A Brief History of Peter and Fevronia of Murom. Holy Blessed Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia, Miracle Workers of Murom († 1227)

The ancient city of Murom is the birthplace of 23 saints Ancient Russia. But with special reverence, the city dwellers keep the memory of the two saints. Peter and Fevronia of Murom, the story of eternal love and the trials that fell to their lot - the article tells about all this.

Meeting of Peter and Fevronia

According to an old legend, the story took place at the beginning of the 13th century. Prince Pavel ruled in Murom at that time. And in his assistants was the younger brother Peter - a strong and courageous young prince, strong in body and spirit.

Satan appeared in that city in the form of a serpent, tempting people with vices and adultery. Peter stood up for his family and defeated the devil. But soon from snake venom a terrible disease appeared - the body was covered with ulcers and leprosy. Not a single healer or healer could cure the prince. Once in a dream it was revealed to him that the daughter of a village beekeeper, a simple girl Fevronia, would help.

When a faithful servant of Peter arrived to the virgin, she set a condition for healing: the prince had to take her as his wife. Peter agreed and made his promise, but in his heart he considered impossible such an unequal marriage between the Grand Duke and the daughter of a poison dart frog. Then Fevronia gave a drug with a warning to leave untouched one ulcer on the body of the future groom. Having recovered, Peter broke this vow by sending sacks of gold and precious gems. She did not accept the ransom and advised to save these riches for healers, whose help would be needed again.

After some time, the terrible disease recurred. Ashamed of his cunning, the Grand Duke returned to Fevronia with a request for healing and the intention to marry. Not a word of reproach was uttered by the pious maiden. After the cure, the young people got married and began to live in Murom.

Exiles

The wisdom, simplicity and piety of Fevronia did not please the city boyars. When Peter came to power in the city, his poor wife began to be attacked by the boyar wives. When the princely advisers came to Fevronia demanding to leave the city, she asked her last request to be fulfilled: to take her married husband, Peter, with her. The boyars were only glad: the place of the ruler was vacated.

Peter and Fevronia sailed in a boat down the Oka River, away from their beloved Murom. wise wife steadfastly endured all the hardships and hardships, unlike her husband, who was attacked by the demon of despondency. And on their way, miracles happened that strengthened Peter in the Orthodox faith.

Soon strife and civil strife began to destroy the city, and the people turned to Peter with a request to return to reign. Strengthened in hardships and hardships, Peter and Fevronia dutifully returned to their native Murom. They continued to rule wisely and pray unceasingly, remaining in humility and the Christian faith. They treated the people as a father and mother treat their children. Their marriage was an example of the fidelity and devotion of husband and wife.

Having become famous for their piety and mercy, in old age Peter and Fevronia were tonsured monks with the names David and Euphrosyne. Having lived their last years in different monasteries, in prayers they asked God to die on the same day and bequeathed the bodies after death not to be buried separately, but only together.

Miracles after death

The earthly path of Peter and Fevronia ended on June 25, 1228. But people considered it wrong to bury them together. Twice the bodies were taken to different cathedrals, but each time a miracle happened: in the morning they were found nearby. The monks resigned themselves and left Peter and Fevronia together, yielding to the precepts of the righteous, whom even death could not separate.

In the 16th century, the canonization of David and Euphrosyne took place, in the world of Peter and Fevronia of Murom. From that moment to this day, these saints are revered by Orthodox Christians as patrons of marriage. June 25 or July 8 according to the new style is the day of their remembrance. To this day, their incorruptible relics rest in the Holy Trinity Convent, and every pilgrim can bow to the saints and ask for their intercession.

In what cases should you pray to Peter and Fevronia?

  • With a request for a happy marriage or marriage.
  • About the preservation and strengthening of marriage ties (during quarrels, betrayals and various temptations).
  • About the well-being of loved ones and the happiness of children.
  • About the healing of diseases.
  • About family reunification.

Peter and Fevronia of Murom and their story of eternal love is an invaluable example of selflessness and wisdom on the path to happiness and eternal life. Having conquered deceit and malice, temptations and trials, they remained forever in the memory of the people as an indestructible union of husband and wife.

The life of Peter and Fevronia of Murom is the clearest example of benefactor and devotion. The memory of the holy noble princes Peter and Fevronia of Murom is celebrated by the Church twice a year: on July 8 (June 25, old style), on the day of their righteous death, and on September 19 (Sept. 6, old style), on the day of the transfer of relics. You can learn more about a pair of saints by reading our article!

Life of Peter and Fevronia of Murom: history

Peter and Fevronia of Murom are spouses, saints, the brightest personalities of Holy Russia, who reflected its spiritual values ​​​​and ideals with their lives.

The history of the life of the holy miracle workers, the faithful and reverend spouses Peter and Fevronia, existed for many centuries in the traditions of the Murom land, where they lived and where their honest relics were preserved. Over time, the true events acquired fabulous features, merging in the people's memory with the legends and parables of this region. Now researchers are arguing about which of the historical figures the life is written about: some are inclined to believe that they were Prince David and his wife Euphrosyne, in monasticism Peter and Fevronia, who died in 1228, others see in them the spouses Peter and Euphrosyne, who reigned in Murom in 14th century

Recorded a story about blgv. Peter and Fevronia in the 16th century. priest Yermolai the Sinful (monastic Erasmus), a talented writer, widely known in the era of Ivan the Terrible. Having preserved folklore features in his life, he created an amazingly poetic story about wisdom and love - the gifts of the Holy Spirit with a pure heart and humble in God.

Rev. Peter was the younger brother of the blgv who reigned in the city of Murom. Paul. Once, a misfortune happened in Paul's family - at the instigation of the devil, a kite began to fly to his wife. The woeful woman, yielding to demonic power, told her husband about everything. The prince ordered his wife to find out from the villain the secret of his death. It turned out that the death of the adversary "is destined from Peter's shoulder and Agrikov's sword." Upon learning of this, Peter immediately decided to kill the rapist, relying on God's help. Soon, during a prayer in the temple, it was revealed where Agrikov's sword was kept, and, having tracked down the snake, Peter struck it. But before his death, the snake splashed the victor with poisonous blood, and the prince's body was covered with scabs and ulcers.

No one could heal Peter from a serious illness. Enduring torment with humility, the prince surrendered to God in everything. And the Lord, taking care of His servant, sent him to the Ryazan land. One of the young men sent in search of a doctor accidentally went into the house, where he found a lonely girl named Fevronia, the daughter of a poison dart frog, who had the gift of clairvoyance and healing, at work. After all the questions, Fevronia punished the servant: “Bring your prince here. If he is sincere and humble in his words, he will be healthy!”

The prince, who himself could no longer walk, was brought to the house, and he sent to ask who wants to cure him. And he promised that, if he cured him, a great reward. “I want to cure him,” Fevronia replied bluntly, “but I don’t demand any reward from him. Here is my word to him: if I do not become his wife, then it is not fitting for me to treat him. Peter promised to marry, but in his heart he was cunning: the pride of the princely family prevented him from agreeing to such a marriage. Fevronia scooped up bread leaven, blew on it and ordered the prince to take a bath and grease all the scabs except one.

The blessed maiden had the wisdom of the Holy Fathers and prescribed such treatment not by chance. Just as the Lord and Savior, healing lepers, the blind and the paralyzed, healed the soul through bodily ailments, so Fevronia, knowing that diseases are allowed by God as a test and for sins, prescribed a cure for the flesh, implying a spiritual meaning. Bath, according to St. Scripture, the image of baptism and the cleansing of sins (Eph. 5:26), while the Lord Himself likened the Kingdom of Heaven to leaven, which souls, whitened by the bath of baptism, inherit (Luke 13:21). Since Fevronia saw the cunning and pride of Peter, she ordered him to leave one scab unoiled as evidence of sin. Soon, from this scab, the whole disease resumed, and the prince returned to Fevronia. The second time he kept his word. “And they arrived in their fiefdom, the city of Murom, and began to live piously, in no way violating God’s commandments.”

After the death of his brother, Peter became autocrat in the city. The boyars respected their prince, but the arrogant boyar wives disliked Fevronia, not wanting to have a peasant woman as their ruler, taught their husbands unkind things. The boyars tried to raise all sorts of slanders against the princess, and once they rebelled and, having lost their shame, offered Fevronia, taking whatever she wanted, to leave the city. The princess wanted nothing but her husband. The boyars rejoiced, because each secretly aimed at the prince's place, and they told their prince about everything. Blessed Peter, having learned that they wanted to separate him from his beloved wife, preferred to voluntarily give up power and wealth and go into exile with her.

The couple sailed down the river in two boats. A certain man, sailing with his family along with Fevronia, stared at the princess. The holy wife immediately guessed his thought and gently reproached: “Draw water from one side of the boat and the other,” the princess asked. “Is the water the same or is one sweeter than the other?” “The same,” he replied. “So the nature of women is the same,” said Fevronia. “Why are you, forgetting your wife, thinking about someone else?” The accused was embarrassed and repented in his soul.

In the evening they moored to the shore and began to settle down for the night. “What will happen to us now?” - Peter thought sadly, and Fevronia, a wise and kind wife, affectionately consoled him: “Do not grieve, prince, the merciful God, the Creator and Defender of all, will not leave us in trouble!” At this time, the cook began to prepare supper and, in order to hang the cauldrons, he cut down two small trees. When the meal was over, the princess blessed these stumps with the words: “May they be big trees in the morning.” And so it happened. By this miracle, she wanted to strengthen her husband, foreseeing their fate. After all, if “there is hope for a tree that, even if it is cut down, it will come to life again” (Job 14: 7), then a person who hopes and trusts in the Lord will have a blessing both in this life and in the next.

Before they had time to wake up, ambassadors arrived from Murom, begging Peter to return to reign. The boyars quarreled over power, shed blood, and now they were again looking for peace and tranquility. Blzh. Peter and Fevronia with humility returned to their city and ruled happily ever after, doing alms with prayer in their hearts. When old age came, they became monks with the names David and Euphrosyne and begged God to die at the same time. They bequeathed to bury themselves together in a specially prepared coffin with a thin partition in the middle.

They died on the same day and hour, each in his cell. People considered it impious to bury monks in one coffin and dared to violate the will of the deceased. Twice their bodies were carried to different temples, but twice they miraculously ended up nearby. So they buried the holy spouses together near the Cathedral Church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God and every believer received generous healing here.

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The love story of Peter and Fevronia. Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. Valentine's Day

On July 8, Orthodox Christians celebrate Valentine's Day. In the role of patrons of love and fidelity, the Russian Orthodox Church venerates Saints Peter and Fevronia. The newlyweds and especially young families are patronized by the Orthodox saints Peter and Fevronia. The romantic love story of this married couple is described in detail by the greatest author of the 16th century, Yermolai Erasmus, in the Old Russian Tale of Peter and Fevronia. According to the "Tale", the couple reigned on Murom in the late 12th - early 13th centuries, they lived happily and died on the same day.


The legend of Peter and Fevronia tells that Prince Pavel lived in Murom with his wife, to whom a werewolf began to fly. The princess learned that the snake was destined to die at the hands of the prince's younger brother, Peter. Peter kills him with a sword, but the blood of the dragon, splashed on him, causes a serious illness - the hands and face of the prince are covered with ulcers.

Peter ordered to take himself to the Ryazan land, famous for its healers. There, going into one room, he saw a girl - she was sitting at a loom, and a hare was jumping in front of her. Fevronia impressed Prince Peter with her wisdom, solving the most difficult riddles. She agrees to heal the prince on condition that he takes her as his wife.

The exhausted prince agrees to everything. However, having recovered, the prince refuses to fulfill his promise, after which he again becomes covered with ulcers. Fevronia helped him again and became a princess. Gradually, the prince realizes that Fevronia is his only love.

And when the Murom boyars demanded that the prince abandon a simple village girl or give up the principality, he, without hesitation, leaves with his beloved wife for a distant village. However, disagreements and strife that arose between the boyars forced them to ask Peter and Fevronia to return home. The power of love between Peter and Fevronia defeated deceit and hatred.

The story of the death of this married couple is amazing: when dying, Prince Peter sends to his wife to say that she was ready to die with him. Fevronia, busy with embroidery, sticks a needle into the work, carefully folds it, lies down and dies with her husband ... They remained faithful to each other not only to the grave, but also beyond the grave.

Peter and Fevronia died at the same hour. Approximately 300 years after their death, in the 16th century, Peter and Fevronia were canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as saints. Orthodox "Valentine's Day" is not celebrated as romantically as Catholics do on February 14, Valentine's Day. On the day of Saints Peter and Fevronia, in the Orthodox tradition, it is not customary to make any gifts in the shape of hearts or spend evenings by candlelight.

Orthodox Christians pray in cathedrals and churches on this day. In prayers, young people ask God for great love, and older people ask for family harmony.

Prayer to the Blessed Prince Peter, in monasticism David, and Princess Fevronia, in monasticism Euphrosyne, Miracle Workers of Murom

In Russia, until 1917, the holiday in honor of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom, personifying marital love and fidelity in Russian culture and since ancient times considered in Russia the patrons of the family and marriage, was celebrated very widely. On this day, it was customary to visit temples, where young people in their prayers asked for love, and older people - for family harmony. The day of Peter and Fevronia was considered lucky for marriage.

For more than five centuries, the legend of Peter and Fevronia has been living in Russia, a story of irresistible love, it is recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church as an example of a devoted marriage, and the spouses themselves were canonized as saints. They are especially revered on July 8, when, as the story says, they both died on the same day and hour (according to the annals - in April 1228). Cancer with the relics of a married couple is stored under the arches of the Trinity Cathedral in the city of Murom, which lies on the Oka River, three hundred kilometers southeast of Moscow.

About Peter and Fevronia of Murom
A. M. Remizov (1877-1957)

At the beginning of the 13th century, the noble prince Pavel ruled in the city of Murom. He was a kind and fair ruler, but one misfortune happened in his family: the devil's serpent began to fly to his wife at night and incline her to dishonor, and she did not have the strength to resist him. The serpent used to take the form of Paul. This was repeated many times, and one day the wife told her husband about everything. The prince began to look for a way to cope with the snake, but he could not think of anything. Then he told his wife to seduce the snake and ask him what he could die from. When the snake flew to her again, she tried to make it reveal its secret to her. He said: "My death - from Peter's shoulder, Agrikov's sword" (Agrik is a hero from the ancient Russian epic). The wife conveyed these words to her husband, and he began to ponder what this meant. Paul decided to open up to his younger brother Peter and told him about the serpent's words. Once, when Peter was praying alone in the church, a youth appeared to him and showed him the place in the altar wall where Agrikov's sword was kept. Peter took this sword and soon killed the snake, but poisonous snake blood fell on him, from which he was covered with scabs.

Having defeated the serpent himself, Peter could not overcome the disease he caused, and no one could heal him. (Perhaps, in reality, the prince fell ill with something like leprosy). And then one young man told him that in the village of Laskovo, which is not far from Ryazan, there lives a wise maiden who knows how to treat all sorts of difficult illnesses. Peter, together with those close to him, went to Laskovo with the last of his strength. The maiden, whose name was Fevronia, agreed to cure the prince, but set such a condition that the treatment would be valid if the prince married her. (She immediately understood the future: only with her would the prince be healthy both in body and soul). The prince agreed, and the maiden prepared an ointment, telling the prince to smear it all over his body, except for one scab. The next morning, the prince recovered, was delighted and got ready to go back, not attaching importance to his promise given to a simple girl, the daughter of a beekeeper (honey collector). She did not accept his gifts. Peter returned to Murom, but soon felt that the disease was returning to him. He had to go again to Laskovo, to bow to Fevronia, and she again cured him, and he married her.

July 8, since 2008, in all cities of Russia, the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity is widely celebrated. Many consider it a worthy alternative to Valentine's Day, which came from abroad. Indeed, in the national holiday there is more spiritual love and admiration for loyalty and devotion. And all because the holiday is closely connected with Saints Peter and Fevronia - a couple that is an example of ideal family relationships.

The story of a difficult life and great love of Peter and Fevronia

Prince Peter, who was the son of Prince Yuri of Murom, was struck by a terrible leprosy. All attempts to cure the unfortunate from the disease ended in failure, no one could restore Peter to health. Almost resigned to his fate, the man saw an unusual dream in which he discovered that there is a girl in the world who can heal the affected body. AT prophetic dream Peter was revealed the name of the savior - Fevronia.

Fevronia was a peasant woman from a Ryazan village, the daughter of an ordinary beekeeper. The girl from childhood studied herbs and had the gift of healing, even wild animals obeyed her and did not dare to show aggression. The surprisingly kind and beautiful young lady immediately liked the young prince, and he gave his word that he would marry the beauty immediately after his recovery. Fevronia put the man on his feet, but he did not keep his promise and did not lead the village girl down the aisle. Most likely, this was the reason that leprosy fell on the prince's head with greater force.

The messengers went for the healer for the second time, and Fevronia did not refuse to treat the deceiver and again gave him health. After that, Peter married the savior and until the end of his days did not regret what he had done. According to legend, the couple lived in love, harmony and respect, never deceived each other and always spoke flatteringly about their halves.

After the death of his elder brother, Peter was destined to take city power into his own hands. The boyars reacted with approval to the respected ruler, but a simple peasant woman did not give them rest - no one wanted to see a representative of the lower class in power. Boyar wives constantly slandered Fevronia, inciting their husbands to kill the clever and beautiful woman they did not like. One day, the prince was given an ultimatum - either drive his beloved wife out of the house, or leave the post of ruler. Peter did not hesitate for a long time, but chose to renounce power and decided to leave Murom altogether.

In exile, the young wise princess supported her saddened husband in every possible way. When there were difficulties in the house with food and money, she always found a wonderful way out. Peter still idolized his betrothed and never reproached his beloved for the fact that for her sake he had to leave a high post and live in hardship.

However, the deprivation of the princely couple did not last long, soon the Murom boyars realized that it would be difficult to maintain order in the city without a competent ruler. Having changed their minds, they sent messengers for the prince and asked him to return with his wife to his native city and again take up the post of mayor. Peter consulted with Fevronia and the couple, without resisting, returned home.

In love and harmony, the devoted spouses Peter and Fevronia lived to old age, and having lived to gray hair, they took monasticism under the names of Euphrosyne and David. Being monks, tenderly loving spouses prayed to God for death on the same day. Dreaming of being together in heaven, they prepared for themselves one coffin for two, where only a thin partition should separate the two bodies.

Tradition says that the elderly monks really departed to another world on the same day - this happened on June 25, 1228 according to the Strict style, which corresponds to July 8 according to the current calendar. Living, as befits monks, in different cells, they died in one hour.

The monks were afraid of the wrath of the Lord and did not put the dead in one coffin - there have never been such burials in Christianity. The bodies of the deceased were in different temples, but in some miraculous way they were nearby. After such a miracle happened for the second time, the monks decided to bury loving spouses together near the Cathedral Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Only 300 years after their death, Prince Peter of Murom and his wife Fevronia were canonized. The Orthodox Church declared them the patrons of the family, and the relics of the saints found peace in the Holy Trinity Convent in the city of Murom. July 8 at Orthodox calendar considered the Day of Peter and Fevronia.

Day of family, love and fidelity and its traditions

In the nineties, the inhabitants of Murom, where the holy spouses have always been revered, decided to combine City Day with an Orthodox holiday. Thus, by chance, a new Russian holiday was born, glorifying love and devotion.

In 2008, the celebration of the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity was officially approved, and soon approved by the Interreligious Council of Russia. Chamomile, a flower that is especially popular with all lovers, has become a symbol of the holiday of pure and selfless love. Later, the Family Day got its own medal, on one side of which a camomile is depicted, and on the other, the faces of Peter and Fevronia. The medal is traditionally awarded to married couples in which love and mutual understanding reign.

Now Orthodox holiday is already celebrated in forty countries of the world, but the main celebrations are held in the city of Murom, Vladimir region.

This article is called Trials for Peter and Fevronia, since these saints had the burden of carrying their love through humiliation and hardship for it itself.

Small Ascension on Nikitskaya

In Moscow, on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, in the Church of the Ascension of the Lord (“Small Ascension”), which is opposite the conservatory, there is a chapel of Russian saints. These saints are glorified by the Church not as saints, although they accepted the schema at the end of their lives, not as martyrs and confessors, although they were expelled from their city. Fasting and prayer were part of them family life They were subjected to humiliation and danger for being faithful to each other.

Saints Peter and Fevronia gave an example of an ideal Christian family. It is for this that they were awarded church veneration, which is why their life for more than eight centuries has been an example of the proper attitude of spouses to church marriage and to each other. We would like to turn to the experience of the lives of these people in this article.

We learn the circumstances of their life from the "Tale of Peter and Fevronia", written in the first half of the 16th century. Its author was Yermolai, a priest of one of the Kremlin cathedrals (Erasmus in monasticism), who was part of the circle of church writers and hagiographers that formed around St. Macarius of Moscow.

More than 300 years passed from the time of the repose of the saints to the time of the writing of the Tale (1), and although it can be assumed that the local tradition began immediately after their common death (which, probably, was especially facilitated by a miracle that happened shortly after it), oral tradition does not preserved many facts of their lives.

Yermolai-Erasmus faced the task of recreating the appearance of these people, hidden both by the veil of time and the secret of holiness, which protects every righteous man from immodest glances. Such a reconstruction should be not only reliable, but also accessible. Therefore, Yermolai-Erasmus, in order to make his narrative colorful and entertaining, in order to captivate the reader with it, supplemented it with folklore material.

The result was not so much a “biography” of the saints(2), but rather a work that, together with a few facts from the life of Peter and Fevronia, teaches the doctrine of Christian marriage, and at the same time fascinating and accessible - thanks to the attraction of folklore motifs - to the reader of the 16th century. (3 )

It is precisely as a story about how a Christian family is born, what stages in its development it goes through, what its purpose is, what trials fall to the lot of spouses and what a crown is in store for those who worthily strive in this field, we suggest reading this “Tale” again.

Source: photosight.ru

background

The joint life of two people cannot begin suddenly, “by magic”. A long, difficult path must be traveled before a person who up to that time - no matter what circumstances and faces surround him - is ultimately alone in the world and in the face of God (4), could approach another unique personality and give her will: to unite with her into one mind, into one heart, “into one flesh,” that is, to create a family. One of the most important stages of this path is the meeting of two people who are destined to become husband and wife by the unknown Divine Providence about them.

However, Yermolai-Erasmus begins his "Tale" not with a description of the meeting of Peter and Fevronia. He precedes it with a story about Peter's serpent fighting.

Prince Pavel lived in Murom, and it happened to him. A certain snake began to fly to his wife in order to persuade her to fornication, and for everyone around him he acted in the guise of a legal spouse. The woman, by cunning, learned the secret of the serpent: he can die only "from Peter's shoulder, from Agrikov's sword."

Paul really had a younger brother Peter, who from his youth was distinguished by piety, had "the custom of going to churches in solitude." In one temple, a certain youth appeared to him and pointed out Agrikov's sword, which was kept in the altar wall. Then Peter understood that it was he who should kill the snake.

Peter had to endure a difficult test, because the serpent was in the guise of his own brother. And although Peter had just seen Prince Paul in his chambers, later a short time, he saw in the chambers of his daughter-in-law someone who is like Paul, like two drops of water. Because of this resemblance, it was not easy for him to raise his sword against a werewolf. However, Peter mustered all his courage and slew the wicked serpent (5).

There is no doubt about the source of this story: it was the motif of the fight between the knight and the monster, so common in fairy tales. We do not know how this episode of the "Tale" correlates with the real events in the life of the historical prince Peter and his older brother Paul. Most likely, such a correlation was not intended by the author. Oral tradition, apparently, did not convey to Yermolai-Erasmus information about Peter's youth.

He decided to make up for the lack of this information by attracting a folklore motif, which the reader had to comprehend allegorically (6). With this understanding, this story can serve as an image of what path Prince Peter had to go through before meeting with Fevronia and what caused this meeting.

Without going into details, we note that in Chapter I of the “Tale” “attention is focused on the psychological experiences and doubts of Prince Peter, who must decide to kill the snake that has the appearance of his brother” (7). He double-checks his guess that someone he saw in the daughter-in-law's room in the guise of a brother is actually a snake.

These doubts are not accidental: Prince Peter is aware of the degree of responsibility that lies with him. Only he can kill the snake that threatens his brother's family, but at the same time, showing excessive zeal, he can also become a fratricide.

In fact, this is an image of the life path of a person who is endowed with power, in this case a prince, responsible for his subjects. But not only the prince. At the same time, this is an image of a masculine vocation in general: every man on his life path takes responsibility for others, that responsibility when the life of another depends on his determination and courage.

But while Peter is alone, the burden of such responsibility turns out to be fatal for him. It’s not that he didn’t cope with his task, on the contrary: the serpent was defeated, but before his death he splashed Peter with his poisonous blood, and Peter falls ill. The illness of Prince Peter, that is, in the language of allegories: a certain inferiority of his nature in general, is the plot of the Tale of Peter and Fevronia. Moreover, Peter's illness is so serious, the inferiority of his nature is so significant that if it is not corrected, life itself is impossible for Prince Peter. His courage, his determination, all other human qualities have not left him, but he has been “scrambled” and cannot use them.

It can only be healed by a connection with another person.

The weak Peter goes in search of healing.

Meeting-Recognition

The search for healing comes down for the prince, according to Yermolai-Erasmus, to the search for a healer, that is, a person who would help him heal. At the same time, the search is a conscious action aimed at getting rid of the inferiority of one's nature. Only the Creator can correct such inferiority, and thus the search for a healer for Peter is a search for the Will of God about oneself.

It is this search that leads him to a meeting with the maiden Fevronia, who turns out to be able to heal Peter. It is noteworthy that the prince meets her when the illness led him to complete exhaustion: by that time he was already so weak that he could neither walk on his own nor sit on a horse. His spiritual strength was also already running out. So the Lord reveals to us His Will about us only when we have reached the greatest tension in our questioning, and our whole being has already become thinner in order to receive His Will into ourselves.

Ermolai-Erasmus describes this meeting in this way. One of the servants of Prince Peter met an unusual maiden in the village of Laskovo: the daughter of a beekeeper, a “tree climber”, was modestly weaving a linen in her house, and a hare was galloping in front of her. But even more he was struck by her wise speeches. Fevronia appears here in a halo of folklore images: the author uses in his "Tale" a fairy tale story about a girl-seventh girl (that is, doing seven things at the same time), whose mind makes the prince marry her.

It turned out that she also knows how to heal the prince:

“Yes, bring your prince semo. If he is soft-hearted and humble in his answers, let him be healthy!”, - says Fevronia. The prince, through his youths, asks her: “Take me, girl, who is there to heal me? May he heal me and take a lot of possessions. She did not hesitate to say: “I am, although I heal, but I do not demand the estate from him. Imam’s word to him is this: if I don’t have an imam to be his spouse, you don’t need me to heal him ”(8).

The condition for the prince's healing is marriage to Fevronia. And in the language of allegory, this marriage is itself a medicine that makes up for the lack of Peter's nature. Thus, the words of Fevronia contain an answer to Peter's question about what the Lord's plan for him is. But Peter did not yet recognize her answer as the Will of God about himself: “What a prince I am, a tree climber, to give myself a wife!” (9), he mentally exclaims.

The plot of the "Tale" develops according to the laws of the fairy tale about the wise maiden, but at the same time the author reveals the laws of the development of human relations. After the meeting of two people, there comes a period during which they get to know each other. What happens in life for a long time consists of many stages; Yermolai-Erasmus condenses it into one episode: the episode of the trial of Fevronia by Peter.

The prince sets an impossible task for Fevronia: while he is bathing in a bath, she must weave so much linen from a bundle of flax that is enough for his clothes, and then sew it. This is not a test of needlework skills, but of Fevronia's wisdom. Peter precedes his task with the words: “This maiden wants me to be a spouse for wisdom’s sake.”

He doubts whether she really has spiritual vision, vision of the heart, or her speech is just a ploy, explained by the desire not to miss a brilliant game. In other words, Peter tests the mind of Fevronia, the mind that, according to the patristic understanding, is the focus of the human personality. He wants to know not her words, not the skills that were given by her upbringing, but Fevronia herself in the depths of her heart.

And this is what Fevronia answers to the servant who gave her the task of the prince:

““Climb up on our stove and, take off the logs from the ridges, take down the semo.” He, having listened to her, took down the log. She, having measured the span, said: "Cut this off from this log." He's the cut-off. She also said: “Take this duck of this log, and go and give it to your prince from me, and give it to him: at what hour I will comb it, and let your prince prepare the camp and the whole structure for me in this duck, with which his cloth will be sewn”<…>The prince said: “Shit of the maiden, as it is impossible to eat in such a small tree and create a building in such a small time!”<…>The maiden denied: “Is it possible to eat, for a man of a man’s age I’ll hang flax in a small time, in the nude he will stay in baths, create a srachitsa, and ports, and an ubrusets?” The servant, however, told the prince. The prince marveled at her answer” (10).

Peter is not just surprised at how successfully Fevronia got out of a difficult situation. He is surprised like a person who has opened the secret inner appearance of another. Without knowledge of a person, without revealing to us the secret of his being, those relations between us and him are impossible, which in the future can become family relations. But in itself, this knowledge does not mean that we are ready to accept this particular person as our integral part, as our destiny.

With honor, Fevronia, who came out of the test, heals the prince. But he is not going to marry and goes to Murom. And here it turns out that his illness is not limited to aggravation of the skin, that its causes are much deeper. On the way home, he again becomes covered with scabs. A certain inferiority of his nature is now revealed to Peter himself. You can cure her only by connecting with the girl whose words so struck the prince. Peter returns to the village of Laskovo and agrees to marry Fevronia. Only now he is completely healed. Together with the young princess, Peter returns to Murom.

In the future, Yermolai-Erasmus no longer resorts to borrowings from folklore in his “Tale”. We can assume that he uses the Murom oral tradition, which has preserved real facts from the life of the saints, which now has as its center the fulfillment of Christ's commandments, which Ermolai-Erasmus emphasizes:

“I have come to my fatherland, city of Murom, and lively in all piety, leaving nothing from God’s commandments” (11).

What is the fulfillment of the commandments in relation to each other, becomes the subject of further narration.

Tests

"The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the Paintings of Alexander Prostev"

The period of recognition, when two people walked towards each other, no matter how beautiful it may be in itself, is still only a prelude to family life.

From the moment of marriage, a fundamentally different life begins for these two, full of their joys, but also special, previously unknown to young people.

It is on the trials that befell Peter and Fevronia that Yermolai-Erasmus focuses his attention. He does this because in such situations the path of following the commandments of God is most clearly revealed.

The first test that Peter and Fevronia are subjected to (like all young families) is ordeal of everyday life, namely, the difference in habits and everyday skills that each of them received in the process of education and accumulated during their independent life.

Meeting and getting to know each other cannot reveal this difference in small things that exists between young people; reveal and eventually smooth it out can only living together; moreover, the environment of the young can both facilitate and complicate the process of getting used to each other and erasing this difference. It is the second option that we observe in the life of Peter and Fevronia.

We find them at a time when Peter began to reign in Murom after the death of his brother Paul. And then the difference in origin and upbringing that existed between him and Fevronia becomes the reason for the next incident.

“Once upon a time, someone from those who were coming to her came to the noble prince Petrovi to navadit on the nude, as if “from every one,” he says, “he comes from his table without rank: whenever she gets up, she takes her crumbs in her hand, as if smooth!”. The noble prince Peter, although he tempted me, commanded him to dine with him at the same table. And as if the dinner was over, she, as if she had a custom, took the crumbs from the table in her hand. I took Prince Peter by the hand and, reconnaissance, saw a good-smelling Lebanon and incense. And from that I will leave the days to that not to tempt” (12).

Peter, albeit gently, wants to reproach and wean his wife from her habit. With his gesture, he seems to want to say: “Look! What are you doing this for? It's just crumbs!" And then what was just crumbs turns out to be incense.

Peter's gesture, in which one can catch a hint of exaltation over his wife and, perhaps, a lesson already prepared, turns out to be meaningless: the “custom” of the wife, even though it does not correspond to the habits of the spouse and even contradicts court etiquette (this “rite” is only a human institution), is holy and should be received by the husband with reverence, or corrected with patience and without exaltation over her. Moreover, he should not accept someone's slander on his spouse. Every third person for a husband and wife is a stranger.

Peter "from that day" ceased to "tempt" Fevronia, to check whether her behavior corresponds to a certain order adopted in his house. In their relationship, love and mutual patience became the main thing, and not the desire to subordinate the other to their own habits.

But trials do not only occur within the family, they often come from outside as well. Such an ordeal befell the family of Prince Peter. Many years later, when peace and love were already regular guests in his house, nat Murom raised a persecution of her princess.

“And after a lot of time, coming to him with fury, his boyars, roaring: “We want everything, prince, to serve you righteously and have you as an autocrat, but we don’t want Princess Fevronia to rule over our wives. If you want to be an autocrat, let there be a princess. Fevronia, take wealth enough for yourself, go away, but he wants it! Blessed Peter, as if it were his custom, having no rage about anything, answered with humility: “Yes, she speaks to Fevronia, and as if she speaks, then we hear” (13).

The reason for the request of the boyars is the envy of their wives, which Yermolai-Erasmus explains in two ways. On the one hand, they envy the fact that the peasant woman has become a princess, on the other hand, they see the obvious favor of God to the wife of their prince:

“The princesses of his Fevronia, his boyars, do not love their wives for the sake of their own, as if the princess were not the fatherland for the sake of her, but glorifying God for the sake of her life” (14).

The boyars not only demand the expulsion of Fevronia, from their very first words they think of the spouses separately: “We want Peter to stay, but Fevronia left; take yourself another wife, is it all the same to you!”. From the very beginning, they seem not to take into account that their prince and princess are husband and wife, that they are one, that people cannot separate them; from the very beginning they neglect marriage as a sacrament, as a divine institution.

We may be surprised: why does Peter send the boyars to Fevronia, why does he not immediately refuse them? Peter's answer testifies to one of the most important features of Christian marriage, namely, that each spouse has authority over the other. Moreover, this power extends to the most intimate aspects of the personality of another. The boyars put the question this way: either you, Peter, are an autocrat, or you are the husband of Fevronia. Peter is a prince, an autocrat by vocation.

He, according to the testimony of the boyars themselves, has all the necessary qualities in order to be the head of the city, for sure, he also has a personal inclination for this. Moreover, he was placed in this place by God's Providence. But it is precisely in the question of whether he should be a prince, that is, whether he should follow his - natural and Divine - vocation, he turns to his wife for advice. She has to share with him all the hardships of his path, so she has the right to give consent to the path of her husband or close this path for him (15).

And so the boyars arrange a feast, hoping to get Fevronia's consent to leave the city when her mind, perhaps, will be clouded with wine.

“They are furious, filled with indifference, inventing, let them establish a feast. And I will create. And when you had fun, you began to stretch out your cold-hearted voices, like a psy barking, taking away from the holy gift of God, God shared it with her even after death was inseparable” (16).

With the last words, Yermolai-Erasmus reveals the essence of what is happening. The boyars do not just mean political gain and indulge the vanity of their wives, but gradually encroach on something more: they dare to separate husband and wife, take away God's gift from Fevronia, God gave it to her.

These words can be repeated over and over again, reminding everyone living in marriage of the preciousness of the gift that he possesses.

Fevronia knows its value. She is not indignant at the demand of the boyars: reigning is a temporary value. She does not want wealth, because she wants only one treasure: “I ask for nothing else,” says Fevronia, “only the wife of my Prince Peter!” (17).

Peter also knew the value of what he possessed. In addition, higher than his vocation, higher than power, honors, habitual comfort was for him the commandment of Christ:

“Blessed Prince Peter, do not love temporary autocracy, except for God’s commandments, but walking according to His commandment, holding on to these, like the God-voiced Matthew in his gospel, he broadcasts the speech of Bo, as if he would let his wife, the development of the adulterous word, and marry another, commit adultery. Create this blessed prince according to Euangellia: his own obsession, as if he were able to do it, so that he does not destroy the commandments of God ”(18).

Together with Fevronia, Peter leaves the city.

The Dignity of Christian Marriage

"The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the Paintings of Alexander Prostev"

Expelled from their city, Peter and Fevronia, on the ships given to them by the boyars who expelled them, are sailing along the Oka River. At this, apparently, the most difficult time for their family, Fevronia again shows her wisdom, high moral sense and wonderful endurance. Her wisdom is revealed in the next episode.

On the ship, on which Peter and Fevronia are sailing into the unknown, there was a man with his wife. He saw Fevronia and looked at her with carnal thoughts.

She enlightened his thoughts and asked him to scoop and drink water from one side of the vessel, and then from the other. After he obeyed, Fevronia asked: “What do you think, does the water taste the same?”

“He said: “There is only one, mistress, water.” Paki she reche sitsa: “And there is one woman's nature. Why, leaving your wife, think of someone else! Same person<…>afraid to think of such a thing” (19).

Let's read the words of Fevronia. At first glance, they are very simple and accessible: “From the point of view of their nature,” she seems to say, “all women are the same, and if you think to find something new with someone else's wife, then you are mistaken. Wouldn't it be better for you to remain faithful to yours!

But we can make the second sentence from Fevronia's phrase - “It's almost ugly, leaving your wife, thinking of someone else!” - read and with an emphasis not on your own word, but on the word wife. Then this unsophisticated statement will reveal to us the depth of the Christian teaching about marriage.

With such a reading, it will become clear to us that the wife is given to her husband not for the sake of satisfying his natural desire, but her calling is incomparably greater. The personality of a wife is not limited to her physicality. Her soul and her spirit also enter into a relationship with the corresponding aspects of her husband's personality. B, for they have common spiritual aspirations - to Christ, into one soul, for they must have common vital interests, into one body (20).

Only such a connection gives a full-fledged Christian family. Such a union makes the mutual love of the spouses the way that leads them to the transfiguration by Christ's grace, to salvation. And then the words of Fevronia can be paraphrased as follows: “Think about what your wife is for you, think about her dignity before God! It is connected not only to your body, but to your spirit and soul. Do not covet someone else's wife, because if you violate your fidelity, you will destroy this mysterious unity! And it is unique and more precious than any other vocations, unities and desires.”

It is noteworthy that Yermolai-Erasmus compositionally places the episode that reveals the doctrine of Christian marriage precisely after the narration of the exile of Peter and Fevronia, thereby, as it were, additionally convincing the reader that the choice made by the saints was true and the only possible one for a Christian, thereby also once confirming the immutable value of Christian marriage.

On the same day, in the evening, when the exiles were preparing for an overnight stay on the banks of the Oka, the following conversation took place between the spouses.

“Blessed Prince Peter began to think: “What will it be like, having persecuted him by the will of autocracy?” The marvelous Fevronia said to him: “Do not grieve, prince, merciful God, Creator and Providence of everything, will not leave us in the lower world!” (21).

Peter began to be tormented by doubts about whether he had done the right thing by leaving Murom, without resisting the boyars, without insisting on his own. Apparently, the thought that he arbitrarily laid down the responsibility for his city, for his people, which the Lord had placed on him, was especially hard for him. Perhaps this was mixed with a secret thought that now poverty and the difficult life of a wanderer await him. And at this moment the word of the spouse turns out to be healing for him, dispelling both dark thoughts (22).

Fevronia tells her husband about God, about His mercy and Providence, calling to seek His Will, reminding that the Creator, who called him to the princely service, can tell him new way or return to the previous one. She comforts him, explaining that God, who united them into husband and wife, will not allow the destruction of their union, will give them what they need for life.

In one phrase of Fevronia, all her courage, all her fidelity to her vocation is manifested. If the vocation of a man is to take on and bear responsibility for others, then the vocation of a woman is in another; it is called upon to preserve the unity, integrity, and spirit of the family in any circumstances. In confirmation of the encouraging words of Fevronia, the following happens that same night.

“On that breeze, to the blessed prince Peter, for his supper, eat the food. And more<= посече>the cook of his trees are small, on them the cauldrons hang. In the evening, the holy princess Fevronia, walking along the shore and seeing the trees of thy, bless, reksha: “May this tree be great on the morning, having branches and leaves.” Hedgehog and byst. When you get up in the morning, you have found a great tree, rich in branches and leaves” (23).

If the family has not broken up, if the spouses courageously hold on to each other, for mutual love, then the lost well-being will sprout, like a young tree that has grown overnight, will return to its former self and grow thanks to the love and care of the wife.

In the morning, the truth of Fevronia's words was confirmed in another way.

Before the wanderers had time to leave their place of lodging, a nobleman rode up from Murom with the news that after the expulsion of the prince, civil strife began in the city, and many boyars were killed: The survivors and all the people tearfully asked the prince to return back: “Now, with all my houses, I work for Esma, and we want, and we love, and we pray that she will not leave us, her servant!” (24).

Let us pay attention to the fact that in their speech the boyars use the forms of the dual number: slave, let it not leave us ... Now they think of the spouses only together, as a single whole, and agree to be slaves of both of them: both Peter and Fevronia.

The prince and princess return to Murom. And this is how Yermolai-Erasmus describes their further reign.

“Behu reigns in that city, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord’s vice, in unceasing prayers and alms and to all people under their power, like a loving father and mother. Besta for all love is equal to property, not loving pride, neither robbery, nor wealth of perishable, sparing, but richer in God. Besta bo to his city is a true shepherd, and not like a hireling. Bo your city with truth and meekness, and not ruling with fury. Accepting the strange, nourishing the greedy, clothing the naked, delivering the poor from misfortune” (25).

This is the ideal of Christian government. For all their subjects, they were like father and mother, and not like lords. Thus, they realized the image of earthly life, which a century before them was formulated by the Monk Simeon the New Theologian: “God created a father and a son for being in the world. Without violence and poverty, no one would be a slave, nor a hireling” (26).

They succeeded because the grace-filled love that they acquired in their marriage began to abound and poured out on everyone around them, the border of their family, as it were, expanded and included many, many. But even then the family itself, mutual love for each other remained an unconditional value for Peter and Fevronia.

We will see confirmation of this in the final episode of the Tale.

We do not know anything about whether the holy spouses had children. Perhaps the oral tradition simply did not convey information about this to Yermolai-Erasmus. And yet it is noteworthy that he himself did not use any folklore image, did not begin to fantasize about this topic, does not touch it with a single word at all. For him and his story about Christian marriage, this circumstance from the life of his heroes does not matter. They achieved holiness not by many children, but mutual love and keeping the sanctity of marriage. That is the meaning and purpose of it.

Epilogue

Tons - Death - Posthumous miracle

Years have passed. When Peter and Fevronia grew old, and “when a pious repose was in time for her,” they begged God to die in one hour. They could not even live a short time without each other.

"The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the Paintings of Alexander Prostev"

In anticipation of death, according to the customs of that time, they simultaneously took the tonsure. Peter in monasticism was named David, Fevronia - Euphrosyne. Monasticism for them is a way to get away from princely concerns, devote more time to prayer and thus adequately prepare for death.

Marriage vows, even after being tonsured, retain their power for them, because they also fulfill their last promise to each other - to die at the same time. Here is the touching description of their death, which gives Yermolai-Erasmus.

“At the same time, the Monk and Blessed Fevronia<…>to the temple of the Most Pure Cathedral Church with his hands shiyashe the air, on it are the white faces of the saints. The Monk and Blessed Prince Peter<…>sending a verb to her: “O sister Euphrosyne! I want to move away from the body already, but I’m waiting for you, as if we’ll walk away.” She denied: “Wait, sir, as if I were breathing air into the holy church.” He sent a second message to her, saying: “I will wait a little longer for you.” And as if she sent a third, saying: “I already want to repose and do not wait for you!”.

And she was already finishing her work, she only had to embroider the robes of one saint, whose face was already completed.

“And stop, and watch your needle in the air, and turn it with a thread, with it shiyashe. And having sent to the blessed Peter, named David, about the repose of the bath. And, having prayed, the holy soul will betray<двойственное число - А. Б.>in the hands of God” (27).

Before being tonsured, Saints Peter and Fevronia bequeathed to be buried together, in one coffin, which, during their lifetime, was carved out of stone for them. But the spouses were buried separately, “more rudely, as if in a similar image it is objectionable to put the saints in a single coffin” (28).

"The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the Paintings of Alexander Prostev"

Then a miracle happened that glorified Saints Peter and Fevronia. The next morning people found both separate coffins empty. The holy bodies of Peter and Fevronia lay in the city in the cathedral church of the Most Pure Theotokos, in one tomb, which they themselves ordered to create. Thus, the Lord glorified not only His saints, but also once again sealed the holiness and dignity of marriage, the vows of which in this case turned out to be no lower than monastic ones.

* * *

Thus ended the earthly life of Saints Peter and Fevronia. After their death, their veneration gradually spread beyond the borders of the Murom land, and by the 16th century, it probably covered the majority of the inhabitants of the Muscovite state.

In 1547, through the labors of St. Macarius of Moscow, they were included in the Russian Orthodox Church to the saints. St. Macarius deserves special mention in connection with our saints, since through his care people were glorified who attained righteousness precisely through life in a Christian marriage.

The effectiveness of prayer to these saints, which has been done by the Church for 450 years (the anniversary of their glorification was celebrated last year), convinces us of the authenticity of the appearance of Peter and Fevronia, which was recreated by Yermolai-Erasmus in his Tale. They truly became patrons of Christian marriage.

It is they who should pray for the sending of peace into the family, for the strengthening of marital ties, for the achievement of family happiness.

The author of the Tale prefaces his narrative with a preface in which he briefly reminds the reader of the Orthodox teaching about the Trinity, about the creation of the world, about the economy of salvation. He concludes his opening remarks with a reminder of the calling of the Christian.

Thus, Saints Peter and Fevronia are included in the majestic picture of the history of the world understood in a Christian way, they are placed on a par with the apostles and martyrs and other great saints. And they were honored with such glorification “for the sake of courage and humility”, shown by them in keeping the commandments of God regarding marriage. In this way they fulfilled their calling as Christians. This means that each of those who strive in Christian marriage and follow their example can be placed in this line and can acquire the crown that was awarded to Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom.

Footnotes

1Prince of Murom Pyotr Yuryevich (David in tonsure), according to chronicles, died in 1228, therefore, the joint life of Peter and his wife Fevronia falls on the end of the 12th-beginning of the 13th centuries.

2“The Tale of Peter and Fevronia” differs markedly from the generally accepted examples in the Makaryev era hagiographic literature. This led to the fact that already in the XVI century. it has been revised several times. See Dmitrieva R.P. Ermolai-Erasmus - the author of the Tale of Peter and Fevronia // The Tale of Peter and Fevronia / Preparation of texts and research by R.P. Dmitrieva. L., 1979. - C. 117; Dmitrieva R.P. Secondary editions of the Tale of Peter and Fevronia // Ibid. - Ss. 119–146.

3The latter were included in the literary tradition, in which the parable genre was very developed, suggesting an allegorical reading of its plot. It is possible that the Old Russian reader, exceptionally sensitive to the influx genre, also perceived the folklore images of our "Tale" as allegories and comprehended them in accordance with the main theme of this work.

4 Unity in marriage was established by God Himself, therefore it is also carried out in a non-church marriage - the more serious the consequences are caused by the desecration of the sacrament of marriage, conscious or unconscious.

5 The Tale from the Lives of the Saints of the New Miracle Worker of Murom, the Blessed and Reverend and Worthy of Praise Prince Peter, named in the monastic rank of David, and his wife, the faithful and reverend and glorious Princess Fevronia, named in the monastic rank of Euphrosyne // The Tale of Peter and Fevronia. - Ss. 211–213 (hereinafter: The Tale). For all references to this monument, we use the text of its first edition, defined in the edition of R. P. Dmitrieva as the author's. See The Tale of Peter and Fevronia. - Ss. 209–223.

6Although the motif of snake-fighting in the “Tale” is correlated with folklore, the very fact of demonic werewolves is known to Orthodox asceticism. In particular, a case from the life of Archbishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky; †1937), similar to that described above, was recorded by priest Sergius Sidorov (†1937). Bishop Theodore Last year During his tenure at the Moscow Theological Academy, he took care of a mentally ill woman. When one day he did not allow her to leave Sergiev Posad, “she asked me why I did not let her go to the station, and assured me that I had been to her in the morning and persuaded her to leave Sergiev. I then took her words for nonsense obviously sick<…>The next morning I, putting part of the relics into the panagia St. Sergius went to the sick<…>She was sitting on the bed, and my double sat opposite her and urged her to leave Sergiev immediately. I, amazed, stopped at the threshold. The doppelgänger turned to me and, pointing at me to the girl, said: "Don't believe this, it's the devil." “You are lying,” I said, and touched him with my panagia. My double disappeared immediately and no longer disturbed the girl, who had completely recovered from the mental illness that had tormented her since the age of seven” (Priest Sergei Sidorov. Notes / Publication by V. S. Bobrinskaya // Chrysostom. No. 2. - Ps. 306–307; indicated by M. S. Pershin). It is noteworthy that this event immediately preceded the persecution of Vladyka Theodore in the liberal press and the subsequent removal of him from the post of rector of the Academy.

7Dmitrieva R.P. Secondary editions ... - S. 138.

8A story. - S. 215.

10 Story. - S. 216.

11 Story. - S. 217.

13A story. - S. 218.

14A story. - S. 217.

15It is known that one bishop, who ordained secret priests during the years of persecution, before consecrating one of them, asked him to ask his wife if she agreed with her husband's decision.

16 Story. - S. 218.

18 Story. - Ss. 218–219.

19A story. - S. 219.

20 cm more Professor, Archpriest Gleb Kaleda. Home church. M., 1997. - Ss. 14–19, 182–183, etc.

21 Story. - S. 219.

22We note that in this case, as in the case of a person who has accepted a carnal mind, Fevronia, in all likelihood, displays such insight, which the Holy Fathers called "natural insight." It - in contrast to "gracious insight" - can be possessed by any person who knows people well and is able to guess the state of a person's soul by the expression of his eyes or facial expressions.

23A story. - Ss. 219–220.

24A story. - S. 220.

26Reverend Simeon the New Theologian. Creations. T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1892. - Ss. 217, 316.

27 Story. - Ss. 220–221.

28A story. - S. 221.

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