Repose of Saint Jonah, Archbishop of Novgorod

Jonah, born John in the late 14th century, lost his mother at three and his father at seven and was raised by a widow in Novgorod. He became a monk at the Otnya hermitage, in the forests about fifty versts from the city, and in 1458–1459 the Novgorodians chose him as archbishop; Metropolitan Jonah of Moscow consecrated him.

Jonah was a peacemaker. He spoke to Grand Prince Vasily II when the prince was angry with the city, travelled to Moscow despite his age, and calmed quarrels between Novgorod and Pskov. His Life says he foretold Novgorod's fall to Moscow and the end of Tatar rule. He built churches, among them the stone church at Otnya, and supported the founding of the Solovki monastery. He died on 5 November 1470 and was buried at Otnya.