Venerable (Monastic)16th century

Venerable Joseph of Zaonikiev

died 1612

Also known as Hilarion of Zaonikiev

A peasant who suffered from an eye disease and turned to prayer; after his healing he entered monastic life and was associated with the Zaonikiev Monastery.

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Joseph of Zaonikiev

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Healing

Life

Venerable Joseph of Zaonikiev was a Russian monastic saint of the Vologda region, commemorated on September 21. Named Hilarion in the world, he was a pious peasant from the village of Obukhovo Kubensk in the Vologda gubernia who, after being healed of a disease of the eyes, embraced the monastic life and gave rise to the Zaonikiev Monastery.

His story belongs to the monastic flowering of the Russian north in the sixteenth century, and his name remains linked to the wonderworking Zaonikiev Icon of the Mother of God, whose appearance the sources connect with his healing.

Timeline4 momentsReadHide

16th centuryEarly life as the peasant HilarionBorn with the name Hilarion, he lived as a pious peasant in the village of Obukhovo Kubensk in the region of the Vologda gubernia. By tradition he suffered for a long time from a disease of the eyes, which the sources place at around the age of fifty.
1588Healing and the appearance of the iconPraying fervently to the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos, and the Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, he received, by a revelation of Saint Cosmas, direction into the forest to an icon of the Mother of God, from which he was healed. The sources date the appearance of the wonderworking icon to June 23, 1588.
After 1588Founding of the Zaonikiev MonasteryIn gratitude he cleared the forest at the site, erected a cross, and built a chapel to house the icon, settling nearby and taking the monastic schema with the name Joseph. With the blessing of Saint Anthony, Bishop of Vologda, the Zaonikiev Monastery emerged at the place of his ascetic labors.
September 21, 1612ReposeHe reposed in peace on September 21, 1612, at the age of eighty-three, and was buried in the monastery he had founded.

Contributions & Legacy

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Healing and the Zaonikiev Icon

According to the synaxarion accounts, Hilarion suffered a disease of the eyes and turned in fervent prayer to the Lord, the Most Holy Theotokos, and the holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian. His prayer was answered when, by a revelation of Saint Cosmas, he was led into the forest to a swampy place where an icon of the Mother of God appeared, from which he received his healing.

The sources record the appearance of the miraculous icon as having taken place on June 23, 1588, and this image came to be venerated as the Zaonikiev Icon of the Mother of God. In gratitude Hilarion cleared the forest thicket at the place of the appearance, erected a cross, and built a chapel in which he placed the icon.

Monastic Life and Asceticism

Having settled beside the chapel, he received the monastic schema and the name Joseph. With the blessing of Saint Anthony, Bishop of Vologda, a monastery arose at the site of his labors. It took the name Zaonikiev, which the sources trace to a brigand named Anikios who had once dwelt in that forest.

Although the number of monks gathered around him grew, Joseph declined the office of abbot and remained in humility. The accounts describe his extreme asceticism, including standing at prayer and going barefoot in the fierce cold.

Companions2 figuresShowHide

Healer-saints to whom Hilarion prayed; by the revelation of Saint Cosmas he was led to the icon from which he was healed.

Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian

Blessed the founding of the Zaonikiev Monastery at the site of Joseph's labors.

Saint AnthonyBishop of Vologda

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