Andrew of Simbirsk

Blessed Andrew of Simbirsk (Andrei Ilich Ogorodnikov, 1763 to 10 December 1841) was a fool for Christ in the city of Simbirsk (today Ulyanovsk) on the Volga, venerated as a saint, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Simbirsk. He was canonized on 3 June 1998 as a locally venerated saint, and on 5 October 2004 he was glorified among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church, according to the Russian source. He is commemorated on 21 May (3 June) and on 10 December (according to our calendar also on 27 November, Old Style).

Life

He was born on 4 (15) July 1763 in the lower town of Simbirsk, near the Volga, in the poor and pious family of townspeople Ilya Ivanovich and Anna Iosifovna Ogorodnikov, and was named after Saint Andrew of Crete. His parents were Christians and brought him up in the faith. As a child he was very sickly, barely moved with help from others, was mute and could say only two words, "mama" and "Anna". In time he began to walk on his own. From seven he wore only long shirts, went barefoot and bareheaded, taking on the labour of fasting and silence. All his life he lived only on bread and dried fruits, and on feast days tea with honey. He "spoke" only by gestures and sounds, though he was not without speech.

Blessed Andrew rose by his strict ascetic labour and pure heart. He did not refuse healing to the sufferers and prayed day and night for them. He gave health by giving the sick to eat a piece of the bread given him. He had the gift of prophecy, which he showed by gestures. He bore with humility and meekness all insults and even blows, which bewildered those who offended him and sometimes led them to understand the blessed one's labour. When the war of 1812 began and many Simbirsk people, wishing to learn the fate of their kin who were soldiers, went to elders with foresight, among them Saint Seraphim of Sarov, they heard unexpectedly: "Why do you come to me, a poor man? You have one better than me, your Andrei Ilich."

In 1813 the landowner E. A. Milgunova built on Pansk street a hut for Blessed Andrew and his sister Natalia, who served him until his death; but he came to the hut only to spend the night and passed his days in the street. The saint passed to the Lord on 28 November (10 December) 1841. A multitude of townspeople came to his funeral; according to witnesses, "only he stayed at home who could not take a single step", and even schismatics of various sects were in the church at the Liturgy and escorted the coffin with reverence. In six days of farewell, decay did not touch his remains. He was buried in the cemetery of the Protection men's monastery at Simbirsk. In 1893 a monument to Blessed Andrew was raised on the necropolis of the Protection, at the expense of the merchant's wife Anastasia Kirpichnikova and others.

Relics and veneration

In the late 1920s and early 1930s the grave was covered over; for decades it lay under a layer of broken bricks, gravel and asphalt, but pious people of Simbirsk came to the place where the monastery cemetery had been. On 5 September 1991, as a result of searches organized by the diocesan administration, the crypt of Blessed Andrew was found and dug out. On 3 June 1998 he was canonized as a locally venerated saint, and on 5 October 2004 he was glorified by the Synod among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church. Today his relics rest in a shrine to the right of the altar of the Saviour-⁠Ascension cathedral in Ulyanovsk. In 1994 the foundation of a chapel-⁠monument was laid, consecrated in 2008, on the site of the demolished monastery cemetery; in 2015 a monument to the blessed one was raised, and in Ulyanovsk a street bears his name. His image is on the gates of the church of the new martyrs of the Simbirsk land.