Saint Sergius of Radonezh

Sergius of Radonezh (Russian: Сергий Радонежский, romanized: Sergiy Radonezhsky; 14 May 1314 – 25 September 1392) was a Russian spiritual leader and monastic reformer. He was the founder of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius near Moscow, what is now the most venerated monastic house in Russia. He exerted the greatest influence of any personage on the Russian Orthodox Church. Together with Seraphim of Sarov, he is one of the most highly venerated saints in Russia. Historian Serge Aleksandrovich Zenkovsky wrote that Sergius, along with Epiphanius the Wise, Stephen of Perm, and the painter Andrei Rublev, signified "the Russian spiritual and cultural revival of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth century". The date of his birth is unclear: it could be 1314, 1319, or 1322. His medieval biography states that he was born to Kiril and Maria, a boyar family, near Rostov Veliky, on the spot where Varnitsy Monastery now stands. The narrative of Epiphanius does not specify the exact birthplace of the monk, stating only that before the migration from Rostov principality the monk's family lived "in a village in the area, which is within the Rostov principality, not very close to the city of Rostov". It is considered that it is the village Varnitsa (Russian: Варница) near Rostov Veliky. Sergius received the baptismal name of Bartholomew (Russian: Варѳоломе́й, romanized: Varfolomei) in honor of the Apostle Bartholomew. Although an intelligent boy, Bartholomew had great difficulty learning to read. His biography states that a starets (spiritual elder) met him one day and gave him a piece of prosphora (holy bread) to eat, and from that day forward he was able to read. Orthodox Christians interpret the incident as being an angelic visitation. When the Rostov principality fell into the hands of Ivan I of Moscow, his parents Kirill and Maria became impoverished and moved to the village of Radonezh together with their three sons, Stefan, Bartholomew and Peter.