September 25medievalUniversal
Sergius of Radonezh
Monk
Sanctified Life
1314 — 1392
Rostov, Russia
Also Known As
Abbot of Russia
Patronage
students,Russia,
"The Kingdom of God is within you."
The spiritual heart of medieval Russia and reformer of monasticism. He started as a hermit in the deep forests, befriending a bear, but disciples soon gathered around him to form the Holy Trinity Monastery. He advised princes and blessed the army before the crucial Battle of Kulikovo.
Historical Legacy
Historical Journey
Historical Summary (Wikidata)
St. Sergius of Radonezh (Russian: Сергий Радонежский, romanized: Sergiy Radonezhsky; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392) was a Russian spiritual leader and monastic reformer.
He was the founder of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius near Moscow, what is now the most venerated monastic house in Russia. He exerted the greatest influence of any personage on the Russian Orthodox Church. Together with St. Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the most highly venerated saints in Russia.
Historian Serge Aleksandrovich Zenkovsky wrote that St. Sergius, along with Epiphanius the Wise, Stephen of Perm, and the painter Andrei Rublev, signified "the Russian spiritual and cultural revival of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century".
Historical Depiction
Wikimedia Commons Source
Titles & Roles
• anchorite• Eastern Orthodox priest• hegumen• Eastern Orthodox monk
Sacred Symbols
bear
Harmony with Nature
bread
Hospitality
Life Journey
Early Life
Struggled to learn to read until a miraculous encounter with an old monk.
The Turning Point
Retreating to the forest of Radonezh to live as a hermit.
Historical Legacy
Became Abbot of Russia; united the Russian princes against the Golden Horde.