Tryphon of Gorodets

Holy Venerable Martyr Tryphon of Gorodets, an archimandrite, also called Tryphon of Luga, is venerated in the village of Gorodets, twenty kilometres from the town of Luga on the way to Pskov. The church of the Dormition stands here. The old churchyard was, according to the chronicles, in ancient times a men's monastery, Saint George of Gorodets, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, though the date is not known exactly. The site was a natural fortress defending the Russian land from invaders. According to tradition, the founder and abbot of the monastery was Archimandrite Tryphon, of whose life no written account survives.

When the Lithuanians appeared at Gorodets, he was serving the Liturgy in the monastery church. The brethren, frightened of the foreigners, fled to the surrounding forests. According to one tradition, Tryphon did not interrupt the service at the coming of the unwelcome guests and was killed as he prayed, cut down by sabres in the church itself. According to another, he did a deed like that of Ivan Susanin: when the Lithuanians came to the monastery, he lulled their vigilance and received them with hospitality. Under a plausible pretext he left the monastery and warned a Russian company of the Lithuanians' approach. When he returned, the ruse was discovered. The enraged Lithuanians killed Archimandrite Tryphon in 1542, hacking his body to pieces. Russian soldiers who came to Gorodets drove out the Lithuanians. The parts of the saint's body that were found were put together and, according to tradition, grew into one whole body, with only small scars left at the wounds, "red stripes", as after stitches are removed. The body began to give off a fragrance. He was buried beneath the church within whose walls he had suffered for the faith. From then on the veneration of the holy martyr began in the monastery and the surrounding land, and miracles flowed from his tomb.

Now a wooden church of the Dormition of the Mother of God stands on the hill, consecrated on 5 March 1844, built to the design of the local landowner, Major General M. Saker, an engineer. Next to it is a small chapel; formerly on its site stood a church of the Great Martyr George, built over the relics of Archimandrite Tryphon, which burned down (according to another version it was dismantled because it was in ruins). The chapel built then over the tomb has survived to this day.

Many stories of wonderful healings through prayer to the saint are told, especially in the years after the war, when many people wounded at the front came to his tomb. Many receive healing today as well. A lamp always burns at his tomb; people take sand from the grave, oil from the lamp, a piece of the wood that grew on the grave, and acorns from the oak next to it, and apply them to the aching places. It is said that the saint helps especially with ailments of the limbs and spine, and many come with festering wounds that do not heal. There are accounts of healing of the eyes, the liver and alcoholism, and people turn to the Wonderworker of Gorodets also for the troubles of everyday life.

Saint Tryphon is commemorated on 11 July (a movable date) in the Synaxis of the Saints of Saint Petersburg, in the new style.