The fate of some saints is amazing. To fulfill their destiny, they sometimes had to overcome enormous distances, settle in foreign lands and eventually become more revered in distant lands than even in their homeland.

But there were even more wonderful cases when the saints of God found themselves far from home due to the fault of the elements. This is the life milestone of St. Anthony the Roman, who, according to a long-established unspoken church tradition, is called the “Russian Italian.”

The holiday dedicated to honoring the memory of this ascetic is celebrated annually on August 16.

Folk names - Anton Vikhrovey; Anton; Vortex; Hazel; Raspberry.

Arrival of St. Anthony the Roman in Russia.

Reverend Anthony The Roman was born in Rome in 1067 into a family of wealthy citizens. His parents were Christians, therefore they raised their son in meekness and piety. Having entered his adolescence, Anthony became seriously interested in studying the theological works of the Eastern Church and patristic literature. When he was 17 years old, he lost his father and mother. It was this event that prompted young man change his life radically, and he made a firm decision to leave the Roman capital, and then become a monk. There was another reason: at that time the Popes made every effort to convert the people to Latinism. Anthony didn’t see own existence without Eastern Orthodoxy, having attached my soul to it.

The future saint did not think through his path to the smallest detail. He did not rely on himself, but completely surrendered his essence, life and destiny into the hands of the Creator. The young man distributed one part of the inheritance that he inherited from his loving parents to the poor and disadvantaged, put the other in a barrel and threw the last into the sea, and without a single penny of money he himself went on long journeys to the monasteries where monks lived and existed in accordance with the Orthodox faith. Christians.

Anthony lived in one of the monasteries for 20 years, accepting the monastic feat. The persecution of the Orthodox by the Latins put an end to this: in connection with these events, the saint, and all the brethren of the monastery, had to wander. This went on for quite a long time until Anthony managed to find a huge boulder on the deserted sea coast. Here the saint stopped and walked on a stone whole year, fasting and praying incessantly.

On September 5, 1105, a monstrous storm broke out in those places. As a result, the stone on which the ascetic stood was thrown by the wind into the depths of the sea. He was carried along the waves, then the boulder and the monk ended up at the mouth of some river, and finally, on the eve of Christmas Holy Mother of God washed up on the bank of the Volkhov River, which flowed near the village of Volkhovskoye, three miles from Novgorod.

New life of St. Anthony the Roman.

Saint Anthony was discovered by local residents in the morning. The stranger stood on a stone and only bowed to all the people’s questions, because he did not know the Russian language. The boulder was the refuge of the ascetic for another three days and nights: all this time the servant of the Lord frantically prayed to God and asked him to reveal to him where he had ended up. Afterwards the man went to Novgorod. There, by the will of the Creator, he met a foreign blacksmith who spoke three languages ​​- including Latin. This man told the monk where he ended up. Saint Anthony was indescribably surprised when he learned that the city he came to was Veliky Novgorod, that his stone stopped on the waters of the Volkhov River. After all, it takes six months to get from Rome to the Russian lands on foot, but by God’s providence he was brought here in just three days!

The blacksmith showed Anthony the Novgorod Cathedral, where Saint Nikita was the priest. The soul of the ascetic lit up with the fire of delight when he saw the decoration Orthodox church and the splendor of the church service. Afterwards, the monk returned to his stone on the river bank. But now he led a life not as secluded as before: local residents often began to visit him. They went to the saint for a blessing, and the ascetic learned the Russian language from the villagers.

After some time, Anthony again visited Veliky Novgorod and the main cathedral of the city. There he told Saint Nikita about his wonderful journey. Having heard Anthony's story, the saint wanted to leave the ascetic at the department. However, the monk refused and asked for a blessing to continue living on a stone by the river. A little more time passed, and Nikita himself paid a visit to Saint Anthony. He gave the ascetic the blessing to found a monastery at his place of residence in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The saint consecrated a wooden church that soon grew here.

A year has flown by. The monastery, erected by Saint Anthony, has already almost completely taken shape. Once, local residents were fishing near the monastery. They caught a lot of fish, and in addition they pulled out a barrel that the ascetic had thrown into the sea many years ago in his homeland - the saint recognized it. At first the fishermen did not want to give what they found to the monk, but, in the end, by order of the judge, Anthony received his own property. The latter consisted mainly of church utensils. There was also some money there: the saint spent it on purchasing land around the monastery, as well as fishing and a village from the Novgorod mayors.

In 1117, the stone church of the monastery was founded. Two years later he was consecrated by Bishop John of Novgorod. Around 1125 the church was painted. At the same time, a stone meal appeared at the monastery. Later, a temple was erected near it in honor of the Presentation of the Lord.

The death and discovery of the relics of St. Anthony.

In 1131, Saint Anthony received the honor of becoming abbot of the monastery he founded. This was the desire of the brethren. The monk ruled the monastery in the position he announced for 16 years. All this time, the saint instructed his charges in godly living and piety. Before departing for the Kingdom of Heaven, the Monk Anthony appointed his own disciple, the Monk Andrew, as his successor. On August 3, 1147, the saint rested in peace. The burial of the saint was performed by Bishop Niphon of Novgorod. Anthony found peace in the monastery church in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The discovery of the relics of the “Russian Italian” took place only more than four centuries later, namely in 1597, under the Novgorod Metropolitan Varlaam and the All-Russian Patriarch Job. This event took place on the first Friday after the day of remembrance of the holy chief apostles Peter and Paul (June 29). Before this, many events took place at the saint’s burial place. miraculous healings through the prayers of the holy ascetic. Abbot Kirill of the monastery recovered from an incurable disease at the tomb of the monk. His gratitude to the saint of God for saving him from death was the construction of a chapel over the stone of St. Anthony. Candlestick Theodore, who suffered from demonic possession, prayed at the boulder of the monk, on which at that time the image of the saint was already adorned. The ascetic himself appeared to him and promised healing from his illness after he kissed the stone. As was said, this is what happened subsequently.

The glorification of the saint occurred after the latter appeared to the pious monk Nifont of the Antonichev monastery and reported the corresponding will of God. As a result, Patriarch Job ordered the relics of the ascetic to be transferred to a new tomb, which was done. When the relics were opened, they turned out to be absolutely incorruptible and fragrant. Soon after this the saint was canonized.

Saint Anthony the Roman is the patron saint of travelers. It also protects against accidents at sea. People turn to the saint for help with poisoning and toothache.

Troparion to St. Anthony the Roman, tone 4

Having left your fatherland in ancient Rome, you ascended onto stone, like a light ship, and on it, more than nature, as if incorporeal, you walked on the waters, guided by the providence of the Divine mind, you reached Great Novagrad and, having created a monastery in it, your body is in it You offered it as if the gift was sanctified. Thus we pray to you, Father Anthony: pray to Christ God to save our souls."

Kontakion to St. Anthony the Roman, tone 8

Roman upbringing, but the great Novugrad has blessed prosperity: for many of your labors and exploits in it pleased God. For this reason, for the sake of miracles, you have been granted gifts from Him: and you have kept your body incorruptible for many years. We cry out to you this kissingly, joyfully from our hearts: Rejoice, Father Anthony."

Kontakion to St. Anthony the Roman, tone 2

Like a star, you shone from Rome, and, having reached the God-saved Great Novagrad, you created that monastery in it, and, having built a church, convened a multitude of monks. With them, pray for us, who honor your memory, and we call to you:Rejoice, Reverend Father Anthony."

Magnification:

“We bless you, Reverend Father Anthony, and honor your holy memory, teacher of monks and interlocutor of angels.”

Prayer to St. Anthony the Roman:

, Our good shepherd and mentor, Rev. Father Anthony! You are still in the flesh, controlled by the Divine beckoning, you left the old Rome of your fatherland and your family, and from there you sanctified this city with miraculous waters on stones, like light ships, by your coming, and in it you erected the temple of the Mother of God, With your labors and exploits you enlightened your abode, even the foundation of which you were, you multiplied your children in it, instructing them in the image of good deeds and teaching; With this and the incorruptibility of your relics and miracles, God glorified you with the radiance, He who is incorporeal and incorporeal before you rejoices, and, rejoicing, about those who flow to your miraculous race, and pray to your relics with your lips and kissing your heart: you even now, as if you have boldness towards the Lord Christ , be a prayer book and intercessor for these upcoming servants of yours, who bow to your honest image and ask for your merciful intercession. We pray to you, servant of Christ and saint, our heads and hearts bow to you; do not despise this poor prayer of ours, but look upon us mercifully, fulfilling our every need: health to those who are sick, prosperity to those traveling along the way, granting quick and comfortable voyage to those sailing: save us from all troubles that suddenly find us; May all of you, through your prayers, live a godly life on earth, and be heirs of the heavenly kingdom, worthy of glorifying the All-Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen."

Prayer to St. Anthony the Roman:

To you, Rev. Father Anthony, we fall with fervent prayer and worship. We believe that you, resting in body before us, live in spirit in the mountain villages and pray for us, that your prayer, like the prayer of a righteous man, can do much before the merciful Master Mind of the Lord God, marvelous in His saints, may He bestow upon us His grace from the saints of your relics, may the Almighty grant us, who are in the flesh, the opportunity to sail without a hitch through the stormy sea of ​​life and reach a quiet, serene harbour, where He Himself meets with all His chosen ones. Amen!"

Anthony the Roman, Rev. A Word about His Holy Relics

Venerable Anthony the Roman was born in Rome in 1067 from wealthy parents who adhered to the Orthodox confession of faith, and was raised by them in piety. Having lost his parents at the age of 17, he began to study the writings of his fathers in Greek. Then he distributed part of the inheritance to the poor, and put the other in a wooden barrel and put it into the sea. He himself took monastic vows in one of the desert monasteries, where he lived for 20 years. Persecution of the Orthodox by the Latins forced the brethren to disperse. The Monk Anthony wandered, moving from place to place, until he found a large stone on the deserted seashore, on which he lived for a whole year in fasting and prayer. A terrible storm that broke out on September 5, 1105, tore off the stone on which the Monk Anthony was standing and carried it into the sea. On the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the stone stopped 3 versts from Novgorod on the banks of the Volkhov River near the village of Volkhovskoye.

This event is attested in the Novgorod chronicles. At this place, the monk, with the blessing of St. Nikita the Recluse, founded a monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos. The next year, fishermen caught a barrel containing the inheritance of the Monk Anthony, which had been put into the sea many years ago. Having indicated what was in the barrel, the monk took the barrel and bought land for the monastery. Spiritual asceticism was combined in the monastery with intense work activity.

The veneration of Anthony the Roman in the monastery and in nearby villages can be traced no earlier than the 16th century. Under Abbot Veniamin (1547-1552), the stone of Anthony the Roman, which until then had been on the banks of the Volkhov, was transferred to the monastery, an image of the saint was painted on the stone and mounted in the wall of the cathedral, but later, as stated in the story “On the Translation of the Honest and Many-Wonderful Body” ", the stone lay neglected near the wall of the cathedral. In 1580, by order of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich the Terrible, a new abbot, Kirill (Zavidov; 1580-1594), arrived at the monastery. The abbot was sick because he was poisoned. While walking around the monastery, he found a stone with a half-erased image of the saint and was healed near it through the prayers of Anthony the Roman. By order of Abbot Kirill, a small chapel was erected over the stone at the western wall of the cathedral and the image of Anthony the Roman was restored. The brethren, led by the abbot, came every day and venerated the image; the possessed Fedor the candle-maker was healed at the stone.

Since a large number of healings occurred through prayers to Anthony the Roman, monk Niphon began to intercede for the discovery of the relics of the saint, which took place on August 3, 1597.; in the same year the saint was canonized for all-Russian veneration, at the same time a service to the saint was probably compiled, it speaks of the relics of Anthony the Roman, Novgorod and the St. Anthony Monastery are often mentioned. In the monastery, healings continued at the stone and relics of the saint, to end of XVII V. 18 new miracles were recorded. The Stone of Anthony the Roman has been preserved and is located in the western aisle of the Nativity Cathedral. This is a gray oval boulder 126 cm long, 94 cm wide and 37 cm high. The relics of Anthony the Roman were uncovered in 1927., in the spring of 2000, particles of the relics were found in the local history museum of Petrozavodsk and transferred to the city cathedral in the name of St. blgv. book Alexander Nevsky.

Scientists have confirmed the authenticity of the relics of St. Anthony the Roman found in Veliky Novgorod

The relics of St. Anthony the Roman, which must be about a thousand years old, were recently found in Veliky Novgorod. As you know, the miraculous relics of the saint in a precious shrine were kept in the Nativity Cathedral of the Anthony Monastery before the revolution. During the anti-religious campaign in 1927, the cancer was opened, and the relics were sent to the “Museum of Atheism”, which was located in Sofia cathedral Novgorod Kremlin. There, the saint’s relics were soon lost among other “exhibits” and were considered lost for a long time.

Work on a comprehensive study of the relics stored in the St. Sophia Cathedral began about 20 years ago. A Moscow scientist, Ph.D., worked with the remains, which could have been the relics of St. Anthony. biological sciences Denis Pezhemsky. " It was possible to isolate the relics of Anthony the Roman from the complex of remains. The historical and anthropological research has been completed. The relics of Anthony the Roman were transferred to Metropolitan Lev of Novgorod and Staraya Rus,” Interfax quotes Pezhemsky.

The further fate of the relics will be determined by the Novgorod Metropolis.

Source Rusk.ru

Holy Venerable Anthony the Roman, Novgorod Wonderworker

His memory is celebrated on the 17th day of January, the 3rd day of August and the 1st Friday after June on the 29th day.

“If you leave the Trade Side, which was in full swing with the entire civil life of Novgorod, with its chronicled churches, and follow down the stream of the noisy Volkhov, along its right bank, there the beginning and development of the monastic life of our north opens in the two monasteries of Anthony and Varlaam... The phenomenon was mysterious Roman within Novgorod; it is exposed by all the poetry of Novgorod’s youth and may seem strange if the believing heart does not protect itself with the thought of the great signs with which the Lord more than once glorified his saints, in order through them to establish faith among the nations...” (1846 – Comp.)

This reverend and God-bearing father of ours, Anthony, was born in the great city of Rome in 1067, which is in the western country, in the Italian land, among the Latin people, from Christian parents and was baptized with the name Andrew. He was taught the Christian faith, which his parents kept secret, hiding in their home, since Rome fell away from the Christian faith and indulged in the Latin heresy. It completely fell away from the time of Pope Formos and remains in apostasy to this day.

The father and mother of the Monk Anthony went to God in good confession. The monk, having been taught to read and write, studied the Greek language and diligently began to read the books of the Old and New Testaments and the traditions of the Holy Fathers of the seven Ecumenical Councils, who set forth and explained the Christian faith. And he desired to perceive the monastic image. Having prayed to God, he distributed the property of his parents to the poor, and put the remainder into a vessel - a “delva”, that is, a barrel, and, caulking it and strengthening it in every possible way, hid it, and then gave it to the sea. The monk himself went into the distant deserts to look for monks living and working for God’s sake, hiding from heretics in caves and clefts of the earth. And by God's providence he found monks living in the desert. Among them there was one with presbyteral rank. The Monk Anthony prayed to them a lot with tears, so that he too would be numbered among his God-chosen flock. They questioned him a lot and strictly about the Christian faith and about the Roman heresy, fearing temptation from the heretics. He confessed himself to be a Christian. Then they told him: “Child, Andrei! You are still young and will not be able to endure the fasting life and monastic labors.” And he was only 18 years old at that time. And many other difficulties frightened him, but he, bowing relentlessly, prayed for the perception of the monastic image. And only in this way was he barely able to get what he wanted: they tonsured him into the monastic rank.

The monk stayed in that desert for twenty years, working, fasting, and praying to God day and night. “There was,” he said, “thirty miles from us, in one desert, a small church was built by the monks living there in the name of the Transfiguration of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ. According to custom, all the monks from the desert gathered on Holy Saturday in the church, where the presbyters and deacons celebrated the Divine Liturgy, and everyone, having received the Divine Mysteries, sang and prayed all day and night. By the morning of Holy Pascha, having sung Matins and the Holy Divine Liturgy and again having partaken of the Holy and Most Pure Divine and Life-Giving Mysteries of Christ, each departed to his own desert.”

But the devil, who hates goodness, initiated the final persecution of Christians in that land. The princes of that city and the pope began to seize Orthodox monks in the deserts and hand them over to torture. The venerable fathers of God's chosen flock of Christ dispersed out of fear into the deserts so that they could no longer communicate with each other. Then the Monk Anthony began to live by the sea in impassable places. And the Monk Anthony began to pray incessantly, standing on a stone, having neither a cover nor a hut. The monk ate little by little of the food that he brought from his desert only on Sundays. And the Monk Anthony stayed on that stone for a year and two months, and worked so hard for God in fasting, vigil and prayer that he became like angels.

In the summer of 1106, the month of September, on the fifth day, in memory of the holy prophet Zechariah, the father of the Forerunner, great winds arose, and the sea shook as never before. So the waves of the sea reached the stone, on which the monk stood and sent incessant prayers to God. And then suddenly one wave tensed up and lifted the stone on which the saint stood, and carried him on the stone, as if on a light ship, without harming him or frightening him. The monk stood, constantly praying to God, for he loved God with all his soul. After all, God is sweetness, and enlightenment, and eternal joy to those who love Him. “And I did not know,” said Saint Anthony, “when it was day, when it was night, but I was embraced by the inviolable Light.” The stone flowed through the waters, having neither a helm nor a helmsman. The human mind cannot express this. Neither sorrow, nor fear, nor sadness, nor hunger, nor thirst came to the saint, but he only remained, praying to God in his mind and rejoicing in his soul.

From the Roman country along the Warm Sea, from it to the Neva River, from the Neva to Nevo-Lake, and from Nevo-Lake up the Volkhov River against indescribable rapids and even to this place. The stone on which the monk stood and prayed did not stick anywhere, but only on the bank of the great river called Volkhov, in the third watch of the night in this place, in the village called Volkhovskoe, during the morning singing. They began to ring in the city for matins, and the monk heard a great ringing throughout the city, and stood in great fear and bewilderment, and thought in great horror, thinking that he had been brought on a stone to the city of Rome. When the night passed, daylight came and the sun shone, the people who lived there flocked to the monk, and, looking at him, marveled. And approaching him, they began to ask him about his name and family and from what country he came. The monk, not knowing the Russian language at all, could not give any answer, but only bowed to them. The monk did not dare to leave the stone and remained for three days and three nights, standing on the stone and praying to God.

On the fourth day, the monk prayed to God for many hours, so that the Lord would tell him about this city and about the people. And the monk came down from the stone and went to Veliky Novgrad, and met there a man from the Greek land, a merchant guest (from the merchant rank), who knew Roman, Greek and Russian. He, seeing the monk, asked him about his name and faith. The monk told him his name, called himself a Christian and a sinful monk, unworthy of an angelic image. The merchant, falling at the feet of the saint, asked for a blessing from him, the saint gave him a blessing and a kiss about Christ. And he asked about the city, about the people, about the faith, about the holy churches of God. The merchant told the saint everything, saying: “This city is Veliky Novgrad. The people in it have the Orthodox Christian faith, the cathedral church is St. Sophia the Wisdom of God, the saint in this city is Bishop Nikita, and the pious Grand Duke Mstislav Vladimirovich Monomakh, the grandson of Vsevolod, owns this city.” The monk, having heard this story from the Greek, rejoiced in his soul and gave great thanks to the omnipotent God in his mind. The monk asked again, saying: “Tell me, friend, what is the distance from the city of Rome to this city and how long does it take to travel this path?” He told him, saying: “It is a distant country, and the path to it is difficult by sea and by land. His trading guests barely pass through in six months, if God helps anyone.” The monk reflected and marveled at the greatness of God: “How was such a long journey covered in two days and two nights?” - and barely restrained himself from tears. The saint bowed to the merchant to the ground, granting him peace and forgiveness.

The monk entered the city to pray to St. Sophia, the Wisdom of God, and to see St. Nikita. And seeing the church splendor and order, the holy order, his soul rejoiced greatly and, having prayed and walked everywhere, he again went to his place. The monk did not appear to Saint Nikita at that time, because he did not know the Slavic and Russian languages ​​and customs.

The monk began to pray, standing on his stone day and night, so that God would reveal the Russian language to him. And the Lord saw the exploits and labors of the saint. People living nearby and townspeople began to come to him for prayer and blessing, and by God’s providence the monk soon began to understand and speak Russian from them. People asked him about his fatherland, and what land he was born and raised in, and about his coming. But the monk did not tell them about himself, but only called himself a sinner.

After a short time, rumors about him reached Saint Nikita, Bishop of Great Novagrad. Saint Nikita sent for him and ordered him to be brought. The monk, in great fear, but at the same time in joy, went in great humility to the saint. The saint led him into his cell. After creating the prayer, the monk said “Amen” and accepted the blessing from the saint with fear and love, as if from the hand of God. Saint Nikita, foreseeing the saint with the Holy Spirit, began to ask him about his fatherland and about his coming to Veliky Novgrad: where and how he came. The monk did not want to tell the saint, fearing human glory. Saint Nikita, with persistence and even with an enchantment, continued to ask the monk and said: “Won’t you tell me, brother, your secret? Know that God himself can reveal to our humility about you, but then you will receive condemnation for disobedience from God.” The monk fell on his face before the saint and prayed with tears: let him not reveal the secret to anyone as long as the monk remains in this life. And he told Saint Nikita everything about himself: about his fatherland, about his upbringing and about his passage from Rome to Veliky Novgorod - what was written about at the beginning.

Saint Nikita, having heard this, perceived him not as a man, but as an angel of God, and, rising from his place, put aside his pastoral staff and stood for a long time, praying and marveling at what had happened - how God glorifies his servants. After the prayer the monk said: “Amen.” Saint Nikita fell to the ground before him, asking for blessings and prayers from him. The monk also fell to the ground before the saint, praying and asking for blessings, calling himself unworthy and sinful. And both lay on the ground for a long time and cried, watering the ground with tears, asking each other for blessings and prayers. Saint Nikita said: “You have been granted a great gift from God, equal to ancient miracles. He became like Elijah the Thesbite and the apostles, who were brought on the clouds to the Dormition of the Most Pure Theotokos. So now the Lord visited our city with you, and blessed the newly enlightened people with his saint.” The monk said to the saint: “You are a priest of the Most High God! You are God's anointed! It’s up to you to pray for us!” The saint, without ceasing from tears, stood up, raised the saint from the ground and gave him a blessing and a kiss in Christ. Saint Nikita talked a lot with the monk and could not get enough of his sweet words. And he wanted to glorify the miracle, but did not want to despise the monk’s prayer. Saint Nikitas prayed a lot to the venerable one, so that he would choose a place for himself in his cell and remain with him until the departure of his soul. The monk did not want to do this and answered, saying: “For the Lord’s sake, Saint of God, do not force me! After all, I need to endure in the place where God commanded me.” Saint Nikita, having given his blessing, sent him away in peace to God’s chosen place.

A little time later, Bishop Nikita went to the Monk Anthony to see this stone and place. The monk stood on the stone like a pillar, without leaving it, praying to God day and night. But when he saw the saint coming towards him, he came down from the stone and went to meet him, receiving the blessing and prayer from the saint. The saint marveled at the miracle, walked around the entire place of that village and said to the monk: “God and the Most Pure Mother of God deigned to choose this place. They want the temple of the Most Pure Mother of God to be erected by your reverence, Her honorable and glorious Nativity, and there will be a great monastery for the salvation of people. After all, on the pre-celebration of this holiday, God placed you in this place.” The monk answered: “God’s will be done!” The saint wanted to build him a hut near the stone. The monk did not want this in any way, but wanted to endure all sorrow for God’s sake.

Saint Nikita, fearing temptation, wanting to be more certain about the miracle, began to ask each of the villagers privately about the appearance of the saint. They unanimously said to him: “Truly, this man of God was carried on the water on a stone.” And everything that was known to him was reliably told about the monk. The saint became even more inflamed with love for the saint, gave him a blessing and rode off to the Holy Wisdom of God Sophia, into his courtyard.

After this, Saint Nikita sent for the posadniks Ivan and Prokofiy Ivanov, the mayor’s children, and said to them: “My children, listen to me. There is a village in your fatherland near the city called Volkhovsky. God deigned the Most Pure Mother of God to erect in this place the temple of the Most Holy Theotokos, of Her honorable and glorious Nativity, and to establish a monastery through the wanderer - St. Anthony. May your prayers go up to God for the salvation of your souls and may your parents be remembered.” The mayors listened to the saint with love and measured out fifty fathoms of land on all sides for the church and monastery. And Bishop Nikita ordered to build a small wooden church and consecrate it and put one cell for the monks as a refuge.

A year later, after the arrival of the monk, fishermen were fishing near his stone. Working all night, they did not catch anything and, having pulled their nets (net P. 318) to the shore, they were in great sorrow. The monk, having finished his prayer, approached the fishermen and said to them: “My children! I only have a hryvnia - a silver bar. (At that time, the Novgorod people had no money, but they poured silver bars - either a hryvnia, or a half, or a ruble - and traded with them). And I give you this hryvnia, an ingot. Listen to my badness: throw your snares into this great river in Volkhov, and if you catch anything, it will be for the house of the Most Pure Mother of God.” They did not want to do this and answered, saying: “We worked all night and did not catch anything, we were only exhausted.” The monk diligently prayed for them to listen to him. And at the command of the monk, they threw the dam into the Volkhov and, through the prayers of the saint, brought a great many fish to the shore, so that the dam almost broke through. There has never been such a catch! They also took out a wooden vessel, a delva, that is, a barrel, bound everywhere with iron hoops. The monk blessed the fishermen and said: “My children! Look at the mercy of God: how God provides for His servants. I bless you and give you the fish, but I take only the vessel for myself, since God entrusted it to the creation of the monastery.” The devil, who hates goodness, wanting to do a dirty trick on the saint, struck the hearts of those fishermen with wickedness. And they began to give the fish to the monk, but wanted to take the barrel for themselves. And they said to the monk: “We hired you to catch fish, and the barrel is ours. They also annoyed and reproached the monk with cruel words. The monk answered, saying: “My Lords! I will not argue with you about this. Let's go to the city and tell our case to the city judges. A judge has been appointed by God to judge the people of God.” The fishermen listened to the monk, put the barrel into the boat, took the monk, arrived in the city and, coming to the judge, began to compete with the monk. The fishermen, explaining the matter, said: “We hired out to catch fish, and we give the fish to him, and this barrel is ours. We threw it into the water for safekeeping.” The elder said to the judges: “My Lords! Ask these fishermen what is in this barrel? The fishermen were perplexed, not knowing what to answer. The monk said: “This barrel was given to sea water in Rome by our sinful hands. Included in the barrel were church vessels, gold, silver and crystal, chalices, dishes and many other sacred church things, as well as gold and silver from the estate of my parents. The treasure was thrown into the sea so that the sacred vessels would not be desecrated by the abominable heretics and the unleavened demonic victims. The inscriptions on the vessels are written in Roman language.” The judge ordered the barrel to be broken - and what was found in it was according to the word of the monk. And they gave the saint a barrel and sent him away in peace, not daring to ask anything else. The fishermen walked away disgraced.

The Monk Anthony went to Saint Nikita, rejoicing and thanking God for finding the barrel, and told the saint about it. The saint, having given great praise to God for this, said: “Father Anthony! That’s why God carried you across the waters on a stone from Rome to Veliky Novgrad, and also handed you a barrel thrown into the sea in Rome, so that you could erect a stone church of the Most Pure Mother of God and build a monastery.” The Monk Anthony placed his treasure in the saint's sacristy for safekeeping, and he himself, taking the saint's blessing, began to build the monastery. And he bought land near the monastery from the mayors of the city with the people living on that land until the end of the century, as long as the world of the universe stands by God’s dispensation. And along the great Volkhov River he bought fishing for the monastery’s needs. And he noted what was purchased, described it and wrote it down in his spiritual document. And he began to work incessantly, adding labor to labor all day long, spending nights without sleep, standing on a stone and praying. (In at least 2 copies of the 16th - 17th centuries, the spiritual letter of Anthony the Roman is known (doubts about its authenticity do not have sufficient grounds, the most likely dating of the letter is before 1131/32). In the same manuscripts where it appears spiritual charter, the deed of sale of Anthony the Roman for the land for the monastery near the Volkhov River has been preserved; ... the boundaries of the monastic lands recorded in the deed of St. Anthony reproduce the realities not of the 12th century, but of the 2nd half of the 16th century. pp. 675, 691). (See Additional information - Comp.)

Seeing his godlike angelic life, the great prince Mstislav, and Saint Nikita, and all the elders of that city, and the people began to venerate the Monk Anthony and have great faith in him. No one knew the secret of his coming except Bishop Nikita. And the brethren began to gather to the saint. He accepted them with love. me Hieromonk Andrei, God allowed me to perceive the angelic image in this monastery. I was in obedience and instruction from the monk.

About the creation of a stone church in the second summer after the coming of the monk

Then Saint Nikita began to hold advice with the monk about founding a stone church. After all, God gave the treasure for this. And the monk began to count the silver and gold found in the barrel for the construction of the temple and said: “I hope in God, and in the Most Pure Mother of God, and in your holy prayers. Only you give us your blessing.” Saint Nikita, having measured the church place and said a prayer, began to dig the church floor with his honest hands. And they laid the stone church, and God completed it, and painted it wonderfully, and adorned it with all kinds of decoration: images and church vessels, gold and silver, and vestments, and Divine books for the glory of Christ our God and His Most Pure Mother, as befits the Church of God. . And then they surrounded the refectory church in the name of the Presentation of the Lord God and our Savior Jesus Christ, and they built cells, and built a fence, and arranged everything necessary well.

The monk did not accept the property from anyone: neither from the prince, nor from the bishop, nor from the nobles of the city - but only a blessing from Bishop Nikita the Wonderworker. He built everything with his own labors and with funds from this barrel that God delivered from Rome by water to Veliky Novgrad. If anyone brought for God’s sake what was needed from his property, the monk fed the brethren, and also fed orphans and widows, the poor and the needy.

A little time later, Saint Nikita of Christ began to grow weak and, calling the monk, told him his departure from this life and, having given him a fair amount of teaching, he departed to the Lord (January 30, 1109). The monk was in great sorrow and in tears over the repose of Saint Nikita, since they had great spiritual counsel among themselves.

About the installation of St. Anthony

to abbot (winter 1131-1132)

With the help of God and the Most Pure Mother of God and the prayers of the monk, the monastery began to spread, and the monk and the brethren began to hold council in order to elect an abbot for themselves to the monastery. They chose for a long time, but did not find such a person, and the brethren began to pray to the Monk Anthony: “Father Anthony, we pray to you, listen to us beggars! Accept the priestly rank and be our perfect father - abbot. May you make an honest, bloodless sacrifice to God for our salvation. May your sacrifice be acceptable to God on the heavenly altar. We saw your works and exploits in this place. A person in the flesh cannot endure such labors unless the Lord helps him.” And the monk said: “Your advice is good, brothers, but I am not worthy of such a great rank. Let us choose from our brethren a virtuous and worthy man for such a great task.” The brothers cried out to him with tears: “Holy Father! Don’t listen to us beggars, but save us!” The monk answered: “God’s will be done!” Whatever God wants, he will do.” The brethren with the Monk Anthony went to Archbishop Nifont (at that time he held the holy throne - from January 1, 1131. From 1110 to 1130, Bishop John Popyan was the saint of Novgorod, in 1130 “having abandoned Novgorod ... this is not remembered.” 32 ) and told him about their business. Saint Niphon was very happy about their good advice, since he loved the monk for his many virtues. And he made the monk a deacon, then a priest, and also an abbot. “In the summer of 6639... install Anton as abbot of Niphon as archbishop.”

On the repose of St. Anthony (in 1147, at the age of 81)

The monk lived in the rank of abbot in good correction for sixteen years and shepherded the flock of Christ. Anticipating his departure to God, he called me and named me his spiritual father, and confessed well with tears. (The narration continues in the first person on behalf of abbot Andrey- Comp.) And the monk told my wretchedness his coming from Rome, and about the stone, and about the wooden vessel, about the delva, that is, the barrel, which was first written about. And he commanded me to write all this after my repose and transmit it to the Church of God to those reading and listening for the benefit of the soul and for correction by good deeds, for the glory and honor of the Holy, Life-Giving, and Indivisible Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the Most Pure Mother of God. I was in great surprise at what I heard.

The Monk Anthony called the brethren and said to them: “My brothers and fasters! I beg you. Now I am departing from this life to the Lord my God Jesus Christ - pray to God and the Most Pure Mother of God for me: may the merciful angels take my soul at my repose, may I escape the snares of the enemy and the airy ordeals through your prayers, since I am a sinner. You choose for your abbot from among the brethren a father and a teacher in my place and remain with him in fasting, and in prayer, and in labors, and in fasting, and in vigils, and in tears, and also in love with each other, and in obedience to the abbot, and to one’s spiritual fathers, and to the elder brothers.” And the monk gave instructions to the brethren about many other things, teaching them for salvation.

The brethren, seeing the monk in his last breath, were in great tenderness, and in lamentation, and in many tears and said: “Oh, our good shepherd and teacher! Now we see you in your last breath, at the end of the century, now to whom will we resort and from whom will we enjoy the honey-drenching words of teaching, and who will take care of our sinful souls? But we pray to you, saint Spasov! If you find mercy before God after your departure from this life, pray unremittingly to God and the Most Pure Mother of God for us. And now, sir, choose for us an abbot from our brethren, whatever your shrine pleases, since you know all our spiritual secrets.” The Reverend Anthony elects us to be abbot and blesses our thinness, since I was first his student, and then his spiritual father. And he taught me about the spiritual flock and how to shepherd the flock of Christ.

And for the future the monk established a commandment for the brethren: “If it happens to elect an abbot, then elect from the brethren who labored in this place.” And if a prince or bishop sends his abbot for violence or bribery, the monk curses him. He affirms the same about the earth and says: “O my brothers! When he stopped at this place, he bought this village and land, and on the river fishing for the monastery building at the price of the vessel of the Most Pure One. And if anyone begins to offend you or take away this land, then the Mother of God will judge them.” And he gave the brethren forgiveness in Christ and the last kiss, and stood in prayer, praying for a long time. Although he was glad to be freed from the flesh and to be with Christ, he showed that everyone was afraid of the cup of death, and moreover, out of great humility, he prayed to God, saying: “Appear, Lord, help me and deliver me from the hand of God.” prince and power and ruler of darkness. May that dark air not cover me, and may that smoke not darken my soul. Strengthen me, my Lord, Lord! May I pass over fiery waves and bottomless depths, may I not be drowned in them, may the enemy not be able to slander me, but may I pass over the ruler of the world and their evil leader and may I be delivered from the dark princes and Tartarus, and so may I appear before You pure and blameless, and grant me to stand at Your right hand and receive the blessings You promised to Your saints, when You come in glory to judge the living and the dead and reward each according to his deeds! »

Oh, great and God-imitating ineffable humility! How can dark princes touch our God-bearing father and the likes of the apostles? The one whom the Lord ruled over the waters on the stone, like a disembodied angel, and called him not his slave, but his friend, and to whom he promised where he would be, and he would dwell to see his glory! Knowing all this, the monk deigned especially to be in humility, which cannot harm, but only strengthens in salvation. For this reason I prayed with these words.

Having prayed, the monk ordered Hieromonk Andrei, my thinness, to burn himself with incense and sing the funeral service. And he lay down on his bed and went to God into eternal rest. And the saint was buried honestly by Archbishop Niphon with the sacred cathedral and with the multitude of the people of that city, with candles and censers, with psalms and the singing of spiritual songs in the summer of 1147, the month of August on the 3rd day, in memory of our venerable fathers Isaac of Dalmatia and Faustus. And his honorable body was laid in the Church of the Most Pure Mother of God, which he himself had created. The monk lived from his coming until he became abbess for 14 years, while he was abbess for 16 years, and in total he lived in the monastery for 30 years.

With the blessing of the monk, Archbishop Nifont appointed the disciple of the Monk Anthony, Hieromonk Andrew, as abbot. (2nd abbot of the Anthony Monastery (1147-1157) p. 675). This Andrew told Archbishop Nifont, and the princes of that city, and all the people everything that he had heard from the monk about these miracles. The archbishop and all the people, marveling, gave praise to God, and the Most Pure Mother of God, and the great wonderworker Anthony. And from then on the Monk Anthony began to be called a Roman.

And Archbishop Niphon ordered this life of the saint to be expounded, written, and handed over to the Church of God for the establishment of the Orthodox Faith and the salvation of our souls; to the Romans, who apostatized from the Orthodox Faith and gave themselves over to the Latin heresy, to shame and reproach and curse; to the glory and honor of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

From the “Word of Praise for the Most Honorable Memory of our Venerable and God-Bearing Father Anthony the Roman”

(The preface, “A word of praise on the honorable memory of our reverend and God-bearing father Anthony the Roman” was written around 1591 and the legend about miracles and the discovery of relics “On the Translation of an Honest and Many-Wonderful Body” - in March 1598, belong to the pen of Nifont, tonsured by Antoniev monastery, which worked in the 80-90s of the 16th century. p. 675).

And having lived a temporary life pleasing to God, he passed from the earthly to the eternal, from the earthly to the heavenly, and from this multi-turbulent life he settled into imperishable and endless and joyful peace, having been relieved of carnal burdens, he reposed in order to stand in the everlasting light of God’s original priesthood. And his most honorable, holy and blessed body was buried, having labored for the Lord for the sake of fasting and prayers, all-night vigils, tears, abstinence from all carnal lusts, adorned with all good deeds, as with various beautiful and fragrant flowers - psalms and songs were laid with great honor in the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos, her honest and glorious Nativity, which he himself created and which is still visible to us.

The stone on which the saint sailed from Rome to Veliky Novgrad lay here, on the banks of the Volkhov River, under the monastery, visible to everyone for many years, but not preserved, to the kingdom of the most glorious, most praiseworthy, most eminent autocrat Tsar and Sovereign and Grand Duke John Vasilievich of All Rus', God and His Most Pure Mother and the great wonderworker Anthony placed on the heart of Abbot Veniamin, who was then kindly shepherding the flock of the verbal sheep of Christ in that monastery: may he take that lying stone from the shore and set it up in the church wall for the glory and praise of the Most Holy Trinity and in unforgettable memory and in honor and honor of St. Anthony. And according to his good thoughts, the honest abbot Benjamin, having sung prayers to the Savior and His Most Pure Mother and the Wonderworker Anthony, took that lying stone from the shore and with great honor, not giving honor to the soulless stone, but to the Venerable Anthony who stood on it, he installed it in the church wall, where we can still see it today. And the Monk Anthony himself is painted on it, having on his hand depicted the wonderful church of the Most Holy Theotokos.

The Legend of the Miracles of Our Reverend Father Anthony the Roman

After the repose of our reverend father Anthony the Wonderworker, 450 years later, the body of the saint was reposed in the summer of 1597, on the 1st day of July, in memory of the holy wonderworkers Cosmas and Damian, under the most pious Tsar and Sovereign and Grand Duke Theodore Ioannovich, Autocrat of All Russia, and under His Holiness Patriarch Job of Moscow and All Russia, and Metropolitan of Veliky Novograd and Velikiye Luki Varlaam, and under the rector of that monastery, Abbot Tryphon.

Before this, the monastery became very desolate due to the multiplication of sins and stood there for quite a long time. At that time there was no Divine Liturgy in the church and no singing of God. (The monastery stood empty after its destruction by Ivan the Terrible in 1570. Nifont could not talk about this, since he wrote his Legend in 1598, during the reign of the former guardsman Boris Godunov). Rumors about this reached the most pious and Grand Duke John Vasilyevich, Autocrat of All Russia (he was reigning at that time), that that monastery was empty. (See Information about the abbot Gelasia Novgorod, Hieromartyr, and the Life of Archbishop Pimen of Novgorod - Comp.) And he remembered that that monastery was very ancient and in it lay the relics of our reverend and God-bearing father Anthony the Wonderworker. And, perplexed by this, he said: “There is no more wondrous saint in my land than this one, brought across the waters on a stone. How did water serve the stone beyond its natural purpose? Likewise, how could a soulless stone serve supernaturally? But in both ways the invisible power of God acts through the prayers of the saint.” And he also said: “A city cannot hide, standing on top of a mountain; similarly, a lamp is not placed under a bushel or under a bed, but is burned on a candlestick, and it gives light to everyone who is in the temple. Likewise, how can this wonderful miracle worker be left in oblivion.” Having said this, he sent to that monastery abbot named Kirill(Kirill (Zavidov) was the abbot of the Anthony Monastery from 1580 to 1594. Then he became the archimandrite of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, later the Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl. He died in 1619), a virtuous husband, who was later elevated to the great throne of the most famous monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity of Sergius the Wonderworker. This will be discussed in another place in our words, but we will return to what we were before.

This abbot Kirill came to that empty monastery, and, after a little time, the brethren began to come to him. He received them with joy and shepherded the spiritual flock, and through his shepherding all good things were established in the monastery. By God's providence, the fear of the Lord entered his heart, and he began to have great faith in the monastery and in our venerable father Anthony the Wonderworker. He also had great love for the brethren and, remembering the psalm saying: “Behold, what is good or what is good, but the life of the brethren together,” he established in the monastery with the brethren the same food and drink, but did not hold intoxicating drinks at all. And he showed many other virtues to the monastery and to our venerable father Anthony the Wonderworker and to the brethren.

The miracle of the saint about Abbot Kirill, how he was delivered from death

The man-hater from the beginning, the devil, flowing around the entire universe and stretching out wicked nets to the human race, the Christian race most of all tries to catch in various forms. This created enmity among some foolish people of that monastery against Abbot Cyril. Such was their malicious hatred that, seizing the opportunity, they secretly put an evil deadly potion into the food during dinner, secretly from the cellarer, and poisoned him in this way, planning to prevent that abbot from being in the monastery. Let us stop writing about their other plans and deeds and return to what they were before.

That abbot despaired of saving his life, for he was greatly tormented by the womb. But God, wanting to show miracles and glorify His saint, put it in the abbot’s mind to remember the Lord’s saying: “Even if you drink something deadly, it will not harm you.” And also: “Ask and it will be given, knock and it will be opened to you.” And the abbot began to pray to the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Anthony, saying: “Oh, Most Pure Lady Lady Theotokos! See my sorrow and misfortune and help me, a sinner and damned one. Remember not my iniquity." He also called upon the monk, asking him for mercy, help and intercession. And when he prayed so bitterly with tears, immediately that evil potion erupted through his lips from his womb.

Oh, wonderful miracle! Through the prayers of the monk, this abbot was soon delivered from death, as if he had never been sick. The brethren, who were in great sorrow, knew that the Most Pure Mother of God and our venerable father Anthony had healed him, and they rejoiced. The hegumen hurried to the church and fell before the image of the Most Holy Theotokos, saying with many tears: “What will I repay you, Lady, for what you have shown your mercy to me, your sinful and unworthy servant?” Also, falling down to the saint’s tomb and lovingly kissing him with tears, he said: “I thank you, Rev. Father Anthony, that you did not despise my prayer and revived me, who was dead. May I pay you my vows from now on and all the days of my life.” The brethren also gave great glory to the Most Pure Theotokos and our venerable father Anthony.

After this, the abbot came to the stone on which the monk was brought across the waters from Rome, and looked at it with great surprise: how great it was, and by God’s providence it was carried across the waters, and the monk stood on it. Then he saw that the image written on it was crushed by the rain, since it was not covered. Remembering the mercy of the Monk Anthony, who delivered him from a bitter death, he built a tomb over the stone and decorated it with a beautiful image, not giving honor to the soulless stone, but to the reverend and God-bearing father Anthony standing on it. And he commanded to write on that stone the image that was before, that is, our Most Pure Lady Theotokos, holding in her arms the Eternal Child, our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Reverend Father Anthony, holding in his hand an image of the Church of the Most Holy Theotokos.

A short time later, a certain man, a resident of Velikiy Novagrad, from Lubyanitsa Street, named Theodore, a candle maker, indulged in drunkenness, gluttony and other bad deeds.

For this, God handed him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit could be saved. He was tormented by an unclean spirit and was fiercely crushed, emitting foam and gnawing his flesh, he threw himself at people, threw himself into fire and water, sometimes he made the voices of dumb animals and bit his tongue. He was bound with iron shackles, but he tore them apart and could hardly be held by many people. His wife and relatives felt very sorry for him, but were at a loss what to do.

A good thought came to their hearts, and they said: “Oh, what a wondrous miracle God performed with our reverend father Anthony! How quickly he saved the abbot from death. Maybe he’ll have mercy on us too?” And they also said: “If God does not hear us, then let’s go to the monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and pray at the tomb of St. Anthony, his prayers will undoubtedly give us health. Hearing this, Theodore immediately began to understand and went to the monastery himself, not restrained by anyone. When they approached the monastery of St. Anthony, he began to shout in a loud voice: “Oh, woe is me! I'm dying! Black people want to kill me." When he arrived at the monastery, he began to cry out: “Oh, Reverend Father Anthony! Help me and have mercy! Demons are tormenting me and want to kill me!” This happened during Lent. The abbot and the brethren went to the refectory and looked at him in surprise, wondering what would happen. The abbot asked him, saying: “Who are you and why are you crying?” He could not say anything else, only: “Reverend Father Anthony! Help me and have mercy on me! The demons are tormenting me and want to kill me, they have axes in their hands. They don’t tell me to go to you.” Hearing this, the abbot was perplexed. The sick man entered the tomb to the stone on which the monk was brought across the waters from Rome, fell to the ground before him and became speechless, lying as if dead. The monk approached him and said to him: “Get up, child, and venerate this stone.” And immediately he stood up in his mind, and kissed the stone, and the demons left him, and he became healthy and reasonable, as before. Then he came to the abbot and confessed to him everything that had happened.

Oh, glorious miracle of St. Anthony! Not only did he give healing at his tomb, but he also granted healing from the stone. After this, the husband went to his house in health, rejoicing and praising God and the Monk Anthony.

The legend about the reeds of the sea that were brought to the monk by the waters on the stone, from them there were many healings

One day Abbot Kirill happened to be in the church sacristy, and he began to examine it and saw that sea canes had been placed in a secret place. And, taking them, he asked the old brothers: “What is this?” They answered him: “These are the reeds of St. Anthony, brought by him on a stone along the waters from Great Rome.” The abbot, after thinking a little, said to the brethren: “It is not useful for us to keep such a wondrous thing hidden, but it is appropriate to openly show it to all the brethren and people who come to the saint with faith.” They, seeing this miracle, glorified God and the Monk Anthony.

Then certain noble people from the royal chamber came to the monastery of the monk to pray to the Most Holy Theotokos and the Monk Anthony. The abbot gave them honor according to their rank, as it befits to honor such gentlemen. He also showed these canes to St. Anthony. They, seeing this, glorified God, the Most Pure Mother of God and the Monk Anthony.

The miracle of the monk about the priest Tryphon, whom he saved from a toothache

There was then in the monastery a priest named Tryphon, a spiritual husband. Subsequently, he became abbot of that monastery. This man was at times obsessed with dental disease, and because of that great disease, swelling attacked his head so that he had no sleep or rest, day or night. God wanted to show the miracles of His saint not only at his tomb, but also from the reeds of the sea that were brought to the monk by water from Rome. And a good thought came to Tryphon: he remembered the saint’s canes and wanted to put them to his teeth. Having decided so, he quickly went to church and began to pray to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Anthony. And he took the saint’s cane and, with warm tears, applied it to his tooth, and immediately the dental disease stopped, and the swelling subsided from his head, and he became healthy. Seeing this, the brethren all glorified God and the great wonderworker Saint Anthony.

The miracle of the monk about Elder Dometian, a sexton who had the same dental disease

There was an old man named Dometian in the monastery of St. Anthony, a sexton. It happened that he was so overcome by a severe dental disease that he could neither eat, nor drink, nor speak. The brethren, seeing him suffering for a long time, remembered the previous miracle of the Monk Anthony, which happened from his canes, and told the elder about it. He barely got up, went to church and fell at the saint’s tomb, praying with many tears. He also took a cane and put it in his mouth on his teeth - and immediately the illness slowly began to ease. Seeing this, the elder fell all the more zealously to the tomb, praying with many tears, and then the illness completely passed, and he became healthy. The abbot, the brethren and the people who saw this miracle glorified God and our venerable father Anthony.

About the appearance of the relics and about the transposition of the venerable and many-miraculous body of our venerable and God-bearing father Anthony the Roman, Novgorod wonderworker

This will also be added to what was said before about the discovery of the many-miraculous body of the monk, when and how it happened.

Under the power of the pious Sovereign and Grand Duke Theodore Ioannovich, autocrat of all Russia, under His Holiness Patriarch Job, under Metropolitan Alexander the Great of Novagrad and under Abbot Kirill, the Lord God deigned to glorify His saint even more, and to expand this monastery, and to most honestly erect it four hundred and fifty-one years later upon the repose of the monk.

There was then in the monastery of St. Anthony an old man named Ananias- an icon painter, very blessed and spiritual in his life. (See Information about Ananias of Novgorod, icon painter - Comp.) He had great faith in the monastery and in our reverend and God-bearing father Anthony. He demonstrated many virtues in the monastery of the monk. According to his vow, he did not leave the monastery for thirty-three years and during all those years, for the sake of the Lord, he endured everything that happened at that time in the monastery. He had a disciple, a novice of the same monastery, a certain monk named Niphon(Nifont is a monk of St. Anthony of Novgorod, then of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. He wrote the life of the Venerable Anthony the Roman, the basis of which was a note about the life of the saint, written by the disciple and successor of the Venerable Antonia Andrey. Niphon added to his life an ornate preface, a word of praise and a story of miracles).57 The elder always urged him to every virtue and taught him to have great faith in God, His Most Pure Mother and the Monk Anthony. But after a little time, this blessed Ananias, in good confession, in the summer of 1581, on the 17th day of July, in memory of the Great Martyr Marina, at the third hour of the night, went to the Lord into eternal rest.

Niphon, according to the teachings of his great elder, had considerable faith in the monastery and in the Monk Anthony. Once, at the behest of his teacher, performing the usual cell rule and tenderly remembering the elder, he was brought into a subtle sleep and taken into the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which Saint Nikita the Bishop, with his honest hands, founded together with our venerable father Anthony. And that monk sees St. Anthony in the church above the ground, on the church platform in a shrine, lying alive; at the head of the venerable one in another shrine - St. Bishop Nikita. There was then an indescribable light in the church, above the saints there was a throne, on it was the Lord sitting, and near the throne and the saints were the angels of the Lord, and countless birds of heaven flew to the monastery. Then that monk, soon arousing from the vision, heeded to himself what this miracle and vision meant.

It occurred to him: isn’t this a secret indication that the Monk Anthony should also be glorified, following the example of the saint who had already shone and rested openly in the Cathedral of St. Sophia? He secretly dared to lift the top board of the shrine that stood over the tomb of the Monk Anthony, and with joy he saw the body of the saint deep in the ground, completely incorruptible.

Some time later, by the will of God, it came to his mind that the reverend and God-bearing father of Anthony raise his honest and healing body from the grave to the top of the earth and arrange it in such a way that it would be possible for the brethren and all Orthodox Christians to touch and kiss that wholesome body.

Then he came to Abbot Kirill, carrying with him in his heart the thought of some great treasure, and worshiped the Abbot, and, approaching, stood next to him. The abbot looked at him and thought to himself that something good would come from Nifont, and, inviting him to his place, said: “What are you looking for and what do you want, child?” He answered the abbot: “My soul loved and desired more than anything else in this monastery, to kiss the celibate body of our reverend and God-bearing father Anthony.” ... He told the abbot all the previously told visions about the honest and many-wonderful relics of our reverend and God-bearing father Anthony... The abbot, having heard from him about such a wonderful and wondrous vision, reflected on our reverend father Anthony, and, taking with him some of the most skilled brethren , hurried with them to the church, and, coming to the tomb of the monk, looked into the tomb of the saint, and saw the body of the monk as the monk Niphon had told him about it. Then the abbot rejoiced greatly at this, since the honorable body of the Monk Anthony had never been so visible before... and said: “It will not be permissible for us to remove the saint’s body from the ground, for this is a holy work; what will be the will of the saint.” After a short time, the abbot came to the Right Reverend Alexander (he was Archbishop of Novgorod in 1576-1589, Metropolitan in 1589-1591), Metropolitan of Great Novagrad, and told him everything that had been previously told about our Reverend Father Anthony, how the body became visible saint in the tomb. ... And the abbot began with tenderness to ask the saint to transpose the honest and wholesome body of our reverend father Anthony. Metropolitan Alexander was very willing to do so and said to the abbot: “It is appropriate to tell the Tsar and His Holiness the Patriarch about such a great matter, since Anthony is an ancient miracle worker.”

But the Metropolitan, who received this joyful news from the abbot, soon died, and Abbot Kirill was taken to the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity of the Sergius Monastery by the archimandrite. In his place, the pious king sent Abbot Tryphon to the most honorable monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and our venerable father Anthony.

Despite this, the zealous Niphon did not abandon the holy work he had begun. ... Niphon came to the monastery of the Life-Giving Trinity of the Sergius Monastery to the previously named abbot Kirill and ... asked him to beg the autocratic king to transpose the body of the Monk Anthony. The archimandrite found an opportunity to report to the tsar in the presence of the ruler Boris Godunov and Patriarch Job about the incorruption of the relics of the wonderworker Anthony. As a result of this report, the patriarchal letter instructed the new Metropolitan of Novgorod Varlaam to examine and open the holy relics. And so, when they removed the shrine that stood over the wonderworker’s tomb, the Metropolitan, bending down, saw the incorruptible body lying like a living one, two elbows below the platform. Not daring to take the shrine with their hands, the brethren, together with Abbot Tryphon, began to dig the ground near the tomb. Then a wonderful fragrance filled the air from the holy relics. O the wisdom of God’s destinies and His ineffable vision! Where then did God our Savior bring to us a fragrance not anointed by anyone? Some of the brethren, sensing this, like fragrant incense, a fragrance, soon gathered in the church and saw the body of the Monk Anthony, like the shining sun or like gold shining in a furnace, and the church was full of fragrance. Seeing this great and marvelous miracle of more ancient miracles, the abbot and the brethren and all the people standing here rejoiced with indescribable joy, sending great thanks to God...

And they wanted to lift the saint’s body from the ground and move it from its place. The imperishable remains of the miracle worker turned out to be lying on a huge stone. And everyone standing here was in great contemplation, remembering the wondrous coming of the monk across the waters from great Rome, even to this place, and in wonder, they said: “And now his body is on the stone.” And therefore they did not dare to move him from the stone, but announced this to the saint. Having thought, the saint realized that the saint did not want to leave the stone, and he ordered the abbot to raise the saint with the stone and not move the saint from him. And then, oh an indescribable miracle, immediately some divine invisible force came and lifted the saint with the stone from his place to the church platform. The abbot and the brethren, having received him, kissed him lovingly and weeping. Also, the people who were there, seeing this miracle and the monk as if alive, touched him with fear and love. This happened on July 1, 1597. The discovery of the holy relics was also accompanied by many miracles.

The miracle of the monk, how a paralytic wife received healing through his appearance

The wife of a certain priest named Irina, living in a village called Soltsy, came to the monastery. That wife fell into a great illness, which grew worse and worse, so that it seemed that all her bones would be crushed. And she could no longer control a single hand, and from that terrible illness her life was approaching the end. People heard everywhere about the transfiguration of the body of St. Anthony and about his miracles. And that weak wife remembered the monk, and one day, falling into a subtle sleep, she saw a holy old man, shining with gray hair, who said to her: “If you want to be healthy, then go to the monastery of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary for the feast of the transfiguration of the body of St. Anthony and venerate him, and God will heal you, and you will receive all health,” and after that he became invisible. Immediately after the vision, she began to feel herself and, being in fear and joy, had even greater faith.

And they brought her to the monastery of the saint, and she gave thanks to the Lord, and honestly kissed the body of the saint with warm tears, and immediately became healthy, as if she had never been sick. And she told what the wonderful Anthony had done to her to the abbot and the entire consecrated cathedral and went to her home, rejoicing and praising God and the Monk Anthony.

The Venerable Miracle of the Blind Youth

A certain man named Ignatius came, living in Veliky Novegrad on Slavkov Street, a baker. He had the only son who was blind from birth. Ignatius, along with the others, came to worship the saint with his son, and placed him on the healthy body of the Monk Anthony, and immediately at that very hour his son received his sight, became healthy and walked in the middle of the church, not led by anyone.

The Venerable Miracle of the Raging Man

There was a certain man named John, son of Matthew, from a village called Novaya Russa, from Mshagi. Due to some demonic obstacle, he happened to be possessed by an evil spirit. One day it happened to him to drink water from an abandoned well, and from the action of the devil he became numb and went crazy, doing obscene things, and could not speak at all. For a long time they tied him tightly with shackles and iron bonds, but he broke them, and ran, wandering, and beat his body, but was found again, and by many people he could hardly be drawn into his home. And often he fell and shook from great pain. Seeing this, his relatives said: “This was allowed from God for our sins.” Having heard the rumor spread throughout all countries about the unspeakable miracles of our venerable father Anthony, they brought him to the monastery. And the sacred cathedral performed a prayer service, and they sprinkled the demon-possessed with holy water and applied it to the celibate body of our reverend father Anthony, and the unclean spirit was immediately driven away by the prayers of the reverend. And John was healed, and came to his senses as if he had never been sick. And he went to his house, rejoicing, praising and glorifying God, His Most Pure Mother and our venerable father Anthony the Wonderworker, marvelous in miracles.

Miracle of St. Anthony for a Man with Legs

I want to tell another story, worthy of the memory of our holy father Anthony.

They brought to the monastery a certain man named Abraham, Vasily’s son, who has a home in Porkhov. Abraham had a disease: his legs were twisted. He suffered from that disease for a long time and could never leave his bed from it, but they carried him on his bed. God allows this for our sins, but often it happens to correct our lives and for great benefit. His friends and relatives, having heard the glorious miracles of our venerable father, took counsel and carried the sick man to the monastery of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and our venerable father Anthony. This was announced to the sacred council, which performed a prayer service to the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos and St. Anthony. They placed the sick Reverend Anthony on the body and sprinkled it with holy water, and at the same hour he was healed of his illness, jumping and walking around the church as if he had never been sick, giving great glory to God, the Most Pure Mother of God and the great saint of God and quick healer, the Reverend Father to our Anthony. Then they went home with great joy.

To our God be glory now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

The intercession of St. Anthony for us sinners is not exhausted and does not end with the miracles described in ancient legends. In them, as the manuscripts say, only a small number of the great number of cases of the miraculous help of the saint of God to everyone who asked him with faith for good were recorded. And in subsequent times, right up to the present day, the monk did not lack in miracles. Let us briefly talk about at least some cases of his intercession, revealed after the time at which the description of miracles in ancient manuscripts ends.

In the 30s of the 19th century, a cholera epidemic came to Russia from the east, claiming many human lives. The deadly disease was accompanied by terrible, wild riots of people who saw the causes of their misfortunes in anything but their own sins

Trouble also came to the Novgorod land. A devastating disease claimed the lives of many Novgorodians, regardless of age or rank. Riots began among the military villagers of the province.

The Holy Church turned to the people with a call to repentance and prayer for deliverance from misfortune. With the blessing of the Synod, “Pastoral admonition to Orthodox Christians on the occasion of the spread of an infectious disease - cholera” was distributed among the people and read in all churches. “At the present time,” says the Exhortation, “love for God is cooling in many of us, and self-love takes its place, love for one’s neighbor decreases, and self-will takes its place; commitment to the Holy Church fades away and in its place many try to put their own “church”, indulging their passions... So, we can and should think about the misfortune that befalls us only as about the wrath of God, which “is revealed from heaven,” as he writes Apostle, against the wickedness and unrighteousness of men.” “Orthodox Christians,” the shepherds cried, “bring sincere repentance to the Lord God, begin a life pleasing to God, pray with all your soul for God’s mercy!”

In Novgorod this call was heard. Repentant prayers for deliverance from the deadly disaster were performed in churches. On July 3, 1831, on the first Friday after the day of the holy supreme apostles Peter and Paul, as always, many Novgorodians gathered at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the St. Anthony Monastery to celebrate the discovery of the relics of St. Anthony the Roman. At the shrine with the relics of the Novgorod miracle worker, fervent prayers were offered to the Most Holy Theotokos and the saint of God, Saint Anthony. With heartfelt repentance, the Orthodox people asked their intercessors to beg the Almighty God to change His anger to mercy, forgive sins, grant help in the misfortune that had befallen them, and deliver them from the deadly ulcer.

And so they came to the cathedral with the news of the miraculous appearance of the image of the Mother of God in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyin Street. In the niche above the doors leading from the western vestibule to the large temple, the plaster fell off by itself and the image of the Virgin Hodegetria written on the wall was revealed. Hearing about the new shrine, bestowed by a merciful God through the prayers of the Mother of God and St. Anthony, people joyfully hurried to it. With reverence they performed a prayer service to the Mother of God before Her newly revealed icon, through which they believed that they would receive speedy deliverance from the Lord. After this, the disease in Novgorod subsided and soon disappeared completely, and the riots of military villagers did not spread to the province.

Thus, through the intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos and the prayers of St. Anthony, the Lord not only delivered Novgorod from troubles, but also gave another miraculous icon, which was popularly called “Cholera.” Through her, more than once the Novgorodians were honored with the grace-filled help of the Heavenly Intercessor of the human race.

And in our time there are numerous cases of St. Anthony the Roman helping various people in their troubles. At the same time, the monk not only helps in illness or other adversities, but, most importantly, turns people to the path of soul salvation.

One of the cases known to us occurred in the early 90s. A certain N., a believer, but not a church member, leading a dissolute life, began to suffer severely from frequent attacks of toothache. Once, during one of these attacks, he remembered how he accidentally saw in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary at the St. Anthony Monastery a woman with half her face swollen from dental disease. She came from a distant city to venerate the stone of St. Anthony and ask the miracle worker for relief from her suffering. Then N. was skeptical about this, but this time, remembering, he began to pray to the saint for healing. While praying, psalm words began to ring in his head: “ You crushed the teeth of sinners" (Ps. 1. 3. 7.) Then N. understood why this illness was sent to him, and began to pray to God for the forgiveness of his sins, and to ask St. Anthony for intercession. Then he remembered the image of the miracle worker standing on a stone with a cane in his hand, and mentally fell to him. And finally, after sincere heartfelt repentance and prayers to St. Anthony, the pain went away.

Several times after that, N. again began to lead a dissolute life, but immediately the Lord, through the prayers of the monk, seemed to stop him with severe toothache, which again went away after repentance and prayers to the Monk Anthony. And N. began, calling on the saint of God for help, to correct his life. Through the prayers of the saint, he found a spiritual father, began to live the grace-filled life of the Church Sacraments, often attend divine services, seriously confess and partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. And his teeth haven’t hurt since then. Thus, the Monk Anthony not only healed a person from a physical illness, but also set him on the path of salvation.

A certain S. had been married for a long time, but had no children, and was very sad about it. The Lord arranged it so that for some time he lived near the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. Being an Orthodox man who loved Novgorod, S. began to learn more about St. Anthony and developed strong faith in his intercession. In 1994, for the first time after the desolation of the times of atheistic madness, in the cathedral, on the initiative of the Society of Christian Culture and Art of St. Anthony the Roman, Bishop Leo celebrated vespers with an akathist to St. Anthony the Roman. During the service, S. fervently prayed to the Novgorod miracle worker for the gift of a child and with tears venerated the image and stone of the saint.

That same year, his wife conceived him, but was very afraid that the birth would be difficult, as the doctors warned about. The baby was supposed to be born at the end of August, but she was admitted to the maternity hospital earlier, considering her condition to be not entirely favorable.

On August 3/16, 1995, on the day of remembrance of St. Anthony, a divine service with an akathist to the saint was again held in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Most Pure One. This time S. already thanked God and His saint for the mercy bestowed and prayed for the safe birth of the child. The next day it became known: S.’s wife unexpectedly, contrary to the doctors’ predictions, yesterday, on the day of the saint’s memory, very easily gave birth to a healthy girl.

Such a clear sign that the child was truly born through the prayers of Saint Anthony instilled extraordinary spiritual joy in the heart of S., his relatives and friends. It was not the usual natural joy of the birth of a long-awaited child, but a joy of some other nature. Truly, it was spiritual joy that St. Anthony the Roman, despite the fact that his relics are still hidden from us, and the temple he built has not yet been handed over to the church, is still patient, hears us sinners, and through his prayers The Lord does not leave us with His mercy.

1991 Russia has just begun to emerge from the darkness of godlessness. A significant milestone of this saving path was the struggle for the return to the Orthodox Church of the oldest temple in Rus' - the Novgorod Cathedral of Hagia Sophia of the Wisdom of God. The Bishop, the clergy and all the Orthodox residents of Novgorod performed daily prayers for this to St. Nikita and all the saints who shone in the land of Novgorod. By their Heavenly intercession, the decision to return Hagia Sophia was made.

The day of the consecration of the temple fell on August 3/16, when the church celebrates the memory of St. Anthony the Roman. And so, during the celebration of the first Divine Liturgy, in a clear, blue sky without a single cloud, a rainbow appeared in the form of a halo above the central golden dome of Hagia Sophia - a sign of God’s mercy and favor, a sign of the forgiveness of sins and the preservation of God’s covenant with Russia, if it goes ahead in this day by - by returning churches, by turning to the Church, by returning to the Church. (See G. R. Stolova. Novgorod miracle - Comp.)

The fact that this miracle happened on the day of memory of St. Anthony the Roman is, of course, not an accident. Let us remember that St. Nikita, before whose relics the Novgorodians prayed for the return of the Church of St. Sophia of the Wisdom of God, told St. Anthony that with his miraculous coming the Lord visited and blessed the newly enlightened people. And now, on the feast day of Saint Anthony, the Lord again visited his lost but converted children. With His miraculous sign He blessed the Russian people who turned to Him after many years of atheistic madness. The church doors have been opened for us again, and through the prayers of St. Anthony and all the saints, the blessing of the Lord has been granted to those who truly enter the church as into the House of God.

Prayer to St. Anthony the Roman

We fall to you, Rev. Father Anthony, with fervent prayer and worship. We believe that you, resting in body before us, live in spirit in the mountain villages and pray for us, that your prayer, like the prayer of a righteous man, can do much before the merciful Master Mind of the Lord God, marvelous in His saints, may He bestow upon us His grace from the saints of your relics, may the Almighty grant us, who are in the flesh, the opportunity to sail without a hitch through the stormy sea of ​​life and reach a quiet, serene harbour, where He Himself meets with all His chosen ones. Amen!

Reverend Anthony the Roman(about 1067 - August 3, 1147) - saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, founder of the Novgorod St. Anthony Monastery. The memory is celebrated (dates according to the Julian calendar) on August 3 on the day of repose, on January 17 on the name day with St. Anthony the Great and on the 3rd week after Pentecost together with the Council of Novgorod Saints.

Life

According to the life of the saint, compiled in the 16th century, Anthony was born in Rome from “Orthodox parents.” At the age of 18, having become an orphan, he distributed his property to the poor (and put some of it in a barrel and threw it into the sea) and took monastic vows. Showed diligence in studying Greek language, reading Holy Scripture, works of the holy fathers. When the “princes” of the region where the monastery was located and the “Latins” began persecuting Orthodoxy, Anthony left the ruined monastery and devoted himself to prayer on a seaside rock for a year. One day the stone on which Anthony was standing broke off from the rock and fell into the sea. Passing the “warm sea”, the Neva, Lake Ladoga and Volkhov, the saint miraculously sailed on a stone to Novgorod, and the journey lasted only three days. This happened, according to the hagiographer, in September 1106, on the eve of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. At first, Anthony communicated with the Novgorodians through an interpreter, then, after praying, “that God would open the Russian language to him,” without his help. With the assistance of the Novgorod bishop Nikita, Anthony founded a monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, using the remains of his property, found in a barrel caught by fishermen, to purchase lands and decorate the monastery. In 1117, a stone church was founded in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was consecrated by Bishop John of Novgorod in 1119. In 1131, Saint Niphon of Novgorod installed the Monk Anthony as abbot of the monastery he founded. He ruled the monastery for 16 years, and on the eve of his death he appointed monk Andrei as his successor, to whom the authorship of the life is attributed.

In 1597, Anthony the Roman, who had previously enjoyed local veneration, was officially canonized, and his relics were transferred to the Nativity Cathedral of the monastery. In 1927, at the height of the anti-religious campaign, the cancer was opened, the relics were taken out and transferred to the anti-religious museum; were considered lost. In 2016, Candidate of Biological Sciences Denis Pezhemsky completed 20 years of work studying the relics stored in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod:

Scientific interpretation

The life of the saint is largely legendary, but his activities are confirmed by historical sources: the Novgorod chronicles mention the construction of the monastery church, the installation of hegumen and the death of Anthony. The saint’s spiritual letter has been preserved (in several copies, the earliest dating back to the 16th century), partially included in the text of his life. However, until the middle of the 16th century, Anthony’s Roman origin was not mentioned or emphasized in any way. Perhaps the legend about his journey from Rome to Novgorod arose in the era when Novgorod’s loss of independence gave rise to a number of legends about the inheritance of “Roman” shrines (late 16th - early 17th centuries). At the same time, the final edition of the life was formed, which could be based on a text that actually belonged to the saint’s disciple, monk Andrew.

In addition, in the 12th century, the word “Roman” could refer to a person not only from Rome, but also from other parts of the Holy Roman Empire, including from the German lands, and possibly a merchant trading with these lands.

The story of St. Anthony's journey on the stone entered Russian folklore.

Karpov A. Yu.

Anthony the Roman (d. 1147/48), founder and first abbot of the Novgorod Nativity of the Theotokos Anthony Monastery.

Life of Rev. Anthony reports that he was a native of Rome, took monastic vows at the age of 18 in a certain “desert,” stayed in it for twenty years, and after the destruction of the monastery by the “Latins,” he spent more than a year on a rock near the seashore, after which, miraculously - bypassing the “warm” sea, the Neva, Lake Ladoga and Volkhov - he sailed on a stone to Novgorod. However, the nickname “Roman” appears in sources only from the second half of the 16th century. (the earliest lists of the Life); The chronicles in no way hint at the “Roman” or generally foreign origin of the founder of the Anthony Monastery, so modern researchers are inclined to consider this nothing more than a legend that appeared during the era of Novgorod’s loss of its statehood. In addition, one should take into account the fact that in the 12th century. the word “Roman” could refer to a person not only from Rome itself, but also from another part of the Holy Roman Empire, including from the German lands, and possibly a merchant trading with these lands.

It is known that Anthony appeared in Novgorod during the life of Bishop Nikita (that is, no later than January 1109). Life calls the exact date when this happened: September 1106 (September 5 of that year, the stone on which the monk was located was torn from the shore, and two days and two nights later he was already in Novgorod), however, it is difficult to say how reliable this date is. Undoubtedly, Anthony was a very wealthy man. (The Life describes the miraculous circumstances under which he returned the wealth he had previously lost.) In a copy of the 16th century. Anthony's spiritual letter has been preserved, in which he “proclaims” that “he died to this place, not receiving any property from the prince or the bishop, but only a blessing from Nikita the bishop.” For the lands and lands on which the monastery he founded arose, Anthony paid 70 hryvnia from his own money and another 100 hryvnia “in the village... on Volkhovsky.”

In the Novgorod First Chronicle, the name of Anthony was mentioned starting in 1117 in connection with the active stone construction that took place in the monastery he founded. In 1117, Anthony “founded the church of the Holy Mother of God Monastery”; this church was completed in 1119.

In 1125, the Church of the Virgin Mary was painted, which is also recorded in the chronicle, and two years later, in 1127, Anthony laid a stone refectory in his monastery. Thus, the Anthony Monastery very quickly turns into one of the richest and most influential Novgorod monasteries.

Nevertheless, for a long time Anthony headed the monastery without the rank of abbot. According to V.L. Yanin, this could be a consequence of some kind of conflict between the founder of the monastery and the Novgorod bishop John Popyan (1110-1130), which in turn reflected a broader conflict that existed between the Novgorodians and the Novgorod bishop. And in fact, in the spiritual letter of Anthony the Roman (it is supposedly dated no later than 1131), one can sense an openly hostile attitude towards the episcopal (and, by the way, princely) authority, a deliberate condemnation of the possible future transfer of the monastery under the patronage of the Novgorod ruler: “And whoever our brother from this place begins to want the abbess either by bribery or by force... or from the prince begins to act by violence or by bribe, let him be cursed; or if he begins to appoint anyone as a bishop for bribe... let him be cursed."

Only after the appearance of a new ruler in Novgorod, Nifont (January 1, 1131), Anthony was appointed hegumen of the monastery he founded (1131/32, perhaps at the end of January - February 1132). Rev. reposed. Anthony in 1147/48 (according to the Life, August 3, 1147; according to the chronicle, most likely in the winter of 1147/48).

Rev. Anthony was buried in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy. Mother of God. Perhaps his veneration in the monastery began soon after his death. In the Life of Rev. Anthony, compiled in the 16th century, the narrative is told on behalf of his student and successor Andrey, the second abbot of the Anthony Monastery (1147-1157); it is possible that the scribe of the 16th century. took advantage of the genuine short Life saint, actually written by Andrew in the 12th century, but which has not come down to us. There are more reasons to talk about the glorification of the saint starting from the 16th century, when under Abbot Veniamin (1547-1552) the stone on which Anthony allegedly sailed to Novgorod was transferred to the monastery from the bank of the Volkhov (the stone has survived to this day), and on the stone was written image of a saint; Later, under Abbot Kirill (1580-1594), the image was renewed. On August 3, 1597, the discovery of the relics of St. Anthony and their transfer to a silver-bound shrine in the Nativity Cathedral; then Rev. Anthony the Roman was canonized for general church veneration. In 1731, the relics were transferred to a new cypress shrine, also bound in silver. In 1927, at the height of the anti-church campaign, the cancer of St. Anthony the Roman was opened and the relics were taken out; their current whereabouts are unknown.

Church memory of Rev. Anthony the Roman is celebrated on January 17 (the day of memory of St. Anthony the Great), August 3 (the day of the transfer of the relics), and also on the 3rd week after Pentecost - in the Cathedral of Novgorod Saints.

As already mentioned, in a copy of the 16th century. Anthony's spiritual charter has been preserved. Along with it in the same list is a deed of land for the Anthony Monastery, which was then (i.e. in the 16th century) attributed to the monk. However, different opinions have been expressed in the literature regarding its authenticity: according to one point of view, this bill of sale is a renewed copy of the original; in another way, it is a falsification of the 16th century.

In the Novgorod St. Sophia Cathedral there was preserved a copper chandelier, which, according to legend, belonged to St. Anthony the Roman; in the Anthony Monastery until the 20s of the XX century. two damask vestments attributed to the monk were kept.