Barlaam of Serpukhov

Holy Venerable Barlaam of Serpukhov was a monk and disciple of Saint Alexis, metropolitan of Moscow. The account of him comes from a chronicle written on a board, "On the Founding of the Vladychny Monastery in Serpukhov", kept at the monastery until the early twentieth century. Where he came from, who his parents were, and when and where he was tonsured are not known; the chronicle calls him "tonsured in the desert". About 1360 he was the cell attendant of Saint Alexis, who loved him greatly, because he saw in him fear of God and obedience.

According to the chronicle, one day in 1360 the metropolitan was keeping his usual rule while the deacon Gerasim read the kontakia and ikoi, when an unusual light filled the cell and a voice was heard from the icon of the Mother of God: "Alexis, you must build a monastery in My name and, together, in memory of yourself." The saint prayed to have the wonder explained, and the voice said: "In the bounds of the city of Serpukhov, for I have loved that place for the salvation of many human souls." The metropolitan sent Barlaam to look for the place and report to him. Barlaam found a place and stayed overnight, and at night he heard an unusual sound and the clanging of iron and bronze vessels. He returned with joy to tell it. A few days later Alexis sent him again to prepare what was needed. Before he left the metropolitan served a prayer service, and when he finished the dismissal, Barlaam fell and gave up his spirit. Alexis cried out to the icon, and the voice answered: "Alexis, take Barlaam by the hand and raise him, he will obey you." Alexis took him by the hand, and Barlaam rose weeping. Asked why he wept, he answered: "I beg you, do not force me to tell until death. At death I will tell you." Then he set out. A little later Alexis himself came to Serpukhov, examined many places and was dissatisfied with Barlaam's choice, but at night heard the same thing and a voice: "Build the monastery here." He obeyed, ordered the foundation of a wooden church to be laid and named Barlaam builder. In 1362 the stone church of the Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple was built, with a refectory, consecrated by Saint Alexis. Barlaam was builder of the monastery for fifteen years, then went blind and lived two more years.

When he felt the end near, he asked Alexis to come and bury him with his own hands. Alexis found him blind and ill and asked him to tell what he had promised. Barlaam answered that he could not tell it by mouth, because of the terror, and could not write it, because he could not see. After prayer, Barlaam suddenly saw, took the pen and wrote: "Why will the monastery be called Vladychny, and not Alexeyevsky? Because I saw the Lady and it all came by her providence." He then wrote that in his fall he had seen angels holding the monastery, Zacharias at the church doors and the Mother of God entering with her parents, and Zacharias took her and set her on the third step. An unusual light lit the cell, and Barlaam called the brother Gideon, who was blind, laid his hand on his head and said: "With me you went blind, with me may you see", and Gideon saw. Barlaam foretold that he would live three more weeks and die in the church at the bringing in of the Precious Gifts, which came to pass. Barlaam passed to the Lord in peace on 5 May 1377, Saint Alexis performed his burial service, and at his wish he was buried in the porch of the church, so that he might always behold the church of the Mother of God.

In the same year, 1377, by order of Saint Alexis, the icon "The Entrance of the Mother of God into the Holy of Holies" was painted for the monastery after Barlaam's vision. For many centuries it was the chief treasure of the monastery and was venerated throughout the Church as wonderworking (feast on 21 November). The chronicle does not say how Barlaam guided the brotherhood, but it may be judged that he laboured above all at the spiritual building. In the winter of 1374 Venerable Sergius came to Serpukhov at the call of Prince Vladimir Andreevich. A year after that Barlaam went blind and his health weakened, but he went on guiding the brethren, recalling the words of Saint Sergius on the hardness of monastic life: "Know that this place is hard, hungry and poor; prepare not for rich food but for labour, sweat and afflictions."

His relics, resting beneath the floor in the great church, were venerated by the brethren. His veneration appears in the synodikon of 1588 and in other documents; in 1806 a nun saw the incorrupt body beneath the tomb. In 1806 the monastery became a convent, and many documents were lost. In 1848, when Serpukhov was delivered from cholera through the protection of the Mother of God, attention turned to the tomb of Venerable Barlaam, from which many healings came, and Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow looked into it and sent the Holy Synod a full report.

He is commemorated on 18 May (5 May, old style) and on 5 September (a movable date) in the Synaxis of the Saints of Moscow.