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Commemorated on March
24th
Saint Zachariah the Faster of the Caves was an ascetic in the Far Caves in
the thirteenth-fourteenth centuries. He fasted so strictly that he ate nothing
baked nor boiled, and he consumed only greens once a day at the setting of the
sun. Demons trembled at the mere mention of his name.
Often the monk saw angels, with which he deserved to live in Heaven. The
identification of St Zachariah, Faster of Caves, with Zachariah the son of John
of Kiev, who had given all his inheritance for the adornment of the Caves temple
and became a monk at the monastery, is unfounded.
Before his death, John had transferred his property to his friend Sergius. This
was when the igumen was St Nikon (March 23). Zachariah was five years old at the
time. At age fifteen, i.e., not later than the year 1098, he obtained his
inheritance from Sergius, in order to give it to the monastery. However, St
Zachariah the Faster of the Caves lived approximately 200 years later.
Troparion Tone 3
Thy life of fasting, O blessed Zacharias,/ has given thee power over demons./
We pray that we may escape their snares,/ and may receive forgiveness of our
sins and great mercy.
Kontakion Tone 4
Thou wast illustrious in fasting,/ and didst appear terrible to demons;/
strengthen us also by thy prayers, O venerable Zacharias,/ that we may lead a
life of fasting, and be delivered from the demons' attacks,/ and so may bless
thee.
Source: www.oca.org,
Menologian Software 2.0
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