Our ancestors treated the holy fools, the “urban madmen” with deep respect. It would seem, why such an honor to half-insane ragamuffins carrying some kind of nonsense? However, these people, leading more than, in our opinion, a strange way of life, chose their own, special way of serving God. After all, it was not for nothing that many of them possessed miraculous powers, and after death they were numbered among the clique of saints.
Blessed for Christ's sake
The holy fools were known at the dawn of Christianity. The Apostle Paul in one of his epistles said that foolishness is the power of God. The blessed wanderers, who renounced the benefits of everyday life, have always been respected by those around them. It was believed that the Lord spoke through the mouth of the holy fools, many of them were given the ability to see the future.
A special attitude towards God's people was noted back in the Byzantine Empire. The fools of Constantinople could publicly expose the vices of the mighty of this world, their unseemly actions, without fear of retribution for their insolence.
It must be said that those in power rarely repressed the blessed, but, on the contrary, carefully listened to their words and, if possible, "revised" their behavior. The rich ladies of the capital of the empire even hung chains of holy fools in their home churches and worshiped them as shrines.
However, most of all they revered the blessed for Christ's sake on the Russian land. Indeed, for several centuries, the Orthodox Church canonized 56 “God's pilgrims”. The most famous of them are Maxim of Moscow, Martha the Blessed and John the Big Kolpak, whose warnings have repeatedly saved people from troubles and misfortunes.
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It must be said that the holy fools enjoyed great respect not only in the days of hoary antiquity. So, at the beginning of the last century, the blessed fool Mitka from the city of Kozelsk was several times invited to the court of Tsar Nicholas II, where he prayed with him and the Grand Duchesses, drank tea with jam, and then was sent home by the royal train.
The image of the blessed, oddly enough, was close to Stalin. While listening to the opera "Boris Godunov" in 1941, the "father of peoples" was so imbued with the small role of Ivan Kozlovsky, who sang the part of the holy fool, that he ordered the artist to be awarded the Stalin Prize.
Born on the porch
One of the most famous holy fools in Russia is Basil the Blessed (Naked), who lived in the late 15th - first half of the 16th century. A beautiful temple erected in the center of the capital is named after him.
Vasily began his life on the porch of the Epiphany Cathedral in the village of Yelokhovo (today it is one of the districts of Moscow), where his mother was suddenly relieved of her burden.
From childhood, Vasily amazed his relatives with his accurate predictions. At the same time, he was a kind and hardworking boy, and took on the feat of foolishness at the age of 16, when he was appointed an apprentice in a shoemaker. Once a rich merchant came to the owner of Vasily and ordered expensive boots. When the visitor left, the boy burst into loud crying, telling those around that the merchant "decided to make a memorial shoe that he would never wear on his feet."
And indeed, the customer died the next day, and Vasily, leaving the shoemaker, began to wander around Moscow. Soon the holy fool, who walked naked through the city streets in winter and summer, covering his naked body only with heavy iron chains, became famous not only in the capital, but also in its environs.
There are legends that Vasily's first miracle was the salvation of Moscow from the raid of the Crimean Khan. At his prayer, the invader, approaching the capital, suddenly turned his army around and left for the steppe, although in front of him lay an almost defenseless city.
Vasily's whole life was aimed at helping the poor and disadvantaged. Receiving rich gifts from merchants and boyars, he distributed them to those who especially needed help, and tried to support people who were embarrassed to ask others for mercy.
Legends say that even Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself respected and feared the holy fool. So, after the suppression of the rebellion in Novgorod, by order of the tsar, cruel executions took place in the city for several weeks. Seeing this, Vasily, after the church service, went up to the king and handed him a piece of raw meat. Ivan Vasilyevich abruptly recoiled from such a gift, to which the holy fool declared that it was supposedly the most suitable snack for drinking human blood. Understanding the hint of the holy fool, the tsar immediately ordered an end to the executions.
I must say that until his death, Ivan the Terrible respected the holy fool and listened to his words. When in 1552 the Blessed One was preparing to depart to another world, the tsar, along with his entire family, came to say goodbye to him. And then, to the surprise of those around him, Vasily pointed to the youngest son of the Terrible Fyodor and predicted that it was he who would rule the Muscovy. When the Blessed One died, the tsar with his fellow boyars took his coffin to the Trinity cemetery and buried his body on the ground.
A few years later, the tsar ordered to build a temple in honor of the capture of Kazan, which is now known to us as the temple of St. Basil the Blessed, near the burial place of the holy fool.
In 1588, Patriarch Job canonized Basil as an Orthodox saint, his relics were placed in a silver shrine and exhibited in one of the chapels of the church. Today they are one of the main shrines of Moscow and are famous for their numerous miracles.
Keeper of Petersburg
Another especially revered saint of the holy fool of Russia is Blessed Xenia of Petersburg. She was born in the 20s of the 18th century in a noble family and was married to the court singer Andrei Fedorovich Petrov.
But a few years later, Xenia's husband died suddenly, and after his funeral, the young widow dramatically changed her lifestyle. She took off her women's dress, put on her husband's clothes, distributed all the property to her friends and went to wander around the city. The blessed one declared to everyone and everyone that Xenia had died, and she was her late husband Andrei Fedorovich, and now she responded only to his name.
Wandering the streets, blessed Xenia steadfastly endured all the ridicule of the city children, refused to give alms, only occasionally accepting money with the "king on horseback" (old pennies), and tried in every possible way to help people with advice or timely prediction. So, stopping one woman on the street, Ksenia handed her a copper coin, saying that she would help put out the fire. Indeed, the woman soon learned that in her absence a fire broke out at home, but it was extinguished very quickly.
Late in the evening, Xenia left the city and prayed there in an open field until morning, making obeisances on all four sides. Soon the blessed one became known throughout Petersburg. She was a welcome visitor at the Nourishing Market, as it was believed that if she tasted any product, its owner would be guaranteed a happy trade. In the houses where I went to rest or dine
Ksenia, luck, peace and prosperity reigned, so many people tried to get such a guest under their roof.
It was noticed that if Xenia asked a person for something, then trouble awaited him soon, but if, on the contrary, she presented with any trifle, this promised the lucky one great joy. Seeing the holy fool on the street, mothers hurried to bring their children to her. It was believed that if she caresses them, the babies will grow strong and healthy.
Blessed Xenia died in 1806 and after her death was buried at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg. And soon from all over the country, the sick and the suffering came to her place of rest, wishing to enlist the help of the deceased holy fool. At the beginning of the 20th century, with donations from believers, a spacious stone chapel was built over the grave of Xenia, and the flow of pilgrims here did not dry out even in Soviet times.
Blessed Xenia of Petersburg was numbered among the Orthodox saints only in 1988. It is believed that she helps all people who turn to her for help. Most often, believers ask her to grant them a happy family life and health to their children.
Elena LYAKINA, magazine "Secrets of the XX century", 2017