Xenia of Saint Petersburg

show This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in Russian. (March 2013) Click [show] for important translation instructions. View a machine-translated version of the Russian article. Machine translation like DeepL or Google Translate is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 2,175 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary Content in this edit is translated from the existing Russian Wikipedia article at [[:ru:Вениамин (Казанский)]]; see its history for attribution. You should also add the template {{Translated|ru|Вениамин (Казанский)}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Saint Xenia of St. Petersburg
Saint Xenia painted by Alexander Prostev
Fool for Christ and Wonderworker
Born	Xenia Grigoryevna Petrova c. 1719–1730 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Died	c. 1803 Saint Petersburg, Russian Empire
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodoxy
Canonized	1978 and 1988, United States and Russia by Russian Orthodox Church Abroad and the Russian Orthodox Church
Major shrine	Smolensky Cemetery, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Feast	January 24 February 6
Attributes	Wearings rug garments with old Admiral jacket with cross and staff in her hands
Patronage	Saint Petersburg

Sarcophagus of Blessed Xenia in a chapel in the Smolensky Cemetery in St. Petersburg

Russian Orthodox Icon of St. Xenia of Petersburg

Xenia Grigoryevna Petrova (Russian: Ксения Григорьевна Петрова), also known as Saint Blessed Xenia of St. Petersburg (Russian: Святая блаженная Ксения Петербургская, c. 1719–1730 – c. 1803) is a patron saint of St. Petersburg, who according to tradition, gave all her possessions to the poor after her husband died.

Her husband had been Colonel Andrey Fyodorovich Petrov, a chanter at the Saint Andrew Cathedral. After his death, Xenia became a "fool-for-Christ" and for 45 years wandered around the streets of St. Petersburg, usually wearing her late husband's military uniform.

Xenia's grave is in the Smolensky Cemetery of St. Petersburg. It has been marked by an ornate chapel since 1902. She was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia on September 24, 1978 (O. S. September 11, 1978) in Synodal Cathedral of Our Lady of the Sign in New York, USA and by Russian Orthodox Church on June 6, 1988 during Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Her feast day in the O.S. is January 24, which is February 6 in the New Calendar. In July 2020, the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church also resolved to include Xenia of St. Petersburg in its calendar on January 24.^[1]

As a saint, she is noted for her intercessions in helping those with employment, marriage, the homeless, for fires, for missing children, and for a spouse.^[2] She is venerated in several countries. There are about 40 churches and chapels built in her name.^[3]

Hymns[]

Troparion (Tone 4)

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.

Troparion (Tone 8)

In you, O mother was carefully preserved what is according to the image.
For you took up the Cross and followed Christ.
By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh for it passes away,
But to care instead for the soul since it is immortal.
Therefore, O Blessed Xenia, your spirit rejoices with the Angels.

Kontakion (Tone 3)

Having been as a wandering stranger on earth,
sighing for the heavenly homeland,
thou wast known as a fool by the senseless and unbelieving,
but as most wise and holy by the faithful,
and wast crowned by God with glory and honor,
O Xenia, courageous and divinely wise.
Therefore, we cry to thee:
Rejoice, for after earthly wandering thou hast come to dwell in the Father’s house.

Kontakion (Tone 7)

Having loved the poverty of Christ,
You are now being satisfied at the Immortal Banquet.
By the humility of the Cross, you received the power of God.
Having acquired the gift of miraculous help, O Blessed Xenia,
Beseech Christ God, that by repentance
We may be delivered from every evil thing.

Literary references[]

Xenia is a major figure in the historical fiction novel The Mirrored World by Debra Dean.^[4]

See also[]

• Basil Fool for Christ
• Blessed John of Moscow the Fool-For-Christ
• John the Hairy
• Sign of contradiction

References[]

Further reading[]

• Xenia Cherkaev (June 2020). "St. Xenia and the Gleaners of Leningrad". The American Historical Review, Volume 125, Issue 3. pp. 906–914.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Xenia of Saint Petersburg.

• Life of Saint Xenia of Petersburg by Nun Nectaria McLees
• Life of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg by Jane M. deVyver
• Saint Xenia of Petersbourg Parish in Canada
• St. Xenia Orthodox Church, Methuen, MA, USA (founded 1989)
• The 35th Anniversary of the Canonization of St Xenia