Lives of the Saints

Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

When Saint John was more than one hundred years old, he told seven of his disciples to take spades and follow him to a certain place outside the city of Ephesus, and then he told everyone to sit down while he went off to pray by himself for a while. When he returned, he told his disciples to dig a…

Venerable Arsenius the Great

Venerable Arsenius the Great

Saint Arsenius the Great was born in the year 354 at Rome into a pious Christian family, which provided him a fine education and upbringing. He studied rhetoric and philosophy, and mastered the Latin and Greek languages. Saint Arsenius gave up philosophy and the vanity of worldly life, seeking…

Venerable Arsenius the Lover-of-Labor of the Kiev Far Caves

Venerable Arsenius the Lover-of-Labor of the Kiev Far Caves

Saint Arsenius the Lover of Labor lived during the fourteenth century. This ascetic was distinguished by his love for toil, and living in asceticism in the Kiev Caves monastery of the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, he knew no rest. He prayed constantly and partook of food only at the setting…

Venerable Pimen the Ascetic of the Kiev Far Caves

Saint Pimen, Faster of the Caves, won fame by his exploit of fasting. The relics of the saint rest in the Far Caves. He is also commemorated on August 28.