January 2, 2026

This life of the saint comes from St. Juliana of Lazarevo Orthodox Church, in Santa Fe, NM. It was translated from the Russian by Isaac Lambertsen, and I have corrected some formatting errors. -FMG

THE LIFE OF THE HOLY & RIGHTEOUS JULIANA OF LAZAREVO
Whose Memory the Holy Church Celebrates on the 2nd (New Calendar) / 15th (Old Calendar) of January

During a moment of ardent supplication to God, the great Christian ascetic Macarius of Egypt (d. 390) heard a voice from heaven, saying: “Macarius! thus far you hast not attained the spiritual level of two women who live in the town nearby!”

The elder straightway took his staff in hand and went to seek out the righteous women of whom the voice from on high had spoken. After a lengthy search, he knocked on the door of a certain house in the town, and two women admitted him with kindness.

Macarius said to them: “I have left the desert specifically to meet you, that I might acquaint myself with your works. Tell me of yourselves.”

“O man of God,” the women answered, abashed, “can one expect anything God-pleasing from those who are continually occupied with domestic tasks and must needs fulfill the responsibilities of marriage?”

But the ascetic persisted, asking the women to disclose to him their manner of life. And they answered him, saying: “We are two sisters-in-law, the wives of brethren. For fifteen years we have lived together, and all throughout that time we have not spoken to each other a single word in vexation. We do not have children, but if the Lord will grant them, we will entreat Him to help us raise them in the Faith and in piety. We treat our servants with kindness.

“Many times we have taken counsel one with another as to whether we ought to enter a community of nuns, but our husbands have declined to give us their permission. And seeing their love for us, we have resolved not to pare with them, but to serve them with diligence. Yet to make our life a little like that of the holy desert-dwellers, we have set it in our hearts to avoid loud conversations, to remain at home as much as possible, to take care of the running of our household.”

To this the venerable Macarius said: “Truly God does not look to see who is a virgin or who is married, who is a monastic or who is in the lay state, but only looks for the inclination of the heart toward good deeds. This He accepts, and in accordance therewith He sends the Holy Spirit down upon anyone who desires to be saved. And the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, directs the thoughts and will of such a one to the everlasting life of heaven.”

In Russia, the merciful Juliana provided just such a example of piety and spiritual purity as the women had revealed to the venerable Macarius in the East, in Christian antiquity. Her life teaches us that even in the world, even within a family, amid cares for children, spouse and members of one’s household, one may please God no less than one who withdraws from the world to a monastic cell: one only need live according to the demands of the love of Christ and the righteousness of the Gospel.

The merciful Juliana was born in Moscow, in the palace milieu, to pious and philanthropic parents named Justin and Stephanida Nedyurev. Her father served as the steward at the court of Tsar Ivan IV Vasilievich, known as the Terrible. Justin and Stephanida lived in all reverence and purity, with their sons and daughters, and a multitude of servants, possessed of great riches.

Into their family the blessed Juliana was born in the 1530s. When she was six years old, she lost her mother, and was taken to be raised by her maternal grandmother, Anastasia Lukina Dubenskaya, and removed from Moscow to the outskirts of the city of Murom. Yet six years later the righteous Juliana’s grandmother passed away, leaving the twelve-year old orphan to be raised by her aunt, Juliana’s grandmother’s daughter, Natalia Arapova, who had many children of her own: eight daughters and one son.

It is well known that brothers and sisters do not always live in peace and goodly concord; and it is even more common for disputes and quarrels to arise among more distant kinfolk if they live together. The righteous Juliana honored her aunt, was obedient to her in all and unfailingly humbled herself before her cousins, the children of the household, enduring in silence their insults and reproaches. Yet throughout her life Juliana did not resemble her cousins: she had no love for the games, pastimes and pranks which are the pursuits of youth, but gave herself over to fasting and prayer. This difference in temperament between Juliana and her cousins became the cause of mockery and ridicule not only among her cousins, but also among the servants; and under the influence of her children, Juliana’s aunt frequently upbraided her orphaned niece.

Icon of St. Juliana at Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Ellwood City, PA

“O foolish one!” she would often say to Juliana, “why are you mortifying your body at such an early age? Dost you wish to ruin your virginal beauty?” At times, they compelled the orphan to eat and drink by force.

Yet the meek, quiet and dutiful Juliana always remained steadfast and immovable when the matter concerned the salvation of her soul and the God-pleasing life. The taunts and ridicule of her relatives and servants had no effect upon Juliana: she led the same strict and ascetical life as before. The games and merry songs of her peers held no fascination for her; rather, they provoked in her only displeasure and incomprehension.

Since she held herself aloof from girlish amusements and pastimes, Juliana gave herself over with intense commitment to her handiwork: the needlework which flourished in the homes of the nobility in that age, especially spinning and sewing at embroidery-frames. The righteous one spent her evenings in such pursuits. Yet Juliana did not labor for herself; she made clothes for homeless orphans, widows and the sick of her village. And she labored for them indefatigably, without taking sufficient food, drink, or rest. Word of her philanthropy spread to the outlying region, and all who heard of it marveled at her virtuous life.

What is particularly striking is that Juliana’s exalted humility and boundless love for her neighbors sprang forth only from the depths of her own pure heart, full of Christian meekness. She had no guides and teachers; she was unable either to read the sacred Scriptures or to derive instruction from it; during the years of her girlhood she did not even attend church, for there were none nearby.

When Juliana reached the age of sixteen, she was married by the priest Patapius to George Ossorgin, a rich merchant of Murom, in the village of Lazarevo, which was on Ossorgin’s estate. After the wedding ceremony, the priest delivered to the newlyweds a discourse on how they should live, how they should raise their children in the fear of God, how they should instill virtue in the members of their household and, in general, make of their family a little church. The words of the priest penetrated deeply into the soul of Juliana, and she followed them devoutly all throughout her life.

Her father-in-law, Vasily, and her mother-in-law, Eudocia, were wealthy people well-known at the court of the tsar, possessed of many servants and several commodious residences. Besides George, their only son, they had two daughters. By her calm and meek character, her personal kindness and welcoming attitude, Juliana won the love not only of her husband’s parents, but even of her sisters-in-law, which was unusual for those times. Distant kinfolk of the Ossorgins and close friends of the family all fell in love with her. They asked her various questions, so as to obtain some idea of her character, but she disarmed her questioners with her constant kindness and goodness, her meek and soft replies, and little by little won the love even of those who at first were reluctant to extend their regard to her.

Thus Juliana came to occupy the most visible place in the family of her husband, and became the mistress of the household. The cares and concerns of the household and its economy did not take up all the attention of the blessed Juliana, and did not occupy her soul to its detriment. Rising early in the morning, or resting from the day’s cares and turmoil before going to sleep, she would pray long to God and make a hundred or more full prostrations, and she drew her husband to take regular part in this continual and fervent supplication.

George Ossorgin was often summoned to serve in the tsar’s army in Astrakhan and other faraway places, and at these times he was away from his home for as many as three years at a time. While she was parted from her husband, under the influence of her natural sorrow, Juliana would spend whole nights in prayer, or at her spinning and sewing. The products of her handiwork she would sell, distributing to the poor the money thus obtained. Moreover, as a skilled seamstress, the blessed one would sew shrouds and donate them to the church. She kept her benefactions a secret from her husband’s parents; she would send a trusted handmaid forth at night to distribute her alms. She cared for widows and orphans like a true mother, washed them with her own hands, fed them, gave them drink and sewed clothing for them.

The saint ran a well-ordered household, where everyone knew what tasks he was expected to perform, yet she was always kind and meek with the servants, always addressing them by their full Christian names, never employing nicknames. She never required her servants to wait on her hand and foot; no one poured the water as she washed her hands, no one helped her dress or removed her shoes, as was usual in most of the households of the nobility. If in the presence of guests, as was customary, she had to rely on such ministrations by her servants, when the guests departed she would bow down and say of herself: “Who am I that I should be served by others, who are also created by God?”

On the contrary, she was ever ready to serve others herself, and she made certain that her servants had nourishing food and proper clothing. Yet the righteous Juliana was not satisfied merely to look after the food and vesture of her servants; she strove to see that there were no quarrels and arguments among them, so that peace and quiet, and the grace of God, reigned in her home.

Whenever quarrels would arise among her servants, Juliana would often take the blame upon herself, and thus placate those who were at enmity. Furthermore, she was wont to say, “I often sin before God, and He, being full of loving-kindness, forgives me. Therefore, I will be patient with my servants’ sins. Even though they are subject to my authority, yet in soul they can be better than me and purer before God.”

Juliana never complained about the faults of the servants to her husband or his parents, who scolded the righteous one for excessive leniency. Whenever she lacked the skill and strength to cope with spoiled servants and restore peace and tranquility to the household, she would pray fervently to the all-holy Virgin and to Saint Nicholas the Wonder-worker, asking their help.

During one such trying time, while Juliana stood in prayer at night, the demons struck fear into her heart. She fell senseless upon her bed and plunged into a deep sleep. In a dream she saw a multitude of unclean spirits advancing upon her with swords. “If you dost not stop what you are doing,” said the demons, “we will destroy you immediately!” The blessed Juliana cried out in prayer to the Mother of God and Saint Nicholas, and the holy wonder-worker appeared with a large book and drove away the dark spirits, who vanished like smoke. After this, he blessed the merciful Juliana and said: “My daughter, be of good cheer and be strong. Do not fear the wiles of the demons. Christ has commanded me to defend you against demons and evil men.”

When she awoke, Juliana clearly beheld a radiant man, who passed through the door of her bed-chamber and disappeared. She ran after him, but found that the bolts and bars of her quarters had not been opened. Then Juliana understood that the Lord had indeed sent her a heavenly protector. She was strengthened in her faith and hope in the help of God, and with yet greater diligence continued her works of almsgiving and love for her neighbors.

It happened that, in the year 1570, a great famine struck the Russian land, and multitudes of people died from lack of grain. The merciful Juliana drew supplies from her mother-in-law, ostensibly for her own breakfasts and noon meals, but secretly distributed all to the starving and poor. Her mother-in-law was amazed at this, and said, “I rejoice that you have begun to eat more often, yet I am astonished that you have altered your usual habit. Before, when there was plenty of everything, you took no food in the morning and at noon, and I was unable to prevail upon you to do so. But now, when everywhere there is a shortage of bread, you take both breakfast and the noonday meal.”

So as not to disclose her secret almsgiving, the blessed Juliana replied to her mother-in-law, “While I had not yet given birth to children, I had no desire to eat those meals; but now I have become weak from birth-giving, and I wish to eat not only during the day, but also at night. But I am ashamed to ask you for food at night.”

Juliana’s mother-in-law was delighted that she had increased the amount of food she ate, and began sending her food even at night. The merciful Juliana accepted the food and distributed it all in secret during the famine. When any of the poor of the surrounding area would die, she would purchase a shroud and provide funds to cover the cost of the funeral. She prayed for the soul of everyone buried in the village of Lazarevo, whether known to her or not.

When the famine passed, a new misfortune befell Russia: a deadly contagion descended upon the unhappy land. Filled with horror, the people shut themselves up in their homes and would not allow those infected with the plague to enter; they were even afraid to come in contact with their clothing.

Yet the merciful Juliana, without the knowledge of her husband’s parents, would wash the sick in the bath-house, treat them as far as she was able, and beseech the Lord for the restoration of their health. Whenever any orphan or pauper died, she would wash him with her own hands and hire someone to help bear him away for burial.

The parents of Juliana’s husband died at an advanced age, and, according to the custom of their forebears, received the monastic tonsure on their death-beds. Juliana’s husband was not at home at that time; he had been serving in the tsar’s army at Astrakhan for more than three years. The blessed Juliana buried Basil and Eudocia Ossorgin with honor, distributed lavish alms for the repose of their souls, had liturgies celebrated for them every day for forty days, set forth tables of food for the monks, priests, widows, orphans and the indigent, and also dispatched abundant donations to the prisons. Every year thereafter she kept the memory of her husband’s departed parents and spent a sizeable portion of the family’s revenue on this good work.

The blessed Juliana lived peaceably and quietly with her husband for many years, and the Lord gave her ten sons and three daughters. Of them, four sons and two daughters died in childhood. Her remaining children she raised, finding joy in them. But when her children grew to adulthood, the enemy of the human race sowed enmity between them and the household servants, despite her attempts to bring about peace between the opponents. Her eldest son was even murdered by a servant, and not long afterward, her second son was killed while serving in the tsar’s army.

These tribulations were a bitter burden were to Juliana’s maternal heart. But she did not cry aloud, or tear the hair from her head, as other women would do. Unceasing prayer and almsgiving strengthened her powers. Her husband also grieved over the loss of his sons, but the blessed one consoled him.

Under the influence of these familial misfortunes, Juliana began to press her husband to permit her to retire to a convent, even saying that she was prepared to depart secretly. But George reminded her of the beautiful words that the priest had spoken at their wedding, and the admonitions of other fathers: “Black garments will not save us if we do not live monastically, and white garments will not destroy us if we do what is pleasing unto God. If anyone departs to a monastery, not desiring to care for children, he seeks not the love of God, but rather peace. And the children, orphaned, will often weep and curse their parents, saying, ‘Having given birth to us, why have you left us in tribulation and suffering?’ If it is commanded to feed the orphans of others, it follows that one should not to starve one’s own children!”

The husband of the righteous Juliana had been educated to read, and he read to her other passages from spiritual writers until he had persuaded her. So she said to him: “Let the will of the Lord be done.”

After this, husband and wife began to live as brother and sister. George continued to sleep in his usual bedroom, but Juliana lay down on the stove in the evenings, spreading firewood, branches uppermost, to sleep on instead of a bed, and positioning her ring of iron keys beneath her side. Thus she would fall into a slumber for an hour or two. When the house grew quiet, the blessed Juliana would rise for prayer, and would often spend whole nights in supplication; in the morning she would go to church for matins and the liturgy. After the divine services, the merciful Juliana would return home and occupy herself with the running of her household.

On Mondays and Wednesdays the blessed one would eat just once a day, and on Fridays she took take no food at all, but withdrew into a separate room, set up in her home to resemble the cell of a monastic recluse. She would permit herself only a single cup of wine on Saturdays, when she fed the clergy, widows, orphans and poor.

Ten years after she and her husband suspended their marital relations, Juliana’s husband died. When she had buried and commemorated him according to custom, as she had her husband’s parents, the merciful Juliana gave herself over wholly to the service of God and the poor. Since her children grieved mightily over the loss of their father, she consoled them, saying: “Don’t be sorrowful, my children! The death of your father is for the edification of us sinners. Seeing it, and continually expecting our own departure from this life, be virtuous. Above all, love one another, and give alms.”

Of course the blessed Juliana did not teach by means of words alone, but also strove to emulate, by her manner of life, the great Christian strugglers, the holy women of whom her husband and other literate people had read to her. Whenever she was free from domestic concerns, the blessed Juliana gave herself over to prayer and intensified her fasting. Yet she concerned herself most of all with almsgiving.

Often she would have no money left to distribute to the poor. In wintertime she would receive money from her children to buy warm clothing for herself, but she gave it all to the poor, and she herself went about in thin garments and barefoot. In order to struggle for the Lord in ascetic labors, and, by the aid of pain, to fan the flame of her prayer to God, the source of all joy and consolation, she placed broken nut-shells between her bare feet and her sandals, as she walked about her house.

One year, there was an exceptionally cold winter, so that even the ground froze through and cracked. Juliana came down with a cold and did not attend church for a time, but she prayed at home. One day, the priest of the village of Lazarevo came to church early in the morning and heard a voice issuing forth from the icon of the Theotokos, saying: “Go and ask Juliana the merciful why she has not been coming to church. Her prayer at home is pleasing unto God, yet not as pleasing as supplication made in church. And render homage to her; she has passed the age of sixty, and the Holy Spirit rests upon her.”

Filled with awe and fear, the priest hastened to Juliana, fell at her feet, asked her to forgive him, and told her of the vision he had witnessed. The blessed one was greatly saddened and said to the priest: “You have surely fallen into temptation to say these things! How can I, a sinner before the Lord, be worthy of such a call?” The priest promised Juliana not to speak of his vision while she was alive, but declared that he would make it known after her repose. Then Juliana went to church; there she had a service of supplication offered before the icon of the Mother of God, and she kissed it and entreated the heavenly intercessor with tears.

The blessed one’s widowhood lasted for ten years, during which she distributed practically all her possessions to the poor, retaining for her household only what was most necessary. She arranged for her supplies of stored food not be kept for the next year, but immediately gave all that remained from the year’s stores to the poor, the orphaned, and indigent.

Then came the woeful reign of Tsar Boris Godunov (1598-1605), and the Lord punished the Russian land with a famine of unusual intensity: the starving people even had to resort to eating carrion, and in certain cases were driven to consume human corpses. Countless multitudes perished of starvation. The house of the Ossorgin family was also affected by the dearth food, for the sowers had not gone forth to plant the fields, and even the cattle died from lack of fodder.

The blessed Juliana begged her children and servants not to take anything that belonged to others. Everything that remained in her house of clothing, livestock, and vessels, she sold, buying grain with the money she received. With these funds she fed her household, and despite the terrible lack, she also helped the poor, so that not one of them departed from her empty-handed. When there was no more grain left, the merciful Juliana did not become discouraged, but placed all her trust on the help of God.

Eventually, the blessed one was forced to move to the village of Vochnevo, on the outskirts of Nizhni Novgorod, where some food was still obtainable. Yet even there the famine soon hit with full force, and Juliana, no longer able to feed her servants, set them at liberty. Some of them took advantage of their freedom, but others remained to endure want and grief with their mistress. Juliana ordered the servants who remained with her to gather pig-weed and to strip the bark from a certain species of elm-tree. With these she prepared a type of bread with which to feed herself, her children and servants. Through her prayers, the bread made from pig-weed and elm-bark turned out to be delicious, and the poor, of whom there were an extraordinarily great number because of the famine, came in multitudes to receive it from the merciful Juliana.

Her neighbors asked the poor, “Why do you to the house of Juliana? She and her children are barely alive in their hunger!” But the poor answered, “We have travelled through many villages, and sometimes we have been given pure wheat-bread; but we have never tasted bread as sweet as that given out by this widow.” The neighbors, who had a store of pure wheat, sent to ask Juliana for some of her pig-weed and elm-bark bread, and they were convinced that it was indeed very sweet; yet they attributed this to the skill of the servants who prepared the dough.

While enduring grievous want for two years, the righteous Juliana was not troubled, and did not resort to grumbling and complaints or become despondent, but was of good cheer and as joyous as ever. One thing alone gave her cause for sadness: there was not church in the village of Vochnev, and because of her advanced age she was unable to visit the church in the nearest village. Yet mindful of how the domestic prayer of the centurion Cornelius was pleasing to God (Acts 10: 31), the blessed one gave herself over to supplication and quickly found peace for her soul.

On the 26th of December, 1603, the merciful Juliana fell ill. Her sickness continued for six days, yet she lay in bed only during the daytime, while at night she rose and stood in prayer without any support. Her handmaidens mocked her, saying, “What kind of a sick woman is this? During the day she lies in bed, but at night she stands in prayer?” But the blessed one answered those who mocked her meekly, “Why do you laugh? Do you not know that the Lord expects even the sick to pray?”

On January 2nd, when day broke, the merciful Juliana summoned her spiritual father, the priest Athanasius, and received communion of the Holy Mysteries. Then she sat up in her bed and called her children and servants to her. Then she taught them much of how to live a God-pleasing life, and said, “Even when I was a child I had a strong desire to be tonsured and given the great angelic habit, yet I was not deemed worthy of this, because of my sins. Glory to the righteous judgment of God!”

She ordered a censer prepared for her burial and incense placed in it, and having bidden farewell to her children, handmaids, and friends, she stretched out upon the bed, made the sign of the Cross over herself three times, wrapped her prayer-rope around her hands, and uttered her last words: “Glory to God for all things! Into Your hands, O Lord, I commit my spirit!”

When the blessed one reposed in the Lord, everyone present saw a splendid light form around her head in the appearance of a golden crown, as in icons of saints. When they washed the body of the newly-departed and had it placed in a separate storeroom, at night they saw burning candles (although no one had lit them), and noticed a sweet fragrance emanating from the room where the blessed one lay.

During the night following the day of her repose, the merciful Juliana appeared to one of her handmaids and ordered her to see that her body was carried from Vochnev to the Murom region and buried by the church of the righteous Lazarus, next to that of her husband. The body of the blessed, which had seen so many labors, was placed in an oaken coffin and borne away to the village of Lazarevo, about three miles from Murom, and was there interred on January 10th, 1604.

In the years to come, the children and kinfolk of the merciful Juliana erected a winter church, dedicated to the Archangel Michael, over her grave-site. On August 8th, 1614, the blessed one’s son George died, and as they began to prepare a burial place for him in the crypt of the Ossorgin family, they found the coffin of the blessed Juliana intact, though they were unaware of the identity of the coffin’s occupant. On August 10th, after George’s funeral service, when those who had taken part in the ritual went to the house of the Ossorgins to commemorate the departed, the curious women of the village opened the coffin and saw that it was full of fragrant myrrh.

When the guests left the commemorative meal, the women reported what they had seen to the Ossorgin family. The children of the merciful Juliana hastened to the coffin and saw that the women’s report was true. In reverent fear they took away a small vessel of the myrrh and carried it to the cathedral of Murom, probably as evidence of their report. During the daytime this myrrh was like unto the juice of beets, but at night it thickened and became like attar exuded by some purple flower. In their awe they did not dare to inspect the whole body of the righteous Juliana, but saw that her hands and legs were intact. They could not see her head, because a beam which supported the church’s furnace lay across the lid of the coffin.

That night, many heard a bell ring in the church of the righteous Lazarus, and they hastened to the church, thinking that someone was sounding the fire alarm; yet there were no flames to be extinguished anywhere. Those who arrived noticed that a sweet fragrance was being emitted from the coffin.

Word of this happening spread quickly to the outlying areas, and many came to the saint’s coffin, anointed themselves with the myrrh, and received healing from their various ailments. When almost all the myrrh had been distributed, the sick began to take the sand from beneath the coffin of the merciful Juliana, and rubbing it on themselves received alleviation of their infirmities, according to the measure of their faith.

Jeremiah Chervev, a resident of Murom, went to the coffin of the merciful Juliana with his wife and two sick children. His son and daughter were afflicted with a disease which had caused blood to flow from their hands and feet for more than two years, and they were unable even to lift their hands to their mouths. Having had a service of supplication and a panikhida chanted at the coffin of the holy Juliana and rubbed some of the sand upon their children, Jeremiah and his wife returned to their home. Their children slept for a full day and night, and when they awoke they were able to make the sign of the Cross freely. Within a week their health had been completely restored.

A peasant from the village of Makarova suffered from a terrible dental affliction and had long been unable to eat, drink or work. On the advice of his wife, he went to the coffin of the merciful Juliana alone at noon-time, prayed to the blessed one, rubbed some of the sand on his teeth and returned to his home well.

One night, a fire broke out in the village of Lazarevo and consumed four lead-roofed cabins. An extraordinarily powerful wind was blowing, and the fire gradually grew closer to the church. The priest ran to the church, hurriedly took soil from beneath Saint Juliana’s coffin in both hands, and cast it at the fire. The wind then changed direction, the fire died down little by little, and finally went out.

A peasant from the village of Koledino, by the name of Clement, had an abscess on his leg which gave him much discomfort. The sick man, having heard of the miracles wrought by the blessed Juliana, asked his friends to carry him to her coffin; there he had a service of supplication offered, rubbed soil from the saint’s grave on his ulcer, and was quickly healed.

Maria, a servant of the nobleman Matthew Cherkasov, who lived in a suburb of Murom, became blind. When her friends and family brought her to the shrine of the holy Juliana and had a service of supplication and a panikhida offered up for her, she sensed that her sight was returning. On the way back to Murom she was even able to pick mushrooms and berries.

A certain ten-year old boy became paralyzed and lost his sight. He was carried to the church of the Archangel Michael, where a service of supplication was offered to the righteous Juliana, and the sick child suddenly could see a burning candle; in a short time he completely regained his health.

Agatha, the wife of Theodore, a clergyman who served in the Church of the Archangel Michael, contracted a condition of the hand which was so painful that she was unable to move it. The merciful Juliana appeared to the unfortunate woman and said, “Go to the church of the Archangel Michael and kiss the icon of Juliana.” Then the saint identified the place where the sick woman had hidden two coins and commanded her to give them to the priest to touch to the icon. The ailing woman did all that she was told: she had a service of supplication and a panikhida offered, drank holy water, rubbed the sand on her hand, and was healed.

Joseph Kovkov, a courtier of Moscow, was grievously ill, to the point where it was expected that he would soon die. But the thought came to him to have his servant Anicius go to the shrine of the righteous Juliana. The servant had a service of supplication offered for the health of his ailing master, and took with him holy water and sand. When Kovkov sprinkled himself with the water and rubbed himself with the sand which had been brought to him, he immediately recovered his health. The cured man then travelled to the village of Lazarevo on foot, to give thanks to the merciful Juliana.

 

Translated from the Russian by the reader Isaac E. Lambertsen, from The Lives of the Saints in the Russian Language, As Set Forth in the Menology of Saint Dmitri of Rostov, Supplemental Vol. II (January-April): The Lives of the Russian Saints (Moscow: Synodal Press, 1916), pp. 5-18. Copyright © 1991. All rights reserved by the translator.

This article predates an important event that clarifies the word “appears.” The family did have relics separately from those destroyed by the fire. During revolutionary times (after obtaining a blessing from his bishop), Mikhail Mikhailovitch Ossorgin left the family estate with a tiny portion of the relics encased in a small metallic locket-icon that hung around his neck. He eventually fled Russia with these relics, and after arriving in Paris, had the relics placed into an icon. This icon with relics is at the church dedicated to St. Juliana of Lazarevo in Santa Fe, New Mexico.