Reviewed entry
Venerable (Monastic)12th century

Venerable Theophanes the Faster of the Kiev Near Caves

12th century

Also known as Theophanes of the Kiev Caves

A monk of the Kiev Near Caves known for strict fasting, whose relics repose in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony.

October 11New Calendar
Feast Day
October 24Old Calendar
Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Theophanes the Faster of the Kiev Near Caves

Life

Venerable Theophanes the Faster was a monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra who lived during the twelfth century. He is remembered chiefly for the strict fasting from which his epithet derives; according to the Orthodox Church in America synaxarion, the name "Faster" indicates that he drew closer to God by means of his ascetic abstinence.

Little else survives of his life. The details are not recorded in the commemoration books of the Kiev Caves Lavra, and his entry in the synaxarion is a brief notice rather than an extended vita. His relics repose in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony at the Lavra, where he is numbered among the venerable fathers of that community.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Theophanes, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Contributions & Legacy

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Commemoration

Theophanes is commemorated individually on October 11. He is also numbered among the venerable fathers of the Near Caves of Saint Anthony, whose general Synaxis is kept on September 28, and among all the venerable fathers of the Kiev Caves commemorated on the second Sunday of Great Lent.

The general Synaxis of the fathers of the Near Caves originated in 1670, during restoration work on the caves following earthquake damage, when some of the relics of the ancient ascetics were uncovered. The celebration was originally observed on the first Saturday after the Leave-taking of the Exaltation of the Cross; in 1886 Metropolitan Platon moved it to September 28 to avoid overlap with the Far Caves commemoration on August 28. Approximately eighty saints are identified in the Near Caves list, though it is noted that not all the names of the fathers of the Kiev Caves are known.

Relics & Shrines

The relics of Saint Theophanes lie in the Near Caves of Saint Anthony at the Kiev Caves Lavra, among those of the other venerable fathers of that community.

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