Day of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg

Xenia of St Petersburg became one of the Orthodox saints quite recently in 1988, but her fame as a protector and helper was known even during the life of the holy fool in the 18th century Information about the early years of the saint has not been preserved It is completely unknown who her parents were and what her origin was The fate of the blessed one can be traced from the time of her marriage, when Ksenia Grigorievna combined fate with the court singer with the rank of colonel Andrei Fedorovich Petrov The young people lived in love and harmony until trouble came Andrei Petrov died an accidental death The wife's grief was multiplied by the suddenness of her death, because the dying man was unable to receive communion before his death Fear for the immortal soul of her loved one leads a 26-year-old widow to a strange decision - to renounce her own life for the good of her husband Ksenia announces her own death to her friends and relatives, and begins to call herself nothing other than Andrei Fedorovich She parts with her home and property, and chooses the life of a homeless beggar From now on she has no shelter, no right to reassurance Ksenia wanders in her husband's military jacket through the streets of St Petersburg, enduring all the hardships of a poor life At first, compassionate relatives wanted to keep the widow from making a strange choice and hoped to return the property, but the bosses of Ksenia’s husband were convinced of the young woman’s full sanity, which means that her every act was committed meaningfully and voluntarily Ksenia played the fool for about 45 years At first, the beggar tramp was treated like a madwoman; she often suffered insults from street children, but after a while they began to notice that the holy fool brings good luck As soon as the one who called herself Andrei Fedorovich entered someone’s shop or workshop, things went uphill for the owners And her presence next to the sick child gave the baby strength to recover It became clear to everyone that Ksenia had the gift of foresight More than once she amazed the residents of St Petersburg with her predictions One day, right after Christmas, the blessed one addressed those she met with the exclamation: “Bake pancakes!” No one could understand the meaning of her phrase, because Maslenitsa was still very far away, until a few days later the news of the death of Empress Elizabeth arrived As a sign of mourning for the departed ruler, funeral pancakes were baked in all houses There were known cases when the saint tried to arrange the lives of her good friends Thus, the blessed one sent her widowed, childless friend to the Smolensk cemetery, saying that her son was waiting for her there At the indicated place, a misfortune happened to a pregnant woman who, while dying, gave birth to a boy The baby was adopted by a friend of Ksenia’s, finding a real son in him There is no information about how the blessed one died; it is unknown how exactly Petersburg saw off its saint Today, at the site of her burial at the Smolensk cemetery, a stone chapel has been erected, replacing the previous wooden one, where there is always a queue of people who want to turn to Xenia of Petersburg with requests or prayers It is known that the saint responds very quickly to sincere prayers, for which people call her the Quick Helper