DISCOVERY OF THE RECENTS OF BLESSED MAXIMUS, CHRIST FOR THE SAKE OF THE FOOL-FOOL, OF MOSCOW (Celebration: August 13/26) (The Saint departed to the Lord around 1547)
Time has not preserved to us a detailed biography of the holy and blessed Maxim. In the church service compiled in honor and memory of him, his earthly exploits are glorified in this way:
“You did not want to enjoy the beauties of the world, you despised the flesh, you took care of your soul, and like a slave of the spirit you conquered her. You kept youthful passions from leaping. By fasting and abstinence you have withered away the passions of the flesh. Having cleansed your soul and body from all filth, the temple appeared pure to God. Having an uncovered body, you neglected the body of the ring, you suffered from the sun's heat and the great jelly. We wound the love of Christ; you have denied your kin to love. You have appeared wonderful in your patience. Let us turn our entire mind to the worldly, blessed fool of the world have you appeared. You have overcome vain wisdom with violence, and you have come to know what is hidden from the wise and prudent. The second saying in Russia appeared. You gave everything to yourself for the salvation of others. All-bright, star existing in darkness and passion, light guides to brighter life: make unclean women live chastely. Having a higher thought than carnal wisdom, you were not wounded among women, we expose you; “Thou art clothed with dispassionate clothing” (Mineaion, November 11, from the canons of songs 3, 4, 5, 6, 8.)
According to the meaning of these church hymns, holy and blessed Maxim, for the salvation of his soul, took upon himself the feat of foolishness for Christ's sake and all the labors and hardships associated with it; took upon himself such a feat, which only some of the great host of righteous people accepted, according to their special spiritual mood and God’s will and election.
He feels a calling within himself to something higher, better than what he saw around him. Such a calling produces in him a discord between his internal aspirations and the external environment of his life. A spark of love for God sank deeply into his kind, pure heart, which soon engulfed his entire soul with a life-giving flame. It was this love for God that could drown out all earthly attachments in him. In order to enslave his flesh to the spirit, to crucify it, according to the word of God, “with its passions and lusts” (Gal. 5:24), he not only abandoned all the comforts and permissible benefits of earthly life, but doomed himself to extreme needs and deprivations. Even the most necessary items for maintaining life - such as food, clothing, housing - did not constitute necessary needs for him. Having devoted himself entirely to serving God and his neighbors, when he was still young, he left his home, his family and everyone close to his heart, and led a homeless, wandering, lonely life; spent most of his time outdoors; he had almost no clothing on his body and did not find shame in it, like the primordial Adam before the fall. With the help of God, he complacently endured all the changes in the air - the unbearable winter cold, heat, winds, snow, rain. “Although the winter is fierce, yet sweet is paradise,” said Blessed Maxim, running naked through the streets of Moscow, “let us endure and we will be people, for patience God will give salvation” (from the biography of Saint Maxim by Philaret, Archbishop of Chernigov). He ate only the meager food that good people served him. Exhausted by hard labors, shining with the purity of his soul and the grace of God, his almost naked body served for those around him not as a temptation, but as admonition and edification. “Having cleansed his soul and body from all filth, he made himself a pure temple to God.”
The main feat of Blessed Maxim, which constitutes a special feature of the feat of foolishness for Christ's sake and distinguishes holy fools from other ascetics of a holy life, is his renunciation of his own mind. In fact, he was a very intelligent person, he could penetrate into the innermost thoughts and see the moral dignity of those around him. But in order to avoid conceit and worldly glory, he tried in every possible way to hide his mental qualities and pious deeds; with an exalted and God-enlightened mind, he seemed to have no mind for everyday duties and concerns: he seemed not only simple and weak-minded, but as if devoid of common sense. “Let us turn our minds to the worldly, the fool of the world has appeared.” He was not conformed to this age, but was transformed by the renewal of his mind, so as to know what the good, acceptable and perfect will of God is (Rom. 12:2); with his life and words he constantly reminded everyone about the highest goals of life, that the image of this world is passing away (1 Cor. 7:31), that we do not have a permanent city here, but must seek the future (Heb. 13:14), achieve blessings of premium, spiritual, eternal. Appearing stupid, incapable of any kind of work or deed, while neglecting the generally accepted customs of the world, and sometimes allowing some strange, incomprehensible actions, thereby he spontaneously condemned himself to meekly enduring everything that is usually a consequence of dementia: ridicule, abuse, contempt, offense. “He endured much tribulation from the foolish and was shown to be wonderful in patience.” He endured with full consciousness that he endured innocently, that he was not at all what others thought him to be, “he was not foolish, but understood what was the will of God” (Eph. 5:17), knew and loved God, knew and loved neighbors are better than the wise of this world. Great wisdom was required on his part in order to turn his dishonor into the glory of God, in order to endure insults and contempt, to have love for those who despise and offend and serve their salvation, so that in apparently strange actions he would not allow anything sinful, tempting, disrespect for to others, insults, so that, filled with lofty thoughts and holy feelings, they seem violent. No matter how difficult it was for him to maintain such qualities of his feat, he liked the fact that others did not notice the wisdom hidden in him: he liked it because it corresponded to his deep feeling of spiritual poverty, taught him humility, meekness, patience, and gentleness; It tore out from him by the roots that evil called pride of mind, and at the same time made it possible to freely and with impunity speak the truth to everyone in need of admonition and reproof, even the powerful of this world. In the church service it is called the “second saying.” This was the name of Blessed Isidore of Rostov, almost contemporary with him (he reposed on May 14, 1474), a brave and strong denouncer of lies and all untruths. For similar qualities this name was given to Blessed Maxim.
The desire to serve the salvation of others is almost a common feature of all fools for Christ’s sake. So, for example, after a long-term feat in the desert, Saint Simeon the Fool said to his companion John: “There is no longer any need for us to remain in the desert, but let us go to serve the salvation of others” (Chetya-Minea, July 21) and with his foolishness he instructed on the path of truth and goodness . And it is said about blessed Maxim that he “gave up all of himself for the salvation of others.” He did not retire to the desert, not to the forests, free from worldly vanity and temptations, for his salvation, but chose the populous city of Moscow as the place of his wondrous exploits. But even in the city he was no less lonely, like those living in the remote deserts. His holy soul was hidden for everyone by the veil of foolishness, had no interaction with his neighbors, was inaccessible to the charm of the city bustle, temptations and vices. In them he saw only moral evil, which must be exterminated both in himself and in others. “Having dressed himself in dispassionate clothes, he was not wounded among the women, we are naked.” To edify his neighbors, he often appeared in crowded gatherings and at market places; he did not hesitate to enter vicious societies, and under the cover of foolishness he denounced wickedness and led the most hardened sinners to the path of repentance. There was, in the words of a church song, “an all-bright star that shone in the darkness and led to a brighter life. He also made unclean women live chastely.” He tried to do all good deeds secretly, unnoticed; taught, denounced, threatened punishments for the wicked mysteriously, mysteriously; if it is done directly, then under a strict prohibition to keep everything in secret. And as soon as he noticed favorable opinions about himself, in such cases he tried to destroy them with strange and indecent actions, imaginary participation in disapproving actions, and violation of church decrees. He saw in himself only shortcomings, sinfulness, unworthiness before God, and he wanted others to think about him too.
“The time when blessed Maxim lived was disastrous for Russia: on the one hand, the Tatars, and on the other, drought, famine and pestilence served as a scourge for the people. With his free patience, the blessed one taught the involuntarily suffering people patience, self-correction, devotion and trust in the mercy of God. He told the people: “Not everything is according to the wool, it’s different and vice versa.” The lascivious pig has a log around his neck. They will beat you for the cause, obey and bow lower. Don’t cry when you’re beaten, cry when you’re not beaten.” To those suffering from hypocrisy and Pharisee piety, he used to say: “everyone is baptized, but not everyone prays: the goddess is domestic, but conscience is corrupt; Abraham by beard, and Ham by deeds” (from the biography of Saint Maxim by Archbishop Philaret of Chernigov).
After laborious and many years of labors, Saint Blessed Maxim reposed in endless blissful life in 1434 at an advanced age. Soon after his death, “The All-Righteous Judge glorified him with many miracles. So, in 1506, at the tomb of St. Maxim the Fool for Christ’s sake, God forgave a man whose leg was crippled on the 23rd day of April.” As a result of the miracles in 1547, the Council determined: “to sing and celebrate in Moscow on the 13th day of August the new Wonderworker Maxim, the holy fool for Christ’s sake” (Nick. L. IV. 164). On the ancient linen cover placed on the shrine of the holy relics, around the image of the saint of God, there is the following inscription, signifying the time of his repose and the opening of his holy relics:
“On the 11th day of November 6942, Saint Maximus of Christ, the Fool for Christ, the Wonderworker of Moscow and all Russia, reposed in the reigning city of Moscow during the reign of the Blessed Grand Duke Vasily Vasilyevich. His honest body was buried in China-Grad, on the Barbarian sacrum near the Church of the Holy Passion-Bearers, Princes of Russia, both brothers in the flesh of Boris and Gleb. Through the diligence of the pious husband Theodore Vokhchin, some years after the repose of the Holy Blessed Maxim, a small and unconnected church was quickly created, over his holy relics in the name of his namesake Saint Maximus the Confessor. And the relics of St. Blessed Maxim, upon their discovery, lay under a stone tomb, and not in reality. All-merciful God, glorified in the Trinity, put in the heart of reverence the husband of the Moscow resident of the Gostinnaya Hundred, Maxim Filippov, son of Verkhovitin, if you would dismantle both holy churches, the present one and the chapel (Boriso-Gleb) to create a new one. To this - (he was assisted) - and another named Maxim Vasilyevich Sharovnikov, a resident of the former city of Kostroma. In the year 7206 (1698), April 14th, under the power of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Peter Alekseevich of All Russia, the Autocrat, with the blessing of His Holiness Adrian, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, after the funeral of the usual prayer singing, began to dismantle the dilapidated stone building and in In that place, where the relics of St. Blessed Maximus, by the grace of God, a stone fell away from the wall, and apparently there was a great treasure for everyone, the multi-healing relics of St. Blessed Maximus. May of the 13th day, by order of His Holiness Adrian the Patriarch, a solemn singing was performed for the Holy Blessed Maxim, and after the all-night singing, His Grace Tikhon, Metropolitan of Sara and Podonsk, with the Archimandrites and Igumnas, with the Priests and Deacons, dressed in sacred clothes, stood around the tomb and began disassemble the stone, and then a wondrous miracle happened: again, much stone fell apart, the hedgehog over the tomb of the saint, and through the prayers of Blessed Maxim, harmed no one, and about this miracle glorified God and His Saint, Blessed Maxim; and he lifted the ark with holy relics onto his shoulder with holy crosses and icons, and the Deacons with censers and candles; “Then a great multitude of people flocked to see and venerate his relics, glorifying God and His Pleasant.”
During the construction of the new temple, the relics were, according to legend, in the Chudov Monastery, or in one of the Kremlin cathedrals, since the discovery of the relics is depicted on the local icon of St. Maxim, also on the icon located on the external northern side and on the western wall inside the temple , in carrying them with the procession through the Spassky Gate to the Kremlin. The newly built church, which now exists in its original form, is dedicated to the name of St. Blessed Maximus with a chapel in the name of St. Maximus the Confessor.
The incorruptible relics of Blessed Maxim, stored for up to three hundred years, rested openly for only 39 years - from 1698 to 1737. That year, on May 29, during the great fire, known under the name of the Trinity, from which a significant part of all of Moscow burned, “The Maximov Church burned out without a trace and the shrine with the canopy of the Wonderworker Maxim burned down, and exactly in the place where this shrine with stood with holy relics, on the stone platform the relics of the holy bones remained, which the priest Jacob Grigoriev, with the deacon and clergyman, collected in a box, locked them, and placed them in the altar. According to the determination made by the Synodal Chancellery on June 6 of the same 1737, the given holy relics of His Eminence Veniamin, Bishop of Kolomna and the archimandrites, who were then sitting in the Synodal Chancellery, were examined and described, and upon inspection, those relics of His Eminence were placed in a specially made box, and according to closed and sealed with the synodal seal for storage were given to the synodal sacristy” (Decree of the Holy Synod of April 30, 1764). The burnt-out Maximovsky Church was renovated and consecrated, as stated in the inscription on the newly built iconostasis, on May 30, 1742. And the final decision on the return of the remains of the relics of Blessed Maxim took place on January 21, 1768. In 1770, as stated in the church inventory, “a new carved shrine was built for the relics of St. Maximus the Blessed, above it there is a canopy on eight carved pillars, and above the pillars there is a carved canopy. Everything described above is gilded with red gold.” In 1812, “the relics of Blessed Maxim remained in their place under a bushel, in their original form. The pulpit was raised, the altar in the warm church was overturned, the frames and frames of the windows were burnt out, the roof and all the church utensils were also burnt out; except for the hidden most necessary things, everything was plundered” (from the testimony of Priest Ignatius Ivanov to Archbishop Augustine). In 1876, instead of a dilapidated wooden one, a new metal gilded shrine was built, into which, after its consecration, a cypress ark with the relics of Blessed Maxim, more than an arshin long, up to three-quarters wide, was transferred with due honor.
The said priest Jacob Grigoriev donated an altarpiece silver gilded cross with particles of holy relics stored in it, and with such a wonderful inscription on it: “This holy and life-giving cross of the Lord was built with the care of the Maximovsky Church of Priest Jacob Grigoriev on November 5th, 1737 in memory of the former terrible of the great fire of this year, May on the 29th day of the week of Pentecost in memory of his parents Ksenia Fominichna and his priest Thekla Yakovlevna and his children of the burnt babies Elizabeth, Hierophy, Jacob."
At the same time, I consider it a sacred duty for myself to report, for the glorification of the saint of God, about two cases of his miraculous help, reported directly by those persons who were honored to receive it. Hereditary honorary citizen Ivan Alekseevich Smirnov repeatedly spoke with tears of tenderness about his miraculous healing from illness through the prayers of St. Maxim, which the ever-memorable Metropolitan of Moscow Philaret in his letter dated November 15, 1848 to the abbot of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, Archimandrite Anthony, describes as follows: “Starosta Church, in which the relics of St. Maximus the Blessed rest, while working diligently on the restoration of this temple, he fell ill with a sore throat that he lost hope of staying alive, and at the thought that he would not see the consecration of the temple, he began to cry while lying in bed. At this time he sees before him Blessed Maxim, who places the sign of the cross on him and says: In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The sick man said: Amen, he wanted to kiss the hand of the righteous, but he ceased to be visible. Following this, an abscess in the throat opened, pus came out, and the elder, with increased jealousy, celebrated the renovation of the temple, which took place on October 17, 1848 (letters from Metropolitan Philar. to Archimandrite Anthony).
“In 1867, the Moscow merchant widow, a well-known supplier of clothing to the Highest Court, who had her own house and workshop in it near the Kazan Church in Sushchev, Belkin (name not indicated), was in the Maximovsky Church to listen to the prayer singing of Blessed Maxim and reported the following clergy: He appeared In her dream (the time is not indicated), a handsome old man said to her: a great misfortune threatens you; To get rid of it, resort with prayer to Blessed Maxim the Moscow Wonderworker. She did not know in which church the reliquary of the relics of Blessed Maxim was located and arrived at the Cathedral Church of St. Basil. There she found out where the relics of St. Maxim the Blessed rest. Arriving at the Maximovsky Church, she asked the clergy to serve a prayer service for the Pleasant and fervently prayed to him for his intercession. The appointed day, on which, according to the prediction of the old man she saw in a dream, misfortune should befall her, passed safely. Night has come; Everyone in her house was already asleep. She alone did not sleep in anticipation of misfortune. Around midnight there was a fire in her house. She immediately woke everyone up; sent a messenger to the Sushchevskaya unit with news of the fire. All property, on her orders, was pulled out of the house and stored. The fire brigade soon arrived and the fire was stopped as soon as it started. The loss from it was insignificant. So Blessed Maxim, whose holy body, which remained incorruptible for up to three hundred years, was not spared by the fire by God’s permission during the great Trinity fire, by his intercession before God he delivered the designated servant of God from the fire” (from the church chronicle). His memory is celebrated by the All-Russian Church on November 11, and locally in the Maximovsky Church on August 13.
“Pray, O Pleasant of God, to Blessed Maxima for us, who are committed to the earth, so that we, in imitation of your angel-like life on earth, will not get bogged down in the vain worries of life and in earthly pleasures; We are not seduced and do not cling with all our souls to the corruptible blessings of this world, but may the Lord, by His grace, turn our thoughts and desires to heavenly ones, and strengthen the desire to perceive future imperishable treasures. May He give us the weak the strength to conquer the passions, thoughts and desires of sin. May our arrogant mind be captivated into the obedience of faith, deliver us from conceit, superstition, false destructive teachings, and grant us spiritual wisdom. May our hearts be warmed with love for Him, our Creator and for our neighbors” (from a prayer to Blessed Maxim).
From the book “Reverend Maxim the Confessor and Holy and Blessed Maxim, Fool for Christ’s Sake, Moscow Wonderworker.”
Moscow, Publishing house of Moscow Maximovskaya, on Varvarka, church, 1894, pp. 17-26. Troparion, tone 4:
Through your patience you have gained a great reward in Heaven, / you have been transformed into violence by the will of Christ for the sake of Christ, / and you have ascended to mental Heaven, like on a chariot of fire, / you, the wise Maximus. / Today we now honor the discovery of your honorable relics / together with the pious and faithful people of the reigning city of Moscow, / and we all cry out to you: / pray to Christ God // to save our souls.
Kontakion, voice 2:
Desiring the highest beauty, / you considered the lower sweets and bodily clothing as nothing, / and you loved non-covetousness more than the vanity of the world, / passing through the angelic life, you died, / Blessed Maxima: / pray for Christ with them // unceasingly for all of us..
Magnification:
We bless you, / holy righteous Maxime, / and honor your holy memory, / for you pray for us // Christ our God.
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Day of Remembrance:
November 11 (old style)
November 24 (new style)
Today the Holy Church celebrates the memory of Blessed Maxim, the Moscow Wonderworker. In the old days, this was a special holiday of our capital city, because Muscovites revered Blessed Maxim as a special protector of Moscow and its inhabitants. Blessed Maxim, the Fool for Christ's sake, lived in Moscow. Nothing is known about his parents, time and place of birth. Devoting himself to serving God and his neighbors, Blessed Maxim left his native home and relatives in his youth. Saint Maxim chose one of the most difficult and thorny paths to fear, voluntarily, for Christ’s sake, taking on the guise of a holy fool. In summer and winter, Maxim walked almost naked, enduring both heat and cold with prayer. “Though winter is bitter, heaven is sweet; let us endure and we will be people,” he said, teaching everyone patience and enduring everyday hardships. Rus' loved its holy fools very much, appreciated their deepest humility, listened to their wisdom, expressed clearly and figuratively in the folk language of proverbs. And everyone listened to the holy fools: from the great princes to the last poor man. Blessed Maxim labored during a difficult time for Holy Rus' in the 15th century. Now the Tatar yoke, now drought, now famine and pestilence tormented the poor Russian people. Against this background, the feat of Blessed Maxim, demonstrating great patience, instilled hope in people. The saint said to the disadvantaged: “Not everyone is up to the mark, and on the contrary... they will beat you for the cause, obey, and bow lower,” “Don’t cry, beaten, cry unbeaten,” “Let’s endure it, and we will be people,” “Gradually, damp wood will catch fire.” , “For patience God will give salvation.” But the saint spoke not only words of consolation. The powers that be were afraid of his angry denunciations: the merchants and the Moscow nobility. Blessed Maxim said to them, the noble and the rich: “The Goddess is domestic, but conscience is corrupt,” “Everyone is baptized, but not everyone prays,” “God will find out every untruth. Neither He nor you will deceive Him.” The holy fool’s denunciations did not remain fruitless; many Muscovites turned their hearts to God. And often, as a response to this reproof, a feeling of repentance arose in people, and the angels in heaven rejoiced on this day, finding another repentant person on earth. Muscovites loved their righteous man very much, and when the blessed one reposed on November 11, 1433, his honorable remains were buried in the center of Moscow near the Church of St. Boris and Gleb on Varvarka. The Lord was pleased to glorify His saint with miracles: healings began to take place at the saint’s tomb. On August 13, 1547, the incorruptible relics of Blessed Maxim were found and at the same time a celebration was established for him. The District Charter of Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow says: “Sing and celebrate in Moscow, on the 13th day of August, to the new wonderworker Maxim, the holy fool for Christ’s sake.” The temple in honor of the noble princes Boris and Gleb, next to which Saint Maxim was buried, burned down in 1568. But Maxim’s holy relics remained hidden. Reverent admirers of the saint's memory built a chapel over his grave in honor of Saint Maximus the Confessor. In 1698, due to the zeal of Moscow residents Maxim Verkhovitin and Maxim Sharovnikov, the old Boris and Gleb Church was dismantled; at the same time, a stone that fell off the wall revealed a great treasure - the healing relics of St. Blessed Maxim. They were honorably transferred to one of the Moscow cathedrals, where they remained throughout the construction of the new temple. Upon completion of construction, it was consecrated in the name of Blessed Maxim of Moscow with a chapel in honor of St. Maximus the Confessor. The relics of the blessed one were kept in this temple for about forty years. In 1737 there was a strong fire, during which the temple in the name of Maxim of Moscow burned down. The surviving parts of the relics of Blessed Maxim were reverently collected and transferred to the Maximovsky Church in 1768. The priest of this temple, Nikita Ivanov, was commissioned to make a cypress ark decorated with silver, which he completed in 1770. The honorable relics of the saint of God rested in this church until the tragic year for Russian history in 1917. After the revolutionary hard times and the closure of the temple, the relics of Blessed Maxim, Christ for the sake of the holy fool, disappeared without a trace. The memory of this holy saint of God is celebrated by the Church twice a year - on the day of his blessed death on November 11 (24), and on the day of the miraculous discovery of his multi-healing relics on August 13 (26). These days in the church of St. Maxim on Varvarka, a festive service has been held for several years.
Kontakion of Blessed Maxim, Christ for the sake of the Holy Fool, Moscow voice 8 By faith and love, those who celebrate your honest gain, O blessed one, preserve and preserve from all malice and temptation of the serpent, for you have boldness towards the Lord of all Christ, Whom people pray to save, pray, and let us all cry out to you : Rejoice, Father Maxima, praise to the reigning city of Moscow. Prayer to Blessed Maxim, Pleasant of God, our warm and quick helper of prayer, Blessed Maxim! Falling before the race of your relics, we glorify the difficult feats of your foolishness for Christ's sake, having loved the One God with all your soul, you did not want to enjoy worldly beauties; You have renounced your native home, your kinsman of love, you have renounced the wealth and glory of time, and you have loved a homeless life. Having been diligent about the salvation of your soul, you have exhausted your flesh with bodily nakedness, filth and heat, fasting and vigil, lying on the earth for a long time, and you have subdued all the passions of its spirit, having lived on earth heavenly, in the flesh spiritually, with your whole mind you have taken up the worldly, you have rejected carnal wisdom Thou art and, having been wise in Christ, appeared to be a fool of the world, graciously enduring many insults and beatings from the foolish and instructing many wicked people on the path of salvation. Moreover, after the end of your deeds, the all-righteous Judge glorified you with the incorruption of your honorable relics and many miracles, and placed your holy soul in the Heavenly abodes, where, standing before the Throne of the Unapproachable Divine Light, in Him, like in a mirror, you see our needs, hear our needs You have petitions and as a friend of Christ, you have the strength to pray to Him boldly for us. For this reason, we earnestly ask you: pray to the Lord God for us, who are committed to the earth, so that we, in imitation of your angel-like life on earth, will not get bogged down in the vain worries of life and in earthly pleasures, we will not be seduced and do not cleave with all our souls to the corruptibles of this world good, but may the Lord, by His grace, turn our thoughts and desires to heavenly ones and strengthen the desire to perceive future incorruptible treasures, may He give us, the weak, the strength to conquer passions, thoughts and desires of sin, may we captivate our arrogant mind into the obedience of faith, and deliver us from arrogance , superstition, false destructive teachings and grant us spiritual wisdom, may it dissolve our stony hearts with tears of tenderness and contrition for our sins, warm them with love for Him, our Creator, and for our neighbors. Ask everyone who exists in every need and resorts to your intercession for every gift that is beneficial to everyone: healing for the sick, consolation for the sad, help for the needy, protection for the offended. Bring to the Lord a holy prayer for all of us, many sinners, so that He will not reward us for our sins, nor punish us for our iniquities, but will turn away all anger righteously moved towards us, and add Your mercy to all needs, troubles, misfortunes, sorrows and delivering us from illnesses, in which the message of fate will guide us on the path of salvation, will give us the rest of our lives in repentance and piety to pass and a Christian death, painless, shameless, peaceful, and to receive the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom with all the saints forever and ever. Amen.
Orthodox prayers ☦
“Pleasant of God, our warm and quick helper of prayer, blessed Maxima! Falling before the race of your relics, we glorify the difficult feats of your foolishness for Christ's sake, having loved the One God with all your soul, you did not want to enjoy worldly beauties; You have renounced your native home, your kinsman of love, you have renounced wealth and temporal glory, and you have loved a homeless life. Having been diligent about the salvation of your soul, you have exhausted your flesh with bodily nakedness, filth and heat, fasting and vigil, long-term lying on the earth, and you have subdued all the passions of its spirit; having lived on earth heavenly, in the flesh spiritually, with your whole mind you have taken up the worldly, you have rejected carnal wisdom Thou art and, having been wise in Christ, appeared to be a fool of the world, graciously enduring many insults and beatings from the foolish and instructing many wicked people on the path of salvation. Moreover, after the end of your deeds, the all-righteous Judge glorified you with the incorruption of your honorable relics and many miracles, and placed your holy soul in the Heavenly abodes, where, standing before the Throne of the Unapproachable Divine Light, in Him, like in a mirror, you see our needs, hear our needs You have petitions and as a friend of Christ, you have the strength to pray to Him boldly for us. For this reason, we earnestly ask you: pray to the Lord God for us, who are committed to the earth, so that we, in imitation of your angel-like life on earth, will not get bogged down in the vain worries of life and in earthly pleasures, we will not be seduced and do not cleave with all our souls to the corruptibles of this world good, but may the Lord, by His grace, turn our thoughts and desires to heavenly ones and strengthen the desire to perceive future incorruptible treasures, may He give us, the weak, the strength to conquer passions, thoughts and desires of sin, may we captivate our arrogant mind into the obedience of faith, and deliver us from arrogance , superstition, false destructive teachings and grant us spiritual wisdom, may it dissolve our stony hearts with tears of tenderness and contrition for our sins, warm them with love for Him, our Creator, and for our neighbors. Ask everyone who exists in every need and resorts to your intercession for every gift that is beneficial to everyone: healing for the sick, consolation for the sad, help for the needy, protection for the offended. Bring to the Lord a holy prayer for all of us, many sinners, so that He will not reward us for our sins, nor punish us for our iniquities, but will turn away all anger righteously moved towards us, and add Your mercy to all needs, troubles, misfortunes, sorrows and delivering us from illnesses, in which the message of fate will guide us on the path of salvation, will give us the rest of our lives in repentance and piety to pass and a Christian death, painless, shameless, peaceful, and to receive the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom with all the saints forever and ever. Amen."
