Saint Xenia of St. Petersburg

The Life of Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg

 

An Ordinary Life

St. Xenia lived in St. Petersburg, Russia, in the late 18th century. Saint Xenia was the wife of Colonel Andrei Theodorovich Petrov, who served as a court chanter in the Russian Army. It is presumed that, in her early years, she led an ordinary, middle class life. There are no records of any noteworthy contributions or recognitions. She was happily married and completely devoted to her husband who was, perhaps, a bit worldly.

Disaster Comes Quickly

Although Xenia loved her husband very much, Colonel Petrov was an alcoholic. One night this terrible affliction took its toll on him. Although Theodorovich was still young and in good health, he died suddenly one night at a drinking party.

The unexpected death of her beloved husband completely shattered Xenia and her personal world. She was twenty-six years old, childless and her husband to whom she was devoted had suddenly died without the benefit of the Holy Mysteries. She began to be very concerned about the eternal state of his soul.

His unexpected death came as a great shock to her. It completely changed her way of looking at life. It was as though she were given new eyes. The distraught widow looked around herself, at all her possessions, at her mundane world and suddenly began to realize the vanity and transitory nature of all earthly things. She came to realize that there is true value only in heavenly treasures and real joy in Christ.

She thought no more about parties or about having fun with friends. Having come to know, through the death of her husband, all the inconstancy and illusoriness of earthly happiness, Xenia strove toward God with all her heart and sought protection and comfort only in Him. Earthly and transitory things ceased to have any value for her.

Xenia dressed in her husband’s clothes and insisted on being called by her husband’s name, Andrew Theodorovich, as if to say that she had died, not he. And indeed, she died to the world in order to be closer to God.

To the utter amazement of her friends and relatives, Xenia began to give away literally all that she possessed. She dispensed with her money, personal belongings as well as her property.  Xenia had a house; but she gave it over to her dear friend Paraskeva Antonova under the condition that she give shelter in it to paupers. But Xenia herself, not having a refuge, would wander among the paupers of St. Petersburg. At night she would go out to a field, where she spent the time in ardent prayer.

These eccentricities were not because of a loss of reason, but only signified a complete disdain for earthly things and human opinion, which places these things at the center of earthly life. Thus, Xenia of St. Petersburg took upon herself the difficult mission of foolishness for Christ’s sake.  She broke all ties with the world–to such an extent that even her relatives thought she must be crazy.

Her relatives decided that she had taken complete leave of her senses. They petitioned the trustees of her late husband’s estate to prevent Xenia from disposing of her wealth. Their petition was on the grounds that she was mentally unbalanced due to her husband’s death. The trustees called Xenia in. After a long and careful examination, they ruled that she was perfectly sound of mind and had every right to dispose of her property as she pleased.

People preoccupied with worldly matters would naturally assume that anyone who gave away his wealth must be insane. They would be incapable of seeing that Xenia had undergone a complete rebirth. She was changed from a worldly woman into a spiritual being. She realized that there can be no true happiness on earth and that worldly possessions are only a hindrance to the attaining of true joy in God,

She Vanishes From St. Petersburg

Having relieved herself of the hindrances of the world, Xenia suddenly vanished from St. Petersburg for eight years. It is said that during these years she lived at a hermitage with a sisterhood of holy ascetics. There she learned about prayer and the spiritual life with a holy elder. It was during this time that she was called to the highest feat of spiritual perfection, that of being a fool for Christ’s sake.

Returns To St. Petersburg After 8 Years

Eight years later she returned to St. Petersburg. She clothed herself in one of her late husband’s old uniforms and linens and thereafter refused to respond the name of Xenia answering instead only to the name of her late husband, Andrei Theodorovich.  It was as if she had hoped in some way to take upon herself the burden of his unrepented sins and of his unfortunate demise without the Holy Mysteries. She had become Colonel Petrov out of a fervent desire to make expiation for his sins.

Sorrowing for her own sins and for his, she left her home and began her long pilgrimage of wandering through the streets of the poorer district of St. Petersburg known as the Petersburg Borough (Peterburgskaya Storona). She was most often to be found in the vicinity of the parish of Saint Matthias where the poorest people lived in shabby huts.

At first, the people who saw her thought that this strangely dressed, scarcely shod woman was nothing more than a crazy old beggar woman. As she walked the streets in the city’s poorer neighborhoods, people often mocked and made fun of her, children would throw dirt at her and laugh.  With complete meekness, however, she kept before her the image of the guiltless Great Sufferer, Christ Jesus, who, without a murmur, heard all accusations, bore all persecutions, suffered terrible torture and crucifixion. Because of His example, the Blessed One strove to bear her hardships meekly and in silence, forgiving offenses in accordance with the last earthly prayer of Jesus, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

For a long time no one knew where the Blessed One spent her nights. The residents of the Borough were not the only ones to wonder about this, for the local police were also curious about the matter. Upon investigating they discovered that the elderly little woman spent her nights in an open field, praying and making prostrations in all four directions, and she did this no matter what the season or weather. It was a miracle of God that the Blessed One survived the severe St. Petersburg winters in this way

No Mere Beggar

Gradually, people began to see that behind her seemingly odd behavior, she was someone who was very special in the eyes of God. They noticed that when she would hold a crying baby in her arms, the baby would at once quiet down and remain calm for the rest of the day. The stores that she entered would have good business that day. People began to realize that her often-strange words held a deeper meaning, sometimes warning them of approaching disasters, or of what was to happen in their life.

The people began to realize that Xenia was no mere beggar but someone much more Sensing the greatness of Blessed Xenia’s soul, the inhabitants of Petersburg came to love her, because she despised the earthly for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven.  They began to invite her into their homes and offer her warm clothing for the severe Petersburg winters as well as alms. If Xenia would enter into anyone’s home, this was considered a good sign. She would never accept the clothing and took only the small copper pennies, which were called the king on horseback because there was a horseman struck on them. She would distribute these copper pennies to the poor. At times, the pennies would be accompanied with some prophecy.

As time passed, her sudden bursts of speech and frantic messages proved to be prophetic. The people began to understand her true nature as one blessed and protected by God. Parents would bring their children to receive her blessing. Shopkeepers offered her whatever she’d accept. Merchants in the bazaars would try to give her bread or some food. If Blessed Xenia took something from what was offered, then the people would quickly buy up all the wares of the seller. Cabdrivers competed to carry her around the city. If she did accept help or just blessed the shop or cab, good business would follow all that day.

Some of Xenia’s relatives wanted to take her in and provide her with all necessities, but the blessed one replied to them: “I do not need anything”.    She was glad of her indigence, and when passing by somewhere, would at times remark: “I am all here”. When her reposed husband’s clothing decayed, Xenia clothed herself in the poorest clothing, and on her feet wore torn shoes without stockings. She did not wear a warm dress and forced her body to suffer from the severe cold.

Her Works While Living

While still living, St. Xenia worked many miracles through her clairvoyance and prophecy. They often centered on keeping married couples and their children healthy and safe.  Her devotion to her husband carried over into maintaining the security and stability of all those marriages around her. She continued to concern herself with such matters even after her repose at the age of 71.  The Blessed One was always ready to help anyone in anyway possible. During the day she would wander about the streets, her face reflecting her internal spirit of meekness, humility and kindness by its warm, friendly glow.

Occasionally, Xenia would drop in to visit some friend or acquaintance, converse for a while, and then suddenly fall silent, as if listening to something. All at once, she would leap up and leave quickly. If the hostess asked why she was leaving and where she was going, the Blessed One would only wave her stick in the air and say, “I must hurry, I am needed there.”  At night, in all seasons, she would go into a field and enter into conversation with God Himself.

“It will be extinguished”

On one occasion Xenia met a devout woman on the street. Handing her a five-kopeck coin, she said, “Take this five piece, here is the king on horseback; it will be extinguished.” The woman accepted the copper piece and went on her way pondering the meaning of the Blessed One’s words. No sooner had she entered the street where she lived than she saw that her house was on fire. Running toward her home, she arrived just as the flames were being quenched. Then she realized that the Blessed One had been foretelling this with her strange words.

“God has given you a son!”

On another occasion Paraskeva Antonova was sitting in the home which the Blessed One had given her. When Xenia arrived for a visit, she looked irritably at Antonova and said, “Here you are sitting and sewing buttons and you don’t know that God has given you a son! Go at once to the Smolensk Cemetery!”  Antonova, knowing Xenia to be truly saintly and knowing that no idle word came from her lips, did not even question this strange command but believed at once that something extraordinary was about to happen and she immediately hurried to the Smolensk Cemetery.

On one of the streets of Vasiliev Island near the cemetery, Antonova saw a large crowd of people. Being curious, she approached the crowd to see what was taking place.
It seemed that a coachman had knocked down a pregnant woman who then gave birth to a child right there on the street and then immediately died afterwards. Filled with compassion for the child, Antonova took it to her own home.

All the efforts of the St. Petersburg police to discover the identity of the mother or locate the father or relatives of the tiny orphan proved in vain and so the child remained with Paraskeva Antonova. She provided him with a good upbringing and a sound education. She loved the child as her own son.
Eventually the boy became an eminent citizen and lovingly cared for his foster mother in her old age. He also revered, with sincere piety, the memory of the Servant of God, Xenia who had shown much kindness to his foster mother and who had taken such a hand in his own fate.

“Your husband is burying his wife!”

Among the friends of Blessed Xenia there was a widow, Mrs. Golubev, and her seventeen-year- old daughter who was noted for her beauty. Xenia like this girl very much because of her meek, quiet character and her kind heart.
Once Xenia came to visit them and the girl began to make coffee. “My beauty,” said Xenia, turning to the girl, “here you are making coffee and your husband is burying his wife in Okhta. Run there quickly!”
The girl was shocked. “My what? I don’t have a husband… and burying his wife!” “Go!” Xenia answered sternly, not liking any kind of objection. The Golubevs, knowing well that the Blessed One never said anything without a reason, immediately obeyed her command and set out for Okhta.

When they arrived, they saw that a funeral procession was headed for the cemetery and they joined in with the crowd of mourners. A young woman, the wife of a doctor, had died in childbirth and was being buried.  The Liturgy was celebrated, then the funeral service, after which the Golubevs followed as the coffin was carried to the grave.

The funeral had ended and the people began to leave; however, they chanced upon the sobbing young widower who, at the sight of the grave mound over the remains of his beloved wife, lost consciousness and fell to the ground near the Golubevs. Both mother and daughter strove to bring him back to consciousness and to comfort him. They became acquainted and, eventually, the young Golubeva became the wife of the doctor.

Foretells the death of Mrs. Krapivina

God’s gift of clairvoyance does not always deliver good news. Sometimes it is used to hint at the approaching illness or death of someone in order that they might prepare themselves for their fate. Such was the case when the God pleasing ascetic arrived to other guests in the Krapivin home. They all stood and greeted the Blessed One warmly. Xenia conversed with them for a while and then rose to leave, thanking the hostess for her hospitality. As she was departing, however, she turned to Krapivina saying: “Here is green krapiva (nettle) but soon it will be wilted.”

Whether or not Mrs. Krapivina understood these words is not known for certain, but other guests did not attach any special significance to them. Much to everyone’s amazement, though, Mrs. Krapivina, who was still young and in good health, suddenly became ill and died. Only then did the guests understand that the words, “Here is green krapiva (nettle) but soon it will be wilted,” foretold the death of Mrs. Krapivin.

Foretells the death of the Empress

People gradually began to accept her strange behavior as some sort of sign from God. Often, her behavior would be strange indeed.  Two days before the Feast of the Nativity of Christ, in 1761, for example, Blessed Xenia ran anxiously along the cold and snow filled streets of the Petersburg Borough, loudly crying out: “Bake bliny (pancakes), bake bliny, soon all of Russia will be baking bliny!”
As usual, no one could figure out the meaning of these strange words of the Blessed One, but on the day of the Feast, the Empress Elisabeth Petrovna suddenly died. When the terrible news spread through the city, it became clear to all that the Servant of God had been foretelling the death of the Empress.

“This honey can’t be eaten!”

Another time some merchants were selling some particularly delicious honey out of a barrel. People had already begun to buy it at a high price when suddenly Blessed Xenia appeared. “Don’t take it, don’t take it,” she cried. “This honey can’t be eaten; it stinks of a corpse.”

She leaned with all her strength against the barrel, which overturned, on the sidewalk, spilling the honey to the merchants’ great dismay. To everyone’s horror, there at the bottom of the barrel was a huge dead rat. Even those who had already bought some of the honey had to throw it out.

Helps to build a church

On one occasion in 1794, toward the end of Xenia’s long life, a new church was being built in the Smolensk Cemetery.  Workers began to notice that, during the night, someone would haul mounds of brick to the top of the building where they were needed. The workers were amazed by this and resolved to find out who this tireless worker could be.  By posting a watchman they were able to discover that it was the Servant of God, Xenia.

It appeared that she must have possessed either some super human power or to carry within her such a strong spiritual fire, in which the impossible becomes possible.  When one considers God’s great saints, however, who performed such wondrous miracles by their faith, we cannot consider the Blessed One’s ascetic feats as unprecedented or impossible for a person in the flesh. Xenia truly bore that faith with which all things are possible. While still living in her body, her soul always soared above this world, dwelling in a living, direct communion with God.”

Her Death

Before her repose, God granted St. Xenia the knowledge of her husband’s redemption. By forgetting herself, devoting the next forty-five years of her life to God, and committing all her charitable acts in her husband’s name, St. Xenia won Andrei Theodorovich’s salvation. That she went on to help others afflicted with alcoholism and preserve their families from the ravages of its consequences is a further testament of God’s grace working through her.

Finally the time came when Xenia was no longer to be found in the streets of the Petersburg Borough or in the field. Her radiant face shone no more amidst the rude shacks of the St. Matthias parish. God called His servant to rest from all her struggles and took her to Himself.

Xenia was one of those candles which God lights on earth from time to time in order to light up the path of salvation for the faithful, as the Savior Himself had said, “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Which is in Heaven” and “If, therefore, your entire body is full of light, no part of it being in darkness, then the whole of it shall be full of radiance as when the bright shining of a candle gives off its light.”

Exactly when she died is not known, but it was probably in the last years of the 18th century. She was buried in the Smolensk cemetery, not far from the church that she had helped to build.
The only record of “vital statistics” which has been left us concerning Blessed Xenia is the epitaph on her gravestone:

 

IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT.
HERE RESTS THE BODY OF THE SERVANT OF GOD, XENIA GRIGORIEVNA,
WIFE OF THE IMPERIAL CHORISTER, COLONEL ANDREI THEODOROVICH PETROV.
WIDOWED AT THE AGE OF 26,
A PILGRIM FOR 45 YEARS,
SHE LIVED A TOTAL OF 71 YEARS.
SHE WAS KNOWN BY THE NAME ANDREI THEODOROVICH.
MAY WHOEVER KNEW ME PRAY FOR MY SOUL THAT HIS OWN MAY BE SAVED. AMEN.

Who wrote it, no one knows

The Faithful Seek Her After Death

Some years after her death, a chapel was built over her grave, and to this very day many people come there to pray to St. Xenia. Pilgrimages to her grave began shortly after her decease.
Even after her death, she continues to work many miracles. Her intercessions have been known to help people out of all kinds of misfortunes.  Through her prayers, people have been healed of serious illnesses; she is especially quick in helping to find jobs or places to live.

Blessed Xenia often appeared in visions to people in difficult circumstances, forewarned of dangers and saved from calamities. The righteous one has not ceased to show compassionate love toward all who, with faith, have called upon her. Many instances of her help for the suffering and those in desperate situations are known.

Her Works After Death

Mrs. Kirov’s Daughter
One of the most impressive examples of St. Xenia’s intercession involved Mrs. Kirov’s daughter.
On the morning of her daughter’s wedding, Mrs. Kirov had a panikhida or memorial service said at the grave of St. Xenia. She begged St. Xenia to bless and protect her daughter.
At that same time the groom, a Colonel who seemed to be a very important man, was on an errand at one of the government offices. A soldier there recognized him as a convict who escaped from Siberia. The “Colonel” was arrested and the wedding called off. Thanks to the intercession of St. Xenia, Mrs. Kirov’s daughter was spared.

“Go To Smolensk”

A civil servant named Nicholas Selivanovich Golovin, lived in the town of Grodno om Russia. He often experienced unpleasantness at work.  He came to St. Petersburg to put his affairs in order, but they became even more entangled. Golovin was very poor, and in his care were his elderly mother and two sisters. In despair, he walked along the streets of Petersburg, and although he was a believing man, the thought to throw himself into the Neva River stole into his soul.

At this moment, in front of him stood some unknown woman, who struck him by her appearance and was partly reminiscent of a poor nun. “Why are you so sad?” she asked. “Go to the Smolensk Cemetery, serve a panichida for Xenia, and everything will settle down”.
After these words, the unknown woman became invisible. Golovin followed the advice of the mysterious nun, and his affairs unexpectedly were settled in the best manner possible. He returned home to Grodno joyful.

Emperor Alexander III

Emperor Alexander III, when he was the heir, became ill with a serious form of typhus. The Grand Duchess Maria Theodorovna was very alarmed by her spouse’s illness.  One of the valets, seeing her in the corridor, related to her how Blessed Xenia helps the sick, gave her sand from the cherished grave and added that he himself had been healed from illness by the prayer of the righteous one.

The Grand Duchess placed the sand under the pillow of the patient, and in that same night, she, while sitting at the head of the bed, had a vision of Blessed Xenia, who told her that the patient would recover and in their family a daughter would be born. She should be called Xenia. The prediction of the blessed one was fulfilled exactly.

House saved from fire

In the Pskov province of Russia, a relative from Petersburg came to stay for a while with a landowner. She learned how they revere Blessed Xenia in the capital.  Because of this, the pious landowner prayed before sleep for the repose of her soul. At night, she dreamed that Xenia was walking round her house and pouring water on it.  In the morning, the hay barn on the country estate caught on fire, but the fire did not spread further and the home remained whole.

The Colonel’s Widow

A colonel’s widow arrived in Petersburg to enroll her two sons into the Cadet Corps. Unfortunately, things went wrong and her sons failed to enroll.  The money borrowed for the trip had come to an end, and the widow walked along the street and bitterly wept. Suddenly, some woman of the common people came up to her and said:  “Serve a panichida for Xenia, she helps in sorrows”.

“Who is this Xenia?”, asked the colonel’s widow. “The tongue that asks the way will lead to Kiev”, answered the woman and quickly vanished.  Indeed, the colonel’s widow easily learned who this Xenia was. She served a panichida for her at her grave in the Smolensk Cemetery, and shortly thereafter, unexpectedly received news that both her sons were accepted into the Corps.
A multitude of similar instances of Blessed Xenia’s help are known also in our days.

May we learn from the example of Blessed Xenia how important it is for us not to be attached to the things of the world, but to keep our minds and hearts turned towards heaven, our true home, that we too, like St. Xenia, may, after our earthly wandering, “come to dwell in the Father’s house.”

Prayers
Having renounced the vanity of the earthly world.
Thou didst take up the cross of a homeless life of wandering.
Thou didst not fear grief, privation, nor the mockery of men.
And didst know the love of Christ.
Now taking sweet delight of this love in heaven.
O Xenia, the blessed and divinely wise.
Pray for the salvation of our souls.

Christ the Lord has shown forth in thee a new mediatress and intercessor for our race. Thou didst will to endure evil in thy life and didst lovingly serve both God and man. We zealously run to thee in misfortune and sorrow,/ we hope in thee and cry from our hearts. Put not our hope to shame, O blessed Xenia.

Having lived as a stranger in the world, O Xenia.
Thou didst outwit the deviser of evil.
By thy pretended foolishness.
Thou didst receive from God.
Grace to foresee and foretell things to come.
Now thou hast been translated from earth.
And art numbered with the choirs of Angels.

Thou didst give thy wealth to the poor, O Xenia.
And accept poverty out of love for Christ.
And having lived in a manner rivaling the Angels.
Thou wast counted worthy.
Of glory on high.