Saint Aquila, Deacon, of the Kiev Caves

Saint Aquila the Deacon of the Kiev Caves (14th Century), became famous as a great faster, having spent a long while as a hermit. He ate neither vareny (pirogi) nor sweet food, he ate vegetables seldom and only in small quantities. During fasting periods, he ate only a single prosphoron.

Those thirsting for deliverance from “the enslavement of the passions of the stomach,” and those wishing to learn temperance turn to Saint Aquila entreating his help (Third Ode of the Canon to the monks venerated in the Far Caves).

Saint Aquila the Deacon is also commemorated on August 28 and on the second Sunday of Great Lent.