Cathedral of Kostroma Saints. Orthodox calendar for February 5 The main church holidays, days of remembrance of saints and Orthodox shrines of today are February 5 (January 23 according to the “old style” - the church Julian calendar). Tuesday of the 37th week of Pentecost (thirty-seventh week after the great twelve feast of Pentecost - Holy Trinity). There is no post. In the Russian Orthodox Church today there is a celebration of the Council of Kostroma Saints, the remembrance of the VI Ecumenical Council, as well as the memory of 11 saints known by name. Next we will briefly talk about them. * * * Cathedral of Kostroma Saints. Among the cities founded at the dawn of ancient Russian statehood, Kostroma occupies a special place. It was from here that in 1613 from the Nativity of Christ, 16-year-old Mikhail Romanov was called to the throne, which put an end to the Time of Troubles. Kostroma land is famous for its ancient temples and monasteries. And of course, a whole host of spiritual ascetics, for whom in 1981 a separate celebration was established in the Russian Orthodox Church - the Council of Kostroma Saints. Salt of the Russian Land: February 5 - Cathedral of the Kostroma Saints The holiday was established on the initiative of Archbishop Cassian (Yaroslavsky) of Kostroma and Galich and with the blessing of Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen (Izvekov) and timed to coincide with the day of memory of the Venerable Gennady of Kostroma. And already on February 5, 1982, in many Orthodox churches, services were held for the first time in honor of the Heavenly Patrons of the city of Kostroma. The first Kostroma saint in time is the Monk Abraham, who defeated paganism within the boundaries of Rostov the Great and Kostroma. In the cathedral there are dozens of medieval ascetics and, of course, a number of new martyrs and confessors of the 20th century, including the Royal Passion-Bearers. And each of us needs to visit these blessed lands, which have special significance for Russia, at least once in our lives. To feel a unique sense of historical memory and certainly bow to the Kostroma saints, who are the patrons of not only Kostroma and its environs, but also the entire Russian Land. * * * Memories of the VI Ecumenical Council. This council was convened in 681 AD in Constantinople by the Roman Emperor Constantine Pogonatus, who reigned in 668-685. The conciliar acts were directed against the Monothelite heresy, whose adherents humiliated the Human Will of Christ. About 170 council members approved the confession of the Orthodox faith about two true wills in Christ - Divine and human. VI Ecumenical Council. Photo: www.pravoslavie.ru Hieromartyr Clement and Martyr Agathangel. Holy sufferers, teacher and student, who endured many torments for loyalty to Christ and His Church during the period of the most severe anti-Christian persecution of the pagan emperor Diocletian (Diocletian), who reigned in the Roman Empire in 284-305 from the Nativity of Christ. The exact date of the martyrdom of Saint Agathangel is unknown, but Saint Clement was beheaded by the sword by the pagans after the Divine Liturgy in 312 AD, shortly before the end of persecution against Christians in the Roman Empire. Hieromartyr Clement of Ancyra. Photo: www.pravoslavie.ru Venerable Mavsima (Maishima) Sirin. Syrian saint of the 4th century AD, who voluntarily took upon himself the feat of begging and serving his neighbors. Despite extreme poverty, the righteous man always kept two vessels full in his hut: with bread and oil. The doors of the house were never closed, and anyone hungry and in need could receive food from the hands of this saint. Reverend Salaman is a silent man. Saint of the 4th century, the first of God's saints to undertake the very difficult feat of prayerful silence. For many years, the Monk Salaman communicated only with the Lord and departed to Him in the year 400 from the Nativity of Christ. Saint Paul the Merciful, Bishop of Nolan. The saint of the 4th-5th centuries, who in his youth made an excellent secular career, becoming a Roman senator, after which he accepted Christ and decided to devote his life to Him. He distributed property to the poor and helped orphans and the needy in everything. At the end of the 4th century, Saint Paulinus was elected Bishop of Nolan. One day, unable to ransom the captives from the Vandals, the saint himself went into slavery among them in exchange for the son of a poor widow. When the Vandals found out who they had taken captive, they freed the elder, but he persuaded them to let other Christians go with him. Saint Paulinus died in the 79th year of his earthly life in 431 from the Nativity of Christ. Reverend Gennady of Kostroma and Lyubimograd. One of the most revered saints of the Kostroma land, in whose honor the celebration of the Council of Kostroma Saints was established. The Monk Gennady was born in White Rus' in the city of Mogilev, from where, in search of monastic spiritual achievements, he went to Moscow and Novgorod Rus', and then to the Vologda and Kostroma regions. On Lake Surskoe in Kostroma, Saint Gennady, together with the Monk Cornelius of Komel, founded a monastic hermitage, which later became the Gennady Monastery. The elder died in 1565 from the Nativity of Christ. Reverend Gennady of Kostroma and Lyubimograd. Photo: www.pravoslavie.ru Transfer of the relics of St. Theoktistus, Archbishop of Novgorod. Russian saint who headed the episcopal department of Veliky Novgorod in the early years of the 14th century. Having done a lot to restore and beautify churches and monasteries, Bishop Theoktist left his archpastoral service and retired to monastic spiritual exploits in the Annunciation Monastery, taking a vow of silence. He departed to the Lord in 1310 from the Nativity of Christ. The venerable relics of this saint were transferred to the city of Yuryev in 1786. Venerable Martyr Seraphim (Bulashov), Venerable Martyrs Evdokia (Kuzminova) and Ekaterina (Cherkasova), Martyr Militsa Kuvshinova. The Orthodox abbot, nuns of monastic monasteries and laywomen who suffered for their faith during the period of Soviet atheistic persecution and accepted the crown of martyrdom on this day in the bloody year of 1938. Glorified among the thousands of new martyrs and confessors of the Russian Church. * * * Congratulations to Orthodox Christians in memory of all today's saints! Through their prayers, Lord, save and have mercy on us all! We are happy to congratulate those who received names in their honor through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism or monastic tonsure! As they used to say in Rus' in the old days: “To the Guardian Angels - a golden crown, and to you - good health!” To our departed relatives and friends - eternal memory!
Memoirs of Archpriest Sergius Shchukin about Bishop Vasily of Kineshma
Living in the first years of the revolution in Moscow, I had to meet with some representatives of the Moscow intelligentsia, for whom the October revolution served as an impetus for complete internal degeneration. These were a kind of “repentant intellectuals” who realized their guilt in the years preceding the revolution.
Among them, the person I most remember is Veniamin Sergeevich Preobrazhensky. In those years he was 40–45 years old. The son of a priest, he studied at the theological academy, and then, under the influence of the spirit of the times, entered the university. This does not mean that he lost faith; no, he remained a believer, but he was more attracted to teaching activities than priestly ones. He was a talented teacher, and he was interested not so much in issues of education as in upbringing and, in particular, religious issues. Therefore, he often attended lectures at the Moscow Christian Student Circle, where I met him. He turned out to be an interesting conversationalist and willingly talked with students on religious and moral topics.
By the way, from Veniamin Sergeevich I first learned in more detail about scouting. He told us that he had been abroad to get acquainted with European schools. That, while in England, he was especially interested in the Baden-Powell educational system, i.e. “Boy Scoutism”, which had just appeared in those years. Veniamin Sergeevich liked this system so much that, upon returning to Moscow, he wrote a book about Boy Scouts. Now I don’t remember the name of the book, but it seems to me that it was the first book in Russian about scouting. Veniamin Sergeevich donated this book to the Kruzhk library, and then I became acquainted with it.
I can’t say for sure whether Veniamin Sergeevich himself used scouting methods in his gymnasium, but in any case, he was one of the first to introduce Russian society to the basics of scouting.
And now I’ll move on to how Veniamin Sergeevich reacted to the Bolsheviks coming to power. At the end of October 1917, the Bolshevik uprising took place in Moscow. The Red forces were resisted for several days by detachments of cadets located in the Kremlin and in some Moscow buildings. Many Muscovites were eyewitnesses of these episodes, the civil war, when the blood of Russian people, mainly young people, was shed on both sides. Among others, V.S. observed all this. Preobrazhensky. Pictures of the fratricidal struggle on the Moscow streets shocked his soul to such an extent that he could no longer stay in Moscow and live his normal life. He was haunted by the question: how could the Russian people reach such a state? In the end, he came to the conclusion that he himself was to blame for what had happened. For him, as a believing Christian and teacher, it became clear that the main cause of the revolution was the incorrect education of the Russian people, which the government, church and society did not care enough about.
At the same time, Veniamin Sergeevich realized his own mistake and perceived it as his sin before the people. He realized that his duty, as a graduate of theological school, was to become a priest and take care of the spiritual enlightenment of the people. But since he himself, like many other seminarians, avoided this responsibility and chose a different path, then part of the responsibility lies with him. Having come to this conclusion, Veniamin Sergeevich not only repented, but also decided to do everything possible to correct his sin. He immediately announced his resignation from his position as a teacher and, without saying goodbye to almost anyone, went to his homeland in the city of Kineshma, Kostroma province.
We do not know further details, but it became known that Veniamin Sergeevich soon became a monk (he was not married) with the name Vasily. A few years later, while Patriarch Tikhon was still alive, he was consecrated bishop and became His Eminence Vasily of Kineshma.
In this post, Bishop Vasily developed such preaching and organizational activities that he was soon arrested by the Soviet authorities and sent into exile. Bishop Vasily never returned from exile, like many of the priests and bishops of that time...
May these short lines be a modest wreath on the unknown grave of the murdered servant of God, Bishop Vasily (Preobrazhensky), one of the founders of the Russian Scout Movement.
Memoirs of Valentina Petrovna Orlova about Bishop Vasily of Kineshma
In the first years after the revolution, when the Church and the state were separated, there was a great rise in religious feeling among the people. Was this a consequence of the fact that the priesthood received greater freedom: the power of the higher clergy became less formidable, there was no need to endlessly remember the “Most Pious Autocratic Sovereign” in services, which tired many who were trying to keep up with the times, or was it a consequence of the experiences hardships - devastation, hunger, and at such a time the people seek protection from God (which happened in the last war) - I don’t know. But then people diligently attended churches, debates were often held between priests and atheists, which attracted a lot of people. First one, then the other “won”, and so far they have not persecuted anyone. At this time, the young priest Veniamin Preobrazhensky began serving in Kineshma. He was the son of an old archpriest, who served all his life in the Kineshma Ascension Church (now it houses a local history museum). Father Benjamin was highly educated - he graduated from two faculties - philosophical and theological, and visited Western countries - Paris, London. Very well read, talented speaker. In his youth, they say, he had an unsuccessful love, which deeply wounded his soul. I don’t remember whether his fiancee died or she was given away to someone else. And so he became a priest. Very soon, rumors about him, his extraordinary life and his wonderful sermons spread throughout the city. And I went to listen to Father Benjamin and was in great rapture from his talent. I was 14–15 years old then, but I had already read a lot.
There was one of the richest merchants in Kineshma - Elisov. He had a grocery store that had only the best. My dad always bought hams, ham sausage, tongue sausage, pistachio sausage, chum salmon caviar and black pressed sausage there at Christmas and Easter. Oh, how delicious everything was! I won’t even dream about it now! Elisov was the cathedral elder and was a great lover of church splendor. He, along with other “zealots of the faith,” went to Moscow and asked permission from the church authorities to open an episcopal see in our cathedral and install Father Benjamin as bishop. He brought the famous old regent Belov from Moscow, assembled a wonderful choir, and called in a wonderful archdeacon. In a word, he organized the service in the cathedral in such a way that people came from Moscow to listen to it. And then a rumor began to spread: “Father Benjamin will be tonsured.” After all, before you can be ordained a bishop, you must take monastic vows.
Of course, I ran to look. It was in February or March, during Lent, I don’t remember exactly the year - either 1919 or 1920. Small, low winter Church of the Ascension. There is a solid wall of people. I barely made it through. Not far from the entrance, on the left, a small corner is hung with black curtains. The people whisper: “he’s there, he’s there...” The service is underway. Back then I didn’t know the service at all, so I didn’t understand anything. Finally, in the crowd, with difficulty they made a path, no more than a meter wide, and from the central Royal Doors two monks in black robes and black hoods on their heads approached the black curtains. They threw back the curtains, and the man being tonsured fell prostrate before them. They began to ask him the right questions: “Are you ready to leave everything earthly? Are you ready to endure torment for your faith? Do you renounce your father and mother and surrender to Christ?” I don’t remember exactly the questions, there were quite a lot of them. Having received affirmative answers to all the questions, the monks (these were Moscow bishops) told him something like “follow us” and went back to the altar. And he crawled on his knees after them. And so he crawled through the entire church, all the way to the pulpit. I still remember the sigh of the crowd at the sight of this, the whole mass of people quietly groaned, as if with one breast. Now all the action was happening far from me, it was hard to see, I only saw how they cut a strand of hair from his head. Singing followed. It ended unexpectedly for me. A woman stood in front of me, her head was covered with a knitted scarf over her coat. And suddenly I see: a louse is crawling along the scarf, another, a third is crawling over the shoulders... But what kind of lice are - huge, thick, white, almost a centimeter long. And it was 1920, there was typhus. I'm backing, backing, back. Somehow I got out into the street and ran home. Everything turned out well. I didn't get one. In those years, there were so many lice on the floors of train stations that they crunched and cracked under boots.
In the fall, on Dormition Day, in our cathedral, Father Veniamin, named Vasily in monasticism, was ordained a bishop. About 10-12 metropolitans and bishops arrived from Moscow, with their retinues, with famous protodeacons... There was a great celebration. The choir, led by Belov, thundered, the archdeacons tried to surpass each other in the strength and beauty of their voices. The miters of the bishops sparkled with gold and multi-colored stones. This pomp, brilliance, splendor, and most importantly the most beautiful music of church chants literally stunned me. There were thousands of people. All the doors of the temple were open: western, southern and northern, and a crowd of people stood on the street. From that day on, I began to diligently attend the cathedral and did not miss almost a single service, although my parents scolded me very much for this. I really wanted to understand how this beauty was “made.” First of all, the choir. He stood on two choirs - you can’t clean one. The leading soprano, Polya Sokolova, had such a powerful voice that standing next to her would deafen you. And a beautiful voice. Powerful cotralto - Marusya Krylova, also matches her. At that time, leaders from the Pyatnitsky choir came, called, invited them both to join the choir, promised a brilliant future, but they did not go. There was also Vera Golubtsova - the first alto, a light, clear voice. There was tenor Shura Vetrov - the best voice in the whole area. Maybe you heard Georgy Pavlovich Vinogradov on the radio; Vetrov had the same voice. The voice is especially similar when Vinogradov sings: “Far, far, where the mists roam...”. Vinogradov is our fellow countryman, the son of a priest from beyond the Volga. There were baritones and basses. Not every church in Moscow had such a choir. It was an amazing rise in spirit, it was unforgettable. I'm glad I could hear this beauty, now you can't hear it anymore. By the way, for some time the great-great-grandson of Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka directed the choir in Ivanovo, and I went to see him. The choir sings tolerably... there is no one to sing...
Another celebrity of our cathedral was Protodeacon Leonid Chudetsky. He was taken from Galich, where he served in the cathedral, and the eldest there was my father’s uncle, who once came to Vl. on business. Vasily and stayed with us. So Chudetsky, as they said about him, was really Chudetsky. Russian hero, tall, fair-haired, high, open forehead, eyebrows splayed, gray, bright eyes, as soon as he shoots them, he will kill on the spot. And the voice, the voice... He will begin to read from low notes, but will fly to such heights that the glass in the windows rings in response to him and it seems that pure silver is crumbling under the arches. And all this without any effort. And his gait and all his movements are a picture. Artist.
Kineshma Chaliapin passed by, he was on his way to his dacha in Poroshino (there is now a holiday home and the famous Chaliapin samovar is located there). Chaliapin listened to him and began inviting him to the Bolshoi Theater. Chudetsky did not go. He suffered a lot of grief afterwards. In the 30s he was imprisoned, sat with criminals, he was severely beaten on the head, after which he began to develop epilepsy. After returning from prison, he served a little more, but it wasn’t the same. Epilepsy was taking its toll: he stood on the pulpit, read, and suddenly fell silent. There is tense silence in the church, they are waiting. After a few seconds he continues reading - as if nothing had happened. This is a “minor form” of epilepsy, when the patient himself does not notice that he lost consciousness for a few seconds. But then things got worse for him, and he ended his life in the psychiatry department. It still hurts. Such a gifted person has such a fate.
Notes-memories of Bishop Vasily of Kineshma to his spiritual daughter Elena Firsova
In 1921–1922, in the house of Aunt Katya and Aunt Pani Popov, the archpriest of the Ascension Church, Fr. Vladimir Golubev, he was a spiritually close person to them. At that time I was living with my aunts during the winter, studying in the 2nd grade, I was 9 years old, but I remember everything well. I remember how Fr. Vladimir came from the church after the all-night vigil, blessed the meager food on the table, sat down with us at the table, and over tea from the samovar told us a lot about Veniamin Sergeevich Preobrazhensky, the son of Archpriest Sergius, who had come to Kineshma and served as a psalm-reader in the Ascension Church. Archpriest Sergius previously served at the Ascension; he died in 1919. They rushed to occupy the priest's house and turned it into communal apartments. This house stood close to the temple. It was demolished in the 60s, a new brick house was built, and the city prosecutor's office was located there for a long time.
Veniamin Sergeevich, being a psalm-reader, lived in the village of Bolobanikha in the house of the Maslovs - Makar Vasilyevich and Nikolai Vasilyevich. In the 60s and 70s, the entire village of Bolobanikha was demolished, the residents were resettled to the AZLK area. From the Maslovs’ granddaughter, Shura Golubeva, I learned that Veniamin Sergeevich went to church in secular clothes - a white shirt and black trousers. Father Vladimir told how Veniamin Sergeevich in 1920 at the Kineshma Assumption Convent took monastic vows with the name Vasily (in honor of St. Basil the Great). Soon, Monk Vasily was ordained as a hierodeacon and a hieromonk, and he continued to serve in the Church of the Ascension. In 1921, he was quickly consecrated in Kostroma as a bishop - vicar with the diocese in the city of Kineshma and the Kineshma region.
Bishop Vasily began to create Christian Orthodox circles in his diocese - in Kineshma and nearby villages. He assigned the circle to be led by a believing woman who was well literate. In Orthodox circles the Gospel was read, and the bishop himself gave the interpretation. In Kineshma, the circle was organized mainly by young people; they studied in the baptismal room of the Church of the Ascension. This circle was created when Veniamin Sergeevich was still a psalm-reader. In 1921, Bishop Vasily was summoned to debates at the city theater, where the bishop’s opponent was the atheist Kazantsev (son of a priest). The disputes were quickly stopped, because the opponent was weak in theological science.
I remember Maria Andreevna Dmitrieva very well, she and her two sisters: Anna and Ekaterina lived in the village of Ilyino (now Dudnikova Street). Maria Andreevna became blind at the age of 17, but had great faith in God; with the blessing of the bishop, she led a circle in the village of Trezubtsevo near Navolok. The circle also read the Gospel with the interpretation of Bishop Vasily. Maria Andreevna sang in the right choir, recited the hours and the Six Psalms by heart. At home, I sewed outerwear for village women, cut them according to special patterns - patterns made from cardboard, and knitted. Indeed, “The Lord makes the blind wise”! Another leader of the circle was Sekleteya Timofeevna Chumakova in the villages of Pochinok and Velizanets. Her uncle, Vasily Andreevich Panfilov, was the headman at the church in Velizanets.
From the conversations of Father Vladimir, I learned that from the first days of Bishop Vasily’s ministry, persecution began for his missionary activities, for his influence, for his wonderful sermons in the cathedral. In 1917, His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon began his patriarchal service. At this time, the persecution of the Church begins. The year 1918 was abundantly watered with the blood of priests and bishops, religious processions were shot, when church property was taken away, believers were shot, and the relics of the holy saints of God were desecrated. In the 1920s, Patriarch Tikhon stood up for the faith, for the preservation of the spiritual traditions of the Church, and the fight for the purity of Christian souls.
Bishop Vasily was a true follower of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon, defending the purity of the One Holy Apostolic Orthodox Church. A schism appears—renovationism. In 1922, Patriarch Tikhon was arrested. The elimination of undesirable bishops began. The Renovationists captured churches everywhere in the country, expelling the Orthodox. Bishop Vasily blessed the pastors not to leave their flock.
Bishop Vasily served only 1 year and 8 months and was arrested in 1923.
For the first time, Bishop Vasily was exiled to the Zyryansky region, to Ust-Kulom, where 2 metropolitans and 4 bishops gathered at that time. One of them is Metropolitan Kirill of Kazan, who presented Bishop Vasily with his bishop’s vestments; he kept it carefully and before his death he blessed it to be cut and distributed to his spiritual children. In Zyryansk exile, 6 bishops performed divine services in a taiga hut. Bishop Vasily's cell attendant was Alexander Pavlovich Chumakov, born in 1891, a native of the Kostroma province. At the age of 22 he was a novice in Optina Pustyn. The World War of 1914 began, and he was taken into the army, captured in Romania, and escaped. At home he was a psalm-reader. Rumors reached Kostroma about Bishop Vasily of Kineshma. In 1922, he came to Kineshma and became the bishop’s cell attendant. Subsequently, Alexander Pavlovich followed him and shared all the hardships and hardships of exiled life. He was a good carpenter and painter (I learned this information from Alexander Pavlovich himself). In 1922, Father Vladimir was ordained archimandrite, and in 1925 he was consecrated bishop of Vetluzh in Nizhny Novgorod. His cell attendant was Alexander Pavlovich’s brother, Nikolai Pavlovich Chumakov. Bishop Nikolai did not serve long in Vetluga. Due to health reasons, he was released, left, and accepted the eldership. He lived in the village of Shiryaevo, Ugolsky s/s, Kostroma region, 22 kilometers from Kineshma beyond the Volga. There, Nikolai Pavlovich erected a hut-church with a cell (next to the cemetery), dug a dugout where spiritual children who came to the bishop stayed. People even came to him from Moscow and Leningrad for advice. Father Vladimir, while still living in Kineshma with my aunts, put into my childhood soul the first rudiments of true pure faith in God. He led a real monastic life in the world as well. His room is like a cell, there are icons in the corner, a lectern, and a hard iron bed against the wall. I remember how there was a fire near our house; the flames illuminated the fence of the Ascension Church at night. In our house, everyone was in a panic, fussing, tying their belongings in knots, crying. Father Vladimir calmed everyone down and said, “Everything is God’s will.” He stood up for prayer in front of the images and fervently prayed to God for a long time. And then he ordered me to dress (it was winter), took me and led me to the temple, set me up, and he himself went to the altar and began to serve Matins. Our house, thank God, did not catch fire, but the burning house burned to the ground. When the Church of the Ascension was closed, we, the spiritual children of Vladyka Vasily, went on foot to the village of Shiryaevo to Vladyka Nikolai for confession, during Lent and on Easter - this was in 1929, and in 1930 in the winter he died and was buried nearby in the cemetery.
Vladyka Vasily, being in exile in Ust-Kulom with Metropolitan Kirill, living next to him and serving, became confident in his faith and in the modern situation of the Orthodox Church. The Metropolitan had the authority of an Orthodox theologian, confirmed by the piety of his personal life. In May 1925, the exile ended, and Bishop Vasily returned to Kineshma. His spiritual children began to flock to the Vozdvizhenskaya Church. He confessed until late at night. The church in Kineshma began to grow rapidly. In January 1926, the authorities ordered Bishop Vasily to leave the city. First, we left with Alexander Pavlovich to his homeland in the village of Anapol, where the two of them performed divine services in the house (they lived for six months); then the bishop went to the relics of Seraphim of Sarov, was in Diveyevo, from there he went to Nizhny Novgorod, where, together with Metropolitan Sergius (Starogorodsky), he participated in the consecration of Hieromonk Nikolai Golubev as Bishop of Vetluga. Bishop Vasily received an appointment there - a transfer to the Vyaznikovsky see (temporarily). This transfer in Kineshma was met with great sorrow. When the train started moving, people knelt down, waved their hands, saying goodbye, cried, crossed themselves (confirmed by Olga Plyasova and others). In Vyazniki, Vladyka wrote a manuscript of a book containing his conversations, which he conducted in church and circles. In Vyazniki, his spiritual steadfastness and his sermons began to attract many people to the temple, and the authorities sent the bishop to Kineshma. Upon returning, he served only a few months and the authorities demanded that he leave for Kostroma.
Bishop Vasily no longer served in the Kineshma Assumption Cathedral. Archbishop Sevastian of Kostroma and Galich was sent to Kineshma. The rector of the cathedral, Archpriest John of Altovsky, was arrested (died in the camp). Bishop Vasily always served at the Ascension (summer church), winter - the throne of John Chrysostom. In the temple, the parishioners, the elder and the priest were of the same mind with the bishop. During these years, Father Nikolai (Panova), Deacon John Gruzdev, and psalm-reader Vasily Pospelov served there. The head of the temple was Grigory Fedorovich Ivanov, and during his long illness - nun Agnia (in the world Anastasia Zakharovna Orlova), former treasurer of the Kineshma Assumption Convent (before its closure). The altar attendant - the sacristan was nun Vitaly from the Assumption Convent. With the blessing of the bishop, my friend Valya and I were transferred to the right choir. The regent was Katya Tsyplyaeva (Eupraxia in monasticism) from the closed Assumption Monastery. Singers: Lida Gribunina (soprano), Manya Volina (alto), Maria Andreevna (2 sopranos), Valya and I are second voices. All the chants were well practiced and sung without notes. On major holidays, “Cherubic” and “Mercy of the World” were sung according to the notes. Maria Andreevna (blind) recited the Hours and Six Psalms by heart, and Manya Volina recited the kathismas. During Lent, “May my prayer be corrected” was sung by a trio: Lida Gribunina, Manya Volina, Maria Andreevna. Only the left choir sang the verses “I cried to the Lord” and “On the Praises” according to their voices. The apostle was read by Vasya Pospelov. I remember the bishop’s subdeacons: Misha Razumov, the son of the rector of the Assumption Monastery, Father Konstantin, Bratolyubov and Vasya Smirnov. Everyday worship was modest and simple. The bishop himself served without bishop's vestments in a robe and hood. But on the twelve holidays everything was very solemn. In 1927, the Diveyevo Monastery was dispersed. Nun Anna arrived in Kineshma, who was appointed regent on the right choir, the nun (I forgot her name) sang in a bass voice, novices Marfusha (alto), novices Nina (1 voice). The choir has become big. Mother Anna wanted to remake all the melodies in the Diveyevo style. I remember the service on Christ’s Day, during the singing of the Easter canon, the left and right choirs converged in the middle of the church and sang in the Diveyevo style, sublimely and solemnly. But all this did not last long. Mother Anna and the old nun, who sang in a bass voice, left Kineshma. Katya Tsyplyaeva remained the regent, and everything became as before.
1 Sergey Sergeevich Shchukin (1891 - 1977), born in 1891 in Rostov-on-Don in the family of a railway engineer. He studied at a specialized Moscow technical educational institution. In 1918 he received a diploma as a chemical engineer. Active participant in the Moscow and then Rostov branches of the Russian Student Christian Movement. In 1934 he was arrested by the NKVD for religious activities. Sentenced by the troika to five years in prison under Art. 58, paragraph 10 (counter-revolutionary agitation). He spent his exile in the Ukhto-Pechersk camps in Komi. In 1943 he was evacuated to the West. In 1946, he was ordained by Bishop Nathanael (Lvov) to the rank of priest at the Annunciation in the barracks church of St. Procopy of Ustyug in Hamburg (Germany). He lived and served in the camp for displaced persons Fischbeck near Hamburg (Germany) in the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR). Since 1949 he served in Bradford (Yorkshire, England). In 1952 he moved to Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Archpriest. He served as the second priest in Toronto. He actively worked with young people, organized a parish school, the Vladimir circle for older youth, and was the spiritual leader of Russian scouts in Toronto (Canada). From 1966 until his death he was rector of the Holy Trinity Church in Windsor (Canada). Mitred Archpriest (1976). Died on January 5, 1977. Buried in the cemetery of the Holy Trinity Monastery in Jordanville (USA).
Reverend Abraham of Galich, Chukhlomsky, Gorodetsky - disciple of Reverend Sergius of Radonezh.
The place of birth and worldly name of the Monk Abraham are unknown. According to an excerpt from his most ancient life, the Monk Abraham initially labored in the Nizhny Novgorod Pechersk monastery, from where he moved to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. After some time, in search of a place for a solitary monastic life, the Monk Abraham, with the blessing of the Monk Sergius of Radonezh, went to the Kostroma borders, to the Principality of Galich, where he founded the first monastery in the Galich side - the Avraamiev Novozaozersky (Novoezersky) Monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the north. on the eastern shore of Lake Galich (now the village of Umilenie, Galich district, Kostroma region).
Venerable Adrian of Monzen
The Monk Adrian (in the world Amos) was born in Kostroma and was a student of the Monk Ferapont of Monza. In his youth, he left his parents' home and labored in the Tolga, Gennadiev, Spaso-Kamenny and Pavlo-Obnorsky monasteries. At the direction of the Monk Ferapont, Adrian settled near the mouth of the Monza River (the right tributary of the Kostroma River) and began building the Annunciation Monastery, which later received the name Hadrian Hermitage.
Rev. Alexander Vochsky
The Monk Alexander was the founder and abbot of the Alexander Hermitage on the Vocha River, a left tributary of the Kostroma River, near the city of Soligalich. It is impossible to say with certainty either the time or place of birth of the Monk Alexander, as well as the class to which he belonged. It can be assumed that he was born no earlier than the middle of the 14th century, because he is glorified as an “imitator” in his exploits and even as an “interlocutor” of the Monk Abraham of Chukhloma, who died in 1375, and no later than the beginning of the 16th century, since during the reign of Vasily Ivanovich III (1505-1553) The Alexander Hermitage already existed and received an entire volost from this king.
The saint’s youth in the service is sung as follows: “From the shrouds of youth you clung to the venerable God, for this sake you considered this life as nothing, you desired to bear the cross of the Lord more than anything else, and you hated all earthly things.” The consequence of such zeal for piety was that the young man early left “his fatherland and relatives and retired to the desert for exploits.
Venerable Barnabas of Vetluga
The Monk Barnabas lived in the XIV-XV centuries; At first he was a parish priest in Veliky Ustyug, and after the death of his wife he became a monk.
After tonsure, the monk withdrew from the vain worldly life and settled in a deserted place on Red Mountain near the Vetluga River. Here, as the life of the holy saint narrates, he “worked for God in psalmody and prayer, feeding on the past and the top of oak.”
The Monk Barnabas spent twenty-eight years as a hermit on Red Mountain. Despite the fact that there was no human habitation in the immediate vicinity of this place, the inhabitants of the ancient Vetluga region became aware of the fertile hermit; Those who were looking for spiritual advice, admonition and consolation began to turn to the saint of God. Evidence has been preserved of the prophecies of the holy elder, who predicted that after his repose to the Lord a monastic monastery would arise on Red Mountain, and “God will increase the lives of men.”
Hieromartyr Vasily Razumov, Priest Sypanovsky
Hieromartyr Priest Vasily Razumov was born in 1879 in the village of Kuchino near the city of Sudislavl into a poor peasant family. In the early 30s of the twentieth century, he served as a priest in the Krasnoselsky district; in 1932, Father Vasily was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in a camp, from where he was released early for health reasons in 1935.
Hieromartyr Nikodim, Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich, who ruled the Kostroma diocese at that time, appointed Father Vasily to serve in the Holy Trinity Church in the village of Trinity, Nerekhta region - the former monastery church of the Trinity-Sypanova Pachomiev-Nerekhta monastery. During the sorrowful years of persecution of the Church and the faith of Christ, Hieromartyr Basil, strengthened by his mentor and spiritual friend, Hieromartyr Nicodemus, zealously defended the truth and purity of Orthodoxy, affirmed his flock in standing for the truth of God, and protected the temple from attempts to close and desecrate it.
Soligalich New Martyrs
Hieromartyrs Archpriest Joseph Smirnov, Priest Vladimir Ilyinsky, Deacon John of Kastor and Martyr John Perebaskin.
Archpriest Joseph Smirnov was born in 1864. After graduating from the Kostroma Theological Seminary, from 1885 to 1896 he taught at the Soligalich parish school. In 1886 he was ordained priest of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; was a confessor at the city prison and an observer of parochial schools in Soligalichsky district. In September 1905 he was appointed rector of the cathedral. He was elected as a deputy of the city duma and the Soligalichsky district assembly, and was a member of the district committee of trusteeship of people's sobriety. In 1907 he was elevated to the rank of archpriest. Information from his service record and materials from periodical church press show us Father Joseph as an educated, worthy clergyman, a man of impeccable Christian morality, who enjoyed deep respect among the townspeople.
Hieromartyr Vasily (Preobrazhensky), Bishop of Kineshma
Bishop Vasily (Preobrazhensky Veniamin Sergeevich) was born in 1876 in the city of Kineshma, Kostroma province (now Ivanovo region) in the family of a priest.
His parents, pious and devout people, spent their lives almost monastically. Only when necessary, they left the house, beyond the walls of which neither news, nor gossip, nor idle talk penetrated. This absence of everyday fuss instilled concentration in the boy. He received higher secular and higher spiritual education, defended his dissertation, receiving a master's degree in theology. However, he wanted to arrange his life as a secular person. But God prepared a different fate for him. Every summer Benjamin came home.
Venerable Gennady of Kostroma and Lyubimograd
The Monk Gennady, in the world Gregory, came from a family of Russian-Lithuanian boyars John and Helen; he was born in the city of Mogilev. From childhood, the boy loved to visit the temple of God, and, finally, deciding to enter one of the monasteries in the Russian land, he secretly left his parental home, exchanged rich clothes from the beggars for rags, and in this form reached Moscow. Here he met his future spiritual friend named Theodore, who also strived for monastic exploits. Not finding refuge in the Moscow region, the ascetics went to the Novgorod land; here they met with the Monk Alexander of Svirsky, who blessed the friends to go to the Vologda forests to the Monk Cornelius of Komel.
Saint Cornelius predicted to Theodore that his fate was worldly life (indeed, Theodore soon returned to Moscow, had a large family and lived to a ripe old age), and left Gregory in his monastery, where, after a long time of novice labors, he took monastic vows with the name Gennady .
Venerable Gregory of Pelshem, Vologda
Born in the city of Galich, Kostroma province, he belonged to the noble family of boyars, the Lopotovs. At the monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God on Lake Galich, he took monastic vows and was awarded the rank of priest. He founded a monastery on the Pelshma River in the Vologda province. He died as a 127-year-old old man on September 30, 1442.
Hieromartyr Dimitri (Dobroserdov), Archbishop of Mozhaisk
Hieromartyr Demetrius (in the world Ivan Ivanovich Dobroserdov) was born on January 22, 1864 in the village of Pakhotny Ugol, Tambov province, into the family of a priest. After graduating from the Tambov Theological Seminary in 1885, he was appointed teacher of the zemstvo school in Morshansky district, where he worked until 1889. On May 6, 1889, Ivan Ivanovich was ordained a priest to the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Mamontov, Tambov province, and was appointed head and teacher of the law at the Mamontov parish school.
Soon, Father John’s wife and children died. Left alone, he left the Tambov province and in 1894 entered the Moscow Theological Academy. Upon graduating in 1898 with a candidate of theology degree, he was appointed teacher of the law at the 4th Moscow Gymnasium and priest of the gymnasium church. On April 10, 1899, Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Vladimir (Epiphany) appointed Priest John rector of the Annunciation Church at the gymnasium.
Venerable Jacob Bryleevsky
The Monk Jacob lived in the 15th century and came from a family of nobles, the Bryleevs. He was a student of St. Jacob of Zheleznoborovsk, a novice of his monastery. He founded a small monastic monastery, known as the Trinity Bryleevskaya Hermitage, four miles from the Iakovo-Zheleznoborovskaya monastery, where he died.
Venerable Jacob of Zheleznoborovsk
The Monk Jacob was born in the 14th century into a pious family of Galich nobles, the Anosovs. Having lost his parents at a young age, he distributed all his property to those in need and took monastic vows at the monastery of the abbot of the Russian land, St. Sergius of Radonezh.
The desire for the highest feat of monasticism - the hermit life - prompted the Monk Jacob to return to his native land. Having received the blessing of Saint Sergius, he settled on the banks of the Tebza River near the village of Zhelezny Borok, not far from the city of Buya, and remained there in solitary prayer and monastic labors.
Saint Ignatius Brianchaninov, Bishop of the Caucasus and Black Sea
Saint Ignatius (in the world Dmitry Alexandrovich Brianchaninov) was born on February 5, 1807 in the village of Pokrovskoye, Gryazovets district, Vologda province, into an old noble family, received an excellent education at home, and graduated from the Military Engineering School. In 1827, he retired for health reasons, lived in the Alexander-Svirsky Monastery, in the Optina Hermitage, and the Dionysian-Glushitsky Monastery.
On June 28, 1831, he was tonsured with the name Ignatius in honor of the Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-Bearer, ordained to the rank of hieromonk, then appointed abbot and builder of the Pelshensky Lopatov Monastery. On January 28, 1835, for his diligent work in reviving the monastery, Saint Ignatius was elevated to the rank of abbot, then to the rank of archimandrite and appointed rector of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery near St. Petersburg.
Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia
Saint Jonah (his worldly name is unknown) was born at the end of the 14th century in the village of Odnoushevo, located several miles from Sol Galitskaya (Soligalich), in the family of the nobleman Theodore Odnoush. According to his life, the future saint became a monk at the age of 12 “in one of the monasteries of the Galich country” - according to modern data, in the Annunciation Unorozhsky Monastery near the Veksa River, a few kilometers northwest of Lake Galich. After some time, he moved to the Moscow Simonov Monastery and around 1430 he was ordained Bishop of Ryazan. After the death of Metropolitan Photius in 1431, Saint Jonah began to manage the affairs of the entire Russian Metropolis. In December 1448, a council of Russian bishops elected Bishop Jonah as Metropolitan of All Rus'; from that time on, the Russian Orthodox Church actually became autocephalous, independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Venerable Kirill of Novoezersk
Born in Galich, he came from a noble family of the Whites or Whites. Secretly leaving his parents' house, he retired to the Komel forests to the Monk Cornelius, from whom he received monastic vows. He labored for 10 years under the leadership of the Monk Cornelius, and then, with his blessing, lived in the desert for 7 years. In 1507, he settled on Red Island near New Lake (White Lake), built 2 churches: in the name of the Resurrection of Christ and in the name of the Hodegetria icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. He was ordained a priest. Died on February 4, 1532. The relics of St. Cyril were found incorrupt in 1649.
Venerable Macarius of Unzhensk and Zheltovodsk
The Monk Macarius of Unzhensk and Zheltovodsk was born in 1349 in Nizhny Novgorod. At the age of 12, he became a monk in the Nizhny Novgorod Ascension Pechersky Monastery, and then, with the blessing of the abbot of the monastery of St. Dionysius, he settled on the banks of the Lukh River, erecting a church there in the name of the Epiphany of the Lord and creating a monastery. Subsequently, the Monk Macarius moved to the banks of the Volga River, where, near Lake Zheltye Vody, he founded a monastery in the Name of the Life-Giving Trinity. In 1439, the Zheltovodsk Monastery was destroyed by the Tatars; After this, the Monk Macarius went to the Unzha River, where he founded his third monastery.
Venerable Macarius, missionary of Altai
The Monk Macarius (in the world Glukharev Mikhail Yakovlevich) was born on November 8, 1792. He studied at the Vyazemsky Theological School and the Smolensk Theological Seminary, after which he remained there as a teacher of Latin grammar. In 1817 he graduated from the St. Petersburg Theological Academy with a master's degree in theology. On June 18, 1817, he was appointed inspector of the Ekaterinoslav Theological Seminary. On June 24, 1818, he was tonsured a monk, and on June 28, he was ordained a hieromonk.
On February 20, 1821, he was appointed rector of the Kostroma Theological Seminary. On December 21, 1821, he was elevated to the rank of archimandrite and made rector of the Kostroma Epiphany Monastery. Through the care of the Monk Macarius, the corner southwestern tower of the monastery with the miraculous Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God written on it was rebuilt into the Smolensk Church, which has survived to this day.
Hieromartyr Macarius (Karmazin), Bishop of Ekaterinoslav
Hieromartyr Macarius (in the world Grigory Yakovlevich Karmazin) was born on October 1, 1875 in the Podolsk province. On August 23, 1893, after graduating from the Podolsk Theological Seminary, he was ordained a priest and served in the parishes of the Podolsk diocese.
In 1902, Father Grigory Karmazin became a priest of the 8th reserve cavalry regiment; on May 4, 1912, he was listed as a military chaplain of the 152nd Vladikavkaz Infantry Regiment. During the First World War he was wounded and shell-shocked twice. For his personal courage and pastoral work, he was elevated to the rank of archpriest and was assigned to the 729th Novoufa Infantry Regiment. As a military priest, Father Grigory Karmazin served in Brest-Litovsk, Galicia, Riga and other places, from 1918 to 1922 - he served in various parishes of the Kyiv diocese.
Saint Mitrofan, Bishop of Voronezh
Saint Mitrophan (in the world Michael) was born on November 6, 1623 in the village. Antilokhovo, Vladimir region. Until the age of 40, he lived in the world, was married, had a son, John, and served as a parish priest in the village. Sidorovskoye near the town of Shuya. Having lost his wife, in 1663 he took monastic vows in the Zolotnikovaya Hermitage with the name Mitrofan. For 10 years he was abbot of the Yakhroma Kosmina Hermitage. Through his care, a temple was erected in the monastery in honor of the Savior Not Made by Hands.
For 7 years, from 1675 to 1682, Saint Mitrofan was the abbot of the Makariev-Unzhensky Monastery, founded within the Kostroma region by the Monk Makariy Unzhensky. During the years of the abbess of St. Mitrofan, the Annunciation Church with a bell tower was erected in the monastery in 1680.
Venerable Macarius of Pisemsky.
Very little is known about the life and works of St. Macarius. The saint was born in the middle of the 14th century; According to legend, his homeland was the village of Danilovo on the Pisma River (the left tributary of the Kostroma River), and he himself by origin belonged to the family of Pisemsky boyars. Even in his youth, having renounced all the advantages of his class position, the saint went to the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh, where he was tonsured a monk with the name Macarius - in honor of St. Macarius of Egypt.
With the blessing of the abbot of the Russian land, the Monk Macarius, having gone through the harsh school of monastic labors and exploits, returned to his homeland - to the Principality of Galich. Here he erected a cell and a small chapel on the banks of the Letter (this place is located about a kilometer from the monastery that arose later and was subsequently called the “old hermitage of St. Macarius”).
Hieromartyr Nikodim (Krotkov), Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich.
Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich Nikodim (in the world Nikolai Vasilyevich Krotkov) was born on November 29, 1868 in the village. Seredsky district, Kostroma province (now Ivanovo region) sinned in the family of a priest.
From an early age he was distinguished by exceptional piety and love for the Holy Church. After graduating from the Kostroma Theological Seminary in 1889, he was a parish school teacher for several years. In 1896, the future saint entered the Kyiv Theological Academy. Here, on August 13, 1899, he took monastic vows and gave his name in honor of the righteous Nicodemus. The following year, after successfully completing an academic course with a candidate of theology degree, Hieromonk Nikodim was sent as caretaker of the Vladikavkaz Theological School. Two years later he was transferred to Kutaisi to the position of inspector of the theological seminary, and in 1905 he was appointed rector of the Pskov Theological Seminary.
Reverend Nikita of Kostroma.
St. Nikita is a disciple and, as they say in the ancient synodics, a relative of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The saint was born around the 60s of the 14th century in the Moscow region (it is no coincidence that in some lists of students of the Radonezh abbot he is called Serpukhovsky or Borovsky).
The monastic path of the Monk Nikita began in the Vysotsky Mother of God Conception Monastery near Serpukhov. In 1396, the saint became abbot of the monastery, and around 1415, due to an eye disease, he left the monastery and retired to the Vysoko-Pokrovsky Monastery near the city of Borovsk. Here he was the spiritual mentor of the Monk Paphnutius Borovsky, the future founder of the Paphnutius-Borovsky Monastery.
Reverend Pavel Obnorsky (Komelsky).
The Monk Paul was born in Moscow in 1317 (this date is considered traditional, but historians believe that the birth of the saint could have occurred later - in the 30s of the 14th century). When the father and mother decided to marry their son, he secretly left his parental home and went to the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh, where he took monastic vows. Having gone through all the monastic obediences, the Monk Paul decided to undertake the feat of silence and, with the blessing of the Radonezh abbot, retired first to a deserted place near the monastery, and then, 15 years later, to the northern forests.
Arriving on the Kostroma land, the saint first settled near the Great Hermitage of the Robe founded by the Monk Abraham Gorodetsky, and then moved to another monastery of the Monk Avraami - Pokrovsky on the shore of Lake Chukhloma. After some time, the saint of God retired from there to the small river Pisma, where for about 20 years he labored together with another disciple of Saint Abraham, the Venerable Macarius of Pisemsky.
Venerable Paisius of Galich
The Monk Paisius, the heavenly patron of the ancient city on Lake Galich, at the end of the 14th century came to the Galich Assumption Monastery (then called Nikolsky) and labored there for 70 years, subsequently becoming the abbot of the monastery. Already during the life of the holy elder, the monastery received the name Paisiev; Thus, our pious ancestors testified to their reverence for the high spiritual life of the saint. The saint of God put in a lot of effort to improve the monastery and establish the rules of ascetic monastic life in it.
During the reign of the Monk Paisius, in 1425, a miraculous appearance of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Ovinovskaya, took place in the monastery. Next to the monastery were the lands of the pious Galich boyar Ioann Ovin. Wanting to erect a new church in the monastery instead of the dilapidated old one, one Sunday the boyar came to the monastery to choose a place to build a church.
Blessed Simon Yuryevetsky, a holy fool for Christ's sake, was born in the village of Odelevo in the former Nerekhta district of the Kostroma province (currently the Volga region of the Ivanovo region) into a pious family of peasants Rodion and Maria Shitov.
At a young age, having secretly left his parental home, Blessed Simon took upon himself the feat of foolishness in Christ. He settled in the forest near the village of Elnati. The village residents informed the local priest Joseph about him, and he took the blessed one into his home. In winter and summer, the saint walked barefoot, wearing only a shirt, enduring ridicule and humiliation, and was often beaten.
Venerable Timon, Elder of Nadeevsky
The Monk Timon (in the world Tikhon Fedorov) was born in 1766 in the city of Balakhna, Nizhny Novgorod province, in the family of a deacon of one of the local churches, Theodore, and his wife Anisia. Taught by his father, the boy already at the age of seven read church books freely, being distinguished by his love of solitude and prayer.
Having received an education at the Nizhny Novgorod Theological School, Tikhon returned to his parents’ home to his already seriously ill father. During this period of his life, the young man often made pilgrimage trips to the monasteries of the Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Vladimir and Tambov dioceses.
Rev. Tikhon Lukhovsky
The Monk Tikhon (in the world Timothy) was born in the first half of the 15th century within the Lithuanian principality. In one of the Moscow monasteries, he took monastic vows and went to the Kostroma region. Three miles from the city of Lukha, in the town of Kopytovo, the monk begins his hermit life. Soon the St. Nicholas Monastery appeared on this site - later Tikhon’s Monastery.
The Monk Tikhon died on June 16, 1503. In 1570 he was canonized. The life of the saint was compiled in 1649. The holy relics of St. Tikhon reside in the St. Nicholas Tikhon Men's Hermitage in the Ivanovo Region.
Reverends Gerasim and Thaddeus of Lukhovsky
The Monks Thaddeus and Gerasim of Lukhovsky lived in the 16th century and were students of the Monk Tikhon of Lukhovsky. Their names, along with the names of two other ascetics, Saints Philaret and Photius, were preserved in the ancient synodikon of Tikhon's Hermitage and on the ancient icon of Saint Tikhon. The relics of Saints Gerasim and Thaddeus rest in the St. Nicholas Tikhon Men's Hermitage of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk diocese.
Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates - heavenly patron of Kostroma
The Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates has been the patron saint of the city of Kostroma since ancient times.
Theodore Stratilates (Greek: “commander in chief”) was the ruler of Iraklia Pontus in Asia Minor. Under Emperor Licinius in 319, he accepted martyrdom for his confession of faith in Christ - after cruel scourging, he was crucified on a cross and then beheaded with a sword. Theodore's sufferings were described by his servant Uar.
Cathedral in the name of the Great Martyr Theodore
Cathedral of Kostroma Saints
The cathedral feast of the saints of the Kostroma land was established in 1981, on the initiative of the Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich Cassian (Yaroslavl) and with the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Pimen. The celebration was set for January 23/February 5 - the day of memory of St. Gennady of Kostroma. More than 30 saints of God labored in monastic feat on the Kostroma land. They brought a strict monastic community to the region of Kostroma and established Christianity here; built 18 monasteries, which became centers of spiritual culture of the region. Icons of these saints were widespread among Kostroma residents.
Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates - heavenly patron of Kostroma
memory 8 (21) February and (21) June
The Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates has been the patron saint of the city of Kostroma since ancient times. The Cathedral in the name of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates was one of the first Kostroma churches. It has not survived to this day, but it is known that it was to this temple in the mid-13th century that the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God was miraculously found by Prince Vasily Yaroslavich of Kostroma, the younger brother of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky. This great all-Russian shrine, which has been in our city for almost eight centuries, received its name precisely because it was kept for many years in the temple of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates. The “Tale of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God” says that on the eve of its appearance to Prince Vasily in the Kostroma forest, many townspeople saw this icon carried through the streets of Kostroma by a certain warrior, dressed in military clothing and surprisingly similar to the image of Theodore Stratelates in the cathedral church named after him . In 1994, under the joint care of the Kostroma diocese and the regional administration, at the Kostroma military cemetery according to the project of L.S. Vasilyev, a chapel was erected in the name of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates. In 2002, on the territory of the Epiphany-Anastasia Cathedral in Kostroma, a monument was erected to the Great Martyr Theodore, consecrated on the day of the celebration of the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God by His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Rus'.
Venerable Abraham of Galich
memory July 20 (August 2)
Reverend Abraham of Galich, Chukhlomsky, Gorodetsky - disciple of Reverend Sergius of Radonezh. The place of birth and worldly name of the Monk Abraham are unknown. With the blessing of St. Sergius of Radonezh, he went to the Kostroma borders, to the Galich principality, where he founded the first monastery in the Galich side - the Avraamiev Novozaozersky (Novoezersky) monastery in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the north-eastern shore of Lake Galich (now the village of Umilenie, Galichsky district, Kostroma region) . Soon after the arrival of the Monk Abraham on Lake Galich, in 1350, he miraculously found the icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness”. From this time on, the veneration of St. Abraham and the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Tenderness” became inseparable. Subsequently, the Monk Abraham founded 3 more monasteries: Abraham's Great Hermitage in honor of the Position of the Belt of the Most Holy Theotokos in the upper reaches of the river. Vigi (village of Ozerki, Chukhloma district, Kostroma region), Avraamiev Upper Hermitage in honor of the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the river. Vige (village of Korovye, Chukhloma district), Aaraamiev Gorodetsky Monastery in honor of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the northern shore of Lake Chukhloma (village of Nozhkino, Chukhloma district). In the 16th-19th centuries, the Monk Abraham of Galich was one of the most revered saints of the Kostroma land; at this time and in the region there were several dozen churches with thrones in his honor. The first three of the four monasteries founded by the Monk Abraham were abolished in the 18th century and turned into parish churches, but the Abraham Gorodets Monastery, out of respect for the relics of the Venerable Abraham, was not closed. The saint's shrine was removed in 1922, but the holy relics were never opened during Soviet times. 
The Monk Adrian (in the world Amos) was born in Kostroma and was a student of the Monk Ferapont of Monza. The Monk Adrian is considered the founder of the Annunciation Monastery, which later received the name Hadrian's Hermitage. The Monk Adrian reposed in 1619 and was buried in the Resurrection Church of the Annunciation Monastery. In 1764, the Annunciation Monastery was abolished and turned into a parish church (now it is the Annunciation Church in the village of Ferapontovo, Buysky district, Kostroma region). In 1937, the Church of the Annunciation was closed, the ancient icons of the saint were lost, but the relics of the saint were not opened and continued to remain hidden. Divine services in the Annunciation Church were resumed in 1998.
Rev. Alexander Vochsky
memory August 30 (September 12)
The Monk Alexander was the founder and abbot of the Alexander Hermitage on the Vocha River, a left tributary of the Kostroma River, near the city of Soligalich. Initially, he came in the form of an unknown wanderer to the Resurrection Monastery in the city of Soligalich, where he became a monk. After some time, with the blessing of his mentor, the Monk Alexander left the Resurrection Monastery for more severe desert exploits. The monk chose the place for his new exploits in the same place where the village of Korovnoye is now located, 10 km from Soligalich, south along the Chukhloma tract, on the right bank of the small river Vocha. The rumor about the holiness of the Monk Alexander always attracted pilgrims to his grave. In the service he was repeatedly called “a source of inexhaustible, rich miracles” and “a storehouse of inexhaustible miracles.” Alexander laid the foundation of the monastery “Alexandrovskaya Hermitage on the Vocha River.” In 1764, the rural parish of the village of Korovnoye was formed from the abolished monastery. The Transfiguration rural church over the grave of the saint was closed in the 30s of the 20th century and was soon destroyed, but the relics of the saint were not opened.
Venerable Gennady of Kostroma and Lyubimograd
memory January 23 (February 5)
The Monk Gennady, in the world Gregory, was born in the city of Mogilev. Gregory took monastic vows with the name Gennady. For his companions, the Monk Gennady was a true example of meekness, humility and hard work. During his lifetime, the Lord honored the monk with the gift of miracles. He was buried in the Spassky Monastery he created. After the events of 1917, the Spaso-Gennadiev Monastery was abolished, and the relics were blasphemously opened. Nowadays this monastery (located within the Yaroslavl diocese, on the border of the Kostroma and Yaroslavl regions, not far from the city of Lyubim) is still desolate. Since 1983, the Day of Remembrance of St. Gennady has also become the day of celebration of the Council of Kostroma Saints. In the Trinity Church in the village of Sandogora (Kostroma Diocese), located next to the Spaso-Gennadyev Monastery, the pious tradition of holding an annual local celebration of St. Gennady on September 1 has been preserved for a long time.
Venerable Jacob of Zheleznoborovsk
memory 11 (24) April and 5 (18) May
The Monk Jacob was born in the 14th century into a pious family of Galich nobles, the Anosovs. Having lost his parents at a young age, he distributed all his property to those in need and took monastic vows at the monastery of the abbot of the Russian land, St. Sergius of Radonezh. Returning to his native land, he settled on the banks of the Tebza River near the village of Zhelezny Borok, not far from the city of Buya. At this place, the Monk Jacob built a monastic monastery. The holy relics of the saint of God subsequently became famous for many miracles and healings of the sick and suffering.
Saint Jonah, Metropolitan of Moscow and All Russia
memory March 31 (April 13) June 28 (15)
Saint Jonah was born at the end of the 14th century in the village of Odnoushevo, located several miles from Sol Galitskaya (Soligalich), into a noble family of a nobleman. According to his life, the future saint became a monk at the age of 12 in one of the Galich monasteries. Later he moved to the Moscow Simonov Monastery where he was ordained Bishop of Ryazan. After the death of Metropolitan Photius, Saint Jonah began to manage the affairs of the entire Russian Metropolis and was elected Metropolitan of All Rus'. It was from this time that the Russian Orthodox Church actually became autocephalous, independent of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. In the Kostroma region, the memory of Saint Jonah was most revered in his native Soligalich land. In the village of Odnoushevo, a chapel built over a spring has been preserved to this day, where, according to legend, the future saint used to retire to prayer in his childhood.
Venerable Kirill of Novoezersk
memory 4 (17) February
The Monk Kirill of Novoezersk was born in Galich and came from a noble family. Secretly leaving his parents' house, he retired to the Komel forests to the Monk Cornelius, from whom he received monastic vows. He labored for 10 years under the leadership of the Monk Cornelius, and then, with his blessing, lived in the desert for 7 years. Then he settled on Red Island near New Lake (White Lake), built 2 churches: in the name of the Resurrection of Christ and in the name of the Hodegetria icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. He was ordained a priest. The relics of St. Cyril were found incorrupt in 1649. 
Venerable Macarius of Unzhensk and Zheltovodsk
memory July 25 (August 7)
The Monk Macarius of Unzhensk and Zheltovodsk was born in 1349 in Nizhny Novgorod. At the age of 12, he became a monk in the Nizhny Novgorod Ascension Pechersky Monastery. Subsequently, the Monk Macarius moved to the banks of the Volga River, where, near Lake Zheltye Vody, he founded a monastery in the Name of the Life-Giving Trinity. In 1439, the Zheltovodsk Monastery was destroyed by the Tatars; After this, the Monk Macarius went to the Unzha River, where he founded his third monastery. In 1444, he was buried within the walls of the monastery, which later became known as the Holy Trinity Macarius-Unzhensky Monastery and was one of the most revered shrines of the Kostroma land. At the end of 1929, the monastery of St. Macarius was closed and has remained desolate since that time. The holy relics of the saint of God, removed from the monastery, were in the museum of the city of Yuryevets. The return of their Church took place only in 1990. Since 1993, the monastery of St. Macarius has been reopened as a convent. 
Venerable Macarius of Pisemsky
memory 10 (23) January
The saint was born in the mid-14th century; According to legend, his homeland was the village of Danilovo on the Pisma River (the left tributary of the Kostroma River), and he himself belonged to an old boyar family by origin. Even in his youth, the saint went to the monastery of St. Sergius of Radonezh, where he was tonsured a monk with the name Macarius. With the blessing of the abbot of the Russian land, the Monk Macarius returned to his homeland - to the Principality of Galich. Here he built a cell and a small chapel on the banks of the Letter. Over time, a monastic monastery arose on Pisma, which in 2000 from the Nativity of Christ solemnly celebrated its 600th anniversary. The relics of the saint are in the Transfiguration Church of the Makariev-Pisemsky Monastery, which over the centuries has attracted numerous pilgrims. Hieromartyr Nikodim (Krotkov), Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich commemorated January 23 (February 5) and August 8 (21) Archbishop of Kostroma and Galich Nikodim (in the world Nikolai Vasilyevich Krotkov) was born in 1868 in the village. Sinned in Seredsky district, Kostroma province (now Ivanovo region) in the family of a priest. From 1932 to 1936, Nikodim ruled the Kostroma diocese. The archpastor suffered a lot during this difficult time. In 1934, the Kostroma Assumption Cathedral, where the miraculous image of Theodore Icon of the Mother of God resided for about six centuries, was blown up. However, the shrine itself was saved through the efforts of the archpastor. 
Venerable Nikita of Kostroma
memory 15 (28) September
The Monk Nikita was a disciple of the Monk Sergius of Radonezh. The saint was born in the 14th century in the Moscow region. The monastic path of the Monk Nikita began in the Vysotsky Mother of God Conception Monastery near Serpukhov. In the early 20s of the 15th century, the Monk Nikita left the Vysoko-Pokrovskaya monastery and headed north to Kostroma, where at that time he founded the Epiphany Monastery on the outskirts of the city. 
Venerable Paisius of Galich
memory May 23 (June 5)
The Monk Paisius, the heavenly patron of the ancient city on Lake Galich, came to the Galich Dormition Monastery at the end of the 14th century and labored there for 70 years, subsequently becoming the abbot of the monastery. Already during the life of the holy elder, the monastery received the name Paisiev. During the reign of the Monk Paisius, in 1425, a miraculous appearance of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Ovinovskaya, took place in the monastery. The icon he found was placed in the monastery church and subsequently became famous for many miracles and healings: many hopelessly ill people got rid of their ailments only by touching the holy image. In 1434, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily the Dark, who fought with the Galich prince Yuri Dmitrievich, took Galich by storm and took the Ovinov Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos to Moscow. However, the shrine miraculously returned to the monastery by itself, by air. 
Venerable Pachomius, Abbot of Nerekhta
memory April 5 (May 28)
The Monk Pachomius of Nerekhta was born in Vladimir at the beginning of the 14th century into the family of a priest. At the age of 21, he took monastic vows at the Vladimir Monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In search of a convenient place for desert living, he chose a place near Nerekhta on the banks of the Solonitsa River; It has long been called Sypanovo. With the help of the residents of Nerekhta, the Monk Pachomius first erected a temple in the Name of the Life-Giving Trinity, and then created a monastery with it. Nowadays the holy relics of the Monk Pachomius rest in secret in the Trinity-Sypanov Pachomiev-Nerekhta convent, which was revived in 1993 after many years of desolation. 
Venerable Timon, Elder of Nadeevsky
memory January 21 (February 3)
Reverend Timon (in the world Tikhon Fedorov) was born in 1766 in the city of Balakhna, Nizhny Novgorod province. His spiritual father was the great saint of the Russian land - St. Seraphim of Sarov. He took part in the construction of the Gorodets Mother of God-Feodorovsky Monastery - a monastery within the walls of which until 1239 the great shrine of the Kostroma land, the miraculous Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, resided. After his ordination as hieromonk, the Monk Timon moved to the Nadeevskaya hermitage in the Kostroma province. At the behest of the Lord, he was engaged in the construction of the Nadeevskaya hermitage, which by that time had fallen into desolation. He built a stone Assumption Church with chapels in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and in the name of St. Macarius of Unzhensky, dug a spring near the monastery, consecrating it in honor of St. Nicholas. The Monk Timon combined earthly labors with spiritual exploits. The Lord rewarded the saint with the grace-filled gifts of clairvoyance and miracles. And to this day, through the prayers of St. Timon, healings of the sick are performed at the source.
Prayers
Troparion, tone 4
Today the city of Kostroma greatly boasts of you: in the borders of the land of Kostroma, like bright stars, shining, they illuminated everything with their miracles, and now pray to the Lord, blessed fathers, Gennady, Paisios, Abraham, Jacob, Macarius and Pachomius, with many others of our region Heavenly patrons for the city of Kostroma and every city, and country, and people who honor you with faith and love, and for the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion, tone 8
Ascetics of the Kostroma region of piety and for the cities and villages of the Russian country, warm representatives have appeared, blessed fathers, pray for Christ God for us, who honor your sacred council and cry out with love: rejoice, fathers of devotion, praise and affirmation of the Kostroma region and all Russia.
Greatness
We bless you, Reverend Father Gennady and all the holy fathers of the Cathedral, patrons of the Kostroma region, for you pray for us to Christ our God.
Cathedral of Kostroma Saints
Life
The cathedral feast of the saints of the Kostroma land was established in 1981, on the initiative of the ar-hi-epi-sco-pa Ko-Strom-sko-go and Galich-sko-go Kas-si-a-na (Yaroslav-sko-go) and according to the blessing of the pat-ri-ar-ha Mos -kov-sko-go and all Ru-si Pi-men. The celebration was determined on January 23rd - the day of the memory of the pre-excellent Gen-na-diya of Ko-stroma-sko th. More than 30 of God's saints appeared in the mo-na-she-movement on the Kostroma land. They brought a strict monastic society to the region of Kostroma and established Christianity here; there are 18 monasteries built, which are hundreds of centers of the spiritual culture of the region. Among the ko-stro-mi-whose were the icons of these saints.
The Cathedral of Kostroma Saints includes:
- St. Av-ra-amiy Galich-sky, Chukh-lom-sky, Go-ro-dec-kiy, abbot. († 1375, commemorated July 20)
- St. Pa-ho-miy Nerekht-sky, Sy-pa-nov-sky, Ko-strom-sky, miracle-creator († 1384, commemorated March 21, May 15)
- St. , ar-hi-ep. († 1385, commemorated June 26, October 15)
- Bl-gv. led book Demetrius Donskoy († 1389, commemorated May 19)
- St. Ma-ka-riy Pi-sem-sky († XIV century, commemoration 10 Jan-va-rya)
- St. Kirill Be-lo-zer-sky, abbot. († 1427, commemorated June 9)
- St. Pa-vel Ko-mel-sky (Ob-nor-sky) († 1429, commemorated January 10, October 7)
- Bl-gv. book Di-mit-riy Krasny, Galich-sky († 1441, commemorated September 23)
- St. Gri-go-riy of Pel-shem-sky, Vo-lo-god-sky, abbot., miracle-creator († 1442, commemorated September 30)
- St. Jacob of Zhe-lez-no-bo-rov-sky († 1442, commemorated April 11, May 5)
- St. Ma-ka-riy Zhel-to-vod-sky, Un-zhen-sky († 1444, commemorated July 25)
- St. Var-na-va Vet-Luga († 1445, commemorated June 11)
- St. Pa-i-siy Ga-lich-sky, ar-khim. († 1460, commemorated May 23)
- St. Jonah of Moscow, Metropolitan, miracle worker († 1461, commemorated March 31, May 27, June 15)
- St. Jacob of Bry-le-ev-sky († XV century, commemorated 11 April and on the day of the Holy Spirit)
- St. No-ki-ta Kostroma († XV century, commemorated September 15)
- St. Jacob of Galich († XV-XVI centuries, commemorated April 4, May 30)
- St. Tikhon Lukhovsky, Kostroma, miracle worker († 1503, commemorated June 16 and 26)
- St. Cyrill Be-ly, No-vo-e-zer-sky (Nov-gorod-sky) († 1532, commemorated February 4, November 7)
- St. Alexander Vochsky, Galichsky († early 16th century, commemorated March 27, August 30)
- St. Gen-na-diy Ko-strom-skoy, Lyu-bi-mo-grad-sky (Lyu-bim-sky) († 1565, commemoration 23 Jan-va-rya, 19 Aug-gu-sta)
- Blzh. Si-mon Yurie-vets-kiy, Hri-sta ra-di Yuro-di-vy († 1584/1586, commemorated May 10, November 4)
- St. Fe-ra-pont Mon-zen-sky, Galich-sky, miracle-creator († 1597, commemorated May 27, December 12)
- St. Ge-ra-sim Lu-khov-sky († 16th century, commemorated June 7)
- St. Faddei Lukhovsky († 16th century, commemorated June 7)
- St. Fe-o-do-siy Mon-zen-sky († 1602)
- St. Adri-an of Mon-zen-sky († 1610)
- St. Fe-o-do-rit Ryazan-sky († 1617, commemorated September 10)
- St. († 1703, commemorated August 7, September 4, November 23)
- St. Ti-mon Na-de-ev-sky, old man († 1840, commemoration 10 Jan-va-rya)
- St. Ma-ka-riy (Glu-ha-rev), ar-khim., mis-si-o-ner († 1847, commemorated May 18)
- St. Ig-na-tiy (Bryan-cha-ni-nov) († 1867, 30 April)
- Shch-mchch. Joseph Smirnov and Vladimir Ilyinsky priests, John Kastorsky deacon, and martyr. John Pe-re-bas-kin († 1918, commemorated February 22)
- Royal passions im-per-ra-tor Russian Niko-lay II Alek-san-dro-vich, im-pe-ra-tri-tsa Alexander Fe-o-do-rov-na, Tsa-re-vich Alek-sey Ni-ko-la-e-vich and Tsar-rev-ns Ana-sta-siya, Maria, Ol-ga and Ta-ti -a-na († 1918, commemoration of July 4)
- Prmch. led book Eli-sa-ve-ta Fe-o-do-rov-na, Ala-pa-ev-skaya († 1918, commemorated July 5)
- Shch-mch. Di-mit-riy (Dob-ro-ser-dov), ar-hi-ep. Mo-zhai-sky († 1937, October 8)
- Shch-mch. Va-si-liy (Ra-z-umov), priest († 1937, commemorated September 9)
- Shch-mch. Ni-ko-dim (Krot-kov), ar-hi-ep. Kostroma († 1938, 8 August)
- Spanish , ep. Ki-ne-shem-sky († 1945, commemorated July 31)
Prayers
Troparion to the Cathedral of Kostroma Saints
Today the city of Kostroma boasts of you:/ within the borders of the land of Kostroma,/ like the bright stars that have risen,/ illuminated all nature with their miracles/ and now pray to the Lord, holy fathers azhennii, Gennadiy, Paisiye, Avraamiya,/ Jacob, Macarius and Pachomiy, with many of our land, Heavenly patrons/ for the city of Kostroma and every city, and country, and people,/ who honor you with faith and love,// and about the salvation of our souls.
Translation: Today the city of Kostroma is especially proud of you, because within the land of Kostroma, like bright stars, you have illuminated everything with your miracles, and now you pray to the Lord, blessed fathers, Gennady, Paisius, Abraham, Jacob, Macarius and Pachomius, with many others from our region Heavenly patrons, about the city of Kostroma and every city, country, and people who honor you with faith and love, and about the salvation of our souls.
Kontakion to the Cathedral of Kostroma Saints
The ascetics of the Kostroma region of piety and warm representatives appeared for the cities and villages of the Russian country, / blessed fathers, pray for Christ God for us, / your holy council of those who honor / and with love those who cry: Rejoice, fathers of admiration, of the Kostroma region and all Russia, praise and statement.
Translation: Pious ascetics of the Kostroma region and all the cities and villages of the Russian country, ardent defenders, blessed fathers, pray to Christ God for us, your sacred assembly of those who honor and lovingly cry: “Rejoice, amazing fathers, glory and strength to the Kostroma region and all of Russia.”
