Mitrofan of Voronezh is the great saint and miracle worker of the Russian land, who has done many good deeds, both for Voronezh and for the whole country.
Advice! You can turn to the saint with any request - he stands before the Throne of the Lord and prays for everyone who calls for his intercession.
Prayer for work
O Holy Hierarch Father Mitrofan, we are sinners, by the incorruption of your honest relics and by many good deeds, miraculously done and done by you, having confidence, we confess that you have great grace from the Lord our God, and, humbly falling to your mercy, we pray to you: pray for us Christ our God, may he send down to all who honor your holy memory and diligently resort to you with His rich mercy; may the living spirit of right faith and piety, the spirit of knowledge and love, the spirit of peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, be affirmed in His holy Orthodox Church, that all her children, being pure from worldly temptations and carnal lusts and the evil action of evil spirits, worship in spirit and in truth Him, and diligently about the observance of His commandments for the salvation of their souls, let them try.
May the Lord give her shepherd the holy zeal of care for the salvation of people, to enlighten the unbelieving in the hedgehog, instruct the ignorant, doubting to reason, return those who have fallen away from the Orthodox Church to her, keep those who believe in faith, move sinners to repentance, comfort those who repent and affirm in correcting life, and so all people to the prepared eternal Kingdom of His saints lead. Pray to the Lord, the servant of Christ: His faithful servants, in sorrow and sorrow crying out to Him day and night, let the many-painful cry be heard and let our stomach be destroyed from death. May the good God grant our peace, silence, serenity and abundance of the fruits of the earth to all people in the state, moreover, to the fulfillment of the commandments, His care is not lazy; and may he deliver the reigning cities, this city and all other cities and towns from famine, coward, flood, fire, sword, invasion of foreigners, internecine strife, deadly ulcers and from all evil.
To her, the saint of God, may you arrange with your prayers all that is good for our souls and our bodies; Yes, and we will glorify in our souls and bodies our Lord and our God, Jesus Christ, to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit, glory and power forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for the life order of children
O holy hierarch Mitrofan! Accept this little prayer from us, sinful servants of God (names), who come running to you, and with your warm intercession, beseech the Lord and our God, Jesus Christ, as if looking down on us mercifully, will grant us our sins of voluntary and involuntary forgiveness and deliver us from troubles, sorrows, sorrows and illnesses of the soul and body that obstruct us; let everything that is necessary for the benefit of our present life be given; may he grant us the end of this temporary life in repentance and may he vouchsafe us, sinners and unworthy ones, to His Kingdom of Heaven, in which, with all the saints, glorify His infinite mercy, with His Beginningless Father and His Holy and Life-giving Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.
Brief prayer to Mitrofan of Voronezh
Oh, the bishop of God, the saint of Christ Mitrofan, hear me, a sinner (name), at this hour, I offer you a prayer, and pray for me a sinner to the Lord God, may my sins be forgiven and give (the content of the petition) prayers, holy, yours .
Brief Life and Prayer Help
Baby Mikhail was born in the village of Antipovka, Moscow district, where he grew up and studied science. Later he married, the couple had a son, John. But at the age of 40, his beloved wife passed away to the Lord. Michael became a widower and decided to take monastic vows. In 1663 he was tonsured a monk and named Mitrofan.
Mitrofan of Voronezh
The monk was strict with himself and others, these qualities played an important role for the abbot of the Yakhroma monastery, who appointed the monk as abbot of the monastery.
The saint enjoyed the respect of the brethren, he was especially valued and respected at the royal court of Theodore Alekseevich. Hegumen the greatest supported many undertakings of Peter 1, was a mentor and teacher for him.
In 1682 Mitrofan was elevated to the rank of Bishop of Voronezh. At that time, the people of Voronezh did not trust the Church of Christ, there was no parish life, people blasphemed God, their level of education was too low. But Saint Mitrofan actively raised Orthodoxy, erected churches and monasteries within the diocese.
In 1703 the saint fell ill and sensed the approach of his death, and soon died. At his burial, Emperor Peter 1 was present and personally carried the coffin with the body of the deceased.,
Date of publication or update 01.11.2017
The First See of Voronezh, Saint Mitrofan, in holy baptism Michael, was born in November 1623 in the region of the present Vladimir province. There is no information about who exactly his parents were, what position they occupied, it is only assumed that they belonged to a spiritual rank. On the other hand, a valuable testimony of the saint himself about what his parents were like and how they raised their son was preserved. “I was born into this world,” says Saint Mitrofan in his spiritual testament, “from pious parents and brought up by them in the immaculate piety of the Eastern Church, in the Orthodox faith.”
Icon of Saint Mitrofan of Voronezh. Gallery of icons.
The saint of God spent half of his life in the world: he was married, had a son, and served as a parish priest. The place of pastoral ministry of Priest Michael was the village of Sidorovskoye. Nothing more is known about the secular life of the saint. But his strictly Christian upbringing, subsequent charitable life, and selfless archpastoral activity no doubt indicate that for his parish, Priest Michael was a shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, and for his family, a wise leader and loving father. The tender care of the saint for his son John is seen in the letters that have survived from the time of his episcopal ministry.
In the fortieth year of his life, the saint of God lost his wife and then decided to renounce the world in order to serve God without hindrance. He settled in Zolotnikovskaya Hermitage in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Here, in 1663, priest Michael was tonsured into monasticism with the name Mitrofan. Unfortunately, nothing is known about the exploits of Saint Mitrofan in the quiet desert. Following the teachings of the Gospel, he tried to hide his exploits from people's eyes and vowed to end his life and be buried in the Zolotnikovskaya Hermitage - so the peaceful canopy of a modest monastery was dear to him.
Monument to Saint Mitrofan in front of the Cathedral of the Annunciation, Voronezh.
Monument to Saint Mitrofan of Voronezh.
But the Lord judged Saint Mitrofan a different, higher lot of spiritual guidance for others. Despite the efforts of the ascetic to hide from human glory, his charitable life became known to the surrounding population: three years after the saint entered the Zolotnikovsky monastery, the brethren of the neighboring Yakhroma Kosmin monastery, who at that time did not have an abbot, turned together with the peasants of the monastery estates with a request to the spiritual authorities to appoint monk Mitrofan, known for his strict life, as hegumen of their monastery. The request was fulfilled: in June 1665, the guardian of the patriarchal department, Metropolitan of Sarsky and Podonsk Pavel, monk Mitrofan was “blessed in the hegumen rank.” Throughout his subsequent life, the saint of God grieved greatly that he could not fulfill the vow of a hopeless stay at the place of his tonsure, although he violated it not of his own free will, but out of monastic obedience. At the Yakhroma Monastery, Saint Mitrofan was rector for almost ten years. Instilling a spirit of piety among the brethren, the holy igumen took care of the outward prosperity of the monastery. Shortly after taking over the management of the monastery, he acquired for him a richly decorated gospel; then, seeing the tightness of the monastery church, Saint Mitrofan, with the help of benefactors, built a new, larger one in the name of the All-Merciful Savior, His Image Not Made by Hands, and supplied this church with new church utensils.
In 1675, Patriarch Joachim (ruled the Russian Church from 1674 to 1690) entrusted the administration of Saint Mitrofan as a “reverent and virtuous man” to another, larger and more glorious Unzhensky monastery in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity. The Unzha monastery enjoyed the favor of the tsars of the Romanov dynasty. She was familiar to Tsar Mikhail Feodorovich even before his accession to the Russian throne: in 1612 or early 1613, he and his mother, nun Martha Ioannovna, came to the monastery and prayed to St. Macarius for the return of his father, Metropolitan Philaret of Rostov, who was languishing in captivity at Poles. In 1619, in a solemn royal atmosphere, Mikhail Feodorovich traveled to the monastery of St. Macarius according to his vow "for some miracles of God and the help rendered to the great sovereign and his parent during their sorrow." From the time of the royal visit, the Unzha monastery, by the will of Mikhail Feodorovich, was made “on a par with the Solovetsky Monastery”, and its abbots received the right to visit the tsar and the patriarch in Moscow annually with the image of St. Macarius and with holy water after the days of the celebration of St. January 19 and July 25.
In this way, the Unzhensky abbots received personal access to the king and the patriarch, which was important for the monastery, especially in the event of any business. The grandson of Tsar Michael, Feodor Alekseevich (reigned from 1676 to 1682. These years fall during the administration of St. Mitrofan of the Unzhensky monastery), who had a strong desire to see the monastery and bow to the tomb reverend. The high patronage of the royal house had a favorable effect on the external position of the monastery, which, from being inconspicuous and not numerous, becomes famous, populous and rich, having numerous estates, an extensive and varied economy.
The appointment of Saint Mitrofan as abbot of such a monastery shows how Patriarch Joachim revered him for his piety and wise diligence, and this should be recognized all the more so since the circumstances of the inner life of the monastery required special care when choosing a rector for it. The last years of the reign of the predecessor of Saint Mitrofan, hegumen Nikita, were very difficult for the Unzha monastery. In 1671, the honest relics of the founder of the monastery, St. Macarius, were found; by order of the abbot, they were placed in a tomb built long ago on top of the grave of the monk with the image of the reposed saint of God on the top board. Every year they began to make a celebration in memory of the discovery of the relics. But this joyful event was overshadowed by sadness: the abbot and brethren, "contained by simplicity," did not inform either the patriarch or the tsar about the discovery of the relics. Four years later, at the denunciation of a monk who was dissatisfied with Abbot Nikita, a case was raised about this. The investigation, which began on the order of the patriarch, ended with the fact that the open relics were put under a bushel, and Nikita was deprived of the abbess and exiled “under command as novices” to the Zheltovodsky monastery.
In such a difficult time, Patriarch Joachim gave none other than Saint Mitrofan as the leader of the Unzha monastery, hoping that he would be able to strengthen faith and instill peace in the troubled hearts of the brethren and many pilgrims who came to worship the miracle worker Macarius. And indeed, the monastery now received a reliable and experienced leader. Saint Mitrofan ruled the Unzhensky Monastery for almost seven years. Here, as in the Yakhroma monastery, in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, a warm stone church with a meal and a bell tower was built by his labors, and the saint decorated it with utensils and icons; some of the local icons have survived from that time to the present. The church was consecrated in 1680, three years after the laying; Saint Mitrofan traveled personally to Moscow in the winter of that year to receive a blessed letter for the consecration of the church. In the church of St. Macarius, the founder of the monastery, there is an image of the Savior with the inscription: "1680, according to the promise of the monk Mitrofan."
These monuments of pious temple building testify to Saint Mitrofan's ardent love for the magnificence of the house of God. Unfortunately, there is no information that would describe to us the activity of the holy abbot, aimed at building the temple of God in the souls of the verbal flock entrusted to him. But that she was beneficent, this is eloquently evidenced by the trust that Patriarch Joachim had in the Unzhensky Abbot. Seeing, probably, how wisely he rules his monastery, the patriarch entrusted him with the execution of important matters that lie on the duties of other persons. In 1677, at the behest of Patriarch Joachim, the Unzhensky abbot "watched the holy churches in the Vetluzh villages." In the same year, on the orders of the patriarch, together with the priestly elders, he selected old-printed service books in the cities of Galich and Yuryevets Povolsky with counties, in monastic, cathedral, parish and street churches, and instead of them he distributed the service books of the new press free of charge. Soon Saint Mitrofan received a new, already permanent official appointment.
It was put in tenths. The Unzha monastery belonged to the vast Galician tithe of the patriarchal diocese. The tithe yard, where the management of this tithe was concentrated, was in the city of Galich, distant from the monastery. The vastness of the tithe and the large number of churches included in it created great inconvenience in the supervision of the clergy. Therefore, in 1680, not long before Saint Mitrofan left the abbot at the Unzha monastery, two special tithes were singled out from the Galich tithe and re-formed: Usolskaya and Unzhenskaya. The management of the Unzha tithe, which included 94 churches, was entrusted to the abbots of the Makariev Monastery. In the city of Unzha, a "yard of tithes" was arranged, or an order for spiritual affairs, where the Unzha abbots presided. Saint Mitrofan, thus, was the first tithe of the Unzha tithe.
The charitable life of Saint Mitrofan attracted admirers to him, who expressed their respect for the Unzhensky abbot by donations to his monastery. Among them, out of love for the saint and generous donations to the monastery, the boyar Bogdan Matfeyevich Khitrovo, close to the tsar, stood out. Until now, the contributions of this boyar and his wife Marina have been preserved: the icon of St. Macarius of Unzhensky, donated "by promise" in 1679, the altar Gospel, donated by Tsar Feodor Alekseevich to the boyar, and after the construction of a rich salary, given to the Unzhensky monastery, and synodik " for eternal remembrance" Khitrovo's parents. And hegumen Mitrofan loved the boyar for his love for the monastery.
During the time of St. Mitrofan's abbotship, the icon of St. Macarius, which was on his tomb, was brought, by order of the pious tsar, from the Unzhensky monastery to Moscow, to the palace. The tsar “with all his bright house” paid homage to the honest icon, “like the greatest saint of God Macarius”, performing “prayer singing” in front of her. Then he ordered to make a new decoration for the icon from gold and silver, which were issued from the royal treasures. Releasing the honest icon back, the tsar escorted her with his "synclite with singing and with the sacred rite to the doomed place." There is no doubt that the rector of the monastery, Saint Mitrofan, himself accompanied the icon to Moscow. The personal meetings of the pious tsar with the holy elder and conversations with him sank into his soul, and the tsar treated the ascetic with deep respect. This is evidenced by the numerous royal letters granted to the Unzhensky Monastery at the time when Saint Mitrofan was its rector: these letters either again complained or confirmed the previous benefits of the monastery.
Reverent love for St. and respect for Saint Mitrofan prompted Tsar Theodore to elect Abbot of Unzha as bishop of the newly established Voronezh diocese. At the Moscow Council of 1681-1682. Among the measures to combat the growing split of the Old Believers and in order to promote the greater spread of Christian education among the Orthodox, it was necessary to increase the number of dioceses and, among other things, it was decided to open a new department - Voronezh. At the desire of the tsar, Saint Mitrofan was elected to this cathedra, even earlier, a year and a half later, summoned from the Unzha monastery to Moscow for a series of priestly services. Contemporaries explain this election by the high ascetic life of St. Mitrofan, "a husband truly righteous and holy", as well as the desire of the pious king to glorify the Unzha monastery by erecting its rector to the episcopal chair, in which he saw the vicar of the Monk Macarius as abbess and his disciple in life.
On April 2, 1682, Saint Mitrofan was consecrated a bishop by Patriarch Joachim with sixteen archpastors. The saint was then 58 years old. After his consecration, Saint Mitrofan lived for quite a long time in Moscow, from April to the middle of August. The newly established diocese initially needed his care here, in the capital, where the highest spiritual and secular power was located: thus, in Moscow, shortly after his consecration, Saint Mitrofan raised the question of allocating a place in the city of Voronezh for a cathedral church and a yard for the bishop with brownies. In addition, the First See of Voronezh needed to stock up on the advice of experienced people, as well as purchase items necessary for worship. By the way, books, episcopal vestments, a staff, and crosses were given to Saint Mitrofan from the archbishop's treasury of the Ryazan Metropolitan; from it they also received money.
On April 28, the pious Tsar Theodore Alekseevich died, and Saint Mitrofan, alternating with other bishops who were in Moscow, celebrated the established commemoration for the deceased sovereign. On June 25, the saint participated in the wedding of the young sovereigns John and Peter Alekseevich to the kingdom, and, among other clergymen, he presented an orb to Patriarch Joachim for presentation to the kings.
The summer spent by the saint in Moscow after his consecration was a difficult time of state and church unrest. Before his eyes, there were bloody rampages of archers (May 15, 16 and 17), who kept both the government and the people in constant alarm throughout the summer of 1682. The Bishop of Voronezh was present on July 5 at the Council in the Faceted Chamber, arranged for debates with schismatics, and witnessed the wild manifestations of the unbridled fanaticism of the ignorant defenders of antiquity: their leader, the Suzdal priest Nikita Pustosvyat, was not embarrassed by the presence at the Cathedral of the ruler Sophia, the widow of Tsarina Natalia Kirillovna and the patriarch , even beat the Archbishop of Kholmogory Athanasius (ruled the Kholmogory diocese from 1682 to 1702), when he turned to him with a word of admonition. Without a doubt, these sad events sunk deep into the soul of Saint Mitrofan, and the saint zealously cared about both the organization of church life and the good of the state until the grave. Subsequently, he himself reminded the sovereigns in petitions that he was released from Moscow to Voronezh in the "time of troubles", which is why his bishop's house was left in oblivion, having no estates and lands.
The difficult feat of episcopal service for St. Mitrofan was increased by the disorder of his newly established diocese. The Voronezh Territory was only recently settled; the city of Voronezh was not yet a hundred years old (the city of Voronezh arose in 1586). The first settlers here were involuntary, driven here by the government from various villages and cities of Russia to protect the region from the attacks of the Crimean Tatars; they were subsequently joined by fugitives who left their native places due to difficult living conditions and sought freedom in the Don Ukraine; there were also people from the Dnieper region, hiding from Polish oppression. This diverse population of the Don region was ecclesiastically subordinate to the Ryazan metropolitans, but in reality it was deprived of episcopal leadership and supervision: with the vastness of the Ryazan diocese, which had more than 1200 churches, the Ryazan archpastors hardly visited the city of Voronezh, not to mention the county, and therefore they could not have a pastoral influence on this remote region of their diocese. All this was sadly reflected in the state of faith and morals of the population: the light of the gospel teaching did not penetrate into the life of the people.
Many Christians of that region not only bore pagan names, but also lived in a pagan way: they drank heavily, family life was shattered by such vices, which are obscene to speak of, worship was rarely attended. Disrespect for the church and the clergy, even among the upper stratum of the population - the landowners, reached the point that there were cases when the service of God was interrupted by obscene squabbles, and the church of God was made the place of the beating of the priest. Such incidents show how weak the religious and moral influence on the flock was, not only from the side of the highest church authority, but also from the side of the parish clergy. And this happened because the clergy themselves did not stand high in their lives. The first priests of the newly populated region were "breds" from other villages and cities, and one might think that they were not the best of the priests. Subsequently, with the growth of churches in the Voronezh diocese, the number of pastors also increased, and either the descendants of the first priests, or simpletons from the laity, that is, illiterate peasants, who found it difficult to sign their own name, became priests, so that for them extraneous assault was required. Moreover, there were not enough such shepherds who were only able to perform divine services. In terms of space, the Voronezh diocese was vast, but there were few churches in it - only 182, so that in other places there was no church for 50, 80 versts. And yet, there were not enough clergy for all the churches: often, in the absence of pastors, the churches stood "without singing," and the population got used to the priestless way of life, which created extremely favorable ground for a developed schism. Indeed, it is well known that the Don region was one of the favorite refuges for schismatics. The schismatics built deserts and from here, with particular convenience, they instilled in the Orthodox, if not a schism, then a dislike for the Church and its pastors; unenlightened Christians, who were considered Orthodox, fearlessly visited these hermitages, considering their organizers to belong to the Orthodox Church, and in this way moved away from the Church.
The population of the Don region also did not find proper satisfaction for their spiritual needs in the monasteries that arose here mainly in the first half of the 17th century: it was not so much the monasteries that had a beneficial effect on the life of the surrounding laity, but the latter introduced into their inner structure an alien and pernicious spirit of worldly life. These monasteries were small in number and, moreover, were in constant danger of robbery either from the Crimean Tatars, or from semi-robber gangs roaming the region under the guise of "military people" in the public service. This prompted the monasteries to look for protectors among the local population, with whom they came into very close contact. Due to the military situation of the country, among the inhabitants of the Pridonsk region there were many disabled people who had left the ranks of the guards of Ukraine; there were many widows and orphans left without breadwinners, killed in skirmishes with the Tatars. And so, in the absence of charitable institutions - almshouses and shelters, monasteries were filled with invalids, widows and orphans; some of the monasteries were even founded partly for this purpose, and the local population helped to build the monastery and provided it with further support. But this closeness to the world had a harmful effect on the lives of the monasteries: having ended up in monasteries, often without a vocation, their inhabitants were drawn into household chores, paying more attention to them than to the cause of their own salvation: monasteries began to look more like estates. Because of the economic lands, many monasteries of the Don region had not only litigation, but also armed clashes with the population. The deviation of the monks from the path of their vows was all the more intensified because the lay donors interfered in the internal life of the monasteries, while the influence of the spiritual authorities on them, due to the remoteness of the cathedral city of Ryazan, was extremely weak. There were not a few chernets here who fled here from the monasteries of Moscow and other dioceses to live in freedom, "knowing that there was no bishopric here." Self-willed monks, who in reality had almost no knowledge of episcopal supervision, relying on the support of the laity, sometimes openly opposed the orders of the spiritual authorities, so that the bishop was forced to seek redress against disobedient ones from the king or the patriarch.
In general, the region required great efforts, cares and perseverance for its church organization. And Saint Mitrofan understood this well: in one of his petitions, he gives the following comment about his diocese: “We have a Ukrainian place, and people of every rank are accustomed to live not subject to, according to their own will.”
At the end of August 1682, Saint Mitrofan arrived in Voronezh and soon turned to the priests of his newly opened diocese with an archpastoral message. In order to introduce the principles of Christian life into his flock, the saint needed the cooperation of his closest assistants, the presbyters, but for this it was necessary to kindle in themselves the fire of holy zeal for the salvation of the souls entrusted to them. And so the saint, in simple but animated words of the epistle, clarifies to the presbyters the high calling of a pastor, indicates his three main duties, and with perfectly selected sayings from Holy Scripture convinces them to fulfill them without laziness. We quote from beginning to end the epistle of St. Mitrofan.
“Honest priests of the Most High God,” wrote the saint, “leaders of the verbal flock of Christ! You must have bright eyes of the mind, enlightened by the light of understanding, in order to lead others along the right path; according to the word of the Lord, you must be the very light: you are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). You shepherds must teach the verbal sheep the prepared manna of the word of God, just as the angels prepared the sensible manna in the wilderness. You, as intercessors, should imitate Moses and Paul in your prayers, who prayed to God with such zeal for their people! Moses said to God: And now, if you forgive them their sin, leave it: if not, blot me out of your book, you wrote in it (Ex. 32, 32). Paul says: I prayed that I would be irradiated by Christ, according to my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are the Israelites (Rom. 9, 3).
So it is fitting for you to be zealous for the salvation of the people of God. The good shepherds were such that they were ready to lay down their lives for the sheep (John 10, 11, 15).
So you arrange yourself. Shepherd hedgehog in you, the flock of God, visiting not in need, but by will, and according to God: less unrighteous gain, but diligently (1 Pet. 5, 2).
Christ the Savior, when He entrusted the care of His sheep to the holy Apostle Peter, said to him three times: Pasture... (John 21:15-17). This, obviously, is because shepherds shepherd the flock entrusted to them in three ways: by the word of doctrine, by prayer and by the power of the holy sacraments, and finally by the way of life. You diligently fulfill these three types of shepherding: teach people the word of doctrine, show yourself an example of a good life, diligently lift up prayers to God for the flock entrusted to you, try to teach them the holy sacraments, that is, enlighten unbelievers with holy baptism, who have sinned after baptism, try to lead to vouchsafe the Most Pure Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ to repentance and correction of life, worthy of the Most Pure Mysteries of the Body and Blood of Christ, take care of the sick, especially so that they do not leave this life without the Holy Mysteries and do not lose the last unction.
Together with the Divine Paul, I will bear witness before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who wants to judge the living and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; 1-2). And I pray you, brethren, admonish the unruly, console the faint-hearted, intercede for the weak, be patient with everyone: pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus in you (1 Thess. 5:14:17-18). Be the image of a faithful word, life, love, spirit, faith and purity (1 Tim. 4, 12). Not a single thing that gives a stumbling block, so that the service will be blameless: but in everything imagine yourself as God's servant (2 Cor. 6, 3-4). If you observe all this, then truly when you appear to the chief shepherd you will receive an unfading crown of glory (1 Pet. 5:4).
O! if we could all receive this glory, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom is due glory and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever and ever! The blessing of the Lord is upon you, by His grace, always, now and ever, and forever and ever. Amen".
The above epistle is imbued with one thought - about the greatness and holiness of the pastoral service; it is also imbued with the last appeal to the clergy of the Voronezh diocese, the precept of the saint, contained in his spiritual testament. The same thought inspired the saint during his twenty years of laborious archpastoral activity. Having entered the Voronezh cathedra, Saint Mitrofan selflessly took upon himself the difficult and complex duties of a bishop. As an experienced owner, taking care of church property, he strove to increase the means of his poor diocese, and carefully streamlined its outward, church-economic life. But the main concerns of the saint were concentrated on pastoral care for the salvation of the souls of the verbal flock entrusted to him by the Lord. Saint Mitrofan appeared to be a true shepherd, with the fear of God he performed his ministry: with love and mercy, the saint plowed the field of human hearts in order to sow on them the saving seeds of the word of God; only in extreme cases did he turn to severe punitive measures to eradicate vices.
His cathedral city greeted Saint Mitrofan unfriendly: the bishop's court turned out to be so dilapidated that the elder saint was forced at first to huddle with "his house people" in the inn, and, in his own words, he endured "great need" - he even had to buy your own bread. The funds of the new diocese, entrusted to the administration of Saint Mitrofan, were very small: apart from Voronezh, six insignificant towns went to it mainly from the neighboring Ryazan Metropolis: Yelets, Korotoyak, Zemlyansky, Uryv, Orlov, Kostenskaya, and meanwhile to collect from local churches and monasteries, it was necessary to maintain an episcopal chair with "house people". During the terrible events of the summer of 1682, the spiritual and secular authorities in Moscow forgot to take care of the needs of the newly established small Voronezh diocese. And the saint subsequently pointed out in petitions that he was “released from Moscow to Voronezh in troubled times, but was not granted anything,” why “in Voronezh, in the house of the Most Holy Theotokos, there are no estates, and he, Bishop Mitrofan, was not charged with anything” .
Thus, the question first of all arose before the saint about the economic needs of the diocese. The saint himself led such a simple way of life that the most insignificant means would have been enough for him. But the poverty of the diocese was hard on him because it condemned all the inhabitants of his episcopal house to need, which did not allow him to distribute generous alms to the poor, which, finally, prevented the introduction of magnificent church services in the diocese, to which the heart of Saint Mitrofan especially lay.
In itself, the difficult question of diocesan funds for the saint was complicated by another unpleasant matter: he was forced to defend the borders of his diocese from the claims of the Ryazan metropolitans, who were dissatisfied with the separation of some cities from their metropolis that had gone to the newly established Voronezh see. This dispute about the border of adjacent dioceses was caused in part by the fact that the council of 1674 decided that each diocese should be guided in delimiting its constituent cities and counties by old scribe books compiled shortly after the Time of Troubles. But later, when in the Ukraine, due to the intensified influx of immigrants, a number of new towns arose over time, a discrepancy between the new division into counties and the old one according to scribe books, which still continued to be guided in matters of land ownership and taxation. The reason for the start of strife could be cases of voluntary separation from Ryazan of some villages close to Voronezh or to the counties of the Voronezh diocese, or vice versa - attempts by some parishes of the Voronezh diocese to unsubscribe to Ryazan, moreover, Saint Mitrofan took measures to return the postponed parishes.
The long dispute between St. Mitrofan and the Ryazan metropolitans about the borders of neighboring dioceses was finally decided in his favor by Tsar Peter Alekseevich in the spring of 1699. Usman, Demshinsk, Belokolodez and the village of Mokry Boyarak from the Ryazan diocese were now attached to the Voronezh diocese, and Ostrogozhsk, or Rybny, from the Belogorodskaya diocese. Earlier (in 1697), Patriarch Adrian significantly expanded the boundaries of the Voronezh diocese, adding to it the new settlers of the Voronezh district along the rivers Bityug, Ikorets and Osered. Under the saint, the homelands and lands of the Voronezh episcopal house increased significantly: some of them were attributed to him by the spiritual or secular authorities according to the petitions of Saint Mitrofan, in which he pointed out the poverty of his bishop's house; others were granted by Tsar Peter the Great, who distinguished the saint among other hierarchs.
One of the first concerns of Saint Mitrofan was the construction of a new cathedral church, for the cathedral church in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos that existed at that time was very dilapidated. Even in Moscow, before moving to Voronezh, the saint asked for a suitable site for the construction of a cathedral.
The answer to this request was a royal charter (June 19, 1682) to the Voronezh governor, on the basis of which he assigned almost a third of the then city - about 255 sazhens - to the cathedral and the bishop's court. But the lack of funds compelled Saint Mitrofan to postpone his intention and for the time being confine himself to amending the former cathedral church. On March 24, 1688, the saint asked the sovereigns with a petition to give him two carpenters from the hierarchal treasury for three years and with payment for work from among those who were taken by the government from the cities and monasteries of the Voronezh diocese for the construction of plows. However, the cathedral church turned out to be so dilapidated that its support became useless: the roof and platform collapsed, so that it was almost impossible to worship in it. Pointing out in a petition to Patriarch Joachim such dilapidation of the cathedral church, the saint asked him to allow the construction of a new cathedral, and specifically a stone one, because brick and stone were at hand, and the forest was “a distant distance, thirty versts or more.” Soon, Saint Mitrofan received from the Patriarch a blessed charter (dated April 19, 1684) for the construction of a stone cathedral church, just like the previous one, in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. For the construction of the cathedral church, the sovereigns granted the saint a mill at the Yelets River, and by the time the cathedral was completed, they, together with Tsarevna Sophia Alekseevna, made (December 16, 1688) a new donation - a bell weighing 160 pounds. By 1692 the cathedral was already consecrated.
The Cathedral of the Annunciation, erected by the cares of the saint, was a temple, much larger than all the churches in Voronezh. Its architecture was very simple: on high straight walls with windows in two rows rested a low wooden roof with five large domes, above which the crosses crowning them rose significantly. On the right side, to the main part of the temple, separated from it by the custom of that time by a blank stone wall, adjoined a chapel in honor of the Archangel Michael, whose name the saint bore in the world. The interior appearance of the cathedral testified no less eloquently to the pious zeal of the saint and his concern for the splendor of the temple of God.
In front of the altar stood a six-tiered iconostasis of excellent carpentry work. The main icons of the iconostasis shone with chased silver gilded frames. The royal gates with the royal crown above them were overlaid with a precious silver gilded chased work salary, which cost more than 9 thousand rubles for our money. Velvet clothes with gold covered the holy throne. Humble and full of simplicity in domestic life, Saint Mitrofan loved splendor in the temple of God, both in sacred garments and in church utensils. Therefore, the Voronezh Cathedral under the prelate (especially in recent years, when the Voronezh diocese became larger and richer) was rich in valuable vestments. Most of them were made of satin, silk and velvet, as well as materials that are now out of use, but equal in dignity to those mentioned. Many vestments were embroidered with gold and silver. Church utensils, with minor exceptions, were silver, gilded. All this, as the saint says in his spiritual testament, was collected “with great difficulty”; for example, in order to buy cloth for vestments, Saint Mitrofan had to be sent not only to Moscow, but even to Astrakhan, where expensive oriental silk fabrics exported from Persia were sold.
The saint loved the cathedral church he built as his own child, and before his death bequeathed to keep "immovable" everything arranged in it. But the merciless time and people, inattentive to the last will of the saint, did not keep his covenant: very few and very little value of the treasures he collected, for example, a copper staff, a painted mantle, have survived from his time in the Voronezh Annunciation Cathedral. It is likely that St. Mitrofan collected a significant part of the funds for the construction of the cathedral church and for its precious utensils on the side, perhaps in Moscow from noble people who had known him before. The local funds of the newly opened diocese, especially in the first years before its expansion, were very modest. At the very least, the saint complained to the sovereign about the lack of "alms" from the cathedral church, as a result of which there was a "great scarcity" in candles, incense and church wine, while in other dioceses all this was given out from the treasury. By royal charter (July 10, 1696) it was ordered to give to the cathedral church "in eternal times" annually "without derogation" five pounds of wax for candles and five rubles for wine and incense "from the Voronezh customs revenues." A fairly large clergy was assigned to the cathedral by the saint, and a well-proportioned bishops' choir, consisting of 13-20 people, usually sang during the divine service.
For the earnest and magnificent service of the saint, the Cathedral of the Annunciation became the favorite temple of the permanent and temporary residents of Voronezh: among the contributors to the cathedral, who entered the names of their deceased relatives in the synodic, are Muscovites, Yaroslavl, Zaraytsy. There are also names of noble people of the time of St. Mitrofan, for example, Lev Kirillovich Naryshkin (Tsar Peter's maternal uncle), Feodor Avramovich Lopukhin (Tsar's father-in-law), Tikhon Nikolaevich Streshnev (the sovereign's close boyar).
The Annunciation Cathedral did not last long: 14 years after the death of its creator (c. 1717), it collapsed from the proximity of the moats, and most importantly, from the instability of the foundation. This sad event, by the action of the Providence of God, served, as we shall see later, to the manifestation of the glory of God.
Loving the temple of God and convinced of its profound significance for the assimilation of the truths of faith and good morals by the people, Saint Mitrofan was able to inspire this love to his flock. During his reign in the Voronezh diocese, there was a lively church-building activity, and the number of churches increased by more than a quarter compared to the previous one.
For the newly established Voronezh diocese, the activity of Saint Mitrofan was a true blessing of God. Under the wise guidance of the saint, all aspects of not only the church, but also the state life of the region experienced a beneficial change. The monks, the white clergy and the laity - all were equally dear to the saint, he equally cared for everyone, for he realized that all without distinction were handed over by the Lord to his archpastoral guidance.
The monasteries of the Voronezh diocese found a reliable leader in the person of Saint Mitrofan. He entered the Voronezh see after nineteen years in various monasteries. For 14 years out of those 19, he was hegumen in two monasteries. During his time as abbess in the Unzha monastery, which was relatively populous and rich in patrimonies, Saint Mitrofan gained especially great experience both in managing the brethren and in the economic affairs of the monasteries.
The measures taken by St. Mitrofan concerning the monasteries of the Voronezh diocese were aimed primarily at eradicating the disturbances that had taken root in them, which stemmed from the self-will of the monks and laity who made contributions, and reflected the general disorder of Ukrainian life. The saint attributed to the bishop's house, that is, he subordinated the monasteries to his direct supervision, when the interference of lay "contributors" in their internal structure undermined the very foundations of monastic life to the root. For this very reason, the Borshevsky Monastery in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity, built by the Don Cossacks, who were tonsured here in old age and illness, was assigned to the Voronezh Bishops' House. The monastery was rich: it received quite a few benefits and lands from the Don army, who were accustomed to looking at it as their property. From here came the intervention of the Cossacks in monastic affairs and unrest in the monastery. The self-will of the monks of the Borshevsky Monastery, supported by the Don Cossacks, reached the point that Saint Mitrofan, in a petition to the great sovereigns, was forced to write: (Borshova) “It is impossible for me, your pilgrim, to know the monastery and the monastery peasants in all spiritual and petitioned matters from the Don Cossacks.” By royal charter (February 9, 1686), this monastery with peasants, patrimonial land and lands was ordered to be attributed to the Voronezh Bishop's House, which stopped the independent existence of the monastery. It was ordered to send Cossacks from the monastery to the Don, so that they would stop hosting it; the Cossacks, who came on a pilgrimage, were allowed to keep in the monastery no more than three days. Some other monasteries were assigned to the Bishop's House under St. Mitrofan, but one was closed.
But at the same time, Saint Mitrofan took great care to support those monasteries that he considered necessary to meet the spiritual needs of his flock. To this end, the saint even founds new monasteries. By his order (in 1682), the Nativity skete on Kamennaya Gora, which belonged to the Yelets Monastery in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity, was turned into a convent for the settlement of “black old women” who wandered in the world around the city of Yelets “with great need”. There are two new monasteries that arose in the Voronezh diocese in the days of St. Mitrofan: Korotoyaksky in honor of the Ascension of the Lord and Bityutsky in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity.
In the monasteries of the Voronezh diocese, there were then quite a few disorders and unrest. The monastic economy was disordered and greatly shaken by exorbitant state duties, and most importantly, the life of the monastics was far from the height of monastic vows. The saint turned his attention to all this.
He demanded that the monasteries keep a strict account of the receipt and expenditure of monastic money; he introduced such correct reporting in the Divnogorsk monastery. In the Pokrovsky nunnery, the saint established a special position of treasurer, appointed at the general choice of the sisters. In the Assumption Monastery, he established the correct distribution of cash income among the brethren. Then the saint interceded before the tsar for a reduction in state duties for some monasteries, and his petitions were successful: during the time of Saint Mitrofan, most of the grant letters of Tsar Peter Alekseevich to the monasteries of the Voronezh diocese fall. In order to appreciate the significance of these petitions of the saint, it must be remembered that the tsar, in view of the terrible strain of all the productive forces of the country for state needs, was little inclined to grants of this kind.
Concerned about the flourishing of piety and good morals among the inhabitants of the monasteries of the Voronezh Territory, Saint Mitrofan first of all strove to curb the self-will of the monastics, who until now had hardly known episcopal supervision. From this side, the work of the Tolshevsky Monastery is instructive. In the Tolshevo Transfiguration Monastery there was indignation against the saint after he forbade the sale of wine near the monastery, because this trade was accompanied by outrage in the monastery itself. Part of the brethren, dissatisfied with the order of the saint, acting under the influence of the Usman tavern farmer Foma Godovikov and his father, the elder Pimen, who had recently taken the tonsure in the Tolshevsky monastery, decided "to unsubscribe to the Ryazan diocese, but not to be in the Voronezh diocese." The remoteness of the Tolshevsky monastery from Ryazan, which made it difficult for the Ryazan lords to observe it, was very convenient for monks who wanted to live not like a monastic. This open opposition to the hierarch's authority was accompanied by such outrage that the Tolshevsky monastery eventually fell into complete desolation: the brethren were forced to leave it. Saint Mitrofan, in view of the claims to the Tolshevo monastery of the Ryazan Metropolitan Pavel, did not dare to put an end to the turmoil by his own power and turned to Patriarch Joachim. In response to this, by the letter of the patriarch (November 22, 1684), the Tolshevsky Monastery was included in the Voronezh diocese.
In case of important misconduct of monastics, the saint did not show them leniency, punished them in all fairness: either he gave them to the strict judgment of the secular authorities, or subjected them to punishments generated by that harsh time. But at the same time, Saint Mitrofan considered it necessary to influence the conscience and the feeling of the offender. In one decree of that time to the hegumen of the Pokrovsky maiden monastery we read: “those wells that were sent to the monastery under command (that is, for humility) and who sit in chains, also which wells will continue to be sent to that monastery in humility, order them to the church to lead unceasingly to every Divine service.
Striving to eradicate disorder and disorder in the monasteries of the diocese, Saint Mitrofan also took care to direct the life of the monks on the path indicated by monastic vows. He acted on the monks with teachings in which he offered them lessons of true asceticism: he pointed out that church services were performed in accordance with the requirements of the charter, that the singing at the service was unanimous and serene, that the monks without laziness visited the temple of God daily, fulfilled the cell rule, they kept fasts and fasted every fast, lived in peace among themselves and did not leave their monastery unnecessarily. When entering a new monastery, allowed only out of necessity, the monk had to present to the abbot "the scripture of the initial monastery from which he came." From the abbots of the monasteries, the saint demanded that they teach the brethren "the Lord's commandments, the tradition of the holy apostles and the father" and confirm their teaching by the example of their own good and God-pleasing life.
Such were the instructions given to monastics by Saint Mitrofan, who by his own life gave them an example of true asceticism. The influence of these instructions on the monks was intensified by the sensitive responsiveness of the saint to their needs. The records of the income-expenditure books of the Voronezh Bishops' House under St. Mitrofan contain an indication that during his tours around the diocese he took money for distribution to monks and nuns; at the request of needy monks, he gave funds either to buy a book, or “for a burnt place”, then “for food”, or in general “for a monastery building”.
To the white clergy of his diocese, Saint Mitrofan treated the same strictly and justly, and at the same time sympathetically and sympathetically. Burning with the spirit of pastoral zeal, he sought to kindle its fire in the hearts of subordinate pastors, arguing that "a simpleton who sinned for his single soul will give an answer to God, and a priest - for many of his flock." By "prayer" and "punishment" the saint struggled with the ailments that the Voronezh shepherds suffered from.
There were many unworthy people among them, who set a bad example for the flock by drunkenness and “disorderly” life, were even accused of thieves and robbery, arbitrarily absented from parishes, in which worship was not performed for a long time and the requirements were not corrected. Saint Mitrofan either “humbled” those guilty of such misdeeds with the monastic punishment and removed the skufia from them, that is, he forbade the priestly service, or even deprived them of the priesthood, taking away the assigned letters, so that the grace of God would not be mocked. In order to prevent such sad phenomena in the life of the clergy, the saint treated his proteges to the vacated priestly places with a strict choice, and from other dioceses he accepted only those priests who had letters of leave from their bishops. Along with the measures of punishment, the saint addressed the pastors with a word of edification - he inspired them to "incessantly teach (parishioners) from the Divine Scripture", to observe their pious preservation of the holy days of Forty Days, for the fulfillment of the Christian duty of confession and communion of the Holy Mysteries.
Strictly related to the vices of the clergy and clergy, the saint was responsive to their needs. The downtrodden and disenfranchised clergy of the Voronezh diocese found in their bishop a zealous and powerful protector. In frequent cases of insults from the side of the laity, he reported on those guilty of "mischief to the sacred rank" of the secular authorities, or he himself excommunicated the "scorners" from entering the church and from the shrine until the guilty person comes to repentance, asks for forgiveness and makes peace with the priest . How much the saint loved those of the clergy of his diocese who impeccably fulfilled the duties of their ministry is evident from his spiritual testament. Here, in words full of love and humility, he asks his successor in the pulpit "not to offend and not oppress" his closest assistants in the administration of the diocese, who "lifted up great works."
How St. Mitrofan cared about the salvation of the laity, unfortunately, there is not enough information about this. There is no doubt that the saint was forced to wage a hard and stubborn struggle against the moral disorders that abounded among his self-willed flock. But there is information, although fragmentary, only about the intensified desire of St. Mitrofan to strengthen the family life of his flock, in which evasion from the moral law was especially noticeable and especially harmful. He placed under the strict supervision of the Church the basis of the family - marriage, in order to prevent widespread cohabitation in his rabble flock without church blessing or marriages of Don Cossacks with Voronezh residents without the blessing of their parents. In order to strengthen in his flock the idea of the sanctity of the marriage union, Saint Mitrofan gave permission for divorce with special prudence; meanwhile, with requests for the dissolution of marriage, his flock often turned to the saint, who adopted the same frivolous view of divorce as they did of marriage itself. For dissolute persons who defiled the family hearth, the saint used severe punishments in the spirit of that time: the depraved landowner, demanded by the saint in spiritual order, was imprisoned by his order "for the bailiff", and then, chained, sent to the bakery of the Assumption Monastery. But these severe punishments were imposed by the saint only in exceptional cases, when there were no extenuating circumstances, with which the holy bishop always complied. So, there is a case when he canceled on this very basis the punishment imposed by his court order.
Concerned about the purity of the morals of his flock, Saint Mitrofan armed himself against popular amusements, which at that time had an immoral character. One decree of his time forbids swinging, "demonic games", dancing and splashing of hands, for these ungodly deeds are contrary to our Savior and pleasing to the adversary the devil.
Undoubtedly, schismatic Old Believers, who settled in his diocese and tempted his flock to apostatize from the Orthodox Church, gave Saint Mitrofan many worries. It must be remembered that at that time, after the schismatic revolt of 1682, the Old Believers were recognized not only as deceived in the faith, but also as state criminals. Hence it is clear why the saint judged them so severely. Schismatics, in his words, are "enemies and corrupters of the churches of God and blasphemers of the true Orthodox faith, enemies of God, friends of the devil." They appear in the Voronezh Territory after the Moscow Council of 1667, which excommunicated them from the Church; then, thanks to government persecution, their numbers rapidly increase. They fled to the Don region, where they hid in the forests, in empty buildings, in cellars and undergrounds, and secretly celebrated worship.
During his lifetime, Mitrofan became famous for his great compassion, mercy, kindness, and even being in the rank of Bishop of Voronezh, he was accessible both to high-ranking persons and to ordinary people. Saint Mitrofan helped the poor and the destitute, visited the sick in hospitals, admonished those imprisoned in dungeons, and comforted those who were suffering. His house was a haven for orphans and the poor. The pious elder was a great righteous man who did many good deeds. From one touch to his clothes, miraculous healings of seriously ill people occurred.
November 6th, 1623, in the Vladimir province, a baby was born in the family of a priest. The boy was named Michael and brought up in the spirit of Orthodox traditions in love for the Lord. Michael grew up as an exemplary God-fearing child, he studied well at school. After training, he married and was appointed a priest in the village of Sidorovskoye. Father Michael in marriage had a son, John, was known as a caring husband and loving father. By the age of forty, he became a widow, suffered the death of his wife hard and decided to take the vows.
He settled in the Zolotnikovsky Monastery and renounced this world. In 1663 he took monastic vows and was named Mitrofan. The novice Mitrofan was strict with himself and those around him, enjoyed the respect and love of all the brethren. In 1665 he was elevated to the rank of hegumen in the Yakhroma Monastery. Here he served as pastor for 10 years. In 1675, Mitrofan became the head of the Unzha monastery and ruled it for almost 7 years. During the years of his reign, the Unzhensky Monastery reached its prosperity.
Sovereign Fyodor Alekseevich (Romanov) often visited the monastery and often talked with the rector. At court, hegumen Mitrofan was treated with respect. In 1682, Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich recommended appointing hegumen Mitrofan as bishop in the newly formed Voronezh diocese
The newly-made bishop cared in every possible way for the well-being and organization of church life, as well as for the welfare of the state. In those days, many Christians bore pagan names, drank, lived in vice. Church attendance was very rare. The region demanded constant work and expenses to improve the church structure. Bishop Mitrofan understood this well. In Voronezh, the Annunciation Cathedral was erected in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos. In 1692, the cathedral was consecrated and it became a favorite place for parishioners.
Vladyka of Voronezh was known as a strict but fair archpastor. He preached a lot, did charity work, organized schools in which they taught literacy and theology. Having a large income, he distributed all the money to the needy, while living very modestly.
A special relationship developed between the bishop and Tsar Peter the Great. Vladyka Mitrofan supported many undertakings of the young monarch, was his teacher and mentor. He helped Peter organize shipbuilding in Voronezh to build a fleet. The tsar treated the bishop with great respect and even, at his request, reduced the duties from some monasteries.
In 1703, at the age of eighty, the pious elder fell seriously ill. A few years before his death The saint left a spiritual testament:
- Pray for the dead;
- Keep peace with each other;
- Honor those in power;
- Keep the commandments of the Lord.
Before his death, the bishop wished to accept the schema. On August 10, he was tonsured and named Macarius. On November 23, 1703, Mitrofan died quietly. Vladyka was buried in the Annunciation Church in Voronezh. In 1832, Mitrofan of Voronezh was canonized as a holy saint of God.
relics of a saint
During the repair of the cathedral, the relics of the Holy Wonderworker were transferred twice, and each time their incorruptibility is attested. Even after the death of the elder, his relics retained the gift of miraculous healing.
With the coming to power of the atheists, many monasteries and temples were plundered, destroyed and demolished. The Cathedral of the Annunciation was also damaged. The relics of the saints kept in it were destroyed. The healing spring, located in the monastery, was repeatedly tried to fall asleep, but each time it found its way through the layer of earth. The relics of St. Mitrofan were preserved and transferred to the local history museum, where they lay for 60 years.
In 1989, the relics of the Wonderworker of Voronezh were returned to the Orthodox Church. On September 16, the holy relics, covered with an ancient veil, were placed in the altar of the Intercession Cathedral in Voronezh in a prepared place. They, as before, continue to heal the sick and suffering. Christians from all over the world make pilgrimage to this place.
Prayers to Mitrofan
Before the icon of the saint, the parishioners pray:
- About help in finding a job;
- About creating a family for children;
- About the well-being of the son;
- About healing a sick soul;
- About getting rid of poverty;
- About getting a promotion;
- About receiving God's forgiveness and mercy.
When offering his petition to the saint, the believer must read the holy text sincerely, from the bottom of his heart. For prayer to be heard you need to follow some simple rules:
- Prayer to say without any pretense;
- When praying, one should think about asking and not be distracted by extraneous thoughts;
- The words of the prayer are spoken calmly in a quiet voice;
- A prayer read simply out of obligation will not be useful and may anger the saint;
- It is not good to ask for material goods;
- It is necessary to visit the temple, be cleansed of sins and prepare for prayer.
Prayer to Mitrofan of Voronezh for work
O Holy Father Mitrofan! Accept this prayer from us, sinful servants of God (names), who come running to you, and with your warm intercession, beg our Lord, Jesus Christ, to grant us forgiveness of our sins and deliver us from sorrows and troubles, from sorrow and illness of the soul and body that torment us. Let everything that is necessary for the benefit of our present life; and grant us the end of life this temporary repentance and may it vouchsafe us, unworthy and sinful of His Heavenly Kingdom, and with all the saints to glorify His infinite mercy, with His Beginningless Father and His Life-giving Holy Spirit, forever and ever.
Prayer for the life arrangement of children
O holy father Mitrofan, by the incorruptibility of your miraculous relics and the good deeds done and created by you, who with faith give you, who are convinced of your grace from our Lord, we all humbly bow down and pray to you: pray for us to our God, Jesus Christ, that he may send to all who honor Your holy memory and diligently resort to You, rich in Your mercy.
May he establish in His holy Orthodox Church a living spirit, the right faith and piety. The Spirit of peace and love and joy in the Holy Spirit, that all its members are clean from carnal lusts and worldly temptations and the actions of evil spirits, worship Him in truth and spirit and take care to keep all His commandments for the salvation of their souls. May they give their shepherds a holy zeal of care for the salvation of the souls of people entrusted to them, may they enlighten the unbelievers, instruct the ignorant, enlighten those who doubt, and turn those who have fallen away from the Orthodox Church into her holy depths.
Those who believe in the faith will be observed, sinners will be moved to repentance, the penitent will be strengthened and consoled in the correction of life, the reformed and repentant and affirmed in the holiness of life: and they are also leading everyone along the path indicated by God to His eternal kingdom prepared for all. Holy Hierarch of God, having arranged with your prayers all the blessings to our souls and bodies: yes, and we will glorify in our souls and bodies our Lord our God, Jesus Christ, His Father and the Holy Spirit from now on and forever and ever. Amen.
Legacy of the Voronezh Wonderworker
Many churches were built in honor of St. Mitrofan and monasteries throughout Russia. Following the example of the great miracle worker and benefactor, Sunday schools, various circles, and teenage clubs are organized in church institutions. Many parishes provide assistance to low-income parishioners. Charity groups have been set up at churches. They provide care for seriously ill and elderly single people.
Orthodox educational institutions were created (at the Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos in Petrovsky Park). In Voronezh there is an Orthodox gymnasium named after Mitrofan of Voronezh. Museums are open in parishes and monasteries, Orthodox magazines are published, there are church libraries (the Church of the Icon of the Sign of the Mother of God in Kuntsevo).
Archbishop Mitrofan showed the entire Christian world an example not only of spiritual life, but also image of a true Orthodox Christian striving for the good of his people and fatherland. He managed to remain faithful to his Lord in heaven and king on earth.
Days of Remembrance: July 19, August 7 (Uncovering the relics),
September 4 (Second Finding of the Relics), November 23
hierarch Mitrofan, first bishop of Voronezh , was born on November 6, 1623 in the Vladimir land, supposedly in the family of a priest. The secular name of the future saint was Michael. The saint lived half his life in the world, was married and had children. Information has been preserved about the solicitude of Saint Mitrofan in the upbringing of his son Ivan. The future bishop was for some time a priest in the village of Sidorovsky, Suzdal diocese. At the age of 40, he became a widow and decided to devote his life to God. He chose the Zolotnikovsky Assumption Monastery not far from Suzdal as his place of residence, where he was tonsured a monk with the name Mitrofan.
W here the saint of God began monastic asceticism, distinguished by deep humility. His strict monastic life became known among the monastic community. Three years after entering the Zolotnikovsky monastery, the brethren of the neighboring Yakhroma Kosmin monastery, which at that time did not have an abbot, began to ask the local spiritual authorities to deliver Mitrofan to the abbot. The request was fulfilled. At first, the ascetic was ordained to the priesthood, then, despite his reluctance, he was elevated to the abbot of the Yakhroma monastery.
To When the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Joachim learned of the ascetic's zeal, he entrusted him with the larger Unzhensky monastery, founded in the 15th century. Reverend Macarius Zheltovodsky in the Kostroma land. Here the future saint presided for about seven years, during which the monastery flourished. A temple was built in honor of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, many wonderful icons were painted.
M The monastery of hegumen Mitrofan attracted the attention of not only the Patriarch, but also Tsar Theodore Alekseevich, who visited the monastery and often talked with the rector. At court, the saint was treated with special reverence. When in 1682, by decision of the Moscow Church Council of 1681, a new Voronezh diocese was formed, Tsar Theodore proposed to appoint hegumen Mitrofan as its first bishop. The episcopal consecration on April 2, 1682 was headed by Patriarch Joachim.
FROM Hierarch Mitrofan had to witness the rebellion of the schismatics in July of the same year and attend the “debate about faith” between the Old Believers and the Orthodox in the Palace of Facets. This event made a strong impression on him and subsequently affected his hierarchal affairs. Saint Mitrofan gained fame as an accuser of schism and an associate of the patriotic undertakings of the reformer tsar. Saint Mitrofan considered the clergy as a force capable of influencing the population in the most beneficial way. At the very beginning of his activity, the saint began to build a new stone church in Voronezh in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. Saint Mitrofan loved church splendor and invested huge sums in the construction of the cathedral. The life of the saint was more than modest.
O A page in the biography of Saint Mitrofan is made up of his relationship with Peter I. The saint deeply and sympathetically entered into the fate of the young tsar, tried to contribute to the transformations that were useful for the Fatherland. He approved of the construction of the fleet, undertaken by Peter I in Voronezh, and supported it financially. When in 1696 the Russian troops defeated the Turks near Azov, Peter I commanded Saint Mitrofan, as if as a reward for participating in this victory, to be called Bishop of Voronezh and "Azov". At the same time, Saint Mitrofan could not approve of the tsar's too close contact with foreign gentiles and thoughtless perception of their customs. The saint refused to visit the Tsar's Voronezh palace because of the pagan statues that were in it. When the angry Peter began to threaten him with death, the saint began to prepare for it, preferring to die rather than approve pagan rituals unacceptable to an Orthodox person.
And the preaching of the bishop shamed Peter, in agreement with him he removed the statues, and peace was restored. The saint of God stayed at the Voronezh cathedra for 20 years, until his very death.
L the saint's favorite reflection was the remembrance of death, the afterlife, the ordeals; favorite prayer is the prayer for the dead.
H not being familiar with the widespread in the 17th century. Latin scholasticism, Saint Mitrofan knew the Holy Scriptures and patristic writings very well. In his “Spiritual Testament,” St. Mitrofan edified: “For every person, this is the rule of wise men: use labor, keep moderation - you will be rich; drink temperately, eat little - you will be healthy; do good, flee evil - you will be saved. Saint Mitrofan reposed in God in 1703 at a ripe old age. Shortly before his death, the saint took the schema with the name Macarius. He was buried in the Annunciation Cathedral in Voronezh with great honors: the tsar with his own hands helped to carry the coffin of the saint, revered by him as a "holy elder."
FROM In 1820, the number of admirers of the prayerful memory of St. Mitrofan especially increased, and records of miracles began to appear at the cathedral on his tomb. In 1831, an official report of this to the Synod followed, by decision of which on August 7, 1832, the solemn opening of the coffin took place, and then the canonization of the saint followed. From his holy relics, by the grace of God, there were numerous healings of those suffering from bodily and mental ailments, the obsessed, the paralyzed. In 1836, the Annunciation Mitrofanov Monastery was established at the Annunciation Cathedral in Voronezh.
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Troparion of St. Mitrofan, Bishop of Voronezh
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P the rule of faith and the image of meekness / in word and life to your flock, Father of the humble and wise Mitrofan, you were. / The same and in the light of the saints / the sun shone more brightly, / we decorate with a crown of incorruption and glory, / pray to Christ God / our country and your city in the world be saved.
To ondak of St. Mitrofan, Bishop of Voronezh
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AT having enslaved the body to the spirit by continence, / having created the soul equal to an angel, / you were dressed in saintly clothes, like a crown of priesthood, / and now, standing by all the Lord, / pray, all-blessed Mitrofan, to pacify and save our souls.
An older contemporary and associate of Peter the Great, the first Voronezh bishop, is addressed in prayer:
“Having enslaved the body to the spirit by continence, having created the soul equal to the angel, he was dressed in hierarchical clothes with ecu clothes, like a crown of priesthood; and now, all the Lords are coming, pray, all-blessed Mitrofan, to pacify and save our souls.
Worldly life of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh
Saint Mitrofan, the first bishop of Voronezh, he was born on November 6, 1623 in Vladimir land, supposedly in the family of a priest, “from pious parents,” as the saint himself later wrote, “and brought up by them in the immaculate piety of the Eastern Church, in the Orthodox faith.” The name given by the parents to the baby was also not accidental: the Orthodox Church celebrates on November 8 the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael of God and other incorporeal Heavenly Forces. Thus, the leader of the Heavenly Archangel Michael became the patron saint of the newborn.
The saint lived half his life in the world, was married and had children. Information has been preserved about the diligence of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh in the upbringing of his son Ivan. The future bishop was for some time a priest in the village of Sidorovsky, Suzdal diocese. At the age of 40, he became a widow and decided to devote his life to God. He chose the Zolotnikovsky Assumption Monastery not far from Suzdal as his place of residence, where he was tonsured a monk with the name Mitrofan.
Acts of St. Mitrofan of Voronezh
Bishop Mitrofan lived a long earthly life. Throughout this life, he was a priest, abbot of the Yakhroma Kosmin Monastery, then the Unzha monastery in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, and finally the head of the diocese.
Mitrofan headed the newly created Voronezh diocese at a mature age - at the age of 58. He had to improve church life on a vast territory remote from Moscow and the former diocesan center in Ryazan. There were only 182 churches in the diocese at that time.
The appointment of Saint Mitrofan to the Voronezh cathedra in 1682 coincided with the accession of Peter Alekseevich. The life of Peter I and the life of Bishop Mitrofan intersected more than once, starting in 1696, when the tsar repeatedly came to Voronezh. Through the efforts of Bishop Mitrofan, the Voronezh diocese significantly expanded its boundaries.
The name of Bishop Mitrofan is associated with the reconstruction of the Annunciation Cathedral from wood to stone and its magnificent decoration.
In the person of the saint, the Don monasteries found a wise leader. The bishop took care of the spiritual and economic life of the inhabitants. Strictly and justly, and at the same time sympathetic and sympathetic, Saint Mitrofan treated the white clergy, striving to kindle the fire of faith in their hearts.
From the moment Peter Alekseevich arrived in Voronezh and the beginning of shipbuilding work, St. Mitrofan supported the tsar with all means available to him. In his sermons and teachings, the bishop explained the entire state necessity and the benefits of the work begun by the king, bringing peace to many people's hearts.
The saint influenced the working people, involuntarily gathered in Voronezh, with his paternal care for them and merciful love. “His bishop’s house,” the biography says, “was a house of refuge for all the mourners, a hotel for the wanderers, a medical clinic for the sick, a place of rest for the wretched.”
Bishop Mitrofan repeatedly donated money from the bishop's treasury for the construction of the fleet. During frequent personal meetings during 1696-1702, Peter I rendered Saint Mitrofan deep respect and due honors.
Death of Mitrofan
“In the summer of the Nativity of Christ 1703, November 23, at the sixth hour of the day, in the second quarter, on Tuesday, between the patriarchate, the will of the almighty God, he, His Grace Mitrofan, Bishop of Voronezh, and in the schema Macarius, departed into eternal bliss ... And on his throne in Voronezh, in the bishopric was twenty years and eight months, all the years of his life eighty years and half a month.
The tsar himself, who left Moscow on the day of the bishop's death, November 23, 1703, was present at the burial of Saint Mitrofan. According to legend, after a memorial service on December 4, the king, addressing his entourage, said:
“I don’t have such a holy old man left; let him have eternal memory.”
Saint Mitrofan was buried in the crypt of the Cathedral of the Annunciation. During the reconstruction of the cathedral, from 1718 to 1735, the coffin with the body of St. Mitrofan was placed in the Church of the Burning Bush under the wooden cathedral bell tower. In 1735, the body of the saint was transferred to a new cathedral and buried "in the right wing of the cathedral, near the southernmost wall, in the upper first place, in the corner."
Miracles at the tomb of Saint Mitrofan
Since 1830, the pilgrimage of believers to the tomb of the saint begins, and miraculous manifestations of God's help are celebrated at his grave. The Bishop of Voronezh, Saint Anthony (Smirnitsky), was ordered to observe the events and record information about miraculous phenomena.
In the spring of 1831, during the repair of the Annunciation Cathedral, a crypt was found in which there was a decayed coffin, and in it the body of St. Mitrofan "in unbreakable integrity." The discovery of the relics was reported to Emperor Nicholas I.
By decision of the Holy Synod, approved by the Tsar, August 6, 1832, the opening of the relics of St. Mitrophan in Voronezh was scheduled. After a solemn divine service, with a huge gathering of people, Archbishop Grigory (Postnikov) and Archbishop Anthony (Smirnitsky) laid the relics of the saint in a cypress shrine and transferred them to the Archangel Cathedral for the time of repairing the cathedral.
A year later, they were returned to the Cathedral of the Annunciation. In 1836, the Cathedral of the Annunciation and all the Bishops' Metochion became part of the newly established one. On November 23, 1903, the Voronezh diocese solemnly celebrated the bicentenary of the repose of the miracle worker Mitrofan of Voronezh.
Saint Mitrofan of Voronezh and the twentieth century
The twentieth century has prepared severe trials for Orthodoxy. The relics of St. Mitrofan were destined to endure mockery from the godless authorities. On February 3, 1919, the relics of St. Mitrofan were opened by the Bolshevik deputation, but left in the same place. In the 1920s, the monastery was in the hands of the Renovationists, while in 1919-1923 there was a concentration camp here. But the influx of believers to the captive relics did not weaken. On August 20, 1929, the authorities decided to close the cathedral and remove the relics.
The relics from the cathedral were taken away in the first week of January 1930, they were transferred to the Regional Museum of Local Lore.
In the 1940s-1950s, the petitions of Bishop Joseph (Orekhov) of Voronezh and Patriarch Alexy I (Simansky) for the return of the relics of St. Mitrophan to the Russian Orthodox Church were rejected by the authorities. Such an event became possible only after the celebration. The celebration of the return of the relics and their transfer to the Intercession Cathedral took place on September 16-17, 1989.
By the decision of Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia in September 2002, the celebration of the Cathedral of the Voronezh Saints was determined on the day of the second finding of the relics of St. Mitrofan on September 4/17. This year, such a celebration took place once again and especially solemnly: a procession with a particle of the relics of St. Mitrofan passes through all the parishes of the Voronezh-Borisoglebsk diocese.
The hierarchy decided to transfer the relics of St. Mitrofan to a new cathedral, founded in 1998. This will happen after the completion of construction and consecration of the cathedral, which will bear the familiar name of the saint - the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos. The circle of eternal life will close, and the relics of St. Mitrofan will once again rest in the Cathedral of the Annunciation.
Mitrofan of Voronezh became his labors in the world after his death.