There are two Canons to the Monastic
Fathers of the Near Caves. The first was compiled by the hieromonk Meletius the
Orphan (inscribed in the Kiev Akathistnik of 1764). The second, found in the
services in honor of the Fathers of the Kiev Caves, was compiled by Saint
Demetrius of Rostov.
Among the Monastic Fathers of the Near
Caves are:
Monk Anthony the First-Founder (July 10)
Monk
Abramius the Lover of Labor (August 21)
Monk
Abramius the Recluse (October 29)
Monk
Agapitus, Unmercenary Physician (June 1)
Monk
Alexis the Recluse (April 24)
Monk
Alypius the Iconographer (August 17)
Martyr
Anastasius the Deacon (January 22)
Monk
Anatolius the Recluse (July 3)
Monk
Arethas the Recluse (October 24)
Monk
Athanasius the Recluse (December 2)
Igumen
Barlaam (November 19)
Hosiomartyrs
Basil and Theodore (August 11)
Hieromonk
Damian the Healer (October 5)
Monk
Elias of Murom (December 19)
Bishop
Ephraim of Pereyaslavl (January 28)
Monk
Erasmus the Black-Robed (February 24)
Martyr
Eustratius (March 28)
Monk
Gregory the Iconographer (August 8)
Martyr
Gregory the Wonderworker (January 8)
Monk
Helladius the Recluse (October 4)
Monk
Isaac the Recluse (February 14)
Monk
Isaiah the Wonderworker (May 15)
Monk
Jeremiah the Clairvoyant (October 5)
Monk
John the Faster (December 7)
John
the God-pleasing (December 29)
Martyr
John the Infant (December 29)
(commemorated
with the 14,000 Infants killed at Bethlehem by Herod)
Monk
John the Long-Suffering (July 18)
Nun
Juliana, Princess of Olshansk (July 6)
Hieromartyr
Kuksha, Enlightener of the Vyati (August 27)
Bishop
Laurence the Recluse of Turov (January 29)
Monk
Luke the Steward (November 6)
Monk
Macarius (January 19)
Monk
Mark the Grave-digger (December 29)
Monk
Matthew the Clairvoyant (October 5)
Bishop
Mercurius of Smolensk (August 7)
Martyr
Moses the Hungarian (July 26)
Monk
Nectarius the Obedient (November 29)
Monk
Nestor the Chronicler (October 27)
Monk
Nicholas Svyatosha, Prince of Chernigov (October 14)
Monk
Nicodemus the Prosphora-baker (October 31)
Igumen
Nikon (March 23)
Monk
Nikon the Shriveled (December 11)
Bishop
Niphon of Novgorod (April 8)
Monk
Onesimus the Recluse (October 4 and July 21)
Monk
Onesiphorus the Confessor (November 9)
Monk
Onuphrius the Silent (July 21)
Monk
Pimen the Faster (August 27)
Monk
Pimen the Much-Ailing (August 7)
Archmandrite
Polycarp (July 24)
Monk
Prochorus the Orach-eater (February 10)
Monk
Sava the God-pleasing (April 24)
Monk
Sergius the Obedient (October 7)
Monk
Simon, Bishop of Suzdal (May 10)
Monk
Sisoes the Recluse (October 24)
Monk
Spyridon the Prosphora-baker (October 31)
Monk
Sylvester the Wonderworker (January 2)
Monk
Theophanes the Faster (October 11)
Monks
Theophilus the Mourner (December 29)
Monk
Theophilus the Recluse (October 24)
Hieromonk
Titus (February 27)
Twelve
Master Architects of Constantinople who painted the monastery church of the
Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos (February 14)
Besides
these Saints, there are thirty other Saints among the monks of the Kiev Caves,
whose myrrh-producing heads were preserved. In the Service to the Monastic
Fathers of the Near Caves on September 28 Saint Ephraim the Priest is mentioned
(Ode 9). The hieromonk Athanasius Kalpophyisky wrote in 1638, that his
incorrupt body, clothed in priestly vestments, lay opposite the relics of Saint
Elias of Murom. Hieromonk Athanasius also mentions Saint Eustathius, (Ode 8),
who was a goldsmith before he came to the monastery.
In the Canon of Meletius the Orphan,
Saint Dionysius, Archbishop of Suzdal (June 26 and also October 15) is also
mentioned. The holy hierarch was detained by the Lithuanian prince at Kiev
after his consecration as Metropolitan of Moscow by the Patriarch of
Constantinople. He died on October 15, 1384 and was buried in the Antoniev
Cave.
Besides the monks mentioned in the
Services, the hieromonk Athanasius Kalpophyisky in his Manuscript of 1638
indicated even more Saints, whose uncovered relics they venerated: Saint
Hieronymos, Recluse and Wonderworker; Saint Meladius, holy Elder and Wonderworker;
Saint Pergius, holy Elder; Saint Paul, a monk of remarkable obedience.
The names of the priests Saint Meletius,
Saint Serapion, Saint Philaretos, Saint Peter are preserved in the old
manuscript Calendars.
On May 24,1853, in one of the branches
of the Near Caves, an inscription was discovered on an eleventh century crypt:
“Lord, preserve Thy servants Theodosius and Theophilus. Many Years.” “The Grave
of the Cave-Dweller John. Here John the sinner lived and is now.” On an oak
board: “John the Cave-Dweller.” Thus the names of the new Kiev Caves Fathers:
Theophilus, Theodosius and John were revealed.
There is also a general commemoration of
the Monks of the Near Caves together with the Monks of the Far Caves on the
second Sunday of Great Lent, when the Synaxis of all the Monastic Fathers of
Kiev Caves is celebrated. The Canon of the Hieromonk Meletius the Orphan enters
into the Service of that feastday (the Service to the Kiev Caves Monastic
Fathers, and to all the Saints who shone forth in Little Russia, inscribed from
Akathists with a Canon). The service was printed by the Kiev Caves Dormition
Lavra in 1866.
Without doubt, not all the names of the
Fathers of the Kiev Caves are known. In the Synaxis, all the Fathers illumined
by ascetic deeds in the Caves are glorified. In the Oikos of the Service of
September 28 we sing: “Who can praise Your Saints, O Good One? I try to count
their number, but they are multiplied more than the sands of the sea. O Master
Christ, Who have numbered the stars and named them all, grant their petitions
for us...”
Source: https://oca.org/saints/lives/2006/09/28/102757-synaxis-of-the-venerable-fathers-of-the-kiev-near-caves
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