Venerable Anthony of Siysk. Kontakion to St. Anthony of Siysk

Anthony of Siysk, wonderworker, originally from the village. Kekht I Dvina volost, located 32 km from Arkhangelsk. Born in 1479 and named Andrei. After the death of his parents, in the 25th year of his life he went to Novgorod, served in a boyar family for 5 years, and under duress entered into a legal marriage. A year later, the young wife died. When he was 30 years old, he returned to his homeland, sold part of his property for the benefit of the poor, and then went to the Onega Kensky Monastery, in the Onega district, near the Kena River. Hegumen of the Transfiguration Monastery Pachomius tonsured him with the name of Anthony the Great (1508). Later, at the request of the abbot and the brethren, he accepted the priestly rank. He was deeply respected for his hard work and prayerful deeds. A few years later, the Monk Anthony asked Abbot Pahrmiy for a blessing to “move away from everyone into the desert.”

Upon his ordination as a hieromonk, he was released with two monks Alexander and Joachim. Soon they came to the Sheleksa River and made their way there through the impenetrable wilds in search of a place pleasing to God. They fell in love with the place at the threshold of the Dark on the Yemtsa River, and, having prayed, they built a hut and a chapel there and began to strive in many exploits and labors. After 7 years, the inhabitants were expelled by local peasants, and they had to move further to the North. Anthony turned to the Lord with a prayer request to help them find a new place for solitude, and the Lord heard their prayers. This is what the legend says about it. Once, wandering through the northern wilds in search of a new place pleasing to God, Anthony met the fisherman Samuel with his disciples. He remembered a wonderful place on Mikhailov Island. It was here, on the cape of Greater Lake Michael, that Anthony and his six disciples Alexander, Joachim, Isaiah, Elisha, Alexander and Jonah erected a wooden Cross and set up cells.

The place where they settled was wild and secluded from people. It was surrounded by swamps and dense forests, in which wild animals lived in great abundance, and deep lakes teemed with fish. Even during the life of St. Anthony, the monks began to build the first wooden church in honor of the Life-Giving Trinity. The main shrine of the temple and monastery was the icon of the Most Holy Trinity, painted, according to legend, by the Monk Anthony himself. This icon became famous for its miracles. From her the blind received their sight, and demons were driven out of possessed people. One day, due to an oversight, the wooden temple burned down. But the miraculous icon that was in it was found completely intact. And this was another sign of God’s favor towards the monastery. Soon the monks restored the temple.

The Monk Anthony was a miracle worker, so all sorts of sick and wretched people began to flock to the monastery. During his abbess, the Monk Anthony went to deserted places for silence: to an island surrounded by Lake Dudnitsa, and to Lake Padun. He stayed there for two years, during which time the monastery was ruled by his disciple Hieromonk Theognostus.

Upon returning to the monastery, Anthony again ruled the monastery himself. On December 7, 1557, the Monk Anthony, who performed many different miracles in his life, reposed, being 79 years old. He lived in his monastery and served as abbot for 37 years. After the repose of St. Anthony, his relics were buried in the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity. In 1529, the Monk Anthony was canonized. His memory is celebrated on December 7.

Article from Volume II of the Orthodox Encyclopedia

Anthony of Siysk (Andrey; 1478, village of Kiehta, Dvina Vol. – 7.12.1556), venerable (December 7, Old Art.), abbot, founder of the Anthony of Siysky Monastery (now Arkhangelsk region). The main source of information about Anthony of Siysk is his life, which is known in 4 editions. The 1st edition was compiled in 1577–1578. The monk of the Siya Monastery Jonah, on behalf of Abbot Pitirim, took this text to Moscow with a request to establish a celebration of the saint. (Earlier, immediately after the death of the saint, the monk of the Siya Monastery, Philotheus, attempted to compile a life, but he was not supported by the brethren of the monastery.) The life written by Jonah was presented in Moscow by the Novgorod Archbishop Alexander (a student of Anthony of Siya) to the son of John IV Vasilyevich the Terrible - Tsarevich John with a request to compile a new edition with a commendable word and service, the prince revised the life already in 1579. In the 60s. XVII century Based on 2 editions - monk Jonah and Tsarevich John, Abbot Theodosius of Siya compiled the 3rd edition of the life of Anthony of Siya, including a description of miracles before 1663. There is also a prologue edition of the life.

Andrei was the first child in a family of wealthy peasants Nikifor and Agathia. Because of the good looks and virtues that the saint possessed from birth, his parents loved him more than other children. At the age of 7, his parents sent him to “book learning”; he quickly mastered reading and writing and fell in love with reading the patristic works. Andrei was the only one among his brothers and sisters whom his parents blessed to study “iconic writing,” while the rest were engaged in farming. After the death of his parents, when Andrei was 25 years old, he moved to Novgorod, where he entered the service of a boyar’s house and got married. A year later, his wife died, and soon his patron-boyar died. Andrei saw in this the destiny of his future.

He returned to Kiechta, distributed all his property to the poor and left to wander. On the bank of the river Keny, 5 miles from the Transfiguration Kensky Monastery, Anthony of Siysky stopped in the forest for the night, here a gray-haired old man in white robes with a cross in his hands appeared to him in a dream, who said: “Take up your cross, come after me, go and struggle.” Rising from sleep, Anthony came to the Transfiguration Monastery and began to ask the abbot, the Monk Pachomius of Kensky, to accept him into the monastery. The abbot himself taught the new monk the monastic work, and in 1508 Anthony took monastic vows. The Life reports that Anthony of Siysk was “powerful in body and very strong, in his labors he was very courageous, as if he could work mightily for two or three” (RSL. Trinity No. 694. L. 15 vol.). He worked in a kitchen, cut down forests, cleared land for arable land, and served the infirm brethren in the monastery hospital. When there was no priest in the monastery, Abbot Pachomius blessed Anthony of Siysky for the priesthood.

In 1513, Anthony, together with the monks Alexander and Joachim, retired from the monastery to the Emtsa River to the Dark Threshold, where he built a chapel, cells and a church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. The altar Gospel from this church, which previously belonged to Anthony of Siysk, has survived to this day (BAN. Arkhang. No. 1200). 4 more monks came to the Nikolskaya hermitage to Anthony of Siysky. A conflict with the local population, who did not want to be neighbors with the monastery, forced the monks in 1520 to move further to the northeast - to sparsely populated forests along the Siye River. One day, when the monks were praying in the forest, they were seen by the hunter Samuil, a resident of the village of Brosacheva. Amazed by what he saw, he approached Anthony for a blessing, and the saint asked him to indicate a place convenient for setting up a monastery. Samuel took them to the shore of Angular Lake, where he had previously heard bells ringing and prayer singing. The monk founded a monastery 8 miles from there on the peninsula of Lake Mikhailovskoye.

Life in the new place was full of hardships, often the monks did not have butter, salt, bread - “there was poverty for everything; what you don’t remember, you won’t find.” The brethren wanted to disperse, but through the prayers of Anthony of Siysk, a certain man unexpectedly came to the monastery, brought bread, flour, butter and gave alms for the construction of the monastery. Soon another miracle occurred, which further convinced the monks to remain in the monastery. The tax collector of the Novgorod Archbishop Vasily Bebr, thinking that there were some treasures in the new monastery, hired robbers to rob the monastery at night. When the robbers approached the monastery, they saw many armed people guarding it. Fear fell on the robbers and they fled. The next morning the robbers told Vasily about what they had seen. He sent a priest from a nearby village to the monastery to ask the saint what kind of people were guarding the monastery. It turned out that there was no one in the monastery except the monks, and the saint, as usual, prayed all night. Struck by the miracle, Vasily Bebr came to Anthony of Siysk and repented of his sinful intentions.

A few years later, when the number of brethren greatly increased, Anthony of Siysk sent his disciples Isaiah and Alexander to Moscow, who received from Grand Duke Vasily III Ioannovich a grant of land and lands (RGB. Trinity. No. 694. L. 29 vol. - 30 ), Vasily Ioannovich asked the saint to pray for the “childhood” of the Grand Duchess. A wooden church was built in the monastery in honor of the Most Holy Trinity, the local temple image for which was painted by an unknown icon painter with the help of Anthony of Siy. The Life reports that the monk himself, although he learned to paint icons in his youth, “but his icon painting was simple,” he compensated for the lack of skill with fasting and prayer. A fire that occurred soon destroyed the church, leaving unharmed only the icon of the Holy Trinity, which was found in the middle of the monastery. After this, a new Trinity Church and 2 more churches were built: a warm one with a refectory in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and a gateway church in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh. The miraculously saved image of the Holy Trinity became a local shrine. In the life it is reported that the demoniac Vasily, the servant of the Dvina governor, Prince, was healed at the icon. Dmitry Zhizhinsky, Silouan - a servant of the boyar Vasily Vorontsov, who suffered from an epileptic illness, and many others. etc.

In 1543, Anthony of Siysky received a charter from Tsar Ivan the Terrible, according to which the Dvina centurion Vasily Bichurin was to demarcate the granted forests and lands to the Siysky monastery (Certificates of the Collegium of Economy. Vol. 1. No. 97. Stb. 98–100). After 2 years, the king granted the monastery a salt spring on Mount Isakov with an exemption from paying duties for the development of the fishery for 5 years. In the life of Anthony of Siysk (as edited by Tsarevich Ivan) there is information that Anthony of Siysky personally visited Moscow (apparently between 1547 and 1555) and was received by Tsar Ivan the Terrible and Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna.

During the years of relative prosperity of his monastery, Anthony of Siysky left its management to Hieromonk Theognostus and retired to live as a hermit 3 miles from the monastery on an island in Lake Dudnitskoye, where he erected a chapel in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Here the monk indulged in severe ascetic deeds, eating only from the labor of his hands: he himself cleared the land for crops, sowed and harvested grain. After completing the prayer rule, he ground bread by hand all night, kept part of the flour for food, and sent the rest to the monastery. To aggravate the feat, during the threshing the monk undressed to the waist and gave his body to be eaten by mosquitoes. After some time, Anthony of Siysk moved 5 miles away from the former desert - to Lake Padun. In total, he lived in the deserts near the monastery for about 2 years. When Theognostus left the abbess, Anthony of Siya was forced to return to the monastery and again become its abbot.

The life tells that the monk had the gift of clairvoyance. One day the monk Philotheus, who wanted to secretly leave the monastery, went into the cell of Anthony of Siya. The monk revealed his thoughts to Philotheus and thereby saved him from death. Another time, on the Feast of the Transfiguration, the monks fished all night and did not catch anything. Anthony of Siysky blessed them to go to the lake to Cape Red Nose. The catch was so great that the monastery ate this fish for a long time, and the fish tonya was named Antonieva.

Shortly before his death, Anthony of Siysky compiled “Spiritual Memory” - instructions on the organization of a monastic hostel (Arkhangelsk Museum of Local Lore. Inv. No. 3590). The books collected by Anthony of Siysk during the years of his abbotship became the basis of the later richest library of the Siysky monastery (in 1556, according to the signature list compiled by the monk before his death for the new abbot Kirill, there were 66 books).

Local veneration of Anthony of Siya began, apparently, immediately after his death. The general church canonization of Anthony of Siysky took place at the Council of 1579. At the end. XVI – beginning XVII century A new church was built in the monastery in honor of the Holy Trinity with a chapel in the name of Anthony of Siy. In 1652, Patriarch Nikon, on the way to Solovki, visited the Siysky monastery, and by his decree, a temple was built in Kiechta in the name of Anthony of Siysky. Under the Siysk abbot Theodosius (Lebedev; 1643–1652 and 1663–1688), 11 posthumous miracles of Anthony of Siysk were recorded, which the abbot witnessed: the healing of a deacon (1660), 2 paralytics (1661), the blind abbot Euthymius, etc. In 1672 In the vicinity of the monastery, there was rainy, cold weather for more than a month, threatening crop failure. Anthony of Siysky appeared to the monastery worker Ioann Tyrydanov and ordered him to tell the abbot to make a religious procession to Angular Lake, and for the population of the monastery surroundings to strictly observe fasts and fasting days. Igum. Theodosius went in a religious procession to Angular Lake 2 times, where there was a chapel in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, built by Theodosius in 1668, the weather was good. On July 7, having completed the 3rd religious procession with a thanksgiving prayer, Abbot Theodosius established it to be held annually on this day. Significant events in the life of the monastery were also recorded by the chronicler of the Siya Monastery, in which 24 miracles of the monk that happened under Abbot Theodosius were recorded; in particular, on September 15, 1679, a lamp lit by itself at the tomb of Anthony of Siy, the oil from which cured serious illnesses.

The relics of the saint rested hidden in the Trinity Cathedral of the Siysk Monastery at the southern wall of the temple next to the chapel named after him. Above the tomb was an image of the Holy Trinity, painted by the monk. In 1859, a chased silver shrine was placed over the relics. On July 11, 1923, the monastery was closed; the relics of the saint were not opened during Soviet times. Aug 13 1992 The Antoniev Siysky Monastery, in a dilapidated state, was transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church. Currently, the Annunciation Church and the church in the name of St. Sergius of Radonezh are being restored, and the restoration of the Trinity Cathedral is being prepared.

Sources: Church charter. M., 1610. L. 448; Charter of church rites performed in the Moscow Assumption Cathedral // RIB. St. Petersburg, 1876. T. 3. P. 39; Description about Russian saints. pp. 156–157; Ponomarev A.I. Monuments of ancient Russian. church teaching literature. St. Petersburg, 1896. Issue. 2: Slavic-Russian Prologue. Part 1. Sep.–Dec. pp. 65–67; Nicodemus (Kononov), Hierom. Arkhangelsk Patericon. St. Petersburg, 1901, pp. 29–179.

Literature: Kalaidovich K., Stroev P. A detailed description of Slavic-Russian manuscripts stored in Moscow in the library of the gr. F.A. Tolstoy. M., 1825. P. 573; Macarius (Mirolyubov), bishop. Historical information about the Anthony Siysky Monastery // CHOIDR. 1878. Book. 3; Yakhontov I. Lives of the holy Northern Russian ascetics of the Pomeranian region as a source. source. Kaz., 1881. P. 110–118; Karamzin N. M. History of the Russian State. M., 1989. Book 3. T. 9. Approx. 612. Stb. 136–137; Tupikov N. M. Literary activity of Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich. St. Petersburg, 1894; Kononov A. St. Anthony, the Wonderworker of Siya and Church History. the significance of the monastery he founded. St. Petersburg, 1895; Pokrovsky N.V. Siysk icon painting original. St. Petersburg, 1898. P. 184; Klyuchevsky. Old Russian Lives. pp. 300–302, 336–337; Barsukov. Sources of hagiography. Stb. 51–55; Filimonov. Iconographic original. P. 208; Golubinsky. Canonization of saints. C. 117; Spassky F. G. Russian liturgical creativity (according to modern Menaions). P., 1951; Budovnits I. U. Monasteries in Rus' and the struggle of peasants against them in the XIV-XVI centuries: (According to the lives of saints). M., 1966. S. 270–276; Kukushkina M.V. Inventories of books of the 16th–17th centuries. Libraries of the Antony-Siysk Monastery // Materials and communications on the funds of the Department of Manuscripts and Rare Books of the BAS of the USSR. M.; L., 1966. P. 130; she is the same. Monastic libraries of the Russian North. L., 1977. S. 25–32; SKKDR. Vol. 2. Part 1. pp. 247–248; Ryzhova E. A. “The Tale of the Life of Anthony of Siy” and Northern Russian. hagiography second sex. XVI century: AKD. St. Petersburg, 1993. pp. 8–9; Macarius. History of the RC. Book 4. Part 2. P. 36, 44, 211; Koltsova T. M. Northern icon painters. Arkhangelsk, 1998. pp. 36–37; Markelov. Saints of Ancient Rus'. T. 1. Ill. 36–43; T. 2. pp. 57–58.

S. O. Shalyapin, E. V. Romanenko.

Hymnography

The service of Anthony of Siysk was written specifically for the Council of 1579 by Tsarevich John; the creation of the service preceded the work on the life of Anthony of Siya, as evidenced by the entry in the service lists of the 16th century. (eg: RNL. Q. I. 22. L. 390). The service created by Tsarevich John was not widespread; it is known from 2 unnotated manuscripts: RNL. OSRC. O. I. 22 (XVI century) and NSRK. Q. 273 (80s of the 17th century), although more manuscripts with records of John’s authorship are known. There are also 2 notated manuscripts in which the chant of the service is recorded in znamenny notation (RNB. Kir.-Bel. No. 586/843, late 16th century; RNB. Capella. O. 4, 70s of the 17th century). They include chants created by the prince, although there is no inscription indicating his authorship. Analysis of the overall vocal composition, as well as the composition and rhetorical devices used both in the literary text and in the musical composition of individual chants of the service, suggests that Tsarevich John was not only the creator of the text, but also the singer of the service. However, its originality (the presence of the 2nd song in the canon; the content and size of some texts deviating from tradition) forced the Moscow spiritual authorities to refuse the service of the prince. In the first printed Russian Typikon of 1610, on the day of remembrance of the saint, it is noted: “The service to Anthony of Siysk is sung when the ecclesiarch judges.” In the printed Menea for December. (M., 1620) there is also no service, although the name of Anthony of Siya is mentioned. Here, under the mark “behold,” it is only noted that “his service is written in the book about the new miracle workers” (see Decree on the holy new miracle workers). In the Charter of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin (c. 1634) December 7. about the service of Anthony of Siya it is said: “The syllable is bad, it is better for him to sing according to the common Menaion.” Probably, this assessment was the reason that a different service was included in the printed Menea, published in 1636 with the blessing of Patriarch Joasaph. From the Menaion of 1636, the service ended up in handwritten, unnotated collections, for example, the Russian National Library. Weather No. 688, where it precedes the Life of Anthony of Sias as edited by Jonah. The text of the Slavniks of this service, sung and written down in Znamenny notation, is included twice in the NLR manuscript. Capella O. 4. L. 79 vol., 220, and the 2nd exposition is preceded by the inscription: “against the printed ones,” which indicates that the text was taken from the printed Menaion and only then sung. In this service, historical realities are eliminated, the text is more traditional. and uses imagery from the general service of the reverends. Both of these services are placed in the printed Menaion, now used in the Russian Orthodox Church (Minea (MP). December. Part 1. pp. 226–246; 247–275), with the service written by John placed in 2nd place. The tipi-kon, now used in the Russian Orthodox Church (Typikon. T. 1. P. 308), prescribes the sixfold service to be performed by Anthony of Siysk (see Signs of the feasts of the month).

N. V. Ramazanova

Iconography

The iconography of Anthony of Siya began to take shape in the last quarter of the 16th century. Iconographic originals describe the appearance of the saint as follows: “Gray-haired, bald, with a scanty face, withered hair, five little braids, like Anthony of Pechersk, narrower, a venerable robe, underside is green and white” (RNB. Po-god. No. 1931. L. 75, 7 Dec.; 2nd quarter of the 19th century). Above the tomb of Anthony of Siya there was his main image of the 16th century, which was depicted together with a number of half-length and full-length images of the 17th century. placed in the Siysky facial original, 2nd floor. XVII century (Pokrovsky. P. 184).

The facial life of Anthony of Siysk from 1648 has been preserved (GIM. Shchuk. No. 107/750, in 40), donated to the Siysky monastery by Abbot Theodosius, in the manuscript there are 153 miniatures. It is known that Abbot Theodosius was an icon painter, presumably he is the author of miniatures of the life (Kukushkina. Monastic libraries. pp. 108–109). On the cover of 1661 (AOKM), contribution of I. D. Miloslavsky; Moscow icon of 1668 by icon painter V. O. Kondakov-Usolts (collection of P. Korin. Tretyakov Gallery); the veil of the late 17th century. (AOKM) from the sacristy of the Trinity Cathedral of the Siysk Monastery, the monk is presented in full growth, with a blessing right hand and a scroll in his hand, at the top is the image of the Holy Trinity. In 1659, Kondakov-Usolets painted an image of Anthony of Siysk in his life, which was placed near the shrine with the relics of the saint. On 2 surviving hagiographic icons from the mid-2nd half of the 17th century. (GMZK, AMI) in the middle the monk is represented in prayer to the Holy Trinity; There are 20 stamps around with scenes from his life. The marks of the first icon include: the foundation of the monastery on the Emtsa River, the foundation of the Holy Trinity Monastery, Anthony of Siysky settling in a cell near Lake Padun, the repose of Anthony of Siysky, his burial; the last mark depicts the compiler of the life of Anthony of Siy with an open book in his hands (on the sheet there is an inscription: “life”).

In the icon painting originals it is reported that Anthony of Siysk was “an extraordinary icon painter, but he painted the image of the Life-Giving Trinity, from him many miracles happened, and there were many icons” (Filimonov. P. 208). Mentions of icons written by Anthony of Siya have been preserved: in the Trinity Church of the Siya Monastery, the Annunciation Yametsk Hermitage and others (Koltsova, pp. 36–37), in the monastery fodder book of the 17th century. the image of St. Nicholas “from the miracle worker’s letter” is mentioned (Arkhangelsk Patericon. P. 209. Note 30). The icon of the Mother of God “Tenderness” (AOKM), according to legend, painted by Anthony of Siysk, has been preserved; This is evidenced by the inscription on the back, apparently made during the renovation of the icon in 1882.

O. A. Polyakova

The future great saint was named Andrew at baptism. He spent his childhood and youth in the northern region, where the great Dvina River flows. This child was similar in character to an angel - just as quiet and bright. He quickly learned to read and write, and the parents of only one of all their children sent him to learn to paint icons. All the rest, like father and mother, were engaged in peasant labor.

After the death of his parents, he moved to Novgorod, where he entered the service of a boyar's house and got married. But his wife died just a year later, and soon his patron, the boyar, also died. Andrei took all these troubles as a sign from above. He returned to his native village, distributed all his property to the poor and went wandering. One day he stopped for the night in the forest on the banks of the Kena River. And a gray-haired old man in white robes and with a cross in his hands appeared to him in a dream. And said:

Take up your cross, follow me and live in feat!

And the meaning of these words is this: “Accept the adversities of life that have been and that will yet be, as a cross that God Himself places on your shoulders. Take it and carry it with honor, performing the feat of humility, patience and prayer.”

And Andrei headed to the Transfiguration Monastery, which was located nearby. And he was accepted into it as a novice, and then was tonsured a monk with the name Anthony.

In the description of his life, or, in church terms, in his life, it is said that he was very strong and so strong that one could work for two or even three.

Anthony took on any task courageously and willingly. Whether it was working in the kitchen, cutting down wood, or clearing land for arable land. As a caring nanny, he served sick brothers in the monastery hospital. Then Abbot Pachomius made him a priest.

After some time, Anthony, together with two monks, moved from the monastery to the Emtsa River, to the Dark Threshold, where he built a chapel, cells and a church in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. Then four more monks joined them.

But, apparently, the local population did not respect God. The residents did not like the fact that they had a monastery in their neighborhood. And they began to drive Anthony and the brothers away, interfere with them in every possible way and even threaten them.

“Get out quickly,” some of the peasants said. Nothing here. You are strangers, and yet you occupy our lands. We don't want to see you.

And the brothers went further north, into dense forests, to the banks of the Siya River. That is why Anthony was later called “Siysky”. There, one hunter saw them at the moment when they were praying. This amazed him extraordinarily. After all, the monks did not even notice his appearance: they were completely immersed in conversation with the Lord and saw only God before them, and did not feel anything else. This is how you and I really need to pray. Where is it? Our thoughts usually wander far from God. We will remember one thing, then another. And sometimes our prayer words generally scatter like hares across a field. And we stand there, confused, and have forgotten what we were just doing, that we need to return to prayer. That is OK. If we try and fervently ask God, the Mother of God, and all the saints to teach us real prayer, then we will certainly learn.

And so the hunter stood, amazed, and thought: “How wonderful this is! If I could pray like these monks, my heart would be filled with joy.”

Then, when the monks had finished, he timidly approached them, bowed and asked Anthony for a blessing.

He blessed the hunter and said:

Friend! Do you know of a place where we could settle and establish a monastery?

How can you not know? - he answered. “Everything here has been familiar to me since childhood.” But there is one special place where one day I heard bells ringing and prayer singing. And yet, there was no one around. I, poor thing, think that maybe the Lord Himself showed me the place so that I can now tell you.

“Certainly,” answered Saint Anthony. - The way it is. Lead us, man of God.

And the hunter took them to the shore of the lake, where they built a monastery.

How hard it was for them to live in their new place! What hardships they endured! Often the monks had neither butter, nor salt, nor bread, which you and I always have at hand.

We don't even appreciate such simple food. Just think, butter! Or: wow, salt! Or bread. You can always buy bread. But here, not only nearby, but for many miles around, there was no market, no store, no grocery store. Everywhere there is only forest, stones, trees and stumps. Yes, lake and river water. Hungry.

In the life that tells about Anthony, it is written in Old Russian: “there was poverty in everything,” which means: “because there was a lack of everything.” And further: “What you do not remember, you will not find.” That is: “whatever you remember, it will not be found.”

The brothers were exhausted, lost weight, began to get sick and wanted to go their separate ways. But Anthony of Siya fervently prayed, asking God to prevent this from happening. And suddenly an unknown man came to the monastery and brought bread, flour and butter, and also gave money for the construction of the monastery.

However, the brothers still hesitated. They thought: “This is all good. But once we eat it, then there will be hunger again. No, we need to separate, otherwise we’ll be lost.”

And then a miracle happened. One villain, named Vasily, thinking that the brothers were hiding treasures, hired robbers to rob the monastery at night. When the robbers approached the monastery, they saw many armed people guarding it.

The next morning Vasily asks them:

Well, did they bring it? - He was already rubbing his hands in advance, already mentally turning over the gold coins and semi-precious stones in his hands. - Why don’t you answer, huh? And why are you trembling? What's wrong with you?

Which one is it! - answered the robbers. - There is such horror, such horror! There are guards standing around, about a hundred people, all with shields and spears. Everyone has a bow and arrow. Everyone has a sword.

Underpants! - Vasily shouted. - So I’ll find out where the fighting squad came from in our area for no apparent reason!

And he asked one local priest if there were any strangers in the monastery at night. And he said that there was no one in the monastery that summer night, and there could not have been.

And Vasily understood that it was only through the prayers of Saint Anthony that his people dreamed of a formidable guard.

Shocked by this miracle, he came to Anthony of Siysk and repented of his sinful intention.

A few years later, when there were already a lot of brothers in the monastery, there was a big fire that destroyed the wooden church. Everything died in the fire. But the icon of the Holy Trinity, painted by one of the local masters with the help of Anthony himself, was not damaged at all. And this was another miracle.

And they built a new temple, and the miraculously saved image of the Holy Trinity became a local shrine. And from the icon those possessed with epilepsy and epilepsy received healing. And many more.

Anthony of Siysk became famous far beyond the monastery. He was even received in Moscow by Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself and Tsarina Anastasia Romanovna.

Anthony spent the last years of his life not in a monastery, but in a harsh hermitage, completely alone in the forest. But people still came to him with their needs and questions. One day, the fishermen, who had been fishing unsuccessfully all night on the Feast of the Transfiguration, were ordered by Anthony to go to Cape Red Nose, and their catch there was enormous. So the monks were provided with food for a long time.

After Anthony's death, through prayers to him, many miracles happened, eleven of which were recorded in a special book. For example, the cold and rainy weather, which threatened crop failure, stopped. Or again: once at the tomb of Anthony of Siy, a lamp was lit by itself, the oil from which heals serious illnesses.

Since then, in Rus', for almost five hundred years, Anthony has been revered as a great saint.

MIRACLE RESCUE

The sacred temple is burning, trouble!

The night, like a torch, illuminating,

Where does this attack come from?

And who lit it? When?

Perhaps with an evil hand

The one who hates God

who has been angry with Him for a long time,

the temple was set on fire in the darkness of the night?

Or maybe a sleepy sexton

Handled the stove carelessly