The Holy Blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow, the youngest son of the Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, died in 1303. Before his death, following the pious example of his father, he accepted the monastic rank and schema and, out of deep humility, bequeathed to make a burial in the fraternal cemetery of the monastery he founded in honor of St. Daniel the Stylite, which later received the name of the Moscow Danilov Monastery.
The honest relics of Saint Prince Daniel were hidden for almost 350 years. During this time, the blessed prince repeatedly reminded of himself and the place of his burial.
So, during the time of Grand Duke John III, Saint Daniel appeared to the court youth and ordered him to say the following to the Grand Duke: «You will console yourself in every possible way, you have consigned me to oblivion, but he is also forgotten to take me, but my God has never forgotten me.». Having learned about this, Grand Duke John ordered to serve cathedral memorial services, distribute alms and arrange meals for the remembrance of his deceased.
Under the son of John III, Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Ioannovich, an event occurred described in the « Steppe Book». One day, the Grand Duke with a large retinue, in which Prince John Mikhailovich Shuisky was located, was in the Danilov Monastery and passed not far from the burial place of the blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow. Shuisky needed to mount a horse, and decided to do so from the tombstone on the grave of St. Daniel. A certain pious Christian who happened to be nearby said to Shuisky: «Lord Prince! Do not dare to take your horse off the stones of this. Wake up, as that Grand Duke Daniel» lies. The proud prince did not listen to the advice and, standing on a stone, was about to mount a horse. Suddenly, the horse rose and fell dead to the ground, crushing the rider, who had barely survived.
During the reign of John Vasilyevich the Terrible, the dying son of a Kolomna merchant received healing at the grave of Prince Daniel. John the Terrible established to annually perform a religious procession to the grave of the blessed prince and serve a memorial service for him. He also issued a Decree on the construction of a two-story stone church, fraternal cells in the monastery, which was deserted by that time, replenishing the monastery with monks and establishing a monastic dormitory.
In 1652, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, at the behest of the blessed Prince Daniel, who appeared to him, made the grand opening of the relics of the saint. On August 30, Patriarch Nikon with the Cathedral of Bishops and Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and his courtiers opened the grave of the blessed prince and found honest relics incorruptible. During the discovery of relics, many miraculous healings took place among the large people gathered there.
The holy relics were solemnly transferred to the monastery church in honor of the holy fathers of the Seven Ecumenical Councils and laid in a specially prepared wooden tomb opposite the right choir. At the same time, the blessed Prince Daniel of Moscow was canonized.