The Life of our Holy Father, the Monk Sergei of Radonezh
Commemorated on September 25
19th Week after Pentecost. Tone one.
Miraculous Childhood and the Gift of Wisdom
The Monk Sergei was born to the pious boyar-nobles Kirill and Maria near Rostov on May 3, 1314, and was given the name Bartholomew. His chosen status before God was revealed even before birth; during a Divine Liturgy, he cried out three times from his mother's womb—before the Holy Gospel, during the Cherubim Hymn, and at the exclamation "Holy Things to the Holy." From infancy, he strictly fasted, refusing his mother's milk on Wednesdays and Fridays, or whenever she consumed food prepared with oil.
Though his brothers excelled in school, Bartholomew struggled deeply with reading. Mocked by peers and scolded by his teacher, he tearfully prayed for understanding. God answered his prayers through an Angel appearing as an elder (starets) praying beneath an oak tree. After receiving the lad's request for literacy, the elder prayed, blessed him with a piece of prosphora, and promised he would surpass his peers in understanding Holy Scripture. From that moment, Bartholomew read effortlessly and immersed himself fully in prayer and fasting.
Ascetic Labor in the Wilderness
Around 1328, the family resettled in Radonezh. Following the death of his parents—who both accepted the monastic schema shortly before passing—Bartholomew and his widowed brother Stefan withdrew into the dense forest to live as hermits. They built a small church consecrated in honor of the Most Holy Trinity. Unable to endure the brutal hardships of the wilderness, Stefan eventually left for a monastery in Moscow. Alone in the wilderness, Bartholomew was tonsured into monasticism on October 7, 1337, receiving the name Sergei.
Leadership, Humility, and Monastic Reform
Saint Sergei endured severe demonic temptations and physical deprivation, yet his holiness attracted other seekers. A brotherhood of twelve monks formed around him. Despite being their spiritual guide, Saint Sergei distinguished himself by an extraordinary love for manual labor. He built cells, chopped wood, carried water, and sewed clothing for the brethren with his own hands. In 1354, he was reluctantly consecrated as a priest-monk and elevated to the dignity of Hegumen.
As the monastery grew, Patriarch Philotheos of Constantinople sent a document of blessing alongside a paraman and schema-robe, counseling Saint Sergei to organize a coenobitic (common-life) monastery. With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexei of Moscow, he introduced a strict communal rule. When some monks grumbled at the strictness, Saint Sergei quietly withdrew out of humility to the River Kirzhach, where he founded a new monastery dedicated to the Annunciation. However, holy obedience to Metropolitan Alexei eventually compelled him to return to Radonezh to restore peace to his original flock.
A Living Wonderworker
God granted Saint Sergei the grace of wonderworking during his lifetime. In one notable miracle, he raised a young boy from the dead after the distraught father had given up all hope. The sick and suffering traveled from remote regions to seek his counsel and physical healing, yet human glory never swayed him. He remained a flawless example of monastic humility.
The text concludes by illustrating his profound spiritual perception: when Saint Stephen, Bishop of Perm, passed eight versts away from the monastery and bowed in prayer toward it, Saint Sergei—while sitting at the refectory meal with his brethren—miraculously perceived the greeting in spirit, stood up, and bowed back, saying, "Rejoice, thou also, shepherd of Christ’s flock."
Post #369
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