Venerable
Venerable Damian the Healer of the Kiev Caves
† между 1062 и 1074 (по преданию 5 октября 1071)
Also known as: Дамиан пресвитер
Venerable Damian the Healer — an 11th-century Russian monk and presbyter of the Kiev Caves Monastery, disciple of St. Theodosius of the Caves, who received the gift of healing and prayed over the sick; he died peacefully between 1062 and 1074.
Venerable Damian the Healer, presbyter of the Kiev Caves, was an 11th-century Russian monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery and a devoted disciple of St. Theodosius of the Caves. He entered the monastery during Theodosius's abbacy and became a priest of the community, keeping a strict fast of bread and water alone and spending his nights in prayer and the reading of Scripture.
For his virtuous life he received from God the gift of healing, and with Theodosius's blessing he prayed over the sick and anointed them with oil, through which many were healed.
He died between 1062 and 1074 (tradition gives October 5, 1071); before his death an angel appeared to him in the form of Theodosius, announcing that they would dwell together in the Kingdom of Heaven.
His life is recorded by St. Nestor the Chronicler within the Life of Theodosius of the Caves and in every redaction of the Kiev Caves Patericon. His relics rest in the Near (Anthony's) Caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra; his feast is kept October 5/18, and he is also commemorated in the Synaxis of the Fathers of the Near Caves September 28/October 11.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the entry was previously mistagged as "martyr" and, given its slug, may have been confused with one of the physician-pair "Damians" (Rome, Asia Minor, or Arabia). The direct image inscription ("Venerable Damian, Presbyter and Healer") unambiguously points to a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT saint — an 11th-century ascetic of the Kiev Caves. Category corrected martyr→venerable.