Varlaam

Varlaam, b ? in Kyiv, d 19 November 1065 in Zymne Monastery near Volodymyr (in Volhynia). Churchman and saint. The son of the boyar Ivan Vyshatych, he was tonsured in 1056, and lived with Saint Anthony of the Caves and became the first hegumen of the Kyivan Cave Monastery. During his tenure the wooden Dormition Church was built, in 1058 (see Dormition Cathedral of the Kyivan Cave Monastery). In 1062 Prince Iziaslav Yaroslavych established a church and monastery that later became known as Saint Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, and invited Varlaam to become its hegumen. Varlaam twice went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem and other places in the Holy Land. On his way back to Kyiv he fell ill, and died in the Zymne Monastery in the Volodymyr principality. He was buried in the Kyivan Cave Monastery. He was canonized in the 11th century; his feast day is 2 December (19 November OS).