Venerable, Fool for Christ Basil the Blessed of Moscow

Blessed Basil was born around 1469 in the village of Yelokhovo near Moscow. Already in adolescence, while apprenticed to learn shoemaking, he displayed the gift of clairvoyance. From his youth he took upon himself the most severe ascetic feat of foolishness for Christ's sake: he walked barefoot and naked in all weather, winter and summer, without shelter, voluntarily enduring the scorn and beatings of people who did not understand his feat. He denounced falsehood and sin without regard for rank — he was not afraid to reproach even Tsar Ivan the Terrible himself for inattention during church services. He performed numerous miracles during his lifetime: he foretold the great Moscow fire of 1547, and denounced the hidden vices of nobles under the guise of seemingly senseless actions. He was held in deep veneration and love by Muscovites of all classes. He died on August 2, 1557, at the age of 88, having lived in the feat of holy foolishness for over seven decades. He was buried by the walls of the then-under-construction Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat (later called St. Basil's Cathedral in his honor). In 1588 he was glorified as an all-Russian saint, and a separate chapel of the cathedral was built over his grave. His memory is kept on August 2/15.