The miraculous admonition

When Varfolomei turned seven, his parents sent him to study along with his brothers Stefan and Pyotr, but he had difficulty learning to read. The boy spent the night with his book and prayed to God to enlighten him. Then he happened to meet an old monk, diligently praying in the field. When the prayer was finished, Varfolomei informed him of his desire to learn to read and his inability to do so, and he asked the monk to pray for him. The elder complied with the boy’s request and gave him a piece of sacramental bread. Varfolomei “opened his mouth and ate what was given to him”, and from that day he was more literate than his brothers and peers. Since then, Sergius of Radonezh has been considered the patron saint of all students. This miraculous event and many others are described in the book The Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh by the hagiographer Epiphanius the Wise. He began to collect materials a year after the death of the saint, and finished the book around 1417 or 1418, after twenty-six years. Lithographic and printed editions of the book are preserved in the monastery.