Venerable Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky
According to the Life, Savatiy took monastic vows at the Kirill Belozersky Monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos (perhaps he was a student of St. Kirill Belozersky († 1427)). Savvaty lived in this monastery for many years, winning the love of the brethren and the abbot through obedience, meekness and humility. Weighed down by praise, Savvaty asked for the blessing of the abbot and moved to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Valaam Monastery, known for the special strictness of its rules. On Valaam, Savvaty spent “a lot of time” in monastic exploits. Perhaps here the future Novgorod Archbishop St. became his student. Gennady (Gonzov), in the mid-80s - early 90s. XV century who told Dositheus: “Savatie, your leader, was an elder, and he was in obedience for a long time and his life is worthy of the elder, great and holy.” In some copies of the short edition of the Life of Zosima, created at the turn of the 40s and 50s. XVI century, it is directly reported that St. Gennady was a student of Savvaty at the Valaam Monastery. However, even on Valaam, the monk heard a lot of praise addressed to him, because of which he decided to retire to the deserted Solovetsky Island in the White Sea. The abbot of the Valaam monastery did not want to release Savvaty, so as not to deprive the brethren of a model of monastic life. Then Savvaty secretly left the monastery and reached the mouth of the Vyg River. At the chapel on the river. In Soroka (a branch of the Vyg River) he met St. Herman Solovetsky, who had already been to Solovki and agreed to accompany Savvaty there.
In karbas, the monks crossed to Solovetsky Island and, having found a convenient place a mile from the shore, not far from the mountain and near Lake Dolgogo, they built 2 cells (in the northern part of the island on Sosnovaya Bay; subsequently, a monastery called Savvatievsky arose on the site of their settlement). According to the “chronicler of Solovetsky” early. XVIII century, monks arrived on Solovki in 6937 (1428/29) (In the monuments of the Vygov book tradition, the arrival of Savvaty and St. Herman on the Bolshoy Solovetsky Island is dated to 6928 (1420).
As the Life tells, after the monks, a family of Karelians sailed to Solovki, who did not want to cede the island to the monks. The Karelians settled on the island and were engaged in fishing, but the monks did not know about them. One day during matins, Savvaty heard loud screams and sent St. Herman to find out what's going on. St. Herman met a crying woman, who, according to her, was flogged with rods by 2 angels in the form of bright youths, saying that this place was intended for monastic life and there would be a monastic monastery here (in memory of this event, the mountain was later named Axe).
The hermits lived for several years on Solovetsky Island, after which Herman went to the mainland for economic needs, where he had to stay for almost 2 years. Savvaty, left alone, labored even harder and received a message from above about his imminent death. Wanting to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ before his death, he sailed by boat to the chapel at the mouth of the Vyg River. There he met Abbot Nathanael, who was visiting local Christians, who confessed him and gave him communion.
When Savvaty was praying after communion, the merchant Ivan, who was sailing from Novgorod, entered his cell. The merchant wanted to give alms to the elder and was upset by the reverend’s refusal. Wanting to console him, S. invited Ivan to stay on the shore until the morning and become a partaker of God’s grace, and in the morning to set off safely. Ivan did not listen to his advice and was about to set sail, when suddenly a strong storm began. Horrified by his foolishness, Ivan stayed overnight on the shore, and in the morning, when he entered the elder’s cell, he saw that Savvaty had died. The saint was sitting on a bench, the cell was filled with fragrance. Ivan and abbot. Nathanael buried Savvaty at the chapel at the mouth of the Vyg.
The Life of Savvaty does not indicate the year of death; it is reported that the saint died on September 27. Solovetsky chroniclers define the year of Savvaty’s death in different ways: “Chronicle” con. XVI century dates the death of the saint to 6944 (1435), “The Solovetsky Chronicler” beginning. XVIII century - to 6943 (1434) (In the Solovetsky book tradition there are other dates for the death of Savvaty, which should be considered less reliable, for example, 6939 (1430) in the “short Solovetsky chronicler of the black deacon Jeremiah.”
A year after the death of Savvaty (i.e., most likely in 1436) on Solovki together with St. Zosima sailed with Herman and became the founder of the monastery. As reported in the Volokolamsk edition of the Life, Zosima was born in the village. Shunga on Lake Onega (now the village of Shunga in the Medvezhyegorsk region of Karelia, 45 km southeast of Medvezhyegorsk), his parents came there from Novgorod. In later editions of the Life, created no earlier than the middle of the 16th century, and in the “Solovetsky Chronicler” beginning. XVIII century The birthplace of the saint is called the village. Tolvuy, also located on Lake Onega (now the village of Tolvuya, Medvezhyegorsk district, 20 km from Shunga).
The saint's parents, Gabriel and Varvara, were pious people and taught Zosima. reading the Holy Scriptures. Zosima avoided children's amusements, and when he reached adolescence, he became a monk. The place of his monastic tonsure is not named in the Life, but from the text it follows that, having accepted monasticism, Zosima remained to live in his native village, i.e., he was probably tonsured by a priest who served in the nearest parish church.
Being a monk, Zosima was burdened by life in the world. He happened to meet St. German, who spoke about Savvatiya and Solovetsky Island. Soon the saint’s parents died (the Volokolamsk edition speaks of the death of Zosima’s father and that his mother, on the advice of her son, accepted monasticism). Having distributed property to the poor, Zosima, together with St. German went to Solovki. Arriving on Solovetsky Island, the monks stopped not far from the place where the monastery is now located. According to the Life, Zosima had a vision: a ray of light shone around him, and in the east he saw a beautiful church in the air. St. Herman reminded Zosima. about the words of the angels who expelled seven Karelians from the island, that this place was intended for the stay of monks.
In the first winter, Zosima was left alone on the island, because St. Herman went to the mainland to acquire what he needed to set up a monastery, but was unable to return due to strong winds. Then the hermit had to endure numerous cruel attacks by unclean spirits who tried to expel him from the island. The saint defeated them with prayer. Some time later, Zosima discovered a shortage of food supplies and was very embarrassed by this, but, as before, he relied on God’s help. Soon two husbands came to him, bringing with them sledges full of bread, flour and butter. They said that they were going to sea to fish, and asked the saint to keep the food with him and use it if there was a need. Zosima stored supplies for a long time, but did not wait for the return of these people and realized that help was sent to him from God.
In the spring, St. Petersburg returned to the island. Herman, Mark sailed with him (see Macarius, St., Solovetsky), a skilled fisherman, and other ascetics gradually arrived. Together they built cells, built a small church and added a refectory to it. After this, Zosima sent one of the brethren to Novgorod to Archbishop St. Jonah (1459-1470) with a request to bless the consecration of the church and send them an abbot. The saint fulfilled their request: he gave them an antimension and sent them an abbot. Paul, who consecrated the church in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord. According to the Volokolamsk edition of the Life of Zosima, at that time the brethren consisted of 22 people. Residents of the White Sea region and servants of the Novgorodians ("bolarstii lyudie and clerks slaves"), having learned about the creation of the monastery, began to come to the island to expel the monks from the possessions of the Novgorod boyars. Karelian fishermen also came here, considering Solovki their patrimony. Unable to bear the hardships of such a life, Abbot Pavel returned to Novgorod. An abbot was sent in his place. Theodosius, but he did not stay long on the island and returned to the mainland. Then it was decided to elect an abbot from among the Solovetsky inhabitants. The choice of the brethren fell on the founder of the monastery, who, contrary to his wishes, was forced to go to Novgorod to receive priestly consecration and to be appointed abbot. In Novgorod, the saint received significant donations for the monastery from the archbishop and boyars, many of whom promised patronage to the monastery. When, after returning to the monastery, Zosima served the liturgy, his face lit up and the church was filled with fragrance. At the end of the liturgy, a miracle occurred with the prosphora, with which the abbot blessed the visiting merchants. On the way from the church to their boat, they dropped the prosphora. When Zosima sent one of the brethren to invite the merchants to dinner, he saw that the dog, running ahead of him, jumped on some object from which flames emanated and drove the dog away. When the monk came closer, he discovered a prosphora from the abbot’s service.
As the Life tells us, the brethren in the monastery multiplied, and there was no longer enough space either in the church or in the refectory. Then, by order of Zosima, a new cathedral church of the Transfiguration of the Lord and a new refectory with the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary were built. Apparently, a church in the name of the saint was built at the same time. Nicholas the Wonderworker, although there is no mention of this in the Life.
After several years of abbotship, Zosima received a message from the abbot and brethren of the Kirillov Belozersky Monastery, which contained advice to transfer the relics of Savvaty to the Solovetsky Monastery. Having gone to Vyg, Zosima found the incorrupt relics of Savvaty on the Soroka River and, returning with them to the monastery, buried them behind the altar of the Assumption Church, erecting there a tombstone chapel with icons of the Savior and the Most Holy. The Virgin Mary and the image of Savvaty, which was brought from Novgorod by the merchant Ivan and his brother Fyodor. The transfer of the relics was accompanied by many healings. The date of transfer of Savvatiy’s relics is not indicated in the Life. As reported in the life, Zosima came every night to the tomb chapel of Savvaty, prayed to God, the Most Holy Theotokos and Savvaty, asking the saint to be his mentor and prayer book for the brethren.
Soon the abbot had to make a second trip to Novgorod to ask the archbishop for protection from the servants of the Novgorod boyars, who continued to oppress the monks, hoping to expel them from the island. Archbishop Jonah and the noble Novgorodians, to whom Zosima turned, promised him protection. At the Novgorod meeting, convened by Archbishop Jonah, it was decided to welcome the “monastery of St. Savior and St. Nicholas” to all the islands of the Solovetsky archipelago. According to the Life, Zosima was presented with a charter of Novgorod with 8 seals: archbishop, mayor, thousand and 5 ends of the city. From now on, neither the Novgorod boyars nor the Karelian inhabitants could claim their rights to the Solovetsky Islands, and anyone who came there to hunt or fish had to give a tenth of the spoils to the monastery. The charter of Novgorod granted to the Solovetsky Monastery for possession of the Solovetsky Islands has been preserved. Based on the mention in the letter of the sedate mayor Ivan Lukinich and Tysyatsky Trifon Yuryevich, V.L. Yanin dates it to March and early August. 1468, when the named persons simultaneously held their positions.
The legend given in the Life of Zosima’s stay in Novgorod is connected with his visits to the noblewoman Martha (the widow of the mayor I. A. Boretsky). The saint came to her with complaints about her servants who oppressed the Solovetsky Monastery. Martha ordered the monk to be driven away. When leaving, the abbot prophetically predicted the future desolation of Martha's house. Seeing how revered Zosima was in Novgorod, the noblewoman repented and invited the saint to a feast. Finding himself at the table with the guests of honor, Zosima saw a terrible sight: six noble men sitting at the table were without heads. Several years passed, and Zosima's vision came true: in 1471, the troops of Grand Duke John III Vasilyevich defeated the Novgorodians on Shelon, after which the Grand Duke ordered the heads of 4 senior boyars and several “their comrades” to be cut off. Among those executed was Martha’s son, mayor Dmitry Isakovich. In February 1479, Martha and her household were exiled to Moscow, and from there to Nizhny Novgorod.
About the last years of Zosima’s life, the Life tells that the saint was in tireless prayerful deeds; he made himself a coffin, placed it in the vestibule of his cell, and every night he wept over the coffin for his soul. Before his death, the monk called the brethren to him, bequeathed them to love each other and promised that he would continually be with them in spirit. He blessed the monk Arseny to become abbess, commanding him to preserve the church charter and monastic customs.
The saint was buried behind the altar of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, in the grave that he dug during his lifetime.
AKATHIST
Kontakion 1
The chosen saints of the Lord and great miracle workers, the luminaries of Christ's Church of the Most Blessed, shone with piety by the lordships of the desert of Northern Pomorie, and the whole country of Russia, shining with many miracles, Our Reverend Fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane, as having boldness towards the Lord, with their favorable prayers to Him from all Preserve us in troubles and evils, so we joyfully call to you:
Ikos 1
Angels have truly appeared on earth and people in heaven through your life, our blessed fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germana: in the flesh, as if incorporeal, the angelic life on earth has been completed, all the beauties of the world and temporary pleasures, as they are capable of imputation, but through purity and fasting I will bring you closer to God . Now it is worthy for him to stand with the bodiless, accept from our love the praise brought to you by the sips:
Rejoice, having loved the One God with all your soul;
Rejoice, having served Him with honor and righteousness from your youth.
Rejoice, you who have hated the corruptible beauty of this world;
Rejoice, having escaped the wisdom of worldly temptations and vanity.
Rejoice, having clinged with all your love to doing the commandments of the Lord;
Rejoice, having removed yourself from this world and all attachment to it.
Rejoice, having chosen a monastic life to please God for your own sake;
Rejoice, you who loved the narrow and sorrowful path with all your soul.
Rejoice, seeker of wisdom for Christ, longed for beads and precious stones;
Rejoice, loving bearer of Christ’s burden, light and good.
Rejoice, thou who imitated mortal flesh as a disembodied angel;
Rejoice, you who showed us the heavenly habitation on earth.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 2
Seeing yourself, Saint Savvaty, for the sake of many of your virtuous corrections, everywhere in your monastic stays you are revered and blessed, and fleeing the vanity of this world of glory, seeking eternal reward in heaven, you rushed to the Solovetsky stream, and there, in secret and visible to no one, you worked invisible and everything to the seeing God. Having thus obtained what we desired, we are instructed by blessed Herman to do this, and you joyfully cried out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 2
Steadily directing your mind from your mother’s womb to God, and taking out the heavenly things, philosophizing and seeking, completely rejecting those below you, God-wise Zosimo, you were jealous of the life of the Venerable Savvatius, and in your empty father, where you accomplished your deeds pleasing to God, you settled together with blessed Herman, and with them you will inherit the residence of Mount Jerusalem. In the same way, reverently praising the zeal for desert living, we call to you:
Rejoice, love for Christ's sake, love in yourself for the world has trampled down;
Rejoice, having despised all the sinful sweetness of this age.
Rejoice, you who are like Abraham, not only in faith and hope, but also in your voluntary emigration from your family and home of your father;
Rejoice, all-red desert and blessed planting.
Rejoice, most diligent and zealous of silence;
Rejoice, sincere lover of difficult desert feats.
Rejoice, more so in the wilds and mountains than in the villages of the world, who have deigned to wander about;
Rejoice, in the impassable deserts, united in labor and observance of the commandments of the Lord, having loved to strive.
Rejoice like gold, having been tempted in the crucible of desert bitterness;
Rejoice, you who valiantly endured many temptations from demons and people.
Rejoice, the prophet of God Elijah and the baptizer of the Lord John imitated the character of desert love;
Rejoice, rustic father of like-minded companions and love-silence dwellers.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 3
The powers of heaven, sent to serve those who want to inherit salvation, have served you wonderfully, fathers of love for God. Whenever the inhabitants of the world, chilled by the silence of you, Savvaty and Germana, wanted to live on an island near you with their wives and children, the angels, with a formidable reprimand and punishment of the fishermen’s wives, stopped them from undertakings contrary to God: but for you, Father Zosimo, who was in the hibernation besides the brush, angelic the service required for nutrition was taught. For this reason, let us sing to God, who saves His saints: Alleluia.
Ikos 3
Having the tide of the sea in his own abode, inhabited by no one, and abiding in it, like in a God-created paradise, outside the rebellions and worries of everyday life, and besides vain worries, he has striven piously and godly for the blessing of God, studying day and night in the law of the Lord, and Every hour, with an untroubled mind and a pure heart, lifting up zealous prayers and supplications to God. For this reason we cry out to you with joy:
Rejoice, you who have always desired to walk blamelessly in the law of the Lord;
Rejoice, having always had your Lord before your eyes.
Rejoice, having protected all your paths with the fear of the Lord;
Rejoice, in sobriety we will spend our entire lives wisely.
Rejoice, you who have completely captured all the thoughts of your mind into the obedience of Christ;
Rejoice, having presented your pure hearts as a dwelling place to the Holy Spirit.
Rejoice, you who did not let your eyes sleep during the all-night vigils of the Lord;
Rejoice, you who endured sorrows in the teaching of death and in heartfelt sighs to the Lord.
Rejoice, you who labored with sincere love to praise God and sing psalmody;
Rejoice, you who have continually raised prayers to God with your heart and lips.
Rejoice, having found the hidden Kingdom of God within your heart;
Rejoice, as the intelligent ones ascend to the heavenly vision.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 4
The storm of this multi-rebellious life has comfortably passed, Reverend Fathers, and the fierce waves of passions and temptations, raised from the world and the flesh and from the spirits of malice, without plunging or shaking the ship of your souls, the sails of unceasing prayer hailed, and alleviated by non-covetousness, guided by the grace of God . In the same way, you have reached the serene refuge of the eternal belly, crying out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 4
Hearing and leading from the Divine scriptures, as all who labored in piety, I crucified my flesh with passions and lusts, in pious wisdom, about the Reverend, following these feats, I strived to mortify my souls that exist on earth, in fasting, vigils and in all the labors of monastic life, courageously enduring sorrow. For this reason, as good ascetics of piety, we crown you with praises of calico:
Rejoice, your body has withered away through labors and diseases of abstinence;
Rejoice, all carnal wisdom, warring against the spirit, subduing the spirit.
Rejoice, having extinguished the flames of passions with tears of repentance;
Rejoice, having purified your souls like gold in the furnace of abstinence.
Rejoice, you have put away the old man with his passions;
Rejoice, having clothed yourself worthily with the garment of dispassion and the glory of incorruption;
Rejoice, you who have hated the temporary sweetness of sin;
Rejoice, you who have inherited endless joy in Heaven.
Rejoice, before death, in the world and crucify your flesh with its sweetness;
Rejoice, having manifested the glory of the future life in yourself before the resurrection.
Rejoice, you have shown us the path of fasting to the inheritance of paradise, lost through intemperance;
Rejoice, having presented to all in a dead and corruptible body the immortality and incorruptibility of the next century.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 5
God-rich and many-bright stars appeared to nature, Reverend Fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Herman, luminous in the correction of the commandments of the Lord, illuminating the souls and hearts of the faithful, and floating in the nights of sinful darkness in the abyss of the worldly sea, showing the reliable path to the blessed haven of the Heavenly Kingdom. In the same way, we sing to the benefactor of God, who have shown you as leaders and teachers of salvation: Alleluia.
Ikos 5
Having seen the malice of the hater of human salvation, the unclean souls of darkness, your godly life, blessed fathers, I raised up a variety of temptations and fears against you, when in your thoughts and hearts there was overwhelming fear and confusion, but then transforming; in various apparitions of wondrous beasts and reptiles, I rush with rage at you, hoping to turn you away from the feat pleasing to God and expel you from the desert: but you, with firm faith in God the Provider, powerfully and with the weapon of prayer and abstinence against your enemies, taking up arms against your enemies, will be victorious to the end and overthrow them power. For this reason, singing a victorious song, we appeal to you:
Rejoice, warriors of spiritual invincibility;
Rejoice, armorers of Christ's good victory.
Rejoice, ascetics, who courageously took up arms against the wiles of the evil one;
Rejoice, strong pillars, not shaken by the attacks of the enemy.
Rejoice, you who destroyed all the arrows of the devil like pride;
Rejoice, you have imputed all the hardships and insurance costs to nothing.
Rejoice, for you are in the flesh, having conquered the incorporeal and invisible enemies;
Rejoice, as you are lying in graves, you are overthrowing the enemy militia.
Rejoice, victors of glory, crowned by the Heavenly Crowned One;
Rejoice, champions of goodness in those who fight against the ruler of the darkness of this age.
Rejoice, for the angels were amazed at your feat;
Rejoice, for the assembly of the faithful rejoiced in your glory.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 6
The will of God preached by the angels about the population of monastics in the Solovetsky outflow has been fulfilled by you, the most blessed fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and German: behold, the desert is barren and uninhabited, and abundantly watered with your sweat and tears, it has appeared like a prosperous heliport and a verbal paradise, where the faces of monasticism have been taught by you. , bearing fruits pleasing to God, they sing the angelic song to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 6
Shine forth, God-bearing fathers, with the light of piety, like a divinely luminous luminary, enlightening everywhere with the luminous rays of your deeds and virtues. Because of this, we, sinners and darkened by the darkness of passions, in the light of your godly deeds flowing towards the day of light and salvation, we praise you, singing to your face:
Rejoice, disciples of Christ's good obedience;
Rejoice, Masters of your rabbi Blasia and Vernia.
Rejoice, most industrious workers of Christ’s grapes;
Rejoice, you who fulfilled the most diligent commandments of Christ.
Rejoice, you who have bowed your heart in submission to the yoke of Christ’s humility and meekness;
Rejoice, in the footsteps of Christ the Lord, who taught about poverty, diligently in the poverty and lack of wealth that followed.
Rejoice, according to the word of the Lord, having traversed the path of this temporary life through sorrowful and cramped paths;
Rejoice, like the rain, having washed away your souls with currents of tears.
Rejoice, O most beautiful Bridegroom who has preserved the beauty of his virginity;
Rejoice, in every holy thing, in all your good deeds that have pleased Him.
Rejoice, having glorified your Lord in your souls and bodies;
Rejoice, from the Lord, according to the inheritance of glorification on earth and in Heaven.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 7
Although you might save many, the Most Merciful God will show you to be not just mentors of a host of monastics, but like preachers of God, proclaiming the name of God in the countries of Lapland. For the people who dwell in these places, and who did not know God until then, but who were very fond of idolatry and wickedness, in your lordship, O Reverence, lives, signs and wonders, having seen the first dawn of saving knowledge of God and piety, and from you having learned to sing praises to the true God : Alleluia.
Ikos 7
Having wondrously and gloriously accomplished the path of their salvation, having founded a wondrous and magnificent monastery for the salvation of the monastic, blessedly accepting their death, our fathers, Zosimo, Savvaty and German, are ever in memory: both after your death, ever live, us, your children, never you leave, not in spirit, but still abiding to us, but also in giving us your celibate relics, like a priceless treasure. For this reason, we joyfully please you, calling:
Rejoice, having fought a good deed throughout your life;
Rejoice, having been crowned with glory and honor from your Lord Christ.
Rejoice, for having labored for a time, you have entered into eternal rest;
Rejoice, for having walked the narrow path, you have reached the bliss of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Rejoice, even if not together, but in equal struggles, you fought on earth;
Rejoice, for your equal life, as you enjoy joy and gladness together in Heaven.
Rejoice, thou who in the father is empty, like a city, a monastery founded by a monk;
Rejoice, you who have gathered the hosts of monks in Christ the Bose.
Rejoice, guardians of your flock, ever cheerful, and in these days of temporary life, not resting from deeds of charity;
Rejoice, sons of the Kingdom, who live in Heaven and do not leave the earthly.
Rejoice, in your spirit you are with the holy angels, and abiding with us sinners forever;
Rejoice, from your honest relics flowing streams of mercy upon everyone.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 8
Having seen the strange and wonderful, great and beautiful church that appeared in the air, yet this place, in which the monastery of monks was named, seeing the indescribable light shining, you were filled with horror, Father Zosimo, from the wondrous vision. Moreover, having understood God’s revelation in this, encouraging you to build a monastery, and also seeing the future glory of this place, with a tender heart and lips you sang to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 8
All orthodox Russian people, glorifying your holy and equal life, in all kinds of needs and sorrows flow to your help and intercession, most wonderful fathers: for grace has been given to you from God to pray for us, to deliver and save us from all the troubles and evils that come to the reliquaries of your venerable relics, and calling on your holy name in every place. Moreover, confessing your wonderful good deeds, we write a note of gratitude to you, calling:
Rejoice, sources of inexhaustible Divine gifts;
Rejoice, vessels of mercy and love for people who do not depend on you.
Rejoice, as you offer fragrant incense to God for peace;
Rejoice, for through your silent intercessions every blessing from the right hand of God has been brought down upon us.
Rejoice, for those who are in sorrow and need have received the knowledge of a helper;
Rejoice, in the circumstances and misfortunes of the speedy accomplice.
Rejoice, healers in the sick, and helmsmen and deliverers in the storm of the afflicted;
Rejoice, intercessors and comforters in all troubles and temptations.
Rejoice, faithful, piously honoring you, for your opposing supporters;
Rejoice, all Russian lands, in the election of a prayer service and intercessor.
Rejoice, you who work glorious miracles on earth and sea;
Rejoice, you have unenviably extended help to those who call for help in every possible way.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 9
Having adorned yourself with all the God-red graces of virtues, most praiseworthy Zosimo, you appeared most redly in soul and body, worthy of being anointed with the Divine ointment. Moreover, when in the holy temple you performed the first Divine service before the throne of the Lord, seeing your whole face covered with the light of grace, like the face of an angel: the whole temple, as a well-known testimony of your dignity, was filled with a great fragrance. For this reason, everyone, thanking God for their shepherd, cried out with a joyful heart: Alleluia.
Ikos 9
By Vetian good-proclamations it is not possible to glorify and glorify the many and innumerable, great and glorious, and surpassing all earthly understanding, performed by you, Reverend Fathers, at all times of miracles. Moreover, let us not appear through silence, like a servant who hid the treasure of his Master, from lips that are not even trained and do not have a word of wisdom, but driven by love and gratitude, we dare to extend a song of thanksgiving in memory and glorification of your miracles, calling to your face:
Rejoice, miracle workers of great honor and blessing;
Rejoice, soul and body healed from sickness.
Rejoice, you who enlighten the blind with the grace of God;
Rejoice, lips bound by dumbness, resolving blessings.
Rejoice, you who are relaxed and correct infirmities;
Rejoice, you who grant uprightness to the lame.
Rejoice, you who were captivated by your intercession from bonds and who freed captivity;
Rejoice, you who are dead by the power of God and who are resurrected by your prayer.
Rejoice, you who perform grace-filled healing in all passions and illnesses.
Rejoice, you who give peace and spiritual enlightenment to those languishing in circumstances and misfortunes;
Rejoice, for those who follow the Lord’s path along narrow and sorrowful paths, giving divine help.
Rejoice, our Reverend Fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 10
Having accomplished the feat of salvation well, renouncing this temporary life and departing to the eternal and blessed life, O blessed Zosimo, you consoled your disciples, saying that, having separated from them physically, you will not depart from them and your abode in your spirit. It is from this very deed that you fulfill your word, not only invisibly co-present with us and watching over everything, but also visibly many times, together with the blessed Savvaty and the venerable Herman, appearing at the right time to those who call you for help and cry out to God: Alleluia.
Ikos 10
An insurmountable wall and a solid cover, salvation was taken away and the weapon of victory was given to us, Reverend Fathers, your warm prayers to God, on the day of this fierce battle, when, through our sin and iniquity, we were attacked by the strong and the skillful with fire and sword in our possession yours, in order to destroy your shrines and lay them in ruin and trampling, but to conquer your spiritual children and destroy them with a worthless death; On the other hand, having been able to do no evil, they themselves were especially filled with coldness and dishonor, while those who hoped for your help were girded with joy and gladness about their salvation. Giving thanks to God for this, we confess your intercession and support, and cry out to you warmly from the depths of our souls:
Rejoice, good shepherd, protecting your flock from destructive enemies;
Rejoice, as eagles cover their chicks under their wings.
Rejoice, having overshadowed us with the cover of your prayers on the day of battle;
Rejoice, O wrath of God, righteously driven upon us, having been quenched by your intercession.
Rejoice, you who did not allow your property to be trampled and stolen;
Rejoice, having preserved your hopes from the fiery ignition.
Rejoice, you who trusted in us and freed us from the destruction of mortals;
Rejoice, you who wonderfully preserved those from wounds and ulcers, from bonds and captivity.
Rejoice, having turned your enemies' pride and arrogance into stupefaction and dishonor;
Rejoice, we who live in your monastery, unskilled and unarmed, clothed in joy and gladness.
Rejoice, vigilant guardians of the faith and piety of the fatherland;
Rejoice, you who appeared for the fatherland and were courageous warriors after death.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 11
Songs of praise and all-contrite prayers bring, while the length of the journey and the dangers of the sea are not imputed to anything, kings and princes, saints and nobles, the rich and the poor, near and far, flow to your celibate power, all ages and sexes, and all faithful copulations, and as from an inexhaustible source, according to each of their needs, accepting abundant healing of the soul and body, they glorify and magnify God, who has given such grace to you, singing: Alleluia.
Ikos 11
By the light of Divine grace, in the depths of the earth, in wondrous signs and wonders, from the first days of your repose your relics shone forth, worthy and righteously the faces of monasticism, worn out from many years of protection, placed with reverence on the church candlestick, in the temple, created in your name, by great piety and holy imitator of your exploits, confessor and martyr, Saint and First See of Russia, Philip. And we now, piously rejoicing in your glory, the truly honest shrines of your relics and kindly kissing you, loudly call to you:
Rejoice, most blessed lamps, gloriously placed in the church candlestick;
Rejoice, arks of honesty, not with stones and gold, but with the grace bestowed upon them.
Rejoice, like three stars illuminating the midnight darkness;
Rejoice, for there are three pillars that affirm the Orthodox faith within the borders of Northern Pomorie.
Rejoice, sources of heaven, pouring out seas of miracles;
Rejoice, dear beads who adorn the Church of Christ.
Rejoice, brightest mirror of piety and virtue;
Rejoice, the Church and the Fatherland have been invincibly taken away.
Rejoice, heavenly fulfillment of the most fragrant cries;
Rejoice, most fruitful vines of the Divine.
Rejoice, all-blessed fathers, glorified grief from God and angels, and blessedness from men;
Rejoice, for your joy, holy and perfect, endures forever.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 12
Sometimes the Most Blessed God, dwelling in all your bodies, show His Divine grace to the reverent monk Joseph in the form of two fiery pillars, from earth to heaven above your tombs, ascending and shining with an indescribable light: truly, for you are, Reverend Fathers, pillars of spiritual light, with the lordship of high virtues and the light of the knowledge of God, signs and wonders, which illuminated the spiritual darkness in the midnight countries. For this reason, to God, who glorifies His saints, we sing: Alleluia.
Ikos 12
Singing in songs the deeds and labors of your God-pleasing life, the glorious deeds and works done in every kind of goodness and miracles, praising and glorifying, we are perplexed, most wonderful fathers, what we should call you out of duty: for your virtues and talents are many, for this reason many befit you and naming. Moreover, being satisfied with small things in many, we sing this to you with love:
Rejoice, angels of earth, for you have lived through angelic life on earth;
Rejoice, people of heaven, for you are related to earth; you hate the earthly, but love the heavenly.
Rejoice, most patient fasters, who spent their entire lives in fasting;
Rejoice, worthy hermits, who served the Lord in the untrodden deserts.
Rejoice, teachers and mentors who lead your affairs on the path of salvation;
Rejoice, spiritual leaders, who lead many souls to Heavenly villages.
Rejoice, martyr of the same morality, as you bravely fought your passions;
Rejoice, imitator of the apostle, who enlightened the darkness of unbelief in the knowledge of God with lordships.
Rejoice, prophet of the like, secret and future carrying out and prophecy;
Rejoice, to all the saints of oneness of integrity, exploits for the sake of and pleasing God.
Rejoice, performer of the mysteries of grace and miracles;
Rejoice, citizens of heaven and friends of God and His saints.
Rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Germane.
Kontakion 13
About the Reverend our fathers, Zosimo, Savvaty and German! Kindly accept from us humble and unworthy this praise offered to you, and with your favorable prayers to God protect us from all misfortune and adversity, from illness and famine, from fire and sword, and invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare. Most of all, by your intercession, keep us strong from the invisible enemies who are seeking to destroy us, so that, having escaped their many-witted snares, we will live righteously and pleasing to God in the present world, and in the Kingdom of Heaven we will be worthy to sing with you to Christ our God: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
(This kontakion is read three times, then ikos 1 and kontakion 1)
PRAYER
About the Reverend and God-bearing our fathers Zosimo and Savvatie, earthly angels and heavenly people, close friends of Christ and saints of God, your monastery is glory and adornment, but all the northern countries, especially the entire Orthodox fatherland, are an insurmountable wall and great intercession! Behold, we, unworthy and many sinners, with reverent love for your holy relics, bowing down, with a contrite and humble spirit, diligently beseech you: pray unceasingly to our merciful Master and Lord Jesus Christ, for you have great boldness towards Him, that His all-pervading grace may not depart from us, may the protection and intercession of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos remain in this place, and may the true zealots of the angelic life in this holy monastery, where you, God-bearing fathers and rulers, never become lacking, with immeasurable labors and penances, with tears and all-night vigils, with unceasing prayers and with prayers began the monastic life. To her, saintly saints, prayer books most favorable to God, with your warm prayers to Him, protect and preserve us and this holy village of yours from cowardice, flood, fire and sword, invasion of foreigners and deadly plagues, from enmity and all kinds of disorder, from all misfortune and sorrow and from all evil: may the Most Holy Name of the Lord and God be reverently glorified in this place, in peace and silence, and those who seek Him may find eternal salvation. O blessedness, our fathers, Zosimo and Savvaty! Hear us sinners who live unworthily in your holy monastery and under the roof of your protection, and through your powerful petitions to God, ask for forgiveness of sins for our souls, correction of life and eternal blessings in the Kingdom of Heaven: to all who believe, in every place and in every need call you for help and intercession, and those who flow into your monastery with reverent love, do not stop pouring out all grace and mercy, preserving them from all resistive forces, from all misfortunes and from all evil circumstances, and giving them everything they need for their souls and bodies. benefit. Most of all, pray to the most merciful God, that He may establish and strengthen His holy Church and our entire Orthodox Fatherland in peace and silence, in love and unanimity, in orthodoxy and piety, and preserve and preserve it forever and ever. Amen.
TROPARION
Troparion, tone 8
As the lamps of all light appeared in the father of the ocean, our venerable fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Herman, for you took up the cross of Christ on your frame, diligently followed that and, having drawn near to the purity of God, from there you were enriched with the powers of miracles. In the same way, we kindly flow to the crayfish of your venerable relics and touchingly say: oh, reverend, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
CANON
(Reverend Zosima and Savvaty Solovetsky)
Troparion, tone 8
Like the all-bright lamps that appeared in the father of the ocean of the sea, the venerable fathers Zosimo and Savvaty: for you took up the cross of Christ on the frame, zealously followed that, and having drawn near to the purity of God, from there you were enriched with the powers of miracles. Thus, we kindly flow to the crayfish of your honorable relics, and touchingly say: O Reverend, pray to Christ God to save our souls.
Canon, voice 2
Song 1
Irmos:Come, people, let us sing a song to Christ God, who divided the sea and taught the people, even as he learned from the work of Egypt, for he was glorified.
Chorus:
With the enlightenment of the Trisolar Deity, illuminated by wisdom, the luminary appeared, illuminating everywhere: so pray for us, darkened by the darkness of passions, to illuminate us with the enlightenment of grace, and for our souls to receive salvation.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
With the light of Divine grace enlightened, blessed Zosimo and Savvaty, truly enlighten your luminous memory of the triumphant, and from the darkness of sin, with your prayers, venerable ones, deliver.
Glory:The temple of wisdom is quicker to the Holy Spirit, and all spiritual desires are turned to Him, and for this sake, for the sake of the meek, you inherit the earth: Reverend, tame our spiritual passionate storm, and in the silence that has once been divine, let us hymn your deeds.
And now:I am overwhelmed by the fierce passions of slander, O Young Lady, and immersed in the excuses of sin: I resort to Your one quiet and unbreakable haven of love, All-singing, generously save me, Ever-Virgin.
Song 3
Irmos:Having established me on the rock of faith, you have enlarged my mouth against my enemies, for my spirit has rejoiced, always singing: there is nothing holy like our God, and nothing is righteous than Thee, O Lord.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
We adorn ourselves with the height of humility, O Reverend Zosimo and Savvaty, and all the desire for the Lord is simple, while the furious movement against the enemies is armed, with fair deeds, fasting and prayers.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
The resurrection of your flesh, the venerable venerable one who slain with strong fasting, the abode of the quicker Master: beseech Him to be delivered from the sorrows and torment of the passions, which flow with faith to you, blessed one.
Glory:Having the promoting Divine power, countless healings flow from your powers, Reverend Zosimos and Savvatios: they drive away bodily illnesses from people, and heal spiritual passions, your deeds of all honor.
And now:I am tormented by the storm of sin, and the indignation of placeless thoughts: have mercy, O All-Immaculate One, and stretch out my helping hand, as if you were merciful, so that I may be saved, I magnify Thee.
Lord have mercy (three times).
Sedalen, voice 4th
The sea of life has sailed comfortably through abstinence, and to the haven of mental dispassion, rejoicing in doidost, Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, God-wisdom and blessedness: pray to Christ God, to save our souls.
Song 4
Irmos:You came from the Virgin, not an intercessor, nor an Angel, but the Lord Himself, who became incarnate, and you saved all of me, a man. Thus I call to Thee: glory to Thy power, O Lord.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
Having purified the venerable one in mind and soul, having completely rejected the soul-destroying charm from himself, and directed his feelings towards the unclouded silence, he descended into the wisdom of the sea, chanting: glory to Thy power, Lord.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
The laws of the New and Old Testament, learning from the mind of the saints, Reverend Zosimo and Savvatios: an image of all virtues, skillful, wiser than a bee, and a friend of the Holy Spirit, quick in wisdom, chanting: glory to Thy power, Lord.
Glory:With all kinds of luminous miracles, venerable ones, and illuminated by Divine grace, everyone has come to know the inexhaustible treasure of healings, you drive away the darkness of passions, and you overthrow the hosts of the enemy, chanting: glory to your power, Lord.
And now:From the womb of Thy Pure Young Lady, having risen the Divine Sun, enlighten those who are in the darkness of polytheism, and those who sit in the shadow of death, O Lady, Hosea, to Him we call in praise: glory to Thy power, Lord.
Song 5
Irmos:Enlightenment of those who lie in darkness, salvation of the desperate, Christ my Savior, to You in the morning, King of the world, enlighten me with Your radiance, for I don’t know any other God to You.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
He preferred the cramped one to the spacious path of the venerable one: and rejoicing, having been oppressed in every possible way by his father, he endured divine teachings, cleansing his soul, and the unspeakable kindness of God, ever beholding blessedness.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
Be gentle and meek and merciful, reverent one: in the same way, you have received grace and mercy from God from above, mercifully enlighten us, who honor your holy memory with love.
Glory:Like a great sun, the greatness of your feat shines upon us, Reverend Zosima and Savvatios, illuminating the ends of the earth, and illuminating everything with the light of God’s understanding. Thus we pray, enlighten our minds, blessed fathers.
And now:From the multitude of those who rise up against us, our belly has disappeared in illness, mired in the abyss of countless sins. Save us, O Lady, and raise us up as merciful, All-Immaculate: For the Imams are the only invincible Representative for You, Thy servants.
Song 6
Irmos:Lying in the abyss of sin, I call upon the unfathomable abyss of Thy mercy: lift me up from aphids, O God.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
Having loved the evangelical venerable Christ, you have turned away from the world, and having entered into impassable waters and empty streams, cleave to your One and Only Master: you have received reward from worthlessness and labor, having partaken of the eternal life, you pray for those who sing.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
Having been enriched with God-wise thoughts, O Reverend One, and all that is flattering on earth, as if they were imputed, to ageless bliss, from their faces in the light of the Immaterial Forces, ever rejoicing in God, blessedness.
Glory:Strange and glorious, venerable one, who works miracles in God, to all who float in the sea and suffer evil, we call upon you to appear quickly, delivering us from troubles: and those in need of cruelty, and those possessed by misfortunes, mercifully appearing to save us, most blessed.
And now:Lighten the heavy burden of sin that weighs heavily on me, O Most Pure One: for You are the glorious Representative of sinners, having given birth to the Savior and Savior on earth.
Lord have mercy (three times). Glory, and now:
Kontakion, voice 2
Vulnerable to the love of Christ, venerable one, and His cross was carried in His arms by nature, divinely armed against invisible enemies, and unceasing prayers, like a spear in the hands of those who had it, strongly defeated the demonic militia: the grace of the Lord was received to heal the ailments of souls and bodies, flowing to the crayfish of honest relics You emit rays of your miracles everywhere. Thus we call to you: rejoice, venerable fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, fertilizer for the monk.
Ikos
Who is pleased with the utterance of your miracles, reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, we honor your all-praised and all-honorable memory with joy and Divine love, we bring this little song: Rejoice, you are filled with Christ’s beauty, and you are bright from Him and have received the reward in abundance: your bodies are a sea island accepted, the souls of heaven itself, the honors of their labors, the praises, having received from Christ all the King and God. We therefore pray that you visit mercifully and pray unceasingly for all of us.
Song 7
Irmos:I serve the golden image in the field of Deira, Thy three children, heedless of the godless commandment, cast into the middle of the fire, watering the waist: blessed art thou, O God of our fathers.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
In vigilant prayers, and strong in fasting, and unflagging patience in temptation, purity of mind, reverence, showing off, and worthy of the earthly retreat, heavenly pleasure is gained, chanting: blessed is God our father.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
Spiritual fruit, and an immaculate sacrifice, your life, O Reverend One, you have offered to the Lady, in abstinence you have lived in every possible way, having received from worthlessness and honor through labor, like a hero of heroism, you act glorious miracles, chanting: blessed is God our father.
Glory:Guide those who are shaken by the passions and the storm of sin, venerable ones, who are immersed, as you have great boldness towards God, and always, with wisdom, preserve those who honor you piously, as we sing: blessed is God our father.
And now:Deliver us from misfortunes and sorrows, and various sorrows, and foreign invasions, and internecine warfare, O Lady of All Sings, as we glorify Thee, and we cry to Thy Son: blessed be God our father.
Song 8
Irmos:Sometimes the fiery furnace in Babylon divided the action, scorching the Chaldeans by God's command, and watering the faithful, singing: Bless all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
In the abode of the ever-living, ever-living, reverent one, enjoying the incorruptible blessings, and being filled with the Trisolar Lordship, we, who call you, with your warm intercession, save those who sing from all the fierce ones: bless, all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
We who honor you with love, and who celebrate your honest triumph, Christ's saints Zosimo and Savvaty, reverend fathers, by sin, ask for forgiveness, and the change of passions, and the Divine illumination of the light, singing: bless, all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
Glory:O Pre-Eternal Nature, and Tripartite Unity, Father and Son and Holy Soul, receive from us Thy prayer books, venerable saints, and grant permission for sin, and correction of life, and alienation of the evil, and make us worthy in the world to sing of Thy power: bless, all the works of the Lord , Gentlemen.
And now:As the One who gave birth to the seedless birth of Christ God, the Brideless Pure Mother, do this mercifully, the Lady, to save the slaves from the violence and torment of the enemy, crying out to Christ to Thy Son: bless, all the works of the Lord, the Lord.
Song 9
Irmos:The Beginningless Parent, the Son, God and Lord, incarnated from the Virgin, appeared to us, darkened to enlighten, fellow waste. Thus we magnify the All-Sung Mother of God.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
Send your thought to God, Reverend Zosimo and Savvaty, who have left the earthly, have received the heavenly, I will greatly glorify you to God and the Savior, for your labors and unflagging abstinence: for this reason we honor you, blessed one.
Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, pray to God for us.
Their blessings, reverend, half-pure, and heavenly glory, which you have been honored with from God, and to whom you will receive, pray that we too may be inseparable, we pray, with joy and Divine love for those who honor your deeds of all honor.
Glory:O Divine and God-wise and sacred duo, Zosimo and Savvaty, ask for peace to be sent down from God to the world, unity for the churches and for all those who mourn, consolation and salvation, blessings.
And now:Spare me, O Christ the Savior, spare through the prayers who gave birth to You and all Your saints: when you sit down to judge by my deeds, despise my iniquities and my sins, for only one is sinless.
Zosima, Savvaty and German, venerable Solovetsky saints.
History of their Relics
August 21st is celebrated transfer of the relics of Saints Zosima, Savvaty and German, Solovetsky miracle workers.
About the last years of life Zosima the Life tells that the saint was in tireless prayerful deeds; he made a coffin for himself, placed it in the vestibule of his cell and cried over the coffin every night for his soul. Before his death, the monk called the brethren to him, bequeathed them to love each other and promised that he would continually be with them in spirit. He blessed the monk Arseny to become abbess, commanding him to preserve the church charter and monastic customs. The date of Zosima's death is given in the Life. The saint was buried behind the altar of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, in the grave that he dug during his lifetime.
The veneration of Zosima began soon after his death. According to the Life, on the 9th day after the burial the saint appeared to the monk Daniel and reported that he had escaped demonic ordeals and that God had canonized him as a saint. 3 years after the death of Zosima, his the disciples erected a chapel over the grave and, coming at night, they prayed to their spiritual father until matins.
After the entry of St. Macarius to the metropolitan see, the veneration of the Solovetsky miracle workers spread in the capital, primarily at the court of the Grand Duke. In 1543 he led. book John IV Vasilyevich sent to the Solovetsky Monastery “two veils of azure satin” for the shrines of the miracle workers. At this time, the tombstone wooden chapels of Zosima and Savvaty, damaged by the fire, were renovated in the monastery. The Zosima Chapel was built in a new location - behind the altar of the Assumption Church, next to the Chapel of Savvaty, since the monastery was preparing to transfer the relics of Zosima. Especially for this event in Moscow, Abbot St. Philip ordered 2 large hagiographic icons of Zosima and Sabbatius, intended to be placed in icon cases near the tombs of the miracle workers. For the cancer of Zosima and Savvaty in 1545, new gilded gravestone icons “osmi spans” with silver crowns, decorated with tsats and hryvnias, were made. On September 2, 1545, the relics of Zosima were transferred to the new chapel. The Vologda-Perm Chronicle dates this event to September 3, 1545, the same date is indicated in 2 handwritten Charters of the mid-16th century. and in the “Menaea to the New Wonderworkers” of the late 16th century. In memory of the transfer of the relics of Zosima in 1545, Novgorod Archbishop Theodosius established a celebration on September 2.
In 1694 there was a fire in the monastery, during which the tombs of Zosima and Savvaty were damaged and the ancient icon of the Solovetsky miracle workers, located “between the crayfish on the wall,” burned down. Tsar Peter I, who visited Solovki in the same year, made a generous contribution to the restoration of the tombs of the Solovetsky saints and the iconostasis of the Transfiguration Cathedral. In 1861, upon completion of construction of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the monastery, the relics of Zosima and Savvatiy were placed in silver crayfish in the Zosima-Savvatievsky chapel of the Trinity Cathedral.
Under Abbot Arseny, successor of St. Zosima, Abba German, having been sent to Novgorod for the needs of the monastery, in the monastery of St. Anthony the Roman, he felt the proximity of his death, confessed, partook of the Holy Mysteries and peacefully transferred his spirit to God. His disciples took his body to the Solovetsky monastery, but due to muddy roads they were forced to leave him on the bank of the river. Svir near the chapel of the village of Khavronyina.
5 years later (in 1484), under Abbot Isaiah, they decided to move the Abba’s coffin to the Solovetsky monastery; When the messengers dug into the ground and opened the Abba’s coffin, then they found his relics incorrupt; transported the coffin was placed with honor near the altar, on the right side of the church of St. Nicholas, next to the relics of St. Savvatia.
The relics of St. Herman Solovetsky now reside in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Solovetsky Stavropegial Monastery Arkhangelsk Diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church.
After the closure of the Solovetsky Monastery (1920) the relics of Zosima and Savvaty were hidden by the brethren from desecration in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the monastery, but OGPU officers managed to discover the cache. September 22, 1925 the relics of the saints were opened and transferred to the museum Solovetsky Society of Local History, which existed at the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp. In the SOK museum, shrines with the relics of saints were exhibited in the gateway Church of the Annunciation on both sides of the royal gates. January 19, 1940, after the abolition of the camp, the relics of the saints were taken to the Central Anti-Religious Museum to Moscow. After the closure of TsAM in 1946, St. the relics were transferred to the State Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism, located in the Kazan Cathedral in Leningrad.
In April 1989 the relics of the Solovetsky monks were presented to the church commission led by the Leningrad and Novgorod Metropolitans. Alexey. On June 16, 1990, a solemn ceremony took place transfer to the Church of St. relics of Zosima, Savvaty and Herman, which were transferred to the Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. August 19-20, 1992 St. the relics were transported to Solovki and installed in the monastery Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, where on August 21 a divine service was held dedicated to the memory of the transfer of the relics of Zosima and Savvaty in 1566. At the end of August, the relics of 3 Solovetsky saints were moved to the gate church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, consecrated by Patriarch Alexy II on August 22. In memory of the return of the relics of the Solovetsky wonderworkers to the monastery they founded, a celebration was established on April 3, 1993, coinciding with the day of the celebration of the 1st transfer of the relics in 1566 - August 8/21. Currently, the relics of the Solovetsky founders, together with the relics of St. Markella rests in the monastery church in the name of St. Philippa(consecrated on August 22, 2001 by Patriarch Alexy II), for the summer they are moved to the Transfiguration Cathedral.
On August 21, the Russian Orthodox Church remembers the saints Savvaty, Zosima and Herman, the Solovetsky wonderworkers, or rather, the double transfer of their relics. These events are directly related to the history of the Solovetsky monastery.
Saints Savvaty, Zosima and Herman of Solovetsky would never have met if the Lord had not wanted a beautiful and secluded monastery to grow in the White Sea, to which pilgrims from all over the world still flock to this day. By the way, Saints Savvaty and Zosima did not know each other in earthly life, but the name of one ascetic is now inseparable from the name of the other - in heavenly history.
Venerable Savvaty (†1435)
So, it all began with the desire of the resident of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery Savvaty to live in the desert. The monk, virtuous and strict, whom the brethren respected, left them, asking for a blessing, to Valaam. After living there for several years, he, according to his life, “began to look for an even more secluded place. His desert-loving soul rejoiced when he learned that in the far north, in the sea, there was an uninhabited Solovetsky Island.” The monk also left the Valaam monastery, although the Valaam monks very much asked the Monk Savvaty not to leave them - his path lay to the shores of the White Sea.
Near the Vyg River, the monk met the monk Herman, who lived at the chapel in the village of Soroka, who had previously been to the Solovetsky Islands, but did not dare to settle there alone. In 1429, the two of them reached the Bolshoi Solovetsky Island on a fragile boat. The place where the monks settled was later named Savvatievo; it is located near Sekirnaya Mountain.
After six years of incessant work and prayer, Savvaty departed to the Lord. Here's how it happened. Monk Herman left for the mainland for economic reasons, and his brother was left alone. He already had a presentiment that he would soon leave for the monastery of the Heavenly Father and wanted to partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Alone he went to where he met Herman - to the village of Soroka, to the chapel. Here he met a priest, abbot Nathanael. The abbot confessed and gave communion to the Solovetsky hermit, after which on September 27, 1435, the Monk Savvaty peacefully departed to the Lord. He was buried near the walls of the chapel. Only 30 years later, his holy relics were transferred to Solovki and placed behind the altar of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Venerable Zosima (†1478)
The Venerable Abbot Zosima, the benefactor of the Solovetsky monastery, met the Venerable Herman of Solovetsky when he lived in one of the northern Pomeranian monasteries. He was young, but his soul longed for desert life, so after the monk Herman’s stories about the harsh Solovetsky Island, where he lived for several years with the Monk Savvaty, Zosima went even further to the north.
In 1436, the monks Zosima and German settled on Bolshoi Solovetsky Island by the sea, not far from the place where the monastery is now located. One day Zosima saw an extraordinary light and in the east a beautiful church high above the ground. The hermits perceived this miraculous sign as a blessing for the founding of the monastery. The ascetics began to harvest timber and began construction, erecting cells and a fence.
The monks endured many trials before the monastery blossomed.
One day Zosima spent the winter alone, left without food supplies. Bad weather did not allow Herman to return to winter from the mainland. All the monk Zosima's supplies were exhausted, but a miracle helped the ascetic: two strangers came to him and left him bread, flour and butter. In amazement, the monk did not ask where they were from. Soon the Monk Herman returned to the island with the fisherman Mark, who took monastic vows. Other residents of Pomerania also began to come to the monastery.
The number of brethren increased and a monastery was built. A wooden church of the Transfiguration of the Lord with a chapel in the name of St. Nicholas grew up. Several abbots came to the island to lead the monastery, but none could withstand the harsh living conditions here. Then the Solovetsky monks chose Zosima as their abbot. He was ordained a priest and celebrated the first Liturgy at the Solovetsky monastery. According to legend, during prayer during that service his face shone like the face of an angel.
After some time, a new church was built in the monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, and the relics of St. Savvaty were transferred here. Through the efforts of Abbot Zosima and the brethren, a monastery rose on a deserted island. The monastery had a charter for Orthodox cenobitic monasteries, traditional for Russian monasticism.
Several decades passed under the abbess of St. Zosima. When the time of his death approached, he called the brethren and appointed the pious monk Arseny as abbot. Having said his farewell words, the ascetic departed to the Lord on April 17, 1478 and was buried behind the altar of the wooden Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord.
Venerable Herman (†1479)
The feat of the Monk Herman, an associate of the Monks Savvaty and Zosima, consisted of daily work for the glory of God. For six years he helped Saint Savvaty, and for more than 40 years he worked in the monastery under Abbot Zosima. Without abandoning the feat of prayer, he made sea crossings, overcame the hardships of the northern region in labor, and together with his brethren erected churches. Elder Herman's oral narratives about the Solovetsky ascetics Savvatiya and Zosima, recorded at his request, were later used in the compilation of their lives.
In 1479, the Monk Herman, fulfilling the instructions of Abbot Arseny, the successor of the Monk Zosima, went to Novgorod. Illness prevented him from returning to the islands. At the monastery of St. Anthony the Roman, the ascetic took communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ and surrendered his soul to God. The Solovetsky monks were unable to take his body to the monastery due to muddy roads. Only five years later the relics of St. Herman were transferred to the Solovetsky monastery - they were placed next to the relics of St. Savvaty. Later, a chapel was erected over the burial place of St. Herman, and in 1860 a stone church was built, consecrated in his honor.
Transfer of the relics of the ascetics
The holy relics of the original Solovetsky leaders, Saints Zosima and Savvaty, were in the monastery at the time of their church glorification, which occurred in 1547. In 1862, upon completion of the construction of the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the holy relics of Saints Zosima and Savvatiy were placed in silver crayfish in the Zosima-Savvatievsky chapel and remained there until the monastery was closed in 1920.
Until 1939, the relics of Saints Zosima, Savvaty and Herman remained on Solovki in the local history museum, which was subordinate to the camp authorities, which was opened on the site of the glorious monastery. After the liquidation of the camp, the relics of the Solovetsky founders were taken from the island and transferred for storage to the Central Anti-Religious Museum in Moscow, and then to the Leningrad Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism.
In June 1990, the Solovetsky shrines were transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church and on August 16, 1990, they were transferred to the Holy Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In August 1992, the solemn transfer of the relics of Saints Zosima, Savvaty and German to the Solovetsky Monastery took place.
Currently, the relics of the Solovetsky founders rest in the gate church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Prayers to Zosima, Savvaty and Herman Solovetsky
About the Reverend and God-bearing fathers Zosimo, Savvaty and Herman, earthly angels and heavenly people, close friends of Christ and saints of God, your monasteries are glory and adornment, and all the northern countries, especially the entire Orthodox fatherland, are an insurmountable wall and great intercession! Behold, we, unworthy and many sinners, with reverent love for your holy relics, bowing down, with a contrite and humble spirit, diligently beseech you: pray unceasingly to our merciful Master and Lord Jesus Christ, for you have great boldness towards Him, that His all-pervading grace may not depart from us, may the protection and intercession of our Most Holy Lady Theotokos remain in this place, and may the true zealots of the angelic life in this holy monastery, where you, God-bearing fathers and rulers, never become lacking, with immeasurable labors and penances, with tears and all-night vigils, with unceasing prayers and with prayers began the monastic life. To her, saintly saints, prayer books most favorable to God, with your warm prayers to Him, protect and preserve us and this holy village of yours from cowardice, flood, fire and sword, invasion of foreigners and deadly plagues, from enmity and all kinds of disorder, from all misfortune and sorrow and from all evil: may the Most Holy Name of the Lord and God be reverently glorified in this place, in peace and silence, and those who seek Him may find eternal salvation. About the blessedness of our fathers, Zosimo, Savvaty and German! Hear us sinners who live unworthily in your holy monastery and under the roof of your protection, and through your powerful petitions to God, ask for forgiveness of sins for our souls, correction of life and eternal blessings in the Kingdom of Heaven: to all who believe, in every place and in every need call you for help and intercession, and those who flow into your monastery with reverent love, do not stop pouring out all grace and mercy, preserving them from all resistive forces, from all misfortunes and from all evil circumstances, and giving them everything they need for their souls and bodies. benefit. Most of all, pray to the most merciful God, that He may establish and strengthen His holy Church and our entire Orthodox Fatherland in peace and silence, in love and unanimity, in orthodoxy and piety, and preserve and preserve it forever and ever. Amen.
O reverend fathers, great intercessors and speedy hearers of prayers, saints of God and miracle workers Zosimo, Savvaty and Herman! Do not forget, as you promised, to visit your child. Even though you have departed from us in body, you are still with us in spirit. We pray, O Reverend One: deliver us from fire and sword, from the invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare, from corrupting winds, and from vain death, and from all the demonic attacks that come upon us. Hear us, sinners, and accept this prayer and our supplication, like a fragrant censer, like a pleasing sacrifice, and revive our souls, evil deeds, and advice, and thoughts, and, like a dead girl, you have risen, like the incurable wounds of many, healed Deliver us from the unclean spirits tormented by evil, and also deliver us, kept in the bonds of the enemy, and deliver us from the snares of the devil, bring us out of the depths of sins, and by your merciful visit and intercession from enemies visible and invisible, protect us with the grace and power of the All-Holy Trinity, always, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.
Troparion for the transfer of the holy relics of St. Zosima and Savvaty, Solovetsky Wonderworkers, voice 8 :
Like the all-bright lamps that appeared / in the father of the sea, / the venerable fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, / you, who took up the cross of Christ on your frame, / diligently followed that / and, having drawn near to the purity of God, / from there you were enriched with the powers of miracles. / In the same way, we kindly flow to the crayfish of your venerable relics and touchingly say: / O Reverend, pray to Christ God // to save our souls.
Kontakion for the transfer of the holy relics of St. Zosima and Savvaty, Solovetsky Wonderworkers, voice 2 :
Vulnerable to the love of Christ, venerable one,/ and He took up the cross in his arms,/ naturally, Divinely armed against invisible enemies,/ and unceasing prayers, like a spear in his hands,/ nature powerfully defeated the demonic armies;/ the grace of the Lord was received to heal the ailments of souls and bodies/ flowing to the saints with your relics,/ you emit rays of miracles everywhere./ Thus we call to you // rejoice, our venerable fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, fertilizer for the monks.
Greatness of St. Zosima and Savvaty, Solovetsky Wonderworkers :
We bless you, Reverend Fathers Zosimo and Savvaty, and honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and interlocutor of angels.
Prayer of St. Zosima and Savvaty, Solovetsky Wonderworkers :
O reverend fathers, great intercessors and speedy hearers of prayers, saints of God and miracle workers Zosimo and Savvaty! Do not forget, as you promised, to visit your child. Even though you have departed from us in body, you are still with us in spirit. We pray, O Reverend One: deliver us from fire and sword, from the invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare, from corrupting winds, and from vain death, and from all the demonic attacks that come upon us. Hear us, sinners, and accept this prayer and our supplication, like a fragrant censer, like a pleasing sacrifice, and revive our souls, evil deeds, and advice, and thoughts, and, like a dead girl, you have risen, like the incurable wounds of many, healed Deliver us from the unclean spirits tormented by evil, and also deliver us, kept in the bonds of the enemy, and deliver us from the snares of the devil, bring us out of the depths of sins, and by your merciful visit and intercession from enemies visible and invisible, protect us with the grace and power of the All-Holy Trinity, always, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.
Selected Saints.
End of the 18th century.
Russian North.
31.5 x 27.
The icon came to the Andrei Rublev Museum from a private person.
TsMIAR. KP 4561.
State of preservation: the board is duplicated, the strip is stuffed on the left, the base is cracked, there are tinted gesso inserts along the cracks of the base, numerous small tonings over the entire surface.
The icon depicts in prayer to the Savior, depicted in the heavenly segment at the top in the center, Metropolitan Philip of Moscow, Archbishop Stefan of Sourozh, the Solovetsky saints revered everywhere in Rus', the Monks Zosima, Savvaty, Herman, and the locally revered Solovetsky saint of God, Rev. Eleazar of Anzer. On the ground of the icon in the center is the Solovetsky Monastery, surrounded by walls and towers.
Icons and engravings with images of the Solovetsky elders and the Solovetsky monastery were widely known in Rus'. In many engravings of the 18th-19th centuries. Saints Zosima, Savvaty, German, Eleazar and Metropolitan Philip are depicted together. In Russian icon painting, images of Stephen of Sourozh are extremely rare.
From the lives of Saints Zosima and Savvatius, created at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries. Abbot Dosifei, it is known that the Monk Savvaty, a tonsure monk of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, in 1429, together with the Monk Herman, erected a cross on Solovetsky Island and set up a cell under Sekirnaya Mountain. Having lived in solitude for six years, the Monk Herman returned to the coast to replenish his daily supplies, and the Monk Savvaty continued his exploits alone. Anticipating his approaching death, the Monk Savvaty sailed from the island to the coast in search of a priest. There, near the Vyg River, in an area called Sorka, he met Abbot Nathanael, who was walking around this region. Having confessed and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ, the Monk Savvaty peacefully departed to the Lord on September 27, 1435. The Monk Savvaty was buried by Abbot Nathanael and the merchant John at the chapel on the Vyg River.
A year later, a native of Obonezhye, the young monk of the Paleostrovsky monastery Zosima, after meeting the monk Herman, a companion of the Monk Savvaty, went with him for a solitary residence on the Solovetsky Islands. Upon his arrival on the very first night, the Monk Zosima was awarded a prophetic vision, which inspired two monks to found the Solovetsky monastery. After several years, the Monk Zosima, summoned by the archbishop to Novgorod, was ordained to the priesthood and awarded the elevation to the rank of abbot in 1452. The monastery did not forget the founder of these places, the Monk Savvaty. On the advice of the elders of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery to transfer the relics of the Monk Savvaty (which corresponded to the desire of the brethren of the Solovetsky monastery), the Monk Zosima transported the holy relics of the monk to the place of his last exploits. Here, behind the altar of the newly built church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, they were laid in the ground, where they rested until 1566. The Monk Zosima reposed before God, having reached venerable old age, on April 17, 1478. The brethren buried their abbot behind the altar of the Transfiguration Church.
A few decades later, the Church Council under Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow on February 26, 1547, determined that all-Church commemoration of the Solovetsky monk should be celebrated for each on the day of his death: Savvaty - September 27, Zosima - April 17. There is information according to which the first discovery of the relics of the reverend fathers was on September 2, 1545. This is probably due to preparations for the canonization of these ascetics at the Council of 1547.
The celebration of the transfer of the relics of Saints Zosima and Savvaty, Solovetsky wonderworkers, took place on the third day of the patronal feast of the Solovetsky monastery of the Transfiguration of the Lord, after the consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral on August 8, 1566. The relics of the saints were transferred to the chapel of the Transfiguration Cathedral, built in their honor. The transfer of the venerable relics was prepared and inspired by St. Philip, the future Metropolitan of Moscow.
According to the life written at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, Metropolitan Philip, from the ancient Kolychev family, was born on February 11, 1507. He took monastic vows in 1537 at the Solovetsky Monastery. Since 1548 hegumen of the monastery. The holy abbot Philip discovered the miraculous image of the Mother of God Hodegetria, brought to the island by the Monk Savvatius, as well as its stone cross. These shrines were installed at the relics of the saints: the icon - at the tomb of St. Savvatius, and the cross - in the chapel of St. Herman. The lives of the saints were also supplemented with a description of the miracles that took place at their tombs. In 1566 he was elevated to the Moscow metropolis. He died as a martyr at the hands of the conspirators in his current rank on December 23, 1569 (Malyuta Skuratov, sent by the Holy Blessed Tsar Ivan the Terrible to save him, found Metropolitan Philip already lifeless) in the Tver Otroche Monastery, from where in 1591 his relics were transferred to So -Lovetsky Monastery, and in 1652 - to the Moscow Assumption Cathedral. The saint's canonization took place in 1660. He is remembered several times a year: January 9, July 3 (the day of the transfer of the relics), October 5 (together with the most revered Moscow saints).
The Monk Eleazar of Anzersky, whose ascetic struggle is described in his autobiographical life, as well as in the work of the monk Macarius, written around 1700, was a native of Kozelsk, and in his youth he became a monk at the Solovetsky Monastery. He founded a monastery on Anzersky Island and introduced the ancient rite of monastery life for his associates. Died on January 13, 1656. The year of canonization is unknown. Memory January 13.
The placement of the image of Stephen of Sourozh († c. 787) on this icon was probably due to a special order. Archbishop Stefan of Sourozh, a Greek from Cappadocia, educator of the Sourozh residents, became famous as a confessor of icon veneration, for which he was persecuted and imprisoned under Tsar Constantine Copronymus (741-775). He was sent into exile to the city of Surozh (Sudak). There is an opinion that the appearance of the life of Stefan Sourozhsky in Rus' is connected with the arrival in Rus' of Stepan Vasilyevich Khovra, a native of Surozh, who laid the foundation for the Golovin family (Vasilievsky, 1893. P. CCXVI). In 1796, P.V. lived in the Solovetsky Monastery. Golovin, planning to take monastic vows here. Perhaps the painting of this icon is connected with his stay in the Solovetsky Monastery. Stephen of Sourozh in the 18th-19th centuries. was still revered in the Golovin family. It is known that every year on the day of memory of Stefan Sourozhsky, December 15, in the village of Novospasskoye (the family estate of the Golovins), a commemoration was held for Prince Stepan Vasilyevich Khovra and his son Grigory (Kazansky, 1847. P. 5, 80).
The second transfer of the honorable relics of St. Zosima, Savvaty and Herman Solovetsky took place on August 21, 1992 under His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II, whose suffering death was recently mourned by the entire All-Russian flock.
Blog of the scientific team of the Andrei Rublev Museum.
ZOSIMA AND SAVATY SOLOVETSKY
It’s surprising: these two people never met each other, but nevertheless, in the memory of Russian people and in church tradition, the names of Saints Zosima and Savvaty are forever linked with each other. The church also honors the third of the founders of the famous Solovetsky Monastery - St. Herman of Solovetsky.
The Monk Savvaty of Solovetsky was a monk of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. We know nothing about his previous life: it is unknown who he was, where he came to the monastery of St. Kirill of Belozersky, or where he took monastic vows. It is unknown when exactly he appeared in the Belozersky Monastery. The life of the saint reports that he labored in the monastery “in the days of the pious Prince Vasily Vasilyevich,” that is, Vasily the Dark, therefore, after 1425 (the beginning of the reign of Vasily II). Sometimes a more precise date is given: 1436. However, it should immediately be noted that the chronological guidelines contained in the Lives of the Monks Zosima and Savvatius are very vague and largely contradictory.
The life of Savvaty tells about the beginning of the saint’s exploits: “Having heard that in the Novgorod region there is Lake Nevo (that is, Ladoga), and on it an island called Valaam, where there is a monastery in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the monks of which are in strict labors , day and night, pleasing God and feeding on the labors of his hands, the Monk Savvaty began to ask the abbot and the brethren of the Kirillov Beloezersky Monastery to be allowed to live in the Valaam Monastery with a blessing.” The abbot gave him his blessing, and soon the monk moved to the Valaam Monastery of the Transfiguration.
On Valaam, as well as in the Cyril Monastery, Savvaty led a virtuous and ascetic life. However, burdened by communication with the brethren (who, according to the Life, highly revered and constantly praised him), Savvaty thinks about leaving the monastery and finding a silent and secluded place to settle. Even earlier, he had heard about the deserted and deserted Solovetsky Island on the White Sea (the main of the six Solovetsky Islands located at the entrance to the Onega Bay of the White Sea). The monk decides to move there. He makes a request to the abbot of the Valaam Monastery, but the abbot and brethren refuse him.
Then Savvaty secretly leaves the Valaam monastery at night. It rushes north and reaches the coast of the White Sea. He asks many people about the deserted Solovetsky Islands. Local residents tell him that Solovetsky Island (Solovki) is convenient for living: it has fresh water, fish lakes, forests; however, its connection with the mainland is very difficult due to its remoteness and the difficulty of sailing in the White Sea. Only sometimes, in good weather, fishermen approach the islands in their boats, but then they always return home. When the residents of those places learn about Savvaty’s intention to settle on Solovetsky Island, they begin to dissuade him in every possible way, and others even ridicule him.
Meanwhile, the monk came to the mouth of the Vyga River, which flows into the Onega Bay of the White Sea. At this place, called Soroki, there has long been a chapel. Here Savvaty met the monk Herman, who lived a solitary life at the chapel. Savvaty told him about his desire, and both ascetics decided to settle together on Solovki. Trusting in God, they prepared a boat, took with them some food and clothing, as well as the tools necessary for the work. Having waited for calm weather, the monks began their voyage and in two days' journey they safely reached the island.
The ascetics moved a little deeper into the island and found there a very beautiful area suitable for settlement. Here the monks erected a cross, built a cell and began to live in labor and prayer. (The place of their initial settlement is located 12 versts from the current Solovetsky monastery, near Mount Sekirnaya; subsequently a hermitage with a chapel in the name of St. Savvaty was built here.)
The life tells of clashes between ascetics and local fishermen who also began to settle on the Solovetsky Islands. This is a common phenomenon of the time, when monastic colonization of the inaccessible northern regions went hand in hand with peasant colonization. According to the story of the Life, only the intervention of Higher powers forced local fishermen to stop obstructing the monks. “God appointed this place for the monks to stay,” these were the words heard by a certain local woman, a fisherman’s wife, and her husband hurried to leave the island.
After some time, Herman left the island and moved to the Onega River, while Savvaty was left alone. Feeling the approach of death, he began to think about how he could partake of the Holy Mysteries. There was no priest on the island, and Savvaty decided to return to the mainland. He crossed the sea by boat and, having reached the shore, went to the mouth of the Vyga River. It so happened that on the way, Savvaty met a certain abbot Nathanael, who with holy gifts followed to a remote village to give communion to a patient who was dying. At first, Nathanael wanted to give Savvatiy communion on the way back and invited him to wait in the church on Vyga. “Father, don’t put it off until the morning,” answered the monk, “after all, we don’t know whether we will breathe air today, and even more so, how can we know about what will happen later.” Not daring to contradict the saint of God any longer, says the Life, Nathanael gave communion to the monk and began to beg him to wait for his return to Vyga; Savvaty agreed. He safely reached the church and locked himself in the cell located next to it. Here he was met by a certain merchant, a Novgorodian named John, who was sailing along the Vyga with his goods. The monk blessed him and asked him to stay the night; John at first began to refuse, but then a storm began on the river, and the merchant saw in it a sign of God. That same night the monk died: the next morning John came to his cell and found him sitting in all his monastic vestments. Soon abbot Nathanael returned; together they betrayed the body of the Monk Savvaty to the earth.
This happened on September 27, but in what year is unknown (sources call 1425, 1435 or even 1462). The holy relics remained here, on Vyga, until the time when they were transferred to Solovetsky Island (according to various sources, 1465 or 1471). The Lives of Saints Zosima and Savvaty tell about the miracles that took place at the tomb of the saint. Thus, John’s brother, Theodore, was once saved by the prayers of Saint Sabbatius from a terrible storm that broke out at sea.
A year after the death of St. Savvaty, the Life of St. Zosima of Solovetsky reports, “it pleased the Lord to glorify the place on Solovetsky Island where this holy man labored by establishing a glorious and great monastery here. For this work the Lord chose a man similar in his exploits to the Monk Savvatius, the Monk Zosima.”
We know a little more about the personality of Zosima Solovetsky than about the personality of Savvaty. Zosima was born in the Novgorod region. His homeland is the village of Tolvuya, located on the shores of Lake Onega. (In other words, his parents, very wealthy people, initially lived in Novgorod, and then moved to the village of Shunga, closer to the sea.) The saint’s parents’ names were Gabriel and Varvara; They raised their son from a young age in Christian virtues and taught him to read and write. However, the Life of the Saint almost does not contain any factual details about the life of the saint before his appearance on Solovetsky Island, limiting himself to only the most general information characteristic of the lives of many Russian saints. Thus, wanting to preserve mental and physical purity, the youth refuses to marry; when his parents begin to insist on marriage, he leaves the family and lives as a hermit in some secluded place, taking on a monastic image. In search of a mentor for himself, and also fearing that his parents will hinder his exploits, he goes even further from home.
So Zosima met the monk Herman, the same one who had previously lived with the Monk Savvaty on Solovetsky Island. Herman told Zosima the story of the life and exploits of the Monk Savvaty. Hearing about this, the Life tells, the Monk Zosima “rejoiced greatly in spirit and wished to be an inhabitant of that island and the successor of the Monk Savvaty, which is why he began earnestly asking Herman to take him to that deserted island and teach him monastic life there.”
By that time, Zosima's father had died. The monk buried him, but persuaded his mother to leave the house and take monastic vows in the monastery. After this, Zosima distributed the property left behind by his parents to the poor, and he himself returned to Herman. The venerable monks prepared everything necessary for the voyage and subsequent life on the deserted island and set off. They safely reached Solovetsky Island and chose a suitable place to settle. According to monastic tradition, this happened in 1429, but modern researchers tend to date the beginning of the exploits of the founders of the Solovetsky Monastery several decades later.
On the day of their arrival, the Life tells us, the monks built themselves a hut, and then cut down their cells. The place where the church was built was indicated by a miraculous sign, which the Monk Zosima was honored to see: on the morning of the next day after arriving on the island, leaving the hut, he saw a radiant ray that shone from the sky. However, the construction of the church was still a long way off.
Soon Herman went to the mainland to replenish supplies necessary for the construction of the monastery. He had to stay on the coast; Autumn came, and sailing on the White Sea became impossible. Zosima spent the winter alone on the island. It was extremely difficult: the saint had to endure both hunger and demonic obsessions. The food supplies were miraculously replenished when the monk had already despaired of finding food for himself: certain men came to him with sleighs full of bread, flour and butter. It is unknown whether they were fishermen who wandered here from the coast, or God’s messengers. Finally, in the spring, Herman returned, and with him another man named Mark, very skilled in fishing (he later took monastic vows with the name Macarius). Soon other monks arrived on the island. They began to cut down trees and build cells, and then they cut down a small church in the name of the Transfiguration of the Savior.
To consecrate the church, it was necessary to have the blessing of the archbishop, as well as church utensils, an antimension (a quadrangular plate placed on the altar on which the sacrament of communion is performed); an abbot was also needed for the monastery. The Monk Zosima sent one of the brethren to Novgorod, to Saint Jonah (he occupied the Novgorod see from 1459 to 1470). Soon the blessing and everything necessary for the consecration of the church was received; The abbot, Hieromonk Pavel, also arrived. The church was consecrated, and thus the Solovetsky Transfiguration Monastery began its existence.
The brothers led a difficult life: they spent time in fasting and prayer, cultivated the land with their own hands, cut down forest, fished, cooked salt, which they then sold to visiting merchants, receiving in return everything they needed for monastic life. Unable to bear such a difficult life, Abbot Pavel soon left the monastery. Theodosius became his successor, but he also left the monastery, moving to the mainland. The brethren decided that the abbot must certainly be chosen from among the monks living in the monastery, and they turned to Zosima with a prayer to take over the leadership of the monastery. The monk refused for a long time, but finally, under pressure from both the monastery brethren and Saint Jonah, he was forced to agree. The monk went to Novgorod, where he was ordained to the priesthood and made abbot of the monastery he founded. Life testifies that the abbot brought from Novgorod to the monastery a lot of gold, silver, church utensils, bread and other goods, which were given to the monastery by the Novgorod archbishop and the boyars.
The number of monks in the monastery constantly increased. With the blessing of Abbot Zosima, a new wooden church was erected in the name of the Transfiguration of the Savior, a large refectory (for the previous one could no longer accommodate the brethren), as well as a church in the name of the Dormition of the Mother of God.
In 1465 (according to other sources, in 1471) the relics of St. Savvaty of Solovetsky were transferred to the monastery. The life tells that for a long time the place of his burial remained unknown to the Solovetsky monks. But one day a message came to the monastery from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, which, according to the words of the Novgorod merchant John, told about the last days of the saint, as well as about miracles near his grave, which were witnessed by John himself and his brother Theodore. The brothers immediately equipped the ships and hurried on their way. They managed to find the incorruptible relics of the first inhabitant of Solovetsky and, with a fair wind, transport them to their monastery, spending only one day on the voyage, instead of the usual two. The relics of St. Savvaty were placed behind the altar of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in a special chapel. And soon an icon of St. Savvatius was brought from Novgorod, donated to the monastery by the above-mentioned merchants John and Theodore.
In the 70s of the 15th century, Abbot Zosima had to go to Novgorod again. The monastery ran a large economy, engaged in fishing and salt production and trade, and this led to a clash of its interests with the interests of the large Novgorod boyars. “At the instigation of the devil,” we read in the Lives of the Saints, “many of the boyar servants of the nobles and inhabitants of the land of Korelskaya began to come to Solovetsky Island, who fished on the lakes, while at the same time forbidding the monks to fish for monastic needs. These people called themselves the masters of that island, but they reviled St. Zosima and other monks with reproachful words and caused them a lot of trouble, promising to ruin the monastery.” The abbot turned for help to Archbishop Theophilos, the successor of St. Jonah (he occupied the Novgorod see in 1470–1480). The life tells that during this stay in Novgorod the monk predicted the destruction of the city, the devastation of the house of the famous Martha Boretskaya and the execution of six of the most prominent Novgorod boyars, which was fulfilled after the conquest of Novgorod by Grand Duke Ivan III. As for the main purpose of his visit, the Solovetsky abbot achieved complete success: both the archbishop and the boyars promised him protection from violence from the boyar servants. Moreover, according to the testimony of the Life, the Monk Zosima received a special charter “for the possession of the island of Solovetsky, and the island of Anzer, which lies ten miles from Solovki, and the island of Muksoma, which lies three miles away. And they attached eight tin seals to the charter: the first - of the ruler, the second - of the mayor, the third - of the thousand and five seals - from the five ends (districts. - Author) Novgorod". According to the charter, neither the Novgorodians nor the local Karelian residents had the right to “intercede” into the island possessions; all lands, as well as fishing and salt production, were declared to belong exclusively to the monastery. “And whoever comes to those islands to fish, or to earn money, for lard, or for leather, and give them all to the house of St. Savior and St. Nicholas (that is, to the Solovetsky Monastery. - Author) tithe of everything."
It is not surprising that already in the 16th century the Solovetsky Monastery became one of the richest monasteries in the Russian North. He also became famous as a military guard of the northern borders of Russia, who more than once took the blows of enemies in the 17th, 18th, and even 19th centuries.
The Monk Zosima continued to spend the last years of his life in constant work and prayer, not for a moment forgetting about death and the inevitability of God’s judgment. With his own hands he built a coffin for himself and kept it in the vestibule of his cell; he dug the grave himself. Anticipating the approach of death, the monk entrusted the monastery to his successor, Arseny, then gathered the brethren and taught them instructions.
The Venerable Abbot Zosima died on April 17, 1479. The brothers buried him with honor in a grave that he dug with his own hands, behind the altar of the Church of the Holy Transfiguration of the Lord; later a chapel was built over the grave. In 1566, on August 8, the holy relics of Saints Zosima and Savvaty were solemnly transferred to the chapel of the cathedral church in the name of the saints, where they rest to this day.
Like Saint Sabbatius, Saint Zosimas became famous as a great miracle worker. His numerous miracles are known, which began to happen soon after his death. Many times the monk appeared to those sailing on the sea when they were in danger, stopped the storm and saved ships from sinking; sometimes he was seen in the temple among the praying monks; the sick received healing at the tombs of Zosima and Savvaty through the prayers of the saints.
Already at the end of the 15th century, the first edition of the Life of Saints Zosima and Savvaty was compiled in the Solovetsky Monastery, which has not reached us. Soon after the death of St. Zosima, as recounted in a special “Sermon on the Creation of the Life,” Elder Herman dictated his memories of the holy “chiefs” of Solovetsky to Zosima’s disciple Dosifei (at one time the head of the monastery). Herman was an illiterate man and spoke in “simple speech,” which caused ridicule from other Solovetsky monks. However, Dosifei diligently wrote down the elder’s stories. However, these notes disappeared soon after Herman’s death (1484): a certain monk from the Kirillov Monastery came to Solovki and took Dosifei’s notes with him. Subsequently, Dosifei ended up in Novgorod, and Novgorod Archbishop Gennady blessed him to write the Life of the Solovetsky Ascetics. Dosifei set to work, relying on his own memories and recalling Herman’s stories. However, Dosifei did not dare show his work to Gennady, since, in his opinion, it was written in too simple and artless language, not decorated, according to the customs of that time, with various kinds of rhetorical turns. Only a few years later, in 1503, Dosifei visited the Ferapontov Monastery and persuaded the former Metropolitan Spiridon-Sava, who lived there in captivity, to rewrite the biography of Zosima and Savvaty again. Dosifei took the work edited by Spiridon to Novgorod, where it aroused the approval of St. Gennady. (This edition of the Lives of Zosima and Savvatius has reached our time, although in a single list.) Subsequently, the Lives were edited again - by the famous scribe Maxim the Greek; later it was joined by stories about new miracles of the Solovetsky miracle workers. A speech of praise to Saints Zosima and Savvaty was also compiled. In general, the Lives of the holy founders of the Solovetsky monastery are among the most widespread in ancient Russian literature.
Local veneration of St. Savvaty began soon after the transfer of his relics to Solovetsky Island; The death of Abbot Zosima and the miracles that began at his tomb led to the church glorification of this great Solovetsky ascetic. Church-wide celebration of the saints was established at the church council of 1547; Later, the Monk Herman of Solovetsky was canonized.
The Church celebrates the memory of Saints Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky on August 8 (21), the day of the transfer of their relics, as well as April 17 (30) (memory of Saint Zosima) and September 27 (October 10) (memory of Saint Savvaty).
LITERATURE:
Lives of saints in Russian, set out according to the guide of the Four Menaions of St. Demetrius of Rostov with additions from the Prologue. M., 1902–1911. September (Life of our Reverend Father Savvaty, Solovetsky Wonderworker); April (Life of our Venerable Father Zosima, Abbot of Solovetsky);
Biographies of memorable people of the Russian land. X–XX centuries M., 1992;
Klyuchevsky V. O. Old Russian lives of saints as a historical source. M., 1988.
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