need for the brethren, so take the gold and go buy what you need.
The housekeeper, realizing that this was sent by the grace of God, bowed at the saint’s feet, asking for forgiveness. And the monk taught him on this occasion like this:
Brother, never fall into despair, but always strengthen your faith in God and in every sorrow hope for the help of the Lord, for He will take care of us if it is His will. So, prepare a festive meal for the brethren, because this is God’s visit. When we become poor, God will then take care of us, just as He did today.
In a similar way, one day a cellarer named Theodore came to the monk and said:
I have nothing edible that I could offer the brethren for dinner.
The monk, as before, answered:
Go, be patient a little and pray to God; He will take care of us; and if we are not worthy of His mercy, then serve boiled wheat with honey for dinner. But we must hope that the Lord, who sent bread to disobedient people in the desert (Ex. 16:15), can also give us food.
Having heard this, the cellarer left, and the monk began to fervently pray to God. And so, by the secret inspiration of God, the first boyar of Prince Izyaslav, named John, sent the saint to the monastery three full carts with food supplies: bread, fish, vegetables, millet and honey. Having received all this, the monk glorified God, and said to the cellarer:
You see, brother Theodore, God will not abandon us if only we hope in Him with all our hearts. So, go and prepare a meal for the brethren, since this is a visitation from God.
So the monk rejoiced spiritually with his brothers during the meal and thanked God for the fact that " there is no poverty for those who fear Him"(Ps. 33:10). God often performed similar miracles in the Pechersk monastery through the prayer of the monk.
One day a priest came from the city to the monk with a request to borrow wine to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. Immediately Saint Theodosius called the church warden and ordered him to fill the vessel with wine with which the priest came. The elder said that they themselves had so little wine that there was barely enough for three or four liturgies. The monk answered him:
Pour all the wine out to this man, and God Himself will take care of us.
The elder, stepping aside and not obeying the saint’s orders, poured some wine into the priest’s vessel, and saved the rest for himself for tomorrow to perform the divine service. Then the priest went and showed the monk how little wine the elder had poured for him. The monk again called the elder and told him:
Didn’t I tell you to give away all the wine and not worry about tomorrow? The Lord will not allow His Mother's church to remain without service tomorrow; He will send wine in abundance today.
Then the elder gave all his wine to the priest and sent him away. Meanwhile, after dinner, towards evening, according to the saint’s prediction, three carts of barrels filled with wine were brought. This was sent as a gift to the monastery by one of the housekeepers of the Christ-loving Prince Vsevolod. Seeing what had happened, the church elder glorified God, marveling at the fulfillment of the prediction of the Monk Theodosius, who said that God would send wine to the monastery in abundance today.
The same church warden witnessed another, similar miracle that took place through the prayers of the saint. It happened like this.
When, on the feast of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, there was no oil necessary for lighting church lamps, the church elder decided to prepare it from seeds and replace the wooden oil with this oil during worship. The elder asked permission for this from the Monk Theodosius, and since he did not object to him, the elder did as he intended. But when he intended to pour the prepared oil into the lamps, he saw that a dead mouse was floating in the vessel with oil. Then the elder hurriedly went to the monk and said:
I carefully covered the vessel with the oil I prepared and I don’t know how the mouse could get there.
The monk, realizing that this happened at the discretion of God’s Providence, said to the elder:
We should have hoped in God that He would give us everything we needed, and it was not good to act without faith in the omnipotence of the Lord: go and pour oil on the ground. Let's wait a little and pray to God; Today He will give us wood oil in abundance.
The elder did as he was told, and meanwhile the monk began to pray. By evening, one rich man actually brought a very large barrel of wooden oil as a gift to the monastery. The monk glorified God, who so quickly heard his prayer. Not only were all the lamps filled with the resulting oil, but more than half of it remained. In this way, the brethren celebrated with due solemnity the bright feast of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Here is another of the same miracles, through which the Lord, through the prayer of St. Theodosius, satisfied the urgent needs of the monastery. The Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav, who had true Christian love for the Monk Theodosius, often visited him, finding pleasure in his pleasant conversation. On one such visit, he discreetly talked with him until the time of evening singing; then the prince went to church with the monk. By God's arrangement, suddenly at this time it began to rain heavily. Noticing this, the monk, calling the housekeeper, ordered him to prepare dinner for the prince.
“Father,” said the sacristan, “we have no honey at all to treat the prince and his companions.”
Then the monk asked:
Don't you have at least a little?
“Yes, father, not at all,” answered the housekeeper, “I even turned the empty vessel in which the drink was in, placing it bottom up.”
The Monk Theodosius, filled with grace-filled gifts, as his very name indicates, 14 said:
So be it. However, go, according to my command and by faith in the power of the name of our sweet Lord Jesus Christ, you will find honey in that vessel.
The clerk went with faith in the omnipotence of the Lord and saw that the barrel was standing in its place and filled with honey, as the monk had predicted. The sacristan, in fear, hastened to tell the monk about what had happened.
Keep quiet, the monk told him, and don’t tell anyone about this. Go and serve that honey to the prince and his companions; let them eat as much as they want. Treat your brothers with this honey: this is a blessing from God.
After some time, the rain stopped pouring and the prince went home. There was still so much honey left in the monastery that it lasted the brethren for a long time.
Another time, a senior baker came to the monk and said that there was no flour for baking bread in the monastery.
“Go and look around the granary,” the monk answered him, “maybe you’ll find a little flour there and somehow we’ll have enough until the Lord takes care of us again.”
The baker said to the monk:
I’m telling you the truth, father: I cleaned the granary myself, but there’s nothing there except three or four handfuls of bran left in the corner.
Then the monk said to him:
Believe me, son, that God can turn this remaining bran into flour and fill our granary with it, just as in Elijah 15 He created so much flour from one handful that a widow and her children ate it in times of famine until the harvest did not provide an abundance of bread for everyone (1 Kings 17:8-16). And now God is so powerful that he can create for us an abundance out of our lack. So, go and see if the Lord will not bless with mercy the place where our flour is stored.
After hearing these words, the baker left. Then entering the granary, he saw that the previously empty barn was now, through the prayer of the Monk Theodosius, so overflowing that flour was pouring onto the ground over the edges of its walls. The monk was horrified to see such a glorious miracle; Having returned, he told everything to the monk.
Go, brother,” the monk told him, “and don’t tell anyone about what happened, bake your own bread as usual.” God sent us this mercy through the prayers of our holy brothers.
Praising and thanking God for His great blessings, our reverend father Theodosius spent all nights in prayer: shedding tears and falling to his knees, he thanked God for His great blessings. The brethren of the monastery, who came to the monk every day before matins to take a blessing for the beginning of the service, always heard from behind the door how the abbot was praying in tears, often hitting his head on the ground. The monk, hearing their steps, fell silent and assumed the appearance of a sleeper, so that the brethren sometimes had to knock on the door three times, each time saying the words: “Bless, father!”
Then the monk, showing that he had just woken up, answered:
God bless you!
And, having given his blessing, he came to church first of all. It was said that he did this every night.
In addition to these labors, the monk, during his abbotship, labored in many other labors. He was never seen resting on his bed, and when, due to bodily weakness, he needed to rest after daytime prayers, he fell asleep only for a short time and then while sitting; then he soon woke up and went to the all-night vigil, where he prayed, often kneeling. He is also never seen washing his body for pleasure; he washed only his hands and face with water. And when the monastic charter prescribed dry eating for the brethren, he himself also ate dry bread and stew boiled in oil, and drank only water. Moreover, they never saw him sadly sitting at a meal: he always had a cheerful face, because his heart was strengthened not by food, but by the grace of God.
Every year the monk moved during Great Lent to a cave (where his venerable body was subsequently laid) and there he secluded himself until the onset of Vai (flower-bearing) week; On the Friday before the flower-bearing week, during Vespers, he returned to the brethren. The brothers thought that he was living hopelessly in a cave known to them, but in fact at night, secretly from everyone, he went to one monastery village and there, in another cave, located in a hidden place, he stayed alone, so that no one except God knew about his actual location. From there, before Friday in the sixth week of Lent, he again went at night to the first cave, from which on Friday he went out to the brethren, so that everyone thought that he spent the entire fast in the cave known to them.
The evil spirits in the cave then instilled in the monk many sorrows and vain thoughts, which sometimes even inflicted wounds on him. But God gave him invisible power to defeat them, and the spirits could not force the blessed one to leave the cave. The monk was alone in a dark cave and was not afraid of the many regiments of the prince of darkness. But he himself, as a good warrior of Christ, with prayer and fasting drove away the demons from himself so that they did not dare to approach him and only appeared to him from afar in ghostly forms.
Once, after evening singing in the cave, Theodosius sat down, wanting to rest a little. Suddenly a terrible scream was heard. It seemed that many demons had gathered in the cave: some rode chariots, others beat tympans, and others played pipes. The whole cave shook from the noise and voices. Hearing all this, the monk was not afraid, not horrified, but, protecting himself as if with a weapon, with the sign of the cross, he stood up and began to sing verses from the Psalter. The earthquake and noise immediately stopped. But when after prayer he sat down to rest again, the same noise and voice of countless demons were heard again. The monk stood up and began to sing again, and again the noise stopped. For so many days and nights, evil spirits bothered him, not allowing him to sleep even a little. This continued until the monk, with the help of the grace of God, finally defeated them and received such power over them that they no longer dared to approach the place where the monk stood in prayer. The demons themselves began to run away from him, as is confirmed by the numerous cases below.
In the room where bread was baked for the brethren, demons annoyed the brethren a lot with their machinations: they scattered flour, spilled kvass prepared for the bread, and did many other troubles for the brethren. One day the senior baker told the Monk Theodosius about the machinations of demons. Then the latter went into that room and, closing the doors behind him, stayed there until Matins, praying to God all the time. From that hour, the demons left this place alone forever and no longer did anything evil there.
Another time, one day a brother from a monastery village came to the monk and told him that demons had appeared in the barn where the cattle were being driven, causing great harm by not allowing the cattle to eat. Repeatedly the priest read a prayer and sprinkled the livestock room with holy water, but nothing helped. Then the monk, strengthened by prayer and fasting, went to that village. When evening came, he entered the barn, closed the doors behind him and stayed there in prayer until the morning. From that hour, demons no longer appeared in this place and could not do anything evil to anyone in that village.
The monk not only defeated demonic power himself, but also taught others how to get rid of demons. If he found out that one of the brethren was suffering from demons, he taught such a brother not to leave that place, but to protect himself with prayer and fasting and to call on God to defeat the demons.
The monk taught the brethren this way about the wiles of the devil:
At first the same thing happened to me. One night, when I was singing the usual psalms in my cell, a black dog suddenly appeared in front of me and, moreover, so close that I could not bow to the ground. He stood there for a long time, and I was about to hit him, when suddenly he disappeared. I was then seized with such fear and trembling that I intended to flee from that place if the Lord had not helped me. Having recovered a little from my horror, I began to pray fervently and make frequent bows. Since then, I have completely ceased to be afraid of demonic obsessions, even if demons appeared before my eyes.
One of the brethren, Hilarion (who was mentioned above), said the following:
The demons did a lot of harm to me in my cell. So, when I went to bed at night, suddenly a multitude of demons appeared, who, grabbing me by the hair and stepping on me with their feet, dragged me along the ground; Others of the demons, raising the wall, said: “Let’s drag him here and crush him under the wall.” They did this to me all night, and I, not being able to endure it, went and told everything to the Monk Theodosius, intending to move from there to another cell. The monk told me:
No, brother, do not leave, so that the demons cannot boast of their victory over you and say that you fled from them. If you leave, then from that time on the demons will do you even more evil, as they have gained power over you. Pray earnestly in your cell, and God, seeing your patience, will help you defeat them so that they will not dare to approach you.
I again told the monk:
I pray you, father, allow me to move to another cell; Now I don’t have any strength to stay in the old cell any longer, because many demons live there.
Then the monk, making the sign of the cross over me, said:
Go, brother, to your cell. From now on, crafty demons will not dare to cause you any harm.
I listened with faith to the words of Saint Theodosius and, bowing to the monk, left. From that time on, the daring demons no longer dared to approach my cell, having been driven away once and for all by the prayers of St. Theodosius.
As much as the Monk Theodosius was persistent in the fight against invisible enemies, he was just as courageous in the fight against the visible enemies of Christ the Lord. He had this custom: often, getting up at night, secretly from everyone, he went to the Jews and there courageously entered into a dispute with them about Christ. He reproached and denounced them, calling them criminals of the law and murderers of God. He, as a true imitator of Christ, passionately desired to accept death for confessing His name precisely from those people from whom our Lord Jesus Christ Himself accepted death.
That this courageous confessor of the name of Christ really had a desire to suffer for the truth is confirmed by the following incident.
During his abbotship, an invisible enemy, the prince of darkness, aroused a feud between the three Russian princes. Two brothers according to the flesh: Svyatoslav, Prince of Chernigov, and Vsevolod of Pereyaslavl, launched an unjust war against their elder brother, the Christ-loving Prince Izyaslav of Kyiv, and drove him out of the capital city of Kyiv 16. Having sat down in his place in Kyiv, they sent to ask the Monk Theodosius to come to them for lunch. The monk answered their invitation with courage and determination:
It is not worthy for me to go to the table of unrighteousness, as to the table of Jezebel 17 .
When Vsevolod retired to his Pereyaslav region, and Svyatoslav sat in Kyiv in the place of Izyaslav, the Monk Theodosius began to constantly denounce Prince Svyatoslav for the fact that he had not rightfully sat on the brotherly throne. The monk asked the princely ambassadors who came to him to tell the prince that he did not approve of his action. One day he sent him a large accusatory letter, in which he wrote, among other things: “The voice of the blood of your half-brother cries out against you to God, like the blood of Abel against Cain” (Gen. 4:10).
As a lesson to him, he recalled in a letter the names of many wicked ancient fratricides. Prince Svyatoslav was so angry when he read this letter that he angrily threw it to the ground and from that time began to look for an opportunity to imprison the Monk Theodosius in a monastery. The brethren of the monastery, greatly saddened by the prince’s intentions, begged the monk to stop denouncing the prince. In the same way, many boyars who visited the saint, conveying to him about the prince’s anger, advised him not to contradict the prince.
After all, the prince, they said, intends to imprison you.
The monk, hearing what they were saying about imprisonment, rejoiced in his soul and said:
I rejoice greatly at this, brothers! There is nothing more pleasant for me in life than to be expelled for telling the truth; For her I am ready to go to prison and to death.
From that time on, the monk began to reproach the prince even more for his hatred of his brother, as if wanting to provoke an order for his imprisonment. Despite his anger, the prince did not dare to do any harm to the monk, knowing his righteousness and holiness, since he had previously envied his brother Prince Izyaslav for having in his region such a righteous man as the great Theodosius. Soon after this, the Monk Theodosius, realizing that his cruel reproaches were not successful with the prince, condescending to the requests of the brethren and nobles, stopped denouncing the prince and from that time began with tears to convince him to return his region to his brother.
When, a few days after this, Prince Svyatoslav learned about the intention of the Monk Theodosius to stop the denunciations, he was very happy about this and sent to ask the monk whether he would allow him to come to the monastery or not. And when he gave permission, the prince happily went with the boyars to the monastery. The monk and his brethren, leaving the church, met the prince with honor, so that all the brethren bowed to the prince.
“I did not dare to come to you, father, thinking that you, being angry, would not let me into your monastery,” the prince said to the monk.
The monk answered him:
What does it mean, good lord, that our anger is under your power? But it is fitting for us to reprove and say what is saving for the soul, and you should listen to it.
They entered the church and prayed, and then the Monk Theodosius taught him for a long time from the Divine Scripture, talking about brotherly love, since the prince blamed his brother for many things. After a long, soulful conversation, the prince returned to his home, praising God for being honored to talk with such a husband, and from then on he began to often visit his monastery. Repeatedly, the Monk Theodosius himself later went to this sovereign prince Svyatoslav, reminding him of the fear of God and love for his brother.
On one of these visits, the monk met musicians playing various instruments at the prince’s place. Everyone was having fun. For a long time the monk, with downcast eyes, sat silently next to the prince; then he said:
Will it be like this in the next world?
The touched prince shed tears and ordered the players to immediately stop the music. And from then on, when the monk had to find music in the palace, the prince, having learned about the arrival of the blessed one, immediately ordered it to stop.
When the prince was informed about the arrival of the monk, he often came out with a joyful face and met him in front of the doors of the palace. Filled with joy, the prince said to the arriving monk:
Father, truly I tell you, if they had told me that my own father had risen from the dead, I would not have rejoiced as much as I did at your coming, but at the same time I would not have been afraid of him as much as I am afraid of your holy soul.
If it is as you say,” answered the monk, “then fulfill my request: return to your brother the throne that your blessed father gave him.
The prince was silent to this, not knowing what to answer to the saint; The enemy inflamed him with anger so much that he did not even want to hear about his brother. However, the Monk Theodosius prayed to God day and night for the Christ-loving prince Izyaslav and at church services ordered to remember him as the legitimate prince of Kyiv and elder brother, and forbade Svyatoslav to be commemorated in his monastery as someone who had illegally sat on the brotherly throne. And only then, begged by the brethren, the monk ordered to remember both of them, but still Izyaslav first, and Svyatoslav second.
Not wanting to witness such a strife between the Russian princes, the aforementioned blessed Nikon (who tonsured the Monk Theodosius and subsequently helped him in everything), withdrew from the Pechersky Monastery for the second time to the Tmutarakan Peninsula, where he founded his monastery. The Monk Theodosius, after his departure, continued his labors alone.
Since during his abbot the number of brethren increased so much that the old Pechersk monastery turned out to be too cramped for the brethren, our reverend father Theodosius began to think about how and where, with God’s help, he could move to a larger place and build a large stone church there also in the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. God heeded the prayer of the righteous man, approved the place he had chosen for relocation and blessed the construction of a large stone church. The Lord revealed His will through wondrous miracles.
One pious and God-fearing man once walked past the dilapidated Pechersk Monastery on a dark night and saw the following. A bright light emanated from the monastery, and the Monk Theodosius stood in front of the church, raising his hands to heaven and offering prayer to God. The passerby continued to look at this in surprise, when suddenly the vision changed, and he saw another miracle: a very large flame appeared above the church roof and, taking the form of an arc, moved to another hill, precisely the one on which the Monk Theodosius then began to build a new stone church. And thus one edge of the fiery arc stood over the old church, and the other over the place where it was planned to build a new temple. He who saw this miracle subsequently reported it to the monastery of St. Theodosius.
Another time at night, the surrounding residents were awakened by the singing of many voices heard near the monastery. They got up and, leaving their houses, went to an elevated place to see where exactly these voices were heard. Then they saw the following. The ancient Pechersky Monastery was flooded with bright light; many monks, leaving the old church, went to a new place: some carried an icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, and others accompanied the first with hymns, carrying lighted candles in their hands. At the head of everyone was the father and mentor of the monks, the Monk Theodosius. Having reached a new place, they performed singing and prayer there, and then, returning back, singing again entered the old church. Many witnesses later confirmed the reality of this miracle. And since not a single monk took part in the above-mentioned procession, everyone understood that these people had seen angels.
In this way, on a place marked by God with such great miracles, a stone church began to be built in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos 18. The Monk Theodosius himself took a great part in the construction of this church through his labors: he came there every day, carefully observed the work and, as far as possible, helped build, working together with the masons. While working, he dressed so poorly that he could be mistaken for the last novice, but not for the abbot.
One day, when the monk was going to build a church, a widow, offended by the judge, met him and asked:
Chernets, tell me, where is your abbot? Isn't he in the monastery?
“What do you need from him,” answered the monk, “after all, he is also a sinful person?”
The woman responded to this:
I don't know whether he is a sinner or not; I only know that he saves many from sadness and evil. That’s why I’m going to ask him to protect me from the insults of an unjust judge.
The monk, having found out her case, took pity on her and said:
Go home now, and when our abbot returns, I will tell him about you, and he will save you from trouble.
After listening to him, the woman went home, and the monk went to the judge. Heeding the requests of Saint Theodosius, the judge entered into the position of a widow and, making leniency, returned to her everything in which she had been offended by him.
With such and similar deeds worthy of a righteous man, the Monk Theodosius accompanied the construction of the Pechersk church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos. He did not completely rebuild this church during his lifetime, but even after his death, with his prayers pleasing to God, he helped St. Stephen in this, who after him accepted the abbess and continued the construction of the temple begun by St. Theodosius.
Meanwhile, the godly life of our reverend father Theodosius began to decline. Anticipating his departure to God, on the day of his death the monk ordered to gather all the brethren, calling to him not only those in the monastery, but also everyone who was absent for some reason and busy with work, and even all the monastery servants. When everyone had gathered, he began to convince everyone to fulfill the duties entrusted to him with all diligence and fear of God. With tears, he spoke about the salvation of the soul, about a godly abstinent life, about diligently attending church, about the reverent fear with which everyone should stand at divine services, about love and obedience in relation not only to elders, but also to their peers. Having spoken about the duties of each, he blessed the brethren and sent them away in peace. Then the pious Prince Svyatoslav came to visit the monk. With his gracious lips he taught him piety, the preservation of Orthodoxy and care for the holy churches. Then he told him:
I will pray to the Lord God and His All-Immaculate Mother to strengthen you in piety. May God grant that your reign be quiet and serene. And so, I entrust to your piety this holy Pechersk monastery and the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, created by her will.
The alternating terrible chills and painful scorching heat so relaxed the saint’s body that he had to lie down in a bed that he had never laid down on before. In bed he said:
God's will be done! As the Lord wills, so let Him do it! But I pray to You, my Master, Jesus Christ, be merciful to my soul: may it escape the evil demons, may Your angels meet it and, having led it past the airy ordeals, may they present it to the light of Your mercy!
Having said this, he fell silent.
For three days the monk could neither speak nor open his eyes, so that he could have been mistaken for dead if there had not been a noticeable faint breath on his lips. The dangerous illness of the holy elder caused great grief and sadness to the brethren. Having spent three days in such an illness, the monk rose from his bed and said to all the brethren gathered:
My brothers and fathers! My life is ending - the Lord revealed this to me in the cave during Great Lent. Think among yourselves who you would like to have as abbot instead of me.
The brothers, greatly saddened by these words, began to cry. Having left the monk and having consulted, all the monks agreed to elect the monk 19 Stephen as abbot. The next day the monk again called all the brothers and asked them:
How did you decide among yourselves, children? Which of you is worthy to be abbot?
Everyone said that Stefan was worthy of the abbess. Calling Stefan to him, the monk blessed him to become abbess in his place and said to him:
Here, child, I hand over the monastery to you; take good care of it; What order I have established in the services, you should also observe the same, and adhere to the monastic tradition in everything. Do not change the rules, but do everything according to the law and monastic order.
The monk taught the brethren for a long time, commanding them to obey the new abbot. Then he released everyone, predicting to them the day of his death - Saturday.
After sunrise, he told the brethren, my soul will leave my body.
Then the monk again called Stephen alone and privately taught him a lot about how to shepherd the holy flock. Since the monk was greatly weakened by illness, Stefan, without leaving, served him with humility. On the following Saturday, at dawn, Saint Theodosius sent for the brethren. When all the monks had gathered, the saint, saying goodbye, lovingly kissed each one; They wept bitterly, foreseeing the imminent loss of such a good shepherd. Saint Theodosius, already completely prepared for death, said to them:
My dear children and my brothers! I kissed you all because I am going to my Master, Jesus Christ. Here is the abbot, whom you yourself chose; honor him as your spiritual father, obey him and, according to his behavior, do everything pleasing to God. May God, who created everything by word and wisdom, Himself bless you and protect you from the slander of the evil one; May He preserve in you until your last breath your firm and unshakable faith and love for each other. Then, I pray and conjure you, bury me in the clothes in which I am now, and put my body in the cave where I stayed during Great Lent; Do not wash my wretched body under any circumstances. Let none of the worldly people see my burial; you alone, monks, lay me in the place I indicated.
Listening to the words of the saint, the brethren wept greatly. The monk again began to console them, saying:
I promise you, brothers and fathers, that although I leave you in body, I will always remain with you in my soul.
After these words, the monk let everyone go, leaving no one with him. One of the brethren, who constantly served him, drilled a hole in the door and looked at what he was doing. The monk, rising from his bed, fell on his face, and with tears prayed to the merciful God for the salvation of his soul. In his prayer, he called on all the saints for help, and most of all, our Most Holy Lady Theotokos, to whom he entrusted his flock and his very monastery. After the prayer, he lay down on the bed again, and then, having rested a little, raised his eyes to heaven and, with joy on his face, said in a loud voice: “Blessed be God! If this is so, then I am no longer afraid, but with even greater joy I depart from of this world."
One must think that, while uttering the above words, he contemplated some kind of vision. Then he, straightening his legs and folding his hands crosswise on his chest, betrayed his holy soul to God and joined the ranks of the holy fathers. This happened in 1074, May 3, on Saturday, as the monk predicted, after sunrise. Warmly mourning the death of Saint Theodosius, the brethren took his holy body to the church and there performed the usual prayers and chants for the deceased.
By divine dispensation, a lot of people immediately learned about the death of the monk. The people and many of the boyars, who gathered of their own zeal at the monastery gates, awaited the time when the body of the saint would be taken out of the monastery for burial in a cave. The brethren, having closed the gates, did not allow anyone into the monastery, waiting for the time when the people dispersed in order to bury the body of the saint, who himself bequeathed this, in the absence of the laity. And so, by the will of God, the sky suddenly became covered with clouds; It began to rain heavily. The people had just dispersed when the sun shone again. Then the brethren carried the body of the saint out of the church and with honor laid it in a cave 20.
At the time of the death of the righteous man, Prince Svyatoslav is not far from the Pechersky Monastery; suddenly he sees a pillar of fire above the monastery, stretching from the ground to the sky. Having guessed about the death of the monk, the prince said to those present:
It was, as I think, today that the Monk Theodosius reposed from earth to heaven; I visited him yesterday and saw that he was in a very serious illness.
He sent to find out about the monk and, when he was convinced of his death, he cried a lot.
In the year of the death of Blessed Theodosius, through his prayers, all the monastery treasures began to multiply, there was an abundance in the fields, and a large offspring in the monastery animals. There has never been a year like this before. Seeing this, the brethren remembered the promise of their holy father and glorified God because He vouchsafed His blessed gifts to His saint, Blessed Theodosius. The gifts of grace were revealed after the death of Saint Theodosius by many miracles that the saint performed through the fervent prayer of all who called on him for help.
At the time described, Prince Svyatoslav became very angry with one boyar. Many said that the prince wanted to send him to prison. The boyar fervently prayed to God and called on the Monk Theodosius for help, saying: “I know, Father, that you are holy; here I am in trouble; be merciful to me: with your prayer to the heavenly Lord, deliver me from trouble.”
When the boyar fell asleep, the monk appeared to him in a dream and said:
Why are you so sad? Do you really think that I have completely left you? Even if I am away in body, I am always with you in soul. Tomorrow the prince will call you back without any anger and again restore you to your former rank.
Having come to his senses and come to his senses, the boyar saw the monk coming out of the room from behind, near the door. What was predicted by Saint Theodosius actually came true, and from that time on the boyar began to have even greater love for the Pechersk Monastery.
Getting ready to set out on a journey, one man brought a silver reliquary to the monastery of St. Theodosius and gave it to his friend monk named Konon for safekeeping. Monk Nikolai found out about this and, at the demonic instigation, stole that reliquary and hid it. Konon, who returned, did not find silver in his cell and, greatly saddened by this, began to pray to God with tears, calling on the Monk Theodosius for help. Having fallen asleep after prayer, Konon saw the Monk Theodosius appear to him, who told him:
The silver about which you are sad was taken by the monk Nicholas at the devil’s suggestion and hid it in a cave.
Then, revealing where the gold was hidden, he said to him:
Go and, without telling anyone about it, take yours.
Having woken up, the delighted monk quickly got up and, lighting the candle, went to the indicated place. Having found the stolen goods, he thanked God and His saint, the Monk Theodosius.
The following incident also took place. One cleric of the great holy cathedral Church of St. Sophia of Kyiv became very ill: his whole body was burning from strong internal heat. Having come to his senses, he prayed to God and His saint Theodosius, asking him to ease his suffering. He had barely fallen asleep when he saw in a dream the Monk Theodosius, who, giving him the staff, said: “Take it and walk with it.”
Waking up, the patient felt that the heat in his body was weakening and the illness was stopping. And when after this he recovered, he went to the Pechersk Monastery and told the brethren how he was healed of his illness through the prayers of St. Theodosius. The monks glorified God, who gave such grace to the righteous man.
There was also such a case. During his abbotship at the Pechersk Monastery, the Monk Theodosius decreed that on Friday of the first week of Great Lent, completely clean bread, always with honey and poppy seeds, should be served for the meal of the brethren, as good ascetics who have labored in abstinence. This decree was always observed by Blessed Stephen 21, who was appointed abbot by the Monk Theodosius himself. After Stephen, Blessed Nikon 22 accepted the abbess at the Pechersk Monastery, and on the coming Friday of the first week of Great Lent he ordered the cellarer to do according to the establishment of the Monk Theodosius. The cellarer disobeyed the command of the abbot and did not fulfill what was established by the Monk Theodosius under the pretext that there was no flour for such bread. But God Himself did not allow the custom established by the Monk Theodosius to perish. When, after the liturgy, the brethren were heading to the refectory for a Lenten lunch, from somewhere they unexpectedly brought them a cartload of clean bread. Seeing this miracle, the brethren glorified God and His saint, who did not leave them even after his death. They glorified their father and mentor, the Monk Theodosius, who preserved his institution for the welfare of the monks and fulfilled his promise - to always provide help to the monastery, the right to ask for which from the Lord he earned through his godly deeds. Encouraged by the holy, bold prayers of St. Theodosius, may we also be worthy to receive the gift of God - eternal life with Christ Jesus, our Lord, glorified with God the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen.
Troparion, tone 8:
Having risen to virtue, having loved the monastic life from childhood, having valiantly achieved your desire, you moved into a cave, and adorning your life with fasting and lordship, you remained in prayers as if you were incorporeal, shining in the Russian land like a bright light, Father Theodosius: pray to Christ God for the salvation of souls ours.
Kontakion, tone 3:
Today we will honor the Russian star, which shone from the east and came to the west: having enriched this entire country with miracles and kindness, and all of us with the deeds and grace of the monastic charter of Blessed Theodosius.
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2 The Monk Nestor labored in the Pechersk Monastery during the life of the Monk Theodosius. In addition to the life of the Monk Theodosius, he also wrote the life of the holy noble princes Boris and Gleb. In addition, he left us the original history of our fatherland, or Chronicle, where he sets out the history of the Russian land year by year; For this work he received the title of Chronicler. The chronicle of Nestor was brought up to 1111. It should be noted that, according to some scientists, the chronicle was not written by Nestor alone. It is very likely that Sylvester, abbot of the Mikhailovsky Vydubitsky Monastery in Kyiv (who lived at the beginning of the 12th century), took part in its compilation. For his ascetic labors, Nestor was ranked as St. The church is a clique of saints. His memory is celebrated on October 27.
3 Vasilev with the name Vasilkov still exists today and is a district town in the Kyiv province; it is located 36 versts southwest of Kyiv and is located along the Stugna River, a tributary of the Dnieper. - The Monk Theodosius was born between 1035-1038.
4 The reason that prompted Theodosius’s parents to move to Kursk was the prince’s order to move Father Theodosius from Vasilyev to serve in Kursk. In Vasilevo, as in Kursk, Father Theodosius probably performed the duties of a princely “tina” or judge, a peace mediator (in non-criminal cases).
6 This was in 1055-1056. Yaroslav I Vladimirovich reigned from 1019 to 1041.
7 This was in 1056-1057.
9 Izyaslav I Yaroslavich reigned from 1054 to 1073, then again from 1076 to 1078.
11 Saint Ephraim traveled to Constantinople, where he copied the charter of the Studite monastery. This charter was compiled by the Monk Theodore Studite, abbot of the Studite monastery in Constantinople, at the beginning of the 9th century. At the end of the 9th century. he was introduced into the leadership of the Russian Church and remained in it until the half of the 14th century, when he began to give way to the Jerusalem one (this charter was introduced by the Monk Savva the Sanctified in Palestinian monasteries in the 6th century - the memory of St. Savva is celebrated on December 5). The Monk Theodore based the Student Rules on the communal rules of the monastic life of St. Basil the Great. The memory of Saint Ephraim is celebrated by the Church on January 28.
12 The Monk Nikon retired to the south of Russia, to Tmutarakan.
13 Hryvnia (from Sanskrit, griva - neck) - actually a necklace, a chain, usually gold, worn around the neck as a decoration. The custom of wearing a hryvnia around the neck took root in our Rus' from the Tatars. Subsequently, the name hryvnia began to be used to refer to a gold bar of a certain size (from 72 to 96 gold pieces), which circulated as a coin.
14 Theodosius, translated from Greek, means “given from God”; in a figurative sense: “endowed with gifts from God.”
15 Elijah is the most glorious of the Old Testament prophets, a formidable denouncer of wickedness and idolatry during the time of the wicked king of Israel Ahab and his wife Jezebel. He was from the Galilean city of Thesbah, which is why he is called a Thesbite. For his zealous service to the name of God, Elijah was taken alive into heaven (2 Kings 2:1-15). The story of his life and work is recounted at the end of 3 and the beginning of 4 Books of Kings. His memory is celebrated by St. Church on July 20.
16 Svyatoslav II Yaroslavich reigned in Kyiv from 1073 to 1076, and Vsevolod I Yaroslavich from 1078 to 1093.
17 Jezebel - the wife of the Israeli king Ahab, distinguished by extreme wickedness and debauchery. Blindly submitting to her influence, Ahab surpassed all his predecessors in wickedness and indulged in the most shameful idolatry. He built a temple to Baal in Samaria, planted sacred groves, and allowed Jezebel to erect altars to the deities of Tire and Sidon (1 Kings 16:31-33). Jezebel maintained four hundred false prophets who ate from her table (1 Kings 18:19). Obviously, this is precisely the “meal” that Saint Theodosius means in this case.
18 The temple was founded in 1073. The Monk Theodosius did not have time to complete the construction of the temple and monastery. It was brought to completion by the successors of Theodosius: Stefan (who was abbot from 1074 to 1078), Nikon (who ran the monastery from 1078 to 1088) and John (elected abbot in 1088 or 1089). The stone church of the new monastery, founded by the Monk Theodosius, was completed under Stephen in 1075, but, probably due to the lack of funds for finishing, which was carried out slowly, it was consecrated only 14 years later, in 1089. In 1108 it was The construction of the refectory for the brethren was completed, and in 1182 the monastery was surrounded by a stone wall. The old monastery, after the construction of the new one, was not destroyed, but continued to exist with a small number of brethren remaining in it; the cave near which this monastery was located, after the brethren left it, began to serve as a tomb or cemetery for the monastery. In 1240, the Pechersky Monastery was largely destroyed by the Tatars. The restoration of the monastery followed at the end of the 13th century. In its modern form, the monastery has preserved from the pre-Mongol period only the lower part of the “great” or main church and, perhaps, the gate church in honor of the Holy Trinity. The current stone walls of the monastery were built on the site of wooden ones (replacing the stone walls destroyed by the Tatars) at the end of the 17th century, and in general all the modern buildings of the monastery were built in the 18th century. (with the exception of the mentioned lower part of the main church and the gate church in honor of the Holy Trinity).
19 Charter - choir director, regent.
20 In 1091, the venerable relics of St. Theodosius from the cave where they were originally placed were transferred by the brethren to the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where they were placed in the vestibule on the right side. During the Tatar invasion, the holy relics of Theodosius were placed, for preservation, under cover at the western doors of the same church, where they rest to this day. The event of the transfer of the venerable relics of St. Theodosius is celebrated on August 14. In 1108, Metropolitan Nikephoros (from 1103 to 1121) decided at the council to “inscribe Theodosius in the synodik for all bishops.” From that time on, they began to celebrate everywhere both the repose of St. Theodosius and the transfer of his venerable relics. The Monk Theodosius edifies generations distant from him not only with his ascetic life, but also with his written instructions, which have come down to us mainly in the form of teachings on different cases. Unfortunately, the question of the authenticity of some of the works of St. Theodosius has not yet been definitively clarified. Without a doubt Rev. The following five teachings should be attributed to Theodosius: 1) the teaching on Wednesday of the 3rd week of Lent “at the hours” “about patience and love”; 2) a lesson on Thursday of the 3rd week of Lent “about patience, about love and about fasting”; 3) a lesson on Thursday of the 3rd week of fasting “for the hours” “about patience and almsgiving”; 4) a lesson on Friday of the 3rd week of Lent “about patience and humility”; and, finally, 5) a lesson on Friday of the 3rd week of fasting “for hours” “about going to church and about prayer.” In addition, the following teachings are attributed to St. Theodosius: 1) the teaching “to the cellarer” (about his duties); 2) the teaching “about the executions of God” (it is believed that it was said by the Monk Theodosius in 1067 V. after the unfortunate battle with the Polovtsians); 3) teaching regarding “dining and drinking” (for the brethren); 4) “the word of a certain lover of Christ and zealot for the right faith”; 5) “punishment from the spiritual father to the children about drunkenness”; 6) “a word about how Vladimir was baptized when he took Korsun”; and finally 7) some excerpts from the teachings. Rev. Theodosius is also credited with two teachings on Tuesday and Wednesday of the 3rd week of Lent with the name of St. Theodore the Studite, as well as some. Friend. Then the Monk Theodosius owns several messages (probably two or three) to the Grand Duke Izyaslav (these messages in the monuments that have reached us are called “questions” of Prince Izyaslav). All of the listed works of St. Theodosius are written very simply and with great feeling. Teachings and messages of Rev. Theodosius is alien to any rhetorical floridity. As for their content, in those of them that were assigned to the brethren, the Monk Theodosius speaks of monastic vows and duties; He dwells in particular detail on the vow of non-covetousness, while in his teachings intended for the people, the Monk Theodosius energetically rebelled against various pagan customs, which at that time were very widespread in Rus' and had just begun to be eradicated by Christian preachers. Especially strongly Rev. Theodosius armed himself against idolatry and drunkenness. Finally, some more prayers are attributed to St. Theodosius, placed with his name in some copies of the ancient Psalters.