Venerable Iosif Zaonikievskiy

Joseph of Zaonikiev (secular name Ilarion Amvrosimov; c. 1530 – September 21, 1612) was a monk of the Russian Orthodox Church and the founder of the Zaonikiev Hermitage. He is venerated by the Russian Church as a venerable saint, with feast days on June 23 and September 21 (Julian calendar). In his secular life, he was a peasant from the village of Obukhovo in the Vologda Governorate. He suffered from an eye disease and, according to his hagiography, after receiving a miraculous healing from Saint Cosmas, who appeared to him, he decided to enter a monastery. After 25 years of diligent asceticism, he died in 1612. The relics of Venerable Joseph are located in the Zaonikiev Hermitage, which he founded. Tradition associates Venerable Joseph with the appearance of the Zaonikiev Icon of the Mother of God. On July 14, 2024, on the feast day of all the Venerable Fathers of Vologda who shone in asceticism, the rite of glorification for the newly discovered holy relics of the Venerable Joseph, Anthony, and Ioannikios of Zaonikiev took place at the Saint Sophia Cathedral in Vologda.