Venerable Irenarchus, Recluse of Rostov

Irenarch, born Ilya, was the son of peasants from the village of Kondakovo near Rostov. At six, his Life says, he told his mother that he would become a monk and wear iron. As a monk he settled in the Monastery of Saints Boris and Gleb on the Ustye river and lived there as a recluse for 38 years, chained to a wooden chair. At his death he left a twenty-sazhen chain and 142 copper crosses that he had worn.

During the Time of Troubles the Polish commander Jan Sapieha came to his cell. The old man told him to go home or be killed in Russia, and according to the Life, Sapieha was moved and ordered his troops to spare the monastery. In 1612 Irenarch blessed Prince Pozharsky and Kuzma Minin before their march on Moscow. He died on 13 January 1616.