Saint Xenia’s Feigned Foolishness

Iulian MOGA

DOI: 10.47743/asui-2025-0009

Abstract: Foolishness for Christ is a rare charism of the Holy Spirit. Few are called to perfect themselves through this path of extreme asceticism, but even fewer are those who manage to complete this incredibly difficult endeavour. Following the path of self-sacrifice and assuming the identity of her unexpectedly deceased husband, Saint Xenia continued to live for countless years without a permanent dwelling, enduring fierce cold, heat, thirst, hunger, mockery, insults, and temptations of all kinds, for the sake of her boundless love for God and her husband. Differences in perception between the initial sparse information available in the press at the time and other contemporary works and current perception are noticeable and worth emphasizing.

Keywords: St Xenia; Russia; Peter the Great; prophecies; self-sacrifice; holy fool.