Agapitus the Blind

Schemamonk Agapitus the Blind (Agapius), in the world Alexander Molodyashin, was an elder of Valaam Monastery, born in 1838 into a peasant family and reposed on 7 April 1905 (old style; 20 April new style). Russian sources call him Agapius, not Agapitus. He is venerated by the faithful, without a synodal canonization in our sources.

He entered Valaam in 1860, where he worked in the monastery's vegetable garden and served in the choir. He had weak eyesight from birth and gradually went blind; he bore this trial for twenty-⁠three years with patience and humility, regarding it as a means of cleansing his sins and securing the salvation of his soul. Under the guidance of his elder, Venerable Antipas of Athos, he gained spiritual experience and learned the prayer of the heart, the Jesus Prayer; he is said to have received the gift of clairvoyance.

For his devout and ascetic life, Abbot Jonathan entrusted him with the obedience of eldership. He kept up a spiritual correspondence with Saint Theophan the Recluse. He guided those who came to him with Holy Scripture, the writings of the holy fathers and his own experience, urging them always to pray. He was buried in the old brotherhood cemetery of Valaam; monks and pilgrims often visit his grave, believing that the elder prays for those who turn to him in faith.