Anthony of Chudov

Holy Venerable Anthony of Chudov was a monk of the Chudov Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin and died in 1451, struck by a Tatar arrow. He is honoured as a venerable martyr in the Synaxis of the Saints of Moscow.

Little of his life survives. The Chudov Monastery, dedicated to the feast of the miracle of the Archangel Michael at Chonae, had been founded in 1365 by Metropolitan Alexis, the mentor of Prince Demetrius Donskoy. The account of the historian Metropolitan Macarius, taken from the chronicles, says that in 1451 the Tatar prince Mazovsha invaded Russia. On 2 July the Tatars drew near Moscow and set fire to its suburbs; a strong wind drove the smoke toward the Kremlin. Metropolitan Jonah made a procession along the walls with all the clergy. Seeing among them a monk of Chudov named Anthony, known for his piety, he asked him to pray earnestly for the deliverance of the city. Anthony answered that the hierarch's prayer would be heard and the enemy driven off, and that he alone would be wounded by them. As he spoke, an enemy arrow struck him, and he soon died. That night the prophecy was fulfilled: the Tatars fled from Moscow. The metropolitan himself buried him.

His name appears in ancient calendars. On 27 January 2001 he was numbered in the Synaxis of the Saints of Moscow, which is commemorated on 5 September, the movable day of the synaxis.