Fool for Christ
Blessed Nikolai of Pskov bore the feat of foolishness for more than three decades, acquiring the gracious gifts of the Holy Spirit. His contemporaries called him Mikula Sallos, which means 'blessed, fool for Christ.'
In February 1570, after the campaign of Ivan the Terrible against Pskov, the city prayed for the turning away of the tsar's wrath. The tsar, hearing the ringing of the bells, said to his soldiers: 'Strike your swords against the stone, that the killings may cease.'
On one of the streets, Blessed Nikolai ran out on a stick, shouting to the tsar: 'Ivanushko, eat bread and salt, not Christian blood.' The tsar ordered his soldiers to capture the fool, but he became invisible. The blessed one offered the tsar a piece of raw meat, to which Ivan replied that he does not eat meat during Lent. The blessed one admonished the tsar to stop the killings.
The prayer of the blessed one awakened the tsar's conscience. Frightened, Grozny ordered the plundering to stop and fled the city. The Oprichniki wrote about how 'with many terrible words' the blessed one frightened the tsar.
Blessed Nikolai passed away on February 28, 1576, and was buried in the Trinity Cathedral. Local veneration began five years after his death, when the armies of the Polish king Stefan Batory witnessed the appearance of the Mother of God with a multitude of Pskov saints, among whom was Blessed Nikolai.
In the Trinity Cathedral of Pskov, the relics of Blessed Nikolai are honored, who 'was bodily a fool for Christ.'
