What do they pray to St. Onuphrius the Great? Onuphrius the Great

Venerable Onuphrius the Great, Prince of Persia

The Monk Onuphrius lived in the 4th century AD. He was the son of a Persian king who had no children for a long time and passionately prayed for offspring. God heard the prayer; but the devil misled the king, inspiring him that this was not his child and that he should be tested by fire. At the most dramatic moment, the baby suddenly stretched out his hands to the sky, as if pleading for protection. And the flame did not touch the child. An angel appeared to the king and ordered the child to be baptized and taken to where God would indicate.

God pointed to a monastery near the city of Hermopolis. They say that the youth, having received his share of the bread, invariably approached the icon of the Mother of God and handed the food to the Baby. And he took it. And one day he gave a return gift - a large warm bread, which was enough for the whole brethren. Then young Onuphry retired to the desert, where he spent sixty years. On holidays he was given communion by an Angel of God. In addition, for the first thirty years an Angel brought him bread and water. And then a spring began to flow near the hermit’s cave and a date palm tree with twelve branches grew. Every month one of the branches bore fruit.

One day the Monk Paphnutius, a monk in one of the deserts, decided to visit the hermit. He walked for seventeen days, and then a gray-haired man, belted with leaves, came out to meet him and called Paphnutius to come to him. At first they talked, and then bread and water appeared in front of them. Both spent the night in prayer. The next morning, Onuphrius told Paphnutius that he had been sent to bury him and then tell everyone about the righteous life of hermits in the desert.

As soon as the hermit died, the righteous man “was illuminated by heavenly light, his face shone like the sun, and the cave was filled with a fragrance, and he heard the voices of singing angels lifting up his holy soul to the Lord.”

The beginning of life's journey

The life of the Monk Onuphry is known from the memoirs of Elder Paphnutius, who witnessed the last days of the saint and heard the story of the monk’s hermitage first-hand.

Venerable Onuphrius the Great

Childhood and adolescence

According to legend, in 320, a long-awaited son was born into the family of the king of Persia, who was begged from God as a result of many hours of parental prayers. Evil souls brought gossip into the king’s ears that the child was conceived by a servant. Angry, the father threw his son into the fire, but the flames literally scattered around the tiny body.

The Lord commanded that the boy be named Onuphrius and transferred immediately after birth to the Egyptian monastery of Eriti. The Creator arranged it so that a baby who refused mother's milk received food in the form of milk from a doe, which was with him until he was 3 years old. The beautiful community of the Thebaid desert raised the boy in the fear of the Lord and love for His commandments.

Interesting! According to legend, the sacristan tried to feed the child by giving a piece of bread, but the boy never ate himself; he ran to the holy image of the Mother of God with the Child. On one of these days, the sacristan witnessed how a boy approached the icon with the words that he wanted to share bread with the Baby, because Tom was not given a single piece.

Jesus reached out his hands and took the grain offering. The surprised sacristan ran to the abbot and told him about what he had seen. The abbot ordered the next day not to give the boy bread, but suggested that he ask for food from the Child on the icon.

The naive child did not feel the trick; with a pure heart he knelt before the holy image and asked Jesus for some bread, and at that very moment a huge loaf of bread was in his hands. The young monk barely brought the bread to the abbot, after which all the brethren gave glory to God, admiring the grace that lay upon Onuphriya.

The young man heard more than once about hermits living like John the Baptist in solitude, striving to receive God's bliss in the future, and not human consolation. The desire to perform a hermit’s feat was kindled in the heart of the young monk, and he secretly left the monastery.

Prayer feat in Akeldam

The tradition of life in Akeldam is kept only by the Jerusalem Orthodox Church. It says that after leaving the monastery of Eriti, Onuphrius visited Jerusalem, and for several years begged not only Akeldama itself, but also all those buried in it.

Grateful descendants did not forget the saint’s feat of prayer and built the Onufrievsky Monastery in Greece. It was the saint’s prayers for the buried that laid the foundation for the Orthodox tradition of consecrating churches in cemeteries in the name of St. Onuphrius the Great.

Meeting with Elder Ermiy

After leaving Jerusalem, the monk wandered through the desert until, exhausted, he fell. At this time, a bright light appeared above him, emitted by a guardian angel, who promised not to leave Onuphrius until his death. Guided by an angel, the traveler came to the cave of Elder Hermias; he led a hermit’s life for many years.

Icon of St. Onuphrius the Great

For several days, day and night, the old hermit taught the young monk life in the desert, then took him to a remote place and left him alone with nature. In subsequent years, the elder visited the hermit until death took him.

Prayer to St. Onuphrius the Great

O Reverend Father Onuphrie! We pray to you: hear us, sinners and unworthy servants of God (names), at this hour. And accept this little prayer of ours: blot out the handwriting of our nasty and unclean deeds with your prayer, always cover us with your intercession and bring us to the bright palace prepared for the faithful with your prayers; pray to the Merciful God, may He forgive us all our sins, voluntary and involuntary, and all the evil deeds we have done, and may He deliver us through your intercession from eternal torment and grant us the joy of eternal enjoyment, together with all the saints, forever and ever.

Hermit life

Carnal infirmities, demons, and the vagaries of nature overcame Saint Onuphrius the Great, whose life was spent alone, far from people.

The Lord did not leave Onuphrius, helping during:

heat;
night and winter cold;
diseases;
carnal weakness;
hunger.

The hermit spent 60 long years far from people, but close to God, who granted protection and food. As time passed, the hermit’s clothes simply fell into pieces, but the Creator covered the old man’s body with thick hair.

Important! The Guardian Angel brought bread cakes daily, and on Sundays God's messenger gave the saint special consolation, bringing communion, strengthening the hermit's strength to continue the feat of solitude. At that moment, when Onuphrius was overcome with longing for people, the Angel showed him pictures of paradise and the life of the saints in it.

After 30 years of trials, the Lord gave the hermit an amazing palm tree with 12 branches, each of them bore fruit in a certain month, so that the hermit received sweet fruits for a whole year. One day, a spring of living water began to flow near the cave.

Onuphrius the Great, what do they pray to this saint for?

What do they pray to St. Onuphrius the Great for?

Onuphrius the Great, who lived in the 4th century, became famous as an Egyptian hermit, one of the most strict ascetics. The saint lived in complete solitude in a den (cave), leading an ascetic life, enduring the heat of the day and the cold of the night, and other difficulties, suffering and deprivation. So 60 years passed. Onuphry grew long hair that replaced his clothes; his beard touched the ground. According to legend, an Angel with the Holy Gifts appeared to Onuphrius and gave him communion. Shortly before Onuphry's death, Elder Paphnutius visited him, to whom the monk told about his life. Having blessed Paphnutius, the hermit began to pray, during which he died (c. 400). The Monk Onuphrius the Great is especially revered as a protector from sudden (sudden) death. They also pray to him for the consolation of the mourning, the healing of the sick, for help to all those who work and are exhausted, as well as for those who struggle with sinful passions and motives, for protection from visible and invisible enemies and all evil. The great ascetic is also asked for strengthening in the Orthodox faith, for help in saving the soul, admonishing and enlightening all who suffer from lack of faith or lack of faith.

Prayer to St. Onuphrius the Great About the most wonderful and blessed day, the saint of Christ and ours, Onuphrius the Great! You have shown wondrous love for your Lord, and you have been strengthened for wondrous deeds by His grace, and for this reason, for the sake of great boldness, you have been vouchsafed: for there are many miracles and signs of the power of God appear to us about you. Look now and then, O Lord, with merciful regard for your love at us, unworthy servants (names), and give to everyone according to their needs, according to faith and hope: bring joy to those who mourn, comfort those who cry, heal those who are sick, help those who labor, those struggling with passions and the enemy’s efforts, strengthen and bless those who are weak You who support, protect your abode and all of us from enemies, visible and invisible, and from all evil. Exalt the holy Orthodox faith in our Fatherland, converting those who have gone astray, those who have fallen away, those who have fallen away, those who have wavered, those who have softened, those who have been stubborn, those who have enlightened, and brought everything into quiet order. The poverty of the Heavenly Fatherland. Oh, the eternal glory of the monastics and the consolation of all the faithful! With your glorious deeds and the sweet contemplation of your miraculous image, illumine us and strengthen us for every deed, labor and patience for the glory of the name of God, so that we may be made worthy of salvation with you and to all the saints of the eternal and blessed Kingdom of glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

© Mikhail Tikhomirov Quoted in abbreviation from the book: PRAYERS TO THE SAINTS OF GOD WITH BRIEF INFORMATION ABOUT LIVES AND HELP FOR DIFFERENT NEEDS. – M.: Publishing house. Tikhomirova M.Yu., 2021 (the book is being prepared for publication).

The life of every saint is amazing, wonderful and worthy of emulation. The best of the best, they, like stars, adorned the sky. But among them there are saints whose life events human logic refuses to explain.

What happened to them was beyond earthly understanding. Onuphrius the Great is one of such people. The Holy Church calls him the Eternal adornment of the entire Universe.

Materials used in the embroidery of the image of Onuphrius the Great: faces painted on thin canvas in oil, beads, truntal, rhinestones, gimp, tiger's eye, aventurine, peridot, jasper, jade, agate, carnelian, garnet, amber, pearl, tourmaline, mother-of-pearl, citrine .

Never embroidered. You really want to try, but you’re afraid you won’t succeed.

We dug through the entire Internet, but did not find the embroidery pattern for the desired icon.

We have already filled in many monotonous and boring patterns with embroidery, but my soul wants something creative.

Do you want to embroider a truly beautiful and unique image that will exist in a single copy.

Come to our master class on icon embroidery...

If you need a ready-made icon, you can order it and we will embroider it for you.

Or choose from already embroidered images

He was the son of a king. Parents, having reached adulthood, remained childless. But they continued to believe that the Lord would hear their prayers and send them a son and an heir to the king. And so it happened. But when the family was expecting a child, a tempting demon appeared to the king.

He said that the child that the queen was carrying was not from the king, but from one court husband. To check this, the unclean one advised throwing the newborn child into the fire. If he is lying, then God will leave the baby alive.

The king fell for this lie and did as the liar advised. The kid raised his hands to the sky, and the fire divided into two parts, leaving the middle with the prince untouched. The angel appeared before the eyes of the dumbfounded father. He denounced him for trusting the unclean, ordered the child to be baptized and given wherever he indicated.

The king repented, did everything as the angel said, but left the baby at the palace. However, the baby did not take the breast at all. Fearing that he would die, the parents obeyed the will of the Lord and took the baby to where the angel pointed.

It was a monastery whose abbot was notified of the arrival of the royal couple. The boy was left to be raised by the elder. The father visited this place until his death and saw his son growing up. Until he was three years old, Onufriy was fed by a white doe.

And then he received bread, like any inhabitant of the monastery. Out of childish spontaneity, the boy took it and carried it to the image of the Virgin Mary to share with the Baby Jesus. Often the monks noticed how the Savior’s hand extended for a piece of bread served by Onuphrius the Great.

One day, when there was no bread in the monastery, and the little ascetic was hungry, he asked Jesus for bread. He handed him such a large loaf that the boy could barely carry it to the refectory to distribute it to the brethren.

At the age of 10, Onuphrius the Great wished to retire to the desert. At that time, such a desire did not seem particularly special. It is difficult for us, people of the fast-moving 21st century, to imagine what attracted people to the harsh desert, where the days are unbearably hot and the nights are just as unbearably cold, where water is rare and there is nothing to eat.

We direct our lives towards comfort, but ascetics dreamed only of prayer, solitude and contemplation of God. This feat is unimaginable either by moral or physical criteria.

St. Onuphrius the Great prayed to God. A bright star and the voice of the Guardian Angel led him to a place of spiritual achievement that lasted for 60 years. The saint found a cave, and the Lord planted a date palm tree with twelve branches next to it, which bore fruit alternately.

There was a spring near the entrance to the cave. On Saturdays and Sundays, the angel of the Lord brought Onuphrius the Holy Gifts and gave him communion.

The saint's clothes were worn out, and so that he would not freeze at night and burn during the day, the Lord covered his entire body with hair. This is how the Reverend is depicted in holy images. St. Paphnutius found Onuphrius a very old man.

This man, driven by a thirst for knowledge of the truth, went into the desert to see the true prayer books. He met many wonderful people, earthly angels. But the meeting with Onuphrius the Great shocked him most of all.

They talked a lot, the ascetic talked about his life and instructed his guest. One day, when the saints ate bread and washed it down with water, Paphnutius noticed that Onuphrius’s face began to change. He realized that the elder was preparing for death. After the burial of the saint in his cave, Paphnutia was struck by the idea of staying here and continuing the feat of the great ascetic.

But as soon as he thought this, the spring dried up, the palm tree dried up, and the cave collapsed. The saint realized that this was not God’s will. He returned to the monastery and thanks to this man people learned about the great saint, St. Onuphrius.

You can buy or order icon embroidery by contacting CHAT in the lower right corner of the site.

The embroidery period is 1.5 - 2 months. We do not make exact copies. Each embroidered image is unique. Precious and semi-precious stones are used in embroidery.

A wooden icon case is made for each icon. The size of the embroidery is 21x29 cm. The size of the icon in the icon case is 28x36 cm. If desired by the customer, we can embroider in a larger size. Icons are embroidered with a blessing and consecrated in the church.

They pray to the saint in all life circumstances. Having won the special love of God through his feat, he has the power to ask for what is necessary for a person. Only if the person himself sincerely asks God for this. They pray to the saint for vision of sins and the granting of strength and desire to correct them. It helps to overcome passions and find solace in grief.

He is asked to heal eye diseases and bone diseases. And also about getting rid of enemies. And not only visible ones. The Desert Fathers especially experienced the influence of evil spirits who considered deserted places their destiny. Therefore, the help of such saints in healing the mentally ill is powerful.

And Onuphrius the Great and the life feat of this saint lead us to the idea that every Christian should have his own hermitage. Let it be a quiet walk in the park or prayer behind closed doors in your apartment. For a person of the present century, in order to maintain spiritual health, it is useful to at least sometimes go inside oneself.

Prayers for help in various needs, prayer books, canons, akathists, books for students of the Law of God, works of the holy fathers, theological works - with delivery to all regions of Russia. Website: https://pravmolitva.ru/ Mail Phone,

What do they pray to St. Onuphrius the Great for?

Prayer to St. Onuphrius the Great

O most wonderful and blessed servant of Christ and our Abvo, Onuphrie the Great! You have shown wondrous love for your Lord, and you have been strengthened for wondrous deeds by His grace, and for this, for the sake of great boldness towards Him, you have been vouchsafed: many miracles and signs of the power of God have appeared to people about you. Look, then, even now, dear Father, with the merciful eye of your love on us unworthy servants, and grant to everyone according to their every need, according to faith and hope: gladden those who mourn, comfort those who cry, heal those who are sick, help those who are toiling, strengthen those who struggle with passions and attacks of the enemy, and bless, support the exhausted, your monastery and all of us from visible enemies and save from all evil. Magnify the holy Orthodox faith in our Fatherland, convert the erring, bring to reason those who have fallen away, strengthen the wavering, soften the stubborn, enlighten the unfaithful, and bring everyone to the quiet refuge of the Heavenly Fatherland. O wonderful word of consolation to the monastics and all the faithful! Enlighten us with your glorious deeds and the sweet vision of your miraculous image and strengthen us for every deed, labor and patience for the glory of the Name of God, so that we may be worthy of salvation with you and all the saints of the Eternal and Most Blessed Kingdom of glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

Thematic and traditional prayer books, akathists, spiritual literature.