A disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh who withdrew into a forest beyond the river and, at his teacher's counsel, founded the Peshnosha monastery, laboring at its building with his own hands.
Feast Day
June 4
Also Jun 14
Draft
Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
Our Venerable Father Methodius, Abbot of Peshnosha
Life
Methodius of Peshnosha was a fourteenth-century Russian monastic who trained as a disciple of Saint Sergius of Radonezh and went on to found the Peshnosha monastery in the wooded country beyond the River Yakhroma. After several years under Sergius's guidance, he withdrew with his teacher's blessing into a solitary, marshy place where he built a cell, and the disciples who gathered around him formed the nucleus of a new community.
On Sergius's counsel he organized the settlement into a monastery with its own church, taking a direct hand in the building work himself. He became its igumen (abbot) in 1391 and reposed the following year. Numbered among the saints at the Moscow Council of 1549, he is commemorated on June 4 and June 14.
Timeline 4 moments
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14th centuryDisciple of Sergius of RadonezhIn his youth Methodius went to Saint Sergius of Radonezh and spent several years under his spiritual guidance before seeking a more solitary life.
14th centuryWithdrawal beyond the YakhromaWith Sergius's blessing he withdrew to a marshy forest place beyond the River Yakhroma and built himself a cell, where disciples soon gathered around him.
1391Igumen of PeshnoshaAfter Sergius advised him to formalize the community into a monastery and church, Methodius labored at the construction and became igumen of the monastery in 1391.
1392ReposeMethodius reposed in 1392 and was buried at the monastery he had founded; the day is recorded variously as June 4 and June 14.
Contributions & Legacy
3 contributions
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The Founding of Peshnosha
The monastery's name, Peshnosha, is traditionally derived from Methodius's own labor: he carried timber on foot along the river while building the church and cells. This hands-on toil in a difficult, marshy setting became a defining feature of the foundation's early history.
About two versts from the monastery Methodius kept a place of withdrawal for prayer. Saint Sergius came there for spiritual conversation with his former disciple, and the spot accordingly became known as Beseda, the "Conversation-place."
Veneration and Glorification
Methodius was regarded as a saint at Peshnosha from the day of his death, with his memory kept at the monastery and in the surrounding villages. His wider local veneration grew in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
He was formally numbered among the saints at the Moscow Council of 1549. His June 14 commemoration coincides with that of Saint Methodios, Patriarch of Constantinople.
Relics & Shrines
Methodius was buried at the Peshnosha monastery. A church dedicated to Saints Sergius of Radonezh and Methodius of Peshnosha was built over his relics in 1732.
