Venerable (Monastic)15th century

Venerable Barnabas Abbot of Vetluga

d. 1445

Also known as Barnabas of Vetluga

A priest who withdrew to the wild banks of the Vetluga river and lived there in solitude for twenty-eight years before disciples gathered to him.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Barnabas, Abbot of Vetluga

Life

Barnabas of Vetluga was a fifteenth-century Russian hermit who originated from Great Ustiug, where he served as a priest in one of the city churches before withdrawing into the forested wilderness of the upper Volga basin. In 1417 he settled at a place called Red Hill on the banks of the River Vetluga, an area so remote that no human habitation lay within fifty versts.

He passed twenty-eight years there in solitude, devoting himself to psalmody and prayer and subsisting, according to his Life, on grass and acorns. He reposed in old age on June 11, 1445. A monastic community later grew up at the site of his labors, fulfilling a prophecy attributed to him, and his name is preserved in the town of Varnavin that developed around the monastery.

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 Barnabas, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

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

Timeline4 momentsReadHide

1417Withdrawal to the VetlugaHaving served as a priest in Great Ustiug, Barnabas left the city for the wilderness and settled at Red Hill on the banks of the River Vetluga, where no human settlement lay within fifty versts.
1417–1445Twenty-eight years of solitudeHe lived as a hermit for twenty-eight years, occupied with psalmody and prayer. His Life relates that he subsisted on grass and acorns and that the wild bears living near his cell became tame to him.
June 11, 1445ReposeBarnabas died in old age. By tradition he had foretold that monks would settle at the place of his labors and that human habitation would multiply along the Vetluga toward the River Volga.
1639Life written and relics examinedThe hieromonk Joseph (Dyadkin) of the monastery composed the saint's Life. In the same year, under Patriarch Joasaph, his relics were canonically examined and reported miracles at his burial site were verified.

Contributions & Legacy

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The Varnavin Monastery

After Barnabas's death, monks came from various lands to settle at Red Hill, followed by farmers, and population spread along the river toward the Volga. The monks established a cenobitic community known as the Varnavinsk wilderness-monastery.

At the site they built two churches: one in honor of the Most Holy Trinity, and a second dedicated to Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker raised over the saint's grave. The town of Varnavin eventually developed around the monastery.

Relics & Shrines

Barnabas's relics were examined in 1639 under Patriarch Joasaph and enshrined at the monastery he had inspired. They were placed in a silver tomb in 1914.

The relics were confiscated in 1922 and are now kept in the wooden Church of the Archangel Michael at the site.

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