Venerable (Monastic)11th century

Venerable Agapitus the Unmercenary Physician of the Kiev Caves

11th century (reposed not later than 1095)

Also known as Agapitus of the Caves

A monk of the Kiev Caves and disciple of St Anthony who tended the sick without payment, healing them by prayer and the simple herbs he ate, and who himself healed a prince of Chernigov from afar.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Agapitus, the Unmercenary Physician of the Kiev Caves

Come to them for

Healing

Life

Agapitus was an eleventh-century monk of the Kiev Caves monastery and one of its earliest healers, remembered as an "unmercenary physician" because he tended the sick without ever accepting payment. A novice and disciple of Saint Anthony of the Caves, he treated ailing brethren and laypeople alike, feeding them the boiled herbs he prepared for himself and trusting their recovery to prayer rather than to the medical arts of his day.

His best-known act was the healing of Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Chernigov from a distance, by sending him the same simple herbs; the grateful prince came to the monastery to find his benefactor, but Agapitus hid himself and refused all gifts. The tradition of his life is bound up with his contest against a renowned Armenian physician, whose envy, failed attempt to poison the saint, and final conversion form the dramatic core of his story. Agapitus reposed on June 1 and his relics rest in the Near Caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

Timeline4 momentsReadHide

11th centuryBorn at KievAgapitus was born in Kiev during the eleventh century.
11th centuryTonsured under Saint Anthony of the CavesHe became a novice and disciple of Saint Anthony of the Caves, who admitted him to monastic vows, and lived in the Near Caves of the monastery.
11th centuryHealing of Prince Vladimir MonomakhHe healed Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Chernigov, the future Great Prince of Kiev (1114-1125), by sending him boiled herbs, then hid himself when the prince came to thank him.
June 1, not later than 1095ReposeSaint Agapitus reposed on June 1, not later than 1095. The Armenian physician who had foretold his death kept his oath and received monastic tonsure at the Caves monastery.

Contributions & Legacy

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Healing Ministry

Agapitus practiced his healing within the Kiev Caves monastery, where Saint Anthony had received him into the monastic life. When any of the brethren fell ill, he came to attend to them himself, feeding the sick the boiled herbs he prepared for his own food; through these simple remedies and his prayers, the accounts relate, the sufferers recovered.

His reputation drew not only monks but many laypeople, who turned to him for the gift of healing. He charged nothing for his care, which earned him the title of unmercenary physician, and he consistently refused gifts even from those of high rank whom he had cured.

The Armenian Physician

The synaxarion relates that a skilled Armenian physician lived in Kiev at this time, celebrated for his ability to diagnose an illness and to determine the very day on which a patient would die. Envious of Agapitus's successes, he sought to poison the saint, but, the account holds, the Lord preserved him and the poison had no effect.

When Agapitus himself fell ill, the Armenian examined him and predicted he would die within three days, vowing to become an Orthodox monk if the prediction failed. Agapitus answered that the Lord had revealed he would be summoned only after three months. He reposed three months later, on June 1; the astonished physician kept his oath, received monastic tonsure at the Caves monastery, and confessed that Agapitus was truly a saint of God.

Relics & Shrines

The relics of Saint Agapitus rest in the Near Caves of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, where he had lived and labored. Portions of his relics are kept elsewhere as well; a fragment is held at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Washington, D.C.

Beyond his principal feast on June 1, he is numbered among the saints of the Kiev Caves in their collective commemorations, including the synaxes of the venerable fathers of the Near Caves and of all the saints of the Kievan Caves monastery. Several churches in Ukraine and Russia bear his name.

Member of2 groupsReadHide

Synaxis of the Holy Unmercenaries

Commemorated together · Oct 17

Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Near Caves

Commemorated together · Sep 28

Companions3 figuresShowHide

Founder of the Kiev Caves monastery, who tonsured Agapitus and admitted him to monastic vows.

Anthonyof the Kyiv Caves

Co-founder and first abbot of the Kiev Caves monastery, under whose cenobitic rule Agapitus lived and labored.

Theodosiusof the Kyiv Caves

Deacon of the Kiev Caves, of the same community.

Venerable Aquilaof the Kiev Caves

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