Holy Blessed Domna of Tomsk

Christ in the Gospel says: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl, which, having found, a person leaves everything to acquire it.” In a fit of ardent love for their Savior and Lord, many people leave the world, fame and wealth in order to always be inseparable from God. For the sake of the Lord and the salvation of their souls, they endure many hardships and hardships, knowing that their only treasure is the grace of the Holy Spirit. Often the Lord endows such of His chosen ones with miraculous gifts - healing, insight, consolation. To avoid human glory, they assumed an internal appearance of madness, disgracing the vain pride of this rebellious world. Such a Christian feat is called foolishness for Christ's sake. Many have passed this way, and among them is Blessed Domna of Tomsk.

She was born at the beginning of the 19th century into a noble family. Having been orphaned early, Domna lived and was raised in her aunt’s house. She received an excellent education and spoke several languages ​​fluently. In her youth, Domna was a beautiful girl and therefore many wooed her, hoping to marry her. But the righteous woman wanted to preserve her virginity for the sake of the Lord. Having learned that her relatives wanted to force her into marriage, she secretly left the house, changed into simple clothes and set off as a wanderer to holy places. She did not have a document confirming her identity, so she was arrested and exiled to Siberia, where, having settled in the city of Tomsk, she took upon herself the feat of foolishness.

Domna Karpovna did not have a permanent home; she often spent days and nights in the open air. Her clothes consisted of knots of varying sizes, hung over her almost naked body. Domna often fingered them instead of her rosary, thus hiding her incessant prayer from human eyes. When compassionate people gave her a fur coat in the bitter cold, she gratefully accepted it, but a few hours later she gave it to another poor person, continuing to suffer from the cold. Such was her love for her neighbors. Knowing about the difficult stay of prisoners at the Tomsk police station, Domna began to walk around them and sing spiritual songs, for which she herself was detained. Having learned about this, Tomsk merchants and merchantwomen, who revered Domna, brought her pies, pancakes, tea and sugar in piles. She distributed all this to the needy prisoners.

Remembering the words of the Holy Scripture: “Blessed is he who has mercy on cattle,” the saint also showed concern for stray animals, as well as chained dogs. She often fed them, and released the tied dogs, about which the owners did not care, into the wild. The animals also loved the righteous woman and surrounded her in large numbers at night. But even among the dumb, Domna Karpovna did not forget about God, and Tomsk residents often heard in the darkness of the night, amid the howling of dogs, her prayerful exclamations: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!”

The blessed one prayed fervently and earnestly in the church, but only when there were almost no people there. “I once looked into the aisle of the temple, and I saw Domna Karpovna, on her knees, praying - oh, how she prayed! And the tears, the tears! So they flow in two streams from her eyes.” But as soon as she noticed witnesses to her prayer, she again began to act like a fool: she moved from place to place, talked, and extinguished the candles.

Thus, among the feats of foolishness, Saint Domna preserved her virginity, endured voluntary poverty, mortified sinful passions, and endured heat and cold. Towards the end of her life, she received from the Lord the gift of clairvoyance, with which she served the spiritual benefit of her neighbors. She gave up her soul to the Lord on October 16 (October 29, new style) 1872 and was buried in the St. John the Baptist Convent in Tomsk. Not far from her burial, which was destroyed in the post-revolutionary years, a chapel named after her has been erected these days.

On October 16 (29), the Russian Orthodox Church prayerfully honors the memory of the holy blessed Domna of Tomsk, the holy fool for Christ.

The Divine Liturgy in memory of the Holy Blessed Domna of Tomsk in the Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky was led by the rector, Priest Sergius Nikanorov. Concelebrating with the rector were Priest Evgeny Maslich and Deacon Georgy Tarazanov. The festive service was accompanied by prayerful singing of the choir of the Regency Department of the Tomsk Theological Seminary.

The night before, a polyeleos service was held in the church, at the end of which the rector, Priest Sergius, told the parishioners in detail about the life and spiritual feat of the holy blessed Domna.

The saint was born at the beginning of the 19th century into a noble family in the Poltava region. Having been orphaned early, she lived and was raised in her aunt’s house. She received an excellent education and spoke several languages ​​fluently. In her youth she was a beautiful girl and many wooed her, hoping to marry her. But the righteous woman wanted to preserve her virginity for the sake of the Lord. Having learned that her relatives wanted to force her into marriage, she secretly left the house, changed into simple clothes and set off as a wanderer to holy places. By court decision, for vagrancy, she was exiled to Siberia in the Kainsky district.

Later, having settled in Tomsk, she took upon herself the feat of foolishness. Saint Domna did not have a permanent home; she often spent her days and nights in the open air. Her clothes consisted of knots of different sizes, hung on her almost naked body. These bundles contained worthless rags, old washcloth, ropes, belts, shoes, broken glass, stones, sawdust and much more. On top of these knots were hung many bags - with bread, tea, sugar, incense, candles, sauerkraut, etc. All this had a very impressive weight, which accompanied Domna Karpovna all her life. Domna often fingered them instead of her rosary, thus hiding her incessant prayer from people’s eyes. The blessed one prayed fervently and earnestly in the church, but only when there were no people there. But as soon as she noticed witnesses to her prayer, she again began to act like a fool: she moved from place to place, talked, and extinguished the candles.

Remembering the words of Holy Scripture: “The righteous have mercy on the souls of beasts” (Proverbs 12:10), the saint also took care of stray animals, as well as chained dogs. She often fed them, and released the tied dogs, about which the owners did not care, into the wild. The animals also loved the righteous woman and surrounded her in large numbers at night. Tomsk residents often heard in the darkness of the night, amid the barking of dogs, her prayerful exclamations: “Most Holy Theotokos, save us!”

Knowing about the difficult stay of prisoners at the Tomsk police station, Domna began to walk around them and sing spiritual songs, for which she herself was detained. Having learned about this, Tomsk merchants and merchantwomen, who revered Domna, brought her pies, pancakes, tea and sugar in piles. She distributed all this to the needy prisoners. When the time came for her release, her fellow prisoners “in the simplicity of their souls wished her to go to prison as soon as possible.”

Thus, among the feats of foolishness, Saint Domna preserved her virginity, endured voluntary poverty, mortified sinful passions, and endured heat and cold. Towards the end of her earthly life, she received from the Lord the gift of clairvoyance, which she used to serve the spiritual benefit of her neighbors.

She reposed on October 16, 1872 and was buried in the St. John the Baptist Convent in the city of Tomsk. In 1984, she was glorified as blessed during the establishment of the celebration of the Council of Siberian Saints. Her burial place was destroyed during the Soviet years, but subsequently a chapel named after her was erected near that place.

Holiday chants

Troparion of Blessed Domna of Tomsk, tone 1

Hearing the voice of Thy Apostle Paul saying: We are fools for Christ's sake, Thy servant, Christ God, mother of Domno, holy fools were on earth for Thy sake; In the same way, we honor her memory, we pray to You: Lord, save our souls.

Kontakion of Blessed Domna of Tomsk, tone 8:

Desiring the highest beauty, you left the lower pleasures of the body sickeningly, through the non-acquisitiveness of the vanity world, passing through the angelic life, having passed away, Home to the blissful; with them, pray to Christ God unceasingly for all of us.

Kontakion of Blessed Domna of Tomsk, tone 2:

Let us honor with hymns the saints who lived angelically on earth and with angelic ranks in Heaven, who now shone brightly in the lands of Siberia: Rejoice, blessed mother of Domno, who labored in Siberia and pleased God. You pray to the Eternal God for us.

The Greatness of Blessed Domna of Tomsk

We bless you, holy righteous mother of Domno, and honor your holy memory, for you pray for us to Christ our God.

Lives of the Hieromartyrs Anthimus, bishop, and with him Theophilus, deacon, martyrs Dorotheus, Mardonius, Mygdonius, Peter, Indis, Gorgonia, Zenon, Domna the Virgin and Euthymius

Sacred-but-mu-che-nick An-fim, bishop of Ni-ko-mi-diy-sky, and with him other mu-che-ni-ki in the time of -my go-ne-niya on Christian-sti-an with im-pe-ra-to-rah Dio-kli-ti-an (284-305) and Max-si-mi-an (284-305). The pre-pre-va-niya of Christianity was especially-ben-but intensified after how in the Niko-mi-diy im-pe-ra-tor- It was hot in the palace. Pagan-ni-ki about-vi-ni-christian in deliberate under-jo-ge and showed in relation to them unheard-of -hundred-bone. So, in one Ni-ko-mi-dia on the day of the birth of Christ there was a burning in the temple of up to twenty thousand people -lya-shih-sya. However, these demonic actions did not deter Christians: they firmly practiced their faith and with-no-much-any death for Christ. So, the saints Do-ro-fey, Mar-do-niy, Migdo-niy, Peter, In-dis and Gor-go-died at that time. ny. Some of them were truncated with a sword, others were burned, behind the earth or drowned in the sea. Zi-non, warrior, for bold things about im-per-ra-to-ra Mak-si-mi-a-na was beaten with stones, and for- the more deprived of his head. Then, at the hands of the pagans, the former priestess, the holy maiden Dom-na, and Saint Evfi-miy, who for- they were worried about the bodies of the holy mar-ty beings. Bishop An-fim, the manager of the Ni-ko-mi-diy-skaya church, at the request of your flock, hid-hid in the village of neda-le-ko from Ni-ko-mi-dia. From there he turned to Christ with the words in which he convinced them to hold firm holy faith and not be afraid of torment. One of his letters, sent with Dia-ko-n Fe-o-fi-lom, was re-praised and re-da-but to them per-ra-to-ru Max-si-mi-a-nu. Fe-o-fil was subjected to pro-su-su and died under torture, without revealing to his mu-chi-te-lyam the place where he once was -nie episco-pa An-fi-ma. After some time, Max-si-mi-a-well still managed to find out where Saint An-fim was, and he sent a detachment for him in-and-new. On the way I met the bishop himself. They didn’t recognize the saint, but he called them to his place, treated them to dinner, and then revealed that he was the one whom they are searching. We didn’t know what to do, we wanted to leave the saint and tell them that we didn’t find him. Bishop An-fim did not tolerate lies and did not agree to it. You believed in Christ and received Holy Baptism. But at the same time, the saint still forced them to use the rule. When Bishop An-fim came to the king, he ordered to bring execution weapons and place them in front of him. “Are you, king, really thinking of intimidating me by carrying out executions?” asked the saint. “No, you won’t intimidate me.” , who himself wants to die for Christ! Execution is reserved only for the small-hearted, for whom life is temporary before Total". Then the king decided to torture the saint and behead him with a sword. Bishop An-fim, until the last sigh of joy, glorified God, for Whom he was able to suffer ( † 302).

See also: "" in the text of St. Di-mit-ria of Ro-stov.

Prayers

Troparion to the Martyrs of Nicomedia

Passion-bearers of the Lord,/ blessed is the land, drunk with your blood,/ and holy village, which has received your body:/ in your struggle you have conquered the enemy/ and preached Christ with boldness./ Togo, as you are blessed Yeah, pray // for our souls to be saved, we pray.

Translation: Lord! Blessed is the earth, fattened with your blood, and holy are the abodes that received your bodies: for during your feat you triumphed over the enemy and proclaimed Christ; Beseech Him, as the Good One, for the salvation of our souls, we pray to you.

Kontakion to the Martyrs of Nicomedia

Firm your soul in faith, O holiness,/ accepting suffering by fire, two darknesses of the sufferer/ crying out to the One born of the Virgin:/ accept our burnt offerings for Thee,/ like the gifts of the Persian kings, gold, and media Vernu, and Lebanon, // Eternal God.

Translation: The saints, strong in soul in faith, endured suffering in the fire, twenty thousand martyrs, crying out to Him who was born of the Virgin: “Accept our burnt offering for You, like the gifts of the Persian kings, gold, myrrh and frankincense, O Eternal God.”

During the times of the empire, a holy fool lived in the city of Tomsk.

According to revision tales, Domna Karpovna was born in the Poltava province into a noble family and, orphaned early, was raised by her aunt, received a good education at home, and spoke several foreign languages. In her youth, Domna was a beautiful girl and therefore many wooed her, hoping to marry her. But the righteous woman wanted to preserve her virginity for the sake of the Lord. Having learned that her relatives wanted to force her into marriage, she secretly left the house, changed into simple clothes and set off as a wanderer to holy places. She did not have a document confirming her identity, so the police arrested her. By a court decision, under the given name of Maria Slepchenko, she was exiled to Siberia, to the Kainsky district (district) of the Tomsk province. Soon she settled in the provincial city of Tomsk.

Domna Karpovna did not have a permanent home; she often spent days and nights in the open air. Her clothes consisted of knots of varying sizes, hung over her almost naked body. Domna often fingered them instead of her rosary, thus hiding her incessant prayer from people's eyes. When compassionate people gave her a fur coat in the bitter cold, she gratefully accepted it, but a few hours later she gave it to another poor person, continuing to suffer from the cold herself. Domna Karpovna never walked barefoot, but always had some kind of (worn out) shoes. She invariably wore a bandage on her head, most often white, with a cross and ribbons. One day, His Eminence Porfiry, who loved Domna Karpovna very much, gave her his fur coat. Domna Karlovna gratefully threw it over her shoulders, but two hours later the fur coat was already on the beggar. The Reverend, having learned about this, said: “The blessed one teaches us, wise men. Oh, if only we could think of such love for one’s neighbor and such patience for the sake of Christ!” So, in her strange and unusual attire, Domna Karpovna “tormented the languishing”, so exhausted the flesh “with passions and lusts”, so in many labors of carrying clothes-chains she strove for the salvation of the soul.

They celebrate her amazing love for her neighbors. Knowing about the difficult stay of prisoners in the Tomsk transit prison, Domna began to walk around it and sing spiritual songs, for which she herself was detained and ended up in the police station. Having learned about this, Tomsk merchants and merchantwomen, who revered Domna, brought her pies, pancakes, honey, tea and sugar in piles. She distributed all this to the needy prisoners.

Remembering the words of the Holy Scripture: “Blessed is he who has mercy on cattle,” the blessed one showed concern for homeless animals, as well as chained dogs. She often fed them, and released the tied dogs, about which the owners did not care, into the wild. It was surprising how she and the chained dogs found a language of communication and understanding. The animals also loved the righteous woman and surrounded her in large numbers at night. But even among the dumb, Domna Karpovna did not forget about God, and Tomsk residents often heard in the darkness of the night, amid the howling of dogs, her prayerful exclamations: “...Most Holy Theotokos, save us!”

Domna Karpovna died in 1872 and was buried in the cemetery of the St. John the Baptist Convent in Tomsk. In 1927, the monastery was closed and three years later its cemetery was liquidated, on the site of which the campus of the Tomsk Technological Institute was later built (there should be jokes about student life on the bones here).

In 1996, in the year of the centenary of the founding of the institute, a chapel was built at the site of the supposed burial of Blessed Domna.

This feeling of remoteness is quite strange, considering that the distance from the neighboring streets there is very small.

There is a nice quiet and small park around the chapel.
The caretaker (I'm getting confused with the terminology now, right?) of the chapel said that students often come here to pray or ask something from the saint. The woman said that the saint is good, kind and helps everyone. I can’t say how true this is, but the chapel itself made a very positive impression. Especially the fact that it (unlike, for example, the Chapel of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Dzerzhinsky Street) is open from morning to evening every day.

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