The unusual boat of Saint Basil of Ryazan

Summary:

A Russian priest and mystic, Basil became Bishop of Murom (Central Russia, Vladimir Oblast). Before his consecration as bishop, he was already beloved by the faithful, as shown by his great popularity: many came to pray with him in the town's primitive wooden church, where they kept a miraculous icon of Our Lady of the Assumption brought from Kiev (Ukraine) by Prince Constantine in the previous century.

Many regarded Basil as a miracle-worker. Yet every day, Basil put all his energy into evangelizing believers, teaching them that the essential thing is not the "miraculous", but faith in Jesus Christ. Like the rural areas of Western Europe before the 8th century, 13th-century central Russia, which had been evangelized barely 300 years earlier (Murom was founded at the end of the 9th century), retained many pagan customs and practices: a taste for magic, and shamanism. As a Christian, and as a bishop, Basil took a firm stand against this, undoubtedly making enemies.

One day, a rumor broke out in Murom: a female figure had been seen on the bishop's balcony. This quick sight was all it took for the bishop to be accused of duplicity and debauchery by people jealous of his reputation of holiness. Basil asserted that the “woman” in question was not planted there to frame him, but a collective hallucination caused by the devil, which he claimed to have witnessed too!

It was a shocking event for the people of the town and surrounding area. At the time, Basil enjoyed a perfect reputation and carried out many charitable activities: to discover a major stain on his character infuriated the population.

Basil was on his own. The mob attacked him without seeking the intervention of an ecclesiastical tribunal. The historical records do not mention other clerics or religious in the town: at the time, bishops living in remote rural areas (Murom is over 300 kilometers from Moscow) were assisted by few priests, who were usually monks, and these were sometimes hermits.

Basil's first reaction was not to run away, or try to justify himself, but to go and pray in front of the icon of the Virgin venerated by the faithful. He didn't ask the townspeople to let him defend himself with rational arguments, but to grant him 24 hours to pray before killing him - until 3 p.m. the next day! He prayed the entire night in the wooden church, where no one disturbed him. There, instead of praying for his safety or that someone would be convicted, he asked the Virgin Mary to reveal his innocence to the people.

And this is what happened: in the early afternoon, Basil left the church, dressed in his episcopal vestments and carrying the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos in his arms. Intrigued, the people decided to follow him. He calmly made his way to the Oka River, not far from the town's entrance, without trying to flee. There, he knelt down, said a prayer, took a few steps along the water's edge, then entered the river: he spread his cloak on the water and used it as a boat. In this way, he made his way upstream against the current. This miracle took place at precisely 3 p.m, the exact time when the truce granted to the saint came to an end!

If this story were a fabrication, it would be hard to understand how the witnesses could have so embellished the life of a man whom they were about to kill! On the contrary, faced with this prodigy, the eyewitnesses asked Basil's forgiveness and begged him to stay with them, imploring God not to punish them for their wickedness towards the holy bishop.

Historical accounts are silent about Basil's river journey from Murom to Ryazan (Russia, Ryazan Oblast), but it is reported that, as soon as he set foot on shore, Basil was welcomed with open arms and asked to become bishop of the town of Ryazan, which he accepted. The people invited him to present himself to Prince Oleg Ivanovitch, who received him with honor.

The saint's reputation spread to the entire region. He arrived in Ryazan carrying the venerable icon of Our Lady of the Assumption, which, for the Orthodox faithful, is an important part of their spiritual life. The citizens of Ryazan wondered how the faithful of Murom could have been deceived.

From this point on, Basil exercised his pastoral ministry in peace. However, he had to leave Ryazan along with its inhabitants to escape the Tatars who were soon sweeping through the city and its surroundings. He found refuge in Pereïaslav (Ukraine, Kiev Oblast), where he died on July 3, 1295.

He was buried in the Cathedral of St. Boris and St. Gleb in Pereïaslav. His funeral was celebrated with great pomp. People came to pray at his tomb, and miracles of healing were reported. Despite the upheavals of history, his veneration continued uninterrupted. However, traces of his relics were lost in the late Middle Ages, having been moved several times for safekeeping.

As proof that the veneration of Saint Basil never disappeared, he was proclaimed a saint in 1547. On June 10, 1609, his relics were found in a perfect state of preservation. They were transferred to Ryazan Cathedral in a ceremony presided over by Bishop Theodoret. In 1636, they were placed in a beautiful stone tomb-reliquary built for the occasion. In the following century, the religious authorities established the site as a Shrine.

On October 4, 1836, a cast-iron monument, built under the orders of Boris Glebsky, the cathedral's chief curator, was unveiled on the exact spot where the holy relics were found. The work, financed by Ryazan merchants, withstood the Soviet regime's attempts to suppress the Christian faith. All attempts to silence the voice of Saint Basil failed.

Beyond reasons to believe:

Aside from the miracles God performed through St Basil, his life, fidelity to his faith and charity towards all, even in the face of the greatest adversity, is a model of courage and self-sacrifice.

Going further:

Makarios Mirolubov, Life of Saint Basil, bishop of Ryazan, Moscow, 1875.

More information:

• Orthodox Saints by Fr. George Poulos (Holy Cross Orthodox Press; Expanded edition - April 12, 2005)
• Saints of the Russian Orthodox Church by Alexander Egger (Independently published – February 27, 2023