Venerable Antipas of Valaam

Venerable Antipas (secular name Lucian Alexander Georgievich) was born in 1816 in the village of Calapodești, Tecuci district, Moldavia, to a deacon's family.

Following his spiritual father's counsel, Antipas went to Mount Athos, entering the Greek monastery of Esphigmenou. At the request of Elder Niphon, he joined the Moldavian sketе then under construction, was ordained hieromonk, and appointed cellarer.

In 1865 Venerable Antipas arrived on the island of Valaam, at the Skete of All Saints, where he continued his strict ascetic life. He reposed on January 10, 1882, on Valaam.

Orthodox Christians keep the memory of Venerable Antipas of Valaam and Athos on January 10/23. He is venerated in the Synaxis of Valaam Saints, the Synaxis of Moldavian Saints, and the Synaxis of the Fathers of the Russian St. Panteleimon Monastery on Athos.

IMPORTANT CORRECTION: this entry previously contained a serious contamination — under the slug "martyr_antipas" (Martyr Antipas), three of its four images were directly inscribed "VEN. ANTIPAS OF VALAAM" — i.e., they belong to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT, much later saint (19th century), not the ancient Hieromartyr Antipas of Pergamum (see the separate, independent entry martyr_antipas_of_pergamum). Since the images unambiguously and specifically confirm the identity of Venerable Antipas of Valaam rather than being generic, the entry has been fully reworked around this identity (category martyr→venerable, dating "II–IV century"→1816–1882); the slug itself was left technically unchanged. The fourth image (a generic "April" calendar icon) was removed as inconsistent with the saint's January feast.