Our Venerable Father Agathon, Wonderworker of the Kiev Caves
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Healing
Life
Venerable Agathon was a monastic ascetic of the Kiev Caves Lavra who is remembered as a great wonderworker. The surviving record of his life is slight: he is known above all for healing the sick by laying his hands upon them, and for the gift of prophecy, by which he foretold the time of his own repose.
His relics rest among the incorrupt saints of the Far Caves of the Lavra, where he is venerated together with the other monastic fathers buried there. He is commemorated on February 20, and also at the Synaxis of the Saints of the Far Caves on August 28.
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Life and Wonderworking
No narrative biography of Agathon survives; the saint is known chiefly through the tradition preserved at the Kiev Caves and the testimony of his relics. He is described as a great ascetic of the Far Caves who lived in the 13th or 14th century.
Two charisms define his memory. He healed the sick by the laying on of his hands, and he possessed the gift of prophecy, through which he foretold the hour of his own death. These are the constants in every account of him, even where fuller biographical detail is wanting.
Relics & Shrines
Agathon's relics are preserved among the saints of the Far Caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra, in the cave complex associated with Venerable Theodosius. Anthropological examination of his remains has indicated that he reposed at the age of about 30 to 40 years.
His local canonization took place in 1643, and his veneration was confirmed more widely by decrees of the Holy Synod in 1762, 1775, and 1784. Fragments of his relics are also held outside Ukraine, including at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Washington, D.C.
