Hierarch, Archbishop Dionysius of Suzdal, the Recluse

Hierarch Dionysius was born in the early 14th century in southern Rus, in the Kiev land. From his youth he took monastic vows at the Kiev Caves monastery. Around 1335, coming to Nizhny Novgorod, he founded in a cave on the bank of the Volga a monastery in honor of the Ascension of the Lord — later known as the Ascension Caves Monastery of Nizhny Novgorod; among his disciples were Venerables Euthymius of Suzdal and Macarius of Zheltye Vody and Unzha, who were later themselves glorified as saints. He was consecrated Bishop of Suzdal by Metropolitan Alexy, and in 1382 received the rank of archbishop from the Patriarch of Constantinople. He labored greatly against the heresy of the Strigolniki, which rejected the church hierarchy and sacraments. It is presumed that under Hierarch Dionysius's editorship, the famous Laurentian Chronicle — the oldest surviving dated Russian chronicle compilation — was composed in 1377. Historical tradition attached to him the epithet "the Recluse" for his strict ascetic life. Having gone to Kiev on church business, Hierarch Dionysius was detained there by Lithuanian authorities and died in captivity on October 15, 1385; he was buried in the Near Caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra. His memory is kept on October 15/28.