For more than two centuries, the saint has protected believers from everyday troubles and misfortunes, strengthened them spiritually and healed them physically. It is in the city on the Neva, where the earthly years of the life of the great ascetic passed, that Xenia of Petersburg is revered with special warmth. Her chapel at the Smolensk cemetery is literally covered with inscriptions of gratitude for the miracles performed through prayers. And, of course, these inscriptions were not left by St. Petersburg residents alone...
Blzh. Ksenia Petersburgskaya
Brief life of the blessed one
She was born in the first half of the 18th century and, in fact, her story begins with the death of her husband. On the day of the funeral, she renounced herself: she put on her husband’s uniform and asked everyone to call her Andrey, assuring that in the coffin lay... Ksenia. Those around her decided that the poor woman had gone crazy with grief, not yet knowing that in the weak body of the widow a strong spiritual personality was maturing, preparing for feats of foolishness in the name of Christ.
As if to confirm people's thoughts, the 26-year-old widow gave away all her property and turned into a wanderer. It is noteworthy that her relatives decided to challenge her decision to sign a deed of gift for the house through her husband’s superiors. However, the verdict of the highest authority was undisputed: she was mentally healthy.
And so, “mad” Ksenia wandered around St. Petersburg until the end of her life, begging the Lord for forgiveness for her deceased husband. Her eccentricities were explained by the fact that Andrei Petrov, the court singer, died suddenly, without repentance. Love for her husband and the grief of loss were transformed into a persistent desire to make an atoning sacrifice: let her die, and he will live and... repent.
This is interesting: The Life of Ksenia of Petersburg - a love story
Help the blest. Ksenia during her lifetime
Soon people began to notice that a sign of attention from the holy fool turned out to be either a blessing or a misfortune. She rarely accepted a penny from a passer-by, but if she took it, the giver would experience unexpected joy. The market traders were in a hurry to treat the wanderer with delicious food or donate the goods they were selling, because they noticed that trade went on more briskly if Ksenia agreed.
Mothers, meeting Ksenia, held out their babies to her so that she could touch them, because this promised the baby health and good luck. And if a wanderer appeared as an uninvited guest in someone’s house and asked for small change, this was a sign of imminent misfortune.
In general, Ksenia resorted to other people’s help only in cases of extreme need. For example, when clothes wear out. Its colors forever became red and green (by association with the colors of military uniforms). This is exactly how the saint is depicted on icons: in a green jacket and a red skirt, or vice versa. Any coin in her hands went to alms to other beggars, and she spent her nights in the open air in tireless prayers.
At that time, the construction of the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God was underway in St. Petersburg, but the masons had a hitch in lifting the bricks onto the scaffolding. After some time, the workers were surprised to notice that someone was helping them: neat stacks of bricks appeared as if out of nowhere. Having left a guard for one night, the builders solved the riddle: the city holy fool appeared on the scaffolding with a basket on her back, topped with a stone.
Useful materials
For her spiritual and physical feat, Ksenia received from the Lord the gift of clairvoyance. She predicted the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and Ivan Antonovich, the eternal prisoner of Shlisselburg Castle. People went to the future saint for advice and help when it came to love, the family front and the health of loved ones.
One day Ksenia went into her former house, given to her former tenant Paraskeva Antonova, and said reproachfully: “You’re sitting here darning your stockings, but you don’t know that God sent you a son!” On the advice of the holy fool, Paraskeva went to the Smolensk cemetery, where, as it turned out, a pregnant woman was run over by a carriage.
By some miracle, the dying woman gave birth right on the spot. The baby was alive, but orphaned. And since Paraskeva was childless, she adopted the baby. In the future, the son grew up to be a good man who deeply revered his mother, and Paraskeva tirelessly thanked the Lord and blessed Ksenia for such a “gift.”
Interesting fact
In total, the feat of foolishness of Xenia of Petersburg lasted 45 years. She was buried in the Smolensk cemetery, which was located not far from the temple she once helped build.
Organizes honeymoon
Maria, 43 years old, teacher, Moscow
We got married to Blessed Ksenia on February 6th. We didn’t prepare for the wedding at all: we didn’t know where we would live, our things were all in different apartments. After the wedding, complete uncertainty awaited us. I only now understand that this was impossible. We began to think about whether to go somewhere or not. February, there will be as much money as a wedding gift. I went with these thoughts to the parish library and asked the librarian: “Do you know where we can go after the wedding, so that it’s inexpensive if we get together?” She said, “I know. It's inexpensive and very good. Near Sergiev Posad." She took a piece of paper, one from the pile that was cut up for notes, and wrote down the phone number with the name of the recreation center. I took the piece of paper, thanked her, began to fold it in half, and suddenly I saw “Blessed Xenia of Petersburg” printed on the back of this piece of paper. Apparently, the saint knew our absolute disorder and made sure that the beginning of family life would be remembered in some way. It was great there: we were alone at the base for several days, went downhill, skied and skated, and walked in the forest. Already on the way back we were informed that my grandmother, with whom I lived, had broken her arm. Soon, almost immediately, my husband’s mother suffered a concussion. So we wandered between them for the first time. But we will remember Blessed Xenia’s gift for the rest of our lives. If the saints take care of us even about such little things, what can we say about anything else!
Chapel of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg before restoration. Photo from the 1960s.
Miracles after the death of an ascetic
At the beginning of her foolishness, Ksenia was subjected to ridicule and humiliation, but after a while the crowd’s opinion about the “mad” beggar changed radically. People fell deeply in love with the future saint and came to the cemetery to ask for help even after the death of the ascetic.
There is a well-known case that happened with the official Nikolai Golovin. The young man was experiencing serious financial difficulties. Arriving one day in St. Petersburg on business, he walked down the street with only one thought: to commit suicide. Suddenly, an elderly stranger appeared before Golovin’s gaze. She turned to him with the order to serve a memorial service for a certain Ksenia, then his problems would be resolved. Golovin did as he was told, and the crisis at work was indeed over.
Blzh. Ksenia Petersburgskaya
Blessed Ksenia gave similar advice to the widowed wife of a colonel, who unsuccessfully tried to place her offspring in the cadet corps. After the widow went to the Smolensk cemetery and followed the saint’s instructions exactly, the children were accepted for education.
When Emperor Alexander III fell ill with typhus, his wife, Maria Fedorovna, on the advice of experienced people, ordered a handful of earth from the saint’s grave to be brought from the Smolensk cemetery. The empress placed this soil under the patient’s pillow. At night, the saint herself appeared to the queen in a dream and said that the royal husband would soon overcome his illness, and that there would be an addition to the family - a daughter, who would be called Ksyusha. The prediction came true.
Blessed Xenia was canonized and canonized in 1988, but already at the beginning of the 19th century a chapel was erected over her grave. During the years of war and lack of faith, the Soviet authorities tried in every possible way to prevent believers from going to burial. The grave was cemented, and the chapel was added for domestic purposes. However, this did not stop pilgrims from coming to Mother Xenia. She wrote her requests on the walls that surrounded the chapel, and prayed on her knees right in front of this fence.
During the years of the siege, Leningraders asked the saint to protect front-line soldiers from death, deliverance from hunger and protection from the enemy. Today, the Northern capital receives pilgrims from all over the world. Huge queues line up at the chapel of Blessed Xenia, which can be seen several blocks away. Along with Matrona of Moscow, Xenia of St. Petersburg is considered the most widely revered saint in the Orthodox world.
Helps during childbirth
Alena, 45 years old, teacher, Moscow
I love Ksenyushka very much, I always go to the relics when I’m in St. Petersburg. She is also close to me because she was also a widow.
At the wall of the chapel of Xenia of Petersburg in St. Petersburg. spbda
It was no coincidence that we named my youngest Ksenia. When I was pregnant, at the very beginning I was in danger of miscarriage (heavy bleeding, placental abruption). It was very worrying. At this time, my sister was on a pilgrimage, traveling to various holy places. Everywhere, of course, she prayed for me. She was also in St. Petersburg. Then she calls me and says that when she approached Ksenia’s relics, she felt so calm in her soul for me and she knows for sure that everything will be fine! And so it happened. Thank God, our Ksenia was born.
Now Ksenyushka has become even closer to me.
How to ask for help?
There are short and complete prayers, a canon and an akathist to Blessed Xenia. When addressing a saint, you need to tune in to communicate with her, and not just mechanically read the text. You can do this in your own words, the main thing is that the prayer is sincere and comes from the heart.
This is interesting: How to ask a blz. Ksenia for help: prayer and canon
Very often, people who do not have the opportunity to personally come to St. Petersburg and bow their heads before the relics of Blessed Xenia, send letters to the chapel address. The rector of the Smolensk church and chapel, Rev. Victor Moskovsky (now deceased):
“For example, a letter comes to us from afar - the person himself cannot come and fall at the tomb of St. Xenia, there is no money or illness has confined him to bed. So he writes a letter, asking to serve a prayer service for Mother Xenia, to send the holy oil from her tomb. We answer every letter, and inside we put rose petals dipped in the oil consecrated at Ksenyushka’s tomb. This petal can be dipped into a vessel with vegetable oil and this oil can be anointed on sore spots and taken internally with prayer and faith. And there, according to your faith, it will be done for you.”
How does the saint help women?
Since the entire life of a holy fool is an unparalleled feat of marital love, women and girls who want to get married, have a child, or simply find themselves in a difficult situation resort to the saint’s help.
This is interesting: Icon of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg: what it looks like, meaning, help of the saint
Feedback from people who served the prayer service to the blessed one. Ksenia
Through the prayers of Blessed Xenia, many cases of miracles have been recorded. This is evidenced by the letters of the people themselves who received help.
From a letter to the rector of the Church of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God and the chapel of Blessed Xenia:
“Hello, Father Victor! Three months ago I sent you a letter with a request to serve a prayer service to Blessed Xenia. Soon I received an answer from you that you had served a prayer service, and several rose petals fell out of the envelope. Our home was filled with such warmth and fragrance; I had never inhaled such an aroma before. And everything began to improve: the disease subsided, my son and I suddenly found a common language and felt that there was no one more dear to us in the world. It was as if Mother Ksenia herself crossed the threshold of our house and ruled everything according to God’s justice. I am sending a small donation, buy oil for the unquenchable lamp of St. Xenia, so that other people can receive the miraculous petals and prayerful help of Mother Xenia. Servant of God Victoria."
Here's another letter:
“Dear Father Superior! I kindly ask you to serve a prayer of thanks to the Blessed Xenia for the miraculous healing of R.B. Peter, my 80-year-old grandfather. Last year he fell ill and the doctors made a terrible diagnosis - metastases in the bronchi, and recommended cauterization with a laser, although they did not promise healing. By chance, or rather by the will of God, I bought an akathist to St. Blessed Xenia of Petersburg, and my mother and I began to read it every evening and ask Mother Xenia for help. Before the operation itself, we invited grandfather to confess and receive communion. He agreed, although he had never gone to church before and did not believe in God. The priest confessed to the grandfather and administered unction... A few months after the operation, a repeat examination was carried out - the grandfather’s bronchi were as clean as a baby’s. Thank God for everything! R.B.Tatiana, Odessa"
As mentioned above, women who want to conceive and give birth to a healthy child often resort to the help of the saint.
For a long time, Svetlana Galaninskaya dreamed of a daughter. After the birth of her son, she remained childless for nine years. In one of her letters to a friend, the woman admitted: “I would really like a girl. Or better yet, two at once!” But I didn’t even dare hope for such a miracle. Blessed Ksenia was always revered in Svetlana’s family, and therefore the woman directed all her fervent prayers to the holy intercessor. And a miracle happened: in February Svetlana gave birth to twins. By the way, it is in February that the Orthodox Church celebrates the day of memory of Blessed Xenia.
From this point of view, the story of Tatyana Buryakova is noteworthy. She lived in marriage for two years, together with her husband she asked Saint Xenia for a child, and six months after visiting the chapel at the Smolensk cemetery she became pregnant. The baby was also born in February and, of course, was named after the saint.
The heavenly patroness of St. Petersburg more than once came to the aid of those who were not strong in faith. After her miracles, people were baptized and began attending services. On the Internet you can find the story of Anna Gavrilova, who, together with her second cousin, owe their lives to Blessed Ksenia. My sister was diagnosed with operable cancer. Tatyana also had to have surgery.
Chapel of the Blessed Ksenia of Petersburg
And although the woman was not baptized, she still invited her friend in misfortune to visit the Smolensk cemetery and venerate the shrine with holy relics. The mood was the most skeptical, but a drowning man, as they say, will clutch at a straw. On the way to the chapel, Anna was surprised by the huge number of pilgrims. Maybe it will help, Anna thought and, having stood in line at the shrine to venerate, she suddenly realized that because of her pride she had brought herself to surgery.
“And unexpectedly for herself, instead of everything else, she asked to save me from pride.”
Then miracles began. Both sisters were “accidentally” operated on for free by some of the best surgeons in the Northern capital. Moreover, Anna went under the knife on February 7, exactly after the saint’s day of remembrance. Everything went smoothly: both the operation and recovery. My sister had to recover longer (it was cancer, after all), but she managed to avoid chemotherapy. And recently a 56-year-old woman got married! In May, Anna received holy baptism and now goes to church with her daughter and husband. Thus, Blessed Ksenia not only provided help, but also turned people’s hearts to God and the Holy Church.
5
Martha
2010
In the village of Dolbenkino, Dmitrovsky district, Oryol region, the first convent in the Russian Federation named after Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg was founded.
The saint became the personification of marital love and fidelity, maintaining devotion to a long-dead person. As the Hieromartyr Cyprian of Carthage said:
“Take patience away from love, and it, as if ruined, will cease to exist.”
Patience as the foundation of blessed love was unshakable, because to withstand the misunderstanding of others, physical discomfort, and renounce one’s feminine essence is possible only with great patience, mental fortitude, meekness and gentleness.
Galina Bocharova
Calms hearts
Ksenia Alferova, theater and film actress , TV presenter, founder of the charity foundation “I am!”
Blessed Xenia is my patron saint. I know well and feel that she always helps when I ask for her help. She is absolutely alive and dear to me. It’s like sharing with a loved one: he will both protect and help. This is roughly the relationship I have with her. And there are so many similar situations that it’s even difficult to give a specific example. Turning to her and asking for support is the first thing that comes to mind when you are in a family conflict or face other problems. These little miracles happen every day.
We quarreled, but there is no strength to reconcile. And it helps, pacifies hearts, and after a while you suddenly feel softened, the resentment fades away and you find the strength to ask for forgiveness, or the other person comes first.
I may say something funny, but in childhood, when we knew nothing about the saints, my hero was Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya. If she had to endure something, at the dentist, for example, she thought about her: “How did Zoya endure it? She could do it, so can I!” Now I have other heroes, but the first image that appears when I need to endure something is blessed Ksenia. She did not immediately become a saint; she endured unbearable hardships as an ordinary person. And she lived not so long ago, so her whole life can be imagined quite concretely.
Festive service on the day of memory of Xenia of St. Petersburg. spbda
Ksenia is so bright among holy women that many today at least know her life at least in general terms. And no matter how strange it sounds, but bearing her name, you have to live up to it, because the proximity of such a saint imposes some additional responsibility. You think more often about how you live. The power of her love and faith is incomprehensible to me. How could she love her husband so much that for the sake of saving his soul she imposed such a feat on herself? How did she believe in God that she was able to change her life so much, turn it around, giving up everything? I understand that I will never have such strength of love or faith, but I need to strive for this, to get closer to at least a fraction of a percent.
Prayer to Mother Ksenia
Oh, holy all-blessed mother Ksenia! Living under the protection of the Almighty, guided and strengthened by the Mother of God, you have received hunger and thirst, cold and heat, endured reproach and persecution, received the gift of clairvoyance and miracles from God, and you have received peace under the canopy of the Almighty isishya. Now the Holy Church, like a fragrant flower, glorifies you. Standing at the place of your burial, before your holy image, as if you are living, existing with us, we pray to you: accept our petitions and bring them to the Throne of the Merciful Father in Heaven, as boldly She who has knowledge towards Him. Ask for eternal salvation for those who flow to you, our generous blessing for good deeds and undertakings, deliverance from all troubles and sorrows. Stand before our All-Merciful Savior with your holy prayers for us, unworthy and sinners. Help, Holy Blessed Mother Xenia, illuminate the infants with the light of Holy Baptism and seal the gift of the Holy Spirit, youths and young women in faith, honesty, fear of God and chastity educate and grant them success in learning; heal the sick and ailing, send love and harmony to families, be worthy to strive for good as a monk and be protected from reproach, shepherds establish in the fortress of the Holy Spirit, people and preserve our country in peace and serenity, pray for those deprived of the Holy Mysteries of Christ at the hour of death. For you are our hope and hope, quick hearing and deliverance, we send thanks to you and with you we glorify the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen.
Conclusion
Ksenia of St. Petersburg finds support and intercession for a large number of Christian believers. Before asking for help and blessings, you need to cleanse your heart and sincerely believe in the result. Believers are recommended to regularly read the akathist and visit the chapel of the blessed one at the Smolensk cemetery.
Sources:
- https://tolkovanie.info/ikona-ksenii-peterburgskoj-v-chem-pomogaet-gde-nahoditsya/
- https://ikona-i-molitva.info/ikona-ksenii-peterburgskoj-v-chem-pomogaet/
- https://omolitvah.ru/ikony/ikona-ksenii-peterburgskoy/
- https://1001molitva.ru/zhitiya-svyatyh/blazhennaya-kseniya-peterburgskaya-ikona-v-chyom-pomogaet.html
- https://molitva-info.ru/ikony/ikona-ksenii-peterburgskoj.html
- https://religiya.guru/svyatye/kak-dobratsya-do-ikony-ksenii-peterburgskoj-i-chem-ona-pomogaet.html
