Venerable Paul of Obnora, Vologda

Paul was born in Moscow and, refusing the marriage his parents planned, secretly left home and became a monk. He spent fifteen years under Sergius of Radonezh, then lived near Cyril of White Lake and wandered through the northern wilderness.

In the Komel forest, on the bank of the little river Gryazovitsa, he lived for three years in the hollow of a large linden tree. His Life tells that he ate a little bread and water only on Saturdays and Sundays, and that birds and wild animals gathered at his cell. With the blessing of Metropolitan Photius he built a church of the Trinity, the beginning of the monastery on the Obnora. He died on 10 January 1429; his Life says he was 112.