Saint Artemy of Verkola

Artemius of Verkola (Russian: Артемий Веркольский, romanized: Artemy Verkolsky; 1532 – 23 June 1545) is a Russian child saint venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church. Artemius was born in 1532 in the village of Verkola in the Russian North (now Pinezhsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast). His family were peasants. His father's name was Kosma, nicknamed Maly (lit. 'the small [one]'); his mother was named Apollinaria. In addition, according to legend, the sister of Artemius was the righteous maiden Paraskeva of Pirinem, who was also famous for posthumous miracles. Nothing is known about Artemius' life, except for his rejection of children's games, meekness, good faith, obedience to his parents, and diligence, as noted in his Life. On 23 June 1545, when Artemius was 12 years old, the boy was harrowing a field with his father. At that time, a strong thunderstorm began, lightning struck and Artemius fell dead. The superstitious villagers of Verkola considered the unexpected death of the boy a punishment for some secret sins, so they left his body in the forest without funeral service and burial, barely covered with brushwood and birch bark and fenced. According to folk belief, the burial of those who died from a thunderstorm in a common cemetery could bring misfortune to the inhabitants of the village. Archaeological excavations have shown that in the 16th century, not far from Verkola, there was a cemetery of the mortgaged dead buried in a log cabin. 35 years after his death, in 1577, a local deacon named Agafonik saw a light emanating from the boy's resting place and discovered the boy's body showed no sign of decay. Miracles of healing happened to people who venerated the boy's relics and he was proclaimed a saint. The canonization of the saint took place around 1619, when the Life of the saint was completed. In 1648, by order of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich of Russia, the St.