Blessed, Fool for Christ Cosmas Of Verkhoturye

Blessed Cosmas was born in 1652 in the town of Verkhoturye (Tobolsk district), into a family of townsfolk bearing the surname Nemtchinov (Nemtikov). He took up the feat of foolishness from an early age; he often left home at night to pray in solitude, and, like most holy fools, suffered mockery and persecution from the town's boys. He died on December 8, 1679, in Verkhoturye. He was buried by the walls of the Verkhoturye St. Nicholas Monastery; before the revolution a chapel dedicated to the holy unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Rome stood over his tomb. His memory is kept on December 8/21 (day of repose), and also within the Synaxis of the Saints of Siberia and the Synaxis of the Saints of Yekaterinburg.