Joseph of Pechenga

Holy Venerable Martyr Joseph of Pechenga was a hieromonk in the Pechenga monastery in the north of Russia and was killed in 1589 together with the brethren of his community. He is venerated locally, together with the hierodeacon Pachomius.

The two are remembered without names, as martyrs, in the Archangelsk Paterikon. Their names were established only at the end of the nineteenth century, when a list of the brotherhood of the Pechenga monastery killed in 1589 was found in an archive in Norway. If the monastic vow of non-⁠possession was not fully kept in the life of the monastery, the vow of obedience was kept strictly and with the fear of God. This was seen fully on 9 December 1589, when killers entered the church with weapons and put to death all who were inside.

The account in the Life of Venerable Tryphon says that some were cut in two, others had their hands and feet cut off, and others were split lengthwise. The abbot Gurias and the deacon were tormented in various ways, wounded with weapons and burned with fire, so that they would reveal where the treasure was. They answered nothing and only looked toward heaven. Enraged, the killers cut the bodies of the venerable ones to pieces, defiled and plundered the holy church, and burned it together with the severed bodies. So ended the history of the monastery of Venerable Tryphon and his spiritual sons.

The Church venerates them for pastoral service, for monastic obedience kept even unto death, and for the struggle of martyrdom.