Athanasius of Brest-⁠Litovsk

The Holy Hieromartyr Athanasius of Brest-⁠Litovsk was an Orthodox hieromonk, killed in 1648 by the Polish authorities for his opposition to the Union of Brest. He is honoured by the Russian Orthodox Church, the Polish Church and the Churches of Belarus.

He was born around 1595-1600 (according to some in 1597), of parents of modest rank, in the region of Brest. There is no sure news of his life until 1627. He was well taught in ancient and modern languages, in the writings of the Holy Fathers and in the works of Western philosophers and theologians, and he worked several years as a private tutor, among other places at the court of the Lithuanian hetman Lev Sapieha. In 1627 he entered as a brother the monastery of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, then moved to other monasteries and was ordained hieromonk. In 1637 he came to the monastery of Kupyatitsy near Minsk. He was sent to gather gifts for the restoration of the church, and on the way he had visions, wonderful signs and bodily dangers. In 1640 he became abbot of the monastery of Saint Simeon the Stylite in Brest. From then he argued against Catholic proselytism and the Union of Brest (1596). In 1643 he spoke before the Polish Sejm in defence of Orthodoxy and against the Union; he was declared insane, arrested and stripped of his monastic ranks. He was sent to Metropolitan Peter Mohyla of Kyiv, who sent him back to Brest. This did not stop his protests; he was arrested again, in 1644-1646, and released a year later. He wrote the Diariusz, one of the first autobiographical works and the only polemical autobiography in Belarusian literature.

In 1648 the Ukrainian Cossacks began Khmelnytsky's war of liberation. Athanasius was accused of ties with the rebels, arrested, tortured and killed on 5 September 1648. His remains were found on 20 July 1649 (according to one source, the relics were discovered in 1679); the day is sometimes commemorated as an alternative feast. His relics are kept in the cathedral at Brest. His feast is on 5 September, on 20 July and on the third Sunday after Pentecost, at the Synaxis of the Saints of Belarus.