Holy Righteous Servant Artemius and the Verkolsky Monastery. Icon of St. Artem of Verkolsky
The Holy Righteous Artemy of Verkolsky, the wonderworker, was born in 1532 in the village of Verkol, in the Dvina region, along the Pinega River, two versts upstream from Kevrola 2 . His parents - father Cosmas, nicknamed Small, and mother Apollinaria - were peasants of that village. They raised their son in the fear of God and Christian piety.
From the age of five, he already began to shun the habits characteristic of children, did not like children's games, was quiet, meek, God-fearing, obedient to his parents, diligently helped his father in his peasant work, as much as he could for his age.
Once, when he was 12 years old, he worked with his father in the field, harrowed the land. Suddenly a formidable cloud approached, it became dark as night, a storm arose with a downpour, lightning and a terrible clap of thunder broke out over the head of the frightened Artemy, after which the blessed youth fell dead 3 .
Thus, the merciful and wise Lord God deigned to receive the soul of His righteous servant into His heavenly abodes. However, the fellow villagers of Saint Artemy did not understand, due to their foolishness, this visitation of God and, according to superstition, considered the unexpected death of the blessed lad as a righteous judgment of God, punishing Artemy for some secret sins of his.
The body of the blessed Artemy, as having died of a sudden death, remained not even inscribed and not buried; they laid it on an empty spot in a pine forest, on top of the ground, covered it with brushwood and birch bark, and surrounded it with a wooden fence. So it lay for 32 years, forgotten by everyone.
One summer, Agathonikos, deacon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Verkole, walked through that forest, picking mushrooms, saw a light over the place where the blessed youth rested, approached and found his incorruptible body. He immediately told the Verkol peasants about this. But those, out of their foolishness, simply took the body of Artemy, without any honors brought it to their parish church and laid it on the porch, covering the coffin with birch bark, which covered the righteous youth in the forest 4 .
But the Lord deigned to glorify His saint in the country of Kevrol: from his relics, inexhaustible healing began to flow to the sick. In that year, by God's permission, a malignant fever spread in the Dvina region. Many died from this serious illness, especially women and children. The son of the Verkol villager Kallinikos also fell ill with this disease. In great grief, Kallinikos prayed for the healing of his son, then went to church, venerated the tomb of the righteous Artemy and, taking the birch bark that covered his incorruptible relics, with faith hung it to the cross on the chest of his dying son. The patient recovered. The overjoyed Kallinikos told about this to all his fellow villagers, who happily gathered in the church of St. Nicholas and began to sing prayers and create a memory for the righteous youth Artemy. And the Lord had mercy on His servants: the fever soon stopped.
Miracles of St. Artemy of Verkolsky
A certain man, named Pavel, from a serious illness, had his neck so twisted that his head turned back and his eyes closed. In such trouble, Paul turned with fervent prayer to God and the righteous Artemy, and the sick man's head straightened, his eyes opened. Healed hastened to tell everyone in his village about what had happened. After that, at the church of St. Nicholas, the Verkoltsy arranged a special chapel, where they transferred the relics of Artemy from the porch, putting them in a new coffin. This was in 1584.
When the relics of the blessed lad were brought to the chapel, a woman came there with a relaxed baby, asked to serve a prayer service, put her lad to the coffin of Artemy, and the lad's sick hand was healed. Around the same time, a peasant Andrei and a peasant woman Irina, who suffered from eye problems, received health and clear vision from touching the sacred cancer of the newly-appeared miracle worker. One woman, named Maria, who suffered for forty years from a stomach ailment so severe that she often died from excessive suffering for two or three hours, hearing about the miracles flowing from the relics of Artemy, turned to him with a prayer and received a speedy healing.
Seeing the multiplying miracles of healing from the relics of the righteous, two priests, John and Thomas, ordered to write several icons of the righteous Artemy on the boards of the old tomb. From those boards there were shavings. Priest John carefully collected these shavings and put them in storage at the church. The pious worshipers of the righteous Artemy, who with faith took those shavings, received healing from their ailments.
One person from Pinega, named Pankraty, who was passing through Verkol, in 1601 brought one of these icons of St. Artemy to Veliky Ustyug, and many received healing from that image.
In 1619, Metropolitan Macarius of Novgorod testified to the relics of the righteous man and blessed them to be transferred to the temple itself on the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, December 6 5 . Some time later, Ilarion Artemiev, a resident of the city of Kholmogor, came to Verkola and said that he had been sick with his eyes for a long time, did not see anything and suffered severely, so he tried to hang himself in despair, and only the neighbors who came to the rescue prevented this. Hearing about the miracles flowing from the relics of the righteous Artemy, he turned to him with fervent prayer for his healing.
“At the same hour,” the healed man said, “I received my sight, and saw in a vision St. Artemy in white robes with a small staff in his left hand and with a cross in his right. He signed me with a cross and said:
- Man! what are you suffering? Arise: Christ, through me, His servant, heals you. Go to Vercola, kiss my coffin and tell the priest and all the peasants about this. With these words, the righteous lad, taking my hand, seemed to compel me to do this, and then became invisible. When I woke up, I felt completely healthy, as if I had never been sick. And so I came here to venerate his holy relics.”
Another miracle happened to one peasant from the village of Kivokurya, Ustyug district, Patriciy Ignatiev. He suffered from a hernia since childhood. Hearing about the miracles of the righteous Artemy, he prayed to him with faith, made a vow to venerate his coffin and recovered, but then forgot about the vow he had made. A few years later, he again felt attacks of a hernia, which began to torment him even more than before. Patricius again turned with a prayer to the righteous Artemy and remembered his unfulfilled vow. The prayer of the sick man was heard, but Patricius again forgot about the vow he had made.
Then anguish fell upon him, and impenetrable darkness covered his eyes. The unfortunate man again remembered his unfulfilled vow, bitterly repented and promised to fulfill his duty without delay. The righteous Artemy of Verkolsky again delivered Patricius from his illness, and the healed one hurried with joy to Verkola to the tomb of Artemy, ordered a prayer service for him, kissed his multi-healing coffin with tears and confessed before everyone about the miracle that had happened and his sinful forgetfulness.
In 1636, in the month of March, Afanasy Pashkov, appointed there by the governor, went to Kevrola and Mezen. On the way, he stopped at Verkol, but Artemy was not at the shrine of the relics of the righteous, and he did not serve a prayer of thanksgiving. In Kevrol, his son, the youth Jeremiah, fell seriously ill with a fever and was already preparing for death. Then the father remembered that he had not served a prayer service to the righteous Artemy, and made a vow to go on a pilgrimage to Verkola.
And suddenly, Pashkov's son, lying in heavy oblivion, got up from his bed and, holding on to the window, began to ask his father which way he should go to the righteous Artemy. Marveling at this, the father brought his son to Vercola. Here they served a votive prayer service, took birch bark from the coffin of the Wonderworker, so that the sick man would wear it on his chest along with the cross, and the lad recovered. The grateful father created in Verkol, at the place where the relics of Artemy were found, a temple in honor of the martyr Artemy of the same name to the righteous youth.
Some time later, the temple in Verkol burned down, and the relics of the righteous Artemy were also burned. To protect the relics of Artemy from such accidents, the local priest Lavrentiy and the parishioners of the Verkolsky village built a special chapel over them, put them in a new shrine and covered them with a new cover.
After that, new wonderworkings began to flow from the tomb of the miracle worker. So, the righteous Artemy saved a certain Simeon Kazarinov from drowning. After Ilyin's day, he sailed on a ship along with his comrades in the Arctic Ocean from Mangazeya 6 to Arkhangelsk. Suddenly a fierce storm came, and the ship was threatened with an imminent wreck. The swimmers were horrified and desperate.
Seeing no hope of salvation from anywhere, they began to prepare for death and, in anticipation of it, to say goodbye to each other. Then they came to their senses and began to pray with tears to the Lord God and the righteous Artemy for their salvation, promising to serve a thanksgiving prayer service to the saint of God. And, through their prayer, the sea calmed down, and those who drowned escaped inevitable death.
The glory of healings and miracles from the relics of the righteous Artemy spread far. Metropolitan Cyprian of Novgorod sent his incorruptible relics to be examined again, then with his signature he confirmed the list of healings delivered to him and sent a newly compiled service to the Verkolsky miracle worker to the church in the village of Verkola.
In 1648, a letter of Tsar Alexy Mikhailovich was sent to Kevrola, in the name of the local voivode Anichkov: it was ordered to put the relics of the righteous Artemy in a new shrine and it was allowed to build a monastery on the spot where his relics were found, which, according to the royal letter, were on next year they were moved there and laid in the church of the holy martyr Artemy, built by the voivode Pashkov. At the same time, various healings flowed from the holy relics to everyone who flowed to them with faith and prayer.
The people gathered in multitudes offered up warm prayers to Christ God and His holy saint, the righteous Artemy, the Wonderworker of Verkol, glorifying the grace of God, manifested in him as a consolation to all Orthodox Christians. Subsequently, the relics of Righteous Artemy, on the occasion of fires, were taken out of the temple of the monastery three times, until finally, in 1793, a stone temple was built in the monastery, consecrated in honor of Righteous Artemy, in which his relics were laid 7 .
Troparion, tone 2:
By the command of the Most High / cloud darkening the sky, / and lightning flashing, / thundering with thunder with a rebuke, / you emitted your soul in the hand of the Lord, / wise Artemius, / and now stand before the Throne of the Lord of all, / about those who come to you with faith and love / giving immediate healing to all, / and praying to Christ God, / that our souls be saved.
Greatness:
We magnify you, / passion-bearer of Christ, Artemy, / and honor your holy memory, / you pray for us / Christ our God.
Kontakion, tone 8:
Today, the blessed memory of the wise Artemy rises up: God-given grace pours out like a river, from the holy-healing shrine of his relics, wondrous healing, we get rid of various ailments, I accept with faith, and cry out: Rejoice, Artemy the God-wise.
Footnotes:
1 Compiled according to various lists of ancient life.
2 Pinega is a river of the Vologda and Arkhangelsk provinces, Solvychegodsk and Pinega counties, the right (navigable) tributary of the Northern Dvina. Kevrola or Kevrol - the main village of the volost, which received its name from it, now - the village of Voskresenskoye, from where the district administration was subsequently transferred to the Volok-Pinezhsky churchyard, later renamed the city of Pinega.
4 The relics of the righteous Artemy were found in 1577.
5 Macarius was Metropolitan of Novgorod from 1619 to 1626. By his own blessing and order, the life of Artemy was compiled with a legend about his posthumous miracles, which since 1605 were recorded from the words of the healed themselves.
6 Mangazeya is a tract of the Yenisei province in the Turukhansk region, on the right bank of the river. Taza, where the chapel of St. Martyr Basil of Mangazeya. Mangazeya is the first Russian city in Eastern Siberia, founded in 1601, but after 60 years it was completely deserted; now only traces of it remain.
(1532, Verkola village (modern Pinezhsky district of the Arkhangelsk region) - June 23, 1545), right. (commemorated June 23, October 20, in the Cathedral of the Karelian Saints and in the Cathedral of the Novgorod Saints). “The Life of the Holy Righteous God-wise Servant of the Newly Appeared Artemius, Verkolsky Wonderworker” is known in a large number of lists of the 17th-19th centuries, reflecting 3 main editions. 1st edition of the life, compiled ca. 1619 at the behest of the Metropolitan of Novgorod. Macarius, contains a description of 53 miracles that took place through prayers to A.V., the last miracle dates back to 1618. This edition, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, is based on the initial story about A.V., which arose immediately after the transfer of the relics saint in 1577 and containing a description of 19 miracles. The 2nd and 3rd editions supplement the 1st with later miracles. According to researchers, the 2nd edition of the life, describing 72 miracles, was compiled in 1649, the 3rd edition was created in the Artemiev Verkolsky Mon-re under the rector Anthony (Popov; 1693-1729), 85 miracles are reflected in it, the last is dated 1700.
AV was born into a peasant family. Parents - Cosmas, nicknamed Small and Apollinaria - raised their son in the fear of God and piety. According to legend, A.V. had a sister - right. maiden Paraskeva of Piriminskaya, famous for her posthumous miracles. One day the boy was harrowing the field with his father. A severe thunderstorm broke out, lightning struck, and A.V. fell dead. The villagers considered the youth's sudden death a punishment for his secret sins and left the body unburied in the forest called Sosonia. In 1577, the deacon of the local church. in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Agathoniks saw an unusual light in the forest over the place where the remains of A.V. rested, and found the incorruptible body of the righteous youth. The peasants transferred St. relics on the porch of Nikolskaya c. in Vercole.
In 1583, during an epidemic that spread around Verkola, a man named Kallinikos became seriously ill with his son. Kallinikos prayed for his healing, then put the boy to the coffin of A.V. and, taking a birch bark, in which the body of the saint was wrapped, put it on the shoulders and on the “gaitan” (pectoral cross) of the child, who immediately recovered. Callinicus told about the miracle that had happened to the inhabitants of Verkola, who had gathered in the church; a moleben was served, and the pestilence stopped. The Life reports that since that time the memory of A. V. began to be celebrated (RSL. Und. No. 378. L. 100-101). In 1584, another resident of Verkola, Pavel, was healed at the tomb of A.V., whose head was turned back. After this miracle, to Nikolskaya Ts. a chapel was attached in the name of the military martyr. Artemy, relics of St. the lad was transferred to a new coffin and solemnly transferred to the chapel. On the boards from the former coffin, the priests John and Thomas ordered to write the images of A. V., which were revered as miraculous. In 1601, a certain Pankratius brought one of the images to Vel. Ustyug, and several residents of Ustyug received healing from him. Shavings from the coffin of A.V. were also considered miraculous, which pious pilgrims attached to their pectoral crosses. At the relics of A.V., healings continued to be performed: St. Tryphon Vyatsky († 1612), who went to his native village. Malnemnyuzhskoe (near Verkola), healed from "relaxation of the hand"; Verkolsky resident John, nicknamed Rastegai, who had been blind for more than 2 years, regained his sight.
In March 1635, A.F. Pashkov (later accompanying Avvakum Petrov to exile) was appointed Kevrol and Mezen voivode. While passing through Verkola, Pashkov did not want to honor the relics of A.V. and left for Kevrola, where his son Jeremiah fell seriously ill. Realizing that his son's illness was a punishment for disbelief, Pashkov went to Verkola to venerate the relics of A.V. a moleben was served in Verkol, then Jeremiah was put to the image and relics of A.V., and the chest was wrapped with birch bark, in which the body of the saint was wrapped. The boy recovered, and Pashkov vowed to create a c. in the name of the military Artemia. In 1645, on the site where the body of the righteous youth was found, a church was built at the expense of Pashkov. in the name of the military Artemia of Antioch with a chapel in the name of A.V. (consecrated with the blessing of Patriarch Joseph and Metropolitan of Novgorod St. Affoniy). A monastery arose at the temple, which originally existed without a royal decree, “by the word” of the governor, because of which the inhabitants were subjected to harassment by local residents. One night A.V. appeared to the abbot of the monastery as a priest. Raphael and encouraged him, predicting imminent changes for the better. In 1648, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich allowed the construction of a monastery, 17 November. the relics of A.V. were transferred to a new shrine, transferred to the monastery and placed in the chapel in the name of the saint. In 1650, the royal salary was sent to the monastery: icons, books, bells, liturgical vessels, church utensils. The Verkolsky mon-ryu was patronized by Patriarch Nikon, who had the life of A. V. in his library.
21 Apr. 1695 during the fire of c. in the name of the military Artemia, where there was a shrine with the relics of A.V., burned down; with the blessing of the Kholmogory archbishop. Athanasius (Lubimov) relics of St. youth were found under the rubble of the burnt temple. In 1700 a new wooden cold church was built. in the name of the military Artemy of Antioch and on July 4, 1701, laid the relics of the righteous youth in it. In 1712, a warm c. was built. with a meal in the name of A.V., after. burnt. In its place in 1785-1806. a stone c. was erected. in the name of A.V. with chapels in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Great Martyr. Artemy, in the aisle in the name of the Great Martyr. Artemia to the south. side was a cancer with the relics of a righteous youth. In 1867, near the Verkolsky monastery, where A.V. died, a new one was built on the site of an ancient chapel, in 1876 it was consecrated as a temple in the name of A.V. (now - a chapel). Since 1888, every year on June 23, a religious procession with the relics of the saint was held around the Verkolsky monastery. St. rights. John of Kronstadt, who revered A. V., repeatedly visited the monastery, in 1892, at his own expense, he arranged a new cancer for the relics of the saint and a carved gilded canopy over it. July 14-15, 1897 St. John was present at the consecration of the monastery church built at his expense in honor of the Assumption of St. Mother of God. St. John is the author of the Akathist to A.V.
In 1919 the Verkolsky monastery was closed, in 1920 the relics of A. V. were hidden by the brethren; according to some evidence, now they are hidden on the territory of the monastery. Divine services in c. in the name of A. V. resumed in 1990, in the same year the shrine was transferred to the church, where the relics of the saint had previously rested (in the 20-80s of the XX century, the shrine was in the chapel built on the site of the death of A. V.), in 1991 monastic life was resumed within the walls of the monastery.
The history of the canonization of A. V. is presented inconsistently in the sources. In one of the later lists of life, it is said that the people of Verkol, seeing many miracles performed through prayers to the righteous youth, gathered for advice and wrote a letter to the Metropolitan of Novgorod. Macarius, who commanded the boyar son Druzhina Malgin, heigum. of the Krasnogorsk Mon-rya Macarius and the Kevrol priests to witness the relics of A.V.; after which Mr. Macarius ordered the life and service of the saint to be written, a temple to be built in his honor, and his relics to be placed there. Dec 6 In 1610, the relics of A.V., by order of the metropolitan, were transferred from the chapel to St. Nicholas Church. (RNB. Q. I. 990, late 18th - early 19th centuries). However, in 1610 the Novgorod cathedra was occupied by Metropolitan. Isidore, igum of Krasnogorsk. Macarius really labored under Met. Macarius. A source known to N.P. Barsukov reports that in 1639 the Metropolitan of Novgorod. Cyprian († December 17, 1634) sent an order to Verkola to witness the relics of "the local and roundabout abbots, and priests, and deacons." Having received a list of healings, the Metropolitan in 1640 established a local celebration of the memory of A. V., at the same time they made up a service - “a complete feast: stichera, and slavniks, and casting, and stikhovna, and the Theotokos, and the canon, and ikos, and luminary, and laudatory, and singing under the banner. Since this message also contains a chronological contradiction, it can be assumed that the canonization of the saint took place at the same time that the life was composed - c. 1619 The memory of "the holy and reverend Artemy of Verkopolsky, Izh in Kevrol" (without indicating the day) was included in Simon (Azaryin's) Menologions (RGB. MDA. No. 201. L. 335ob., Ser. 50s of the 17th century. ). In 1685 a short life of the saint was published under 20 Oct. in the Prologue, which speaks of the general Russian. veneration of A. V., the memory of A. V. is also noted in the Description of Russian Saints (end of the 17th-18th centuries). In 1701 in Moscow in the temple in the name of the Great Martyr. Paraskeva on Pyatnitskaya st. a chapel was consecrated in the name of A.V., here his miraculous image with a particle of relics, written on a board from the tomb of the saint, was kept.
In the printed Menaia, now used in the Russian Orthodox Church, under June 23 (Minea (MP). June. Part 2. S. 270-282) A.V. troparion and kontakion from the indicated service (Minea (MP), October, p. 524). In Verkolsky Mon-re, an akathist to the saint is read daily.
Source: Description of Russian saints. S. 157; Prologue. September-February. M., 1685.
Lit .: Yakhontov I. Lives of the Saints of the North Russian Ascetics of the Pomor Territory as a Historical Source. Kaz., 1881. S. 183-187; Klyuchevsky. Ancient Lives. pp. 323-324; Barsukov. Sources of hagiography. Stb. 62-64; Golubinsky. Canonization of saints. S. 128; Sergius (Spassky). Monthly. T. 3. S. 231; Dmitriev L . A . Hagiographic stories of the Russian North as monuments of literature of the XIII-XVII centuries. L., 1973. S. 249-261, 290-292; Macarius. History of the RC. Book. 4. Part 2; Book. 6; Savelyeva N . IN . "The Life of Artemy Verkolsky" in the manuscript tradition of the Verkolsky Monastery // TODRL. 1999. V. 51. S. 365-376; St. Artemiev Verkolsky Monastery. M., 2000.
A. K. Salnikov, E. V. Romanenko
Iconography
According to the description in the icon-painting original. thurs. XVII century, A.V. “12 years old, in one shirt, in the left hand a staff, in the right cross” (IRLI. Bobk. No. 4. L. 142v.), in the original of the XVIII century: “Righteous lad. .. who was a farmer with his father Kozma and went to the field, died from thunder great, young boy 12 years old, in a shirt, a vine in his hand, his knees were bare. And the Indian writes in a shirt and in ports ”(Filimonov, p. 175). One of the earliest images of the saint - in a short white chiton and himation - is preserved on the icon of St. Basil the Blessed and A. V. in prayer to the Savior Emmanuel in the 20s. 17th century Stroganov master (collection of P. M. Tretyakov, State Tretyakov Gallery). On drawings from the icons of the 17th century. the righteous youth is presented straight-faced, full-length, with a blessing right hand and a scroll in his left hand, often among the chosen saints (Markelov, vol. 1, pp. 125, 127, 135). Together with St. Nicholas, he is depicted on the icon of ser. 17th century (GIM), in the center of which a wooden cross of the 16th century is embedded; with mch. Warom - on the icon of ca. 70s 17th century (TG); from St. John the Baptist - on the image of con. 17th century (VGIAHMZ). On the field of the icon, among the chosen saints, on the image of the Crucifixion of Christ by Leonty Stefanov, 1679 (GIM); on the lower field of the icon of the Mother of God "Three Hands", XVII century. (GIM), - waist-high, with palms facing the viewer.
In the early lists of the life of the saint (GIM. Shchuk. No. 424. L. 1ob., 50s of the 17th century; BAN. Arch. D. 255. L. 3ob., 1655), copied in the Verkolsky Mona- re monk Anthony (Lovtsov), there are miniatures with a full-length graphic image of A. V. in an ornamental frame of the old printed style: a youth, with a cross in his right hand and a staff in his left, is turned to the blessing right hand of the Lord in the segment of the sky. In the Collection of Lives of the Saints of the 17th century. an illustration is placed with the plot of the death of the righteous youth (RNB. OLDP. F 137. L. 95v., 96v.).
Icons of A.V. praying to the Savior (in the cloudy segment), against the backdrop of the wooden Verkolsky monastery on the banks of the Pinega, were widely used. The saint was traditionally depicted as a youth with a rounded face and short, slightly wavy hair, in a short white (sometimes red) shirt, with a cross and a branch (or a lightning bolt) in his hands, with bare feet. The panorama of the mon-rya, as a rule, reproduces its historical appearance: the temple of the Great Martyr. Artemia of Antioch, tent c. in the name of St. Nicholas, a refectory, a bell tower, a fence with the Holy Gates and other wooden buildings; near or far - arable land with a hedge, a horse harnessed to a harrow, and a lying figure of a murdered youth; in the clouds the blessing Savior, to whom the Guardian Angel offers the soul of the righteous. This iconographic rendition includes the icon con. XVII - beginning. 18th century (GE), draw from the icon of the XVIII century. northern letters (Markelov. T. 1. S. 133), draw from the icon of the 18th century. (GRM) - without a view of the mon-rya. On the icon of the 1st floor. 19th century (AMII) a stone temple in the name of A.V. is presented, on the image of the beginning. 19th century (AMII) the image of the service of the monks in the temple at the relics of the saint is included in the composition. Sometimes, next to the figure of A.V. praying, only a story about his death (from several plots) is presented, without a view of the mon-rya, for example. on 18th century icons. (GE; AMII), draw from the icon of the XVIII century. (GRM); sometimes there is an inscription: "Artemi[y] was killed by thunder." On a drawing from an icon of the 17th century. twice a lying youth is depicted, above him is a brand with the image of the Assumption of Rights. Anna (Markelov. T. 1. S. 131).
A number of hagiographic icons of A.V. have been preserved: con. 17th century (GRM); con. XVII - beginning. 18th century (SGIAPMZ) - in the centerpiece, the righteous youth is depicted together with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, around 2 rows of hallmarks of the life of A.V.; 18th century (AMII); ser. 19th century (CMAR). As part of the hallmarks of the last icon: the Nativity and the thunder-killing of the saint, 10 posthumous miracles, including the healing of a dry-handed baby, Andrei from the “eye disease”, Abraham from a dental disease, the miracle of Yermolai, “possessed by an unclean spirit”, about John, “who laughed at miracles with [vya]tago and blind and be healthy through prayer”, as well as the transfer of the relics of A.V. to the church dedicated to him. The acts of A.V. are also presented on the engraving by M. Nekhoroshevsky, 1st floor. 18th century (RNB), on a woodcut in 1882 (RSL). The image of A.V. was part of the composition of the Cathedral of the Saints of Novgorod and was placed at the top, as in a drawing from an icon of the 18th century; also in the Cathedral of the Karelian Saints, as on the icon of 1876 (Museum of Orthodox Art in Kuopio, Finland); in the number 189 Rus. saints - on the drawing from the icon of 1814 (Markelov. T. 1. S. 399, 461). The image of the righteous youth early. 20th century placed southwest. pillar in the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Peterhof (1895-1905), probably because imp. Alexander III Alexandrovich died on the day of memory of A.V.
Lit .: Rovinsky. Folk pictures. T. 3. S. 552-553; Antonova, Mneva. T. 2. S. 356-357, 443. No. 845, 954. Il. 157; Milchik M . AND . Verkolsky monastery in the iconography of the XVII-XVIII centuries. // PKNO, 1986. L., 1987. S. 487-496; Kostova A . S ., Pobedinskaya A . G . Russian icons of the 16th - early 20th centuries. with the image of the monasteries and their founders: Cat. vyst. / GE. SPb., 1996. S. 29-30. Cat. 15, 16; Forty magpies. T. 2. S. 612; Markelov. Saints of Ancient Rus'. T. 1. S. 124-135, 398-399, 460-461. T. 2. S. 62; Northern letters: Cat. / Comp. O. N. Veshnyakova, T. M. Koltsova. Arkhangelsk, 1999. Cat. 225, 226.
O. A. Polyakova, Ya. E. Z.
On July 6, 1545, an unexpected tragedy occurred in the northern village of Verkola, which took refuge among the picturesque hills on the right bank of the Pinega River. A thunderstorm, passing over the field where the peasants worked, killed the thirteen-year-old boy Artemy, the son of Cosmas and Appolinaria, respected by the villagers, with a lightning discharge.
What a grief! Words cannot express how sorry the little boy is! What a glorious one he was - quiet, obedient, reasonable! His mother could not get enough of him, his father entrusted him with any work without fear - he will do everything correctly, without a flaw. And to us, the neighbors, Artyomka was always respectful, yes with respect. He will ask, it happened, if help is needed, and in an instant he will do whatever you ask.
Well, go read! Painfully, everyone revered this Artemy, he had respect beyond his years - he was conceited, apparently. Or maybe he had some other grave sin in his soul. I suppose no one has ever praised my Kallinik, but he is no worse than Artyomka! But the Lord sees everything, you cannot deceive Him. Lightning can't strike an innocent person like that. And if God punished Artemy, then we should not justify him!
It's bitter to hear you, Fedor, but maybe you're right.
The inhabitants of Verkola decided at a village meeting that Artemy was not worthy of a Christian burial, since that was God's will for him. The boy's body was left in the forest, covered with brushwood and pine spruce branches. God alone knows how Artemy's parents survived their grief. But even they did not dare to go to where their son lay, by the decision of the villagers, not buried.
Thirty-two years have passed. The deacon of the Verkolsky temple Agathonik, having gone somehow to pick mushrooms, got lost in the forest. It was already getting dark, and the clergyman prayed to find the way to the house before dark. And suddenly, in the twilight of the forest thicket, he saw a bright light. Deciding that it was good people who made the fire, he hurried to the fire. But it wasn't fire! The glow emanated from the body of the youth Artemy - it lay in the same clearing where it was left many years ago. The remains of the boy were not touched by decay, and the oak forest animals did not disturb his peace. Agathonicus ran to the village to tell people about his find. From shock, he was not even surprised that the lost path itself lay under his feet.
However, the Verkoltsy again were in no hurry with the burial. Having brought the imperishable body of the boy into the church fence, he was left to lie without honors right on the ground. Meanwhile, a fever epidemic soon broke out in the village, people began to die one by one. Among those who were between life and death was the son of Kalinnik, Artemy's friend in children's games. Staggering with grief, Kalinnik entered the courtyard of the temple and knelt down over the holy remains of a childhood friend.
Kalinnik:
Artemy, my dear man. If you knew how hard it is for me now - my son is dying, and I can't do anything. So, probably, your mother, Apollinaria, grieved when she lost you. And how we mocked the whole village over her grief! As my father shouted that you deserved for your sins! And I'm good - I was just a kid, but as if I was glad that your righteousness was humiliated - all damned envy. It's sad to think about it now. And you really were a holy man - there was no case to offend anyone. They say the truth - a different court of man, a different court of God. Forgive me, a sinner, Artem! Forgive me and pray for us to the Lord that my son stay alive...
Kalinnik sobbed and buried his forehead in the thorny branches covering the relics of the righteous. He cried for a long time, and from these tears his soul became brighter, as if the living Artemy was nearby, comforting and reassuring. When he returned home, his son came out to meet him - alive and healthy.
The fame of the saint quickly spread throughout the Pinega lands. Anyone who turned to the youth Artemy was convinced of his responsiveness. The boy, who entered into the joy of the Lord, fulfilled prayer requests just as willingly and quickly as once the peasant assignments of his parents and neighbors. And now, as of old, he responds to people's petitions. Pray to him - and see for yourself.
The Holy Righteous Artemy of Verkolsky was born in the village of Verkolye in the Dvina District in 1532. The son of pious parents, Artemy was a patient, meek and diligent youth in all good deeds. On June 23, 1545, thirteen-year-old Artemy and his father were caught in a field by a thunderstorm. At one of the thunderclaps, the lad Artemy fell down dead. People thought that this was a sign of God's judgment, and therefore they left the body in a pine forest unburied. After 28 years, the village cleric saw a light over the place where the incorrupt body of the righteous Artemy lay. The holy relics transferred to the temple were the source of many healings. Later, a monastery was founded in this village, called Verkolsky.
M.SIZOV, I.IVANOV. Shining lad
(Pilgrim's Diary, July 1994)
Saint Artemy of Verkolsky is one of the most revered and beloved saints not only here, onNorth, but among the entire Russian people. His holiness is incomprehensible. He was not a martyr or a schemer who acquired holiness through many years of prayer. He, in fact, has not yet managed to become anyone. He was an ordinary boy - with a pure soul, like all children. And we don’t know why the Lord marked him and took him to heaven, to eternal life, interrupting his earthly existence at the twelfth year of life. We only know about the evidence of his holiness: that the boy's body was found incorruptible in the radiance of the rays, about numerous healings and other miracles.
Their witnesses were pilgrims who came to Verkola from all over Rus'. The village of Verkola is located on the very outskirts of the Arkhangelsk region, bordering Komi. And to this day these places are deaf, sparsely populated. Before the revolution, the Arkhangelsk and Komi lands were connected by the ancient Pinezhsky tract, laid in the forest jungle and swamps, and there is a memory of how pilgrims from the Komi villages walked along it. Did some kind of misfortune happen - the Udor peasants made a vow to God that they would go to pray to the relics of His saint; and then, having received deliverance from hardship, they collected knapsacks, bowed on four sides with the sign of the cross, and went on foot to the Verkolsky monastery.
We got there in three days, spending the night under the trees. This summer, we, fulfilling our vow, went together along this path.
1. Vashka - Pinega
The ancient Pinezhsky tract used to pass by the village of Krivoe, on the Vashka River in the Udora region, and then it stretched through the taiga - to the first Arkhangelsk village of Nyukhcha, from which it was a stone's throw to Verkola. But, having arrived at Vashka, they learned from the villagers that the tract had long been overgrown and impassable. No one goes to Pinega anymore, unless some hunter accidentally wanders, getting lost in pursuit of an elk. On reflection, we decided not to abandon our plan, to go straight ahead - and rely on God in everything. Just in that direction, to the border of the Arkhangelsk region, the tributary of the Vashka, the Puchkoma River, stretches. Along it and went.
The first entry in the diary was: 21 July. We climbed up Puchkoma for 10 km. Halt. We don’t have an akathist to St. Artemy, and we decided to pray to Nicholas the Pleasant, that he would protect us on the way and prevent rain. The sky is gloomy, a downpour is about to pour... Lord, carry it!” Subsequently, they were surprised at their guess: it was to St. Nicholas that they had to turn ... But more on that later.
22 July. God helps: there is no rain, besides, they came across a hunting hut. We read the prayer “To enter a new house” and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night: outside the window the moon was a spot in the sky, it was dark, blowing in autumn. “Lord, from all harm, keep unharmed!” I read it in a whisper, and from the darkness came: "Amen." My partner doesn't sleep either. What lies ahead for us?
23 July. We're home. Logs crackle in the stove, it's warm, I'm sitting at a table by a kerosene lamp, the floor is cleanly scraped, a mirror on the wall, it's cozy ... A thick chain hangs on the door to protect it from a bear. Shreds of brown wool are lying around the hut. There is a deserted taiga for tens of kilometers, but here ... it’s like at home. Why? In the red corner of the hut I notice two empty shelves with wax stains, it is clear that someone is putting icons here. Leaving, we leave the number of the newspaper "Vera" on the table.
July 24th. Early morning. We said goodbye to Puchkoma, which turned into a stream, and then went on by compass. We walked almost non-stop until the very night, some kind of force on the wings carried!
Troparion to St. Artemy of Verkolsky.
“By command of a fat cloud, darkening the sky and flashing lightning, thundering with forgiveness, you emitted your soul in the hand of the Lord, the wise Artemius, and now stand on the throne of the Lord of all, who by faith and love come to your race, giving healing to everyone urgently and praying to Christ God that our souls be saved.
To be honest, it’s scary (are we going in that direction, won’t we die?), From time to time I am baptized on the go - and under my feet in the thickets a barely visible animal path is drawn, it’s easier to walk along it. The tent was pitched already in the dark, on the bank of an unknown stream. During the day we jumped from the basin of the Vashka River to the basin of the Pinega River.”
God bless! In the darkness, they did not notice the collapsed hut. Then, already from one hunter-fisherman, they learned that there was a skete of Old Believers-hidden people here. Apparently, here, in the wilds of the Pinega region, they came from Vyg, and then moved further, to Udora.
July 25th. Along the stream we came to some winding river. We often have to wade, stripping naked. Surprisingly no mosquitoes and no rain either. Somewhere near here is a bear, everywhere his footprints. We rejoice at these signs of life, and it is not at all scary. Definitely someone is leading us “by the hand”, so everything is going well.
Unexpectedly, they came out onto a forest road, sat down and waited. It started to rain immediately, for the first time in the entire journey. We didn’t have time to get wet, a shift car appeared and picked us up. The lumberjacks explained that the river that brought us here is called Nyukhcha and it flows into Pinega. That is, we got out correctly. But they might as well not go through the taiga: there is now a road from Blagoevo, a bridge has been opened, and you can get here from Komi by hitchhiking, in just two hours. In response, we smile, we are silent. Lumberjacks are perplexed: we don’t seem to look like tourists, nor do we look like hunters-fishermen ... Why did we go through the taiga when you can by car ?!
I twist my neck to take one last look at the Sniff, so named perhaps because of the sweet smells of its meadows. How beautiful is this land! Soft, like a feather bed, dry swamps. White moss pine forests. Green humps of hills from which streams flow to Vashka and Pinega. And the sky: bright blue in summer and clear as ice. How many pilgrims have passed here - through the primeval, virgin world! And how easy it was for them to carry the prayer along this taiga road - to carry Artemy. After all, in him, in the holy youth, they loved that same - virginal - purity, given by God from the beginning to both nature and man.
The Lord originally created Adam holy, this holiness was as natural as the surrounding world. But our nature has become confused, only in children is the memory of natural, God-given holiness still reflected... And is it not for this reason that the Lord took the youth Artemy into eternal existence, so that this memory would not die, would not be forgotten in us?
There are no accidents during pilgrimages, everything is filled with meaning - I have long been convinced of this. Still, one coincidence surprised me. Behind were Verkola, Arkhangelsk, I was on the train back - and I thought about the monastery, about our taiga path. The neighbor on the shelf was obviously stuffing herself into a conversation, she wanted to tell something, but I turned away. And then it turned out that the fellow traveler comes from Vashka, knows the local taiga well, in childhood she even went to bear with her father. And later, being the director of the Leshukonsky House of Pioneers, she took the guys on trips to those very places more than once.
“What a fertile land ours is! - the companion suddenly sighed. - I remember, right after the war there was such a miracle. In the middle of summer, when the very beauty of nature sets in, our earth is reflected in the sky. All the villagers jumped out of their houses, their heads turned up. And there, in the sky, like a geographical map: green taiga, Vashka's ribbon sparkles, and - my God! - villages at a glance. Everything is clearly visible from the ground, but for some reason the men climbed onto the roofs, poking their fingers into the sky: “Look! Leshukonskoye, how to see! And over there - Olema, Rezya, Chulasa, Rusoma, Karashchelye ... And there, look, my mother-in-law's house!
I listened to the story of Raisa Nikolaevna Kruptsova, a native of Leshukonya, and, amazed, suddenly imagined how an ordinary boy from the village of Verkola, St. Artemy, was reflected forever in the sky and was looking at us from above.
2. Acquisition
26 July. We drove with lumberjacks to the village of Sosnovka, and from there by regular bus to Verkola. "Bus" - a car "Ural" with a passenger kung. In the entire Pinezhsky district there is not a single asphalt road, only potholes. As they wrote in an old description: "The path to the Verkolsky monastery is extremely difficult." It is located on the other side of the village, on the high bank of the Pinega - separated from the hustle and bustle of life. You have to wait a long time for a boat with a carrier ...
The monastery seemed huge to us: many stone buildings and churches, well preserved. The hieromonk, who was approached for a blessing, presented each with an icon with a troparion. He looked at the image of St. Artemy and was amazed: next to the lad, a gray-haired old man in episcopal robes is depicted - St. Nicholas! And I remembered how for some reason we began to pray to him in the forest, for lack of prayers to St. Artemy ... The monk explained that the two saints are often depicted together, since the lad was a parishioner of St. Nicholas Church, and subsequently his relics also rested in St. Nicholas Church.
Artemy was born in 1523 into a peasant family. From the age of five, he began to shun noisy boyish amusements and surprised everyone with meekness and kindness. He was especially distinguished by his obedience to his parents. Although he was in poor health, from an early age he helped his father in agriculture. On July 6, 1544, when they were plowing in the field, a strong wind suddenly rose, clouds appeared, lightning broke out with an unusual roar, and Artemy gave up his spirit to the Lord. His father returned to the village, and everyone ran to the field, because they loved him. No wound was found on the boy's body. According to the custom of that time, those killed by lightning were not supposed to be buried in the cemetery. He was taken to the forest and laid on the ground, a wooden frame was placed on top.
In 1577, a cleric of the Verkolskaya St. Nicholas Church was gathering berries in the forest and suddenly saw a light shining. On the ground lay the body of the lad, completely whole and as if shining. A priest and parishioners came to the place and “without any reasoning” transferred the body to the porch of the temple, where it, accessible to everyone, lay for another 6 years. Then he was brought to the chapel of the temple. Miracles began immediately. In the same year, 1577, an epidemic disease raged along the Dvina, like a fever, especially children suffered from it. The son of the Verkolets Kallinnik fell ill, the peasant prayed a lot and, finally, prayerfully turned to the blessed Artemy. Having kissed his relics and removed part of the birch bark from the coffin (it served as a cover), he brought the birch bark home and placed it on his son's chest. He suddenly recovered. After that, others began to take birch bark - and were healed. In 1610, by decree of the Metropolitan of Novgorod, the relics were examined, and a service was composed for St. Artemy.
Current view of the monastery |
This is how the monastery came into existence. In 1635 the tsar sent to Kevrola and Mezen governor Athanasius Pashkov. While passing Verkola, the voivode, despite the suggestion of the local priest, did not come in and bow to the newly-appeared miraculous relics. Soon his son Jeremiah fell ill, the boy was almost at death's door, after confession he lost his sight and hearing. Then the governor, remembering his sin, made a vow to go with his son to St. Artemy. Hearing this, Jeremiah himself got up and, holding on to the window, asked his father: “Which way should we go to the wonderworker Artemy?” (From Kevrola to Verkola about 50 miles). With tears, the voivode gave a special (repeated) vow. Arriving there, venerating the relics, Jeremiah was immediately cured. And his father, where the relics were found, built a church in the name of the miracle worker Artemy. In the forest, on the site of a rotten log house, a beautiful wooden temple has grown. The governor also arranged cells, a fence, and a monastic desert appeared. In 1647, by decree of the king, to the displeasure of the inhabitants of Verkola, the relics were transferred to the monastery.
The charter of the monks was strict (it is still hung out in the refectory): “Do not go to each other’s cell without great need, avoid unprofitable conversations in every possible way: do not stop in the corridors for conversations; do not talk at all in rapez; not to read loudly in the cells, to be always dressed alone, except for the night hours: to read each other, especially those older in years ... "
Truly, it was an abode focused on the spiritual life, meek, bright people. Surprisingly, in the whole history, not a single exile was brought here, to the youth Artemy. But in the northern monasteries under the Moscow tsars, objectionable people were often exiled. This desert was indeed separated from this world.
Now the monastery is being revived. And it is strange to see this splendor of stone temples among the taiga expanses. The village of Verkola is not crowded, there are few parishioners here, is it worth investing so much money? But ... deserts are deserts.
Miraculous relics have not yet been found. They disappeared just before the arrival of the "Reds" and, presumably, are hidden under the monastery, in the underground passages. Monks pray for a second acquisition. And it is already felt that the holy blessed youth is here, nearby, giving prayer help. One of these cases occurred in the village of Kevrola, the same one where once the first builder of the desert, voivode Pashkov, took his vow. The village was on fire, fires followed one after another, and then the inhabitants turned to the reviving monastery, to the rector, to beg St. Artemy ... After the prayers in Kevrol, the fires stopped.
The blessed youth also helps the builders of the monastery. It's amazing how little they can do so much...
3. Clock with bells
There are three monks in the monastery so far: rector Hieromonk Joasaph (Vasilikiv), the first tonsure of the monastery, Hieromonk Artemy (Kozlov) - he is on the left in the picture, and cassock monk Father Sergius (Burmistrov). The rector was away, so that together with the workers (four adults and a boy), the entire brethren numbered seven people. Our small number was especially felt during the meal: we sat at a long, long, empty table in a large, echoing hall. Once upon a time, 184 monks fit here, while there was enough space for workers.
The dining room is well-organized. Its high vaults are supported by arched columns with small lattice windows, which served to heat the hall. Warm air rose from the lower mezzanine, where the kitchen was located: from there, ready-made dishes were delivered on lifts, and dirty dishes went down in the same way. Therefore, the cleanliness here was perfect, which is important, because the "dining room" at the same time served as a part of the temple. Long tables used to rest against the open gates, behind which the central part of the temple with the iconostasis was visible. So even at the meal, the monk did not leave the service. They say that the service here was beautiful, until the very revolution in the desert, old Russian pillar singing was preserved.
These gates are now walled up. An icon is hung on the brickwork. After praying for her, we move the plates. Everyone is concentrated, they eat silently, only the voice of Father Artemy is heard - he reads from his life. And suddenly ... a bell ringing is heard from the street. I count those sitting at the table, who could it be calling? For the past 24 hours I have been hearing: every half an hour the bells sound, reminding us of the frailty of earthly, temporary life. How are these few people doing? They have a service almost every day, and cell rules, and restoration work is in full swing (the roof is being laid on one church, window frames are being inserted in another), and their field is huge (there is a tractor in the yard), and three cows require care .. And don't forget to ring the bell every half an hour! Even at night, someone does not sleep, “thumbs”. I wonder out loud what the answer is:
- So it's not a person who calls, but a clock with a fight, four bells are tied to them with ropes. Under the Soviet regime, they were requisitioned, they were taken to Karpogory - and we returned them to their place, to the bell tower.
Everything, it turns out, is simple. But the feeling that there is still someone invisible in the monastery who helps the monks everywhere does not leave me. So in Karpogory (regional center) they managed to set up an icon shop, they bought a house, they are going to open catechism courses. And in Sura, in the homeland of St. John of Kronstadt, they are negotiating to transfer to the monastery a rural church that is not used for its intended purpose. It was built entirely with the money of Father John and belonged to a convent patronized by the saint.
St. John of Kronstadt often visited the Verkolskaya desert. He consecrated the upper church of the largest cathedral here. Only outside, on its walls, there were 54 icons, but how magnificent it was inside! High dome, large windows with stained-glass windows. The procession took place "in the air", along a balcony with a balustrade, arranged around the temple at a high altitude. From this "air" path, God's world opens up on all four sides: down to the very horizon, forests with meadows turn green, the ribbon of Pinega glistens. And inside the temple is not so elegant. The painting has fallen asleep, the inscriptions "tourists" are everywhere.
In total, the monastery has three stone churches, one wooden church, one chapel, two two-story fraternal buildings and the abbot's building, which houses the only school in Verkol. Pupils are brought from the village by boat, which is risky, especially during the ice drift. They don’t build a school themselves and the monastery building was launched - for 70 years the toilet has not been repaired there, so they live “with a smell”. Near the monastery, the village of Svetliy Put grew up, its inhabitants, in the main, were engaged in ruin.
The monastery was not handed over to the church right away - after Lyudmila Vladimirovna Krutikova, the widow of writer Fyodor Abramov, a native of the village of Verkola, “walked through the authorities”. In 1991, the first monk moved here, Father Joasaph. It was autumn, all the windows were broken, the northern winter was approaching... But, the main thing - the monastery was already living.
We met Lyudmila Vladimirovna in the church of St. Artemy Verkolsky. Almost every summer she comes from St. Petersburg to her husband's homeland, although she is already 76 years old. Coincidentally, it was just the day of memory of St. Vladimir the Baptist - the patronal feast of the St. Petersburg Prince Vladimir Cathedral, of which she is a parishioner. She didn’t sit still in her village house and, leaning on a stick, went slowly to Pinega, they transported her by boat, and here she is in the monastery ... In the church of St. Artemy of Verkolsky of the parishioners, besides her and me with a friend, there was only one worker . The service was simple, without a choir. From time to time Krutikova sang along, then with Father Artemy she read the canon to the saint. Tears of joy involuntarily came out: what a simple, pure and sublime service! At the end, we went into the neighboring vestibule (there are two of them in the Artemyevsky temple - in the name of St. Artemy and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker). We escorted Lyudmila Vladimirovna to the very boat, on the way she said that there was a chapel of St. Artemy at the Pyatnitskaya Church in Moscow. Parts of his relics are kept there, and on Memorial Day (July 8) a religious procession is performed with a miraculous icon made from the tomb of the saint. There is a similar temple in Vyatka.
“As long as the Russian people pray to the holy youth, the Russian soul will not grow old and die!”
4. Until dawn
From the bell tower of the church of St. Artemy of Verkolsky, a chime broke and spread far over the Pinega River. As if a whole flock of sonorous birds soared and rushed over the expanse. I thought in pursuit: after all, this “live” bell ringing cannot be compared with the melodic, but monotonous ringing of chimes. Clockwork, even the most well-oiled, cannot replace a human hand, even if it is still inexperienced, very young ...
The bell ringer on the monastery bell tower has been ringing for the whole summer already, the youngest resident of the monastery - the lad Ivan, 12 years old. When Father Artemy blessed Ivan and me to inspect the monastery, the first thing Vanya did was take me to the bell tower. We climbed the stairs in a tight spiral hole, when suddenly a passage lost in the darkness left sideways, diving into which was so tempting that I could not resist and invitingly asked Vanya: “What is there?” He shrugged, "I don't know. Batiushka didn’t bless me to go there...” On the bell tower we contemplated the surrounding distances for a long time in silence: a boat blackened like a small seed over the ripples of Pinega, on the other bank Verkola lazily swept, in the meadows here and there one could see fat, like horses, haystacks, an immense height heaven...
Then, looking at the mechanism of chimes, full of oiled gears, Ivan talked about himself, his holidays in the monastery. Hieromonk Artemy, he is the younger brother, constantly lives with his parents on the deserted coast of the White Sea, in the city of secret factories and military shipyards - Severodvinsk.
On the eve of a conversation with Father Artemy about the needs of the monastery, a pensive thread was woven: “It is amazing how through small things, imperceptibly, the Lord brings people to Himself,” he said, and, looking after his younger brother, who was running through the monastery courtyard, he added. “After all, in the family, from our parents, we have never heard about God. And now they have been here all summer, they bought a house nearby ... "
...After the bell tower, Vanya led me to the cathedral, telling me along the way what fears I had suffered: once I was accidentally locked in the echoing evening emptiness of the cathedral. In a dilapidated, once monastic forge, we found the place where the anvil stood; We got ready to go look for the remains of a wooden water pipe, laid once by the monastery brethren, but it was already getting dark. Night damp breathed from the nearby copse, the red disk of the sun disappeared behind the monastery buildings, behind the Pinega, behind the distant jagged horizon of the forests: the long shadows dissolved, fog spread over the meadows, and the Bright Path plunged into the even chirping of cicadas.
I remembered my childhood: the same annual summer holidays full of secret discoveries, a pioneer camp lost in the forests or some village of Prostokvashino, swimming in the river at night, headquarters in the thicket of the forest, football with a torn ball, bonfires ... As if time has flown through your fingers. How we missed such vacations, at least once in all the years - among the walls of a distant monastery, in obedience to an older brother - a monk ...
It's already late. In the west, a long northern dawn is flaring up, and I want to finally say something significant to Ivan, important for me, perhaps even more than for him: about the joy of joining in God's work, about the happiness of living in Russia in Russian, about that these minutes and days will never return ... But words are not enough.
Attentively and very seriously, like everything he does, Ivan peers into the flaming colors of the sunset and answers my silence:
- Wonderful! .. And it will be even more beautiful, the whole sky will change, it will become orange-scarlet, like a fire in a fire, and it will remain so for a long, long time, until dawn.
M. SIZOV,
I. IVANOV.
life
The Holy Righteous Artemy, the Wonderworker of Verkol, was born in 1532 in the village of Verkol, in the Dvina region, along the river Pinega, two versts upstream from Kevrola.
His parents: father Cosmas, nicknamed Small, and mother Apollinaria, were peasants of that village. They raised their son in the fear of God and Christian piety.
From the age of five, he already began to shun the habits characteristic of children, did not like children's games, was quiet, meek, God-fearing, obedient to his parents, diligently helped his father in his peasant work, as much as he could for his age.
Once, when he was 12 years old, he worked with his father in the field, harrowed the land. Suddenly a menacing cloud approached, it became dark as night, a storm arose with a downpour, a terrible clap of thunder broke out over the head of the frightened Artemy, and the blessed youth fell dead. Thus, the merciful and wise Lord God deigned to receive the soul of His righteous servant into His heavenly abode.
The fellow villagers of Artemy did not understand, due to their foolishness, this visitation of God and, according to superstition, considered the unexpected death of the blessed lad as a righteous judgment of God, punishing Artemy for any of his secret sins.
`The body of Blessed Artemy, as having died of a sudden death, remained unseasoned and unburied; they laid it on an empty spot in a pine forest, on top of the ground, covered it with brushwood and birch bark, and surrounded it with a wooden fence. So it lay for 32 years, forgotten by everyone.
One summer, Agathonikos, deacon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Verkole, walked through that forest, picking mushrooms, saw a light over the place where the blessed youth rested, came up and found his incorruptible body. He immediately told the Verkolsky peasants about this. But those, out of their foolishness, simply took the body of Artemy, without any honors brought it to their parish church and laid it on the porch, covering the coffin with birch bark, which covered the righteous youth in the forest.
But the Lord deigned to glorify His saint in the country of Kevrol: from his relics, inexhaustible healing began to flow to the sick.
In that year, by God's permission, a malignant fever spread in the Dvina region. Many died from this serious illness, especially women and children. The son of the Verkol villager Kallinikos also fell ill with this disease. In great grief, Kallinikos prayed for the healing of his son, then went to church, venerated the tomb of the righteous Artemy and, taking the birch bark that covered his imperishable relics, with faith hung it to the cross on the chest of his dying son. The patient recovered. The overjoyed Kallinikos told about this to all his fellow villagers, who joyfully gathered in the church of St. Nicholas and began to sing prayers and create a memory for the righteous youth Artemy.
And the Lord had mercy on His servants: the fever in that country soon stopped.
Since that time, the miracles of St. Artemy began to multiply. A certain man, named Pavel, from a serious illness, had his neck so twisted that his head turned back and his eyes closed. In such trouble, Paul turned with fervent prayer to God and the righteous Artemy, and the sick man's head straightened, his eyes opened. Healed hastened to tell everyone in his village about what had happened. After that, at the church of St. Nicholas Verkoltsy arranged a special chapel, where they transferred the relics of Artemy from the porch, putting them in a new coffin. This was in 1584.
`When they brought the relics of the blessed lad to the chapel, a woman came there with a relaxed baby, asked to serve a prayer service, put her lad to the coffin of Artemy, and the lad's sick hand was healed.
`About the same time, a peasant Andrei and a peasant woman Irina, who suffered from eye problems, received health and clear vision from touching the sacred cancer of the newly-minted miracle worker.
`One woman, named Maria, who suffered for forty years from a stomach illness so severe that she often died from excessive suffering for two or three hours, having heard about the miracles flowing from the relics of Artemy, turned to him with a prayer and received a healing .
` Seeing the healing relics multiplying, two priests, John and Thomas, ordered to write on the boards of the old tomb several icons of the righteous Artemy. From those boards there were shavings. Priest John carefully collected these shavings and put them in storage at the church. The pious worshipers of the righteous Artemy, who with faith took those shavings, received healing from their ailments.
`One person from Pinega, named Pankraty, who was passing through Verkol, in 1601. Artemy brought one of these icons to Veliky Ustyug, and many received healing from that image.
` In 1619, Metropolitan Macarius of Novgorod testified to the relics of the righteous man and blessed them to be transferred to the temple itself on the day of memory of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, December 6th. Some time later, Ilarion Artemiev, a resident of the city of Kholmogor, came to Verkola and said that he had been sick with his eyes for a long time, did not see anything and suffered severely, so he tried to hang himself in despair, and only the neighbors who came to the rescue prevented this. Hearing about the miracles flowing from the relics of the righteous Artemy, he turned to him with fervent prayer for his healing.
“At the same hour,” said the healed one, “I received my sight, and saw in a vision of St. Artemy in white robes with a small staff in his left hand and with a cross in his right. He overshadowed me with a cross and said:
`- Man, what are you suffering? Arise: Christ, through me, His servant, heals you. Go to Vercola, kiss my coffin and tell the priest and all the peasants about this. With these words, the righteous lad, taking my hand, seemed to compel me to do this, and then became invisible. When I woke up, I felt completely healthy, as if I had never been sick. And so I came here to venerate his holy relics."
` The miracle was especially remarkable with one peasant from the village of Kivokury, Ustyug district, Patriciy Ignatiev. He suffered from a hernia since childhood. Hearing about the miracles of the righteous Artemy, he prayed to him with faith, made a vow to venerate his coffin and recovered, but then forgot about the vow he had made.
`A few years later, he again felt attacks of a hernia, which began to torment him even more than before. Patricius again turned with a prayer to the righteous Artemy and remembered his unfulfilled vow. The prayer of the sick man was heard, but Patricius again forgot about the vow he had made. Then anguish fell upon him, and impenetrable darkness covered his eyes. The unfortunate man again remembered his unfulfilled vow, bitterly repented and promised to fulfill his duty without delay. Righteous Artemy again delivered Patricius from his illness, and healed, he hurried with joy to Verkola to the tomb of Artemy, ordered a prayer service for him, kissed his multi-healing coffin with tears and confessed before everyone about the miracle that had happened and his sinful forgetfulness.
` In 1636, in the month of March, Afanasy Pashkov, appointed there by the governor, went to Kevrola and Mezen. On the way, he stopped at Verkol, but Artemy was not at the shrine of the relics of the righteous, and he did not serve a thanksgiving service. In Kevrol, his son, the youth Jeremiah, fell seriously ill with a fever and was already preparing for death. Then the father remembered that he had not served a prayer service to the righteous Artemy, and made a vow to go on a pilgrimage to Verkola. And suddenly, Pashkov's son, lying in heavy oblivion, got up from his bed and, holding on to the window, began to ask his father which way he should go to the righteous Artemy. Marveling at this, the father brought his son to Vercola. Here they served a votive prayer service, took birch bark from the coffin of the miracle worker, so that the sick man would wear it on his chest along with the cross, and the lad recovered.
` The grateful father created in Verkol, at the place where the relics of Artemy were found, a temple in honor of the martyr Artemy of the same name to the righteous lad. Some time later, the temple in Verkol burned down, and the relics of the righteous Artemy were also burned. To protect the relics of Artemy from such accidents, the local priest Lavrentiy and the parishioners of the Verkolsky village built a special chapel over them, put them in a new shrine and covered them with a new cover. After that, new wonderworkings began to flow from the tomb of the miracle worker.
` Thus, the righteous Artemy saved a certain Simeon Kazarinov from drowning. After Ilyin's day, he sailed on a ship along with his comrades in the Arctic Ocean from Mangazeya to Arkhangelsk. Suddenly a fierce storm came, and the ship was threatened with an imminent wreck. The swimmers were horrified and desperate. Seeing no hope of salvation out of nowhere, they began to prepare for death and, in anticipation of it, to say goodbye to each other. Then they came to their senses and began to pray with tears to the Lord God and the righteous Artemy for their salvation, promising to serve a thanksgiving prayer service to the saint of God. And, through their prayer, the sea calmed down, and those who drowned escaped inevitable death.
` The glory of healing From the relics of the righteous Artemy spread far.
Metropolitan Cyprian of Novgorod sent to examine his incorrupt relics again, confirmed with his signature the list of healings delivered to him, and sent a newly compiled service to the miracle worker to the church in the village of Verkola.
` In 1648, a letter of tsar Alexy Mikhailovich was sent to Kevrola, in the name of the local voivode Anichkov: it was ordered to put the relics of the righteous Artemy in a new shrine and it was allowed to build a monastery on the spot where his relics were found, which, according to the royal letter, were the next year they were transferred there and laid in the church of the holy martyr Artemy, built by the voivode Pashkov.
`At the same time, various healings flowed from the holy relics to everyone who flowed to them with faith. The people gathered in multitudes offered warm prayers to Christ God and His holy saint, the righteous Artemy, the Wonderworker of Verkol, glorifying the grace of God, manifested in him as a consolation to all Orthodox Christians.
` Subsequently, the relics of the righteous Artemy, before the occasion of fires, were taken out of the temple of the monastery three times, until finally, in 1793, a stone temple was built in the monastery, consecrated in honor of the righteous Artemy, in which his relics were laid.
