Saint Xenia was a beautiful young Russian girl from the city of Saint Petersburg, who became a Fool-for-Christ, and this is how it happened.
When she was just old enough, Xenia married a dashing cavalry officer named Andrei, and they were very happy together. Because they were young, they loved going to balls and dinners, but one night at a party Andrei suddenly fell over dead! This was terrible for Xenia, of course. Andrei had not even had time to go to Confession or receive Holy Communion before he died, and she was dreadfully worried about his soul. After Andrei was buried, Xenia left Saint Petersburg for a long time and some people she even went to a monastery. I don't know about that, but I do know that when she came back she gave away everything she had-her house, her money and her beautiful clothes. Instead of her own things, she wore Andrei's old army jacket and told everyone to call her by his name. She went all over the city doing good for people in his name, so that if his soul which was suffering from his sins that he hadn't repented of, her deeds and prayers would help him. Christians often give money or offer prayers for the souls of people who have died. This is called "almsgiving", but it is not so common to give up your whole life for another person, which is what Xenia did. The interesting thing about doing good deeds and offering prayers for other people is that soon you become very close to God yourself, and that's what happened to Xenia. She was praying so hard for her husband that she became holy!
Many people thought that she was a little crazy, especially when she gave all her money away. (Editors notes: Xenia relatives event took her to court, but the judge found of her of good sound mind as she continued to help the poor). But in the Orthodox Church we have a name for holy people that other people might think are crazy. We call them "Fools-for-Christ." They often aren't crazy, but just pretend to be so that they can hide their spiritual gifts. The Lord had given Xenia many spiritual gifts and she began to do odd things like walking barefoot in the snow and wearing unusual clothes so that people wouldn't think she was special. She sometimes knew what was going to happen before it happened, or if people had a problem and didn't know what God wanted them to do, she could tell them. Often just by looking at people, she knew if they were telling the truth or not.
Sometimes, when Christians do good things, they do them secretly so that only God sees. This is because the Lord said, "Let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing," and, "Do your good works in secret so that your father who sees you in secret can reward you openly." This is what this picture of Saint Xenia is about. Many years ago, when the people of Saint Petersburg were building a church in the Smolensk Cemetery, Saint Xenia used to go directly at night and carry the heavy bricks that were needed for the next day's building to the top of the church. When the workmen came every morning, they found the hardest part of their work already finished, and they often wondered who was doing such a kind thing. Finally, two of the workmen decided to spend the night in the cemetery. They waited and waited, and when it was dark, Saint Xenia appeared. All night long they watcher climb up and down, up and down the walls of the half-finished church with her bricks.
The church that Saint Xenia helped to build is still in the Smolensk Cemetery, and there is a tiny chapel nearby where she is buried. Pilgrims from all over Russia still come there to pray and to help. During the terribly difficult years in Russia, when the churches were closed because the Communists didn't want people to worship God, pilgrims came secretly to Saint Xenia's. The door to the chapel was locked, and because they couldn't get in, they wrote their prayers to her on little scraps of paper and slipped them into the cracks in the walls. The Communist didn't like this one bit, but they soon found out that it was impossible to stop Christians from loving the Saints, or to stop the Saints from helping them!
God has healed many people of illnesses and passions through Saint Xenia's prayers. She also helps find homes and jobs. St. Xenia didn't have a home herself, and she knows how hard it is for people who need one. In the church service for her feast we call her a "homeless wanderer," because she gave up her earthly home for heaven.~ by Nun Nectaria McLeesI often feel foolish. Sometimes I do things and have no idea why. Sometimes they turn out good, other times they make me and everyone around me shake our heads and go "Really?" I often wish for the courage of such a saint, to just do the things I feel that need doing and hang the way others might think, but I'm a bit more caught in the world than that. Holy Mother Xenia, pray to God for me!
Lord have mercy on me a sinner.
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