Prayers are read about establishing family piety and assisting in the formation of the moral and religious character of children.

Reverend Kirill and Maria came from a noble boyar family and lived their lives in the ancient Principality of Rostov. The pious family already had one son named Stephen, when the Lord gave them another son, whom the couple named Bartholomew. The youngest son Bartholomew in the future had the chance to become St. Sergius of Radonezh.
The righteousness of St. Cyril and his wife Mary was glorified and known not only to the Lord. The spouses have always been strict guardians of all divine statutes, they helped the poor, but they especially sacredly cherished the commandment of the holy Apostle Paul: “Do not abandon the love of strangers, especially since the Angels do not know how to accept strangers.” They taught all this to their children, instilling in them the idea of ​​not missing an opportunity to invite a wandering monk or other weary pilgrim to their monastery. Until our time, more detailed information about the pious life of this happy couple, however, we can, together with St. Plato, declare that the very fruit they generated showed better than any sweet-tongued praise the good-heartedness of the blessed race. Blessed are the parents whose names are forever glorified in their offspring and offspring! Blessed are the children who not only did not disgrace, but also strengthened and magnified the honor and nobility of their fathers and eminent ancestors, since true nobility lies in virtue!

At the end of his life path Reverends Kirill and Maria decided on at will become a monk. They rushed to the Intercession Monastery, which was located 3 versts from Radonezh, and at that time connected 2 monasteries: for the elders and for the old women. In this place the Monk Kirill and his wife Maria spent their last days, preparing for eternal life. First they took monastic vows, and later the schema. Burdened with old age and illness, the schema-monks labored in a new rank for a short period of time. Around 1337, the couple departed in peace to the kingdom of God.

In 1992, the Bishops' Temple of the Russian Orthodox Church decided to canonize St. Cyril and his wife Mary.
St. Philaret of Moscow wrote lines in which he says that the immortal relics of saints prosper with the glory of their virtues so that they, often being diminished in mortal life, acquire greatness after death. And after death they show in themselves the spiritual power of life, miraculously exuding to those around them. Jesus Christ prefers to live among His chosen ones even physically, since He disposes them to internal communion with Him. He settles in the heart and brings into it new life. And the body, constantly cleansed by asceticism and deeds, even in mortal life becomes God-bearing and overflows with the power of the Lord for others... And since the power of Christ is eternal, it is self-evident that it, settling in human beings who are Christ’s (Gal. 5:24) ), and immortality is broadcast to their bodies; since there is no limit to the power of the Lord, it also agrees that through them it works miracles when the Lord pleases... This immortality and the healing power that comes from them teaches us piety and pushes us to imitate their faith.

The power of the intercession of the Mother of God, St. Cyril and his wife Mary, as well as their son Sergius, is manifested in the divas that were performed throughout the history of the Khotkov Monastery. During a difficult period for the Russian people and the Holy Church, they repeatedly interceded with the Lord for their earthly brothers, the Venerables Cyril and Mary, as well as their son Sergius.

The relics of St. Cyril and Mary of Radonezh are located in the Pokrovsky Khotkovsky stauropegial convent, Moscow region, Sergiev Posad district.

Reverend Kirill and Maria- parents of St. Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh. Remembrance Days - January 31; June 5 - Cathedral of Rostov-Yaroslavl Saints; July 19 - Cathedral of Radonezh Saints; October 11.

Epiphanius the Wise writes that the future great Hegumen of the Russian Land was born from noble and faithful parents: from a father whose name was Cyril, and a mother named Mary, who were God's Saints, truthful before God and before people, and full and adorned with all sorts of virtues that God loves. God did not allow such a baby, who was supposed to shine, to be born from unrighteous parents. But first God created and prepared such righteous parents for him and then from them he produced his saint.

About the parents of St. Sergius, the Life tells that they were The boyars, from the glorious and famous boyars, owned a large estate in the Rostov region and great wealth. At first, boyar Kirill was in the service of the Rostov prince Vasily Konstantinovich († 1307) and his son Prince Konstantin Vasilyevich († 1364), married to the daughter of the great Moscow prince Ivan Danilovich (Kalita).

The Life of St. Sergius reports that more than once the boyar Kirill accompanied the Rostov prince to the Golden Horde, which indicates the closeness of the boyar Kirill to the court of the Rostov princes. Boyar Kirill, due to his position, owned a sufficient fortune. In the family, besides Bartholomew, the future Sergius, there were two more children - the eldest Stefan and the younger Peter.

Reverend Kirill was in the service first of the Rostov prince Konstantin II Borisovich, and then of Konstantin III Vasilyevich, whom he, as one of the people closest to them, more than once accompanied to the Golden Horde. St. Cyril owned a fortune sufficient for his position, but due to the simplicity of the morals of that time, living in the countryside, he did not neglect ordinary rural labor.

In contact with

Saints Cyril and Maria, parents of Saint Sergius of Radonezh
(Memory January 31, October 11)

Eternal memory of you, blessed Cyril and Mary, as throughout generations and generations people have learned to achieve salvation through your pious life and faithfulness. Sedalen, voice 1

The wisdom has long been known: “There are two windows facing heaven: the Family and the Church.” Like any real human revelation, and not an aphoristic fiction, this wisdom reveals the meaning of our experiences, hopes and warns of possible distortions.

Using its metaphorical nature and flexibility, it is easy to assume that any distortion in the designs of both the first and second windows leads to tragedy: Paradise is not only inaccessible, but also indistinguishable. Holiness for both cases is the guarantee of not only a clear visual perspective for the observer of Heaven, but a visible route to Heavenly Jerusalem. Pilgrim's Road.

It is also known that in principle there can be no “Christian state”. Only an individual can become Christian - a union of individuals in marriage - a family - and a community - the Church. In such a family (community), the mutual love of spouses, children, all household members, comfort and gifts of God's mercy are miraculously united. The world sees this, and it rarely likes it.

In the history of Russian Orthodoxy best example such a “small Church” is the family of the parents of St. Sergius, Abbot of Radonezh, Saints Cyril and Mary.

Moving along the outline of the earliest hagiographical work dedicated to St. Sergius, the “Life,” compiled, or rather, masterfully written around 1400 by his “disciple Epiphanius the Wise,” we learn that Cyril and Mary were “pleasers of God, truthful before the Lord full and adorned with people and all sorts of virtues”; and also that the praiseworthy couple... knew the Holy Scriptures well.”

That is, they were both literate and educated. The saint’s mother “fasted and prayed diligently, so that the very conception and birth of the child occurred during fasting and prayer.” And “she was virtuous and God-fearing... she consulted with her husband” regarding the “dedication” of this particular, middle son to God.

The family of Bartholomew, Stephen and the younger Peter was “pious” and at the same time completely ordinary, human, without any mysterious vows or mystical revelations. Epiphanius writes: “Having welcomed the birth of the baby, they (the parents) called their relatives and friends, neighbors and indulged in fun, glorifying and thanking God, who had given them such a child.”

What is it, a child, “such”, Epiphanius, perhaps due to the hagiographic genre, anxiously added. One thing is certain: rejoicing over the birth of all children was a familiar and pleasant thing. As well as teaching young people to read and write or doing peasant work (this is discussed in detail in the “Life” of the monk).

On fast days the boy refused mother's milk. Maria not only “complained about this with regret,” but called on Cyril, and she and her husband “examined the baby from all sides and saw that he was not sick and that there were no obvious marks on him.” hidden signs illness."

They usually “look at” when they bathe or swaddle. It's interesting that they did it on their own. The hagiographer does not mention either healers or “grandmothers”. They could do everything. Epiphanius emphasizes: Kirill, although a boyar, did not disdain agricultural work.

Boris Zaitsev begins his essay about the saint (Paris, 1924) cautiously: “Sergius’s childhood in his parents’ house is a fog for us... a certain spirit can be caught from Epiphanius’s messages.”

One can imagine the saint's parents as respectable and fair people, religious to a high degree. It is known that they were “strange-loving.” They accepted all sorts of “pagan pilgrims” and by the second half of their lives they themselves became “wanderers,” that is, migrants, or, as they say now, refugees. What happened?

Boris Zaitsev writes: “Kirill and Maria came under a double blow. On the one hand, the state stung (i.e., it forced Cyril to pay for the trips of the Rostov princes Konstantin II Borisovich and Konstantin III Vasilyevich to the Horde and contribute considerable cash- author), then on the other hand there was a misfortune with the Muscovites Vasily Kocheva and Mina: “The people grumbled, worried, complained. They said... that Moscow was tyrannizing... In his old age, Kirill was ruined and was forced to leave the Rostov region.”

In those same decades, Moscow would betray Saint Michael of Tver and allow Tver to be ravaged. The “gathering of Russian land” was paid for with Russian lives and destinies.

Behind all this “nebula” of Zaitsev and the forced position of Epiphany’s literary deflection in front of the growing power of Moscow and state authoritarianism, in his usually treacherous attitude towards the family, is hidden real story forced exodus of the reverend's parents.

If we reduce to a minimum all the half-spoken hagiographers and Zaitsev’s patriotic maxims (“Moscow has unshakably risen above the specific turmoil”), then the “Radonezh resettlement” of the family is nothing more than flight, abandonment of the homeland for the sake of preserving family freedom and the integrity of the hearth.

The feat, the Christian virtue of Cyril and Mary is not that they were “pious”, “hospital-loving” and knew literacy, but that they saved their children from the scorching breath of that monster that is ready to consider the family a “small Church”, but only as “your cell”.

Christians can be grateful to the parents of the “abbot of Russia” for the fact that, supported by God, they saved the youth Bartholomew for the Church and the country. Their “migration” is reminiscent of the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt from Herod’s hatred.

Epiphanius the Wise was the first to draw a parallel from the life of the saint’s parents to biblical history, namely the mother of the prophet Samuel, Saint Anna. This is recorded in other texts of the Life of St. Sergius and in the service to Saints Cyril and Mary, compiled in 1997: “The married couple ... the mother who imitated the prophet ...”

“We want peace, but we will not give up” is the defining feeling of Christian couples when they are forced to protect their children and their autonomy. It is possible only with mutual respect and agreement. The same applies to the later joint consent of Cyril and Mary, when they decided to take monasticism.

The monastic choice of Saint Sergius's parents is of particular interest. The researchers simply report: “...there was then a mixed monastery in Khotkovo, where Cyril and Maria became monks.” There were, of course, other monasteries, but the Khotkovo monastery of the 14th century in its structure resembles the medieval Celtic monasteries of Ireland.

Firstly, due to the practice of mixed communal communities, and secondly, due to the fact that the names during monastic tonsure, if they were originally Christian, remained unchanged. Until the last days, and the spouses died almost simultaneously, they could see each other, pray for their children, empathize with each other and look to the future without trepidation. Their duty as Christian parents was fulfilled.

Since the 14th century, Cyril and Mary were revered, and pilgrims, fulfilling the behest of St. Sergius, before going to him at the Lavra, visited Khotkovo, where the relics of the holy couple rested in the Intercession Cathedral. In 1981 they were glorified at the Cathedral of Radonezh Saints, and on April 3, 1992, in the year of celebrating the 600th anniversary of the death of St. Sergius, their church-wide glorification took place. Two windows in their house were open towards Paradise.

Archpriest Alexander Shabanov

Saints KIRILL and MARY OF RADONEZH, parents of Saint Sergius of Radonezh (†1337)

The Monk Sergius gave the commandment: “before going to him, pray for the repose of his parents over their coffin.” All those undertaking a pilgrimage trip to the Trinity Lavra make it their duty - in accordance with the will of the Monk - to first visit the Khotkovsky Intercession Monastery and venerate the tombs of his parents. (The reliquary with the relics of the Venerable Schemamonk Cyril and Schemanun Maria of Radonezh and Khotkovo miracle workers is currently in the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Intercession Khotkovo Monastery).

At the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th century, 4 km from Rostov the Great, on the banks of the Ishni River, in the village of Varnitsa, there was an estate of the noble Rostov boyars Cyril and Maria (On the site of the estate of Cyril and Mary near Rostov there is now the Varnitsky Monastery).

Kirill was in the service of the Rostov princes - first with Prince Konstantin II Borisovich, and then with Konstantin III Vasilyevich, whom he, as one of the people closest to them, more than once accompanied to the Golden Horde. St. Cyril owned a fortune sufficient for his position, but due to the simplicity of the morals of that time, living in the countryside, he did not neglect ordinary rural labor.

The couple already had a son, Stephen, when God gave them another son - the future founder of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, St. Sergius (in total, the couple had 3 children - Stefan, Bartholomew (the future Sergius of Radonezh) and Peter). Long before his birth, God's Providence gave a sign of him as a great chosen one of God. According to legend, when his mother, pregnant with him, was in church, the child, to the great amazement of all those present, exclaimed three times in a loud voice in his mother’s womb: at the beginning of the reading of the Gospel, before the singing of the Cherubim and at the moment when the priest exclaimed: “Let us hear, Holy of Holies!” After this, the mother began to especially monitor her spiritual state, remembering that she was carrying a baby in her womb, who was destined to be the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit. Maria observed fasting throughout her pregnancy, without giving herself any concessions.

Righteous Mary and her husband make a vow: if they have a boy, they will bring him to church and give him to God.

May 3, 1314 The righteous parents were visited by great joy: a boy was born. On the 40th day after his birth, the Baby was brought to church to perform the sacrament of baptism on him. Priest Michael named the baby Bartholomew, for on this day (June 11) the memory of the holy Apostle Bartholomew was celebrated. This name in its meaning - “Son of joy (consolation)” was especially comforting for parents. The priest felt that this was a special baby and, overshadowed by the Divine Spirit, predicted: “Rejoice and be glad, for this child will be the chosen vessel of God, the abode and servant of the Holy Trinity.”

From the first days of his life, baby Bartholomew surprised everyone with his fasting: on Wednesdays and Fridays he ate nothing at all, and on other days he refused his mother’s milk if Mary ate meat. Abstained by fasting in the womb, the baby, even at birth, seemed to require fasting from the mother. And she began to observe fasting more strictly: she completely abandoned meat food, and the baby, except for Wednesdays and Fridays, always fed on her milk after that.

When Bartholomew was 7 years old, his parents sent him to learn to read and write so that he could read and understand the Word of God. His two brothers also studied with him: the elder Stefan and the younger Peter. The brothers studied successfully, but Bartholomew was far behind them. The teacher punished him, his comrades reproached him and even laughed at him, his parents persuaded him; and he himself strained all the efforts of his childish mind, spent his nights over a book, and often, hiding from human gaze, somewhere in solitude, he wept bitterly about his inability, fervently and earnestly praying to the Lord God: “Give me, Lord, to understand this letter; teach me. Lord, enlighten and enlighten me!” But he was still not given a diploma. Until one day, sent by his father to the field to fetch horses, 13-year-old Bartholomew met an elder schema-monk. He asked him to come to his parents’ house; at dinner, the elder predicted to Cyril and Mary that “the boy will be great before God and people for his virtuous life.” Having blessed them, the schema-monk left. From then on, Bartholomew’s diploma, to his parents’ joy, began to come easily.

When Bartholomew turned 15 years old (around 1328), the Rostov Principality came under the rule of the Moscow Grand Duke Ivan Kalita. One of the Moscow boyars was appointed governor of Rostov, who oppressed and robbed the inhabitants. Many of the Rostovites began to leave the city. Among them was boyar Kirill. In addition to the oppression of the Moscow governors, he also went bankrupt, and did not want to stay where he once lived in wealth and honor. For residence he chose the small town of Radonezh in the Moscow lands (12 km from the Trinity Lavra, towards Moscow, there is the village of Gorodishche or Gorodok, which in ancient times bore the name Radonezh).

According to the custom of that time, Cyril was supposed to receive an estate, but due to his old age he could no longer serve the Moscow prince, and this responsibility was assumed by his eldest son Stefan, who by that time was already married. The youngest of the sons of Cyril and Mary, Peter, also married, but Bartholomew continued his exploits in Radonezh. When he was about twenty years old, he asked his parents for a blessing to become a monk. The parents did not object, but asked to wait only until their death: with their departure they would have lost their last support, since the two older brothers were already married and lived separately. The blessed son obeyed and did everything to appease the old age of his parents, who did not force him to marry.

At that time, the custom of accepting monasticism in old age was widespread in Rus'. This is what simple people, princes and boyars did. According to this pious custom, Cyril and Maria, at the end of their lives, also took first monastic tonsure, and then the schema in the Khotkovsky Intercession Monastery, which was located 3 km from Radonezh and at that time was both male and female. Almost at the same time, a sad change occurred in the life of their eldest son Stefan: his wife died, leaving two sons. Having buried his wife in the Khotkovo Monastery, Stefan did not want to return to the world. Entrusting his children to his younger brother Peter, he became a monk here in Khotkovo.

In 1337 Schemamonk Kirill and schemanun Maria departed to the Lord. Before their blessed death, they blessed Bartholomew for his monastic feat.

The children buried them under the shadow of the Intercession Monastery, which from that time became the last shelter and tomb of the Sergius family.

The reliquary with the relics of the Venerable Schemamonk Cyril and Schemanun Maria of Radonezh and Khotkovo Wonderworkers is currently in the St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Intercession Khotkovo Monastery

Already being an abbot, Venerable Sergius often walked from the monastery he founded (now - Trinity-Sergius Lavra) to the graves of parents and, according to legend, He bequeathed those coming to him to first pray for his parents in Khotkovo. And so it happened: before going to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, pilgrims came to the Intercession Monastery in Khotkovo, wanting to “bow at the grave of his righteous parents in order to appear to the blessed son from his dear grave as if with parting words from the righteous parents themselves.”

Until the revolution of 1917, the relics of the saints rested under the floor of the Intercession Cathedral in the Khotkovsky Monastery. And after the liquidation of the monastery, the workers who were rebuilding it into warehouses and workshops... allowed the believers to take the relics and, moreover, they themselves helped open the floors of the temple and take out the remains. The relics were placed in a crypt on the territory of the monastery, and no signs or inscriptions were placed on the crypt - only the direct participants in these events remembered the place...

The church-wide glorification of Cyril and Mary as saints took place in 1992, exactly 600 years after the repose of their “son of joy,” St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Today their relics have been returned to the Khotkovsky Monastery. The memory is celebrated one day after the memory of their famous son - October 11, January 31 and on the day of the Council of Radonezh Saints - July 19, the day after the commemoration of the discovery of the relics of St. Sergius, abbot of Radonezh.

The chronicle of the Khotkovo Intercession Monastery provides evidence of how a prayerful appeal to St. Sergius and his parents saved people from serious illnesses. Their intercession was especially evident during national disasters - the terrible pestilence of 1770-1771, cholera epidemics in 1848 and 1871. Thousands of people flocked to Khotkovo. At the tomb of the saint’s parents, the Psalter and prayer to the saints Schemamonk Cyril and Schemanun Maria were read vigilantly. At the same time, they were already locally revered in the monastery. And every time many people were saved from destructive diseases.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

for the Temple Life-Giving Trinity on Vorobyovy Gory

Prayer to Saints Cyril and Mary
O servants of God, St. Cyril and Mary!Even though you have ended your natural temporary life in body, you do not depart from us in spirit; you guide us to Christ God, instructing us to walk according to the commandments of the Lord and to bear our cross and follow our Master. You, reverend ones, together with our reverend and God-bearing father Sergius, your beloved son, have boldness towards Christ our God and towards His Holy Mother of God. Be prayer books and intercessors for us, unworthy, living in your holy monastery, and you are its rulers. Be the helpers and intercessors of this squad gathered by God, so that those who live in this place and come with faith, preserve by your prayers, remain unharmed from demons and from evil people, glorifying the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever centuries. Amen.

Troparion, tone 3
Participation in the beatitudes of Christ, honest marriage and care for children of good character,righteous Cyril and Mary, the fruit of piety, St. Sergius revealed to us,with him, fervently pray to the Lord to send us a spirit of love and humility,May we glorify the Trinity of the Consubstantial One in peace and unanimity.

Kontakion, tone 4
Today, having come together, let us praise the blessed duo of the blessed Cyril and the good-natured Mary,You pray together with your beloved son, the Venerable Sergius, to the One in Holy Trinity God,to establish our fatherland in orthodoxy, to protect our homes in peace, to deliver young people from misfortunes and temptations,strengthen old age and save our souls.

Greatness
We bless you, we bless you, Reverend Cyril and Mary and Reverend Our Father Sergius,and we honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and interlocutor of Angels.

The Life of Saints Cyril and Mary, Wonderworkers of Radonezh and Khotkovo,

parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh

2017 marked the 25th anniversary of the glorification and 680th anniversary of the repose of St. Cyril and Mary

Icon of Saints Cyril and Mary with Life

Reverends Cyril and Maria belonged to the noble boyar family. According to ancient Rostov legend, boyar Kirill came from the ancient Simonovich family, the ancestor of which was one of the descendants of the Varangian prince African - Simon (Shimon). Simon's descendants moved to the northeast of Russia in the retinue of Prince Yuri Vladimirovich Dolgoruky.

At the beginning of the 14th century, the estate of St. Cyril and Maria was located near Rostov the Great in the village of Varnitsa. In 1427, Rostov Archimandrite Ephraim founded Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky here monastery. Thus, our pious ancestors immortalized in the memory of future generations the homeland of the great ascetic of the Russian land - St. Sergius of Radonezh.

Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery

Well of Saints Cyril and Mary

in the Trinity-Sergius Varnitsky Monastery

Boyar Kirill was in the service of the Rostov appanage princes, whom he, as one of the people closest to them, more than once accompanied to the Golden Horde. These were dangerous journeys, from which many princes and boyars did not return, dying for their fatherly faith. Reverend Mary and the children said goodbye to him every time, as if before death.

"Saint Cyril was the adviser to the prince"

Kirill and Maria lived simply, their home life was close to that of a peasant and highest degree pious. Good parents raised their children in humility, chastity and love, understanding that otherwise it was impossible to acquire the Kingdom of Heaven. The lives of the Saints are especially decorated with evidence of their mercy and love of hospitable people, which was crowned by a visit to their home by an Angel. And the children were worthy of their parents. The family of Saints Kirill and Mary is special in Russian Orthodox Church: The Lord glorified five of its members as saints.

"Saints Cyril and Mary live humbly" "Saints, I earnestly pray to God every day"

"Saints of almsgiving and hospitable love"

Bartholomew (the future Great Sergius) was the second son of Cyril and Mary after Stephen. Before his birth (May 3/16, 1314), a miracle occurred indicating that he would be great before God and become a true servant of the Life-Giving Trinity. When his mother stood in the temple on Divine Liturgy, the baby in the womb cried out three times in a loud voice. The first time before the reading of the Gospel, the second time when they began to sing the Cherubic Hymn, and the third time when the priest exclaimed: “Holy to holies!” Saints Cyril and Maria humbly accepted this sign of God's Providence and with heartfelt gratitude made a vow to dedicate their child to the Lord. And the Lord accepted him and nurtured him as His sacred vessel. Already from infancy, the Monk Sergius abstained from food on Wednesday and Friday and did not touch his mother’s breast at all if the mother ate meat. That's why Reverend Mary She completely abandoned meat food, understanding the Divine providence revealed to her, and in accordance with this she began the task of raising her child. As the child grew up, the signs of God's chosenness began to appear even more clearly in him: he loved prayer, spiritual books, work, avoided pranks, honored his parents and had great obedience and humility, which is the root of all virtues.

“When the boy was baptized, they heard a prophecy about him.” "Holy parents rejoice over their holy child"

In his old age, boyar Kirill had to leave the Rostov land and move to Radonezh. In all their ways the Reverends kept peace of mind and trust in God. Their family hearth was like a monastic monastery, where everything served to strengthen their piety. Due to his old age, boyar Kirill could no longer serve, and this responsibility was taken over by his eldest son Stefan, who by that time had married. The youngest son Peter also chose married life, and Bartholomew wanted to take monastic vows. Righteous Cyril and Mary were zealous admirers of monasticism, but they asked Bartholomew to wait to fulfill his intention and put their old age to rest. With great love, he agreed to remain with them, to torment himself for the time being with unfulfilled desires and maintain obedience to his parents, and through this inherit their blessing. This is how Divine wisdom is revealed: “Honor your father and your mother, that good may come to you, and that you may live long on earth” (Exodus 20:12).

"Holy youth ask for a parental blessing

for monastic life"

At the end of their lives, the Monks Kirill and Maria wished to take monasticism and, abandoning all earthly cares, went to live in the Khotkov Monastery in order to forever become the guardians and patrons of this land. Here they spent the last days of their lives in unceasing prayer and contemplation of God, taking on the schema - the great angelic image.

"Saints Cyril and Mary received tonsure" "The saints passed away their days in a monastery similar to Khotkovo"

"The Repose of Saints Cyril and Mary"

A little earlier (about 1334), Bartholomew's widowed brother Stefan became a monk. Having buried his wife in the Pokrovsky Monastery on Khotkovo, he no longer wanted to return to the world and, together with his brother, served the schema-monks-parents until their blessed death, which followed in 1337. Before their death, Saints Cyril and Mary blessed Bartholomew for his monastic feat with the icons of the Mother of God “Hodegetria” and Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. For forty days the brothers remained in the monastery, praying for the repose of their parents and performing acts of mercy in their memory.

The Russian people have always gratefully honored this holy family - those who prayed for our Fatherland. The Great Sergius preserved and increased the main treasure - immortal Orthodoxy - at a time when the people's strength was running out, and saved the people's soul from death. Having reconciled the Russian princes, he contributed to their unification under the banner of the blessed Prince Dimitri Donskoy. And the Lord showed mercy, granting the victory prayed for by St. Sergius to the Russian army, and freed Rus' from a heavy burden Tatar yoke, forgiving her the sin of internecine bloodshed.

The time has come for the revival of Russia. Since then, the grateful descendants of the parents of the Hegumen of the Russian Land have never forgotten. The memory of Saints Cyril and Mary was celebrated in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and in the Khotkovo Monastery on September 28/October 11 and January 18/31. At the relics of the Saints in the Intercession Cathedral, the Inexhaustible Psalter was read and requiem services were served. The canonization of the saints in 1992 worthily crowned six centuries of veneration of the holy parents, who gave the world an example of holiness, Christian family structure and pious monasticism.

(it depicts St. Sergius of Radonezh and his relatives - St. Cyril and Maria,

Saint Stephen and Peter - their sons - with their wives, Saint Theodore of Rostov - son of Stefan)

Venerable Kirill and Mary and Venerable Father Sergius, pray to God for us

Prayer to Saints Cyril and Mary

Troparion, tone 3

Participation in the beatitudes of Christ, honest marriage and care for children of good character,

righteous Cyril and Mary, the fruit of piety, St. Sergius revealed to us,

with him, fervently pray to the Lord to send us a spirit of love and humility,

may we glorify the Trinity of the Consubstantial One in peace and unanimity

Kontakion, tone 4

Today, having come together, let us praise the blessed duo Blessed Kirill and the good-tempered Mary,

You pray together with your beloved son, St. Sergius, to the One God in the Holy Trinity,

to establish our fatherland in orthodoxy, to protect our homes in peace, to deliver young people from misfortunes and temptations,

strengthen old age and save our souls

Greatness

We bless you, we bless you, Reverend Cyril and Mary and Reverend Our Father Sergius,

and we honor your holy memory, mentor of monks and interlocutor of Angels