Summary of “Kiev-Pechersky Paterik”
Nestor, the monk of the monastery of the Monastery of Pechersky, a tale of why the monastery was nicknamed Pechersky
During the reign of Vladimir Svyatoslavich in Lyubech lived a pious husband who wanted to become a monk. He came to the Holy Mount Athos and in one of the monasteries there he took monastic vows. He was tonsured under the name of Antony. Once the hegumen ordered him to return to Russia, in order to serve as an example for others.
Anthony, coming to Kiev, did not want to settle in any of the monasteries. He found a cave in Berestov, which the Vikings had once dug, and settled there. When the prince became Svyatopolk the Damned, who killed Boris and Gleb, Antony again retired to the Holy Mountain.
Soon the prince’s throne was occupied by the pious Yaroslav. At that time, the priest Hilarion lived, he served in the church of Berestovo and dug himself a small cave on one of the Dnieper hills and there he prayed. The prince placed Hilarion as a metropolitan,
Once the hegumen of the Athonite monastery, where Antony was, obeying God’s voice, ordered the Angolans to again go to Russia. When the monk returned to Kiev, he began to live in a cave, dug by Hilarion, and pray to God there. Many people came to him for blessing. They came and wanted to become monks.
During the reign of Izyaslav, Antony already had brothers in twelve people, including Saint Theodosius. The monks dug a large cave. Antony appointed abbot Varlaam; he himself was used to solitude and therefore made himself a special cave. But the brothers did not fit in the cave yet. The monks set up a small ground church and decided to build a monastery. Anthony blessed this intention, and Prince Izyaslav gave them to build a mountain above the cave. Since then, the monastery is called Pechersky, because previously the monks lived in a cave.
Prince Izyaslav soon transferred Varlaam to hegumenhood in the monastery of St. Dmitry. Then the brethren elected Hegumen Theodosius. Saint Theodosius gathered a hundred monks in the monastery. He introduced in the monastery
About humble and multi-patient Nikon-Chernorizze
An monk named Nikon was captured by the Polovtsi. He was kept in chains. Relatives came to buy Nikon, but he refused, deciding that there is a will of God that he was in captivity.
Relatives left, and the Polovtsi, wishing to receive ransom, began to bite the monk. He was starved, thirsty, kept in the cold in winter. Nikon hoped that the Lord would deliver him. He told the tormentors that he had a dream in which he was told: “In three days you will be in a monastery.” The Polovtsi decided that Nikon wanted to escape, trimmed his shins and guarded him tightly. But on the third day he suddenly became invisible.
At that moment he found himself in the church of the Caves Monastery. The amazed brethren encircled the monk. There were fetters on Nikon, and he was all wounded. The monk wanted to hide the miracle, but it was impossible. When he told all about the brethren, he was removed from the fetters and turned into things necessary for the altar.
After a while, the Polovnik, who Nikon was in captivity, came to Kiev. In the monastery he saw his former prisoner. Then Polovchinin with his family was baptized and became a monk.
Nikon could work miracles. When he was in captivity, his comrades got sick from hunger, but he healed them with a prayer, and they fled, becoming invisible. And one day, when the Polovnik died, he ordered the crucifixion of Nikon over his grave. Nikon, by prayer, healed him, and delivered himself from death.
About the holy Athanasius the recluse, who died, and the next day he came to life again and lived then twelve years
A brother named Athanasius, who led a holy life, died after a long illness. The whole day he remained without burial, because he was poor and no one wanted to bury him.
At night, the abbot heard a voice that said that Athanasius was without burial the second day. The abbot with the brothers went to the deceased, but found him alive, sitting in tears. He only repeated all the questions: “Save yourself!” – and advised to remain in obedience and repentance. He lived as a recluse in his cave for another twelve years and never spoke to anyone. Before his death, he repeated to the brethren the admonition of obedience and repentance.
One of the brothers, Vavila, suffering from pain in the legs, touching the body of Athanasius, was healed. He told me that Athanasius appeared to him in a vision and said: “Come, I will heal you.”
About Aref-Chernorizze, as he stole wealth from thieves in charity, he was imputed, thanks to which he received a salvation
In the monastery there lived an monk named Aref, a Polovchian. He was rich, but he did not give anything to the poor. Once he was robbed of all the wealth. Aref began searching and accused the innocent. The brothers tried to comfort him and persuaded him not to look for the missing, but he did not want to listen.
After a while, Aref became seriously ill. When he was dying, he saw angels and demons who argued about his soul. The angels said that if for the loss of wealth a person thanks God, then it is more alms. Then Aref exclaimed: “Lord, I have sinned, all yours, but I’m not complaining.” Then the angels recorded the stolen goods from him as alms.
Arefa recovered and told everything. Since then, his character has completely changed, and he praised God for everything.
On the two enemies who were at war with each other, Titus-pope and Evagrii-deacon
There lived two brothers in spirit, deacon Evagrius and pop Titus. They loved each other very much, but the devil sowed enmity and hatred between them. So, in enmity, they lived for a long time.
One day Titus got very sick and sent to Evagrius with a plea for forgiveness. Evagrius did not forgive and did not want to go to the sick man. The elders led him by force, wishing to reconcile the brothers. The patient with tears asked for forgiveness, but the deacon mercilessly refused. With these cruel words Evagrius suddenly fell and died. And Titus also recovered unexpectedly.
Then Titus said that at that moment he saw an angel with a fiery spear. The angel struck Evagri with a spear, and Titus gave his hand and lifted it.
About Nikita the recluse, who later was bishop of Novgorod
In the monastery there lived a monk named Nikita. He wanted to be glorified by people, and began to ask the hegumen Nikon to shutter. The hegumen did not allow him. But Nikita did not listen and shut himself up in the cell.
A few days later he was seduced by the devil. The demon appeared before the monk in the form of an angel. He told Nikita not to pray, but only to read books. Nikita obeyed. Soon he began to prophesy, and fame went about him as a holy one.
Nikita knew the Old Testament by heart, but did not want to hear about Novy. And everyone understood from this that he was deceived by the devil. Then the Reverend Fathers, who lived in the monastery, drove away the demon from Nikita. The monk at once forgot the Old Testament and in general all the books, so that he was hardly taught to read and write.
After this, Nikita became a monk obedient, humble, virtuous and even miracles could create. He was appointed bishop of Novgorod.
On the holy and blessed Agapita, an unselfish physician
With blessed Antonia, a monk of Kiev named Agapit took monastic vows. He always helped sick brothers and served them. The Lord gave him the gift of healing. Many patients recovered from his prayers.
At this time there was one skilled doctor, an Armenian born and believing. When he saw the hopeless sick, he immediately predicted their day of death, and always his words came true. To one man he predicted death in eight days. But Saint Agapit gave this patient a monastery meal, and he recovered. Then the Armenian sent to the monastery the condemned to death. In front of Agapit he was given a deadly potion. Agapit fed the dying person with his food, and he received healing. Then the Armenian, tormented by envy, persuaded his fellow believers to poison Agapita. But the poison did not cause sacred harm.
Prince Vladimir Monomakh fell seriously ill. Treatment of the Armenian did not help him. The prince began to ask Agapit to come to him. But the monk refused, because he vowed never to leave the monastery, and if he goes to the prince, then he will have to go to other patients. The messenger of the prince asked Agapit to give at least a cure. Agapit again sent his food, and Vladimir recovered.
Monomakh went to Pechersky Monastery to thank Agapit, but he disappeared. Then the prince sent the boyar with gifts to Agapita, but the monk refused to take anything. Boyarin persuaded the monk to accept gifts for the prince, he agreed and said that the prince should give all his wealth to the poor. Then Agapit slowly threw away the presents from the cell. The prince also obeyed Agapit and distributed the property to the poor.
Then Agapit himself fell ill. The Armenian came to visit him. He began to talk with the monk about medical art and realized that Agapit did not know anything about this. The Armenian told the sick monk that he would die in three days. “If it is not so, then I myself will become a monk,” he added. And Agapit himself said that he would die in three months – so God told him.
At that time Agapit was brought to the sick man. The monk rose, as if he were not sick, gave the sufferer his food, and he became healthy. Learning that the Armenian doctor – a foreigner, Agapit drove him out of the cell. The saint died, as he had predicted, three months later
And the Armenian healer renounced the Armenian faith and took monastic vows in the Pechersky Monastery. He said that the blessed Agapit appeared to him after his death and reminded him of the promise to adopt a monastic image.
About Saint Gregory the Miracle-worker
Gregory came to the monastery and learned from St. Theodosius monastic life. He could cast out demons.
Once the enemy of the human race taught the evil people to steal from Grigory his only wealth – books. Grigory, being in the church, felt that thieves had come to his cell. According to his prayer, God sent a dream to the villains. They woke up only five days later. Grigory fed them and let them go. The lord of the city, upon learning of this, seized the thieves. And Grigory gave the lord his books so that he would release these people. The rest of the books he sold, so that no one was tempted to steal them, and gave money to the poor. Forgiven thieves repented and began to work in the Pechersky Monastery.
On another occasion, the thieves wanted to steal the fruit from the garden that belonged to Gregory. But, taking the burden, they could not move, so they stood there for two days. Gregory said that they will, as lovers of idleness, stand here idly by the end of days. The thieves swore that they would work now, and not steal. Then the saint released them, and they, fulfilling their promise, also began to work in the monastery in the garden.
Three people came to the miracle worker Gregory. They said that one of them was condemned to the gallows, but he could get rid of death with the help of a ransom. Gregory gave the deceivers his books, grieving for the imminent death of one of them. Liars were delighted, they decided to sell books, and even to harvest the fruit trees in the monastery. They locked Saint Gregory in a cave so that he did not disturb them. One of them (that same false-convicted) climbed a tree, but the branch broke off. His comrades rushed to run, and he clung to the branch with a necklace and struck. The next morning, when the brothers released locked Grigory from the cave, he ordered to remove the dead, and his comrades said: “So your thought has come true.” Repentant deceivers ended their days in the Pechersky Monastery.
When blessed Gregory went to the Dnieper for water, he met Prince Rostislav Vsevolodich with his brother Vladimir. They were going on a campaign against the Polovtsians, and on the way they wanted to go to the Pechersky Monastery. The prince’s servants began to mock the saint. And the starets persuaded them to repent, predicting that soon they, along with their prince, would perish in the water. Prince Rostislav, angry, ordered to drown Grigory. Thus died the Holy Wonderworker. The brothers were looking for him for two days, and on the third day Grigory’s body miraculously appeared in the cave.
Rostislav did not enter the monastery with rage, but his brother Vladimir went. And when, escaping after the battle against the Polovtsians, the princes crossed the river, Rostislav drowned with his squad, and Vladimir – escaped.
About the Monk Moses Ugrine
Blessed Moses was born Hungarian. He served Prince Boris. During the murder of Boris, Moses managed to avoid death. He began to live with the sister of Prince Yaroslav, Predslava. Polish King Boleslav, who went to Rus along with the exiled prince Svyatopolk the Wretched, took prisoner Yaroslav’s sisters and many boyars, and with them Moses. He was shackled in iron and guarded.
Moses saw a young noble widow. She wanted to persuade the young man to commit adultery and was even ready to marry him. But Moses refused – he wanted to keep his soul and body clean.
Then the woman bought Moses, and he became her slave. She tried to seduce a young man, dressed in precious clothes, fed sweet foods, but this did not lead to anything. The widow decided to starve him, but one of her servants secretly fed Moses. And the others were surprised by his persistence and advised to marry a noble lady. But Moses aspired to monasticism.
The widow planned to deceive Moses with ambition. He was taken by the cities and villages that belonged to him, and all bowed to the young man. But he was completely indifferent to it.
At that time one monk came from the Holy Mountain. He tonsured Moses into monasticism.
The woman began to threaten the youth with death and ordered him to beat him with sticks. She turned to King Boleslaw, wishing to take revenge on the slave for his disgrace. Boleslav ordered the woman to come and bring Moses. Seeing the adherence of the young man, Boleslav allowed a noble widow to do anything with the slave. Moses also foretold him and his mistress a near death.
The widow, desperate to fulfill her desire, ordered Moses to be scolded. And Boleslav banished all monks from his country. But soon he died suddenly, and a rebellion arose in the country, during which she was killed, and Mrs. Moses.
Moses came to Kiev, to the Caves Monastery. He could heal other people from the fleshly passion.
About the blacksmith Prochorus, who, with prayer from the grass called the swan, made bread, and from the ashes – salt
During the reign of the unjust and evil Svyatopolk in Kiev, there were many strife, the Polovtsy raided and there was a famine in the Russian land.
In those days a man from Smolensk came to John the Cave hetman. He also took the name Prokhor. The new monk was distinguished by an amazing abstinence: he did not even eat bread, but collected swans and baked bread from it. When the great famine came, people, imitating Prokhor, also began to bake bread from the swans. And Prokhor at this time worked especially hard: he was clothed with his bread all those who wished. If he himself gave this bread, then he was very tasty. And if someone stole bread from Prokhor, he was becoming bitterly bitter, so that he could not be eaten.
One of the brothers stole bread from Prokhor and could not eat it. This was repeated several times. The guilty brother told Hegumen John about his sin. The bread was bitter. Then the abbot sent to ask for bread from Prokhor: that one bread was taken from his hands, and another – secretly. When these two breads were brought to the hegumen, the stolen one changed before his eyes: he looked like a land, but tasted bitter. After this miracle, the glory of Prokhor went through the whole earth.
When the internecine strife began due to the blindness of Prince Vasilka, there was no salt in the whole Russian land, because merchants were not allowed. And Prokhor collected a lot of ash, distributed it to those who came to him, and this ash, according to the saint’s prayer, turned into salt. He distributed this salt for free to everyone, so the price of salt fell heavily on the market. Selling the salt came to Prince Svyatopolk and began to complain about Prokhor. The prince decided to take the salt from the monk and sell it himself at a high price. But when Prokhor was taken away the salt, they saw that it was just ashes.
The prince kept this ash for three days, and then ordered to throw it away. He immediately turned into salt, and the townspeople collected it. The prince, having learned of this miracle, went to the Pechersky Monastery and brought repentance to the abbot John (although he had previously feuded with John and even tried to imprison him in Turov).
Since that time Svyatopolk began to love and honor the holy monastery, especially Prokhor. He gave his word not to create more evil and asked Prokhor to put it in his own hands if the prince died earlier. And if Prokhor died earlier, the prince himself would put him in the coffin.
When Prokhor got sick, the prince was at war. The saint sent him to come and fulfill his promise. Svyatopolk dismissed the army, came to Prokhor. He before the death instructed the prince. When Prokhor died, Svyatopolk put his body in a coffin. After that, he continued the war and won over the enemies.
From that time, when Svyatopolk was going to war, he always came to the monastery first to bow to the saints buried there.
About the Monk Spyridonus the Prosper and Alimpia the iconographer
Spiridon came to the monastery from the village; he quickly learned the books. At the behest of Hegumen Spyridon, the peep of the prosphora, and at the same time he sang the Psalter incessantly.
Once Spiridon flooded the stove, and the roof of the bakery caught fire from the flames. Then St. Spyridon fastened his sleeves at his shirt, ran to the well and poured water into the shirt. Miraculously, the water did not pour from his shirt, and Spiridon managed to extinguish the flames.
Reverend Alimpia parents gave to study icon painting. This was when the Greek icon painters painted the churches of the Caves Monastery.
The masters decorated the altar of the church with a mosaic, and suddenly a radiant image of the Virgin appeared. A white dove flew from the mouth of the Mother of God and flew into the mouth of Savior. Artists tried to find a dove in the church, but in vain. Then they saw how the miracle happened again. And Alimpiy, who helped the masters, saw this.
Under Hegumen Nikone, Alimpius took tonsure. He learned well the icon painting skills, wrote many icons and did not take anything for it. Alimpiy also updated the dilapidated icons and put them on their seats. Hegumen made him a priest.
One rich Kievite was a leper. The doctors could not cure him. A friend persuaded the leper to go to the Pechersky Monastery. There he was washed and watered with water from the well of St. Theodosius. But because of his disbelief, the leper got sick even more.
After reflecting on his sins, the patient came to the Monk Alimpius and repented. Alimpius let him sins and painted his face with paint, covering up the scabs and giving it the same beauty. Then the leper took communion, bathed in holy water, and immediately received healing.
Another husband from Kiev set up a church and wanted to make icons for her. He gave the two monks money and icon boards so that they would give it to Alimpia, and he would write the icons. Monks took silver and Alimpia did not say anything. They lied to the customer that Alimpius needs more money. The man gave more money, and the monks again appropriated them and squandered them. The same thing happened again for the third time, and then the monks said that Alimpiy took the money, but did not want to write the icons.
Then the offended client with the squad went to the monastery and started complaining about Alimpia. Alimpiy was only surprised, because he did not know anything. Hegumen ordered the monks who took the money to be brought and bring the icon boards. The deceivers continued to slander Alimpia, that he did not want to write icons. But the icons, to everyone’s amazement, were already written – created by God himself.
The monks-deceivers were expelled from the monastery, but they did not stop slandering: now they claimed that they themselves painted the icons. But miracles showed that these icons were not simple. That church where they were, burned, but the icons remained intact. Prince Vladimir, upon learning of this, took one of the icons and sent her to Rostov, to the local church there. This church collapsed, and the icon was preserved. She was placed in a wooden church, which was burned, but the fire did not touch the icon.
One man ordered Alimpius an icon for the holiday. The icon painter got sick, the icon remained unwritten, the customer grieved and bore the Reverend. He advised to rely on God: the icon will be ready on time. The customer came to Alimpia on the eve of the holiday, and the monk was very bad. The man began to reproach Alimpia: why, they say, did not warn him, he would have transferred the order to another icon-painter. The customer left in sorrow, and in the cell of the monk the angel appeared and began to paint the icon. At first, Alimpius thought that this was a simple man, but the speed of his work showed that it was an angel. The icon was finished in three hours.
And the person who ordered the icon went to his church next morning and, seeing the shining new icon, fell from fear. He came to the hegumen of the monastery and told about the miracle. They all hurried to Alimpia and saw that he was dying. He was asked about the creation of the icon, and the monk said that it was written by an angel. This angel, ready to receive the soul, saw Alimpius at his bed. When the holy icon painter died, his body was placed in a cave with the Reverend Fathers.
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