St. Sergius of Radonezh

He was born about the year 1314 near Rostov and named Bartholomew. The tradition recounts that as a boy he could not learn to read, and grieved over it, until he met a mysterious elder at prayer in a field who blessed him and gave him a piece of blessed bread, and from that day the Scriptures were open to him. His parents, Cyril and Maria, are themselves honored as saints.

When his parents had reposed, Bartholomew and his elder brother Stephen withdrew into the deep forest of Radonezh to live as hermits. They raised a cell and a little church, which they dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Stephen could not bear the hardship and departed, but Bartholomew remained alone, and was tonsured a monk with the name Sergius, enduring cold, hunger, and the assaults of the demons in solitude.

In time others were drawn to him, and a brotherhood gathered, though he wished only to be the least among them. He would take no honor, labored with his own hands for the community, drew water and carried it for the brethren, and wore the poorest clothing, so that visitors could not tell the abbot from the servants. The monastery of the Holy Trinity grew up around him and became the mother of Russian monastic life; from it his disciples went out and founded monasteries through the forests of the north.

His counsel was sought by princes and metropolitans. When the Grand Prince Demetrius went out to meet the Tatar host, he came first to Sergius for his blessing, and Sergius blessed him and sent with him two monks of his house, and foretold the victory that was won at Kulikovo in 1380, the first great turning of the Russian land against the yoke. Yet Sergius himself sought no part in worldly power, and once fled the offer of the highest see rather than leave his cell.

He was granted a vision of the Mother of God, who came to him with the apostles and promised her protection over his house. He reposed on the twenty-fifth of September, 1392, having foretold the day. His relics were found incorrupt and remain at the Holy Trinity and St. Sergius Lavra, the heart of the Russian Church. The Church keeps his memory on the twenty-fifth of September and the uncovering of his relics on the fifth of July.