Sergius Vesnin

Sergius Vesnin was a Russian hieroschemamonk, a poet and friend of Panteleimon Ovsyannikov, tonsured at St Panteleimon Monastery on Athos. He was born on 27 August 1814 and reposed on 17 December 1853. He is venerated by the faithful, without a synodal canonization.

Named Simeon in the world, he was born in the village of Pishchalskoe, Vyatka province, in the family of the deacon Avdy Vesnin, with six brothers and two sisters. His father taught the children to read and, above all, faith, the fear of God and unfeigned piety. From childhood he was drawn to the thought of pilgrimages and saw saints caressing him in dreams. At eleven he was sent to the church school at Vyatka, and in his third year he lost, within a few months, his father, a brother and his mother. He studied with even greater zeal, loved literature and wrote poems. At fifteen he moved to the seminary.

He came to Athos and lived at St Panteleimon Monastery, then in a hermit's cell. His letters to friends are a precious source for the Athos of his day: in one he calls Panteleimon the best friend of his Athonite life. A year before his death he had a vision that the Lord would soon call him. He wished to go to Russia during the Crimean War but could not, and met his end in his hermit's cell. Shortly before, he wrote: Lord, remember me in Thy Kingdom, remember all my friends and enemies, for we are all human; glory to God for all things. He passed to the Lord on 17 December 1853.