Saint Sergius And Russian Spirituality

By bringing the Orthodox spiritual tradition to the forests of the north, this remarkable fourteenth-century saint made Russia's period of political recovery also a period of spiritual renewal. Few have left such a powerful impression on a nation's history. 90 photos.

Studies in particular monastic revivals in the 19th and 20th centuries, as epitomized by Trinity-Sergius.

When Sergius of Radonezh founded a monastery near Moscow, his example spawned a movement of monastic foundations throughout Russia. Within three decades of his death in 1392, Sergius was recognized as a saint, and by 1450 many considered him the intercessor for the Russian land who freed its people from Mongol rule. Over the next century and a half, thousands sought St. Sergius' intercession with gifts to the monastery. Moscow's rulers made Sergius patron saint of their dynasty and of the Russian tsardom. By 1605, the Trinity-Sergius monastery was the biggest house in Russia. Miller presents Trinity's dramatic history from the fourteenth century to the beginning of the Time of Troubles. Using extensive archival materials, he traces the evolution of Trinity's relationship to Sergius' venerators and its traditions, governance, social composition, and the lifestyle of its members. In lucid prose, Miller argues that St. Sergius' cult and monastery became integrating forces on a national scale and vital elements in the forging of a Russian identity, economy, and cohesive society. The power of religion to shape national identity is a lively topic today, and Miller's study will interest both medievalists and modern historians, as well as readers of Orthodox Church history.

Ranging from the 11th century to modern times, these texts derive from the lives of saints, ascetic and mystic treatises, and spiritual autobiographies. They offer both a literary sensibility and examples of religious experience.

In the prayer to St Sergius of Radonezh it is said : "You came closer to God than any other earthly man". Saint Sergius revived the monastic ascetic practices in Russia and founded many monasteries. He trained a multitude of monks-ascetics who in their turn founded hundreds of monasteries which enlightened the east and the north of Russia. Saint Sergius was also a wise counsellor and inspirer of Russian Princes and he helped establish the Russian state under the rule of the Great Prince of Moscow Dimitri Donskoy. With the blessing of Saint Sergius, Dimitri Donskoy stood up bravely against the Tatar Khan Mamay and defeated him in the bloody Kulikovskaya battle. Thus the Great Prince made the first important step in shaking off the Tatar yoke. There were no books written about Saint Sergius during his life, because of his remarkable humility. The first book about him was written by his disciple Epiphanios the Wise 26 years after Saint's death. Nowadays there are more than a dozen books about Saint Sergius but that by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow is considered to be the best. This book however is meant for ceremonial reading during church services and therefore many precious details of the life of the Saint are left out. This present work is a re-telling of mainly two books: "The Life of Saint Sergius" by hieromonk Nikon (Rozhdestvenski) and "Saint Sergius of Radonezh and the Trinity Monastery, established by him" by the academician E Golubinski. The reader will learn the main events in the life of Saint Sergius, his spiritual visions and the testimonies of his disciples. The original texts were shortened and set in modern language, in order to make them better accessible to the reader.

This dictionary attempts to give direct access to the development of Christian Spirituality. It is a series of pieces written by experts to provide instant, accurate and thought-provoking information of high scholarship.