Venerable (Monastic) 14th century

Venerable Silvanus the Schemamonk of the Kiev Far Caves

Also known as Silvanus of the Kiev Caves

A schemamonk of the Far Caves of Kiev, of such prayer that once robbers who entered the monastery garden were held fast, unable to move, until he released them.

Feast Day

June 10

Also Jul 10, Aug 28

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

Hymn / Apolytikion Icon gallery Video / Media

Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Silvanus the Schemamonk of the Kiev Far Caves

Come to them for

Protection from Danger

Life

Silvanus was a schemamonk of the Kiev Caves monastery (the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra) who, according to the synaxarion, labored in asceticism in the Far Caves during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. He is numbered among the monastic saints of the Lavra whose relics repose in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius, and little of his life is recorded beyond his ascetic reputation and a single attested miracle.

As a schemamonk, Silvanus had received the Great Schema, the highest grade of the Orthodox monastic life. The tradition associates him in particular with the gift of prayer: he is remembered as a wonderworker whose prayer produced a visible effect on those who came to do harm to the monastery.

Silvanus is commemorated on June 10, again on July 10, and on August 28 with the Synaxis of the saints of the Kiev Caves whose relics repose in the Far Caves. The Orthodox Church in America also notes his commemoration on the second Sunday of Great Lent.

Timeline 1 moments Read Hide

13th–14th c. Asceticism in the Far Caves Silvanus labors as a schemamonk at the Kiev Caves monastery, in the Far Caves.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

The Robbers in the Garden

The one incident preserved in the saint's life concerns a band of robbers who entered the monastery garden intending mischief. By the power of his prayer, Silvanus held them fast to the spot, and for three days they were not able to move. Only after they repented did the monk release them.

The episode is the basis for Silvanus's commemoration as a wonderworker and stands as the defining feature of his entry in the synaxarion, of which almost nothing else of his biography survives.

The Far Caves of the Kiev Lavra

The Kiev Caves monastery was founded in the eleventh century, and its catacombs preserve the relics of generations of its ascetics. The Far Caves are associated with Saint Theodosius, an early abbot of the monastery, and house the relics of roughly fifty monastic figures.

Silvanus belongs to the company of fathers whose relics lie in the Far Caves. Each of these saints is kept individually during the year, but they are gathered into a single collective commemoration on August 28, the Synaxis of those whose relics repose in the Far Caves of Saint Theodosius.

Notes

Also commemorated Aug 28 with the Saints of the Far Caves. Also commemorated Jul 10.

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