Hesychius the Faster

Holy Venerable Hesychius the Faster was born in the eighth century near Bursa and withdrew to a mountain called Maionis, notorious for demonic apparitions. He made himself a hut there and a small church in honour of the Holy Apostle Andrew. He fenced a garden himself, which he worked, so as to live by his labour. It is believed that by his prayer he worked miracles and that he foretold that after his death a convent of nuns would arise at that place. It is also believed that a month before his death he knew the day and hour of his end.

At midnight of the foretold day, some people saw his hut lit by an unusual light. When they reached it, they found him dead. He was buried in the church of Saint Andrew, and later Theophylact, bishop of Amasia, moved his relics to the city of Amasia. He died in the year 790. The Serbian Church commemorates him on 5 March by the old calendar (18 March by the new).