The Church celebrates the memory of St. Amphilochius of Pochaiv

St. Amphilochius. Photo: ortox.ru

St. Amphilochius of Pochaiv was born on December 10 / November 27, 1894, in the village of Mala Ilovytsia (now Shumsk district, Ternopil region). His parents, Barnabas and Anna Holovatyuk, named him Yakiv. As a child, Yakiv helped his father, who made wheels, sleds, and footwear and was also a skilled bonesetter.

In 1912, Yakiv was conscripted into the Imperial Army, where he served as a medic. During combat, he helped carry wounded comrades off the battlefield. He was captured and sent by the Germans to the Alps, where he worked on a farm for three years.

In 1919, Yakiv managed to escape and returned to his native village, engaging in farming and helping the sick who sought his assistance.

In 1925, Yakiv was accepted as a novice at Pochaiv Lavra. In diligence and humility, he fulfilled the obediences assigned to him, making sleds and wheels and singing in the choir.

On July 8, 1932, with the blessing of Metropolitan Dionysius of Warsaw and All Poland, Yakiv was tonsured into monasticism with the name Joseph.

On September 21, 1933, he was ordained a hierodeacon by Bishop Antony, and on September 27, 1936, he was ordained a hieromonk.

While performing various obediences and duties at the Lavra, Father Joseph treated the sick and became especially renowned as a bonesetter. People brought the suffering to him from all around, and the stream of patients never ceased, day or night.

To avoid inconveniencing the brotherhood, Father Joseph, with the abbot's blessing, moved to a small house at the monastery cemetery, where he lived for about 20 years. Every day, sick people came to him seeking healing – whether physical or spiritual.

In the late 1950s, the Khrushchev persecutions of the Church began. Monasteries and churches were being closed en masse, and monks were falsely accused, evicted, and sent home without the right to return.

In the fall of 1962, thanks to the elder's fearlessness, the monks managed to save the Holy Trinity Cathedral: "At the church doors, about ten policemen stood with their chief. The elder unexpectedly snatched the keys from the chief, handed them to the young abbot Augustine, and called on local residents to defend the church. Armed with sticks, the villagers rushed at the policemen."

The cathedral was saved, but a few days later, the elder was taken away at night in a "black raven" (police van) to a psychiatric hospital. He was placed in a ward for the most "violent" mentally ill.

He was given medications that caused his body to swell and his skin to crack. Despite numerous petitions from his spiritual children for his release, nothing changed. His release became possible only through the intervention of Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, whom the elder had previously healed from a mental illness.

Upon his release, the elder returned to his native village and lived with his nephew, where he continued to serve, conducting water-blessing prayers and healing people. When word spread about his location, the sick began coming to him again.

Local authorities, alarmed by the influx of people, turned his relatives against him. One relative, persuaded by the authorities, took the elder to a swamp outside the village, brutally beat him, and left him in the water.

His spiritual children found him and took the dying elder to Pochaiv Lavra, where he was tonsured into the Great Schema the same night with the name Amphilochius, in honor of St. Amphilochius of Iconium. By God’s mercy, Schema-monk Amphilochius recovered.

Remaining at the Lavra without registration was dangerous, so he returned to his native village. Despite obstacles from the authorities, people continued to seek the elder for healing.

St. Amphilochius fully dedicated his life to serving God. He received the gifts of foresight and healing from God and spent his life helping others. Many of his secret struggles and labors remained hidden from the world.

The elder passed away on January 1, 1971. On April 3, 2002, the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church decided to glorify the Pochaiv elder and schema-abbot Amphilochius as a saint.

The rite of glorification was performed by Metropolitan Volodymyr of Kyiv on Sunday, May 12, 2002, in the Dormition Cathedral of Pochaiv Lavra.

During the glorification, two crosses formed from clouds appeared in the sky over the Lavra. For an hour, believers observed this miracle – one large cross and a smaller one beside it. Pilgrims said, "Well, now there will be two – Father Job and Father Amphilochius."

On May 13, the saint’s relics were transferred from the Dormition Cathedral to the crypt church of St. Job of Pochaiv, where they now rest alongside St. Job’s relics.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that the Metropolitan of Pochaiv shared details of St. Amphilochius’s canonization.

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