Icon Anna Kashinskaya: what they pray for to the image of the holy princess of the 14th century. Holy Blessed Grand Duchess Anna of Kashin (†1368)

The Holy Reverend Blessed Princess Anna Kashinskaya was the daughter of Prince Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov, the great-granddaughter of the Holy Blessed Prince Vasily of Rostov, who accepted martyrdom for refusing to change the saint Orthodox faith. Blessed Anna’s grandfather’s brother-in-law was Saint Peter, Tsarevich of Ordyn, a baptized Tatar, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The princes of Rostov were distinguished by their piety, and Anna grew up in the traditions of the Orthodox faith, love for the Church, and veneration of relatives who were martyrs for the faith. She lived in those times when Holy Rus' endured the harsh feats of confession and martyrdom under the Tatar-Mongol yoke, and also suffered from internecine wars.
Her father died in 1294, when Anna was about seventeen. That same year she was married to Prince Mikhail Tverskoy. Princess Ksenia, the mother of Prince Tverskoy, having learned about Anna's beauty and virtues, sent matchmakers to Rostov. Anna was brought to Tver, where the wedding immediately took place. The bride and groom saw each other for the first time, standing in the temple under their wedding crowns, but their marriage was destined for heaven: the spouses carried mutual love and respect, devotion and understanding through the years, despite all the hardships that befell them.

Many sorrows befell Saint Anna. In the spring of 1295, the entire city of Tver burned down, in the spring of 1298, the entire prince's tower with all its property burned to the ground, the prince and princess escaped the fire by jumping out of the window. That same year there was a great drought, forests burned, livestock died. The prince became seriously ill. In 1299 there was a terrible solar eclipse; Anna's very first child, daughter Theodora, born this year, dies in infancy. Anna then had four more sons.
In 1304, Prince Mikhail of Tver received a label (a special charter confirming the rights of the prince) to the great reign of Vladimir, but along with the honor of primacy among other princes, he acquired a mortal enemy in the person of Prince Yuri of Moscow, who also laid claim to the great reign. In 1313, a new khan, Uzbek, reigned in the Horde, and Prince Mikhail had to go to the new khan to receive a label. Mikhail stayed in the Horde for about two years, while the princess waited, cried and grieved, not knowing what to think.
Returning, the prince waged a war with Novgorod, which ended in a heavy defeat for him. In 1317, the treacherous Yuri arrived from the Horde with a label for “seniority”; Prince Mikhail reconciled and ceded his rights to him. However, Yuri was not satisfied with this and went to war against Tver. Mikhail was forced to fight back and defeated his enemy, capturing the Tatar ambassador Kavgady and the sister of Khan Uzbek, Yuri’s wife, who, unfortunately, died suddenly in Tver.
Slandered by enemies, in 1318 Prince Mikhail, who had just won a brilliant military victory, but who did not want to use it to the detriment of others, again goes to the Horde to ward off hometown the threat of a Tatar pogrom and become an innocent victim. Prince Mikhail was ready for anything, confessed and received communion. Everyone present was crying. But Saint Anna inspired her husband to heroic deeds: “And if you, my lord and faithful prince, want to go to the Horde and voluntarily suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus, then you will truly be blessed throughout all generations and your memory will be forever.”
After a month and a half, St. blgv. Prince Mikhail Tverskoy suffered a martyr's death in the Horde, but the body of the saint was delivered to Tver only a year later. It did not decay, although it was transported in both heat and cold, sometimes on a cart, sometimes on a sleigh, and it remained unburied in Moscow for the whole summer. All worries about the principality and her sons fell on Anna’s shoulders; More and more troubles began to fall, Tatar raids began. In 1325, her eldest son, the hot-tempered and hot-tempered Demetrius the Terrible Eyes, killed Prince Yuri of Moscow in the Horde, whom he considered responsible for his father’s death, and for this he was executed by the khan.
In 1327, when the Tatar ambassador Shevkal, a cousin of Khan Uzbek, arrived in Tver with a large retinue, the residents of Tver raised a spontaneous rebellion and killed all the Tatars. After this, the entire Tver land was devastated by fire and sword, the inhabitants were exterminated or taken captive. The Tver Principality had never experienced such a pogrom. Anna Kashinskaya and her family had to flee and hide in exile for a long time, and return home to bare ashes. The second son of the princess Alexander, after many years of exile, went to ask for mercy from the khan, but in 1339 he was executed in the Horde along with his son Theodore.
The princess's suffering reached the limit of human capabilities. Nevertheless, the meek, patient enduring of suffering did not harden the deeply believing soul, but clothed it with great humility. The saint decided to leave the world in the Tver Sophia Monastery and took monastic vows with the name Sophia (according to some sources, Euphrosyne); the saint began to strive in prayer and fasting. Subsequently, the youngest son of Princess Vasily begged his mother to move to Kashin, where his inheritance was. Especially for her, he built the Assumption Monastery, where the sorrowful princess-nun could remain in silence and seclusion. Here the monk took the schema, with her former name Anna. Here she reposed in the schema in 1368, her body was buried in the Assumption Monastery Church.

The blessed princess died on October 2(15), 1368. She was 90 years old. Her son Vasily died of grief the next day, they were buried together in the Assumption Cathedral.

The name of the blessed princess Anna was forgotten over time to the point that her tomb was treated with disrespect, and only in 1611, as a result of her appearance to a pious cleric, a special reverence for their heavenly patroness, who invisibly protected them from enemies and saved their city, awoke in the residents of the city of Kashin from ruin.
IN Time of Troubles(1606-1611) Polish-Lithuanian troops approached Kashin three times, but not only failed to take the city, but also did not cause much harm to it. At the same time, a strong fire broke out in Kashin, but quickly stopped. Involuntarily, God-fearing townspeople began to wonder: what saint was guarding their city? But in 1611, the princess appeared in a dream to the seriously ill sexton of the Assumption Cathedral, Gerasim, promised to heal him and said: “The people regard my coffin as nothing. Don’t you know that I pray to the All-Merciful God and the Mother of God that your city will not be delivered into the hands of your enemies, and that I will save you from many evils and misfortunes?” The next morning Gerasim was healthy. From that day on, healings and miracles at the tomb of St. Anna did not stop. The people immediately began to venerate the coffin of the blessed princess Anna as a great shrine.
The rumor of miracles from the relics of the blessed Princess Anna reached the pious Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and His Holiness Patriarch Nikon, and at the Moscow Council of 1649 it was decided to open the relics of Princess Anna. In 1649, her relics were examined. Anna’s body and clothes had not decayed, and her right hand lay on her chest “bent, as if blessing” (index and middle finger elongated, i.e. folded into a double-fingered cross).
The transfer of the relics of the blessed Anna Kashinskaya from the dilapidated wooden cathedral church to the stone Resurrection Cathedral with the participation of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich himself took place on June 12, 1650. In the entire history of the Russian Church to this day, not a single saint has received such a brilliant and magnificent celebration.
However, soon the holy blessed Anna Kashinskaya unexpectedly became a symbol of schismatics, when in the second half of the 17th century the Old Believer schism began, and many began to be embarrassed by the fact that the incorruptible fingers, according to legend, were folded according to the custom that existed in Rus' in the 14th century (moreover, St. Anna was sometimes depicted on icons with her hand folded in the sign of the cross). No one questioned the holiness of the blessed princess, but in order not to give rise to temptation, Patriarch Joachim and the fathers of the Councils of 1677-1678. they are destroying the canonization of the saint, prohibiting the veneration of the holy relics of Anna Kashinskaya, canceling prayer services and services to the saint until the time “until God announces and approves.” This extraordinary event is the only one in the history of Russian Orthodox Church.
Although the ecclesiastical dethronement of the blessed princess Anna lasted 230 years, the grateful people's memory retained a strong faith in the intercession of their heavenly patroness before the Lord. Before marriage, before entering the service, before tonsure, before starting training sessions When making any serious decision, not to mention all sorts of troubles, illnesses and sorrows, believers went to pray at the tomb of the blessed Anna.
On June 12 (25), 1908, Emperor Nicholas II, by the will of God, again glorified the blessed princess, restoring proper veneration of the saint.
And already in 1909, in the city of Grozny, in the region of the Tver Cossacks, a women’s community arose in honor of the holy blessed princess Anna Kashinskaya. In 1910, a temple in the name of St. Anna Kashinskaya in St. Petersburg was consecrated.
During the troubled years of war and revolution, the image of the blessed Princess Anna became even closer and more understandable to the Russian people. It was remembered that the blessed Anna, having also seen off her husband and sons into that dangerous unknown from which they often do not return, buried and mourned them, was also forced to flee and hide, while enemies were smashing and burning her land.

Prayers to the Venerable Grand Duchess Anna Kashinskaya.

O reverend and blessed mother Anno! Humbly falling before your honorable relics, we pray diligently with tears: do not forget your poor to the end, but always remember us in your saints and auspicious prayers to God. O blessed Grand Duchess Anno! Do not forget to visit your children, even though you passed away from us in body, but even after death you remain alive and do not depart from us in spirit, preserving us from the arrows of the enemy, all the charms of the demonic and the snares of the devil. Our zealous prayer book! Do not stop praying for us to Christ our God, even though the relics of your cancer are visible before our eyes, but your holy soul, standing with the Angelic hosts at the Throne of the Almighty, worthily rejoices. We fall down to you, we pray to you, we are dear to you: pray, most blessed Anno, to our All-Merciful God for the salvation of our souls, to ask us time for repentance and to pass from earth to Heaven without restraint, from bitter ordeals and eternal torment and be delivered from Heavenly Kingdom to be an heir with all the saints who from time immemorial have pleased our Lord Jesus Christ, to Him be glory, with His Beginningless Father, and with His Most Holy and Good and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Troparion to the Venerable Grand Duchess Anna Kashinskaya.

Troparion, tone 3

Today we praise you, reverend mother, Grand Duchess Nun Anno: for as the vine is fruitful in the midst of thorns, you have flourished in the city of Kashin with your virtues, you have surprised everyone with your wonderful life, and you have pleased Christ God, and now, rejoicing and having fun, you remain with joy reverend women enjoying heavenly beauty and joy. We pray to you: pray for us, the Lover of mankind, Christ our God, to grant us peace and great mercy.

Kontakion, tone 4

Like a bright star, you appeared in the Russian land, in the city of Kashin, the Venerable Mother Anno, in all the pious and faithful wives, like a krin, you flourished with your pure and immaculate life, in the nuns you completed your works and exploits, and you ascended to the Highest City , rejoicing and having fun, as if you had completed your course well, and now your honest relics, like precious beads, appeared for healing to all who come with faith. That is why we cry out to you: Rejoice, all-red soul, and pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.

Greatness

We bless you, reverend mother, Grand Duchess Anno, and honor your holy memory, teacher of nuns and interlocutor of the Angel.

Saint Anna Kashinskaya is a living symbol of the Kashin land, its heavenly protector and intercessor. She got the most difficult fate, but she endured all the troubles and sorrows with truly Christian humility, in no way yielding to the doubts and temptations of “this world.”

To see how loved and revered Saint Anna Kashinskaya is, it is worth visiting Kashin on June 25 (new style) - the day of the transfer, when a procession of thousands of people takes place through the city. However, no matter what time you find yourself in Kashin, you can always feel the special sympathetic presence of the city’s heavenly patroness. Many explain by her prayerful intercession that during the Great Patriotic War The German troops that captured Tver never captured Kashin. And to this day, in the speech of the Kashino residents, one can hear every now and then: “Well, as Mother manages,” “Let’s pray to Mother,” “Everything will work out with Mother’s prayers.”

The earthly life of Saint Anna Kashinskaya (her memory is celebrated on June 25 and October 15 according to the new style) fully explains the definition given to the ascetic by the chronicler - “much-sorrowful.” Holy missus Grand Duchess born around 1278 in the family of the Rostov prince Dmitry Borisovich. She was the great-great-granddaughter of the holy Prince Mikhail of Chernigov and the great-granddaughter of the holy Prince Vasilko of Rostov, while her grandfather, Prince Boris Vasilkovich, firmly defended the interests of his native people and native land during his repeated trips to the Horde, he was known as the “sorrower of the Russian land.”

Troparion

Troparion to the Holy Blessed Princess-Nun Anna Kashinskaya, tone 3

Today we praise you, reverend mother, great princess monk Anno: for the vine is fruitful among thorns, you flourished in the city of Kashin with your virtues, you surprised everyone with your wonderful life, and you also pleased Christ God, and now, rejoicing and having fun, being with the faces of the reverend women, enjoying the heavenly beauty and joy. We pray to you, pray for us to the Lover of Mankind, Christ our God, to grant us peace and great mercy.

No exact information has been preserved about the saint’s childhood and youth. In 1294, Anna's father died, and at the same time she was married to Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich Tverskoy. The wedding took place in the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral in Tver (during the years of Soviet power, this temple was destroyed, but now they are going to restore it). Chronicles report the birth of children from the spouses: in 1298, a son, Dmitry, was born, in 1299, a daughter, Theodora (died in infancy), and then three more sons: in 1300 - Alexander, in 1306 - Konstantin, in 1309 - Vasily. After the death of the Grand Duke of Vladimir Andrei in 1305, Mikhail Tverskoy became his heir by seniority.

It was during the reign of Mikhail Yaroslavich that a dispute began between Tver and Moscow for the grand-ducal throne. Moscow Prince Yuri Danilovich slandered Mikhail Tverskoy in front of the khan, and he was summoned to the Horde. Princess Anna accompanied her husband to the mouth of the Nerl River and, having said goodbye to him, returned to Tver with great sorrow. On November 22, 1318, the holy noble Prince Michael was killed in the Horde, but in Tver they learned about this only two years later, when Prince Yuri returned to Moscow, bringing his holy remains.

Having received the terrible news, Princess Anna cried bitterly and inconsolably for many days. On September 6, 1320, the body of the martyr prince was taken to Tver. Anna rode out to meet him with her children and boyars. The coffin was carried with singing to the Transfiguration Cathedral. Despite the fact that the body was transported in the heat, and before that it had remained unburied for two years, decay did not affect it at all.

Princess Anna had to endure a lot of hard things after the death of her husband. In 1325, her eldest son, Prince Dmitry, met Prince Yuri Danilovich in the Horde and, in the presence of the khan, killed him, for which he was immediately executed. Two years later, a major uprising against the Tatars broke out in Tver, which was unsuccessful - the city was taken by the Tatars and terribly devastated. Then Princess Anna had to go into hiding. Her son, Prince Alexander of Tver, fled first to Pskov, and later “to Lithuania and the Germans.” But then, so that his children would not lose their right to the throne, according to the law of that time, he returned to his homeland and was forced to go to the Horde to confess. His mother, Princess Anna, and her family and the whole city saw off. In the Horde, Prince Alexander and his eldest son, Theodore, were killed by order of the khan. Their bodies were brought to Tver and buried in the cathedral. Princess Anna and her children mourned their son and grandson for a long time.

Having endured all these sorrows, Princess Anna took monastic vows - according to legend, in the Tver Sophia Monastery - with the name Sophia. But even in her monastery they found sad news about more and more new misfortunes. The princess-nun had to endure civil strife youngest son Vasily with his grandchildren Vsevolod and Mikhail, as well as the death of eight members of the princely family during the plague of 1365. At the end of her life, she moved to Kashin, which was ruled by Prince Vasily, and with the name, according to some sources, Anna, and according to others, Euphrosyne, she accepted the schema in the Kashin Dormition Monastery. The Grand Duchess-nun appeared before the Lord in 1368.

A unique case: Anna Kashinskaya was canonized twice (and between these canonizations she was decanonized). She was glorified for the first time in 1650; At the same time, her honest relics, discovered back in 1611 (as told in “The Miracle of the Sexton named Gerasim”), were transferred, with the participation of the young Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, from the Assumption Church to the Resurrection Cathedral. But almost thirty years later, after a new study of cases of healing from the relics of the saint, her name was excluded from the calendar. And only in 1908, the Holy Synod, with the consent of Emperor Nicholas II, restored church-wide veneration of the blessed princess.

During her lifetime, the Russian princess Anna Kashinskaya was distinguished by her enormous patience, which in its strength was comparable to the courage of a warrior. She experienced the pain of losing those closest to her, but managed to save kind heart and remained a support for her people in all adversities. Canonized after death, she was destined for a controversial fate. Anna Kashinskaya was twice confirmed as a saint, and only she has six days of memory per year.

Early years

Anna Kashinskaya was born into the family of the Rostov prince Dmitry in the city of Kashin approximately in 1279. The baptismal name was given in honor of the righteous Saint Anna, the mother of the Virgin Mary. There were other children in the family. A close person in the family was the Horde prince - Saint Peter, a Tatar baptized into Orthodox Christianity, distinguished by great faith and who saw the apostles Peter and Paul during his earthly life.

About children's and youth Little is known about Saint Anna; chronicle sources say that her life occurred during hard times. There were many troubles in Rostov, which were brought by the Tatar yoke. Finally, the patience of the Rostovites ran out; they no longer had the strength to endure the extortions and oppression from the Tatars who inhabited the land and the constantly visiting military detachments. The alarm bell rang and a Russian riot began, demolishing all the Tatar houses, the townspeople drove the surviving parasites outside the city walls.

The Rostov princes went to the khan with a confession and persuasion not to cause great damage to the people and the principality. Anna Kashinskaya and her sisters remained at home under the care of the boyars and no one knew whether the khan would leave the delegation alive or everyone would be killed. That time there was no bloodshed or revenge. A few years later, in 1293, a power struggle began between Andrei and Dmitry Nevsky, which led to an internecine war that devastated the North-Eastern lands of Rus', the damage caused was comparable to the devastation caused by the Batu invasion.

Marriage

Blessed Anna Kashinskaya early became famous for her kindness, extensive charitable activities and beauty. In 1294, the prince's children were orphaned, Anna's father died, and Uncle Konstantin became their trustee. Troubles never left the Rostov domain, many people lost their homes, poverty haunted entire families, forcing people to wander and beg.

Anna Kashinskaya gave orders to feed the disadvantaged in the princely chambers, and not to deny anyone a piece of bread. She was very active in helping - to those who could not come for food, she herself came to their place of residence, treated the sick and wounded, cared for the crippled and the elderly. She paid special attention to widows and orphans. People treated her like the sun; she softened the hardest hearts with her kind disposition, patience and great desire to help all those suffering.

The fame of her deeds and beauty reached the borders of the Tver Principality and Princess Ksenia, the mother of Mikhail, Prince of Tver, wished to see her as the wife of her son, which is what she asked the orphan’s guardian for: “For he has only one daughter, she is extremely virtuous, wise and beautiful, this I wish to see my son married; loving her for her good nature,” which was recorded in the Resurrection Chronicle. The wedding took place in 1294 in the Transfiguration Cathedral in Tver.

Children and the Principality

Anna Kashinskaya, the holy, blessed princess, lived in difficult times when Rus' was fragmented, and the Russian princes, in an effort to consolidate power, sought support from the Mongol invaders. Some time after the marriage, the entire city of Tver burned down; three years later, the fire completely consumed the entire princely court, but the inhabitants managed to escape. That same year, in the summer, there was a drought, which caused all the crops and livestock feed to burn, which again led to devastation.

The young couple's first child, daughter Fedora, was born in 1299, but the girl did not live long. In 1300, the first son, Dmitry, was born, and a year later Alexander was born. In 1306, the family was completed by Constantine, and in 1309 by Vasily. Anna Kashinskaya was a good mother and she herself participated in raising children, was involved in their education, and gave a personal example of a virtuous life. The children took part in all charitable causes, attended church and adopted love for their neighbor from their mother.

Losing my husband

In 1304, Mikhail Tverskoy accepted the reign. In order to establish himself on the throne in those days, it was necessary to obtain the special approval of the khan - a label. Mikhail went to headquarters, but Yuri, the son of the deceased Moscow Prince Daniil, expressed his claims. A confrontation began that covered the two principalities for a century and a half.

In 1313, the Horde of Uzbek Khan converted to Islam, which ended the era of religious tolerance. The position of Mikhail Tverskoy and his estate worsened; the marriage of Yuri, Prince of Moscow, to the khan’s sister added additional precariousness to the situation. Four years later, Mikhail Tverskoy decided to give up the principality in favor of Yuri, but the fact of rule was not enough for him; he wanted to destroy the enemy. Having invaded the Tver Principality with a well-armed numerous squad, he destroyed settlements, trampled and burned fields, and drove people into slavery. Mikhail led the counteraction company and entered the battle forty miles in front of Tver; Yuri, abandoning his squad, fled.

Mikhail captured the boyars, the princes and Yuri’s wife, the Tatar Konchaka, and negotiations began with the khan. While diplomatic meetings were being held, Konchaka died in Tver. With this news, Yuri went to the khan, telling in a denunciation that she was poisoned by Mikhail’s people. Khan became angry and chose a method of revenge. Mikhail, deciding not to subject his people to another devastation, went to the Horde himself. Anna Kashinskaya, the holy and faithful princess, understood that her husband was going to martyrdom, but she blessed him on his way. The separation of the spouses took place on the banks of the Nerl River, now there is a chapel there, which previously contained an image of the scene of the farewell of the prince and princess.

At the khan's headquarters, Mikhail accepted martyrdom, which could have been avoided at the cost of idol worship, which the prince refused. The Prince of Moscow was notified of his death and his body was sent there. Anna Kashinskaya and the children did not know for a long time what had become of him. When the situation became clearer, she begged Yuri for a long time to give up her husband’s body for burial; he demanded humiliating conditions for the contract and got his way.

The mutilated body of Prince Mikhail traveled a long way, but did not undergo decomposition, which was regarded as God's miracle. Michael was canonized by the church in 1549, and the people began to venerate him as a saint immediately after his burial.

Sons

Anna Kashinskaya survived many troubles that occurred both in the family and in the state. In 1325, her son Dmitry hacked to death in the Horde Yuri, Prince of Moscow, on whose denunciation his father was tortured. Dmitry was immediately executed. A year later, the Tatar ambassador settled in the Tver principality and occupied the princely chambers for his residence, almost driving Anna and the children out onto the street. Resentment accumulated among the people, a riot broke out, and the blood of the invaders began to flow. The battle lasted for a day, the Khan's ambassador and his retinue were burned alive in the chambers, and by dawn the next day not a single Tatar was left alive.

Anna's family and herself managed to escape from the city. In the autumn, the troops of the Khan, Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita and several other princes advanced to Tver. The pogrom was total; the scorched earth, neither before nor after, had known such a pogrom. Princes Constantine and Vasily returned to their lands in 1327 and found devastation, desolation, sorrow there and began the revival of the principality.

The eldest son Alexander remained in exile, where he started a family and a son, Fyodor. With the threat of ruin, the khan demanded that the Russian princes hand over Alexander Tverskoy to him. Ten years later, in 1339, he arrived from Lithuania and went to the Horde with his son. The princess once again said goodbye to her family, seeing them off to certain death. After these events, there was some lull; Constantine was appointed to reign, but he, too, ended his days in the Horde in 1346.

Monasticism

Having gone through many sorrows, losses, and torments, Anna Kashinskaya retained great patience and did not fall into despair, which helped her survive and maintain a kind, loving heart. During the reign of Constantine, she was ordained a monk at the Sophia Monastery in Tver, taking the name Euphrosyne. During her monastic life, she did not neglect those in need and helped as much as she could, some in word and some in deed, while leading a strict lifestyle. She devoted most of her time to prayer, fasting, vigils and meditation.

Around 1364, her last son, Prince Vasily, built the Assumption Monastery in Kashin and persuaded his mother to move into it. Here she took the schema under the name of Anna and died in 1368 at the very beginning of October. Her body was buried in the cathedral.

First canonization

Holy Orthodox believer Anna Kashinskaya was forgotten for many years. In memory of descendants, she returned during the siege of Kashin by the Lithuanians and Poles in 1611. Despite the duration and intensified hostilities, the city was not captured, and the townspeople were inclined to think about someone’s holy intercession. Anna appeared in the form of a schemata to the sexton of the Assumption Cathedral, who was suffering from a serious illness. From her he received healing and the order to tell Archpriest Vasily and the residents of Kashin about her prayers and intercession, while she ordered her to venerate her coffin, read prayers over it and light candles over it in front of the image of the Savior. So the people of Kashin believed in their patroness and began to carefully guard her grave.

Word of the patron saint reached Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon, they initiated her canonization before the Moscow Cathedral. In 1649, Anna Kashinskaya was canonized by the church. The opening of the grave and inspection of the relics took place in 1649, and in 1650 the tsar came to participate in the ceremonial transfer of the relics to the Resurrection Cathedral. On the same day, a miraculous healing of a seriously ill woman occurred.

Not a single saint has such a complex posthumous history as the one that befell the Venerable Anna Kashinskaya. Three decades later, the Old Believers began to especially venerate her, and the only event in the history of the Russian church happened - the Patriarch, by his decree, in 1677, forbade the veneration of the saint. The coffin was sealed, the icons with her image were confiscated and taken to Moscow, and the cover was removed from the coffin. They even sealed the temple, once consecrated in her honor, and later it was renamed the Cathedral of All Saints.

Second canonization

No matter what the earthly rulers ordered, miracles at the tomb continued and there were healings. Residents independently kept chronicles, painted icons and rewrote the life of St. Anna of Kashin. Three times in different years the Orthodox community applied for the restoration of veneration of the saint, but they were rejected.

It was possible to obtain consideration of the next petition only when the law on Old Believers was adopted in 1905. In 1908, all the information about Anna Kashinskaya was collected, they went to St. Petersburg along with a petition addressed to the sovereign to restore veneration. On July 10, the ringing of bells brought all the townspeople to the church, where a collective petition was signed. In the fall, the tsar gave permission to the Synod to restore the memory and veneration of the saint; the date was set for June 12.

The canonization celebrations took place in June and were attended by a huge crowd of people. More than 100 thousand guests and pilgrims arrived in the city. Many miracles happened at the tomb of Anna Kashinskaya; she became the only saint whose memory is revered six times a year.

After the revolution to the present day

After 1917, churches in Kashin were gradually closed, the coffin with relics was constantly transferred, but the intercession of the saint did its job here too, leaving the city without a functioning church. According to eyewitnesses, some saw Anna Kashinskaya in the first year of the Great Patriotic War, and she said that she was protecting her city from invaders. Until 1987, the holy relics of Anna Kashinskaya remained in the Church of Peter and Paul.

Now you can venerate the relics of the saint in the Ascension Cathedral of the city; the tomb has been there since 1993 and is accessible to all believers. The cathedral is located on Unity Square in the city of Kashin, Tver region. There is a temple of Anna Kashinskaya in several cities and not everything is simple with them either. One of them is located in St. Petersburg and belongs to the Orthodox Church. christian church. But the temple named after her in Kuznetsy belongs to the Old Believer concession Orthodox Christianity, it is actively recovering. Another Old Believer church of the Holy Princess Anna Kashinskaya was founded in Tver.

Pilgrims often come to the saint for help, and Anna Kashinskaya gives consolation to many. How does the saint help? She responds to requests for strengthening family ties, strengthening in the Christian Orthodox faith and patience. She also becomes the intercessor of all the suffering, widows, orphans and helps those who choose the path of monasticism.

On June 25, the Orthodox Church honors the memory of the holy blessed princess-nun Anna Kashinskaya

She shone with Christian feat in the distant and formidable fourteenth century. Then there were different times and different life circumstances. Nevertheless, even today Orthodox Christians prayerfully turn to the holy princess-nun in a variety of needs, and her life path, full of sorrows and terrible losses, makes you forget about your own everyday troubles. Why do the Russian people love and honor this saint so much? To answer this question, we went to the St. Alexievsky Convent of Saratov, where in the church in the name of St. Alexis, Metropolitan of Moscow, there is a chapel of the holy blessed princess-nun Anna Kashinskaya. We asked the resident of this monastery, nun Angelina (Tatarintseva), to tell us about the veneration of the saint.

“When pilgrims come to our monastery, we tell them about the patron saints of our monastery,” begins nun Angelina. “The life of Princess Nun Anna Kashinskaya, in whose name the small chapel of St. Alexis Church was consecrated, always makes a special impression on people. Her life path is an example of Christian patience, an example of courage in incredible life trials. “Rejoice, blessed mother, who in her feminine nature had the strength of a man...” - this is how the saint is glorified in the akathist.

...The future saint was born in the second half of the thirteenth century in the city of Kashin into a princely family. WITH early years she showed special love for the poor and disadvantaged, often walking the streets herself, looking for those in need and helping them in every possible way.

In 1294, Anna married Prince Mikhail of Tver, who a few years later inherited the right of Grand Duke of Vladimir Rus'. However, Moscow Prince Yuri comes forward with claims to the great reign, and a protracted bloody struggle for the grand princely throne begins between Moscow and Tver, which will last one and a half hundred years. All these years, Rus' will groan from endless Tatar raids and internecine carnage.

Having gathered a large army, Prince Yuri of Moscow invaded the Tver land and for several months robbed, burned and killed. Prince Mikhail set out with his army and, forty miles from Tver, completely defeated the enemy. Yuri, abandoning his army, fled from the battlefield. Mikhail captured the boyars, as well as Yuri’s wife Konchaka, the sister of the Horde khan Uzbek, who, unfortunately, died suddenly in Tver. Yuri hurries to the Horde with slander that Konchaka was poisoned.

The Tver principality was threatened with terrible ruin: the deadly Tatar cavalry would appear on the Tver land - and the Horde would torment Rus' with its claws, tear it with fangs, and burn it with fire. On their short, incredibly hardy horses, capable of feeding in the steppe even in winter, tearing out frozen grass from under the snow with their hooves, the Tatar army will sweep through Rus', slaughtering, according to the behest of Genghis Khan, even children who have grown to the axle of a cart wheel. It will rush by and rush back, leaving behind corpses and ashes... Prince Mikhail could gather an army and, having met the enemy near Tver, at the head of a selected regiment clad in armor, rush into the very thick of the Tatar army and die with a sword in his hand - like the prince and warrior. But Mikhail decides to go to the Horde to suffer torment and a shameful death in order to avert the pogrom from the Tver principality with his own head. Princess Anna did not dissuade her husband. The chronicles have preserved the words spoken by the princess upon parting:

“Do not be afraid of torment, remain faithful to the Lord until death... I pray you, my lord, when you appear before the wicked king as a good warrior of Christ, and when they hand you over to evil torment, do not be afraid of the evils coming upon you, let no fire frighten you , no wheels, no sword, no slash, but be patient..."

In the Horde, Prince Mikhail was put on a wooden block around his neck and, after much torture, was stabbed to death. At this price, Tver was saved from ruin. Only after concluding a humiliating agreement with Prince Yuri of Moscow did Princess Anna receive the dead body of her husband, which turned out to be incorrupt. The martyr prince was canonized in 1549...

“People turn to Saint Anna Kashinskaya for a variety of everyday needs,” says nun Angelina. “Married couples who do not have children or harmony in the family come to pray. It is believed that Saint Anna Kashinskaya, who suffered a series of terrible family losses during her lifetime, has special boldness before God in prayers for the resolution of family troubles.

...One by one, the children of Princess Anna are dying. In 1325, her eldest son, Dmitry, having met Prince Yuri of Moscow in the Horde - the culprit of his father's death - killed him, for which he was executed by the khan. In 1339, her second son Alexander and grandson Theodore died in the Horde: their heads were cut off and their bodies were torn apart at the joints. It seemed that there would be no end to the terrible losses. Soon after the martyrdom of her son and grandson, Anna became a monk at the Tver Sophia Monastery, and then, at the request of her youngest son Vasily, she moved to her homeland in Kashin, to a monastery specially built for her. Here she reposed in 1368 in the schema; her body was buried in the monastery church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Over time, the name of the princess-nun began to be forgotten,” continues nun Angelina. “However, in 1611, when Kashin was besieged by the Poles and Lithuanians, Saint Anna appeared in schematic vestments to the seriously ill sexton of the Assumption Cathedral, Gerasim, and ordered that her coffin be venerated so that lithiums were served at her grave, for she prays to the Lord and Holy Mother of God about the deliverance of Kashin from enemies. After this, Gerasim was healed, and the city was saved from destruction.

...Numerous miracles and healings began at the tomb of Anna Kashinskaya. News of this reached Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon, and at the Moscow Zemsky Cathedral In 1649, Anna Kashinskaya was canonized. On June 12, 1650, the solemn transfer of the relics from the wooden Assumption Church to the Resurrection Cathedral took place.

However, soon the holy missus Anna Kashinskaya unexpectedly becomes a symbol of schismatics who saw that the fingers right hand her honest relics are supposedly folded into an Old Believer double-finger. Then, in order to limit the spread of the schism, the church authorities took unprecedented measures - more than thirty years after the glorification, in 1677, the veneration of the holy relics of Anna Kashinskaya and the performance of prayers as a saint were prohibited. This is an extraordinary event, which was called “decanonization,” exceptional in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church.

But, despite the decanonization, the veneration of the princess-nun in the Tver diocese did not stop; people prayerfully turned to Saint Anna Kashinskaya and received help. Saint icons were painted; Until a certain year, a record of healings was kept. In 1908, Emperor Nicholas II agreed to re-canonization. On April 11, 1909, the Holy Synod declared the day of remembrance of St. Anna Kashinskaya on June 12 (June 25, new style) - the anniversary of the transfer of her relics. In the St. Alexievsky Monastery of Saratov, in the church in the name of St. Alexy, Metropolitan of Moscow, there is an image of St. Anna Kashinskaya with a particle of her relics...

“In 2001,” says nun Angelina, “Archpriest Nikolai Arkhangelsky and several sisters of our monastery went to Kashin to celebrate the memory of the saint. In Kashin, with the blessing of the Ruling Bishop, Archbishop of Tver and Kashin Victor, an icon of Anna Kashinskaya with a particle of her relics was donated to our monastery, which is now in the St. Alexis Church. The parishioners love and honor this saint very much. When we perform a service in a church in honor of the Smolensk Icon Mother of God Hodegetria, after the service people ask to open the St. Alexis Church to venerate the icon of Anna Kashinskaya.

People turn to this saint with a variety of requests. Both parishioners and sisters of the monastery are waiting for her help, because Saint Anna Kashinskaya bore her cross both in the world and in the monastery, therefore she is considered both the patroness of the family and the helper of those who have chosen the monastic path.

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June 25 ( June 12 Art. Art.) The church honors the memory of St. blgv. Princess nun Anna Kashinskaya, and on August 3 (July 21, old style) he remembers the discovery of the honest relics of St. blgv. Princess nun Anna Kashinsky.

On the occasion of the holiday, we remind our readers of the difficult story associated with the veneration of the holy blessed princess.

The Great Old Believer holiday called the day of memory of St. Blessed Princess Nun Anna Kashinskaya, Old Believer Bishop Mikhail (Semyonov):

“Holiday June 12(day of church glorification of the blessed princess Anna in 1650 according to the old style) Only the Old Believers, for whose traditions the princess suffered, can celebrate with a clear conscience, he wrote. – The Old Believers, who did not paint over the icons of the saint, but reverently worshiped them and kissed them“.

Not only during life, but also after death, many bitter trials befell Anna Kashinskaya. About thirty years after her canonization in 1650 Great Cathedral led by Patriarch Joachim, excluded her from the host of saints.

Below we present the difficult and instructive story of the saint from Nikita Shevtsov, published on the website Russian folk line, and as a reference - interesting material about the practice of “removing sanctity” from canonized saints in the dominant Church in our time...

Tears of Anna Kashinskaya

The princess was glorified... “Excluded” from the saints... And glorified again...

One day, finding myself in a church in the cemetery of the Parisian suburb of Sainte-Geneviève des Bois, where many of our famous compatriots are buried, I bought church calendar. While looking through it, I saw on one of the pages short story about the Venerable Anna Kashinskaya, long revered in Rus'. Since then, I have been haunted by the desire to visit those places where this saint, the only one who was canonized twice, found eternal peace..

Years later, I found myself in the small town of Kashin, on the outskirts of the Tver region. At first acquaintance, Kashin may seem nondescript if you walk from the station to the city center. But once you find yourself in its historical part, where the Kashinka River makes an unimaginable loop, it’s as if you find yourself on a fairy-tale peninsula with ancient churches and shopping arcades.

View of the Ascension Cathedral in Kashin, 1909

Once upon a time, rich Kashin merchants spared no expense in decorating their houses with fancy porticoes and mezzanines. At times their requests were overwhelming. The city still preserves the house of the merchant Kapitonov, who sent a request to the provincial authorities to allow him to gild the roof of his house. The answer was not long in coming and was unusually laconic: “Fool, the Tsar himself lives under an iron roof. What are you thinking!”

And the merchant Kapitonov just really wanted the roof of his house to play with the same whimsical golden glow under the rays of the northern sun, like the domes of the thirty cathedrals and churches that were in Kashin at that time, so that his mansion would add even more festiveness to his beloved city.

The people of Kashin were proud of its history, comparing the deeds of their ancestors with the exploits of epic heroes, whose names they even named bridges - Ilyinsky, Dobryninsky. But the Monk Anna, who was considered the patroness and protector of the city, enjoyed special reverence in Kashin. Why did she decide to take him under her care? Let's move back to the distant 13th century, when tormented Rus' found itself under the Tatar-Mongol yoke. In 1294, the Rostov princess Anna was married to the Tver prince Mikhail, who was “great in body and strong, courageous and fearsome in appearance,” as the Nikon Chronicle narrates. He wanted to protect his people from the tyranny of the conquerors, and therefore accepted martyrdom in the Golden Horde. They killed him, cut out his heart. And Mikhail became the only Tver prince canonized.

The death of Mikhail Tverskoy in the Golden Horde

After the death of her husband, the widow suffers two new blows. First, there, in the Golden Horde, her eldest son Dmitry, nicknamed Terrible Eyes, was killed, and then her other son, Alexander. Then the third son, Konstantin, dies. Anna accepted the heavy blows of fate with dignity. She did not become embittered with people, but firmly decided to devote the rest of her life to protecting the unfortunate, disadvantaged, and suffering. She began to religiously fulfill her destiny when, having lost her husband and sons, she entered a monastery.

Anna took monasticism, apparently, between 1339-1346. Having become a nun, she, as the life of Anna Kashinskaya compiled in the 17th century tells, “bloomed with virtues and pleased God,” calling on her neighbors to “save the orphans and the poor from violence.” And then her only surviving son Vasily turned to Anna with a request to move to his inheritance, to Kashin, where he built a monastery for her.

Holy Blessed Princess-nun Anna Kashinskaya

It was hard for Anna to part with Tver, which was ruled by her beloved husband and where she was so happy. But in the end she agreed. And her arrival became a great holiday for the residents of Kashin, who came out throughout the city to greet her. She lived in Kashin for almost twenty years and enjoyed universal veneration and worship. And great sorrow gripped the townspeople when in 1368 she passed away into another world. Prince Vasily also died that same year.

The years passed, and it seemed that the memory of Anna would fade away along with the family of appanage Kashin princes. But almost three centuries later, they started talking about Anna again in connection with amazing events that were directly related to Kashin. During the Time of Troubles, between 1606 and 1611, the Poles approached the city three times and each time left, failing to take possession of Kashin. And then suddenly a fire broke out and stopped just as quickly. And the people of Kashin began to wonder: wasn’t some miraculous power protecting them?

Rumors about the righteous woman soon reached Moscow. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich announced that he himself would arrive in Kashin to be present at the transfer of Anna’s relics from the wooden cathedral to the stone Resurrection Cathedral. The Tsar himself, together with the boyars, lifted the relics of the Venerable Anna onto their shoulders and transferred them to a new place.

Not only during life, but also after death, many bitter trials befell Anna Kashinskaya. About thirty years after her canonization in 1650, the Great Council headed by Patriarch Joachim excluded her from the host of saints. Such a strange decision at first glance was explained by the important religious and political events taking place in Rus' related to the fight against the Old Believers. After all, everyone remembered well that at the first opening of the coffin, Anna Kashinskaya appeared with her hand blessing people. But there were not three, but two fingers connected on the hand. This is how the schismatics were baptized. Therefore, church hierarchs had serious concerns that Anna could become a symbol of the Old Believers. This predetermined her decanonization.

But the residents of Kashin continued to honor their intercessor: wars, fires and epidemics for centuries bypassed this Tver town. More than 220 years passed before the re-canonization of Anna Kashinskaya became possible. It took place on June 25, 1909, shortly after the law on Old Believers was adopted in Russia, granting them the right to free religion and civil rights. On the day of Anna’s re-canonization, over one hundred thousand pilgrims came to quiet Kashin, decorated with flags and garlands.

Parade on the day of celebration of St. Anna of Kashin. after re-canonization

It would seem that with her tears and suffering, Saint Anna finally begged for eternal peace. But, apparently, she has not yet completely drunk the cup of suffering and persecution. Dire trials befell her in the post-revolutionary years. In January 1930, Anna's relics became the object of atheistic propaganda. A commission arrived in Kashin, in whose presence the relics of the saint were opened. The incident was captured on film. Soon an article appeared in Pravda, the author of which, with all the revolutionary fervor, convinced readers that veneration before the relics of St. Anna, which were ordinary bones, was a “priestly deception” that was subject to decisive exposure.

Well, then the many years of wandering of her relics began, which stopped only in the early 90s of the last century. After the Resurrection Cathedral was closed, they were at one time an exhibit in local history museum. Then they were moved to the Church of the Ascension, which was also closed under Khrushchev. After this, the relics visited two more city churches. And only on June 25, 1993, this unheard of nomadism ended. On this day, the relics of the Holy Blessed Princess Anna Kashinskaya were transferred to the newly opened cathedral Ascension, where they are still located today.

The Rogozhsky Brotherhood of the Holy Cross published an extremely informative brochure about its investigation into the forgery of the saint's veil

The rector of the cathedral, Father Dmitry, told me that Kashin is regularly visited by pilgrims from all over Russia to pray over the relics of the reverend princess and venerate them. They turn to Anna with their sorrows and hopes, receiving consolation. An amazing thing, says Father Dmitry, very often on the day of veneration of Anna Kashinskaya during the morning liturgy it starts to rain. But when it is followed by the procession of the Cross, it usually stops, and the sky brightens, the sun comes out, and sometimes a rainbow appears...

Many stories are connected with the healing power of the relics of St. Anne. Relatively recently, a seriously ill woman was brought to them who could not walk, and it seemed that her days were numbered. But, having venerated the relics, she rose to her feet.

But we don’t chase miracles, says Fr. Dmitry. The main thing is that when people come to St. Anna, they gain faith, their hearts are filled with love for God and their neighbors.

The latest revelations were made after the re-canonization

The mineral water, on the basis of which a sanatorium was created in the city several decades ago, also reminds us of the missus. This water is bottled and sold in the Tver region and beyond. There is a legend that Anna’s tears, which she cried while praying for Kashin and its inhabitants, turned into this healing water...

With her intercession, many explain the fact that during the Great Patriotic War, the fascist troops that captured Tver were never able to capture Kashin. They were stopped thirty kilometers from the city. German aviation failed to bomb the railway bridge across the Volga, located about ten kilometers from Kashin.

The authentic shroud of the saint

It is interesting that during the war years many people were evacuated from Kalinin to Kashin government agencies. Although the party members considered themselves atheists, many still secretly hoped for the protection of St. Anna.

We don't know what Anna Kashinskaya looked like. Her very first iconographic image dates back to XVII century. In the icon she appears as an old woman with a mournful face and a rosary in her hands. With the same rosary, she can be seen on another icon, only young and beautiful. But no matter how she is portrayed, she is still admired, remembered and revered.
Kashin, Tver region

PERSECUTION OF THE SAINTS

FROM F. E. MELNIKOV’S BOOK “THE HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN CHURCH FROM THE TIME OF THE REIGN OF ALEXEY MIKHAILOVICH TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE SOLOVETSKY MONASTERY”).

27 years after the solemn glorification, the holy blessed princess Anna Kashinskaya was boldly excluded from the list of saints. The reason for this extraordinary event was the following circumstances. While Nikon and his like-minded people declared the old rituals, especially double-fingering, a terrible heresy, the clergy of the city of Kashin, who opposed Nikon’s reform, began to point to the relics of St. Anna as proof of the correctness and salvation of the ancient rituals: the relics of the holy princess rested with the hand , folded with two fingers, and on the cover, embroidered by royal hands, she was also depicted with two fingers. For the people of Kashin it was indisputable that double-fingering is not a heresy, but a completely Orthodox holy rite, otherwise the Lord would not have glorified double-fingering with incorruption on the hand of Saint Anna. Information about such miraculous evidence in favor of double fingers reached Moscow, and Patriarch Joachim also learned about them.

At the end of 1676 new king, Feodor Alekseevich, began to gather in the city of Kashin to venerate Saint Anna of Kashin. The review of the saint, who clearly testified with her incorruption that in ancient times the Russian Church was marked by two fingers, could convince the young tsar of the correctness and salvific nature of the old faith. And this would lead to the destruction of the entire Nikon reform and to the destruction of all the councils that so ardently cursed and heretical the old rites of the ancient Church. Joachim, a zealous supporter and defender of Nikon's rites and books, considered it necessary to take decisive measures to eliminate such convincing evidence in favor of double-fingering. He immediately sent a special commission to Kashin to “examine” the relics of St. Anna and conduct an investigation about them. Upon the return of the commission to Moscow, Patriarch Joachim convened in February 1677 a small council of the bishops who were in Moscow. The cathedral determined from now on, until the big cathedral: the Kashin church, built in the name of St. Anna, to be sealed, so that no services or celebrations or prayers are sung to St. Anna, and the cover from her coffin and icons are to be delivered to Moscow for examination. with her image. The trip of Tsar Feodor Alekseevich did not take place after this, but it is not known for what reasons: whether as a result of this council decision or due to some other circumstances. The double-digital fold depicted on the cover of St. Anna was sewn up with a tripartite, and in this altered form the cover was returned to the city of Kashin.

A large council on the case of St. Anna of Kashin was convened by Patriarch Joachim in Moscow on January 1, 1678. Without denying the incorruptibility of the relics resting in Kashin, the cathedral expressed doubts about their belonging to the holy blessed princess Anna. He called them in his definition "called Grand Duchess Anna" and decreed that they stand as a "simple" body along with the other deceased princes. Regarding Anna herself, the cathedral determined that only memorial services should be sung for her, as for an ordinary deceased woman, and alms should be given. But she herself cannot pray like a saint. The temple built in her name was renamed the Church of All Saints. The council recognized the “Life” of St. Anne as incorrect and false. The council likened its compiler and those listening to the life of St. Anna to sorcerers and fornicators, murderers and idolaters and proclaimed that all of them would have their fate in a lake burning with fire and brimstone. Under strict prohibition, the cathedral demanded that no one listen to the life and canons of St. Anne, that everyone who had them deliver them to the Tver Archbishop, and also that icons depicting St. Anne were delivered. The council ordered that the life of St. Anna be even burned. He cited the definition of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which anathematizes those who accept false stories about the holy Christian martyrs. If anyone, as the Council of Joachim concluded its ruling on the case of Saint Anna of Kashin, is disobedient to this conciliar saying of ours and has openly or secretly the life and canons of Princess Anna, or only reads them and listens to them, we condemn and anathematize such people. (pp.354-356).

About the Old Believer Church of St. Anna Kashinskaya

The only Old Believer church in the name of St. missus Anna Kashinskaya is in the village of Kuznetsy. It is 55 km from Moscow along Yegoryevskoye Highway. Over the course of several years, the temple changed beyond recognition thanks to the local community and the help of the neighboring community of Pavlovsky Posad.

photo of the temple of St. Anna Kashinskaya before the revolution. The temple was built in four months and managed to become the first temple in the world consecrated in the name of this saint.

In the 1990s, the private owner of the temple in Kuznetsy, which was not under state protection as an architectural monument and therefore was privatized along with the factory of which it was listed, turned out to be the well-known billionaire Bryntsalov. He gave the church to its rightful owners - the Old Believers.

Church of St. Anna Kashinskaya in the 1990s

Such an active current revival of the temple is largely due to the fact that its rector is now Archpriest Evgeny Kuznetsov, who was added to his existing rank from the Russian Orthodox Church MP in May 2012 ( see paragraph 7: resolutions of the Metropolitan Council of 2012).

modern appearance temple (2013)

Before that, he served for about 20 years in one of the surrounding parishes of the MP, enjoyed the respect of many people, and brought with him some of his spiritual children there. They now form the basis of the local community and are reviving a wonderful temple. God help them!

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