Lives of saints
The Life of St Sergius of Radonezh
Abbot of the Russian Land and founder of the Trinity Monastery.
Life
Bartholomew was born into a family of Rostov boyars c. 1314. The Life written by his disciple Epiphanius the Wise tells of the miracle of learning to read in his youth, his withdrawal to the forest at Makovets and the founding of the Trinity Monastery (c. 1337). Becoming abbot, he introduced the cenobitic rule.
Ministry
Sergius reconciled princes, by tradition blessed Dimitry Donskoy before the Battle of Kulikovo and gave him the monks Peresvet and Oslyabya. He declined the metropolitan see. He died on 25 September 1392.
Legacy
His disciples founded some forty monasteries. Nationwide veneration was established in 1452. For the Trinity Cathedral of the Lavra Andrei Rublev painted the “Trinity” icon.