21 AugustThe church calendar is marked twice: in 1566, the shrines of Zosima and Savvatia took their place in the Transfiguration Cathedral, and in 1992 they were joined by the remains of Herman, who returned to the restored monastery. The first ceremony took place three days after the main monastery holiday.
Zosima grew up in a wealthy family near Lake Onega. Left without parents, he distributed a fortune and took tonsure. On the coast of the White Sea he met the monk Herman, who told about the archipelago, where he lived with Savvatius for six years. They crossed the strait together. The place for the settlement, according to legend, indicated a miraculous vision: the outlines of the temple appeared in the sky.
The first winter was almost the last. Herman went to a large land for provisions, but the mud cut him off from the island. Zosima was left without food. Life reports that two unknown men left him food supplies. In the spring, the satellite returned with a fisherman named Mark, bringing fishing gear.
Gradually, new inhabitants arrived at Solovki. They built a wooden Transfiguration Church with a refectory. The Novgorod bishop sent the abbot and the antimins here, but the hegumens sent could not cope with the hardships of island life. The community elected Zosima. Under him, a communal rule was introduced, and the relics of Savvatius were transferred from the banks of Vyga.
A separate chapter is a conflict with Novgorod nobility. Boyars captured monastic catches. Zosima went to the city to seek government from the archbishop. Marfa Boretskaya, the powerful widow of the posadnik, first put him out, then apologized and called for a meal. According to legend, at the table the elder saw six guests without heads. A few years later, in 1478, Ivan III took Novgorod, and the boyars were executed.
Savvaty began his way to the Kirillo-Belozersk monastery, then moved to Valaam. Hearing about the empty islands, he sailed there with Herman. They set up a cell at the Sekirnaya Mountain. Savvatius died in 1435, Herman lived on Solovki for another half century. His remains were found incorruptible in 1484 during reburial.
Zosima is honored as the patron of beekeepers and asked for recovery. In his honor, dozens of hospital churches in Russia were consecrated.
Memorial Day
21 August
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