Venerable
Venerable Nikon of Radonezh
1352 — 1426 (по др. данным 1427)
Also known as: Никон, игумен Радонежский, Никон Радонежский, игумен Троицкий
Disciple and successor of St Sergius of Radonezh and the second abbot of the Holy Trinity monastery. Under him the relics of St Sergius were uncovered, the stone Trinity cathedral was built and decorated by Andrei Rublev and Daniel Cherny.
St Nikon was born in 1352 in Yuryev-Polsky into a merchant family. Wishing to become a monk under St Sergius of Radonezh, he was first sent to Sergius's disciple St Athanasius at the Vysotsky monastery in Serpukhov, where he was tonsured and ordained priest. Around 1382 he returned to the Holy Trinity monastery, became Sergius's cell attendant and then cellarer.
In 1392 he began to govern the community; after the death of St Sergius he withdrew into seclusion for some years and resumed the abbacy around 1398. Warned in a dream before the raid of Emir Edigu in 1408, he saved the brethren, and afterwards rebuilt the burned monastery. On 5 July 1422 the relics of St Sergius were uncovered under his leadership; he founded the stone Trinity cathedral and invited the iconographers Daniel Cherny and Andrei Rublev to paint it. Tradition holds that Rublev painted his Holy Trinity icon at Nikon's request. The monastery became a major centre of book copying.
Nikon died on 17 November 1426 (1427 according to the Orthodox Encyclopedia) and was buried near St Sergius. The Council of 1547 established his church-wide feast on 17 November (30 November, new style); a church over his grave was built in 1548.
Icons and images
