Jonah of Valaam

Holy Venerable Martyr Jonah of Valaam was one of the thirty-⁠four monks and servants of the Valaam monastery killed by the Swedes in 1578. His name, with the note "monk Jonah", stands in the monastery's memorial book beside the others.

Through its long centuries, the Valaam monastery, lying near the border between the lands of Novgorod and Sweden, was repeatedly plundered by the Swedes. Under King Gustav Vasa, in the years 1523-1560, the Reformation was carried out in Sweden. In the time of his son John III, a military band of newly converted Lutherans, zealous for their newborn faith, pursued the Orthodox Karelians, crossed the ice from the mainland to the island and attacked the monastery. On 20 February 1578 eighteen elders and sixteen novices were put to death for their steadfastness in the true faith.

Their names were entered in a memorial book that later came to the Vasilyevsky monastery, with the note "killed by the Germans on Valaam, elders and servants". Among them were the hieromonk Titus, the schemamonk Tikhon, and the monks Gelasius, Sergius, Barlaam, Sabbas, Conon and many others, among them the monk Jonah. The Swedish attacks continued, and it is said that on Valaam there is no stone that has not been marked by the blood of ascetics.

In the nineteenth century a Valaam monk is said to have seen a procession of unknown black-⁠robed monks, radiant and of great gentleness, their garments spattered with blood and their bodies covered with wounds, singing the memorial prayers for the departed. The grass was not bent under their steps, and they vanished into the thicket. With the blessing of Abbot Damaskin, the Liturgy for their repose, followed by a memorial service, has been served at the monastery each year on 20 February (4 March, new style).

The monks, among them Jonah of Valaam, were numbered among the saints for veneration by the whole Russian Church by the Jubilee Council of Bishops in August 2000. He is commemorated on 5 March (a movable day), on 3 June in the Synaxis of the Saints of Karelia, and on 22 August (a movable day) in the Synaxis of the Saints of Valaam, all in new style.