Venerable Sergius of Radonezh Images for Necklace

Venerable Sergius of Radonezh - patron of the Russian army, one of the outstanding figures of Russian history and culture, who stood at the origins of the spiritual revival of Russia. Born in a pious and boyish family in Rostov, Bartholomew was baptized at the age of 23, he took monastic vows with the name Sergius and soon founded the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity in the north of the Moscow Principality, which was destined to become the spiritual center of the country.

The saint lived in the XIV century, when Rus was divided into specific princedoms and was under the Tatar-Mongol yoke. The Grand Duke Dimitri Ivanovich, nicknamed Donskoy, honored St. Sergius as a father and asked him for a blessing to fight the Tatar Khan Mamai. "Go, go boldly, Prince, and hope for the help of God," the holy elder said to him and gave him two of his monks as companions: Peresvet and Oslaby, who fell heroes in the Kulikovo battle. In the Battle of Kulikovo Field, the Russian army, in which assembled squads of several princes, defeated Mamai, initiating the unification of Rus and the weakening of the Tatar yoke. And the winner of the legendary battle Prince Dmitry got the nickname of Don.

St. Sergius of Radonezh was not only a great ascetic, a guardian of the land and glory of the Russian, but also a rehabilitator of monastic life in Moscow Rus after the ruin by the Mongols. They founded a large number of monasteries, the most famous of which is the Trinity-St. Sergius Lavra.

Information about the dates of the death of Sergei Radonezhsky diverge. According to some reports, he died in 1392, on the other - in 1397. The relics of Sergius were found in 1422, and the stone Trinity Cathedral was erected on the site of their burial.