Ephraim of Sinozero

Venerable Martyr Ephraim of Sinozero († 1612) was a schemamonk of the Sinozero Hermitage, in the Ustyuzhna district of northern Russia, and was killed by the Poles with the abbot Euphrosynus and other brothers on 20 March 1612. He was added among the locally venerated saints by decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church of 12 March 2024, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Vologda; the glorification was held on 31 March 2024 in the cathedral of Cherepovets. He is commemorated on 20 March (2 April).

Ephraim was a schemamonk in the monastery founded in 1594 by Venerable Martyr Euphrosynus on the shore of Lake Sinitse, in the western part of the Ustyuzhna district, Novgorod province. His name is preserved in no sources other than the martyric memory of the community. In 1612 many people were sheltering in the hermitage from Polish plunder. On 19 March Euphrosynus foretold their coming and advised everyone to flee, but he himself stayed. With him stayed, and were killed on 20 March 1612, the hieromonks Sergius and Abraamius, the schemamonk Ephraim and the novice Basil.

The place of their burial is unknown. Euphrosynus was glorified in 1912; the disciples who suffered with him are venerated together with him in the Vologda diocese. The Synod decided, on 12 March 2024, that their remains should be regarded as holy relics if found, and ordered icons to be painted for veneration.