Russian holy lands. Mishenka-Samuil

Godenovo, Yaroslavl region

On March 13, 2010, students of the Sunday school of the parish of the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kosino, Moscow, went on a pilgrimage to the Miraculous Cross of the Lord in the village of Godenovo, Yaroslavl region.
Trips to the miraculous Cross in Godenovo are already becoming a pious tradition. In 2009, during the Week of the Worship of the Cross, the Sunday school together with the Kosinskaya parish school venerated the miraculous Cross.
This year, registration for the trip began in January and all tickets were already purchased in January.
A group of pilgrims set off from the temple. First, the prayer Rule of St. Feodor Ushakov was read. Fedor Ushakov was an admiral of the Russian fleet and did not lose a single battle. Before the battle, Admiral Ushakov, together with the sailors and officers, prayed, and the Lord heard their prayers and helped.
Not all pilgrims had time to read the morning prayer rule, so we read it collectively on the bus.
Our guide Lyubov Mikhailovna hurried us while we prayed, the bus passed historical places. Therefore, prayers for travelers were read privately.
Along the way, guide Lyubov Mikhailovna told us about the places we passed: Radonezh, Khotkovo, Sergiev Posad, Malinniki, Alekseevskaya Pustyn, Chapel of the Cross, Pereslavl Zalessky.
The group made a stop at the Chapel of the Cross. A chapel was erected in this place in honor of the fact that our queen gave birth to the heir Feodor in this village. Fedor became the Tsar of Russia.
Although we were in a hurry to go to Godenovo for a prayer service, we still made a stop in Pereslavl at the grave of Misha Samuil, a locally revered Saint.
Misha Samuel was a blessed fool for Christ's sake. He hears everyone coming to him and prays for an ambulance. And the Lord, through the prayers of Misha Samuel, sends what he asks for.
The next point of our trip was the miraculous Cross of the Lord in Godenovo.
Starting from Pereslavl, our entire group prayed collectively to the Cross. Thanks to this, our group arrived in Godenovo as the first of the pilgrimage groups. We were anointed with oil from the Miraculous Cross, we submitted notes, and venerated the Cross. But, unfortunately, they did not open the glass for us, and we venerated the Cross through the glass.
Unfortunately, prayer services in Godenovo are held on Sundays, and our group arrived on Saturday. A memorial service is held on Saturdays.
We were a little upset, because the purpose of our trip was precisely a prayer service at the Miraculous Cross of the Lord, but it was God’s Will and we went to Antushkovo.
The former village of Antushkovo was previously called Nikolsky Pogost. At this place there was the appearance of the Miraculous Cross of the Lord and the icon of St. Nicholas. During the years of hard times, the Cross was moved to Godenovo to protect It from further desecration, and the icon of St. Nikolai disappeared.
The Cross of the Lord appeared to shepherds in an impassable swamp in the form of a heavenly glow in 1423. A cross made of an unknown type of wood depicts the Lord Jesus Christ at the moment of his death on the cross. The image is identical to the image on the Shroud of Turin. Those who are lucky enough to venerate the Tree of the Cross note that it is warm and has the temperature of the human body.
When the shepherds went to the glow, they saw that it was a glowing Cross, which stood in the swamp, and next to it was an icon of St. Nicholas. And there was a voice to build the House of God in this place. The shepherds told the village about a miraculous phenomenon. The masters came to this place and realized that nothing could be built in the impassable swamp, so they founded a temple nearby. We worked all day, the work went well. Tired, they fell asleep, and when they woke up in the morning they did not find the almost finished temple. They began to look around and saw that the unfinished temple was standing right in the water at the site of the appearance of the Cross. The shepherds hurried to their unfinished church, then the Cross and the icon of St. appeared to them again. Nicholas, and again there was a voice that the House of God should be built on this place, the Cross remained standing in the middle of the temple. Many years later, the temple burned down, and the Cross was not even charred.
During the difficult years, the communists tried to saw through the Cross, but they failed. The saw marks are still visible. They tried to cut the cross with an axe. They cut off part of the little finger from the image of the Lord. But that's all they could do. Several strong men tried to pull the Cross down with ropes, but they also failed.
At night, one nun took the Cross and easily moved It from Antushkovo to Godenovo, where He remains to this day.
The road to Antushkovo is across a snowy field. If the bus gets stuck, we can sit in the snow for as long as we like. We were worried and collectively prayed to the Cross of the Lord. With God's help, we made it there without any problems, but we didn't reach the monastery several hundred meters. But wonderful weather and magnificent nature made the walk to the monastery pleasant.
In the monastery in Antushkovo we venerated a copy of the Miracle-Working Cross of the Lord, gave notes, drew water from the well, venerated the stone on which Fr. Boris scolded the sick people, they collected sand.
Guide Lyubov Mikhailovna drew our attention to the fact that Godenovo belongs to the Yaroslavl region, and Antushkovo, located 5 kilometers away, belongs to the Ivanovo region. And what a difference it makes in the quality of the roads. Roads in the Yaroslavl region are in good condition, but in the Ivanovo region they simply are not. We were driving along the winter road. There was a family traveling with us who did not have enough space on the bus; they followed us in their car. They are stuck in the snow. They sat on the “belly”.
The next point of our trip was the Pereslavl Nikitsky Monastery, where the relics and chains of St. Nikita Stylite. A meal prepared by the brethren awaited us in this monastery.
We visited the cell of St. Nikita, learned an extraordinary story from his life about how the Lord enlightened and called him. And how a man from cruel and greedy became a Saint. Faith of St. Nikitas are really very heavy. How did he wear them?
The monastery sells very tasty kvass.
After the meal, our group drove to the source, which is St. Nikita dug it with his own hands. A group of pilgrims almost completely plunged into the source. Some pilgrims, who could not even imagine how it was possible to get into cold icy water in winter, plunged in and were very happy.
The last point of our pilgrimage program was the Pereslavl Convent in honor of the Holy Trinity. The miraculous Androniki Icon of the Mother of God resides in it.
We got to the beginning of the service. The sisters read the Hours. We venerated the icon. And at the bottom of the robe, the Androniki Icon of the Mother of God has a box where we put notes with requests to the Mother of God, because the Mother of God reads these notes and fulfills requests, if that is the Will of God.
The Androniki Icon of the Mother of God is one of the icons that was painted by the Evangelist Luke himself during the life of the Most Holy Theotokos. This icon came to Rus' as a dowry for one of our queens, who was from Byzantium.
At the monastery, the sisters bake buns, and you can drink tea with lemon.
On the way to Moscow, our spiritual work did not stop. We listened to spiritual songs performed by Zhanna Bichevskaya based on verses by Hieromonk Roman.

Mikhail Vasilyevich Lazarev was born into a peasant family in the village of Yam, located near Pereslavl. The name “Samuel” was added by the people as a monastic person, for his strict virgin life, after the death of Samuel, hieromonk of the St. Nicholas Monastery.

Since childhood, Misha has taken upon himself the role of foolish fool. As an eight-year-old boy, he predicted a pestilence among people in his village, and the peasants demanded to expel him. He was sheltered in his cell by the hieromonk of the St. Nicholas Monastery, Samuil, who became the boy’s spiritual father.

Misha spent his entire life wandering around the city and its environs. He often visited Troitskaya Slobodka, where he loved to visit the house of the legless peasant Simeon Vukolov (now house 21).

When Misha walked around the city, people who respected him came up for advice. Often, before someone’s death, Misha was seen crying at the gate of the house where the deceased was supposed to be. Misha predicted the death of livestock to the leader of the nobility and chamberlain N. G. Tabarovsky. In 1885, he predicted a fire in Nikitskaya Sloboda.

It was considered a good omen if a merchant asked for something edible. This was the best recommendation.

He brought all the money that was donated to Misha as a gift to God or distributed to the poor. For the most part, he put money in a mug at the church of St. Prince Andrew, in the chapel of St. Daniel, in the cathedral mug, in Sergievskaya, in Trinity-Slobodskaya and in Nikitskaya chapel.

In February 1907, Misha fell ill. In the last days of his life, nuns from the Nikolsky Monastery looked after the ill Misha. He died on February 23, 1907 at three o'clock in the afternoon in Troitskaya Sloboda. He was buried on February 25 on the right side of the Trinity Altar.

There is a wooden gazebo over Misha's grave.

Veneration of Misha-Samuel

During the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, the imperial family went on a trip to Russia. On May 23, 1913, Emperor Nicholas II and his four daughters arrived in Pereslavl-Zalessky by car. Returning to Petrovsk, he stopped near the Trinity Settlement Church and handed over to the church the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands in a polished icon case. At his request, a memorial service was served at Misha-Samuel's grave.

The memory of Misha-Samuel is celebrated on February 23 according to the old style, March 8 according to the new style (March 7 in leap years).

In 2000, an icon of the blessed one was painted, a kontakion and troparion were compiled, and an akathist was compiled in 2002. Since 2004, Misha-Samuel has been revered as a saint of God in the Yaroslavl diocese.

Miracles

Misha's providence did not end with his death. After praying, Orthodox Christians leave three notes on Misha’s grave, usually in an envelope. After three days, you need to open the envelope and take out one note, this will be the answer of the saint of God.

There are known cases of healing through Mishenka’s prayers, especially cases of helping sore eyes and legs.

A fragrance comparable to the fragrance of lilies emanated from the tombstone on Misha’s grave. However, the priest of the Trinity Church admits that one of Misha’s admirers sprinkles the grave with essential oils.

On February 23, 1903, in Troitskaya Slobodka, near the city of Pereslavl-Zalessky, the ascetic and holy fool Misha-Samuel, known to the residents of Pereslavl, died. He was the son of a peasant in the foothill village of Yam, located two miles from the city of Pereslavl. His full name, patronymic and surname is Mikhail Vasilyevich Lazarev. The people simply called him Misha-Samuel. The name Samuel was added to him by the people, as if to a kind of monastic person, and assigned to him since the death of the respected hieromonk of the St. Nicholas Monastery (at that time male) - Samuel.

Misha was tall with curly hair and a white beard. His face was distinguished by its mobility, his dark gray eyes sometimes lit up with a joyful sparkle.

In winter and summer, he invariably dressed in the same clothes. Under his short jacket he also wore an apron, on his hands he wore red bandages, like a handguard, in his left hand he always wore - in imitation of Hieromonk Samuel - a scooper, on which his admirers put a monetary contribution, on his feet there were supports from boots .

Unnoble in his position and rank, Misha-Samuel, with his ascetic life and visible foolishness, acquired special respect among the residents of Pereslavl and its environs.

Since childhood, he has accepted this foolishness; his peers consider him stupid and even insane. In fact, he was neither stupid nor crazy, he seemed so, because he completely delved into his inner spiritual world, gradually improving with age.

And this feat of foolishness, even in his childhood life, involuntarily forced everyone to pay attention to him, especially when, as it seemed to many, he symbolically and covertly began to predict the future.

Predictions of Misha-Samuel

They said that while still an 8-year-old boy, he predicted a pestilence among people in his village and surrounding area. In the middle of the village, he dug two graves, picked apples that were not yet ripe, filled the graves with them, covered them, and put crosses on them. When those around him began to scold him for this, he answered: “If you don’t like it, you’ll cry.” A week later, he began to carry earth with shovels to the village cemetery, they again began to scold him and even beat him, but he answered them again: “If you don’t like it, you’ll cry.” Soon a pestilence occurred in this village, taking many young residents to their graves.

From that time on, Misha began to increasingly move into the city from his home and parents. Soon he completely left his parents, completely surrendering himself to the will of God, having no shelter, no food, no warm clothes. Good people rewarded him with food, clothing and shelter.

When he walked around the city, people who knew and respected him came up to him and asked for advice. Most often they turned to him for advice in unfortunate life circumstances. This is what one famous merchant from Pereslavl-Zalessky said.

“Once I had visitors from another city visiting me. They had a misfortune - their horses were stolen. The guest wanted to commit suicide out of grief, but I advised him to turn to Misha. Before we even had time to talk to Misha, he briefly warned us: “Go, you’ll find him.” And indeed, the same evening the loss was found.”

They said that often, before the death of someone, Misha was often seen crying at the gate of the house where the deceased should be. Here are a few cases.

1. One priest of the city of Pereslavl said: “On May 28, 1892, at 2 o’clock in the morning, Misha comes to the gates of our house and cries. Without entering the house, he left, and in the morning he comes again and asks to show him the dead man. Everyone was surprised, since at that moment none of the outsiders could know about the death of my father-in-law, a priest. We showed Misha the dead man and asked him to pray for him. Having prayed in front of the icon, Misha suddenly turns around with tears to face our bedroom and prays again. We all took this as a sad sign. Soon after my father-in-law’s burial, my wife falls ill and dies.”

2. Having asked to spend the night in the house of a Pereslavl resident, Misha lay down on the sofa with the words: “I’m tired, I need to rest,” and put his hands on his chest. After lying there for two minutes, without saying anything, he left in tears. At that time, everyone in the family was healthy. Two days later, his wife unexpectedly died.

3. One peasant woman’s boy from Nikitskaya Sloboda died, which she herself didn’t even know about yet. In Pereslavl she met Misha. Approaching her, he asked: “Give me a penny, I’ll remember,” and immediately began to cry. Handing over a penny, she asked: “What do you mean, Misha, who do you want to remember?” “Go home,” was the answer. At home, unexpectedly for everyone, she found her eight-year-old boy dead.

In the same Nikitskaya settlement, 23 years ago, Misha, according to the peasants, predicted a fire. Approaching the new house, Misha said: “It’s a good house, but you won’t be able to live in it for long.” A week later there was a fire. Here is what the 80-year-old supernumerary priest of the Troitskaya Sloboda, Father V., said about this: Three days before this fire, Misha came to the Nikitskaya Slobodka, took a bucket and began to drag water from the pond and pour it in front of the windows on one side of the settlement. Three days later, 12 houses burned down, exactly those in front of whose windows Misha poured water.

Local landowner T. told how Misha predicted the death of his livestock to his wife. Approaching her in one store, Misha suddenly spoke: “Plague, plague, plague...” The unexpected bewilderment was soon resolved. The plague actually destroyed half of the herd that belonged to Mr. T. Misha sometimes liked to ask for a white shirt, which was usually considered a sign of impending death for one of his close relatives. One day he came to the house of a Pereslavl resident of the city Ya and demanded a white shirt, and soon a telegram notified his family of the death of his closest relative.

He brought all the money that his admirers donated to Misha as a gift to God with a prayer for good donors, or he distributed it to the same beggars as himself. For the most part, he left money in a circle near the Church of St. Prince Andrey, in the chapel of St. Daniel, in the cathedral circle in Sergievskaya, in Trinity-Slobodskaya and in the Nikitsky chapel, which is by the icy stream in a ravine, located in the northwest of the Nikitsky monastery.

In the last chapel, Misha, when he was younger, often prayed at night. While praying in churches, Misha loved to collect money around the church together with the church elder. The peculiarity of his collection was that he first clutched the given money in his hand, and then, with a prayer, apparently for the donors, he put it in a mug. Wherever I collected, the income in the church was good.

Misha was a meek and God-fearing man, for which God sent him many benefactors - his admirers. A merchant, a cab driver, a peaceful citizen, no one disdained him. On the contrary, it was considered lucky if, for example, he asked a merchant for something edible; the cab driver is happy if Misha asks for a ride; and the average person is glad if Misha visits his house, considering his visit as a guarantee of family well-being.

Illness and death of the revered holy fool

In February 1907, Misha fell ill. On the 12th, at his request, he was taken to Troitskaya Slobodka to the house of the peasant Simeon Vukolov. The news of his illness quickly spread throughout the city, especially since he had never been sick before, despite the fact that both in winter and summer he wore light summer clothes and bare feet.

Every day, admirers of Misha began to flock from the city and its environs to Vukolov’s wretched house in order to receive his dying blessing, to hear a word of consolation from him, or, finally, to finally serve him in some way. The nuns from the Nikolsky Convent took care of the ill Misha a lot. They took turns at his bedside almost every day, and two of them did not leave his dying bed.

Every day Misha got worse and worse.

On February 18, the local parish priest, Fr. Peter Pokrovsky performed the sacrament of anointing on him. A lot of people gathered. A tearful prayer rushed to God with a request for the health of the sick Michael.

On the same day, Misha was confessed and received the Holy Mysteries of Christ. After the unction, his health seemed to improve for a while, but two days later he again became worse. On February 23, he was once again instructed in the Holy Mysteries, and at 3 o’clock in the afternoon Misha quietly died.

From the moment of death, people began to flock in droves to the settlement to pay their last respects to their deceased beloved. And not so many poor peasants as rich residents of the city of Pereslavl were at the deathbed of the deceased, so that horses almost constantly brought the Pereslavl residents to Vukolov’s house. Memorial services were served continuously. Some benefactors and admirers of the deceased beggar holy fool prepared everything necessary for burial: a coffin upholstered in expensive purple Manchester fabric, a rich shroud, candles, incense and other accessories.

The day of burial was set on Meat Sunday, February 25th. From early morning, people began to flock to Troitskaya Slobodka in huge numbers. In addition to the local clergy, the priest of the village of Agreneva, Nikolai Smirnov, and the Zlatoust church in Pereslavl, V. Sokolov, came to remove the body. The choir of nuns from the St. Nicholas Convent sang. Memorial services were served literally without interruption. The pallbearers of the deceased changed frequently. Many considered it happiness to carry the coffin at least a few steps or at least touch it. Halfway to the temple the coffin was carried on their heads. When the slow procession reached the house of the supernumerary priest, Fr. Vasily, then this 80-year-old bent old man, leaning on his wooden staff, walked to the tomb of Misha, so revered by the people, and, having put on his clothes, served a funeral litany for the deceased.

The two-mile path from Pereslavl to Troitskaya Slobodka was almost entirely occupied by people, both on foot and on horseback. At 10 o'clock the liturgy began, which (in order to give the majority of the public the opportunity to pray at the tomb of the newly deceased) had to be served in the Trinity Cold Church. In addition to the above-mentioned clergy, the deacon of the Dukhovskaya Church in Pereslavl, V. Pokrovsky, wished to take part in the service of the liturgy. On the right choir the choir of nuns of the St. Nicholas Monastery sang touchingly and reverently, and on the left - lovers of singing. During the liturgy, local priest Fr. P. Pokrovsky was given a lesson. Before the funeral service, the priest of the village of Agreneva, Nikolai Smirnov, gave a speech (given below).

The funeral service ended already at one o'clock in the afternoon, after which, within an hour, the people gave the deceased their last kiss.

The body of the deceased was buried on the right side of the Trinity Altar in fulfillment of the will of the deceased. Reverence for this foolish man who died after his death grows more and more. Requiem services are constantly held at his grave by his admirers.

Pereslavl district, Vladimir province, village of Agreneva
priest N. Smirnov

PLEASES OF GOD

TO THE FOOL MISHA-SAMUIL

We gathered in Pereslavl-Zalessky to local shrines, and most importantly, to the grave of Blessed Misha-Samuel on the last day of April. We left Moscow with our father Anatoly Gorbunov. Father is a true ascetic, but here’s the problem: due to loss of vision, he can no longer serve. And his age, after all, is 74 years. Before the operation on his eyes, he decided to ask for prayerful help from St. Michael-Samuel, the great intercessor for all the sick and infirm. At the ticket office at the bus station, an irritated cashier told us that there were no tickets for today. Father Anatoly meekly began to pray. I went to another ticket office, and, oddly enough, there were tickets - for today, for the next flight...

In Pereslavl-Zalessky we stayed in an apartment with my friends - the spouses Sergei and Galina, people of faith and very hospitable. They greeted us cordially and asked Father Anatoly for a long time about his life. The conversation lasted well past midnight, and in the morning the priest and I went to the St. Nicholas Convent. Even from a distance, the monastery amazes with its beauty, its domes sparkling in the sun. Inside the monastery fence, lawns with greenery are neatly laid out, and smooth paths lead to the temples. The majestic St. Nicholas Cathedral raises its golden domes high into the sky.

When we entered the cathedral, a service was going on there. They gave me notes. Having venerated the relics of the blessed Prince Andrei of Smolensk and Saint Cornelius the Silent, they prayed for their needs. Then, having attended the memorial service, they returned home in a great mood.

For the evening service we went to the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Trinity Sloboda, which stands a kilometer from the Nikolsky Monastery on the Moscow-Yaroslavl highway. At the altar of this temple in the chapel rest the relics of the holy fool Misha-Samuel.

Blessed Misha was born in 1848 into a peasant family in the village of Yam, located two kilometers from Pereslavl-Zalessky. Since childhood, he was different from his peers in his seriousness, avoiding noisy games and undertakings. The villagers considered him stupid and insane, but from childhood he actually took upon himself the feat of foolishness. Already at the age of eight, his insight was revealed. It was like this: in the middle of the village, a boy dug two graves, filled them with still unripe apples and covered them with earth, putting crosses on them. When his comrades and men began to scold him for this, he answered them: “If you don’t like it, you’ll cry.” A week later, Misha began hauling soil with bast shoes to the village cemetery. And again those around him began to scold and even beat him for this, and he said the same words to them: “If you don’t like it, you’ll cry.” And what? A pestilence soon struck the village, taking many young people and children to their graves. However, fellow villagers decided that the death of people was due to witchcraft sent by little Misha, and began to demand from his parents that they take their son away from the village.

When Misha turned 12 years old, her parents did just that. They took the boy with them to Pereslavl to the fair, where they said that it was time for him to support himself. Misha finally returned to the village, but he was no longer allowed into the house. He spent the night in the hayloft in the barn. If he wanted to go home, the father took a belt whip and, like a stray dog, pushed his son out the gate. Having lived through the winter cold under other people's roofs, in the spring Misha went to the city, living most often in cemeteries, spending the night in the open air, because street kids followed him everywhere.

This was the case until the homeless boy was sheltered in his cell by the hieromonk of the St. Nicholas Monastery Samuil, known in Pereslavl for his high spiritual life. He replaced Misha's father and became his spiritual leader. Before his death, Hieromonk Samuel gave Misha the miraculous icon of the Mother of God “Seeking the Lost,” and also presented him with a skufa. From him he received a blessing for the feat of foolishness, and also adopted his second name - Samuel.

It is known that Misha-Samuel was tall, with typical Russian facial features: lush curly brown hair, a thick beard, and a thin, hooked nose. His dark gray eyes, unusually lively and kind, sometimes lit up with an unearthly light during prayer in the temple. He wore the same clothes in winter and summer. Under his old, worn-out short coat, he always wore an apron, which he had sewn himself from thin gray fabric, with two large pockets. In one he carried a rosary, and sometimes he carried his daily food. In the other he put the coins that were handed to him. He had red bands on his sleeves, like hand guards. On his feet are boots with cut off tops. In his left hand Misha usually held a skufa, in which he collected alms.

The blessed one did not care about what to wear or what to eat - kind people gave him food and clothing and gave him shelter. But more often than others, he liked to stay in the house of the brothers Nikita and Semyon Vukolov, who lived in Troitskaya Sloboda. Their family was a religious one, and Misha loved and respected them all, although they lived very poorly. When they invited him to eat, he said: “Fed, full, full.” I slept on the porch in winter and summer. They say to him: “Mishenka, go home for cabbage rolls,” and he replies: “I’m warm, warm.”

Residents of Pereslavl turned to Misha-Samuel for advice in difficult circumstances. Once, a merchant’s thoroughbred horses were stolen. Out of grief, he was ready to commit suicide. Then they took him to Misha, and the blessed one, even before the conversation, barely saw the unfortunate man, consoled him with advice: “Go home - you’ll find him.” And indeed, the merchant’s relatives met him near the house and were pleased with the news that the horses had been led to the house by gypsy thieves detained by the police.

Sometimes Misha was seen crying at the gate of the house where someone was about to die. It happened that he even went into such a house and asked the owners for a white shirt in order to prepare the family for grief. One peasant woman happened to meet Misha in the city. Misha looked at her, cried and said: “Give me a pretty penny and I’ll remember her.” The woman gave alms and asked who he wanted to remember. “Go home,” was the answer. At home, a peasant woman unexpectedly found her eight-year-old son dead.

Misha also predicted fires. “It’s a good house, but you can’t live in it for long,” he once said to the owners of the new house. A week later the house burned to the ground. Another time he began to drink water in front of some village huts. A fire that happened soon destroyed twelve houses - exactly those in front of which Misha drank water. The blessed one foresaw the coming persecution of believers, shared these predictions with the blind nun of the Feodorovsky Monastery, Anisia, and she passed this on to her niece, the nun Susanna. A few years before the revolution, Susanna, referring to the predictions of Misha-Samuel, said: “We will soon be scattered into other people’s yards, like sheep without a shepherd, because a difficult time of devastation is approaching. The Tsar will be overthrown, and gray men and women will rule Russia. If we live to see those terrible hurricanes, then our pier will be at the Nikitsky Monastery.” That’s how it all happened later. When the Feodorovsky monastery was closed and all the sisters were dispersed, many of its nuns were cared for by the monks of the Nikitsky monastery. Anisia and Susanna even lived next to the Nikitsky Monastery in a private house

Misha-Samuel had the gift of seeing what was in a person’s soul. He never ate from insincere people, he ate only from simple and kind people, and he ate very little. One woman thought to herself about the blessed one: “I’m tired of it. Comes often." Another time she invited him, and he told her: “I’m tired, I’m tired!”

Before his death, Misha-Samuel was asked: “Where should we put you? Isn’t it near the city’s Vladimir Cathedral?” And he answered: “It’s hot, it’s hot.” After the revolution, the cathedral was closed, and the city bakery was located in it.

He distributed all the money that was donated to Misha-Samuel to people like himself, the poor, or brought them as a gift to God, taking them to churches. Everyone considered it an honor and good fortune to serve Misha - the merchant, the cab driver, and the simple peasant, because they noticed that after this everyone’s affairs got better. In February 1907, the blessed one fell ill, unexpectedly for everyone. At Misha’s request, he was taken to Semyon Vukolov’s house in Troitskaya Sloboda. News of this quickly spread throughout the city. Every day, admirers of the blessed one began to flock to the sick man’s bed from the city and its environs to receive his last blessing. In the last days of his life, Misha was looked after by the nuns of Nikolsky, at that time already a convent. On February 23 (March 8, new style), Misha, after the Sacrament of Unction, being guided by the Holy Mysteries, died quietly. The whole city hurried to the poor house of Semyon Vukolov to pay their last respects to their favorite. Memorial services were served almost continuously for the deceased.

From the early morning on the day of the burial, February 25, people began to flock to Troitskaya Sloboda from all surrounding areas. In addition to the local clergy, priests from nearby and distant parishes came to remove the body. The blessed one was buried, as he had ordered, near the altar of the Trinity Church. Soon a large metal cross with a crucifix and a beautiful metal fence were installed on his grave. After abundant healings began to occur there, veneration of the new saint of God quickly spread throughout Russia. The fame of Mikhail-Samuel is evidenced by the fact that during the 300th anniversary of the House of Romanov, in 1913, Emperor Nicholas II and his children visited the blessed one’s grave. The Tsar donated an icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands to the Trinity Church, and at the grave of Misha, at the request of the Tsar, a memorial service was served. When it ended, the Emperor presented the assembled people with coins. Along the route of the monarch, near each house there was a festive table with bread and salt - the people greeted the Emperor on their knees.

And now people from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Veliky Novgorod, and other places come to venerate Blessed Misha Samuel to ask for his prayerful help in their illnesses and their needs - and they receive what they ask for. I, a sinner, also constantly feel his help. So one day, when I began to anoint my sore arm and dislocated shoulder joint with oil from his lamp, the unbearable pain went away, and soon I was completely healed. Through prayers to Misha-Samuel, help comes to our entire family. And what joy overcomes me every time I come to his grave is beyond words. On one of these trips I came up with these poems:

Mikhail-Samuel,
You lived in Pereslavl.
I walked with a bench
Mikhail-Samuel.

Was God's chosen one
And he said a prayer,
Gave my heart to God
Mikhail-Samuel.

Michael was a prophet
Was driven out of the threshold,
Pestilence was predicted for people,
He was sleeping on the porch.

There is a temple by the road
He is buried there
And still a saint
This one helps us.

At the grave of Blessed Michael-Samuel, Father Anatoly served a requiem service. We still stand in silence for some time, silently pray to the saint of God, and then we go to the Trinity Church. I am happy to notice the new chandelier, which has so decorated the entire interior of the church. The iconostasis is still being built, the temple is being decorated with new icons, among which is a new, just painted image of the Royal Martyrs. All this happens under the vigilant leadership of the rector, Priest Boris and his assistants: Vladimir, Mikhail and other parishioners. There are not many people at the evening service, but there is some special spirit of grace in the air. Father Boris serves with dignity, with great love for the Lord. His awe of the Almighty is transmitted to the parishioners. Here is grandma Nastya praying on her knees. She came to bow to Michael-Samuel from Belarus. Two more women are from Moscow. The service is ending, but I don’t want to leave. For some reason I think about blessed Michael, about his hard life, voluntary wanderings for the sake of Christ in constant need, cold and hunger. Which of us, weak and infirm, is capable of such feats today? Eternal memory to the Monk Michael-Samuel - the eternal wanderer, strict faster and man of prayer for us sinners!

Olga SHAPOVALOVA
Moscow