Onesiphorus the Confessor

Venerable Onesiphorus the Confessor was a priest and monk of the Kiev Caves Lavra in the twelfth century. It is said that God gave him the gift of clairvoyance, so that he saw in every person's heart the sins committed there.

The best known story about him comes from the letter of Bishop Simon of Vladimir and Suzdal to the monk Polycarp. In the time of Abbot Pimen, between 1132 and 1141, a monk died suddenly and a heavy stench began to rise from his body; at Onesiphorus' prayer the stench ceased. Onesiphorus reposed in 1148 and was buried in the Near Caves, beside Saint Spyridon.

He is commemorated on 9 November, on 28 September in the Synaxis of the Fathers of the Near Caves, and on the second Sunday of Great Lent, in the Synaxis of All the Venerable Fathers of the Caves. His name also appears in the common canon of the Fathers of the Caves.