Daniel of Pereslavl

Venerable Daniel of Pereslavl (Demetrius, in the world) founded the Danilov Monastery near Pereslavl and reposed on 7 April 1540. The Russian Church honours him among the venerable fathers. His commemoration is on 7 April, the day of repose, on 23 May (5 June by the new calendar), in the Synaxis of the Saints of Rostov and Yaroslavl, and on 30 December (12 January), the day of the translation of his relics. His mother, Venerable Theodosia, is also glorified among the saints.

He was born at Pereslavl, to parents who had come there in the time of Prince Vasily Vasilievich from the city of Mtsensk with the voivode Gregory Protasiev. He studied at the Nikita Monastery, beside his relative, the old abbot Jonah. From there, with his own brother Gerasim, he went secretly to the Paphnutius-⁠Borovsk monastery, where he was tonsured a monk with the name Daniel. For ten years he lived at the Paphnutius monastery under the guidance of the elder Venerable Levky of Volokolamsk (1492) and in Levky's hermitage. In 1491 he returned to the Nikita monastery and in the same year moved to the Goritsky monastery. Here for thirty years he was monk, hieromonk and archimandrite.

He chose a special labour: he sought out those who had died on the road and gave them Christian burial. He left the monastery for these searches day and night, gathered the bodies of the dead from the roads, carried them to the common cemetery (skudelnitsa) and buried them, and afterwards commemorated them at the Liturgy. The Serbian source says that whenever he heard that someone had been found frozen or dead in some other way, he hurried to bury him decently and to pray to God for him.

Daniel built a cemetery church in the name of All Saints, to pray for the nameless dead. Received by the grand prince Vasily Ivanovich, he obtained a charter for the possession of the place where he planned to make the church. Soon Metropolitan Simon gave the written blessing for building. On 15 July 1508 the church of All Saints was consecrated. One of Daniel's close disciples was Venerable Gerasim of Boldino (1554), who later founded several monasteries in the land of Smolensk.

He was buried beside the prothesis table of the Trinity cathedral. On 18 November 1653 his relics were found, and on 30 December they were examined by Metropolitan Jonah of Rostov and Yaroslavl. In 1781, in the time of Bishop Theophylact (Gorsky), a silvered reliquary was made for Daniel's relics, into which they were solemnly moved in 1782, and in 1784 a new gilded canopy was set above the reliquary. Alexander Ivanovich Svirelin restored the service of the saint, published his life and described the history of his monastery. At its session of 27 December 2024 the Holy Synod of the Russian Church approved the text of an akathist to Saint Daniel, for use in services and in prayer at home.