Venerable Martyrius the Deacon of the Kiev Caves

Life and Ministry

Martyrius belonged to the community of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, one of the foundational monastic centers of the medieval Rus' lands. According to monastic tradition he was raised to the diaconate because of his exceptional purity and his rigorous ascetic discipline, and he combined this liturgical office with the life of a recluse.

Tradition relates that those for whom he interceded before God while standing at the ambo received the Lord's mercy, obtaining either healing or the fulfillment of their petitions. He was particularly known for expelling demons through prayer. The Canon and akathist to the Fathers of the Kiev Caves remember him for his 'love of toil, justice and ardent purity,' and as one who received the gift of healing infirmities through great purity and monastic labors.

He died in the monastery and was buried there. His relics are venerated as incorrupt and remain in the Far (Theodosian) Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.

Relics & Shrines

Martyrius's relics repose in the Distant (Theodosian) Caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, positioned near the relics of Saint Euthymia of Polotsk and close to the underground church associated with Saint Theodore, the monastery's founder-abbot. His resting place among the Far Caves saints is the basis for his inclusion in the Synaxis commemorated on August 28.

By tradition his relics are numbered among those honored as incorrupt. Modern examination of the remains reported evidence of a healed fracture of the right tibia, an estimated age at death of roughly 55 to 60 years, and an estimated height of about 174–175 cm.

Commemoration

The Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar for October 25 lists both a 'Saint Martyrius, deacon' and a 'Saint Martyrius, recluse' of the Kiev Caves, dated to the 13th–14th centuries and associated with the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. On the older-style reckoning his principal feast falls on October 25 / November 7.

There is no dedicated English-language biography of him beyond these calendar entries; he is remembered chiefly within the collective veneration of the Kiev Caves fathers, alongside contemporaries of the Far Caves such as Rufus the Obedient.