What a divine holiday today is September 11th. Feast of affection

“There is no fate more majestic and more tragic,” wrote Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh in his sermon on the Beheading of John the Baptist. On September 11, Orthodox Christians remember the New Testament event - the violent death of the great prophet, who predicted the coming of the Messiah and baptized the Lord Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan River.

Events of the Beheading of John the Baptist

The beheading of the head of the Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John is the full name of the holiday. On September 11 (August 29, old style), the Russian Orthodox Church commemorates the New Testament events described in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and the 6th chapter of the Gospel of Mark.

Saint John the Baptist, who predicted the coming of the Messiah and baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan River, was imprisoned by order of King Herod Antipas. Herod at that time ruled in Galilee, and the great prophet denounced the sins and atrocities of him and his entourage. The tetrarch (that is, one of the four Roman rulers of Judea) was afraid to execute the saint: the people loved him, and Herod was afraid of the people's wrath. But the wife of his brother Herodias, with whom he cohabited, persuaded her daughter Salome to deceive the king into killing the prisoner. At the feast, Salome danced for Herod. He liked the dance so much that he vowed to fulfill her every wish. Salome asked for John's head on a platter. Herod fulfilled the request. So the prophet was martyred.

Why was John the Baptist imprisoned?

John the Baptist denounced the tetrarch (that is, one of the four Roman rulers of Judea) of Galilee Herod Antipas for many atrocities. Herod cohabited with the wife of his brother Philip, Herodias, which grossly violated Jewish custom. The prophet was not afraid of the cruel king and spoke about his sins before the people. Herod put him in prison, but did not want to execute him: he was afraid of human unrest: the Jews loved and revered the righteous man.

When is the Beheading of John the Baptist celebrated?

The Russian Orthodox Church remembers the beheading of John the Baptist on September 11 (August 29, old style).

What can you eat on the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist

This day is a strict fast. Fasting people do not eat meat, fish, eggs and dairy products. Food can only be seasoned with vegetable oil. Gastronomic restrictions on this holiday are an expression of our grief over the death of the great John the Baptist.

Head of John the Baptist - the history of the shrine

Many years after the execution of John the Baptist, the land in which the vessel with his holy head rested became the property of the pious nobleman Innocent. The vessel was discovered during the construction of the church. This was the first miraculous finding of the head of John the Baptist.

Miracles began to happen from the shrine. Innocent reverently kept the head of the prophet, and shortly before his death he buried it again in the same place - so that it would not be desecrated by the Gentiles.
According to legend, during the reign of Emperor Constantine, Saint John the Baptist appeared to two monks - pilgrims who came to Jerusalem. They dug up a vessel with its holy head and decided to appropriate the great shrine for themselves. They put it in a bag and went home. On the way they met a potter who was entrusted with carrying the precious burden. The forerunner appeared again - to the potter. According to the word of the prophet, this pious man left the monks together with the head of the prophet. The sealed vessel was passed down in his family from generation to generation.

As the legend says, then the shrine fell into the hands of a heretic - the priest Eustathius. He was a follower of the heresy of Arianism. Using the miraculous power emanating from the head, he seduced many people into heresy. But the secret became clear - blasphemy was revealed. Eustathius buried the shrine in a cave next to Emessa, wanting to return later and pick it up.

The heretic failed to regain the head of the prophet: a monastery was founded in the cave. In 452, John the Baptist appeared to the archimandrite of the monastery Markellus. The saint pointed out where his head rests. This was the second miraculous finding of the head of John the Baptist. She was transferred to Emessa, and then to the capital of Byzantium - Constantinople.
In 850, the head of the prophet was again transferred to Emessa, and then, during the raid of the Saracens, to Komany. When iconoclastic persecution began in Komany, the shrine was hidden. When icon veneration was restored, Patriarch Ignatius, during prayer, received knowledge of the place where the honest chapter is kept. The shrine was found - it was the third miraculous finding of the head of John the Baptist. The head was transferred to the court church. Now part of it is stored on the holy Mount Athos.

The Church commemorates the first and second miraculous finding of the head of John the Baptist on March 9, according to the new style (February 24, according to the old style). The Feast of the Third Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist - June 7, New Style (May 25, Old Style).

Prayers of the Beheading of John the Baptist

Troparion Forerunner
The memory of the righteous with praises, but the testimony of the Lord is sufficient for you, Forerunner: you showed me truly and the most honest prophets, as if you were worthy to be baptized in jets of the Preaching. Having suffered for the truth, rejoicing, you proclaimed the gospel to those who are in hell of God, who was flesh, who takes away the sin of the world and gives us great mercy.

Kontakion Forerunner

The forerunner of the glorious beheading, watching was some kind of Divine, and even those who are in hell preach the coming of the Savior; let Herodia sob, having asked for an unlawful murder: not the law of God, nor love the living age, but feigned, temporary.

Magnificence of the Forerunner

We magnify thee, John the Baptist of the Savior, and honor all your honorable heads of beheading.

The Meaning of the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist

Archpriest Igor FOMIN, rector of the Church of the Holy Right-Believing Prince Alexander Nevsky at MGIMO, answers:

“On September 11, we celebrate the memory of a man who was a prophet, forerunner, baptizer of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Day of the Beheading of John the Baptist is the day the saint parted from this world, on which he suffered from human anger and cruelty. What does this holiday teach us? It would seem that evil has conquered good: the righteous is killed, his executioners are alive. Yes, martyrdom was the result of his life and deed, but it did not erase the goodness and truth that he brought to people. In the same way, those of us who died for faith and truth did not live in vain. A life given in the name of truth can be the greatest sacrifice. It is not in vain, with its help a person preaches his ideals.

Icon of the Beheading of John the Baptist

The icons of the Beheading of John the Baptist of the early Byzantine era have come down to us. This is a miniature from the Alexandrian Chronicle and a fresco from the Church of St. John the Baptist in Cavusin, Cappadocia.

In the Middle Byzantine period, such an icon-painting plot became widespread: the prophet bowed, and the warrior raised his sword over him; The action takes place against the backdrop of the desert. Also, the head of St. John was depicted separated from the body. At the same time, blood poured from the neck of the prophet, and his executioner stood over him and sheathed his sword.

On ancient Russian icons, the head of the prophet John the Baptist was painted in a bowl against the background of a temple. Monks, clergymen and Emperor Constantine were painted on both sides of it.

Often Russian icon painters depicted the saint bowed, with his hands tied in front; while the warrior raised his sword over him. Such a plot can be seen, for example, on the frescoes in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Anthony Monastery in Veliky Novgorod (1125), in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the Mirozhsky Monastery in Pskov (about 1140), in the Church of the Annunciation on Myachina in Veliky Novgorod (1189) .

Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh. Sermon for the Day of the Beheading of John the Baptist

There is no fate more majestic and more tragic - The Beheading of John the Baptist

We are accustomed in our life that for every need, for every occasion, we turn to God for His help. And for our every call, for every cry of anguish, suffering, fear, we expect the Lord to intercede for us, protect, comfort; and we know that He does this all the time, and that He showed His ultimate concern for us by becoming a man and dying for us and for us.

But sometimes it happens in the life of our world that God turns to man for help. And this happens all the time, but often barely noticeable or goes completely unnoticed. God constantly turns to each of us, asking, praying, persuading us to be in this world, which He loved so much that He laid down our lives for it, to be His living presence, to be His living care, sighted, good-acting, attentive. He tells us that whatever we do good for any person, we do for Him; thus He calls us to be here, as it were, in His place. And sometimes He calls some people to a more personal service to Him. In the Old Testament we read about prophets; The prophet Amos says that a prophet is a person with whom God shares His thoughts. But not only with thoughts, but also with His deeds. Remember the prophet Isaiah, who in a vision saw the Lord looking around and saying: Whom shall I send? - and the prophet stood up and said: Me, Lord ...

But among the prophets, among the people who served God with an undivided heart, with all the great strength of the soul, there is one whose memory we commemorate today and whom God called the greatest among those who were born on earth. This is John the Baptist. And indeed, when you think about his fate, it seems that there is no fate more majestic and more tragic.

His whole fate was in not being, as it were, so that in the consciousness and in the vision of people the only one who exists - the Lord - would rise.

Remember the first thing that is said about him in the Gospel of Mark: "He is a voice crying in the wilderness." He is only a voice, he has become so unified, so indistinguishable from his ministry, that he has become only God's voice, only an evangelist; like him as a person, a person of flesh and blood, a person who can yearn and suffer, and pray, and seek, and ultimately stand before the coming death - as if this person does not exist. He and his calling are one and the same; he is the voice of the Lord, resounding, thundering in the wilderness of men; that desert where souls are empty, because there were people around John, and the desert remained unchanged from this.

And then the Lord Himself says about him in the Gospel that he is a friend of the Bridegroom. A friend who loves the bride and groom so deeply, so deeply that he is able, forgetting himself, to serve their love, and to serve so that he will never be superfluous, never be there even when he is not needed. He is a friend who is able to protect the love of the bride and groom and remain outside, the keeper of the secret of this love. Here, too, is the great mystery of a man who is able, as it were, not to become in order for something greater than him to be. And then the Baptist himself says about himself in relation to the Lord: "I need to decrease, come to naught, so that He would increase." It is necessary that they forget about me, that they only remember Him, it is necessary that my disciples turn away from me and leave, like Andrew and John on the banks of the Jordan River, in order to follow Him with an undivided heart only: I live only for so that I don't exist!

And the last is the terrible image of John, when he was already in prison, when the circle of coming death was already narrowing around him, when he had no way out, when this colossally great soul wavered. Death came upon him, life ended, where he had nothing of his own, in the past there was only the feat of renunciation of himself, and ahead was darkness. And at that moment, when his spirit wavered in him, he sent his disciples to ask Christ: Are you the one whom we expected? If Thoth, then it was worth dying alive at a young age. If He is the One, it was worth decreasing from year to year so that John would be forgotten and only the image of the Coming One would increase in the eyes of people. If He is the One, then it was worth it now to die the last death, because everything for which John lived was fulfilled and accomplished. But suddenly He is not the One? Then everything is lost: both youth and the greatest strength of mature years, everything is ruined, everything is meaningless; and even worse, it happened because God seemed to have ‘deceived’. The God who called John in the wilderness, the God who took him away from the people, the God who inspired him to the feat of self-dying. Has God deceived, and life has passed, and there is no return?

And so, having sent the disciples to Christ with the question: “Are you the one?” John does not receive a direct, comforting answer. Christ does not answer him: “Yes, I am the One, go in peace!” He only gives the prophet the answer of another prophet that the blind see, that the lame walk, that the dead are raised, that the poor preach the gospel. He gives the answer from Isaiah, but does not add His own words, - nothing but one terrible warning: “Blessed is he who will not be offended by Me. Go tell John." And this answer reached John in his dying expectation: believe to the end, believe without requiring any evidence, or evidence, or signs. Believe, because you heard inside, in the depths of your soul, the voice of the Lord, commanding you to do the work of the prophet. Prophets in their sometimes greatest feat can somehow lean on the Lord. God supports John only by commanding him to be the Forerunner and for the sake of this to show the utmost faith, confidence in invisible things. And that's why it takes our breath away when we think about him, and that's why every time we think about a feat to which there is no limit, we remember John. That is why of those who were born among people by natural birth and ascended miraculously by grace, he is the greatest of all.

Today we are celebrating the day of beheading... We are celebrating... We are used to understanding the word “celebrate” as joy, but it also means “to remain idle”, and you can remain idle, because joy will overwhelm the soul and there is no longer any business to do, or maybe it happen because the hands dropped from grief or from horror. And this is today's holiday: what will you take up in the face of what we have heard today in the Gospel?

And on this day, when hands fall before the horror and majesty of this fate, the Church calls us to pray for those who, also in horror and trembling and bewilderment, and sometimes in despair, died on the battlefield, died in dungeons, died a lonely death. After you venerate the cross, let us pray for all those who laid down their lives on the battlefield, so that others may live, bow to the ground, so that another may arise. Let us remember those who, from millennium to millennium, and not only in our time, died a terrible death, because they knew how to love, or because others did not know how to love; praying, great John, who went through the whole tragedy of the sacrifice to the end of dying and death without a single word of consolation, but only by the powerful command of God: “Believe to the end, and be faithful to the end!”.

Particle of the relics of John the Baptist

Before a particle of the relics of John the Baptist, you can pray in the church of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God in Vinogradovo. This is the North-Eastern District of Moscow, the Trinity Deanery.

The stone temple was built in 1772-1777 at the expense of Alexander Glebov, the owner of the estate in Vinogradov, according to the project of the famous architect Vasily Bazhenov. During the years of Soviet power, the temple was not closed, but in 1930 the church house was confiscated from the community.

Temple of the Beheading of John the Baptist in Kolomenskoye (Dyakovo village)

The temple is located in Moscow at the address: Andropov Avenue, house 39, building 7.

The church was erected in the village of Dyakovo in the middle of the 16th century. In some of its features, it anticipated St. Basil's Cathedral. Some researchers associate the laying of the temple with the wedding of Ivan the Terrible to the kingdom in 1547; others suggest that it was founded as a prayer temple for Ivan the Terrible for his son, Tsarevich Ivan, who was born in 1554.

The temple was heavily altered in the 19th century, but all the alterations were removed during the restoration in the 60s of the 20th century. In 1962, fragments of the original painting were cleared on the domed vault of the central pillar - an image of a circle with spirals of red bricks. Interestingly, scientists have not yet disclosed the meaning of this painting.

Folk Traditions of the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist

Among the people, the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist was also called the Poletovshchik, Poletok, Ivan the Proletok, the Turnip Feast, the Golovosek, Ivan the Autumn Torzhok, Ivan the Lenten, Ivan the Post, and so on.

The traditions of the celebration were strongly influenced by ancient pagan beliefs and everyday superstitions. Many Christian symbols in the popular mind were distorted and acquired a grotesque meaning. For example, on the Feast of the Beheading, it was forbidden to eat round fruits and vegetables, because ... they look like the head of a prophet. Apples, potatoes, watermelons, onions, turnips were banned. They tried to hide sharp objects away: they reminded the common people of a sword with which a warrior cut off the head of a saint. Therefore, vegetables were not cut, but bread was broken by hand. In some regions, fruits and drinks of red color, the color of the blood of the Baptist, were removed from the table.

But there were folk traditions that were more connected with the weather and the calendar cycle than with paganism. The day of the Beheading of John the Baptist was considered the beginning of autumn: “A man meets autumn from Ivan Post, a woman begins her Indian summer.”

This holiday is the beginning of the "Turnip Days". They fasted strictly, did not dance and did not sing songs, because "Herod's daughter, dancing and singing, begged to cut off the head of John the Baptist." It was customary to invite the poor and wanderers to the festive table.

Today, September 11, 2018, Orthodox all over the world remember John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. This is one of the most revered and respected saints among the people, since it was he who, long before the birth of God the Son, predicted his birth. John the Baptist was executed in 32 BC.

At that time, the ruler of Gaul, Herod, abandoned his wife and turned his gaze to the wife of his brother Herodias. John the Baptist considered this adultery and categorically condemned the king. The latter was indignant and put the Baptist in prison. However, this did not end there. Salome, the daughter of Herodias, wanted to take revenge on the Baptist at all costs.

She tried in every possible way to get through to Herod so that he would execute John, but he did not heed her requests, since he deeply respected the saint. And then the woman resorted to tricks. For the birthday of the ruler, Salome prepared a gift - an unusually beautiful dance. Herod liked him so much that he promised to fulfill any desire that only crossed her mind.

Without thinking twice, the girl decided that it must be the head of John the Baptist, cut off from the body and presented to her on a tray. And so the terrible execution was carried out.

Many traditions, superstitions, and prohibitions are associated with the day of the beheading of John the Baptist. What can and cannot be done on September 11, 2018? What would you like to avoid?

According to folk and church beliefs and charters, this holiday should be spent in the strictest fast. At the same time, not only products of animal origin - meat, milk, eggs, butter, but also some vegetables and fruits fall under the ban. In particular, it is forbidden to eat watermelons, tomatoes, apples - everything that has a round shape. You should also give up red foods - they symbolize blood on this day.

In addition, tomatoes and watermelons cannot be cut with a knife today - it is believed that people who do this repeat the act of Herod. In general, it is better to refuse to use knives today, and even bread must be broken by hand. Otherwise, you will have to be punished for the sin. In general, nothing can be cooked on this day. For water boils, and blood boils...

Of course, it is better to spend this day in prayer, visit a church, stand at the icon of John the Baptist.

The people have their own signs. So, from generation to generation it is passed on that a new business cannot be started on this holiday, as it is doomed to failure. And then there is superstition about hair. They cannot be cut on this day, as they will fall out. It’s not even worth combing - the ends will split.

You can not work in the garden, especially cut cabbage. According to legend, if you do not obey and do this on this day, blood will be visible at the place of the cut and the sinner will pay for his sin. In general, according to statistics, it is on this holiday that the number of people who were injured as a result of the use of sharp piercing and cutting objects almost triples.

On September 11, 2017, all Christians remember the holy prophet, Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord - John. The holiday is called Beheading of John the Baptist.

Of course, the martyrdom of John the Baptist can hardly be called a holiday, but the Orthodox Church refers the day to the Great Feasts. September 11 would be more correct to call the day of memory of John the Baptist - the prophet who predicted the coming into this world of the son of God Jesus Christ.

Also read: What not to do on Headache 9/11

Beheading - what kind of holiday is this?

The beheading of John the Baptist commemorates the Great Feast of the Christian Church. This means that the date of the celebration falls every year on the same day - 11 September. According to the old style - August 29.

The Feast of the Beheading is the day the saint parted from this world, on which he suffered from human anger and cruelty. What does this holiday teach us? It would seem that evil has conquered good: the righteous is killed, his executioners are alive. Yes, martyrdom was the result of his life and deed, but it did not erase the goodness and truth that he brought to people. In the same way, those of us who died for faith and truth did not live in vain. A life given in the name of truth can be the greatest sacrifice. It is not in vain, with its help a person preaches his ideals.

On this day, special services are held in the church.

On the evening of September 10, on the eve of the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist, an all-night vigil is served.
At Matins on September 11, chapters from the Gospel of Matthew are read, which describe the events associated with John the Baptist.
The special canons of John of Damascus and Andrew of Crete are also read.
At the liturgy, apostolic and gospel readings dedicated to the event are performed.

What prayers to read on the feast of the Beheading

Prayer to John the Baptist is addressed:

to cure migraine;
to relieve physical pain:;
find your own repentance;
understand your thoughts and sort them out;
about assistance in the preservation of the human race and economic affairs.

prayers to John the Baptist,
Troparion Forerunner
Kontakion Forerunner

In the Russian Orthodox Church on this day they also commemorate the soldiers who "struggled for truth and goodness and laid down their lives for their Fatherland." This memorial day was established back in 1769 during the war in Poland and the war with Turkey.

You may be interested in: History of the Feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist

How to fast on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist

September 11 is a day of strict fasting. Believers hold a one-day fast in memory of the tragic death of the prophet. Including because the Forerunner himself ate poorly in life, mainly locusts and wild honey, lived mostly in the desert and led a harsh lifestyle.

Do's and Don'ts of September 11th

meat,
fish,
dairy.

It is allowed to eat:

vegetables,
fruit,
mushrooms,
vegetable oil,
flour products, if they are made without eggs and dairy products.

Why you can not use a knife and other signs on the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist

On September 11, you can’t borrow money from anyone and generally give anything away from home. Even if you are strongly asked, find a reason for refusal, otherwise you can give away well-being from home.
Today you cannot start new things - any undertaking on the day of the Beheading on September 11 will turn into a failure.
Signs forbid today to cut your hair and even comb your hair, otherwise your hair will split all year.
On the Day of the Beheading of John the Baptist, it is necessary to keep a strict fast. Do not eat meat, milk, fish, seafood.
It is believed that if you follow the rules of a strict fast on this day (even if it is a one-day fast), then all sins are forgiven.
You can't use a knife, axe, or any other sharp object on Head Cut. "Whoever uses a knife (sharp object) on the day of John the Baptist, he himself will be left without a head," says popular belief. Of course, this sign should not be taken literally - here we are talking about the fact that troubles and grief, failures will fall on a person.
On this day, it is strictly forbidden to cut cabbage, onions, apples and other round objects, as they are associated with the head of John the Baptist. Even bread is broken by hand on this day. For this reason, housewives always tried to prepare lenten dishes for this day in advance.
People believe that if you cut a head of cabbage on this day, then blood will appear on it.
On this day, it is not permissible to sing or dance. It is believed that the one who dances on this day takes on the sin that Salome once took upon herself.
If a child was born on September 11, be sure to call Ivan or John - this will save him from the negative energy of this day.
On the day of the Beheading of John the Baptist, nothing round should be placed on the table: dishes, plates; for the head of John the Baptist was brought in a platter.
You can’t boil anything on this day, otherwise the blood in the body will boil just like water boils, and thoughts will be sluggish, “boiled”.
Also among the people there is a ban on red fruits and drinks (for "this is the blood of St. John"): on September 11, they did not drink wine, did not eat tomatoes, red peppers, red apples.
Mistresses are forbidden to sew and knit on Golovosek.
It is considered a great sin to get drunk - beliefs say that the children of those who get drunk on Headcut will be drunkards.

John the Baptist is the last of the Old Testament prophets who foreshadowed the New Testament with his life and sermons. He was called the Forerunner, or pointing the way of the Messiah.

The attributes of John the Baptist were a reed cross, a staff with a banner on which was written in Latin "Behold the Lamb of God", a baptismal cup and a lamb.

The father of John the Baptist, the priest Zacharias, was deprived of the power of speech as punishment for not believing the angel who announced that his wife Elizabeth, who had passed her childbearing age, would give birth to an extraordinary child who should be named John.

According to apocryphal texts and folk legends, Mary remained with Elizabeth until she gave birth to a son.

Elizabeth, who was expecting a child, was visited by her cousin Mary, who also carried a wonderful child under her heart.

The spiritual life of John the Baptist was predetermined by his extraordinary birth and religious upbringing from childhood. He led a harsh life in the desert and was depicted barefoot, accompanied by wild beasts.

The Beheading of John the Baptist

September 11 is one of the great church holidays - the day of memory of John the Baptist, when the whole world mourns his tragic death.

The gospels tell a story that John, who baptized Jesus and many in the Jordan River, denounced the ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas, for which he was arrested and, at the instigation of Herod's wife, Herodias, was executed.

This legend is based on actual events. The ancient historian Flavius, who lived in the 1st century, mentions the preacher John executed by Herod.

The name of Herod's stepdaughter is not mentioned in the Bible. Only in later sources is she called Salome.

The ruler of Galilee, Herod, arranged a feast on the occasion of his birthday. The main "dish" of this festival was the sensual and shameless dance of Salome, the daughter of Herodias, cruel and beautiful, like her mother. Herod liked the dance so much that he swore to fulfill Salome's every whim. And at the instigation of Herodias, who hated John the Baptist, she demanded the head of the prophet presented on a platter. Herod did not dare to break his promise to the guests. And he presented the head of John to his stepdaughter, which Herodias immediately threw into the mud, and the body of the prophet was stolen by his disciples and buried in the city of Sebastia.

On this day, a strict fast is supposed to be observed. The Church forbids eating meat and fish, so the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist is better known among believers under the name "John the Fast". Also on September 11, it is necessary to abandon entertainment, since entertainment events symbolize the feast that led to the death of the prophet.

On October 10, 3 Orthodox church holidays are celebrated. The list of events informs about church holidays, fasts, days of honoring the memory of saints. The list will help you find out the date of a significant religious event for Orthodox Christians.

Church Orthodox holidays October 10

Martyrs of Callistratus and his retinue: Gymnasium and others

The day of the warrior Callistrat comes from Carthage and its soldiers, who were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ.

Callistratus was born in Carthage. His own grandfather Neoscorus was a soldier of Pontius Pilate and saw with his own eyes the sufferings and torments of the Lord on the Cross. Already the father of Callistratus believed in Christ and raised his son in the true faith and piety of the first Christians. Having matured, Kallistrat also became a Roman soldier, but he always stood out among his colleagues with kindness and meekness. At night he prayed.

One day the soldiers found out that there was a Christian among them and informed the commander. Callistratus was brought to the commander, who tried to force him to bow to idols, but he refused. For disobedience, Callistratus was tortured, but the most sophisticated tortures could not break the will of a believer. Seeing the courage of Callistratus and the obvious miracles with which the Lord protected the saint, 49 Roman soldiers confessed themselves to be Christians. All of them were imprisoned and beaten. But even there, Callistratus preached the gospel to the soldiers and encouraged them so that they would not be afraid of the tormentors.

At the trial, all the soldiers did not depart from faith in Christ. They were tied up and decided to drown. But the ropes fell apart. And the holy martyrs stood in the water and rejoiced at this Baptism. Above their heads in the sky, everyone saw a crown, and suddenly a voice was heard:

“Be of good cheer, Kallistratus, with your flock, and go to rest in the eternal villages.”

The ground trembled, and the idol standing nearby fell, breaking into pieces. Seeing such signs, another 135 soldiers believed in Christ. The commander was frightened and did not judge the new Christians, and again imprisoned the holy squad. That same night, Callistratus and his friends were secretly chopped to pieces. They were buried by the surviving 135 warriors. The martyrs were not forgotten, and a church was erected on the site of their suffering.

Savvaty Pchelnik

Reverend Savvaty of Solovetsky.

It is considered the day of memory of the monk of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery Savvaty. He spent the last years of his ascetic life near the Sekirnaya Mountain of the Solovetsky Island together with the Monk Herman.

The Monk Savvaty of Solovetsky came to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery in 1396, where he received monastic vows. There he labored for a long time, implicitly fulfilling all obediences. Humility, meek love for the brethren, and a strict life distinguished Saint Savvaty from other ascetics. Soon he began to be weighed down by the attention and respect of the brethren and the laity who came. Having learned that there is a rocky island of Valaam on Lake Ladoga, he decided to move there. Grieving heavily, the brethren of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery took leave of the holy elder. On Valaam, worldly glory also began to disturb the humble old man. Meanwhile, the monk learned that in the north there was an uninhabited Solovetsky Island; he began to ask the hegumen's blessing to settle there in solitude. However, the abbot and the brethren did not want to part with the holy elder.

At the direction of God, the Monk Savvaty left the Valaam monastery at night and headed for the shores of the White Sea. When he learned from the locals that the island was a two-day voyage, that there were many lakes on it, and that no one lived on the island, he was even more inflamed with the desire to settle there. Surprised residents asked the gray-haired ascetic how he would live there and what to eat.

“I have such a Master,” answered the monk, “Who gives strength to fresh youth even to decrepitude, and feeds the hungry to their fill.”

For some time the Monk Savvaty remained in the chapel that stood near the mouth of the Vyga River, in the town of Soroka. There he met the Monk Herman, who was ascetic in hermitage, and together they decided to move to the island. On a fragile boat, having prayed to God, the elders set off across the harsh sea and three days later reached the Solovetsky Island. The ascetics settled near Sekirnaya Hill, where they erected a cross and set up a cell. In the harsh conditions of the North, the elders labored for several years and consecrated the deserted island with their exploits. And here, at times, the enemy of mankind, the devil, tempted the holy elders. A certain fisherman with his wife, driven by a feeling of envy, somehow arrived on the island and settled not far from the ascetics. But the Lord did not allow the laity to establish themselves next to the elders. Two young men with bright faces appeared to the fisherman's wife and flogged her with rods. The fisherman was frightened, quickly packed his things and hurried back to his former place of residence.

Once, when the Monk Herman went to the Onega River for cell needs, the Monk Savvaty, left alone, felt the approach of death and turned with a prayer to God, so that He would vouchsafe him to partake of the Holy Mysteries. In two days the monk sailed to the mainland and, ten versts from the Vyga River, met hegumen Nathanael, who was on his way to a distant village to give communion to a sick peasant. Hegumen Nathanael rejoiced at the meeting with the monk, fulfilled his wish and listened to the story of the exploits on the island. After saying goodbye, they agreed to meet in a temple on the Vyga River.

Arriving at the temple, the holy elder prayerfully thanked God for communion; he shut himself up in a cell that was at the temple, and began to prepare for his departure to the eternal villages. At that time, the Novgorod merchant John landed on the shore and, bowing to the holy icons in the temple, he came to the holy elder. Having received a blessing and instruction, he offered the reverend part of his wealth and was saddened when he was refused. Wishing to console the merchant, the Monk Savvaty suggested that he stay until morning and promised prosperity on his further journey. But John was in a hurry to sail away.

Suddenly, an earthquake began and a storm arose on the sea. Frightened, the merchant remained, and in the morning, entering the cell for a blessing, he saw that the elder had already passed away. Together with Abbot Nathanael, who approached, they buried the Monk Savvaty in the chapel and compiled a description of his life. This happened on September 27, 1435. After 30 years, the holy relics of St. Savvaty were transferred by the Monk Zosima (+1478; Comm. April 17) and the brethren to Solovetsky Island and laid in the Transfiguration Church. In 1566, the relics of Saints Savvaty and Zosima were transferred to the church named after them (jointly commemorated August 8).

Hieromartyr Peter (Polyansky), Metropolitan of Krutitsy

The church honors Metropolitan Pyotr Polyansky, originally from the village of Storozhevoye, Voronezh province. Shot in the Magnitogorsk prison in 1937. He was canonized as a new martyr by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997.

Hieromartyr Peter, Metropolitan of Krutitsy (in the world Pyotr Fyodorovich Polyansky) was born in 1862 into a pious family of a priest in the village of Storozhevoye, Voronezh diocese. In 1885, he graduated from the Voronezh Theological Seminary in the 1st category, and in 1892 from the Moscow Theological Academy and was left with it as an assistant inspector.

After occupying a number of responsible positions at the Zhirovitsky Theological School, Pyotr Fedorovich was transferred to St. Petersburg, to the staff of the Synodal Educational Committee, of which he became a member. Being a high-ranking synodal official, Pyotr Fedorovich was distinguished by his disinterestedness and strictness. He traveled with revisions almost all of Russia, examining the state of theological schools. For all his busyness, he found time for scientific studies, and in 1897 he defended his master's thesis on the topic: “The first epistle of the holy Apostle Paul to Timothy. Experience of historical-exegetical research”.

Pyotr Fedorovich took part in the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917-1918. After the revolution, Pyotr Fedorovich until 1920 served as the manager of the Bogatyr Moscow factory.

During the beginning of the persecution of the Holy Church in 1920, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon invited him to take tonsure, the priesthood, and become his assistant in matters of church administration. Speaking about this proposal to his brother, he said:

“I can't refuse. If I refuse, I will be a traitor to the Church, but when I agree, I know I will sign my own death warrant.”

Immediately after his episcopal consecration in 1920 as Bishop of Podolsky, Vladyka Peter was exiled to Veliky Ustyug, but after His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon was released from custody, he returned to Moscow, becoming the closest assistant to the Russian Primate. Soon he was elevated to the rank of archbishop (1923), then became Metropolitan of Krutitsy (1924) and was included in the Provisional Patriarchal Synod.

In the last months of Patriarch Tikhon's life, Metropolitan Peter was his faithful assistant in all matters of governing the Church. At the beginning of 1925, His Holiness appointed him a candidate for the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne after the Hieromartyrs Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan and Metropolitan Agafangel of Yaroslavl. After the death of the Patriarch, the duties of Patriarchal Locum Tenens were assigned to Metropolitan Peter, since Metropolitans Kirill and Agafangel were in exile. Vladyka Peter was also confirmed in this position by the Council of Bishops in 1925.

In his management of the Church, Metropolitan Peter followed the path of Patriarch Tikhon - it was the path of firm standing for Orthodoxy and uncompromising opposition to the Renovationist schism.

Anticipating his imminent arrest, Vladyka drew up a will about his deputies and handed over money to the rector of the Danilov Monastery to send to the exiled clergy. The agents of the GPU offered him to make concessions, promising some benefits for the Church, but Vladyka answered them: “You are lying; do not give anything, but only promise ... ".

In November 1925, Metropolitan Peter was arrested - a time of painful interrogations and moral tortures began for him. After being imprisoned in the Suzdal political prison, Vladyka was brought to the Lubyanka, where he was offered to give up his primatial service in exchange for freedom, but he replied that under no circumstances would he leave his ministry.

In 1926, Vladyka was sent into exile for three years in the Tobolsk region (the village of Abalatskoye on the banks of the Irtysh River), and then to the Far North, in the tundra, in the winter hut He, located 200 kilometers from Obdorsk. The link was soon extended for two years. The saint managed to rent a two-room house from a local old woman-self-eater. At first, having rested from the Tobolsk prison, the saint felt relief from the fresh air, but soon he suffered the first severe attack of suffocation, asthma, and since then, deprived of medical care, he did not leave his bed.

He knew that parcels were coming to his name, but he did not receive them, the steamer came to He only once a year. But in the same exile, Vladyka was again arrested in 1930 and imprisoned in Yekaterinburg prison for five years in solitary confinement. Then he was transferred to the Verkhneuralsk political isolator. He was offered to refuse the Locum Tenensity, in return promising freedom, but the Saint categorically refused this proposal.

Neither the extension of the term of exile, nor transfers to places increasingly remote from the center, nor the tightening of conditions of imprisonment could break the will of the Saint, although they crushed the mighty health of Vladyka. All the years of heavy solitary confinement, he did not even show a word of hostility or dislike for anyone. At the time he wrote:

“... as the Primate of the Church, I should not look for my line. Otherwise, it would have turned out to be what in the language of the Church is called slyness.

To the proposal of the authorities to take on the role of an informer in the Church, the Patriarchal Locum Tenens sharply replied: “such activities are incompatible with my rank and, moreover, are not similar to my nature.” And although the High Hierarch was deprived of the opportunity to govern the Church, he remained in the eyes of many martyrs and confessors who exalted his name during Divine services, a reliable island of firmness and fidelity in the years of apostasy and concessions to the godless power.

The conditions of the Saint's imprisonment were very difficult. Vladyka suffered from the fact that, feeling himself accountable to God for church life, he was deprived of any connection with the outside world, did not know church news, and did not receive letters. When information reached him about the release of the "Declaration" of Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), who was his deputy, Vladyka was shocked. He was confident in Metropolitan Sergius, that he was aware of himself only as a “guardian of the current order”, “without any constituent rights”, which the Saint pointed out to him in a letter of 1929, where he gently reproached Metropolitan Sergius for exceeding his powers . In the same letter, Vladyka asked Metropolitan Sergius to “correct the mistake that had been made, which placed the Church in a humiliating position, which caused strife and divisions in Her…”.

At the beginning of 1928, a member of a scientific expedition, Professor N. Him, Vladyka had the opportunity to meet and talk with Vladyka as follows about his assessment of the activities of Metropolitan Sergius:

“For the First Hierarch, such an appeal is unacceptable. Moreover, I do not understand why the Synod was assembled, as I see from the signatures under the Appeal, from unreliable persons. In this appeal, a shadow casts over the Patriarch and me, as if we had political relations with foreign countries, meanwhile, apart from church ones, there were no relations. I do not belong to the number of irreconcilables, I have allowed everything that can be allowed, and I was asked to sign the Appeal in more decent terms, but I did not agree, and for this I was expelled. I trusted Sergius and I see that I was mistaken.”

In 1929, Hieromartyr Damaskin, Bishop of Starodub, managed to establish communication with Metropolitan Peter through a coherent communication. Through this messenger, the Saint orally conveyed the following:

"one. You, bishops, must depose Metropolitan Sergius yourself.

2. I do not bless the commemoration of Metropolitan Sergius at Divine services.”

In 1930, from the winter hut He, the Hierarch wrote another, last letter to Metropolitan Sergius, where he expressed disappointment that he, as a person subordinate to him, did not initiate him into his intentions regarding the legalization of the Church through unacceptable compromises:

“Since letters are coming from others, yours would undoubtedly have reached them.”

Expressing his negative attitude towards compromise with the communists and concessions to them, allowed by Metropolitan Sergius, Vladyka directly demanded from the latter:

"if you are unable to defend the Church, step aside and give way to a stronger one."

Thus, the Saint believed that the Russian bishops themselves should impose a ban on Metropolitan Sergius for his anti-canonical deeds. Perhaps for this, the Epistle of the Hieromartyr Archbishop Seraphim (Samoilovich) was prepared in 1934 on the prohibition of Metropolitan Sergius in the priestly service.

In 1931, Vladyka was partially paralyzed. This happened after the visit of Tuchkov, who offered the Saint to become an informer of the GPU. Earlier, he had scurvy. In 1933, the elderly Saint, suffering from asthma, was deprived of walks in the common prison yard, replacing them with an exit to a separate courtyard-well, where the air was saturated with prison fumes. On the first "walk" Vladyka lost consciousness. When he was transferred with a tightening of the regime to the Verkhneuralsk Special Purpose Prison, he was placed again in solitary confinement, and instead of his name he was given No. 114. It was a regime of strict isolation.

There is evidence that Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky), awaiting the release of the legitimate Locum Tenens, sent a letter to the Soviet government that if Metropolitan Peter was released from prison, the entire Church policy of concessions would change in the opposite direction. The authorities reacted appropriately, and Vladyka Peter, having waited for the day of release - July 23, 1936 - in the Verkhneuralsk prison, instead of freedom received a new term of imprisonment for another three years. By this time, he was already seventy-four years old, while the authorities decided to declare the Saint dead, which was reported to Metropolitan Sergius, who in December received the title of Patriarchal Locum Tenens - while Metropolitan Locum Tenens Peter was still alive. Thus passed another year of heavy imprisonment for the sick elder-priest.

In July 1937, by order of Stalin, an operational order was developed to execute all confessors in prisons and camps within four months. In accordance with this order, the administration of the Verkhneuralsk prison filed an accusation against the Saint: “... he manifests himself as an implacable enemy of the Soviet state ..., accusing its leaders of persecuting the Church. He slanderously accuses the NKVD bodies of being biased towards him, as a result of which he was allegedly imprisoned, since he did not accept the demand of the NKVD to abandon the rank of Locum Tenens.

On September 27 (October 10, NS), 1937, at 4 pm, Hieromartyr Metropolitan Peter was shot in the Magnitogorsk prison, and thus crowned his confessional feat with the shedding of martyr's blood for Christ.

Canonized by the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1997.