The Liturgical Calendar: The Church Remembers

Today the church remembers Sergius, Abbot of Holy Trinity, Moscow, 1392.

In Sergius's youth the Christians of Russia were suffering under the Tartar yoke, dominated and oppressed by these invaders. The Christian community was weak, divided, and confused. Under the vigorous leadership of Sergius and the monks of Holy Trinity monastery, they gained new hope. Sergius is best remembered as the beloved abbot who inspired Dmitri, Prince of Moscow, to resist Tartar domination. Equally important were his efforts to reform and revive the Russian Orthodox monasteries. He personally supervised the founding of more than forty new monasteries.

Sergius is usually associated with the armed resistance to the Tartars, but he was also a great peacemaker. He was often successful in mediating disputes among princes, and on four occasions he averted civil war. Sergius was a man of deep faith and strong character. He was peasant-born, hearty, neighborly, and practical. He struggled to keep the communal spirit alive among his monks and among the Christian people of Russia. He taught, by word and deed, unselfish service to others, and absolute devotion to Christ as known in the Holy Eucharist.

Almighty and everlasting God, we give you thanks for the purity and strength with which you did endow your servant Sergius; and we pray that by your grace we may have a like power to hallow and conform our souls. Amen.

Read the Wikipedia article here.

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Sergius of Moscow, may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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