THE NATIVITY OF THE MOST-HOLY BOGORODITSA

AND

THE BATTLE OF KULIKOVO FIELD

On this day, over six and a quarter centuries ago (on 8 September 1380, to be precise), the Russian nation, as it does today, observed the Feast of the Nativity of the Most-Holy Bogoroditsa.  It was a dark time for Russia, which had groaned under Mongol-Tatar domination for nearly a century and a half by that time.

On the eve of the coming battle, in anticipation of this great and holy feast, Grand Prince Dimitrii of Moscow




solemnly transferred from the city of Vladimir to Moscow the most holy relic of the Vladimir Dimitriev cathedral – the icon of the Great-martyr Demetrios of Thessalonica, painted upon a plank from the grave of the saint.
 



(A chapel in the name of the Great-martyr Demetrios would subsequently be built at the Moscow Dormition Cathedral.) 

It was likewise in anticipation of this day that St. Sergii of Radonezh blessed Prince Dimitrii to engage the Mongol-Tatar-Venetian-Genoese coalition led by Mongol Emir Mamai, the leader of the Blue Horde, in that decisive battle upon which the further fate of Rus’ depended.



 
Prior to doing that, however, the Saint asked the Prince whether he had done everything in his power to avert the looming battle.  When informed by Dimitrii that he had, indeed, done so, St. Sergii said:

“Fear not, my Lord. Be firm and courageous. Go forth, fearless and resolved! The hour of conflict is near; it is inevitable. There is nothing to wait for. The enemy will be relentless, for if the Horde returns to its quarters without victory it will fall. [This prophecy of the Saint subsequently found its fulfillment when Khan Tokhtamysh of the White Horde later destroyed Emir Mamai's forces and united the latter's Blue Horde to his own White Horde, thus re-integrating the Golden Horde.]  This will be a decisive battle for them, but it will be decisive for us, too. The earth will be soaked in blood, but our entire life will be over if the enemy prevails. There will be no towns or monasteries left. Where will our books, our wisdom, our knowledge, and our faith find shelter? Centuries of slavery will predominate once more. Rus’ will never stand on her feet again. Fear neither losses nor bloodshed. On thy shoulders lies the responsibility for our land. It is a black and heavy burden. Bear up, my son Dimitrii, be bold! Go. Be resolute. God will not consent to our ruin.”




In addition to giving the Prince his blessing, the Saint also sent with him two of his schema-monks, Aleksandr (Peresvet) and Andrei (Osliaba) – formerly, renowned warriors in their own right -- in order that they might assist him in vanquishing the foe.




Having received St. Sergii’s blessing, Prince Dimitrii led his men to the confluence of the Nepryadva and Don Rivers. On 8 September 1380 they drew up on the northern part of Kulikovo Field.
 



A thick fog, which covered the earth at sunrise, lifted only at 11 a.m., whereupon, just prior to the commencement of the battle, the miracle-working icon of the Don Mother of God was carried before the Russian troops.  Then, the sound of trumpets and lutes rent the air and drums beat out a tattoo, as the Prince prepared to lead his men into battle. First, however, two men of gigantic proportions, the Russian schema-monk Peresvet, and the Tatar, Chelubei, rode toward the strip of land dividing the two forces.  

The monk galloped forward with tilted lance, his black cloak, embroidered with white crosses, streaming behind him. Under that cloak he wore neither armor nor chain mail. His breast was bare: on it hung a heavy iron cross. Riding headlong between the ranks on either end of the field, the two warriors drew near, then flung themselves at one another. The monk drove his lance into the Tatar’s belly, while that of the Tatar smashed through the monk’s chest.
 



The Tatar’s steed fled, dragging its rider, his foot caught in the stirrup. The monk still held his seat. His charger neighed, turned and ran back to Peresvet’s side. The dead monk, his arms clenched around the horse’s neck, returned to his regiment.  (Osliaba, too, would later fall, and his and Peresvet’s death in battle only added to the glory that they had previously gained through their ascetic labours in St. Sergii’s monastery.)

In that instant the cavalry of Prince Vladimir Andreyevich cut into the foe. At a decisive moment, the Mongol-Tatars saw gleaming horsemen racing from the heavens.  The Russian warriors felt the heavenly support as the battle then broke out with frightful force. Men were mown down on either side. Shields were split like egg-shells. The ground was soon thickly covered with corpses, leaving no foothold for the horses. Headless men stood side by side with those furiously fighting – there was no place for them to fall. Bumped on all sides and hemmed in by the horses, the foot soldiers were gasping for breath. Prince Dimitrii himself was fighting valiantly in the midst of his men.  Among all this carnage, the Mother of God Herself, Whose feastday it was – and is, today, this being the anniversary of Her Nativity – walked among the fallen Russian warriors, censing and commemorating each of them and commending their souls to Her Divine Son, while St. Sergii, by means of his Divine gift of clairvoyance, served an ongoing panikhida and commemorated each of the Russian warriors by name at the precise moment that they fell at the hands of the Muslim-Roman Catholic coalition forces, although he himself was hundreds of miles away.

All of this was too much for the foe to bear; gripped by terror, Mamai fled from the field of battle and his battalions followed after.

Thus were Mamai’s Mongol-Tatar, Venetian and Genoese troops defeated by our Russian forces, but the victor paid too big a price for that victory. Over 100,000 Russians lost their lives that day.  The chroniclers tell of “great joy throughout Russia; but there was also great grief at the number of men killed on the Don. The country now experienced a great shortage of fighting men, and as a result, great fear.”  

According to the chroniclers, never before had Russia known a battle like the one fought at Kulikovo. Europe had long forgotten anything like it. Prince Dimitrii was dubbed “Donskoi” after that and was later canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church.  

Despite the victory in the battle of Kulikovo, two years later the Golden Horde, led by Khan Tokhtamysh, who had finished off his recalcitrant vassal, Mamai, re-established its power over Russia and continued to rule our country for yet another century, albeit, in weakened form.  

Moscow, on the other hand, persevered in her efforts to unite the Russian lands. Inspired by the Battle of Kulikovo, the people were filled with the hope of one day throwing off the Mongol yoke, for good. It would only be under Dimitrii Donskoi’s grandson that this hope would finally be realized, and Moscow would emerge on the world scene as the Third Rome.

The Russian victory at the Field of Kulikovo showed that even a hundred fifty years of Mongol-Tatar domination could not break our forefathers; also, the Russian soul, preserved by the Orthodox Church, turned out to be capable of doing great deeds. And it is for his victory over the infidels at the Battle of Kulikovo that our nation has dubbed Grand Prince Dimitrii “Donskoi” ( = “of the Don” [River] ) – just as it had earlier dubbed Grand Prince Aleksandr "Nevskii" ( = "of the Neva" [River] ) for his victory, there, over the Swedes – for it was this Battle of Kulikovo that became the first all-Russian national feat, rallying round Dimitrii’s principality of Moscow the spiritual power of the Russian nation.  And it is to this auspicious event of Russian history that the “Zadonschina” [ = “The Trans-Doniad”] – an inspiring historic poem written by the priest Sofronii of Ryazan (1381) and patterned after the anonymous, but renowned,  “Slovo o plku Igoreve” [ = “The Lay Of Igor’s Host”] – is dedicated.
 
Also dedicated to the commemoration of the Battle of Kulikovo Field was the churchwide establishment of St. Demetrios Memorial Saturday in order to remember and pray for those soldiers who fell during the course of the conflict. This memorial service was held for the first time at the Trinity-St Sergii monastery on 20 October 1380 by the Venerable Sergii, Abbot of Radonezh, in the presence of Great Prince Dimitrii "Donskoi".   Since then, it has been observed annually with a solemn remembrance of the heroes who gave their lives there, among whose number are the holy Schema-monks St. Aleksandr (Peresvet) and St. Andrei (Osliaba), whom St. Sergii of Radonezh had sent to help Grand Prince Dimitrii win that fateful battle in which both earthly and heavenly Saints had taken part.


-- Geo. Spruksts    ( 2005.  Rev. 2006.)