Joseph of Zaonikievo

Venerable Joseph of Zaonikievo, in the world Hilarion Ambrosimov, was a monk of the Russian Church and the founder of the Zaonikievo hermitage, in the Vologda region. He was born around 1530 and died in 1612, probably on 21 September. The Russian Church venerates him among the venerable saints and commemorates him on 23 June and 21 September by the old calendar.

In the world he was a peasant in the village of Obukhovo in the Vologda governorate. He suffered from an eye disease and, as his life tells, received a wonderful healing from Saint Cosmas, who appeared to him, and decided to withdraw to a monastery. After twenty-⁠five years of diligent ascetic labor he departed to the Lord in 1612. The venerable one's relics lie in the hermitage that he founded.

Tradition connects with his name the appearance of the Zaonikievo icon of the Mother of God.

On 14 July 2024, on the day of commemoration of all the venerable fathers of the Vologda land, in the Saint Sophia cathedral in Vologda a service of glorification was held for the newly found relics of Venerable Joseph, Anthony and Ioannicius of Zaonikievo.