Mikhail Fomichev

Mikhail Fomichev was a Russian hieroschemamonk of St Panteleimon Monastery, born in 1852 into a peasant family in the Bezhetsk district, Tver province. He reposed on 15 February 1910. He is venerated by the faithful, without a synodal canonization.

Named Pyotr Semyonovich in the world, the son of Iulianiya, he learned at the village school and sang in the village church choir, which made him think of the meaning of life and the wish to become like Christ. He came to Athos in 1876 and entered St Panteleimon. In his last five years he lived in seclusion, asking no privileges though entitled to them, and tried to remain in the shade, unnoticed. He died quietly and in peace on 15 February 1910.