Churches

The memory of St. Nicholas is celebrated:

• December 6/19 is the day of death (in the Russian tradition “Nikola the Winter”)
• May 9/22 is the day of arrival of the relics in the city of Bari (in the Russian tradition “Nikola of the Spring”)

Biography

According to his life, Saint Nicholas was born in Asia Minor in the 3rd century in the Greek colony of Patara in the Roman province of Lycia at a time when the region was Hellenistic in its culture and appearance. Nicholas was very religious from early childhood and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. It is believed that he was born to wealthy Christian parents in Patara, Lycia, where he received his primary education.

Being the patron saint of sailors, Saint Nicholas is believed to have been a sailor or fisherman himself. It is also possible that one of his family's occupations was managing a fishing fleet. When his parents died, Saint Nicholas inherited their fortune, but he gave it to charity.

The initial period of Saint Nicholas' activity as a clergyman dates back to the reign of the Roman emperors Diocletian (reign -) and Maximian (reign -). In the year Diocletian issued an edict legitimizing the systematic persecution of Christians throughout the empire. After the abdication of both emperors on May 1, 305, changes occurred in the policy of their successors towards Christians. In the western part of the empire, Constantius Chlorus (r. -) put an end to systematic persecution after his accession to the throne. In the eastern part, Galerius (reigned -) continued the persecution until 311, when he issued an edict of toleration while on his deathbed. The persecutions of 311 are considered the longest in the history of the empire.

After the death of Galerius, his co-ruler Licinius (reign -) was generally tolerant of Christians. As a result, Christian communities began to develop. Obviously, the bishopric of St. Nicholas in Myra (ancient Lycia of the Roman Empire; the modern name of the city is Demre, located in the province of Antalya in Turkey) dates back to this period. Saint Nicholas was loved and respected at home - not least because of his charitable activities.

In Russia

Nikola-key

Nikola-key- a unique source in the Volga region. An amazing feature of the source is that spring waters flow here in a cross shape. It is located 28 kilometers from Gorodets near the village of Beloglazovo. According to legend, in this very place there was once an apparition of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.

In August 2007, a new chapel and bathhouse were built at the Nikola-Klyuch spring in the Gorodetsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The need for construction arose because on the night of July 7-8, 2007, the former chapel burned down due to careless handling of fire.

• In the iconography of the saint, the icons of “Winter St. Nicholas” and “Spring St. Nicholas” are sometimes distinguished, corresponding to the days of veneration in the year. At the same time, the “winter” Nikola is depicted wearing a bishop’s miter, and the “spring” Nikola is depicted with his head uncovered. According to widespread legend, the iconography of “St. Nicholas the Winter” arose during the reign of Nicholas I, who once drew attention to the fact that in the icon his heavenly patron was depicted without a headdress and made a remark to the clergy.
• Orthodox gypsies revere Nikolai Ugodnik as their patron.
• In the Ryazan diocese, on June 15/28, the day of St. Nicholas is locally celebrated in honor of his icon, revealed in the 12th century, made of clay, dressed in priestly vestments and located in a wooden icon case (in one hand the Saint holds a sword, in the other - the church). The holiday is dedicated to the icon, in memory of the miraculous salvation of the village residents from the cholera epidemic in the 19th century.

see also

• Church of St. Nicholas - churches consecrated in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker
• The Velikoretsk religious procession is one of the largest religious processions in Russia with the revered miraculous Velikoretsk Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker

According to legend, the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas was brought to the city of Krasny (now Zaraysk) in 1225. The history of the appearance of the holy image in our region is full of miracles and signs of God’s ineffable mercy; it is transmitted in the ancient chronicle - “ Stories about Nikola Zarazsky».

For a long time, the icon was in Chersonesos (Korsun Tauride), and the image was called Nikolai of Korsun. The icon stood in the Church of the Apostle James, in which Grand Duke Vladimir once received Holy Baptism. Saint Nicholas appeared to the priest of this temple, Presbyter Eustathius, three times in a dream with an insistent request: “Take my miraculous image of Korsun, your wife Theodosius and your son Eustathius, and come to the land of Ryazan. I want to be there and work miracles, and glorify that place.” But the priest hesitated, not daring to leave his native place and venture into an unknown land. For his disobedience, Eustathius was punished with sudden blindness. And when he realized his sin, he prayed to the Wonderworker Nicholas and received forgiveness. Having recovered from his illness, he and his family set off on a long journey.
The travelers had to endure many difficulties and sorrows during their journey, but they also witnessed glorious miracles from the miraculous image. Only a year later they reached the borders of the Ryazan land.

At this time, Saint Nicholas appeared in a dream to the appanage prince Theodore Yuryevich, who reigned in Krasnoye, and announced the arrival of his miraculous icon: “ Prince, come to meet the miraculous image of my Korsunsky. For I want to be here and work miracles, and glorify this place. And I beg the Humane-loving Lord Christ, the Son of God, to grant you, your wife and your son the crowns of the Kingdom of Heaven " And although the prince was perplexed, since he did not yet have a family, he obeyed the will of the Saint and left the city with the entire sacred cathedral to meet the miraculous image. From afar, he saw a shrine from which a radiance emanated. With great reverence and joy, Theodore accepted the icon from Eustathius. This happened on July 29 (August 11, New Style) 1225.

Metropolitan Yuvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna and Acting Governor of the Moscow Region A.Yu. Vorobiev in front of the Zaraisk shrine Believers at the icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk on August 11, 2013. For the brought icon, a wooden St. Nicholas Church was built in the city of Krasnoye. After some time, Prince Theodore was legally married to Eupraxia, and they had a son, John - with this fulfillment of one of the predictions of St. Nicholas, the first part of the ancient chronicles about St. Nicholas of Zaraz ends.

The second part of the ancient Tales describes the fate of the noble princes of Zaraisk during the invasion of hordes of Tatar-Mongols in Rus' in 1237. Khan Batu demanded a tenth of everything from the Russians: “ in princes, in all sorts of people and in the rest " The appanage prince Theodore went to Batu’s headquarters with great gifts to “ persuade the khan not to go to war on Ryazan land " The Khan accepted the gifts and falsely promised “not to fight the Ryazan land” and began “to ask the princes of Ryazan for daughters and sisters to come to his bed.” Having heard from one and a traitor, a Ryazan nobleman, that the prince had a young and beautiful wife, Batu turned to him with the words: “ Let me, prince, enjoy the beauty of your wife " Theodore answered the arrogant conqueror with a contemptuous laugh: “ It is not right for us Christians to bring our wives to you, the wicked and godless king, for fornication. When you defeat us, then you will own us and our wives. ».

Batu became furious at this answer from the noble prince and immediately ordered him to be killed and his body thrown to the animals and birds to be torn to pieces. One of the guides of Prince Aponitsa secretly hid the body of his master and hurried to Krasny to tell the princess about the death of her husband. The blessed princess stood at that time " in a high mansion and held her beloved child - Prince Ivan Fedorovich " And " when she heard the deadly words, filled with grief, she threw herself on the ground and became infected (killed) to death " The body of the murdered prince was brought to his native land and buried next to the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, in the same grave with his wife and son, and three stone crosses were placed over them.

From this event, the icon of St. Nicholas of Korsun began to be called Zarazskaya, because the blessed princess Eupraxia with her son Prince John “infected” herself. Over time, the place where the tragedy occurred began to be called Zaraz, Zarazsk, and then Zaraysk - this is one of the versions of the origin of the name of our city.

The fame of the miracles from the icon quickly crossed the borders of the Ryazan principality and spread throughout Orthodox Rus'. For many centuries, the day of bringing the icon to Zaraysk was revered as a citywide holiday. The day before, on July 28 (Old Style), a prayer service was served to Nicholas the Wonderworker, then a litany for the deceased princes at the tombstone monument with three crosses; At the all-night vigil, “The Tale of Nikola Zarazsky” was read. On the very day of the holiday, July 29, in the St. Nicholas Church, the entire Zaraisk clergy celebrated the Divine Liturgy, after which the residents of the city and its guests in a procession of the cross, together with the miraculous icon, headed to the White Well. This is the name of the source that, according to legend, appeared at the place where the icon was met by Prince Theodore. Here a water-blessing prayer was served and the water of the spring was blessed, then the procession returned to the Kremlin.

Here is the description the writer Vasily Selivanov wrote about the Zaraisk shrine in 1892: “ In the Zaraisk St. Nicholas Cathedral there is a miraculous image of St. Nicholas, brought to Zaraisk in 1225 from the Greek city of Korsun by Presbyter Eustathius. In the middle of this image, a full image of the Saint is written in paint, wearing priestly cross vestments. The right hand is stretched out for blessing, and the left hand holds the Gospel on the shroud. On the right side, on the clouds, the Savior is depicted, blessing the Saint with his right hand, and giving him the Gospel with his left; on the left side is the Mother of God holding an outstretched omophorion in her hands. This image with seventeen images of the life and miracles of the Saint is twenty-five and a half inches long and twenty and a quarter inches wide. The painting on the image is ancient, Byzantine, of high style, which is especially evident from the expression of spirituality imparted to the features of the saint’s face. The chasuble on the image is made of pure gold with semi-precious stones and pearls, designed by Tsar Vasily Shuisky in 1608... More than seven pounds of gold alone, about six pounds of silver, one hundred and thirty-three semi-precious stones, three or more Burmitz grains were used for the chasuble and decoration of the image of St. Nicholas one thousand six hundred large and medium-sized pearls... The image of the Saint is placed in an ancient icon case... The icon case is upholstered on three sides with sheets of chased and gilded silver and decorated with stones, pearls and iconographic images of the Mother of God at the top and holy saints on the sides, and inside is upholstered with crimson velvet ».

During Soviet times, the Kremlin's churches were closed and looted. The miraculous image of Nikola Zaraisky first ended up in the local history museum, and later, in 1966, was taken for restoration to Moscow, to the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art. Andrey Rublev.

With the resumption of church life in the Kremlin cathedrals, the efforts of believers to return the shrine began. However, for a long time, the management of the Museum refused the petitions and written appeals of the Zaraisk residents, citing the lack of necessary conditions in the churches of the Zaraisk Kremlin for the preservation of the ancient image. For a decade and a half, through the efforts of parishioners, work was carried out to repair and restore the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. In 1997, a copy (an exact copy) of the icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk was written, which was placed in a carved canopy and installed to the left of the central altar. Nowadays, believers venerate another copy from the miraculous icon - the image of St. Nicholas of Korsun-Zaraisky. With this icon, Zaraisk priests made pilgrimages to the holy places of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus; the new image was also consecrated on the great shrines of Greece, Holy Mount Athos, on the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Bari. Recently, it is with the icon of St. Nicholas of Korsun-Zaraisk that annual processions of the cross take place through the city of Zaraysk (May 22) and to the holy spring of the White Well (August 11).

Several years ago, work on the restoration of the St. John the Baptist Cathedral of the Zaraisk Kremlin was completed. And after the visit of the Acting Governor of the Moscow Region A.Yu. Vorobyov to Zaraisk on June 5, 2013, when he promised to do everything to return the Zaraisk shrine, active work began to solve all the problems of transferring the icon from the Museum. Andrey Rublev. In an extremely short time (and this is another miracle of St. Nicholas!) all legal, technical, financial issues regarding the transfer and further residence of the icon in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in the Zaraisk Kremlin were resolved.

On August 11, 2013, a great celebration took place in Zaraisk: the ancient miraculous icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk returned to its historical place. The festive service was led by the Administrator of the Moscow Diocese, Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna. Acting Governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Yuryevich Vorobyov prayed at the Divine Liturgy.

The holy image is installed to the right of the central altar, in a special icon case. Prayer chants are performed in front of him every day.
(based on materials.

Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker - the most revered saint in Rus' since ancient times - was born in Asia Minor in the second half of the 3rd century in the Greek colony of Patara in the Roman province of Lycia in a family of wealthy Christian parents, in his youth he was given to the service of God under the guidance of his uncle, a bishop Patarsky. His uncle elevated him to the rank of priest. The entire life of the saint was truly a model of Christian service to God and people. When his parents died, Saint Nicholas inherited their fortune, which he gave to charity. Saint Nicholas was the bishop of the city of Myra in Lycia in Asia Minor (modern Demre); his ascetic life and miracles gained fame during his lifetime. The saint took part in the First Ecumenical Council of 325, at which he condemned the heresy of Arius, who denied the Divinity of the Son of God Jesus Christ. According to church tradition, for slapping the wicked Arius in the face, he was deprived of the priesthood. The Savior Himself and the Mother of God brought Nicholas the Gospel and an omophorion - signs of hierarchal dignity. This event is called the Nicene miracle and is depicted on almost all icons of the saint. Saint Nicholas died around 345 and was buried in the city of Myra in Lycia. In 1087, when the city was taken by the Turks, his relics were transferred to the Italian city of Bari.

Local veneration of the saint began immediately after his death. In Constantinople, his cult took shape in the 4th - 7th centuries. The veneration of St. Nicholas came to Rus' with the adoption of Christianity, and from the 11th century it became widespread. The iconographic type of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk is a full-length image of the saint with his arms spread to the sides: his right hand is folded in a gesture of blessing, in his left there is a closed Gospel. According to A. Poppe, the name “Zaraisky” appeared only in the 16th century. “The Tale of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk” describes the story of an ancient unpreserved miraculous icon, which was brought from Korsun through Novgorod to Zaraysk in 1225. In 1237, Ryazan was the first to experience the horror of the Tatar invasion. The “Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan by Batu” tells that after the murder of the Ryazan prince Theodore by the Tatars, his princess threw herself from a high tower to the ground and “became infected (broken) to death.” After their burial near the icon of St. Nicholas of Korsun, the image began to be called Zarazsky or Zaraisk.

The spread of this iconography in the 13th - 14th centuries is confirmed by the number of monuments in iconography and small plastic art. In Byzantium, this iconographic type was not widespread. In Russian art it becomes one of the favorites, which was facilitated by the popularity of the plot in literature. The earliest works: the icon of the first half of the 14th century “Nicholas of Zaraisk and the Apostle Philip” from the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery and the Novgorod icon of St. Nicholas of the first half of the 14th century from the Ozerovo churchyard.

The memory of St. Nicholas is celebrated on December 6 (December 19, old style), July 29 (August 11, old style, the birth of the saint), May 9 (May 22, old style, transfer of relics).

Zhanna Grigorievna Belik,

candidate of art history, senior researcher at the Andrei Rublev Museum, curator of the tempera painting fund.

Olga Evgenievna Savchenko,

Researcher at the Andrei Rublev Museum.

Literature:

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2. State Tretyakov Gallery. Collection catalogue. T. 1. Old Russian art of the 10th - early 15th centuries. M., 1995.

3. Life and miracles of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Archbishop of Myra and his glory in Russia. Comp. A. Voznesensky and F. Gusev. St. Petersburg, 1899.

4. Kalugin V.V.“The Life of St. Nicholas” in the hagiographical collection of Andrei Kurbsky. M., 2003.

5. Kondakov N.P. Monuments of Christian art on Mount Athos. St. Petersburg, 1902.

6. Krutova M.S. Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker in Old Russian writing. M., 1997.

7. Lazarev V.N. History of Byzantine painting. M., 1986.

8. Lazarev V.N. Russian icon painting from its origins to the beginning of the 16th century. M., 1983.

9. Leonid (Kavelin), archimandrite. Posthumous miracles of St. Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra, miracle worker. Monument to ancient Russian writing of the 11th century. The work of Ephraim, Bishop of Pereyaslavl. St. Petersburg, 1888.

10. Smirnova E.S. Icon of St. Nicholas from 1294 by master Alexa Petrov // Old Russian art. Foreign connections. M., 1975.

11. Smirnova E.S. Round icon of St. Nicholas of Myra from the Novgorod St. Nicholas Cathedral. The origin of the ancient image and its place in the context of Russian culture of the 16th century. // Old Russian art. Russian art of the late Middle Ages: XVI century. St. Petersburg, 2003.

12. Smirnova E.S. Painting of Veliky Novgorod. Mid-XIII - early XV centuries. M., 1976.

13. Turilov A.A. Tales of miraculous icons in the context of their veneration in Rus' // Relics in the art and culture of the Eastern Christian world. Abstracts of reports and materials of the international symposium / Ed.-comp. A.M. Lidov. M., 2000.

14. Miracles of St. Nicholas of Myra. Preparation of the text and comments by I.I.Makeeva // Library of Literature of Ancient Rus'. T. 2. St. Petersburg, 1999.

15. Shalina I.A. Icon "St. Nicholas" from the Holy Spiritual Monastery. Liturgical meaning and ecclesiologization of the image // Old Russian art. Rus', Byzantium, Balkans: XIII century. St. Petersburg, 1997.

16. Shlyapkin I. Russian teaching of the 11th century about the transfer of the relics of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and its relation to Western sources. St. Petersburg, 1881.

17. Yakovlev V.V. The Legend of the “Round Board” Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and the Late Chronicle Tradition // Experiments in Source Study. Old Russian bookishness. St. Petersburg, 1997.

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25. Popov G.V., Ryndina A.V. Painting and applied art of Tver XIV - XVI centuries: Centers of artistic culture of medieval Rus'. M., 1979.

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32. Icons of the 13th - 16th centuries in the collection of the Andrei Rublev Museum. M., 2007.

The history of one of the oldest Russian cities - Zaraysk, the first mention of which dates back to 1146, is closely connected with the miraculous icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk. For a long time, the icon of Nicholas of Korsun (later called “Zarazskaya” and “Zaraiskaya”) was located in the city of Korsun (Chersonese Tauride), in the temple of the Apostle James. In this temple at the end of the 10th century, Grand Duke Vladimir received Holy Baptism. Numerous miracles and healings came from the miraculous image of St. Nicholas.

The famous literary monument of Ancient Rus' “The Tale of Nikola Zarazsky” (which, according to academician D.S. Likhachev, “ belongs to the outstanding phenomena of ancient Russian literature") talks about the bringing in 1225 " image of the great Wonderworker Nikolas of Korsun from the glorious city of Chersonesus to the borders of Ryazan, to the region of the blessed Prince Fyodor Yuryevich of Ryazan".

According to legend, Saint Nicholas himself appeared in a vision to the priest Eustathius and commanded: “Eustathius, take my miraculous image of Korsun, your wife Theodosius and your son Eustathius and go to the land of Ryazan. I want to stay there and create miracles and glorify that place" Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to this priest three times, and only when he was punished with blindness for disobedience and, having repented and received healing, set off on his journey.

It took Eustathius and his companions about a year to reach the Ryazan land. At the same time, Nikolai Ugodnik appeared in a dream to the appanage prince Fyodor Yuryevich, who reigned in the city of Krasny (now Zaraysk) and announced the arrival of his miraculous image. Fedor Yurievich “he took on the miraculous image and brought it to his region.” And he immediately sent the news to his father, Grand Duke Yuri Ingvarevich of Ryazan... The Grand Duke took Bishop Euphrosynus of the Svyatogorets with him and immediately went to the region to his son... And he saw great and glorious miracles from the miraculous image and was filled with joy. And he created a temple in the name of the great holy wonderworker Nikolas of Korsun. And Bishop Efrosin consecrated it, and celebrated brightly, and returned to his city" At the site of the meeting (meeting) of the icon, a source of spring water emerged from the ground, called the White Well, which has survived to this day.

As the chronicles describe, the icon appeared in the city of Krasny on July 29 (old style) 1225 and since then St. Nicholas took the city and its inhabitants under his heavenly protection.

The chronicle associates the change in the name of the icon with the death of Prince Fyodor’s wife, Eupraxia, and her young son, Ivan. Princess Eupraxia in 1237, during the Mongol-Tatar invasion of Rus', after the death of her husband at Batu’s headquarters, preferred death to Tatar captivity. Not wanting to become the khan’s concubine and forcefully renounce her son’s Christian faith, she threw herself and her child from the high prince’s mansion and fell to her death. “And for the reason that the icon of Zarazskaya, the great wonderworker St. Nicholas, is called, that the blessed princess Eupraxia with her son Prince Ivan infected (broke) themselves in that place.”

And the city eventually began to be called Zarazesk, Zaraesk, Nikola Zarazskaya on Osetra, the city of Nikola Zarazsky Posad and, finally, from the 17th century - Zaraisk.

The events related to the stay of the miraculous icon of Nikola Zaraisky in the city of Kolomna and the miracles that occurred there are narrated by “The Legend of the Bringing of the Image of Nikola Korsunsky from Zarazsk to Kolomna” (which is part of the “Tales of Nikola Zarazsky”). The stay of the miraculous image in neighboring Kolomna and its miraculous return to Zaraysk is also associated with the construction of a stone fortress - the Zaraisk Kremlin in 1528-1531. On its territory there was the ancient St. Nicholas Cathedral. The current building of St. Nicholas Cathedral was built in 1681 on the site of the previous one.

For centuries, the holy miraculous image was in the cathedrals of the Zaraisk Kremlin: St. Nicholas (specially built for her) and St. John the Baptist. For many centuries, the icon was the main shrine of the Zaraisk region, and every year on July 29 (old style) citywide celebrations were held in Zaraisk. In the Kremlin churches, the entire clergy served the Divine Liturgy together and held a religious procession to the holy spring of the White Well.

In 1892, a small book entitled “The Miraculous Image of Nicholas Zaraisk” was published in Ryazan. Its author is a native of Zaraysk, writer Vasily Selivanov. This is how he begins the story about the shrine: “In the Zaraisk St. Nicholas Cathedral there is a miraculous image of St. Nicholas, brought to Zaraisk in 1225 from the Greek city of Korsun by Presbyter Eustathius. In the middle of this image, a full image of the Saint is written in paints, in priestly cross-shaped vestments with an omophorion on the ramens (shoulders), on the head is a miter with an image of the Holy Trinity in black, his right hand is stretched out for a blessing, and with his left he holds the Gospel on a shroud. On its right side, the Savior is depicted on the clouds, blessing the Saint with his right hand, and giving him the Gospel with his left; on the left side is the Mother of God holding an outstretched omophorion in her arms.

This image, with seventeen images of the life and miracles of the Saint, is twenty-five and a half inches long and twenty and a quarter inches wide. The painting on the image is ancient, Byzantine in a high style, which is especially evident from the expression of spirituality imparted to the features of the Saint’s face, which almost only Byzantine artists were able to impart to images of saints.”

The following is a description of the valuable frame in which the miraculous image was placed: “The robe on the image is made of pure gold, with semi-precious stones, built by Tsar Vasily Shuisky in 1608, as can be seen from the inventory of the Zaraisk Cathedral and the following inscription inscribed in script on a special tablet (plate) at the bottom of the frame: “By the command of the Blessed Great Sovereign of the Tsar and Grand Duke Vasily Ioannovich of All Rus', this setting was made for the image of the great Wonderworker Nikola Zarazsky in the second summer of his State, summer 7116 (1608). miter, crown, gospel and tsata. The frame around the brim in the form of a frame around the entire image is silver gilded, made by Shuisky, as well as the gold aureoles above the faces and the gold plates with patterns drawn in niello, depicting miracles. The miracles themselves were covered with silver gilded vestments in later times.”

People from all over Russia came to the Zaraisk shrine: peasants and artisans, traders and military men, cultural and artistic figures. The Monk Sergius of Radonezh, the Great Moscow Princes Ivan III, Vasily III, Tsar Ivan the Terrible, Tsar Vasily Shuisky, the heir to the Russian throne, the future Tsar Alexander II with his teacher V.A. Zhukovsky, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and many others prayed before the miraculous image of St. Nicholas of Zaraisky .

A special page in the history of Zaraysk is the era of the Time of Troubles. At that time, the future savior of the Fatherland, Prince D.M. Pozharsky, served as the governor of Zaraysk. Through the prayers of the rector of St. Nicholas Cathedral, Archpriest Dimitry and Prince D.M. Pozharsky, before the miraculous image, the city of Zaraisk remained faithful to the legitimate authority and did not swear allegiance to the impostor False Dmitry. In gratitude to the Wonderworker, Tsar Vasily Shuisky decorated the Zaraisk icon with a valuable frame. Archpriest Dimitri participated in the meetings of the Zemsky Sobors in 1613 and was part of the embassy to Kostroma, to the elected Tsar Mikhail Romanov.

After the closure of the churches of the Zaraisk Kremlin in the 1920s, the icon was taken to the local history museum. In 1966, Moscow art historians, having visited the museum, announced that the ancient icon needed urgent restoration and took it to Moscow, to the Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art named after. Andrey Rublev. At the same time, museum staff carried out an examination and established the date of painting of the icon. In their opinion, one of the earliest copies of the ancient icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk, which has not reached us, was kept in Zaraysk, approximately from the late 15th to early 16th centuries. After a lengthy restoration, the icon became an exhibit of the Museum. Andrey Rublev.

With the revival of church life, believers, with the blessing of Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna, began to seek the return of the shrine to Zaraysk. We repeatedly drafted appeals, collected signatures, and sent petitions to various authorities. The idea of ​​returning the icon has always been supported by the city and district authorities. The leaders of the Moscow region, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, deputies of the State and Moscow Regional Dumas, activists of many Russian parties and movements, and prominent cultural and artistic figures spoke out for the return of the icon.

Only once, during many decades of being away from Zaraysk, was the icon brought to our region. This happened in 1996, during the celebration of the 850th anniversary of the city, thanks to the joint efforts of the city Administration, the Zaraisk deanery and widespread public support. Within 2 days, the icon was exhibited in the St. John the Baptist Cathedral of the Zaraisk Kremlin, and thousands of believers were able to pray in front of the holy image.

However, then the icon was again taken to Moscow, and new appeals from the Zarayans for the return of the icon met only a negative response. The heads of the Museum named after them refuse their refusals. Andrei Rublev and the Ministry of Culture were motivated by the lack of necessary conditions in Zaraysk for the storage and preservation of the ancient image.

But the Zarayans do not lose hope, and are doing everything possible to return the shrine. The problem of returning the miraculous image is constantly discussed in the print media, radio and television. Brochures about the Zaraisk shrine are being published, and the issue of returning the miraculous icon is being raised at regional scientific, practical and theological conferences.

The ancient tradition of the regional festival on August 11 and processions of the cross to the holy spring White Well has been revived. In 1997, a list (an exact copy) of the icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisk was made. It stands in a place of honor - at the central altar of St. John the Baptist Cathedral and services are performed in front of it. For a decade and a half, the restoration of the Cathedral of John the Baptist, which was desecrated during Soviet times and served as a cinema, took place. Now all conditions have been created in it to accept the ancient miraculous image under its arches.

Nikola Zaraisky, with life

In the 13th century. arose “The Tale of Nikola Zaraisky,” telling about the origin of the icon (A. S. Orlov, Heroic themes of ancient Russian literature, M.-L., 1945, pp. 107–112, as well as V. L. Komarovich, On literary history stories about Nikola Zaraisky. - In the book: “Proceedings of the Department of Old Russian Literature of the Institute of Literature of the USSR Academy of Sciences,” V, M., 1947, pp. 57–72). According to this story, the Korsun icon of St. Nicholas in 1228 was transferred from Korsun to the Ryazan land, where an event took place near the cathedral founded in honor of the icon, which gave the name to the city of Zaraysk and the icon itself. The icon reaches the Ryazan land from Korsun through the mouth of the Dnieper, through Kes (Wenden) in the “German Land” and Veliky Novgorod. In 1513, due to the raid of the “Crimean people”, the image of Nikola was temporarily in Kolomna. There was a copy of the Zaraisk icon from the early 16th century. (now the Tretyakov Gallery, No. 557, [inv. 20861]). Even before 1471, the Church of St. Nicholas of Zaraisky (or St. Nicholas in Boots) was known on the Trinity site, opposite the Kutafya tower (dismantled in 1838). The cult of Nikola Zaraisk spread widely in 1531–1533, when Vasily III went on pilgrimage to Zaraysk (“Russian Vremennik”, M., 1820, part 2, p. 360).

Beginning of the 14th century. Kyiv school 2.

2 This monument of the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries. may be associated with the late Kyiv school both in style and in the legend telling about its origin.

The design, proportions of figures and architecture, as well as the monochrome coloring of this icon bring it closer to ancient examples of painting of Kyiv origin, for example, with miniatures of the psalter of the late 13th century, No. 3 from the collection. Khludov (State Historical Museum) written for Simon, the elder of the Yuryev Monastery in Novgorod.

According to the family legend of the ancient Moscow family of the Kvashnins-Samarins, the icon of St. Nicholas of Zaraisky with its life was taken from Kyiv by their ancestor, the Kiev boyar Protasius, who moved to Moscow with 3 thousand Kiev residents. According to legend, he founded the Church of St. Nicholas in Kievets in the ancient tract of Kievets (now the area of ​​​​Metrostroevskaya Street), on the banks of the Moscow River, where this icon brought by Protasius was placed.

Nikola is represented on the centerpiece, surrounded by fourteen hallmarks of his life. His broad figure is monumental, thanks to the majestic movement and design of the folds of white, slightly greenish phelonion falling almost to his feet. The cassock is pinkish ocher, the omophorion is white with brown crosses. The club and stole are ocher, as is the lid of the Gospel: they are decorated with colored stones. On the face there are records from the 16th and 17th centuries. The background of the middle was probably white. The manure is dark green. Order of stamps: 1. Christmas. 2. Bringing into teaching. 3. Ordination to the deaconate. 4. Ordination to the priesthood. 5. Ordination to bishop. 6. Appearance to Eparch Evlavius. 7. Rescue of Dmitry from the bottom of the sea. 8. Deliverance from execution. 9. The miracle of the carpet. 10. Deliverance of Agrikov's son. 11. Resignation. 12. Transfer of relics from Mir to Bar. 13. The miracle of the Kiev youth. 14. Deliverance of the patriarch from drowning. The order of the marks is unusual: starting from the top field, they continue on the right field, then below and end on the left field. The marks are separated from each other by wide pinkish stripes. The swirl is dark, like olive sankir. The coloring is muted, formed by transparent, soft shades of brown and green, with a few spots of cinnabar and blue vat paint. The gaps on the slides and clothes, as well as the original background on the margins, judging by the surviving fragments of it among the 16th-century gesso, were white. The inscriptions are red.

Linden board with ark, mortise dowels, one-sided. In the upper part, wooden nails from the dowel have been preserved. The fields are sawed off. Pavoloka, gesso, egg tempera. 115x78. On the ground, at Nikola’s feet, there are inscriptions on both sides. On the right is a red inscription from the 16th century: “By the grace of God and the Most Pure Mother of God and the haste of the holy and great miracle worker Nicholas, this icon was made in the summer ¤ z 7lв(7032 - 1524) June on day No. 1 (11) by the desire and intention of Ivan Jacob, son of Kozhukhov, and there were no memorials to her previous writing.” On the left is a hard-to-read white inscription in 17th-century script in ten lines with dates: ¤ z 7R…d(1656) and ¤ z 7R§f(1691) - see page 79 [the said figure is shown below - approx. ed. site].

It was located in the Church of the Assumption on Ostozhenka in Moscow, where it ended up in 1772 during the abolition of the neighboring Church of St. Nicholas in Kievets, where it was a temple icon. With. 78
With. 79¦