Vasily the Blessed (known also as Basil, and as the fool for Christ; the Wonderworker of Moscow; or Blessed Vasily of Moscow; ‹See Tfd›Russian: Василий Блаженный, Vasily Blazhenny) is a Russian Orthodoxsaint of the type known as yurodivy or "holy fool".
Vasily was born to serfs in December 1468 at the portico of the Epiphany Cathedral at Yelokhovo (now in Moscow).[1] His father was named Jacob and his mother Anna.
Originally an apprenticeshoemaker, he went to Moscow when he was sixteen. There he helped those who were ashamed to ask for alms, but were in need of help. He adopted an eccentric lifestyle of shoplifting and giving to the poor to shame the miserly and help those in need. He went naked and weighed himself down with chains. He rebuked Ivan the Terrible for not paying attention in church. Vasily was said to have the gift of prophecy.[1]
When he died on August 2, 1552, or 1557, St. Macarius, Metropolitan of Moscow, served his funeral with many clergy. He is buried in St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, which was commissioned by Ivan for commemoration of his conquest of Kazan' and was named for the saint later. Vasily was formally canonised in 1588.[1] His feast day is celebrated on August 2 (August 15, N.S.).
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, known in English as Saint Basil's Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia. The building, now a museum, is officially known as the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, or Pokrovsky Cathedral. It was built from 1555 to 1561 on orders from Ivan the Terrible and commemorates the capture of Kazan and Astrakhan. Its completion, with its colors, was made in 1683. It was the city's tallest building until the completion of the Ivan the Great Bell Tower in 1600.
Foolishness for Christ refers to behavior such as giving up all one's worldly possessions upon joining an ascetic order or religious life, or deliberately flouting society's conventions to serve a religious purpose—particularly of Christianity. Such individuals have historically been known as both "holy fools" and "blessed fools". The term "fool" connotes what is perceived as feeblemindedness, and "blessed" or "holy" refers to innocence in the eyes of God.
The Cathedral of the Archangel is a Russian Orthodox church dedicated to the Archangel Michael. It is located in Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia between the Great Kremlin Palace and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower. It was the main necropolis of the tsars of Russia until the relocation of the capital to St. Petersburg.
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate (drum) upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. They taper smoothly upwards to a point.
May 20 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 22
May 27 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - May 29
July 2 - Eastern Orthodox Church calendar - July 4
August 1 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 3
August 12 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - August 14
The Intercession of the Theotokos, or the Protection of Our Most Holy Lady Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, is a Christian feast of the Mother of God celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic Churches on October 1 . The feast celebrates the protection afforded the faithful through the intercessions of the Theotokos.
Xenia of St. Petersburg is a patron saint of St. Petersburg, who according to tradition, gave all her possessions to the poor after her husband died.
St. Andrew's Cathedral, is a Russian Orthodox cathedral in Philadelphia. Established in 1897, it is the oldest Eastern Orthodox Christian Church in Philadelphia. The current rector is the Archpriest Mark Shinn. It is located at 5th Street & Fairmount Avenue.
The Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God, also known as Our Lady of Saint Theodore and the Black Virgin Mary of Russia, is the patron icon of the Romanov family. It is one of the most venerated icons in the Upper Volga region. Her feast days are March 14 (27) and August 29.
John the Hairy was a holy fool (Yurodivy), of the Russian Orthodox Church in the second half of the 16th century. He endured a great many trials in his lifetime. "He did not have a permanent shelter, and at times took his rest at the house of his spiritual Father, a priest at the church of the All-Holy, or with one of the aged widows."
John of Moscow also known as Blessed John the Fool for Christ was a 16th-century Russian saint. He was born on the outskirts of Vologda in Russia. He was considered a wonderworker in Moscow and spent his youth as a labourer in a local saltworks and as a water-carrier. John made his work a spiritual discipline in conjunction with a strict commitment to fasting and personal prayer.
November 11 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - November 13
November 1 - Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar - November 3
December 25 – Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar – December 27
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
