Venerable Elias of Murom, Wonderworker of the Kiev Near Caves
Saint Elias was a monk in the Near Caves Monastery in Kiev. He was from the city of Murom, and was called “Shoemaker” or “Cobbler." Popular legend identifies him with the famous warrior Elias of Murom, who was the subject of Russian ballads, and of Gliere’s Symphony No. 3. However, there is no strong basis for the validity of such an assumption.
Saint Elias reposed with the fingers of his right hand formed to make the Sign of the Cross in the position used even today in the Orthodox Church: the first three fingers together, and the two outermost fingers folded onto the palm [in contrast to the Sign of the Cross used by the “Old Ritualists”]. During the struggle with the Old Ritualist Schism (XVII - XIX centuries), this information about the Saint served as a powerful proof in favor of the present positioning of the fingers.
Saint Elias is also commemorated on the Second Sunday of Great Lent (Synaxis of all the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Caves); June 10 (Synaxis of All Saints of Ryazan and Siberia); June 23 (Synaxis of the Saints of Vladimir); and September 28 (Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of Kiev, whose relics lie in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony).