Venerable Irinarch, recluse of Rostov. The Irinarch’s chains heal even those possessed by demons. The Icon of the Irinarch of Rostov helps with what

Although some people confidently claim that the earth is unique under the silvery light of the moon, but just look! - how beautiful she is in the light of day! We are driving to the Rostov Boris and Gleb Monastery, and along the road, dense pine forests turn dark green, the snow turns white, their combination harmoniously complements the gray cloudy sky. The car bounces on the Russian road of eternal quality, shaking us thoroughly from time to time.

We are going to admire another historical place in Rostov with several unsurpassed architectural monuments.

Still, what a wonderful thing – travel! New places always promise previously unknown and unforgettable experiences! Where we are going now, we will get them in abundance - we will simply choke on the impressions of a beautiful and truly Russian place, almost untrodden by tourists. At least that's what we were assured.

Not the most welcoming weather

Go! It's about zero outside, but there's a strong wind. On the way out of the city, a gust of wind tore off a passerby’s hat, and it quickly ran away from its owner along the roadway. The citizen was at that age when it is still important how you look in the eyes of others. The fear of appearing ridiculous prevented him from going after the fugitive with all his might, and the prudence that had come over the years did not allow him to give up on the loss.

The headdress was briskly jumping along an arbitrary trajectory into the distance, but the general direction of its movement was still visible: somewhere on the opposite side of the road. Its owner, smiling embarrassedly at the motorists, puffed, rushed along the highway and tried to seize the right moment to catch his thing. Finally, the hat swerved and hit the wheel of the Muscovite walking in front of us, and the catcher himself almost fell under him.

Sanya quickly stopped, thereby securing the arena of action. Taking advantage of this favorable circumstance, the object of persecution, and then its unlucky owner, jumped out onto the sidewalk, where the criminal headdress was quickly captured by passers-by. Having finally received the property in his hands, the happy Rostovite left. We followed his example.

The first Russian saints Boris and Gleb
Briefly - who are they?

In the summer of 2015, it will be a thousand years since the soul of the baptizer of Rus', the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir, flew to the Lord. Little is known about the details of his life. What are the details? Both his birth itself and the circumstances of his death are shrouded in fog.

But it is known that Vladimir the Red Sun during the pagan period of his life was an inveterate polygamist. Therefore, he had many children from different wives. It is believed that there were twelve sons alone.

And especially among them he singled out the younger ones - Boris and Gleb. Who was their mother? Unknown. For a long time it was believed that she was the daughter and sister of the Byzantine emperors - the porphyry Byzantine princess Anna. Now this statement in the scientific community is considered unfounded and not confirmed by sources.

Only a few days passed after the unexpected death of Vladimir, when his beloved sons, who did not want to participate in the internecine war with their brothers, were killed in different places - the Rostov prince Boris and Gleb, who reigned in Murom.

In those distant times, succession of power relied solely on force and went hand in hand with the murder of pretenders. Even close relatives were dealt with mercilessly.

And then something amazing happened: having each a strong squad under their command, they did not want to go the bloody path and did not raise their hands against their brothers. Having accepted martyrdom, they established a new model of behavior - not all means are good for achieving power.

Boris and Gleb became the first saints canonized by the Russian Church. Hundreds of monasteries and temples were built in their honor in Rus'.

I knew absolutely nothing about the Borisoglebsky Monastery, which is located in the Yaroslavl region, but this is tenderly the younger brother. Seven hundred years ago, two monks Theodore and Pavel came here to the thicket of the forest and decided to found a monastery in the local desolation. He showed them the place for the monastery.

First, the monks founded a wooden church. It was 1363, less than thirty years had passed since Makovets grew up on Mount Makovets.

But, if the Trinity-Sergius Monastery occupied a strategically important position, blocking access to Moscow, then, standing on the road connecting Uglich and Rostov, the Boris and Gleb Monastery was unable to block the approach to any of these cities. To get to any of them, both then and now, there are many other possibilities - this road is not the only one.

The reasons why the remote Boris and Gleb Monastery did not decay, but began to grow and become rich, are not very clear. And even less clear are the reasons that caused a special attitude towards him on the part of the Grand Dukes of Moscow and the Rurik Tsars. The monastery received favors from them, very rich contributions, they generously donated lands to it, gave it icons and jewelry.

For example, the Tsar of All Rus' Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible. As a good Christian, he repented of his actions. On his orders, a synodik was compiled - a list of those executed, in order to remember them in churches.

Lists of victims, with large monetary donations in addition, were sent to a number of monasteries. The Boris and Gleb Monastery was among these chosen ones. By the way, Grozny also contributed significant sums here to commemorate the souls of his wives - the meek Anastasia Romanovna, the Circassian Maria Temryukovna, as well as the son of Tsarevich Ivan.

In the 16th-17th centuries, the Boris and Gleb Monastery was rightly considered one of the richest in the Rostov Metropolis. The end of his prosperity came during the reign of Catherine the Great, when she transferred the monastery lands to Count Grigory Orlov, her favorite.

In 1924, the Borisoglebsky Monastery in the Yaroslavl region was completely abolished, and only seventy years later a new stage of its life began, and the monks returned here. Nowadays, two organizations somehow coexist on its territory - an active monastery and a branch of the Rostov Kremlin Museum.

The inhabitants of the holy monastery and the Venerable Irinarch, the recluse of Rostov

Monasteries are communities of special people who are alone with God. The number of brethren in them varies, on average from 20 to 100 people. Only nine monks currently live in the Boris and Gleb Monastery.

And in the 14th century, the monk Peresvet lived here, the one whom St. Sergius, together with his brother Oslyabey, blessed for the battle of good and evil.

At the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th centuries, another monk lived in the monastery - Irinarh, who was later glorified as a saint.

In the prime of his life, he took monastic vows and for 38 years, until his death, he lived in a voluntary seclusion - a tiny cell measuring one and a half by three meters. Taming his flesh, he wore chains on himself: a chain of twenty fathoms on his neck, eighteen shackles on his hands, seven weights on his shoulders, weighty fetters on his legs, a belt weighed down by a pound of metal, and there were some other little things - one and a half hundred crosses on his body and an iron stick with which he beat himself.

But the main thing was not the ascetic life of the Monk Irinarch, but the gift of clairvoyance that allowed the Boris and Gleb recluse to foresee the future.

So, he predicted the invasion of the Poles to Tsar Shuisky, and then suggested to him the moment of the victorious offensive. And he himself, unafraid, predicted right to his face that he would be killed if he did not leave Rus'. Saint Irinarch blessed the campaign and army of Dmitry Pozharsky to fight the invaders.

Holy spring of Irinarch

Near the village of Kondakovo, which is forty kilometers from the Borisoglebsky Monastery in the Yaroslavl region, there is a source dug by the hands of the young Irinarch, before he became a holy recluse.

The spring is located in the forest, the cold healing water slightly smells of clay - the soil around it is clayey. The holy spring of Irinarch does not freeze; believers come here in winter and summer for healing from illnesses. There is a comfortable bathing area nearby. This spring water is believed to cure infertility, skin and heart diseases.

Every year before the celebration of the day of Elijah the Prophet, which is celebrated on August 2, a crowded religious procession comes from the walls of the monastery to the source. Pilgrims follow the cross, banners and icon of St. Irinarch for four whole days, while taking turns putting on the chains of the recluse of Rostov...

Hello, Borisoglebsky village!

Eighteen kilometers north of Rostov Veliky is one of the regional centers of the Yaroslavl region - the village of Borisoglebsky.

After the establishment of the monastery and as it flourished, settlements of artisans and peasants began to grow near its walls. They grew up, but they didn’t grow up. If Sergiev Posad grew into a full-fledged city from the same settlements, then this did not happen here - there was no large and rich trade route nearby.

We left the car in the parking lot, went out into the open space, and the weather ruined our mood. The wind was blowing almost gale force.

A black and white long-tailed magpie that was sitting on a tree suddenly decided to fly across the square. We stared at the white-sided bird - my daughter is a big bird lover. And we see - the poor thing waved and waved its short wings, and the wind kept blowing it to its original place. She chirped something angrily, turned around and flew in the opposite direction - it’s not for nothing that they say that the magpie is a smart bird.

Something spiky was falling from the sky. I immediately didn’t want to go anywhere. But they planned to start the inspection from all three monuments of the village - to Prince Pozharsky and the monks - Peresvet, and Irinarkh. But don’t leave without a sip! Having cowered and gathered their will, they went to the walls of the monastery.

Forest Kremlin – Boris and Gleb Monastery

The road leads to the northern wall of the monastery. Along it there are shopping arcades from the century before last.

A lace and patterned gate with the Sretenskaya Gate Church leads into the monastery itself. Monumental and beautiful, with five domes, a carved gallery and twisted columns, it is a pleasant yellow-orange color. It is decorated with white belts and also white multi-layer platbands. Two round towers with faceted tops guard it on either side.

Ancient terracotta walls made of stone surround the monastery, forming an irregular quadrangle with a perimeter of just over a kilometer (1040 meters). Their thickness is impressive - three meters, and their height ranges from ten to twelve meters. The ensemble is complemented by 14 powerful towers - 9 round and 5 square, which rise to a height of 20 to 40 meters.

Inside the wall there is a large space where only a few buildings stand, but many trees are planted. It feels like it’s unusually good here in the summer.

The great builder, Bishop Iona Sysoevich

Initially, the monastery was built of wood; under no circumstances could these buildings have survived to our time. You can read about how long wooden buildings last.

The first stone church in the name of Saints Boris and Gleb was founded on the site of a dilapidated wooden one in 1522. What appears before us now - the walls and buildings - were made through the efforts of the creator of the Rostov Kremlin, the tireless creator, Metropolitan Jonah. He was neither an outstanding preacher nor a famous theologian, but he was a builder whose sense of harmony and taste never wavered.

Jonah Sysoevich decorated the metropolis with magnificent churches and buildings. He carried out large-scale work at the Boris and Gleb Monastery, rebuilt existing buildings and built new ones, creating that monastic ensemble that has survived to this day, which can compete with the best examples of world architecture.

However, the first impression of the monastery is bewilderment.

Why was such a powerful fortress needed among dense forests? It’s hard to believe that the smart and practical Iona Sysoevich erected powerful walls of such thickness and height solely for the sake of beauty. No, there's definitely something going on here.

Or maybe Patriarch Nikon really had an idea to put church power above secular power?

And for this reason it was necessary to surround Moscow with a ring of monasteries, which were essentially super-powerful military fortresses? And Metropolitan Jonah of Rostov acted within the framework of the patriarchal master plan and only the unexpected death of the main organizer changed everything? Only some time after her did the Metropolitan dare to violate the rules of his former idol...

Temples and main buildings of the monastery of the stern and courageous

1. The Church of Boris and Gleb is small, four-pillared, single-domed.
2. Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a refectory.
3. The Holy Gates and above them the Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh are wonderful buildings.
4. In the center of the courtyard stands a stone three-tiered belfry, on the lower floor of which there is the Church of St. John the Baptist, and hanging bells can be seen in the openings of the upper tier.
5. The gate and gateway church of the Presentation of the Lord are a magnificent example of decorative architecture of the 17th century.
6. Cell of St. Irinarcha - stuck her butt to the wall of the monastery near the tower.

You can't stop looking at it enough, however

Paths were laid inside the courtyard, but not a single living creature was observed in the entire domain of the Boris and Gleb Monastery. Only at the entrance did a single monk hurriedly walk past us, pointing to the Cathedral of Boris and Gleb: “It may still be open there.”

But the doors there were already locked. And not only there, in the monastery absolutely all the doors were closed, no matter where we tried to enter. It definitely wasn't our day.

Somehow I felt sad: we weren’t able to climb the walls or the tower, we couldn’t go inside the churches or see the museum exhibitions.

We walked around the area aimlessly for some time. The complete desertion, unpleasant for the residents of the metropolis, and the uncomfortable weather with its damp cold literally squeezed us out of here. If it weren’t for the wind, the silence would probably be simply frightening. And we left.

We decided for ourselves: the Boris and Gleb Monastery is a place where you definitely need to go again, but only when it’s warm.

Photos by S.M. Prokudin-Gorsky

At the beginning of the 20th century, a certain Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky lived in St. Petersburg and he had a hobby - photography. Moreover, he took photographs in color. And this was half a century before the invention of color photography! Each photograph was captured by three cameras with different filters onto three separate glass plates.

One day, the finest hour came in his life - Nicholas II himself saw his work. The owner of the Russian land instructed him to take photographs of the entire empire. Work began to boil, and then suddenly a revolution broke out. The photographer, taking his family and some of the photographs, fled abroad. In the end, need forced him to sell the collection to the Library of Congress, where it was forgotten for a long time.

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The Monk Irinarch, a recluse of Rostov, was born into a peasant family in the village of Kondakovo, Rostov district. In Baptism he received the name Elijah. In the 30th year of his life, the saint took monastic vows at the Rostov Boris and Gleb Monastery. There he began to work diligently in monastic deeds, attended church services, prayed at night and slept on the ground. One day, taking pity on a wanderer who had no shoes, Saint Irinarchus gave him his boots and from then on began to walk barefoot in the cold. The abbot did not like this behavior of the ascetic, and he began to humble him, forcing him to stand in the cold in front of his cell for two hours or ring the bell tower for a long time. The saint endured everything with patience and did not change his behavior. The abbot continued to be cruel, and the monk was forced to move to the Avramiev Epiphany Monastery, where he was accepted into the ranks of the brethren and was soon appointed cellarer. The monk fulfilled his obedience with zeal, grieving that the brethren of the monastery and ministers did not protect the property of the monastery, squandering it without measure. Once in a dream he saw the Monk Abraham of Rostov (October 29), who consoled him and blessed him to distribute to everyone what they needed without embarrassment. Once, during the singing of the Cherubim, the Monk Irinarch sobbed loudly. To the archimandrite’s question, he answered: “My mother has passed away!” Leaving the Abrahamic Monastery, the Monk Irinarch moved to the Rostov Monastery of St. Lazarus, settled in a secluded cell and lived in it for three years in cramped conditions and hunger. Here he was visited by Blessed John the Fool, nicknamed the Big Cap. The saints supported each other with spiritual conversation. The elder, however, had a desire to return to his original monastery - the Boris and Gleb Monastery. He was received back with love by the builder Varlaam and began to strive even more severely in the monastery. Having secluded himself in seclusion, the ascetic chained himself to a wooden chair with an iron chain, and placed heavy chains and crosses on himself. For this he suffered bitterness and ridicule from the monastery brethren. At that time, he was visited by an old friend, Blessed John the Fool for Fool, who predicted the invasion of Lithuania to Moscow. The Monk Irinarch spent 25 years chained with chains and chains in hard labor. His exploits exposed those who lived carelessly in the monastery, and they lied to the abbot that the elder taught them not to go to monastic work, but to strive like him. The abbot believed the slander and expelled the holy elder from the monastery. Having humbly submitted, the Monk Irinarch again went to Rostov and lived in the monastery of St. Lazarus for one year. Meanwhile, the Abbot of Borisoglebsk repented of his act and sent monks for the Monk Irinarch. He returned, reproaching himself that he did not live like the brethren, who carried out the righteous labors of which he was deprived. The monk continued to wear his heavy chains and, working, made clothes for the poor, knitted hair scrolls and hoods. He slept only one or two hours at night, the rest of the time he prayed and beat his body with an iron stick.

Saint Irinarch had a vision that Moscow would be captured by Lithuania, and churches in some places would be destroyed. He began to cry bitterly about the impending disaster, and the abbot ordered him to go to Moscow and warn Tsar Vasily Ioannovich Shuisky (1606 - 1610) about the impending disaster. The Monk Irinarch fulfilled his obedience. He refused the gifts offered to him and, returning, began to fervently pray that the Lord would have mercy on the Russian land.

Enemies came to Rus', began to conquer cities, beat up residents, plundered monasteries and churches. False Dmitry and the second impostor sought to conquer Rus' to the Polish king. The Boris and Gleb Monastery was also captured by enemies, who entered the holy recluse and were surprised at the direct and bold speeches of the elder, who predicted their death.

Sapega, who was staying at the Boris and Gleb Monastery, wished to see the elder sitting in chains, and was surprised at such a feat. When the lords who came with Sapieha told him that the elder was praying for Shuisky, the monk boldly said: “I was born and baptized in Russia, I pray for the Russian Tsar and God.” Sapega answered: “The truth in Dad is great - in which land to live, that land to serve.” After this, the Monk Irinarch began to convince Sapega to leave Russia, predicting his death otherwise.

The Monk Irinarch followed the progress of the war and sent Prince Dmitry Pozharsky his blessing and prosphora. He ordered him to go near Moscow, predicting: “You will see the glory of God.” The monk donated his cross to help Pozharsky and Minin. With the help of God, the Russians defeated Lithuania, Prince Pozharsky took possession of the Kremlin, and peace gradually began to settle in the Russian land. Elder Irinarh continued to constantly pray to God with tears for the deliverance of Rus' from its enemies and, possessing the power to work miracles, healed the sick and demon-possessed. The day of his death was revealed to him, and he, calling his disciples, Alexander and Cornelius, began to give them instructions and, having said goodbye to everyone, quietly departed to the Lord into eternal rest (+ January 13, 1616). The holy elder left behind 142 copper crosses, seven shoulder chains, a chain of 20 fathoms, which he wore around his neck, iron leg fetters, eighteen hand shackles, “links” that he wore on his belt, weighing a pound, and an iron stick, which he beat his body and drove away demons. In these labors, as the elder called them, he lived for 38 years, lived in the world for 30 years, and died at the age of 68. After the death of the Monk Irinarch, many miracles were performed at his tomb, especially healings of the sick and demon-possessed when the crosses and chains of the holy ascetic were placed on them.

A boy, Ilya, lived in the village of Kondakovo in the 16th century and, upon reaching his 18th birthday, went to work in Nizhny Novgorod. And there one day he publicly burst into tears, assuring everyone that Father Akindin was dying in his homeland. Subsequently, the young man’s prophecy was confirmed - it was then that the villagers carried his parent in a coffin to the churchyard. And after some time Ilya came to his mother, asking for a blessing to go to the monastery. Soon the young man was cut off and assigned to live in Borisoglebsk, where the temple stood. Instead of Ilya, the new monk began to bear the name Irinarh.

Torturing the body, former merchant slept on the bare ground after fervent prayers. One day he gave his only boots to a beggar, and he himself walked barefoot in winter and summer. On the advice of Blessed Ivan, he also forged chains to be worn on the body.

They were chains and crosses made of copper and iron. In total, Irinarch had 18 shackles hanging on him, a weight on his belt weighing a pound, and seven weights on his shoulders in addition. The monk often beat himself on the body with an iron stick in order to intensify the suffering, casting out demons, and slept a couple of hours a day. In his free time, he knitted hoods for the brethren and sweaters for the poor. And he prayed every hour. In modern times, it was a hellish life.

The spirit of Irinarch was purified, prophetic visions began to appear in dreams. Once the recluse dreamed of a Lithuanian attack on Russian soil with the capture and enslavement of the people. Then Irinarch removed the weights from his body, setting off on foot to Moscow to see the sovereign. He got an appointment and told about his prophetic dream. Then the king ordered the monk to be sent to Uglich, and not to tell anyone anything about the recluse’s words. And so, in the Time of Troubles, Hetman Sapega from Lithuania moved to Rus'. The goal was to install False Dmitry II as king after the overthrow of the First. Somehow the hetman found out about Irinarch, who had already become an elder, and came to him for a blessing. But in response he received a warning of death if he did not leave Rus'.

At that time, the Poles captured Moscow, and the Seven Boyars reigned in it. The raped nuns of the Maiden Convent, among them the daughter of Boris Godunov, were sent to Vladimir almost naked. Prince Sapega also visited Moscow, living there for a month with his thugs. The hetman acted in alliance with the Poles and Germans, plundering the city. But the prophecy of Irinarch of Rostov came true - Sapega died of illness right in the Kremlin, having managed to transfer command of the army to Jozef Budzilo, a colonel of the Poles defending against the Russian militias.

Irinarch soon put on the chains again without giving yourself any slack. And he continued to prophesy. There is information that he also healed the sick. He blessed Pozharsky and Minin for the holy cause - the liberation of Rus' from the Poles. He predicted victory over Sapieha's gang for Prince Mikhail Shuisky. This is how it happened in February 1610 near Dmitrov, and the Poles and Lithuanians fled after the battle. But many of them died in that battle.

Irinarch of Rostov spent more than half of his 68 years in chains and prayers. There are 13 known predictions of the saint. With his praying cross, given to Pozharsky, the militia liberated Moscow and the Russian land from conquerors from the West.

What are Irinarch of Rostov asking for? As a rule, Orthodox Christians pray to him for mental and physical health. But many turn to him to maintain faith.

The name and long-term feat of Irinarch the Recluse were consigned to oblivion for a long time. And even now they are unknown to most Russians. But four centuries ago, this elder from the Boris and Gleb Monastery in the Yaroslavl region, together with Minin and Pozharsky, saved our Fatherland from destruction.

Our historical science owes the “resurrection” of the chronicle about the Venerable Irinarch to D.S. Likhachev, who managed to discover in the archives scraps of documents from the monastery devastated by the Bolsheviks and returned the name and deeds of Irinarch to his descendants. What did this “unknown hero of the great war,” as the scientist called the ascetic, do for the Fatherland?

According to the monastic chronicle, Irinarch was born in the Rostov region, in the village of Kondakovo. His parents were peasants, his father named Akindin, his mother named Irina. In holy baptism the baby was given the name Ilya. The parents rejoiced when they saw how quickly the child was growing: at twenty weeks he was already on his feet and starting to walk. The parents raised their son in piety and purity of the Christian faith. The child did not play games, but loved humility and meekness, was quiet and treated everyone kindly.

When he was only six years old, he once said to his mother:

When I grow up, I will take monastic vows and become a monk; I will carry iron and work for God, and I will be a teacher to all people.

The mother was surprised at such speeches from her young son, but at the same time she rejoiced. These prophetic words of a six-year-old child subsequently came true exactly.

From an early age he was visited by strange visions of the future disasters of Rus'. On holidays, the boy, who intended to become a monk and serve God, often visited the parish priest, who told him about Sergius of Radonezh, about the campaign of Dmitry Donskoy against Mamai, about the feat of Peresvet. These stories significantly influenced Ilya’s worldview. In 1566, after the death of his father, the young man and his mother moved to Rostov.

However, life was difficult, and in order not to be a burden in the family, Ilya went as a novice to the monastery of Boris and Gleb. He felt a calling to monasticism. One day, during prayer, Saint Sergius of Radonezh appeared to him, who predicted the future salvation of the Fatherland to the young man, “when the two Kozmas liberate Moscow from the foreigner,” and before that he ordered him to live in seclusion and bear special obedience. Following the instructions of the celestial being, Ilya forged an iron “trap”, that is, a chain three fathoms long, wrapped himself around it and attached himself to a large “chair”, the role of which was played by a thick stump of wood. This item became both furniture and a voluntary burden for the young man. For twenty years Ilya, who took the name Irinarchus, wore a heavy blanket, not doubting for a moment that the prophecy of Sergius of Radonezh would come true.

In 1586, the Rostov holy fool Ivan the Blessed came to the monastery, who brought Irinarch a new order from the saint of God: to make himself a hundred copper crosses, so that each one would weigh “half a kopeck,” that is, a quarter of a pound. The recluse was glad to have another test, but he was poor and did not know where he could get so much copper. However, the hand of Saint Sergius led him to accomplishment. Once, during severe bad weather, there was a knock on the door of Irinarch’s cell, and a townsman unknown to him silently handed the monk a large old copper cross. One hundred smaller crosses were cast from this cross, and the recluse put them on himself. Another guest, arriving a few days later, brought the monk a club, as a result the number of crosses reached one hundred and forty-two. Together with the prison, the total weight of the load that the elder carried on himself was 16 kilograms on ordinary days, and 8 kilograms on holidays. Many witnesses to his feat, including the monks of the monastery, did not understand why he needed to exhaust himself so much. And Irinarchus only repeated the order of Sergius of Radonezh, given to him by the holy fool: “How difficult the days are for the Fatherland, so great a burden must you bear on yourself, sharing with it its labors and troubles.”

And the days of the Fatherland really became more and more bitter. The Poles and their own traitors ravaged the Russian land, abundantly watering it with the blood of Orthodox Christians. And the stronger the Troubles became, the more iron the Rostov recluse put on himself. He chained another three fathoms (six meters) of iron to the old shelter, and the old man’s entire “robe” turned his body into a continuous non-healing wound. He wore these terrible chains on himself until 1613, until the Troubles calmed down.

For almost forty years Irinarch prayed for Russia, worked incessantly, entwined with iron, drove away sleep, did not know rest. For the Boris and Gleb brethren, he knitted scrolls (monastic robes) and hoods from hair, sewed clothes for the poor, and helped them in every possible way.

The hermit's long-suffering was rewarded. One night Saint Sergius appeared to him again. He showed Irinarch Moscow, plundered and burned by the Poles, and ordered him to immediately go to the Tsar to tell him about the impending invasion of enemies. The elder reached the capital, where he was received by Vasily Shuisky, who then occupied the Russian throne. The Emperor took the Trinity Abbot's warning seriously, but was unable to prevent the catastrophe.

Irinarch returned to his monastery. Like no one else in Rus', he foresaw the impending misfortunes. And then the day came when one of the Polish military leaders, Sapega, appeared on the threshold of his cell. The Rostov recluse, “girdled with glands,” made a great impression on the governor. He asked Irinarch what king he was praying for. “For the Russian,” answered the elder. The courage of the frail, bent monk aroused respect from Sapieha. He ordered his soldiers not to plunder the monastery and even left the recluse with a Russian banner, captured by the Poles in Moscow. “What awaits me?” – the governor asked the elder. “Hurry up and return home with your army,” Irinarch advised him, “otherwise you will not get out of here alive.” Sapieha just grinned, he knew how strong his army was and how weak Rus' was. However, the prophecy of the Rostov monk came true. The governor died on Russian soil and never saw his native Krakow again. Prince Skopin-Shuisky threw Sapega away from Rostov, and then, having received one of his miraculous crosses as a blessing from the elder, he moved to Moscow. This was the first attempt to overthrow foreign rule, and was followed by a series of others. Finally, the news reached Rostov - Prince Pozharsky and the zemstvo elder Minin were gathering a new militia in Nizhny Novgorod.

During the campaign against Moscow, the militia had to march away from the Boris and Gleb Monastery. However, just before the performance, when Prince Pozharsky, according to Russian custom, came to the grave of his parents to take a blessing, a voice familiar from childhood, at least as the legend says, whispered to him his mother’s instructions - to visit the old man in chains on the Ustye River. The prince did not dare to disobey. Having ordered the army to move along the planned path to Moscow, he, together with Minin, headed to the Boris and Gleb Monastery.

For a long time, first and last names in Rus' meant little; nicknames were much more common. Prince Pozharsky was baptized Kozma; later, for his daring and courage, they began to call him Dmitry in honor of Dmitry Donskoy. Therefore, Irinarch, seeing Pozharsky and Minin on the threshold of his cell, immediately understood: the prediction of Sergius of Radonezh that “two Kozmas will save Moscow” had come to be fulfilled. He took off the largest copper cross from himself and put it on the prince with a blessing. This was a special cross designed to be worn over armor. On the reverse side, at the top and bottom, it had holes for threading the braid - this made it more convenient to wear the cross on the chest, on the ramen. In Rus' they were called “poramennye”. The elder knew that with prayers and labors he had completed the service prescribed by heaven, and now the time had come for the prince to fulfill his duty with fire and sword. Soon Tsar Mikhail Romanov ascended the Russian throne, and silence reigned throughout Rus'.

For another eight years after the end of the Great Troubles, Irinarch lived in the Boris and Gleb monastery. He reached such a degree of holiness that with one glance he could pacify an angry beast or calm a mentally ill person. He treated many suffering people with drugs prepared in the monastery, and helped others with good advice. When the elder died, he was buried on the territory of the monastery - where the recluse had accomplished his feat, and the crosses that he had carried on himself for more than twenty years were placed on the tombstone. All of them disappeared without a trace during the revolutionary times.

The soul of the people preserves the memory of the miracles of the holy elder; stories about them are passed down from generation to generation in Rostov villages. And today you can find families where the icons to which the recluse applied his famous copper crosses have been preserved. These relics, truly miraculously surviving all the repressions of mass atheism, have survived to our time. The long-standing tradition of the annual religious procession from the walls of the monastery to the Irinarcha spring near the village of Kondakovo, the saint’s homeland, has also been renewed.

Life of the Rev.of our father Irinarch: