People who took such a difficult path seemed crazy, ignored all the benefits, and meekly destroyed a hail of endless barbs, disrespectful treatment, and various punishments.
Allegorically speaking, they tried to find their way to human hearts and souls, spreading ideas kindness and compassion, deception and bias were condemned.
Not all people managed to pacify the seeds of pride, ignore bodily needs, or become nobler in spirit than others. One of these is Blessed Basil - a glorious and revered holy fool.
Birth and youth
The course of his existence is amazing (from the very beginning). December 1469(according to other sources – 1464). Steps onto the church porch Serf Anna(Epiphany Cathedral in the village of Elohovo). She came to pray for an easy birth.
The sounds of her prayer were heard by the Virgin Mary. There, Anna gave birth to a boy, they named him Vasily (named Vasily Naga). A crystal soul and an open heart are what he came into the world with.
His father and mother were serfs. They were pious, revered Christ, based their existence according to his commandments. From an early age, they instilled in their son a courteous and reverent attitude towards God. Vasily grew up, and, wishing a good and better son, his father and mother decided to take him to shoe business.
Working as an apprentice
The young student stood out for his diligence and humility. His master would never have understood what an unusual person Vasily was if not for one unexpected incident.
A merchant stepped onto the threshold. A man approached a shoemaker with a request to sell him good boots that would last for many years. Vasily, shedding tears, said that a person does not need boots, since he will die tomorrow and it happened exactly as Vasily said.
Road to Moscow
Because of this incident, Vasily decided to say goodbye to the shoe business and put his life on the thorny road of stupidity. Until his death he lived at no cost, uninsured from mockery and insults, having only an invisible guardian - faith and unshakable love for the Lord.
He left his parents and went to the capital. At first, people reacted with amazement and caustics to the wonderful naked guy. But soon the townspeople recognized him as a man of God, a fool for Christ's sake.
What was he like
Saint Basil (also known as Basil the Blessed, Basil the Fool, Wonderworker of Moscow or Blessed Basil of Moscow, Fool for Christ) – Russian Orthodox saint, known as the "fool" or "holy fool" of Jesus Christ. He was officially canonized approximately in 1580.
St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow is named after the saint. Originally a shoemaker's apprentice in Moscow, he accepted eccentric lifestyle, but helped those in need. It is believed that he had the gift of clairvoyance.
He lived on Red Square itself when this place served as the main market of Moscow. One day Saint Basil threw out the baker's bread, and the man had to admit that he was adding lime to the flour. In 1547, Saint Basil came to the central cathedral in Moscow and began to pray tearfully.
The next day the Great Moscow Fire occurred, and it started in the church exactly where the saint prayed.
They also talk about other miracles of St. Basil. Once a merchant consulted with him: the church vaults he was erecting, for three unknown reasons, collapsed. The holy fool advised him to find a poor man (Ivan in Kyiv).
Following the recommendation, the merchant found the lad in a poor house (he was finishing an empty cradle). The merchant asked what this meant. The poor man explained that this was how he decided to show respect to his mother. The unfortunate “architect” understood why the Wonderworker sent him here.
In fact, even earlier he kicked his mother out of the house. Not regretting what he did, he wanted to praise the Almighty for the built temple. The creator refused to accept the gift from the man who was not a good soul. Blessed Vasily helped this man: he repented, reconciled with his mother, and she forgave him.
Holy Elder remained naked and dragged heavy chains behind him. He reproached Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention to the church, and especially for his cruel attitude towards the innocent.
Presented himself to the Lord
When St. Basil died ( August 2, 1552 or 1557), Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow served at his funeral with many representatives of the clergy. Ivan the Terrible himself behaved like a friend of the Wonderworker and carried his coffin to the cemetery.
The elder was buried in St. Basil's Cathedral (in Moscow), which was ordered for construction by Ivan IV (in memory of the capture of the Kazan Khanate). The cathedral is also famous as the “Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat.” In 1588, Fyodor Ivanovich added a chapel over the grave of St. Basil on the eastern side.
Icon of St. Basil the Blessed. The middle part is the 16th century, the scenes of life are from the end of the 19th century. Intercession Cathedral on Red Square. Image from varvar.ru
One of the most famous Moscow holy fools is St. Basil the Blessed. In Rus', they have always revered the holy fools for Christ's sake - people who lived in the world according to the law of the gospel spirit, and with their lives aggravated to the limit the contradiction between the everyday and the heavenly, which is why their life sometimes seemed like madness. Disdaining external “decency,” they often pretended to be “fools” themselves in order to hide their holiness and insight and expose the world in spiritual dormancy. The right to reprove the saints was given by dispassion and a pure heart.
An infantile teenager or an exposer of lies?
There are so many cases now where sixteen-year-old teenagers mindlessly break car windows, damage things, and try to “express themselves” through provocative clothing and hairstyles.
At first glance, Saint Basil, at 16, sometimes seemed like young infantiles: he walked around informally dressed in rags and chains (or undressed), acted outrageously in public places - throwing rolls from the counters at the market, pouring kvass from the jugs of traders.
The sellers' response was not late: in a rage, they beat the blessed one with anything they could find, mistaking him for a madman. But later it turned out that the products that the saint knocked over were unfit for consumption: spoiled, or even poisoned.
And the merchants understood that this was not a fool, but a real holy fool, a saint, who hides his help behind ugliness, protects them from disrepute, and takes beatings himself.
If a good deed doesn't work
Icon of St. Basil the Blessed. Late 16th - early 17th century. Image from varvar.ru
One merchant was unable to build a temple: as soon as the skilled craftsmen installed the stone vaults, the structure fell to the ground with a roar. This happened three times. A confused merchant came to St. Basil the Blessed for help: a good deed, skilled craftsmen, but things are not going well. Why?
The blessed one sent the merchant to Kyiv, telling him to find poor John there and ask him for advice. Of course, he could have answered the merchant himself, but the blessed often hid their insight in order to avoid fame and pride. The merchant immediately went to the indicated place, and when he went to John’s house, he saw the following picture: a poor man was sitting in his hut and rocking a cradle in which there was no child.
The merchant asked John why he was doing this. In response I heard: “I am supporting my mother, I am paying off the unpaid debt for my birth and upbringing.” At that moment the merchant realized:
he could not build the temple because he kicked his mother out of the house.
Having returned, the merchant first asked for forgiveness from his mother and returned her to his home. After this the temple was built.
A crafty spirit disguised as a beggar
A modern icon of St. Basil with scenes from his life. Image from sophia.net
St. Basil taught people not to do good formally, much less selfishly. The person’s heart was open to him, and he knew that often a person giving alms thinks something like this: “I will help this poor man, and the Lord will send me success in business for this.” Denouncing such “mercy”, St. Basil said that the evil spirit specifically takes on the appearance of a beggar: when someone gave him money, he immediately settled his everyday issues, thus pushing the person to goodness in the spirit of “you - me, I - you". True mercy is selfless and compassionate, said the saint.
The blessed one himself first of all helped those who did not ask for help, although they needed it.
For example, there was one merchant who for three days did not have even a crumb of bread in his mouth, but did not dare to ask for alms, since he was richly dressed. The saint gave him expensive royal gifts, which he himself had recently received.
With affection and prayer
Moscow wonderworker Blessed Basil. Artist Vitaly Grafov, 2005. Image from bankgorodov.ru
How often can you hear sharp words of condemnation addressed to those people who have lost their way in life: this guy like that, drinks, doesn’t work, just sits in front of the computer... But anger and condemnation cannot correct human vices...
The blessed one often approached taverns, where he spoke kindly with those who had “descended” and tried to instill hope in them.
And it helped many people return to normal life. Of course, behind the saint’s affection was his fiery prayer, which quickly reached God.
And if a saint happened to pass near a house from which the sounds of drunken festivities and abuse were heard, he hugged the corner of this house and cried. When the blessed one was asked to explain why he hugged the corners of taverns, he said: “Sorrowful angels stand at the house and lament over human sins, and with tears I begged them to pray to the Lord for the conversion of sinners.”
I put out fires with love
Basil the Blessed. Book miniature, 19th century. Image from varvar.ru
One day, Ivan the Terrible invited the blessed one to the royal chambers for a conversation. As a sign of respect, a cup of wine was brought to the blessed one. The blessed one poured it out. They brought it up again and poured it out again, and so on three times. Tsar John Vasilyevich was angry. And Vasily said that this is how he puts out the Novgorod fire.
Soon the king's messengers confirmed the words of the blessed one: according to the testimony of the Novgorodians, during the fire they saw everywhere a naked man with a water-carrier, dousing the flames, causing the fire to stop. The miraculous extinguishing of the terrible Moscow fire in 1547 by Saint Basil is also known.
St. Basil reposed on August 2 (according to the new article - 15) 1552. His burial was headed by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow himself. The relics of the blessed one were initially placed in the Church of the Holy Trinity (on the Moat).
During the reign of Ivan the Terrible's son Fyodor Ioanovich, chronicles write about many miracles that occurred from the relics of St. Basil.
In the 1560s, on the site of the Holy Trinity Church, the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Moat was built. One of the chapels was erected over the grave of St. Basil the Blessed, and since then the cathedral has not been called anything other than by his name among the people.
St. Basil the Blessed(1469, the village of Elokhovo near Moscow - August 2, 1552, Moscow) - Russian saint, holy fool: sometimes he is called “Vasily Nagoy”.
St. Basil the Blessed is the Moscow holy fool. He was born in December 1469 in the village of Elokhovo (now within the city limits of Moscow), on the porch where his mother came to pray for a “safe resolution.”
His parents, peasants, sent him to study shoemaking. A hardworking and God-fearing young man, the life tells, Vasily was awarded the gift of insight, which was discovered by chance. After sixteen years and until his death, he performed the feat of foolishness, without shelter and clothing, exposing himself to great hardships. The life of the Blessed One describes how he taught the people moral life both by word and example. He went without clothes all year round, slept in the open air, constantly fasted, and endured hardships.
He constantly exposed lies and hypocrisy. Contemporaries noted that this was almost the only person whom Tsar Ivan the Terrible was afraid of. Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible honored and feared the Blessed One, “as a seer of human hearts and thoughts.” When, shortly before his death, Vasily fell into a serious illness, the Tsar himself visited him with Tsarina Anastasia.
Saint Basil died on August 2, 1552 (sometimes the year 1551 is also mentioned). Ivan the Terrible and the boyars carried his coffin, and Metropolitan Macarius performed the burial.
Vasily's body was buried in the cemetery of the Trinity Church in the Moat. Since 1588, they began to talk about miracles occurring at the tomb of Blessed Basil; As a result, Patriarch Job determined to celebrate the memory of the miracle worker on the day of his death, August 2.
Miracles
Many miracles are attributed to St. Basil, both during his life and after his death.
- A man came to Vasily’s owner to order boots and asked to make ones that he would not wear until his death. Vasily laughed and cried. After the merchant left, the boy explained his behavior to the master by saying that the merchant was ordering boots that he could not wear, since he would soon die, which came true.
- One day, thieves, noticing that the saint was dressed in a good fur coat, given to him by some boyar, decided to deceive it from him; one of them pretended to be dead, and the others asked Vasily for burial. Vasily seemed to cover the dead man with his fur coat, but seeing the deception, he said: “Fox fur coat, cunning, cover up the fox’s deed, cunning. May you be dead from now on for wickedness, for it is written: Let the wicked be consumed.” When the dashing people took off his fur coat, they saw that their friend was already dead.
- One day, Blessed Basil scattered rolls of bread from a baker at the market, and he admitted that he had mixed chalk and lime into the flour.
- The Degree Book tells that in the summer of 1547 Vasily came to the Ascension Monastery on Ostrog (now Vozdvizhenka) and prayed for a long time in front of the church with tears. The next day, the famous Moscow fire began, precisely from the Vozdvizhensky Monastery.
- While in Moscow, the saint saw a fire in Novgorod, which he put out with three glasses of wine.
- With a stone he smashed the image of the Mother of God on the Varvarinsky Gate, which had long been considered miraculous. A crowd of pilgrims, flocking from all over Rus' for the purpose of healing, attacked him and began to beat him to death. The holy fool said: “And you will scratch the paint layer!” Having removed the paint layer, people saw that under the image of the Mother of God there was a “devilish mug”.
St. Basil's Cathedral
The Moscow Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the Moat, began to be built in 1555 by order of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in memory of the capture of Kazan. After the canonization of the saint, by order of Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich in 1588, a church in honor of St. Basil was added to the Intercession Church - above the burial of Vasily, as a stylized inscription on the wall of this church tells. Today the entire cathedral is better known as St. Basil's Cathedral.
The memory of St. Basil in Moscow was celebrated with great solemnity: the patriarch himself served and the tsar himself was usually present at the service.
Blessed Basil - quotes
The great unrest will continue in the kingdom for a long time until it is stopped by a great warrior called by all our people... 
Fools... People who embarked on this difficult path deliberately presented themselves as insane, neglected all worldly blessings, humbly endured a hail of endless ridicule, contemptuous attitude, and various punishments from those around them. Using an allegorical form, they tried to find a way to people's hearts and souls, preached the ideas of goodness and mercy, exposed deception and injustice. Not everyone was able to suppress the beginnings of pride, ignore the needs of the body, and become spiritually superior to those around them. One of those who managed to do this is Blessed Basil, the most famous and revered holy fool. Our material is about him.
Saint Basil: life
His life journey is amazing from day one. December 1469. Dates vary, and some sources give 1464. A simple woman named Anna appears on the porch (Epiphany Cathedral in the village of Elohovo). She came here with prayers for the safe birth of the child. The woman’s words were heard by the Mother of God. And in the same place, Anna gave birth to a boy who received the name Vasily (Vasily Nagoy - that’s what they also call him). A pure soul and an open heart are what he came into the world with.
His parents, from among simple peasants, were distinguished by their piety, revered Christ, and built their lives according to his commandments. From an early age, they sought to instill in their son a respectful and reverent attitude towards God. Blessed Vasily was growing up, and, dreaming of a good life for his son, his father and mother decided to introduce him to shoemaking.
Work as an apprentice
The young apprentice was distinguished by his hard work and obedience. He would have worked for so long if not for one amazing incident, after which his master realized what an extraordinary person Vasily was. One day a merchant appeared in the workshop with a request to make such boots that they would not need to be demolished for a whole year. Blessed Vasily, shedding tears, promised him shoes that he would never wear out. The student later explained to the bewildered master that the customer would not even be able to put on the ordered pair; he would soon die. Very little time passed and these words came true.
The way to Moscow
After this incident, Vasily decided to part with shoemaking and spend his life following the thorny path of foolishness. Until his death, he lived without any savings, unprotected from ridicule or insults, having only an invisible amulet - faith and all-encompassing love for God. All his clothes were chains.
Vasily, leaving his parents, went to Moscow. At first, the people perceived the strange naked guy with surprise and ridicule. But soon Muscovites recognized him as a man of God, a holy fool for Christ’s sake.
Saint Basil: miracles
People, usually not understanding his strange actions, became angry. Only later did their secret meaning become clear. Once, having deliberately scattered the rolls at one of the merchants, Vasily meekly endured the curses and beatings rained down on him. Later, the unlucky kalachnik confessed to adding lime and chalk to the dough.
Other miracles of St. Basil's are also known. One day a merchant approached him: the vaults of the church he was building had collapsed three times for unknown reasons. The Moscow holy fool advised him to find poor Ivan in Kyiv. Having done this, the merchant found a man in a poor house rocking an empty cradle. The merchant asked what this meant. The poor man explained that in this way he decided to pay tribute to his mother. It became clear to the unsuccessful “builder” why Vasily sent him here. After all, even earlier he drove his mother out of his home. Without repenting of what he had done, he dreamed of glorifying the Almighty with the built temple. The Lord refused to accept a gift from a person who was low in soul. Blessed Vasily was able to help this man: he repented, made peace with his mother, and the woman forgave him. Then the construction of God's temple was successfully completed.
Further manifestation of the gift
St. Basil, whose short biography has reached us, always abstained from pleasures, humbly endured the hardships of his existence, lived on the street among a large number of people, and patiently endured all hardships. At the same time, his soul remained innocent and bright. Over time, his gift manifested itself with increasing power.
With the help of the Almighty, Blessed Basil, the Moscow miracle worker, was able to predict the invasion of Moscow. The situation was like this: he, as usual, was praying at night, when a sign appeared - flames that burst out of the church windows. Vasily’s prayers became more zealous. Gradually the fire died out. Some time after this incident, the Crimean Tatars attacked the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery and the villages nearby; they were plundered and burned, but Moscow remained untouched.
The next wonderful event. 1543 July. St. Basil is again visited by a vision that predicted a strong fire: a number of streets were burned out, the disaster affected the Holy Cross Monastery, the Tsar's and Metropolitan's courtyards.
One winter day, one boyar managed to persuade the holy fool to accept a gift from him - a fur coat. After much protest, Vasily agreed. Walking in this fur coat, he met a gang of thieves. Those, fearing to take away their clothes by force, were not too lazy to put on a real performance in front of the revered holy fool. One pretended to be dead, others began to beg for a fur coat, supposedly to cover their dead friend. The holy fool, covering the pretender, asked if he was really dead. The thieves assured him of the veracity of what had happened. St. Basil's wish in response to their response was to punish hypocrisy. After he left, the thieves literally froze - their comrade no longer needed to pretend, he actually died.
All his life the holy fool helped people and sympathized with them. Moreover, absolutely everyone. Especially those who were ashamed to ask for help. So, he gave the gifts he received from the king to a foreign merchant. He lost money and went hungry for more than one day. He did not ask for help - he was ashamed of his rich clothes.
Vasily was a frequent visitor to Kitay-Gorod. He went to the correctional prison for drunkards located there. Encouraging words and exhortations are what he used to help depressed people return to a normal lifestyle.
The attitude of Ivan the Terrible to the holy fool
St. Basil, whose life we continue to consider, lived under two autocrats. Reverence and fear - these were the feelings with which one of them, Ivan the Terrible, treated him. The man of God, whom he saw in the holy fool, was for the king a constant reminder of the need to live fairly and not skimp on good deeds and deeds.
Having encountered several cases, Ivan the Terrible became convinced that we were actually talking about a pious holy fool, detached from worldly affairs. One day, St. Basil the Blessed was invited by the Tsar to a feast. The Emperor became angry when, before his eyes, the holy fool threw out the wine served to him three times. Ivan the Terrible until then doubted the holy fool's explanation of the extinguished fire in Veliky Novgorod, until a messenger appeared from the city. He brought news of the incident and that a naked man had intervened and lit the fire. The Novgorodians who came to Moscow were recognized as holy fools by that same man.
Having conceived the construction of a palace on the Sparrow Hills, the king only thought about this. Finding himself at a church holiday service, he behaved just as thoughtfully and inattentively to what was happening around him. The Tsar simply did not notice St. Basil, who was there, being immersed in his own thoughts. At the end of the service, Grozny began to blame the holy fool for his absence from the temple. To these words, St. Basil rebuked the king, answering that his body was in service, and his soul hovered near the palace being built. From then on, Ivan the Terrible developed even more respect and fear for the holy fool. When the latter fell ill from a serious illness, the king came to visit him.
The end of St. Basil's journey
Despite the fact that his life was full of hardships, Vasily lived to be almost ninety years old. He made another prediction to the Tsar and his family who came to visit him: the Tsar’s son Fedor would in the future become the ruler of Rus'. And he was not mistaken in this either. After all, we all know that the angry Tsar himself raised his hand against Ivan (his eldest son).
The date of death of St. Basil is August 2, 1557 (in the new style it is August 15). The Tsar and the boyars carried the coffin with the body of the holy fool. The funeral and burial ceremony was conducted by Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow and All Rus'. When the burial took place, many patients recovered. The cemetery of the Trinity Church (in the Moat near the Kremlin) was chosen as the burial place. A little later, the Intercession Cathedral was erected here. A chapel was built in it in honor of the holy fool. He was revered with such strength that from that time on, one common name was assigned to the Trinity Church and the Intercession Cathedral - St. Basil's Cathedral. Moreover, its history is interesting not only by its name.
St. Basil's Cathedral: a combination of different styles
This temple combines Gothic and Oriental architecture. Its unprecedented beauty gave rise to a real legend: supposedly, on the orders of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the architect’s eyes were gouged out so that he could no longer build similar structures.
They tried to destroy the temple more than once. But somehow miraculously he continues to rise in his place. In 1812, during his escape from the capital, Napoleon gave the order to destroy the Intercession Cathedral along with the Kremlin. But the hurrying French were unable to cope with the required number of mines. The Intercession Cathedral turned out to be unharmed, since the wicks they lit went out during the rain.
In the post-revolutionary years, the cathedral also avoided demolition. Its last rector, Archpriest Ioann Vostorgov, was shot in 1919, and in 1929 St. Basil's Cathedral was completely closed, its bells were melted down. In the 30s, Lazar Kaganovich, who succeeded in destroying many Moscow churches, proposed to demolish the Intercession Cathedral. He put forward a compelling reason: supposedly this would free up space for ceremonial parades and demonstrations.
There is a legend that he made a model of Red Square with a removable Intercession Cathedral. He came to Stalin with his creation. Convinced that the temple was a hindrance, he suddenly tore down its places for the leader. At the same time, the stunned Stalin burst out with the historical phrase: “Lazarus, put him in his place!” The famous restorer P.D. Baranovsky sent telegrams addressed to Stalin with an appeal to save the temple. They said that Baranovsky, who was invited to the Kremlin to solve this problem, did not hesitate to kneel before members of the Central Committee and begged to preserve the temple. They listened to him. St. Basil's Cathedral (the story could have ended there) was left alone. Only later was Baranovsky sentenced to an impressive sentence.
St. Basil's Memorial Day
After Vasily's death, miraculous phenomena did not stop. We wrote above that people encountered them near the coffin. For this reason, in 1588 (this is the time when Fyodor Ivanovich reigned), the Moscow Patriarch Job canonized the saint. The day of his memory was also established - August 2 (the day of his death). Until 1917, Vasily's Memorial Day was always celebrated solemnly. The presence of the emperor with his loved ones was common. The service was conducted by the patriarch. The highest clergy were present, as well as residents of Moscow, who sacredly revered the miracle worker.
Let's digress a little and remember another story. St. Basil, whose prophecies have reached our time, once did not behave in the best way towards the image of the Mother of God. Taking a stone, he broke it. Miraculous properties were attributed to this image. Unable to bear it, the pilgrims beat Vasily. He endured everything meekly. And then he gave advice to remove one of the layers of paint from the image. They listened to it, and it turned out that a devilish image was hidden under it.
Icons of the holy saint
A wealthy Muscovite who became blind at the age of twelve (her name was Anna) knew that blind people who prayed to Vasily received their sight. She found an icon painter and turned to him with an order: the woman wanted an icon of St. Basil to be painted. This icon was given by Anna to the temple. It is known for sure that this was St. Basil's Cathedral. The story doesn't end there. Every day she came there to pray. According to legend, after some time, Anna experienced a complete recovery: her vision returned.
In early works, Vasily was presented naked; in later works, the saint began to be depicted surrounded by a towel. Often the Blessed One was depicted against the background of the Kremlin and against the backdrop of Red Square, because this is where he lived. Such an icon is kept today in St. Basil's Cathedral. Other Russian churches also have icons depicting the saint.
So, before us is the story of St. Basil. This man with amazing fortitude showed through his deeds and life that everything earthly is not eternal. That if you remember goodness and justice, you can survive in any difficult situations.
Born on September 1, 1468 in the then Moscow village of Elokhovo into a peasant family. His parents, Jacob and Anna, only had a child towards the end of their lives thanks to tireless prayers.
God awarded Vasily the gift of clairvoyance from birth, and from the age of seven he began making predictions. Over time, people in the village began to fear him, and his peers beat him, saying that he croaked and brought trouble.
At the age of sixteen, Vasily left his parents and moved to Moscow. He chose for himself one of the most difficult ways of serving God - foolishness.
By this time the young man was short, stocky, he had gray eyes and brown, slightly wavy hair.
His character was gentle and kind. Resignedly endured numerous ridicule and beatings. He never took offense at anyone and accepted everything with a smile, saying at the same time: “If winter is fierce, then paradise is sweet.”
Vasily almost always walked the streets naked, even in the most severe frosts and cold weather. He endured hunger and thirst without complaint.
The blessed one did not have a home, spending the night in a tower in the wall of Kitai-Gorod. I ate only what good people served. And he always kept all the fasts.
Muscovites always listened to what the holy fool said.
In 1521, Vasily, foreseeing a Tatar raid on Moscow, began to pray frantically to ward off trouble from the city. The prayers of St. Basil and the intervention of the Mother of God diverted the danger from the city walls. In memory of this miraculous deliverance, on May 21, the Orthodox Church celebrates a holiday in honor of the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God - the patroness of Moscow and Russia.
Even the king listened to the advice of the holy fool. One day, St. Basil the Blessed was invited to the Tsar’s palace, and as a respected guest, he was given a cup of drink. Unexpectedly for everyone, the holy fool took the drink and threw it out the window. Then he threw the second bowl served out the window, then the third.
After this, St. Basil said to the angry Tsar: “Do not be angry, Tsar, for with this libation of drink I extinguished the fire that was engulfing Novgorod at this hour.”
Having said this, the saint disappeared from the palace so quickly that no one could catch up with him. Ivan the Terrible ordered to send a messenger to Novgorod to find out what happened there. Everything was confirmed - it was on this day and hour, when Vasily was pouring drink out the window, that a terrible fire was raging in Novgorod. According to eyewitnesses, the fire was extinguished from nowhere by a naked man with a bucket of water who doused the raging flames.
When Novgorod merchants arrived in Moscow, they recognized St. Basil as that same naked man.
Here is another case testifying to the foresight of St. Basil. One day, Ivan the Terrible, standing in the temple, mentally thought about building his palace on the Sparrow Hills. After the end of the service, Vasily reproached the tsar for being in the temple and mentally wandering around the construction site on Sparrow Hills.
The chronicles say that Ivan the Terrible was even afraid of the holy fool, who could read human thoughts.
St. Basil the Blessed, wandering through the streets of Moscow, did strange things - at some houses he kissed the corners of the building, at the corners of other houses he threw stones.
It was explained this way: if people “do good and pray” in a house, then stones should be thrown at the corners of this bright house to drive away the demons gathered there. If, on the contrary, indecent things are happening in the house - they drink wine, sing shameless songs, then the corners of this house must be kissed, because angels expelled from the home are now sitting there.
One day, a nobleman gave Vasily a warm fur coat, because there was unheard-of frost outside. Dashing robbers coveted this fur coat. They did not dare to rob the holy fool, because it was considered a terrible sin, and decided to deceive him by cunning.
One of them lay down on the ground and pretended to be dead, and his friends began to persuade Vasily, who was passing by, to donate something for the burial. Saint Basil sighed, seeing such deceit, and asked: “Did your comrade really die? When did this happen to him? “Yes, he just died,” his friends confirmed.
Then the Blessed One took off his fur coat and, covering the one lying down, said: “Let it be as they said. For your wickedness."
Vasily left, and when the satisfied deceivers began to stir up their lying comrade, they discovered with horror that he had really died.
Basil the Blessed died at the age of eighty on August 2, 1552. Ivan the Terrible and the boyars carried his coffin, and Metropolitan Macarius performed the burial.
Vasily's body was buried in the cemetery of the Trinity Church in the Moat, where Tsar Ivan the Terrible soon ordered the construction of the Intercession Cathedral, in memory of the conquest of Kazan, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral.
Since 1588, they began to talk about miracles occurring at the tomb of Blessed Basil; As a result, Patriarch Job determined to celebrate the memory of the wonderworker on the day of his death, August 2.
In 1588, by order of Theodore Ioannovich, a chapel was built in the name of St. Basil the Blessed at the place where he was buried; A silver shrine was made for his relics.
Sarcophagus with the relics of St. Basil
At the tomb of St. Basil, healings of many sick people from various ailments began to occur. The Intercession Cathedral received a second name from this - St. Basil's Cathedral. This name, as a sign of respect for the great saint, has survived to this day.
Since ancient times, the memory of the Blessed One in Moscow has been celebrated with great solemnity: the patriarch himself served, and the tsar himself was usually present at the service.
Miracles
Many miracles are attributed to St. Basil, both during his life and after his death.
A man came to Vasily’s owner to order boots and asked to make ones that he would not wear until his death. Vasily laughed and cried. After the merchant left, the boy explained his behavior to the master by saying that the merchant was ordering boots that he could not wear, since he would soon die, which came true.
One day, thieves, noticing that the saint was dressed in a good fur coat, given to him by some boyar, decided to deceive it from him; one of them pretended to be dead, and the others asked Vasily for burial. Vasily seemed to cover the dead man with his fur coat, but seeing the deception, he said: “Fox fur coat, cunning, cover up the fox’s deed, cunning. May you be dead from now on for wickedness, for it is written: Let the wicked be consumed.” When the dashing people took off his fur coat, they saw that their friend was already dead.
One day, Blessed Basil scattered rolls of bread from a baker at the market, and he admitted that he had mixed chalk and lime into the flour.
The Degree Book tells that in the summer of 1547 Vasily came to the Ascension Monastery on Ostrog (now Vozdvizhenka) and prayed for a long time in front of the church with tears. The next day, the famous Moscow fire began, precisely from the Vozdvizhensky Monastery.
While in Moscow, the saint saw a fire in Novgorod, which he put out with three glasses of wine.
With a stone he smashed the image of the Mother of God on the Varvarinsky Gate, which had long been considered miraculous. A crowd of pilgrims, flocking from all over Rus' for the purpose of healing, attacked him and began to beat him to death. The holy fool said: “And you will scratch the paint layer!” Having removed the paint layer, people saw that under the image of the Mother of God there was a “devilish mug”.
Basil the Blessed, Moscow Wonderworker is asked for healing diseases, especially eye diseases, getting rid of fire.
Prayer to Saint Basil
O great servant of Christ, true friend and faithful servant of the All-Creator of the Lord God, blessed Basil! Hear us, many sinners, now singing to you and calling on your holy name, have mercy on us, who fall today before your most pure image, accept our small and unworthy prayer, have mercy on our misery and with your prayers heal every ailment and disease of the soul and body of our sinner , and make us worthy to pass through the course of this life unharmed from visible and invisible enemies without sin, and to receive a Christian death, shameless, peaceful, serene, and to receive the inheritance of the Heavenly Kingdom with all the saints forever and ever. Amen.
