Cyprian of Suzdal

Cyprian of Suzdal was a Russian hermit, venerated as a saint by the Orthodox Church. Few details of his life have been preserved. He is also known by the epithet of fool in Christ, that is, one of those who, feigning madness, living on alms and despising their own body, believed they took a fuller part in the passion of Jesus.

He led an ascetic life on a small island not far from the mouth of the river Uvod (Kovrov district, Vladimir region), and there he died in the odour of holiness in 1622. His tomb is under the floor of the church of the village of Voskresenskoe (that is, of the Resurrection), not far from the island where he lived. The place of his struggle is still known today as the Hermitage of Saint Cyprian, and a cavity dug into the island is called the Cave of Saint Cyprian. The Russian Orthodox Church remembers him on 15 October; the source does not say by which calendar.