The Monk Nil Stolobensky: Life, Akathist, Prayer, Icon

At the end of the 15th century, the great ascetic of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Monk Nil Stolobensky, was born in the village of Zhabna of the Novgorod volost. Having received from the Lord for his great humility the gift of spiritual insight, he, following God's covenants, dedicated his whole life to serving his fellow man, taking in a secluded forest cell a lot of people who came to him for spiritual help and advice.

Childhood and monastic vows

The exact date of his birth is unknown, the name received by the infant at holy baptism is also hidden from us, but from the later biography written by the first hegumen of the monastery in which the saint of God worked, it appears that his parents were devout and pious people. They raised a son in a truly Christian spirit, from an early age, instilling in him a love of prayer and reading the Holy Scripture.

When, in 1505, the Lord called them to Himself, the boy, having no more of his relatives, went to the nearby monastery of St. Sabbas of Krypetsk. There, after serving the appointed period as a novice, he took a monastic vows with the name Nile in honor of St. Nil of Sinai, whose exploits he read a lot in the patristic books.

Fighting the temptations of the spirit and flesh

It is known that in the first years of monasticism young monks are especially hard on whom the devil with particular fury sends temptations, by terrestrial passions, turning their minds away from theology. To honor the enemy honorably, Neil Stolobensky armed himself with prayer and, harassing the flesh with fasting and vigil, prepared himself to become a chosen vessel of the Spirit of God.

A lot of the young monk had to bear the labors entrusted to him by the abbot of the monastery, but no one heard a single complaint from him. For the whole of the brethren he was an example of meekness and gentleness. Very soon the rumor of his virtues went far beyond the walls of the monastery, and people pulled to his cell to look at the young righteous man.

In a lone forest cell

Avoiding worldly glory, Neil Stolobensky asked for a blessing from the abbot of the monastery hegumen Herman and took upon himself the feat of desert life. Long wandering impenetrable forest thickets, he finally came to Rzhevskaya land, where on the bank of a small river Cheremkhi built himself a cell. Here, far from people, the future saint gave himself up to incessant prayer, turning all his thoughts to the Mountainous World.

To support his forces, Neil Stolobensky tasted what he could collect in the forest: berries, mushrooms and acorns. As he told his confessor, the demons often tried to frighten him and force him to leave the desert. Being in the guise of wild beasts and reptiles, messengers of the world of darkness made a piercing whistle and hissing under the cell windows. In these cases, the hermit expelled them with the sign of the cross. It was worse when, by demonic instigation, evil people appeared to harm him.

The intimidation of the robbers

In the life of the saint there is a case when robbers came to him, believing that they would find his life. Autumn having crossed himself , the ascetic came out to meet them, holding in his hands the only value - the image of the Most Holy Theotokos. And a miracle happened: the villains had a vision of many warriors standing behind the Nile. Fearful, the robbers fell on their knees before the saints and tearfully repented of their intentions. A humble ascetic forgave them and, having uttered edification, let go of the world.

The path to the desert island

So, in unceasing prayers and fasts, Neil Stolobensky spent thirteen years. But the light of God's truth, abundantly exuded by him, could not escape from the world. Soon people from the surrounding villages were drawn to a lonely forest cell. They came to ask the righteous for prayers, blessings, and also for wise counsel in all worldly affairs. Avoiding secular glory, the saint asked the Queen of Heaven to guide him to the path of true desert life and solitary exploits.

The Most Holy Theotokos did not leave his prayers unanswered, and soon, appearing to him in a delicate dream, ordered her to leave her cell and keep the path to Lake Seliger. There, crossing to the island Stolobny, settle in a secluded place and continue the feat of prayer and fasting. Having fulfilled the will of the Queen of Heaven, Saint Nile made his journey in 1528. This is known for certain from the records preserved in the books of the Nilo-Stolobensk monastery.

In a new place

Arriving on the island in late autumn, he had no opportunity before the onset of the cold to build a cell and spent the first winter in a dugout, dug in a forest glade. Only the following year the holy hermit built a house and erected a chapel beside him. As in previous years, Nil Stolobensky ate only forest gifts, only occasionally supplementing them with fish donated by fishermen.

But the enemy of the human race, previously shamed by the Nile, decided to take revenge on him. He hardened the hearts of the surrounding inhabitants against the holy elder, who suddenly wished to cut down the forest on the island and use it for arable land. They believed that when the fallen trees were set on fire, the flame would destroy and hinder the hermit's cell. But the Power of the Lord did not leave the Nile even this time. According to his prayer, the fire that swept the island did not harm either the cell or the chapel, while at the same time instilling fear in the hearts of its ill-wishers.

The shame of demons and the acquisition of spiritual gifts

Repeated on the island and the old story with the robbers who wanted to profit from the Nile. Only this time the punishment for the villains was truly grievous. Entering the cell, they were struck by blindness, and only after long tears and remorse, according to the prayer of the saint, they regained their sight. So the Monk Nil Stolobensky again shamed the demons and enlightened the surrounding inhabitants, who were filled with awe after him.

Defeated by his own passions, St. Nilus was given by the Lord a gift of spiritual insight and reasoning. The monastic records say that very many people came to him and received instructions that changed their lives and helped them find the only true solution in the most difficult situations. There are also cases when, according to his prayers, the waves on Seliger died down, and the fishermen caught in the storm returned home safe and sound.

The last years of life and the blessed death

On the island Stolobnoy the hermit lived twenty-seven years. Here he glorified the Lord with a feat, which was previously unknown to even the most sophisticated ascetics. Not wishing to give the weakening of the flesh, the Monk Nil spent brief hours of night sleep lying like all other people, and sitting, leaning on the cells specially hammered into the wall steel hooks. In order to tirelessly remember the impending death and the Judgment of God that awaits him, the saint fossilized his grave in his cell and, contemplating it, constantly lamented and mourned the sins he had committed. So the Monk Nil Stolobensky spent his days and nights.

The life of the saint tells us that the Lord in advance revealed to him the day and hour of his blessed death. He was aware that he would complete his earthly journey on December 7, 1554, at the end of the day. Preparing to appear before the Supreme Court, the monk sent a local fisherman to his confessor, asking him to visit him at this important hour for him.

Hegumen Sergius, who came at his call from the Rakovsky St. Nicholas Monastery, confessed the elder and communed with the Holy Christ's Secrets. The next day the monk was found in his cell, who quietly departed to the Lord. According to eyewitnesses, his body, supported by hooks hammered into the wall, exuded a fragrance, and the face shone with unearthly light.

Death prophecy

The glory of a pious hermit has spread far and wide throughout Russia. Monks from many monasteries began to come to Seliger and spend the days in the cell where Neil Stolobensky used to live. The prayer that was taken up among its walls helped to ask the Lord for health, suffering and rest, with a restless spirit. Soon, at the burial site of the saint, a tomb was built, also famous for its numerous healing performed on it.

It was not too late to fulfill the prediction that Neil Stolobensky left before his death. The life of the saint, composed later by the monk of the Holy Trinity Monastery Filofei, speaks of the fact that he saw with spiritual eyes the monastery erected in the future on the site of his cell. His appearance was reverend and predicted shortly before his death.

Construction of the monastery

The prophecy began in 1590, when Herman and the wanderer Boris Kholmogorets, who settled on the island, asked the blessing of the Novgorod Metropolitan to build a wooden church in the name of St. Basil the Blessed. A small monastic community soon formed around it, which gave rise to a future monastery, called the Nilova Desert. His first abbot was the monk Herman, who left the biography of Neil Stolobensky, on the basis of which the life of the saint was later compiled.

In 1665 the monastery suffered a terrible misfortune. In the fire of the outbreak of fire, all of its wooden buildings, including the main temple, perished. In order not to interrupt the services, the monks erected a temporary wooden church, and two years later they broke into the construction of a stone church and a new gravestone on the tomb of the Monk Nile. During the earthworks, produced on May 27, everyone was shown a miracle. One of the earthen walls of the foundation pit crumbled, and to the eyes of the monks appeared the tomb of the saint with his imperishable and fragrant relics.

Honoring the Monk Nil Stolobensky

Upon learning of the incident, Metropolitan Pitirim of Novgorod set a holiday on that day. Since then, the day of Neil Stolobensky is celebrated by the Orthodox Church on May 27 (the discovery of the relics) and on December 7 (the memory of a blessed death). In October 1669, work was completed on the erection of a stone church, and the relics were placed in one of its limits in a specially manufactured cancer.

Shortly before the decision of the Holy Synod among the saints of God to the saints was listed and the Monk Nil Stolobensky. Akathist, composed in his honor, tells in detail about the way of serving the Lord, traversed by this great ascetic, and calls him to offer prayers before the Lord about all who have not yet left the vale of earthly life.

Today in many Orthodox churches you can see its image. The icon of Neil Stolobensky is often found in the home iconostasis of believers. In days of his memory in churches, as a rule, it is crowded. This speaks of universal veneration and the hope of prayers, which Neil of Stolobensky gives us before the Lord. How does he help and what does it take to ask him?

For those centuries that have passed since the day of his blessed death, the needs of the people have not changed much. Just like in earlier times, people resort to him for healing from illnesses, seek welfare for themselves and their relatives, and on a long and difficult journey, blessings are on their way.