St. Anna Kashinskaya. June 12/25

The strange case of the 14th century saint who became a Confessor after death.

This talk was given in 1909 by Bishop Michael (Semyonov). It refers to a 14th century Russian saint, Anna, who has a strange honor among the New Believers as someone who was canonized twice, which is to say canonized, decanonized, and then canonized again, in which state she remains to this day. The issue of the decanonization is an example of the barbarism of the followers of Nikon in the period right after the schism, who thought nothing of officially decanonizing a saint, dead for 300 years, only by virtue of the fact that her relics revealed her making the proper sign of the cross. Attempts were made to “adjust” the fingers, a church was renamed, even icons burned and painted over in an historically frantic attempt at silencing the dominant church’s conscience. St. Anna is commemorated by both the Old and New Believers today. Her life is outlined acceptably in English at Wikipedia, but I have another account at the bottom of this article as well. In the light of the saint’s treatment by the synodal church, she is sometimes referred to as a Confessor among Old Believers, as her relics, her saintliness, and her icons and posterity all suffered persecution on account of her old faith.

---

I speak of the renewal of the veneration of the holy relics of Anna of Kashin. One Old Believer aptly called her the "confessor after death." Yes, she was a "confessor," who suffered for preserving the holy ancient rite even when her holy remains had already rested in the tomb for three hundred years. More than a quarter of a century after her sanctity was recognized by the Church and her relics were opened for reverent veneration.

In 1649, she was canonized. Canons were sung to her, temples were dedicated to her, but in 1678, by the will of Patriarch Joachim, it was ordered that no prayer services be sung to Anna of Kashin, the church in her name was to be renamed the Church of All Saints, and the icons of the holy princess were to be confiscated... We even know from the words of the "Orthodox" archpriest of Kashin that her icons were burned.

"Strange, an event still not fully understood," Archbishop Dimitry said of the 1678 event in the "Tver Patericon."

Alas, the event is perfectly clear, though more than strange.

The reason why the saint was deprived of the halo given to her by God was the two-fingered sign for making the cross. This was pointed out by Professor Golubinsky in his "History of Canonization." And thus the act of 1678 is particularly characteristic.

It is well known how persistently and stubbornly the state church asserts that the curses were not imposed on the rites, but only on the people "opposing the church," the disobedient.

But here is "evidence" of the church's displeasing rite manifested not in a living "schismatic," but in a woman who had been dead for over 300 years and was already recognized as a saint by the Church's court. And she suffered punishment: she was subjected to a curse, deprived of the holy "halo" given by God.

For what? For opposing the Church? For disobedience? And not for the very rite? What do you say, gentlemen missionaries?

What is important to us is that the synod, inwardly aware of the wrongness of the 1678 act, still does not want to admit to a historical mistake. It does not want to say: "Joachim and his council committed a wicked deed, sacrilegiously nullified God's judgment, which recognized the much-suffering princess as a saint. We now, 'annulling' this judgment, ask forgiveness from those whose beliefs and faiths were offended by Joachim's actions."

Instead of such "repentance," the state church tries to prove that Joachim conscientiously doubted that the sacred remains in Kashin were those of the holy princess; it assures that the 1678 act was one of prudent caution. The synod even officially declares that the veneration of the relics was restored because recently new evidence of the sanctity of the princess and the authenticity of her relics had emerged, by virtue of which the synod supposedly, in the spirit of the 1678 act, i.e., in fulfillment of the intentions of Patriarch Joachim himself, was obliged to "renew the veneration of St. Anna."

So, the old lie is defended, and instead of a penitential gift to the holy princess, a clearly unscrupulous justification is offered.

It is enough to read the act of the 1678 council to see how little there is not only good faith but even decorative propriety in Joachim's deed. According to the council's act, the veneration of St. Anna was canceled due to significant errors, discrepancies, and inconsistencies in her "Life." And what errors are indicated? Minor errors in years, names, details of the then feudal turmoil, etc.—in trifles that do not even have a direct relation to the saint herself.

Suppose the "Life" errs when it says that Prince Mikhail's son Dmitry was with him in the Horde, whereas in reality it was Konstantin. Why does this error discredit the saint? Even if the errors were not so laughably minor, then the "Life" should be corrected, not the saint expelled from the "heavenly abodes."

Dmitry of Rostov, living during the time of the saint's demotion (a little later), in his "Lives of the Saints" supplemented the life of one martyr (Orestes) with his own dream vision. Yet, the martyr was not removed from the saints (and even Dmitry's fabrications were left intact).

Patriarch Joachim, feeling the weakness of his argument, asserts that the "most evident lie" was that St. Anna's son, Vasily, lived in Kashin and that Princess Anna moved to Kashin and died there. He claimed there was no reason to consider the Kashin tomb her tomb.

The synod now admits that Joachim was wrong. Alas, the synod knows that this is not a mistake but the "most evident lie." Could Joachim's council, as he said, consulting with chroniclers, not know the facial—royal chronicler, where it is clearly indicated that Prince Vasily died in Kashin? Could Joachim not see in the facial depiction of this popular "chronicler" that Prince Vasily and his mother are depicted in one church? Besides this, wasn't there enough tradition from Tver on one side, and Kashin on the other?

Obviously, there could be no mistake. And the reason for the act stands out too clearly in the 1678 act and the following great council when they imposed severe punishments on those who dared to speak about the two-fingered gesture of the holy princess (deacon Nikifor, priest Vasily, etc.).

And this reason revealed itself even more in the persecution of the icons of the holy princess—with the same gesture hated by Joachim. It was not for nothing that not only St. Anna suffered persecution from Joachim. Another who was expelled (though not fully) was St. Euphrosyn of Pskov for the "double Alleluia."

And the synod during these days of great celebration concealed the truth—did not bring repentance. This means it cannot bring its gifts to the grave of the reverend. It cannot with a clear conscience perform the liturgy near her relics. First, the sin of iconoclasm and lies must be washed away.

And the feast on June 12 (old style) can be celebrated with a clear conscience only by the Old Believers, for whose traditions the princess suffered. The Old Believers, who did not paint over the saint's icons but reverently venerated them and kissed them.

1909.

---

Here is another life from the popular Russian site Azbuka Very, which gives a nice traditional account of St. Anna, but strangely admits that the decanonization was only done because she had become a “symbol” for Old Believers. Unbelievable.

Blessed Saint Grand Princess Anna

Blessed Saint Grand Princess Anna was the daughter of Prince Dmitry Borisovich of Rostov and the great-granddaughter of Saint Blessed Prince Vasily (Vasilko) of Rostov, who was martyred for refusing to renounce the holy Orthodox faith. The godbrother of Blessed Anna's grandfather was Saint Peter, Tsarevich of the Horde, a baptized Tatar, canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church. In 1294, Blessed Princess Anna married Prince Mikhail of Tver.

Many sorrows befell Saint Anna. In 1294, her father died. In 1296, the grand prince's palace burned down completely with all its property. Soon after, the young prince became seriously ill. Their firstborn, a daughter named Feodora, died in infancy. In 1317, the tragic struggle with Prince Yuri of Moscow began. In 1318, the blessed princess bid a final farewell to her husband, who left for the Horde, where he was brutally tortured. In 1325, her eldest son, Dmitry the Terrible Eyes, met Prince Yuri of Moscow in the Horde, the man responsible for his father's death, and killed him, for which he was executed by the Khan. A year later, the residents of Tver killed all the Tatars, led by the Khan Uzbek's cousin. After this spontaneous uprising, the entire Tver land was devastated by fire and sword; the residents were exterminated or taken captive. The Tver Principality had never experienced such devastation. In 1339, her second son Alexander and grandson Feodor died in the Horde; they were beheaded and their bodies dismembered.

The blessed grand princess was prepared for monasticism by her entire previous life. After her husband's death, trials followed one after another, and it seemed impossible to survive them without succumbing to despair. However, Anna endured everything. "In a woman's nature, you had a man's strength..." – thus the Church praises Saint Anna of Kashin for her spiritual fortitude. Shortly after the martyrdom of her son and grandson, Anna took monastic vows first in Tver, and then, at the request of her youngest son Vasily, she moved to a monastery built especially for her. There she reposed on October 15 (October 2, Old Style), 1368, in the schema, and her body was buried in the Assumption Monastery Church.

The name of the blessed Princess Anna was forgotten over time. In the "Miracle of the Sexton Named Gerasim," it is reported that in 1611, the burial place of Anna of Kashin was found in the Assumption Church in Kashin. The Assumption Church had become very dilapidated, and the church floor had collapsed and disintegrated; Anna of Kashin's tomb, which was under the floor, ended up on the surface. However, the residents of the city, not knowing whose burial it was, treated it without due reverence: they placed hats on the tomb and even sat on it. A sexton named Gerasim, who was seriously ill, served in the church. One night, Anna of Kashin appeared to him, healed him, and said, "Why do you disregard my tomb and despise me? How long will you trample on me with your feet?" Anna of Kashin commanded Gerasim to tell the church's abbot about her appearance and to light a candle before her tomb at the icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands. After this, many miracles and healings began to occur at Anna of Kashin's burial place (41 miracles were recorded before her glorification).

One of the miracles happened to the paralyzed Sophia Gavreneva, who was tonsured as a nun with the name Theodosia in the Kashin Presentation Monastery. At her request, a prayer service was held at the Assumption Church at the tomb of Anna of Kashin for the Feast of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, after which the nun was healed. The sick were brought to Kashin from Tver, Uglich, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Novgorod, and other places.

In 1645, a relative of Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich, Boyar V. I. Streshnev, visited here. Learning about the veneration of Anna of Kashin, he petitioned the tsar to glorify the saint, but in 1647, the tsar died before he could issue any orders.

Over time, the news of the miracles from the relics of the blessed Princess Anna reached the pious Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Nikon. On June 25 (June 12, Old Style), 1650, the relics of the blessed Anna of Kashin were transferred from the wooden Assumption Church to the Resurrection Cathedral. The Council in Moscow decided to open her relics for general veneration and to canonize Princess Anna as a saint.

However, soon the blessed Anna of Kashin unexpectedly became a symbol for the schismatics, and in 1677, Patriarch Joachim abolished the canonization of the saint and forbade the veneration of Anna of Kashin's holy relics.

Although the ecclesiastical demotion of the blessed Princess Anna lasted for 230 years, the grateful popular memory maintained a strong faith in the intercession before the Lord of their heavenly patroness. Before marriage, before service, before taking monastic vows, before starting studies, and before making any serious decision, not to mention during various troubles, illnesses, and sorrows, believers would go to pray at the tomb of the blessed Anna.

In 1899–1901, unofficial preparations began for the restoration of ecclesiastical veneration, including the resumption of recording healings and other miracles. In 1908, Nicholas II gave his consent for her re-canonization, and the following year, the Synod declared June 25 (June 12, Old Style) as the day of commemoration of Anna – the anniversary of the transfer of her relics in 1650.

On June 25, 1909, grand celebrations were held in Kashin for the restoration of the veneration of the saint, attended by Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna. Already in 1909, a women's community in honor of the blessed Princess Anna of Kashin arose in the city of Grozny in the Terek Cossack region. In the same year, a church in honor of Anna of Kashin was consecrated in St. Petersburg, becoming a metochion of the Kashin Presentation Monastery (since 1992, a metochion of the Vvedeno-Oyat Monastery), and in 1914, a church of Seraphim of Sarov and Anna of Kashin was consecrated at the new cemetery of the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow.

During the troubled years of war and revolution, the image of the blessed Princess Anna became even closer and more understandable to the Russian people. It was recalled that Blessed Anna also saw off her husband and sons to that dangerous unknown from which they often did not return, buried and mourned them, was also forced to flee and hide while enemies ravaged and burned her land.