Onesimus the Recluse of Kyiv

Venerable Onesimus the Recluse was a monk of the Kyiv Caves Lavra in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and struggled in solitude in the Near Caves, those of Venerable Anthony. His relics are buried in the very place of his labours.

No data about his life has been preserved. His relics first appear on the map of the Near Caves of 1661. In 1744 he is marked as “Venerable Onesimus the recluse,” and in 1868 as “Venerable Onesimus, who rests in seclusion.” The akathist to all the venerable fathers of the Caves also speaks of him.

He is commemorated on 11 October, in the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Near Caves, on 3 August and on 17 October by the new calendar, which is 28 September, 21 July and 4 October by the old.