Saint Bassian of Uglich
Venerable Bassian of Úglich was a disciple of the Saint Paisios of Uglich (+ June 6, 1504). He was born in the village of Rozhalov, located in the Kesovsk volost of the city of Bezhetsky Verkh,1 and he was descended from the family of the Shestikhinsky Princes (their ancestor is the right-believing Prince Theodore of Smolensk (+ September 19, 1299). Venerable Bassian entered the Protection Monastery when he was 33 years old, and soon he was tonsured by Saint Paisios.
He went through his obediences without murmuring and lived in great abstinence. In 1482, Saint Bassian discovered the Protection Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos on the banks of the Volga. After spending 20 years in the monastery of SaintPaisios, Bassian asked his blessing to live a life of silence. His instructor blessed him, saying, "Go, child desired by Christ, with His easy yoke (Matthew 11:30), and please the Lord. Soon you will form your own monastery and gather a monastic flock for the glory of the Most Holy Trinity."
In the year 1492 Saint Bassian left the Monastery and, after spending some time at the Saint Nicholas-Uleim Monastery,2 he went to a remote place 30 versts south of Uglich and began a solitary life of ascetical contests. But soon people found his secluded dwelling, and began coming to him for advice and guidance. In 1492 the Saint built a wooden church dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity, and soon those who wished to receive the monastic tonsure gathered there.
The Saint did not sever his contact with his instructor until his death, at which time he was with other disciples. After he had lived for 17 years at Holy Trinity Monastery, Saint Bassian reposed on February 12, 1509. Three years later, a certain Gerasimos was freed from an unclean spirit at the Saint's grave, and a man named Valerian was healed of his paralysis.
In 1548, during the construction of a stone church to replace the ancient wooden one, the Saint's incorrupt relics were found,over which a stone vault was built. The Monastery was restored in 1764, and Holy Trinity church became a parish church.The church has not survived to this day, and the Saint's burial place has been lost. The memory of "Venerable Vassian, theSuperior of Ryabov Hermitage" is noted in the "Description of the Russian Saints" (end of the XVII–XVIII centuries). Local veneration was tacitly approved by the inclusion of his name in the Synaxis of Rostov-Yaroslavl Saints (May 23).
1 Bezhetsky Verkh is located 20 versts from the town of Bezhetsk, Tver region. in the territory between the Mota River and the tributaries of the Volga, became part of the Moscow state, together with Novgorod.
2 The Pritection-Saint Nicholas Monastery, in which Saint Vassian was tonsured, is located three versts from the city of Uglich, on the left bank of the Volga.
3 The Saint Nicholas-Uleima Monastery is located 10 versts from Uglich at the confluence of the Uleyma and Vorzhekhoti rivers. The Saint's ascetical life was spent on the territory of the present day Yaroslavl Region (Yaroslavl Diocese).