Peter and Fevronia of Murom. eternal love story

And, female; decomposition Fevronya, and; simple to Khavroniya, and Khavronya, and. Derivatives: Fevronyushka; Fevronya; Fewa; Fesha; Khavronyushka; Khavrokha; Khavrosha; Khovrya (Khovra); Khorya.Name days: July 8, Oct. 10, Nov. 10. Dictionary of personal names. Fevronia See Khavronya... Dictionary of personal names

Saint, wife of the Murom prince David, in monasticism Peter. About Fevronia, news has reached us of a later origin, in all likelihood the 16th century, which appeared, as one might assume, simultaneously with the canonization of the Murom miracle workers.... ... Biographical Dictionary

Noun, number of synonyms: 2 name (1104) Fevronya (2) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

Fevronia, 1670 73 abbot. Arkhangelsk. Nikol. Mon., Nizhny Novgorod. Bishop Russian Biographical Dictionary in 25 volumes. Ed. under the supervision of the Chairman of the Imperial Russian Historical Society A. A. Polovtseva. St. Petersburg: Type. I. N. Skorokhodova...

Fevronia, 1766 72 abbot. Trinity Penza mon. Russian biographical dictionary in 25 volumes. Ed. under the supervision of the Chairman of the Imperial Russian Historical Society A. A. Polovtsev. St. Petersburg: Type. I. N. Skorokhodova, 1896 1918 ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Fevronia, 1838 54 abbot. Assumption Mon. in Staraya Ladoga, St. Petersburg. Bishop Russian Biographical Dictionary in 25 volumes. Ed. under the supervision of the Chairman of the Imperial Russian Historical Society A. A. Polovtsev. St. Petersburg: Type. I. N. Skorokhodova... Large biographical encyclopedia

PETER AND FEVRONIA are the heroes of the ancient Russian “Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”, which took shape in the second half of the 15th century. based on oral legends and traditions. The narrative finally took shape in connection with the canonization of P. and F. (1547) in the middle of the 16th century... ... Literary heroes

Princess. So, according to some news, the wife of Mikhail (Mikhalka) Yuryevich, briefly the Grand Duke of Vladimir, was called; she was allegedly the daughter of the Novgorodian Mikhalkovich and had been married since 1155. According to other news, Mikhail’s wife... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

- (in the world Euphrosyne) saint, wife of the Murom prince David, in monasticism Peter, also canonized. News about it has reached us of a later origin, in all likelihood the 16th century, which appeared, as one might assume, at the same time... ... Large biographical encyclopedia

Igum. Arkhangelsk. Nikol. Mon., Nizhny Novgorod. Ep. (Polovtsov) ... Large biographical encyclopedia

Igum. Voznesensk mon. in Mtsensk, Orlov. Ep. (Polovtsov) ... Large biographical encyclopedia

Books

• Peter and Fevronia. Tales about holy spouses and that love is stronger than death, Elena Viktorovna Trostnikova. The holy spouses Peter and Fevronia of Murom are widely revered in Russia as the patrons of family and marriage; the day of their memory has become an official holiday of love and fidelity. An ancient legend about them in...
• Peter and Fevronia: The Legend of the Holy Spouses and that love is stronger than death, E. Trostnikova. The holy spouses Peter and Fevronia of Murom are widely revered in Russia as the patrons of family and marriage, the day of their memory has become an official holiday of love and fidelity. An ancient legend about them in...

This article is called Tests for Peter and Fevronia, since these saints had the burden of carrying their love through humiliation and hardship for themselves.

Small Ascension on Nikitskaya

In Moscow, on Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street, in the Church of the Ascension of the Lord (“Little Ascension”), opposite the Conservatory, there is a chapel of Russian saints. These saints are glorified by the Church not as saints, although they accepted the schema at the end of their lives, and not as martyrs and confessors, although they were expelled from their city. Fasting and prayer were part of them family life, they were subjected to humiliation and danger because they remained faithful to each other.

Saints Peter and Fevronia gave an example of an ideal Christian family. It is for this that they are awarded church veneration, which is why their life for more than eight centuries has served as an example of the proper attitude of spouses towards church marriage and towards each other. We would like to address the life experiences of these people in this article.

We learn the circumstances of their lives from “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia,” written in the first half of the 16th century. Its author was the priest of one of the Kremlin cathedrals, Ermolai (in monasticism, Erasmus), who was part of the circle of church writers and hagiographers formed around St. Macarius of Moscow.

More than 300 years passed from the time of the repose of the saints to the time of writing the “Tale” (1), and although it can be assumed that the local began immediately after their common death (which was probably especially facilitated by the miracle that happened shortly after it), the oral tradition does not preserved many facts of their lives.

Ermolai-Erasmus was faced with the task of recreating the appearance of these people, hidden both by the veil of time and the secret of holiness, which protects every righteous person from immodest glances. Such a reconstruction must be not only reliable, but also accessible. Therefore, Ermolai-Erasmus, in order to make his narrative colorful and entertaining, in order to captivate the reader with it, supplemented it with folklore material.

The result was not so much a “biography” of saints(2), but a work that, together with a few facts from the life of Peter and Fevronia, teaches the doctrine of Christian marriage, and at the same time fascinating and accessible - thanks to the involvement of folklore motifs - to the 16th century reader(3 )

Just like a story about how Christian family, what stages in its development it goes through, what its purpose is, what trials befall the spouses and what crown is in store for those who have labored worthily in this field, we suggest reading this “Tale” again.

Source: photosight.ru

Background

The life together of two people cannot begin suddenly, “by magic.” A long, difficult path must be covered before a person who until then - no matter what circumstances and persons surrounded him - was ultimately alone in the world and in the face of God (4), could approach another unique person and give her will: to unite with her into one mind, into one heart, “into one flesh” - that is, to create a family. One of the most important stages On this path there is a meeting of two people who, by the unknown Divine Providence about them, are destined to become husband and wife.

However, Ermolai-Erasmus begins his “Tale” not with a description of the meeting of Peter and Fevronia. He prefaces it with the story of Peter’s snake-fighting.

Prince Pavel lived in Murom, and something happened to him. A certain serpent began to fly to his wife with the aim of seducing her into fornication, and for everyone around him he acted in the guise of a legal spouse. The woman, by cunning, learned the secret of the serpent: he can only die “from Peter’s shoulder, from Agrikov’s sword.”

Paul actually had a younger brother, Peter, who from his youth was distinguished by piety and had the “custom of going to churches alone.” In one temple, a certain youth appeared to him and pointed out Agrikov’s sword, which was kept in the altar wall. Then Peter realized that it was he who had to kill the serpent.

Peter had to endure a difficult test, because the serpent was in the guise of his brother. And although Peter had just seen Prince Paul in his chambers, later a short time, he saw in his daughter-in-law’s chambers someone who was as similar to Pavel as two peas in a pod. Because of this similarity, it was not easy for him to lift his sword against the werewolf. However, Peter gathered all his courage and killed the evil serpent (5).

The source of this story will not give rise to doubt: it was the motive of the duel between the knight and the monster, so widespread in fairy tale. We do not know how this episode of “The Tale” relates to real events the life of the historical prince Peter and his older brother Paul. Most likely, such a correlation was not intended by the author. Oral tradition, apparently, did not convey information about Peter’s youth to Ermolai-Erasmus.

He decided to make up for the lack of this information by using a folklore motif, which the reader had to interpret allegorically (6). With this understanding, this story can serve as an image of the path Prince Peter had to go through before meeting Fevronia and what was the reason for this meeting.

Without going into details, we note that in Chapter I of the Tale “attention is focused on the psychological experiences and doubts of Prince Peter, who must decide to kill the snake in the appearance of his brother” (7). He double-checks his guess that the person he saw in his daughter-in-law's upper room in the guise of his brother is actually a snake.

These doubts are not accidental: Prince Peter is aware of the degree of responsibility that lies with him. Only he can kill the snake that threatens his brother’s family, but at the same time, if he shows too much zeal, he can become a fratricide.

In fact, this is an image of the life path of a person who is endowed with power, in this case a prince, responsible for his subjects. But not only the prince. At the same time, this is an image of a man’s vocation in general: every man on his life’s path takes responsibility for others, that responsibility when the life of another depends on his determination and courage.

But while Peter is alone, the burden of such responsibility turns out to be destructive for him. It’s not that he failed in his task, on the contrary: the serpent is defeated, but before his death he sprinkled Peter with his poisonous blood, and Peter falls ill. The illness of Prince Peter, that is, in the language of allegories: a certain inferiority of his nature in general, is the plot of “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia.” Moreover, Peter’s illness is so serious, the inferiority of his nature is so significant that if it is not corrected, life itself is impossible for Prince Peter. His courage, his determination, all other human qualities have not left him, but he is “harassed” and cannot use them.

Only a connection with another person can heal him.

The ailing Peter goes in search of healing.

Meeting-Recognition

For the prince, according to Ermolai-Erasmus, the search for healing comes down to the search for a doctor, that is, a person who would help him heal. Moreover, the search is a conscious action aimed at getting rid of the inferiority of one’s nature. Only the Creator can correct such defectiveness, and, thus, the search for a doctor for Peter is a search for the Will of God for himself.

It is this search that leads him to a meeting with the maiden Fevronia, who turns out to be able to heal Peter. It is noteworthy that the prince meets her when his illness led him to complete exhaustion: by that time he was already so weak that he could neither walk on his own nor sit on a horse. His mental strength was also already running low. So the Lord reveals to us His Will about us only when we have reached the greatest tension in our questioning, and our whole being has already become thinner in order to accept His Will.

Ermolai-Erasmus describes this meeting as follows. One of Prince Peter’s servants met an unusual maiden in the village of Laskovo: the daughter of a beekeeper-“tree climber” was modestly weaving cloth in her house, and a hare was jumping in front of her. But he was even more amazed by her wise speeches. Fevronia appears here in an aura of folklore images: the author uses in his “Tale” a fairy-tale plot about a seven-year-old girl (that is, doing seven things at once), whose intelligence forces the prince to marry her.

It turned out that she also knew how to heal the prince:

“Yes, bring your prince here. If he is soft-hearted and humble in his response, may he be healthy!” says Fevronia. The prince, through his youths, asks her: “Tell me, maiden, who is there to heal me? May he heal me and give me much wealth.” She said without hesitation: “Although I am there to heal, I do not demand that he accept the property. The imam’s word to him is this: if the imam does not have a spouse for him, you do not need me to heal him” (8).

The condition for the prince's healing is marriage to Fevronia. And in the language of allegory, this marriage itself is a medicine that makes up for the lack of Peter’s nature. Thus, Fevronia’s words contain the answer to Peter’s question about what the Lord’s plan for him is. But Peter had not yet recognized her answer as the Will of God about himself: “How can a tree-dwelling prince want to take a wife!”(9), he mentally exclaims.

The plot of “The Tale” develops according to the laws of the fairy tale about the wise maiden, but at the same time the author also reveals the laws of the development of human relations. After two people meet, there comes a period during which they get to know each other. What happens in life over a long period of time consists of many stages, in Ermolai-Erasmus it is compressed into one episode: the episode of Fevronia’s test by Peter.

The prince sets an impossible task for Fevronia: while he is washing in the bathhouse, she must weave enough linen from a bunch of flax so that there is enough for him to wear clothes, and then sew them. This is not a test of needlework skills, but of Fevronia’s wisdom. Peter prefaces his task with the words: “This girl wants a wife for wisdom.”

He doubts whether she really has spiritual vision, vision of the heart, or whether her speeches are just a trick explained by the desire not to miss a brilliant match. In other words, Peter tests the mind of Fevronia - that mind which, according to patristic understanding, is the focus of the human personality. He wants to know not her words, not the skills that were given by her upbringing, but Fevronia herself in the depths of her heart.

And this is what Fevronia replies to the servant who handed over the prince’s task to her:

“Come on out to our oven and pick up some logs from the beds and carry them.” He, having listened to her, took down the log. She, having measured out an inch, said: “Cut this from this log.” He will cut it off. She said: “Take this duck log of this wood, and go and give it to your prince from me, and say to him: at what hour will I comb this weight, and let your prince prepare for me in this duck the camp and the whole building, with which his linen will be woven.”<…>The prince said: “Wonderful maidens, it’s impossible to eat a tree in such a small time and create a calico structure in such a small time!”<…>The girl renounced: “Is it possible for a man of a man’s age to eat flax in a small year, and in the same year he will remain in the bathhouse, create srachitsa, and ports, and ubrusets?” The servant told the prince. The prince was amazed at her answer” (10).

Peter is not just surprised at how successfully Fevronia got out of her difficult situation. He is surprised as a person to whom the innermost inner appearance of another has been revealed. Without knowledge of a person, without the innermost being of his being being revealed to us, our relationships with him, which in the future can become family relationships, are impossible. But this knowledge in itself does not mean that we are ready to accept this particular person as our integral part, as our destiny.

Fevronia, who emerged from the ordeal with honor, heals the prince. But he is not going to get married and goes to Murom. And here it is discovered that his illness is not limited to skin peeling, that its causes are much deeper. On the way home he becomes covered in scabs again. A certain inferiority of his nature is now revealed to Peter himself. She can only be cured by connecting with the girl whose words so struck the prince. Peter returns to the village of Laskovo and agrees to marry Fevronia. Only now is he completely healed. Together with the young princess, Peter returns to Murom.

Subsequently, Ermolai-Erasmus no longer resorted to borrowings from folklore in his “Tale”. We can assume that he uses the oral Murom tradition, which has preserved real facts from the life of the saints, which now has as its center the fulfillment of Christ’s commandments, as Ermolai-Erasmus emphasizes:

“She returned to her homeland, the city of Murom, and lived in all piety, leaving nothing behind God’s commandments” (11).

What the fulfillment of the commandments in relation to each other consists of becomes the subject of further narration.

Tests

“The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the painting of Alexander Prostev”

The period of recognition, when two people walked towards each other, no matter how beautiful it may be in itself, is still only a prelude to family life.

From the moment of marriage, a fundamentally different life begins for these two, full of its own joys, but also special trials, previously unknown to the young people.

It is on the trials that befell Peter and Fevronia that Ermolai-Erasmus focuses his attention. He does this because in such situations the path of following the commandments of God is most clearly revealed.

The first test that Peter and Fevronia (like all young families) undergo is everyday life test, namely, the difference in habits and everyday skills that each of them received in the process of upbringing and accumulated during their independent life.

Meeting and getting to know each other cannot reveal this difference in detail that exists between young people; only living together can reveal and smooth it out over time; Moreover, the environment of young people can both facilitate and complicate the process of getting used to each other and erasing this difference. It is the second option that we observe in the lives of Peter and Fevronia.

We find them at the time when Peter began to reign in Murom after the death of his brother Paul. And then the difference in origin and upbringing that existed between him and Fevronia becomes the reason for the next incident.

“Once upon a time, someone from those who were standing next to her came to the noble Prince Petrov to infest her with nudes, as if “from whom,” he said, “he leaves his table without rank: never having time to get up, he takes the crumbs into his hand, as if she were smooth!” The noble Prince Peter, although I was tempted, ordered me to dine with him at the same table. And as soon as I had finished dinner, she, as was her custom, took the crumbs from the table into her hand. Prince Peter took me by the hand and, reconnaissance, saw good-smelling Lebanon and incense. And from that I will leave the days so that you will not be tempted” (12).

Peter, albeit gently, wants to reproach and wean his wife from her habit. With his gesture, he seems to want to say: “Look! Why are you doing this? These are just crumbs!” And then what was just crumbs turns out to be incense.

Peter's gesture, in which one can sense a shade of superiority over his wife and, perhaps, an already prepared lesson, turns out to be meaningless: the “custom” of the wife, even if incompatible with the habits of her husband and even contrary to court etiquette (this “rite” is only a human institution), is holy and should be accepted by the husband with reverence or corrected with patience and without exaltation over her. Moreover, he should not accept someone’s slander against his wife. Every third person is a stranger to a husband and wife.

Peter “from those days” stopped “tempting” Fevronia, checking whether her behavior corresponded to a certain order accepted in his house. In their relationship, the main thing was love and mutual patience, and not the desire to subordinate the other to their own habits.

But trials arise not only within the family; they often come from outside as well. Such a test befell the family of Prince Peter. Many years later, when peace and love were already permanent guests in his home, The people of Murom launched a persecution against their princess.

“And after many times, his furious boy came to him, roaring: “We want everything, prince, to serve you righteously and have you as autocrat, but we don’t want Princess Fevronia to rule over our wives. If you want to be an autocrat, let him be a princess. Fevronia, taking the wealth to her satisfaction, will go away, whatever she wants!” Blessed Peter, as if it were not his custom, having no rage about anything, answered with humility: “Yes, he speaks to Fevronia, and as he speaks, then we hear” (13).

The reason for the boyars’ request is the envy of their wives, which Ermolai-Erasmus explains in two ways. On the one hand, they envy the fact that the peasant woman has become a princess, on the other hand, they see God’s obvious favor towards the wife of their prince:

“His princess Fevronia, his boyar, does not love his wives for the sake of his own, as if the princess were not of the fatherland for her sake, but I glorify God for the good for the sake of her life” (14).

The boyars not only demand the expulsion of Fevronia, from their very first words they think of the spouses separately: “We want Peter to stay, but Fevronia to leave; take yourself another wife, don’t you care!” From the very beginning, they do not seem to take into account that their prince and princess are husband and wife, that they are one, that people cannot separate them; from the very beginning they neglect marriage as a sacrament, as an institution of God.

We may be surprised: why does Peter send the boyars to Fevronia, why does he not immediately refuse them? Peter's answer demonstrates one of the most important features of Christian marriage, namely, that each spouse has authority over the other. Moreover, this power extends to the most intimate aspects of the other’s personality. The boyars pose the question this way: either you, Peter, are an autocrat, or you are Fevronia’s husband. Peter is a prince, an autocrat by vocation.

He, according to the boyars themselves, has all necessary qualities In order to be at the head of the city, he probably has a personal inclination towards this. Moreover, he was placed in this place by God's Providence. But it is precisely in the question of whether he should be a prince, that is, whether he should follow his natural and Divine calling, that he turns to his wife for advice. She has to share with him all the hardships of his path, so she has the right to agree to her husband’s path or to close this path for him (15).

And so the boyars throw a feast, hoping to get Fevronia’s consent to leave the city when her mind may be clouded by wine.

“They, in their frenzy, filled with desperation, plotted to establish a feast. And I will create. And when she was cheerful, she began to stretch out her cold voices, like a pleading, depriving the saint of God’s gift, which God communed with her inseparably even after death” (16).

With his last words, Ermolai-Erasmus reveals the essence of what is happening. The boyars not only have political gain in mind and indulge the vanity of their wives, but are gradually encroaching on something more: they dare to separate husband and wife, to take away God’s gift from Fevronia, which God gave it to her.

These words can be repeated again and again, reminding everyone living in a marriage of the preciousness of the gift that they possess.

Fevronia knows its value. She is not indignant at the boyars’ demand: reign is a temporary value. She does not want wealth, because she wants only one treasure: “I ask for nothing else,” says Fevronia, “except my husband, Prince Peter!” (17).

Peter also knew the value of what he had. In addition, above his calling, above power, honors, and habitual comfort, was for him the commandment of Christ:

“Blessed Prince Peter did not love the temporary autocracy, except for God’s commandments, but walking according to His commandments, adhering to these, just as the God-voiced Matthew in his gospel preaches, as if he lets his wife, the development of the word of an adulterer, and marries another, commits adultery. This blessed prince, according to the Gospel, create his own self-control, as if he were wise, so that he does not destroy the commandments of God” (18).

Together with Fevronia, Peter leaves the city.

The Dignity of Christian Marriage

“The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the painting of Alexander Prostev”

Expelled from their city, Peter and Fevronia sail along the Oka River on ships given to them by the boyars who expelled them. In this, apparently, the most difficult time for their family, Fevronia again shows her wisdom, high moral sense and remarkable endurance. Her wisdom is revealed in the next episode.

On the ship on which Peter and Fevronia were sailing into the unknown, there was a man and his wife. He saw Fevronia and looked at her with carnal thoughts.

She understood his thoughts and asked him to scoop up and drink water from one side of the vessel, and then from the other. After he obeyed, Fevronia asked: “Do you think the water tastes the same?”

“He said: “There is only one, lady, water.” Again she said to her: “And there is one female nature. Why, having left your wife, are thinking about other people’s thoughts!” Same person<…>afraid to think such a thing” (19).

Let's read Fevronia's words. At first glance, they are very simple and accessible: “From the point of view of your nature,” she seems to be saying, “all women are the same, and if you think of finding something new with someone else’s wife, you are mistaken. Wouldn’t it be better for you to remain faithful to yours!”

But we can the second sentence from Fevronia’s phrase - “For what reason, leaving your wife, you think of someone else’s thoughts!” - read and with emphasis not on your word, but on the word wife. Then this simple statement will reveal to us the depth of Christian teaching on marriage.

With such a reading, it will become clear to us that the wife was given to the husband not for the sake of satisfying his natural desire, but her calling is incomparably greater. The wife's personality is not limited to her physicality. Her soul and her spirit also enter into relationship with the corresponding aspects of the husband's personality. B, for they have common spiritual aspirations - to Christ, in one soul, for they must have common vital interests, in one body (20).

Only such a union produces a full-fledged Christian family. Such a union makes the mutual love of the spouses the path that leads them to transformation by Christ’s grace, to salvation. And then Fevronia’s words can be paraphrased as follows: “Think about what your wife is for you, think about her dignity before God! It is connected not only to your body, but to your spirit and soul. Do not covet someone else's wife, because if you violate your fidelity, you will destroy this mysterious unity! And it is unique and more valuable than any other callings, unities and desires.”

It is noteworthy that Ermolai-Erasmus compositionally places the episode revealing the doctrine of Christian marriage precisely after the narrative of the expulsion of Peter and Fevronia, thereby, as it were, additionally convincing the reader that the choice made by the saints was correct and the only one possible for a Christian, thereby further once again reaffirming the essential value of Christian marriage.

On the same day, in the evening, when the exiles were preparing to spend the night on the banks of the Oka, the following conversation took place between the spouses.

“Blessed Prince Peter began to think: “What will happen, having been driven away by the will of autocracy?” Precious Fevronia said to him: “Do not grieve, prince, the merciful God, the Creator and Provider of everything, will not leave us in the lowest state of being!” (21).

Peter began to be tormented by doubts whether he had acted correctly by leaving Murom, without resisting the boyars, without insisting on his own. Apparently, the thought that he had arbitrarily abdicated the responsibility for his city, for his people, which the Lord had entrusted to him, was especially difficult for him. Perhaps mixed with this was the secret thought that now poverty and the difficult life of a wanderer awaited him. And at this moment, the wife’s word turns out to be healing for him, dispelling both dark thoughts (22).

Fevronia speaks to her husband about God, about His mercy and Providence, calling him to seek His Will, reminding him that the Creator, who called him to princely service, can show him a new path or return him to the old one. She consoles him, explaining that God, who united them into husband and wife, will not allow the destruction of their union, and will give them what they need for life.

In one phrase of Fevronia, all her courage is manifested, all her loyalty to her calling. If a man’s calling is to take upon himself and bear responsibility for others, then a woman’s calling is different; it is called upon to preserve unity, integrity, and the spirit of the family in any circumstances. In confirmation of Fevronia’s encouraging words, the following happens that same night.

“On that day I prepared food for blessed Prince Peter for his supper. And even more so<= посече>cook his trees are small, and the cauldrons hang on them. After supper, the holy princess Fevronia, walking along the shore and seeing the tree, blessed it and said: “May this tree be great in the morning, having branches and foliage.” As soon as it happens. When I got up in the morning, I found a tree with great ancient branches and leaves” (23).

If the family has not broken up, if the spouses courageously hold on to each other, to mutual love, then the lost well-being will arise, like young tree, which has grown overnight, will return to its original form and grow thanks to the love and care of his wife.

In the morning, the truth of Fevronia’s words was confirmed in another way.

Before the wanderers had time to leave their place of accommodation for the night, a nobleman galloped up from Murom with the news that after the expulsion of the prince, civil strife began in the city, and many boyars were killed: “Even though you might have power over them, you yourself will destroy them.” Those who remained alive and all the people tearfully asked the prince to return back: “Now we are slaves with all our houses, and we want, and we love, and we pray, that her servant will not leave us!” (24).

Let us pay attention to the fact that in their speech the boyars use forms of the dual number: slave, may she not leave us... Now they also think of spouses only together, as a single whole, and agree to be slaves of both of them: both Peter and Fevronia.

The prince and princess return to Murom. And this is how Ermolai-Erasmus describes their further reign.

“Behu is sovereign in that city, walking in all the commandments and justifications of the Lord without blemish, in unceasing prayers and alms and to all people under their authority, like a loving father and mother. Besta for love is equal to everyone, not loving pride, nor robbery, nor corruptible wealth sparingly, but growing rich in God. Besta for his city is a true shepherd, and not like a mercenary. The city is governed by truth and meekness, and not by rage. The strange are accepting, the greedy are satisfying, the naked are clothed, the poor are delivered from misfortune” (25).

This is the ideal of Christian government. For all their subjects they were like father and mother, and not like rulers. Thus, they realized the image of earthly life that the Monk Simeon the New Theologian formulated a century before them: “God created father and son for being in the world. Without violence and poverty, no one would be a slave or a mercenary” (26).

They succeeded in this because the gracious love that they acquired in their marriage began to abound and poured out on everyone around them; the boundaries of their family seemed to expand and include many, many. But even then, the family itself, mutual love for each other remained an unconditional value for Peter and Fevronia.

We will see confirmation of this in the final episode of “The Tale”.

We know nothing about whether the holy spouses had children. Perhaps oral tradition simply did not convey information about this to Ermolai-Erasmus. And yet it is noteworthy that he himself did not use any folklore image, did not fantasize on this topic, and did not touch upon it in a single word. For him and his narrative about Christian marriage, this circumstance from the lives of his heroes does not matter. They achieved holiness not by having many children, but by mutual love and maintaining the sanctity of marriage. This is precisely its meaning and purpose.

Epilogue

tonsure - death - posthumous miracle

Years have passed. When Peter and Fevronia grew old, and “when her pious repose arrived,” they begged God to let them die in one hour. They could not live even for a short time without each other.

“The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the painting of Alexander Prostev”

While awaiting their death, according to the customs of that time, they simultaneously took monastic vows. Peter in monasticism was named David, Fevronia - Euphrosyne. For them, monasticism is a way to get away from princely worries, devote more time to prayer and thus prepare for death with dignity.

Marriage vows, even after tonsure, remain valid for them, because they also fulfill their last promise to each other - to die at the same time. This is the touching description of their death that Ermolai-Erasmus gives.

“At the same time, the Venerable and Blessed Fevronia<…>The air flows into the temple of the Most Pure Cathedral Church, and on it are the white faces of saints. The Venerable and Blessed Prince Peter<…>sending the verb to her: “Oh sister Euphrosyne! I want to get away from the body already, but I’m waiting for you so that we can get away.” She denied: “Wait, sir, until I breathe air into the holy church.” He sent a second message to her, saying: “I won’t wait much longer for you.” And as if she sent a third, saying: “I already want to die and I’m not waiting for you!”

And she was already finishing her work; all she had to do was embroider the vestments of one saint, whose face was already completed.

“And stop, and watch your needle in the air, and turn it into a thread, which you sew with it. And he sent to blessed Peter, who was named David, about his death by the purchase. And, having prayed, his holy soul betrayed<двойственное число - А. Б.>in the hand of God” (27).

Saints Peter and Fevronia, before being tonsured, bequeathed to bury themselves together, in one coffin, which was hewn out of stone for them during their lifetime. But the spouses were buried separately, “burrowing, as it is not acceptable to place the saints in one tomb in the same image” (28).

“The Life of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom in the painting of Alexander Prostev”

Then a miracle happened that glorified Saints Peter and Fevronia. The next morning people found both separate coffins empty. The holy bodies of Peter and Fevronia lay in the city in the cathedral church of the Most Pure Mother of God, in one coffin, which they themselves ordered to create. Thus, the Lord glorified not only His saints, but also once again sealed the holiness and dignity of marriage, the vows of which in this case turned out to be no lower than monastic vows.

* * *

Thus ended the earthly life of Saints Peter and Fevronia. After their death, their veneration gradually spread beyond the Murom land and, by the 16th century, probably covered the majority of the inhabitants of the Moscow state.

In 1547, through the works of St. Macarius of Moscow, they were ranked among the Russian Orthodox Church to the saints. Saint Macarius deserves special mention in connection with our saints, since through his care people who achieved righteousness thanks to life in a Christian marriage were glorified.

The effectiveness of prayer to these saints, which the Church has been doing for 450 years (the anniversary of their glorification was celebrated last year), convinces us of the authenticity of the appearance of Peter and Fevronia, which was recreated by Ermolai-Erasmus in his “Tale”. They truly became the patrons of Christian marriage.

It is they who should pray for peace to be sent into the family, for strengthening marital ties, and for achieving family happiness.

The author of “The Tale” prefaces his narrative with a preface in which he briefly reminds the reader of the Orthodox teaching about the Trinity, the creation of the world, and the economy of salvation. He ends his opening remarks with a reminder of the Christian's vocation.

Thus, Saints Peter and Fevronia are included in the majestic picture of the Christianly understood history of the world; they are placed on a par with the apostles and martyrs and other great saints. And they were awarded such glorification “for the sake of courage and humility” that they showed in keeping the commandments of God regarding marriage. In this way they fulfilled their calling as Christians. This means that each of those who strive in Christian marriage and follow their example can be placed in this rank and can win the crown that Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom were awarded.

Footnotes

1Prince of Murom Peter Yuryevich (in the tonsure of David), according to chronicles, died in 1228, therefore, the life together of Peter and his wife Fevronia dates back to the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries.

2 “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia” differs markedly from the generally accepted examples of hagiographic literature in the Makaryev era. This led to the fact that already in the 16th century. it has been revised several times. See Dmitrieva R.P. Ermolai-Erasmus - author of the Tale of Peter and Fevronia // The Tale of Peter and Fevronia / Preparation of texts and research by R.P. Dmitrieva. L., 1979. - P. 117; Dmitrieva R.P. Secondary editions of the Tale of Peter and Fevronia // Ibid. - Ss. 119–146.

3The latter were included in the literary tradition, in which the genre of the parable was very developed, suggesting an allegorical reading of its plot. It is possible that the ancient Russian reader, exceptionally sensitive to the tributary genre, also perceived the folklore images of our “Tale” as allegories and interpreted them in accordance with the main theme of this work.

4Unity in marriage was established by God Himself, and therefore is carried out in non-church marriages - all the more serious consequences are caused by desecration of the sacrament of marriage, conscious or unconscious.

5 The Tale of the Lives of the New Saints, the Wonderworker of Murom, the Blessed and Reverend and Worshipful Prince Peter, named in the monastic rank of David, and his wife, the blessed and venerable and praiseworthy Princess Fevronia, named in the monastic rank of Euphrosyne // The Tale of Peter and Fevronia. - Ss. 211–213 (hereinafter: Tale). For all references to this monument, we use the text of its first edition, defined in the publication by R. P. Dmitrieva as the author’s. See The Tale of Peter and Fevronia. - Ss. 209–223.

6Although the motif of snake fighting in “The Tale” is correlated with folklore, the very fact of demonic werewolf is known to Orthodox asceticism. In particular, an incident from the life of Archbishop Theodore (Pozdeevsky; †1937), similar to that described above, was recorded by priest Sergius Sidorov (†1937). In the last year of his rectorship at the Moscow Theological Academy, Vladyka Theodore cared for a certain mentally ill woman. When one day he did not allow her to leave Sergiev Posad, “she asked me why I did not let her into the station, and assured that I had been with her in the morning and tried to persuade her to leave Sergiev. I then took her words for nonsense, clearly sick<…>The next morning, having put part of the relics of St. Sergius into the panagia, I went to the sick woman.<…>She was sitting on the bed, and my double was sitting opposite her and urging her to leave Sergiev immediately. I, amazed, stopped on the threshold. The double turned to me and, pointing at me to the girl, said: “Don’t believe this, this is the devil.” “You’re lying,” I said and touched him with my panagia. My double immediately disappeared and no longer bothered the girl, who had completely recovered from the mental illness that had tormented her since the age of seven” (Priest Sergius Sidorov. Notes / Publication by V. S. Bobrinskaya // Chrysostom. No. 2. - pp. 306–307; indicated by M. S. Pershin). It is noteworthy that this event immediately preceded the persecution of Bishop Theodore in the liberal press and his subsequent removal from the post of rector of the Academy.

7Dmitrieva R.P. Secondary editions... - P. 138.

8Tale. - P. 215.

10Tale. - P. 216.

11Tale. - P. 217.

13Tale. - P. 218.

14Tale. - P. 217.

15 It is known that one bishop, who ordained secret priests during the years of persecution, before ordaining one of them, asked him to find out from his wife whether she agreed with this decision of her husband.

16Tale. - P. 218.

18Tale. - Ss. 218–219.

19Tale. - P. 219.

20cm. more Professor, Archpriest Gleb Kaleda. Home church. M., 1997. - pp. 14–19, 182–183, etc.

21Tale. - P. 219.

22 Let us note that in this case, as in the case of a person who has accepted a carnal mind, Fevronia, in all likelihood, shows such insight, which the Holy Fathers called “natural insight.” It - unlike “graceful insight” - can be possessed by any person, well knowledgeable about people and by the expression of the eyes or facial expressions, able to guess about the state of a person’s soul.

23Tale. - Ss. 219–220.

24Tale. - P. 220.

26Reverend Simeon the New Theologian. Creations. T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1892. - pp. 217, 316.

27Tale. - Ss. 220–221.

28Tale. - P. 221.

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July 8 - Orthodox holiday family and marriage, the day of the blessed Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia of Murom, who are considered the patrons of the spouses. In Russia, in 2008, the all-Russian holiday “Day of Family, Love and Fidelity” was established, which received official status. Svetlana Medvedeva proposed making the chamomile its symbol. The holiday of people who love each other is remembered more and more often. Will it become a counterbalance to the Catholic Valentine's Day? Will lovers give each other daisies instead of valentines?

The life and death of Peter and Fevronia

Peter was the second son of Prince Yuri Vladimirovich. He fell ill with leprosy, which no one could cure. One day, suffering Peter had a dream (according to other sources, there was a vision) that only a simple pious girl Fevronia, who lived in the village of Laskova near Ryazan, could help him. She knew how to heal with herbs. Her father collected honey from wild bees. Peter found Fevronia, who was able to help him. However, Peter soon fell ill again, as he did not fulfill his promise to marry Fevronia. The prince returned to the girl and asked her to forgive him. After Peter recovered, he took Fevronia as his wife. After some time, Peter, who inherited the reign of the Murom land, had to leave the city, because Fevronia was a commoner and did not fit into the boyars' court. But turmoil began in Murom. The boyars turned to the prince with a request to return and rule the people. Peter returned with Fevronia, after which the unrest ceased, and the Murom land received a wise prince. In their old age, the couple took monastic vows and took the new names of Euphrosyne and David. However, they ended up in different monasteries and suffered greatly without each other. Peter and Fevronia constantly prayed to God to grant them death on the same day. On July 8 (June 25, old style) 1228 they died. They were placed in different coffins, because these people were monks. But miraculously the couple ended up in the same tomb. In 1547, Peter and Fevronia were canonized by the Orthodox Church.

PETER AND FEVRONIYA OF MUROM
spouses, saints, the brightest personalities of Holy Rus', who reflected its spiritual values ​​and ideals with their lives.
The life story of St. miracle workers, the faithful and reverend spouses Peter and Fevronia, existed for many centuries in the traditions of the Murom land, where they lived and where their honest relics were preserved. Over time, real events acquired fabulous features, merging in people's memory with the legends and parables of this region. Now researchers are arguing about which of the historical figures the life was written about: some are inclined to think that it was Prince David and his wife Euphrosyne, monastically Peter and Fevronia, who died in 1228, others see them as the spouses Peter and Euphrosyne, who reigned in Murom in XIV century
I wrote down a story about blgv. Peter and Fevronia in the 16th century. priest Ermolai the Preregrenny (monastically Erasmus), a talented writer, widely known in the era of Ivan the Terrible. Preserving folkloric features in his life, he created an amazingly poetic story about wisdom and love - the gifts of the Holy Spirit with a pure heart and humbleness in God.
St. Peter was the younger brother of the lord who reigned in the city of Murom. Pavel. One day, trouble happened in Pavel’s family - due to the devil’s obsession, a snake began to fly to his wife. The sad woman, who succumbed to demonic power, told her husband everything. The prince ordered his wife to find out the secret of his death from the villain. It turned out that the adversary’s death was “destined to come from Peter’s shoulder and Agrikov’s sword.” Having learned about this, Prince. Peter immediately decided to kill the rapist, relying on God’s help. Soon, during prayer in the temple, it was revealed where Agrikov’s sword was kept, and, having tracked down the serpent, Peter struck him down. But before his death, the snake sprinkled the winner with poisonous blood, and the prince’s body became covered with scabs and ulcers.
No one could heal Peter from a serious illness. Enduring the torment with humility, the prince surrendered to God in everything. And the Lord, providing for His servant, sent him to the Ryazan land. One of the young men sent in search of a doctor accidentally walked into the house, where he found a lonely girl named Fevronia, the daughter of a tree frog, at work, who had the gift of insight and healing. After all the questions, Fevronia ordered the servant: “Bring your prince here. If he is sincere and humble in his words, he will be healthy!”
The prince, who could no longer walk himself, was brought to the house, and he sent to ask who wanted to cure him. And he promised him that if he cured him, he would get a big reward. “I want to cure him,” Fevronia answered bluntly, “but I don’t demand any reward from him. Here is my word to him: if I do not become his wife, then it is not proper for me to treat him.” Peter promised to marry, but in his heart he was lying: the pride of the princely family prevented him from agreeing to such a marriage. Fevronia scooped up some sourdough, blew on it and ordered the prince to wash himself in the bathhouse and lubricate all the scabs except one.
The blessed maiden had the wisdom of the Holy Fathers and prescribed such treatment not by chance. Just as the Lord and Savior, healing lepers, the blind and the paralytic, healed the soul through bodily ailments, so Fevronia, knowing that illnesses are allowed by God as a test and for sins, prescribed treatment for the flesh, implying a spiritual meaning. Bath, according to St. To Scripture, the image of baptism and cleansing of sins (Eph. 5:26), but the Lord Himself likened to leaven the Kingdom of Heaven, which will be inherited by souls whitened by the washing of baptism (Luke 13:21). Since Fevronia saw through Peter’s wickedness and pride, she ordered him to leave one scab undone as evidence of sin. Soon, from this scab, the whole illness resumed, and the prince returned to Fevronia. The second time he kept his word. “And they arrived at their patrimony, the city of Murom, and began to live piously, without breaking God’s commandments in anything.”
After the death of his brother, Peter became autocrat in the city. The boyars respected their prince, but the arrogant boyars’ wives disliked Fevronia, not wanting to have a peasant woman as their ruler, and taught their husbands evil things. The boyars tried to level all sorts of slander against the princess, and one day they rebelled and, having lost their shame, offered Fevronia, taking whatever she wanted, to leave the city. The princess wanted nothing but her husband. The boyars rejoiced, because everyone secretly set their sights on the princely place, and they told their prince about everything. Blessed Peter, having learned that they wanted to separate him from his beloved wife, chose to voluntarily renounce power and wealth and go into exile with her.
The couple sailed down the river on two ships. A certain man, sailing with his family along with Fevronia, looked at the princess. The holy wife immediately guessed his thoughts and gently reproached him: “Draw water from one side and the other of the boat,” the princess asked. “Is the water the same or is one sweeter than the other?” “The same,” he answered. “So female nature is the same,” said Fevronia. “Why are you, having forgotten your wife, thinking about someone else’s?” The convicted person was embarrassed and repented in his soul.
In the evening they moored to the shore and began to settle down for the night. “What will happen to us now?” - Peter thought sadly, and Fevronia, a wise and kind wife, affectionately consoled him: “Do not grieve, prince, the merciful God, the Creator and Protector of all, will not leave us in trouble!” At this time, the cook began to prepare dinner and, in order to hang the cauldrons, cut down two small trees. When the meal was over, the princess blessed these stumps with the words: “May they become big trees in the morning.” And so it happened. With this miracle, she wanted to strengthen her husband, foreseeing their fate. After all, if “there is hope for a tree that, even if it is cut down, it will live again” (Job 14:7), then a person who hopes and trusts in the Lord will have a blessing both in this life and in the next.
Before they had time to wake up, ambassadors from Murom arrived, begging Peter to return to reign. The boyars quarreled over power, shed blood and were now again looking for peace and tranquility. Blzh. Peter and Fevronia humbly returned to their city and ruled happily ever after, giving alms with prayer in their hearts. When old age came, they took monasticism with the names David and Euphrosyne and begged God to die at the same time. They decided to bury themselves together in a specially prepared coffin with a thin partition in the middle.
They died on the same day and hour, each in his own cell. People considered it impious to bury monks in the same coffin and dared to violate the will of the deceased. Twice their bodies were carried to different temples, but twice they miraculously found themselves nearby. So they buried the holy spouses together near the Cathedral Church of the Nativity Holy Mother of God, and every believer received generous healing here.
Memory blgv. Peter and Fevronia is celebrated on June 25/July 8.

Source: Encyclopedia "Russian Civilization"

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PETER AND FEVRONIA are the heroes of the ancient Russian “Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”, which took shape in the second half of the 15th century. based on oral legends and traditions. The narrative finally took shape in connection with the canonization of P. and F. (1547) in the middle of the 16th century... ... Literary heroes

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Peter Muromsky, in monasticism David (+ 1228), holy noble prince. Commemorated on June 25, in the Cathedrals of Vladimir and Ryazan Saints.

Fevronia of Murom, in monasticism Euphrosyne (+ 1228), holy noble princess. Commemorated on June 25, in the Cathedrals of Vladimir and Ryazan Saints.

The blessed Prince Peter was the second son of Murom Prince Yuri Vladimirovich. He ascended the Murom throne in 1203. A few years earlier, Saint Peter fell ill with leprosy, from which no one could cure him. In a dream vision, it was revealed to the prince that he could be healed by the beekeeper’s daughter, the pious maiden Fevronia, a peasant woman in the village of Laskovo, Ryazan province. Saint Peter sent his people to that village.

When the prince saw Saint Fevronia, he fell in love with her so much for her piety, wisdom and kindness that he vowed to marry her after healing. Saint Febronia healed the prince and married him. The holy spouses carried love for each other through all trials. The proud boyars did not want to have a princess of ordinary rank and demanded that the prince let her go. Saint Peter refused and the couple were expelled. They sailed on a boat along the Oka from hometown. Saint Febronia supported and consoled Saint Peter. But soon the city of Murom suffered the wrath of God, and the people demanded that the prince return with Saint Fevronia.

The holy spouses became famous for their piety and mercy.

They died on the same day and hour, June 25, 1228, having previously taken monastic vows with the names David and Euphrosyne. The bodies of the saints were laid in one coffin.

The glorification of the holy couple followed at the Moscow Council in 1547. Nowadays the relics of the holy spouses are in the Murom Holy Trinity Novodevichy Monastery.

You can get acquainted with the story of the life and love of Saints Peter and Fevronia by reading “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom”. This is a literary adaptation of a legend beloved by the Russian people, performed by order of Metropolitan Macarius by the writer and publicist Ermolai-Erasmus for the Moscow Church Council of 1547. At this cathedral the holy Murom spouses were canonized.

“The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom,” which tells about the life of Prince Peter and his wife Princess Fevronia, has become a hymn to marital love and fidelity. The Russian people loved to read the story of the Murom miracle worker saints - hundreds of copies of this work in the 16th-17th centuries speak about the popularity of the work of Ermolai-Erasmus. But this love story is also interesting to our contemporaries, especially now, when in Russia the Day of Peter and Fevronia of Murom (July 8) began to be celebrated in 2008 as the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity.

Below is a modern Russian-language version of “The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom” (the original story was written in Old Russian).

YERMOLAI-ERAZM

THE TALE OF PETER AND FEVRONIYA OF MUROM

THE NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF THE NEW MUROOM HOLY WONDERWORKERS, THE BLESSED, AND REVEREND, AND PRAISE-WORTHY PRINCE PETER, CALLED DAVID, AND HIS WIFE, THE BLESSED, AND REVEREND, AND PRAISE-WORTHY PRINCESS FEVRONIYA, CALLED EPHROSYNE IN MONSTITUDE, BLESS, FATHER

There is a city in Russian land called Murom. It was once ruled by a noble prince named Pavel. The devil, who has hated the human race from time immemorial, made it so that the winged serpent began to fly to the wife of that prince for fornication. And with his magic he appeared before her in the image of the prince himself. This obsession continued for a long time. The wife did not hide this and told the prince and her husband about everything that happened to her. The evil snake took possession of her by force.

The prince began to think about what to do with the snake, but was at a loss. And so he says to his wife: “I’m thinking about it, wife, but I can’t figure out how to defeat this villain? I don't know how to kill him? When he begins to talk to you, ask him, seducing him, about this: does this villain himself know why his death should happen? If you find out about this and tell us, then you will be freed not only in this life from its stinking breath and hissing and all this shamelessness, which is shameful even to talk about, but also in the future life of the unhypocritical judge, Christ, thereby you will appease.” The wife firmly imprinted her husband’s words in her heart and she decided: “I will definitely do this.”

And then one day, when this evil snake came to her, she, holding her husband’s words tightly in her heart, turned to this villain with flattering speeches, talking about this and that, and in the end, with respect, praising him, asking: “A lot of things.” you know, but do you know about your death - what it will be like and from what?” He, an evil deceiver, was deceived by the forgivable deception of his faithful wife, for, neglecting the fact that he was revealing the secret to her, he said: “I am destined to die from Peter’s shoulder and from Agrikov’s sword.” The wife, having heard these words, firmly remembered them in her heart and, when this villain left, she told the prince, her husband, what the snake had told her. The prince, having heard this, was perplexed - what does it mean: death from Peter’s shoulder and from Agrikov’s sword?

And the prince had a brother named Peter. One day Paul called him to him and began to tell him about the words of the serpent, which he said to his wife. Prince Peter, having heard from his brother that the serpent had called the one by whose hand he was to die by his name, began to think without hesitation or doubt how to kill the serpent. Only one thing confused him - he didn’t know anything about Agric’s sword.

It was Peter's custom to walk alone in churches. And outside the city stood in a convent the Church of the Exaltation of the Honest and life-giving cross. He came there alone to pray. And then the youth appeared to him, saying: “Prince! Do you want me to show you Agrikov’s sword?” He, trying to fulfill his plan, replied: “Let me see where he is!” The boy said: “Follow me.” And he showed the prince a gap in the altar wall between the slabs, and in it lay a sword. Then the noble prince Peter took that sword, went to his brother and told him about everything. And from that day he began to look for a suitable opportunity to kill the snake.

Every day Peter went to his brother and his daughter-in-law to pay homage to them. One day he happened to come to his brother’s chambers, and immediately he went from him to his daughter-in-law in other chambers and saw that his brother was sitting with her. And, going back from her, he met one of his brother’s servants and said to him: “I went out from my brother to my daughter-in-law, and my brother remained in his chambers, and I, without stopping anywhere, quickly came to my daughter-in-law’s chambers.” and I don’t understand how my brother ended up in my daughter-in-law’s chambers before me?” The same man said to him: “Sir, after your departure your brother did not leave his chambers!” Then Peter realized that these were the wiles of the evil serpent. And he came to his brother and said to him: “When did you come here? After all, when I left these chambers from you and, without stopping anywhere, came to your wife’s chambers, I saw you sitting with her and was very surprised how you came before me. And so I came here again, without stopping anywhere, but you, I don’t understand how, got ahead of me and ended up here before me?” Paul answered: “Brother, I did not leave these chambers anywhere after you left, nor did I visit my wife.” Then Prince Peter said: “This, brother, is the machinations of the evil serpent - you appear to me, so that I do not decide to kill him, thinking that it is you who are my brother. Now, brother, don’t go anywhere from here, I’ll go there to fight the snake, I hope that with God’s help this evil snake will be killed.”

And, taking the sword called Agrikov, he came to his daughter-in-law’s chambers and saw a serpent in the form of his brother, but, firmly convinced that it was not his brother, but an insidious serpent, he struck him with the sword. The serpent, turning into its natural form, trembled and died, sprinkling the blessed Prince Peter with its blood. Peter, from that evil blood, became covered with scabs, and ulcers appeared on his body, and a serious illness seized him. And he tried to find healing from many doctors in his domain, but not one cured him.

Peter heard that there were many doctors in the Ryazan land, and ordered to be taken there - due to a serious illness, he himself could not sit on a horse. And when they brought him to the Ryazan land, he sent all his close associates to look for doctors.

One of the princely youths wandered into a village called Laskovo. He came to the gate of one house and saw no one. And he went into the house, but no one came out to meet him. Then he entered the upper room and saw an amazing sight: a girl was sitting alone at a loom, weaving canvas, and a hare was jumping in front of her.

And the girl said: “It’s bad when the house has no ears, and the room has no eyes!” The young man, not understanding these words, asked the girl: “Where is the owner of this house?” To this she replied: “My father and mother went to cry on loan, but my brother went through the legs of death to look into the eyes.”

The young man did not understand the girl’s words, he was amazed, seeing and hearing such miracles, and asked the girl: “I came in to you and saw that you were weaving, and a hare was jumping in front of you, and I heard some strange speeches from your lips and I can't understand what you're saying. First you said: it’s bad when the house has no ears and the room has no eyes. About her father and mother she said that they went on loan to cry, but about her brother she said - “he looks into the eyes of death through the legs.” And I didn’t understand a single word of yours!”

She told him: “And you can’t understand this! You came to this house, and entered my upper room, and found me in an unkempt state. If there was a dog in our house, it would sense that you were approaching the house and would bark at you: these are the ears of the house. And if there was a child in my upper room, then, seeing that you were going to the upper room, he would tell me about this: these are the eyes of the house. And what I told you about my father and mother and about my brother, that my father and mother went to cry - they went to a funeral and mourned the dead man there. And when death comes for them, others will mourn them: this is crying on loan. I told you this about my brother because my father and brother are tree climbers, they collect honey from the trees in the forest. And today my brother went to be a beekeeper, and when he climbs up a tree, he will look through his legs to the ground so as not to fall from his height. If anyone breaks down, he will lose his life. That’s why I said that he went through the legs of death to look into the eyes.”

The young man says to her: “I see, girl, that you are wise. Tell me your name." She replied: “My name is Fevronia.” And that young man said to her: “I am the servant of the Murom prince Peter. My prince is seriously ill, with ulcers. He was covered with scabs from the blood of the evil flying snake, which he killed with his own hand. In his principality, he sought healing from many doctors, but no one could cure him. Therefore, he ordered to bring himself here, since he had heard that there were many doctors here. But we don’t know their names or where they live, so we ask about them.” To this she replied: “If someone asked for your prince, he could cure him.” The young man said: “What are you saying - who can claim my prince for himself! If anyone cures him, the prince will richly reward him. But tell me the name of the doctor, who he is and where his house is.” She answered: “Bring your prince here. If he is sincere and humble in his words, he will be healthy!”

The young man quickly returned to his prince and told him in detail about everything he had seen and heard. The noble Prince Peter commanded: “Take me to where this girl is.” And they brought him to the house where the girl lived. And he sent one of his servants to ask: “Tell me, girl, who wants to cure me? Let him heal and receive a rich reward.” She answered bluntly: “I want to cure him, but I don’t demand any reward from him. Here is my word to him: if I do not become his wife, then it is not right for me to treat him.” And the man returned and told his prince what the girl had told him.

Prince Peter treated her words with disdain and thought: “Well, how is it possible for the prince to take the daughter of a poison dart frog as his wife!” And he sent to her, saying: “Tell her - let her heal as best she can. If she cures me, I will take her as my wife.” They came to her and conveyed these words. She, taking a small bowl, scooped up some leaven with it, blew on it and said: “Let them heat your prince’s bathhouse, and let him anoint his whole body with it, where there are scabs and ulcers. And let him leave one scab unanointed. And he will be healthy!”

And they brought this ointment to the prince, and he ordered the bathhouse to be heated. He wanted to test the girl’s answers - whether she was as wise as he had heard about her speeches from his youth. He sent a small bundle of flax to her with one of his servants, saying: “This girl wants to become my wife for the sake of her wisdom. If she is so wise, let her make me a shirt, and clothes, and a scarf from this flax while I am in the bathhouse.” The servant brought Fevronia a bunch of flax and, handing it to her, conveyed the prince’s order. She told the servant: “Climb onto our stove and, taking off the log, bring it here.” He, having listened to her, brought some logs. Then she, measuring with a span, said: “Bran off this from the log.” He cut it off. She tells him: “Take this stump of wood, go and give it to your prince from me and tell him: while I comb this bunch of flax, let your prince make a weaving mill from this stump and all the other equipment that will be used for weaving.” canvas for him." The servant brought a stump of logs to his prince and conveyed the girl’s words. The prince says: “Go tell the girl that it is impossible to make what she asks from such a small chick in such a short time!” The servant came and conveyed to her the prince’s words. The girl responded to this: “Is it really possible for an adult man to make a shirt, a dress, and a scarf from one bunch of flax in the short time it takes him to wash in the bathhouse?” The servant left and conveyed these words to the prince. The prince was amazed at her answer.

Then Prince Peter went to the bathhouse to wash and, as the girl ordered, he anointed his sores and scabs with ointment. And he left one scab unanointed, as the girl ordered. And when I left the bathhouse, I no longer felt any illness. The next morning he looks - his whole body is healthy and clean, only one scab remains, which he did not anoint, as the girl punished him. And he marveled at such a quick healing. But he did not want to take her as his wife because of her origin, but sent her gifts. She didn't accept it.

Prince Peter went to his patrimony, the city of Murom, having recovered. Only one scab remained on him, which was not anointed at the girl’s command. And from that scab new scabs appeared all over his body from the day he went to his patrimony. And again he was covered all over with scabs and ulcers, just like the first time.

And again the prince returned to the girl for the tried and tested treatment. And when he came to her house, he sent to her in shame, asking for healing. She, not at all angry, said: “If he becomes my husband, he will be healed.” He's the same firm word gave her that he would take her as his wife. And again, as before, she prescribed the same treatment for him, which I already wrote about before. He, having quickly recovered, took her as his wife. This is how Fevronia became a princess.

And they arrived at their patrimony, the city of Murom, and began to live piously, without breaking God’s commandments in anything.

After a short time, Prince Pavel died. The noble Prince Peter, after his brother, became autocrat in his city.

The boyars, at the instigation of their wives, did not love Princess Fevronia, because she did not become a princess by birth, but God glorified her for the sake of her good life.

One day, one of those serving her came to the blessed Prince Peter and said to her: “Every time,” he said, “after finishing a meal, she leaves the table inappropriately: before getting up, she collects crumbs in her hand, as if she were hungry.” ! And so the noble prince Peter, wanting to test her, ordered that she dine with him at the same table. And when dinner was over, she, as was her custom, collected the crumbs in her hand. Then Prince Peter took Fevronia by the hand and, opening it, saw fragrant incense and incense. And from that day on, he never experienced it again.

A lot of time passed, and then one day his boyars came to the prince in anger and said: “Prince, we are all ready to serve you faithfully and have you as autocrat, but we do not want Princess Fevronia to rule over our wives. If you want to remain an autocrat, let you have another princess. Fevronia, having taken as much wealth as she wants, let her go wherever she wants!” Blessed Peter, whose custom was not to be angry at anything, answered with meekness: “Tell Fevronia about this, let’s listen to what she says.”

The frantic boyars, having lost their shame, decided to throw a feast. They began to feast and, when they became drunk, they began to conduct their shameless speeches, like barking dogs, denying God’s gift to Saint Fevronia to heal, which God awarded her even after death. And they say: “Madam Princess Fevronia! The whole city and the boyars are asking you: give us whoever we ask you for!” She answered: “Take whoever you ask!” They, as if with one mouth, said: “We, madam, all want Prince Peter to rule over us, but our wives do not want you to rule over them. Having taken as much wealth as you need, go wherever you want!” Then she said: “I promised you that whatever you ask, you will receive. Now I tell you: promise to give me whatever I ask you.” They, the villains, rejoiced, not knowing what awaited them, and swore: “Whatever you name, you will immediately receive it without question.” Then she says: “I ask for nothing else, only my husband, Prince Peter!” They answered: “If he wants to, we won’t say a word to you.” The enemy clouded their minds - everyone thought that if Prince Peter was not there, they would have to install another autocrat: but in their souls, each of the boyars hoped to become an autocrat.

Blessed Prince Peter did not want to break God’s commandments for the sake of reigning in this life, he God's commandments lived, observing them, as the God-voiced Matthew says in his Annunciation. After all, it is said that if someone drives away his wife, who has not been accused of adultery, and marries another, he himself commits adultery. This blessed prince acted according to the Gospel: he neglected his reign, so as not to break God’s commandments.

These evil boyars prepared ships for them on the river - a river called the Oka flows under this city. And so they sailed down the river in ships. A certain man was sailing in the same ship with Fevronia, whose wife was on the same ship. And this man, tempted by the evil demon, looked at the saint with thoughts. She, immediately guessing his evil thoughts, denounced him, telling him: “Scoop up water from this river from this side of this vessel.” He got it. And she ordered him to drink. He drank. Then she said again: “Now scoop up water from the other side of this vessel.” He got it. And she ordered him to drink again. He drank. Then she asked: “Is the water the same or is one sweeter than the other?” He answered: “The same water, lady.” After this she said: “So the female nature is the same. Why, having forgotten about your wife, are you thinking about someone else’s?” And this man, realizing that she had the gift of insight, did not dare to indulge in such thoughts anymore.

When evening came, they landed on the shore and began to settle down for the night. Blessed Prince Peter thought: “What will happen now, since I voluntarily renounced the princedom?” Precious Fevronia tells him: “Do not grieve, prince, the merciful God, the creator and protector of all will not leave us in trouble!”

Meanwhile, on the shore, food was being prepared for Prince Peter’s dinner. And his cook cut down small trees to hang the cauldrons on. And when dinner was over, the holy princess Fevronia, who was walking along the shore and saw these stumps, blessed them, saying: “May they be large trees with branches and foliage in the morning.” And so it was: we got up in the morning and found large trees with branches and foliage instead of stumps.

And when people gathered to load their belongings from the shore onto ships, nobles from the city of Murom came, saying: “Our lord prince! We came to you from all the nobles and from the inhabitants of the whole city, do not leave us, your orphans, return to your reign. After all, many nobles died in the city from the sword. Each of them wanted to rule, and in the dispute they killed each other. And all those who survived, together with all the people, pray to you: Our lord prince, although we angered and offended you because we did not want Princess Fevronia to rule over our wives, but now with all our household we are your slaves and we want you to be, and we love you, and we pray that you do not leave us, your servants!”

Blessed Prince Peter and Blessed Princess Fevronia returned to their city. And they ruled in that city, observing all the commandments and instructions of the Lord impeccably, praying incessantly and giving alms to all the people under their authority, like a child-loving father and mother. They had equal love for everyone, did not like cruelty and money-grubbing, did not spare perishable wealth, but grew rich in God's wealth. And they were true shepherds for their city, and not like mercenaries. And they ruled their city with justice and meekness, and not with rage. They welcomed strangers, fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and delivered the poor from misfortunes.

When the time had come for their pious repose, they begged God to die at the same time. And they bequeathed that they should both be placed in one tomb, and they ordered that two coffins be made from one stone, with a thin partition between them. At one time they became monks and donned monastic robes. And the blessed prince Peter was named David in the monastic rank, and the Monk Fevronia in the monastic rank was called Euphrosyne.

At a time when the Venerable and Blessed Fevronia, named Euphrosyne, was embroidering the faces of saints in the air for the cathedral church of the Most Pure Theotokos, the Venerable and Blessed Prince Peter, named David, sent to her to say: “O Sister Euphrosyne! The time of death has come, but I’m waiting for you so that we can go to God together.” She answered: “Wait, sir, until I bring air into the holy church.” He sent a second time to say: “I can’t wait for you for long.” And for the third time he sent me to say: “I’m already dying and I can’t wait any longer!” At that time she was finishing the embroidery of that holy air: only one saint’s mantle had not yet been finished, but she had already embroidered the face; and she stopped, and stuck her needle in the air, and wound the thread with which she was embroidering around it. And she sent to tell blessed Peter, named David, that she was dying with him. And, having prayed, they both gave their holy souls into the hands of God on the twenty-fifth day of the month of June.

After their repose, people decided to bury the body of blessed Prince Peter in the city, near the cathedral church of the Most Pure Mother of God, and to bury Fevronia in a country nunnery, near the Church of the Exaltation of the Honest and Life-Giving Cross, saying that since they became monks, they cannot be put in one coffin . And they made separate coffins for them, in which they placed their bodies: the body of St. Peter, named David, was placed in his coffin and placed until the morning in the city church of the Holy Mother of God, and the body of St. Fevronia, named Euphrosyne, was placed in her coffin and placed in the country church Exaltation of an honest and life-giving cross. Their common coffin, which they themselves ordered to be carved out of one stone, remained empty in the same city cathedral church of the Most Pure Mother of God. But the next morning, people saw that the separate coffins in which they had placed them were empty, and their holy bodies were found in the city cathedral church of the Most Pure Mother of God in their common coffin, which they ordered to be made for themselves during their lifetime. Foolish people, both during their lifetime and after the honest repose of Peter and Fevronia, tried to separate them: they again put them in separate coffins and separated them again. And again in the morning the saints found themselves in a single coffin. And after that they no longer dared to touch their holy bodies and buried them near the city cathedral church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, as they themselves commanded - in a single coffin, which God gave for enlightenment and for the salvation of that city: those who fell with faith to the shrine with their relics generously find healing.

Let us, according to our strength, give them praise.

Rejoice, Peter, for you have been given from God the power to kill the flying fierce serpent! Rejoice, Fevronia, for in your woman’s head was the wisdom of holy men! Rejoice, Peter, for, bearing scabs and ulcers on his body, he bravely endured all the torments! Rejoice, Fevronia, for already as a girl you possessed the gift given to you from God to heal ailments! Rejoice, illustrious Peter, for, for the sake of God’s commandment not to leave his wife, he voluntarily renounced power! Rejoice, wonderful Fevronia, for with your blessing, in one night the small trees grew large, covered with branches and leaves! Rejoice, honest leaders, for in your reign you lived with humility, in prayers, doing alms, without being arrogant; For this, Christ has overshadowed you with His grace, so that even after death your bodies lie inseparably in one tomb, and in spirit you stand before the Lord Christ! Rejoice, reverend and blessed ones, for even after death you invisibly heal those who come to you with faith!

We pray to you, O blessed spouses, that you also pray for us, who honor your memory with faith!

Remember also me, a sinner, who wrote everything that I heard about you, not knowing whether others who knew more than me wrote about you or not. Although I am a sinner and an ignorant person, trusting in God’s grace and his generosity and trusting in your prayers to Christ, I worked on my work. While I wanted to give you praise on earth, I have not yet touched upon real praise. For the sake of your meek reign and righteous life, I wanted to weave wreaths of praise for you after your death, but I haven’t really touched on this yet. For you are glorified and crowned in heaven with true incorruptible crowns by the common ruler of all, Christ. To him belongs, together with his beginningless Father and the most holy, good and life-giving Spirit, all glory, honor and worship, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Akathist to the Holy Blessed Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia, Murom Wonderworkers

Kontakion 1

Chosen miracle workers and great saints of the Lord, intercessors of the city of Murom and dreams of prayer for our souls, holy blessings of Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia! Bringing praise to you, we earnestly pray: for those who have boldness in the Lord, through your intercession free us from all troubles, and make us heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven, so we joyfully call to you:

Ikos 1

The angels of earth and the people of heaven have truly appeared, blessed Peter and Fevronia, from your youth having a clear conscience and having lived well together in piety and purity, leaving us as an example of imitation of your godly life, to whom we have marveled and illuminated your miracles, we call you voices of praise to us :
Rejoice, you who have loved Christ from your youth and worked for Him with all your heart; Rejoice, guardians of chastity and guardians of mental and physical purity. Rejoice, having prepared your souls and bodies on earth for the abode of the Holy Spirit; Rejoice in being filled with the wisdom and intelligence of the Divine. Rejoice, as in the flesh, as without flesh, live together; Rejoice, for you are worthy to receive honor equal to the angels. Rejoice, for you stand before the Trinity from earth to Heaven and there from the Angels; Rejoice, for with disembodied faces you sing the thrice-holy hymn to Her. Rejoice, glorified in Heaven and on earth by the Lord; Rejoice, having found an eternal, all-bright resting place. Rejoice, rich treasure of the city of Murom; Rejoice, source of inexhaustible miracles.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 2

Seeing Prince Peter in his recurring illness, a sign of God’s wrath, for not fulfilling his vow, he took the wise Fevronia as his wife, trying to fulfill this and united with her in a legal marriage. Both in marriage, live chastely and godly, blissfully, having one thought in two bodies, to please God; In the same way, now you sing to Him with the Angels a song: Alleluia.

Ikos 2

With a divinely enlightened mind, gifted from above, Saints Peter and Fevronia, love and mercy for the poor and orphans, the offended and helpless, quickly interceded and with many other virtues adorned their earthly reign. For this reason we cry out to you:
Rejoice, blessed and blessed, having lived in love of God and preserved good faith; Rejoice, you are filled with mercy and compassion. Rejoice, quick helper to the helpless; Rejoice, comforters of sad blasias. Rejoice, feeders of orphans and widows; Rejoice, representatives of those in trouble. Rejoice, healers of mental and physical illnesses; Rejoice, joy-creating visitors of sorrowful hearts. Rejoice, having shown your love for God, your love for your neighbors; Rejoice, having maintained your earthly reign righteously and pleasing to God. Rejoice, praise of the Orthodox princes and the establishment of the city of Murom; Rejoice, all Russian lands, intercession.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 3

We strengthen you with the power of God’s grace, blessed Prince Peter, you would rather leave the city of your fatherland and the reign of Murom than to divorce the wise Fevronia at the insistence of your proud boys. For this sake, God glorify you and create, so that the same bolyars returned together with your wife, you are once again established on the throne of the reign of Murom, but you show us an example of keeping the law of God by your feat, and imitating you in the holiness of keeping the marriage union, we sing to the hero Christ: Alleluia .

Ikos 3

Having care for his people, the blessed Peter and Fevronia, vigilantly labored for their good, inculcating piety, eradicating wickedness and pacifying enmity. Likewise, the Lord, seeing such feats of yours, bless the land of Murom with fruitfulness and give deep peace to your reign, challenging your people to sing gratefully to you:
Rejoice, saints of God, as partakers of the lives of the great saints; Rejoice, good rulers, people of Murom, who have guided you to salvation. Rejoice, guardians of Christian piety; Rejoice, eradicators of disorder, strife and all wickedness. Rejoice, Christian spouses to the pious life of a mentor; Rejoice, chastity and continence in marriage are the most excellent image. Rejoice, guardians of the righteous judgment; Rejoice, zealots of non-extortion and selflessness. Rejoice, holy kings Constantine and Helen, acquirers of virtues; Rejoice, Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir and Blessed Princess Olga are worthy successors. Rejoice, most honorable and good combination of two, unwaveringly shining with rays of miracles; Rejoice, O blessed lamp of your fatherland.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 4

The storm of sorrows and misfortunes, raised by the malice of this world, do not weaken your strong love even for God, Blessed Peter and Fevronia, but even more teach you to skillfully repel the kindled arrows of the temptations of the devil: for you, having wrapped yourself in the armor of the faith of Christ, in the deep world have gone beyond the multi-rebellious abyss of everyday life sea, and reach the quiet harbor of salvation, bring us to it with your prayers, so that together with you we sing to God: Alleluia.

Ikos 4

Having heard your pious life near and far, faithful Peter and Fevronia, I glorified the philanthropic God, who gave you strength for all good deeds, in whose image, like shining rays, you shone in your fatherland, where to this day your names are honorable, and your deeds are sung with these praises:
Rejoice, most luminous two, united by God; Rejoice in the light of your pious life, like God’s bright lights shining forth. Rejoice, having acquired the Kingdom of Heaven through alms and prayers; Rejoice, having improved eternal bliss through humility and fasting. Rejoice, for your reward is abundant in Heaven; Rejoice, for your joy is eternal in the light of the saints. Rejoice, beloved servants of Christ; Rejoice, friends of all saints. Rejoice, stars of incorruption, who faithfully point out the path of married life pleasing to God; Rejoice, dew-bearing clouds, driving away the heat of passions and wickedness. Rejoice, God's mercy and givers of bounties to us; Rejoice, an inalienable adornment of your Fatherland.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 5

The divinely enlightened luminaries of piety and wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia, who loved God with all their souls, kept all His commandments; In the same way, Christ, like the sun and the bright moon, has shown you, most blessed, many miracles with the dawn illuminating the Murom region and the entire Russian country, glorifying your holy and multi-healing relics with incorruption, falling to them, according to your heritage, we bless you and sing with gratitude to the wondrous thing in our saints To God: Alleluia.

Ikos 5

Having seen your righteous life and your generosity, the people of Muromstia glorified you, their merciful rulers, the faithful Peter and Fevronia, but you loved true humility and human praise carelessly, remained proudly invulnerable and thus showed us an image of the highest humility, learning from it, crying out to you with love like this:
Rejoice, you who have imputed the glory of man for nothing; Rejoice, you who have zealously loved the humility of Christ. Rejoice, faithful performers of the commandments of the Lord; Rejoice, followers of the true teachings of the Gospel. Rejoice, servant of the Most High God, having done His will; Rejoice, having kept the faith of Christ to the end. Rejoice, teachers of piety to men named after Christ; Rejoice, you who want to live a godly life according to the wisdom of your teacher. Rejoice, for through your prayers you save us from all troubles; Rejoice, you who fulfill all our good requests. Rejoice, you who have provided grace to heal the ills of those who suffer; Rejoice, patron of the mercy of the Murom country.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 6

Preachers of the Orthodox faith and zealots of piety, not only in words, but with all their lives, were quick in the city of Murom, praising Peter and Fevronia; In the same way, the Holy Church worthily honors your exploits and labors, in the image of which you labored for the glory of the Most High God, silently singing to Him: Alleluia.

Ikos 6

Shine in the city of Murom with the light of your virtuous life, like God’s bright stars, the blessed Peter and Fevronia, and your memory is in it with praise to this day, as even after your death you do not cease to illuminate us, performing many miracles and thus the bright dawn of immortality for us from your relics radiantly, may we please you with the blessings of the chintz:
Rejoice, faithful guardians of the rites and statutes of the Holy Church; Rejoice, reverent worshipers of the servants of the altar of the Lord. Rejoice, zealots of the good customs and traditions of the patrists; Rejoice, eradicators of evil customs and superstitious wisdom of the pagans. Rejoice, the judgments that have been impartial to your people are not impartial; Rejoice, having united your judgments with mercy. Rejoice, meek and gentle followers of Christ; Rejoice, you who have overcome evil with good. Rejoice, imperishable fragrant flowers; Rejoice, unflickering rays of immortality. Rejoice, you who shine on earth with the greatness of miracles; Rejoice, angels in Heaven glorifying God.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 7

Although the Lord, the Lover of Mankind, will show in your life, Peter and Fevronia, an image of edification not only for worldly people, but also for monastic faces, inspire you in your old age to leave the glory of the earthly reign, and accept the image of a monk, in which you strive for goodness through fasting, vigil and prayer, chanting continually to the Triune God the angelic song: Alleluia.

Ikos 7

You have received the new grace of God in tonsure as a monk, with new deeds you have embellished your life as an angel, and thus you have brought the fruit of spiritual perfection to Christ, and you have received the reward of the saints worthy of Him. Remembering your zeal for spiritual deeds, we glorify you with these worthy praises:
Rejoice, for for the love of the Lord, you have abandoned the reign and glory of this world; Rejoice, for you have diligently accepted the monastic life of equal angels. Rejoice, perfect patience of the ascetic; Rejoice, free men of poverty and blessed money-grubbers. Rejoice, having mortified all passions through abstinence before your death; Rejoice, having received the holy schema into the armor of salvation. Rejoice, you who have exchanged the prince’s scarlet for a monastic hair shirt; Rejoice in fasting, vigil and unceasing prayers for those who have pleased God well. Rejoice, seekers of God-loving solitude; Rejoice, lovers of saving silence. Rejoice, watered with tears of prayer; Rejoice, in the host of saints glorified in Heaven.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 8

It was a strange and wondrous miracle, when you, blessed Peter, at the end of your life, the petition for the sake of your wife, Saint Fevronia, delayed your outcome until she had finished the church shroud, which she stitched together and, together with you, came to the end of death; and so inseparable in life, inseparable in death, he appeared, and in one day and hour he gave up his holy soul in the hand of God, calling everlastingly alive and dead to the possessing Master God: Alleluia.

Ikos 8

All the miracles and glorification of the wondrous God in His saints, when your holy bodies, laid in different tombs, were miraculously found lying in a common tomb, which you prepared for yourself, Reverend, in the cathedral church of the city of Murom, where to this day you rest inseparably, holy miracle workers, inexhaustible healing to all who come running to you with faith and call:
Rejoice, you have faithfully preserved the union of your love to the grave and beyond the grave; Rejoice, not only in life, but also in death, in the Lord’s unity. Rejoice, in your pious married life imitating your strength and help; Rejoice, you who warm us with the warmth of your love. Rejoice, having passed through temporary death to eternal life; Rejoice, from the Lord incorruptibility and miracles of glorification. Rejoice, for your memory is with praise and your dormition is with the saints; Rejoice, for your names are honorable and blessed in your fatherland. Rejoice, fertile fertilizer for the Russian country; Rejoice, the city of Murom has an indestructible fence. Rejoice, O heavenly representatives who love and honor you; Rejoice, you who ever ask us from the Lord for the gifts of His goodness.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 9

All the Angels and the faces of the saints rejoiced with great joy, when your holy souls reached the eternal in the abodes of the heavenly villages, and the Creator of Angels and the Most Holy of Holies, the King of Glory Christ, crowned you with immortality and gave you the grace to pray to Him with boldness to many for all those who seek your intercession, Do not deprive us sinners of this, Peter and Fevronia, of worthy praise, humbly singing a song of praise to God who glorified you: Alleluia.

Ikos 9

Human Vetism does not suffice for the worthy glorification of your wondrous life, holy wonderworkers Peter and Fevronius; who confessed all your prayers and fastings, illnesses and labors; who will count all your tears and sighs to God. Both of us, motivated by love for you, dare to sing to you these small and simple praises:
Rejoice, vessels of the grace of the Holy Spirit of election; Rejoice, everlasting joy to us, favorable intercessors. Rejoice, strengthening of God-fearing spouses in piety; Rejoice, formidable reproof for violators of marital chastity and harmony. Rejoice, the wrath of God, righteously moved upon us, quenched by your prayers; Rejoice, you who continually pray to the Lord for the peace of the whole world. Rejoice, fortified enemies, visible and invisible, and our supporters; Rejoice, angelic people. Rejoice, joint heirs of the venerable and righteous; Rejoice, faithful saint of the Most Holy Trinity. Rejoice, blessed inhabitants of the city of Heavenly Jerusalem; Rejoice, triumphant with the saints in the tabernacles of paradise.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 10

Having inherited eternal salvation from the blessed Peter and Fevronia, your souls in the heavenly abodes abide inseparably in God, and with your holy relics you rest incorruptibly in the temple of God, and you exude abundant healing, and with your miracles gracefully illuminated, we cry out in praise to the Supreme Creator of miracles, God: Alleluia.

Ikos 10

The wall of intercession, your auspicious prayers to God, having found, the holy wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia, we earnestly send up thanksgiving to the Heavenly Father for all His blessings, which you have abundantly shown to all of us, and to you, our representatives, we offer the chic:
Rejoice, heir of the all-blessed Kingdom of Christ; Rejoice, angelic faces of your interlocutor. Rejoice, you who contemplate God in unapproachable glory; Rejoice, Trisiyannogo Deity of the Mystery. Rejoice, you who reign forever with the saints in Heaven; Rejoice, you who mercifully reach from the heights of the earth to the earthly. Rejoice, smell the fragrance of heavenly vegetation; Rejoice, cypress trees of the miracle-working paradise of Jesus. Rejoice, givers of envy-free, free healing; Rejoice, performers of many praiseworthy miracles. Rejoice, you who shower us with many blessings; Rejoice, the mercy of your compassion embraces everyone.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 11

We bring prayer singing to you, saints of God Petra and Fevronia, and with love we fall before the rank of your holy and multi-healing relics, glorifying your godly life and many deeds. We pray to you earnestly, holy wonderworkers, help us to imitate your virtues, so that we may sing to our Creator in a godly manner: Alleluia.

Ikos 11

The cathedral church of the city of Murom was filled with heavenly light, when by the grace of God your holy relics, Peter and Fevronia, were found safe and fragrant in it, and from the depths of the earth, like a precious treasure, they were worn out, where they rest to this day, inexhaustible healings flowing to the sick and sick. For this reason we cry out to you in song:
Rejoice, imperishable gold, found in the depths of the earth; Rejoice, shining beads who enlighten people with grace. Rejoice, praise has been given to the Holy Orthodox Church; Rejoice, denunciation of heresies and schisms. Rejoice, shine upon your minds, illuminating with the dawn of the Holy Spirit; Rejoice, the world is filled with the fragrance of Christ. Rejoice, having been clothed in the robe of grace-filled incorruptibility; Rejoice, girded with the power of many miracles. Rejoice, for your honest physician revealed cancer as a human disease; Rejoice, for from her everyone who comes with faith receives healing gifts. Rejoice, you who illuminate the darkness of our souls with the light of your miracles; Rejoice, for by the incorruption of your holy relics you show us the dawn of the common resurrection of all.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 12

Having recognized the grace from above given to you, the holy wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia, with reverence and love we worship your incorruptible and multi-healing power and from them we accept healing in illnesses, consolation in sorrows, gracious help in troubles; In the same way, we glorify you according to your heritage, our heavenly representatives and intercessors, singing praises and thanksgiving to the Master God who has benevolent us: Alleluia.

Ikos 12

Singing your many and glorious miracles, the great saints of God Peter and Fevronia, we bless you as healers, comforters and helpers from the Lord given to us, and we prayerfully celebrate your holy memory, singing to you with gratitude and praise from the love of our hearts:
Rejoice, you who rest incorruptibly in the fragrance of the holy thing; Rejoice, you who come with faith to the race of your relics, sanctifying them with grace. Rejoice, you who call upon the prayerfully honest names of your speedy hearers; Rejoice, trust in you through God, who lays wonders on your helpers. Rejoice, you who have known the propitiators of the Heavenly King; Rejoice, our mighty protectors from invisible enemies. Rejoice, you have dreamed of the intercessors of salvation for all of us; Rejoice, persistent guardians of the city of Murom. Rejoice, wonderful kindness of the Russian princes; Rejoice, God-given patrons of your fatherland. Rejoice, healing grace of our bodies; Rejoice for our souls’ zeal for the Lord in prayer.
Rejoice, holy and glorious wonderworkers Peter and Fevronia.

Kontakion 13

About the holiness and glory of the miracle workers, the blessing of Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia! Mercifully accept this praiseworthy singing from us unworthy, brought to you in tenderness, and through your intercession from the Lord ask us for confirmation in faith and good deeds, and deliverance from all sorrows and illnesses, temporary and eternal, so that we may be worthy to sing together with you and all the saints in the Kingdom of Heaven Holy Trinity eternal song of praise: Alleluia.

(This kontakion is read three times, then ikos 1 and kontakion 1)

Prayer

About the greatness of the saints of God and wonderful miracle workers, the good faith of Prince Peter and Princess Fevronia, the representatives and guardians of the city of Murom, and about all of us zealous prayer books for the Lord! We come running to you and pray to you with strong hope: bring your holy prayers to the Lord God for us sinners and ask us from His goodness for all that is good for our souls and bodies: rightful faith, good hope, unfeigned love, unshakable piety, success in good deeds, peace of peace, fruitfulness of the earth, prosperity of the air, health to souls and bodies and eternal salvation. Petition from the Heavenly Tsar for the Russian Empire peace, silence and prosperity, and for all of us a prosperous life and a good Christian death. Protect your fatherland, the city of Murom, and all Russian cities from all evil, and overshadow all the faithful people who come to you and worship you with the power of your auspicious prayers, and fulfill all their requests for good. Hey, holy wonderworkers! Do not despise our prayers, offered to you with tenderness, but awaken for us in your dreams as intercessors to the Lord and make us worthy, with your holy help, to receive eternal salvation and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, so let us glorify the ineffable love for mankind of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, in the Trinity of the worshiped God, forever and ever. Amen.