Per il momento la versione inglese (piu' avanti arrivera quella italiana
)
THE LEGENDARY RUSSIAN WARRIORS -
The Story of Iliya Moorometz
Iliya Moorometz - or Iliya of the city of Moorom. He is the most well-known and loved warrior of
ancient Russia, famous for his incredible strength, fighting skill, unique life story, kindness and
righteousness, the qualities that brought him many victories over the attackers of Russia and over
the forces of evil.
The big painting you may have seen at our school is called "The Three Warriors".
He is the one in the middle of the picture.
Iliya's assistants in many battles:
Dobrinya Nikitich - on his right hand,
Alesha Popovich - on his left side
The history of the righteous Russian warriors begins in the year 998. Until that time paganism was
the religion of the people. Prince Vladimir, initially a cruel and aggressive pagan follower, became
the first Russian ruler who accepted Christianity. He married the Christian orthodox princess Anna
of Greece, got christened himself with his 12 sons, then his boyars (the rich people around him) got
christened as well. Prince Vladimir then invited 6 Greek bishops, Metropolitan, and numerous
priests to come to his capital city - Kiev at that time - to get all the Russian people christened too.
On a set day in 998 Prince Vladimir ordered for all the residents of Kiev, many thousands of people,
to come to the river Dnepr, and the Greek clergy performed the sacrament of christening, forever
blessing the people of Russia to carry God in their hearts.
Prince Vladimir changed himself greatly, he became kind and generous. Poor people of the country
could come to his palace any time and receive food, clothing and money. Big carts were filled with
bread, meat, fish, vegetables, honey and kvas (the Russian beverage) and sent to towns and villages
for the poor and sick that could not walk themselves. People loved their Prince and called him "The
Red Sun". (The word 'red' in Russian also means beautiful).
Christian faith then quickly spread throughout Russia. Thousands of churches and monasteries were
build, and along with them, schools and hospitals. Literacy, Art and the Russian culture began to
develop as well.
To confirm his faith and policies, Prince Vladimir had each of his 12 sons become the ruler of each
of the 12 great cities of the Russian land. The youngest son, count Gleb was given the city
of Moorom.
In 1015 Prince Vladimir died. His stepson Sviatopolk conquered his capital city Kiev. Sviatopolk
decided to kill all his 12 stepbrothers, including the very young count Gleb. Gleb begged the killers
to spare him, but when he saw that they would not listen, he kneeled and humbly accepted his
death. Gleb was one of the first Russian martyrs.
About 100 years later, in a village by the same city of Moorom, a miracle-boy, and the future
mighty warrior was born to his peasant parents. One day while he was still a baby in the crib, his
father was working in the field and his mother washing clothing in the river, a terrible storm
happened in the area. The door of Iliya's house was open and the black storm cloud got inside. As
his mother ran into the house, the black cloud rushed out and she found the baby was lying on the
floor near his crib alive but all white and motionless. According to the legend, this was the spirit of
evil trying to kill his future opponent.
From that day Iliya became unable to use his legs, and had only very light use of his arms. He grew
up and only sat on the bench inside the house by the door, staring wistfully into the floor. His
parents tried all the possible treatments, but nothing helped. They were very religious people, and
always prayed for their son at home and in church, but a lot of time had to pass before their prayers
were answered.
Iliya turned 20, he was very handsome, with huge shoulders, but his legs continued to be extremely
weak. He was angry at the whole world, hardly spoke a word with anyone, and just sat on his bench
with a gloomy stare at the floor. The worst torture for him was to watch the Maslenitza games (fist
fight games held every winter on the week before Lent). From his window, Iliya saw the young men
of his hometown beaten up by the neighbors every time. His father was the best fighter in town
when he was young, and really counted on his son to replace him in fistfights and in his heavy
peasant labor one day.
The only person that warmed up Iliya's heart and brought a smile to his face was the quiet and
tender local girl. She would come for a visit every now and then, would bring him a treat, would say
some kind words, or would just sit in the house feeling compassion for Iliya. One day his parents
brought home terrible news for their son - this girl was getting married to one of the fighters from
the neighboring town.
Iliya could not take it any more, blinded by anger; he was yelling that no one would now love him.
"We love you" - gasped his mother - "and God, he loves everyone" Iliya yelled so loudly that his
parents dropped to the floor as if shocked by thunder. "Where? If He loves me, why does He
punish me so for 20 years? For what sins? " Iliya ripped the cross off his neck and threw it across
the room to the door. And then a miracle happened. The cross with the ripped piece of string froze
in the air. Iliya could no longer say a word, and he heard a quiet voice "Oh Iliya, look how far you
have gone in your sorrow. " A white cloud appeared and a very young man, with light and humble
face, dressed as a count.
"Who is this? "- kept thinking amazed Iliya. "I am count Gleb, son of the great Prince Vladimir" -
said the visitor. Iliya said that it could not be, as 100 years has passed since Gleb had been
slaughtered. Gleb put down his left hand that he was holding at his chest, and Iliya saw the big and
horrible knife wound under the young man's heart.
The Saint explained that God sent him to help Iliya, to strengthen his spirit and faith, that this
illness was likely given to prevent Iliya from the big sins he would have committed if his body was
strong. He reminded how Iliya was ready to kill the fist fighters so many times, and how just now
he was willing to destroy the fiance of the girl he liked. He told Iliya that God would give
everything to the one who has love, hope and faith.
Ilya's face was all wet from tears -"How can I be forgiven now that I betrayed God, and ripped the
cross off my chest" "God's mercy has no limits" - was the Saint's reply - "Disciple Peter renounced
Christ three times, and was forgiven. God can see your sincere tears of remorse, and here is the sign
that you are forgiven. " Gleb opened his hand and the cross floated across the room back under
Iliya's shirt, and the ripped string tied itself into a knot. "Remember, " - said the count - "that 'Iliya'
means God's strength" - and he disappeared.
Only then Iliya's parents came back to their senses. He realized that they had not seen anything, but
the new knot was definitely there on the string around his neck.
From that day he became a different person, never a word of resentment, never any anger in his
eyes or sadness in his heart. He began to admire the world, to pray, to be kind to everyone and to
accept his illness in a calm and humble way.
Many years passed, and Iliya turned 33. On the Easter night he had another great vision - Saint
Paul and Saint Peter came to him and said that for his patience and faith he will now be healed.
They gave him a wooden dipper of holy water to drink and then told him to get up and walk. And
the miracle had happened; Iliya walked to the door, out of the house, and yelled his praise to God.
There was no end to visitors to Iliya's house. All people of his town knew about the illness, and now
came to see the miraculous recovery. Iliya had to tell his story hundreds of times. All summer and
fall Iliya worked in the fields with great enjoyment, he was easily handling all the heaviest jobs,
tearing oak trees right out of the ground to make room for new fields. His parents were well
rewarded for the years of their patience.
When the last day of harvest was over, Iliya went to get a drink of water from the spring. A huge
chestnut speckled horse with thick mane and tail came up behind him. The saddle was fully
equipped with all the weapons of the time: a wide sword, a tightly drawn bow with a case full of
arrows, a 36 pound spiked club, a sharp spear, and a red shield engraved with the gold sun and a
warrior's helmet. Iliya could not see the owner of the horse, he called out, but there was no reply,
just the echo. He admired the horse for a while and headed home. The horse walked after him, then
bit Iliya's shirt and would not let go until Iliya jokingly said that he would make him ride to the sky.
Iliya then jumped into the saddle and rode off. The wonder horse could jump higher that the forest,
over the rivers and hills, up to quarter mile at a time. Fresh water springs would come from the
ground where the horse would strike his hoof. (These springs are still there and are called 'horsewells').
The horse brought Iliya to a beautiful church on a hill amidst deep woods. In great
amazement, Iliya recognized the great monastery of Kiev that he heard about when he was ill and
had always dreamed of visiting.
An old man met him as Iliya walked into the monastery and asked why he was here. Iliya said that
he wishes to see the holy remains of Saint Feodociy berried here and to ask the elders for advice on
how to thank God for his miraculous healing. "God gave you power - said the old man - to
overcome all the attackers of Russia and all the forces of evil, so that nothing would harm you. I
bless you to join the king's army for the military service. When the time comes that you are no
longer able to hold the sword in your hands, then come back here and continue to defeat the evil
with the sword of your prayer.
Iliya realized that the wonder horse was sent for him and that his road in life is clear. He asked the
old man where he could see and bow to the holy remains of the Saint Feodociy. "You can say you
have done that already" - said the old man and disappeared.
The brave warrior Iliya has fought great many battles, defeated countless enemies. Many wonderful
stories, songs and tales were written about him. Alone, he was able to fight off up to 300 attackers
at a time. He could create an invisible space around his body that could not be penetrated by any
weapon. He was tireless on the battlefields, courageous, and never cruel.
When Iliya Moorometz became old and gray, he came to live to the Monastery of Kiev and became
a monk. His body is berried there in a cave, his remains still untouched by the decay up to
now. The icon-lamp is always lit over his icon, where we can see a calm and handsome face of a
Russian Warrior.
Legendary as these stories may seem to some of us, the fact remains that several years ago, Iliya's
holy remains were taken out and studied in a lab. It was confirmed that the incurable disease had
affected his spine for many years.