St. Sergius, by the example of his holy life, by the very possibility of such a life, made the sorrowful people feel that not all that was good in them had yet been extinguished and frozen, and helped them to look into their own inner darkness and discern there still smouldering sparks of the same fire with which he himself burned. And the people, accustomed to tremble at the very name of the Tatar, finally gathered their courage, rose up against the enslavers and not only found the courage to stand up, but also went to look for the Tatar hordes in the open steppe and there fell on the enemies like an indestructible wall, burying them under their many thousands of bones.

The feeling of moral vigor and spiritual strength, which St. Sergius breathed into Russian society, was even more vividly and fully perceived by Russian monasticism. In the life of Russian monasteries from the time of Sergius, a remarkable change began: the desire for monasticism was noticeably revived. Old Russian monasticism was an accurate indicator of the entire worldly society: the desire to leave the world intensified not because of the accumulation of misfortunes in the world, but in proportion as moral forces rose in it. St. Sergius, with his monastery and his disciples, was a model and initiator in this revival of monastic life, "the head and teacher of all the monasteries in Russia," as the chronicler calls him. He likened and continues to liken to his spiritual nature all people who are in close contact with him. He nourished with his strong spirit entire hosts, entire generations of monastics. Up to 70 monasteries were founded by his disciples and the disciples of his disciples; his spiritual descendants were one of the main spiritual forces that contributed to the spiritual transformation of various semi-pagan tribes, scattered throughout the space of northern and central Russia, into one whole Great Russian tribe, united, animated, and sealed by the spirit of Orthodoxy. And our chroniclers had every reason to call St. Sergius the abbot of All Russia, and the Holy Church worthily and righteously magnifies him as the Chosen Governor of the Russian land!

The homeland of St. Sergius was the land of Rostov, so "he came out of us, he was flesh of our flesh and bone of our bones, and he rose to such a height that we did not even hope that it would be accessible to any of our people." And the monk walked the common path of sorrows and podvig of the cross before he appeared as that wondrous grace-filled man, as we see him in the last years of his life. The wondrous promise of the Lord was fulfilled: "If any man love me, he shall keep my word; and My Father will love him, and I will love him, and we will come to him, and make our abode with him (John 14:21-23). St. Sergius experienced the mystery of the Life-Giving Trinity, because by his life he was united with God, he partook of the very life of the Divine Trinity, that is, he attained the measure of deification possible on earth, becoming a partaker of the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). And in his soul the Holy Trinity "created a dwelling"; he himself became "the abode of the Holy Trinity", and all with whom the monk communicated, he raised and joined to it. His disciple and describer of his life justly remarks that Sergius was "as one of the great fathers of old." For his strong faith, he was vouchsafed to behold the stone of faith – Peter; for his virginal purity – the virgin and friend of Christ John, and for his greatest humility – the humblest of the earth-born Lady of the world, the Most Holy Mother of God. In the humble heart of the ascetic quietly shone the ineffable light of God's grace, warming his entire spiritual being. All the gifts of God were abundantly communicated to him: the gift of miracles, and the gift of prophecy, and the gift of consolation and edification, counsel and spiritual understanding. For his spiritual gaze, it was as if there were no material barriers, no distance, no time itself: he saw what was far away, as if it were near, he saw the future, as if it were the present. For the holiness of his life, he was loved and revered and respected by almost everyone more than his humble state at that time allowed. A great multitude came to him from various countries and cities, and among those who came were monks, princes, nobles, and ordinary people "living in the countryside."

As a ship burdened with a multitude of treasures quietly approaches a good haven, so the God-bearing Sergius approached the exodus from this temporal life. The sight of death did not frighten him, because he had been preparing for it with the feats of his whole life. He was already over 70 years old. His incessant labors exhausted his senile strength, but he never omitted a single service of God, and "the more he grew old in age, the more he was renewed in zeal," giving himself an instructive example to the youth.

Six months before his death, the great ascetic was honored with a revelation about the time of his departure to God. He summoned the brethren to him and, in the presence of all, handed over the administration of the monastery to his ever-present disciple, the Monk Nikon (Comm. 17/30 November), and he himself began to remain silent. September 1391 came, and the monk elder fell grievously ill... Once more he gathered around him all his disciples and once more stretched out his last instruction to them.

How much simplicity and power there is in this dying teaching of the dying father of monks! How much love for those whom he leaves! He desired and commanded that his spiritual children should follow the same path to the Kingdom of Heaven that he himself had walked throughout his entire life. First of all, he taught them to remain in Orthodoxy: "The foundation of every good deed, every good intention, according to the teaching of the word of God, must be faith; without faith it is impossible to please God. But the Orthodox faith, based on the teaching of the Apostles and Fathers, is alien to high-mindedness, which often leads to lack of faith and unbelief and leads away from the path of salvation." Further, the monk bequeathed to the brethren to preserve oneness of mind, to observe purity of soul and body and love without hypocrisy, he advised them to shun evil lusts, he prescribed moderation in food and drink, humility, love of strangers and a complete search for the things above, heavenly, with contempt for the vanity of life. He reminded them of much of what he had said before, and finally commanded them not to bury him in church, but to lay him in a common cemetery, together with the rest of the departed fathers and brethren.

Silently stood with drooping heads the sorrowful children of Sergius and with heartache they listened to the last instructions of their beloved elder. It was especially sad for them to hear the last will of their humble abbot regarding the place of his final rest. The mere sight of his grave in the church of God in the midst of a council of praying brethren could serve as a certain consolation for them. But the elder did not want this, and the disciples did not want to upset his humility with their contradiction, and every word involuntarily died on their lips. "Do not grieve, my children," the elder comforted them with love, "I depart to God, Who calls me, and I entrust you to the Almighty Lord and His Most-Pure Mother: She will be your refuge and a wall from the arrows of the enemy!"

Just before the departure of his soul, the elder wished to partake of the Most-Pure Body and Blood of Christ for the last time. All filled with grace-filled consolation, he lifted up his eyes watering with joy to grief and once more, with the help of his disciples, stretched out his venerable hands to God... "In Thy hands I commend my spirit, O Lord!" – quietly pronounced the holy elder, and in the breath of this prayer he departed with his pure soul to the Lord, Whom he had loved from his youth.

It was September 25, 1392. As soon as the Monk Sergius breathed his last, an indescribable fragrance spread throughout his cell. The face of the departed righteous man shone with heavenly bliss, and death did not dare to put its gloomy seal on the radiant face of the newly-departed elder of God.

Немедленно старейшие из братии отправились в Москву со скорбной вестью к митрополиту Киприану. Они сообщили ему как завещание старца о месте погребения, так и усердное желание всей братии положить его в церкви Пресвятой Троицы, им самим созданной, и просили его архипастырского о том распоряжения. И святитель не затруднился благословить их на погребение смиренного игумена в церкви, хотя сам он не желал того. Весть о его преставлении привлекла в обитель множество народа не только из окрестных селений, но и из ближайших городов. Каждому хотелось приблизиться и прикоснуться если не к самому телу богоносного старца, то, по крайней мере, ко гробу его. Тут были и князья, и бояре, почтенные старцы-игумены, и честные иереи столицы, и множество иноков, кто со свечами, кто с кадилами и святыми иконами, провожая святые останки блаженного старца к месту последнего их упокоения. И похоронили его у правого клироса в церкви Пресвятой Троицы.

Трогательными чертами изображает скорбь осиротевших учеников Сергиевых блаженный описатель жития его, сам свидетель и участник этой скорби. «Все сетовали, — говорил он, — все плакали, воздыхали, ходили с поникшей головой». И в горести души своей часто приходили они на могилу старца, и здесь в слезной молитве припадали к его мощам святым, и беседовали с ним, как бы с живым, поверяя ему скорбь свою. «О, святче Божий, угодниче Спасов, избранниче Христов!» — говорили они. — О, священная главо, преблаженный авва Сергие Великий! Не забуди нас, убогих рабов твоих, не забуди нас сирот своих; поминай нас всегда во святых своих и благоприятных молитвах ко Господу, поминай стадо, тобою собранное. Молись за нас, отче священный, за детей твоих: ты имеешь дерзновение у Царя Небесного, — не промолчи же, вопия за нас ко Господу! Тебе дана благодать за нас молитися… Мы не считаем тебя умершим, нет! Хотя телом ты и преставился от нас, но дух твой с нами; не отступи же от нас, пастырь наш добрый».

Так оплакивали святые ученики святого старца, так крепко веровали они в его благодатное сопребывание духом с ними. И по вере их угодник Божий не оставлял их без утешения. Так, однажды благочестивый инок Игнатий видел наяву во время всенощного бдения, что преподобный Сергий стоит на своем месте игуменском и поет вместе с братией. Это видение было как бы ответом любвеобильного старца своим присным ученикам из загробного мира, ответом на их сердечный молитвенный плач над гробом его.

Спустя 30 лет по преставлении преподобного Сергия Бог благоволил явить миру сокровище святыни.

При открытии гроба разлилось благоухание необыкновенное. И не только тело чудотворца оказалось нетленным, но и одежды его были невредимы, хотя с обеих сторон гроба стояла вода. Мощи на время были поставлены в деревянной Троицкой церкви (на том месте находится теперь церковь Сошествия Святаго Духа.) Каменный храм, как место покоя великого Сергия, созидался и украшался с благоговейной любовью и с усердными молитвами. Над украшением сего святилища потрудились преподобные иконописцы Даниил и Андрей Рублев (память 4/17 июля). При освящении в 1426 году каменного Троицкого собора святые мощи были перенесены в него. И доныне стоит этот храм Никонова строения, не потрясаемый веками, и освящает молящихся, и руки нечестивых доныне не прикасались к нему.