Kiev Cross Patriarch Nikon is a reliquary, which was made by his order. Initially, it was intended for the Onega Monastery. Relics are the common name for containers where particles of the relics of saints were kept. They are made in various forms, one of which is the altar cross. They may contain particles of one or several saints. There are 108 of them in the described reliquary. The article will tell about the help of the Kiysky cross in Krapivniki and its history.
History of Creation
In Russia, from 1652 to 1666, Nikon was the patriarch, under whom the manufacture of crosses began, "by the measure and in the likeness of Christ." For the monasteries he created in Palestine, Nikon ordered several of these. On the island of Kiye, where during a storm in 1639 he managed to escape. The Onega Cross Monastery was erected here, where one of these reliquaries was installed, hence its name.
It was made from cypresstree, and its size was 310 by 192 by 8 cm, which corresponded to the parameters of the one on which Jesus was crucified. Its shape is seven-pointed - there is no vertical ledge above the horizontal top bar. In the second half of the 17th century. this form of the cross was a model for repetition, including for mortgages placed in northern churches. The latter completed scaffolding during the erection of buildings, and an inscription was made on them.
Trip to the island
Initially, the cross was brought from Palestine to Moscow. There it was consecrated on 1656-01-08, about which a commemorative inscription was made in its lower part. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich ordered to send him in 1657 to Kiy Island with great honors.
He was accompanied by members of the clergy and a company of dragoons. She was heavily armed. These were 108 large and small cast-iron cannons, cannonballs, reeds, a solid supply of gunpowder. At the same time, they loudly pounded the drums, beating out a solemn march.
Where they stopped for the night, copies were made and illuminated. One of them was kept in the city of Onega, in the Church of the Resurrection of Lazarus. Now she is in the Trinity Cathedral.
Main shrine
The relic was delivered to the island in the Onega Monastery in March 1657. It was from that time that it was officially called the Kiysky or Nikonovsky cross in written literary sources.
In the monastery, he was considered the most important shrine. In the Vozdvizhensky Cathedral, he took the place of the temple image,located to the right of the royal doors. Initially, it was erected on a stone slab, and then transferred to the monastery tomb.
Later placed on a high stepped base. On both sides of it were the icons of Equal-to-the-Apostles Helena and Constantine. And on the sides there were images of ktitors - these are the people who allocated funds for the construction and decoration of the monastery with icons and frescoes.
In the Kiysky cross there are 108 particles from the relics of saints, as well as 16 stones taken from places associated with biblical events. In the center is a silver reliquary containing particles of the Life-Giving Cross and Christ's Robe. The relic is decorated with six small wooden crosses. They depict the Twelve Feasts. They are in the middle of the 17th century. brought from Athos.
Detailed description
In the inventory of the monastery dating back to 1819, there is a detailed description of the Kiysky cross and the relics enclosed in it. Among them, in particular, mention is made of:
- silver forged ark with gilding, containing particles of the life-giving blood of Christ;
- parts of his chasuble;
- particles of Virgin Mary's milk;
- blood of John the Baptist;
- blood of the Apostle Paul;
- tree of the Cross of the Lord.
Above this ark is a carved cherub, also silver, gilded. Together with the ark it weighs three pounds. At the top in the middle of the tree is a star made of the same material, and in it are pieces of stones taken from the tomb of the Lord.
On this cross are six more small, cypress, depicting the Twelfth Feasts, as well as a small silvera cross on which the image of the crucifixion of Christ is carved. Above the base is a second gilded silver ark, which also contains parts of the wood of the Cross of the Lord, which weigh sixty-five golden spools.
Today, none of the arks with the shrines has been preserved today.
At the expense of Archbishop Ignatius of Olonets, who invested five thousand rubles in the Monastery of the Cross, a marble kiot was built around the described relic in 1843. An inscription was made on its pink field, where the name of the donor is mentioned. The image of the reliquary remains in the new icon case.
Reverence in the royal family
The relic was very revered among members of the royal family. In the house treasury of Patriarch Nikon there was an entry dated 1658. It mentions two large icons painted “to a large cypress cross”. One of them depicts the Equal-to-the-Apostles Tsar Konstantin, next to him is Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, together with Patriarch Nikon.
The other shows Empress Elena Equal to the Apostles together with Empress Maria Ilyinichnaya and Tsarevich Alexei Alekseevich. Both of them were executed by the icon painter Ivan S altanov. He was a court painter under Alexei Mikhailovich and his successors. Other variants were later created.
Lost Relics
In the second half of the 19th century. The abbots of the Onega Monastery reported in their reports that part of the relics had been lost. For example. In 1876, Archimandrite Nectarios pointed out the absence of the relics of the Great Martyr Procopius and the Prophet Daniel.
Hesuggests that, most likely, they were lost when the holy cross was transferred along an inconvenient path from the monastery during the invasion of the enemy. Then, in 1854, the British came close to the Solovetsky Monastery, in connection with which the relic was taken out of the monastery.
After the closing of the monastery
The reliquary was in the Ex altation of the Cross Cathedral of the Onega Monastery until 1923, when the monastery was closed. Prior to that, he left this place only once, in 1854, which was associated with the invasion of the British, as mentioned above.
In 1930, the cross was transferred to an anti-religious museum located in the Solovetsky camp, which was a branch of the Arkhangelsk Society of Local Lore. It was located in the Church of the Annunciation in the Solovetsky Monastery.
In 1939, as part of the collection of the abolished museum, it was sent to Moscow, transferred to the storerooms of the branch of the Historical Museum, located in the Novodevichy Convent. From there, in August 1991, the Kiysky cross was transferred to the temple dedicated to St. Sergius of Radonezh. Now it is available for worship. His address: Moscow, Krapivensky lane, 4.
A modern copy, made in 2005, is now in the Onega Holy Cross Monastery, on Kiy Island.
Relic Transformations
The unique reliquary was a symbol of the continuity of the centuries-old Christian traditions of historical Palestine. The Kiysky cross in Moscow was supplemented with a number of elements. At the same time, they were saved on its two sides:
- parts of the tree of the Holy Cross;
- stones taken from the places of gospel events;
- parts of the holy relics of Russian and Eastern Christian saints.
The relic was “overlaid” with silver, mica, leaving images of Christian holidays. In the Kiysky cross in Krapivniki, six four-pointed crucifixes remained cut into a vertical tree, the size of which is 10.5 by 7.5 by 0.7 cm. Now one of them has been lost. They are decorated with miniature carvings with hallmarks of feasts and evangelists.
Today, the shrines embedded in the Radonezh Kiysk Cross are framed by 16 silver eight-pointed stars covered with 104 silver plates. They are engraved depicting waist-deep saints whose relics are placed directly below them in rectangular arks.
These images were performed by Russian masters, based on icon-painting originals. Under the lower crossbar there is a silver plate with gilding of a rectangular shape. Its dimensions are 25.5 by 18.3 cm.
On the ends and along the perimeter the reliquary has a geometric ornament covered with silver basma. It should be noted that the artistic program of the Nikon Cross is unique. It has no analogues in Byzantine, Western or Russian art.
What helps the Kien Cross
In Moscow, you can come to worship the life-giving cross. As Patriarch Nikon wrote, grace will be given to those who do it with faith, by the power of this holy relic. That is, mercy and kindness will descend on this person. God that will change his heart, bring them closer to the Almighty. And also, according to Nikon, a prayer in front of this reliquary will help those who are going to make a trip to the holy places to Jerusalem, Christ will look after them.
As Christian theologians teach, the worship of the Kiysky Cross helps to heal various ailments. And also it is worth resorting to his help when difficult situations occur in a person’s life. For example, it may be the death of a loved one, the breakup of a family, troubles regarding children, a conflict with superiors. Worshiping the relic will give those who turn to it the enlightenment of the mind, support, restoration of both spiritual and physical strength.
