Venerable
Venerable Nikandr (Nicander) of Gorodnoezero
? — 1603 (по др. данным 1607)
Also known as: прежнее написание: «Никандр Гродноезерский» — искажение, неверно указывающее на Гродно
Venerable Nikandr of Gorodnoezero — a Novgorod-region hermit at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries, who founded a hermitage on the shore of Lake Gorodno; almost nothing about his life has survived beyond reverent popular memory.
IMPORTANT SPELLING CORRECTION: the former spelling "Grodnoezersky" mistakenly suggests the city of Grodno (Belarus); research established that the correct spelling is "Gorodnoezersky," from the name of Lake Gorodno (Borovichi district, Novgorod region) — an entirely different, Russian location. The card has been renamed accordingly.
HONEST ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF SCARCE SOURCES: sources state directly that "no information about the life and deeds of Venerable Nikandr has survived except reverent memory in the hearts of the people." It is known only that he founded a hermitage on the shore of Lake Gorodno (Borovichi district) at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries, built a Church of the Resurrection of the Lord, and gathered around himself a small brotherhood of companions, living a life of labor, fasting, and prayer until his death at an advanced age — per some sources in 1603, per others in 1607 (a genuine discrepancy exists in the sources). His relics remained hidden underground until 1992, when they were transferred to a nearby church.
His feast is kept on March 15/28; also November 4 in the general Synaxis of Novgorod Saints.