Sergius of Radonezh (1314 – 1392) is one of the most important Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church & highly venerated among people. His personality has played a great role in the spiritual union of the Russian Orthodox Church. As well he was a monastic reformer of the Medieval Russia & the founder of the religious branch of the Old Believers.
Born to Kirill & Mary belonging to a noble family near Rostov the boy was named Bartholomew. Rather soon his family moved to Radonezh, a village not far from Moscow. He was an intelligent boy but could not read. He prayed God all day long to help him. Once searching for lost horses in a field he encountered with a starets (a monk hermit) who blessed him giving a piece of prosphora to the boy. Since that day Bartholomew was able to read. This event fortified the boy’s faith & he made a decision to serve God.
After his parents’ death he left the heritage to his youngest brother Pjotr & left the secular life. Together with his eldest brother Stephane they settled in a deep forest. There they built a wooden hermitage & a church later consecrated by the Metropolitan Theognostus. Soon after that the brother Stephan became the father superior of the Epiphany Monastery in Moscow & already monk named Sergius had to spend about two years in the wild. It was a hard time full of dangers & temptations but Sergius passed all the trials. He even made friends with a wild bear he fed with little bread he had.
Being a meek & a modest person, the monk Sergius did his best to hide his religious deeds while his glory was growing among people & other friars. More & more monks wished to follow him & his way of the spiritual life, so more & more of them begged him to become a priest & a father superior. Sergius was very reluctant to this idea but was forced to agree.
Gradually Sergius’ monastery was growing, more peasants began settling near it, so monks had some bread. There was a road to Moscow in the area, it led people with donations for the monastery’s needs. It allowed monks to give alms & to take care about ill people & pilgrims. Saint Sergius of Radonezh possessed a gift of seeing Saints & miraculous signs. All of them concerned his spiritual life or the friary.
Saint Sergius’ life in the wild & his written works are extremely important for the Russian Orthodox Monasticism, especially for hermits we call the Old Believers.
In 1940 the Pope Pius XII accepted canonization of Sergius of Radonezh, first of all, for the Greek-Roman Catholics.
Saint Sergius of Radonezh is celebrated on the 25th of September /8th of October.
Maria KethuProfumo
eternamenta 
A great story, Maria. I did not realize the Roman Catholic Pope (Pius XII) could venerate saints for both the Roman and Greek churches. For some reason, I thought the Greek did their own. Thank you for the information.
Very good point, dear John. There are two branches of the Greek Church: The Greek Roman & The Greek Orthodox, so it allows to make certain exceptions from our strict dogmatic rules. The Greek Roman church unites Catholicism & Orthodoxy. 😊
😁 Thanks, Maria
😉😉😉
😊
Very interesting story. I must confess, dear Maria, that my knowledge of religious history in any country (including my own) is somewhat lacking. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this tale.
Thank you, dear Hester. Oh, it doesn’t matter at all. I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
Affascinante storia!
Mi ricorderò di lui visto che viene festeggiato lo stesso giorno in cui è nata mia figlia in settembre.
Grazie Maria per farmi conoscere sempre personalità così importanti della tua cultura.
❤
Che bella divina coincidenza, carissima Fulvialuna! Sono felicissima! Prego! E’ sempre il piacere per me! Buona settimana a voi! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Bonjour KETHU
Chaque jour, il faut prendre le temps
De regarder et écouter les autres
Il faut oublier notre petit “moi”
La vie est faite de bons moments
Qui nous arrive à chaque instant
Remercions la journée qui vient de s’écouler
Que celle qui arrive soit encore plus belle
Profitons de la nature elle est remplie de merveilles,
de chaque instant présent
Je vous souhaite une belle journée de bonheur
Bise Bernard
Grand merci, Monsieur Bernard! C’est ça. 💐💐💐
Molto interessante! Non conoscevo questo Santo 🙏🌹🙏
Che bello, cara Luisa! Sergio di Radonezh è una persona molto importante per il mondo ortodosso russo. Anche lui ha scritto opere spirituali profonde. 🙂
Grazie per questa gentile risposta!
Un abbraccio🤗