Saints Paul and Theodore of Rostov

Foundation of the Monastery

Saint Theodore travelled from the Novgorod region to a wilderness site on the River Ustye (Ust) near Rostov, where he began the ascetic life. Three years later Saint Paul joined him, and the two shared in monastic labour at the remote settlement.

In 1363 Saint Sergius of Radonezh came to Rostov, his native region. Learning of his presence, the two monks sought him out for spiritual guidance. Sergius visited their wilderness and blessed them to build a church dedicated to the holy Passion-Bearers Boris and Gleb, the first native saints of Rus'. According to local tradition, Sergius himself chose the site and consecrated it with a cross, which is preserved at the monastery as a sacred relic.

Even during the construction of this first church, monks began to gather around the two ascetics, and Theodore, serving as igumen, joyfully received all who came. A second temple was soon raised in honour of the Annunciation of the Theotokos, and the community took ordered form as a coenobitic monastery.

Theodore's Later Foundation and Repose

After setting the Borisoglebsky Monastery in order, Saint Theodore entrusted its direction to Saint Paul and withdrew into the Vologda forest. There, at White Lake near the confluence of the River Kouzha, he founded a second monastery, built a church dedicated to Saint Nicholas, and appointed an igumen over it.

Having received a revelation of his approaching death, Theodore returned to the Boris and Gleb monastery, where he reposed on October 22, 1409. Saint Paul thereafter directed both monasteries until his own repose, which likewise took place at the Boris and Gleb monastery.

Relics & Shrines

Both founders were buried at the monastery they established. The Cathedral of Saints Boris and Gleb was raised over their graves in 1522–1524. The monastery stands in Borisoglebsky, in the present-day Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia.

Theodore and Paul are glorified as saints of longstanding local veneration and are included in the Synaxis of the Saints of Rostov and Yaroslavl. Russian sources cite no separate formal act of canonization, treating them as saints venerated from ancient times.