Venerable Athanasius, Founder of the Great Lavra on Mt Athos, and his 6 disciples

Athanasius was born in Trebizond c. 920 and given the name Abraham. Orphaned young, he studied in Constantinople and taught there, then became a monk at the Kymina monastery under Michael Maleinos, whose nephew Nikephoros Phokas later became emperor. Seeking quiet, Athanasius withdrew to Mount Athos, where, according to his Life, he hid among the hermits under the name Barnabas until the protos, the head of the Athonite community, recognized him when he was made to read aloud. With the support of Nikephoros he founded the Great Lavra c. 963, the first large monastery on the mountain and the model for those that followed.

He died c. 1000 when a vault of the church under construction fell in on him and some of his companions, five of whom also died.