Discovery of the relics of St. Maximus the Greek

On July 4, the Orthodox Church celebrates the day of the discovery of the relics of St Maxim the Greek, which happened in 1996 This is the day of memory of the outstanding religious writer, publicist and translator, who invested a lot of effort in the development of the Orthodox Church in Rus' The Monk Maxim the Greek is considered the patron saint not only of translators, but also of all scientists and students The annual honoring of the relics reflects all the love of the church and the Christian people for the martyr, who during his lifetime, for his straightforwardness and love of truth, endured an unfair trial, accusations of heresy, excommunication from the Church, imprisonment and exile, which lasted, according to various sources, from 20 to 30 years Born in the world, Michael Trivolis was born in 1475 in Albania and received a brilliant, versatile secular education As a young man, he traveled extensively throughout European countries, studying languages, philosophy and other sciences Despite the fact that at this time numerous ungodly movements flourished in Europe, the young man remained faithful to Christianity Great opportunities opened up before the young man: he could easily achieve an enviable position in society, but he chose the path of enlightenment and turned his heart to God Returning to his homeland and becoming a monk at the Vatopedi monastery, and also receiving the name Maxim the Greek, he began to study ancient church manuscripts and the works of saints with great zeal, which is why he quickly gained fame as a learned man and was soon called to Moscow to translate liturgical books into the Slavic language The hardships of St Maxim's earthly existence began when he refused to dissolve the marriage of the Grand Duke of Moscow with his barren wife For his unacceptable insolence, the saint was shackled and thrown into the dungeon of the Simonov Monastery, and then transported to the Volokamsk prison, where the saint was subjected not only to insults, but also to severe beatings, which brought him, as the chronicles say, to a state of death Deprived of freedom, the monk meekly accepted his fate and found God’s great mercy - an Angel appeared to him with the words: “Be patient, elder! With these torments you will get rid of eternal torment” Feeling spiritual enlightenment, the ascetic wrote with charcoal on the wall of his prison a canon to the Holy Spirit, which is still read in the Church to this day After six years in prison, the martyr Maxim was exiled to Tver under church ban, where he was under the constant supervision of Bishop Akaki When the ban was lifted, Saint Maxim, already a 70-year-old old man, was sent to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra But, despite the persecution and imprisonment that affected his health, the monk did not lose heart and, with the same zeal, continued to work on translating church books from Greek into Slavic The holy martyr Maxim the Greek died on January 21 (old style) 1556 and was buried in the Lavra, near the wall of the Church of the Holy Spirit In 1591, the First All-Russian Patriarch Job examined the relics of Maxim the Greek and ordered a service to be held for the saint who had introduced himself, and soon his first iconographic images appeared According to chronicle sources, on the day of the glorification of St Maxim the Greek, several people who venerated the relics of the saint received healing from serious illnesses And to this day, believers ask for healing and fulfillment of what they want in front of the holy relics of St Maxim the Greek, which are located in the Refectory Church of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra The Venerable Martyr Maxim the Greek was canonized in 1998 and is revered not only in Russia, but also in Greece, where he was born and wrote his first church works