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Saint Ksenia lived during the eighteenth century, but little is known of her early life or of her family.
Ksenia Grigorievna Petrova was the wife of an army officer, Major Andrew Petrov. After the wedding, the couple lived in St Petersburg. She was only 26 years old when her husband suddenly died at a drinking party. Ksenia loved her husband very much and his unexpected death came as a great shock; it completely changed her way of looking at life. Knowing that her husband had not prepared himself for death and that he had died without the prayers of the Church or partaking of the Sacraments, she began to be very concerned about the eternal state of his soul. It was as though she were given new eyes; she thought no more about parties, about having fun with friends; she gave away her possessions to the poor. In fact, she broke all ties with the world--to such an extent that even her relatives thought she must be crazy. Ksenia dressed in her husband's clothes and insisted on being called by her husband's name, Andrei, as if to say that she had died, not he. And indeed, she died to the world in order to be closer to God.
The Holy Spirit led her to give away her mind and her heart to God. By giving everything away, she became rich in humility, simplicity, self-denial, kindness, and deep and profound love for all. By pretending to be insane, she showed how insane the world and its values are. By denying herself the comforts of a home, a bed, decent clothes, food, and the appearance of being "normal," she helps us to examine what really is important in life, and what really is "normal." By her self-denial, Blessed St Ksenia daily died to her old self and daily lived only for God. She trusted totally that God would provide for her, as He provides for the birds.
After a while, St Ksenia left Petersburg for eight years. It is believed that she visited holy Elders and ascetics throughout Russia seeking instruction in the spiritual life. She may have visited St Theodore of Sanaxar (February 19), who had been a military man himself. His life changed dramatically when a young officer died at a drinking party. Perhaps this officer was St Ksenia's husband. In any case, she knew St Theodore and profited from his instructions.
St Ksenia eventually returned to the poor section of Petersburg, where she was mocked and insulted because of her strange behavior. Often,as she walked the streets in the city's poorer neighborhoods, people made fun of her, children would throw dirt at her and laugh. The blessed one only prayed for their souls, bearing patiently their taunts for the sake of Christ. When she did accept money from people it was only small amounts, which she used to help the poor. She spent her nights praying without sleep in a field outside the city. Prayer strengthened her, and in her heart's conversation with the Lord she found the support she needed on her difficult path.
When they began to build a church in the Smolensk Cemetery, Ksenia, after the onset of darkness, would secretly carry bricks to the top of the construction, which would be waiting for the workmen in the morning.
Gradually, people began to see that behind her seemingly odd behavior was someone who was very special in the eyes of God. Against her will, she became known as someone pleasing to God, and nearly everyone loved her.They said, "Ksenia does not belong to this world, she belongs to God." People regarded her visits to their homes or shops as a great blessing. St Ksenia loved children, and mothers rejoiced when the childless widow would stand and pray over a baby's crib, or kiss a child. They believed that the blessed one's kiss would bring that child good fortune. They noticed that when she would hold a crying baby in her arms, the baby would at once quiet down and remain calm and content for the rest of the day. Those stores which she entered would have good business that day. People began to realize that her often strange words held a deeper meaning, sometimes warning them of approaching disasters, or of what was to happen in their life.
Once, St Ksenia went to visit her friends the Golubev family - a mother and her 17-year old daughter. Ksenia greatly loved this girl for her meek and quiet manner and kind heart. As they were preparing to sit down for a cup of coffee, she said to the daughter, "Oh my beauty, here you are making coffee, while your husband is burying his wife at Ochta. Run quickly!" The young girl and her mother were most puzzled by these words, but knowing Ksenia' s gift of being able to see the future, they obeyed at once. There they came upon the funeral procession of the wife of a young doctor who was so overcome by grief that he fainted. The Golubevs brought him back to his senses, became acquainted, and a year later the daughter became his wife, just as the blessed one had foretold.
Another time some merchants were selling some particularly delicious honey out of a barrel. People had already begun to buy it at a high price when suddenly Blessed Ksenia appeared. "Don't take it, don't take it," she cried. "This honey can't be eaten; it stinks of a corpse." She leaned with all her strength against the barrel which overturned on the sidewalk, spilling the honey to the merchants' great dismay. To everyone's horror, there at the bottom of the barrel was a huge dead rat. Even those who had already bought some of the honey had to throw it out.
St Ksenia lived about forty-five years after the death of her husband, and departed to the Lord at the age of seventy-one. The exact date and circumstances of her death are not known, but it probably took place at the end of the eighteenth century. She was buried in the Smolensk cemetery, not far from the church which she had helped to build.
By the 1820s, people flocked to her grave to pray for her soul, and to ask her to intercede with God for them. So many visitors took earth from her grave that it had to be replaced every year. Later, a chapel was built over her grave.
St Ksenia continues to work many miracles, helping people out of all kinds of misfortunes. Through her prayers, people have been healed of serious illnesses; she is especially quick in helping to find jobs or places to live. Just this year a woman in England was looking for a place to live near the church where she had recently been received into the Orthodox Faith, so as to be able to attend the daily services. She and her priest prayed to St. Ksenia and within a few days she had an apartment in the house next door to the Parish House! Wondrous is God in His saints.
May we learn from the example of Blessed Ksenia how important it is for us not to be attached to the things of the world, but to keep our minds and hearts turned towards heaven, our true home, that we too, like St. Ksenia, may, after our earthly wandering, “come to dwell in the Father's house.â€
Taken from:
-www.oca.org
-www.firbirdvideos.com
-www.stxenia.ca
-www.fatheralexander.org
-The Life of St. Xenia, published by St. Herman's Press
If there are any problems with the sources cited, please let me know.