Saints Cyril and Mary of Radonezh, parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Miracles through the prayers of St. Cyril and Mary

Russian Orthodoxy and the entire Russian World have to endure difficult trials - as if again the darkness of the earth has taken up arms against us.

Our faithful respond to challenges with spiritual deeds. On July 16, tens of thousands of pilgrims marched from the Pokrovsky Khotkov stauropegial monastery near Moscow to the Annunciation field of Sergiev Posad; His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia led the procession.

The distance is considerable - almost two dozen kilometers. What's the matter here? Why - Khotkovo?

Russian Orthodoxy remembers and honors not only its saints, but also their parents. It is very natural to understand from which apple tree such a valuable, healing apple had to be in our garden, and bow respectfully. It is always with joy to learn about the family in which this or that ascetic was born and brought up. Do you come to the place in Yuryev-Polsky, where the house stood in which the family lived and where the Monk Nikon of Radonezh, the second hegumen of Holy Trinity, a disciple of St. Sergius, was born, or do you freeze on a hill in Borovsk, in the cemetery chapel over the grave of John and Photinia, the parents of the Monk Pafnuty of Borovsky, or you think in Kursk about the courtyard through which they carried the sick Prokhor Moshnin, who later became the Sarov miracle worker Seraphim, but remember his parents Isidore and Agafya.

With special reverence, the Russian people treat the parents of one of the pillars of Russian Orthodoxy - St. Sergius of Radonezh, who instilled in Russia the amazing teaching about, nurtured a whole galaxy of holy ascetics, instructed the reverend icon painter Andrei Rublev to create the great icon "Holy Trinity", blessed for a sacrificial and important battle Holy Right-Believing Prince Demetrius of the Don.

And in 2012, the 675th anniversary of the repose of the holy couple was celebrated. By human standards, this is a huge period, but eternity, of course, has no time.

Such an offspring ... it was fitting to have saintly parents

Speaking of Cyril and Mary, Blessed Epiphanius, the author of the Life of Sergius, wrote: “The Lord, who deigned to shine in the Russian land to the great lamp, did not allow him to be born from unrighteous parents, for such an offspring, which, according to the dispensation of God, should later serve spiritual benefit and the salvation of many, it was fitting to have saintly parents, so that good things would come from good things and the best would be added to the best, so that the praise of both the one who was born and those themselves who gave birth to the glory of God would be mutually multiplied. And their righteousness was known not only to God, but also to people. Strict guardians of all church statutes, they also helped the poor; but they especially sacredly kept the commandment of the apostle: “Do not forget the love of hospitableness: for those who do not know the angels who are hospitable” (Heb. 13: 2).

For centuries, Cyril and Maria rested where they rested - in Radonezh, in Khotkovo.

Reference books claim that the Pokrovsky Khotkov Monastery, founded here in 1308, laid the foundation for the town of Khotkovo. It is believed that the settlement received its name from the name of the landowner Khotkov, to whom it belonged. Some derive the toponym from the ancient Slavic name Khot, or Khotk. The current Khotkovo is located on the Pazhe River, 60 km northeast of Moscow and 11 km southwest of Sergiev Posad, it is a railway station on the Moscow-Yaroslavl line.

This place is truly extraordinary. Nearby is the village of Radonezh, where the parents of Sergius of Radonezh lived, nearby -. It is not far from here on foot to Abramtsevo, which became famous already in the 19th century, glorified by the names of outstanding painters and other figures of Russian culture. After all, in Abramtsevo, among the local landscapes, the great M. Nesterov painted the famous painting “Vision to the youth Bartholomew” - about a miracle, as a result of which St. Sergius later grew out of the boy.

Picturesque here, gratifying, gracious. And can a place that gives birth to national spiritual nurturers be ungrateful?

Who were these people, Cyril and Maria? Lives will tell that they came from noble Rostov boyars and lived not far from Rostov the Great, in their estate. Kirill, who was in the service of the Rostov prince Konstantin II Borisovich, and then with Konstantin III Vasilyevich, more than once accompanied his leaders to the Golden Horde. He was quite comfortable, but did not disdain simple rural labors and worries.

Cyril and Maria already had a son, Stefan, the wife was expecting a second child, when the unheard of happened to her. During the liturgy, the child thrice - after the Trisagion Hymn (before the reading of the Holy Gospel), during the Cherubic Hymn and during the priestly exclamation “Let us hear! Holy to the Holy!” - loudly exclaimed in the womb. Yes, so that the parishioners heard! Accustomed to listening to signs, Maria understood what this instruction meant. Being a prayer book, she began to avoid meat, dairy food and even fish, ate only bread, vegetables and water.

The narrators of the life of the righteous Mary liken her to Saint Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, because together with her husband she made a vow: in the event of the birth of a boy, give him to the Church. And a second son was born. This truly cosmic event for Russia took place on May 3, 1314. And on the fortieth day, June 11, the baby was baptized by Bartholomew in honor of the heavenly namesake, the apostle, revered on that day. (The year of birth is now approved by the Church, while historians, including the old church ones, also named 1319 and 1322.)

Priest Michael, who named the baby, pointed out to parents examples from the Bible when the chosen ones of God, even from the womb of their mother, were destined for the service of God, in particular, the words of the Apostle Paul: tongue" (Gal. 1: 16) and others. The father predicted: "Rejoice and be glad, for this child will be the chosen vessel of God, the abode and servant of the Holy Trinity."

The mother immediately noticed: when she ate meat, the baby refused mother's milk, and on Wednesdays and Fridays she refused to eat at all. Bartholomew kept this fasting habit growing up, sometimes disturbing his mother.

Various disorders, and to the greatest extent, according to the Monk Epiphanius, “the great army, or the invasion of Turalykovo, in 1327”, had an extremely unfavorable effect on the material condition of Cyril and almost brought him to poverty, which caused the family to move from the Rostov principality to Moscow, in the village of Radonezh.

Due to Kirill's age, Stefan, who was already married, replaced him in the Moscow princely service. The third son of Cyril and Mary, Peter, has also already started his own family. Bartholomew, upon reaching the age of twenty, asked his parents for blessings for monasticism. Parents only asked him to wait for their death.

The spirit of monasticism insensitively communicated from the son to the parents

As Orthodox sources write sublimely and reverently, “the spirit of monasticism was insensitively communicated from the son to the parents: at the end of their mournful life, Cyril and Mary wished themselves, according to the pious custom of antiquity, to take on the angelic image.” That is, bowing to age, they first took monastic vows, and then the schema - in the Pokrovsky Khotkovsky monastery, which then had two departments - for elders and old women, located 3 miles from Radonezh. It is noteworthy that Stefan, who at the same time buried his wife Anna in the Khotkovsky Monastery, handed over two sons to bail to brother Peter and his wife Ekaterina, and also took monastic vows, began to look after his infirm parents. Subsequently, he chose hermitage and retired from the monastery.

The schemniki-boyars soon departed to the Lord, in 1337, before a blessed death, having blessed Bartholomew for monastic deed. The children buried them in the Intercession Monastery, which since that time has become the last shelter and burial place of the Sergius family.

And Bartholomew, having mourned his parents, took the tonsure and retired to the wilderness in a remote corner of the Radonezh land, on Makovets Hill, where he later founded the Trinity Monastery.

Already being hegumen, the Monk Sergius often came to the graves of his parents and, according to legend, bequeathed to those coming to him to first pray for his parents in Khotkovo. As if indicating a necessary spiritual connection. And so it happened: before going to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery, the pilgrims came to the Pokrovsky Khotkov Monastery, so that later "to appear to the blessed son from the grave dear to him, as if with parting words from the righteous parents themselves."

The intercession of Cyril and Mary was especially manifested during the pestilence of 1770-1771, the cholera epidemic in 1848 and 1871.

In the 19th century, veneration spread throughout Russia, although there were earlier reports of miracles associated with them. The chronicle of the monastery gives evidence of how a prayer appeal to St. Sergius and his parents saved people from serious illnesses. Their intercession was especially manifested during the terrible pestilence in 1770-1771, the cholera epidemic in 1848 and 1871. Thousands of people flocked to Khotkovo. At the tomb of the parents of the Reverend, the Psalter and the prayer to the holy schemamonk Cyril and schemamonk Mary were read vigilantly. They have been locally revered in the monastery since ancient times: already in the XIV century, in the facial life of St. Sergius, his parents are depicted with halos.

Photo07 - Cancer with the relics of St. Cyril and Mary in the Pokrovsky Cathedral of the Khotkov Monastery at the beginning of the 20th century.

The relics of Schemamonk Kirill and Schemanun Maria invariably rested in the Cathedral of the Intercession, even after its numerous rebuildings.

The relics were laid to rest in a crypt on the territory of the monastery, and without any signs or inscriptions on the crypt.

After the liquidation of the monastery in the godless times of the 20th century, the workers who were engaged in rebuilding it into warehouses and workshops allowed the believers to take the relics and even helped to open the floor of the church and take out the remains themselves. The relics were laid to rest in a crypt on the territory of the monastery, and without any signs or inscriptions on the crypt - only the direct participants in these events remembered the place.

Only in July 1981 was the celebration of the Cathedral of the Saints of Radonezh on July 6 (19), the day after the feast in honor of the finding of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh, established. Schemamonk Cyril and schema-nun Maria were also glorified in the Cathedral of the Radonezh Saints.

In 1989, the Intercession Church of the former Khotkov Monastery was returned to the Church, and in the same year, on the feast day of St. Sergius, the relics of his righteous parents were transferred here.

Khotkovsky convent in honor of godless times was opened in 1992. In the same year, when the 600th anniversary of the death of St. Sergius was celebrated, the Church-wide glorification of St. Cyril and Mary, the parents of the great lamp of the Russian land, who gave the world an example of holiness and Christian family dispensation, took place.

The memory of Saints Cyril and Mary is celebrated on September 28, January 18 (old style), July 6 (Cathedral of the Radonezh Saints), and also on Thursday of the Week of the publican and the Pharisee, the day after the memory of the uncovering of the relics of St. Sergius, hegumen of Radonezh.

Prayer to Saints Cyril and Mary
parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh

Saints Cyril and Mary, parents of Saint Sergius of Radonezh
(Commemorated January 31, October 11)

Your eternal memory, blessings to Cyril and Mary, as if in kind and kind, by your faithful life, people learn to improve salvation. Sedalen, voice 1

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

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

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

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

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

That is, they were both literate and educated. The mother of the monk "ardently fasted and prayed, so that the very conception and birth of a child took place during fasting and prayer." And “she was virtuous and God-fearing… she consulted with her husband” regarding the “consecration” of this particular, middle, son to God.

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

What is it, child, “such”, Epiphanius, perhaps due to the genre of hagiography, quiveringly added. One thing is certain: rejoicing at the birth of all children was a familiar and pleasant thing. As well as teaching the youths to read and write or peasant work (This is discussed in detail already in the "Life" of the monk).

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

They usually “consider” when they bathe, swaddle. Interesting that they did it on their own. The hagiographer does not mention either healers or “grandmothers”. All were able to. Epiphany emphasizes: Cyril, although from the boyars, did not disdain agricultural labor.

Boris Zaitsev begins his essay on the monk (Paris, 1924) cautiously: “Sergius’s childhood in the parental home is in a fog for us ... a certain spirit can be caught from Epiphany’s messages.”

The parents of the monk can be imagined as respectable and just people, religious in a high degree. It is known that they were "strange-loving". They accepted all sorts of “pilgrimage travelers” and by the second half of their lives they themselves became “wanderers”, that is, immigrants, or, as they say now, refugees. What happened?

Boris Zaitsev writes: “Kirill and Maria were hit by a double whammy. On the one hand, the state stinged (i.e., it forced Kirill to pay for the trips of the Rostov princes Konstantin II Borisovich and Konstantin III Vasilyevich to the Horde and contribute a lot of money - ed.), On the other hand, it attacked the Muscovites Vasily Kochev and Mina: “The people grumbled, worried, complained. They said ... that Moscow was tyrannizing ... In his old age, Kirill was ruined and was forced to leave the Rostov region.

In those same decades, Moscow would betray St. Michael of Tver and allow Tver to be destroyed. "Gathering the Russian land" was paid for by Russian lives and destinies.

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

If we reduce to a minimum all the hagiographer’s half-spokenness, Zaitsev’s patriotic maxims (“Moscow unshakably rose above the specific confusion”), then the “Radonezh resettlement” of the family is nothing more than an escape, leaving the homeland for the sake of preserving family freedom and the integrity of the hearth.

The feat, the Christian virtue of Cyril and Mary is not in the fact that they were “pious”, “hospitable” and literate, but in the fact that they saved their children from the burning breath of that monster that is ready to consider the family a “small Church”, but only as "your cell".

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

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

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

The monastic choice of the parents of St. Sergius is of particular interest. The researchers simply report: "...there was then a mixed monastery in Khotkovo, where Cyril and Maria became monks." There were, of course, other monasteries, but the XIV century Khotkovo Monastery resembles the medieval Celtic monasteries of Ireland.

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

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

Archpriest Alexander Shabanov

While venerating Orthodox saints, we do not always think about their parents, and often do not even know them. But there are cases when the parents of revered saints show no less virtue and give help. So, the prayer to Cyril and Mary of Radonezh, the parents of Sergius of Radonezh helps in family and home affairs, as well as in marriage.

History of Cyril and Mary of Radonezh

Before taking monastic vows, the Monk Kirill served with the princes of Rostov. Their family was wealthy, but despite this, he and his wife led a simple life, helped those in need, and did not refuse travelers shelter. They raised their children in piety and love for God.

The sign of their son as the Chosen One of God came to them even before he was born.

How do the prayers of the reverend help?

Years later, Cyril and Mary first accepted monasticism, then the schema. The Monks Schemamonk Cyril and Schemanun Maria died in 1337. Their relics have since rested in the Intercession Cathedral. Sergius of Radonezh is said to have pointed out:

Before going to him, pray for the repose of his parents over their coffin.

Therefore, many believers consider it their duty to pray near the relics of his parents and honor their memory.

The prayer to Cyril and Mary of Radonezh is addressed in the following cases:

• request for assistance in raising children;
• a request for the granting of family well-being.

Prayer to St. Cyril and Mary, parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh

O servant of God, schemamonk Kirill and schemamonun Mary! Listen to our humble prayer. Even if your temporary life has ended naturally, but you do not depart from us in spirit, perpetually, according to the commandment of the Lord, teach us to walk and patiently wear your cross helping us. Behold, together with our reverend and God-bearing father Sergius, your beloved son, boldness towards Christ God and towards His Most Pure Mother naturally acquired. The same and now wake up prayer books and intercessors for us, unworthy servants of God (names). Wake us the intercessors of the fortress, but by faith we will save you by your intercession, we will remain unharmed from demons and from evil people, glorifying the Holy Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer for the Gift of Christian Marriage

Prayer to St. Cyril and Mary of Radonezh will help to find family happiness and well-being. Girls resort to this prayer when they ask the Lord to send them a spouse.

O blessed pair, truly the adornment of the Russian land, the holy reverend Cyril and the holy reverend Mary; the image of a Christian marriage reveal the Lord your glorious life; gloriously, you have lived naturally in the years of hardship for the earth and our people, and all the sorrows and temptations of this world have been overcome by one flesh - for this sake, the Lord glorify you and your marriage. The same humbly I beseech you, falling before your holy image: implore the Lord to send me a Christian spouse (Christian wife). For the news, as if it were good for a man to be alone: ​​may the Lord straighten my paths. Hey, intercessor blessings for us before God, ask me for humility of wisdom, meekness and Christian reasoning. Help me cleanse my heart of passions. You are a teacher and an image of a pure life, and you are an intercessor for us according to God forever and ever. Amen.

Troparion to St. Cyril and Mary of Radonezh, tone 3

Communion of the Beatitudes of Christ, an honest marriage and care for children, a good image, the righteous Cyril and Mary, the fruit of piety, the Monk Sergius, who showed us, with him fervently pray to the Lord to send down to us the spirit of love and humility of wisdom, and in peace and like-mindedness let us glorify the Trinity of consubstantiality.

Kontakion to St. Cyril and Mary of Radonezh, tone 4

Today, the faithful, having come together, let us praise the blessed couple, the faithful Cyril and the good-natured Mary, they pray together with their beloved son, the Monk Sergius, to the One in the Holy Trinity God, affirm our Fatherland in orthodoxy, protect the houses of the world, young from misfortunes and temptations deliver, strengthen old age and save our souls.

Saints Cyril and Mary- Parents of St. Sergius Abbot of Radonezh. Days of Remembrance - January 31; June 5 - Cathedral of the Rostov-Yaroslavl Saints; July 19 - Cathedral of the Radonezh Saints; October 11.

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

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

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

The Monk Kirill was in the service, first of the Rostov prince Konstantin II Borisovich, and then of Konstantin III Vasilyevich, whom he, as one of the people closest to them, more than once accompanied to the Golden Horde. St. Cyril possessed a wealth sufficient for his position, but due to the simplicity of the customs of that time, living in the countryside, he did not neglect the usual rural labors.

In contact with

Not far from Rostov the Great, on the banks of the Ishni River, there was the estate of the noble Rostov boyars Cyril and Maria. Cyril was in the service of the Rostov princes, owned a sufficient fortune for his position, but, living in the countryside, did not neglect the usual rural labors. Severe hunger and the Mongol-Tatar invasion brought the Rostov boyar to poverty. It is possible that the willful Moscow governors, who were in charge in Rostov, ordered him to leave the city, and then the family settled in the village of Radonezh near the Church of the Nativity of Christ.

Cyril and Maria were kind and charitable people: they helped the poor and the sick, they received wanderers. The couple already had a son, Stephen, when God gave them another son - the future founder of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, St. Sergius. Long before his birth, the Providence of God gave a sign about him as a great chosen one of God. Once, when Mary, pregnant with him, was in church, the child, to the great amazement of all those present, exclaimed three times with a loud voice in the mother's womb during the liturgy.

After that, Mary began to especially monitor her spiritual state, remembering that she was carrying a baby in her womb, who was destined to be the chosen vessel of the Holy Spirit. She vomited herself from all filth and impurity, protected herself by fasting, avoided meat, milk and fish, ate only bread, vegetables, and water. She also abstained from wine, drinking only water instead of various drinks, and that little by little. Often secretly alone, sighing with tears, Mary prayed to God for the preservation of herself and the baby.

And so the righteous Mary, like Saint Anna, the mother of the prophet Samuel, together with her husband made a promise: if a boy is born to them, they will bring him to church and give him to God. This meant that they would do everything so that the will of God would be fulfilled on their future child, God's predestination would be fulfilled about him, to which they already had some indication.

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

Parents began to notice something special in the behavior of the baby: if the mother ate meat food, the baby did not drink mother's milk. On Wednesdays and Fridays he went without food at all. Tempered by fasting in the womb, the baby even by birth seemed to demand fasting from his mother. And she began to observe the fast more strictly: she completely left meat food, and the baby, except for Wednesday and Friday, always ate her milk after that.

Growing up, Bartholomew, as in the first days of his life, on Wednesdays and Fridays did not eat any food, and on the rest he kept abstinence. Maria feared that a harsh lifestyle could damage his health and urged her son to reduce the severity of fasting. However, the son asked not to deviate from abstinence, and the mother no longer interfered.

When Bartholomew was 15 years old, his parents moved from the Rostov Principality to the Moscow Principality - to the city of Radonezh. According to the custom of that time, Kirill was supposed to receive an estate, but due to old age he could no longer serve the Moscow prince, and his eldest son Stefan, who was already married by that time, assumed this responsibility. The youngest of the sons of Cyril and Mary, Peter, also married, but Bartholomew continued his exploits in Radonezh. When he was about twenty years old, he asked his parents for blessings for monasticism. Cyril and Maria did not object, but asked to wait only until their death: with the departure, they would lose their last support, since the two older brothers were already married and lived separately. The blessed son obeyed and did everything to calm the old age of his parents, who did not force him to marry.

At that time in Russia, the custom was widespread to accept monasticism under old age. So did the simpletons, princes and boyars. According to this pious custom, Cyril and Mary, at the end of their lives, also received first monastic vows, and then the schema in the Khotkovo Intercession Monastery, which was located three miles from Radonezh and was at that time both male and female. Worried by illnesses, sorrows and old age, hermits-boyars did not work long in the new rank. In 1337 they went to the Lord in peace. Before their blessed death, they blessed Bartholomew for the monastic deed. The children buried them under the shadow of the Intercession Monastery, which since that time has become the last shelter and burial place of the Sergius family.

The chronicle of the Khotkovsky Intercession Monastery provides evidence of how a prayer appeal to St. Sergius and his parents saved people from serious illnesses. Their intercession was especially manifested during national disasters - a terrible pestilence of 1770-1771, cholera epidemics in 1848 and 1871. Thousands of people flocked to Khotkovo. At the tomb of the parents of the monk, the Psalter and the prayer to the holy schema-monk Cyril and schema-nun Mary were read vigilantly. At the same time, they were already locally revered in the monastery. And each time, many people were saved from destructive diseases.

The relics of Schemamonk Kirill and Schemanun Maria invariably rested in the Cathedral of the Intercession, even after its numerous rebuildings. Already in the XIV century, in the facial life of St. Sergius, his parents are depicted with halos. According to legend, St. Sergius bequeathed - "before going to him, pray for the repose of his parents over their coffin." And so it happened - pilgrims going on a pilgrimage to the Trinity Lavra first visited the Khotkovo monastery, wanting to "bow at the grave of his righteous parents in order to appear to the blessed son from the grave dear to him, as if with parting words from the righteous parents themselves." Also, according to legend, St. Sergius often went to the grave of his parents from his Lavra.

In the 19th century, the veneration of Saints Cyril and Mary spread throughout Russia, as evidenced by the Menologions of that time.

After 1917, the Khotkovsky Monastery was liquidated. In July 1981, the celebration of the Cathedral of the Saints of Radonezh was established on July 6 (19), the day after the feast in honor of the uncovering of the relics of St. Sergius of Radonezh. Schemamonks Cyril and Maria were glorified in the Cathedral of the Radonezh Saints.

In 1989, in the Intercession Church of the former Khotkovo Monastery, returned to the Russian Orthodox Church, the candle of church prayer to St. Sergius and his parents lit up again. In the same year, on the feast day of St. Sergius, the relics of his righteous parents were transferred to the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. The celebration of the memory of Saints Cyril and Mary resumed on September 28 (October 11) and January 18 (31). Faith in the intercession of the saints was strengthened after numerous healings performed at the tomb.

In 1992, the Khotkovsky convent was opened in honor of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos. In the same year, when the 600th anniversary of the death of St. Sergius was celebrated, the Church-wide glorification of St. Cyril and Mary took place, crowning the six-century veneration of the parents of the great lamp of the Russian land, who gave the world an example of holiness and the Christian dispensation of the family.

Prayer to St. Cyril and Mary, parents of St. Sergius of Radonezh