Saint Lawrence of Chernigov

Lawrence (Russian: Лавре́нтий, Lavrentiy; born Luka Evseevich Proskura; 1868, Karilskoie village, Krolevetsky District, Chernigov Governorate, Russian Empire – January 19, 1950, Chernigov, USSR) was a Russian clergyman and archimandrite of the Russian Orthodox Church. On August 22, 1993, at the episcopal council of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Schema-Archimandrite Lawrence was canonized as a saint in the category of venerable. His memory is celebrated on December 29 according to the Julian calendar, or January 11 according to the Gregorian calendar. Numerous prophecies and statements have been attributed to Lawrence of Chernigov, which have spread within conservative circles of some Orthodox Christians. According to some sources, their authorship may belong to a leader of non-canonical Orthodoxy, the self-proclaimed Schema-Archbishop Cherubim Degtyar, who compiled the first biography of the elder. As Vitaly Shumilo noted, "things are already being attributed to the priest that he, by his nature, could not have done or said. We refer to a book published by the self-proclaimed 'schema-hegumen' (who previously posed as a 'secret archbishop'), but in reality the hierodeacon Cherubim Degtyar, who was forbidden from serving by Patriarch Pimen for moral crimes. Let us leave this and other similar inventors to the Judgment of God."