Holy fools... People who embarked on this difficult path deliberately presented themselves as insane, neglected all worldly blessings, humbly endured the hail of endless ridicule, contemptuous attitude, and various punishments from those around them. Using an allegorical form, they tried to find a way to people's hearts and souls, preached the ideas of kindness and mercy, exposed deceit and injustice. Not everyone succeeded in suppressing the rudiments of pride in themselves, not taking into account the needs of the body, spiritually becoming higher than those around them. One of those who managed to do this is Blessed Basil, the most famous and revered holy fool. Our material is about him.
Basil the Blessed: life
His life path is amazing from the very first day. December 1469. Dates vary, and some sources give 1464. On the porch (Epiphany Cathedral in the village of Yelokhovo) appears a simple woman named Anna. She came here with prayers for the safe birth of a child. The words of the woman were heard by the Mother of God. And in the same place, Anna had a boy who received the name Vasily (Vasily Nagoy - that's what he is also called). A pure soul and an open heart is what he came into the world with.
His parents from among ordinary peasants were pious, they revered Christ, they built their lives according to his commandments. From an early age, they sought to instill in their son a respectful and reverent attitude towards God. Blessed Basil was growing up, and, dreaming of a good life for his son, his father and mother decided to introduce him to shoemaking.
Apprentice work
The young apprentice was distinguished by diligence and obedience. He would have worked for so long, if not for one amazing incident, after which his master realized what an extraordinary person Vasily is. Once a merchant appeared in the workshop with a request to make such boots so that they would not be demolished for a whole year. Blessed Basil, shedding tears, promised him shoes that he would never wear out. The student later explained to the bewildered master that the customer would not even be able to put on the ordered pair, death would soon await him. It took quite a bit of time, and these words came true.
Way to Moscow
After this incident, Vasily decided to part with shoemaking and spend his life following the thorny path of foolishness. Until his death, he lived without any savings, unprotected from ridicule or insults, having only an invisible amulet - faith and an all-encompassing love for God. All his clothes were made up of chains.
Vasily, leaving his parents, went to Moscow. At first, the people perceived the strange naked guy with surprise and ridicule. But soon the Muscovites recognized him as a man of God, a holy fool for Christ's sake.
Basil the Blessed: miracles
People, usually not understanding his strange actions, got angry. Only later did their secret meaning become clear. Somehow, having deliberately scattered rolls at one of the merchants, Vasily dutifully endured the curses and beatings that rained down on him. Later, the unlucky kalachnik confessed to adding lime and chalk to the dough.
Other miracles of St. Basil the Blessed are also known. Once a merchant turned to him: the vaults of the church he was building collapsed three times for unknown reasons. The Moscow holy fool advised him to find poor Ivan in Kyiv. Having done this, the merchant found a man in a poor house who was rocking an empty cradle. The merchant asked what this meant. The poor man explained that in this way he decided to pay tribute to his mother. It became clear to the unfortunate "builder" why Vasily sent him here. After all, even earlier, he drove his mother out of his home. Without repenting of what he had done, he dreamed of glorifying the Almighty by building a temple. The Lord refused to accept a gift from a person who is low in soul. Blessed Basil could help this man: he repented, made peace with his mother, and the woman forgave him. Then the construction of God's temple was successfully completed.
Further manifestation of the gift
Basil the Blessed, whose brief biography has come down to us, always abstained from pleasures, dutifully endured the hardships of his existence, lived on the street among a large number of people, patiently endured all hardships. At the same time, his soul remained innocent and bright. Over time, his gift manifested itself with increasing force.
With the help of the Almighty, Blessed Basil, the miracle worker of Moscow, was able to predict the invasion of Moscow. The situation was as follows: he, as usual, prayed at night, when a sign appeared - a flame that escaped from the church windows. Basil's prayers became more fervent. Gradually the fire died out. Some time after this incident, the Crimean Tatars attacked the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery and the villages nearby, they were looted and burned, but Moscow remained untouched.
The next wonderful event. 1543. July. Basil the Blessed is again visited by a vision that predicted a strong fire: a number of streets turned out to be burned out, the trouble touched the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery, the Royal and Metropolitan courtyards.
Once on a winter day, one boyar managed to persuade the holy fool to accept a gift from him - a fur coat. Vasily, after long protests, agreed. Walking in this fur coat, he met a gang of thieves. Those, fearing to forcibly take away clothes, were not too lazy to play a real performance in front of the revered holy fool. One pretended to be dead, others began to beg for a fur coat, supposedly to cover a dead friend. The holy fool, covering the pretender, asked if he was really dead. The thieves assured him of the veracity of what had happened. Basil's wish for their answer was the punishment of hypocrisy. After his departure, the thieves literally froze - their comrade no longer needed to pretend, he actually died.
All his life, the holy fool helped people, sympathized with them. And, absolutely everyone. Especially those who were ashamed to ask for help. So, he gave the gifts received from the king to a foreign merchant. He lost money and went hungry for more than one day. He did not ask for help - he was ashamed because of his rich clothes.
Vasily was a frequent visitor to Kitai-Gorod. He went to the penitentiary for drunkards located there. Encouraging words and exhortations are what he helped the fallen people to return to a normal way of life.
The attitude of Ivan the Terrible to the holy fool
Basil the Blessed, we continue to consider his life, lived under two autocrats. Reverence and fear - with such feelings one of them treated him - Ivan the Terrible. The man of God, whom he saw in the holy fool, was for the king a constant reminder that it is necessary to live justly and not be stingy with good deeds and deeds.
Faced with several cases, Ivan the Terrible became convinced that it was in fact a pious, estranged fool from the affairs of the world. Once Basil the Blessed was invited by the king to a feast. The sovereign was angry when, in front of his eyes, the holy fool threw out the wine served to him three times. Ivan the Terrible until then doubted the explanation of the holy fool about, they say, the extinguished fire in Veliky Novgorod, until a messenger appeared from the city. He brought news of the incident and that a naked man had intervened and put out the fire. The same person was recognized by the Novgorodians who arrived in Moscow in a holy fool.
Having conceived the construction of a palace on the Sparrow Hills, the tsar only thought about this. Once at the church festive service, he behaved just as thoughtfully and inattentively to what was happening around him. Basil the Blessed, who was there, the king simply did not notice, being immersed in his own thoughts. At the end of the service, Grozny began to blame the holy fool for his absence from the church. To these words, Basil the Blessed admonished the king, answering that his body was in the service, and his soul was hovering near the palace being built. From that time on, Grozny had even more respect and fear in relation to the holy fool. When the latter fell ill from a serious illness, the king came to visit him.
The end of the path of St. Basil the Blessed
Despite the fact that his life was full of hardships, Vasily lived to be almost ninety years old. To the tsar who came to visit him with his family, he uttered another prediction: the tsar's son Fedor would become the ruler of Russia in the future. And in this he was not mistaken either. After all, we all know that the angry tsar himself raised his hand to Ivan (his eldest son).
The date of the death of St. Basil the Blessed is August 2, 1557 (according to the new style, this is August 15). The tsar and the boyars carried the coffin with the body of the holy fool. The funeral and burial ceremony was conducted by Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia Macarius. When the burial was carried out, many patients recovered. The cemetery of the Trinity Church (in the Moat near the Kremlin) was chosen as the burial place. A little later, the Intercession Cathedral was erected here. In it they built a chapel in honor of the holy fool. He was revered with such force that since that time one common name has been fixed for the Trinity Church and the Intercession Cathedral - St. Basil's Cathedral. Moreover, its history is interesting not only by its name.
Basil's Cathedral: a combination of different styles
This temple combines Gothic and Oriental architecture. Its unprecedented beauty gave rise to a real legend: allegedly, on the orders of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the architect's eyes were gouged out so that he could no longer build such structures.
The temple was not once tried to destroy. But he somehow miraculously continues to rise in his place. In 1812, during the escape from the capital, Napoleon ordered the destruction of the Intercession Cathedral along with the Kremlin. But the hurrying French could not cope with the required number of tunnels. The Pokrovsky Cathedral turned out to be unscathed, as during the rain the wicks lit by them went out.
In the post-revolutionary years, the cathedral also avoided demolition. Its last rector, Archpriest John Vostorgov, was shot in 1919, and in 1929 St. Basil's Cathedral was completely closed, its bells were melted down. In the 1930s, Lazar Kaganovich, who succeeded in destroying many Moscow churches, proposed to demolish the Pokrovsky Cathedral as well. He put forward a good reason: supposedly this made it possible to free up space for holding solemn parades and demonstrations.
There is a legend that he made a model of Red Square with a removable Intercession Cathedral. With his creation, he came to Stalin. Convincing that the temple is a hindrance, he suddenly ripped off his seat for the leader. At the same time, the stunned Stalin escaped with the historical phrase: “Lazar, put it in its place!”. The well-known restorer P. D. Baranovsky sent telegrams addressed to Stalin with an appeal to save the temple. It was said that Baranovsky, who was invited to the Kremlin to solve this problem, did not hesitate to kneel before the members of the Central Committee and begged to save the temple. They listened to him. St. Basil's Cathedral (the story could have ended there) was left alone. Only later Baranovsky was awarded an impressive term.
Saint Basil's Day
After the death of Vasily, miraculous phenomena did not stop. We wrote above that people ran into them and near the coffin. For this reason, in 1588 (this is the time when Fyodor Ivanovich reigned), the saint was canonized by Patriarch Job of Moscow. They also set the day of his memory - August 2 (the day of his death). Until 1917, Vasily's Memorial Day was always solemnly celebrated. The presence of the emperor with his relatives was common. The service was conducted by the patriarch. The highest clergy were present, as well as residents of Moscow, who sacredly revered the miracle worker.
Let's digress a little and remember another story. Basil the Blessed, whose prophecies have come down to our time, once behaved not in the best way in relation to the image of the Mother of God. Taking a stone, he broke it. Miraculous properties were attributed to this image. Unable to stand it, the pilgrims beat Vasily. He endured everything humbly. And then he gave advice to remove one of the layers of paint from the image. They listened to him, and it turned out that a devilish image was hidden under him.
Icons of the saint
A wealthy Muscovite who went blind at the age of twelve (her name was Anna) knew that blind men who prayed to Vasily could see. She found an icon painter and turned to him with a request: the woman wanted the icon of St. Basil the Blessed to be painted. This icon was donated by Anna to the temple. It is known for sure that it was St. Basil's Cathedral. The story doesn't end there. Every day she went there to pray. According to legend, after some time, Anna was completely cured: her sight returned to her.
In the early works, Basil was depicted naked; in later works, the saint began to be depicted girded with a towel. Often the Blessed One was depicted against the background of the Kremlin and against the backdrop of Red Square, because it was here that he lived. Such an icon is kept today in St. Basil's Cathedral. Other Russian churches also have icons depicting the saint.
So, the story of St. Basil the Blessed appeared before us. This man, with amazing fortitude, showed by his deeds and life that everything earthly is not eternal. That if you remember about goodness and justice, then you can survive in any difficult situations.
1468, the village of Yelokhovo near Moscow - August 2, 1557, Moscow
Basil the Blessed is a Russian saint, holy fool: sometimes he is called "Basil the Naked".
The wisdom of the humble, says Jesus, the son of Sirach, will lift up his head and seat him in the midst of nobles. (Sir. 11, 1; 39, 13)
The traits of this wise man are clearly revealed in the life of the humble servant of God Basil the Blessed, the Moscow miracle worker; his God-wise foolishness lifted up his head and seated him with the princes of his people; many praised his mind, and his name will be in eternal memory; His praise from ancient times will be told by the Holy Church, pleasing him as one from the people of God.
Blessed Vasily was born in December 1468, according to legend, on the porch of the Yelokhov Church near Moscow in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. The date is determined based on the indication of most sources of "the years of the belly of the blessed at 88." Since the year of death 7065 is beyond doubt, we get 7065-88=6977 (1468). His parents Jacob and Anna were simple, and when the boy grew up, he was sent to be trained in shoemaking. During the teaching of the blessed one, his master had to witness one amazing incident when he realized that his disciple was an extraordinary person. One merchant brought bread to Moscow on barges and went into the workshop to order boots, asking them to make them such that they would not be demolished in a year. Blessed Basil shed a tear: “We will sew for you such that you will not wear them out.” To the bewildered question of the master, the student explained that the customer would not even put on new boots, as he would soon die. A few days later, the prophecy came true.
At the age of 16, blessed Basil fled from his parents' house, but not to the silent desert, where he could more easily ascend with reverent thought to the heavenly one, but retired (which might seem strange) to the crowded city of Moscow, where, according to the Psalm, not iniquity, untruth, interest and flattery are impoverished. The monk showed by his example that it is not a place that saves a person or puts up barriers to his salvation, but a pious person sanctifies every place, for he lived in the city as in the wilderness and dwelt among the people, as it were, in the monastery of the penitents.
Having chosen a populous city as an unusual place for his asceticism, the blessed one also chose an unusual path to the city of Heaven - foolishness for Christ's sake. In the course of his entire ascetic life, he always had before his eyes the terrible day of the Lord's retribution and did not wear any robe, but wished to be always naked, as if he were already coming to the not hypocritical judgment seat of the Son of God. Neither winter nor summer, he never had a shelter, not even any small den, that is, a cave, but he suffered from frost and from scorching heat. Like the original Adam before his crime, he walked naked and was not ashamed, adorned from above with spiritual beauty, not caring about his body and imputing the unbearable frost as if into some kind of warmth, for the body of the righteous, warmed by the grace of God, was stronger than the cold, and fire.
The actions of the blessed one were strange: he would overturn a tray with rolls, then he would spill a jug of kvass. Angry merchants beat the blessed one, and he
gladly accepted the beatings and thanked God for them. Then it was found that kalachi were baked from flour with harmful impurities, and kvass was unusable. Thus, a special instructive meaning was revealed in the actions of the blessed one. The veneration of Blessed Basil grew rapidly: he was recognized as a holy fool, a man of God, a denouncer of untruth.
One merchant planned to build a stone church on Pokrovka in Moscow, but its vaults collapsed three times. The merchant turned to the blessed one for advice, and he sent him to Kyiv: “Find wretched John there, he will give you advice on how to complete the church.” Arriving in Kyiv, the merchant found John, who was sitting
in a poor hut and rocked an empty cradle. "Who are you rocking?" the merchant asked. “My dear mother, I pay (that is, I repay) an unpaid debt for the birth and upbringing.” It was only then that the merchant remembered his mother, whom he had driven out of the house, and it became clear to him why he could not finish building the church. Back
to Moscow, he returned his mother home, brought repentance for his deed, asked her forgiveness. After that, he successfully completed the construction of the temple.
Constantly exhausting the flesh with extraordinary abstinence and feats that exceeded human strength, blessed Basil kept his soul free from passions, living in the midst of the people and the rumors of life, as if on a lonely pillar, and silent, as if completely silent, in order to hide his virtue from people. His spiritual appeal to God was also expressed in the very body of the saint, for his head was always raised to heaven and his eyes were fixed on the mountain; Therefore, the Lord also glorified His saint on earth with miraculous signs and the gift of insight into the future.
When at night the monk secretly walked through the holy churches to pray, for him, as a good man of prayer, the church gates opened by themselves. The chronicler tells of a wonderful vision that God revealed to blessed Basil in 1521 before the formidable invasion of Makhmet Giray. One night he came to the cathedral church of the Mother of God and stood for a long time in front of the holy gates, looking at them dejectedly and secretly making a prayer to God with tears. And then some who stood near him heard a great noise inside the church and saw in it a terrible flame that emanated from all its windows, so that the whole church seemed to be on fire, and in time the flame subsided. And another time, the chronicler narrates, the philanthropic God, who does not want our final death, but let us cease from malice and let us not trust in fleeting wealth, allowed a terrible fire to happen on June 21, 1543, and again there was a revelation about this to blessed Basil.
After these fires, at noon on July 8, the blessed one came to the monastery of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, stood in front of the doors of the church, which at that time were wooden, and, looking at them, wept inconsolably. The people walking by marveled, not understanding the reason for his weeping, and only later found out when a terrible fire broke out the next day and the flame from the church spread to neighboring streets. Neglinnaya, Bolshoi Posad, and the entire Great Bargaining and the Tsar’s court with the Metropolitan’s were burned out - all this was fulfilled in the blink of an eye: not only wooden churches, but also stone ones disintegrated and iron melted like tin.
No matter how hard he tried to conceal with his foolishness the height of his virtue, blessed Basil, he could not, however, hide, according to the gospel word, the city standing at the top of the mountain. It happened once to Blessed Basil on the day of the royal name day to be invited to the chambers. He took the healthy bowl in his hand and poured it out of the window up to three times, thereby arousing the indignation of the king, who thought that the blessed one was neglecting him. But St. Vasily boldly said to the sovereign: “Cease from your anger, O king, and know that by pouring out this drink I extinguished the flame that enveloped the whole of Novgorod, and the burning ceased.” Having said this, he rushed out of the royal chambers; those chasing him could not overtake him, for when he ran to the Moskva River, he went straight through the waters and became invisible. The king, who saw this from his chamber, was horrified. Although he revered Basil as a holy man, however, he doubted that he announced the fire of Veliky Novgorod, and, noticing the day and hour, sent a messenger there. Only then the truth was revealed. The townspeople testified to the messenger that during the general burning of the city, a naked man suddenly appeared with a water carrier, which flooded the flame, and it went out. It was the same day and hour when the monk fled from the royal feast. Then the tsar was filled with even greater respect for blessed Basil. After some time, Novgorod people happened in Moscow, they recognized St. Basil that it was the one who put out the fire in the city. All the people glorified the Lord, marvelous in His saints.
The idea came to the king to build himself a house on the Sparrow Hills, and he set about building. Coming one day to the church on a festive day, the king thought about how to complete the building magnificently for him. Saint Basil also came to the same temple and, hiding from the presence of the king, stood in a corner, looking at the king and observing with an inner eye what was happening in his thoughts. After the divine service, the tsar went up to his chambers, followed by blessed Basil. The sovereign began to ask him: “Where were you during the Liturgy?” The blessed one answered him: "In the same place where you are." And when the king said that he had not seen him, the blessed one again objected: “But I saw you, and even where you truly were, in a temple or in another place.” “I have never been anywhere but in the temple,” said the king. “No,” the blessed one denounced his secret thought, “I saw you mentally walking along the Sparrow Hills and building your palace. And so you were not in the temple of the Lord, but Basil was there, for after singing “Now let us lay aside all worldly cares” with the holy Cherubim, he worshiped God, not thinking about anything earthly. To stand in the temple and think about worldly things means not to be in it The king was touched and said: “So it was true with me,” and he began to fear the blessed one even more, as a denouncer of his secret thoughts.
“True testimony is also brought from the enemy,” the Holy Church sings, praising Blessed Basil. Indeed, the very enemies of Christ have told the miraculous power of God by the visible intercession of the blessed one for them. It happened to a Persian ship, in which there were many people, to sail on the Caspian Sea. A strong storm arose and the waves began to flood the ship, the helmsman did not steer the ship, for he lost his way in the midst of the stormy elements - there was no longer any hope of salvation. Together with the Persians, there were several Orthodox Christians on the ship, they remembered in the hour of danger of blessed Basil and said to the infidels who sailed with them: “Be with us in Russia in Moscow, blessed Basil, who walks on the waters, and the waves listen to him: he has great boldness to Christ our God is also able to save our ship, submerged by the waves, from sinking, and save us. As soon as they uttered this word, they saw a naked man standing on the waters, who, taking their ship at the helm, sent them through the stormy waves. Soon the waves subsided and the wind stopped, and everyone was saved from the impending doom. The Persians, returning to their land, told their ruler about the former miracle. The Shah wrote about this to Tsar Ivan the Terrible, and when some of the rescued Persians arrived in Moscow on business, they met Blessed Basil on the streets of the city and recognized in him the same man who had saved them from drowning.
One of the nobles of Moscow loved Blessed Vasily, and Vasily himself often visited him. Once, when the holy fool came to him in severe frost, the boyar began to beg him to cover his nakedness at least in such a harsh time. "Do you really want this?" “I truly wish,” answered the boyar, “that you put on my clothes, for I love you with all my heart.” The blessed one smiled and said: “Good, my lord, do as you like, for I love you too.” The boyar was delighted and brought him his own fox coat, covered with red cloth, and Vasily, dressed in it, went through the streets and squares of the city. The crafty people, seeing from a distance the saint in such extraordinary clothes, contrived to treacherously ask him for a fur coat. One of them lay down on the road and presented himself as if dead, while the others, when the holy fool approached them, fell to the ground before him and asked for something to be given to them for the burial of the falsely dead. Blessed Basil sighed from the depths of his heart about their wretchedness and asked: “Is their comrade truly dead and how long ago did he die?” They answered that this very minute, and the blessed one, having taken off his fur coat, covered the imaginary deceased, saying: “It is written in the psalms: the evil ones will be consumed.” When the righteous departed, the deceivers discovered that their comrade was really dead.
Preaching mercy, the blessed one helped first of all those who were ashamed to ask for alms, but meanwhile needed help more than others. There was a case that he gave rich royal gifts to a foreign merchant who was left without anything, and although he had not eaten anything for three days, he could not ask for help, as he wore good clothes.
Blessed Basil severely condemned those who gave alms for selfish purposes, not out of compassion for poverty and misfortune, but hoping in an easy way to attract God's blessing to their deeds. One day the blessed one saw a demon that took the form of a beggar. He sat at the Prechistensky Gates and provided immediate assistance to everyone who gave alms. The man of God figured out the crafty fabrication and drove out the demon. For the sake of saving his neighbors, blessed Vasily also visited taverns, where he tried to see a grain of goodness even in the most degraded people, to strengthen them with caresses, to encourage them. Once he came to the inn, the owner of which was angry at heart and brought wine with abuse, often repeating the name of the demon. Blessed Basil stood at the door and, grieving in spirit, looked at those who came to drink. Following him, a man, shaking his body from much drunkenness, went up and began to ask the tavern keeper to give him wine for the money, but he, out of impatience, in a fit of anger, shouted at him: “The evil one will not take you, drunkard, who prevents me from offering you to the best.” Hearing such a word, the one who came protected himself with the sign of the cross, taking wine from his hands, and blessed Basil, as if foolish, laughed loudly and applauded him, saying: “You have done well, man, and always do so in order to be saved from the invisible enemy." Those who were in the tavern asked about the reason for the laughter, and the fool-for-Christ answered them reasonably: “When the tavern called on the name of the evil one, then with his word he ascended into the vessel; when he who wanted to drink wine protected himself with the sign of the cross, a demon came out of the vessel and fled from the tavern. But I laughed with great joy and praise those who remember Christ our Savior and overshadow themselves in all their deeds with the sign of the cross, which reflects all the power of the enemy.
For the sake of the holy fool, he passed through the marketplace of Christ, where women were sitting selling their needlework. They laughed at his nakedness and they were all blinded. One of them, being more intelligent than the others, as soon as she felt that she was losing her sight, taking advantage of the remainder of the light, rushed after the blessed Basil, begging him to stop. With tears she fell at his feet, repenting of her sin, and the blessed one good-naturedly said to her: “You will see if you correct yourself.” He breathed into her eyes, and she received her sight. The healed woman begged him to return to her friends, who were sitting in the marketplace in their blindness, the man of God indulgently fulfilled her desire and restored their sight to all of them.
Many have noticed that when the saint passed by a house where prayer chanting was performed, or when they read the Divine Scriptures, or talked about God, he would collect stones and throw them with a smile into the corners of this house. When asked by people who were accustomed to asking about his strange actions, why he threw stones, he answered: “I drive away demons that have no place in such a house, full of shrines, so that they don’t cling to it outside, and mentally thank the lord of the house that they don’t gives them a place." If, however, he passed by such a house, where they drank wine, or sang shameless songs, or danced, he hugged the corners of the house with tears and answered the questions of those who walked past: “Inappropriate things are happening in this house for Christians. The Savior commanded us to pray without ceasing, lest we enter into misfortune, and not to be comforted by vain deeds; it is said in the Gospel: Woe to you who laugh now, as you will mourn and mourn (Luke 6:24). This house casts out its guardians from itself, the holy angels assigned to us from the font, for they do not tolerate such indecent deeds. And since no place is found for them, they sit on the corners, mournful and dejected, and with tears I begged them to pray to the Lord for the conversion of sinners. Listening to such a reasonable conversation of the holy fool, the people were touched and thanked God for such a wonderful adviser.
With a stone, he broke the image of the Mother of God on the Varvara Gates, which has long been considered miraculous. He was attacked by a crowd of pilgrims who flocked from all over Russia for the purpose of healing, and they began to beat him with a “mortal combat”.
The holy fool said: “And you will scratch the paint layer!”.
Having removed the paint layer, people saw that under the image of the Mother of God there was a "devil's mug".
Despite the hardships and hardships experienced during his lifetime, Blessed Basil reached a ripe old age. When, at God's discretion, it was time for earthly things to turn into earth, the near-death illness seized the righteous man, and for the first time he lay down on his bed. Having heard about his imminent death, Tsar John with his wife Anastasia and their children John and Theodore came to receive his blessing. The blessed one, already at his last gasp, prophetically said to Prince Theodore: “All your ancestors will be yours and you will be their heir.” At this time, extraordinary joy shone on the face of blessed Basil, for he contemplated the coming of the Angels of God to him, into whose hands he betrayed his righteous soul, and a wonderful fragrance spread from the body of the saint.
The saint died on August 2, 1557 at the age of 88, 72 of which he spent in the feat of foolishness. Almost the entire city gathered for the burial of the great saint of God.
The indication of some sources for the year 1552 (7060) as the year of the death of the Blessed cannot be accepted, since it does not agree with the facts of the burial of the Blessed. Let us point out the main ones: firstly, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, who, as all sources indicate, was present at the burial and carried the coffin of the Blessed One, could not do this on August 2, 1552, since a month before that he set out from Moscow on the Kazan campaign and was on August 2 near Alatyr (not far from Kazan), secondly, the visit of Blessed Basil by Tsar Ivan the Terrible with Tsarina Anastasia and with his sons John and Fedor before his death could not take place in 1552, since Tsarevich John was born in 1554, and Tsarevich Theodore - in 1557. The tradition to consider 1552 the year of the death of Blessed Basil dates back, apparently, to the printed Saints of 1646. The oldest copy of the Life of Blessed Basil known to us, located in the August Menaia Chetya 1600 of the Chudov Collection of the Synodal Library (GIM, Sin. No. 317), cites the year 1557 as the year of the death of the Blessed (Compare: Archpriest I. I. Kuznetsov. Blessed Saints Basil and John, Moscow miracle workers for Christ's sake ... S. 359-362).
It was a touching sight: the tsar himself and the princes carried his body to the church, and Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow (Comm. December 30/January 12) with a host of clergy performed the burial of the saint.
His body was laid at the Trinity Church, which is on the Moat, where in 1554 the Intercession Cathedral was built in memory of the conquest of Kazan. a silver shrine was made for his relics.
Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral)
Blessed Basil was glorified by the Local Church Council on August 2, 1588, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch Job (Comm. 5/18 April and 19 June/2 July). Even before his glorification, a service was written for him by the Solovetsky elder Misail.
Many different healings and miracles took place at the tomb of Blessed Basil. Many of them are attested by contemporaries. Orthodox Muscovites venerate the memory of St. Basil the Blessed with special spiritual warmth.
In the description of the appearance of Blessed Basil, there are details: "All naked and in his hand a staff." His veneration was so strong that the Intercession Cathedral and the chapel attached to it are still called St. Basil's Cathedral.
The chains of St. Basil the Blessed are kept at the Moscow Theological Academy.
Prayers to Blessed Basil, Christ for the Holy Fool, Moscow Wonderworker
Prayer one
O great saint of Christ, true friend and faithful servant of the All-Creator of the Lord God, blessed Basil! Hear us many-sinners, now crying out to you and calling on your holy name: have mercy on us who fall today to the race of your relics: accept our small and unworthy prayer, have mercy on our squalor, and with your prayers heal every ailment and illness of the soul and body of our sinner, and make us worthy of the course of this life unharmed from the visible and invisible enemies, sinlessly pass away, and the Christian death is shameless, peaceful, serene, and receive the inheritance of the Kingdom of Heaven with all the saints forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer two
(for blindness, leg disease, skin diseases)
O blessed soul, O wisdom-filled mind: for us the light-indefinite sun of joy rises, enlightening the Russian kingdom: a healer from wounded demons, and even a banisher of the demons themselves, blind insight, lame walking, correction to the sick, healing and health to all who are sick: from troubles and Sorrow deliverance, sad consolation.
Prayer three
O saint of Christ, blessed Basil! Hear us, many sinners, now crying out to you: have mercy on us, servant of God (names), and have mercy on our misery! and with your prayers, heal every ailment and illness of the soul and body of our sinner, and make us worthy of this life unharmed, from visible and invisible enemies, and sinlessly pass away, and the Christian death is shameless, peaceful, serene, and receive the Kingdom of Heaven inheritance, with all the saints , forever and ever.
Troparion to Blessed Basil, Christ for the Holy Fool, Moscow Wonderworker
Troparion, tone 8
Your life, Vasily, is not false and purity is not defiled! For the sake of Christ, you exhausted your body with fasting and vigil, and scum, and the warmth of the sun, and the slot (bad weather) and the rain cloud, and enlighten your face like the sun: and now Russian peoples come to you, kings and princes, and all the people, glorifying your holy Assumption. Pray to Christ God to save us from barbarian captivity and internecine strife, and the world of the world will give great mercy to our souls.
Troparion, tone 8
As if the sun and the moon are not put to shame with their nakedness, so you, the naked saint of Christ Basil, without being ashamed, will perceive the struggle of Adam the First-Created, even though he was wearing it before in paradise, you slandered this on earth; and there was a good merchant: if you have anything, leave everything and buy the patience of your village with the reward, on which the priceless Beads, Christ, are hidden. For this sake, the image of repentance appeared to all sinners and settled in the breadth of paradise, and, standing before Christ, do not forget the city, inhabited in it, and people, blessed, and pray to save our souls.
Kontakion, tone 4
We are led by the Spirit of God, Blessed Basil, you shook off the worldly rebellion and the life of unrest, you disdained, and took off the robe of the perishable, and put on the robe of impassibility, ran away from the capture of the flattering world-keeper, and you were strange in your tongue, and choosing heavenly wealth more than earthly wealth, Thou hast been tied to the crown of patience, and now, most blessed Basil, pray to Christ God for those who create your holy memory, let us call you: rejoice, most blessed Basil.
People who embarked on such a difficult path seemed crazy, ignored all the benefits, meekly destroyed the hail of endless barbs, disrespectful treatment, various punishments.
Speaking allegorically, they tried to find a way to human hearts and souls, spread ideas kindness and compassion, denounced foolishness and prejudice.
Not all people managed to pacify the grains of pride, not to take into account bodily needs, to become nobler than others in spirit. One of these is Blessed Basil, a glorious and revered holy fool.
Birth and youth
The course of his being is amazing (from the start). December 1469(according to other sources - 1464). Stepping onto the church porch serf Anna(Epiphany Cathedral in the village of Yelokhovo). She came to pray for an easy delivery.
The sounds of her prayer were heard by the Virgin Mary. In the same place, Anna had a boy, they named him Vasily (named Vasily Nagoy). A crystal soul and an open heart is what he came into the world with.
His father and mother are from serfs. They were pious, honored Christ, founded their existence according to his commandments. From childhood, they instilled in their son a courteous and reverent attitude towards God. Vasily grew up, and, wishing a good better son, his father and mother decided to attach him to shoe business.
Work as an apprentice
The young disciple stood out for his diligence and humility. His master would never have understood what an unusual person Vasily was, if not for one unexpected incident.
A trader stepped into the doorway. A man approached a shoemaker with a request to sell him good boots that would last for many years. Vasily, shedding tears, said that a man does not need boots, since he will die tomorrow and it happened exactly as Basil said.
Road to Moscow
Because of this incident, Vasily decided to say goodbye to the shoe business and put his life on the thorny path of stupidity. Until his death, he lived without any expenses uninsured from mockery and insults, having only an invisible guardian - faith and unshakable love for the Lord.
He left his parents and went to the capital. At first, people with amazement and taunts perceived the wonderful naked guy. But soon the townspeople recognized him as a man of God, for Christ's sake a fool.
What was he like
Saint Basil (also known as Basil the Blessed, Basil the Fool, Wonderworker of Moscow or Blessed Basil of Moscow, a fool for Christ) - Russian Orthodox Saint, known as the "holy fool" or "holy fool" of Jesus Christ. He was officially canonized about in 1580.
St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is named after the saint. Initially an apprentice shoemaker in Moscow, he took eccentric lifestyle, but helping those in need. It is believed that he had the gift of clairvoyance.
He lived on Red Square itself, when this place served as the main market in Moscow. One day St. Basil threw away the baker's bread, and the man had to confess that he was adding lime to the flour. In 1547 Saint Basil came to the central cathedral in Moscow and began to pray tearfully.
The next day, the Great Moscow Fire broke out, and it started in the church exactly where the saint prayed.
They also talk about other miracles of St. Basil. Once a merchant consulted with him: the church vaults, which he erected, collapsed for three unknown reasons. The holy fool advised him to find a poor man (Ivan in Kyiv).
Following the recommendations, the merchant found a lad in a poor house (he was finishing an empty cradle). The merchant asked what that meant. The poor man explained that in this way he decided to show respect to his mother. The unfortunate "architect" understood why the Miracle Worker sent him here.
In fact, even earlier, he kicked his mother out of the house. Not regretting what he had done, he wanted to praise the Almighty for the built temple. The creator refused to accept the gift from the man who was not a good soul. Blessed Vasily helped this man: he repented, reconciled with his mother, and she forgave him.
holy elder remained naked and dragged heavy chains behind him. He reproached Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention to the church, and especially for his cruel treatment of the innocent.
Presented to the Lord
When Basil the Blessed died ( August 2, 1552 or 1557), Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow served at his funeral with many members of the clergy. Ivan the Terrible himself behaved like a friend of the Wonderworker and carried his coffin to the cemetery.
The elder is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral (in Moscow), which was commissioned for construction by Ivan IV (in memory of the capture of the Kazan Khanate). The cathedral is also famous as the "Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat." In 1588, Fyodor Ivanovich added a chapel on the eastern side over the grave of St. Basil.
On August 15, Orthodox Christians celebrate Memorial Day Saint Basil the Blessed- Moscow miracle worker and holy fool.
Basil the Blessed was born in December 1468 on the porch of the Elokhov Church (now the Epiphany Cathedral in the Basmanny district of Moscow), where his mother came with a prayer for a safe birth.
Parents sent their son to study shoemaking. When the boy was 16 years old, a merchant entered the workshop and ordered boots. Then Vasily said with tears: “We will sew for you such that you will not wear them out.” He explained to the surprised master that the customer would not wear boots, because he would soon die. A few days later, the prophecy came true.
Then Vasily fled from home to Moscow. It was in this populous city, full of temptations, sins and dashing people, that St. Basil the Blessed decided by his example to show the ideal of morality and accomplish the feat of foolishness. Literally, the word "holy fool" means "ugly", "crazy". The holy fools deliberately behaved like crazy “for Christ’s sake” in order to comply with the Christian truth spoken by the Savior: “My kingdom is not of this world.” In Russia, the synonym for the word "holy fool" was the word "blessed".
The religious feat of foolishness consists in the rejection of all blessings - home, family, money, the rules of social decency and respect for people. It is known that St. Basil the Blessed walked without shoes and clothes even in winter, for which he was nicknamed Basil the Naked. He exhausted himself with strict fasting, constantly praying and wearing chains. The holy fool tried to guide his fellow citizens on the right path. He did it in a very unusual way. For example, he threw stones at houses where pious people lived. According to the Blessed One, demons stood near the houses of the righteous, because they could not enter inside, and the saint of God drove them away with stones.
When St. Basil the Blessed passed by the dwellings of sinners, he, on the contrary, kissed the corners of the walls. The holy fool said: “This house casts out its guardians from itself, the angels of the saints assigned to us from the font, for they do not tolerate such obscene deeds. And since no place is found for them, they sit on the corners, mournful and dejected, and with tears I begged them to pray to the Lord for the conversion of sinners.
Or suddenly the Blessed One knocks over a tray with rolls of street vendors or spills a jug of kvass. And then it turned out that the merchant put chalk mixed with flour in the rolls, and the kvass was spoiled.
For the sake of saving his neighbors, Vasily Nagoi visited drinking establishments and prisons, where he tried to see the good in even the most degraded people, to encourage and support them.
Soon the townspeople began to treat the holy fool with great respect, recognizing in him a fighter against sin and untruth.
What miracles did Basil the Blessed perform?
Traditions about many miracles performed by St. Basil the Blessed have survived to this day.
Basil the Blessed, bas-relief. Photo: Wikipedia
After the death of St. Basil the Blessed, almost the entire city gathered for his funeral. Ivan the Terrible himself and noble princes carried the coffin to the church, and Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow performed the burial of the Blessed. His body was laid on the graveyard near the Trinity Church, where in 1554 the Intercession Cathedral was built in memory of the conquest of Kazan. There was arranged a chapel in honor of St. Basil the Blessed.
Intercession Cathedral. Photo: www.globallookpress.com
In 1588, with metropolitane Saint JobBasil the Blessed was canonized. On this day, 120 sick people were healed at the relics of the saint.
In the Catholic Church, “blessed” is a person whom the Church considers saved and abiding in heaven, but for whom general church veneration is not established, only local veneration is allowed. Beatification is often a preliminary step before the canonization of a righteous person.
The chains of St. Basil the Blessed are kept at the Moscow Theological Academy.
*** Between Varvarka Street, Old Square, Kitaygorodsky passage and Slavyanskaya (Varvarinskaya) Square in 1534-1538, the wall of Kitai-Gorod and a tower with gates were built, which were called Varvarsky (Varvarinsky).
**** The Ascension Monastery is a nunnery destroyed in 1929 in the Moscow Kremlin. It was located near the Spasskaya Tower on the left and almost immediately adjoined the Kremlin wall.
On August 15, Orthodox Christians celebrate the day of remembrance of St. Basil, the Wonderworker of Moscow. Let's remember 5 facts about him
1. Yelokhovo
Basil the Blessed and John the Big Cap. 17th century
According to an old Moscow legend, the mother gave birth to Vasily right on the porch of the church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, where she came to pray for a "favorable resolution." It happened in the summer of 1469 from the Nativity of Christ in the suburban village of Yelokhovo near Moscow. Today on this site is the Epiphany Cathedral (Elokhovsky Cathedral).
2. Vasily Nagoy
Saint Basil the Blessed, Moscow Wonderworker. Moscow icon. Late 6th - early 7th century
When Vasily grew up, he was sent to learn the trade from a master shoemaker. Once a Moscow merchant came to their workshop and ordered boots, "so that it would be impossible to demolish in a year." Then the lad Vasily surprised his master very much ... "We will sew you such that you will not wear them out," he said. When the customer left, the boy explained to the shoemaker that he would not even have time to put on new boots ... A few days later the merchant died.
At the age of sixteen, Vasily left both the workshop and the bread craft of a shoemaker, going to Moscow. From that time until his death, he performed a feat of foolishness: he lived mostly on the streets, having no permanent home; he walked almost naked, desiring to be always naked, "as if he were already coming to the unfeigned judgment seat of the Son of God." Muscovites originally called him that - Vasily Nagoy.
3. Fox coat
Saint Basil the Blessed, Moscow Wonderworker. Russian icon of the 19th century
Once the attention of dashing people was attracted by Vasily's luxurious fox fur coat, which was presented to him by one compassionate boyar. The thieves wanted to lure her out by deceit, the calculation was as follows: one of them would pretend to be dead, and his partners would ask Vasily for a fur coat for burial. And so they did. Basil covered the pretender with his fur coat, but seeing the deceit, he said: "From now on, be you dead for your wickedness; for it is written: let the wicked be consumed." When the holy fool left, the thieves discovered that their comrade was dead.
4. Hell icon
The interior of St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow
Basil the Blessed did a terrible thing: with a stone he smashed the image of the Mother of God on the Varvara Gates, which from time immemorial was considered miraculous. Of course, a crowd of pilgrims immediately attacked him, who flocked here from all corners of Rusin to worship and heal. It is not known how this story would have ended if someone in the crowd had not heard the words of the holy fool: "Scrape off the paint!" Vasily turned out to be right, under the top layer, under the face of the Mother of God, there was - a "devil's mug"! Under the image of the Virgin Mary, a real hellish icon was hidden ...
5. Ivan the Terrible
