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Venerable (Monastic)10th century

Venerable Michael Maleinos

c. 894 - 961

Also known as Manuel Maleinos

A Cappadocian nobleman, kinsman of emperors, who forsook the court for the monastic life and founded a community on Mount Kyminas; the spiritual father of St Athanasius of Athos.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Michael Maleinos, Abbot of Kyminas

Life

Michael Maleinos was a tenth-century Byzantine monastic from a leading aristocratic family of Cappadocia. Born Manuel Maleinos around 894, he was connected through his kin to the imperial and military elite of the age: his mother was a relative of the emperor Romanos I Lekapenos, while his sister's marriage to the general Bardas Phokas the Elder tied the Maleinos household to the dominant Phokas dynasty. Rather than pursue the worldly advancement his lineage afforded, he withdrew from the world at the age of eighteen and devoted his life to ascetic discipline.

As founder and abbot of the lavra on Mount Kyminas in Bithynia, he established one of the formative monastic centers of the period and became the spiritual father of Athanasius the Athonite, whose Great Lavra on Mount Athos was modeled on Michael's community. His enduring association with the Phokas family also extended to his nephew, the future emperor Nikephoros II Phokas.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide
KontakionTone 2

By your deeds you withered the arrogance of the flesh;
through enlightenment you gave wings to your agility of spirit.
You were revealed as a dwelling place of the Trinity,
Whom you now clearly behold.
Blessed Michael, unceasingly pray for us all.

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

TroparionTone 8

The image of God was truly preserved in you, O Father,
for you took up the Cross and followed Christ.
By so doing, you taught us to disregard the flesh, for it passes away,
but to care instead for the soul, since it is immortal.
Therefore your spirit, O holy Father Michael, rejoices with the angels.

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

Timeline4 momentsReadHide
  1. c. 894Birth in CappadociaBorn Manuel Maleinos in Cappadocia into the aristocratic Maleinos family, with kinship ties to the emperor Romanos I Lekapenos and to the Phokas military dynasty.
  2. c. 912Withdrawal to the monastic lifeAt the age of eighteen he renounced worldly life and withdrew to Bithynia, where under the guidance of the elder John Heladites he took the monastic name Michael.
  3. c. 953Athanasius the Athonite enters his communityAthanasius the Athonite began his monastic training at Michael's monastery and later modeled the Great Lavra of Mount Athos upon Michael's establishment.
  4. 961Repose at Mount KyminasHe died on July 12, 961, at Mount Kyminas; he is commemorated on that date.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributionsReadHide

Monastic Foundation on Mount Kyminas

After withdrawing to Bithynia, Michael founded a lavra under the direction of the elder John Heladites and was subsequently ordained to the priesthood. Accounts of his ascetic practice describe him spending five weekdays each week in solitary prayer within a cave.

He extended monastic settlement across Mount Kyminas, in the region of present-day Bursa Province, establishing further communities including a monastery at Dry Lake. He is remembered as the abbot of the lavra at Mount Kyminas, a Byzantine monastic center that remained active until monks ceased living there by the Ottoman period. The exact location of the mountain, somewhat north of Bursa, is no longer certain.

Influence and Legacy

Michael's most consequential disciple was Athanasius the Athonite, who trained under him before founding the Great Lavra on Mount Athos on the pattern of Michael's community, linking the Kyminas tradition to the development of Athonite monasticism. Through his family Michael also exercised influence over his nephew, the general and later emperor Nikephoros II Phokas, who reigned from 963 to 969.

In later centuries he was venerated in Russia as the patron saint of Mikhail Feodorovich, the first Romanov tsar, and was widely honored by the Romanov dynasty, with chapels dedicated to him during the seventeenth century.

Family3 relativesShowHide
Family

Michael was born into the aristocratic Maleinos house of Cappadocia, kin by blood and marriage to the imperial and military elite of tenth-century Byzantium.

His nephew, the general who reigned as emperor (963-969).
Emperor Nikephoros II Phokas
not commemorated
A relative of Michael's mother.
Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos
not commemorated
General who married Michael's sister, tying the Maleinos household to the Phokas dynasty.
Bardas Phokas the Elder
not commemorated
Companions1 figureShowHide
His disciple, who trained under Michael at Mount Kyminas and modeled the Great Lavra of Mount Athos upon Michael's community.
Venerable Athanasiusof Athos and his Six Disciples
Related SaintsShowHide

Browse other saints who share his calling and place.

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