Saint Sergius of Radonezh, His Trinity Monastery, and the Formation of the Russian Identity

Saint Sergius of Radonezh, His Trinity Monastery, and the Formation of the Russian Identity PDF

Author: David B. Miller

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2010-11-05

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1501756613

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

When Sergius of Radonezh founded a monastery near Moscow, his example spawned a movement of monastic foundations throughout Russia. Within three decades of his death in 1392, Sergius was recognized as a saint, and by 1450 many considered him the intercessor for the Russian land who freed its people from Mongol rule. Over the next century and a half, thousands sought St. Sergius' intercession with gifts to the monastery. Moscow's rulers made Sergius patron saint of their dynasty and of the Russian tsardom. By 1605, the Trinity-Sergius monastery was the biggest house in Russia. Miller presents Trinity's dramatic history from the fourteenth century to the beginning of the Time of Troubles. Using extensive archival materials, he traces the evolution of Trinity's relationship to Sergius' venerators and its traditions, governance, social composition, and the lifestyle of its members. In lucid prose, Miller argues that St. Sergius' cult and monastery became integrating forces on a national scale and vital elements in the forging of a Russian identity, economy, and cohesive society. The power of religion to shape national identity is a lively topic today, and Miller's study will interest both medievalists and modern historians, as well as readers of Orthodox Church history.

Life & Works of Saint Sergius of Radonexh

Life & Works of Saint Sergius of Radonexh PDF

Author: Serge Jumati Archdeacon

Publisher: Serebrov Boeken

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 110

ISBN-13: 9789079889112

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In the prayer to St Sergius of Radonezh it is said : "You came closer to God than any other earthly man". Saint Sergius revived the monastic ascetic practices in Russia and founded many monasteries. He trained a multitude of monks-ascetics who in their turn founded hundreds of monasteries which enlightened the east and the north of Russia. Saint Sergius was also a wise counsellor and inspirer of Russian Princes and he helped establish the Russian state under the rule of the Great Prince of Moscow Dimitri Donskoy. With the blessing of Saint Sergius, Dimitri Donskoy stood up bravely against the Tatar Khan Mamay and defeated him in the bloody Kulikovskaya battle. Thus the Great Prince made the first important step in shaking off the Tatar yoke. There were no books written about Saint Sergius during his life, because of his remarkable humility. The first book about him was written by his disciple Epiphanios the Wise 26 years after Saint's death. Nowadays there are more than a dozen books about Saint Sergius but that by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow is considered to be the best. This book however is meant for ceremonial reading during church services and therefore many precious details of the life of the Saint are left out. This present work is a re-telling of mainly two books: "The Life of Saint Sergius" by hieromonk Nikon (Rozhdestvenski) and "Saint Sergius of Radonezh and the Trinity Monastery, established by him" by the academician E Golubinski. The reader will learn the main events in the life of Saint Sergius, his spiritual visions and the testimonies of his disciples. The original texts were shortened and set in modern language, in order to make them better accessible to the reader.

The Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius

The Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius PDF

Author: Dimitrios Filippos Salapatas

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2018-06-11

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 152751224X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

For centuries the Orthodox and the Anglican churches have been in dialogue; however, this association matured during the twentieth century, also known as the Age of Ecumenism, where both became members of the World Council of Churches and part of the Official Dialogue. Nevertheless, it is the work of individuals and ecumenical bodies who undertake an important role in educating people in both the West and the East. An example of such a society is the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius, an ecumenical body that promotes relations between various Christian denominations. This book analyses the history, theology and practice of the Fellowship. Issues such as Church relations, Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, iconography, the role of women in the Church, intercommunion and the role of Moscow within the Orthodox world are examined. As such, it will appeal to academics, theologians, hierarchs, churches and anyone interested in modern and ecumenical Theology.

The Heart of Russia

The Heart of Russia PDF

Author: Scott Mark Kenworthy

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2010-10-08

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 0199379416

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In the 1830s and 1840s, increasing numbers of Russians renounced the modernized, secularized, Westernized Russia created by Peter the Great in an effort to revive alternative lifestyles based on Orthodox spirituality and values. This effort found expression in a revival of monasticism that began in the era of Nicholas I and would last for the duration of the imperial period, brought to an end only by the cataclysm of revolution and repression of the new Bolshevik regime. Suppressed by the communists, Russian monasticism experienced another revival in the post-World War II era and again in the post-Soviet period, demonstrating that the impulse to renounce the contemporary world for the cloister is a central pattern of Russian religiosity. This book is the first comprehensive analysis of these monastic revivals, presenting a fundamentally new picture of religion in modern Russia. Scott Kenworthy's approach is that of a contextualized microhistory: an in-depth study of one monastic complex, framed within research on monasticism more broadly. The case study here is Russia's largest and most famous monastery, the Trinity-Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad, near Moscow. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church is again experiencing a revival, and monasticism is playing a central role in this resurgence. In the search to recover the past, Russian Orthodox are turning to the nineteenth century revival as a normative model. Numerous Russians are once again renouncing the contemporary world--in this case, both the socialist past and the post-socialist capitalist present--and opting for a mode of life that represents a return to past values. Monasteries are again foci of popular piety as well as of important publishing activities, and their spirituality is regarded as the purest expression of Orthodox ideals. This book provides an essential basis for understanding Orthodoxy in its historical context and its contemporary manifestations.

The Russians and Their Church

The Russians and Their Church PDF

Author: Nicolas Zernov

Publisher: St Vladimir's Seminary Press

Published: 1978

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 9780913836361

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This readable introduction to Russian church history covers its whole course: the early beginnings among the pagan Slav communities, the vital and touchy interaction of Church and State during the turbulent reigns of the Tsars, and the Church's narrow escape from destruction after the Bolshevik Revolution. For this edition, Nicolas Zernov has revised and amplified the chapters dealing with the post-Revolutionary Church.

Biblical Interpretation in the Russian Orthodox Church

Biblical Interpretation in the Russian Orthodox Church PDF

Author: Alexander I. Negrov

Publisher: Mohr Siebeck

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 9783161483714

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"Alexander Negrov surveys the history of biblical interpretation within the history of the Russian Orthodox church from the Kiev period (tenth to thirteenth centuries) until the Synodal period (1721-1917). He presents a coherent analysis of the essential elements of Orthodox biblical hermeneutics as it developed over a period of several centuries critical to the defining of the Orthodox church."--BOOK JACKET.

Saint Sergius and Russian Spirituality

Saint Sergius and Russian Spirituality PDF

Author: Pierre Kovalevsky

Publisher: RSM Press

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 9780913836248

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

By bringing the Orthodox spiritual tradition to the forests of the north, this remarkable fourteenth-century saint made Russia's period of political recovery also a period of spiritual renewal. Few have left such a powerful impression on a nation's history. 90 photos.

The Wonderful Life of Russia's Saint Sergius of Radonezh

The Wonderful Life of Russia's Saint Sergius of Radonezh PDF

Author: Alvin Alexsi Currier

Publisher:

Published: 2001-01-01

Total Pages: 40

ISBN-13: 9781888212242

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Bartholomew was a little boy who loved the forest, his family and God. But little Bartholomew was sad, because he couldn't read. One day he went into a forest and found a holy monk who gave him some blessed bread and prayed for him to read.and he did! Bartholomew became the monk Sergius, and soon grew into a holy saint who performed many miracles: a famine was ended through his prayers, a little boy rose from the dead, and a drought was diminished by a miraculous spring that rose up from his intercessions. Read about the life of St. Sergius from the age of seven until his repose several years, and several miracles later. A full-picture book that is beautifully written and illustrated. For ages 4-12.