An ascetic of the Far Caves of Kiev, remembered for his obedience and wonderworking grace; his relics rest in the Caves.
Our Venerable Father Savva the Recluse of the Kiev Caves
Venerable Savva the Recluse was a monk of the Kiev Caves monastery who lived during the thirteenth century. Like a number of the monastic fathers buried in the caves, he is remembered chiefly through the liturgical and manuscript tradition of the monastery rather than through a detailed biography, and almost nothing of his individual life story has survived.
He bore the monastic standing of recluse, devoting himself to the secluded ascetic life within the caves, and the tradition of the monastery numbers him among its wonderworkers. He is commemorated on April 24.
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 Savva, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
Savva's primary feast falls on April 24. According to the synaxarion this date was assigned on account of his namesake, the Holy Martyr Savva Stratelates, who is also commemorated on that day.
Beyond his own feast, he is remembered within the collective commemorations of the Kiev Caves community: on September 28 with the Synaxis of the Monastic Fathers of the Near Caves, and on the Second Sunday of Great Lent with the Synaxis of all the Wonderworkers of the Kiev Caves.
The monastery's records consistently honor Savva as a wonderworker. He is so named in the manuscripts of the house, in the Book of the Saints, and in the Canon of the Services to the Fathers of the Kiev Caves, the chief liturgical witnesses through which his memory has been preserved.
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