Origins and Ascetic Life
Anthony descended from the Tver lineage of the Veniaminov nobles and bore the worldly name Anthony Veniaminov. According to his life, his parents instilled in him the fear of God and a love of virtue. He rejected his noble rank and worldly honors to devote himself to the spiritual life.
He first withdrew to the Rublev wilderness, a hilly, densely forested tract along the River Perekhoda near Novgorod. There he dug himself a small cave for shelter and maintained a strict ascetic discipline, sleeping on the damp earth and taking bread only after sunset.
Founding of the Leokhnov Monastery
Around 1556 Anthony left his hermitage to join the wilderness-dweller Tarasius near Leokhnov, beyond Lake Ilmen, where he received monastic tonsure. His life relates that an angelic vision directed him to Leokhnov.
Anthony and Tarasius together built a church dedicated to the Transfiguration of the Lord, which the Novgorod archbishop authorized for consecration, providing the antimension. The resulting community became known as the Leokhnov, or Ivetsk-Antoniev, monastery, which Anthony guided as abbot into his old age. He was credited with the gift of clairvoyance.
Repose During the Swedish Invasion
In 1611, during the Swedish devastation of the Novgorod region, Metropolitan Isidore invited Anthony to the city. According to the OCA account he reposed on September 14, 1611, at the age of 85, and was first buried at the Novgorod church of the Evangelist Luke.
Russian sources record his death as October 30, 1612, at the age of 86, using the Old Style Julian reckoning; the accounts agree that he died an old man amid the turmoil of the Swedish invasion, which devastated the monastery and killed most of its monks. His feast is kept on October 17, the date linked to his repose on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Relics & Shrines
After Anthony's reported posthumous appearances to his disciple Gregory, his relics were found incorrupt and translated from Novgorod to the Leokhnov monastery on July 13, 1620. Russian liturgical calendars observe a second commemoration for the translation of the relics, reckoned as the second Friday after July 12.
The monastery was abolished in 1764 and converted into a parish church. An 1788 fire destroyed the earlier building, after which a stone church dedicated to the Transfiguration was raised, with chapels honoring the Kazan Icon and Saint Anthony. The church was closed in 1938 and reopened after the Second World War, with a major restoration completed in 2006. A wooden church was erected at the site of the Rublev wilderness hermitage in 2005.
Miracles & Traditions
Historically Documented: The translation of Anthony's relics on July 13, 1620 was accompanied by reports of healing. His life records that during the uncovering a blind man named Joseph regained his sight, and that many other miracles occurred.
Traditional Accounts: Anthony's life credits him with foreseeing the Battle of Orsha (recorded elsewhere as the Battle of Orsha or a battle at Orsha), extinguishing a fire through prayer, and healing a youth bitten by a serpent; a second man, Stephen, is said to have been cured of blindness at the translation of the relics. Tradition also relates that two of his sisters sought out his hermitage in the Rublev wilderness, traveling through the dense forest in hopes of persuading him to return home, but that Anthony, having chosen the monastic life for the sake of the Lord, did not appear before them.
