Ksenia of Petersburg is an Orthodox holy fool of noble origin. Her life dates back to the 18th century. She lived in St. Petersburg and was canonized. In prayers they turn to the blessed one for help in various matters and for consolation. Her memory is honored twice a year.
On the Day of Remembrance of Xenia of St. Petersburg, pilgrims from all over the world gather at her burial place, pray, and ask for help. They do not forget about church customs so that the saint will patronize. Ksenia of St. Petersburg is one of the most revered saints in Orthodoxy, helps the suffering, hears all requests.
Hiding holiness
Holy fool, blessed one do not mean contempt, they are not a disdainful nickname. People know that such a lifestyle and behavior is assumed by saints who hide their holiness.
They deliberately speak indistinctly, as if they are crazy. Honest and decent people understand what they are talking about. Most often - a prediction or instructions for action.
Heavenly intercessors. Artist Natalya Klimova.
As you know, Ksyusha did not live long with her beloved husband. As a widower, having distributed all her property to friends and the poor, she spent 45 years walking around the city and its surroundings.
During her lifetime, the people understood that the Blessed One was a saint. They tried to treat us to something, invited us to visit, sellers vying with each other to offer something to try, and cab drivers to give us a ride.
Everyone knew from experience that then the day would be successful, the patient would quickly recover, things that were going askew would get better.
Who was Ksenia of Petersburg?
Ksenia's fate became different due to the sudden death of her husband, whom she loved very much. At that time she was 26 years old and was distinguished by great piety. Ksenia’s husband died so suddenly that he passed away without communion and absolution. This greatly worried the future saint, and she prayed day and night so that the soul of her late husband could be cleansed.
Having abandoned material well-being, Ksenia began to build a chapel on her own at night, away from prying eyes. She had to move heavy stones. Those around her could not understand what this woman was doing and what she was trying to achieve. This was followed by public censure. But this did not bother the persistent Christian, and she stubbornly continued the construction of the chapel.
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Over time, Ksenia of Petersburg showed many unique abilities, which became known to people. She began to heal and predict the future. Everyone who gave her alms benefited from good luck. The reasons for canonizing Ksenia are helping people, faith, incredible fortitude, not broken by life’s circumstances.
Memorial Day of Blessed Xenia
She was buried at the Smolensk cemetery. Even then, people flowed to her in a stream, especially celebrating the day of Xenia of Petersburg.
On this day there were more parishioners than usual. They left notes asking for help. They placed them wherever they could. Then a small wooden chapel was built.
When a stone, rather spacious chapel appeared, with an image of Xenia, a portrait inside and a marble sarcophagus above the burial place of the relics, there were even more visitors
Pilgrims came from other cities, celebrating the days of remembrance and the saint’s name day.
When is the day of Xenia of St. Petersburg celebrated in 2021
The memory of Ksenia does not fade. Not only St. Petersburg residents, but also people from all over the country come to her constantly.
Russians living in other countries also make sure to visit the chapel when they are in St. Petersburg and ask the Angel of Petersburg to help them.
And they not only come with requests, they go to honor the memory of Ksenyushka.
The day of celebration, just like Memorial Day, does not depend on the year. These dates are the same in any year.
There is some confusion with the blessed days of remembrance.
Some people do not understand when it is correct: February 6 or June 6. In fact, both dates are days of remembrance, although there is a difference.
What do Xenia of St. Petersburg pray for?
Ksenia of Petersburg is considered the patroness of women. They pray to her:
1 – to be healed from infertility. They leave notes at her image, asking for a long-awaited pregnancy.
2 – to give birth safely. A pregnant woman who is at risk of miscarriage or placental abruption prays to her.
3 – to marry for great love.
4 – to be healed from illness.
5 – to get consolation from grief.
6 – so that there is harmony and happiness in the family. Prayers help improve relationships and avoid divorce.
7 – to scare away an unworthy partner.
Prayers to Saint Xenia of Petersburg
First prayer
“Oh holy all-blessed mother Ksenia! Having lived under the protection of the Most High, led and strengthened by the Mother of God, having endured hunger and thirst, cold and heat, reproach and persecution, you have received the gift of clairvoyance and miracles from God and are resting in the shadow of the Almighty. Now the Holy Church, like a fragrant flower, glorifies you. Standing at the place of your burial, before your holy image, as if you were alive and present with us, we pray to you: accept our petitions and bring them to the throne of the merciful Heavenly Father, as you have boldness towards Him, ask for eternal salvation for those who flow to you, for good deeds and our undertakings are a generous blessing, 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 seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, educate boys and girls in faith, honesty, fear of God and success in teaching, grant them healing to the sick and ailing, bestow love and harmony upon families, bestow upon monastics a good deed Be worthy to strive and protect from reproach, strengthen the shepherds in the strength of the Holy Spirit, preserve our people and country in peace and tranquility, pray for those deprived of communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ in the dying hour. 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 unto ages of ages. Amen".
Second prayer
“Oh, simple in your way of life, homeless on earth, but heir to the abodes of the Heavenly Father, blessed wanderer Xenia! Just as we previously fell into your tombstone of illness and sorrow and were filled with consolations, now we (names), overwhelmed by pernicious circumstances, resort to you and ask with hope: pray, O good heavenly God, that our steps may be corrected, according to the word of the Lord, to the doing of His commandments, and may the godless atheism that has captivated your city and your country, plunging us, many sinners, into mortal hatred of our brothers, proud self-indignation and blasphemous despair, be abolished. Oh, most blessed one of Christ, who has put to shame the vanity of this age, ask the Creator and Giver of all blessings to grant us humility, meekness and love in the treasure of our hearts, faith in strengthening prayer, hope in repentance, strength in a difficult life, merciful healing of our soul and body , chastity in marriage and caring for our neighbors and sincere ones, renewal of our entire life in the purifying bath of repentance, as we praise your memory with all praise, let us glorify in you the miracle worker, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity Consubstantial and Indivisible forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer three
“Oh, our glorious holy blessed mother Ksenia, warm prayer book for us before God! As before we fell to your tombstone, now we, after your glorification, resort to your relics, we ask: pray to the Lord to sanctify our souls and bodies, to enlighten our minds, to cleanse our conscience from all filth, unclean thoughts, evil and blasphemous intentions and from May He grant us sincere repentance, contrition of our hearts, humility, meekness and quietness, reverence, spiritual intelligence with with all prudence and thanksgiving. Hidden from the wise of this age, but known to God, ask our Russian country for deliverance from cruel troubles, for renewal and correction of our entire life, keep us in every pious Orthodox confession of the Christian faith, so that we may be worthy to please you all the days of singing, giving thanks and glorify the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the Trinity of One Essence, Life-Giving and Indivisible forever and ever. Amen. Prayer Four O holy servant of God, blessed Ksenia! Look mercifully with your eye on us, servant of God (names), tenderly praying to your honorable icon and asking you for help and intercession. Extend your warm prayers to the Lord our God and ask for forgiveness of sins for our souls. Behold, with a contrite heart and a humble spirit, we call on you to be a merciful intercessor to the Lady and a prayer book for us sinners, as if you have received from Him the grace to pray for us and deliver us from troubles. We therefore ask you, do not despise us, unworthy, who pray to you and demand your help, and intercede for everyone everything that is useful for salvation, for by your prayers to the Lord God, having received grace and mercy, we will glorify all the good Source and Gift-Giver and the One God, glorified in the Trinity of Saints. Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.”
Prayer four
“Oh holy servant of God, blessed Ksenia! Look mercifully with your eye on us, servant of God (names), tenderly praying to your honorable icon and asking you for help and intercession. Extend your warm prayers to the Lord our God and ask for forgiveness of sins for our souls. Behold, with a contrite heart and a humble spirit, we call on you to be a merciful intercessor to the Lady and a prayer book for us sinners, as if you have received from Him the grace to pray for us and deliver us from troubles. We therefore ask you, do not despise us, unworthy, who pray to you and demand your help, and intercede for everyone everything that is useful for salvation, for by your prayers to the Lord God, having received grace and mercy, we will glorify all the good Source and Gift-Giver and the One God, glorified in the Trinity of Saints. Father and Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages.”
Russian Orthodox Church
Two centuries ago, a wretched beggar woman in men's cast-offs wandered the streets of noisy and brilliant St. Petersburg. Even during her lifetime, the people surrounded this “wanderer of Peter’s City” with great reverence. “Andrei Feodorovich,” that’s how people addressed her on the street. Blessed Xenia - this is how the Church reveres her.
The life of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg was a hymn of love, the like of which the history of mankind does not remember, and world literature does not know. Her life became a living denial of the death of a loved one, a bright personification of the triumph of immortality and the eternal union of love.
Ksenia was born in the first half of the 18th century into a family of pious and noble parents; Her father's name was Gregory, and her mother's name is unknown. Upon reaching adulthood, she married for love a young officer, Andrei Feodorovich Petrov, a court singer. The husband, an active, capable officer, soon achieved the rank of colonel. He had an extremely beautiful voice and occupied a prominent place among the court singers - this gave him a solid social position. They lived peacefully in a house on the Petersburg side, bought by Andrei Feodorovich with his wife’s dowry. One could say about them that they live in perfect harmony. But in human life, after joy, grief often comes.
Ksenia was 26 years old when her husband died suddenly.
This tragic event changed the life of a young woman. It is impossible to describe her suffering. The love of young Ksenia was so strong that she never wanted to believe in the death of her beloved. How can she cope with the fact that just yesterday she had a gentle, loving husband next to her, and today she found herself alone in a huge, cold city? But most of all she was shocked that her husband died without proper Christian preparation and did not have time to repent.
Pious Ksenia understood well what a terrible path in that other world lay ahead for her husband, caught by sudden death. The heart of a loving woman sank with unbearable pain at the thought that her Andrei Feodorovich was now entering into a struggle with demons, without being protected by the armor of grace, without uniting with Christ the Savior in Holy Communion before his death, that the weight of unconfessed sins could drag the person she endlessly loved into a dark abyss the underworld. She loved no one as much as her husband. In the anguish that tore at her heart, Ksenia turned with prayer to the One who was Love Himself - to God. What was the answer to this prayer is shown by her entire future life. This was a blessing from above for the feat of foolishness for Christ’s sake. After all, it is impossible to carry out this feat on your own, without grace-filled help. With joy and readiness, Ksenia made a decision: by bearing this heaviest cross, she would ask God for forgiveness for the sins of God’s servant Andrei.
At her husband’s funeral, Ksenia Grigorievna no longer seemed as killed as in the first days. Her friends saw that something had happened to her. She calmly and decisively walked behind the coffin, her movements were sharp and impetuous, there were deep folds on her forehead and mouth. However, those who came to say goodbye to Colonel Petrov were most struck by the widow’s clothes: she walked behind the coffin in her husband’s caftan, trousers and cap, which sat like a sack on her.
“Andrei Feodorovich did not die at all,” she said at the cemetery. “My Ksenyushka died, and I’m all a sinner here.”
Those who heard this sighed, looking sadly at the widow.
Everyone knew how the spouses loved each other, and had no doubt that the unfortunate widow had gone crazy with grief. However, in fact, there was no longer any grief in the soul of Blessed Xenia. She glowed with joy because she was embarking on the right path of serving her deceased husband. She crossed out her feminine essence with the masculine name Andrei and wore men's clothes as holy vestments of love. With this name she set out on the path of Christian deeds, considering them a sacred ransom for the soul of her beloved. She placed the burden of two lives united by the sacrament of marriage on her fragile shoulders, perceived the mysterious meaning of her marriage as martyrdom - and, alone for two, she blazed the mountain path to a common crown in the Kingdom of Heaven. She laid down her soul for her friend, and from this holy self-sacrifice, a love for people that knew no earthly boundaries and an all-consuming love for the Lord, leaving nothing for itself, was kindled in the heart of Blessed Xenia.
My husband inherited a house at the parish of the Church of the Apostle Matthias on the St. Petersburg side. Part of this house was rented by the pious Christian Paraskeva Antonova. Consoling Ksenia, who was “clouded in mind” after the funeral, Paraskeva asked: “How will you live now, mother?” “Why, I buried my Ksenyushka, and now I don’t need anything else. I will give you a house, but let the poor live for nothing; I’ll give everything away today, and I’ll take the money to the church, let them pray for the repose of the soul of God’s servant Ksenia.” To Paraskeva’s question about how she would live and feed herself, the blessed one answered: “The Lord feeds the birds of the air, and I am no worse than a bird. Let His will be done."
Paraskeva went to her room and cried there for a long time and bitterly.
However, the next day, Ksenia Grigorievna actually gave her the house, donated her property and took the money to the church. As the widow of a colonel, she was entitled to a pension, but she did not take it.
The husband's relatives were unbearable at the thought that they were losing a solid stone house, and they turned to doctors, also believing that Ksenia was out of her mind. The doctors talked with the young woman and decided that she was quite normal, she had no signs of madness, and therefore she had the right to dispose of her property as she wanted. And so, having given away everything she had, wearing only the costume of her deceased husband, Ksenia found herself on the street, loving the poverty of Christ.
The holy fool is truly dead to the temptation-filled world. His shelter is the open sky, his clothes are dirty rags, his food is stale bread. Vanity and pride, so dangerous for many ascetics, cannot be fed by a madman for the sake of Christ. A strict faster, an ascetic who wears heavy chains, or a stern silent person can evoke admiration in people. But who will admire the crazy vagabond, as the holy fool appears to the general opinion? And how much courage does a person with a bright mind need to humbly, in front of everyone, renounce the carnal mind and trample on it. This is the key to the salvation of the feat of foolishness. “The humble man does not fall. Where should he fall if he considers himself lower than everyone else? - says the Monk Macarius the Great.
In her strange attire, Blessed Ksenia spent whole days, at any time of the year, wandering the streets of St. Petersburg. She said to acquaintances who met her and addressed her by name: “Well, what do you care about the late Ksenia, she didn’t do anything bad to you!” She never responded if they called her Ksenia, but she always readily answered if her name was “Andrei Feodorovich.”
In ancient times, there were many holy fools in Rus', but by the time Blessed Xenia asceticised, this feat was forgotten, almost erased from people’s memory. “Everyone wants to be glorified and exalted with Christ. But few people want to bear the cross with Christ, reproach, humiliation, ridicule and endure sorrow,” wrote St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, a contemporary of Xenia.
It’s no wonder that people habitually thought that Ksenia had gone crazy. It happened that evil people and especially street boys mocked and laughed at the blessed one. But she endured everything with angelic meekness and humility, continuing to wander through the streets of the city in winter and summer, in the cold and heat. Occasionally she would visit her friends, talk, have dinner, and then set off to wander again. For a long time no one knew where she spent her nights. One day they followed and found out that Ksenia, at any time of the year, regardless of any weather, goes out of town at night, into a field, and prays before sunrise, making prostrations to all four cardinal directions.
Gradually, many of the residents of St. Petersburg realized that Ksenia was not an ordinary beggar. She did not take alms from everyone, but only from kind and pious people. She always took only the “tsar on horseback” (a penny with the image of the horseman of the Great Martyr George the Victorious) and immediately gave it to the poor. If there were no beggars nearby, the boys received a penny to buy delicacies. The same boys who teased her out of mischief. Many of them were then ashamed to the point of gray hair that they treated the holy saint of God this way. Unfortunately, very often, only after becoming adults, people begin to understand that their pranks and fun can be offensive and painful to someone.
The blessed one did not go to every house where she was invited, but she was invited often, because they noticed that in the houses where Ksenia visited, even for a short time, peace, order and joy reigned.
Many felt sorry for her and tried to help her in some way. Her husband's clothes completely decayed, and Ksenia began to dress in rags in winter and summer; She wore torn shoes on her bare feet, swollen from the cold. She was offered warm clothes, shoes, money, but Ksenia did not agree to take anything and invariably dressed in a red jacket and a green skirt, or a green jacket and a red skirt. These were probably the colors of her husband's military uniform. In Christian symbolism, the red color - the color of blood - is a symbol of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of the world, a symbol of the sacrifice made by the martyrs; green is the color of hope.
So year after year went by, people noticed more and more that, in general, there was nothing extravagant in Ksenia’s behavior. She did not commit wild, aimless acts characteristic of the mentally ill. On the contrary, it has happened that something seems to be stupid, but in reality it turns out that it is not stupidity at all, but the absolute truth.
Once, during her wanderings, blessed Ksenia came into her former home to Praskovya Ivanovna. She was just darning stockings. “Oh, you, Paranya,” the holy saint told her, “you’re sitting, busy with nonsense. And God sent you a son. Drop everything, run to the Smolensk cemetery. Praskovya Ivanovna thought: “What kind of son can there be in the cemetery, there are only dead people there?” However, she heeded the words of the blessed one and went to the cemetery, fortunately it was nearby. From afar, Paraskeva saw a crowd of people and heard screams. It turned out that a reckless coachman, at full gallop, hit a pregnant woman with his horse, who gave birth to a boy, and immediately died from a terrible bruise. Nobody knew what to do with the baby. Paraskeva took the boy in and adopted him, since despite many efforts, she could not find his father or other relatives. She raised the boy, educated him, and he lovingly cared for his adoptive mother until his death.
The blessed one often visited the Golubev family, which consisted of a widowed mother and her seventeen-year-old daughter. One day, blessed Ksenia unexpectedly appeared at the door of their house at the moment when mother and daughter were preparing coffee. Turning to her daughter, Ksenia said: “Oh, beauty, you’re making coffee here, and your husband is burying his wife on Okhta. Run there quickly!” The girl was embarrassed by what she heard: “How so? Not only do I have a husband, but I don’t even have a fiance.” But Ksenia strictly said: “Go!” At the cemetery, mother and daughter saw a funeral procession. The young widower sobbed inconsolably, and when a grave mound was poured over the body of the buried woman, he lost consciousness and fell into the arms of Golubev, who had barely managed to run up. When he came to his senses, mother and daughter tried their best to console him. Their acquaintance began. A year later, the young man proposed to Golubeva’s daughter. Their marriage turned out to be happy. Of course, not without the prayerful intercession of the blessed seer, they lived a long, quiet and pious life, and when dying, they commanded to honor the memory of Blessed Xenia and watch over her grave.
That was the time of the reign of Empress Elizabeth, and then Catherine II. In the palaces and mansions of the capital St. Petersburg, empty social conversations were held, the noble “golden” youth “wasted” their lives and fought duels. What a stranger, what a stranger to this corrupt noble city, which did not know and did not want to know about its great saint, was blessed Xenia. She did not bring her radiant soul to the wise and strong, but to simple people: cab drivers and artisans, townspeople and merchants, poor widows and orphans. Only God knows how a barefoot and poorly dressed woman could withstand the lingering St. Petersburg rains, when the piercing wind blows from all sides, the biting frosts, when even warm clothes are uncomfortable. The blessed one spent 45 years of such a life and reached such heights of spiritual perfection, such strength of faith, in which all life becomes a constant miracle, revealed by Divine grace.
The rumor about the strict ascetic life of Blessed Xenia, about her kindness, humility, and complete non-covetousness spread widely throughout St. Petersburg. Merchants, townspeople, and officials who lived on the Petrograd side tried to receive the blessed one in their home. Together with the blessed one, it was as if love itself came into the house, pacifying those who were quarreling, bringing light and joy. Shopkeepers from the market on the Petrograd side knew that if blessed Ksenia came into the shop in the morning and took at least a pie or a nut, trading that day would be successful. Street peddlers of gingerbread and buns, having opened their trays, were impatiently waiting for her to take something - a crowd immediately gathered around the “lucky one”, snatching up his goods. Cab drivers, seeing the saint on the street, rushed to her with a request to drive at least a few steps - the one she chose always returned home with abundant proceeds. The number of cab drivers chasing the saint reached several dozen. Mothers noticed that if Blessed Ksenia caresses or rocks a sick child in a cradle, he will certainly recover. That is why mothers, seeing the saint, hurried to her with their children. The saint treated children with special love, even mischievous boys who, in their stupidity, offended and teased her. She never scolded them or got angry, but looked at the naughty people with a sad smile. There was a case when, with a bold prayer to God, she resurrected a boy who had drowned in the Neva, and by God’s providence found herself next to a mother sobbing inconsolably over her lifeless son.
In those years, a new stone church was built at the Smolensk cemetery. There were no cranes yet, and at the beginning of the working day, auxiliary workers carried bricks onto the scaffolding. One day, a team of masons who were building a temple received a pleasant gift. When they climbed the scaffolding in the morning, they were amazed: there were stacks of bricks standing in even rows along the scaffolding. There was no time to waste on lifting bricks, and the team did more masonry that day than usual. The same thing happened again the next day, and happened on the third and fourth. “Who is this unexpected helper?” - thought the masons, and one of them hid under a large stretcher. Night fell, the steps of the stairs creaked. The mason sitting in the hiding place could not believe his eyes: the heavy bricks were carried by an elderly woman in a torn jacket. She worked all night and alone did the work for the entire team.
With her great humility, spiritual feat, love for her neighbors and complete self-denial, Ksenia acquired the grace-filled gift of clairvoyance. Seeing the secrets of human hearts, she predicted the future (for example, she predicted the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and the murder of Tsarevich John, who was languishing in the Peter and Paul Fortress), healed the sick, especially children, and directed the lost on the path of correction. She told everyone what was necessary for his salvation: to some affectionately, to others strictly and even threateningly.
Written evidence does not contain information about the exact time and circumstances of the death and burial of Blessed Xenia. However, the tradition that has survived to this day says that before her death, Blessed Xenia was honored to see the Most Holy Theotokos in a dream, who informed her that the day of the end of her earthly journey was near and that until the end of the century she would be revered by believers.
The blessed one died at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th century at the 72nd year of her life and was buried in the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg, not far from the church in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God, which at one time she helped to build.
After the death of the holy saint, her nationwide veneration began, through prayers to her people received help, there was no end to miracles and healings. The Russian people of God responded with equally great love to the inspired love with which the heart of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg burned. For two centuries, the flow of those who sought to worship the great righteous woman and, out of their warm faith, received gracious help from her, did not diminish. People took the soil from the saint’s grave and took it to the cities and villages of Russia. To prevent the grave mound from being ruined, they laid a stone slab on top of the mound, but the pilgrims broke it into small pieces and carried it home. They laid a new slab and the same thing happened to it. Then they decided to use donations from pilgrims to build a stone chapel over the grave. Admirers of the blessed one built a chapel very quickly, and placed a slab on the grave with the inscription: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this place is laid the body of the servant of God Ksenia Grigorievna, the wife of the court singer, with the rank of colonel, Andrei Feodorovich. Left behind her husband for 26 years, wandered for 45 years; her entire life was 71 years; was called "Andrey Feodorovich". Whoever knew me, let him remember my soul for the salvation of his soul. Amen".
After the death of the blessed one, her veneration also spread to the highest strata of society. Emperor Alexander III, being the heir, fell ill with relapsing fever. His wife, the future Empress Maria Feodorovna, went through anxious hours. Then one of the courtiers brought her a handful of sand from the grave of Blessed Xenia and advised her to put this sand under the patient’s pillow, praying to the blessed one. The Grand Duchess followed the advice, and her prayer was fulfilled. At night, at the bedside of the patient, she forgot, and she had a vision: an old woman in a strange outfit was standing and said: “Your husband will get well. The child you now carry within you will be a girl. Call her after me Ksenia. And she will protect your family from all troubles.”
Everything that the blessed one said was fulfilled with precision: the patient recovered, and the girl born after this was named Ksenia. Remembering the gracious help from Blessed Xenia, Maria Feodorovna annually came to her grave and ordered memorial services. And until the revolution itself, among the countless stream of believers who came to the blessed one’s grave, one could see the Dowager Empress.
When the Bolsheviks, having seized power, deprived people of the opportunity to come to the blessed chapel, people began to write thousands of letters and notes addressed to their heavenly intercessor, and shove them into the cracks of the fence that the godless government built around the resting place of the saint, trying to fence off the world from her heavenly prayerful intercession. In 1986, the chapel of Blessed Xenia, which miraculously survived destruction, was lovingly restored and consecrated. And in June 1988, at the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church, dedicated to the 1000th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus', Blessed Ksenia was canonized. Since the day of the saint’s death is unknown, the Russian Orthodox Church, during her canonization, established the celebration of the blessed one on the day of her angel, the Venerable Xenia (January 24/February 6).
Based on materials from the book “Saints of the Russian Land”
Miracles and prophecies of Blessed Xenia
Many in St. Petersburg revered “Andrei Feodorovich.” It was believed that if she went into someone's house, it was a good omen, and if she stroked or kissed a child, then it was a good sign. The cab drivers offered to give Ksenia a ride, because after that their income increased. The same thing happened with the merchants who tried to treat the blessed one, believing that if she accepted food from them, trade would increase.
Ksenia of Petersburg predicted the death of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. On the eve of Christmas 1762, she told everyone she met: “Bake pancakes, tomorrow all of Russia will bake pancakes,” and the next day the queen died. She also predicted the murder of John IV Antonovich as a result of a conspiracy. A few days before this, the blessed one walked through the streets, crying and repeating: “Blood, blood.”
wikipedia.org/
There is a legend that once Ksenia gave a coin to a passer-by, saying: “Take a nickel, there is a king on horseback (George the Victorious). It will go out." The woman did not understand anything, but she took the coin, and approaching her house, she saw that it was on fire. But the fire was put out very quickly.
They also describe the case of how Ksenia came to her friend Paraskeva Antonova, to whom she gave her house, and said: “You’re sitting here darning your stockings, but you don’t know that God sent you a son! Go quickly to the Smolensk cemetery!” The woman, again, understood little, but fulfilled the holy fool’s order. It turned out that some cab driver hit an unknown pregnant woman near the cemetery. Right there, a woman gave birth to a boy, and she herself died. Paraskeva Antonova adopted and raised this child. The son supported his mother until old age and revered her very much.
Thanks to appeals to Xenia of St. Petersburg, miracles still happen to this day, believers say. There are many known cases when, after visiting her grave and praying to her, people were healed of serious illnesses, their everyday problems were miraculously resolved, their cherished dreams were fulfilled. They turn to Ksenia of St. Petersburg on a variety of issues, but, of course, most often they ask her for love.
