Saint Joasaph, Bishop of Belgorod

Joasaph, born Joachim Gorlenko in 1705 at Pryluky in Left-bank Ukraine, came from a family of Cossack officers. He studied at the Kyiv Academy and became a monk there. He was abbot of the Mgar monastery near Lubny and then deputy head (namestnik) of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra near Moscow.

In 1748 he became bishop of Belgorod, a vast diocese that he toured tirelessly, visiting parishes and insisting on the education and conduct of the clergy. He died on 10 December 1754 at Graivoron, on a journey through his diocese, and was buried in Belgorod. He was canonized in 1911.