In its entire history, no country has presented the world with so many holy fools and amazing respect for them as Russia. There were a hundred or two of them, few of them were canonized, but still they were all revered by the people.
Foolishness is a spiritual and ascetic feat, which consists of renouncing worldly goods and generally accepted norms of life. The goals of Christ's foolishness for the sake of (imaginary madness) are to expose external worldly values, hide one's own virtues and bring upon oneself reproaches and insults.
Procopius of Ustyug
It is customary to call him the first in Rus', since it was he who became the first saint whom the Church glorified as holy fools at the Moscow Council in 1547. Little is known from the life, which was compiled only in the 16th century, although Procopius died in 1302. The Life brings Procopius to Ustyug from Veliky Novgorod. From a young age he was a rich merchant from the Prussian lands. In Novgorod, having learned the true faith “in church decoration,” icons, ringing and singing, he accepts Orthodoxy, distributes his wealth to the townspeople and “accepts the foolishness of Christ for the sake of life.” Later he left Novgorod for Veliky Ustyug, which he also chose for “church decoration.” He leads an ascetic life: he has no roof over his head, he sleeps naked “on a dunghill”, and then on the porch of the cathedral church. He prays secretly at night, asking for the city and the people. He accepts food from God-fearing townspeople, but never takes anything from the rich. The first holy fool did not enjoy much authority until something terrible happened. One day, Procopius, entering the church, began to call for repentance, predicting that otherwise the townspeople would perish “by fire and water.” Nobody listened to him and all day long he cries alone on the porch, grieving for the upcoming victims. Only when a terrible cloud came over the city and the earth shook did everyone run to the church. Prayers before the icon of the Mother of God averted God's wrath, and a hail of stones broke out 20 miles from Ustyug.
St. Basil the Blessed
Vasily was sent as an apprentice to a shoemaker as a child. It was then, according to rumor, that he showed his foresight, laughing and shedding tears at the merchant who ordered boots for himself: a quick death awaited the merchant. Having abandoned the shoemaker, Vasily began to lead a wandering life, walking naked around Moscow. Vasily behaves more shockingly than his predecessor. He destroys goods at the market, bread and kvass, punishing unscrupulous traders, he throws stones at the houses of virtuous people and kisses the walls of houses where “blasphemies” were committed (the former have exorcised demons hanging outside, the latter have angels crying). He gives the gold given by the king not to the beggars, but to the merchant in clean clothes, because the merchant has lost all his wealth and, being hungry, does not dare to ask for alms. He pours the drink served by the king out the window to put out a distant fire in Novgorod. The worst thing is that he breaks with a stone the miraculous image of the Mother of God at the Barbarian Gate, on the board of which a devil’s face was drawn under the holy image. Basil the Blessed died on August 2, 1552. His coffin was carried by the boyars and Ivan the Terrible himself, who revered and feared the holy fool. Metropolitan Macarius performed the burial in the cemetery of the Trinity Church in the Moat, where Tsar Ivan the Terrible soon ordered the construction of the Intercession Cathedral. Today we most often call it St. Basil's Cathedral.
Procopius of Vyatka
The holy righteous fool was born in 1578 in the village of Koryakinskaya near Khlynov and bore the name Prokopiy Maksimovich Plushkov in the world. Once, while in the field, I was struck by lightning. After that, as they said then, he “became mentally damaged”: he tore his clothes, trampled on them and walked around naked. Then the grieving parents took their only son to the Vyatka monastery of the Assumption Holy Mother of God, where they prayed for him day and night, eventually begging for healing for the boy. At the age of 20, secretly from his parents, who were going to marry him, he retired to Khlynov and took upon himself the feat of foolishness for Christ's sake. The blessed one imposed upon himself the feat of silence, and almost no one heard a word from him, even during the beatings that he suffered a lot from the townspeople. Again, the saint silently predicted recovery or death for the sick: he lifted the sick person from his bed - he would survive, he began to cry and fold his hands - he would die. Long before the fire started, Procopius climbed the bell tower and rang the bells. This is how the blessed one labored for 30 years. And in 1627 he foresaw his death: he prayed fervently, wiped his body with snow and in peace gave up his soul to the Lord.
Ksenia Petersburgskaya
During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the holy fool “Ksenia Grigorievna” was known, the wife of the court singer Andrei Fedorovich Petrov, “who held the rank of colonel.” Left a widow at the age of 26, Ksenia distributed all her property to the poor, put on her husband’s clothes and, under his name, wandered for 45 years, without having a permanent home anywhere. The main place of her stay was the St. Petersburg side, the parish of St. Apostle Matthew. Where she spent the night remained unknown to many for a long time, but the police were extremely interested in finding out.
It turned out that Ksenia, despite the time of year and weather, went to the field for the night and stood here in kneeling prayer until dawn, alternately doing prostrations on all four sides. One day, workers who were building a new stone church at the Smolensk cemetery began to notice that at night, during their absence from the building, someone was dragging whole mountains of bricks onto the top of the church under construction. Blessed Xenia was an invisible helper. The townspeople considered it lucky if this woman suddenly came into their house. During her life, she was especially revered by cab drivers - they had this sign: whoever manages to let Ksenia down will have good luck. Ksenia's earthly life ended at the age of 71. Her body was buried in the Smolensk cemetery. The chapel at her grave still serves as one of the shrines of St. Petersburg. As before, after a memorial service was held at the burial site of Ksenia, the suffering received healing, and peace was restored in families.
Ivan Yakovlevich Koreysha
Although Ivan Yakovlevich was the holy fool of Moscow, people came to him for advice and prayer from all over Russia. The clairvoyant, soothsayer and blessed one was not canonized, but people still go to his grave near the St. Elias Church in Moscow with their needs.
He was born into the family of a priest in the city of Smolensk, but after graduating from the Theological Academy, he did not become a priest. He was appointed as a teacher at the Theological School; already there, instructing the youths, he pretended to be crazy. Meanwhile, the residents of the city of Smolensk both feared and adored him. He predicted this or that event to the finest detail: death, birth, matchmaking, war. Having deliberately chosen foolishness, Ivan Yakovlevich stood out among the blessed with an aura of romance: he signed himself, for example, “a student of cold waters.” They glorified him most famous people XIX century: Saint Philaret (Drozdov), writers Leskov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Ostrovsky. And yet, the result of all this was the placement of Ivan Yakovlevich in an insane asylum in Moscow on Preobrazhenka. For the remaining 47 years of his life, he never left the walls of hospitals for the mentally ill. He occupied big room a small corner near the stove, the rest of the space was completely occupied by visitors. One could say that all of Moscow came to see Ivan Yakovlevich, many out of curiosity. And there was something to see! He treated in an extreme way: either he would put a girl on his knees, or he would smear a venerable matron with sewage, or he would fight with someone who was thirsty for healing. They say he hated real fools and ridiculous questions. But with such important and intelligent gentlemen as, for example, the philologist Buslaev, the historian Pogodin, according to one of the legends - Gogol, he spoke a lot and behind closed doors.
Annushka
Under Nicholas I, the old holy fool “Annushka” was very popular in St. Petersburg. A small woman, about sixty years old, with delicate, beautiful features, poorly dressed and always carrying a reticule in her hands. The old lady came from a noble family and spoke fluent French and German. They said that in her youth she was in love with an officer who married someone else. The unfortunate woman left St. Petersburg and returned to the city a few years later as a holy fool. Annushka walked around the city, collected alms and immediately distributed it to others.
For the most part, she lived with this or that kind-hearted person on Sennaya Square. She wandered around the city, predicting events that did not fail to come true. Good people sent her to an almshouse, but there the sweet old lady with the reticule showed herself to be an unusually quarrelsome and disgusting person. She got into frequent quarrels with almshouses, and instead of paying for transportation, she could beat the cab driver with a stick. But in her native Sennaya Square she enjoyed incredible popularity and respect. At her funeral, which she arranged for herself, all the inhabitants of this famous square came to the Smolensk cemetery: merchants, artisans, laborers, clergy.
Pasha Sarovskaya
One of the last holy fools in Russian history, Pasha Sarovskaya, was born in 1795 in Tambov province and lived in the world for more than 100 years. In her youth, she escaped from her serf masters, took monastic vows in Kyiv, lived as a hermit in caves in the Sarov Forest for 30 years, and then settled in the Diveyevo Monastery. Those who knew her recall that she constantly carried several dolls with her, which replaced her relatives and friends. The blessed one spent all nights in prayer, and during the day after church services she reaped grass with a sickle, knitted stockings and did other work, constantly saying the Jesus Prayer. Every year the number of sufferers who turned to her for advice and requests to pray for them increased. According to the testimony of monastics, Pasha knew the monastic order poorly. She called the Mother of God “mama behind the glass,” and during prayer she could rise above the ground. In 1903, Paraskovya was visited by Nicholas II and his wife. Pasha predicted the death of the dynasty and the river of innocent blood for the royal family. After the meeting, she constantly prayed and bowed before the portrait of the king. Before her own death in 1915, she kissed the portrait of the emperor with the words: “darling is already at the end.” Blessed Praskovya Ivanovna was glorified as a saint on October 6, 2004.
Holy Fools are ascetics of the Orthodox Church who took upon themselves the feat of foolishness, that is, external, apparent madness. The basis for the feat of foolishness was the words of the Apostle Paul from the first letter to the Corinthians: “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God” (), “For when the world in its wisdom did not know God in the wisdom of God, then it was pleasing to God to save the believers through the foolishness of preaching" (), "and we preach Christ crucified, a temptation for the Jews, and foolishness for the Greeks" (), "If any of you thinks to be wise in this age, then be foolish in order to be wise " ().
Fools for the sake of Christ refused not only all the benefits and comforts of earthly life, but also often the generally accepted norms of behavior in society. In winter and summer they walked barefoot, and many without clothes at all. Fools often violated the requirements of morality, if you look at it as the fulfillment of certain ethical standards. Many of the holy fools, possessing the gift of clairvoyance, accepted the feat of foolishness out of a sense of deeply developed humility, so that people would attribute their clairvoyance not to them, but to God. Therefore, they often spoke using seemingly incoherent forms, hints, and allegories. Others acted like fools in order to suffer humiliation and disgrace for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. There were also such holy fools, popularly called blessed, who did not take upon themselves the feat of foolishness, but actually gave the impression of being weak-minded due to their childishness that remained throughout their lives.
If we combine the motives that prompted the ascetics to take upon themselves the feat of foolishness, we can distinguish three main points. The trampling of vanity, which is very possible when performing a monastic ascetic feat. Emphasizing the contradiction between the truth in Christ and so-called common sense and standards of behavior. Serving Christ in a kind of preaching, not in word or deed, but in the power of the spirit, clothed in an outwardly poor form.
The feat of foolishness is specifically Orthodox. The Catholic and Protestant West does not know such a form of asceticism.
The holy fools were mostly laymen, but we can also name a few holy fools - monks. Among them is Saint Isidora, the first holy fool († 365), nun of the Tavensky monastery; Saint Simeon, Saint Thomas.
The most famous of the holy fools was Saint Andrew. The Feast of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary is associated with his name. This holiday was established in memory of an event that took place in Constantinople in the middle of the 10th century. The city was in danger from the Saracens, but one day the holy fool Andrew and his disciple Epiphanius, praying during an all-night vigil in the Blachernae Church, saw in the air the Most Holy Virgin Mary with a host of saints, spreading her omophorion (veil) over the Christians. Encouraged by this vision, the Byzantines repelled the Saracens.
Foolishness for Christ's sake was especially widespread and revered by the people in Rus'. Its heyday falls in the 16th century: in the 14th century there were four revered Russian Yuri, in the 15th century there were eleven, in the 16th century there were fourteen, and in the 17th century there were seven.
The feat of foolishness is one of the hardest feats that individuals took upon themselves in the name of Christ for the sake of saving their souls and serving their neighbors with the goal of their moral awakening.
In Kievan Rus there has not yet been a feat of foolishness for the sake of Christ as such. Although individual saints, in a certain sense, practiced foolishness for a certain time, it was rather asceticism, which at times took forms very similar to foolishness.
The first holy fool in the full sense of the word in Rus' was Procopius of Ustyug († 1302). Procopius, according to his life, was a rich merchant from his youth “from Western countries, from the Latin language, from the German land." In Novgorod, he was captivated by the beauty of Orthodox worship. Having accepted Orthodoxy, he distributes his property to the poor, “accepts the foolishness of Christ for the sake of life and turns into violence.” When they began to please him in Novgorod, he left Novgorod, headed “to the eastern countries,” walked through cities and villages, impenetrable forests and swamps, accepted beatings and insults thanks to his foolishness, but prayed for his offenders. Righteous Procopius, for Christ's sake, chose the city of Ustyug, “great and glorious,” for his residence. he led a life so severe that extremely ascetic monastic deeds could not be compared with it. The holy fool slept naked in the open air “on the rot”, later on the porch of the cathedral church, and prayed at night for the benefit of “the city and the people.” He ate, receiving an incredibly limited amount of food from people, but never took anything from the rich.
The fact that the first Russian holy fool arrived in Ustyug from Novgorod is deeply symptomatic. Novgorod was truly the birthplace of Russian foolishness. All famous Russian holy fools of the 14th century are connected in one way or another with Novgorod.
Here the holy fool Nikolai (Kochanov) and Fyodor “raged” in the 14th century. They staged ostentatious fights among themselves, and none of the spectators had any doubt that they were parodying the bloody clashes of the Novgorod parties. Nikola lived on the Sofia side, and Fedor lived on the Torgovaya side. They quarreled and threw themselves at each other across the Volkhov. When one of them tried to cross the river on the bridge, the other drove him back, shouting: “Don’t go to my side, live on yours.” Tradition adds that often after such clashes the blessed ones often returned not over the bridge, but over the water, as if on dry land.
In the Klopsky Trinity Monastery, the Monk Michael labored, revered by the people as a holy fool, although in his lives (three editions) we do not find typical features of foolishness. The Monk Michael was a seer; his life contains numerous prophecies, apparently recorded by the monks of the Klop Monastery.
Saint Michael's foresight was expressed, in particular, in indicating the place to dig a well, in predicting an imminent famine, and the elder asked to feed the hungry with monastery rye, in predicting illness for the mayor who infringed on the monks, and death for Prince Shemyaka. Predicting Shemyaka, the reverend elder strokes his head, and, promising Bishop Euthymius consecration in Lithuania, takes the “fly” from his hands and places it on his head.
St. Michael, like many other saints, had a special connection with our “lesser brothers.” He walks behind the abbot’s coffin, accompanied by a deer, feeding it moss from his hands. At the same time, possessing the high gift of Christ's love for neighbors and even for creatures, the elder sternly denounced the powers that be.
A contemporary of St. Michael of Rostov, the holy fool Isidore († 1474) lives in a swamp, plays the holy fool during the day, and prays at night. They will choke him and laugh at him, despite the miracles and predictions that earned him the nickname “Tverdislov”. And this holy fool, like the righteous Procopius of Ustyug, “is from Western countries, of the Roman race, of the German language.” In the same way, another Rostov holy fool, John the Vlasaty († 1581), was an alien from the West. The foreign-language origin of the three Russian holy fools testifies that they were so deeply captivated by Orthodoxy that they chose a specifically Orthodox form of asceticism.
The first Moscow holy fool was Blessed Maxim († 14ЗЗ), canonized at the Council of 1547. Unfortunately, the life of Blessed Maxim has not survived,
In the 16th century, St. Basil the Blessed and John the Great Cap enjoyed universal fame in Moscow. In addition to the life of Saint Basil, the people's memory has also preserved the legend about him.
According to legend, St. Basil the Blessed was apprenticed to a shoemaker as a child and then already showed insight, laughing and shedding tears at the merchant who ordered boots for himself. It was revealed to Vasily that the merchant was facing imminent death. After leaving the shoemaker, Vasily led a wandering life in Moscow, walking without clothes and spending the night with a boyar widow. Vasily's foolishness is characterized by denunciation of social injustice and the sins of various classes. One day he destroyed goods in the market, punishing unscrupulous traders. All of him that seemed to the eye ordinary person incomprehensible and even absurd, actions had a secret wise sense seeing the world with spiritual eyes. Vasily throws stones at the houses of virtuous people and kisses the walls of houses where “blasphemy” took place, since in the former there are exorcised demons hanging outside, while in the latter, Angels are crying. He gives the gold donated by the tsar not to the beggars, but to the merchant, because Vasily’s perspicacious gaze knows that the merchant has lost all his fortune, and is ashamed to ask for alms. Yu pours the drink served by the tsar out the window to put out a fire in distant Novgorod.
St. Basil was distinguished by a special gift for revealing the demon in any guise and pursuing him everywhere. So, he recognized a demon in a beggar who collected a lot of money and, as a reward for alms, gave people “temporary happiness.”
At the height of the oprichnina, he was not afraid to expose the formidable Tsar Ivan IV, for which he enjoyed enormous moral authority among the people. The description of Basil the Blessed’s denunciation of the Tsar during a mass execution in Moscow is interesting. The saint denounces the king in the presence of a huge crowd of people. The people, who were silent during the execution of the boyars, at the same time when the angry tsar was preparing to pierce the holy fool with a spear, murmured: “Don’t touch him!.. don’t touch the blessed one! You are free in our heads, but don’t touch the blessed one!” Ivan the Terrible was forced to restrain himself and retreat. Vasily was buried in the Intercession Cathedral on Red Square, which in the minds of the people was forever associated with his name.
John the Big Cap labored in Moscow under Tsar Theodore Ioannovich. In Moscow he was an alien. Originally from the Vologda region, he worked as a water carrier at the northern saltworks. Having abandoned everything and moved to Rostov the Great, John built himself a cell near the church, covered his body with chains and heavy rings, and when going out into the street, he always put on a cap, which is why he received his nickname. John could spend hours looking at the sun - this was his favorite pastime - thinking about the “righteous sun.” The children laughed at him, but he was not angry with them. The holy fool always smiled, and with a smile he prophesied the future. Shortly before, John moved to Moscow. It is known that he died in a movnitsa (bathhouse); he was buried in the same Intercession Cathedral in which Vasily was buried. During the burial of the blessed one, a terrible thunderstorm arose, from which many suffered.
In the 16th century, denunciation of kings and boyars became an integral part of foolishness. Vivid evidence of such exposure is provided by the chronicle of the conversation between the Pskov holy fool Nikola and Ivan the Terrible. In 1570, Pskov was threatened with the fate of Novgorod, when the holy fool, together with the governor Yuri Tokmakov, suggested that the Pskovites set up tables with bread and salt on the streets and greet the Moscow Tsar with bows. When, after the prayer service, the tsar approached Saint Nicholas for a blessing, he taught him “terrible words to stop the great bloodshed.” When John, despite the admonition, ordered the bell to be removed from the Holy Trinity, then at the same hour his best horse fell, according to the saint’s prophecy. The surviving legend tells that Nikola placed raw meat in front of the king and offered to eat it, when the king refused, saying “I am a Christian, and I don’t eat meat during Lent,” Nikola answered him: “Do you drink Christian blood?”
The holy fools of foreign travelers who were in Moscow at that time were very amazed. Fletcher writes in 1588:
“In addition to monks, the Russian people especially honor the blessed (fools), and here’s why: the blessed... point out the shortcomings of the nobles, which no one else dares to talk about. But sometimes it happens that for such daring freedom that they allow themselves, they also get rid of them, as was the case with one or two in the previous reign, because they had already too boldly denounced the rule of the tsar.” Fletcher reports about St. Basil that “he decided to reproach the late king for cruelty.” Herberstein also writes about the enormous respect the Russian people have for holy fools: “They were revered as prophets: those who were clearly convicted by them said: this is because of my sins. If they took anything from the shop, the merchants also thanked them.”
According to the testimony of foreigners, holy fools. there were a lot of them in Moscow; they essentially constituted a kind of separate order. A very small part of them were canonized. There are still deeply revered, although uncanonized, local holy fools.
Thus, foolishness in Rus' for the most part is not a feat of humility, but a form of prophetic service combined with extreme asceticism. The holy fools exposed sins and injustice, and thus it was not the world that laughed at the Russian holy fools, but the holy fools who laughed at the world. In the XIV-XVI centuries, Russian holy fools were the embodiment of the conscience of the people.
The veneration of holy fools by the people led, starting from the 17th century, to the appearance of many false holy fools who pursued their own selfish goals. It also happened that simply mentally ill people were mistaken for holy fools. Therefore, I always approached the canonization of holy fools very carefully.
“They love holy fools in Rus'” is a common saying, but in the mouths of compatriots it increasingly sounds like “They love fools in Rus'.” The Church prays to these “fools,” that is, holy fools. Why? Who is the holy fool and what is his feat?
Blessed is discord with the blessed!
Icon – Procopius of Ustyug, coming to the Mother of God
Saint Basil the Blessed (16th century) threw stones at miraculous icons and argued with the formidable king; Blessed Simeon (6th century) pretended to be lame, tripped up the townspeople hurrying past and knocked them to the ground. Procopius of Ustyug (13th century) did not knock anyone down, bite or scold anyone. But under the guise of a crippled beggar, he slept on a pile of garbage and walked around Ustyug in rags, despite the fact that he was a rich German merchant. In similar rags, many centuries later she wandered around the sovereign Petersburg. Why did they do all this?
“A holy fool is a person who voluntarily chooses the path of hiding his abilities, pretends to be devoid of virtues and denounces the world for the absence of these very virtues,” this definition is offered by Andrei Vinogradov, candidate historical sciences, Associate Professor at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Humanitarian University. - Sometimes they were called blessed. There is ambiguity in the modern use of some of the terms associated with this face of holiness. We often call ascetics “blessed” who have had no experience of exposing the world. Why? This is largely the result of Catholic influence. For the Catholic Church, blessed is the lowest rank of holiness. This is connected with the fact that in our Church, ascetics whose feat belongs to an atypical, “peripheral” type are sometimes called blessed. In the East, the term “blessed,” that is, “makarios,” was traditionally used as a complete synonym for the word “saint.” But in the first centuries, most saints were either martyrs or apostles. Over time, the number of “types” grew: from the fourth century, holy (blessed) monks appeared - “venerables”, holy bishops - “hierarchs”. And at this time the term “blessed” begins to be applied to some unusual types of holiness, such as foolishness. “God’s people” are also called blessed, who lead a life similar to the holy fools, but whose feat is not entirely equal to the feat of the holy fool.”
The feat of the holy fool, in contrast to “ God's man", has a strong social orientation. “He not only hides his talents from the world (like Alexius the Man of God, whose Byzantine life is widely known), but pretends to be insane, “violent” - hence the Greek term “salos”, which is used to call holy fools (in ancient Slavic - ugly or deformed). This term comes from the verb “saleuo” - “to waver, to sway.” “Salos is a crazy person, a person who behaves inappropriately,” continues Andrei Vinogradov. “By means of imaginary madness, the holy fool exposes the world of its sins and tries to set it on the path of correction. Foolishness is internally connected with the feat of the “man of God,” typologically these are similar faces of saints, and they are distinguished only by the element of exposure, the outward focus of the holy fool’s feat.”
Extreme asceticism
It is difficult to say when this type of ascetic feat first appears. “The emergence of foolishness was associated with the flourishing of spiritual life,” believes Hegumen Damascene(Orlovsky), member of the Synodal Commission for the Canonization of Saints, head of the “Memory of Martyrs and Confessors of the Russian Orthodox Church” fund, cleric of the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God on Lyshchikova Hill (Moscow). - We do not know foolishness in the very first times of Christianity, then Christianity itself was perceived by the world as foolishness. When the Apostle Paul called his accusers to faith in the resurrection of Christ, they said to him: you are crazy, Paul. But in the traditional understanding, foolishness appears when fasting and prayer were not enough for hermits and ascetics and they turned to extreme means of acquiring humility - reproach from the world for their very way of life. And, conquering their pride, they achieved perfect humility.” “The spiritual foundations for foolishness were laid down in the New Testament; these are the famous words about foolishness for the sake of Christ (see 1 Cor. 4:10). Already the early Christian communities put themselves in a certain conflict with the world and, like the later holy fools, denounced the world of its sins. — Andrei Vinogradov sees the continuity of the feat of the first apostolic disciples and later ascetics. - At the same time, the phenomenon of foolishness in the literal sense could only appear in a Christian society. The holy fool denounces society for not following Christian norms, but this appeal is only possible if Christianity is a generally accepted norm for society. And as a state religion, Christianity was established only in Byzantium at the end of the 4th century.”
In our usual understanding, the phenomenon of holy foolishness appears only in the sixth century in Syria, where the famous Simeon the Holy Fool labored. “Syria in general was a unique region from the point of view of the ascetic tradition that developed there. Christianity was perceived there very warmly, and therefore such “extreme” types of asceticism arose, such as, for example, pillarism (this is also a product of Syria), and foolishness,” notes Andrei Vinogradov.
Holy fools. Language of the case
“In each specific situation, the holy fool selects his own images and methods for “scolding the world,” denunciation, but the most important element of this language is the moment of revolution,” says Andrei Vinogradov. The holy fool does what a normal Christian should not do: eats meat during Lent, throws stones at icons, like St. Basil. He attacks the norm of behavior - but with these actions he reveals the deviation of his contemporary society from the norms that he “attacks”. Obeying the idea of hiding his virtues, the holy fool not only gives someone spiritual advice, as other saints do, he provokes a person to actions that can reveal his secret vices. Thus, St. Basil the Blessed, having overturned a tray of rolls of bread at the market, was first beaten by angry traders, and only after some time the merchant whose rolls were scattered admitted that he had mixed chalk into the flour, which the saint tried to point out by overturning the stall.
“Reproach with words is the language of the world, which becomes dull over time,” explains A. Vinogradov. “The holy fool exposes with deeds; by demonstrating social vices to society, he, as it were, accepts suffering for these vices, is subjected to reproach, and thereby turns the situation around. By attacking established forms of social behavior or piety, the holy fool draws attention to the inner essence and actualizes the forgotten inner content of these forms.”
Difficult diagnosis
In life, it can be very difficult to distinguish a holy fool from a madman. “It’s easy for us to see his holiness in the ancient holy fool, because we look at him through the prism of hagiography, the church’s understanding of his feat,” says Andrei Vinogradov.
“Every business is tested by time. As Gamaliel, the teacher of the Apostle Paul, said in the Sanhedrin, when the apostles were brought there, trying to forbid them to talk about Christ, “if this enterprise and this work is of men, then it will be destroyed, but if it is of God, then you cannot destroy it, beware lest you also prove to be enemies of God” (Acts 5:38-39). Just as there are old men, and there are young men, false elders, so there are true fools, and there are cliques. Inner life man is a mystery. Therefore, during canonization, questions often arise related to the fact that the internal is known only to God alone, he believes confessor of the Moscow diocese, rector of the Church of the Intercession in the village of Akulovo, Archpriest Valerian Krechetov. Father Damascene (Orlovsky) also agrees with him: “Since this feat is extreme, it is very difficult to determine and accurately evaluate the foolishness of Christ for the sake of it. This is perhaps the only form of achievement that is spiritually so difficult to discern.”
Both in Byzantium and in Synodal Russia there were even laws directed against false foolishness, which, however, could also be applied against true holy fools. “For example, Theodore Balsamon, the famous canonist who lived in Constantinople in the 11th century and became the Patriarch of Antioch, put on a chain two people whom he considered false fools, and only after some time, having sorted it out, was forced to admit that these were real ascetics, and let them go,” says Andrei Vinogradov. — The behavior of a holy fool may not differ in any way from the behavior of a sick person. I witnessed a scene when an elderly woman stood at the entrance to the Yelokhovsky Cathedral, loudly denouncing the episcopate who had come to the cathedral for worship: for Mercedes, etc. Based on her behavior, I would say that she is crazy, but exclude that she is a holy fool, I wouldn't either. This woman was driven away at some point, but the holy fool’s acceptance of the backlash from the society with which he is in conflict is part of the feat of holy foolishness. Exceptions are rare: in Rus' of the 16th-17th centuries, the holy fool was such an important phenomenon that he was extremely rarely subjected to aggression from society. One English traveler testifies that in Moscow at that time the holy fool could denounce any person, regardless of his social status, and the accused humbly accepted any reproach. Why? This is connected to a certain extent with temperament: the Russian people are lovers of truth, they love all kinds of accusations. The Russian man of that time was ready to endure public ridicule in the hope of forgiveness for the sins of which he was accused, unlike the Greek, who grew up within the framework of an agonistic, competitive culture. For the Greeks, with their thousand-year history of Orthodoxy, the forms of holiness were thought of very conservatively. They knew how a holy person should behave, and any deviation from their usual behavior was perceived painfully by them. Fools who behaved defiantly from the point of view of moral standards could even be beaten or killed. Rus', which had a less strict church culture, more easily tolerated the interference of the “fools.” Moreover, the existence of a person who denounces everyone from a beggar to a king was a kind of engine of social dynamics, which society at that time lacked. And of course, a special type of Russian religiosity mattered, which, like the Syrian, was prone to extremes.”
It is difficult to talk about the typology of Russian holy foolishness, because it is such a specific phenomenon that it is very difficult to identify its “national features,” researchers shrug their shoulders; each holy fool is unique in his own way. Some, like Simeon the Holy Fool, threw stones during worship, others simply stood on a stone, prayed and denounced with words, like Procopius of Ustyug. In addition, all hagiographers used the same Byzantine life of Simeon the Fool as a model and, explaining spiritual meaning feats of foolishness, largely repeated each other.
Back to the Future?
Russian foolishness is concentrated in a very short time period from the 16th to the 17th centuries. The exploits of modern holy fools are still closer to the life of the “man of God” than to the classic “riot”: this is Ksenia of Petersburg, and Matrona Anemnyasevskaya, and Matrona of Moscow. “In their feat there is no such attack, exposure, characteristic of holy fools,” notes Andrei Vinogradov, “since the holy fool in the classical sense can only live in the society whose values he calls to observe.”
Andrei Vinogradov reflects on the relevance of the feat of foolishness in modern Russia: “It is known that many elders of the 20th century - St. John of Shanghai, Archpriest Nikolai Zalitsky - in some situations adopted models of behavior characteristic of holy fools, but for such a feat to be permanent, a certain state of society is required. Is it possible to revive this feat in the future? Judging by the processes that are now taking place, when society is outwardly becoming churched, often just outwardly, and in the future a new traditional society based on Christian values can be created, there will also be a need for new holy fools who will denounce society and actualize the inner for ordinary people. the content of accepted norms of behavior and Christian values.”
Foolishness arose somewhat later than monasticism (which originated at the end of the 3rd century), and also in Egypt. According to prof. Golubinsky (10, p.656) it owes its appearance to monasticism. The description of the first holy fool, Saint Isidora, who died around 365, was made by Saint Ephraim the Syrian. Saint Isidora, who labored in Tavensky convent Me, she was quiet and well-behaved. She was nicknamed the holy fool because she wore old clothes, tied her hair with a rag, and ate very little. This woman, unlike Russian holy fools, did not make predictions, did not denounce power structures, did not wear chains - all this appeared later in Rus'. Initially, foolishness arose in Byzantium; St. Serapion the Sindonite, St. Vissarion the Wonderworker, St. Thomas, St. Simeon of Emesa, and St. Andrew of Constantinople are widely known (the last two were especially famous in Rus', thanks to their translated lives). The overwhelming number of Byzantine holy fools were monks, while in Rus' there were very few holy fools-monks. By the 14th century foolishness in Byzantium is gradually disappearing, the last known Byzantine holy fool was Maxim Kavsokalivat, who died in 1367. Over five centuries (VI - X) in the general month of the Orthodox Church there are about six holy holy fools from various countries, while in Rus' for three centuries (XIV -XVI) 10 holy fools were canonized. From this we can conclude that the spread of this type of asceticism in the Russian state is wider than in other Orthodox countries. They are also not found either in Ukraine or in Belarus (St. Isaac of Pechersk remained the only holy fool of Kyiv). This phenomenon is also alien to the Roman Catholic world. This, in particular, is proven by the fact that foreign travelers of the 16th-17th centuries wrote about Russian holy fools with considerable surprise. - Herberstein, Horsey, Fletcher, etc. To take the path of foolishness, a European had to move to Russia. That is why among the holy fools there are so many visiting foreigners. Among the Russian saints there were people from Western countries: Blessed Procopius of Ustyug (1303), Blessed Isidore Tverdislov of Rostov (1474), Blessed John the Vlasaty of Rostov (1580).
Foolishness in Rus' is no different from foolishness in Byzantium. A large number of holy fools received approval not only common people, but also the church, which is confirmed big amount churches built in their name during their lifetime, which gives this form of Christian asceticism a national Russian character. The feat of foolishness has been part of the Russian Church since approximately the beginning of the 14th century. Its heyday falls in the 16th century, somewhat behind the development of monastic holiness. By centuries, the revered Russian holy fools are distributed as follows: XIV century - 4; XV - 11; XVI - 14; XVII - 7. According to Fedotov, the appearance of the holy fool coincides with the extinction of princely holiness. The holy fool becomes the successor of the holy prince in social service (53, p. 242). In Russian foolishness, the first, ascetic side initially predominates; in the 16th century, the third side undoubtedly predominates: social service.
In Kievan Rus, foolishness was expressed as an additional ascetic means for achieving dispassion. It was a temporary stage monastic life(53, p. 296). In the 12th century St. Abraham of Smolensk, as a youth, distributed his property to the poor and dressed himself in thin vestments. His social self-abasement in his life was attributed to foolishness. The social humiliation and “thin vestments” of St. Theodosius also border on the foolishness of humility. During the Mongol period, temporary foolishness was attributed to St. Kirill Belozersky. He begins to commit some actions like mockery and laughter, for which the abbot puts him on bread and water. In the examples given, foolishness is motivated by the desire to avoid fame. It was of an immoral nature (violations of discipline). There are no sharp features of the classical type in the foolishness of the saints. This is not a special form of service, but an incidental moment of asceticism. Isaac of Pechersk (1090) is considered the first Russian holy fool (38, p. 249). At first, his foolishness manifested itself in strange actions, and he became an object of ridicule. Then he performs an amazing act; the amazed brethren begin to revere him as a miracle worker. After this, his foolishness takes on a completely voluntary act. He was the first and last holy fool in Kyiv. Canonized as Reverend.
Tataro period - Mongol invasion had a negative impact on all aspects of spiritual life. During the Tatar-Mongol invasion, for almost three quarters of a century after the conquest, not a single holy ascetic was recorded, not a single new monastery was founded. During this period, only a few martyred princes were canonized. And only in the 2nd quarter of the 14th century did the monastic movement revive on a scale unheard of in ancient Kiev times.
The new monastic asceticism from the second quarter of the 14th century is the asceticism of desert dwellers, close to the classical tradition of desert living of the monks of Egypt and Syria. This could also be reflected in the cultural and social shock of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, in which people saw punishment for sins. Taking upon themselves the most difficult feat associated with contemplative prayer, they raise spiritual life to a new height not yet reached in Rus'.
Klyuchevsky writes that in the 14th century the monastic movement headed north, beyond the Volga - this was the most free region for desert dwellers, where there were the least clashes with landowners. During this same period, the first Russian saint appeared in Novgorod, canonized to the rank of holy fool. The city of Novgorod was the birthplace of Russian foolishness, such famous saints as Procopius of Ustyug (1303), Nikolai and Fyodor Kochanov (1392), Mikhail Klopsky (1456), John of Borovichsky (1542), Nikolai Salos of Pskov (1570) labored there. .). All famous holy fools of the sixteenth and fifteenth centuries are directly or indirectly connected with Veliky Novgorod. (53, p. 305). The historian Klyuchevsky noted that “many Rostov lives copy Novgorod ones.” For 200 years it was the most cultural part of Rus'. According to Klyuchevsky, V. Novgorod was early freed from the pressure of princely power, from princely strife, and Polovtsian robberies, did not experience Tatar oppression and fear, and was an economic and political center during this period. Veliky Novgorod existed as a free city until 1478.
The first holy fool, Procopius of Ustyug, lived in Novgorod in the 13-14th century. Whether he took monastic vows is not stated in his life. In later times, most holy fools were laymen. When rumors about his ascetic life spread, he took upon himself the act of foolishness and left the monastery to wander. He leads a cruel life: he has no roof over his head, he sleeps naked “on a dunghill,” and then on the porch of the cathedral church. In the life, traces of the influence of the Greek life of Andrei the Fool are visible, especially in the description of the frosty patience of the saint. He prays secretly, at night, asking for “benefit to the city and people.” And just as the blessed one loved God, so God loved him and gave him the gift of prophecy, so that Procopius performed wondrous miracles during his lifetime.
From the life it is clear that, as in the middle of the 16th century, the idea of holy fools in the consciousness of Russian society still remained unchanged: the holy fool begins the feat, having achieved holiness and avoiding the praises of the world; suffers dishonor and prays for those who have offended him, dies in dishonor and after death is glorified by miracles and becomes revered as a saint of God. The case with the fiery cloud is somewhat different: it is distinguished by the behavior of the world, when all people turn to God and, together with the holy fool Procopius, pray for deliverance. St. Procopius here takes off the mask of madness and appears as a holy prophet and prayer book
Nikola (Kochanov) and Fedor went on a rampage in Novgorod in the 14th century, parodying with their fights the bloody clashes of the Novgorod parties. The legend adds that after such battles the blessed ones happened to return not over the bridge, but directly across the water, “as if on dry land.”
15 versts from Novgorod, in the Klopsky Trinity Monastery, St. Michael (1453), called the holy fool, although in his lives we do not see foolishness in in its own sense words. Only the bizarreness of the form, the symbolism of the gestures with which some of his prophecies are associated could be interpreted as foolishness.
Michael's prophetic predictions reveal opposition to the Novgorod boyars and support for the Moscow government. Later legends attribute to him the foresight of the birth of Ivan III and the prediction of the death of Novgorod freedom.
Since the end of the 15th century, a number of Moscow saints have appeared, starting with jur. Maxima (1433). His life has not survived. The main features of the blessed. The maxims are dispassion (expressed in enduring insults and “taking off the vestments”), disdain for all earthly comforts; certain moral lessons he taught to the world around him.
Saint Isidore of Rostov (1474) is characterized by extreme non-covetousness (lack of any everyday comforts); meekness and gentleness (in his prayer for offenders); non-involvement in existing norms of behavior (in his nakedness and in being in the most unsuitable places); hidden unceasing prayer (all-night vigils); extreme humility (blaming oneself for nothing, allowing one to rejoice and glorify God when causing insults). The heyday of foolishness in Rus' occurred in the 14th-17th centuries, when, in the words of V.O. Klyuchevsky, the holy fool becomes “a walking worldly conscience, a living image of exposing human vices.”
The maximum number of holy fools falls in the 16th century.
In the 16th century, such famous saints as St. Basil the Blessed and John the Big Cap labored in Moscow. In the Moscow period, the paradigm of sanctification, the sacralization of all historical existence through the transforming action of God's power in the empirical sphere, arose. “We find a special development of this asceticism just when the passionate, utopian poem about “Moscow - the third Rome” begins, with its naive identification of Russian reality with “Holy Russia.” The holy fools were also inspired by the ideal of Holy Rus', but with complete sobriety they saw all the untruths of reality,” wrote Zenkovsky.
Political power over the appanage principalities is concentrated in the hands of the Moscow Tsar Ivan III. (53, p. 372), this is the period of the triumph of Orthodoxy, when the idea of “Moscow-Third Rome” dominates. It is characterized by relative stability, religion is perceived as tradition. In this era, foolishness takes the form of prophetic ministry. During this period, the Josephite hierarchy weakens in the duty of exposing untruths. The holy fools take upon themselves the ministry of the ancient saints and ascetics. In the 16th century, denunciation of the king and the nobility was a common occurrence in the lives of holy fools. The most striking evidence is provided by the chronicle of the instruction of St. Nicholas Salos of Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The general respect for ascetics during this period completely changed the meaning of ancient Christian foolishness. Least of all is this a feat of humility. In this era, foolishness is a form of prophetic service, combined with extreme asceticism. What is specifically foolish consists only in ridiculing the world.
The earliest source reporting about St. Basil is the “State Book of the Royal Genealogy.” Information from it was borrowed into the life, known in three varieties: complete, abbreviated and special composition. The complete life was compiled by order of the Patriarch St. Job, shortly after his canonization.
He lived 88 years, 72 of them as a fool. He was an eyewitness to the events of the first half of the 16th century. Remained in a single capacity under three monarchs: under Ivan III, during the reign Vasily III, during the reign of Elena Glinskaya and under Ivan the Terrible. I knew the future sovereign Theodore Ioannovich as an infant. Outlived 8 metropolitans, canonized under Patriarch Job in 1589.
The place of the saint's exploits was Moscow. Favorite places to stay are Red Square and the tower at the Varvarsky Gate.
Even in childhood, the blessed one discovered his prophetic gift. At the age of 10, the blessed one took upon himself the feat of foolishness. At first he took a vow of silence and was in constant mental prayer. Then, instructed by the Holy Spirit, he “converted himself to foolishness and exposed his body.” (41, p.130)
The life says that the blessed one led a harsh life, “eating very little food and water, having neither a den nor a stable, and without shelter.”
In the description of miracles during his lifetime, his nakedness is associated with the miracle of healing by the saints of those who laughed at his appearance and were punished for this with blindness. Having repented, they were healed.
The saint was also revered by foreign merchants as the patron saint of sea travelers. Bl. Vasily calmed the storm in the Caspian Sea and saved the merchant ships. Early accounts note his gift of foresight. According to the Degree Book, the saint in the Kremlin Assumption Cathedral in 1521. there was a fiery vision from the icon of the Mother of God, heralding God's wrath on the Muscovites and the imminent invasion of the Crimean Khan Makhmet-Girey on Moscow. According to the Degree Book, he foresaw fires in Moscow in June 1547.
Later biographies of the saint lead a large number of cases of his clairvoyance - foresight of events about which the blessed one spoke allegorically, the ability to see angels, demons, to guess under external piety the lies and actions of the devil, etc.
A witness to the exploits of the blessed one and his admirer was Tsar John IV Vasilyevich, who often talked about him with Metropolitan. Macarius.
In later sources, in the description of the blessed one’s lifetime miracles, there are legends about the saint’s relationship with Tsar John IV. One of the legends says that the saint, having somehow received “a certain drink” from the king as a treat, threw two cups out of the window one after another. To the Tsar, angry at this act, Basil the Blessed explained that this was how he put out the fire in Vel. Novgorod.
Another plot is connected with the campaign of John IV to Vel. Novgorod in 1569, at the height of the executions of the Novgorodians, the blessed one invited the tsar to a “wretched den” and offered him “a bottle of blood and part of raw meat.” Executions were stopped. But this plot contradicts all datings of the saint’s life.
The burial of the holy fool took place very solemnly. The funeral service was performed by Metropolitan himself. Macarius, the king and the princes carried the coffin, while large alms from the royal treasury were distributed. According to the testimony of his life, during the burial of the blessed one, the sick received healing. Around 1587-1588. According to the chronicle, several miracles were performed from the relics of the saint, which became the reason for canonization and the erection of a chapel in honor of the saint at the eastern wall of the Intercession Cathedral. During the 16th century, St. Vasily is referred to as “the luminary who shone within the Moscow borders”; the saint was revered as the patron and healer of Moscow. Tradition says that he was revered by the emperor. Elizaveta Petrovna. Temples of St. St. Basil's Church exists in the city of Likhvin, Kaluga, Kashin, Penza, Penza, Volgodonsk, in the Simonov Monastery, etc.
St. Basil the Blessed is an epigraph to Russian foolishness, its kind of encyclopedia. It is not for nothing that people dubbed the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat St. Basil's Cathedral.
The exploits of St. Basil very soon after his death became an example to follow. Another Moscow holy fool, St. John (1589) - also walked around the city naked, denounced the rulers (among them Boris Godunov) and bequeathed himself to be buried next to St. Basil. He wore chains, heavy rings and a large iron cap.
In the 16th century, according to the testimony of foreign travelers, holy fools were numerous in Moscow, but only a few were canonized. Since the middle of the 16th century, a general decline in the level of spiritual life has been noted in Rus'. It could not help but touch upon foolishness.
In the 17th century, a cultural restructuring took place; holy fools, according to Panchenko (29, p. 131), joined the conservative movement. They unite around Archpriest Avaakum. Foolishness becomes for the Old Believers something like a banner, which they put up in defense and use for their own purposes. Patriarch Nikon, at first sympathetic, subsequently switches to a negative assessment of foolishness, anticipating Peter I’s rejection of them.
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in the 17th century. At first he showed favor to the holy fools. But under him, palace etiquette began to change to a Western style. According to Klyuchevsky (26), in the 17th century Russia was inferior to the West in trade and industrial terms. This caused a feeling of national impotence and distrust towards on our own, which became the reason for the beginning of Western influence in all spheres of life.
"> The children of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Peter and Sofia went even further along the path of Europeanization. But, despite this, at critical moments in their lives they also turned to holy fools for help. Princess Sophia consulted with the holy fool Ivashka. Tsar Peter I had an acquaintance with the holy fool Thaddeus. Cultural the stereotype involving the closeness of the king and the holy fool did not lose significance even in the Europeanized court life of the 80s of the 17th century.
B18th century Moscow holy fools are no longer canonized by the Church. Foolishness, like monastic holiness, is localized in the north, returning to its Novgorod homeland. Vologda, Totma, Kargopol, Arkhangelsk, Vyatka are the cities of the last holy fools. Foolishness, deprived of state support, descends upon the people.
The 18th century historian M. Shcherbatov wrote about this: “Pre-Petrine Rus' did not suddenly disappear, did not evaporate without a trace and was not transformed at the request of the converter into a European state; she mostly withdrew into herself, shut herself up in a cage and tower, plunged more than ever into ossified stagnation” (43, p. 79). The old Moscow way of life was collapsing.
At the beginning of the 18th century, there were so many holy fools in the cities of Russia that the government took measures to limit them (43, p. 77). According to Ryabinin, holy fools became the spokesmen of mass rejection of reforms, changes and innovations. At this time, a lot of false fools appeared. By decree of the Synod of 1722 holy fools were placed in monasteries “and used for labor until the end of their lives.” And the Decree of 1732 prohibits “letting holy fools in koshun robes into churches.” January 29, 1757 A decree was issued that prohibited the poor and disabled from wandering the streets of St. Petersburg. Russia aspired to become one of the most developed European powers. Foolishness in enlightened Europe fell only into the category of a social disease that needed to be treated. Thus, foolishness in Rus' in the 18th century lost the protection of the state and church authorities. But, despite this, foolishness still remained popular among the people. This is confirmed by the fact that the phenomenon of holy fools in Russian culture continued to exist until the October Revolution of 1917. Proof of this are the images of holy fools in literature late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, for example, in the works of such outstanding writers as F. M. Dostoevsky (“The Brothers Karamazov”) and L. N. Tolstoy (“Childhood”). Images of holy fools appear in painting - this is Surikov’s painting “Boyaryna Morozova”. In folk art it was noted that Ivan the Fool in fairy tales is a secular parallel to the holy fool “for Christ’s sake,” as well as Ivan the Tsarevich - the holy prince. It was also noted that Ivan the Fool, who is always destined for victory, has no analogues in Western European folklore.
The eighteenth century gave two canonized blessed ones - Evdokia of Suzdal and Ksenia of St. Petersburg.
St. Blessed Xenia was born in the first half of the 18th century from pious parents. (5, p.100). Blessed Ksenia, who labored as a fool for 45 years, was buried in the Smolensk cemetery, where at one time she helped build a church.
Many signs of God's mercy began to take place at her tomb. After a memorial service was performed over her grave, the sufferers received healing, broken peace was restored in families, and those in need received good places.
Over the grave of blessed Xenia in 1902. a chapel was built. In 1988 Blessed Xenia was canonized.
St. Petersburg residents also keep in their memory the names of other ascetics. For more than 30 years, Blessed Anna Ivanovna Lukasheva (1853) labored in asceticism, continuing her prayerful intercession before the Lord for the city of St. Peter, begun by Blessed Xenia. For many decades, St. Petersburg residents served funeral services in the chapel over the grave of Blessed. Anna. In addition to them, at the Smolensk cemetery (5, p. 99) there are also blessed people of the 19th century: Martha, Matrona (1814-1911), Irina, Anna Ivanovna Komisarova, Olga Ivanovna, at the Shuvalovsky cemetery there is the blessed elder Maria Makovkina (1904-1971) ) (5, p.97). In the 19th century, Paraskeva Ivanovna Kovrigina (1846-1886), who was revered by St. himself, had a strong spiritual influence on St. Petersburg. John of Kronstadt. In memory of her, grateful residents erected a chapel at the Kronstadt Trinity Cemetery, similar to the one built in honor of St. Blessed Xenia. Maria Lelyanova (1874-1932), who was buried in the Smolensk cemetery, was buried in 1981. Canonized as the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
In the Holy Trinity Seraphim-Diveevo Convent of the Nizhny Novgorod diocese, the succession of blessed elders was observed, starting with the holy blessed Pelagia Ivanovna Serebrennikova (1809 - 1884), whom the Monk Seraphim himself sent to Diveevo for the spiritual guidance of the sisters. In 1848, Blessed Natalia Dmitrievna (1900) came on a pilgrimage with pilgrims and stayed in the monastery. In 1883, Blessed Pasha of Sarov settled in the monastery.
The feat of Pelageya Ivanovna is imbued with the spirit (40, p. 10), which is visible in the ancient ascetics: her extreme selflessness, deep humility, her tearful prayers for her neighbors, the gift of insight. Rejecting the human mind, she saw the secrets of human hearts, predicted the future, healed bodily ailments with word and touch, and delivered from spiritual infirmities with admonitions and instructions. The calling to the feat of foolishness was felt in her from a young age, but she was finally confirmed during her trip to the Sarov Monastery to the famous Elder Seraphim. The Monk Seraphim talks with her for about 6 hours. What they talked about remains unknown. Letting her go, in front of those who came, he said: “Go, mother, go without delay to my monastery, take care of many orphans. Many will be saved by you and you will be the light of the world,” and at the same time he gave her a rosary. In the monastery, the blessed one led a life even more difficult compared to how she lived in the world. Here we speak about her poverty, non-covetousness, all-night vigil, humility, patience, etc. Many cases of the ascetic’s insight, the effectiveness of her prayers, and the gift of healing are given. The legend says “Pelageya Ivanovna had a wonderful gift of tears, but before that she cried secretly. And 2 years before her death she cried non-stop.” When asked about this, the blessed one replied that if they knew everything, they would make the whole world cry. This was a prediction of Russia's future troubles. The blessed one lived in the monastery for about 20 years, acting like a fool and enduring all sorts of reproaches. But the light of the blessed gifts that dwelt in her began to attract people to her. People of various ranks and positions began to gather in Diveevo. According to the prediction of St. Seraphim of Sarov, Mother Pelageya saved many souls. Having asked all the sisters for forgiveness before her death, she went to the Lord in 1884. 2 years after her death, a monument was erected to her.
Blessed Pasha of Sarov (in the world - Irina) she settled in the Diveyevo Monastery in the fall of 1884. Contemporaries noted that all her strangeness - allegorical conversation, severe reprimands and antics, it was only external, deliberately hiding humility, meekness, love. The blessed one spent all nights in prayer, and during the day after church services she reaped grass with a sickle, knitted stockings and did other work, constantly saying the Jesus Prayer. Exhausted in the morning, Praskovya Ivanovna lay down and dozed.
Pilgrims crowded under the windows of her house all day long. The name of Praskovya Ivanovna was known not only among the people, but also in the highest circles of society. Almost all of the high-ranking officials, visiting the Diveyevo Monastery, considered it their duty to visit Praskovya Ivanovna. The blessed one more often answered thoughts than questions, and the Lord, through his faithful servant, revealed the future to them and healed mental and physical ailments.
The blessed one was blessed to write the Chronicle of the Diveyevo Monastery. Archimandrite Seraphim (Chichagov) said the following about his first meeting with the blessed old woman: “Pasha, who was lying on the bed (she was old and sick), exclaimed: “It’s good that you came, I’ve been seeing you for a long time.” I’m waiting: St. Seraphim ordered me to tell you to report to the Emperor that the time has come for the discovery of his relics and glorification...” (40, p.13).
Emperor Nicholas II visited the blessed one in 1903. The blessed old woman predicted the birth of an heir, warned about the upcoming persecution of the Church, about the death of the Romanov dynasty. After this, the Emperor often turned to Blessed Paraskeva Ivanovna, sending the Grand Dukes to her for advice.
From the memoirs of Hegumen Seraphim Putyatin (21, p. 13): “The great ascetic and seer, Praskovya Ivanovna Sarovskaya... predicted the storm approaching Russia. She prayed to the portraits of the Tsar, Queen and Family along with the icons, calling out: “Holy Royal Martyrs, pray to God for us.” Blessed Paraskeva died on October 5, 1915.
Before her death, she blessed her successor - Blessed Maria Ivanovna. Blessed Praskovya Ivanovna, anticipating her death, said: “I am still sitting behind the camp, and the other one is already scurrying around, she is still walking, and then she will sit down” (40, p. 17).
On the day of her death, the nuns kicked Blessed Mary out of the monastery, annoyed by her oddities. However, having heard the peasant’s story, testifying to the insight of Blessed Mary, they returned her back.
Maria Ivanovna (Maria Zakharovna Fedina 1931) not only predicted, denounced, through her prayers, the Lord repeatedly healed the suffering, about which eyewitness accounts have been preserved.
During the years of difficult revolutionary trials for Russia, the prophecies and predictions of the blessed old woman helped many people avoid death and find the right path in difficult circumstances. The blessed old woman said in 1926: “What a year is coming, what a difficult year! Elijah and Enoch are already walking on earth.” And when searches began in the monastery after Easter, she said that there were only three months of quiet life left. On September 7/20, 1927, the nuns were asked to leave the monastery. After the closure of the monastery, Maria Ivanovna lived in the houses of believers. Representatives of the authorities forbade the blessed one to receive visitors. Once she was arrested, but after interrogation, recognizing her as abnormal, she was released.
Blessed Maria Ivanovna also predicted the revival of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery for the sisters. The blessed old woman died in 1931 at the age of about 70 years. Numerous testimonies have been preserved of miraculous healings through the prayers of the blessed elders, which have occurred in our days.
The holy elders of Pelageya, Paraskeva and Maria of Diveevsky, were glorified in July 2004 during celebrations dedicated to the 250th anniversary of the birth of St. Seraphim of Sarov.
But the majority of the blessed, having lived for about half a century in the eyes and lips of the entire high society of the then Russia, turned out to be unsolved, misunderstood and rejected by them, just as after some time they rejected the Orthodox faith itself. The majority of society did not accept, through the blessed ascetics, strong in spirit and faith, the path to salvation offered to the lost. In the Moscow merchant class and in aristocratic circles there were families in which nothing was done without first visiting the holy fools and following their advice. But the secular society of that time, despite its lack of spirituality, was extremely susceptible to all kinds of mysterious sensations and legends. Natural magnetism (hypnosis) and table-turning (spiritism) became widespread and used at that time. Therefore, of the many people who visited the blessed ones, most did not know and were not interested in the ascetic and the paths of his ascetic exploits, as well as Orthodox faith in general, but they came only to find out the future of their affairs and experience a new living wonder - the prophets, deprived of spiritual rebirth. Only a few consciously built their entire lives according to the instructions and prophecies of holy fools, and achieved certain spiritual and worldly heights in this field. During the years of persecution of the Orthodox Church, many ascetics took upon themselves the feat of foolishness, since the atheists, not understanding such a confession of faith and mistaking them for the sick, allowed the legal existence of the blessed, in secret bringing people sermon about the Savior. In the 20th century, the blessed old women became especially famous, who voluntarily took upon themselves the heavy cross of foolishness in Christ, and who, for their great humility, were rewarded with the great gifts of the Holy Spirit. Like the ancient ascetics, the blessed old women of recent times, “who exposed the madness of the world with imaginary madness,” were not inferior to them in the strength of their exploits. Blessed Pasha of Sarov, during her wanderings through the Sarov forests before coming to the monastery, “had the appearance of Mary of Egypt.” The Diveyevo blessed Maria Ivanovna, dressed by kind people, a few days later “came again in all torn and dirty...” Her real name was Maria Zakharovna, not Ivanovna. When they asked her why she was called Ivanovna, she answered: “We are all blessed, Ivanovnas - according to John the Baptist”... Blessed Matronushka-Sandalfoot, having taken a vow of foolishness for Christ’s sake, walked only barefoot for 33 years. The power of veneration of the blessed among the people is evidenced by the numerous canonizations (3, p. 4) that have taken place in our days. Thus, among the blessed ones, the Church recently glorified Matrona Nikonova in Moscow; in Ryazan - Vasily Kadomsky, Lyubov Sukhanova, Matrona Anemnyasevskaya; in Rostov - Pavel Taganrogsky; in Vologda - Nikolai Rynin; V Ivanov-Alexey Voroshina; in Simbirsk - Andrey Ilyich Ogorodnikov; in the Caucasus - Rev. Theodosius of the Caucasus; in Siberia - John and Kosma of Verkhoturye; in Kyiv-Paisiy Yarotsky; In Nizhny Novgorod-Diveevo blessed; in St. Petersburg - Xenia of Petersburg. Several blessed people are buried at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg, who are still revered by the people to this day.
In modern Christianity there are practically no true holy fools left who, for the sake of Christ, of their own free will and in full health of mind, abandoned the comforts of this world and the rules of behavior in it.
And in the history of Orthodoxy there were not so many of them, only 16 were canonized.
Who are the fools for Christ's sake
It is difficult to trace when the first holy fools appeared. The first Christians who voluntarily changed their lifestyle were treated by many as crazy. They endured reproaches from people and went to their deaths in the name of Jesus.
For a church person, foolishness is one of the forms of holiness
Unlike ordinary Christians, holy fools, by their behavior, provoke others to display their vices.
Important! Blessed at Christian churches outwardly they seem crazy, but these are absolutely healthy people who, of their own free will, took upon themselves this feat of foolishness.
People often confuse holy fools with insane people. According to ignorant people, these are mentally retarded fools. An explanation of these strange people is given in the sermons of St. Demetrius of Rostov, who calls them ascetics of voluntary martyrdom hidden behind a mask.
The Russian people have always treated these with respect, condescension, and graciousness. strange people, honoring them as saints, hiding holiness under the guise of madness, perhaps this is why foolishness is revered only in Orthodoxy. Actions and words that are strange at first glance, different from the society of people, sometimes have a deep meaning, often denouncing the actions of certain Christians and the entire government.
The Apostle Paul often spoke in his epistles about foolishness for Christ's sake. Really, who is mad in this world? The one who, for the sake of profit, wealth, goes to murder, renunciation human values, meanness, bribery and at the same time he has a direct road to hell? Or those who have abandoned all the blessings of earthly life for the sake of knowing the other side of life, the will of God in it and seeking the Kingdom of Heaven on earth?
Why are the insane for Christ's sake filled with holiness and enlightened faces, what do they, stupid according to the concepts of people, see, something that is not given to the majority of Christians? In his letter, Paul writes that he who thinks himself wise, become foolish in order to be wise (1 Cor. 3:18).
The true wisdom of this world lies in the knowledge of the wisdom of God and the discovery of laws eternal life. Isn't it stupid to worry about the hour while neglecting eternity?
What motivates ascetics to the feat of foolishness
It is difficult to describe the motives that moved the blessed to become fools for Christ's sake, which can be compared to monasticism.
Saint Lawrence, Fool for Christ's sake
Voluntary renunciation of normal standards of life may be dictated by:
- the desire to cleanse oneself of pride, hatred, discontent and unforgiveness;
- debasement of self for the sake of exalting the name of Jesus;
- trampling on vanity;
- accepting humility through humiliation and insults;
- deliverance from the sin of sins - pride.
The desire to serve God in secret is hidden behind foolishness, the mask of a mentally ill person, and through accepting insults one is filled with humility. For Christ's sake, the fool always soberly evaluates his actions, being in a state of grace, filled with the power of the Lord. This distinguishes the blessed from the mentally ill, who have no control over their words or emotions.
Holy Fools of Russia
- Ivan the Terrible was denounced more than once by Basil the Blessed, who was considered perspicacious at court. No one could understand why the blessed one broke the icon Mother of God until they discovered the devil's face under a layer of paint. Vasily foresaw the death of people and expressed this through actions. He scattered the goods of dishonest merchants and gave gold to the poor.
- The first holy fool Peter of Ustyug, a once rich German merchant, having learned the true veneration of the Creator in Veliky Novgorod, gave away all his wealth and retired to Ustyug. He slept on the bare ground and constantly prayed in the temple. Peter was not taken seriously until one occasion when the blessed one shouted in the temple and called on everyone to repent. Nobody listened to him, they just laughed. However, seeing the approach of a terrible cloud and feeling the earthquake, people ran to the church and began to cry out to the icon of the Mother of God, thereby averting trouble from the city.
- Ksenia of St. Petersburg, a once rich noblewoman, after the death of her husband, dressed in his clothes, gave away wealth, began to live where she was accepted, eat what was served, constantly staying in the field at night, in prayer. Residents of St. Petersburg knew that good luck awaited the house where the blessed one was staying.
The Orthodox do not forget about Annushka and Ivan Koreysh, Pasha of Sarov and Matrona of Moscow, constantly bringing flowers to the place of their burial and asking in prayers for their needs.
Important! Foolishness appeared in Christian circles as a means of reproof, instruction and reconciliation.
Among modern Christianity, there are not many church-going believers who truly fear and love God, observe fasts and prayer rules not out of fear of the Creator, but out of love for the Almighty.
True believers differ from the world in their behavior and attitude towards earthly values; sometimes they are called blessed. Perhaps the time has come for modern holy fools to emerge who can denounce modern society in sins before the Almighty.
Who are the holy fools?