Saint pafnutiy Borovsky what they pray to him for. Pilgrimage to the Pafnutyevo-Borovsky Monastery. The story of the icon painter Dionysius

The life of our venerable father Pafnutiy Borovsky

Saint Paphnutius was the grandson of a Baskak Tatar. When the Tatar king Batu came to our land with his large army, having devastated it with a sword and fire, captivating cities, destroying the churches of God with their shrines and cutting down, like trees or ears, Russian princes and chiefs, he installed Tatar rulers called Baskaks. Such a Basque was the grandfather of the Monk Paphnutius. During one Russian uprising against the Tatars, Pafnutiy's grandfather was forced to be baptized and was named Martin. The new follower of Christ, who was distinguished by piety, had a son, John, who, upon reaching adulthood, married the maiden Photina. John and Fotinia lived in their hereditary village of Kudinovo, four versts from Borovsk, a county town in the Kaluga province. From this couple, pious and poor-loving, the Monk Paphnutius was born around the year 1395, called Parthenius in holy baptism. Developing and growing bodily, Parthenius at the same time improved spiritually. Succeeding in the study of literacy and especially in reading the Divine books, the lad also learned good morals: meekness, gentleness, chastity. Jealousy imitating virtuous people, he sought to avoid association with empty people.

When Parthenius was twenty years old, he left the house of his father, parents, relatives and friends; He renounced everything worldly and entered the High Intercession Monastery near the city of Borovsk.

From the abbot of this monastery, Marcellus, Parthenius received tonsure with the name of Paphnutius and was placed under the guidance of the aged priestly monk Nikita, a former student of St. Sergius. For seven years the Monk Paphnutius was in obedience to the pious elder and learned from him the monastic virtues. He acquired the common love and respect of the brethren. When hegumen Markell died, the Monk Pafnuty was elected rector of the High Monastery, after long and urgent requests from the brethren and Prince Simeon Vladimirovich of Borovo. He received the initiation from the hands of the All-Russian Metropolitan, St. Photius. The new igumen added to the monk's deeds the care of a kind and skilful shepherd of the verbal sheep of Christ and their vigilant guardian. In his life he was the image of his flock. “Always deviating from shuih, but lying down with the right hand,” he worked unceasingly for the Lord — both day and night. He used the day for the fulfillment of monastic cares, spent the night in prayer.

The Lord adorned His faithful servant with prudence, insight, marvelous revelations and other gifts of the Holy Spirit. The omniscient God gave the Monk Paphnutius the ability to recognize hidden spiritual passions and infirmities from a human face and gaze, and revealed other things to the saint in a dream. The monk took care of his brethren, as a skilled physician healed their mental infirmities, as a good shepherd pulled a sheep out of a wolf's mouth and took it on his shoulders, as a strong man bore the infirmities of the weak.

For thirteen years the Monk Paphnutius was abbess in the High Monastery. Then he fell ill for a long time, and during his illness he took the schema.

Upon recovery, he left the abbess and retired with one brother to a high, very a nice place, overgrown with dense forest on the banks of two rivers, three versts from Borovsk. This place belonged not to Borovskoye, but to the Sukhodolsk region. The settlement of the Monk Paphnutius in a new place took place around 1440. The brethren began to come to him here, set up cells with his blessing and live under his saving guidance. The monastery grew, the brethren multiplied. The monks begged their mentor for permission to build a church. And they erected a wooden church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. The temple was consecrated by the command of the Moscow Metropolitan Jonah.

The monk was gentle in the face of insults and surprisingly patient in needs, always unshakably believing in God's help. Once the Easter holiday was approaching, and there were no fish at all in the monastery. The brethren and monastic ministers were very saddened by this and even murmured against the saint. “Do not grieve over this, brethren, and do not anger God,” the monk told them, “the All-Merciful Lord, who created us and enlightened the whole world with His resurrection (from the dead), will comfort us, His servants, in our sorrow and give abundant blessings to those who fear His". Such hope in the All-Good and All-Wise Provider was not slow to bear its wonderful fruit. On the evening of Holy Saturday, shortly before the Bright Night, the sexton went to a small spring to draw water for the liturgy and saw countless fish, called in the local dialect "sizh-ki", in size a little larger than herring. At that time there was a flood of water: and there were more of them than ever before. The sexton hastened to tell the saint about it. The monk glorified God and ordered the fishermen to cast their nets. And they caught so many of these fish that the whole monastery got them for the whole Bright Week, both for lunch and dinner .

The fame of the great deeds of the Monk Paphnutius spread far and wide, and more and more attracted lovers of monastic piety to his holy monastery. Among them were many people of high virtue. Such, for example, are Saint Joseph, tonsured by the hands of the saint into monasticism and later the founder of the Volokolamsk monastery, Elder Innocent, Isaiah, nicknamed Black, a relative of the Saint, Vassian, the writer of his life, who later became Archbishop of Rostov, and others.

The monk was a living example of an ascetic for the brethren. He was a strict faster, did not eat anything on Mondays and Fridays, on Wednesdays he allowed himself only dry eating, and ate very moderately on the rest of the days at a common meal. His food was, says the disciple of the monk, the pleasing of the brethren. For himself, he chose all the worst both in food and in everything related to comforts. Clothes: a mantle, a duckweed made of sheepskin, and shoes - were not suitable for any beggar. The whole life of the Monk Paphnutius was continuous work in the sweat of his brow, feat, suffering and prayer. No one before him had ever come to the general rule of prayer, or to work. He diligently performed the most difficult obediences: he chopped and carried firewood, dug the earth and watered the plants in the garden. In winter he was engaged in reading, weaving fishing nets. A constant fighter of idleness, the ascetic was from the womb a faithful, impeccable friend of virginity. In the name of chastity, he did not allow anyone to touch his body, and not only did he not let women into the monastery, but did not want to see them from afar, he did not even allow women and nobles to approach the gates of his monastery, and the brethren strictly forbade all conversations about them.

The reverend was distinguished by his teaching. He willingly talked with both monks and laity. His speech was always simple and pleasant. The ascetic was a stranger to pleasing people, he never flattered his interlocutor, he was never ashamed of the face of a prince or boyar, he was not softened by the gifts of the rich, but he always spoke the truth, according to God's law, according to His holy commandments. He also spoke to the simpletons, calling them brethren, and no one ever left mournful after his conversation. For many, secrets of the heart, previously inaccessible, were revealed here.

The monk earnestly instructed his listeners to do almsgiving, this queen of virtues. One almsgiving, the monk said, can save a person if he lives legally. He pointed to the examples of poor-loving people who were rewarded behind the grave: the Moscow Grand Duke John Daniilovich Kalita, who distributed alms to the poor to everyone without refusal, to one Mohammedan, whom the Lord delivered from hellish torments for many alms, leading him to Orthodoxy.

One merciful person died, and another had a revelation about his afterlife. The deceased was brought to the fiery river, and on the other side of the river, paradise was a wonderful place, bright and green, a beautiful garden. But the human soul cannot cross the terrible river in any way. And here are the many beggars who received his mercy-nu; they bridge over the river, and the merciful person crosses the bridge to paradise. To this story, the monk adds that the souls of the righteous are transferred to paradise by angels, but the Lord revealed the fate of the righteous soul in this form for our admonition. When the brethren of the monastery multiplied, the saint, with their help, built a stone church. During all the time of its construction, he himself worked as a simple worker, carrying stone, water and everything necessary for construction on his shoulders. Having erected the church, the monk decorated it with iconography and invited the best painters for this, who painted it “wonderfully velmy”. The monk decorated the temple with icons, books, and all kinds of church utensils, so that even the princes, accustomed to church splendor, marveled.

The monk himself believed the beginning of eternal blessedness and communion with God while still on earth. From a living feeling of love for God, the Giver of all blessings, in his soul there was a constant desire for God, and his heart was purified by an inner feat of repentance in invoking Jesus Christ. This is the mystery, according to the apostolic word: Christ in you(Rom. 8, 10), revealed to him a new being - eternal, immortal, angelic - the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection, in the words of St. Simeon the New Theologian. His heart burned with unspeakable love for the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, the Mother of the Ancestor of the new humanity, the Savior of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Heavenly Abbess of earthly monasticism paved the way to the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, and the soul of the monk dwelt in mental work — in attention and incessant invocation of Jesus Christ — in this sacred sacrament, the Divine work of mental prayer. And, as a disciple of St. Sergius, he adopted and realized that smart work is the secret path to angelic life on earth and is the cherubic worship of God the Word by the soul. In smart doing is the essence of monasticism, and in monasticism is the essence of Christianity.

Clever doing of the Jesus Prayer is an inner, secret doing, and it is a cleansing of the heart in sobriety, in the attention of the mind to thoughts. The Monk Paphnutius experienced by experience that thoughts are the words of demons and forerunners of passions, and, like darkness and a stream, cover our heart. The prince of darkness induces the darkness of ignorance and passions. Labor, abstinence, vigilance, humility, patience, psalmody and unceasing prayer are necessary. And the memory of death and hellish torments gave rise to humility and lamentation in the soul of the monk. His prayer - "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner" - was a constant cry and united with his breath, and he unceasingly - both at work and in the temple - everywhere and always in his heart called Jesus Christ. The fear of God and tenderness gave rise to tears in his soul, and this stream of tears cleansed his mental and incorporeal soul - a rational and beautiful creation of God.

Comprising an animated church himself, the Monk Paphnutius was adorned by God with miraculous grace, manifested in healings, clairvoyance, revelations and other gifts of the Holy Spirit. .

The monastery of St. Paphnutius was surrounded by a dense forest, in which many birds lived. Black-feathered crows were found in abundance here, nesting near the monastery. Looking at them, the monk admired and gave the commandment not to catch or destroy them. Meanwhile, one day the son of the city voivode was passing by the monastery of St. Paphnutius and, seeing a flock of ravens, drew his bow and killed one of them. The young man was delighted, but soon felt that his head, turned to the side, remained motionless in such an unnatural position. Sorrow and horror replaced joy and self-satisfaction in his heart. At the same time, consciousness of the real cause of the disaster that happened to him appeared in the soul of the young man, and after this, repentance. The voivode’s son, seized by him, quickly went to the monk and, falling at his feet, asked for forgiveness and his holy prayers before the Lord for his healing. The ascetic gave orders to strike the beater and went to church. Surprised by the untimely sound of the beat, the monks quickly gathered in church and asked the saint about the reason for the unusual ringing. The monk said with a smile: "God avenged the raven's blood." Having then performed prayer singing and overshadowing the suffering young man with the holy cross, the ascetic turned to him with the words: “By the power of the Honorable and Life-Giving Cross, turn in advance.” And immediately his head assumed a natural position. Another youth unleashed a hawk on the raven. But the hawk, having killed the raven, fell dead himself. Thus, the hunter lost his fun.

One night, thieves came to the monastery of the monk and, capturing three monastery oxen that were grazing in the roundabout forest, they wanted to lead them to their home. And suddenly they got lost and walked like the blind around the monastery. With the onset of morning, the thieves wanted to run away without oxen. But the invisible power of God bound them, and they could not move away from the stolen cattle until the monastery workers looking for them found them and then brought them to the monk. He, having instructed them not to appropriate someone else's, ordered to feed the thieves and let them go in peace.

One murmuring brother, who blasphemed everything that happened in the monastery, including the saint himself, had such a vision in a dream: as if he were standing in the middle of the church with those singing, the holy father suddenly came into it and, looking at him, angrily said: “This one is a blasphemer : take it from the church." And immediately two black Ethiopians grabbed him, dragged him out, and at the same time beat him hard. Waking up, the brother felt strong fear and, with tears in his eyes, hurried to the monk to ask his forgiveness.

The Monk Paphnutius had the gift of clairvoyance: he recognized by the face of a monk what passion he was overwhelmed with, whether or not he fulfilled the prayer rule laid down for the day; He even recognized the secret and ancient sins of people whom he saw for the first time.

The boyar, the wife of Alexei Gaburin, had special respect and faith in the saint and often sent her children to him with gifts, asking for his prayers and blessings. Through the action of the devil, she fell into an illness and often saw many demons terrifying her. Then some hunched, short old man appeared to her with a large gray beard, in bad clothes. The elder imperiously drove away the demons, and after that she became healthy. Once the patient heard a voice saying to her: "Pafnuty, who is in Borovsk, drives away demons from you." This happened to the noblewoman many times. Some time passed, she completely recovered and wished to see the saint in order to find out if he really appeared to her and drove away demons. The noblewoman came with servants to the monastery. But since the monastery was not open to women, stopping at its gates, she sent her servants to the disciples of the blessed one, asking how she could see the monk. The monks, having shown the holy elder to the servants, ordered them to show him to their mistress at the time of his going out with the brethren to the meal, as the dinner time was approaching. But the noblewoman, before any indication, seeing the reverend, immediately recognized in him the elder who appeared to her and cried out with tears: “Truly, this is the one who, by his appearance, drove away demons from me and granted me healing.” Then, giving thanks to God, His Most Pure Mother and the Monk Paphnutius, she sent alms.

One of the monk's disciples had an eyeache. The patient, suffering greatly, intensively searched for a doctor. The saint gave him his rosary and ordered him to say the Jesus Prayer a thousand times. But compelled by severe suffering, the patient barely fulfilled half of the ordered number. Having said a prayer five hundred times and noticing the healing of his eye, the monk, out of joy, hastily went to the monk to inform him of his recovery. But the perspicacious elder again commanded the disciple to return to his place to complete the commanded number of prayers.

The pious laity told the monk and the brothers who were sitting in his cell about the abandonment of the archimandrite by the then archimandrite of the Simonov Monastery near Moscow. With this news, a conversation began about who would be Archimandrite Simonovsky: one named such and such, the other - another. The saint, looking at his very young newly tonsured disciple named Vassian, his own brother Reverend Joseph(of his future biographer), and pointing to him, he said with a smile: “This one is Archimandrite Simonovsky.” In these words of the saint, his insight into a more distant future was revealed. Many years later, Vassian was indeed the archimandrite of the Simonovsky Monastery.

Once the monk asked a prince to fish for three days in one place on the Oka, so that everything caught would go to the benefit of the monastery. Sending one of the servants to this fishing, the ascetic ordered him to be given five hryvnias of money to buy vessels in which to salt the fish caught at the appointed time. The minister did not take so much money, not hoping to fill even one small vessel with fish. The monk looked at him with penetrating eyes and ordered him to do what he was ordered to do. Then the messenger went and in three days caught 730 big fish. The prince's fishermen did not catch so many all summer long. Anticipating a miraculous catch, the saint ordered to buy so many vessels.

One young man, having become a monk, was subjected to the tempting action of the devil. The primordial enemy of people appeared to him in different forms: sometimes in the form of an unknown beast or a black dog, and sometimes, while the monk was sitting in the cell, like a bear, he walked around the cell and hit its walls. The elder ordered the young monk to read the Psalter in front of him. As soon as the young man fulfilled the order of the saint, demonic dreams completely disappeared and he was freed from terrible ghosts.

The holy life of the Monk Paphnutius, his prudence and experience in every work, both divine and human, made it possible that not only monks, but also many laity chose him as their spiritual father. Noble and common people, rich and poor, virtuous and sinful, went to him, as to a skilled doctor, and everyone received helpful tips and due penance. In the reception of those who came, the saint had no partiality. Not afraid of the strong and not sparing the proud, the ascetic was very affectionate with the humble.

The Monk Joseph of Volokolamsk writes about his teacher, Rev. Paphnutius, that when necessary, he was merciful and indulgent, but sometimes he was severe and angry, if necessary. The spiritual children of the monk revered him and feared him. Georgy Vasilyevich, Prince Dmitrovsky, said that when he went to confession to the monk, his knees buckled. But the spiritual children, having chosen the reverend as their father, did not break off communion with him beyond the grave. Once, dozing on the threshold of the church before matins, the monk saw in a dream that the gates of the monastery were opened and a multitude of people entered with candles, heading towards the church, and in the middle was Prince Georgy Vasilyevich. Arriving at the church, the prince bowed to her, then to the spiritual father. The monk asked him: “Son and prince, have you already passed away?” Yes, honest father! “What are you doing there now?” the reverend asks. “Through your holy prayers, God gave me good. Especially because when I went under Aleksin against the godless Hagarians, I repented of all your sins. At this time they began to ring for matins, and the monk woke up.

The monk was very merciful and poor-loving. While preaching mercy in words, the ascetic practiced this virtue in deeds. There was a severe famine in the Borovskaya country, and the monk diligently fed in his monastery the starving, who came from the surrounding villages. Thus, up to a thousand people gathered daily, even more, and the merciful ascetic exhausted all the reserves of the monastery. The next year, the Lord sent an increase in the fruits of the earth.

The Monk Paphnutius lived to a ripe old age - up to the age of 83, of which 63 years he spent in monastic deeds. Having renounced all earthly pleasures, living only for God and for eternity, the reverend only had to free himself from everything temporal and move on to that eternal, prepared by God for those who love Him, which “eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not risen into the heart of man.”

The Lord revealed to the holy elder for a whole week the day of his blessed death, and the ascetic prepared to meet her peacefully and shamelessly. All these days, his disciple Innokenty was with the saint, who left a description last days life of his holy teacher.

This took place in the spring of 1477, shortly after the feast of Holy Pascha, which was April 6 that year.

On Thursday of the third week of Pascha (April 24), after Matins, the saint went out with Innocent to the pond, which he dug himself. They noticed that water was flowing through the dam. The monk taught Innocent how to block the way for water; then he returned to the monastery in view of the coming time for the holy liturgy. When the elder left, the disciple asked him to come to work after lunch. In response to this, the saint said: “It is impossible for me to come, because I have another, more necessary and urgent matter.” After the Liturgy, the holy elder had a meal with the brethren, then he sent for Innocent and ordered him to go to the pond. Innocent went to the saint's cell and, seeing his mentor sitting on a bed, reminded him of his work. “I have another need that you do not know; “The real sauce wants to be resolved,” replied the saint. Innocent was so embarrassed by the words of the elder that, having gone out to work with the three brothers, he could not do anything. Returning to the monastery, the disciple found the ascetic again sitting on his bed. The elder ordered to tell Prince Mikhail Andreevich that he should not come to the monastery, because another matter was ripe. On that day, the saint did not go to church either for the evening or after-evening prayers, but ordered Innocent to perform them in his cell. The brethren approached the monk's cell to find out why he had not come to the service. But the ascetic did not allow anyone to enter to him and asked everyone to gather the next morning. Releasing the disciple from himself, the ascetic said to him: “On a Thursday like this, I will be freed from my infirmity.” The saint spent the whole night in prayer.

On the morning of Friday, April 25, the brethren of the monastery came to the monk to say goodbye and receive a blessing from him. There were then 95 monks in the monastery, and every one of them gathered to see the sick ascetic, even the weak and blind. After taking leave of the brethren, the monk went to the Liturgy, supported by his disciples.

The holy elder had a long-standing custom of fasting before communion of the Holy Mysteries and spending a whole week in silence. The monk prepared with prayer for the communion of the great shrine, and as soon as it began to get light, he ordered the Monk Joseph to read the rules for communion. Communion of the Life-Giving Mysteries of Christ in the temple for Divine Liturgy On Sunday, April 27, the holy elder was brought into the cell.

“Brethren, preserve the order of the church and the structure of the monastery by yourself. Do not change the timing of church prayer. Honor the priests as I do, and do not deprive them of their wages, so that the Divine service will not be impoverished, for success in everything depends on it. Do not close your meal from a wanderer, take care of alms, do not let the one who asks leave with nothing. Work in needlework; but withdraw from worldly conversations; carefully keep fasts and holidays and have mercy and humility, and the Lord will repay a hundredfold in this age, and in the future will give eternal life.

To me, brethren, who commanded me to found this monastery? The Most Pure Queen herself deigned. She loved this place of glorification of her name, erected her temple, gathered the brethren and me, the poor, fed and rested with the brethren for a long time. And now, when I, a mortal man, look into the coffin and cannot help myself, the Queen of Heaven Herself can arrange something useful for Her abode, as She began it. You know for yourselves: this monastery was erected not by princely power, not by the wealth of the strong, not by gold and silver, but by the will of God and the will of His Most Pure Mother. I put all my hope in her. With her mercy, She will cover me in the ordeals from the violence of gloomy and crafty spirits, and on the day of righteous judgment, she will deliver eternal torment and count me among the elect. If I receive grace, then I will not keep silent to pray for you to the Lord. And you yourselves, therefore, be diligent: live purely, not only as you lived under me, but even better; work out salvation with fear and trembling, so that for the sake of your good deeds I may rest peacefully, so that those who came here after me will be good. May you find peace in your death. May each one remain in the rank in which he is called. Do not rise above measure, it is not useful to you, but also harmful to the soul. Do not exalt yourself above your weak brethren in thought or deed, but be longsuffering for them as for your own members. Hey, children, hasten to do good.

Thursday, May 1, came, the day of the death of the Monk Paphnutius. The ascetic commanded that the Liturgy be served earlier than usual. He himself thought of going to her, was going to hurry and said to himself: “Now the day has come. This day is Thursday, which I told you about earlier.” The student asked: “Where do you want to dig your own grave?” He ordered to dig it at the south side of the church, near the church doors. “And don’t buy an oak coffin for me. said the saint. “With this six money, buy rolls and distribute them to the poor.”

As soon as the burial was completed, the death of the ascetic was learned in Borovsk, and the whole city began to move. Not only the monks and priests, but also the governors of the city and the people went to the monastery of the monk. And although the city soon learned that the body of the saint was already in the ground, the people continuously came to the monastery all day long and bowed to the coffin of the deceased with much love.

According to the description of his contemporaries, the Monk Paphnutius was short in stature, bent over, with a wedge-shaped gray beard. In the "Iconic original" it is said: "Our Reverend Father Pafnuty, hegumen of the monastery of the Most Pure Theotokos, also in Borovsk, is like gray and old, a smaller brotherhood of the Theologian, loosened, venerable vestments, and is clothed in the holy schema."

For his ascetic and charitable life, the Monk Paphnutius was rewarded from God with the gift of clairvoyance, he recognized thoughts and inner thoughts. state of mind person. So, for example, in one well-known monk, he saw the killer of Prince Dmitry Shemyaka (this was the boyar Ioann Kotov, who poisoned Dmitry Shemyaka in Veliky Novgorod, but then, after repentance, accepted monasticism). Often in visions, the secret deeds of the brethren were revealed to him.

Abode of St. Pafnutia, even after his death, was one of the spiritual centers of Russian monasticism along with other famous monasteries of that time. Saints of the Russian Church came out of it - Nifont, Bishop of Suzdal (a well-known defender of Orthodoxy in the fight against the heresy of the Judaizers); Vassian (Toporkov), Bishop of Kolomna; Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow († 1563); as well as prpp. David Serpukhovsky, founder of the David Ascension Monastery († 1520, commemorated 18/31 October), Daniel Pereyaslavsky, miracle worker, founder of the Pereyaslavsky Danilov Monastery († 1540, commemorated 7/20 April); Rev. Levkiy Volokolamsky and others.

The young man John Savin, tonsured a monk with the name Joseph and becoming the founder of the Volokolamsk monastery († 1515; commemorated 9/22 September and 18/31 October); Subsequently, the Monk Joseph Volotsky, who firmly preserved the purity of the Orthodox faith, led the fight against the heresy of the Judaizers, condemned at the Council of 1504. For this feat, the young monk was blessed by St. Paphnutius.

Among other students, Rev. Paphnutius was subsequently famous for the charitable life of the elders Innokenty, Isaiah, Vassian (later Archbishop of Rostov) and the perspicacious elder Evfimy.

The life of the Monk Paphnutius was compiled in the 16th century by Vassian Savin, the brother of the Monk Joseph of Volotsk, who was tonsured the Monk Paphnutius.

Metropolitan Daniel of Moscow with a council of bishops gave his blessing to sing the canon and read the life of St. Paphnutius at the service, that is, he established a local celebration for him. And at the Moscow Council of 1547, Saint Paphnutius was canonized among the saints of the Russian Church.

The holy relics of the monk rest in the main monastery church in honor of Christmas Holy Mother of God, in a chapel dedicated to his name.

The abbot of one monastery, located near the city of Borovsk, fell seriously ill. 30 years before he was caring father for the brethren, but now he decided to leave the abbot and accept the great schema - the highest degree of monasticism. In silence and repentance he was going to spend the rest of his days. However, having unexpectedly recovered, at the behest of the Mother of God herself, he settled on the other side of the river and founded a new monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Most Pure. This monk's name was Paphnutius.
The monastery very quickly became a new center of spiritual life. Common people flocked here, boyars and princes came, and everyone asked the abbot for advice and prayer. And to everyone - regardless of rank, wealth and position - he treated with love. And he told everyone the truth.
Once a certain proud man came for the blessing of the saint and arrogantly asked the brethren where to find the elder. He did not know the reverend by sight and, meeting by chance, pushed him and began to speak rudely.

Proud person:
- Hey, you! Show me where Paphnutius is here!
Saint Paphnutius:
- Wait, calm down, what are you? It seems to me that a crafty and proud spirit has taken possession of you.
Proud person:
- Do you have to tell me? Who are you?! (suddenly changes intonation, guesses, gets a little scared) So you are Pafnutiy?
Saint Paphnutius:
- Yes it's me.

The proud man was confused. He jumped on his horse and galloped away, now angry with the old man, now ashamed of his rudeness:

Proud person:
- Oh, the one whom I considered great turned out to be not so ... But will he give me a blessing now? Do I need it? It's just a poor monk. No, this is a miracle worker and a saint. What should I do? I am so sinful that even the elder will not have a warm word for me now ...

Soon people ran up to the elder and began to talk about a certain man who, right on a horse, rode into the monastery pond and did not want to leave, saying that he was going to drown himself here. The elder sighed and began to pray to the Mother of God, asking her for mercy on the unfortunate. After some time, that man, dishevelled and wet, but already calm, again came to Paphnutius.

Proud person:
- Father, let me fall at your feet. Forgive me, forgive me! Never before has it been so easy for me, so calm in my soul! Thank you, father Pafnuty!

Saint Paphnutius:
- Do not thank me, child, thank the Most Pure, she delivered you from pride and despondency that ate you from the inside. The Mother of God is the mistress here. All with her prayers.

Many other miracles were performed by the saints. Through his prayers, food appeared to the hungry, hopeless situations were resolved, and the sick were healed.
The famous icon painter Dionysius came to make paintings in the monastery cathedral, but could not start - his legs hurt badly. Paphnutius blessed him, and when he set to work, the disease receded.
The old man's life was simple and strict. He had the poorest cell and vestments, he ate little and fasted a lot, general works He performed the most difficult tasks - he carried stones, chopped wood, dug a garden, and at the same time he was always the first to come to prayer.
The saint spent the last week of his life in fasting and prayer, leaving his cell only for the sake of the church service, and thanked God for giving him six days of repentance without fuss before his death.
He also ordered that no lay person be present at the funeral. The brethren quietly and almost secretly buried him. And when the news of the death of the elder began to spread, the people reached out to the monastery of the saint, to bow to his grave and ask for heavenly intercession.
Now the relics of the monk rest in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the St. Pafnutevsky Borovsky Monastery founded by him. And to this day, turning to Saint Paphnutius, many believers receive help and support from God in their good deeds.

Date of publication or update 01.11.2017

Contents: Lives of the Saints

Rev. Pafnuty Borovsky.

Pafnuty Borovsky. Gallery of icons.

The new follower of Christ, who was distinguished by piety, had a son, John, who, upon reaching adulthood, married the maiden Photinia. John and Fotinia lived in their hereditary village of Kudinovo, four versts from Borovsk, a county town in the Kaluga province. From this couple, pious and poor-loving, the Monk Paphnutius was born around the year 1395, named Parthenius in holy baptism. Developing and growing bodily, Parthenius at the same time improved spiritually. Succeeding in the study of literacy and especially in reading the Divine books, the lad also learned good morals: meekness, gentleness, chastity. Jealousy imitating virtuous people, he sought to avoid association with empty people.

From the abbot of this monastery, Marcellus, Parthenius received tonsure with the name of Paphnutius and was placed under the guidance of the aged priestly monk Nikita, a former student of St. Sergius. For seven years the Monk Paphnutius was in obedience to the pious elder and learned from him the monastic virtues. He acquired the common love and respect of the brethren. When hegumen Markell died, the Monk Pafnuty was elected rector of the High Monastery, after long and urgent requests from the brethren and Prince Simeon Vladimirovich of Borovo. He received the initiation from the hands of the All-Russian Metropolitan, St. Photius. The new igumen added to the monk's deeds the care of a kind and skilful shepherd of the verbal sheep of Christ and their vigilant guardian. In his life he was the image of his flock. “Always deviating from shuiikh, but diligently with the right,” he worked unceasingly for the Lord - both day and night. He used the day for the fulfillment of monastic cares, spent the night in prayer.

Icon prpp. Nikita of Serpukhov and Pafnutiy Borovsky (Sacristy of the Vysotsky Monastery). From the page of the Second Abbot of the Vysotsky Monastery, Rev. Athanasius the Younger of the Serpukhov Book of the Most Pure Mother of God Vysotsky Monastery.

Rev. Pafnuty Borovsky. First half of the 18th century CAC MDA (see Iconography of the disciples of Sergius of Radonezh).

For thirteen years the Monk Paphnutius was abbess in the High Monastery. Then he fell ill for a long time, and during his illness he took the schema.

After his recovery, he left the abbess and retired with one brother to a high, very beautiful place, overgrown with dense forest on the banks of two rivers, three versts from Borovsk. This place belonged not to Borovskoye, but to the Sukhodolsk region. The settlement of the Monk Paphnutius in a new place took place around 1440. The brethren began to come to him here, set up cells with his blessing and live under his saving guidance. The monastery grew, the brethren multiplied. The monks begged their mentor for permission to build a church. And they erected a wooden church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. The temple was consecrated by the command of the Moscow Metropolitan Jonah.

The monk was gentle when insulted and surprisingly patient in needs, always unshakably believing in God's help. Once the Easter holiday was approaching, and there were no fish at all in the monastery. The brethren and monastic ministers were very saddened by this and even murmured against the saint. “Do not grieve over this, brethren, and do not anger God,” the monk told them, “The All-Merciful Lord, who created us and enlightened the whole world with His resurrection (from the dead), will console us, His servants, in our sorrow and give abundant blessings to those who fear His". Such hope in the All-Good and All-Wise Provider was not slow to bear its wonderful fruit. On the evening of Holy Saturday, shortly before the Bright Night, the sexton went to a small spring to draw water for the liturgy and saw countless fish, called in the local dialect "sizhki", in size a little larger than herrings. At that time there was a flood of water: and there were more of them than ever before. The sexton hastened to tell the saint about it. The monk glorified God and ordered the fishermen to cast their nets. And they caught so many of these fish that the whole monastery got them for the whole Bright Week, both for lunch and dinner.

One merciful person died, and another had a revelation about his afterlife. The deceased was brought to the fiery river, and on the other side of the river, paradise was a wonderful place, bright and green, a beautiful garden. But the human soul cannot cross the terrible river in any way. And here are the multitudes of the poor who received his alms; they bridge over the river, and the merciful person crosses the bridge to paradise. To this story, the monk adds that the souls of the righteous are transferred to paradise by angels, but the Lord revealed the fate of the righteous soul in this form for our admonition. When the brethren of the monastery multiplied, the saint, with their help, built a stone church. During all the time of its construction, he himself worked as a simple worker, carrying stone, water and everything necessary for construction on his shoulders. Having erected the church, the monk decorated it with iconography and invited the best painters for this, who painted it “wonderfully velmy”. The monk decorated the temple with icons, books, and all kinds of church utensils, so that even the princes, accustomed to church splendor, marveled.

The monk himself believed the beginning of eternal blessedness and communion with God while still on earth. From a living feeling of love for God, the Giver of all blessings, in his soul there was a constant desire for God, and his heart was purified by an inner feat of repentance in invoking Jesus Christ. This mystery, according to the apostolic word: Christ in you (Rom. 8:10), revealed to him a new being - eternal, immortal, angelic - the resurrection of the soul before the general resurrection, in the words of St. Simeon the New Theologian. His heart burned with unspeakable love for the Blessed Virgin Mother of God, the Mother of the Ancestor of the new humanity, the Savior of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Heavenly Abbess of earthly monasticism paved the way to the mysteries of the Kingdom of God, and the soul of the monk dwelt in mental work - in attention and incessant invocation of Jesus Christ - in this sacred sacrament, the Divine work of mental prayer. And, as a disciple of St. Sergius, he adopted and realized that smart work is the secret path to angelic life on earth and is the cherubic worship of God the Word by the soul. In smart doing is the essence of monasticism, and in monasticism is the essence of Christianity.

Labor, temperance, vigilance, humility, patience, psalmody and unceasing prayer are necessary. And the memory of death and hellish torments gave rise to humility and lamentation in the soul of the monk. His prayer - "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner" - was a constant cry and united with his breath, and he incessantly - both at work and in the temple - everywhere and always in his heart called Jesus Christ. The fear of God and tenderness gave rise to tears in his soul, and this stream of tears cleansed his mental and incorporeal soul - a rational and beautiful creation of God.

Composing himself an animated church, the Monk Paphnutius was adorned by God with miraculous grace, manifested in healings, clairvoyance, revelations and other gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Surprised by the untimely sound of the beat, the monks quickly gathered in church and asked the saint about the reason for the unusual ringing. The monk said with a smile: "God avenged the raven's blood." Having then performed prayer singing and overshadowed the suffering young man with the holy cross, the ascetic turned to him with the words: “By the power of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross go ahead." And immediately his head took a natural position. Another youth unleashed a hawk on the raven. But the hawk, having killed the raven, fell dead himself. Thus, the hunter lost his fun. One night, thieves came to the monastery of the monk and, capturing three monastery oxen that were grazing in the roundabout forest, they wanted to lead them to their home. And suddenly they got lost and walked like the blind around the monastery. With the onset of morning, the thieves wanted to run away without oxen. But the invisible power of God bound them, and they could not move away from the stolen cattle until the monastery workers looking for them found them and then brought them to the monk. He, having instructed them not to appropriate someone else's, ordered to feed the thieves and let them go in peace.

The boyar, the wife of Alexei Gaburin, had special respect and faith in the saint and often sent her children to him with gifts, asking for his prayers and blessings. Through the action of the devil, she fell into an illness and often saw many demons terrifying her. Then some hunched, small old man with a large gray beard appeared to her, in bad clothes. The elder imperiously drove away the demons, and after that she became healthy. Once the patient heard a voice saying to her: "Pafnuty, who is in Borovsk, drives away demons from you." This happened to the noblewoman many times. Some time passed, she completely recovered and wished to see the saint in order to find out if he really appeared to her and drove away demons. The noblewoman came with servants to the monastery. But since the monastery was not open to women, stopping at its gates, she sent her servants to the disciples of the blessed one, asking how she could see the monk. The monks, having shown the holy elder to the servants, ordered them to show him to their mistress at the time of his going out with the brethren to the meal, as the dinner time was approaching. But the noblewoman, before any indication, seeing the reverend, immediately recognized in him the elder who appeared to her and cried out with tears: “Truly, this is the one who, by his appearance, drove away demons from me and granted me healing.” Then, giving thanks to God, His Most Pure Mother and the Monk Paphnutius, she sent alms.

The pious laity told the monk and the brothers who were sitting in his cell about the abandonment of the archimandrite by the then archimandrite of the Simonov Monastery near Moscow. With this news, a conversation began about who would be the Simonovsky archimandrite: one named such and such, the other - another. The saint, looking at his very young newly tonsured disciple named Vassian, the brother of the Monk Joseph (his future biographer), and pointing to him, said with a smile: “This is the Simonovsky archimandrite.” In these words of the saint, his insight into a more distant future was revealed. Many years later, Vassian was indeed the archimandrite of the Simonovsky Monastery.

Once the monk asked a prince to fish for three days in one place on the Oka, so that everything caught would go to the benefit of the monastery. Sending one of the servants to this fishing, the ascetic ordered him to be given five hryvnias of money to buy vessels in which to salt the fish caught at the appointed time. The minister did not take so much money, not hoping to fill even one small vessel with fish. The monk looked at him with penetrating eyes and ordered him to do what he was ordered to do. Then the messenger went and caught 730 big fish in three days. The prince's fishermen did not catch so many all summer long. Anticipating a miraculous catch, the saint ordered to buy so many vessels.

The holy life of the Monk Paphnutius, his prudence and experience in every work, both divine and human, made it possible that not only monks, but also many laity chose him as their spiritual father. Noble and common people, rich and poor, virtuous and sinful, went to him, as to a skilled doctor, and everyone received useful advice and due penance. In the reception of those who came, the saint had no partiality. Not afraid of the strong and not sparing the proud, the ascetic was very affectionate with the humble.

The monk asked him: “Son and prince, have you already passed away?” - Yes, honest father! - "What are you doing there now?" the reverend asks. - “Through your holy prayers, God gave me good. Especially because when I went under Aleksin against the godless Hagarians, I repented of all your sins. At this time they began to ring for matins, and the monk woke up.

The Monk Paphnutius lived to a ripe old age - up to the age of 83, of which he spent 63 years in monastic deeds. Having renounced all earthly pleasures, living only for God and for eternity, the reverend only had to free himself from everything temporal and move on to that eternal, prepared by God for those who love Him, which “eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not risen into the heart of man.”

The Lord revealed to the holy elder for a whole week the day of his blessed death, and the ascetic prepared to meet her peacefully and shamelessly. All these days, his disciple Innocent was with the saint, who left a description of the last days of the life of his holy teacher.

This took place in the spring of 1477, shortly after the feast of Holy Pascha, which was April 6 that year.

On Thursday of the third week of Pascha (April 24), after Matins, the saint went out with Innocent to the pond, which he dug himself. They noticed that water was flowing through the dam. The monk taught Innocent how to block the way for water; then he returned to the monastery in view of the coming time for the holy liturgy. When the elder left, the disciple asked him to come to work after lunch. In response to this, the saint said: “It is impossible for me to come, because I have another, more necessary and urgent matter.” After the Liturgy, the holy elder had a meal with the brethren, then he sent for Innocent and ordered him to go to the pond. Innocent went to the saint's cell and, seeing his mentor sitting on a bed, reminded him of his work. “I have another need that you do not know; “The real sauce wants to be resolved,” answered the saint. Innocent was so embarrassed by the words of the elder that, having gone out to work with the three brothers, he could not do anything. Returning to the monastery, the disciple found the ascetic again sitting on his bed. The elder ordered to tell Prince Mikhail Andreevich that he should not come to the monastery, because another matter was ripe. On that day, the saint did not go to church either for the evening or after-evening prayers, but ordered Innocent to perform them in his cell. The brethren approached the monk's cell to find out why he had not come to the service. But the ascetic did not allow anyone to enter to him and asked everyone to gather the next morning. Releasing the disciple from himself, the ascetic said to him: “On a Thursday like this, I will be freed from my infirmity.” The saint spent the whole night in prayer.

The holy elder had a long-standing custom - he fasts before the communion of the Holy Mysteries and spends a whole week in silence. The monk prepared with prayer for the communion of the great shrine, and as soon as it began to get light, he ordered the Monk Joseph to read the rules for communion. Having communed the Life-Giving Mysteries of Christ in the church at the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, April 27, the holy elder was led into his cell.

If I receive grace, then I will not keep silent to pray for you to the Lord. And you yourselves, therefore, be diligent: live purely, not only as you lived under me, but even better; work out salvation with fear and trembling, so that for the sake of your good deeds I may rest peacefully, so that those who came here after me will be good. May you find peace in your death. May each one remain in the rank in which he is called. Do not rise above measure, it is not useful to you, but also harmful to the soul. Do not exalt yourself above your weak brethren in thought or deed, but be longsuffering for them as for your own members. Hey, children, hasten to do good.

Thursday, May 1, came, the day of the death of the Monk Paphnutius. The ascetic ordered that the liturgy be served earlier than usual. He himself thought of going to her, was going to hurry and said to himself: “Now the day has come. This day is Thursday, which I told you about earlier.” The student asked: “Where do you want to dig your own grave?” He ordered to dig it at the south side of the church, near the church doors. “And don’t buy an oak coffin for me. - said the saint. “With this six money, buy rolls and distribute them to the poor.”

The Monk Paphnutius died on Thursday, May 1, 1477, an hour before sunset, that is, about 7 pm. The brethren left the church and, having learned about the death of the monk, wept bitterly for him. It was already too late to bury the ascetic and, in order to fulfill his testament of burial without the laity, the brethren on the very next day, on Friday, May 2, at 5 o'clock in the morning, buried their mentor. The grief of the brethren was so great that everyone sobbed and shed tears: no one could either sing or cannon. The burial was performed by the faithful disciple of the Monk Innocent. From tears, he could hardly pronounce the rite of burial. As soon as the burial was completed, the death of the ascetic was learned in Borovsk, and the whole city began to move. Not only the monks and priests, but also the governors of the city and the people went to the monastery of the monk. And although the city soon learned that the body of the saint was already in the ground, the people continuously came to the monastery all day long and bowed to the coffin of the deceased with much love.

For his ascetic and charitable life, the Monk Paphnutius was rewarded from God with the gift of clairvoyance, he recognized the thoughts and inner spiritual state of a person. So, for example, in one well-known monk, he saw the killer of Prince Dmitry Shemyaka (this was the boyar Ioann Kotov, who poisoned Dmitry Shemyaka in Veliky Novgorod, but then, after repentance, accepted monasticism). Often in visions, the secret deeds of the brethren were revealed to him.

Abode of St. Pafnutia, even after his death, was one of the spiritual centers of Russian monasticism along with other famous monasteries of that time. Saints of the Russian Church came out of it - Nifont, Bishop of Suzdal (a well-known defender of Orthodoxy in the fight against the heresy of the Judaizers); Vassian (Toporkov), Bishop of Kolomna; Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow († 1563); as well as prpp. David Serpukhovsky, founder of the David Ascension Monastery († 1520, commemorated October 18/31), Daniil Pereyaslavsky, miracle worker, founder of the Pereyaslavsky Danilov Monastery († 1540, commemorated April 7/20); Rev. Levkiy Volokolamsky and others.

For this feat, the young monk was blessed by St. Paphnutius.

Among other students, Rev. Paphnutius was subsequently famous for the charitable life of the elders Innokenty, Isaiah, Vassian (later Archbishop of Rostov) and the perspicacious elder Evfimy.

The Life of St. Paphnutius was compiled in the 16th century by Vassian Savin, a monk of St. Paphnutius, brother of St. Joseph of Volotsk.

The holy relics of the monk rest in the Holy Pafnutiev Borovsky Monastery in the main monastery church in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, in the chapel dedicated to his name.

In the photo: Icon of St. Pafnuty of Borovsky.

In the image Reverend Paphnutius of Borovsky the unconnected seems to be united - severity and kindness, love for the organization of the monastery and unceasing concern for the heavenly, some kind of "earthly" diligence and miracles ...
In fact, he stands at the origins of the division of Russian asceticism into two branches - relatively speaking, into Josephism and non-acquisitiveness. But in himself there was no division yet; both views of the monastic vocation show a harmonious unity in this saint.

Pafnuty Borovsky the beginning of life

was born approximately in 1394 in the ancestral village of Kudinovo, not far from Borovsk, and was christened Parthenius. His grandfather was a Tatar Baskak. In the second half of the XIV century, at the time of the Russian national upsurge, the apotheosis of which was the victory of the Russian army in , the Basque institution fell into disrepair. Many Baskaks left the Russian lands - those who remained accepted Christianity. Such was also the grandfather of the monk, who at baptism received the name Martin. His son John, upon reaching adulthood, married the maiden Photinia. In their family, the future great ascetic was born.

In childhood Pafnuty Borovsky was a quiet and modest child, with early years loved solitude and prayer. As a youth, Parthenius entered the High Monastery of the Intercession in Borovo. Mother of God, whose hegumen was then Markel. At the age of twenty, he took the vows as a monk with the name Paphnutius. Around this time, the Monk Nikita, a disciple, was appointed as confessor to the Vysoko-Pokrovskaya monastery. The Monk Nikita had previously been the abbot of the Serpukhov Vysotsky Monastery, but over the years his eyes weakened and he moved to Borovsk. Hegumen Markel assigned Pafnutius to be his disciple—thus, through the Monk Nikita of Serpukhov, a special spiritual connection extended from the “abbot of the Russian land” to the Monk Pafnutius. This apprenticeship lasted seven years, which played an important role in the fate of the Borov ascetic.

Appointment of the Monk Paphnutius as Rector of the Vysoko-Pokrovsky Monastery

In 1431, after the death of hegumen Markel, the Monk Pafnuty was elected rector of the Vysoko-Pokrovsky Monastery. He agreed to take on the responsibility of leading the monastery only after the urgent requests of the brethren and Prince Simeon Vladimirovich of Borovsky. In this field, the saint worked for several more years, until he was overtaken by a severe illness. In his illness, the monk took monastic vows and prepared for death. But he did not die, but recovered, and, seeing a special sign in this test, he secretly left the monastery, wanting to work for the Lord in the silence of a hermit's cell.

Pafnutiy Borovsky founded the Borovsky Monastery

In 1444 Pafnuty Borovsky together with another monk, he settled on the opposite bank of the Protva River from the High Monastery, at the confluence of the Isterma River. Soon the brethren gathered around him, and in 1448 a wooden one was already consecrated in the newly founded one.

The first years of the new monastery were not easy. The Life of St. Paphnutius, compiled shortly after his death by St. Vassian (Sanin), a tonsured saint, tells that Vasily Yaroslavich, who by that time had become the prince of thieves, was very angry with the reverend, who left the boundaries of his city and indirectly caused the impoverishment of the brethren of the Vysoko-Pokrovsky monastery (many left from there to the Pafnutev Monastery), and even sent dashing people to burn down the new monastery, but the bad plans were frustrated every time. Later, Prince Vasily was captured by the Tatars. Having learned after his release that the Monk Paphnutius prayed for his release from the bonds, he asked for forgiveness from the saint and turned into his zealous admirer.

What was Pafnuty Borovsky

The Monk Paphnutius was a stern abbot. But this severity manifested itself primarily in relation to himself. He worked the hardest jobs, lived in a poor cell, wore the worst clothes. He was a strict faster: on Mondays and Fridays he did not eat at all, and on Wednesdays he allowed himself only dry eating. He vigilantly monitored the observance of the charter - especially the church rule; always come to work first. The clairvoyance of the elder instilled awe in his disciples, and the laity treated him with reverence. He became famous for many miracles.

The monk was a poor man and always helped the suffering. When famine broke out in the area, he took up to two thousand people for the monastic maintenance, which completely depleted the monastic supplies and caused the brethren to grumble. But the next year there was such a harvest that the money spent was returned a hundredfold. The Monk Paphnutius received everyone (not allowing only women into the monastery) and bestowed many with moralizing conversation. He did not understand the secular title - if powers of the world were worthy of condemnation, he said to their faces everything that he thought. According to the testimony of the famous disciple of Borovsky hegumen, the Monk Joseph Volotsky, his teacher was merciful and indulgent, but sometimes, on the contrary, he became angry and scolded. So, Prince Georgy Vasilyevich Dmitrovsky told his relatives that when he went to confession to the elder, his knees buckled.

In 1467, during the lifetime of the founder of the Borovsky Monastery, the construction of a white-stone Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God was undertaken to replace the old wooden one. The monk himself took part in the construction, and, apparently, it was at his invitation that “artful painters in the Rustei land” worked on the murals of the new church. "Cunning painters" were Mitrofan and the famous Dionysius.

The Last Days of the Life and Death of St. Paphnutius

In a monastery that acquired a stone cathedral church, the Monk Paphnutius lived for another ten years. On May 1, 1477, shortly after Easter, he died and was buried, according to his own will, at the southern wall of the Nativity Church of the Mother of God. The great ascetic forbade himself to buy an oak coffin:

“With this six money, buy rolls and give them to the poor.”

Having learned about his own death a week before it, the Monk Paphnutius said:

“Who ordered me to found this monastery? The Most Pure Queen herself deigned ... Not by princely power, not by the wealth of the strong, not by gold and silver, this place was created, but by the will of God and the help of His Most Pure Mother. I did not ask the earthly princes for any gifts for the monastery and did not accept from those who wanted to bring them here, but I placed all hope and hope for everything on the Most Pure Queen until this day and hour ... "

Personalities of the Kaluga region.

Abode in the place of silence
May 14 Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Paphnutius, the founder of the Borovsky Monastery

The legend says: at the age of 50, he left the Intercession Monastery, which he ruled for 13 years, and went into the forest.

Mikhail Nesterov, Hermit, 1888-1889

So did many monks - tore the last communication with the world for the sake of hermitage. Others announced their departure to the brethren. Others left secretly, in the morning they opened the door to their cell, but they are no longer there. The Life does not tell how St. Paphnutius did it. But it is known that his fame began with this departure. And as if it was precisely for this departure that God had been preparing him all his life, so that then with the hands of Paphnutius he would build a new monastery where he was looking for silence.

Youth, monk, Tatar

Pafnuty Borovsky was born in the family of a Tatar Baskak - the so-called tribute collectors for the Tatar Khan. The year 1394 stood in the yard. 14 years have passed since the Battle of Kulikovo and two years since the death of Sergius of Radonezh - he has not yet been recognized as a saint, but has already been revered throughout Russia. Thousands of pilgrims went to the Trinity Monastery, and when, after 30 years, they opened the coffin with the relics of Sergius, they were surprised that the relics were incorrupt.

Such was, as they will now say, the informational background that accompanied Pafnutius' childhood. Epics about the victory on the Kulikovo field and the miracle worker Sergius were composed around, and in the neighborhood, consider, in one hut, lived the grandfather-Baksak.

Grandpa was an amazing person. Saving his life from peasants who no longer wanted to pay tribute, he was baptized and received the name Martin at baptism. After being baptized, he began to visit the church. Joined the services. And soon he was teaching Russian piety to his Russian wife and family.

From his grandfather, Pafnutius inherited an Asian eye shape and a love of prayer. The Life reports that the youth Pafnuty (at baptism - Parthenius) was "very pious" and imitated virtuous people (first of all, Sergius of Radonezh) with "great zeal".

At the age of 20, the pious young man went to a monastery. Parents in those days perceived the departure of children as monks for the most part as a worthy choice. They said that a monk would ask God for parental souls. Therefore, the young man did not experience any obstacles to leaving.

And soon he got lucky. In the Intercession Monastery near Borovsk, the young monk Pafnuty became a student of Elder Nikita. This half-blind elder knew and was a relative of Sergius of Radonezh. Through him, Pafnuty joined the righteous life and learned how Sergius lived, the most revered person in Russia at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries.

The Life reports that in the monastic life Pafnutiy showed zeal and won universal love, such that after the death of the hegumen, the brethren came to him and asked: “Be, Pafnutiy, our father, take over the monastery.”

Paphnutius agreed and managed the Intercession Monastery for 13 years, and then, according to legend, he fell seriously ill.

Skit

History is silent about whether the cause of Paphnutius's departure was a miraculous healing, or whether his monastic vows moved him to the hermit's path. It is only known that in the mid-40s of the 15th century, the monk took a monk with him and left to look for a place to found a skete.

This place was found at the intersection of two rivers - Isterma and Protva. The monks of antiquity dug their own caves and lived in them until the end of their days. The monks of the XV century set themselves simple log cabins. So did Paphnutius, living in silence and labor.

One day a monk came to the cell.

Bless, father, to live near.

Pafnuty peered into the face of the newcomer - thin, cheekbones bulging, eyes burning.

I bless.

So another one appeared next to his cell, and then another and another. Having heard about the pious elder Pafnutiy, monks from all over Russia came to him and considered it happiness to settle nearby. So little by little the skete grew and a monastery grew out of it - known today as the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos of St. Pafnutiev Borovsky.

Holy Pafnutiev Borovsky Monastery, on the outskirts of Borovsk, Kaluga Region / Photo: Boris Kavashkin

For five and a half centuries of history, the monastery has seen a lot. Great princes and kings came to the monastery on a pilgrimage. The invaders came - the Poles, led by the false Dmitry, the Napoleonic troops, the Nazis. Tortured, locked in the dungeons of the monastery, were the victims of the church schism - Archpriest Avvakum, noblewoman Morozova.

In the second half of the 15th century, the walls of the first white-stone cathedral in honor of the Nativity of the Virgin were painted by the great Dionysius. Today, only blocks with fragments of murals remain from this cathedral. The life of Pafnuty Borovsky gives such an episode. The Easter holiday was approaching, and there were no fish at all in the monastery. The brethren were saddened and even murmured against the saint. “Do not grieve over this, brethren,” he answered them. “Vladyka the All-Merciful will console us.” In the evening on Holy Saturday, the sexton went to the source to draw water and saw a great many fish, at that time there was a flood of water. “And they caught so many fish that they got the whole monastery for the entire Bright Week, both for lunch and dinner.”

glorification

Christian tradition says that sometimes God gives ascetics a reward - the opportunity to know in advance about their death and finish earthly affairs.

Paphnutius predicted the date of his death a week in advance. The 83-year-old elder instructed to send a message to Moscow to Prince Mikhail Andreevich: “So that I don’t go to the monastery, because something else is ripe.”

In the last prayer, Paphnutius blessed the brethren: “Brothers, who ordered me to found this monastery? The Most Pure Queen herself deigned. Hey, children, hasten to do good.

On the eve of his death, he himself chose a place for the grave, ordered it to be dug not far from the church doors. “Don’t buy me an oak coffin,” said the old man. “With this six money, buy rolls and distribute them to the poor.”

Pafnuty Borovsky died on May 1, 1477. After 70 years, he was canonized. The monastery founded by him is still flourishing. The relics of the saint are kept in the Nativity Cathedral, in the chapel named after him.