(new style).

Saint Sergius has a special grace to help in prayers for the gift of humility, the taming of pride, conceit, and arrogance. They pray to him for the mental development of children, help in teaching, for saving the lives of soldiers during the war.

Saint Sergius was born in the village of Varnitsy, near Rostov, on May 3, 1314, into the family of the pious and noble boyars Cyril and Mary. The Lord had chosen him from his mother's womb. The Life of St. Sergius tells that during the Divine Liturgy, even before the birth of her son, the righteous Mary and those praying heard the baby’s exclamation three times: before the reading of the Holy Gospel, during the Cherubic Hymn, and when the priest said: “Holy to the saints.” God gave Saint Cyril and Mary a son, who was named Bartholomew. From the first days of his life, the baby surprised everyone with fasting, on Wednesdays and Fridays he did not take mother's milk, on other days, if Mary ate meat, the baby also refused mother's milk. Noticing this, Mary completely refused meat food. At the age of seven, Bartholomew was sent to study with his two brothers - the elder Stefan and the younger Peter. His brothers studied successfully, but Bartholomew lagged behind in teaching, although the teacher studied with him a lot. The parents scolded the child, the teacher punished, and the comrades mocked his absurdity. Then Bartholomew with tears prayed to the Lord for the gift of book understanding. One day, the father sent Bartholomew for horses in the field. On the way, he met an Angel sent by God in a monastic form: an old man stood under an oak tree in the middle of a field and prayed. Bartholomew approached him and, bowing, began to wait for the end of the prayer of the elder. He blessed the boy, kissed him and asked what he wanted. Bartholomew answered: “With all my heart I want to learn to read and write, Holy Father, pray for me to God that He would help me to learn to read and write.” The monk fulfilled the request of Bartholomew, raised his prayer to God and, blessing the lad, said to him: “From now on, God gives you, my child, to understand the letter, you will surpass your brothers and peers.” At the same time, the elder took out a vessel and gave Bartholomew a particle of prosphora: “Take, child, and eat,” he said. “This is given to you as a sign of the grace of God and for the understanding of Holy Scripture.” The elder wanted to leave, but Bartholomew asked him to visit his parents' house. Parents greeted the guest with honor and offered refreshments. The elder replied that one should first taste spiritual food, and ordered their son to read the Psalter. Bartholomew began to read harmoniously, and the parents were surprised at the change that had taken place with their son. Saying goodbye, the elder prophetically predicted about St. Sergius: “Your son will be great before God and people. It will become the chosen abode of the Holy Spirit.” Since then, the holy lad could easily read and understand the content of the books. With special zeal, he began to delve into prayer, not missing a single Divine Service. Already in childhood, he imposed a strict fast on himself, did not eat anything on Wednesdays and Fridays, and on other days he ate only bread and water.

Around 1328, the parents of St. Sergius moved from Rostov to Radonezh. When their eldest sons got married, Cyril and Maria, shortly before their death, accepted the schema in the Khotkovsky Monastery of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, not far from Radonezh. Subsequently, the widowed older brother Stefan also accepted monasticism in this monastery. Having buried his parents, Bartholomew, together with his brother Stefan, retired to the wilderness to live in the forest (12 versts from Radonezh). First they built a cell, and then a small church, and, with the blessing of Metropolitan Theognost, it was consecrated in the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. But soon, unable to endure the hardships of life in a deserted place, Stefan left his brother and moved to the Moscow Epiphany Monastery (where he became close to monk Alexy, later Metropolitan of Moscow, commemorated February 12).

Bartholomew, on October 7, 1337, received monastic vows from hegumen Mitrofan with the name of the holy martyr Sergius (Comm. 7 October) and laid the foundation for a new life to the glory of the Life-Giving Trinity. Enduring demonic temptations and fears, the Saint ascended from strength to strength. Gradually he became known to other monks who sought his guidance. Saint Sergius received everyone with love, and soon a brotherhood of twelve monks formed in the small monastery. Their experienced spiritual mentor was distinguished by rare industriousness. With his own hands he built several cells, carried water, chopped wood, baked bread, sewed clothes, prepared food for the brethren, and humbly performed other tasks. St. Sergius combined hard work with prayer, vigil and fasting. The brethren were amazed that with such a severe feat, the health of their mentor not only did not worsen, but even more strengthened. Not without difficulty, the monks begged St. Sergius to accept hegumenship over the monastery. In 1354 Bishop Athanasius of Volhynia consecrated the Monk a hieromonk and elevated him to the rank of abbot. As before, monastic obediences were strictly observed in the monastery. As the monastery grew, so did its needs. Often the monks ate meager food, but through the prayers of St. Sergius, unknown people brought everything they needed.

The glory of the deeds of St. Sergius became known in Constantinople, and Patriarch Philotheos sent the Reverend a cross, a paraman and a schema, as a blessing for new deeds, a Blessed letter, advised the chosen one of God to build a cenobitic monastery. With a patriarchal message, the Monk went to Saint Alexy and received advice from him to introduce a strict communal life. The monks began to grumble at the severity of the charter, and the Monk was forced to leave the monastery. On the Kirzhach River, he founded a monastery in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. The order in the former monastery began to quickly decline, and the remaining monks turned to Saint Alexy to return the saint.

Saint Sergius unquestioningly obeyed the saint, leaving his disciple, Saint Roman, as abbot of the Kirzhach monastery.

Even during his lifetime, Saint Sergius was rewarded with the grace-filled gift of miracles. He resurrected the boy when the desperate father considered his only son forever lost. The fame of the miracles performed by St. Sergius began to spread rapidly, and the sick began to be brought to him both from the surrounding villages and from distant places. And no one left the Reverend without receiving healings of ailments and edifying advice. Everyone glorified St. Sergius and reverently revered on a par with the ancient holy fathers. But human glory did not seduce the great ascetic, and he still remained a model of monastic humility.

One day Saint Stephen, Bishop of Perm (Comm. 27 April), who deeply revered the Monk, was on his way from his diocese to Moscow. The road ran eight miles from the Sergius Monastery. Assuming to visit the monastery on the way back, the saint stopped and, after reading a prayer, bowed to St. Sergius with the words: "Peace be with you, spiritual brother." At this time, Saint Sergius was sitting with the brethren at a meal. In response to the blessing of the saint, the Monk Sergius stood up, read a prayer, and sent a return blessing to the saint. Some of the disciples, surprised by the extraordinary deed of the Reverend, hurried to the indicated place and, catching up with the saint, were convinced of the truth of the vision.

Gradually, the monks became witnesses of other similar phenomena. Once, during the Liturgy, the Angel of the Lord served the Monk, but out of his humility, the Monk Sergius forbade anyone to talk about this until the end of his life on earth.

Close ties of spiritual friendship and brotherly love connected St. Sergius with St. Alexis. The saint, in his declining years, called the Reverend to him and asked him to accept the Russian Metropolis, but blessed Sergius, out of humility, refused the primacy.

The Russian land at that time was suffering from the Tatar yoke. Grand Duke Dimitry Ioannovich Donskoy, having gathered an army, came to the monastery of St. Sergius to ask for blessings for the upcoming battle. To help the Grand Duke, the Monk blessed two monks of his monastery: Schemamonk Andrei (Oslyabya) and Schemamonk Alexander (Peresvet), and predicted the victory of Prince Demetrius. The prophecy of St. Sergius was fulfilled: on September 8, 1380, on the day of the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, Russian soldiers won a complete victory over the Tatar hordes on the Kulikovo field, marking the beginning of the liberation of the Russian land from the Tatar yoke. During the battle, St. Sergius, together with the brethren, stood in prayer and asked God to grant victory to the Russian army.

For the life of an angel, Saint Sergius was rewarded with a heavenly vision from God. One night, Abba Sergius was reading the rule in front of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos. Having finished reading the canon of the Mother of God, he sat down to rest, but suddenly told his disciple, the Monk Micah (Comm. 6 May), that a miraculous visit awaited them. In a moment, the Mother of God appeared, accompanied by the holy apostles Peter and John the Theologian. From an unusually bright light, the Monk Sergius fell on his face, but the Most Holy Theotokos touched him with her hands and, blessing, promised to always patronize his holy monastery.

Having reached a ripe old age, the Reverend, having foreseen his death in six months, called the brethren to him and blessed the disciple, the Monk Nikon, who was experienced in spiritual life and obedience, for the position of abbess (Comm. 17 November). In silent solitude, the Monk reposed to God on September 25, 1392. The day before, the great saint of God called the brethren for the last time and addressed with the words of the testament: “Take heed to yourself, brethren. First have the fear of God, purity of soul and unfeigned love…”

Russia developed as a state on the very outskirts of the cultural Christian world, on the border of Europe, beyond which stretched a boundless sea of ​​steppes that served as the threshold of Asia. These steppes with their nomadic population were a real scourge for Ancient Russia. First, the Khazars lived here, then, after the Khazar Khaganate was defeated in 965 by the father of St. Vladimir Svyatoslav Igorevich, the Pechenegs came. Vladimir waged a stubborn war with them throughout his reign. In 1036, Yaroslav the Wise defeated these evil predators under the very walls of Kyiv. For some time, the Russian steppe was cleared of barbarians, but soon after death Yaroslav (since 1061), continuous clashes began with the new owners of the steppe expanses - the Polovtsy. This struggle became one of the main subjects of chronicle stories and heroic epics. The Polovtsian attacks left terrible and destructive traces in the border areas. anything bright colors to depict troubles of the actions that Russia experienced from the side of the steppe barbarians, the fields were abandoned, overgrown with grass and forests, where herds grazed, animals settled, entire cities turned into ashes and lost all their inhabitants. , plundering monasteries right under its walls. Huge dangers were constantly experienced by the Pereyaslav land adjacent to the steppe along the local rivers Trubezh, Supoya, Sule, Khorol, there were almost annual, in other years, repeated skirmishes with the Polovtsians. The war gradually developed a special way of life for the border population. As the chronicler puts it, the combatants had to hold their horses by the reins almost constantly while waiting for a campaign. It was in this land and in this element that most of the life of the famous prince and great warrior of Kievan Rus, Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, passed.

Vladimir, nicknamed Monomakh, was the great-grandson of the baptist of Russia, Vladimir the Holy. His grandfather was the no less famous Yaroslav the Wise, and his father was the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vsevolod Yaroslavich. His mother belonged to the ancient Greek Monomakh family and was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomakh. From childhood, Vladimir was distinguished by a desperate character. Already at the end of his life, in Teaching Children, he recalled the turbulent days of his youth in this way: “Loving hunting, we often caught animals with your grandfather. With my own hands, in dense forests, I knitted wild horses suddenly several at a time. Twice a violent ox threw me on its horns, a deer gored me, an elk trampled underfoot, a boar tore the sword from my thigh. The bear pierced the saddle; a fierce beast once rushed and overthrew the horse under me.

How many times have I fallen off my horse! He broke his head twice, injured his arms and legs, not observing life in his youth and not sparing his head. Vladimir got used early to perform complex, childish assignments. Being only ten years old, he was sent by his father to reign in distant Rostov. Then came military campaigns and battles, which had no number.

In October 1078, Vladimir fought on Nezhatina Niva against his cousins ​​Oleg Svyatoslavich and Boris Vyacheslavich, whom his father Vsevolod deprived of the parish. Grand Duke Izyaslav died in this battle. Vladimir's father, Vsevolod Yaroslavich, sat down in Kyiv, and placed Vladimir next to him in Chernigov. In 1079, Prince Bryachislav of Polotsk attacked Smolensk Monomakh from Chernigov chased him, but did not find him near Smolensk, followed in his footsteps to the Polotsk volost, fought and set fire to the whole land. Then another time he went with the Chernigovites to Minsk, accidentally attacked the city and did not leave here, in his own words, neither servants nor cattle. In 1080, Vladimir pacified the Pereyaslav Torques. But much more trouble was brought to him by the Polovtsy, with whom he had 12 battles in the reign of Vsevolod alone!

In 1081 khans Asaduk and Sauk fought near Starodub. Vladimir, with the Chernigovites and Khan Belkatgin, attacked them near Novgorod Seversky, beat the squad and took it full, and soon after, in 1082, he went for Sula to Priluk, beat many Polovtsy and among them two khans - Autumn and Sakzya.

In 1093, the old man Vsevolod died in the arms of Vladimir. According to the family accounts, the supreme power was to pass to Vladimir's cousin, Prince of Turov, Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. Nothing, however, prevented Monomakh from sitting in the capital even then (Izyaslav and his son were not loved in Kyiv), but he thought: “If I sit on the table of my father , then I will have to fight with Svyatopolk, since this table previously belonged to his father. Judging by this and not liking special wars, he sent for Svyatopolk to Turov, and he himself went to Chernigov.

Since then, a big war began between the Russians and the Polovtsians. Having hardly established himself in Kyiv, Svyatopolk ordered to intercept the Polovtsian ambassadors and put them under lock and key. Having found out about this, the Polovtsy went to war against Russia and laid siege to Torchesk. Svyatopolk changed his mind, let the ambassadors go, but the Polovtsy no longer wanted peace, but began to advance, fighting everywhere. Svyatopolk sent to Vladimir Monomakh and began to call him on a campaign with him. Vladimir gathered his soldiers and also sent for his brother Rostislav to Pereyaslavl, leading Svyatopolk to help him. The princes went to Trepol, and the whole army crossed the Stugna, which at that time was overflowing with water. Having prepared for battle, they placed Rostislav's squad in the middle, Svyatopolk's to the right of it, and Vladimir's Chernigov squad to the left. On May 26, the Polovtsians, who in turn formed up for a decisive battle, attacked Svyatopolk and crashed into his regiment. Svyatopolk himself held firm, but his people, unable to withstand the onslaught, ran. After that, Svyatopolk also ran, followed by all the other Russian regiments. Many soldiers drowned at the same time in Stugna. Monomakh's younger brother Rostislav also drowned. Shedding tears for him, Vladimir returned with the remnants of his squad to Chernigov. Meanwhile, the Polovtsians besieged Torchesk for nine weeks, then split in two: some remained near the city, while others went to Kyiv. Svyatopolk went out to meet the enemies and on July 23 fought with them on Zhelan. And again, the chronicler writes, the Russians fled under the onslaught of the filthy, so that there were more dead than in the previous battle. Svyatopolk galloped to Kyiv himself-thirds, and the Polovtsy returned to Torchesk. The next day, the exhausted defenders surrendered. The Polovtsy took the city, burned it, and divided the people and took them to the steppe to their families and relatives. Svyatopolk, no longer having the strength to wage war, made peace with the Polovtsy in 1094 and married the daughter of the Polovtsian Khan Tugorkan.

In the following year, 1094, Monomakh's old enemy Oleg Svyatoslavich came to Chernigov with a multitude of Polovtsy. Vladimir fought with him for eight days and did not let the Polovtsy into prison, but, finally, he took pity on Christian blood, burning villages and monasteries, said: “Do not boast of the filthy ones” - and gave Chernigov to Oleg, and he went to his father’s table in Pereyaslavl. Upon leaving Chernigov, his squad was not even a hundred people, counting wives and children. Vladimir went with them from Chernigov to Pereyaslavl through the Polovtsian regiments. The steppes, according to Vladimir, licked their lips at them like wolves, but did not dare to attack. Oleg sat down to reign in Chernigov. He had nothing to pay his allies with, and he was forced to give them his own land for ruin, so that the Polovtsy devastated and plundered the entire surrounding country that year.

Monomakh's life in the utterly devastated Pereyaslavsky volost began very difficult, “Three summers and three winters,” he wrote later, “I lived in Pereyaslavl with a retinue, and we suffered a lot of trouble from rati and hunger.” Then the situation began to improve. In 1095, Vladimir killed the Polovtsian Khan Itlar, who came to him for negotiations, and then, together with Svyatopolk, went to the steppe and attacked the Polovtsian towers by surprise, captured a lot of cattle, horses, camels, slaves and brought them to his land. In 1096, Vladimir and Svyatopolk started a war with Oleg Svyatoslavich and drove him out of Chernigov and Starodub. But then they had to hurry back to their principalities, which were ruined by Khan Tugorkan. Vladimir immediately hit the enemy. The Polovtsy fled, and Tugorkan fell in battle. At the same time, another famous Polovtsian khan, Bonyak, suddenly appeared before Kyiv. The nomads burned the nearby villages, monasteries (including Pechersky) and almost drove into the city itself.

While the princes repulsed the Polovtsy, Oleg fought with his son Vladimirov Izyaslav near Murom. The young prince was defeated and fell in battle. Oleg took Suzdal, Rostov, but soon the eldest son of Vladimir Mstislav defeated Oleg near Rostov, returned everything lost, and then took Ryazan and Murom.

Having accomplished all this, he began to persuade his father to make peace with Oleg, and Vladimir wrote a letter to Oleg offering peace. In 1097, Svyatopolk and Vladimir Monomakh gathered all the Russian princes in Lyubech to establish peace. The princes said to each other: “Why are we destroying the Russian land, bringing quarrels upon ourselves? And the Polovtsy plunder our land and rejoice that we are torn apart by strife. Let us unite and from now on we will sincerely protect the Russian land. And let everyone own his fatherland. On that, all the princes kissed each other's cross, swearing: "If now someone encroaches on someone else's volost, let the honest cross and the whole Russian land be against him." Having decided so, they all dispersed. But the world after that was not established immediately - another three years, to great tribulation Vladimir, wars continued in the west of the country, the end of which was put only by the princely congress of 1100 in Uvetichi.

With the end of the strife, it became possible to start a war against the steppe predators. In the spring of 1103, Svyatopolk and Vladimir gathered for a council in Dolobsk. The princes sat down in the same tent with their retinues and began to talk about a campaign in the steppe. They also sent to the princes of Chernigov, Oleg and Davyd Svyatoslavich, saying: "Go to the Polovtsy and we will leave alive or dead." Davyd obeyed the princely verdict and came to Svyatopolk with his retinue, but Oleg did not.

Having gathered, the princes on horseback and in boats went down the Dnieper beyond the rapids and stood in the rapids near the Khortichev Island. From here, on horseback and on foot, Russia went four days to Suteni. After some time, the Polovtsian regiments advanced on the Russian camp, and they were, the chronicler writes, like a forest, so that there was no end in sight for them, and Russia went to meet them, and there was a great battle on April 4 on Suteni, in which Russia won a complete victory over Cumans. In addition to many ordinary warriors, 20 Polovtsian princes fell that day. The Russians captured a large amount of booty, cattle, sheep, horses, camels and baggage with property and servants, and returned from the campaign with full and great glory.

However, the Polovtsy were still far from defeated. In 1107, Bonyak captured horse herds from Pereyaslavl; then he came with many other khans and stood on Sula. Svyatopolk, Vladimir, Oleg with four other princes hit them suddenly with a cry; The Polovtsians were frightened, they could not even put up a banner for fear and fled: who managed to grab a horse - on a horse, and who on foot. The princes drove them to the banks of the Khorol and took the enemy camp. In the same year, Monomakh and Svyatopolk had congresses with the khans Aepa Osenevich and Aepa Girgenivich, made peace with them and married their daughters to their sons. In 1110, Monomakh, Svyatopolk and Davyd Svyatoslavich again went to the Polovtsy, but the campaign ended in nothing - the princes reached Voin and returned back due to the cold and horse death. But in the next year, 1111, by the thought and lust of Monomakh, the princes decided to fight the Polovtsy on the Don. Vladimir Monomakh, Svyatopolk and Davyd Svyatoslavich went on a campaign with their sons. On March 4, the Russians reached Khorol and abandoned the sleigh here, as the land was exposed, and then they went on foot and on horseback. On March 24, the Polovtsy gathered their regiments and went into battle. The Russian princes, placing their hope in God, said: “Here is death to us! Let's stand firm." And, saying goodbye to each other, each went to his regiment. Both sides came together, a fierce battle began, and the Polovtsians were defeated again, as they had been eight years ago. On March 27, the Polovtsy gathered in even greater numbers than the day before, and overlaid the Russian regiments. Again, a fierce battle began between the opponents, and people fell from both sides. Finally, Vladimir and Davyd began to advance with their regiments, and the Polovtsians took to flight. Svyatopolk, Vladimir and Davyd, having glorified God, captured a large crowd and returned home.

This victory made a huge impression on contemporaries. For the first time after the Khazar war of Svyatoslav Igorevich, Russian princes dared to make such a distant eastern campaign. And against whom? Against those terrible enemies that Kyiv and Pereyaslavl have seen more than once under their walls!

For the first time, the Polovtsians were defeated not in Russian volosts, not on the borders, but in the depths of their possessions. This explains the glory that surrounded the name of Monomakh among his contemporaries - the main inspirer and leader of this campaign. And for a long time in the memory of the people the legend was kept about how Monomakh Don drank with a golden helmet and how he drove the accursed Agarians beyond the Iron Gates (to the Caucasus). And indeed, in subsequent years, until the very death of Vladimir, one does not hear about the big raids of the Polovtsy - the steppe people calmed down for a while and tried to live in peace with Russia.

This campaign was the last major event in the reign of Svyatopolk Izyaslavich. After Easter, he fell ill and died on April 16, 1113. On April 17, the people of Kiev held a veche and sent to Vladimir Monomakh, saying: “Come, prince, to the table of your father and grandfather.” Vladimir was very sad about the death of Svyatopolk, but did not go to Kyiv. (According to the family accounts, the Kyiv table was to go to Davyd of Chernigov, who was now the eldest among the descendants of Yaroslav the Wise.) The Kyivians plundered the courtyard of the thousand Putyata, attacked the Jews and plundered their property. (The rebellion began because the people of Kiev were severely oppressed by usurers.) The boyars, fearing that they would not be able to cope with the people without the prince, sent again to ask Vladimir: “Go, prince, to Kyiv. If you do not go, then much evil will happen. Not only will they rob Putyatin’s yard, or sots, or Jews, but they will also attack your daughter-in-law, and boyars, and monasteries.” Hearing this, Vladimir went to Kyiv and sat down on his father's and grandfather's table. All the people were glad about this, and the rebellion subsided. Wanting to alleviate the fate of the poor, Monomakh gathered the noblest boyars and thousandths at the Berestovsky court and, after consulting with them, determined that the lender, having taken the so-called third growth (interest) three times from one debtor, had already lost the rest of his money (or capital) .

Having ruled after that in the capital for 13 years, Vladimir died on May 19, 1125 and was buried in Kyiv Sofia next to his father's fob. Both contemporaries and descendants greatly glorified his name, for he was a formidable prince for enemies and worked hard for the Russian land. Monomakh himself wrote in his Teachings: 19 peace treaties with the Polovtsy, captured more than 100 of their best princes and released them from captivity, and executed more than two hundred and drowned them in the rivers.

ALEXANDER NEVSKIY

The XIII century was the time of the most terrible shock for Russia. From the east, the Tatars flooded into it, ruined, depopulated most of the country and enslaved the rest of the population. An equally formidable enemy threatened her from the northwest. At the very beginning of the 1200s. German crusaders founded their state at the mouth of the Western Dvina - the Order of the Sword. In subsequent years, they conquered all the Chud and Liv lands (Latvia and Estonia) and came close to the Novgorod possessions. Sweden was another enemy of Novgorod in Priladozhye. Before the politicians of that time was a difficult task - to put Russia, if possible, in such relations with various enemies, under which it could continue to exist. - The man who has taken upon himself this task and laid a firm foundation for the future for its fulfillment may justly be called the true representative of his age. Such is Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky in Russian history.

The adolescence and youth of Alexander Yaroslavich mostly took place in Novgorod, where his father Yaroslav Vsevolodovich reigned. In 1236, Yaroslav, leaving for Kyiv, planted sixteen-year-old Alexander in Novgorod as a prince instead of himself. The young prince soon had to decide extremely challenging tasks and fight with many enemies who were pressing on Russia from all sides. In 1240, the Swedes, prompted by papal messages, undertook a crusade against the Novgorod land. Their governor Jarl Birger entered the Neva on ships and sent from here to tell Alexander: “If you can, resist, but know that I am already here and will captivate your land.” Birger wanted to sail along the Neva to Lake Ladoga, occupy Ladoga, and from there follow the Volkhov to Novgorod. But Alexander, without a single day's delay, set out to meet the Swedes with Novgorodians and Ladoga. The Russians secretly approached the mouth of the Izhora, where the enemies stopped to rest, and on July 15 they suddenly attacked them. Birger did not wait for the enemy and arranged his squad to rest: the augers stood near the shore, tents were pitched nearby. Novgorodians suddenly appeared in front of the Swedish camp, rushed at the enemy and began to cut them with axes and swords before they had time to take up arms. Alexander himself attacked Birger and wounded him in the face with a spear. The Swedes fled to the ships and at night sailed down the Neva into the sea.

Alexander returned to Novgorod with great glory, but in the same year he quarreled with the Novgorodians and left them for Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. The city was left without a prince. Meanwhile, the war with the Livonian Order began. German knights took Izborsk. The Pskovites came out to meet them, but were defeated, lost their governor Gavrila Gorislavich, and the Germans, following in the footsteps of the fugitives, approached Pskov, burned the suburbs, the surrounding villages and stood under the city for a whole week. The people of Pskov were forced to open the gates, fulfill all the demands of the victors, and gave their children as hostages. In Pskov, along with the Germans, some Tverdilo Ivanovich began to rule, who brought the enemies, as the chronicler claims. Adherents of the opposite side fled to Novgorod.

Meanwhile, the Germans were not content with Pskov: together with the Chud, they attacked Votskaya Pyatina, conquered it and imposed tribute on the inhabitants. Intending to become a firm foot in the Novgorod volost, they built a fortress in Koporye churchyard; along the banks of the Luga they took all the horses and cattle; in the villages it was impossible to plow the land, and there was nothing; along the roads thirty versts from Novgorod the enemy beat the merchants. Then the Novgorodians sent to the Lower (Suzdal) land to Yaroslav for the prince, and he gave them his other son, Andrei. But Alexander was needed, not Andrei; Novgorodians thought and sent again the lord with the boyars for Alexander; Yaroslav gave them Alexander again, under what conditions it is not known, but no doubt the Novgorodians had to give up some of their liberties.

Arriving in Novgorod in 1241, Alexander immediately went against the Germans to Koporye, took the fortress, brought the German garrison to Novgorod, set some of it free, and hung the traitors, vozhan and chud. But it was impossible to free Pskov so soon. Alexander took it only in 1242. During the assault, 70 knights and many ordinary warriors were killed. Six knights were taken prisoner and tortured, according to a German chronicler. After that, Alexander entered the Peipsi land, into the possession of the Order; the army of the latter met one of the Russian detachments and utterly defeated him; when the fugitives sent news of this defeat to Alexander, he retreated to Lake Peipus and began to wait for the enemy on the ice, which was still strong. On April 5, at sunrise, the famous battle began, which entered our history under the name of the Battle on the Ice. “And there was a fierce slaughter,” wrote the author of the Life of Alexander, “and there was a crack from breaking spears and a ringing from the blows of swords, and it seemed that the frozen lake was moving, and no ice was visible, for it was covered with blood.” The Germans and Chud made their way like a pig (wedge) through the Russian regiments and drove those already fleeing, as Alexander and his retinue hit them in the rear and decided the matter in their favor. The Germans took to flight, and the Russians drove them across the ice to the coast at a distance of seven miles, killed 500 knights from them, and countless miracles, and captured 50 knights. “The Germans,” says the chronicler, “boasted: we will take Prince Alexander with our hands, and now God has handed them over into his hands.” When Alexander returned to Pskov after the victory, the captured knights were led on foot near their horses, and the whole of Pskov went out to meet his deliverer.

After that, Alexander had to go to Vladimir to say goodbye to his father, who was leaving for the Horde. In his absence, the Germans sent with a bow to Novgorod, their ambassadors said: “What we entered with a sword, Vot, Luga, Pskov, Letgol, we retreat from all that; how many of your people have been taken prisoner, we will exchange them: we will let yours go, and you will let ours go. Peace was made on this.

Alexander won his third victory over Lithuania. The Lithuanians appeared in 1245 in the Smolensk volost, took Toropets and were defeated by Yaroslav Vladimirovich Toropetsky near him. The next day, Alexander arrived with the Novgorodians, took Toropets, took all the captivity from the Lithuanians and killed more than eight of their princes. The Novgorod regiments returned from Toropets, but Alexander, with one retinue, again chased the Lithuanians, defeated them again at Lake Zhiztsa, did not leave a single person alive, and beat the remaining princes. After that, he went to Vitebsk, from where, taking his son, he was returning home, when he suddenly again came across a crowd of Lithuanians near Usvyat;

Alexander hit the enemy and again defeated him.

So all three enemies of North-Western Russia were defeated. But Alexander could not stay long here. In 1246, with the death of his father, things changed in the east. After Yaroslav, the seniority and the Vladimir table were inherited in the old days by his brother Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, who approved his nephews, the sons of Yaroslav, on the destinies given to them by the late Grand Duke. Until then, Alexander managed to avoid contact with the Tatars. But in 1247, Batu sent a message to him: “Many peoples have submitted to me, are you the only one who doesn’t want to submit to my state? If you want to save your land, then come bow to me and see the honor and glory of my kingdom. Preparing to establish ties with the Tatars, Alexander chose a completely different path here than in the west of Russia. With the small number, poverty and fragmentation of the remnants of the then Russian population in the eastern and southern lands, it was impossible to even think about taking up arms against the Tatars. It remained to surrender to the generosity of the winners. Alexander understood this path and was the first of the Russian princes to take it. Personal charm, the glory of his exploits made his journey a success. Usually stern and arrogant towards the vanquished, Batu received Alexander and his brother Andrei very affectionately. The chronicler says that the khan, seeing Alexander, said to his nobles: "Everything that I was told about him is all true: there is no one like this prince."

By the will of Batu, Alexander and Andrei had to go to Mongolia, where, according to some reports, a dispute arose between the brothers about who should own which parish. Andrei received Vladimir, and Alexander was given Kyiv.

It is difficult to say what caused this alignment. Kyiv, by tradition, was "the main capital city, but after the Tatar defeat, it fell into complete desolation. Perhaps the Tatars verbally wanted to honor Alexander with a great reign, but were afraid to plant him in Vladimir, with which the real eldership over the conquered Russian lands was connected.

Be that as it may, upon his return, Alexander did not go to Kyiv, but remained to reign in Novgorod, retaining his father's patrimony - Pereyaslavl-Zalessky.

In 1252, Alexander went to the Don to Batyev's son Sartak, who managed all the affairs because of the decrepitude of his father, with a complaint about his brother, who took away his seniority and did not fulfill his duties regarding the Tatars. Sartak liked Alexander even more than Batu, and from that time a close friendship developed between them. Sartak approved Alexander on the Vladimir table, and sent an army against Andrei under the command of Nevruy. Near Pereyaslavl, they met Andreev's army and defeated it. Andrei fled to Novgorod, but was not received there and retired to Sweden. The Tatars took Pereyaslavl, captured the inhabitants and went back to the Horde. Alexander came to reign in Vladimir; Andrei also returned to Russia and reconciled with his brother, who reconciled him with the Khan and gave Suzdal as inheritance. Instead of himself, he left his son Vasily in Novgorod.

In 1255 Batu Khan died. His son Sartak was killed by his uncle Berke, who seized power. In 1257, Berke ordered a second census to be carried out in Russia (the first was still under Alexander's father Yaroslav) to collect tribute.

The clerics arrived, counted the entire land of Suzdal, Ryazan and Murom, appointed foremen, centurions, thousands and temniks, they did not count only abbots, blacks, priests and kliroshans. News came to Novgorod that the Tatars, with the consent of Alexander, wanted to impose tamgas on this formerly free city. Throughout the summer, confusion continued in Novgorod, and in the winter, the posadnik Mikhalok was killed. Following that, Tatar ambassadors arrived from the Horde, who began to demand tithes and tamgas. Novgorodians did not agree, gave gifts for the khan and released the ambassadors in peace. Prince Vasily, son of Nevsky, was against the tribute. Alexander got angry and came to Novgorod himself. Vasily, at his approach, left for Pskov. Alexander drove him out of there and sent him to the Suzdal volost, and severely punished his advisers. The whole next year passed peacefully, but when Alexander and the Tatars arrived in the winter of 1259, a strong rebellion again arose. The Tatars were frightened and began to say to Alexander: “Give us watchmen, otherwise they will kill us,” and the prince ordered the posadnikov’s son and all the boyar children to guard them at night. Novgorodians now and then gathered for noisy vechas and argued about tribute. The Tatars got tired of waiting.

"Give us a number or we'll walk away," they said. Meanwhile, in Novgorod, as usual, there were two hostile class parties. Some townspeople did not want to give the numbers. “Let us die with honor for Saint Sophia and for the houses of the angels,” they said. But others demanded to agree to the census and finally mastered it when Alexander and the Tatars had already moved out of Gorodishche. Tatars began to travel the streets and copy houses. Taking the number, they left; Alexander followed them, leaving his son Dmitry in Novgorod. Since then, Novgorod, although it did not see any more Tatar officials, participated in the payment of tribute delivered to the khan from all over Russia.

Novgorod calmed down, but unrest rose in the Vladimir land.

Here, in 1262, the people were brought out of patience by the violence of the Tatar tax-farmers, who at that time were mostly Khiva merchants. The method of collecting tribute was very burdensome. In case of arrears, the tax-farmers charged large percentages, and when it was completely impossible to pay, they took people into captivity. In Rostov, Vladimir, Suzdal, Pereyaslavl and Yaroslavl, a vecha rose, the tax-farmers were expelled from everywhere, and in Yaroslavl the tax-farmer Izosim was killed, who adopted Mohammedanism to please the Tatar Baskaks and oppressed his former fellow citizens worse than foreigners.

Berke was angry and began to collect regiments to go on a new campaign against Russia. Alexander, wishing, according to the chronicler, to pray people out of trouble, went once again to the Horde and, meeting with Berke, managed to dissuade him from going to Russia. Berke proved to be more merciful to the Russians than might have been expected. He forgave the beating of tax-farmers and freed the Russians from the obligation to send their detachments to the Tatar army. Perhaps Alexander succeeded in his work thanks to the Persian war, which then greatly occupied the Khan.

But this was the last thing Alexander did. He went sick from the Horde and died on the way in Gorodets on the Volga on November 14, 1263, "having worked hard for the Russian land, for Novgorod and Pskov, for all the great reign, giving his life for the Orthodox faith." The body of Alexander was buried in Vladimir in the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

DMITRY DONSKOY

One of the most glorious victories of Russian weapons is connected with the name of the Moscow prince Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy - the victory over the Tatars on the Kulikovo field.

It was one of those great moral victories that will forever remain in the memory of the people and the memories of which, in the days of new troubles and trials, feed the national courage. Of considerable importance was also the fact that the defeat of the Tatar hordes took place under the leadership of Moscow. Thus, this city not only proved its moral right to be the center and concentration of Russia, but also atoned for the largely treacherous servility to the enemy of its former princes. It is known that the rise of Moscow, which was initiated by Ivan Kalita and his brother Yuri, relied mainly on the patronage of the powerful Khan Uzbek. Kalita was strong among the Russian princes and forced them to obey him precisely because he was famous for the special favor of the Tatars to him. He knew how to make the best use of this position. Under his two successors, the situation remained the same. Khan Uzbek, and then his son Dzhanibek, continued to give Moscow princes labels for a great reign. From 1341 to 1353, Kalita's eldest son Semyon Gordy was the Grand Duke in Russia, and from 1353 to 1359, his other son, Ivan Krasny. He died very young. Nine years old, Dmitry became the Grand Duke of Moscow. His thirty-year reign turned out to be extremely stormy: one war followed another, so that Dmitry now and then had to rush with regiments to the north, then to the west, then to the south of his possessions.

The greatest danger to Moscow came from Prince Mikhail of Tver, son of Alexander Mikhailovich of Tver. He, of course, harbored a family hatred for the Moscow princes and at the same time was an enterprising, stubborn and tough-minded person. Having become the Grand Duke of Tver, he began a war against his relatives. Vasily Mikhailovich Kashinsky turned to Dmitry Ivanovich for help, and Mikhail turned to his son-in-law Olgerd, the Grand Duke of Lithuania. So the internal strife of the Russian princes grew into a war between Moscow and Lithuania.

In 1367, Vasily Kashinsky with the Moscow regiments ruined the Tver volost. Mikhail fled to Lithuania and returned with the Lithuanian regiments. This time the princes made peace, but in 1368 Dmitry and Metropolitan Alexei invited Prince Mikhail to Moscow for arbitration. After this trial, the prince of Tver was seized along with all the boyars and imprisoned, but suddenly they learned about the unexpected arrival of three Horde ambassadors. This arrival frightened Michael's enemies, and they set him free, forcing him to give up part of his inheritance. Mikhail went to Lithuania and persuaded Olgerd to start a war with Dmitry.

Moscow learned about the invasion of Olgerd only when the Lithuanian prince was already approaching the border with his army along with his brother Keistut, nephew Vitovt, various Lithuanian princes, the Smolensk army and Mikhail of Tver. The princes, henchmen of Dmitry, did not have time, at his call, to come to the defense of Moscow. Dmitry could send against Olgerd to the outpost only a guard regiment of Muscovites, Kolomna and Dmitrovites under the command of his governor Dmitry Minin. On November 21, on the Trosna River, the Lithuanians met the Moscow guard regiment and defeated it: the princes, governors and boyars all died. Learning that Dmitry did not have time to gather a large army and locked himself in Moscow, Olgerd quickly went to her. Dmitry ordered the settlements to be set on fire, and he himself, with the Metropolitan, his cousin Vladimir Andreevich, and with all the people, shut himself up in his white-stone Kremlin, founded last year. Olgerd stood under it for three days, could not take it, but terribly devastated the surroundings, led into captivity countless people and drove all the cattle with him. For the first time in forty years, the Moscow principality experienced an enemy invasion. Dmitry was supposed to return Gorodok and Other captured parts of the Tver inheritance to Mikhail.

But Dmitry did not want to give in completely. The following year, he sent to fight and plunder the Smolensk land, in revenge for the participation of the Smolensk people in the ruin of the Moscow volost. Then the Muscovites fought near Bryansk, and in August 1370 Dmitry again sent to declare war on Mikhail and himself, at the head of a strong army, invaded his parish. Mikhail fled to Lithuania, and Dmitry took and burned Zubtsov and Mikulin, as well as all the villages he could get to.

Many people with their property and livestock were taken to the Moscow principality.

Olgerd, busy with the war with the crusaders, could only respond to the attack in December. On Christmas fast, he, with his brother Keistut, Mikhail and Svyatoslav Smolensky, approached Moscow and laid siege to it. Dmitry and this time locked himself in the Kremlin, and Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovskoy stood in Przemysl.

The Ryazan and Pronsk regiments came to his aid. Olgerd, having learned about these fees, was frightened and began to ask for peace. But Dmitry, instead of eternal peace, agreed only to a truce until Peter's Day. Mikhail also made peace with Moscow. In the spring of 1371, he went to the Horde and returned from there with a label for a great reign and the khan's ambassador, Sarykhozhey. But soon Mikhail became convinced that the khan's labels no longer had the same power in Russia. The people of Vladimir did not even let Mikhail into the city. Sarykhozha called Dmitry to Vladimir to listen to the label, Dmitry answered: “I’m not going to the label, I won’t let him go to the great reign, but for you, the ambassador of the tsar, the path is clear.” At the same time, he sent gifts to Sarykhozha. Sarykhozha left Mikhail and went to Moscow. He was received there with such honor and so generously endowed that he completely went over to the side of Dmitry, persuaded him to go to Mamai and promised to intercede for him.

Dmitry decided to follow his advice and went to seek the mercy of Mamai.

Metropolitan Alexei accompanied him to the Oka and blessed him on his way. Despite the fact that Dmitry already instilled fear in Mamai, it was not yet difficult to gain his favor, because Mamai was merciful to those who gave him more. Dmitry brought him great gifts, moreover, Sarykhozha set him up in favor of Dmitry. Moscow, despite the ruin inflicted by Olgerd, was still rich in comparison with other Russian lands: the collections of the khan's exits enriched her treasury. Dmitry not only had the opportunity to bribe Mamai, but even ransomed for 10,000 silver rubles Ivan, the son of Mikhailov, who was kept in the Horde for a debt, and took him hostage to Moscow; there this prince was in the metropolitan court until the ransom. Dmitry received a label from the Khan to reign. Mamai even made such a concession to him that he decided to take tribute in a smaller amount than was paid before.

In 1372 a new Tver war began. Mikhail, united with the Lithuanians, fought the Moscow volosts, and then inflicted a severe defeat on the Novgorodians. In 1373 Olgerd went to Moscow again. This time, Dmitry prepared to meet him at Lubutsk and defeated the Lithuanian sentry regiment.

The whole Lithuanian army was alarmed, Olgerd himself ran and stopped behind a steep and deep ravine, which did not allow the enemies to fight.

For many days, Lithuanians and Muscovites stood in inaction against each other, finally made peace and dispersed.

Mikhail, having lost the help of Olgerd, apparently could no longer hope for her soon, but still did not leave his struggle with Moscow. Dmitry's enemies also incited him. Just at that time, the last thousand Vasily Velyaminov died in Moscow. Dmitry decided to abolish this important ancient dignity of veche Russia. This ancient position with its rights was contrary to the autocratic aspirations of the princes. But the last Tyasyatsky had a son, Ivan, who was dissatisfied with the new orders. With him at the same time was the rich merchant Nekomat. They both fled to Tver to Mikhail and encouraged him to again seek a great reign. Mikhail instructed them to procure a new label for him in the Horde, and he himself left for Lithuania, trying to find help for himself. Michael soon returned from Lithuania with some promises, but on July 14, 1375, Nekomat brought him a label for a great reign, and Michael, without thinking for a long time, sent to declare war on Dmitry. He hoped to crush the Moscow prince with the forces of the Horde and Lithuania, but he was cruelly deceived. Help did not come to him either from the east or from the west, but meanwhile Dmitry gathered himself with all his strength and moved to the Damsky Volok, where his father-in-law Dmitry Konstantinovich Suzdalsky came to him with two brothers and a son, cousin Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovskoy, three princes Rostovsky, Prince Smolensky, two princes Yaroslavsky, princes Belozersky, Kashinsky, Molozhsky, Starodubsky, Bryansky, Novosilsky, Obolensky and Torussky. All these princes moved from Volok to Tver and began to fight, they took Mikulin, captured and burned the surrounding places, and finally laid siege to Tver, where Prince Mikhail locked himself. The besieged fought hard, but individual successes could not benefit Mikhail: his volost was completely devastated, the cities of Zubtsov, Belgorod and Gorodok were taken. He kept waiting for help from Lithuania and from the khan. The Lithuanian regiments came, but, hearing what an innumerable army was standing near Tver, they got scared and went back. Then Michael lost his last hope and asked for peace.

The conditions of this world have come down to us. The independent Grand Duke of Tverskoy undertook to regard himself as Dmitri's younger brother. He undertook to participate in Moscow campaigns or send his regiments against the enemies of Moscow. Michael also pledged not to seek either a great reign or Novgorod. The Kashinsky principality became independent in relation to Tver.

The pacification of the Prince of Tver greatly annoyed Mamai. He saw this as a clear disregard for his authority. His last label, given to Mikhail, was put to nothing by the Russians. Since that time, open hostility began between Moscow and the Horde, but for a long time it did not reach a decisive clash. First, the Tatar rati, in retaliation for the Tver campaign, devastated the Nizhny Novgorod and Novosilsk lands. Following that, in 1377, the Tatar prince Arapsha from the Mamaev Horde again attacked the Nizhny Novgorod region.

The united Suzdal and Moscow armies, due to their own oversight, were defeated on the Pyan River, and the Lower was taken and ruined. The following year, in 1378, the Tatars again burned Nizhny Novgorod. From here, Mamai sent Prince Begich with a large army to Moscow. But Dmitry found out about the approach of the enemy, gathered strength and went beyond the Oka to the land of Ryazan, where he met with Begich on the banks of the Vozha River. By the evening of August 11, the Tatars crossed the river and rushed screaming to the Russian regiments, which bravely met them. On the one hand, Prince Daniel of Pronsky hit them, on the other, the Moscow roundabout Timothy, and Dmitry himself advanced in the middle. The Tatars could not stand it, threw down their spears and rushed to run across the river, and many of them drowned and were killed.

It is known that the Vozhsky defeat led Mamai into an indescribable rage, and he vowed not to calm down until he took revenge on Dmitry. Realizing that in order to conquer Russia it was necessary to repeat Batu's invasion, Mamai began to carefully prepare a new campaign. In addition to the many Tatars who had already gathered under his banner, he hired the Genoese, Circassians, Yases and other peoples. In the summer of 1380, Mamai moved his camp beyond the Volga and began to roam at the mouth of Voronezh. Jagailo, Prince of Lithuania, entered into an alliance with him and promised to unite with the Tatars on September 1. Upon learning of this, Dmitry immediately began to gather troops, sent for help to the assistant princes: Rostov, Yaroslavl, Belozersky. Of all the Russian princes, Oleg Ryazansky alone did not unite with him, who, out of fear for his region, hastened to enter into an alliance with Mamai.

Dmitry ordered his regiments to gather in Kolomna by August 15, and sent watchmen ahead to the steppe to inform him of Mamai's movement.

Before leaving Moscow, he went to the Trinity Monastery to St. Sergius of Radonezh, who blessed Dmitry for the war, promising victory, albeit with heavy bloodshed.

From Sergius, Dmitry went to Kolomna, where an army already unprecedented in Russia gathered - 150,000 people. The news of the strength of the Moscow prince must have reached Mamai, and he tried first to end the matter amicably. His ambassadors came to Kolomna demanding tribute, which the great princes sent under Uzbek and Dzhanibek, but Dmitry rejected this demand, agreeing to pay only such tribute as was determined between him and Mamai on their last meeting in the Horde. On August 20, Dmitry set out from Kolomna and, having passed the borders of his principality, stood on the Oka at the mouth of Lopasna, inquiring about enemy movements. Here, his cousin Vladimir Andreevich Serpukhovskoy joined him, the last Moscow regiments approached. Then, seeing all the forces in the collection, Dmitry ordered to cross the Oka. On September 6, the army reached the Don. Having arranged the shelves, we began to think. Some said: "Go, prince, for the Don!"

Others objected: "Don't go, because there are many enemies: not only Tatars, but also Lithuanians and Ryazans." Dmitry accepted the first opinion and ordered to build bridges and look for fords. On the night of September 7, the army began to cross the Don. On the morning of September 8, at sunrise, there was thick fog, and when it cleared up at three o'clock, the Russian regiments were already building beyond the Don, at the mouth of the Nepryadva.

At twelve o'clock the Tatars began to appear; they were descending from the hill to the wide Kulikovo field. The Russians also came down the hill and the sentry regiments started the battle. Dmitry himself with a retinue rode forward and, having beaten a little, returned to the main forces to arrange regiments. In the first hour, a decisive battle began. Such a battle had never happened in Russia before: they say that blood flowed like water over a space of ten miles, horses could not step on corpses, warriors died under horse hooves, suffocated from crowding. The foot Russian army was already lying like mowed hay, but the outcome of the battle was decided by Vladimir Andreevich, who struck from an ambush with a cavalry regiment in the rear of the Tatars. The Tatars could not withstand this blow and fled.

In the “Tale of the Battle of Mamaev”, a complex and contradictory source, in which there are many obvious fictions and absurdities, there is a story that Dmitry put on the princely mantle on his favorite Mikhail Brenk, while he himself, in the clothes of a simple warrior, got mixed up in the crowd, because he wanted to fight with Tatars "zauryad with a squad." It is not known whether this news can be trusted, but indeed, Dmitry, apparently, did not lead the battle, it went on as if by itself, and all important decisions were made by Vladimir Andreevich and the governor Bobrok.

Returning from the chase to the place of battle, Vladimir Andreevich ordered the trumpets to be blown; all the surviving warriors gathered at these sounds, only Dmitry was not there. Vladimir began to ask: did anyone see him?

Some said that they saw him severely wounded, and therefore they should look for him among the corpses; others who saw how he fought off four Tatars and fled, but do not know what happened to him after; one announced that he saw the Grand Duke, wounded, returning on foot from the battle. Vladimir Andreevich began with tears to beg everyone to look for the Grand Duke, promised rich rewards to those who find him. The army scattered across the field; found Dmitriev's favorite Mikhail Brenka, and finally two warriors, dodging to the side, found the Grand Duke, barely breathing, under the branches of a recently cut down tree. Dmitry came to his senses with difficulty, hardly recognized who was talking to him and about what, his shell was completely pierced, but there was not a single serious wound on his body.

On the occasion of the victory, says the chronicler, there was great joy in Russia, but there was also great sorrow for those killed on the Don; the whole Russian land was completely impoverished with governors, and servants, and every army, and from this there was great fear throughout the whole Russian land. This impoverishment gave the Tatars another short-lived triumph over the Kulikovo victors.

Mamai, returning to the Horde, again gathered a large army in order to go against the Moscow prince, but was stopped by another enemy: he was attacked by the Zayaitsky Khan Tokhtamysh, a descendant of Genghis Khan. On the banks of the Kalka, Mamai was defeated, fled to the Crimea and was killed there. Tokhtamysh, having mastered the Golden Horde, sent ambassadors to the Russian princes to inform them of his accession. The princes received the ambassadors with honor and sent their ambassadors to the Horde with gifts for the new khan. In 1381, Tokhtamysh sent the ambassador Akhkozy, who is called the prince in the annals, to Dmitry with seven hundred Tatars; but Akhkozya, having reached Nizhny Novgorod, turned back, not daring to go to Moscow; he sent there several people from his Tatars, but they did not dare to enter Moscow. Tokhtamysh decided to disperse this fear, which attacked the Tatars after the Battle of Kulikovo. In 1382, he suddenly crossed the Volga with a large army and went to Moscow, being very careful not to find out about his campaign in the Russian land.

When the news of the Tatar invasion reached Dmitry, he wanted to go out to meet the Tatars, but his region, terribly impoverished in people after the Kulikovo battle, could not put up a sufficient number of troops. Dmitry went first to Pereyaslavl, and then to Kostroma to collect regiments. Here the news came to him that Moscow was taken and burned by the Tatars. However, Tokhtamysh did not feel confident even after that. Having learned that Dmitry was gathering regiments in Kostroma, and Vladimir Andreevich was standing with great strength at Volok, he hurried back to the steppe. Dmitry returned to the devastated city and buried all the dead at his own expense - 24,000 people. Taking advantage of the misfortune of Moscow, Mikhail Tverskoy immediately went to Horde to look for a great reign However, in 1383, an ambassador from Tokhtamysh arrived in Moscow with kind speeches and an award He had to pay dearly for this In 1384, heavy extortions began to pay the khan tribute Each village gave half a penny, and the cities paid in gold Thus, Dmitry failed fulfill his cherished dream - to put an end to the Tatar yoke forever. The last years of his reign, with the exception of the rati with the Ryazan and Novgorodians, were relatively peaceful. Donskoy died in 1389, when he was only 39 years old. According to the Life, he was strong, tall, broad-shouldered and even heavy - “fraught with Velma and heavy with himself very much”, had a black beard and hair, as well as a wondrous look. The same Life reports that Dmitry had l aversion to fun, distinguished by piety, gentleness and chastity. He did not like to read books, but Sergius of Radonezh - Seraphim of Sarov Archbishop Nikon wrote in his "Life of Sergius of Radonezh" that in difficult times for the church, when it is necessary God’s help to strengthen faith, God sends His special chosen ones to earth, and those, being full of sacred grace, wondrous lives and humility, attract the hearts of people and become mentors and leaders of all who seek purification from passion and salvation of the soul. From the places of solitude of these chosen ones, from their deserts, then the blessed light of faith, peace and goodness spills over the face of their native land. It was to such messengers of God that the great Orthodox saints, the sad ones of the Russian land, belonged ”Sergius of Radonezh and Seraphim of Sarov.

With their lives, their deeds and their indisputable authority, they had such a huge impact on the spiritual life of Russia that it was felt not only by their immediate contemporaries, but also by many generations of descendants.

SERGIUS OF RADONEZH

Bartholomew (as St. Sergius was called before being tonsured) was born in 1319. His father, the boyar Kirill, first served with the Rostov prince, and then moved to the service of Ivan Danilovich Kalita and settled in the small town of Radonezh near Moscow. They write that from the age of seven, Bartholomew was given away into the teaching, which was given to him with great difficulty, so that he was far behind even his younger brother. This misfortune haunted him until one holy elder ardently asked God to open book wisdom for the boy. After that, Bartholomew immediately learned to read and write and became very addicted to reading From early childhood, he had a craving for a holy life. He avoided children's games, jokes, laughter and idle talk, ate only bread and water, and fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. and Chastity, his face was most often thoughtful and serious, and tears were often noticed in his eyes - witnesses of his heartfelt tenderness. Always quiet and silent, meek and humble, he was affectionate and courteous with everyone, did not get irritated with anyone, and lovingly accepted occasional troubles from everyone.

In 1339, after the death of his parents, Bartholomew distributed most of his property to the poor and decided to devote himself entirely to God. Together with his elder brother Stefan, he found a secluded place ten versts from the Khotkovo Monastery, which was very convenient for hermit life. A dense forest grew around, which had never been touched by a human hand. With great difficulty, the brothers cleared the plot, first made themselves a hut of tree branches, and then a cell. A small church was placed next to it, which was dedicated to the Most Holy Name of the Life-Giving Trinity. Stefan, unable to endure the hard life of a hermit, a short time later left for Moscow. Bartholomew remained firm in his plans. In 1342 he was tonsured under the name of Sergius and began his monastic feat.

His firmness on the chosen path was amazing. According to Epiphanius, with the adoption of a vow, he not only put aside the hair from his head, but also cut off all his desires forever; putting off the garments of the world, he at the same time put off the old man, in order to put on the new man, who walks in righteousness and the holiness of the truth. Cold, hunger, thirst, exhausting hard work - the constant companions of a harsh hermit life - he endured with unchanging firmness and humility. In addition to bread, which from time to time was brought to him from Radonezh by his younger brother Peter, Sergius had no other food. On winter nights, flocks of hungry wolves came to the cells, sometimes a bear came (with him the hermit shared his meager food out of pity). Sergius also suffered from demons, who, according to the testimony of the same Epiphanius, often took on the form of terrible beasts and disgusting reptiles in order to frighten the ascetic. Once, when he was praying in the dead of night, they broke into his church, but had to retreat before his faith and firmness.

Only two or three years passed, and they started talking about the young hermit both in Radonezh and in neighboring villages. One by one, the inhabitants began to come to him for spiritual advice, and then there were those who wanted to share his feat. Sergius at first did not agree to receive them, but then, touched by their entreaties, he decided to give up his seclusion. The newcomers built a cell for themselves, surrounded the monastery with a high fence and began to live, imitating Sergius in everything. There was no definite monastic charter, as, indeed, the monastery itself. Each monk lived separately from the others, he earned his own food and ran his own household. Seven times a day the brothers met in church for prayer. On a feast day, a priest from the nearest village was invited to celebrate the liturgy. The monks spent all the time free from prayer in constant labor, and Sergius worked the most: he built several cells with his own hands, chopped and chopped firewood for everyone, ground in hand millstones, baked bread, cooked food, cut and sewed clothes and brought water. According to Epiphanius, he served the brethren like a bought slave, trying in every possible way to make their difficult life easier. Despite abstinence in food, he was very strong and unusually hardy.

However, this life could not last long. When the number of monks multiplied, an urgent need arose to somehow organize their lives, and in 1354 Sergius, against his will, was forced to accept the priesthood and was appointed abbot. But even after that, he continued to teach not so much by word as by example. In subsequent years, the monastery expanded and took on the appearance of a well-maintained monastery. The cells scattered in disarray throughout the forest were assembled into a regular quadrangle and located around the church. The former Trinity Church became cramped. It was dismantled and put in its place another, much more spacious. Later (about 1372) Sergius decided to introduce a hostel in his monastery. This was a big innovation for those days. (Although in the south, in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, a hostel was introduced by St. Theodosius, in the north of Russia this custom did not take root.) The charter chosen by Sergius was very strict: monks were forbidden to have personal property, and from now on everyone had to work for the good monastery. The positions of cellar, confessor, ecclesiarch and others were established. Over the years, the area around became more and more populated.

Following the monks, many peasant settlers came to these places, who quickly cut down the forests and plowed the fields. Then a large road was laid past the monastery to the northern cities. The monastery of Sergiev, according to Nikon, seemed to suddenly move out of the dense forests to the crossroads of human life. But even after that, for a very long time, the lot of Sergius monks was the most severe, undisguised poverty. The monks literally needed everything: they lacked food, clothes, wine for the liturgy, wax for candles, oil for lamps (instead of them, torches were lit in front of the images), instead of parchment for books, they used birch bark, ate and drank from wooden vessels that they made with their own hands.

During this meager time, according to the testimony of Sergius's companions, miracles began to be performed through his prayers. So, for example, after an ardent prayer from the abbot near the monastery, a plentiful source of cold spring water broke out of the ground (before that, the brethren had to bring water from afar with considerable difficulty). Then, thanks to the prayers of the saint, several miraculous healings took place. The fame of Sergius began to thunder throughout the district. The sick and the crippled reached out to him, and many, after conversations with the holy elder and his prayers, experienced relief, and some even received complete healing. With the increase in the number of visitors, the well-being of the monastery began to improve. But Sergius himself never had a passion for earthly things, distributing everything to the brethren or the poor. Until his death, he wore shabby clothes sewn by himself from homespun fabric and plain sheep's wool.

Meanwhile, his fame spread far beyond Radonezh. Even the Patriarch of Constantinople knew about the Trinity Abbot and sent his messages to him. For the Russian people, Sergius was almost the same as the ancient prophets were for the Jews. Not only commoners, but already boyars and grand dukes sought his advice and blessings. Going on a campaign against the Tatars in 1380, the Moscow prince Dmitry Donskoy considered it his duty to visit the Trinity Monastery along the way and take parting words from Sergius. The holy elder, foreseeing that the coming battle would end in the death of many warriors, asked Dmitry not to be stingy - to send many gifts to the khan and thereby buy peace. The prince answered that he had already done all this, but the enemy had risen even more from his concessions. “If so,” said Sergius, “then he will face final death, and you, prince, will have mercy and glory from God. Go, sir, fearlessly! The Lord will help you against godless enemies!” Encouraged by these prophetic words, Dmitry hurried after his army. The news that the Moscow prince had received a blessing from St. Sergius for the battle soon spread throughout the entire army and breathed courage into all hearts. On the day of the Battle of Kulikovo on September 8, all the monks of the Trinity Monastery, together with Sergius himself, did not stop praying for the Russian army for a minute. Sergius himself, as his biographers say, stood in the temple with his body, and was on the battlefield in spirit. He saw everything that was happening there, and how an eyewitness told the brethren about the course of the battle. From time to time, he called the fallen heroes by name and himself said prayers for the dead for them. Finally, he announced the complete defeat of the enemies. Soon this prophecy was confirmed - on the way back Dmitry stopped at the Trinity Monastery and personally informed Sergius about his victory.

After these events, the authority of Sergius in Russia became indisputable. In 1385, when a war broke out between Dmitry Donskoy and Prince Oleg of Ryazan, the Grand Duke asked Sergius to take over the work of a peacemaker. Late in the autumn, Sergius went on foot to Ryazan and here, according to the chronicler, he talked a lot with Oleg in meek speeches about spiritual benefit, about peace and about love. Under his influence, Oleg changed his ferocity to meekness, calmed down and was touched by the soul, ashamed of such a holy man, and concluded eternal peace with the Moscow prince. In the last years of Sergius's life, his spiritual strength reached extraordinary power. He was informed of all the gifts of God: the gift of miracles, the gift of prophecy, the gift of consolation and edification. For his spiritual gaze, there were no material barriers, no distance, no time.

Once the brethren saw how an angel served Sergius during the Liturgy, another time the Mother of God herself appeared to him. Six months before his death, the ascetic received a revelation about the time of his coming to God. and took a vow of silence. Only just before his death, in September 1391, he again gathered all the monks to himself and addressed them with his last parting words. After that, he quietly died.

Those who knew him wrote later that in all his life he never complained about anything, never grumbled about anything, did not lose heart, did not mourn, he was always calm, despite human temptations and sorrows.

SERAFIM SAROVSKII

Prokhor Moshnin (as the Reverend Elder Seraphim of Sarov was called in the world) was born in 1759 in the city of Kursk.

His family belonged to the eminent merchant class, and Prokhor from childhood was destined for the fate of a successful merchant. However, another lot was determined for him from above. In the tenth year, the boy suddenly fell into a serious illness, so that the family did not hope for his recovery. At this time, the Most Holy Theotokos appeared in a dream to Prokhor, who promised to heal him from his illness. And indeed, soon the words of the Mother of God came true: during the procession, Prokhor kissed the famous Kursk shrine - the icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos and was completely healed. After that, the boy's soul was turned only to God, and no other activities carried him away. At the age of 17, he firmly decided to leave the world and, with the blessing of his mother (his father died when Prokhor was three years old), devoted himself to monastic life. First, he went to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and then to the Tambov province, to the Sarovka River, where the famous Sarov Desert was located. The abbot identified Prochorus among the novices. But the young ascetic, not content with the hardships of monastic life, retired to complete solitude in the depths of the forest. Unfortunately, his exploits were soon interrupted by a new attack of a serious illness. Prokhor's whole body was swollen, and, experiencing severe suffering, he spent about three years bedridden. Gradually he got worse and worse.

The monks confessed the young man, took communion and were already preparing for his death, when, accompanied by the apostles John and Peter, the Mother of God again appeared to him. She laid her hand on the head of the patient - and immediately there was a crisis in the disease, and after a short time he was completely healed.

After spending seven years as a novice, Prokhor in 1786 was honored with tonsure as a monastic. At the same time, he was given a new name - Seraphim. The following year he was ordained a hierodeacon, and for about six years he continuously served in this rank. During these years, numerous visions visited him: more than once he saw heavenly angels, and once during the liturgy he was honored to see Jesus Christ himself surrounded by many angels. a desert cell was arranged for him. In 1793, after being ordained a hieromonk, he finally retired to the desert.

The cell that Seraphim chose for himself was located in a dense pine forest, on the banks of the Sarovka River, about five or six versts from the monastery, and consisted of one wooden room with a stove. The monk arranged a small vegetable garden with her, and then a bee-keeper. Not far away, other Sarov hermits lived in solitude, and the whole surrounding area, consisting of hills, dotted with forests, shrubs and hermits, resembled the holy Mount Athos. All the time of Seraphim passed in unceasing prayers, reading sacred books and bodily labors. On weekdays, he worked in his garden or in the apiary, and spent holidays and Sundays in the monastery: he listened to the liturgy here, took communion of the Holy Mysteries and then returned to himself.

So Seraphim lived for about 15 years, gradually increasing the severity of his feat. Following the example of the ancient pillars, he found a high granite stone in the depths of the forest and began to spend most of his time in prayer on it.

In the cells, he also prayed on a small stone and brought himself to complete exhaustion. The consequence of this was a severe illness of the legs, therefore, due to bodily weakness, Seraphim had to give up pilgrimage for the third year. But in all other respects, his life remained extremely harsh.

At first he ate dry stale bread, which he brought from the monastery, but then he learned to do without it and in the summer he ate only what he grew in his garden, and in the winter months he drank a decoction of dried Sniti grass. For many years it was his only food. So that no stranger would interfere with his solitude, Seraphim blocked the path to his cell with logs and tree branches. Unfortunately, in this way he fenced himself off only from annoying visitors. Only his own firmness and the intercession of God could save him from evil spirits and dashing people. Demons constantly pestered the elder with their temptations, intrigues and terrible visions. Then three robbers appeared in his cell and beat the saint half to death, demanding money. They turned over the whole cell, but finding nothing, they left. With his head pierced, with broken ribs, covered with many wounds, Seraphim was barely able to reach the monastery. The doctor, whom the frightened monks called to the bed of the patient, believed that he must inevitably die. But, as had already happened twice, the Mother of God appeared at the bedside of her martyr, and after that health began to quickly return to him.

Five months later, Seraphim was able to return to his former life.

Soon, the robbers who committed this terrible atrocity were caught, but Seraphim forbade any punishment to be imposed on them, and at his plea they were forgiven.

Around 1806, Seraphim took upon himself the feat of silence. He completely stopped going out to visitors, and if he met someone in the forest, he fell prostrate on the ground and did not raise his eyes until the person he met passed by. In this silence he lived for about three years. In 1810, ailments no longer allowed him to lead his former hermit life, Seraphim again moved to the Sarov monastery, but he lived here completely alone in complete seclusion. In his cell there was nothing but the icon of the Mother of God and a stump of a stump that replaced a chair. He did not use fire.

Under his shirt, Seraphim wore a large five-inch iron cross on ropes for mortifying the flesh, but he never put on a chain or sackcloth.

He drank only water, and ate only oatmeal and sauerkraut.

The monks brought water and food to the door of his cells, and Seraphim, having covered himself with a large cloth so that no one could see him, kneeling, took the dish and then carried it away to himself. His only occupation was prayer deeds and reading the New Testament (every week he read it from beginning to end, using the first four days to read the Gospel, and the next three to the Acts of the Apostles and epistles). Sometimes during prayer he fell into a special kind of state when he did not hear or see anything around him. Where his soul was at that time is unknown. Shortly before his death, Seraphim confessed to one monk that the Lord several times opened his kingdom before him and transferred him to his heavenly abodes. There he often tasted heavenly sweetness and bliss.

Behind all these exploits of the saint, the external storms that shook the world at that time (including the war of 1812) completely passed. Having been in strict seclusion for about five years, he then somewhat weakened him - in the mornings he was seen walking around the cemetery, he no longer locked the door of the cells, and everyone could see him, however, continuing to keep a vow of silence, at first he did not answer any questions. Then Seraphim began to gradually enter into conversations with the monks who came to him, and then with outside worldly visitors who specially came to the Sarov monastery to meet with him. Finally, he began to receive everyone who wanted to, without refusing to anyone in blessing and a brief instruction. The fame of the amazing old man quickly spread throughout all the surrounding provinces. People of all ages and ranks reached out to Seraphim, and each sincerely and sincerely revealed to him his mind and heart, his spiritual sorrows and his sins.

There were days when up to a thousand people flocked to the Sarov elder. He accepted and listened to everyone and never showed fatigue. Among other visitors, noble persons sometimes appeared to him: for example, in 1825, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich received his blessing. But especially many common people came to the elder, who sought from him not only instructions, but also worldly help and healing. Indeed, believers have discovered in him a great and precious treasure. He helped many with advice, healed others with his prayer (he was especially successful in healing all kinds of mental disorders, but sometimes other diseases receded before his prayer and passionate faith of the suffering). It was also noticed that the water from Seraphim's favorite source, over which he performed his prayer, had healing properties. Seraphim's heartfelt conversation, imbued with some special love, was extraordinarily sweet for everyone. His perspicacity and knowledge of human nature were amazing. Often, by a few words or even by one appearance, he instantly comprehended a person and addressed him with precisely those words that immediately touched the innermost strings of his soul. All his dealings with visitors were distinguished by deep humility and active love. He never addressed reproachful speeches to anyone, but the power of his suggestion was so great that even the most callous and cold people left him in some kind of tearful tenderness and with a desire to create. good After the conversation, Seraphim used to lay his right hand on the bowed head of the guest. At the same time, he invited him to repeat a short prayer of repentance and himself said a prayer of permissiveness. From this, those who came received relief of conscience and some special spiritual pleasure. Then the elder crosswise anointed the visitor’s face with oil from the lamp, gave the Epiphany water to taste, blessed with a particle of antidoron and allowed it to be applied to the image of the Mother of God or to the cross hanging on his chest. Seraphim distributed numerous offerings left by visitors to the poor and brethren. monastery, which eventually turned into one of the most populous and comfortable women's monasteries in Russia.

Seraphim's foresight was also manifested in his predictions. They concerned both the near future (for example, the famine of 1831 and the cholera epidemic that followed), and more distant times (the Crimean War). A year before his death, the Mother of God appeared to Seraphim for the last time and predicted that he would soon be inseparable from her. A short time later, the elder felt severe exhaustion, unhealed ulcers appeared on his legs, and old wounds received by the saint from robbers also opened.

Lesson #2

This lesson begins the acquaintance of students with the famous people of Russia, whom the Russian Orthodox Church canonized and called them saints. These are Alexander Nevsky and Sergius of Radonezh.

On the back of the textbook Holy Lands of Russia. Alexander Nevskiy" there are reproductions of paintings by Russian artists - M. Nesterov "Prince Alexander Nevsky" and P. Korin "Alexander Nevsky" (a fragment of a triptych). 43

You can find out from the guys what they know about the famous Russian commander Alexander Nevsky.

Information for the teacher.

Prince Alexander Nevsky (1220–1263) was born in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. His father is Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, the great-grandson of Vladimir Monomakh. Adolescence and youthful years of Alexander passed in Novgorod. At the age of twenty, Prince Alexander won a victory on the Neva over a strong opponent - the Swedes, for which the people nicknamed the prince Alexander Nevsky. Two years later, in 1242, the famous Battle on the Ice, in which the army of Alexander Nevsky defeated the German crusader knights. For 20 years, the prince, seeking to revive the former glory of Russia, went to bow to the khans of the Golden Horde and paid them an annual tribute. After the death of his father, Alexander became the Grand Duke of Vladimir. In 1263, after another trip to the Horde, the prince fell seriously ill and soon died. People said that he was poisoned. The commander was buried in Vladimir. In 1710, by decree of Peter I, the imperishable relics of Alexander Nevsky were transported to St. Petersburg and buried in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. December 6 is the day of veneration of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky.

The Russian people cherish the memory of Alexander Nevsky. Many temples are named after the Grand Duke. Peter I established the Order of Alexander Nevsky. During the Great Patriotic War against the Nazi invaders (1941–1945), the Order of Alexander Nevsky again became a military award. The image of Alexander Nevsky is captured in various works of art - music, painting, sculpture, cinema.

Invite the children to compare the image of Alexander Nevsky captured in the paintings of Russian artists. On the altar painting by M. Nesterov, installed in the Church of the Savior on Blood in St. Petersburg, the prince is depicted praying before the icon of the Mother of God. Military armor - a shield and a sword - lie at his feet. In the guise of a prince - peace and humility. A golden halo above the head is a sign of holiness. What does the prince pray to the Mother of God?

In the painting by P. Korin, which the artist began to paint during the Great Patriotic War, children see a different image of the prince. The figure of the commander occupies almost the entire plane of the canvas, towering over the waters of the Volkhov, the Novgorod Sophia Cathedral, and the surrounding distances. The prince stands facing the audience, putting his hand on the hilt of the sword. Cold blue cast his armor. An angry gaze is directed into the distance, as if he sees a foreign army that dared to enter their native land. Above the head of the prince is a military banner with the image of the Savior - the Fiery Eye. In the whole appearance of the prince, firm determination and confidence in his own strength, in the victory of the Russian army, are expressed. “Whoever enters us with a sword will die by the sword!” – such is the idea of ​​the picture.

The perception of picturesque images by children will be enhanced after they listen to two fragments from S. Prokofiev's cantata "Alexander Nevsky": "Songs about Alexander Nevsky" (No. 2) and the choir "Get up, Russian people" (No. 4). We recommend various options for the methodological solution of this fragment of the lesson. First: first learn the main melodies of these parts of the cantata, and then listen to them. When singing, children not only remember these melodies better, but also learn their characteristic features.

"Song about Alexander Nevsky" tells about the victory of the prince in the battle with the Swedes on the Neva. Singing, in the spirit of a folk song, the main melody should sound restrained and unhurried in children's performance. The original melody is reminiscent of epic tune, so you need to strive for its ultimate melodiousness. It is necessary to draw the students' attention to how the nature of the music of the "Song" changes where the battle is discussed ("Wow, how we fought, how we fought!").

The choir "Get up, Russian people" has two melodies: the first is built on intonations of a strong-willed, invocative nature, with expressive emphasis on logical stresses in the text. The performance of this melody requires active breathing, energetic, but unforced sounding of children's voices. The second theme of the choir is lyrical. The female voices of the choir begin to sing it. It sounds like a long folk song. When performing it with children, one should strive to convey its song character.

The second option for constructing this part of the lesson is as follows. Start listening to the choir "Get up, Russian people" from the introduction, in which the children will surely hear the sounds alarm bell. Let them choose one of the melodies they have learned that matches the nature of the introduction. The contrast of the two melodies that S. Prokofiev uses in this fragment of the cantata will lead students to determine tripartitechoir forms(the first theme is repeated at the beginning and at the end, the second theme sounds in the middle part). With the theme of bells, students will repeatedly meet on the pages of Textbooks "Music" in elementary school in the works of M. Glinka, M. Mussorgsky, P. Tchaikovsky, S. Rachmaninov and others.

Lesson #3

This lesson is dedicated to introducing children to the saint of the Russian land - Sergius of Radonezh. Children together with the teacher read a short story about the childhood of the boy Vatholomew. Paintings by M. Nesterov "Vision to the youth Bartholomew" and "Youth of Sergius of Radonezh" (a fragment of a triptych) and the teacher's story about the life of this man will help children understand what character traits, deeds, thoughts made him one of the most revered Russian saints.

Information for the teacher.

Holy Russian Land, Reverend Father Sergius of Radonezh (1314-1392). “This image rises in bulk from non-existence, like the sun from behind the horizon, and illuminates our history.” 44 These words belong to the sculptor V. Klykov, the author of the modern monument to Sergius of Radonezh, erected in Radonezh, near Moscow. Bartholomew was born in the family of a Rostov boyar. As a youth, he met a monk who predicted a great future for him.

Devastated by the invasion of the Tatar hordes, the Bartholomew family moved to Radonezh near Moscow. After the death of his parents, the young man settled in the wilderness, in the forest tract Makovets. He felled pines, burned out the rhizomes, cleared a clearing in order to erect a wooden church of the Holy Trinity and a cell next to it. At the age of 23, Bartholomew came to the nearest monastery and asked to be tonsured. As a monk, he was named Sergius.

People heard about the diligence and virtues of Sergius, began to settle next to him. So, through the labors of the monks and Sergius, the Trinity Monastery began to grow in Radonezh. “For fifty years St. Sergius did his quiet work in the Radonezh desert; for a whole half century, people who came to him ... drew comfort and encouragement in his desert and, returning to their circle, shared it drop by drop with others, ”wrote a Russian historian of the 19th century about Sergius and the people of his time. IN. Klyuchevsky.

In the summer of 1380, the Horde Khan Mamai led his numerous troops to Russia. Moscow Prince Dmitry Ioannovich (Donskoy), before the great battle, went to bow to St. Sergius. Sergius blessed Dmitry and his army for the battle and predicted victory, but warned that a great price would be paid for it. Together with the princely warriors, two monks of the monastery, the heroes Peresvet and Oslyabya, also marched. The Battle of Kulikovo claimed the lives of 200 thousand soldiers. After the victory on the Kulikovo field, the Russian land began to revive.

Up to 40 monasteries were founded by the disciples of St. Sergius. In praise of his teacher - Sergius of Radonezh - the famous icon "Trinity" was painted by the icon painter Andrei Rublev.

In the majestic Trinity Cathedral, in a silver coffin rests the holy land of Russia - St. Sergius of Radonezh. And today, we, the people of the XXI century, "Sergius teaches the simplest: truth, straightforwardness, masculinity, work, reverence and faith." 45

Before starting to learn “Folk chants about Sergius of Radonezh” with the children, let them carefully read the verse text of the chant, which is offered on the pages of the Textbook (p. 45) and Workbook (p. 38). After that, invite the guys to think about what kind of melody they could compose for these verses. Surely, the guys will note the unhurried warehouse of verse and melody, melodiousness, quiet dynamics, corresponding to a leisurely story. After that, you can play the melody of "Chants" to the children and offer to learn it as a simple tune, without words. The melody has a small range, repetitions and therefore is easy to remember. Musical notation will help to make sure that it is simple. intonations and rhythms. Learning "Chants" is best done without accompaniment ( a cappella) as a folk song.

After learning the “Chantations about Sergius of Radonezh”, you can invite children to listen to the tune of Optina Pustyn “Oh, glorious miracle”, which is performed by the choir of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (under the direction of Father Matthew). Let the children decide for themselves: what does the music sound like? How do listeners feel when exposed to this music? who is performing this song? Is it modern or old music? Where can you hear this work - at a concert, in a church, on a TV show?

Invite the children, with the help of adults - relatives and friends, to find an icon depicting St. Sergius of Radonezh, read stories about his life and bring them to class. 46

Lesson number 4.

In this lesson, students are introduced to genre of prayer on the example of the pieces from the "Children's Album" by P. Tchaikovsky - "Morning Prayer" and "In the Church". On the back of the textbook "Prayer" schoolchildren will see a portrait of the composer, fragments of musical notation of two plays, an artist's drawing, an image of the interior decoration of an Orthodox church. The spread opens with I. Nikitin's quatrain "Pray, child ...".

In the center of the lesson is an intonational-figurative analysis of Tchaikovsky's plays. You can remind the guys that the guys are already familiar with the pieces from the "Children's Album". Here it is appropriate to play or sing the melodies of the “March of the Wooden Soldiers”, “Waltz”, “Sweet Dreams”, “Kamarinskaya” or other pieces that children remember and love, and also to recall the fact that in his album the composer tells with music about how the day of a little person goes from morning to evening.

Before turning to the perception of the play "Morning Prayer", the teacher tells the second graders that Pyotr Ilya Tchaikovsky was a deeply religious person, knew church music well and composed works for performance in the church.

How does the day of a believer begin? Probably, the children themselves will find the answer to this question - with prayer. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the first play of the cycle is "Morning Prayer". 47 As mentioned earlier, two methodological techniques can be used before the perception of musical compositions: 1) direct students' attention to the perception of music with a leading question; 2) offer to listen carefully to the music, and then express your impression of it.

After listening to Morning Prayer, pay attention to how the music sounded. Music notation can help in determining the character and mood of a piece (p. 46). The light, calm, serene state of the soul of the praying person is conveyed by music. The teacher can isolate from the musical fabric of this composition only melody. It is in the melody that the main features of music are concentrated - melodiousness, wide breathing, stops at sustained sounds at the end of phrases, which give peace and tranquility to the music. pay attention to repeats main topic. Try to find with the children the brightest moment in the development of music - climax(it can be marked with an expressive hand gesture showing the pitch line of the melody). In the final section of the play, you can draw the children's attention to the repetitive sound in low case. What does he represent? Children usually hear the sounds of church bells. You can write on the board a plan for the development of dynamics in this play: softly - amplifying - loudly - fading - quietly. The morning flavor of music is associated with the composer's use of major scale.

You can invite the children to think about what the child prays in the morning, and then read the text of the "Morning Prayer":

“Lord Lover of Humanity! Rising from sleep, I hasten to you and try to do Your deeds with Your mercy and pray to You, help me in every business, deliver me from earthly misfortune and from the devil's help for evil, save me and lead me into your eternal Kingdom. Since you are my creator, guardian and giver of all good, all my hope is on you and I glorify you now, and always, and forever. Truly so."

Using the “identity and contrast” method, invite second graders to compare the sound of “ morning prayer"With a play that ends" Children's Album "-" In the Church ". 48 The guys note that this play sounds strict, restrained, severe. It resembles the sound of a church choir. In the musical notation of both pieces, one can see chords(simultaneous sounding of several sounds), which give the music a resemblance to the sound of a choir.

The play "In the Church", thanks to minor scale, sounds muffled, the emotional structure of the music is restrained. One can compare the endings of two pieces by Tchaikovsky: in both, the piano imitates the sound of a bell. Let the guys determine for themselves in which register the sounds representing the bell ringing sound ( in low register). If “Morning Prayer” ended with a light, as if dissolving sound, then “In the Church” the melody slowly descends from the upper register to the lower one.

Comparison of two pieces by P. Tchaikovsky enables children to make sure that the nature of the sound of music determines the "scene" - the first sounds in the children's room, the second - in the temple.

Here is the text of the "Evening Prayer":

“Lord, our God, everything in which I have sinned today in word, deed and thought, you, as a good and philanthropist, forgive me, give me a peaceful and calm sleep, send me your guardian angel, who would cover and save me with his power from all evil. Since You are the guardian of our souls and bodies, and we bring glory to You: the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now, and always, and forever. Truly so." 49

In this lesson, you can continue learning the “Folk chant about Sergius of Radonezh”, recall the Christmas songs from the 1st grade program, which, in their emotional structure, are consonant with Tchaikovsky’s plays: “Shepherdesses Hurry to Bethlehem” (children’s folk song), “Lullaby” (Polish folk song ), "Christmas" (carol), etc. 50

Completing tasks in the Workbook on a turn "Holy Lands of Russia" will help children to consolidate the musical ideas about the role of sacred music in the life of a modern person received in the lessons of the 2nd quarter.

At the final stage of the lesson, you can turn to a conversation about religious traditions that take place in the families of second-graders, about works of church art that children know (architectural buildings, icons, music), about books that tell about Orthodox holidays, folk customs, about the impressions of children attending church services, etc. You can ask the guys about what icons they saw, who is depicted on them, how the image on the icons differs from the images of the paintings. The teacher needs to prepare in advance for this difficult conversation so that it meets not only the moral and ethical issues, but also the genre of the art lesson.

Lesson number 5.

In this lesson, students once again turn to the topic of church holidays. In the 1st grade, the first acquaintance of children with the holiday of the Nativity of Christ has already taken place. This is one of the most significant Christian holidays, which falls on January 7 (December 25, old style). You can remember with children the tradition of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Information for the teacher.

“Two thousand years ago, a blue, winter night stood over the highlands of ancient Judea. People walked silently along the narrow, steep paths in the night. The conquering Romans ruled Judea, they ordered each inhabitant to come to the city where his ancestors lived - so it would be more convenient for the Romans to count and rewrite the people captured by them ... The gray-bearded carpenter Joseph was walking from the city of Nazareth to the city of Bethlehem. The dark-eyed Virgin walked with Joseph together ... Soon she was to have a child. The name of the dark-eyed Virgin is Mary. Last spring…the Archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary, the messenger and herald of the Lord. He predicted to her the birth of a Son whose name is Jesus. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” / Gospel of Luke 1, 30-32 /

... All the houses of Bethlehem, all the inns were crowded with people - and nowhere was there a place for a carpenter and the Virgin. A deep cave-nativity scene sheltered them. Usually shepherds drove herds into this cave for the night. On a winter night, under the arches of the den, the Savior was born ... Wrapped in coarse felt, warming his hands by the fire, shepherds sat around the fire that night ... From the winter sky an Angel of the Lord descended to them and announced great joy to all people: now the Savior was born, Who is Christ the Lord. Suddenly, a numerous heavenly host appeared with the Angel, glorifying God and crying out: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards men!” / Gospel of Luke. 2, 10–14/

The shepherds hurried to the cave, entered in a crowd, froze on the threshold: in a gray stone manger, on straw, in white swaddling clothes - like a clear flame - the Infant shone. Taking off their hats, the shepherds bowed to the Savior and the Mother of God. A golden, clear, many-winged star ascended into heaven at the hour of the Nativity of Christ, shone over the whole world. That very night the history of the human race was divided in two. From the rising of the messenger star, from the Nativity of Christ, we count the centuries. 51

In the drawings of the Textbook, children will see Christmas scenes: the baby Jesus Christ in a den (cave) illuminated by the light of the Star of Bethlehem, angels blowing the news of the Birth of Christ into the trumpets, candles, toys, children around the Christmas tree.

In this lesson, you can start learning such Christmas songs as "Good evening to you", "Christmas Miracle" (folk Slavic chants), as well as the modern "Christmas Song" (words and music by P. Sinyavsky). It is desirable that when learning these songs, in addition to artistic tasks - expressiveness and emotionality of sounding, technical tasks were also solved - introducing children to singing without accompaniment (a cappella). This will provide an opportunity to develop the skills of singing in unison, cantilenas, and form acuity of hearing.

In this lesson, you can once again turn to the plot and images of P. Tchaikovsky's Christmas ballet-tale "The Nutcracker", which the children met in the first grade. Recall that students can act as conductors symphony orchestra (fragment "Pas de deux"), come up with a plastic etude to the music of the Waltz of the Snow Flakes, to march to the music of the March.

Lessons ## 6-7.

The final lessons of the first half of the 2nd grade solve two problems.

Firstly, they systematize the musical impressions of children that they received in music lessons while studying such sections of the Textbook as “Russia is my homeland”, “Day, eventful"," Singing about Russia - what to strive for in the temple. The teacher at the same time determines the degree of emotional response of children to music, interest in music lessons, the degree of mastering the basic laws of musical art ( genres, language of music, development techniques, musical forms), the level of development of musical and practical skills. You can offer students a test that the teacher will compose on their own, similar to the test that was proposed in the “Lesson Development. Grade 1" in the subject "Music". 52

Secondly, in these lessons, children can be stimulated to activate their music-making skills, creative activities necessary for active participation in the school New Year's holiday. To do this, it is necessary to carefully consider the content of the lesson, its dramaturgy, the selection of musical material, and the types of communication between students and music.

Of course, in this work, an indispensable condition for the organization of the lesson is the game. In a playful way, you can prepare children for exciting music competitions - singers, "composers", dancers, conductors, "music experts", etc. In the process of classes, the teacher can organize a collective and group performance of familiar works - singing, playing the simplest musical instruments in an ensemble , playing folk songs or fairy tales (to which children compose simple melodies of the main characters and select musical accompaniment with the help of a teacher). 53 These forms of children's participation in musical-playing, musical-stage activities can be used by teachers when developing a scenario for the New Year's holiday.

Second class.

Sample lesson plans.

Third quarter (11 a.m.)

Introduction.

In the third quarter, students master such sections of the Educational and Methodological Kit "Music" for Grade 2 as "Burn, burn clearly so that it does not go out!", "In the musical theater", "In the concert hall".

Chapter “Burn, burn brightly so that it doesn’t go out!” associated with the study of Russian musical folklore. Folklore is presented as a syncretic art form, which is associated with the life, way of life, folk traditions of the people. The genres of song and instrumental folk music, the holidays of the Russian people are considered in a broad life context, in close connection with the history, nature, life of the Russian people. Mastering samples of musical folklore, as well as the folklore of other peoples of the world, includes various forms of its embodiment: singing, instrumental music-making, movement to music and the use of dance elements, imitation of the living environment, decorative design of listened and performed music (elements of costume, ornament and etc.), staging, "acting out" songs, participation in folk games. One of the tasks of studying the folklore section of the Textbook and Workbook is the development genres of Russian folk song.

The main vocal and choral skills and abilities of students are associated with the formation of cantilena, wide breathing, and the natural manner of sounding voices. Song folklore makes it possible to gradually incorporate elements of two-voice into the practice of choral and ensemble singing. When singing folklore, one should avoid the forced sounding of students' voices, carefully use the traditions of the native land, region in choosing the manner of sounding the children's choir.

improvisation – essential quality the existence of folklore - should leave an imprint on the process of learning a song (singing from the "voice" of the teacher, singing without accompaniment, "acting out" the song, etc.). It is folklore that makes it possible to include improvisations in the educational process - speech, vocal, plastic.

instrumental music making folk tunes and melodies enriches the child's understanding of the role and place of performers in the preservation of the musical heritage.

The comprehension of folk musical culture in elementary school goes in two directions: firstly, it is the study of authentic and stylized samples of folklore; secondly, it is an acquaintance with the musical works of composers, in which the folklore beginning is clearly expressed or genuine folk melodies are used.

Study section "In the musical theater" involves studying the features of large musical forms. In 2nd grade it opera and ballet. One of the tasks of this year of music education is to interest children in these genres, to teach them to deeply perceive music of very different complexity, to understand musical drama on the basis of the principles of musical and symphonic development, which contributes to the formation of musical thinking of schoolchildren already in primary school. Entry into opera and ballet is helped by the simplest genres of music - song, dance and march that constantly accompany human life.

Study section "In the Concert Hall" involves the interaction of three types of musical activity - composing ( composer) – execution ( executor) - perception ( listener). The atmosphere of perception and performance of music in the classroom should approach the atmosphere of a concert hall. Role-playing games “At a concert”, “Visiting a composer”, “We are performers”, “Compose a song” develops children’s attention to the peculiarities of attending a concert - festive clothes, acquaintance with its poster and program, listening to music in silence, expressing one’s positive attitudes towards the works they like and their performers (applause), etc. Students get acquainted with various musical genres(an instrumental piece, a symphonic fairy tale, a suite, an overture, a symphony, etc.), they learn to be performers - they sing, play the simplest musical instruments, perform plastic improvisations, and conduct. The performance of music allows children to more thoughtfully and emotionally comprehend the musical language, styles of various composers, include music in extracurricular forms activities in the leisure sector.

lessons : On the 3rd lesson appropriate to consider the first educational question. ...you faces are invited to listen music to act in films, to watch...

Gbou secondary school No. 928 at the stage of primary general education Moscow

Program

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Working programm

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Methodological letter on teaching the subject "music" in 2012/2013 academic year

Instructive-methodical letter

... lessonplanning on music for 7 class I half of the year "Peculiarities of stage dramaturgy music" No. Date Subject lesson Main content lesson ... music and characteristic techniques of jazz music. The concept of light and serious music. "Porgy and Bess" - first ...

« Two feats of Alexander Nevsky - the feat of warfare in the West and the feat of humility in the East -
had one goal: to preserve Orthodoxy as a moral and political force of the Russian people.
This goal was achieved: the growth of the Russian Orthodox kingdom
happened on the ground prepared by Alexander».

G.V. Vernadsky

December 6(November 23, old style) The Church honors the memory of one of the most famous and revered saints of the Russian land - Holy Right-believing Prince Alexander Nevsky. A fearless defender of his fatherland, a wise victorious commander, a subtle diplomat and a skillful ruler, and at the same time a pious Christian and a humble man of prayer, who was honored before the death of a great angelic image - this is how the image of the holy Russian prince appears before us, widely glorified both in church and in a secular environment.

About Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich. From the Facial Chronicle

“This noble and noble, adorned by God and worthy of praise, Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich, the eighth tribe of the autocratic and Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar and Grand Duke Vladimir Svyatoslavich, who enlightened the Russian land with holy baptism, from Rurik the eleventh tribe, for many and glorious virtues, won praise not only from people, but also from God himself; for from a young age and from young nails, he was taught every good deed by his pious father, the God-wise and sovereign Yaroslav Vsevolodovich, and his holy mother, the God-loving Grand Duchess Theodosia, named Euphrosyne in monasticism, by whom he was brought up in all sorts of good instructions. And the fear of God settled in his heart in an effort to keep the commandments of the Lord; for he honored the priestly and monastic order.

Always in his youth, he adhered to humility and abstinence, kept purity of soul and body, increased meekness and avoided vanity, putting a lot of effort into this. He restrained gluttony, for he knew that satiety of the flesh destroys chastity, and interferes with wakefulness, and opposes other virtues. In his mouth were continually divine words, delighting him more than honey and honeycombs. He read them with zeal, and heeded them, and desired to put them into action. His relatives saw that he was succeeding in all virtues, and tried to be useful, and tried in every possible way to please God, seeing how he tried to please God, and, burning with divine heavenly desire, he belittled before people everything good and honest in himself, and did not flaunt his mental prolificacy. And from his great humility in every way he hid his many good deeds.

Although he was glorified by God with the honor of the earthly kingdom and had a wife and children, he acquired humble wisdom more than all people. He was very tall; the beauty of his face was like Joseph the Beautiful; his strength was part of the strength of Samson, and his voice sounded like a trumpet in the people; in courage, he was like the Roman king Vespasian, the son of Nero, who captured the whole land of Judea, gathered his regiments and ordered to proceed to the city of Antipat (Iotapat). The townspeople went out and defeated his regiments; he alone went against them, and turned their army to the gates of the city, and his squad, laughing, said: “Almost they left me alone”? So the Grand Duke Alexander Yaroslavich won everywhere and was never defeated.

He was very merciful, like his God-protected father Yaroslav, following in his footsteps in everything, he gave a lot of gold and silver for the captives, sending them to Tsar Batu in the Horde for the Russian people who were captured by the godless Tatars. He ransomed them and delivered them from fierce slavery and from many troubles and misfortunes.

He himself was always protected by God and from all enemies everywhere remained unharmed, and the Lord glorified him with his mercy to him. And he was terrible and formidable to all enemies, and everywhere they trembled at his name. The wisdom and sharpness of his mind, like Solomon, were given to him by God. Most of all, he honored justice, and often taught his boyars with parables from Divine Scripture, so that first of all they would ask God for wisdom, and refrain from drunkenness, and humble themselves before God, and not forget to judge righteously, and would not be biased in favor of the strong And they would not accept unrighteous wages, and they would not offend anyone, but they would deliver the offended from the hands of the offenders, and they would not take anything more than what was due to them, but they would be satisfied with their dues. And so he spoke many times, sometimes frightening with his power, sometimes reminding of the eternal reward, when at the Last Judgment Christ will reward everyone according to his deeds. The boyars and all the people, seeing the wisdom given to him by God, could not answer anything, but unanimously promised to do as he commanded them. And so courageously and righteously ruled the power given to him by God.

And the fame of him passed through many distant countries, and many aspired to see him. And even then there was a rumor everywhere that the godless Tsar Batu, by God's permission, did a lot of evil to the great Russian land. And where this blessed Alexander and his father Yaroslav ruled, in Veliky Novgorod, some divine power prevented the wicked from reaching there and did not even allow them to approach not only the lands of Veliky Novgorod, but also other lands where they then had to visit and fight with hated enemies - Lithuanians and Germans. And everywhere, by God's permission, these cruel Tatars did not fight against them.

Life of Alexander Nevsky

The Holy Right-Believing Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky was born on May 30, 1220, in the city of Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. He was the second son of Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich of Pereyaslavl from Princess Rostislava of Toropets, at the baptism of Theodosius. From early childhood, St. the prince accepted the blessing for military service in the Name of God for the defense of the Russian land. According to the custom of that time, in the fourth year of his life, he received military tonsure from the Suzdal Bishop Simon, who was performed over him in the Transfiguration Cathedral of the city of Pereyaslavl. The ceremony took place in the following way. The boy was placed in front of the royal doors, and a prayer was said over him, in which God's blessing was asked. Then the hair was cut as a sign that the child was dedicated to God. After the ceremony, the boy was put on a horse - this meant his future independence. They were given weapons, usually a bow with arrows, which indicated the duty of a warrior to defend his homeland from external enemies.

The most difficult time in the history of Russia began: the Mongol hordes were coming from the east, knightly hordes were advancing from the west. In this formidable hour, the Providence of God erected for the salvation of Russia the holy prince Alexander - the great warrior-prayer book, ascetic and builder of the Russian land.

"Black Years"-here is the exact name of that era in the history of the Russian land. After the hurricane invasion of the Mongol-Tatar beds of Batu in 1237-1240, when the Russian power was crushed and dozens of cities were devastated, a system of heavy dependence on the Horde conquerors began to take shape, based on fear of new invasions. Novgorod and Pskov lands, fortunately, escaped a devastating defeat. But they experienced a strong onslaught from the Swedes, Germans, Lithuanians.

Russia turned into a second-rate region of Eastern Europe, weakened, split into many small and weak in the military-political sense of the principalities. It was saved from final disintegration and death by the efforts of a few selfless, gifted and perspicacious individuals, accomplished not without the help of the Heavenly Father. Of these, Alexander Yaroslavovich, nicknamed Nevsky, is the most famous.

In 1227, Prince Yaroslav, at the request of the Novgorodians, began to reign in Novgorod the Great. He took with him his sons, Fedor and Alexander.

In 1228, seven-year-old Alexander was left with his elder brother Theodore and experienced managers, a boyar and a tyun, in Novgorod the Great.-as the official representative of the father. From 1236 to 1240, Alexander Yaroslavovich reigned continuously in Novgorod, fulfilling the will of his father. A huge responsibility fell on the shoulders of Prince Alexander: the defense of the Novgorod borders from warlike neighbors. And those, hoping to take advantage of the difficult situation of Russia, increased pressure on the Novgorod region.

In the summer of 1240, a Swedish flotilla led by Jarl Ulf Fasi and son-in-law of King EricXI Birger Magnusson entered the mouth of the Neva. With them came the Catholic clergy- some "piskups", as well as the militia of the Finno-Ugric peoples of sum and em. The hagiographic tale reports the following about preparations for the battle with the Swedes: the enemy leader "... came to the Neva, intoxicated with madness, and sent his ambassadors, proud, to Novgorod to Prince Alexander, saying:" If you can, defend yourself, for I am already here and ruining the land yours."

Alexander, having heard such words, flared up in his heart and entered the church of Hagia Sophia, and, falling on his knees before the altar, began to pray with tears: nations, You commanded to live without transgressing the borders of others. And, remembering the words of the prophet, he said: “Judge, Lord, those who offend me and protect from those who fight with me, take up arms and a shield and stand to help me.”

And, having finished his prayer, he stood up and bowed to the archbishop. The archbishop was then Spiridon, he blessed him and released him. The prince, leaving the church, wiped away his tears and said, in order to encourage his squad: “God is not in power, but in truth. Let us recall the songwriter who said: “Some with weapons, and others on horses, but we call on the name of the Lord our God; they were defeated and fell, but we stood and stand upright.

With a small retinue, the prince hurried to the enemies. But there was a wonderful omen: the warrior Pelgusius, who was in the marine patrol, Philip in holy baptism, saw at dawn on July 15 a boat sailing on the sea, and on it St. martyrs Boris and Gleb in scarlet robes. Alexander, encouraged by the divine vision, courageously led his army against the Swedes. “And there was a great slaughter with the Latins, and he killed their countless multitude, and he put a seal on the leader’s face with a sharp spear.” For this victory on the Neva River, won on July 15, 1240, the people named St. Alexandra Nevsky.

The victory brought great fame to Alexander Yaroslavovich, but in the same year, having quarreled with the Novgorodians, he was forced to leave the city with his family and squad. The townspeople told him, as they had told many princes before him: “Here you are, prince, the path is clear!” And he answered them: “Drive me away? As needed-don't call!"

The words of the unjustly offended prince turned out to be prophetic: not even a year had passed before the Novgorodians, alarmed by the imminent threat from the German knights, sent a second embassy, ​​begging Alexander to return and stand up for them.

The new embassy was given a special solidity: the Archbishop of Novgorod went with them. The very fact of his presence among the veche diplomats shows: Mr. Veliky Novgorod stands on the edge of the abyss and hopes that his envoys will not beg for help, so at least the head of the clergy will admonish the Orthodox brothers.

The father called his son to him for a secret conversation. After that, the young commander reluctantly agreed and received from his father to help the Vladimir-Suzdal squad, led by his younger brother-Prince Andrei Yaroslavich. In 1241, Alexander rode with all his military strength to Novgorod, and "the people of Novgorod were glad", exhausted by the merciless enemy.

In 1241, with a lightning campaign, St. Alexander reclaimed the ancient Russian fortress of Koporye by expelling the knights. In 1242, in winter, he liberated Pskov, and on April 5, on the feast of the praise of the Most Holy Theotokos - the "Choose Governor" of all Orthodox soldiers, he gave the Teutonic Order a decisive battle on the ice of Lake Peipsi. The Crusaders were completely defeated. The name of St. Alexander became famous throughout Holy Russia.

With his two victories, Prince Alexander Nevsky not only saved Northern Russia from being conquered by foreigners, but also determined its future fate. Novgorod was not cut off from other parts of Russia, and Orthodoxy was established in it for the coming centuries.

If in relation to the Western conquerors, Prince Alexander Nevsky was unshakable, then in relation to the Tatars, he considered it necessary to pursue a peaceful policy so as not to expose the country to new devastation. When, after the death of his father in 1247, he became a Grand Duke and was summoned by the Khan to the Horde, he asked Metropolitan Kirill's blessing for the trip and vowed to stand for the Orthodox faith. In the Horde, he did not bow to idols and had to make a long journey to Mongolia to the great khan. When the Tatars demanded that the Grand Duke Alexander worship fire and idols, he replied: “I am a Christian, and it is not fitting for me to bow to the creature. I worship the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, glorified in the Trinity, who created heaven and earth.” But, interceding for his land, he paid honor to the khan himself, as a powerful earthly king, and managed to achieve various benefits for Russia. Batu, as contemporaries say, "marveled at him and told his nobles:" they told me the truth that there is no other similar Prince "and let him go to Russia with great honor."

Here is how this event is described in the chronicle Ivan the Terrible.

“In the same summer (1247), the wicked Tsar Batu, hearing the noble courage and invincible courage, his numerous glorious victories over opponents, the God-protected Grand Duke Alexander, and sent his ambassadors to him, saying: “The most famous among the Russian sovereigns, Prince Alexander! I know, you know that God has subdued many nations to me, and all obey my authority, and of all you alone do not want to submit to my power? Think, if you want to keep your land intact, hurry to come to me immediately, you will see the glory and honor of my kingdom, and you will gain something useful for yourself and your land. The God-wise Grand Duke Alexander reasoned that his holy father Yaroslav did not go to the Horde for the sake of a temporary kingdom and there he gave his life for piety and for all his people, and by this he acquired the Kingdom of Heaven. So blessed Alexander became like the good zeal of his pious father and decided to go to the Horde for the sake of delivering Christians. And he came to the glorious city of Vladimir with a large army; terrible was his coming, about which then the news reached the mouth of the Volga, his menacing wives of the Moabites frightened their children, saying: "Be silent, the great prince Alexander will come." Without hesitation, having only stayed there a little and taking a blessing from Bishop Cyril, he rushed on his way.

And he came to Tsar Batu, and everywhere the grace of God sanctified him. King Batu, when he saw him, was surprised and said to his nobles: “Truly they told me that there is no one like this prince” and showed him honors, bestowed many gifts on the prince. So God protects His chosen ones, which He also puts into the thoughts of the wicked, so that they are ashamed and revered.

Then he sent the prince with his brother Andrei Yaroslavich to the khanoviches.

In matters of faith, the Grand Duke was also unshakable before the ambassadors of Pope Innocent IV, who in 1251 tried to convince the great one to submit to the Roman throne, referring to the fact that his father allegedly promised to do so. But he rejected the offer and said that he was instructed in the right faith and would not accept their teachings.

The hagiographic story reports: once ambassadors from the pope from great Rome came to him (Alexander Yaroslavich) with these words: “Our dad says this: We heard that you are a worthy and glorious prince and your land is great. That's why they sent you two of the smartest cardinals out of the twelve-Agaldad and Remont, so that you listen to their speeches about the law of God.

Prince Alexander, having thought with his wise men, wrote him the following answer: “From Adam to the flood, from the flood to the division of peoples, from the mixing of peoples to the beginning of Abraham, from Abraham to the origin of the Israelites through the sea, from the exodus of the sons of Israel to the death of King David, from the beginning of the reign of Solomon to Augustus and until the Nativity of Christ, from the Nativity of Christ and to His crucifixion and Resurrection, from His Resurrection to the Ascension into heaven and to the reign of Konstantinov, from the beginning of the reign of Konstantinov to the First Council and the Seventh-We are well aware of all this, but we will not accept teachings from you.” They also returned home.

Upon his return to Russia, Grand Duke Alexander began to restore the destroyed temples and monasteries. He had to fight with the western neighbors - the Lithuanians, who were pagans. Thanks to his labors, Christianity penetrated the borders inhabited by Lithuanian tribes, and Russian influence was established there. In relation to his brethren, he was distinguished by special long-suffering and always avoided the shedding of Christian blood. Whatever enmity connected him with the rival princes, he did not raise weapons against them and did not gather regiments.

During one of the trips to Batu, St. the prince converted the khan's son Sartak to Christ, becoming his sworn brother. And since Sartak at that time managed the affairs of the Horde for the decrepitude of his formidable father, Alexander Nevsky received seniority over all Russian princes - this contributed to the unification of Russia under the unified authority of the Grand Duke. Thus was laid the foundation of the future Muscovite state. Peaceful relations with the Khan led to the fact that in 1261, through the efforts of St. Alexander and Metropolitan Kirill in Sarai, the capital of the Golden Horde, the diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church was established. Thus, the era of the great Russian Christianization of pagan Eurasia opened. Subsequently, after liberation from the yoke, many of the Tatar nobility adopted Orthodoxy and laid the foundation for the famous noble families in the Russian Empire.

In 1262, the people of Suzdal and Rostov, not tolerating the Tatar tribute collectors, raised an uprising against them. Rumors were spread that the Grand Duke Alexander himself sent letters to the cities, calling on the "Beat Tatars". The rebellious people, despite their just hatred of the oppressors, limited themselves only to killing the most ferocious predators, and therefore there were few killed. They were waiting for Tatar revenge. But God directed events in a completely different direction: referring to the Russian uprising, Khan Berke stopped sending tribute to Mongolia and proclaimed Golden Horde independent state. In this great combination of Russian and Tatar lands, the foundation of the future multinational Russian state was laid.

Saint Prince Alexander again had to go to the Horde in order to propitiate the khan and save Russia from the retribution of the Tatars for the uprising. A peace treaty was concluded, but on the way back from the Horde, Saint Alexander fell mortally ill: according to some version, he was secretly poisoned by the Tatars. Before reaching Vladimir, in Gorodets, in a monastery, the forty-three-year-old prince-ascetic gave up his spirit to the Lord on November 14, 1263, completing his difficult life path by accepting the holy monastic schema with the name Alexy. His holy body was transferred to Vladimir, to the Nativity Monastery, where Metropolitan Kirill and the clergy were buried. In the funeral sermon, Metropolitan Kirill said: “Know, my child, that the sun of the land of Suzdal has already set. There will be no more such a prince in the Russian land.

The life story about Alexander Yaroslavovich tells about the posthumous miracle that took place at his burial: “It was then a marvelous miracle and worthy of memory. When his holy body was laid in the tomb, then Sebastian the Economist and Cyril the Metropolitan wanted to unclench his hand in order to put in a spiritual letter. He, as if alive, stretched out his hand and took the letter from the Metropolitan's hand. And confusion seized them, and they slightly retreated from his tomb. This was announced to everyone by Metropolitan and Economist Sevastyan. Who would not be surprised at such a miracle, because the body of the soul left him and he was taken from distant lands in the winter. And so God glorified his saint.”

Russian Faith Library
Instruction for the memory of St. Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky. Great Menaion Cheti →

Troparion and kontakion to Saint Alexander Nevsky

Troparion, tone 4.

Like a pious root, an honorable branch be blessed Alexandra, for Christ is the Russiness of the land of the new miracle worker, like some kind of treasure is glorious and God-pleasing. That day, having come together in faith and love, in psalms and singing, rejoicing, we glorify the Lord, who gave you the grace of healing. Pray him to save this city, and to the power of your kinsman, to be pleasing to God, and to be saved by the sons of the Russians.

Kontakion, tone 8.

As if the star of thee, having shone on the Russ of the earth, today we will honor. Having enriched this whole country with miracles and kindness, enlighten with faith those who honor Your memory, blessed Alexandra. Thus, we cry out to your people, pray to Christ God to save your fatherland, the power of Russian princes, and all your relics flowing to the race, and rightly crying out to you, rejoice in the city of our intercession.

Russian Faith Library
→

Temples in Russia in the name of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky

In the name of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, a chapel of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin was consecrated. At the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries, on the site of the existing cathedral, there was a wooden Church of the Annunciation on a stone foundation. At the end of the 14th century, a small white-stone church with a basement was erected instead. In 1484, the old one was dismantled and rebuilt. The construction of the new cathedral was carried out until August 1489. Pskov architects, who built it, managed to give the temple an impressiveness, perfectly combined with exquisite decorativeness. In 1563-1564, by order of Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible (1530-1584), the Cathedral of the Annunciation was rebuilt.

Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Moscow Kremlin

In the name of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky, the chapel of the Spaso-Prilutsky monastery in Vologda was consecrated. The Spassky Cathedral of the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery, built in 1537-42, is the first stone church not only in the monastery itself, but in the whole of Vologda. Until 1537, on the site of the current Spassky Cathedral, there was a wooden cathedral of the same name. A wooden temple in the name of the All-Merciful Savior and the feast of the Origin of the Honest Trees of the Life-Giving Cross was erected on the site chosen by him for the construction of the monastery, still the Monk Demetrius of Prilutsky. When the wooden cathedral burned down, a stone one was built. AT Soviet years the monastery was plundered. In the 1930s, the monastery was a transit prison for the dispossessed, who were transported to the northern camps of the Gulag, in the 1950s and 70s, the territory of the former monastery was occupied by military warehouses. Only in 1975-79 the central group of monuments with the adjacent territory, after the restoration started in 1954, became a branch of the Vologda State Museum-Reserve. Thanks to the scientific restoration carried out in 1954-1975, the monuments of the 16th-17th centuries. the intended original appearance was returned. Currently, the Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery is active.

Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery in Vologda

Posthumous glorification of the holy noble prince Alexander Nevsky

Already at the end of the 13th century, popular veneration of Alexander Yaroslavovich began. His body rested in the Vladimir Mother of God-Nativity Monastery. This monastery has long been considered "the first in honor" among the monasteries of North-Eastern Russia. In the 1280s, the Tale of the Life and Courage of the Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky was born, subsequently it became extremely popular and became part of the Russian chronicles. The Grand Duke of Moscow and Vladimir Dmitry Ivanovich, nicknamed Donskoy for the victory on the Kulikovo field, in the autumn of 1380 transferred the relics of Alexander Nevsky to a special tomb inside the same Vladimir Nativity Monastery of the Mother of God. When the relics were opened, they found them incorrupt. At the end of the 15th century, the relics were damaged by fire.

Saint Alexander Nevsky, with life. End of the 17th century Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat (St. Basil's Cathedral), Moscow
Alexander Nevsky, with scenes from his life. Early XIX in. Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts

On February 26, 1547, under Metropolitan Macarius, at a church cathedral in Moscow, the official all-Russian glorification of Alexander Nevsky as a saint took place. At the same time, a special day of remembrance was established - November 23. The canon to the saint was compiled by monk Michael of Vladimir.

Peter 1 ordered the relics of Alexander Nevsky to be transported to the new capital. During 1723-1724 they were kept in Shlisselburg, and then found their final resting place. They became the St. Petersburg Alexander Nevsky Convent. The transfer of the tomb and relics of St. Alexander Nevsky took place on August 30, 1724. In 1725, the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was established, which became one of the highest awards of the Russian Empire.

Supreme patronage of Prince Alexander Nevsky

Throughout Russian history, Russian soldiers asked the holy protector of our state for help on the eve of the most dangerous battles. So, in 1380, before the Battle of Kulikovo, the following miracle preceded the victory. The sexton, who reverently served at the monastery of the Nativity of the Mother of God, was granted a special vision: at night, on the eve of the battle with Mamai, he stood at prayer in the church porch and with tears prayed to the Lord and His Blessed Mother for deliverance from foreigners, calling for help and the knight Nevsky, the eternal representative and protector of his people. Suddenly he sees: at the tomb of St. Alexander, candles were lit by themselves, two adored elders left the altar and, approaching the tomb of St. warrior, they said: “Prince Alexandra! Rise up and help your great-grandson Demetrius, who is being overcome by foreigners. Then St. Alexander rose as if alive from the grave, and all three disappeared from the astonished gaze of the embarrassed minister of the church. The next morning, with the help of St. Alexandra was the first great Russian victory against the Tatar hordes.

In a similar way, assistance was provided in 1571, during the invasion of Moscow by the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray. In 1812, during the Battle of Borodino, and in 1941, when the Germans were approaching Moscow, they just as zealously resorted in prayers to St. Alexander, as to the great Russian governor. It should be noted that the turning point in famous battle near Moscow, which then decided the fate of the entire Russian people, fell just on the day of memory of its holy commander: for example, on December 5, the troops of the Kalinin Front (Colonel-General I. S. Konev), and on December 6 - the West (General of the Army G. K. Zhukov) and the right wing Southwestern fronts(Marshal S.K. Timoshenko) launched a counteroffensive against Nazi Germany.

The famous Russian historian N.M. Karamzin wrote that the Russian people included Alexander Nevsky in the face of their guardian angels: he was always revered as one of the greatest figures in the history of Russia.

Alexander Yaroslavovich is famous for the fact that he accepted the Russian ship half-broken, sitting firmly on pitfalls, with holes in the sides, and honestly worked to save it. He tirelessly pumped out water, patched holes, fought off marauders, standing knee-deep in icy waters. Moreover, he did not turn into a bloodthirsty beast, to which the harshest conditions in which he had to exercise his power, but remained a truly Christian sovereign.

And what?

The ship did not sink. Here is the main result!

The ship left the stones and slowly, slowly, under one sail, where there used to be three, and with a dozen rowers, where fifty used to sit, but still continued sailing.

And therefore-a deep bow to sovereign Alexander Yaroslavich, an honest Russian man who took on his shoulders a heavy burden and responsibly carried this burden until the last date, until God Himself freed the prince from hardships. He did his job right. Low bow!

Note: The italic text is literally based on the book "Alexander Nevsky" by Dmitry Volodikhin.