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Venerable (Monastic)13th century

Sophronius the Recluse of the Kiev Caves

Also known as Sophronius the Recluse

A recluse of the Far Caves of the Kiev Monastery who lived in great austerity, wearing a hairshirt and an iron belt and reciting the entire Psalter each day. He is numbered among the venerable fathers of the Kiev Caves.

March 11New Calendar
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March 24Old Calendar
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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Sophronius the Recluse of the Far Caves of Kiev

Life

Sophronius the Recluse was a thirteenth-century ascetic of the Far Caves (the Theodosiev Caves) of the Kiev Caves monastery. According to the synaxarion, he lived in seclusion, wore a hairshirt and a heavy iron belt, and read through the entire Psalter each day. He is numbered among the venerable fathers of the Kiev Caves whose relics repose in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius.

Little is recorded of his life beyond his reputation for severe asceticism; the surviving tradition preserves his ascetic regimen, the location of his relics, and his liturgical commemoration rather than any extended biography. He is commemorated on March 11 and May 11.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Sophronius, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Contributions & Legacy

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Ascetic Life

The synaxarion describes Sophronius as a solitary ascetic of the Far Caves during the thirteenth century. His recorded austerities were the continual wearing of a hairshirt and a heavy iron belt and the daily recitation of the whole Psalter, disciplines characteristic of the reclusive monasticism of the Kiev Caves Lavra.

By tradition he was deemed worthy to hear angels singing. No dates of birth or repose, place of origin, or further narrative of his life survive in the available record, which preserves only his ascetic reputation.

Relics & Shrines

The relics of Saint Sophronius were buried in the Far Caves of the Kiev Caves monastery, where they repose among the body of Far Caves fathers. His solitary ascetical struggles are mentioned in the Canon to the monks of the Far Caves.

He is numbered in the collective Synaxis of the Holy Fathers of the Kiev Caves whose relics repose in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius, commemorated on August 28.

Related Saints2 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Founder of his monastery — Saint Anthony established the Kiev Caves Lavra, the monastic house in whose Far Caves Sophronius pursued his life of reclusive asceticism.
Anthonyof the Kyiv Caves
Founder of the Far Caves — Sophronius's relics repose among the fathers of the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius, co-founder of the Lavra and organizer of its cenobitic life.
Theodosiusof the Kyiv Caves

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints