Theophanes of Roslavl

Holy Venerable Theophanes of Roslavl, a schemamonk and hermit, lived in the forests of Roslavl, in the Smolensk land, and died in 1819. Little is known about him, mostly from the recollections of Archimandrite Moses, an elder of Optina.

According to these recollections, Father Theophanes was a native of the Vladimir region and had served in the army of the Black Sea Cossacks. Before his tonsure he was known as Fyodor Talunin. He first laboured in the Sofronievo hermitage, then went to Moldavia, to the elder Paisius, and after the elder's death he returned to Russia and entered the brotherhood of the Optina Monastery in 1800. He lived in the strictest non-⁠possession and meekness of spirit, and pursued with ardour the works of fasting, prayer and prostrations.

He departed to the Lord on 15 June 1819. A few moments before his death Archimandrite Moses asked him whether his soul was at peace and whether he feared anything in the hour of death. The elder answered that he gladly wished to be released from this life. Then he began to give up his spirit, raised his hand to make the sign of the cross and committed his soul into the hands of God. He was buried in the wilderness.

The Optina elder Anthony, in whose arms Theophanes died in the Roslavl forests, related that he had forgotten to ask for his prayers before his death. On the fortieth day the departed one appeared to him in a dream and promised to pray for him. Father Anthony said of Theophanes that, while he lived, his face shone so with grace that no one had the courage to look him straight in the eye, but only sideways, by stealth.

The grave of Schemamonk Theophanes is honoured by pilgrims. In December 2016 the Holy Synod of the Russian Church decided to number him among the saints with local veneration in the Smolensk Metropolia. His commemoration is on 28 June, the day of his repose, and his name is also remembered in the Synaxis of the Saints of Smolensk, on 8 August.