Onesimus of Radonezh

Holy Venerable Onesimus of Radonezh was a deacon and gatekeeper of the Holy Trinity Monastery at Radonezh, one of the first disciples of Venerable Sergius.

Among the first disciples who came to Venerable Sergius in the monastery on Makovets was the deacon Onesimus, and later his son, Elisha. In the life of Venerable Sergius, Onesimus is mentioned as uncle of Venerable Cyril, with whom he moved, apparently after the famine of 1332, from Rostov to Radonezh. Most probably, after his father went to the Trinity monastery, Elisha lived for a time yet in the Radonezh volost, then, as deacon, took his father's place in the community.

When twelve monks had gathered on Mount Makovets and the cells they had built were enclosed with a high wooden fence, to defend against wild beasts, Abba Sergius appointed the deacon Onesimus gatekeeper, because his cell was the one nearest the entrance of the monastery. A thick forest surrounded the monastery then, and age-⁠old trees stood right over the cells.

He is remembered on 19 July, in the Synaxis of the Saints of Radonezh, and on 5 September (a movable day) in the Synaxis of the Saints of Moscow, in the new style.