Cyriacus of Bisericani

Venerable Cyriacus of Bisericani was one of the greatest Romanian ascetics, a hermit of the Carpathians of Moldavia in the seventeenth century. He lived like the great Fathers of the Egyptian desert.

He struggled at the beginning of the seventeenth century in the Bisericani Monastery, which then had more than a hundred monks. Longing for quiet, he withdrew into the wilderness, into a cave on Simon's Mountain, where he remained sixty years. Like Saint Onuphrius (12 June), he went naked both summer and winter, and his body became covered with hair. He glorified God by unceasing prayer and asceticism, and Christ gave him the grace to overcome the forces of nature and the demons that attacked him. He attained great holiness and perfection in virtue. His life was one of complete self-⁠denial, humility and unceasing prayer. He is said to have fallen asleep in the Lord in 1660.

His relics were buried in the cave in which he lived, where there is now a small chapel dedicated to him. Later, because of unsettled conditions in the land, the faithful took parts of the relics and hid them, so that they would not be desecrated. The holy Hierarch Dosoftei, Metropolitan of Moldavia (13 December), knew Cyriacus in his lifetime, and after his repose venerated his holy relics. Saint Cyriacus is one of the great hesychasts of the Carpathians. He is commemorated on 31 December.