Memorial Day of St. Paphnutius Borovsky

The feast day of St Paphnutius Borovsky falls on May 14 This Russian saint was born in 1394 into an Orthodox family in the village of Kudinova Already in his early years, the future reverend differed from his peers in his penchant for solitude and love of books At the age of 20, the young man took monastic vows at the Intercession Monastery, located not far from Borovsky For more than thirty years, the monk stayed in the Intercession Monastery, and having reached spiritual maturity, he settled on the banks of the Protva River, where he soon organized his own monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary with a special charter Paphnutius, who was distinguished by great severity towards himself, was lenient in relation to the monastery brethren Monks were allowed to live in individual cells and keep their own small farm, while the monk did not allow any violations and insisted on the constant work of the monks The holy elder had great authority; among other benefits, the Lord endowed him with the gift of foresight and insight Paphnutius could read faces, and thereby understand the mental state of all the monks Seeing everyone like an open book, the monk could ease their burdens and heal their souls One year, on the eve of Holy Easter, the monks ran out of fish supplies, and other products were also running out The monks began to become despondent and grumble about their fate Paphnutius encouraged his brethren and said that the Lord would give to everyone who asked Soon the sexton, who went to the source for water, saw a large number of fish that had arrived The catch the monks caught was enough for the entire holiday week Another year, famine came to the Borovsky region, Paphnutius ordered to feed everyone who arrived at the monastery The number of hungry visitors reached a thousand people and the monastery's bins quickly became empty But the monk did not cancel his decree, predicting a future good harvest And so it happened; famine no longer threatened the monastery brethren or the local residents The monk believed that even sinners could take the path of repentance, and tried to transform the soul of everyone One day, the attackers took three oxen from the monastery courtyard, but could not get far They circled around the monastery all night and did not leave the monastery Paphnutius listened to the confession of the criminals, gave them an order not to steal or sin in the future, and then ordered them to be fed and released in peace The monk was merciful not only to people, but also to animals He was especially touched by crows, and, knowing about the prejudice of ordinary people towards these birds, the saint ordered not to offend them But one day the son of the city governor, out of mischief, pierced one of the raven with an arrow Pleased with the leprosy, he turned around to look at the death of the bird, and was horrified because he could not return his neck to its previous position Realizing that by killing the raven, he had disobeyed the command of the monk, the young man hurried to Paphnutius The holy elder enlightened the unfortunate man and delivered him from his bodily illness The monk lived a long life, and when at the age of 83 he passed away to the Lord, the entire monastery brethren mourned for a long time the sadness of their loss The monastery of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary continued to flourish, and Paphnutius, 70 years later, was canonized at the Moscow Church Council