died 1241
A monk of the Kiev Caves taken captive by the Tatars who endured their torments rather than deny Christ, and being miraculously returned to his monastery, lived out his days as a recluse.
Our Venerable Father Pambo the Recluse of the Kiev Far Caves, Confessor
Pambo the Recluse was a thirteenth-century hieromonk of the Kiev Caves monastery who is venerated as a confessor of the faith. According to the synaxarion, he was captured by the Tatars while carrying out a monastic obedience and was held in captivity for many years, during which he endured suffering for refusing to renounce Christianity.
Tradition relates that he was afterward miraculously returned from captivity and set within his own cell. He spent the remainder of his life in seclusion and died in 1241. His relics rest in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius at the Kiev Caves monastery, and his feast is kept on July 18.
He is distinct from the earlier Venerable Pambo, the hermit of Egypt, who is commemorated on the same day.
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 Pambo, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
The surviving account of Pambo is brief. He was a hieromonk and hermit associated with the Kiev Caves monastery in the period of the Tatar invasions of Rus'. While he was away from the monastery on a monastic obedience, he was captured and taken off by the Tatars.
The synaxarion records that he remained in their hands for many years and suffered on account of his refusal to deny the Christian faith, on which basis he is honored as a confessor.
Pambo's relics rest in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius at the Kiev Caves monastery. He is numbered among the saints whose relics repose in those caves, who are commemorated collectively in a synaxis observed on August 28.
Traditional Accounts: The synaxarion relates that Pambo was miraculously transported from his captivity and placed within his own cell, after which he lived out his days in seclusion until his death in 1241.
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