Venerable Stephen, in monasticism Simeon, King of Serbia, Myrrh-streaming (1200).
Born in 1114 from zupan David, Stephen (Simeon in monasticism) was the youngest of four sons. Even at an early age, he ruled so wisely and piously that after the death of his father, most of the country was given to him; and then he suffered all his life from the wrath of his brothers. God consoled him by giving him as a wife Princess Anna, the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor. And they, having acquired holiness themselves, gave birth to two sons, who also became saints. Trying to turn Serbia into the Orthodox Kingdom, the Monk Simeon erected and maintained many churches in Serbia itself and throughout the Christian world. The crown of his life was the abdication of the throne when he followed his son, Saint Sava, at the age of 82. Together they asceticised on the Holy Mountain, founding the Serbian Hilandar Monastery here. With a face shining with heavenly light, the Monk Simeon reposed in Bose at the age of 86. His relics remained soft and warm and exuded a gentle myrrh. When Saint Sava returned to Serbia, he brought with him the relics of his father, and all the people witnessed that Simeon's body was still warm and looked alive, he seemed to be asleep. Currently, his relics are in the Studenitsy monastery, which he erected and in which he began his monastic life. And to this day, by the grace of God, they bring healing and consolation to all who come.
The Monk Simeon was the ruler of Serbia, but he renounced the kingdom of the earth and devoted his whole life to winning for himself an incorruptible kingdom in heaven. He established many monasteries in his country and built a magnificent temple in the name of the Most Pure Mother of God on the banks of the Studenitsa River, ordered to lay it inside from base to ceiling with marble and decorate with gold. Always supplying the poor with everything they needed, Saint Simeon finally distributed all his innumerable wealth to the poor: After this, voluntarily handing over all the lands under his rule to his son Stephen, he immediately left the world and followed his son, the Monk Savva2, who shortly before that he accepted monasticism in one of the monasteries on Mount Athos. Arriving on the holy mountain, the monk, with the assistance of his son, renewed here a desolate monastery with a church, called Khilandar, and began to ascend in it. Having learned the fear of God and unswervingly fulfilling the rules of monastic life regarding prayer and fasting, Saint Simeon achieved dispassion, humbled his sinful mind and, with the assistance of the grace of God, became a great ascetic. In abstinence and fasting, he reached such a height that he became like the Angels.
Therefore, even during his lifetime, many monks from different countries came from different countries to glorify God, and for many of them he was a mentor and guide on the path to salvation. Having lived there piously his life, the Monk Simeon in deep old age with joy and bright hope for eternal bliss departed to the Lord, Whom he so loved during his life.
After the repose of the monk, the Lord honored him for his great virtues, the gift of miracles. His body began to ooze myrrh, and through him, by the power of God, many miracles began to be performed. After this, the son of the saint, the Monk Sava, transferred the body of his father to Serbia and honorably laid it in a church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos, on the Studenica River, which Saint Simeon himself built with such love at his own expense. And to this day, pious Christians from Cancer, where the relics of the Monk Simeon rest, take myrrh, are anointed with it for various illnesses and receive healing.
VINE OF THE HOLY SIMEON THE MYSTERY (helping childless couples)
I am a mother! My daughter is only a few months old, but her birth changed the life of my family, our relatives and friends. And it's not about those pleasant changes in everyday life and the daily schedule that a new, small family member naturally changes. It's about a miracle that changed all of us ...
When I was 24 years old, my husband and I had the opportunity to be parents, but because of my youth, stupidity and ambitious character, I crossed out this opportunity. I mean abortion. Yes, abortion, murder of an unborn baby. This terrible act will be my endless pain for the rest of my life. Now I know that at eight weeks the fetus already has a heart beating, fingers are formed, and the Lord endows the unborn little man with an immortal soul, a meeting with which I now cannot avoid ...
Now I have become a believer. And then there was a completely different life, in the foreground in which there was a career. For her sake, our child was sacrificed. Career took place for both of us, material well-being has been increased many times over, but for whose sake? What were these acquisitions and sacrifices for? In the evenings in a large apartment we were just the two of us, and there was complete silence around us ... That for which I took a mortal sin on my soul: career, material well-being, comfort, life for myself - everything depreciated and became meaningless. It was bitter and scary to realize this ...
It was then that my husband and I remembered about God. We got married. This important event took place after six years of living together, at the very beginning of our path to the Church. I had a hope that now that we have repented of our deeds, the Lord, perhaps, will forgive us and send us a child.
But the years passed and nothing changed. Only faith in God was strengthened, the understanding that everyone was given their own life's cross, which must be borne resignedly. All the time we remembered that the Lord gave us a chance, but we rejected it. So there was no one to blame for our childlessness but ourselves. My husband and I constantly confessed and received communion, which for us was the main type of "treatment" for infertility. In addition, five years passed to doctors, titled and not very, both passed an uncountable number of various tests, underwent more than one course of treatment - the funds allowed, but nothing helped. The treatment was terribly exhausting, I could not think of anything except this problem. As a result, she found herself in a vicious circle of depression, which further poisoned her life. Doctors diagnosed a severe inflammatory process, as a result of which pregnancy, if possible, is only an ectopic one. It was a sentence to live with. Parents spared us, tried not to ask questions. But their silent anxiety made us suffer doubly. Only my close friend, also a believer, but unfortunately without a family, was unshakably convinced that everything would be fine with us, that the Lord was simply testing and educating us. I thought the way out for our family would be the adoption of one or two orphans, but my husband honestly admitted that he would not be able to raise other people's children, would not be able to sincerely love them. After another useless course of treatment, I decided that it was the last one.
My husband and I were both thirty-three years old, and we came to terms with the idea that we would never have children. All the more surprising and long-awaited was what happened to us after this medical verdict! One fine day, the priest told us that his friend a monk came from the holy Mount Athos and brought an amazing ancient shrine: a piece of a grape twig and three dried grapes.
This vine grows in the Hilendar Monastery. From the wall of the cathedral church its trunk comes out at a height of one and a half meters from the ground, from the empty tomb of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming (Stefan Nemani). Monastic tradition says: “When 7 years have passed since the death of Saint Simeon (February 13, 1200), Saint Sava (son of Saint Simeon) came to the monastery in order to take his relics to his homeland in Serbia, to reconcile the warring princes ... The monks of Hilendar wept inconsolably.
Then Saint Simeon appeared in a dream to Abbot Methodius and said that his relics needed to be transferred to their homeland, but as a consolation to the Hilendar brothers, a vine would grow from his empty tomb, and as long as it bears fruit, his blessing will rest on Hilendar ... »Since then, for eight centuries up to the present day, the vine bears abundant fruit every year. This vine is also amazing and wonderful in that the sterility of the spouses is resolved from its fruits. From ancient times to this day, the brethren of the monastery have been preparing, and then distributing and sending by mail such "envelopes of hope" to sterile spouses all over the world. In response, the monks ask only one thing - to report on the healings that have taken place and send to the monastery, if possible, photographs of the babies born. Monks pray for the health of each new child of Saint Simeon ...
Father gave this holy vine to my husband and me. In the envelope, in addition to the shrines themselves, there was also a letter with the recommendations of the monastery on how to spouses to accept the given shrine.
As it was said in the letter, we ordered a prayer service to St. Simeon for the gift of children in the church, dipped a piece of vine into the consecrated water. Forty days, during which the spouses must take this water on an empty stomach, had to be spent in fasting and had a separate bed, and also to do fifty bows every day with prayer to the Savior and the Mother of God. We timed this period to the Nativity Fast, and on November 28, 2001, we began to accept the shrine. Every day we turned to the Monk Simeon, begging him for the gift of a miracle. I did not doubt the power of the saint's prayer, for the Lord more than once gave us the opportunity to be convinced of the power of the intercession and intercession of the saints for us, sinners, but I was afraid that it was not God's will for our family to have children. My husband, on the other hand, marveled at my fears and believed so simply and firmly that his spiritual attitude was transmitted to me. We decided with him that if we have a child, order a large hand-painted icon of St. Simeon in our church and insert a piece of the very vine that allowed our infertility.
The Nativity Fast is over, and the forty-day period of eating the shrine is over. And on February 17 (I will forever remember this day) the test showed: there is a pregnancy. To be honest, even then I doubted, thought that the test was wrong, and did two more others. But they all showed a positive result! Then everything was like a dream. We immediately served thanksgiving prayers to the Savior, the Mother of God and Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming one. Since the doctors talked about the possibility of only having an ectopic pregnancy, we immediately did an ultrasound scan, which showed that everything was in order.
We immediately reported the incident to our father. It is impossible to express how grateful we were for such a wonderful gift! Deep down, I immediately decided that only he would be the godfather of our baby. We did not immediately tell the parents the good news, but already for a period of three months. And they told in detail why we are expecting a baby. We wanted the people around us to also be able to touch the amazing miracle. How wonderful it is that even in our age of materialism, rationalism and lack of faith such a feast of Faith is celebrated!
My pregnancy was easy. I almost did not feel tired, although in the first trimester I had to work very hard and hard. Father blessed me to receive communion every Sunday, and after going on maternity leave - and at every Divine Liturgy, when I could be in church. Knowing how sometimes doctors irritate pregnant women with bad tests, too much or too little weight gain and other "horror stories", I have reduced visits to medical institutions to a minimum. Once a month I attended the antenatal clinic and passed the required tests every other time. “Well-wishers” often frightened me by their age (33 years old), working at a computer and advised me to see an expensive doctor at one of the well-known medical centers. But I did not pay attention to these advice and do not regret it at all.
The only thing that my husband and I decided for ourselves at the beginning of pregnancy: choose a good maternity hospital and give birth together. And again they tried to dissuade me, saying that the husband should not look at the process of giving birth to his wife, that this is “the wrong side of life,” and it is very difficult to lie with the child together, I will not get enough sleep, and by the time of discharge I will not have the strength. Fortunately, I did not heed these advice either. We chose a maternity hospital in the city of Dolgoprudny, small and very cozy. Then everything was very simple. They put me in without waiting for the onset of labor, because the planned date had already passed. In addition, I have poor eyesight (about minus 7), and more than once I was offered (in other maternity hospitals) to have a cesarean section. But after a couple of days, labor began. I immediately called my husband, and in half an hour he was already in the hospital. Previously, we attended courses on preparation for childbirth, so my husband actively helped me breathe correctly, did anesthetic massage, gave me a drink, wiped my face with cool water, called a doctor when it was necessary, and most importantly, he made it clear every minute that he was there. and everything is going well.
We must pay tribute to the high professionalism and human support of doctors, obstetricians and all medical personnel of the hospital. The delivery went quickly, without a single hemorrhage in the eye and without any complications at all. The newly born daughter, still wet, was put on my stomach. This is such a huge and difficult to describe happiness! Never before in my life have I experienced such unearthly happiness.
Another shock awaited us when we opened the church calendar and began to choose the name of our daughter. She was born on November 12, on this day, of the female names, only Anastasia and Elena were. After reading more closely, we saw that this is the day of remembrance of Helena, Queen of Serbia. This seemed to us to be a trade, since Saint Simeon, who prayed for our daughter, was the first-crowned king of Serbia. Imagine our joy and surprise when, already at home, we read that Queen Helena was the daughter of Saint Simeon (King Stephen Nemanja). This is how the whole royal family took us under their protection.
Now there are three of us in the family. We grow and rejoice at every new day, never ceasing to thank God for the admonition and the miracle given to us. And if my example and my mistakes help change the decision of at least one woman and avoid this terrible, mortal sin - the murder of her child, my life will not be lived in vain.
Women, lovely! If you decide to have an abortion because of material problems, for the sake of a career or something similar, remember that the Lord will still take away what the murder was committed for. God forbid anyone to have welfare at such a terrible price! I know this from myself ... We have fulfilled our vow to the end, and now in our church there is an icon of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming with a particle of healing vine. And all the barren spouses who dream of children, but do not have the opportunity to visit the Holy Mount Athos (only men are allowed there), can come to the Trinity Cathedral in the city of Yakhroma and pray in front of the holy image of Simeon the Myrrh-streaming. And by your prayer and faith it will be given to you ...
contacts:
Holy Mount Athos code 03770
mr Khilandar tel. 23797
his konak or representative office in Kares (which is on Mount Athos) tel. 23203
Inquiries about telephones on Athos 23209
Panteleimon Monastery, tel. 23252 konak 23201 In Moscow, the Panteleimonov convent, tel. 095 2980558
Society "Russian Athos" 095 2913586
You can write to the monastery of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming in Greece. You can write in Russian.
You will be sent a sprig of vines and grapes with instructions on how to use them, an icon.
The only thing that is required is to pay for the parcel post (within a dollar) upon receipt by mail. And they also ask when your baby is born, inform about it and, if you want, send a photo.
Monastery address:
Monastere Hilandar:
63086 Karyes: Mount Athos Greece
Troparion of the Monk Stephen, in monasticism Simeon, Tsar of Serbia, myrrh-streaming
voice 3
Enlightened by divine grace, / and upon death, show the lightness of your life, / exude a fragrance of myrrh / flowing to the race of your relics, / and your people instructed you to the light of God-mind, / our father Simeone, / pray Christ to God / grant us great mercy.
Kontakion of the Monk Stephen, in monasticism Simeon, King of Serbia, Myrrh-streaming
voice 6
Having loved the angelic life on earth, / leaving the world and the world, / you followed Christ, Simeone, / to Him who loved you apostolicly instructed you, crying: / Love God, as He will love us.
Miraculous Vine of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming
About the miraculous vine of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming in the Khilandar monastery on the Holy Mount Athos tells the monastery inhabitant Fr. Dosifei. On the southern side of the cathedral church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Hilendar, every pilgrim is struck by a highly overgrown and highly branched vine, bent over and forming, as it were, a gazebo out of its branches. Its stem comes out of the wall at a height of one and a half meters from the ground, from the tomb of St. Simeon (Stephen Nemanja), which is located next to the same wall, on the inside of the temple. The Hilendar tradition about this 800-year-old vine says: “When seven years have passed since the death of Saint Simeon (February 13, 1200), and when Saint Sava came from the Karei cell to the monastery in order to prepare to promote the reconciliation of their warring brothers, the monks of Hilendar wept inconsolably. Then Saint Simeon appeared in a dream to Abbot Methodius and said that his relics needed to be transferred to their homeland, but a vine would grow from his empty tomb as a consolation for the Hilendar brothers; and as long as she bears fruit, his blessing will rest on Hilendar. "
This miraculous vine has a special property - from its fruits the sterility of the spouses is resolved by faith and prayer of those who accept this miraculous remedy.
Those who, with God's blessing, would like to have offspring, let them turn their prayers to St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, who, leaving his Serbian kingdom, asceticised on Mount Athos, founded the Khilandar monastery and died there after many godly labors, having received the gift of miracles from the Lord - may he allow the infertility of the spouses who come running to him with faith. For this one must take a bunch and part of a branch from a vine, which miraculously grew from the very tomb of St. Simeon. Three berries and one piece of stem are placed in one bag. This piece should be placed in a vessel filled with consecrated water (650 grams), and both spouses should drink from the vessel before each meal for 40 days. Then the husband needs to eat one berry, and his wife two. For these 40 days, spouses must fulfill the following rule: Eat only fast food and make fifty bows every day: 25 in the morning with a prayer, Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, have mercy on us, and 25 in the evening with a prayer: Reverend Father Simeone, pray to God for us. Whoever wants can double the number of bows, that is, add another 50 with a prayer: Most Holy Theotokos, save us. All this time it is necessary to refrain from marital intimacy. After 40 days, the husband and wife must confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and then the Lord, by faith, will bless the spouses with conception.
After conception, the entire period of pregnancy and breastfeeding, the spouses must refrain from marital intimacy and live in purity. From the life of the prophet Samuel it is clear that his mother Anna breastfed her son for three years, all this time without sharing his bed with her husband, and then gave birth to more children. Although everyone thought that she was barren, but where God wants, the laws of nature are defeated. After all, the birth of a child is a gift from God, and not a human will. The Lord said: I am seven this one who creates man and blows spirit into man. The Apostle commanded parents to remain in fasting and prayer, subjecting marital desires to higher goals, so that those who have wives would be as if they had not (1 Cor. 7:29).
Therefore, let us repeat to the spouses once again: do not be slaves to the body, but work in the spirit, for all Christians are called by God to live not in impurity, but in the light.
Look at the animals, which to this day absolutely follow the natural law given to them by God at the time of the creation of the world and saying that after the conception of the fetus, intercourse is not allowed, neither during pregnancy, nor during feeding. And man, as you yourself see, becomes worse than cattle, indulging in passionate desires and forgetting about his dignity given to him from God, who created him in His own image and likeness. By violating God's law, a person acts against nature and incurs the righteous wrath of God on his offspring. The consequences of this anger are as follows: unfaithfulness of a spouse, strife and other troubles, incurable diseases from which children suffer, the premature death of a husband, wife, as well as their beloved children. This is how the Lord punishes spouses who do not obey God and His laws, who have lost the fear of God and have followed the path of carnal wisdom, which is the enemy of God. They kill themselves, their children and their offspring up to the third and fourth generation, depriving themselves forever of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Even before allowing their infertility, spouses must strictly follow the church rules established for them, namely: to refrain from intimacy on the eve of Sundays and holidays, on the eve of Wednesday and Friday, during all four fasts prescribed by the church, but especially during the Great Lent. i.e. Great Lent. The remaining time can be used in decency and the fear of God for married life. But the Lord gave a man a wife as help in their common life, blessing them with the words: Be fruitful and multiply, and not for the sake of lustful voluptuousness, which knows neither time nor measure in its unrestraint.
Therefore, we pray you, Orthodox Christians, our spiritual children in Jesus Christ and our beloved brothers in baptism: observe your holy marriage in all the purity and truth of God, follow all the commandments of God, and then the Heavenly Physician of soul and body will heal your infertility and overshadow your family with His By grace. And for the fulfillment of your petition, give alms to the poor and the needy. After all, you will not receive the gift of giving birth to a child by yourself, and, in addition, you will reach the Kingdom of Heaven, which is promised to those who love God, and you will be together with those who pleased God with deeds of mercy, in which Jesus Christ help us, through the intercession of the Most Pure and the Blessed Mother of His Virgin Mary, the prayers of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming wonderworker and all the saints of Athos, for whose sake may we be given the blessed end of this temporary life and eternal life, where we will ceaselessly glorify the Most Holy, Life-Giving and Indivisible Trinity, the Father, and the Son, and to whom glory befits forever and ever, amen.
Blessing of the Serbian Royal Lavra,
monastery HILANDARA,
Mount Athos
Listen to the video of the prayer to Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming in infertility
On the day of his death, November 3 (Greek), in remembrance of the reunion with St. Savva in the Vatopedi monastery in 1196, in the Cathedrals of the Athonite and Hilendar monks
In the world, Stefan Nemanja, was born in or year in the Zeta region (present-day Montenegro), the youngest of the four sons of Zhupan David, ruler of Raska. At that time Zeta was under Latin jurisdiction, but when his parents left Zeta, they baptized him in the Orthodox Church and raised him in love for true faith and holy virtues.
Early on, his father entrusted him with the management of one of the areas. At the death of his father, thanks to his talent as a ruler, the love of the people and the help of the Byzantines, he became the great zupan of Rashki in a year or a little later, about a year.
During his reign, he had to face the hostility of the brothers and be imprisoned for the sake of Orthodoxy. But thanks to the unshakable faith and intercession of the Great Martyr George, he defeated his enemies and eventually managed to unite most of the Serbian lands. After Stephen defeated his rebellious brothers for about a year, they had to obey him and the order established by him, and at this time he added the expression "God's mercy" to his title. In the year, after a series of clashes with Byzantium (in the year, in the year and others), he obtained from it the official recognition of the independence of the Serbian state. As a result of numerous wars with the Byzantines, the lands between Timok and Morava, many Bulgarian lands, Upper Macedonia and part of Northern Albania passed under his hand; Serbian rule was established in Zeta, in Kholm and Travunia, in Bosnia. By the end of Stephen's reign, only the northern part of his own Serbia remained outside his power, under the rule of the Hungarian crown. About relations with more distant lands, it is known that Stephen was looking for rapprochement with the Roman-German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, when he went to Palestine through Serbia and Bulgaria a year.
Trying to turn Serbia into an Orthodox kingdom, the holy ruler supported the Church and fought heresy. For about a year, he convened a Council to rid the country of the heresy of the Bogomils. He also cared about the destruction of paganism and the ousting of Latinism from his dominions. With the help of his pious wife, he erected and maintained many temples both in his own land and abroad, making rich donations to major spiritual centers of the Christian world. Among the monasteries built by him was the Serbian Lavra - the Studenitsky Monastery, erected for about a year.
Having strengthened the Serbian state and properly organized the life of the Church in his land, the great zupan decided to completely devote himself to serving God. The crown of his life was the abdication of the throne in the year when, at the age of 82, he followed the advice of his son, Saint Sava, and entered the monastic path in the Studenice monastery with the name Simeon. His wife also took monastic vows with the name Anastasia, and power in the country passed to his eldest son, Stephen. Soon Simeon went to his son on the Holy Mount Athos, where, in the guise of a simple monk, he entered the Vatopedi monastery. The father became a humble disciple of his son, imitating, as far as his age allowed, the zeal with which Savva indulged in prayer. In the year Vatopedi gave to his father and son, Serbian monks Savva and Simeon, the lavra of Khilandar, which was then in ruins. Father and son worked hard to restore the monastery, practically rebuilding it from scratch.
For only eight months they had labored at Khilandar when Simeon fell ill. Before his death, he called his son Sawa, he cordially said goodbye to him, asked him to dress himself in burial clothes and put him on the floor in ashes, placing a stone under his head. Then he called all the monks, asked for their forgiveness and, looking at the icon of the Mother of God, departed to the Lord with the words: "Let every breath praise the Lord" (Psalm 150: 6). It happened on February 13, when the saint was 86 years old.
Relics and veneration
The Monk Simeon was originally buried in the Khilandar monastery which he had recreated. The relics of the saint, at his repose, remained soft and warm and exuded a gentle myrrh, from which many miracles occurred.
The life of the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming before his abdication.
The great ascetic, our reverend father Simeon the Myrrh-streaming Stefan Nemanja was at first the great ruler of the Serbian people, the unifier of the Serbian lands, the creator of the independent Serbian state, the defender of Orthodoxy, the exterminator of heresy. At the same time, all his life he was a man of great faith, great love, great prayer, great mercy, great evangelical zeal. He, according to his biographer Hilandar hieromonk Domentian, "from his youth, desired to serve God with holiness and truth all the days of his life before Him." His life, full of God and the truth of the Gospel, was described by two of his holy sons: Saint Sava and Saint Stephen the First Crowned, as well as a disciple of Saint Sava, Hilandar hieromonk Domentian.
Stefan Nemanja was born around 1113 in Zeta, in Rybnitsa, and here he was baptized in Latin. When his father returned to his capital (to the city of Ras, the capital of the Raska region, where the saint himself later began to rule. - Transl.), He was baptized by an Orthodox saint and bishop in the Serbian land, in the church of the holy all-praised and supreme Apostle Peter and the apostle Paul.
This church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is the oldest Serbian temple. It is located north of Novy Pazar at the confluence of the Dezheva River with Rashka, on its left side. Here Stefan Nemanja gathered a council against the Bogomils, here he abdicated the throne; there was also the pulpit of Bishop Raska.
Stefan Nemanja was the youngest of the brothers, but “God's grace is above all”. The Chosen One of God grew up in the house of his parents in all piety and purity, and as a prince he received from his father one of the borders of his fatherland: Toplitsa, Ibar, Racine. Wise and careful, he first became the great zupan of Raska in 1168. In a short period from 1183 to 1186, Nemanja united most of the Serbian lands. Soon after that, he becomes the first ruler in history who united under his rule all the lands where the Serbs lived.
Saint Sava says about this: “He renewed the hereditary fatherland and strengthened it with God's help and wisdom given to him from God. He returned the lost heritage of great-grandfathers, returning from Primorye the Zeta region with cities, from Rabna - both Pologa, from Byzantium - Patkovo, all Khvoeno and Podrimla, Kostrats, Drashkovina, Sitnitsa, Lab, Liplyan, Glubochitsa, Reka, Ushnu and Pomoravle, Zagrlata, Levche, Belitsa All that was once taken by force from great-grandfathers, he gathered with his courage and labor. " At first, Stefan Nemanja, like his father, was in vassal dependence on the Byzantine emperor, but later he freed himself from it and became a completely independent ruler, with the title "Lord of all Serbian lands." Its capital was "in the middle of the Serbian land." It was the city of Ras, half an hour's journey from modern New Pazar.
Together with the reunification of all Serbian lands, Stefan Nemanja zealously worked to establish Orthodoxy, thereby satisfying both his personal spiritual interests and the interests of the state. At the same time, he argued with his brothers, from whom he suffered a lot of trouble. Full of faith, he lovingly built a temple in his area in Toplitsa, at the mouth of the Kosanitsa River. And, having decorated it with everything necessary for divine services, he established a hostel for nuns there, headed by his honest and God-loving wife Anna. He entrusted her with the care of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos and the nuns of this holy monastery. She obeyed him with all her good soul, keeping the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, which her holy master entrusted her with. And again, Saint Stephen the First-Crowned tells us, this holy our lord, unable to stop his heart, inflamed with love for Christ, began to build a temple to the holy bishop and miracle worker Nicholas, not far from the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos at the mouth of the Banska River. Until his death, he walked barefoot, for the sake of fulfilling the words of the Savior: everyone who exalts himself will be humiliated, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matt. 23, 12; Luke 14.11). While he was building the temple to the holy miracle worker Nicholas, a quick helper in trouble, his brothers, impelled by the devil and embraced by evil jealousy and fierce anger, decided to grieve the saint and upset his work, saying: “Why are you doing what you should not do? You haven’t come to an agreement with us, but you are doing what is better than what is with us! " And the saint meekly and with a kind smile answered them: “My dear brothers! We are the sons of one father and one mother, so that this work of mine, which I began for the Lord and I will complete in my area, will not be in your anger. What I do, be it good or bad, let it be in my share, at my expense. Ask the Lord God for His bounties and mercies - let each of you accept them. "
And he completed the temple to the holy miracle worker Nicholas, established a monastic rule in it so that the Lord God would be praised incessantly. And he lived in peace, thanks to God and the Most Holy Theotokos and the holy miracle worker Nicholas, until the anger of the devil swept over him. For the brothers conspired among themselves, not excluding the oldest brother, who then owned the entire Serbian land (free from Byzantium - Trans.), So that, having called this chaste and holy man, they seized, chained and thrown into a stone cave. Sitting in a cave in sad thoughts, he prayed to the holy warrior - the great martyr and Victorious George, saying the following words: “O holy martyr, martyr George, who for Christ's sake endured suffering and all kinds of countless torments and wounds! - and you were in grave bondage, you were torn to pieces and called on your Master, his Lord Jesus Christ, to come to deliver you, heal and comfort you. You even looked at your death as a slaughter, like the gentle lamb of Christ, saying: accept, O Lord, my prayer - let those who will be in trouble and captivity, either in prison, or on the sea, and in my name call upon Your philanthropy, then You To them, Lord, for the sake of Thy ineffable mercy, be merciful! And the Lord has heard your prayer and fulfilled your request for the sake of your worthy labors. For, verily, you have deservedly pleased, the holy martyr of Christ, your Lord Christ. And I speak with the Lord, being sinful and unworthy. With what eyes will I, darkened, dare to gaze into the heights of heaven, with what lips will I call upon the terrible Heavenly Father and you, saint ?! But take pity, suffer the suffering of Christ, for me, passionate and poor, pray to your Lord Jesus Christ, Who promised you to fulfill your petitions! May I call on your holy name now I will get rid of these torments and chains in order to serve you, saint, all the days of my life, until my last breath: in a way that will please the height of your suffering, by the mercy and mercy of Christ, who glorified you and crowned you. in the whole world for all ages, amen! "
The Martyr of Christ heard the prayer of the holy man and fulfilled everything that he prayed for him. And the holy emperor began quickly, without any delay, with zeal and love, to build a temple to the holy and glorious great martyr George of Christ. He finished the construction, calling on his benevolent helper, decorated the temple in every possible way and supplied it with everything necessary for the divine service. He established a monastic rule, and the monks here served the Lord with holiness and truth and ceaselessly glorified the Great Martyr George, the holy protector in troubles and dangers. This was done for the praise of the saint and for the sanctification, as well as for the salvation of the souls of the monks.
When the malefactor brothers hired German, Byzantine and Hungarian detachments for the war with their brother and led them against the saint directly to his inheritance and reached the place that was called Pantin, he cried out from the depths of his soul to his Lord Jesus Christ and to the Great Martyr George praying for help. And when he was near the town of Zvechan, where there was a church of the great martyr George, he chose several priests and sent them to pray to Saint George so that he would come to his aid and fight with him against the enemies. The priests sent by him, at the behest of their master, served the All-Night Vigil and Matins, and then the Holy and Divine Liturgy. When, after many hours of prayer, they lay down to rest and fell asleep, then one of the priests appeared a holy ambulance in full military equipment. In horror, the priest asked: "Who are you, sir?" And he answered: "I am the servant of Christ George, sent by the Lord God Himself to help your master, in order to defeat his enemies with the arms of the cross and destroy their vain intentions."
The priest immediately informed his master of this, and the next morning a fierce battle took place. With God's help and the help of the holy glorious great martyr of Christ George, Stefan Nemanja defeated his enemies and foreign peoples. Then he returned to his empire on the throne of his fatherland and began to live, thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Most Holy Theotokos, an early helper in the troubles of the miracle worker Nicholas and a companion in the battles of the holy Great Martyr George, who kept him unharmed from enemies. The holy ruler in great numbers ordered and stood day and night services before the Lord. Having assumed authority over his fatherland, he served the Lord with a humble spirit, a pure and contrite heart. He had sons and daughters, and he raised them in all piety and purity and taught them the fear of God, great humility and wisdom. Says Domentian: “Who can adequately tell about his many prayers at night and about the deeds of mercy during the day? For he once heard the word of the Lord spoken through the prophet Daniel to king Nebuchadnezzar: O king, let my advice be pleasing to you: atone for your sins with righteousness and your iniquities with mercy to the poor (Dan. 4:24). The monk, however, what he listened to, he did in practice, responding to every request, dressing the naked, feeding the hungry and singing the thirsty, visiting the sick, ransoming debtors, freeing slaves. "
The Christ-loving sovereign, full of holy zeal for the divine truth of the Orthodox faith, tried with the courage of a confessor to eradicate heresies in his fatherland, where heretics poisoned the soul of the faithful people with their false teachings. One of the faithful warriors said to him: “Lord, I am one of the worst and least of your servants, and seeing your zeal for your Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Most Pure Lady the Theotokos, and for the holy saints of God - your defenders, who support your power with a strong hand unshakable, I must tell your power that a vile and damned heresy is more and more rooted in you in your state (We are talking about godliness, in which the Christian doctrine is intertwined with various Middle Eastern and Slavic mystical teachings and superstitions).
Nemanja immediately convened a council, to which he summoned his bishop Euthymius, monks with abbots, honest priests, elders and nobles from small to great. And, turning to everyone, he said: “You see, fathers and brothers, that I am the worst among my brothers, but the Lord God and His Most Pure Mother of God do not look at the face of a person and deigned me, the worst one who believes in the consubstantial and indivisible Trinity, so that I kept the flock that They gave me, which you see now - let not the seed of the wicked and disgusting devil be sown in it. I never thought that he was so present in my state, but more and more now I hear that this evil-evil one took root in a short time and blasphemes the Holy Spirit and divides the indivisible Deity, as the mad Arius said, cutting the consubstantial Trinity. So these madmen follow his teachings, they do not know, the poor, that because of such faith they will find themselves with him at the bottom of hell. "
While a great strife was raging at the cathedral, the daughter of one of the Nemani's faithful nobles came, who was married to one of those crooked believers. She was in their company and realized all their impurity and filth, but she did not get dirty about their faith. She fell at the feet of the saint and unambiguously confessed, saying: “Lord, my Lord! - here we see how your state is in this vile and disgusting faith. Indeed, my lord, according to the law of marriage, I was begged from my father - your servant, who thought that in your kingdom there was only faith. And I was with those transgressors and saw, the lord, where they really serve Satan himself, who fell away from the glory of God. And I can no longer endure the stench of deaf idols and vile heresy, it left their hands and ran here and cried out to your might: smite those who fight with us with a cross, so that wicked enemies will test how strong your faith is, master! "
The holy emperor brought this woman out, and set her before everyone at the council, and exposed the crooked heretics. And the council made a decision to eradicate heresy. Jealous of the Lord God Almighty, like the prophet Elijah once, God-loving Nemania sent an army against the heretics, executed them in different ways, and distributed their houses and property to lepers and the poor. But the main teacher and their elder, he cut off his tongue because he did not confess Christ as the Son of God, burned his wicked books, and sent him into exile, forbidding even mentioning his accursed name. And he completely eradicated this accursed faith, and from now on it was not remembered in his state, but the consubstantial indivisible and life-giving Trinity was glorified: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Having spiritually united the people by unanimity, Nemanja devoted himself to the cause of annexing to his state those regions that were inhabited by Serbs, but were under the rule of Byzantium. “And he annexed,” says St. Stephen the First Crowned, “to the land of his fatherland, the Nishava region to the edge, Liplyan and Morava, and called Vranje, the Prizren region, and both Pologa to the edge. He returned Duklya and Dalmatia - his fatherland and place of birth, his true heritage, which was held by the Greek people by violence, so that region was nicknamed Greek. In it, cities were built by his hands: Dan grad, Sardrnika grad, Dryvost, Rosaf grad, called Skadar, Svach town, Lcinj town (Ulcinj is the southernmost city of modern Montenegro - Per.) And the glorious town of Bar (now the most important port in Montenegro. - Per.). And Kotor (the main city of Boka Kotorska - Bay of Kotor; was one of the most significant centers of navigation on the Adriatic. - Per.) Strengthened and moved his court to it (the capital is still the city of Ras in the Raska region. - Per.) " ... And St. Stephen the First-Crowned adds: “He conquered his enemies, unremittingly wearing the cross of Christ in front of our eyes and with it defeating the enemy barbarians. And he lived in thanksgiving to God and in prayers day and night. "
When, with God's help, all this was accomplished, says the holy First-crowned King, this holy my lord, who always has in his heart the unspeakable fear of God, was afraid of one of the Savior's parables, saying: “As if the words of the parable did not come true for me sinners Of my Lord, which He related: a rich man had a good harvest in the field<...>and said:<...>I will break down my granaries and build large ones, and I will gather there all my bread and all my goods, and I will say to my soul: Soul! you have a lot of good things for many years: rest, eat, drink, be merry! (Luke 12, 16-19); and, not paying attention to the time, seeks to overtake me the very word said at the end by God: Mad! This night they will take your soul from you; who else will get what you have prepared? (Luke 12, 20). Oh! Then, brothers, who will be able to withstand or endure this formidable and terrible judgment of Him or the irresistible wrath of God that rushes on us, sinners? But, Lord, Lord, have mercy and have mercy on His servant, for, I know, my iniquities are truly great and are always open before You, Lord! Therefore, I will lay a beginning in my heart: let it endure and let it fear Thy holy name. According to the apostle Paul, I say: you who have wives, be as if they did not have, keep yourself pure and in the commandments of the Lord. Therefore, I, a sinner, represent as witnesses of my firm decision, as its Keeper for the sake of Your holy name - the Most Pure and Most Holy Mother: Lord, for the sake of you, I leave my connection with my wife and put You, my Lord, Jesus Christ, for the Leader and Keeper my old age and the Guide on the way, walking along which and glorifying Your name, I do not want to stumble. I also want to erect a temple to Your Most Pure and All-Immaculate Mother, Your Benefactor, and there I want to fulfill all my vows for You, which my lips uttered! "
And he began to build a temple to the Most Holy on the Ibar, on the river called Studenitsa. Working on this, he constantly lifted up prayers to the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ and to His Most Pure Mother. He also sent donations to the saints of God: the Great Church of the Lord in Jerusalem and the Church of St. John the Baptist, the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bar, the Church of the Holy Ever-Virgin Mother of God Evergetide in Constantinople, the Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Skopje which he erected, the church of the holy great martyr Demetrius in Thessaloniki and the church of the holy great martyr Panteleimon in Nis, which he erected. Day and night he cried out incessantly: “Saints who stand before Christ, and archangels, prophets and apostles, martyrs and hierarchs, reverend fathers and desert dwellers, monks and venerable virgins, pour out your prayers before the Sovereign of all, our Lord Jesus Christ, may not condemn me on the day of the Last Judgment and the terrible trial, but may it be merciful, quiet and condescending to me; and, for the sake of the prayers of His Most Pure Mother and your prayers, may it grant me to pass the storm of this temporary life and enter into a quiet and true imperturbable refuge and see the imminent Light of mine - the Lord and Savior and my God, King Jesus Christ, to whom among the saints the praise of Israel. For the Prophet says: Our fathers trusted in You and were not ashamed, I hope in You and I will be saved (Psalm 21: 5-6). Therefore, Lord, do not leave me, the poor, who trusts in Thy mercy; reject not, Savior, and have mercy on Thy sinful creation, yes, rejecting the beauty of this world, I will follow You, praising and thanks to Thy holy and gentle name, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, both now and ever and forever. "
Praying in this way from the depths of his heart, he labored in spiritual joy at the Church of the Most Holy, taking care of its complete completion. For when this holy my lord, says Saint Stephen the First Crowned, saw how the Church of the Most Holy One was being erected, then, believe me, gentlemen and brothers, I myself saw how he directed his mind into the sky - like an eagle created to soar in the sky, but chained on the ground with iron chains and wanting to free himself and fly up high in order to reach that immortal and holy Source and see the temple of God's City - Heavenly Jerusalem, of which he truly became a citizen.
Stefan Nemanja leaves the throne and takes monasticism.
When the thirty-seventh anniversary of the power of our God-loving father came, says Saint Sava, the all-merciful Lord did not despise his heartfelt prayer, but, as a mercifully accepting labor and rewarding one, wished everyone to be saved. When the right time came, this perspicacious man, who considered all the glory and all the honors of this world nothing and saw the beauty of this world in smoke, because love for Christ grew in him, igniting his heart - as if a house preparing to receive Christ was preparing to become the purest abode of the Holy Spirit. For Christ dwelt in his mind and led him. And he called his noble children and his chosen boyars, people small and great, to him and began to tell them this lesson of his:
“My dear children, whom I have nurtured and raised! You all know how God, by His Providence, made me the ruler over you, you also know how I accepted our land at the beginning of the disastrous, but with the help of God and the Most Holy Lady of our Mother of God, I, to the best of my strength, was not lazy, did not give peace of mind until everything is corrected. And, with God's help, he expanded our land in length and breadth, which everyone knows. So, until then, I taught you, as my children, to adhere to the Orthodox faith. Many foreigners rushed at me and attacked like a swarm of bees, but with the name of the Lord I rose up against them and won. Therefore, you, my dear children, do not forget the teaching and the orthodox law that I have established. For, holding on to it, you have God as your helper, and the Most Holy Theotokos, and my sinful prayer.
And now release me, your master, in peace, so that my eyes see the salvation that the Lord has prepared in the face of all people - light for the revelation of tongues and for the glory of you, my flock. For we see how everything human, whatever remains after death, is vanity: wealth and glory do not remain, for when death comes, it destroys all this. Because of this, we try in vain. The path we follow is short: our life is smoke, steam, earth and dust. Appears quickly and ends quickly. Therefore, verily, everything is in vain. This life is a shadow and darkness, and every earthly man works in vain, as the book says: when we leave this world, we will settle in a tomb where both kings and the poor will lie. Therefore, my dear children, let me go, but I will quickly go to see the consolation of Israel. "
With these words the good lord and the good shepherd taught them, and they all wept and wept and said to him: “Do not leave us orphans, sir, but enlighten us and teach us, good shepherd, who you lay your life for the sheep, for never in your days is a wolf did not snatch a sheep out of the flock given to you by God. And for all thirty and seven years of your reign we were saved by you and raised and brought up and we do not know another father or another master, except you, our lord! "
And the blessed elder, who, in a fatherly way, advised them with wise words to stop lamenting and crying, “according to holy insight, he chose his faithful son Stephen and made him the autocratic ruler of his entire state” and said to everyone: “You have him now instead of me! —The good root that came out of my womb. I put him on the throne in the power given to me by Christ. " And, having risen from his throne, says Domentian, gave it to his son with every blessing and, blessing him, said: “My beloved child, this throne of my state was presented to me by the Lord, the King of Heaven, - I did not take it by any of my strength, but The Lord looked at my humility, deposed the strong one from the throne and lifted me humbled to him. And by His power I have had power on this throne until this hour. And from my youth I wished to follow my Lord. But, as the Lord had delighted in me, so it happened to me. Now the time of the Lord has come for my salvation. And you, my dear son, bless the highest God, who reigns forever. And may this throne of mine be blessed by the Lord God, so that it can pass from your father to you and your children, and after your children to all your descendants until everlasting.
And may the Lord my God help you on it, walking, and lying, and getting up with you, delighting and gladdening your soul and heart with the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And the Lord my God may preserve you, and may He be your Patron saint in every place. And may the Lord my God keep you from all evil! And may the Lord my God keep your entry and procession into battle with your adversaries, with your enemies! And let the Lord my God teach your hands to order in battle and your fingers to fight against your enemies who are rebelling against you! And may the Lord my God with His holy angels keep you in all your ways! And my holy angel, who has guarded me from youth to this day, may he be with you and, by the abundant mercy of the Lord my God, be able to be the leader of your regiments, as he was the leader of my regiments! * Let him stand with you in a military line in all your battles! And the Lord my God, and my strength may teach your feet to do the will of God here, on this throne, and forever. Amen".
And he also lectured him, - says Stephen the First-Crowned himself, - so that he would try about every good deed in his state, so that he would be kind-hearted to the Christian people, who were given to him in the power, the flock, given to him by God, saying: “My dear child, feed this Israel is mine and take care of him, leading him like Joseph of the lambs! " He commanded him to take care of the churches and their ministers, listen with delight to the bishops and clergy, to honor the priests and watch over the monks, “so that they pray for you, and that you will not be ashamed of anything before God and people.”
In the same way, Stephen blessed Neman and his other dear son, Prince Vukan, and made him the Grand Duke, and allocated him enough land, and gave him the commandments given to Stephen before. And the good father set them both before him and said to them:
“Sons, do not forget my laws, and let your heart keep my words, so that the years of your belly may be added to you. Do not forsake charity and faith, tie them at your doors and write them on the tablets of your hearts and receive grace. Think about what is good before God and people. Rely with all your heart on God and do not try to be exalted with your wisdom. See that your ways, which you walk, are straight, so that you do not stumble. Do not think highly of yourself, but fear the Lord and shy away from all evil - then your body will have health, and your bones will have rest. Honor the Lord from your righteous labors and give Him the first fruits of your righteous fruits, so that your barns may be filled with plenty of wheat, and your winepress will flow with wine. Sons, do not despair when God punishes you, and do not shy away when He convicts you. For the Lord punishes whom he loves and beats every son he accepts. Blessed is the man who has found wisdom, and the mortal who has seen reason. For it is better to acquire wisdom than vestries of gold and silver. She is dearer than precious stones, she is not afraid of any evil, and she is sweet to everyone who approaches her. Any other jewel is more insignificant than her, for the length of the days of life is in her right hand, and in her left hand is wealth and glory. Truth proceeds from her lips, and she carries the law and mercy on her tongue. Her paths are good paths, and all her paths are in the world. It is the tree of life for all who hold on to it and lean on it as an unbreakable wall.
I give you this commandment: love one another and have no evil with one another. You, Vukan, submit and obey your brother, and from God and from me who was placed on my throne. And you, Stephen, in power, do not harm your brother, but honor him. For whoever does not love his brother does not love God. God is love. Therefore, whoever loves God - let him also love his brother. For this is the whole law: the apostles learned it, the martyrs were crowned with it, the prophets spoke about it. So, if you want and obey me, you will inherit the blessings of the earth, and if you don’t want to and do not obey me, then the weapon will destroy you. May peace from the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ and the Spirit of God rest on you, my dear sons, hiding and shielding you from all enemies, visible and invisible, and directing you to the path of peace.
Peace be to you too, my nobles and boyars! Peace to you, young men, whom I have nurtured and raised from the birth of your mothers. Peace to all of you, the verbal flock of Christ, given to me by God - I herded you and kept you intact, like a good shepherd, laying down my life for you. Therefore, I pray you, my beloved children, rich and poor, old and young, adhere to my teaching - the teaching of your father. Fear God, honor the one endowed with authority, decorate the churches so that they will adorn you, listen to the bishops, honor the priests, respect the monastic order, so that they always pray for you. And you, living in truth and in love among yourself, do not forget about charity. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the Father and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen".
All those present wept and sobbed that they were parting with such a ruler and shepherd, wept and wept and could not be comforted. For truly, I myself am at a loss, - says Saint Sava, - how to call him: a good master? teacher of orthodoxy? a good father? a shepherd who faithfully feed the flock entrusted to him? an enlightener of the church and a teacher of good customs, who was always in prayer? a great servant to the poor, who loved them? A mentor of orthodoxy and a teacher of voluntariness and a luminary of purity in the universe? A faithful mentor and a model of meekness and fasting? A mentor of wisdom and an adviser and punisher of the unreasonable? Keeper of his flock and wise protector of all those who live near him? For, verily, all this was in him, he was full of wisdom and reason, and the grace of God was on him.
Having blessed his people, this wise and wondrous man left the power given to him by God, and all his various and numerous blessings, for this was pleasing to Christ God and the Most Holy Theotokos in order to satisfy his inexpressible and holy desire. Having distributed all his property to the poor, he leaves the throne, his children and his wife and becomes a participant in the unspeakable, and honest, and holy angels, and the apostolic face, small and great, and he was given the name Simeon on the Holy Annunciation on March 25, 1195. On the same day, the spouse Anna, given to him by God, the mistress of the entire Serbian land, took the same holy image, and she was given the name Anastasia. “Desiring the Kingdom of Heaven,” says the creator of his life, Domentian, “he left the earthly kingdom and this world and everything in this world. And, leaving the earthly earthly, seeking the highest, he followed Christ. ”Having accomplished all this, says Saint Sava, our lord and father retired to our monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos, Studenitsa, which he erected, and Madame Anastasia went to the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos in Ras. And this wonderful our father and tutor, Mr. Simeon, stayed among us in all volition and purity, prospering and teaching everyone with his spiritual deeds. For truly he fulfilled what was written in the Gospel: he sold everything that he had and bought one precious pearl - Christ (Matthew 13:46), for whose sake he did all this, fulfilling the Savior's commandment given to the young man: if you want to be perfect, go, everyone what you have, sell and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me, taking up the cross (Mark 10:21). Having fulfilled all this, the blessed elder remained in Studenica for two years and increased the number of Christ's flock in the monastic order. And he lived here with honest monks according to the rule and commandment of the holy and God-bearing fathers and was never lazy.
He desired to ascend to the highest spiritual level, referring to the words of Holy Scripture: no prophet is accepted in his fatherland (Luke 4:24). to his son - Saint Sava on the Holy Mountain, who from the very beginning called him from the Holy Mountain to renounce the throne and follow Christ by the path of monasticism. The creator of the life of Saint Domentian wrote about it this way:
“Our Holy and Reverend Father Simeon from the bottom of his heart wrote a letter full of paternal love to the Holy Mountain to his dear son - the God-wise Savva, the mentor of monks and the inhabitant of the desert, the carnal angel, imitator of the Heavenly Forces incorporeal, jealous of the exploits of the saints and their companion, a heavenly citizen, who by fasting, vigil and prayer has earned heavenly gifts. And he wrote to him like this: "Listen, my child, my beloved about Christ, what you wrote to me earlier, the Lord our God fulfilled, and your prayers for my salvation were not in vain, and what you asked for, what you wanted, what you expected with all his soul and what he sought with all his might - this was given to me by the merciful Creator, not because of my righteousness, but because of His immeasurable mercy, which He has in general to all sinners who turn to Him. having honored the grace of the angelic face with the saints, and following Him in the Gospel, taking on His shoulders His holy cross, I, according to His false commandment, now happily follow Him and you, dear child, and try to reach you on the Holy Mountain And pray for me, our beloved Christ, that, at my tenth hour, joining you, my beloved child, I become the cultivator of Christ's vineyard, and may the All-Merciful Lord God not deprive me of His reward, but may He grant me with His abundant mercy here and into endless eyelids. Amen. " This letter of our blessed father Simeon is conveyed by the holy First-crowned King in the following words: "Know, beloved about Christ, that what I asked for and what I desired and what I strove with all my might with all my soul, he gave it to me, having mercy on me, my Creator - not for my iniquities, but for His infinite and inexpressible mercy and love for mankind: He deserved what I desired - an honest angelic face. , and at the twelfth hour he deigned to come in, so that we might appear with you as a maker of Christ's vineyard, that we may accept our reward. "
Having received the letter, God-loving Savva rejoiced in spirit and, multiplying, multiplied prayers before his Lord, with tears offering praise to the Lord God Almighty and His Most Pure Mother, Our Lady of Our Lady, saying: "Thank you, Lord my God Jesus Christ and my Most Pure Lady, that they heard my prayer and did not despise my prayer. And by the prayers of Thy Most Pure Mother, the Intercessor of our kind, Thou, Lord, did not abandon those who seek You, and those who hope in You and who work for Your name. "
And he wrote a letter to his reverend father, saying:
"The Scripture of your holiness has received and found in it inexpressible joy and unspeakable joy, for the Lord, Who wants to be saved for everyone and come to the mind of truth, chose your holiness from this vain, seething world and added it to all saints, reverend and righteous, offering you the angelic life ... Try to come quickly, my lord, come, saint, for your beloved Christ through me - your beloved child, has prepared for you a heavenly and earthly abode - may not be ashamed of those who hope in Him. the joy of his Lord, for to those who love Him, everything advances for good.Come, O God-bearing, let us do the will of God and fulfill his true commandment: let us seek first the Kingdom of Heaven, and then everything will be added to us (see Matthew 6, 33), and let us bring to our beloved Christ the face of the Montenegrins and the council of saints and the gatherings of many, all the faithful, so that when they look at us and follow us in this earthly kingdom, we will accept a double grace - for ourselves and for those whom we will become an example for their sanctification and for their salvation in God ... Come and come, my lord and father, so that you teach your children the fear of God, and you will show us the good way of salvation, and you will show the great humility to us, who want to live according to your piety, so that we, your children, may exalt the Lord with you, and that with your holy prayers the Lord will deserve us to follow in your holy footsteps. You worked harder on the apostolic building of the one that is fundamental in the faith of Christ and for this you want to receive the highest reward from Christ, Who gives gifts to everyone according to his labor ... Come and come, a lamp of God, burning with the grace of God, who shines with the Holy Spirit, for your master Christ is waiting for you to bring Him fruit from the good land - your immaculate soul, which you strive to cleanse with cruel abstinence and great humility, so that your beloved Christ may bring an immaculate gift ... Come and come, beloved by your child, come, led by the Holy Spirit along the way divine and along my little path, and work hard and find the offspring of your many-loving heart. And come, and come, and help me, and help me, so that we receive the bounties of the Lord, promised to us and to all who love God and who desire eternal life ... you will get a second Israel and you will experience unexpected joy because of your child, like Jacob because of Joseph, and I will also enjoy your holy love, I, who for many years has retired from the greatest love of my child-loving father. Come and come, my lord and holy father, may I see enough of your holy gray hairs, and may I kiss them with love, and may I kiss your holy image, which was written in heaven by the Lord God even before you were born ... Come, and, while we, in this transitory life, direct a single-minded prayer to the Most Pure Mediator of our life, so that She will readily open the heavenly doors of Her mercy to us in the highest, and we will remain with our Lord forever. Amen"".
The departure of the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming to the Holy Mountain and his life on it.
Having received a letter from his son Sava, who reveres the Lord, the blessed Elder Simeon flared up in spirit and began to pray to God, saying: “To the King of glory, the One immortal, Father of heaven and power, Who, by the kindness of His Providence, do not want any person to perish, but so that all might be saved, do not leave me to perish, for I know how great is your mercy towards me. And now, Lord, I pray you - let me complete this striving! " Having said so, he sent for his sons, whom God had given him. When they, together with the nobles and boyars, gathered, the Monk Simeon gave them his blessing for the second time and set off for the Holy Mountain on October 8, 1197. Leaving, he ordered his son, the ruler Stephen to observe his commandments and take care of the monastery in Studenica. Also, leaving, he made the monk husband, Hieromonk Dionysius, as hegumen in Studenitsa, and obliged him to take care of the flock of Christ, which was gathered in this holy place, and to take care of it.
And he, blessed one, says Saint Sava, “reached the Holy Mountain on November 2, 1197. The God-bearing and reverend fathers who lived on the Holy Mountain received him with joy and with great honors. And at first he stopped at the Vatopedi monastery, for here he found his desired, lost lamb - so says Saint Sava to himself - and, kissing him and lifting him on his shoulders as a reformed one, took him into his service.
And here they lived in spiritual joy, says St. Stephen the First Crowned, in divine services and vigils and in honest prayers day and night. Prot and all the brothers of Svyatogorsk came to him, and bowed to one another to the ground, and with tears talked with him about the benefits of the soul, and he asked them about their life and about monastic rules. And everyone was amazed, and glorified the Lord Christ, Who does glorious and majestic deeds and Who did so that blessed Simeon left his kingdom and the glory of this world and came to the Holy Mountain for monastic exploits. And this holy my lord, - continues Stephen the First-Crowned, - everyone, from the greatest to the smallest, gave all sorts of gifts according to the dignity of each and lit his own lamp for everyone.
Heavenly people and earthly angels, says Domentian about blessed Simeon and God-bearing Savva, having reached quiet true humility and despising everything that was lost in this transitory world, cared only about the salvation of their souls. According to the word of the Lord, they did not care about anything earthly, but sought the one Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness (Matthew 6, 33), which they found. Both from their youth began to work for the Lord and continued until death according to the true word of the Lord - the one who endures to the end will be saved (Mark 13:13; Matt 10:22). Both took up the cross of Christ as a mighty weapon, and went with invincible strength into battle against their enemies, and with their great patience avoided many nets. Inflamed with the love of Christ, by their exploit with holy tears, they extinguished the fire of wickedness and appeared as the many-luminous lamps of the Church of Christ, sent from God and His Most Pure Mother, and therefore were crowned with incorruptible crowns and received the same glory with the Highest Powers.
Having spent a certain time in Vatopeda, says Saint Sava, blessed Simeon both justified his reign in the world and here also desired to find a place of salvation for everyone who came from everywhere. And he begged from the Greek Tsar Alexei - his friend - an empty place to build a monastery on the Holy Mountain. Having found an empty place called Khilandar, says the holy First-Crowned, this holy venerable elder with his son Savva sent a letter to his son, the ruler of Serbia, Stephen, to send them in abundance of what is needed for the construction and renovation of Khilandar, the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos. The letter read: “Oh, beloved child and servant of Christ! Know that the Lord God and the Most Holy One left you to possess there by His will and with my blessing! I am writing to you that I have found an empty place in the middle of the Holy Mountain, in honor of the Introduction of the Most Holy Theotokos, called Hilandar. Do not be lazy, but hurry up with your power to erect, create a temple of the Most Holy in my memory on this earth, and besides, may it be after me and your children and grandchildren in your family until the century.
For you are a tutor to this, after all, in my earlier writing I gave you in my state the church of the Most Holy Theotokos Benefactor in Studenica - not to you with someone else, but only to you and your offspring after you. I remind you of the prophetic word: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will fulfill the desire of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, and trust in Him, and he will do it. And he will bring out your righteousness as light, and your righteousness as the noon" (see Psalm . 36, 4-6). Therefore, do not be late, do not sleep, but strive, yes, having fulfilled these words of mine, with my blessing you will do your good deed. "
His son with all his heart with great joy received the message of the holy master Simeon and his embassy. He rose from his throne, fell on his face to the ground and said with tears: “I thank You, O Lord, my Lord Jesus Christ, that you have allowed me, Your unworthy servant, to go after the deeds of my former guardian, who cared to preserve my earthly body, and now , moving away from me, constantly and unceasingly cares about my soul and guides me on his path, but I will follow his deeds. For truly, O Lord, Thy true and true servant is the one who follows Thy words and does not hesitate to Thy love of mankind to bring the lost, the fallen, the prodigal and sinful, as well as me unworthy. Although I am far from Him, He makes me a participant and a tutor of His holy temples, not according to my dignity, but by His ineffable mercy. Therefore, how can I repay You, O Lord, or what will I bring You from my unworthiness for Your good deeds, which you have done and are doing to me as a sinner? For how can I express or express the greatness of Thy strength, or the bottomlessness of Thy humanity? Or how can I endure Your irrepressible wrath, which is upon us sinners? But you are doubly good, Lord, and you do good as the Most Merciful. Therefore, I, wondering at Your strength, exclaim to You: "Glory to Your love for mankind, Lord, forever. Amen!"
After that, through Abbot Methodius, the imperious Stephen sent to his parent many and immeasurable gifts for the foundation and completion of the Church of the Most Holy, and more than once. Every year he sent everything that was necessary for the holy master, until he completed the temple of the Most Holy. He sent not only gifts, but also from his own land, doubling the flow of funds, gave them to complete the saint and the monks, saying: “Give true bow to my lord - so says your servant:“ all your commandments are fulfilled and the desire of your heart is fulfilled. For how, or with what mind, would I, poor man, turn away and not fulfill your holy commandments ?! How could I forget your kindness to me and your good upbringing? For Christ breathed spirit into me, and you raised me and guided and taught me. And, by the grace of your Lord Jesus Christ, by a fair teaching and blessing of your lips and by your holy prayer, I am not afraid when they attack me from everywhere, I am not afraid of the hands of foreign barbarians. After all, Peter said to his Lord while washing his feet: Lord! Not only my feet, but also my hands and my head (John 13: 9). So, sir, and I, your unworthy servant, ceaselessly cry to your holiness: not only what I am bringing you now, but also my whole earthly body I offer, if your holiness needs it. But, my lord, command something else, and everything that must be done, for I will not faint until my last breath. For I did not acquire all this myself, but you, my lord, did it, and you do everything with the help of your Lord. After all, you returned what was lost and gathered the waste, and banished heresies with the help of your Christ, and you raised the people and the land of your kingdom as from an abyss, teaching you to magnify God and glorify His holy name. After all, you are truly a good shepherd, who lays down his soul for the sheep, driving the heretical teachings out of your flock like mental wolves. And what am I myself, sir ?! - only obedience that looks at your deeds! But pray to the Lord for me, that I do not transgress your holy commandments, that I do not diminish the volition of Christ, which you sacredly established, but let me add and complete, as Solomon the Wise added and completed what his father David did not complete. After all, the Truth Itself - Christ is the Witness of your many deeds and the holy church of the Most Holy Theotokos, which you have adorned with your great divinity, and sculpted with wisdom, and clothed in splendor, and gracefully exalted it to the heights of heaven! With Her pure and unceasing prayers and your holy prayers and forever, may the all-good Lord not deprive me of the Heavenly Kingdom with its unspeakable glory, abiding blessings and endless life. Amen".
When Abbot Methodius with gifts reached the God-bearing couple - Saints Simeon and Sava, he handed over the letter and told with what great honor he was received, and everything that happened, and how his dear son fulfilled the will of his heart and fulfilled all his commandments. And they praised God and His Most Pure Mother for everything that they had heard about their beloved. And with God's help, - says the biographer Domentian, - and the progress of the Holy Spirit, and the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, and the feat of the godly lamps - the Monk Simeon and the God-bearing Savva, the Khilandar monastery was created, and near it a city, and in the middle of the city a high tower, similar to the royal house, and high chambers, also similar to those of the king.
After that we moved into Khilandar, says Saint Sava. “And our reverend father spent a year and five months with me on the Holy Mountain. Who can tell the exploits and labors of this blessed one? For all who lived in the vicinity were truly amazed at him, beholding the indescribable condescension of God to him, and came to him with blessing. The sacred, God-fearing and Christ-loving monks of the Holy Mountain and all the consecrated clergy did not leave him, amazed at his such humility and gaze of meekness, amazed at the instructor of fasting and the follower of the teachings of the Holy Gospel: Who wants to be the first, be the last of all and all the servant (Mark 9 , 35), if not<...>you will be like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 18: 3), blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5: 3), blessed are those who weep today, for you will laugh (Luke 6, 12), blessed are those who weep for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will have mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God (Matthew 5: 4-8), etc.
Our blessed father and tutor, Mr. Simeon, was the executor of all these words of the Lord and in no good practice was exalted and did not move away, but received salvation with those who live for Christ. And having gathered enough monks in Khilandar, he appointed one reverend husband, the monk Methodius, as their senior over them. And having put everything in order in the monastery, as was necessary, he lived there for eight months, performing feats and experiencing inexpressible spiritual states that the human mind cannot express. And not only the monastery benefited, but also to the entire Holy Mountain, to all the monasteries he gave abundant alms for the remembrance of himself and all his posterity.
Illness and repose of the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming.
And blessed Simeon lived in prayer silence with his child Sava, - says the holy First-Crowned, - in prayer silence, in their monastery, in the church of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Holy Mountain, they lived a monastic life, fulfilling all the monastic rules. Day and night - incessant worship with them, for they walked the narrowest and narrowest way, forgetting about everything earthly. They left everything perishable and stuck their minds into heaven, standing with their bodies on earth, and with their minds and souls in heaven. Below they saw Christ Himself (on the icon - Per.), And at the top at that time they were with the angels, and, spending their lives like the ancient holy teachers of monasticism, the monks, looking at the rewards for their labors, ascetic even more, passing to the best. They spent a lot of time in their monastery, as long as it pleased the One who created human bodies and Who knows the secrets of men, and in whose hand is every living creature, Who by His mercy determines the end to everyone. And it pleased Him to bring the blessed elder to the best for him - to reward him for his labors, bodily exhaustion, for abundant tears, for his various virtues, and call him to a secret meal, and give him drink from an immortal source, and settle him with Himself with those, that they pleased Him, that He may rejoice incessantly with His angels. After all, which person will live and not see death? Desiring to manifest him as a heavenly man and an earthly angel, He showed His ineffable mercy and prepared His ladder for the exodus of the monk, which he himself had built in advance and handed over to his Lord, so that he would set him at the hour of his repose.
On the seventh day of the month of February, - writes Saint Sava about his father, - honest old age began to afflict him. And the blessed old man, Mr. Simeon, immediately called me, unworthy and insignificant, and began to quietly speak to me holy, precious and sweet words: “My sweet child and the consolation of my old age! Listen carefully to my words, incline your ear to my words, keep them in your heart - and the sources of your life will not dry up, for they are life for those who reach them. Reject stubbornness from your mouth and curvature from your mouth. Let your eyes look straight, and let your eyelids show with their movement what is righteous. Walk straight with your feet and straighten your paths. Do not deviate either to the right or to the left, for only God walks along the paths that are on the right, and the paths that are on the left are corrupted paths. And you study the direct, and let your desire be at rest. Son, listen to my wisdom, incline your ear to my words, so that you preserve my good thought; with my mouth I say what I feel. Take care, son, the law of your father; do not reject the teachings of your mother. He who reproaches the wicked incurs hatred on himself, and he who exposes the wicked invokes hatred against himself. Do not expose the wicked, lest they hate you. Expose the wise - and he will love you. Show the wise one to his falsehood - and he will be even wiser, give a lesson to the righteous - and will continue to accept it. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and the knowledge of the saints creates reason. By doing this, you will live a lot, and the years of your belly will be added to you (the saint taught a lesson on the Book of Proverbs. - Trans.) ”.
And stretching out his hands, the blessed one laid them on my sinful neck, and began to cry with sorrow, and kissing me sweetly, began to say: “My dear child, the light of my eyes, the consolation and preservation of my old age! Now the time has come for our parting, now the Lord lets me go in peace, according to His word, so that what has been said may be fulfilled: you are dust, and to dust you will return (Genesis 3:19). But you, child, do not be sad looking at my parting, because this cup is one for all. We are parting here, but we will meet where there will be no parting. " And, raising his most pure hands and placing them on my head, he said: “Blessing I bless you! May the Lord God, the blessed one, prepare your salvation and, instead of the blessings of the earth, grant you grace, mercy and the Kingdom of Heaven. Let him straighten the path that you follow, which you went before me, having here and there my sinful prayer, inseparable from you. "
And I, ”says Saint Sava,“ fell on my face at his most pure feet and spoke with tears: “I received many gifts from you, and great gifts, blessed my lord Simeone! But, poor and ungrateful, I forgot everything, mixed it with folly and things akin to it, for I am poor in good deeds and rich in passions, full of shame, deprived of courage before God, mourned by angels, ridiculed by the devil, exposed by my conscience, disgraced by evil deeds by their own. Dead even before his death and before the Last Judgment already condemned by himself, before the endless torment I torment myself with despair. Because of this, I bow and fall at your most honorable feet, so that, even if I remain incorrigible, I may receive at least some small relief at the terrible Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. "
And when the eighth day of that month came, the blessed father said to me: "My child, send for my spiritual father and for all the honest elders of the Holy Mountain, so that they may come to me, for the day of my exodus is approaching." I fulfilled his commandment, and many monks came, like the myrrh-bearing flowers growing in this desert. And when they came to him, they received a blessing from each other, and did not let them leave him, saying to them: "Stay by my side until you sing my body with your holy prayers and bury it." And the blessed old man from the seventh day until his death did not accept either bread or water, but only every day he received communion of the Holy and Most Pure Mysteries of the Body and Blood of the Lord and God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
On the twelfth day of the same month, says Saint Sava, I saw that the blessed elder was preparing for his departure, and I said to him: “O blessed Lord Simeon! Behold, your good transition to your eternal rest is approaching. But as I myself heard that you blessed your heirs, so now give me your last blessing! " And he, raising his hands, began to say with tears: “To the Most Holy Trinity, our God, I praise Thee, and I bless Thee, and I pray Thee, and I think to You - here, for the third time I give blessings to my heirs! O Lord Almighty, God our father: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the seed of the righteous! preserve them and strengthen them in the power that I ruled with the help of the Most Holy Theotokos, and may my prayer, albeit a sinful one, be with them from now on and forever. And I give them a common commandment: have love among yourself! But if any of them deviates from this, which I have made a law for them, then let the wrath of God swallow both this man and his offspring! " After all this, he said: "Amen!"
Then the blessed elder said to me: "My child, bring me the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos, for I promised that I would give up my spirit before her." I have fulfilled the commandment. And when evening came, the blessed one said to me: “My child, show me love, throw a robe over me for my burial and completely prepare me in a sacred way for being buried. And I lay my bed on the ground and lay me on it. And put a stone under my head so that I will lie there until the Lord comes to take me out of here. " I did everything that he commanded me. Then the blessed one said: “Call to me, child, the prota and all the brethren, that they may see my outcome. For, behold, the servants of the Lord my God and mighty soldiers are already approaching; my ears hear their voice and their singing. Hurry, my love! "
And when all the invited had gathered, the saint lay on the mat, awaiting the arrival of the angel. And the invited ones sat sad near him and said to him, lamenting: “Do not leave us orphans, saint! Do not deprive us of your teachings! For who will teach us now and to whom will we resort now? " And they sobbed loudly from great sadness. Among them is Savva, - says the First Crowned, - forever blooming with the color of his virginity, weeping bitterly said: “O saint! we see that you are going back to the Lord! But do not forget us in your prayers and ask for mercy for us from Christ God. For how can we live without your bright face? How can I assimilate the image of our life, not having my good shepherd? Whom will I find for a sincere conversation? From whom shall I receive consolation? Who can heal my mental damage? Pray your Lord to receive me into His eternal dwellings, for I cannot bear parting, my sweet light! " And all those present in one voice said: "Remember us, saint, in your blessed rest!"
And when night fell, - says Saint Sava, - everyone said goodbye to him, and received a blessing from him, and went to their cells to perform their prayer rule and rest a little. And I stayed and kept one priest with me, and we were with him all that night. At midnight, the blessed old man calmed down and did not answer me again. And when it was time for Matins and the service began in the church, the face of the blessed elder immediately brightened and he said, looking upward: Praise God in His saints, praise Him and for the confirmation of His power! (Psalm 150, 2). And I asked: "Father, whom do you see and with whom are you talking?" And he, looking at me, said to me: Praise him and according to His strength, praise him and according to His great sovereignty! (Psalm 150: 3). Having said this, he immediately gave up his divine spirit and fell asleep in the Lord. And I fell to his face and cried bitterly for a long time; then, having risen, he thanked God that he deigned me to see such a death of this reverend husband (the Monk Simeon rested on February 13, 1200, when he was 86 years old. - Transl.).
When the brethren heard of the repose of the monk, everyone began to come to him, and were amazed at the enlightenment of his face, and said: “O blessed Simeon, who at his last breath deserved to see such a vision, which the Lord has pleased to grant you for the exploits of your labors, so that at the departure of your soul you joyfully exclaimed sweet words: Praise God in His saints, praise Him in the confirmation of His power, praise Him and for His great sovereignty! You will be blissful everywhere, and that is why you said such blissful words! "
After that, - says Saint Sava, - having taken the venerable body, we honorably placed it in the middle of the church, according to custom. And at the end of Matins, in the presence of countless monks, they began to sing the prescribed hymns over the body of the monk, and what was said was fulfilled: The Lord glorifies those who fear Him (Psalm 14: 4). Many monks from other nations also came to bow to the monk and with great honor to sing him with soulful songs: first the Greeks sang, then the Ivers (Georgians - Trans.), Then the Russians, after them the Bulgarians, after them again we, the Serbs, collected by him herd. And when time had passed after the Liturgy and when the entire service was completed, everyone kissed the body of the monk. And I, a sinner, fulfilled his testament and commandment - I wrapped the blessed body and put it in a new coffin. The assembled multitude of monks did not disperse until the ninth day, serving a holy service for him every day.
The life of the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming (in the world of Stephen)
Ro-marvel-shis in 1114 from zhu-pa-na Da-vi-da, Ste-fan (Si-me-he is in the mo-na-mstvo) was the youngest of the four sy-no-wei. Yes, at an early age, he ruled so wisely and blissfully that after the death of his father he was from-da-na to the administration - most part of the country; and therefore he suffered all his life from the wrath of his brothers. God consoled him by giving him the princess An-nu, the daughter of the vi-zan-tiy-sko im-pe-ra-to-ra. And they, themselves, have become sacred, have produced two sons, who also became saints. Trying to turn Ser-biy into the right-to-glorious kingdom, the pre-like Si-me-he moved and kept a lot of the number of temples in Serbia itself and in the whole Christ-an-sky world. The wreath of his life became from the pre-la, when he followed-up to his son-well, holy Liu Sav-ve, 82 years old. Together, they came to the Holy Mountain, based here the Serbian Hi-lan-dar-sky-land. With a face, an axis-yang heavenly light, the pre-like Si-me-he thought about Bo-z at the age of 86 years. His powers remained soft and warm and so-cha-whether a gentle mi-ro. When the saint Sav-va returned to Ser-Biya, he brought with him the power of his father, and the whole nation was witness -Let's that the body of Ci-meo-na was still warm and you-look-de-lo living, he seemed to be asleep. At the same time, his powers will stay in the Stu-de-nits-com mo-na-st-re, to which he moves and to -to-rum began his life. And to-now they are God blessing and bring healing and consolation to all those who come.
See also: "" in the translation of St. Di-mit-rya Rostov.
Prayers
Troparion to the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming
Enlightened by divine grace, / and by death show the lightness of your life, / exude more of the world of fragrance / flowing to the race, your prayers, / and your people insisted // God didn’t give you the grace of God / God / God / God. ...
Translation: Enlightened by divine grace, and after death you reveal the lightness of your life, for you exude a fragrant aroma to those who come to cancer with yours, and you direct people to the light of God-mind, Simeon our father, pray Christ God to grant us great mercy.
Troparion to the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming and his son, Saint Savva I, Archbishop of Serbia
Inhabitants of the Hilandar holy builders / and Athos the luminaries, Serbia praise, / Simeon the greatest, reverend lepot, / and his wondrous kind, saint, - I vow, / I almost agree with Christ, , // and about the hedgehog of the Church of being free from circumstances.
Translation: The monastery of Hilandar sacred builders and Athos of lamps, Serbia praise, Simeon the greatest, saint adornment, and his amazing relative, Saint Sava, come unanimously honoring, crying out: “Pray Christ God for yours, blessed ones, and for the Church to be free from disasters ".
In troparion to the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming and his son, Saint Savva I, Archbishop of Serbia
Izhe warm prisoners in skorbeh and napasteh imuche, / Simeon the God-of-God and Sabbath the First Sanctifier, / I fell to the nim with faith, / I prayed them from the Cross, I thank you for the goodness of God / give Glory to Him Who glorified you miracles, // Glory to Him Who redeemed us from sorrow with your prayers.
Translation: The zealous defenders in and having, Simeon and Sava the Primate, let us turn to them with faith, so that through their prayers we can get rid of temptations, as the Orthodox Savior and God should be glorified, crying out: “Glory to Him who gave you strength, glory to Him who glorified you with miracles, glory to Him who delivered us from sorrow through your prayers. "
Kontakion to the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming
Having fallen in love with the earth's life, / having left the world and the world, / with a repentance to Christ, Simeone, he followed, / to Him who loved thee apostolically insisted, crying: // I will love God.
Translation: Having fallen in love with the angelic life on earth, the addiction to the worldly and the world itself, leaving the world with the fasting of Christ, Simeon, you followed, to Him you apostolicly directed those who love you, crying out: "Love God, just as He loved us."
Ying kondak to the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming
He received Christ's reception, Simeone, / and, We took the Cross, followed Him, / planted in the house of the Lord, prosperous, like a phoenix, / like a cedar, like in Lebanon, multiplied the miracles of man's desires / desires / / Christ God prays incessantly for all of us.
Translation: Lifting the Yoke of Christ, Simeon, and taking His Cross (), followed Him, planted in the house of the Lord, blossomed like a palm tree and like a cedar of Lebanon (), you increased your children, a man of spiritual aspirations, for he was a miracle worker. Pray Christ God incessantly for all of us.
Kontakion to the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming and his son, Saint Savva I, Archbishop of Serbia
You loved the life of the world, glory, / the life that exists on earth in contempt. / This is the joy in the highest with Angela always rejoicing, // pray for all of us.
Translation: Having loved the heavenly life, glorified ones, you have despised the earthly life. Therefore, in Heaven with the angels, always rejoicing, pray for all of us.
Jin Kontakion to the Monk Simeon the Myrrh-streaming and his son, Saint Savva I, Archbishop of Serbia
This day Simeon with Sabbath, blessedness, came in the spirit: / they save their flock from the situation: / this is the Trinity preaching the One God, / the Church of God, appearing to fight for miracles, / in the holy warriors / // Athos praise and the people of the Serbian fortress.
Translation: Today, Simeon and Sava, the blessed ones who came spiritually, save their flock from disasters, for they preached the Trinity of God, becoming the power of the Church, the myrrh-streaming saint and miracle worker, saint, for they also became invincible defenders in battles, the honor of Athos and the strength of the Serbian people.
From the editorial board... In continuation of the material about the shrines of Athos, at the numerous requests of friends of our museum site, especially readers, a small note about the miraculous vine of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming in the Serbian monastery of Khilandar ( see photo). She became famous for the healing power to resolve the infertility of spouses, which has become a mass phenomenon today, as evidenced by the crowds of suffering women at the belt of the Most Holy Theotokos, brought to Russia from the Holy Mount Athos: http://expertmus.livejournal.com/84029.html
It should be noted that both the "belts" of the Theotokos from Vatopedi, and the bones of the vine of St. Simeon the Myrrh-streaming from Khilandar can be completely unimpeded as an Athos blessing to all who expect deliverance from ailment, if you send your request by mail to the address of these monasteries ( see below).
Blessing of the Serbian Royal Lavra, HILENDARA monastery. Holy Mount Athos
On the southern side of the Hilendar cathedral church of the Presentation of the Most Holy Theotokos, every pilgrim is struck by a highly overgrown and highly branched vine, which bent down and formed, as it were, a gazebo from its branches ( see photo). Its stem comes out of the wall at a height of one and a half meters from the ground, from the tomb of St. Simeon (Stephen Nemani), which is located next to the same wall, on the inside of the temple ( see photo).
The Hilendar tradition about this 800-year-old vine says: “When seven years have passed since the death of Saint Simeon (February 13, 1200), and when Saint Sava came from the Karei cell to the monastery in order to prepare to promote the reconciliation of their warring brothers, the monks of Hilendar wept inconsolably. Then Saint Simeon appeared in a dream to Abbot Methodius and said that his relics needed to be transferred to their homeland, but a vine would grow from his empty tomb as a consolation for the Hilendar brothers; and as long as she bears fruit, his blessing will rest on Hilendar. "
The fact that this vine has survived to this day and that every year, without exception, it bears rich fruit, although it receives no other care besides pruning, and no measures are taken against Phyloxera or other diseases and pests, is a great the miracle of God is thus a great moral consolation and spiritual encouragement for our Hilendar brotherhood and for all Serb believers in general.
But this vine is not only exceptional for this reason. It also has another property. From her fruits, the sterility of the spouses is resolved, who by faith and prayer accept this miraculous remedy .
The oldest surviving legend about this dates back to 1585, when a Turk brought his first-born son to leave him in Hilendar to serve God, for he received it, like his other children, after eating the grapes of St. Simeon.
Since then and to this day, our holy monastery has been continuously distributing this miraculous grape to pilgrims or delivering by mail to those who will turn to it with a letter. Once upon a time, pilgrims from Russia came in droves to the Holy Mountain and asked for these grapes in great numbers. Now they are asking for it from all over Greece, because, especially recently, the results from its use are amazing.
It will be useful here to cite an incident that is instructive for those who will ever want to partake of the grapes of St. Simeon. It will be about Mrs. Catherine R. from Thessaloniki, who proposed to her husband to ask for the grapes of St. Simeon from Hilendar. But he did not agree to this, for he lacked faith... However, his wife labored herself in other ways to get this grape and began to act according to the leadership on its use, fulfilling that part of the duties that, according to the leadership, her husband was supposed to fulfill. When the Lord blessed them with the first conception, this woman told her husband about her act; and since then, this family, driven by a sense of gratitude, has been in constant contact with our monastery.
And the Serbs from ancient times, when the Chnlendar monks walked around their people, knew about this miraculous grape. Our Hilendar still has guides to its use printed in the old days. But in recent decades, the Serbs have not asked for it, and the younger generations no longer know about it.
After the screening of the "Film about Hilendar" our compatriots both at home and abroad have recently learned everything they need to know about the vine of St. Simeon. The first person who, after watching this film, asked for grapes from this vine, and then received children, was brother Nicholas J. from Worcester (England).
Since now the demand for the grapes of St. Simeon has increased from the Serbian side, the management of our monastery decided in a new form to publish that old guide on the use of this miraculous grape.
Since the people of our time have become weakened by faith, and every miracle, not excluding this, manifested through the grapes of St. Simeon requires strong faith, then before using this miraculous grape, you need to prepare yourself accordingly.
Here is just one example of this. Recently, again in Thessaloniki, there was such an incident. One priest, who had no children, took, passing through our Hilendar, from the grapes of St. Simeon, but hesitated to use it. Once a certain parishioner asked him to get her this grape and he willingly gave her his. Some time later, one Sunday, after the Holy Liturgy, this woman, all illuminated with joy, again thanked this priest for that gift. “... If I had faith and I would have children today ", - this priest told us not long ago when he was passing through our monastery again.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR FUNNY SPOUSES SELECTED FROM THE SACRED SCRIPTURE
There is no better textbook for teaching faith than the Holy Scriptures, and there is no better place and time to live by faith than our everyday life. Our Lord Jesus Christ always asked the one over whom he performed the miracle of healing: "Do you believe?" Or after being healed, He said to the one who was healed: "Your faith saved you!" So, our faith is always a precondition for the Lord to manifest His power over us.
We therefore recommend reading the 11th chapter of the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to the Jews for teaching faith, which especially speaks of faith, its power and its significance in our life. It is also necessary to read and parallel passages given in the margins of this chapter.
But since our faith is supported and multiplied by fervent prayer, special attention should be paid to it. Those who live in prayer communion with the Lord take His promises from the Holy Scriptures, such as, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you "(Matt. 7.7) or" Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive, and it will be done for you "(Mark 11:24), and they ask the Lord - but they ask persistently! - that He would fulfill these promises on them. And He, being our Heavenly Father, always willingly does this to us, for the Lord Jesus Christ says to us in the Holy Gospel: “So if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him "(Matthew 7:11).
And our holy fathers Simeon and Sava were moved by strong faith to leave worldly glory and come to the Holy Mountain and to revive all their Serbian people from their Hilendar, again with faith, serving them to this day before the Lord. Let them, too, for you, sterile parents, be an example and encouragement to believe in the fulfillment of your parental desire to have children. Pray to them that they support your faith and supplement your prayer with their intercession before the throne of the Most High Life-Giver.
We implore the spouses whom the Lord, after eating the grape of St. Simeon, blessed them with children, to inform our Office of this, so that from time to time printed messages about this will strengthen the faith of other childless spouses.
Those who wish, by God's blessing, to have the fruit of their womb, should turn with prayers to Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, who, after leaving his Serbian kingdom, was an ascetic on the Holy Mount of Athos. He built the monastery of Hilendar, in which, after many great labors during his pious life, he died; and for this he received from God the gift of working miracles: to resolve the sterility of those spouses who resort to him with faith.
For this, grapes and twigs are taken from the vine that miraculously grew from the very tomb of St. Simeon. You need to take three grapes and one piece of a cut vine. This slice is dipped in half an oka (650 grams) of consecrated water, and both spouses drink this water on an empty stomach for 40 days. Then the spouse eats one grape, and the spouse the remaining two. During these 40 days, the spouses must adhere to the following rule: eat only fast food and do fifty bows every day: 25 in the morning with the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us” and 25 in the evening with the prayer “Reverend Father Simeone, pray to God about Us". Whoever wishes can double his obeisances, i.e. add another fifty bows a day with the prayer "Most Holy Theotokos, save us." During all this time, the spouses must have a separate bed. After these 40 days, the spouses must confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, and then the Lord according to their faith with his blessing he gives the fruit of their womb.
After conception, during the entire pregnancy and feeding of the child, the spouses must completely stop marital relations and live in purity. From the life of the prophet Samuel, we see that his mother Anna nursed her son Samuel for three years, living during all this time separately from her marital bed in cleanliness, and after that she had more children, although everyone considered her barren, for “where God, the rank of nature is conquered, "and the birth of children is a gift from God, not a human invention, for the Lord says:" With it, create man and create spirit in man. " The Apostle commands parents to abide in fasting and prayer and to subordinate marital pleasures to higher goals, so that “those who have wives may be as if they had not” (1 Cor. 7:29). After that, he convinces the spouses not to be slaves to the flesh, but to live in the spirit, for all Christians are called by God not to impurity, but to holiness.
Let's look at animals that, according to the law of nature, given to them by God even during the creation of the whole world, and to this day strictly observe this law in absolute accuracy, because after the conception of the fetus, they do not allow copulation, not only after the release of the burden, but also during the entire time of feeding the baby. ... And man, as you yourself see, becomes to some extent a bitter cattle and, indulging in passionate lust, forgets about his dignity given to him by God, who created him in his own image and in his own likeness - and thereby violates the law God's damage to nature and this causes the righteous wrath of God on his offspring. The consequences of the righteous anger of God are also the following: unfaithfulness of spouses, frustration and all sorrow, incurable diseases from which children suffer, the early and premature death of a husband or wife, as well as children dear to them. And who could list the terrible manifestations of God's wrath over spouses who have lost the fear of God and have moved along the path of fleshly wisdom, which is the enemy of God, and over those who do not obey God and His law. Such kill their children and their offspring up to the third and fourth generation and deprive themselves forever of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Spouses must, even before their infertility are resolved, strictly follow the church rules and follow the church rules established for spouses, namely: marital beds must be separated from one another on the night before holidays and Sundays, on the eve of Wednesday and Friday, during all four established The Church of Fasts, especially during the Great Lent, i.e. Great Lent. The rest of the time they can use in chastity and fear of God for married life. For the Lord gave a man a wife as help for living together, and blessed them, and said: "Grow and multiply"; but not for the sake of lustful lust, which knows neither time nor measure in its intemperance.
Therefore, we ask you, blessed Christians, our spiritual children in Christ Jesus and our dear brothers in baptism: keep your holy marriage in all the purity and righteousness of God, following all the commandments of God, and then the Heavenly Father of soul and body will resolve your infertility, and you will see on the blessing of the Almighty to his family. And for doing your deeds of mercy to needy brothers in Christ, you will not only receive the gift of bearing children, but you will also inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, promised to those who love God, and you will be in communion with all deeds of mercy pleasing to God, in which our True Lord Jesus Christ will help us. , by the intercession of the Most Pure and Most Blessed of Her Mother, the Virgin Mary, the prayers of Saint Simeon the Myrrh-streaming, the miracle worker, and all the saints of Athos: may we all inherit the blessed end of life and pass from this temporary life into eternal, where we will glorify the All-Holy Name of the Most Holy, Life-Giving and Inseparable until the century Trinity, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, who will be glory forever and ever. Amen.
(Edition of the Hilendar monastery. Holy Mount Athos. 1966)
Khilandar Monastery Address: MONASTERE HILANDAR 63086, KARYES, MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE Phone: 8-10-30-23770-23797
In order to get the grapes of the healing vine, you just need to write a letter to Athos and tell in it the names of the spouses in Holy Baptism. The monks don't need any money - it's completely free. In about a month and a half, an envelope with 3 berries will come from Athos, with detailed instructions in Russian on how to eat them and with a message that the brothers of the Khilandar monastery began 40 days to intensively pray to God for the suffering, so that the Lord would release them from the burden this ailment. The only thing that will be required is to pay for the postal parcel (within a dollar) upon receipt by mail. And the brothers of Khilandar ask that when you have a baby begged from God, inform them about it and, if possible, send a photo (see video:
