Venerable (Monastic) 11th century

Venerable Gregory Wonderworker of the Kiev Near Caves

died 1093

Also known as Gregory the Wonderworker of the Caves

A monk of the Kiev Caves in the time of St. Theodosius, granted the gift of wonderworking and of overcoming thieves by gentleness.

Feast Day

January 8

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Commemorated as

Venerable Gregory the Wonderworker of the Kiev Near Caves

Life

Gregory the Wonderworker was a monk of the Kiev Caves monastery who lived in the eleventh century, in the time of Saint Theodosius. He is remembered chiefly for the gift of wonderworking and for his gentle dealings with thieves, whom he repeatedly brought to repentance through reason rather than resistance. He is commemorated on January 8.

According to the tradition recorded in the synaxarion, Gregory was tonsured at the Kiev Caves monastery during the era of Saint Theodosius and acquired his spiritual gifts through dedicated prayer. Books were said to be his sole possession, and the accounts of his life center on a series of encounters with robbers who broke in upon him in his cell or in his garden. In each case the saint reasoned with them, and the thieves repented and began to lead honest lives. By tradition he eventually sold his manuscripts and gave the proceeds to the poor, so as not to tempt others to theft.

The sources relate that Gregory died in 1093 and was buried in the Near Caves of the monastery, where his relics repose. The fuller tradition associates his death with a confrontation at the Dnieper River, after which he was drowned; the same year saw the death of the young Prince Rostislav in the river, which the accounts present as the fulfillment of a warning the saint had given.

Timeline 2 moments Read Hide

11th century Tonsured at the Kiev Caves Gregory entered the Kiev Caves monastery in the time of Saint Theodosius and was given to prayer and the gift of wonderworking.
1093 Repose Gregory died in 1093 and was buried in the Near Caves; the tradition connects his death with the drowning of Prince Rostislav the same year.

Contributions & Legacy

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Gentleness toward thieves

The defining feature of Gregory's life in the tradition is his treatment of those who came to rob him. The synaxarion relates that robbers broke in on him several times, in his cell or in his garden, and that rather than resisting he reasoned with them, so that they repented and reformed their lives. Because his books were his only possession and a recurring temptation to thieves, he is said to have sold the manuscripts and distributed the money to the poor.

These episodes are the basis for his being invoked in connection with theft and with the conversion of wrongdoers, and they account for the description of him as one who overcame thieves by gentleness.

Death and the prophecy concerning Prince Rostislav

The fuller accounts of Gregory's repose connect it with the saint's encounter with the servants of Prince Rostislav at the Dnieper River. According to this tradition, the saint warned them that they would meet death in the water together with their prince, and the prince, enraged, ordered Gregory bound with a stone about his neck and drowned in the river. The tradition reports that the warning was fulfilled in 1093, when the young Prince Rostislav drowned while fleeing the Polovetsians.

Some sources add that three days after his death the monks found the saint's body in his cell, with his hands and feet still bound and his clothes wet, and that his relics were laid to rest in the Near Caves.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 8