September 25
Sergius of Radonezh
Monastic, 1392
art by Rev. Kirsten Kohr of Geneva, Ohio O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we, through his poverty, might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Sergius, may serve you with singleness of heart and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
To the people of Russia, Sergius is a national hero and their patron saint. He was born in Rostov around 1314.
Civil war in Russia forced Sergius’ family to leave the city and to live by farming at Radonezh near Moscow. At the age of twenty, he and his brother began a life of seclusion in a nearby forest, from which developed the Monastery of the Holy Trinity, a center of revival of Russian Christianity. There Sergius remained for the rest of his life, refusing higher advancement, including the see of Moscow in 1378.
Sergius’ firm support of Prince Dimitri Donskoi helped to rally the Russians against their Tartar overlords. Dimitri won a decisive victory against them at the Kulikovo Plains in 1380 and laid the foundation of his people’s independent national life.
Sergius was simple and gentle in nature, mystical in temperament, and eager to ensure that his monks should serve the needs of their neighbors. He was able to inspire intense devotion to the Orthodox faith. He died in 1392, and pilgrims still visit his shrine at the monastery of Sergiyev Posad, which he founded in 1340. The city, located some forty-three miles northwest of Moscow, contains several splendid cathedrals and is the residence of the Patriarch of Moscow.
The Russian Church observes Sergius’ memory on September 25. His name is familiar to Anglicans from the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, a society established to promote closer relations between the Anglican and Orthodox Churches.
Excerpted directly from “Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022,” p. 432-433.