John big cap. Blessed John the Moscow Wonderworker. Another Kontakion to Blessed John, Fool for Christ's Sake, Moscow Wonderworker

(mid-16th century (?), Vologda - 07/3/1589, Moscow), blessed fool for Christ's sake (memorial on July 3, on the 3rd Sunday of Pentecost - in the Cathedral of Vologda Saints, on May 23 - in the Rostov Cathedral -Yaroslavl Saints, on the Sunday before August 26 - in the Cathedral of Moscow Saints), Moscow, Big Kolpak. The main source of information about I. is his Life, consisting of 3 independent parts in time of appearance: an event-less biography of the saint, a detailed burial story and a description of miracles (from 18 to 20 miracles, of which one was intravital). Prot. I. I. Kuznetsov, who studied the handwritten tradition of the Life of I., not without reason, assumed that initially a legend about I.’s burial was compiled, and later a biography. According to the hypothesis of V. O. Klyuchevsky, texts about the miracles of the blessed one for 1589-1590. were included in the memorial book of the Moscow Intercession Cathedral on the Moat, “in which they were recorded shortly after the death of John in 1589/90, apparently by the then archpriest of the cathedral, Dimitri” (Klyuchevsky. Old Russian Lives. P. 330). Perhaps, Rev. Demetrius was also the author of the legend about the burial of the saint.

Prot. Kuznetsov identified 4 groups of lists of the Life. The 1st group includes a text that includes a biography and a legend about I.’s burial without a story about posthumous miracles: State Historical Museum. Syn. No. 850. L. 289-292 volumes, 815-818 volumes, XVII century. At the end of this version of the Life there is a note: “Copied and composed in the reigning city of Moscow itself in the summer of 7155 (1647) by the hand of a sinful simple monk, not a Hermonk” (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 417). Klyuchevsky believed that this type of Life was compiled on the basis of the stories of Ivan’s contemporaries. The 2nd group includes a list from the same manuscript of the State Historical Museum. Syn. No. 850. L. 928-933, which contains a narrative about the repose, burial and posthumous miracles of I. Lists of the 3rd group are a brief type of biography of the blessed one, in which there is no information about the life of the saint in Rostov: RGADA. F. 181. Op. 1. No. 1067, XVII century; State Historical Museum. Uvar. No. 1216 (424) (128), XVIII century; RNB. KazDA. No. 654 (888), XVIII century; State Historical Museum. Music No. 29 (28297), beginning. XIX century; State Historical Museum. Simon. No. 57, 1834; State Historical Museum. Khlud. No. 245, XIX century. On the RNB list. KazDA. No. 654 (888) on l. 137 there is an entry: “The Intercession on the Moat of the Cathedral by priest Mikhail Grigoriev Smolyaninov in the summer of January 7182 (1674) on the 5th day.” Information about I. is also contained in a number of lists of the Life of St. Irinarch of Rostov, which Kuznetsov classified as the 4th group of hagiographic texts associated with I.: State Historical Museum. Miracle. No. 360, XVII century; RSL. Und. No. 314, XVII century; RSL. Large No. 391, 1710

I. gen. in Vologda, worked in Rostov, Kaluga, and Moscow. In various lists of the Life the blessed one is called the Moscow, Rostov, Yaroslavl, and Vologda miracle worker. There is no information about I.’s date of birth and age at the time of his death. The Life says that I. “was in the years of the pious Tsar and Grand Duke Ivan Vasilyevich of All Russia and his son, the pious Tsar and Grand Duke Feodor Ivanovich of All Russia” (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 414). After leaving his parents’ home, the blessed one worked as a “water bearer” at the Vologda saltworks and even then he exhausted himself with strict fasting, slept on stones, dressed in rags, and devoted his free time from work to prayer. Perhaps his nickname the water-bearer is associated with this period. According to another version, the nickname appeared due to the fact that the saint carried water for people for free.

I. accepted the feat of foolishness in Rostov, where he lived at the Assumption Cathedral, there I. “build yourself a dwelling and set up a cell.” According to the Life of St. Irinarch of Rostov, I. predicted by St. Irinarch was advised by his teaching “throughout the entire universe” to wear chains, and explained his departure to Moscow as follows: “I am going to Moscow to the sovereign of the land to ask that I will have visible demons in Moscow, that hop heads can barely stare at them, and the Holy Trinity will destroy them by its power” (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 481). Later, these words of I. were interpreted as a prediction of the events of the Time of Troubles. St. Irinarch died in 1616 at the age of 69; it is unlikely that his meeting with I. occurred earlier than the 70-80s. XVI century According to the unique testimony of the Life of the Rostov blzh. John the Hairy, the Merciful (according to the list of the Milyutin Chety-Menya), I. lived in Rostov at the same time as the bl. John Vlasaty († September 3, 1580 (?)): “There was a righteous man in Rostov, and the name of John, called the Big Cap, was young, and he did many signs and wonders, and prophesied to many and to Archbishop Euthymius, and came to pass, and departed to the reigning city of Moscow, and performing many miracles, and resting in the Lord at the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat” (GIM. Sin. No. 808. L. 1448, 1646-1654). Archbishop Euthymius occupied the Rostov See in 1583-1585. Sledov., I. in the 1st half. 80s XVI century lived in Rostov and was young then. In I.’s service and in the 1st edition of his Life it is said that the blessed one spent “many years” in Rostov, and in Moscow “he was an interlocutor with the holy and blessed Vasily, the holy fool for Christ’s sake” (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 477-478) . However, St. Basil the Blessed reposed ca. 1557 and could hardly have been I.’s “interlocutor”. Most likely, I. left Rostov no earlier than the middle. 80s XVI century, since, according to the Life, he came to Moscow “for his repose,” shortly before his death. In the Przemysl Buttercup Monastery, a legend has been preserved that I. warned the residents of Kaluga about the fire by shouting: “Iron doors, iron shutters!” Perhaps this legend is inspired by the story of extinguishing a fire in Novgorod by St. Basil the Blessed (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 467).

Blzh. John the Big Cap. Fragment of an icon. 1895 Workshop of O. S. Chirikov (State Historical Museum, Museum "Pokrovsky Cathedral")

In Moscow, I. settled near the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, often spent the night on the streets, walked around half-dressed, had long hair, and covered his head with ashes or poured tar. Under his hair shirt he wore heavy chains with copper crosses, on his hands - iron rings, on his fingers - copper and iron rings, "at the secret ouds" - copper rings. His outerwear was a felted “cap with the other covering of his body together, felted, not sewn,” which is why the saint received the nicknames Big Cap, Great Cap, Great Cap, Big Head. While waiting for the start of the liturgy, I. threw the “cap” on the ground, stood on it and prayed in full view of passers-by, looking at the sun. In later versions of the text of the Life, the “cap” was replaced by an iron cap. The idea that the saint wore an iron cap on his head was reflected in A. S. Pushkin’s tragedy “Boris Godunov.” When creating the image of the holy fool, the poet had in mind first of all I. The Life tells that the blessed one carried a large wooden rosary in his hands and leaned on a heavy iron rod or crutch; twice a week he ate food - rotten bread and water. In the iconographic originals, I.’s appearance is described as follows: “He looks like an old man, his frame is small, it’s hardly enough to know; mostly bald, with a wrinkled face, brown hair, falling back; green retinue, buttons to the floor; in the left hand there is a stick and a large cap, the feet are bare” (Filimonov. Iconographic original. P. 57).

Walking around the city, the saint called people to prayer and repentance, “driving away dark spirits from many people,” and incoherently and in riddles he predicted future disasters. A later legend, reflected in the hagiographic literature of the 19th - early 19th century. XX century, attributes to the blessed one frequent conversations with Bud. Tsar Boris Feodorovich Godunov and the words addressed to Godunov: “Clever head, understand God’s affairs: God waits for a long time and hurts and hits.” However, this news is not found in any edition of the Life of I. or in other early hagiographic sources. The origin of the legend is apparently connected with the rethinking of N. M. Karamzin’s “History of the Russian State” and the tragedy “Boris Godunov” by Pushkin. J. Fletcher in Op. “On the Russian State” reports that during his stay in Moscow (1588-1589), a “naked” holy fool walked around the city “and set everyone against the Godunovs, who are considered the oppressors of the entire state,” without naming the holy fool’s name. If Fletcher wrote about I., then his message about the saint’s nakedness is unique and shows that I. imitated St. St. Basil the Blessed.

According to the Life, on the eve of his death I. came to the Intercession Cathedral and asked Archpriest. Demetrius to find him a burial place near the tomb of St. Basil the Blessed. The abbot allowed I. to choose the place that the saint indicated “with his staff.” Before his repose, the blessed one went across the “Living” (Moskvoretsky) bridge to the “secular bathhouse”, where he had often gone before “not for the sake of bodily pleasure, but for the ultimate sake of mortification of the flesh” (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 415). On the way, I. met a lame man named Gregory and, during a conversation with him, quietly stepped on his sore leg, after which the leg stopped hurting. The blessed one asked the healed man to tell the rector of the Intercession Cathedral about the miracle. In the bathhouse, I. took off his chains, doused himself with water three times, lay down on a bench and asked the people who were there to take his body to the Intercession Cathedral and “not bury it until three days.” In hagiographic sources there are different dates for I.’s death: June 3, June 12, June 13, July 4, July 12, November 13, July 2, 1588, July 2, 1590, July 3, 1590. The Life reports that Patriarch St. was present at I.'s burial. Job and Tsar Theodore Ioannovich (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 416), the funeral service for the saint was conducted by Metropolitan of Kazan. sschmch. Hermogenes (later Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'). At the relics of I., Suzdal resident, son of the boyar E. G. Protopopov, who had suffered from an eye disease for 20 years, was healed; A certain person whose legs hurt also recovered. The people were given “alms and food” from the treasury. One of the editions of the Life reports that I.’s body was transferred from a wooden coffin to a stone one.

During the burial of I., a storm arose, the icons in the temple were scorched, the sacristan of the Ryazan bishop was killed by lightning in the altar, the Pokrovsky deacon. Pimen was carried out into the courtyard barely alive, and he only managed to repent before his death, priest. John from the Kolomna estate of F.N. Romanov (see Filaret, Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus') was lifted by a storm above the church doors and hit the ground, many. people were stunned and lost arms and legs. In the legend about the burial of I., the severe heavenly punishment is explained by the fact that the blessed one was buried earlier than the appointed time (i.e., probably on July 4 or 5), having removed from him “his belt, which was taken in Jerusalem from the Holy Sepulcher” (Kuznetsov 1910. P. 418; this belt is not mentioned in I.’s biography). The story about the miraculous sign during the burial of I. coincides with the story of the Life of the Blessed. John the Hairy, during whose burial a storm broke out and “the burning of churches and temples” occurred. The author of the story about I.’s burial also draws a parallel with the events of the death of the blessed one. Procopy of Ustyug.

Healings immediately began at I.’s grave. On July 20, 1589 (or June 20, 1590), Muscovite Anna Lukyanovna recovered from an eye disease. In the 2nd edition of the Life there is preserved a message about a letter sent in 1590 by Tryphon, abbot. Nicholas Monastery in Oreshka, prot. Intercession Cathedral to Demetrius, in which the abbot. Tryfon reported that after the healing of the son of the boyar B.P. Blagovo (noted in the boyar list 1588/89 as governor in Oreshka) abbot. Tryphon served a memorial service for I. I.’s tomb was highly revered by the residents of Moscow. In the 19th century on the right side at the entrance to the Intercession Cathedral on the wall under glass was placed the Life of I. with a description of 17 miracles: the son of the boyar T. Sungurov-Plokhov and the servant of D. I. Godunov Mikhail Petrovich got rid of the “black illness”, through prayers to I. The deafness of the prince's cook disappeared. V. M. Lobanov-Rostovsky Fedor Semenovich, the Muscovite wife of the money master Ksenia, who had not seen for 7 years, received her sight.

I.'s service was compiled during the reign of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich (until 1598). Service lists are divided into 3 groups. The full text is presented in the lists of the State Historical Museum. Uvar. No. 2007 (634) (488), XVI century; RSL. Large No. 422, XVII century; State Historical Museum. Sunday No. 42 (83), 1714. The 2nd group includes lists in which the service of I. is placed after Great Vespers: NLR. OSRC. No. 574.Q.1, XVIII century. The 3rd group includes lists containing several. Troparions and Kontakion to the Saint: RSL. Piskar. No. 445, 1604; State Historical Museum. Uvar. No. 1216 (424) (128), XVIII century. On July 3, 1589, “the Dormition of the Holy Blessed Ivan, like Christ for the sake of the ugly, Rostov and Moscow new miracle worker” was noted in the Koryazhemsky calendar (RGB. Und. No. 237. L. 219 vol., 1621). In the Monthly Book of Simon (Azaryin), the death of the saint is indicated on July 13, 1589 (RGB. MDA. No. 201. L. 320, mid-50s of the 17th century). In the monthly books there is also a more detailed memory of I.: “On July 3, the repose of the righteous John of Rostov, Christ for the sake of the ugly one, who is in Moscow, at the Trinity on the Moat, in the summer of 7097, a native of Vologda” (GIM. Sin. No. 901. L. 161 -161 vol., end of the 17th century).

I.’s relics were found on June 12 (other dates: June 13, June 17, July 12) 1672. According to the assumption of A.F. Malinovsky, the discovery of the relics occurred during the preparation of the canonization of the blessed one (RGADA. Malinovsky’s papers. Cart. 1. St. . 1); according to another version, the opening of I.’s burial was caused by the relocation of the churches located on Red Square, incl. in honor of the Position of the Robe of the Most Rev. Mother of God, to the Intercession Cathedral (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 488-489). The relics of the saint were placed under cover in the Deposition of Robe Church, which became the side-altar of the Intercession Cathedral (the corner part of the cathedral basement gallery was used for the church; nowadays services are not held in this side-altar). According to the Russian book of 1699, the Deposition of the Robe chapel was the most important in the cathedral after the Pokrovsky and Vasilievsky. The clergy of the Deposition of the Robe chapel included 2 priests, a deacon, a sexton, a sexton, a mallow chapel and a watchman (in most other chapels of the cathedral there were one priest, a sexton and a watchman, or only one priest each). In 1694, the royal family made a contribution to the Robe Chapel - an altar cross with the inscription: “This cross was placed in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos Robe of the Deposition and Trinity on the Moat in the border where the relics of John the Blessed lie.” Afterwards The Deposition of Robe chapel was re-dedicated in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy. Mother of God; according to Rev. Kuznetsova, this happened in the 1st half. XVIII century (Kuznetsov. 1895. P. 42-43). (According to the unconvincing assumption of Priest V.F. Barbarin, a church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary was placed over I.’s tomb already in 1640 - Barbarin. 1894. P. 32.)

On Sept. 1812 The Intercession Cathedral was plundered by the French. troops (at the same time the cap kept at I.’s tomb was lost). The consecration of the restored cathedral took place on October 1. 1813 In the 19th century. I.'s metal tombstone under a gilded carved wooden canopy was located in the chapel in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy. Our Lady to the south to the side, in the corner by the window hung the chains of the blessed one weighing 1 pood 30 pounds, a rosary and a cap. In 1876, the rector of the Intercession Cathedral, Archpriest. Nikolai Nadezhdin and church warden A. Luzin submitted a petition to rename the Nativity chapel into a chapel in the name of I. and St. Philippa, Metropolitan Moscow. The reconsecration in the name of the named saints took place on January 17. 1916 The name of I. was included in the Cathedral of Vologda Saints (1841), in the Cathedrals of Rostov-Yaroslavl and Moscow saints, the celebration of Crimea was established in 1964 and 2001.

Source: Description of Russian saints. No. 189; Fletcher J. About the Russian State, or the Image of the Government of the Russian Tsar. St. Petersburg, 1906. P. 126-127; Kuznetsov I.I., prot. Holy blessed Basil and John, Moscow wonderworkers for Christ's sake. M., 1910. S. 401-494. (ZMIAI; 8).

Lit.: Karamzin. IGR. T. 10. pp. 283-284. Note P. 149; Belyankin L. E. East. notes and information about Pokrovsky and St. St. Basil's Cathedral in the capital city of Moscow. M., 1847. S. 17, 55; Filaret (Gumilevsky). RSv. July. P. 37; SISPRTS. pp. 119-120; Klyuchevsky. Old Russian lives. P. 330; Sergius (Spassky). Monthsword. T. 2. Part 1. P. 199; Barsukov. Sources of hagiography. pp. 246-247; Leonid (Kavelin). Holy Rus'. 1891. P. 138, 139; Barbarin V.F., priest. Life and miracles of St. blessed Vasily and John, Christ for the sake of holy fools, Moscow miracle workers. M., 1894. P. 25-32; Kovalevsky I., priest. Holy blessed Basil and John, holy fools for Christ's sake, Moscow miracle workers. M., 1894. P. 30-34; Kuznetsov I.I., prot. Moscow Pokrovsky and St. Blessed, that on the Moat, Basil's Cathedral: Holy Blessed Basil and John, holy fools for Christ's sake, Moscow wonderworkers, resting in this cathedral; Spassky Gate. Execution place. M., 1895. P. 76-82; aka. “The miracle was wrought by God’s Providence...” // CHOIDR. 1896. Book. 2. Dept. 5. P. 6; PBE. T. 6. Stb. 889-890; Macarius. History of the RC. Book 6. P. 390; Kagan M.D. Life of John, the Moscow Fool, nicknamed the Big Cap // SKKDR. Vol. 3. Part 1. pp. 355-359.

K. Yu. Yerusalimsky

Iconography

Images of I. are much less widespread than the images of his more famous predecessors - Blessed Basil, Maxim and Isidore of Moscow, but they occupy a special place in Russian iconography. holy fools. This is due to the rare individuality of I.’s appearance, which is reproduced by all his images, going back to prototypes created almost immediately after the death of the saint (1589) and reflecting the impressions of his contemporaries. The oldest surviving monuments, dating from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, indicate that the chronological gap between the date of I.’s death and the creation of his first images was minimal or completely absent (statements found in the literature that I.’s icons have been known since mid-17th century, have no basis).

The image of I. can be attributed to a special group, which includes several more images. rus. holy fools John Vlasaty of Rostov, Lavrenty Kaluga, Nikolai Kochanov (partly Blessed Procopius of Ustyug). The distinctive features of the images of these holy fools are not nudity or rags, but clothes that almost completely hide the body of the saint, and individual attributes (an axe, a head of cabbage, pokers), which recall the actions of the blessed one or the specific manner of his behavior described in the Life and remaining in the memory of believers. The spread of iconography, within the framework of which the image of the holy fool, having lost connection with the archetypal image of Andrei the Holy Fool of K-Poland, lost its former symbolic poignancy, acquired concreteness and “everyday” authenticity, can be regarded as a sign of a new stage in the development of the veneration of these saints, which played an important role in Russian religious consciousness of the late Middle Ages (another facet of this process is the spread of images of the young blessed). However, I.’s appearance contrasts not only with the appearance of the Moscow “nagokhodtsev” Vasily and Maxim, known from monuments of the 16th - 1st half. XVII century, but also with the iconography of blessed John Vlasaty of Rostov and Lawrence of Kaluga, which has a more conventional and idealized character. The originality of I.'s iconography is expressed primarily in the type of face and in good-quality clothing and is explained by the not quite usual way of life for a holy fool (cf. the news of labor at the salt pans) and, obviously, the sickness of the saint. This mainly concerns relatively rare single or frontal images of I.; the inclusion of his figure in groups of selected saints did not always make it possible to reproduce all the individual features of the blessed one’s appearance and contributed to its idealization.

The portrait nature of the first images of I. is conveyed in descriptions of his appearance in certain iconographic originals for June 3, July 3, or November 13. (classification of texts was made by Archpriest I.I. Kuznetsov: Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 492-494; see also: Markelov. Saints of Other Rus'. T. 2. P. 122). Apart from the simplest obviously formal or incorrect characteristics (“young, in a single scroll”; “gray haired, brada dole Nikola, duckweed game” - Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 493), which obviously have a relatively later origin, these the descriptions are quite extensive, although they vary in detail. According to one of the most detailed and widespread options, I. is “old-looking, not big, barely know, Russian, bald, with wrinkles, hair curled back from the head, a green scroll (prazelen), buttons to the hem, in his left hand a stick and a cap "(Ibid. P. 492; cf. related texts: Filimonov. Iconographic original. P. 57 (“the cap is large, the feet are bare”)); Bolshakov. Iconographic original. P. 104; IRLI. Peretz. No. 524. L. 168 vol., June 3). Here are listed the features characteristic of many early images of I.: the appearance of a man of indeterminate age, without a beard or gray hair, but at the same time elderly or prematurely aged (“old-looking”); wrinkled face; high open forehead; relatively long hair, curly or wavy, falling down the back; a distinctive robe with numerous fastenings (its color varies); a stick and a cap, which the saint holds with his elbow. In some originals, the uncertainty of I.’s age is emphasized by his likening to the beardless St. Nikita of Novgorod, glorified in mid. 16th century: “Like Nikita of Novgorod, bald, with hair on his forehead, big hair, duckweed half-turned, buttons to the floor, a cap in his hands, a rosary, and a stick, feet [shoes] on his feet” (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 493). In this text, which indirectly indicates that the holy fool was a relatively middle-aged man at the time of his death, important details appear that are not often found in the visual tradition, but are present in the oldest image of I. - in the painting of the Annunciation Cathedral in Solvychegodsk (1600): “feet” and rosary, in one of the originals called “great”. This coincidence allows us to see in the above text one of the most ancient and reliable characteristics of I.’s appearance. Probably, a rare description goes back to it, emphasizing the gray hair of the holy fool and the gray color of his cap: “He has no brass, his hair is on his head, his cassock is white and black, there are rosaries in his hand.” Yes, the cap is gray under the bosom" (Ibid. P. 493). The further development of I.'s iconography was expressed in a certain standardization of his features and in convergence with the appearance of young saints (probably due to evidence of the absence of a beard); in the originals while preserving etc. important features and attributes appeared indications of I.’s youth: “... young, bald, long hair, thick on one shoulder, wild duckweed, a stick in his hands and a large rosary, a cap over (correctly: under. - Author) his bosom is large very well, there are sandals on his feet, that is, steps” (close variants are known, according to Crimea I. “his hair curled up to his shoulders,” he holds a rosary in his right hand, and there are no shoes on his feet). This iconographic version appeared no later than the beginning. XVII century, its spread may have been facilitated by the data contained in the Milyutin Chetyih-Menaia, according to the Crimean I. “be... a young man” who lived in Rostov “in the days” of the blzh. John Vlasaty († 1580) and the “prophesying” Archbishop of Rostov. Euthymius (1583-1585) (Ibid. P. 411; Kagan M.D. Life of John, the Moscow Fool, nicknamed the Big Cap // SKKDR. 1992. Issue 3. Part 1. P. 358); the indication of I.’s youth obviously refers to Ch. arr. by the time of the life of the bl. John the Hairy, and not the reign of the archbishop. Euphemia.

In later works, I. usually has the appearance of an elderly beardless man with short gray hair (depictions of long-haired young men are known); Instances of him being depicted without shoes are becoming more frequent, bringing I. closer to others. holy fools. In the “Guide...” by V.D. Fartusov, I.’s appearance is not described, since the compiler assigned the nickname of the Moscow holy fool to his Rostov contemporary Blzh. John Vlasaty (Fartusov. Guide to the writing of icons. P. 73). Despite the differences in the iconography of these saints (Blessed John the Hairy is depicted with a large beard and thick hair, which flows down to his shoulders in several large strands), their appearance has a number of similar features (long hair, clothing in the form of a long shirt with fasteners, “ feet", staff). These coincidences are hardly accidental, given that both saints not only belonged to the rank of holy fools and bore the same name, but were also contemporaries and lived in the same city for a long time; it is possible that the iconography of the bl. Ioann Vlasaty, known from relatively late monuments (not earlier than the mid-17th century), was influenced by Ivan’s images (on the relationship between the veneration of these saints, see also Ioann Vlasaty; Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 466; Ivanov. 2005. P. 259 -260).

A comparison of these iconographic originals and surviving images with texts dedicated to I. leads to the conclusion about a certain independence of the iconographic tradition from the Life of the saint. Thus, the rosary, with which I. can be depicted, is mentioned in the Life: “... and to this end he commanded that the numbers (trees) should be very great, you carry them in your hands and for them you send up your prayer to God...” (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 414, 417, 422), however, there is no information about the blessed one’s shoes, about the cut of his clothes (“scrolls” with numerous fasteners) and about the almost constant attribute - the stick or “rod”. The last motif could have been borrowed from the iconography of other holy fools (cf. the staff of Andrei the Holy Fool (PE. 2001. T. 2. P. 392) and 3 pokers of Blessed Procopius of Ustyug); at the same time, a “rod” and certain “irons” carried in the hand appear in Ikos I. (“in the hand of iron there are great heavy burdens”; “...decree with your rod into the ground where you should bury your coffin with your honest body..."; Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 437, 483), which can be explained by the influence not only of images, but also of the real appearance of the holy fool. Such a frequently encountered sign of I.’s iconography as the proportions of his figure with a heavy, plump torso and a large head does not depend on the texts. On the contrary, the iconographic tradition does not reflect the data about I.’s chains, which were described in detail in the Life, mentioned in the service of the saint and preserved after his death as “multi-healing” relics (Ibid. pp. 414, 417, 420, 422, 430 -432, 434-437, 442). Meanwhile, according to certain editions of the Life and service, I. not only wore chains on his body and copper rings on the “secret ouds,” but also had “copper rings and rings on his fingers” - monuments that include similar details, also unknown.

The most important and at the same time mysterious iconographic attribute of I. is the cap, from which the saint received his nickname. According to the Life, this is “a robe connected ... on the head, which was made quickly from the head to the foot” (cf. ikos: “from the neck to the knee, reaching”); according to another version of the text - “they say in common parlance that the cap with the other covering of its body together is dumped, not a seam.” In one of the editions of the Life (according to Kuznetsov, later) there is a mention of a “great and heavy cap”, which the saint “wears on top of his head ...” (Ibid. pp. 414, 422, 437), i.e. ., obviously, some kind of iron cap, which was considered an attribute of a saint in the 19th century. Kuznetsov believed that the cap was a part of I.’s attire; he threw the cap behind his back and “for ease of movement... grabbed it under his left arm.” Afterwards the cap turned into “great hair”, which “curled back from the head” or “grew thick on one shoulder”, and they began to depict it “under the bosom” of the saint (Ibid. pp. 479, 494; Kagan M.D. Life John, the Holy Fool of Moscow, p. 356). According to S.A. Ivanov, I. received the nickname Big Cap “because of his huge matted hair” (Ivanov. 2005. P. 260). However, some images close to the time of the saint’s life (primarily the fresco of the Solvychegodsk Annunciation Cathedral) allow one to think that both the “hair is great” and the cap “under the bosom” are completely different attributes of I., which existed in reality and were originally elements his iconography. According to some hymns from I.’s service, he “and on his head wore iron in his hair” (troparion of the 1st song of the canon; Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 434, etc.), which suggests the presence of long (maybe matted) hair and partly explains the specifics of his hairstyle. At an early stage, the cap could indeed be perceived as a hood falling back, the end of which the saint pressed to the body. But over time, it began to be considered an independent object, not matching in color with the clothes of the holy fool and having a relatively regular shape of a shell or cone-shaped vessel, which evokes associations with the hagiographic story about I.’s unpaid labors in the “salt-making places”, with his 2nd nickname - the Water-Bearer (obviously connected with these works), as well as with the story of one of the editions of the Life of the saint’s deathbed ablution in the bathhouse: I., “took the water-bearer of water and doused himself three times and... lay down a little... and so died” (Ibid. pp. 414, 422-423, 476). However, even in this form, the image of the cap, like the unusual attributes of other holy fools, clearly indicated the special nature of Ivan’s holiness. The visual identification of this object, together with data about the “glands” that I. wore in his hair, obviously led to the formation of ideas about his “heavy” iron headdress.

There is no information about the first images of I., located next to his grave at the Trinity Chapel of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat. Although there was no chapel over the burial for a long time, it is likely that here, under the east. gallery of the Intercession Cathedral, a tomb tent was built where such works could be located (a similar structure before the construction of the chapel existed over the tomb of St. Basil the Blessed). Their early appearance is evidenced not only by preserved images from the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, but also the service of I., which, judging by the numerous prayers for “royal childbearing,” was compiled during the reign of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich (Ibid. p. 469 ), as well as I.’s miracles (including the “terrible” sign on the day of his burial), which attracted believers to him. A gravestone image of a saint that existed in the beginning. 20th century, like the tombstone itself (the shrine), was completed after 1812 (Ibid. p. 491); There is information about the cover with the text of I.’s troparion, but it is unclear when it was created and whether there was an image of the holy fool on this cover (Ibid. P. 405). In 1672, the relics of I. were discovered; according to Kuznetsov’s assumption, this happened during the construction of the chapel of the Position of the Robe of the Mother of God over his grave (Ibid. p. 489), where the altar of the church of the same name was moved from Red Square, although the construction of new chapels of the Intercession Cathedral, replacing the demolished churches “on the moat” belong to several later - 1678-1683. ( Batalov, Uspenskaya. 2004. pp. 41-46). The choice of dedicating the tombstone chapel (later called the chapel of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary; in 1916 it was reconsecrated in the name of I.) was determined by the desire to preserve the altar of the dismantled church, but was also related to the veneration of I., since the day of his memory (July 3) is nearby Happy Feast of the Placing of the Robe (July 2). Judging by the stylistic features and iconography, the creation of a rare single image of I. was associated with these events, which is known from the drawing included in the Siysky icon-painting original (Pokrovsky N.V. Siysky icon-painting original. St. Petersburg, 1895-1898. Vol. 1-4. pp. 113-115. Fig. 27. (PDP; Issue 106, 113, 122, 126)). I. is represented in prayer to the Mother of God and Child, with all the characteristic attributes of her iconography (robe, “feet,” cap and stick); his head is expressive with a high forehead and bald spot and short wavy hair. Next to I. there is a conventional image of a temple, in which the tomb of a saint with a tombstone image (a frontal reclining figure with crossed arms holding a cap) is visible; Chains or rosaries hang over the tombstone. These details allow us not only to connect the creation of the original drawing with the events of the 70s. XVII century, but also to assume that it was intended for the Deposition of the Robe chapel of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat. Perhaps it was I. who was represented on the icon from the palace property, which was repaired by the stern icon painter Ivan Filatiev in 1661 (Kochetkov. Dictionary. 2009. P. 724): it was the image of “John, Christ for the sake of the holy fool of Rostov”, in which -Rum is more correct to see not blzh. John the Hairy, and the more famous Moscow blessed, who was also called Rostov.

The oldest surviving image of I. is part of the painting of the Annunciation Cathedral in Solvychegodsk, which was executed in 1600 by Moscow icon painters commissioned by N. G. Stroganov. This is a frontal image placed on the slope of one of the windows of the aisle ap. John the Evangelist in the deacon of the cathedral (a gray-haired holy fool, apparently Andrei the Holy Fool, is symmetrically represented). I. looks middle-aged, he has a round head, a face covered with wrinkles, a high forehead, curly brown hair that hangs down to his shoulders. A saint in a long ocher robe with a turn-down collar (a similar collar is also found in other images); the same color “feet” on his legs and an irregularly shaped cap, which he holds with his left hand. In the same hand the saint holds a massive rosary and a stick. One of the most remarkable features of the image is the interpretation of the clasps of I.’s “retinue” - massive, black, more similar to the elements of the chains that the blessed one actually wore. The choice of place for the figure of I. in the altar part of the temple, in contrast to the location of the images of the Ustyug blessed Procopius and John on one of the pillars in the naos, reflects the difference in the veneration of saints, but in general the appearance of the image of I. in the Annunciation Cathedral testifies to the Stroganovs’ interest in the new capital miracle worker . This is explained several times. reasons: the Stroganovs’ attention to the veneration of holy fools (as evidenced by a number of monuments), the perception of I., who was born in Vologda and lived for some time in Rostov, not only as the newest Moscow miracle worker and “successor” of St. Basil the Blessed, but also as Rostov (Solvychegodsk was part of the Rostov diocese) and the north. the saint, perhaps by some miracles (it is known that in the year of I.’s death, at his tomb, “God forgave... Thomas Ankindinov’s son, he did not see his eyes for six months, and now he sees and lives on Pokrovka in the Onikeev yard of Stroganov”; Kuznetsov. 1910. With 419), as well as the “works” that he performed before coming to Rostov: it is possible that the saltworks where I. worked were located in Totma or Solvychegodsk. The inclusion of the figure of I. in the painting of the Annunciation Cathedral is comparable to the inclusion of the troparion and kontakion for him in the liturgical collection, which N. G. Stroganov put into the same church in 1604 (RGB. Piskar. No. 445; Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 474-475).

Several other things are connected with the Stroganovs’ order. early images of I., included in various versions of compositions with selected saints. I. is presented on folding panels, in the middle - the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God surrounded by holidays, on the folding panels there are depictions of praying saints according to the ranks of holiness (it should be noted that the image of I. is not present in all works of this kind; in particular, it is not depicted on the folding letter Procopius Chirin of the early 17th century from the State Russian Museum). On the folding of 1603, enclosed by N. G. Stroganov in the c. Praises to the Mother of God of Orla-town - the center of the Perm possessions of the Stroganovs (PGHG), I. is shown in the 1st row, after blessed Maxim and Vasily of Moscow, immediately after Isidore of Rostov, which indicates his perception as a Rostov saint; on the folded letter of Procopius Chirin, beginning. XVII century (TG; Rybakov. 1995. Cat. 241) - in the top row, above Maxim and Vasily; on the fold are letters from Nikifor Savin Istomin (?) from the Rakhmanov collection (Old Believer Intercession Cathedral at the Rogozhskoye cemetery in Moscow) - also in the top row, behind the Moscow holy fools and rights. Jacob Borovichsky (probably depicted together due to the relative similarity in the absence of a beard). Simultaneously with these works, compositions appeared in which I. appears as one of the capital’s saints. This is the famous fold with the image of the Mother of God “Prayer” and the crouching Moscow miracle workers, written in the beginning. XVII century commissioned by M. Ya. Stroganov by Istoma Savin and distinguished by an expanded selection of images - Moscow saints and holy fools (Tretyakov Gallery; Antonova, Mnyova. Catalog. T. 2. Cat. 786). I. is presented on the middle door together with Metropolitans Peter, Photius, Macarius and Blessed. Maxim (St. Basil is depicted on the 3rd panel). The saint stands out due to his pose (his forehead almost touches the ground), but his most important attributes are not visible or shown, and his appearance is standardized (I. looks like a young man with dark brown hair). The neutrality of this image anticipates the further idealization of I.’s iconography, the initial stage of which was also reflected in his images on the folding icons of the Mother of God “Vladimir”, which are much inferior in expressiveness to the fresco of the Solvychegodsk Cathedral.

The icons painted by order of the Stroganovs show that already in the first decades of the existence of the veneration of I., his image tended to be united with the images of Moscow saints, and especially the Moscow holy fools, which was facilitated not only by belonging to the same hierarchy of saints, but also by the territorial proximity of the burials of blessed Maxim , Vasily and I. One of the most common variants of such a combination is represented by the icons of blessed Vasily and I., the creation of which was associated with their veneration in the Moscow Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat, as well as with the fact that in the Life of I. and the service to him ( Kuznetsov, 1910, pp. 415, 431, 440), he is called Vasily’s “interlocutor” (obviously in the spiritual sense). Basil was often depicted in pairs with other saints (including Blessed Maxim). Meanwhile, for I., as for a less revered saint, this combination was the main one.

Icons of two holy fools could have appeared at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, as indicated by the specificity of I.’s images in the earliest works. Two Pyadnik images date back to this period - from the collection of gr. A. S. Uvarov (GIM) and from the collection of G. M. Pryanishnikov in Gorodets (beginning of the 17th century, NGHM). Icon from the collection of A. S. Uvarov in the beginning. XX century was considered a “Mstera fake”, skillfully imitating an ancient image (Catalog of the collection of antiquities of Count Uvarov. M., 1907. Department 4-6. No. 240. P. 145; Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 383, 492); it is more likely that this is an ancient work with additions and losses. A better-preserved icon from the Nizhny Novgorod Museum suggests that similar images appeared soon after I.’s death and almost simultaneously with the appearance of paired images of blessed Vasily and Maxim of Moscow. The mentioned works are iconographically identical to each other: the saints are represented in prayer to the Holy Trinity in the heavenly segment placed on the upper field (a detail that may have been reminiscent of the Trinity chapel of the Intercession Cathedral, on the sides of which the burials of these holy fools are located); I. is dressed in a “scroll” with loop fasteners, from under the cut a white robe of a similar type is visible, shod with “feet”, holding a “staff” and an irregularly shaped cap. The saint's face is puffy, with a heavy chin and high forehead, his hair hangs down his back in a large wave; his figure is emphatically heavy (a fundamental difference between such compositions, built on the contrast of two figures, from the joint images of Vasily and Maxim, developing the same image of an emaciated holy fool-“nago-walker”). Similar icons were created later: cf. image of Vasily and I. 2nd half. XVII century from the collection of N. S. Panitkov (Icons from private collections: Russian icon painting of the 14th - early 20th centuries: Cat. exhibition / Edited by: N. I. Komashko. M., 2004. Cat. 109) , where the saints are also represented in prayer to the Holy Trinity, and a 19th century icon. (or the 17th century with significant renovations, State Historical Museum, Museum of the Intercession Cathedral), where they stand before Christ Emmanuel; Probably, certain drawings with the figure of I. in prayer also go back to the double images of both blessed ones (Markelov. Saints of Ancient Rus'. T. 1. pp. 282-283). These monuments demonstrate a departure from the early tradition: I. looks more and more like a young man, and his cap decreases in size and takes on the correct shape (at the same time, the icon from Panitkov’s collection retains the image of a rosary, known from some early monuments). Apparently, in the 17th century. icons of the temple holiday of the Intercession Cathedral were also created with the figures of blessed Vasily and I. in the margins (such an image was in the collection of N. M. Postnikov and dated back to the 16th century - Catalog of Christian antiquities collected by the Moscow merchant N. M. Postnikov. M., 1888. P. 19, No. 365; Kuznetsov. 1910. pp. 382, ​​492).

Compositions with figures of 3 Moscow holy fools appeared already in the early 17th century; as a rule, the blessed are depicted together with other capital saints (an image from the State Russian Museum with the figures of I., Maxim (in the center) and Vasily is known, but it is unclear whether it reproduces the icon of these saints or combines the images of individual images; Markelov. Saints of Ancient Rus' 1. pp. 360-361). This is the icon “Our Lady Prayer for the People” from the 1st third of the 17th century. (State Tretyakov Gallery, P. D. Korin Apartment Museum), where the figures of holy fools are included in a large group of upcoming and falling saints (both ecumenical and Russian). There are known works similar in concept, in which images of Moscow saints dominate, and a group of holy fools occupies a prominent place. An early example of its identification is a 3-part icon of the 1st third of the 17th century. from the collection of G. A. Pokrovsky (CMiAR), belonging to the “Stroganov” tradition. In its lower register there are frontal figures of Moscow miracle workers (Metropolitans Peter, Alexy and Jonah, Prince Mikhail of Chernigov and Boyar Theodore) with certain other characters; Moscow holy fools are presented frontally, I. is depicted from tradition. attributes, an unusual interpretation of the hair, which resembles a hood. At the top of the icon are the compositions “Position of the Robe of the Mother of God” (according to the later inscription, “The Presentation of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God”) and “Protection of the Most Holy. Mother of God" - scenes that may be associated with the idea of ​​​​the patronage of the Mother of God to Moscow, but at the same time they remind of the dedication of the Intercession Cathedral on the Moat and that the day of memory of I. (July 3) is next to the holiday of the Placing of the Robe (July 2 ).

The associations between the image of the Mother of God, the patroness of the capital, and the veneration of the Moscow miracle workers, which determine the design of the icon from the Pokrovsky collection, are also embodied in monuments associated with the veneration of the Vladimir icon. This is the miraculous Vladimir-Oranskaya icon of the Mother of God, painted in 1629 by the archpriest of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral Kondrat Ilyin and the icon painter Grigory Cherny, commissioned by the Nizhny Novgorod nobleman P. A. Glyadkov (NGHM?; see: PE. 2005. T. 9. P. 34-35). On the lower field of the icon there are 3 Moscow saints, Chernigov miracle workers, St. Tsarevich Dimitri, holy fools Vasily, Maxim and I.; these images are repeated on later lists, for example. on an icon from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. from the collection of I. Tarnogradsky (Holy images: Russian icons of the 18th-20th centuries from private collections: Supplement to the 2006 edition / Author: I. Tarnogradsky; author: I. Buseva-Davydova M., 2007. Cat. 14). A further development of the same theme is represented by the icon of Simon Ushakov “Praise of the Mother of God of Vladimir” (“Tree of the Moscow State”) from the Moscow church. Holy Trinity in Nikitniki (1668, Tretyakov Gallery): medallions with half-figures of 3 Moscow holy fools are placed above the images of the saints, symmetrically to the images of Tsars Mikhail Feodorovich, Theodore Ioannovich and St. Tsarevich Dimitri (the image of the latter is compared with the image of I.). Like other saints, I. is presented in a prayerful pose, with a scroll, the text of which glorifies the Mother of God (“Rejoice, secret Vineyard, who grew the Belly”); the remaining attributes of the holy fool are traditional; the cap is large in size and gray in color. Dr. A variant interpretation of this theme is represented by works performed for the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat. In the 1st quarter XVIII century to its east on the facade (in the basement part of the Trinity chapel, between the chapel-tomb vaults of St. Basil and I.), the holy fool icon painter Timofey Arkhipov painted an image of the Mother of God “The Sign”, surrounded by half-figures of Russian, including Moscow, saints; the praying Basil the Blessed and I. are presented in the lower part of the right and left fields, above the saints, below the saints Tsarevich Dimitri and Boris and Gleb (the composition could have been created earlier than the 1st quarter of the 18th century, since the saints are represented in the upper field John the Baptist and the Apostle Peter - in this case, probably the patron saints of the kings John and Peter Alekseevich, whose joint reign ended with the death of John in 1696). 80s XVIII century a replica of this painting is dated - a large icon of the Mother of God “The Sign”, located above the entrance to the chapel of St. Basil the Blessed (State Historical Museum, Museum “Pokrovsky Cathedral”); The composition of the saints on the icon has been changed, Vasily and I. presented frontally in the lower field. I. is also included in the unusually wide host of Moscow miracle workers in the drawing from the 2nd floor icon. XVII century (?), located in one of the prayer rooms of the Preobrazhenskoe cemetery in Moscow; together with other holy fools and Moscow saints, he is shown in the central part of the composition, at the throne with Eucharistic vessels, on which stands the Lord Almighty (nearby, in front of the throne, stands St. Tsarevich Demetrius, who in the 17th-19th centuries is repeatedly compared with Moscow blessed in works of different iconography).

Images of I. are also found on icons with a more individual program. There are known compositions where he, like other Moscow holy fools, is depicted together with saints (including holy fools) from other regions of Russia. This is, for example, an icon of the 1st half. XVII century (Tretyakov Gallery), at which the Mother of God and the Child stand before and fall before Her, Vasily, I. and Maxim of Moscow, Procopius and John of Ustyug, martyrs Florus and Laurus, MC. Anastasia, saints Queen Theodora and Tsarevich Dimitri. Together with numerous ecumenical and Russian. saints I. is represented on the right margin of the icon “Our Lady of Three Hands” from the 80s. XVII century from the iconostasis over the burial of Queen Evdokia Lopukhina in the Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Monastery (GIM, Novodevichy Monastery Museum; Shvedova M. M. Queen-nuns of the Novodevichy Monastery. M., 2000. P. 27. Cat. 25-30 ); The martyr is depicted symmetrically. John the Warrior, and below, is right. Artemy Verkolsky. At the same time, the image of I. was not mandatory for compositions depicting Moscow miracle workers or holy fools; in particular, it is absent from the revered Bogolyubskaya-Moscow Icon of the Mother of God, located above the Varvarsky Gate of Kitay-Gorod, and from its lists, although blessed Vasily and Maxim are represented there (see: PE. 2002. Vol. 5. P. 463- 464). Unlike these holy fools, I. was not a member of the official. a host of Moscow saints, which explains the lack of mention of his icons in the inventories of the Kremlin churches and the royal Imagery Chamber and the memory of the saint in the Official of the Assumption Cathedral (about the unofficial nature of the veneration of I., expressed in the absence of a throne dedicated to him in the Intercession Cathedral, see: Kuznetsov. 1910. pp. 485-490). At least from the beginning. XVIII century I. is depicted in certain menaic cycles.

Since I. was revered not only as a Moscow, but also as a Rostov saint, already in the 17th century. his images were created for churches in Rostov and the surrounding area. Their spread was facilitated by the biographical connections of the blessed one with certain local ascetics. I.'s name is found in the Life of St. Irinarch the Recluse, whom the holy fool blessed to wear chains (Life of St. Irinarch // RIB. St. Petersburg, 1909. T. 13: Monuments of ancient Russian writing related to the Time of Troubles. Stb. 1349, 1365-1366; Kuznetsov. 1910 pp. 480-481); it is known that in the Borisoglebsky monastery near Rostov, the monk of which was St. Irinarch, back in the 19th century. there was an image of I. “with a large head that does not correspond to his body” ( Amphilochius (Sergievsky-Kazansky), archimandrite. Life of St. Irinarch - a recluse of the Rostov Boris and Gleb Monastery. M., 1863. P. 12). With the formation of local veneration of St. Irinarch is also associated with the creation of an icon from the same monastery of the 2nd quarter - mid. XVII century with the image of I. (Tretyakov Gallery). The blessed one, named in the inscription as the Wonderworker of Rostov, is represented in the prayer to the Mother of God “Incarnation” together with the prophet. Elijah and the Venerable Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky, who hold the Solovetsky monastery (in publications of recent years, St. Savvaty, whose name is recorded in the inscription, for unclear reasons is called St. Eleazar of Anzersky, who died in 1656 - most likely after the creation of the monument; see: Icones russes: Les saintes / Fondation P. Gianadda. Martigny (Suisse); Lausanne, 2000. Cat. 27); the appearance of a paired image of I. and prophet. Elijah is explained by the fact that the latter is the namesake saint, St. Irinarch of Rostov (see about this: Preobrazhensky A. S. Monk and holy fool: comparison of two types of holiness in Russian iconography of the late Middle Ages // Icons Rus. North: Dvina land, Onega, Kargopolye, Pomorie: St. and materials / Edited by: E. S. Smirnova. M., 2005. P. 187). This relatively early image of I. is close to icons from the collections of Uvarov and Pryanishnikov, in which he is presented together with St. Basil; the cap and “rod” are not visible here, since the figure of I. is hidden by the figure of Zosima Solovetsky. How the Rostov Saint I. is represented in the painting of the c. Resurrection in the Rostov Bishop's House (Kremlin), performed in the 70s. XVII century The half-length image of I. in prayer, enclosed in a cartouche, is placed in the north. wall of the altar, next to St. deacons; The saint holds “under his bosom” a cone-shaped cap with a spiral ending. Judging by the fact that the image of I. is also in the altar of St. John the Theologian Church. in Rostov (painting 1683), he was especially revered by the builder of this temple and the customer of the painting, Rostov Metropolitan. Jonah (Sysoevich) (Nikitina T.L. Church of the Resurrection in Rostov the Great. M., 2002. Ill. 13. Plate III-3; Aka. Church of St. John the Evangelist in Rostov the Great. M., 2002. Plate III- 10). The figure of I. is also included in the Deesis on the upper field of the tombstone hagiographic icon of the saint. John the Hairy of Rostov, written in the 2nd half. XVII century (Ts. Tolga Icon of the Mother of God in Rostov; see: Melnik A. G. Tombstone Icon of St. John the Hairless // DRVM. 2002. No. 2(8). P. 73). In this composition, which is one of the most detailed images of the Rostov miracle workers, I. is presented among the saints; his image is compared with the saints associated with the Boris and Gleb monastery (Saints Boris and Gleb, Saints Irinarch, Theodore and Paul). Cases of including I. among the Rostov saints occur later: he is represented on the icon of the Rostov Wonderworkers of the 2nd half. XVIII century (Russian Museum) (“We worship Your Most Pure Image...”: The Image of the Mother of God in works from the collection of the Russian Museum. St. Petersburg, 1995. Cat. 145) and on the icon painted in 1870 in the workshop of I. M. Malyshev (private collection; see: Lebendige Zeugen. 2005. Kat. 98; Benchev. 2007. P. 18); in the latter case, gray-haired I. is depicted next to blessed Isidore and John Vlasaty.

The most significant images of I., created in modern times, were intended for the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat. Kuznetsov reports that in addition to the image on I.’s tombstone, there were several more in the temple. his icons of “late writing”: a “removable” icon (42x36 cm) above the altar of the Vasilievsky chapel, 2 icons of the same size in the chapel of the Nativity of the Most Holy. The Mother of God (on one of them the saint was represented praying at the Rostov Assumption Cathedral, unless it was an image similar to the drawing from the Siya original with the image of the temple over the tomb of I.) and a large icon that was previously placed on the choir of the Vasilievsky chapel, i.e. symmetrically to the temple image of St. Basil (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 491). On one of these icons (without a temple, apparently of small size, with a chasuble covering only the figure of the saint), I., with short gray hair, barefoot, is depicted praying to the Almighty against the background of a conventional landscape (the icon or the top layer of painting belonged to the 1st 1st half - mid-19th century; see: Kuznetsov, 1900. Fig. 12). Obviously, in the last third of the 18th century (after the iconostasis was moved from the Cathedral of the Chernigov Wonderworkers in the Kremlin in 1770), paired icons of Vasily and I. were created for the local row of the iconostasis of the Intercession chapel (the image of I. is in the northern part of the local row; both works were most likely renewed). The saints are presented in prayer against a landscape; under the icon of I., in the basement tier, there is an 8-sided icon with the image of a saint sitting in the Garden of Eden (?) ( Batalov, Uspenskaya. 2004. P. 76), which does not find letters. correspondences in hagiographic and hymnographic texts (perhaps the composition illustrates the hagiographic story that the holy fool had the custom of “gazing up at this visible sun inexorably... foreshadowing his future stay... and again thinking in his mind how he could ascend to the righteous Sun itself" - Kuznetsov, 1910, pp. 414-415). In 1895, during the creation of a new iconostasis of St. Basil's chapel (design by A. M. Pavlinov, the icons were painted by an artel under the direction of O. S. Chirikov), in conjunction with the earlier icon of St. Basil the Blessed, the image of I. was painted (the left turn of the iconostasis , at the north door); as on the icon from the Intercession chapel, the saint is shown in prayer, and his cap is made of iron (Ibid. p. 491). From these examples it is clear that even individual icons of I. often existed in combination with symmetrical images of St. Basil. The stability of the paired veneration of these saints is confirmed by the fact that in the 18th - early. XX century continued to paint icons where they are depicted together, and the image of the Intercession of the Holy Virgin was introduced into this iconographic type. The Mother of God, to whom the holy fools pray (this not only recalls the dedication of the Intercession Cathedral, but also likens St. Basil and Saint Andrew the Holy Fool, depicted in the scenes of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos). A huge icon with such a composition, made in the 80s. XVIII century, was placed in a stucco frame to the south. façade of the cathedral bell tower; Between the figures of saints the miracle of St. Basil on the waters is presented, and I., depicted to the left of the viewer, is dressed in a red shirt and holds a cap with a red tassel at the end. There are known small icons of Basil and I. from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, intended for sale to pilgrims; on them, between the saints, the Intercession Cathedral is depicted, and at the top there can be an image of the Intercession of the Most Holy. Mother of God, for example. on the icon, which was in 2000 at the Gelos Auction House (Gelos Auction House. Collection auction No. 35: Art of Russia and Western Europe of the 17th-20th centuries. Moscow, October 28, 2000. M., 2000. No. 117); on an icon from a private collection abroad (Lebendige Zeugen. 2005. Cat. 33).

In the XVIII - beginning. XX century The tradition of depicting I. among the Moscow saints was also preserved. Engravings from the 18th century are known. with figures of Moscow miracle workers (and some other saints) around the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God (engraving by M. Nekhoroshevsky) or around the Mother of God “The Sign” (Rovinsky. Folk pictures. P. 493, 503-505, No. 1226, 1250-1252 ); the prototypes of these compositions were obviously works of the 2nd half. XVII - early XVIII century, such as the external painting of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat. A special place among such images is occupied by the engraving of the 1st floor. XVIII century with a view of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral and with images of Moscow saints, which is a kind of guide to the capital's shrines (Ibid. pp. 289-293, no. 602); I. with Vasily and Maxim are shown in the right group. An unusual image of I. with a small cap in his left hand and with 2 staffs in his right is placed on the icon of the Moscow saints of the 1st floor. (?) XIX century from a private collection (Benchev. 2007. P. 229).

Spread into the 2nd half. XIX - early XX century icons of Moscow saints, symbolizing the ancient history of the Russian Church, led to the spread of images of I., which are included in different versions of such compositions, differing in the location of the characters and the place allocated to the semantic center of the image - the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. These are, for example, 2 identical Pyatnik images of Moscow saints of the beginning. XX century, where the Mother of God icon is placed in the upper part of the middle (both in the Central Museum of Art and Culture), as well as works in which the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is supported by Saints Peter and Alexy represented in the center (icons of the 2nd half of the 19th century in the Assumption Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra and 1908 in the Vasilyevsky chapel of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat). There is a known case of the depiction of Moscow miracle workers on the margins of the Vladimir icon - this option included an icon with figures of saints of Moscow and the Moscow region, presented by the Moscow nobility to the heir Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich in 1912 in memory of the 1st visit to the “reigning city of Moscow” (Moscow Patericon / Comp. : E. Poselyanin; drawing by S. I. Bashkov. M., 1912. P. 103). On this icon, imitating monuments of the 16th-17th centuries, I. and Vasily are presented on the right margin in one keel-shaped stamp; to the right, in the same stamp, a blzh is depicted. Maksim. Among the Moscow saints, I. is depicted on icons of the 2nd floor. XX century (image of all Russia miracle workers in the Moscow church of Prophet Elijah in Obydensky lane, written in 1952-1953 by I.V. Vatagina and E.S. Churakova under the direction of Monk Juliania (Sokolova); see: Shrines of the Temple of the Prophet of God Elijah in Obydensky Lane in Moscow / Author: Priest N. Skurat, E. S. Khokhlova, Ya. E. Zelenina. M., 2008. P. 34. Ill. 92).

Images of I. are also found in other subjects characteristic of religions. art of the New Age, for example. on the icons of the Council of Russian Wonderworkers, painted by Old Believers: on the icon from the village. M. Gorka, Vinogradovsky district, Arkhangelsk region. (1st half of the 19th century, State Russian Museum); on the icon of 1814 by Peter Timofeev (Russian Russian Museum; see: Images and symbols of the old faith: Monuments of old culture from the collection of the Russian Museum / State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg, 2008. P. 82-85. Cat. 70; prophet see. : Markelov, Saints of Ancient Rus', T. 1, pp. 460-461); on icons XVIII - beginning XIX century (MIIRK) and 1st half. XIX century from the village Chazhenga, Kargopol district, Arkhangelsk region. (Tretyakov Gallery; see: Icônes russes: Les saintes / Fondation P. Gianadda. Martigny (Suisse); Lausanne, 2000. Cat. 52). The figures of 3 Moscow holy fools are included in the expanded group of righteous and holy fools, the edges of which are located in the upper part of the composition; I. is depicted behind blessed Vasily and Maxim, in front of Isidore of Rostov (the figure of Blessed John of Ustyug is placed above). There are close in time examples of painting the image of I. in complex multi-figure compositions created by order of the Old Believers (a folding with the icon “Rejoices in You” (last quarter of the 18th century, Russian Russian Museum), where I. is represented twice - on the right frame of the centerpiece and in the lower part of the right valve). A special group consists of the “Six Days” icons, which were executed in large numbers by Palekh masters of the 19th century; a version of this iconography, apparently developed in the workshop of V.I. Khokhlov, is represented by icons with the image of Christ Pantocrator in the middle (see: Kropivnitskaya N. About three icons of Vasily Khokhlov from Palekh // Russian late icon from the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century / Ed. .-comp.: M. M. Krasilin. M., 2001. P. 201-210). In such cases, I. is usually depicted in the lower field together with blessed Procopius of Ustyug or Isidore of Rostov, against the backdrop of a landscape; The figures of St. Basil and the Blessed are located symmetrically. Maxim of Moscow (if the latter are constantly depicted in such works, then the image of I. is not always present). Between the stamps with the figures of holy fools there is a scene of the murder of St. Tsarevich Dimitri, testifying to the importance of the theme of Moscow saints for these icons and reminiscent of the associations of the iconography of St. Tsarevich Dimitri with the iconography of the Moscow blessed. In such monuments I. is presented without traditions. attributes, eg. on the icon “Six Days” beginning. XIX century from the Old Believer church. Dormition on Apukhtinka in Moscow (State Historical Museum; 18th century dated in the book: 1000th anniversary. 1988. Cat. 191), on a similar icon of 1813 (State Tretyakov Gallery, Museum-apartment of P. D. Korina), on several. icons from private collections (Holy images: Russian icons of the XV-XX centuries from private collections / Author: I. Tarnogradsky. Author: I. Buseva-Davydova. M., 2006. Cat. 93, 95, 96).

In the menaine cycles (on July 3, together with the martyr Iakinthos), the image of I., in contrast to the images of St. Basil and Blessed. Maxim Moskovsky is quite rare. The oldest example of such a cycle is a double-sided icon for July and August. from a set of menaion icons executed in 1701 in Moscow (Tretyakov Gallery). The spread of I.'s images was obviously facilitated by the inclusion of his figure in the engraved calendar of the 18th century, which was then copied by icon painters, for example. in the Menea of ​​G. P. Tepchegorsky of 1722, first published in 1714, and in the Menea of ​​I. K. Lyubetsky of 1730 (RSL; Ermakova, Khromov. 2004. pp. 45, 52. Cat. 33.11, 35.10). I. is represented on the icon of the 1st half. XVIII century from the Menaion cycle, located in the St. Petersburg Sampsonievsky Cathedral: he is depicted as a long-haired young man in a blue shirt with a belt, in his left hand he holds a black cap, similar to an ordinary hat, in his right hand - a rosary, which was almost never depicted in this period (Russian Icon XVII -XVIII centuries in the collections of the State Museum-Monument “St. Isaac’s Cathedral”: Front calendars from St. Samson’s Cathedral. St. Petersburg, 2003. pp. 26-27); the image resembles the figure of I. from the calendar of Tepchegorsk, although the icon from Sampsonievsky Cathedral cannot be considered a copy of this engraved sheet. The influence of engravings explains the appearance of I.’s images on the menaion icon in March-Aug. 2nd quarter XVIII century from the collection of the Academy Gallery in Florence and on the icon “Resurrection with Passion, Menaion and miraculous icons of the Mother of God” con. XVIII century (YAHM). In the calendar cycles of the 19th century. I. is not depicted or is depicted extremely rarely, perhaps after. the appearance of new engraved samples, which for some reason did not include the figure of this Moscow holy fool (apparently due to the local nature of his veneration).

Life cycles of I. are represented by miniatures from several. front manuscripts of the 18th-19th centuries, including the Life of St. Basil and I. Kuznetsov mentions the front manuscript of the Life of I. from the collection of E. V. Barsov No. 87 (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 403). Obviously this is a con manuscript. XVIII century (GIM. Bars. No. 787; published miniatures from the Life of St. Basil: Twenty-eight miracles of St. Basil: Based on the front manuscript of the late 18th century from the collection of the State Historical Museum / Comp., trans. and introductory article: E. M. Yukhimenko. M., 2007). Kuznetsov mentions a miniature depicting the healing of the lame Gregory in a 19th-century manuscript. Khludovskaya library (No. 245) (Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 492). In the manuscript con. XVIII century from the collection of the State Historical Museum (Bars. No. 787) there is a miniature illustrating the story of the sign on the day of I.’s burial, when thunder and lightning damaged the Church of the Intercession and killed “many countless people” (Ibid. pp. 416, 418, 424): this conventional image of a tiered church in the light of numerous lightning and several. victims (reproduction without indicating the manuscript code, see: Moscow Orthodox. 2000. July. P. 74). The rarest example of a separate life cycle of I. is an engraving of 1862 with 7 scenes (Moscow, metallography by A. Rudnev, Russian State Library), obviously based on contemporary publications about the saint. Here are presented I.'s arrival in Rostov (the holy fool, kneeling, prays in front of the Assumption Cathedral), the denunciation of Boris Godunov (a scene reflecting later ideas about the life of I. - Kuznetsov. 1910. P. 467, 479, 482), a conversation with the archpriest of Pokrovsky cathedral by Demetrius (I. chooses the burial place), the healing of Gregory, who had no use of his right leg for 2 years, at the bridge over the Moscow River (I.’s dying miracle), the repose of the saint, the transfer of his body to the Intercession Cathedral and burial (without a sign with thunder and lightning). The partial correspondence of this cycle to ancient texts about I. is comparable to his image in the middle of the engraving, which has little in common with the iconographic tradition: the saint, presented against the backdrop of the Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat and the Upper Trading Rows (the building is depicted, built after 1812 according to the design of O. I. . Beauvais), is shown as a long-haired young man in a short, belted shirt and a cap similar to a skufia (in an iron cap), without shoes; turning his face to the ray of light emanating from heaven, I. presses his right hand to his chest and holds a rosary in his left (this is perhaps the only detail that goes back to ancient works). In the stamps I. is presented with the same attributes, with a stick added to the Crimea.

Lit.: Kuznetsov I.I., prot. Pokrovsky and St. St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow. M., 1900; aka. Holy blessed Basil and John, Moscow wonderworkers for Christ's sake. M., 1910. (ZMIAI; 8); Antonova, Mnyova. Catalog. T. 2. Cat. 785, 912, 988, 1015; Antonova V.I. Old Russian. art in collection P. Korina. M., 1966. Cat. 99, 114; Morava C. Johannes (Ivan) von Moskau (Jurodivyj) // LCI. Bd. 7. Sp. 154; 1000th anniversary of Russian artist culture: Cat. vyst. M., 1988. Cat. 157, 191; Rybakov A. A. Vologda Icon: Artist Centers. culture of the land of Vologda XIII-XVIII centuries. M., 1995. Cat. 241, 288; Orthodox Moscow: Church. calendar. The history of the city in its shrines. Pious customs. M., 2000. July. pp. 70-74; The Birth of Time: History of Images and Concepts: Cat. vyst. Wolfratshausen; Tretyakov Gallery, 1999-2000. Münch., 2000. Cat. 56; Balakin P. P. Old Russian. art: Cat. / NGHM. N. Novg., 2001. P. 52-53. Cat. 66; Markelov. Saints Dr. Rus'. T. 1. P. 142-143, 280-283, 340-341, 360-361; T. 2. P. 122; Icons of the Stroganov estates of the 16th-17th centuries: Based on materials from the restoration work of the All-Russian Artistic Research Center named after. acad. I. E. Grabar: Cat. Album / Comp.: A. P. Burmakin et al. M., 2003. Cat. 75; Moscow Patericon: The most ancient saints of Moscow. land. M., 2003. Ill. 14; Batalov A. L., Uspenskaya L. S. Cathedral of the Intercession on the Moat (St. Basil's Cathedral). M., 2004. P. 63. Ill. 26; P. 85. Ill. 42; Ermakova M. E., Khromov O. R. Russian copper engraving, 2nd half. XVII - 1st third of the XVIII century. (Moscow, St. Petersburg): Description of the collection of the art publications department [RSL]. M., 2004. S. 45, 52. Cat. 33.11, 35.10; Antiquities and spiritual relics of the Old Believers: Icons, books, vestments, church objects. decorations of the Bishop's sacristy and the Intercession Cathedral at the Rogozhskoe cemetery in Moscow. M., 2005. Cat. 47; Ivanov S. A. Blessed obscenities: The cultural history of foolishness. M., 2005; Lebendige Zeugen: Datierte und signierte Ikonen in Russland um 1900 / Hrsg. R. Zacharuk. Tüb. 2005. Kat. 33, 98; Benchev I. Icons of St. patrons. M., 2007. P. 18, 229; Images and symbols of the old faith: Monuments of the old faith. cultures from the collection Rus. museum / State Russian Museum. St. Petersburg, 2008. Cat. 62, 70, 176.

A. S. Preobrazhensky

Hello! I apologize for the long silence. So, what is blessing of water and why is it needed? Each of us has moments in life when we just...

Mchch. Diomede, Eulampia, Asklipiodota and MC. Golindukhi (II). Mchch. Mokia and Mark (IV). St. Alexander, the monastery of the “Unsleeping Ones” of the original (c. 430). St. Anatoly, Patriarch of Constantinople (458). Prpp. Anatoly (XII) and another Anatoly the recluse (XIII), Pechersky. St. Vasily, bishop Ryazansky (1295). Blgvv. book Vasily and Konstantin Yaroslavsky (XIII). St. John and Longinus of Yarenga (1544-1545). Blzh. John, Christ for the Fool's Sake, Moscow (1589). St. Nicodemus of Kozheezersky (1640): Martyrs Mokiy (Mokian) and Mark, Venerable Alexander of Constantinople, Saint Anatoly, Patriarch of Constantinople, Venerable Anatoly of Pechersk and another Anatoly of Pechersk, Saint Basil, Bishop of Ryazan and Murom, Blessed Princes Vasily and Constantine of Yaroslavl, brothers, Pres. similar John and Longinus of Yarenga, Venerable Nicodemus of Kozheezersk

Brief life of Blessed John of Moscow

He was born in the first half of the 16th century in the Vo-lo-god-skaya land and in his youth he worked in the salt pans. He began to act like a fool when he moved to Rostov. But the faith is heavy and there is an iron cap on the head, for which he received his nickname. Around 1580, the blessed Iri-nar-ha, for the creation of Rostov-go (1616; commemoration 13/26 Jan -va-rya) and fore-told him the invasion of the La-kovs and their re-ra-zation.

He spent the last years of his life in Moscow, where even in the most severe frosts he went almost to his wives, not taking off your iron ve-rigs. He spoke the truth to everyone without any language, often speaking to the powerful. Nom of this world, not sparing the kings. Before my death, the gift of healing was revealed to the blessed woman.

So, one day, on the way out of the temple, a man was not in control: the blessed one, as it were, but I stepped on my foot, and she became healthy.

He announced his end, having asked for a place for his Gre-be-niya. He died on July 3, 1589 and was buried in the Pokrovsky Council on Red Square. During his funeral, a man was healed, having suffered from an eye disease for twenty years. The imperishable relics of the blessed John were re-founded in 1672.

The Complete Life of Blessed John of Moscow

Blessed John was born at the end of the 15th - in the first half of the 16th century. He is from the movement of goodness in the era that preceded the time of turmoil and danger for the Russian land. The blessed one was a native of the Vo-lo-year-old land. In his youth, he worked in the salt-mining factories, for which he was subsequently called “Vo-do-nos- tsem". From here he went to Rostov, where he began a rare feat of foolishness. He began to wear an iron cap on his head, which is why he was called “The Big Cap.” He also wore tight iron rings on his fingers, and on his body - heavy chains of crosses. The saint drank bread and water once a day. Often it would happen that Blessed John would go out into the street, into the people, lay a cap on the ground and, standing on it, I looked at the sun for a long time and prayed. Passers-by laughed at him and insulted him, but the saint, with gentleness and patience, withstood the ridicule .

In Ro-stov he was acquainted with the reverend Iri-nar-kh, the creator of Ro-stov († 1616; memory 13/26 January -rya). Having met him one day in Ro-sto-ve (c. 1580), Saint John pro-che-ski foretold to him the invasion of la -kov: “God will grant you to teach people from the top to the bottom, to fill the earth with teachings, to teach people -dey from drunkenness. For illegal drunkenness and debauchery, the Lord God will send foreign tribes to the Russian land... But their Holy Trinity With its power it pro-go-nit.”

Blessed John spent the last years of his life in Moscow. He walked with his hair out, almost like a wife, even in severe frosts. His behavior was a challenge to the world's self-freedom, steps and sometimes words for words on a hidden life all day long. Blessed John often spoke with a frank or revealing word to the mighty of this world, his knowledge Yes, even the kings endured from him what you would not have endured from another. So, Tsar Bo-ri-su Go-du-no-wu often said the words: “Clever head, create the heaven of God’s de- la. God waits for a long time, but it hurts."

St. John himself foretold his end, having asked the pro-i-e-rei Demetrius, at the church of Po-kro -va of the Most Holy Bo-go-ro-di-tsy on the Moat, subsequently called-with-the-bo-r Va-si-lia Bla-zhen-no-go, me -one hundred of your own trust.

In the people's memory there remain events that preceded the death of the saint. On the way from the temple, the blessed one wasted by a man, not in control of his foot: as if by chance, the saint had come stepped on it, and the foot became healthy. Then he went to the bathhouse and there, having removed the chains for the first time, he doused himself with water three times, getting ready to bury himself. The saint ordered the burial to be completed no earlier than the third day. Then he lay down on the bench, asked everyone for forgiveness, and be- went from carrying his body to the coffin of the blessed Va-si. Leah to the Church of the Intercession. With these words, blessed John came to God in peace on July 3, 1589 (1590).

Many contemporary people knew about his exploits. By decree of Tsar Fe-o-do-ra Ioan-no-vi-cha there was a very ceremonial blessing -th John. One day, it happened not on the day indicated by the blessed one, but earlier. The Lord allowed him to be punished for failure to fulfill His favor during God's service a strong thunderstorm happened with lightning, so that in the Pokrovsky Church some icons fell down and even there were several clergy and laity. During the funeral and later, many people who are in pain receive healing through prayer for your blessings Ioan-na. Blessed John also appeared to the sick, who were astonished far from Moscow, and they were well.

Soon after the blessed death of St. John, the Moscow miracle-worker, they were formed life and service. The relics of the saint were incorrupt on June 12, 1672 and buried under cover in the vicinity of Rozhd of the Most Holy God in the Pokrovsky Council. And on January 17, 1916, this side-deal was re-named in the name of the blessed John, Christ for the sake of the Yuro-di-vo. Go, Moscow miracle-do-creator. The remembrance of the saint on the day of his blessed death - July 3/16 and on the day of the re-founding of his incorruptible mo- -shchi - June 12/25.

Prayers

Troparion to Blessed John, Fool for Christ's Sake, Moscow Wonderworker

And for the sake of Christ, having willingly left your fatherland, the city of Vologda/ and hated all the red things of this world,/ with spiritual desire you moved into the city of Rostov/ and, like wandering in the desert,/ your eyes home, and I exhaust your flesh with thirst and immeasurable burden,/ and working for the Lord day and night,/ staying in fasting and prayer in the vestibule of the church,/ the hair of your head was weighed down by ashes and tar,/ and, jealous of Blessed Basil,/ you came to the king the existing city of Moscow/ and, in chastity and patience, ended the course of good ,/ you moved to the eternal abode,/ emitting rays of miracles,/ most blessed John, our Father,// pray to Christ God to save our souls.

Translation: For the sake of Christ, you voluntarily left your fatherland - the city of Vologda and, having hated all the blessings of this world, with spiritual desire you settled in the city of Rostov and, as in the desert, you wandered in it, exhausting yourself with hunger and thirst and immeasurable hardships, and serving the Lord day and night, staying in the church vestibule in fasting and prayer, covering the hair on your head with ashes and resin, and, imitating, you came to the reigning city of Moscow and in patience, having completed your life’s journey, moved to the eternal monasteries, emitting rays of miracles, blessed John, father ours, pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

You adorned your life with abstinence and patience,/ the good friend John,/ and with frequent prayers and all-night standing/ you enlightened your soul,/ and bound your body and hair, and crosses with with heavy chains,/ laboring for many summers until the departure of your soul,/ and I came to your repose from the city of Rostov/ to the reigning city of Moscow,/ to the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God,/ and that saint buried you,/ and now at your tomb the torches of healing come to those with faith./ Pray to God diligently with the righteous Vasily about Orthodox people./ Glory to Him who gave you strength,/ glory to Him who crowned you,// glory to Him who brings healing to all through you.

Translation: You adorned your life with patience, good John, and enlightened your soul with frequent prayers and all-night standing, and, burdening your body and hair with heavy crosses, you worked for many years until the departure of your soul, and came to your place from the city of Rostov to the reigning city Moscow, to the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God, and there the saints buried you, and now, from your tomb, you exude healing to those who come to you with faith. Pray to God earnestly with Righteous Basil for Orthodox people. Glory to Him who gave you strength, glory to Him who crowned you, glory to Him who gives healing to everyone through you.

Troparion to Blessed John, Fool for Christ's Sake, Moscow Wonderworker

For the love of Christ/having hated all the charming beauties of this world,/living in the world, striving for good, like an angel on earth,/eternal for the sake of life,/and from earthly virtues such are x having raised the soul by the spirit, / enslaved the flesh and submitted in all things to the spirit, Christ was crucified / and grace will be taken to the Divine heights with great light, / having come to the Heavenly palace, / where now the Most Holy Trinity and the angels stand, / in the light of indescribable joy, rejoicing Behold, most blessed John, / thus we cry out to you in gratitude: / glory to Him who chose you in Russia, Blessed, the statutes are abundant,/ glory to Him who strengthened you among the people, // glory to the One who saves us through your prayers.

Translation: For the love of Christ, you hated all the deceptive blessings of this world, living in the world perfectly, like an angel on earth, for the sake of eternal life, and, having resurrected your soul from earthly properties in spirit, having enslaved and obeyed the spirit in everything, you were crucified with Christ and gloriously to the Divine heights was raised, came to the Heavenly palace, where now you stand with the angels before the Most Holy Trinity, triumphant in the light of indescribable joy, blessed John, therefore we cry out to you with gratitude: “Glory to Him who chose you in Rus', blessed one, as a special rule, glory to Him who gave you Strength in people, glory to your prayers and to Him who saves us.”

Kontakion to Blessed John, Fool for Christ, Moscow Wonderworker

For the sake of Christ, who has imposed foolishness on all wisdom, / we see from men in the image of violence, / but grief flies with an intelligent wing, / its whole body is bound with chains, / like valuable gold , being observed among the people,/ having cleared the mind of passions,/ you were overcome with spiritual joy sea ​​of ​​this rebellious life,/ you will find the light of eternal life,/ we pray to you, blessed John,/ pray diligently to Christ our God/ to preserve us from all slander/ and evil circumstances The enemy of the visible and invisible, let us call to you:/ Rejoice, much-suffering one, for yes We guide you with your prayers, / always coming with you, in the Trinity, to the glorified God, / / ​​we sing to Him: hallelujah.

Translation: For the sake of Christ, having with wisdom taken upon yourself the feat of foolishness, visible to people in the form of madness, flying high with intelligent (spiritual) wings, you tied your whole body with chains like precious gold, was preserved among the people, having cleansed the mind from , with spiritual joy you crossed the sea of ​​vain this life and gained the glory of eternal life, we pray to you, Blessed John, pray persistently to Christ our God for our salvation from all the snares and evil attacks of visible and invisible enemies, and we cry to you: Rejoice, having suffered much, you always stand with us in the Trinity to the glorified God, to whom we, guided by your prayers, sing: “Alleluia.”

Another Kontakion to Blessed John, Fool for Christ's Sake, Moscow Wonderworker

You have suffered the holy and immaculate torment without permission, / like a most honorable vein, you have brought your body to the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God / and you have created your honorable repose ./ With your patience and humility you surprised the faces of angels/ and you put the tormentor devil to shame,/ from Man drives away dark spirits, / providing various healings. / Rejoice, good fool John, with blessed Basil, / and turn our sorrow into joy, / pray diligently to the country of Russia Stay away from internecine warfare and from the godless tongues.// Rejoice, Russian lands are fertilized and the city of our Moscow is a great affirmation.

Translation: You endured holy and immaculate torment of your own free will, like a precious dowry, you brought your body to the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God and performed your honorable repose there. With your patience you surprised the angelic assembly and put the tormentor of the devil to shame, driving away dark spirits from people, giving various healings. Rejoice, good fool John, with blessed Vasily, and turn our sorrow into joy, pray earnestly for the deliverance of the Russian country from internecine war and from godless peoples. Rejoice, great strength of the Russian land and our city of Moscow.

First prayer to Blessed John, Fool for Christ's sake, Moscow Wonderworker

Oh, wonderful servant of Christ, holy righteous John, falling before the race of your celibate relics, we kiss your honest image with faith and unflattering zeal; With amazement and reverence of spirit, we touch your most wonderful chains, as sometimes Paul’s leader and ubrusets, hoping from them through the action of the Most High to receive the health of the soul and body. We glorify the omnipotence of the Creator of creatures, Whom you glorified in this life with your virtues, we please your life equal to the angels on earth, even if you have adorned it with fasting, vigil and abstinence. . We preach the firmness of your faith and love, even for God, and also, reverently remembering your God-bearing deeds, from the depths of our hearts we cry out to you: by your intercession we implore the Creator and Lord of all, and we, animated by the same faith, strive to maintain the unity of the spirit by girding our loins truth and wrapped in the battle of truth. You stand before the Throne of the Lamb, slain from the creation of the world; pour out your warm prayers, so that the Lamb will also save us and guide us to the living springs of water and take away every tear from the eyes of our loves for Christ’s sake. You have exhausted your holy body with fasting and vigil and wearing heavy chains; assist with your intercession, so that we too may be illuminated by the radiance of the never-setting Sun, may His law be a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths. You, having united with God, enjoy His unceasing vision and converse with the Angels in eternal blood; Help us with your prayers, so that we too, having presented this body of our life as a living sacrifice acceptable to God, may be worthy to taste with you the Heavenly unshimmering blessings. Amen.

Second prayer to Blessed John, the Fool for Christ, the Moscow Wonderworker

Oh, great saint of Christ John, having gathered today in this all-honorable temple, we zealously fall to you and, with that love, kiss your valiant deeds and in them Himself glorified in His saints the hero of Christ the Savior, who gave you not only the ability to believe in Him, but also Even if we zealously follow Him, we please you with praises and with tears we pray to you: O you who have boldness in Christ the Savior, intercessor John for the salvation of all the faithful! Pray with us, according to your ineffable mercy, on behalf of everyone who begs God for the childbirth of the childless, and for our entire fatherland, for all people named after Christ, may He mercifully not leave us behind for salvation and life necessary petition and grants a Christian death to our belly, painless, I will not be ashamed, I will be peaceful, I will participate in the Divine Mysteries, and to all, in every place in every sorrow and situation, who require His love for mankind and help, He will give His great mercy, and His Divine grace and yours With warm representation, always in good health in soul and body, we glorify the wondrous one in His holy God of Israel, who does not remove His help from us always, now and ever and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Third prayer to Blessed John, Fool for Christ, Moscow Wonderworker

Master, Lover of Mankind, Heavenly King, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, for our sake mankind and for our salvation came down from Heaven and appeared on earth and with mankind alive! Greatness is Thy and unspeakable mercy for the human race, which no tongue can utter, no mouth can confess, below which hearts can give thanks according to their inheritance, both hope su Again, upon Thy indescribable mercy, to Thy mercy, O Lord, we fall and pray to Thee: Lord Almighty, O most merciful and merciful one, grant us to glorify Thee with a cheerful mind all the days of our lives. And again, with all our hearts and tears, we ask You: O Master, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, hear us sinners praying to You, and have mercy on us, and give us Your holy and righteous saint Joah Nanna, whose multi-healing powers you have preserved, praise with all your heart and Call upon him for our help, zealously worship his holy image, and come to his race with undoubted faith, and with his prayers grant unto those who pray to you unspeakable miracles and There is a lot of healing. Likewise, to you, O wonderful performer of miracles, holy saint, blessed John, we all unanimously ask: pray to Christ our God for the children of the childless, and for all your servants, and have mercy and all those who come to you with faith and pray to you with a tender soul and contrite heart, and those who zealously worship your holy image, and call you to help in sorrows and illnesses. Be a quick helper and healer for us, grant us abundant health, unflagging help to all, be a strong intercessor for orphans and widows, and grant to everyone the same petition for salvation, and save us all, and protect us from everyone angry and from all the slander of the enemy. You, having presented the Throne to the Master, boldly and immediately pray for us, your sinful and unworthy servants, Christ our God, as to Him belongs all glory, honor and worship with the Beginning His Father and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

July 16 - Blessed John of Moscow, Large Cap. Blessed John was born at the end of the 15th - in the first half of the 16th century. He is known for his deeds of piety in the era that preceded the time of troubles and danger for the Russian land. The blessed one was a native of the Vologda land. In his youth, he worked in salt factories, for which he was later called “The Water Bearer.” From here he went to Rostov, where he began a rare feat of foolishness. He began to wear an iron cap on his head, which is why he was nicknamed “The Big Cap.” He also wore tight iron rings on his fingers, and heavy chains of crosses on his body. The holy ascetic ate ​​bread and water once a day. It often happened that Blessed John went out into the street, among the people, put his cap on the ground and, standing on it, looked at the sun for a long time and prayed. Passers-by laughed at him and insulted him, but the saint endured the ridicule with meekness and patience. In Rostov he was acquainted with the Monk Irinarch, the recluse of Rostov († 1616; commemorated January 13/26). Having visited him once in Rostov (c. 1580), Saint John prophetically predicted the invasion of the Poles: “God will grant you to teach people from east to west, to fill the earth with disciples, to lead people away from drunkenness. For lawless drunkenness and debauchery, the Lord God will send foreigners to the Russian land... But the Holy Trinity will drive them out with His power.” Blessed John spent the last years of his life in Moscow. He walked with his hair down, almost naked, even in severe frosts. His behavior was a challenge to worldly complacency, his actions and sometimes mysterious words hinting at a hidden daily life. Blessed John often addressed the mighty of this world with frank or accusatory words; even kings knew him, enduring from him what they would not have endured from another. So, to Tsar Boris Godunov he often said the words: “Clever head, sort out God’s affairs. God waits for a long time, but it hurts." St. John himself predicted his death, asking Archpriest Demetrius, rector of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, later called St. Basil's Cathedral, for his resting place. The events preceding the death of the saint remained in people's memory. On the way from the temple, the blessed one healed a man who could not use his leg: as if by accident, the saint stepped on it, and his leg became healthy. Then he went to the bathhouse and there, having removed the chains for the first time, doused himself with water three times in preparation for burial. The saint commanded that the burial be performed no earlier than the third day. Then he lay down on a bench, asked everyone for forgiveness and bequeathed to take his body to the tomb of Blessed Vasily in the Intercession Church. With these words, Blessed John peacefully reposed before God on July 3, 1589 (1590). Many contemporaries knew about his exploits. By decree of Tsar Theodore Ioannovich, the solemn burial of Blessed John was carried out. However, the burial itself took place not on the day indicated by the blessed one, but earlier. The Lord allowed a strong thunderstorm with lightning to happen as punishment for His saint’s failure to fulfill the covenant during the service, so that some icons in the Church of the Intercession were scorched and even several clergy and laity were injured. During the burial and later, many sick people received healing through the prayers of Blessed John. Blessed John also appeared to the sick who were far from Moscow, and they recovered. Soon after the blessed death of St. John, the Moscow Wonderworker, a life and service were compiled. The relics of the saint were found incorrupt on June 12, 1672 and buried under cover in the chapel of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Intercession Cathedral. And on January 17, 1916, this chapel was renamed in the name of Blessed John, Christ for the Holy Fool, Moscow Wonderworker. The saint is commemorated on the day of his blessed death - July 3/16 and on the day of the discovery of his incorruptible relics - June 12/25. Troparion to Blessed John, for Christ's sake, the holy fool, the Moscow wonderworker, voice 8 For Christ's sake, having willfully left your fatherland - the city of Vologda / and hated all the red things of this world, / with a spiritual desire you moved into the city of Rostov / and, as if you had wandered in the desert, / exhausting your flesh with hunger and thirst and immeasurable burden,/ and working for the Lord day and night,/ remaining in fasting and prayer in the church vestibule,/ oppressing the hair of your head with ashes and tar,/ and, jealous of Blessed Basil,/ you came to reigning city of Moscow/ and in chastity and patience, having ended the course of goodness,/ you moved to the eternal abode,/ emitting rays of miracles,/ blessed John, our father,/ pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls. Troparion to Blessed John, for Christ's sake, to the holy fool, to the Moscow wonderworker, voice 4 You have adorned your life with abstinence and patience,/ noble fool John,/ and with frequent prayers and all-night standing/ you have enlightened your soul,/ and have bound your body and hair, and crosses with chains hard, / laboring for many years until the departure of your soul, / and coming at your repose from the city of Rostov / to the reigning city of Moscow, / to the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God, / and there the saint buried you, / and now at your tomb you are seeking healing those who come with faith./ Pray diligently to God with Righteous Basil for Orthodox people. / Glory to Him who gave you strength, / glory to Him who crowned you, / glory to Him who heals you all. Troparion to Blessed John, for Christ's sake, the holy fool, the Moscow wonderworker, voice 1 Love for the sake of Christ/ having hated all the charming beauties of this world,/ in the living world, laboring for good, like an angel on earth,/ eternal for the sake of life,/ and having resurrected the soul from such earthly merits spirit,/ enslaving the flesh and submitting in all things to the spirit, crucifying Christ/ and being taken to the Divine heights by grace,/ having come to the heavenly palace,/ where now the Most Holy Trinity and the angels stand,/ rejoicing in the light of unspeakable joy, blessed John,/ Thus, we cry out to you in gratitude:/ glory to Him who chose you in Rus', blessed one, a fair charter,/ glory to Him who strengthened you among the people,/ glory to the One who saves us through your prayers. Kontakion to Blessed John, for Christ's sake, to the holy fool, to the Moscow wonderworker, voice 8 Who, for Christ's sake, has imposed upon himself foolishness with wisdom,/ we see in the form of violence from man,/ flying with wisdom with his wings,/ he has bound his whole body with chains,/ like valuable gold, being kept among the people ,/ having cleansed your mind from passions,/ you have passed through the sea of ​​this rebellious life with spiritual joy,/ you have found the light of eternal life,/ we pray to you, Blessed John,/ praying diligently to Christ our God/ to preserve us from all slander/ and evil circumstances, visible and invisible enemies , let us call to you:/ Rejoice, long-suffering, for we are guided by your prayers,/ standing ever with us,/ in the Trinity to the glorified God we sing to Him: Hallelujah. Another Kontakion to Blessed John, for Christ's sake, the Fool for the Fool, the Moscow Wonderworker, voice 8 You suffered holy and immaculate torment without permission, / like a most honorable vein, you brought your body to the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Pure Mother of God / and you brought about your honorable repose. / With your patience and humility You surprised the angelic faces/ and you put the tormentor devil to shame,/ driving away dark spirits from people,/ giving various healings./ Rejoice, noble fool John, with blessed Basil,/ and turn our sorrow into joy,/ pray diligently to the Russian country from internecine warfare and get rid of the godless tongue./ Rejoice, fertilization of the Russian land and great affirmation of our city of Moscow. The first prayer to blessed John, for Christ's sake, the holy fool, the Moscow wonderworker. O wonderful servant of Christ, holy righteous John, falling before the race of your whole-bearing relics, we kiss your honest image with faith and unflattering zeal; With amazement and reverence of spirit, we touch your wonderful chains, as sometimes Paul’s leader and ubrusets, hoping from them through the action of the Most High to receive healing for the soul and body. We glorify the omnipotence of the Creator of creatures, Whom you have glorified in this life with your virtuous actions, we please your life equal to the angels on earth, which you have adorned with fasting, vigil and abstinence. We preach the firmness of your faith and love for God, and, reverently remembering your God-bearing deeds, from the depths of our hearts we cry out to you: with your intercession beseech the Creator and Master of all, so that we, animated by faith alone, strive to maintain the unity of the spirit, girding our loins truth and wrapped in the abuse of truth. You stand before the Throne of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world; pour out your warm prayers, so that the same Lamb will save us and guide us to animal sources of water and take away every tear from our eyes for the love of Christ. You have exhausted your holy body with fasting and vigil and wearing heavy chains; assist with your intercession, may we also be illuminated by the radiance of the Unsetting Sun, may His law be a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths. You, having united with God, enjoy His unceasing vision and converse with the Angels in eternal shelters; Help us with your prayers, so that we, who have presented our living sacrifice to God in this life, may be honored to taste with you the heavenly, unshimmering blessings. Amen. Second Prayer to Blessed John, for Christ's sake, the Holy Fool, Moscow Wonderworker O great servant of Christ John, gathered today in this all-honorable temple, we zealously fall to you and, with that love, kissing your valiant deeds and in them Himself glorified in His saints, the Hero of Christ the Savior, who gave you not just to believe in Him, but also to zealously follow Him, we please you with praises and with tears: O you who have boldness in Christ the Savior, intercessor John for the salvation of all the faithful! Pray with us, according to your ineffable mercy, on behalf of all of us beseeching God for the childbearing of the childless, and for our entire fatherland, for all the people named for Christ, may he mercifully not leave us with all the needful petitions for salvation and life and grant a Christian death to our belly, painless, I am unashamed, peaceful, and partaker of the Divine Mysteries, and to all, in every place in every sorrow and situation, who require His love for mankind and help, He will give His great mercy, so that by His Divine grace and your warm intercession, always remain in good health in soul and body, we glorify the wondrous One forever His saints, the God of Israel, who does not withdraw His help from us always, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. Third prayer to Blessed John, for Christ's sake, the holy fool, the Moscow wonderworker, Lord, Lover of Mankind, Heavenly King, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, for our sake, man and for our salvation, who came down from heaven and appeared on earth and lived with men! There is Thy greatness and ineffable mercy for the human race, which no tongue can utter, no lips can confess, below which hearts will be able to give thanks according to their inheritance, both relying on the indescribable mercy of Thy mercy, to Thy mercy, Master, we fall down and pray to Thee: Lord Almighty, Thou who art most merciful and merciful, grant us to glorify Thee with a cheerful mind all the days of our lives. And again, with all our hearts and tears, we ask You: O Master, Lord Jesus Christ, our God, hear us sinners praying to You, and have mercy on us, and give us Your holy and righteous saint John, whose many-healing powers You have preserved, glorify with all your heart and Call upon him for our help, diligently worship his holy image, and fall to his honest race with undoubted faith, and with his prayers grant untold miracles and many healings to those who pray to You. The same to you, O wonderful performer of miracles, holy saint, blessed John, we all unanimously ask: pray to Christ our God for the childlessness of children, and for all your servants, and have mercy on all who come to you with faith, and who pray to you with a tender soul and contrite heart, and those who zealously worship your holy image, and call upon you in sorrows and illnesses for help. Be a quick helper and a healer for us, grant us abundant health and unflagging help to all, be a strong intercessor for orphans and widows, and grant everyone the same petition for salvation, and save us all, and protect us from all evils and from all the slander of the enemy. You, having presented yourself to the Throne, Master, have the boldness to pray urgently for us, your sinful and unworthy servants, Christ our God, as to Him befits all glory, honor and worship with His Beginning Father and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-Giving Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.