Dmitry Prilutsky, reverend. Rev. Demetrius of Prilutsk Rev. Demetrius of Prilutsk Abbot of Vologda

On the pages of one of the manuscripts of the library of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, we will find an entry made in 1584 by the hand of the book keeper Arseniy Vysoky: "June in" G "is the day of the stichera and the canon for the Presentation (church, meeting) of the image of the miracle worker Demetrius" . This mention of the church service is for us a historical evidence of the feast of the Meeting of the icon of St. Demetrius, hegumen of Prilutsky, Vologda miracle worker. The image of the Monk Demetrius was brought to the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery in 1503. In memory of this event, a holiday was established, which takes place on June 3 (according to the old style; in a new way - June 16) and is in church calendar Vologda is especially significant.
History has not left us a description of the miraculous icon brought to the monastery, but God's Providence has preserved, like other shrines, the icon of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky with life, written at the beginning of 1503. For five centuries this holy icon has been staying with the people of Vologda, giving help and consolation to everyone who comes to it with faith. At the same time, this icon is the oldest of the surviving icons of the Vologda miracle worker, its appearance in the monastery was associated with the Feast of the Presentation. After the closure of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery in 1924, it was taken to the Vologda Museum, where it remains to this day. In 1996, following the ancient custom, for the newly opened monastery, with the blessing of His Holiness Patriarch of All Russia Alexy, a new icon was made, especially revered in the monastery - a list from an ancient shrine.
St. Philaret of Moscow said: "Sometimes an icon, more than another, can receive a Blessing and the quality of wonderworking if it was written and prayerfully used by a person full of piety and grace." The icon of the Monk Demetrius was painted by the Moscow icon painter Dionysius. Among the hagiographic icons of Saints Alexy and Peter - Metropolitans of Moscow, St. Sergius of Radonezh and Cyril of Belozersky - the great founders of Russian monasticism and the Church of the era of the formation of a united Russia with the center of the state and metropolis in Moscow - written by the famous icon painter and his workshop at the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century , the image of the Monk Demetrius was one of the last and most perfect. Starting to write it, the icon painter undoubtedly read the life of the Saint. The verbal narration was clothed in pictorial images, presenting the holy abbot and his "deeds and miracles" in sixteen hallmarks.
It is known from his life that the Monk Demetrius was gifted by God with extraordinary bodily beauty and tried in every possible way to hide it. He undertook the feat of fasting and abstinence in order to fade this beauty, so as not to serve as a temptation for others. However, from fasting, his face became even more enlightened, as the faces of the three youths in Babylonian captivity blossomed, who strictly observed the commandment to fast (Dan 1.11-15) , - they sang the miracle worker in the Eulogy to him.
Looking at the icon of the Monk Demetrius, people see the light with which the face and golden background shine, visibly testifying that "the deification achieved by the saint is the beginning of the transformation of the whole world."
The icon "with all its forms, lines and colors" reflects the inner state of a person, "whose face shines with blessed light more than the sun." And therefore, all the suffering, sick and weak people, to whom the mercy of God appeared through the prayers of the Monk Demetrius both in the 16th and in the 20th century, saw the Saint in the form of a “holy old man” illumined by the light.
On the icon, the hallmarks with "deeds" are located around the prayer image of the Saint in the order they were read, line by line from left to right. "Reading" them, we follow the Saint in his footsteps, learning by the example of the life of the Reverend humble, meek Christian life.
The Monk Demetrius was born at the beginning of the 14th century in the village of Ves-levo near Pereyaslavl. What was the name of the Saint in the world is unknown. Tradition has preserved the name and title of his father - the merchant Pokropaev Reverend was destined to deal with the trade that his father led, but he soon realized that earthly wealth and blessings with their temptations, passions are transient and changeable. The Saint's favorite reading was the Holy Scriptures, and he often recalled the words of Christ in the Holy Gospel: "And whoever leaves home, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for the sake of My name, receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life" (Matthew 19:29). He himself was looking for another, eternal God in life, and very young in the Pereyaslavl Goritsky Monastery of the Assumption Holy Mother of God He took tonsure in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica (mark 1).
The spiritual homeland of the Monk Demetrius was a monastery founded at the beginning of the 14th century, under the Moscow prince John Kalita. Striving to be not a listener, but a doer of the words of Christ: "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls"(Matthew 11:29), he cut off his will. The teachers of monasticism and the holy fathers attach great importance to cutting off one's own will (obedience). Through the submission of his will (in which sinful passions operate, where good is mixed with evil) to the will of the spiritual father, the ascetic acquires the skill of submitting to the Will of God. As a young monk, with his humility and obedience in labors for the brethren, constant prayer, fasting and patience, Dimitri's simplicity surprised even the older brethren. Soon, in the Assumption Monastery "Izhe in Goritsy" the Monk Demetrius received the rank of priesthood (mark 2).
Having become a hieromonk and striving for solitude, the Monk Demetrius decided to found a monastery. He chose the swampy shore of Lake Pleshcheyevo, on the opposite side of the Goritsky Monastery, and settled in a cell built on this site. Around 1350 (according to other sources, in the 1370s), a church was built here in honor of St. Nicholas, new cells appeared around it, and lay people began to come, wishing to save their souls in monasticism. In St. Nicholas Monastery, shortly after its foundation, hegumen Demetrius establishes a cenobitic charter (mark 3).
In 1354 St. Demetrius met with St. Sergius of Radonezh (the Monk Sergius then came to Pereyaslavl to ask the abbot to his Holy Trinity monastery). Then the Monk Demetrius many times visited the Monk Sergius, who had become abbot at the Trinity Monastery, performed joint services with him, was his “close friend and companion”, learning from him the wisdom to perform unceasing, silent prayer and to guide the brethren of the monastery to salvation (mark 4).
Grand Duke Dimitry Ioannovich Donskoy, having heard about the Monk Demetrius from the Monk Sergius, called on St. Demetrius of Prilutsky to himself, to be the recipient of one of his sons at Holy Baptism. After that, the noble prince honored the Saint with gifts and gave him great honors (mark 5).
The Monk Demetrius, observing the multiplying glory around him, saw in it the danger of vanity, vanity and decay. He left his monastery, taking with him a devoted disciple - Pachomius. Having come to the North, where they wanted to please God in silence through labor, fasting and prayer, they found a place in the Avnezhsky volost, at the confluence of the Velikaya and Lezha rivers, and built a church here in the name of the holy Resurrection of Christ. The locals, fearing for their lands, raised a murmur, and the Monk Demetrius left, leaving Avnega forever (brand b).
Having reached Vologda, again decorated with many temples after the devastating fire of 1335, he and Pakhomiy stopped three miles from the city, in the bend of the Vologda River. Here, on the elevated shore, the heart felt the beauty and harmony of the world and thanked the Creator for everything. Local residents Ilya Rakov and Isidor Vypryag greeted the Saint warmly and did not spare the field sown with bread, giving the land for the monastery. Having learned about the stay of "his elder", Grand Duke Dimitry Donskoy sent donations and gifts, and gradually the first cenobitic monastery in Vologda began to be established (mark 7).
Once, when the brethren were engaged in the usual monastic affairs, it was suddenly revealed to the Monk Demetrius, who was standing nearby, that the Grand Duke Dimitri of the Donskoy had reposed from this temporary life, and the Monk immediately began to ask God for the repose of the prince with the righteous. The witnesses who happened at the same time did not understand, oh what the Saint says, but they remembered his words, and a few days later the mournful news came from Moscow about the death of the Grand Duke Demetrius on the very day when the Monk Demetrius prayed for him (mark 8)
In Pereyaslavl, the Saint had a brother who was engaged in trade. Having become very impoverished, he twice came to the Prilutsky monastery to ask for blessings to go to trade with the pagan tribes of the Ugra and Samoyeds. The Monk Demetrius blessed, seeing the need of his family, and the brother returned from trips with a large profit, healthy and unharmed (stamp 9). When he came for the third time, driven no longer by need, but by a passion for gain, the Saint did not bless. Obsessed with the desire to gain even more, the brother went on a third trip, from which he did not return, having died at the hands of the pagans.
Being among those few people who, having found the narrow path and the narrow gate leading to eternal life (Matt. 7:14), walked along it with humility and patience, the Monk Demetrius lived for many years, reached a respectable old age, adorned himself with gray hair and became completely infirm. After pointing out the imminent end of his life, he turned to the brethren and blessed his spiritual son Pachomius to be abbot instead of himself (mark 10).
The Monk Demetrius reposed in 1392, on February 11 (24). The brethren learned of the blessed death of their abbot at night by the miraculous fragrance of incense that spread throughout the monastery. Arriving at his cell, the brothers saw the reposed abbot in Bose, illuminated by a wondrous light (mark 11).
The honest body of the Monk Demetrius was buried in the church, which the Saint himself had erected and where he labored until last days life (mark 12).
A little more than ten years passed after his death, and Vologda was attacked by an army of Vyatchans - residents of Vyatka and the lands adjacent to it. Having separated from the Moscow state during the civil strife that had begun, the Vyatichi, although they were Christians, ravaged the city and nearby villages, and plundered the Dimitriev monastery. Some of the soldiers entered the church, and one of them began to remove the cover from the miraculous tomb of the Saint. But by divine power, in the form of an angel, he was hit on the church floor and lost his life. The daring warrior was buried in the monastery (mark 13).
The demon-possessed Simeon was brought to the monastery by his relatives, bound with iron bars, making bestial sounds, cursing, with his mouth tongue, terrible in appearance, and hardly with force they brought into the church. After praying at the tomb of the miracle worker, Simeon became completely healthy, chaste and pious, glorifying God until the end of his life and having great faith to the Monk Demetrius (mark 14).
When, after another fire in the monastery, they began to rebuild a new (third) cathedral church, the abbot and the brethren did not have enough materials, as well as bread, to feed the people working on the construction, and there were more than two hundred of them. Then one monk, in a shallow dream, saw the "holy-bearing elder" carrying logs from the river to the church. Other people standing in front of the monastery gates saw the same icon, recognized it as the holy abbot, and were surprised that "Demetrius himself wears the ancient one." It was unusual for worldly people to see the gray-haired abbot doing hard work. From that day on, the construction of the church went on at a rapid pace, the help of the monastery in distress through the prayer of the Monk Demetrius assured everyone of the power of his prayer (mark 15).
A certain John, who lived in Vologda, was possessed by the demon of drunkenness, and once, when the feast day of St. John the Theologian was celebrated in the monastery, he drank from morning to dinner. Suddenly, from the influence of the devil, he lost his mind and became dumb, and began to behave obscenely. His relatives immediately brought him to the monastery and laid him on the tomb of the Saint. Then the mute saw the Monk Demetrius, invisible to anyone, who softly slapped him on the cheek with the words: "Why, man, don't you speak?" In that very hour the dumb man was healed (mark 16).
Like other events in the history of the monastery, the appearance of the icon in the monastery and the establishment of a feast in honor of its transfer describe all editions of the life of St. Demetrius. The story "The Miracle of the Church of the Saint" tells about the appearance of the Monk Demetrius to a monk during the construction of the wooden church of the All-Merciful Savior and about the miraculous help of the holy hegumen to the monastery. Following this, the story is told of how the same monk saw himself “as if in reality” in the new cathedral church among the handsome elders standing along the walls. "Among them must be the Monk Demetrius," thought the monk. As if in response to his thoughts, he heard a thunderous voice resounding from the altar, exclaiming: "Are you looking for Dimitri? Now he is in Kazan." One of the texts of the life of the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th century says that on the same day, when the Prilutsk monk had a vision, the Russian army won a victory in Kazan (presumably we are talking about the Kazan campaign of 1487. The victory in it had political significance - the dependence of the Kazan Khanate on the power of the Moscow prince was established).
The hagiographic narrative was later supplemented with details about the icon, which have long been transmitted orally in the monastery. In the description of the appearance of the Monk Demetrius during a military campaign, approximately from the middle of the 17th century, they began to mention the name of Grand Duke John III Vasilyevich. In the 19th century, this text turned into an independent narrative and was called "The Legend of the Meeting of the Miraculous Image of the Monk and God-Bearing Father of Our Demetrius of Prilutsk the Wonderworker."
From the Tale we learn that, remembering the mercy of God and the prayer of the Monk Demetrius, who appeared to John III Vasilyevich, apparently during the Kazan War, the Grand Duke in gratitude sent to the monastery of the All-Merciful Savior in 1503 a "newly depicted" icon of the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky. She was met in Vologda. A church was erected at the meeting place of the holy icon. A celebration was established in honor of the Presentation of the image of the Saint.
This information is confirmed by a local chronicler and saints of the 17th century: "7011 (1503) Meeting was in Vologda to the image of the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky, which was brought from Moscow". They entered the literature of the 18th-19th centuries and are often cited in the works of modern historians of church art. There is also information about the venerated icon in the archive documents of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery: "... the miraculous image of the Monk Demetrius with the miracles of ancient writing, was sent in 1503 from Moscow by Grand Duke John III Vasilyevich after the victory won over the Tatars in Kazan" .
Various historical sources of the XV-XVII centuries definitely speak about the Kazan campaign of John III, about the appearance of the Wonderworker to the Grand Duke and about the new icon of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky, which was sent to Vologda and brought to the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, connecting people and events at first glance inexplicably and mysteriously. However, there is no reliable information about the time and some circumstances of the appearance of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky to John III, which prompted the creation of the icon of the Saint, for the spiritual life of a person is always connected with the mystery of God.
Comprehending the events that took place five hundred years ago, we turn to the history of the Spaso-Prilutsky monastery. For the local church history, the beginning of the Dimitriev Monastery in the vicinity of Vologda was as important as the foundation of the desert by St. Sergius in the Moscow forests. The Monk Demetrius was "the chief of the Vologda monks," for with him a new monastic life was formed within the Vologda borders. The monastery arose near the small village of Vypryagov. Hegumen Demetrius was destined to serve as an elder in it, teaching the Christian life both to the brethren - a living example of monastic asceticism - and to the laity - loving mercy, meekness, compassion and patience.
The first wooden temple was built by the diligence of local residents, and it was consecrated on August 1 in honor of the All-Merciful Savior and the Most Holy Theotokos for the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, for blessing the waters. In the very dedication of the monastery, the true faith of the Orthodox Russian man in the boundless mercy of God shone forth. This belief in the nearness of the grace-filled help and protection of God in calamities and misfortunes, like rays of sunlight, illuminated the lives of common people and sovereigns, so the Vologda monastery of the All-Merciful Savior acquired a special significance in local history.
After the victory over the Volga Bulgars on August 1, 1164, the pious Prince of Vladimir Andrei Bogolyubsky, giving thanks to the Savior and His Most Pure Mother, established a special local celebration on this day. At the turn of the XIV and XV centuries, the text of the church service was compiled, and on August 1, solemn services began to be performed in all churches. The Vologda Demetrius Monastery became the first monastery dedicated to the All-Merciful Savior among the monasteries, of which there were more than a hundred.
Its foundation is considered to be 1371 (according to some sources, 1378). This is a very important period in the life of Russian monasteries, because they began to revive the ancient system of monastic life - the hostel (kinovia). Like Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk, the founder of cenobitic life in Russia, the monks had to strictly observe the statutory rules: non-possessiveness (lack of personal property), obedience to the abbot, joint prayers and meals, labors for the monastery, unpretentiousness in food and clothing. The history of Russian monasticism in the second half of the 14th-15th centuries showed how salutary the life of monks in the monastic community was and how fully the main commandment of the Gospel was embodied in it: "Love the Lord thy God and thy neighbor as thyself"(Matthew 22:37-39). The founders of many of these monasteries shone as saints, and the cloisters themselves entered the history of the Russian Middle Ages.
In the Vologda region in a short time (1370-1380) four similar monasteries were founded by the closest followers of St. Sergius of Radonezh. One of them was the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky. The appearance of the Saint in Vologda, who was looking for more favorable conditions for spiritual asceticism, he was preceded by a difficult monastic life in Pereyaslavl, acquaintance with the Monk Sergius, and through him with Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich himself. His arrival had a missionary significance for the inhabitants of Vologda, which was then jointly owned by Novgorodians and the Grand Dukes of Moscow.
For more than a century, since its founding, life has passed in the monastery, fanned by the spirit of strict monastic asceticism, taught to the brethren by the holy founder.
The Monk Demetrius in the monastery began to be venerated almost immediately after his repose. His successors - abbots Pachomius, Konstantin, Mikhail - happened to be eyewitnesses of the terrible disasters that befell Vologda at the beginning of the 15th century, in which grace-filled help appeared to the townspeople through the prayers of the Saint. In 1409, an epidemic of the Korcheta disease broke out, in 1417 the Vyatchans attacked the monastery.
At that time, the first healings took place at the tomb of the Monk Demetrius, which served to strengthen the saving faith in the intercession of the Saint before the Lord. In the first half of the 15th century, there was already an early edition of his life with a description of the five miracles, compiled by Pachomius. Half a century later, hegumen Macarius, who had a bright literary talent, created a new edition of the life (with a preface, a description of fourteen miracles, a commendable word) and a service to the Saint. In this text, the “Miracle of the city of Vologda” appeared, telling about the attack on Vologda by the detachments of the rebellious Galician prince Dimitry Shemyaka, about the appearance of the Prilutsky abbot to several of its inhabitants at once and delivering the city from final ruin. The image of the Monk Demetrius, the namesake of the great martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica, since then in the minds of Vologda residents has been associated with the image of an Orthodox assistant in military affairs. After 1450, a local, and at the end of the 15th century, a general church canonization of the Saint took place, the Church celebration of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky began to be celebrated on February 11
In the second half of the 15th century, not only important events took place in the spiritual life of the monastery, but the city also experienced a period of its "elevation". In 1447, Vasily II Vasilyevich received Vologda as an inheritance. Under John III, Vologda became a trustworthy capital: at first - the Vologda Principality (the inheritance of Andrei the Less), and since 1481 - the Vologda district of the Moscow State. A part of the grand ducal treasury was kept here, enemies of the sovereign power were imprisoned. Due to its location, the city acquired the importance of a reliable rear and became a gathering place for troops. The valiant Vologda residents participated in five campaigns against Kazan, which took place during almost the entire reign of John III.
From Andrei Vasilyevich the Lesser, the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery received the first land grants. Subsequently, the monastery supported spiritually and materially the power of the Grand Dukes and Metropolitans of Moscow. John III, who first visited here as a 7-year-old boy with his father Vasily II, later came to the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery on a pilgrimage. He repeatedly visited Vologda, including in 1478, before the next campaign against Kazan. According to legend, at the request of John III, a small icon of St. Demetrius was taken from the monastery to Moscow for prayer on a campaign. Therefore, the bringing in 1503 to the monastery of the icon "St. Demetrius of Prilutsky" in historical memory was directly connected with the military events. The chronicle testifies that on June 3, 1503, on the day of her meeting and transfer to the monastery, soldiers returning from the Kazan campaign were solemnly welcomed in Vologda.
The holy icon, met in Vologda by Bishop Nikon, was solemnly brought into the wooden Cathedral of the All-Merciful Savior in the monastery. In the temple near the altar, behind the right kliros, the holy relics of the Monk Demetrius rested, therefore new look they put it where it was customary to place the hagiographic icon of the Saint - in the local row of the iconostasis, on the right.
In 1542 a new stone Cathedral of the Savior was consecrated in the monastery. A lower floor appeared in the huge temple - a basement with low vaults, where pilgrims came to worship at the tomb of the Reverend, and the brethren sang "prayer singing to the Reverend Father Demetrius" every day. In the upper floor of the cathedral there was a throne in honor of the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, and in the right aisle a temple was built in honor of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky. It is known that after 1622 and until the 20s of the 20th century, the miraculous image in a gilded icon case was almost all the time in the main iconostasis of the cathedral church. It was located on the right side, near the southern altar doors, "we see by all of us."
Saint Philaret of Moscow said: "The prayer of faith is a spiritual magnet that attracts grace-filled and miraculous power". In 1503, a patient was healed near the icon. A certain inhabitant of Vologda, suffering from relaxation and unable to speak or look from illness, was brought to the monastery to the tomb of the miracle worker. After the prayer service served by the brethren, he could only mentally pray to the miracle worker and say: “O Saint Demetrius, have mercy on me!”, and soon the sick man recovered. This story, called "a miraculous miracle", was included in the 17th century in one of the manuscripts with the text of the life of St. Demetrius. Since that time, the image of the Monk Demetrius began to be considered miraculous, although, according to Archimandrite Anatoly Smirnov (1892), "there was no book of recording miracles from this icon and there has not been such a howl until now". But, undoubtedly, good deeds and healings were performed and are being performed, remaining written by believers in their hearts.
The shrine was preserved in the monastery for centuries, having survived the destruction of the monastery during the Time of Troubles and during a fire that suddenly broke out in a closed cathedral. Someone from the monastery people carried it out of the burning temple, and in the chronicler they briefly wrote: "1811. September. 17. There was a strong fire in the temple of the All-Merciful Savior, from which the iconostasis, the holy image and all church utensils burned down. One icon of miracles. Demetrius saved." From the experience of spiritual life, it is known that the line between miraculous and non-miraculous icons is not unconditional and not fundamental, but only factual. In prayer for the consecration of the icon Mother of God says: "And give her (the icon) the strength and strength of miraculous action". We can say that each icon through the grace present in it is miraculous. Manifesting miracles, becoming miraculous, the icon from the place of the hidden presence of Divine power becomes the place of its appearance.
The fact that the icon of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky at night was hoisted in Vologda is evidenced by copies made from it. One of them - the image of the miracle worker Demetrius, surrounded by stamps with "acts" was written for the church of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky, built on the site of the Presentation of the Icon. Icons of the Saint with life were in many Vologda churches, located in the ancient part of the city, on the way to transferring the image to the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery.
According to the Legend, the new icon of the Monk Demetrius was decorated with "silver and gold", for in this way honor was paid to God, who glorified the Saint. Now we do not know what the original decoration was like, since in the Time of Troubles, according to Abbot Kirill, the monastery was plundered: "Thieves who came to the monastery as brothers and servants and a peasant flogged and in the church of God's mercy stripped the images". After 1613, the silver frame, crown and hryvnia were remade on the icon. The figure of the Saint was covered with a robe of silver with gilding and a crown, visually highlighting the main thing - the prayer image of St. Demetrius. It is noteworthy that during the 17th century it was repeatedly replaced, and in the second half of the century an image of the Image of the Merciful Savior Not Made by Hands was placed on the crown. The decoration of the icon, renewed in 1884, is captured in a photograph of the beginning of the 20th century
It has long been a pious custom to bring prayer gifts to the image of the Saint: crosses, small icons, panagias, coins. They were a sign of reverent veneration for the Monk Demetrius, they were evidence miraculous healings, help in need or mournful situation. Such gifts - "gains" were preserved on the salary of the icon until the 18th century. "There are two crosses in the pendant: one silver filigree thin(that is, hollow inside. - Comp.), And the other is cut on a black bone, on both sides it is overlaid with silver filigree, at the head there is a pearl. Yes, the panagea is stone, on it is written the image of the Not Made by Hands under Crystal, overlaid with silver filigree, not gilded. Yes, the silver cross has arrived again in a weight gain, in places "Rejoices in You" is carved. One of the descriptions of the icon mentions "six gilded kopecks" that were hung from the Miracle Worker's crown. In the life there is a living story about the widow Antonina, who was blind in one eye, weak in hand and, in addition, poor. She lived near Vologda and often called in her prayers to the Monk Demetrius, since the rumor about his miracles spread throughout the region. Once she saw in a dream a "beautiful elder" commanding her to come to the monastery for the feast of the All-Merciful Savior and venerate the coffin of "Elder Demetrius" for healing. Answering her words about poverty and the inability to bring anything as a gift to the Lord, the Saint ordered to collect berries, sell them for one silver coin and bring it as a gift. Despite her weaknesses, the widow showed obedience and fulfilled all this. Miraculously a buyer was found who gave her a huge sum for those times for the berries. Arriving at the monastery, Antonina prayed with faith to the Monk Demetrius, placed a silver coin on his whole-bearing coffin, and soon recovered.
The decoration of the icon was complemented by a veil of fabric, which was under the image. Like all the shrouds in the iconostasis of the cathedral church, it depicts a cross. Three icons had more ornate crosses: those of the All-Merciful Savior, the Most Holy Theotokos, and Demetrius the Wonderworker. The cross on the veil at the image of the Savior was made of gilded silver fragments, on the veil of the Most Holy Theotokos - pearl. The image of the Monk Demetrius has a veil - "colored lace, in the middle of the road there are scribbled ones, a cross is strung with pearls, at the veil there are seventeen tassels of silk rose silks." "The kiot of that image is wooden, carved gilded ... In front of the image there is a large candle set, wax, cast iron" - this is how the treasurer of the monastery completed the description of the decoration of the icon in 1693.

The celebration of the Presentation of the image of the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky, established, according to the Legend, in 1503, belongs to rare church celebrations. Having surveyed the history of the celebration in honor of the Presentation (in 1395 and 1480) of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, one cannot help but see in the local celebration on June 3 the assimilation of the specific city to grand-ducal Moscow, and under John IV, in the second half of the 16th century, the self-awareness of Vologda as the future capital of all Russia .
In the Church Charter of the late 16th - early 17th centuries there is an entry under June 3 (16): "The meeting of the miraculous icon of our venerable father Dmitry Vologda miracle worker". The Arkhangelsk origin of the manuscript testifies to the spread of the holiday outside not only Vologda, but also the diocese. Service to the Candlemas in mid-seventeenth century is found in the collection of services to the South Slavic (Serbian, Bulgarian) and Russian saints.
The church service of the Presentation was performed as a feast to the great Saint: with a small vespers, All-Night Vigil; at matins two canons were read to the Monk Demetrius. The Divine Liturgy was served by the ruling bishop with the rector of the monastery and "the entire consecrated cathedral." After it, a prayer service was performed to the "head" of the monastery - the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky.
A wonderful document has been preserved, testifying to the significance of this holiday in monastic life. Archimandrite Joseph and the brethren in 1667 wrote a petition to the Vologda Archbishop Simon, in which they ask for blessings to celebrate the celebration of the Presentation in the absence of the bishop, as usual - with the cathedral of the holy fool's clergy and with a procession. "The Sovereign His Grace Simon Archbishop of Vologda and Belozersky is beaten with a brow by your pilgrims of the Savior Prilutsky Monastery Archimandrite Joseph, the cellar Elder Hilarion Lazarev for the mercy of you, the Sovereign Bishop of God, we are celebrating the head of the monastery of the meeting of the miraculous image of our reverend father Demetrius the Wonderworker June in "G" And on that Sovereign of the date for the feast to the Holy House, your hierarchal mercy comes from the cathedral and apostolic Church, your hierarchal procession with holy icons to our monastery for the sake of the prayer of Orthodox Christians to the Lord God and to the Monk Demetrius the Wonderworker and many Christians come to our monastery for the sake of walking holy icons. the saint of God, the head of our monastery, Demetrius the Wonderworker, and for the sake of Orthodox Christians, prayers in June on "G" day. Order the Sovereign from the Cathedral and Apostolic Church, as before, to release the Holy Icons with the entire consecrated cathedral in honor of the Lord God and Evo the saint Demetrius the Wonderworker for prayer and remission of sins of all Orthodox Christians. Sovereign, have mercy, perhaps. "Reading the simple and expressive words of the epistle, we see not only love, a living and deep veneration of the brethren of the Monk Father Demetrius, but, as it were, the identification of the icon with the Saint himself.
In the monastery, the feast of June 3 was called "the great celebration of the monastery." Archpriest Konstantin Maslov, rector of the church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker adjacent to the monastery, recalled: “The solemn celebration of the miraculous image of our reverend father with the usual Vsegrad procession of the cross, and the ceremonial Bishops’ Divine Liturgy. the same zealous meal, the same contentment at the meal, the same guests gathered in multitudes, we have the honor right there that we had in previous years. On this day, obviously, consecrations and elevations to church rank were performed, for Father Konstantin himself on June 3, 1893 "in the host of many clergy at the Bishops' Divine Liturgy in the monastery" He was honored with the elevation by His Grace Israel to the rank of archpriest.
Information has been preserved that the celebration of the Meeting of the icon of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky took place over several days. A. N. Muravyov, who visited the Dimitriev monastery in 1855, wrote in his diary: “There was a big movement in the settlement of Prilutskaya, people crowded around the monastery and in the fence, because it was the second day of the summer holiday of this monastery, - the memory of the transfer of the icon of the Reverend , which was sent by the Grand Duke John, on the occasion of a vision he had in the Kazan campaign. The day before, the Bishop of Vologda served in Priluki, and city residents flock to the monastery in large numbers ... ". The bishops remained in the monastery during the following days of the feast, visiting the parish churches closest to the monastery. In 1874, June 4, "on the other day of our blessed feast", Bishop of Vologda and Ustyug Theodosius honored his visit to St. Nicholas Vallushinsky Church.
On June 3, in the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, there were significant events. In 1814 Emperor Alexander I the Blessed visited Vologda and was in the monastery; On June 3, 1817, His Grace Onesiphorus, Bishop of Vologda and Ustyug, consecrated the cathedral church renovated after a fire in the monastery "in the name of the most merciful Savior"; in 1871, at the Meeting of the Icon of Demetrius the Wonderworker, the 500th anniversary of the Spaso-Prilutsky monastery was solemnly celebrated.
According to contemporaries, the holiday on June 3 "converged the whole city." Anna Dolgova, a resident of the village of Priluki, recalled that the celebration of the Presentation of the miraculous image lasted three days. Townspeople and villagers prepared ahead of time for Dimitriev's Day by cleaning their houses and polishing samovars. On the day of church celebrations and after it, in Priluki, numerous boats with townspeople who had come for a walk approached the monastery pier, there was a brisk fair trade. "The mentioned holiday on June 3 in honor of the bringing of the icon is still one of the largest in Vologda," they wrote in the local press even in the late 1920s.
The reverent veneration of the Monk Demetrius - a warm intercessor not only for the monks of his monastery, but also for all the inhabitants - was preserved for centuries in commercial and industrial Vologda. The miraculous help of the Saint again appeared to the townspeople in the Time of Troubles, when Vologda became a gathering place for warriors to liberate Moscow from the Pole-Lithuanians. At this time, a certain Vasily Verbyshev, an eyewitness to another transfer of the icon of St. Demetrius of Prilutsky (from the monastery to Vologda), left a description of this event. The words of his letter, sent on January 15, 1609 to Sol-Vychegodskaya, are filled with a feeling of deep faith, "... and you should not be discouraged and put your hope in the All-Merciful God and in the invincible voivode in the Most Pure Mother of God, our intercessor and prayer service, and in all And here, in Vologda, the Monk Dmitry showed his mercy, promised to stand with us against the enemies of the Sovereign: he appeared to the spiritual elder at the tomb, ordered his image from the tomb to be brought to Vologda, and that image was the archbishop ( Joasaph II. - Comp.) and the governor (N. M. Pushkin. - Comp.) With all the Vologda people, and with foreign stretiv with great honor, and with tears, and with prayer singing, they placed in Vologda on the square, near the All-Merciful Savior in the church, Genvara on the 4th day, and now that image stands for assurance and worship for all Orthodox peasants; and they say that the image of the Monk Dmitry, the Monk Dionysius Glushitsky, wrote, and in the name of the they want to build a similar Dmitri with the world temple in Vologda, on the square; and we trust and hold hope in the All-Merciful Savior, and in the Most Pure Theotokos, in the Reverend Dmitry, and in all the Saints, and we want to dare to stand strong on the Sovereigns and the entire Orthodox peasantry of the enemies.
Vologda then escaped the attack of the Poles-Lithuanians and remained unharmed through the prayers of the miracle worker Demetrius. A wooden church was built in his honor on the town square. With the construction in 1777 of St. Nicholas Cathedral on the new Sennaya Square in Vologda, a side-chapel was built in honor of Demetrius the Wonderworker, in which there were both the hagiographic icon of the Reverend and the "local" prayer image of the Saint.
In times of turmoil in state and church affairs, rebellious excitement and despondency of people, the appearance of the Saint and the bringing of his icon became miraculous and bright events in the city. In the 17th century, the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky was revered not only in the city. From that time on, the construction of wooden and stone churches began, the construction of altar churches in Vologda, in the monastic estates and villages of the counties closest to Vologda. In the places of the first stay of the Monk Demetrius in the Vologda Territory - on the rivers Velikaya and Cherny Shingar - in the 18th and 19th centuries, the parish churches located there were renovated.
In the second half of the 17th century, the celebration of the Candlemas quickly spread, and a second canon to the Saint appeared in the church service. The miraculous icon of St. Demetrius was especially zealously decorated, at that time a huge number of his other icons were painted. XVII century include icons depicting the Presentation of the image of the wonderworker Demetrius.
The meeting of the icon in 1503 and the church processions that accompanied it are described both in the life of the Saint and in the Tale. In Vologda, Bishop Nikon solemnly greeted the icon with the bearing of crosses. Together with the clergy of all city churches, he served the first prayer service to the Saint before the brought icon. At the meeting place of the icon, in addition to many residents, there were governors-voivodes and other heads of the city. His Grace Nikon blessed the transfer of the holy icon to the Monastery of the All-Merciful Savior in a procession with icons and crosses, and he himself led the solemn procession. Meeting the icon, Abbot Sergius and the brethren also marched from the monastery in a procession.
In the cathedral church, a prayer service was again performed and reverently applied to the brought icon, after which the crowded procession returned to Vologda.
Like the Moscow celebration of the Meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, the feast of June 3 in Vologda was held very solemnly, with the blessing of the local bishops, a procession from the city to the monastery and divine services in the monastery. The big procession was the main feature of the Feast of the Presentation and expressed its spiritual meaning - prayer to the All-Merciful Savior and St. Demetrius. Since 1503, it has been held annually, with a break at the beginning of the 18th century, when in the time of Peter the Great the honoring of revered, miraculous icons ceased. Probably, the first procession of the cross during the transfer of the icon took place in the ancient center of Vologda, located in the area of ​​the Lazy Platform, along the road along the high bank of the Vologda River, Troitskaya Street and stopped at the village of Lazarevskaya (now Sloboda), near which at that time there was a crossing to the monastery. After the transfer of the bishop's court to the new cathedral religious processions to the monastery began to leave from St. Sophia Cathedral. In 1797, this custom was secured with the blessing of His Grace Arseny, who ordered all the processions of the cross in Vologda.
Numerous pilgrims flocked to Cathedral Square on June 3 not only from the city, but also from many surrounding villages. The procession began at 9 o'clock in the morning from the cathedral at bell ringing at all city churches along the cathedral bridge across the Vologda River, continued along the embankment to Arkhangelskaya Street and passed along this street to the city outpost. The further path to the monastery went along the large Arkhangelsk road (now Chernyshevsky Street). The entire path from the cathedral to the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery was more than five kilometers long. About half a kilometer was occupied by a procession of clergy and pilgrims. After the Divine Liturgy celebrated in the Cathedral of the All-Merciful Savior, a moleben was served to St. Demetrius. The same way from the monastery, the procession returned to Vologda.
When celebrations were held in honor of the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Spaso-Prilutsky monastery, on June 3, a special procession around the monastery was added to the usual procession. After the Divine Liturgy on this day, a prayer of thanksgiving was served to the Lord God and those praying were crossed four times.
According to the definition of St. Philaret of Moscow, the procession with icons has a spiritual meaning "walking under the guidance of the saints, whose icons are walking in it, here the earthly shrine marks and calls the heavenly shrine" With the blessing of the Most Reverend Bishops, icons from the Cathedral of St. Sophia were “released” to participate in it. Later, new shrines were added to these icons: the image of the All-Merciful Savior and the miraculous icon of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Demetrius of Prilutsky. Theotokos of All Who Sorrow Joy from St. Sophia Cathedral miraculous icon The Most Holy Theotokos of All Who Sorrow Joy from the prison castle, which, according to legend, belonged to the right-believing Prince John Andreevich of Uglich, in monasticism to the Monk Ignatius Prilupkoy. At the procession, they certainly carried the icon of St. Demetrius - a list from the miraculous image of the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky - located in the temple, set up on the site of the Presentation
The celebratory procession gathered the townspeople of different classes. It is known that zealous worshipers of the Saint were merchants who had great faith in his prayerful help, remembering the hagiographic story of how the Monk Demetrius blessed his brother for commercial business that brought profit. The famous merchant Gabriel Fetiev was among the townspeople people who asked Archbishop Simon in 1682 to allow a procession on the feast of the Candlemas to the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery "... the orphans of the Sovereign Vologda residents of the Vologda village of old age Oska Polyanin and all the people of Gradtsa ask for mercy from you, the sovereign of the great Hierarch, all the people of Gradtsk ask. We celebrate at the All-Merciful Savior the Meeting of the miraculous icon of our reverend father Demetrius of Prilutsky the miracle worker June "G" (3) number and for the feast to that Holy House to the monastery to the All-Merciful Savior and to the Reverend Father Demetrius, for the sake of prayer and your Holy Blessing, go and from the cross and from the holy images from ancient years, be merciful Sovereign, Reverend Simon<...>perhaps for the sake of the all-merciful Savior and the Reverend Father Demetrius of Prilutsk, the miracle worker, they led us, the orphans of the Sovereigns of all city people, O Sovereign, to the whole consecrated cathedral, as before, to release holy icons from the crosses for prayer ... ". As you know, the inhabitants of the city considered it “an indispensable and sacred duty for themselves every year” to accompany the procession to the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery and back, in spite of any weather, in the firm hope of obtaining for themselves this feat for the whole next year blessing and intercession from the Monk Demetrius.
"What is a church holiday, if not pious contemplation, in which the spirit rests from the labor of the flesh and gathers strength for the working days of life?" At the present time, these words of the Moscow hierarch about the spiritual power of church celebration have acquired special significance for the monastic brethren and life meaning. After years oblivion in 1991, spiritual and labor life resumed in the Spaso-Prilutsky monastery. According to the providence of God, the first prayer service to the Monk Demetrius was performed on June 3. Again, the brethren and Vologda residents prayed at the resting place of the miracle worker of Prilutsk, singing the troparion: “Ascension today, like the sun, / the most honorable image of your sacred likeness, / more than the sun with the rays of your miracles, illuminating everyone, / creating demonic darkness without a trace, / it is joyful to see it, / spiritual faces are composed, / we constantly cry to you: / Demetrius, our father, / pray to the Savior of all / save your city and our country, / giving salvation to your flock / and great mercy.

Holy Father Demetrius, pray to God for us!

life Vologda miracle worker, the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky, was compiled in the middle of the 15th century by the monk of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery Macarius. The value of this text lies in the fact that the author-compiler relied in his work on the stories of the elder Pachomius, who was the spiritual son of the monk. That is, we can fully trust the words of the biographer.

Worldly life of the Vologda wonderworker Dimitry Prilutsky

Rev. Demetrius of Prilutsky Born at the beginning of the XIV century in a family of wealthy Pereyaslav merchants. We do not know what the child was called at baptism, but we know that the father and mother of the future saint were devout people and early began to teach their son to read and write. Teaching came easily to him, and, while still a very young boy, he already read the Gospel and the Psalter. The son's love for sacred books and his excellent obedience pleased his parents. What upset them was his complete disregard for the commercial affairs for which they intended him. In the end, they apparently resigned themselves to this, but the Monk Demetrius was able to take monastic tonsure only after their death. He renounced his share of the inheritance in favor of his brother and entered the Goritsky Monastery, whose majestic walls still tower over Pereslavl-Zalessky to this day.

After some time, the Monk Demetrius left the Goritsky Monastery and went to a swampy place not far from Lake Pleshcheyevo. He did not manage to retire here: soon those who desired his spiritual guidance began to come to him. So Nikolsky appeared, which is "in the Bog", a monastery (nowadays - women's). It was about 1350.

In 1354, the first meeting of the Monk Demetrius with. Until that moment, the ascetics had heard a lot about each other, and when the Radonezh abbot came to Pereyaslavl on business of his monastery, he did not fail to visit St. Demetrius. The acquaintance grew into a strong friendship, and more than once the Monk Demetrius went sixty miles from Pereyaslavl to Sergius of Radonezh:

“Wishing to be comforted by his contemplation and soulful conversations with him.”

Soon the news of the ascetic life of the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky reached Moscow, where Dmitry Donskoy reigned at that time. When meeting with the prince, the Monk Demetrius made such a strong impression on him that he gave him "great honors", placing him on an equal footing with the Monk Sergius, and begged him to become the godfather of his son (presumably the eldest, Basil).

In 1368, the Monk Demetrius left the St. Nicholas Monastery (now we would call his departure “flight from popularity”) and went towards Vologda, where he founded the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery three years later, establishing a strict cenobitic charter in it.

The Life says that the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky was an example for the brethren in everything: he was the first to go to monastic work, exhausted his body with “prayer, fasting (he ate only prosphora and water) and thinness of vestment (that is, bad clothes) ”and tirelessly cared for both entrusted monks to him, and about everyone who came to the monastery for help. But the abundant alms he gave in front of the brethren was only the tip of the iceberg. Most of the alms of St. Dimitri filed secretly. The fact is that the inhabitants of the monastery from time to time showed dissatisfaction with those crowds of beggars who flocked to the monastery. Like any weak people, they were afraid that "they themselves would not have enough." And so, the holy abbot tried to do alms in secret, so that by murmuring the brethren “would not destroy their reward,” that is, they would not be deprived of retribution in the Kingdom of Heaven.

During his holy life, the monk acquired from God the gift of clairvoyance. So, in 1389, he, working together with the brethren on some kind of monastery building, suddenly stopped and said:

“We, brethren, are building these earthly perishable things, and the faithful Grand Duke Dimitry Donskoy no longer cares with us about this vain life”

and then, to the amazement of those present, he began to pray aloud for the repose of the soul of the prince. A few days later, news came from Moscow about the death of Dmitry Donskoy.

The Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky himself ended his earthly journey on the night of February 11 (according to the old style), 1392. At that moment, when his soul left the body, the whole cell, and then the whole monastery, was filled with fragrance. It was through him that the brethren learned of the death of their mentor.

The relics of the monk became famous for miracles from the beginning of the 15th century: in 1409, an epidemic broke out in Vologda, and many received healing from the coffin of the Prilutsk hegumen. By the 16th century, all of Russia was already revering St. Demetrius as a great miracle worker and.