d. 1537
A disciple of St Cornelius of Komel who guided the Komel monastery as abbot.
Our Venerable Father Cassian, Abbot of Komel
Cassian of Komel was a sixteenth-century Russian monastic and a disciple of Saint Cornelius of Komel, the founder of the monastery near Vologda that bears Cornelius's name. When Cornelius withdrew from the community, the brethren chose Cassian to lead the monastery as abbot, and he is venerated among the disciples of Komel who carried on their teacher's discipline.
He is commemorated on May 16 together with Saint Laurence, another disciple of Cornelius who likewise served as abbot of Komel. Cassian reposed in 1537.
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 Cassian, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
During his time as abbot, Cassian instructed the monks in the fear of God: to give their time to prayer, to attend to inner spiritual activity, and to set aside worldly thoughts, remaining sober in mind, watchful in soul, and contrite in heart. In this he followed the example and Rule of his teacher Cornelius rather than introducing a discipline of his own.
The monastery Cassian governed had been founded by Cornelius, who settled in the Komel forest near Vologda toward the end of the fifteenth century and gathered a community around his cell. Cornelius later drew up a monastic Rule for the brethren, drawing on the rules associated with Joseph of Volokolamsk and Nilus of Sora. It was in this setting, and especially during Cornelius's absence at Lake Sura, that Cassian exercised the abbacy.
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