Venerable Venerable Anthony of Siya

Venerable Anthony of Siya (born Andrei) was born in 1477 in the village of Kekhta on the Northern Dvina to a farming family. He learned icon painting, served in a Novgorod boyar's household, and, after the early death of his wife, renounced the world. He was tonsured at the hermitage of St. Pachomius of Kena.

Around 1520, with several companions, he withdrew to the Siya River, where on Lake Mikhailovo he founded the Holy Trinity Anthony-Siysky Monastery and became its first abbot. He established a strict cenobitic rule, personally engaging in labor, book copying, and icon painting. A substantial brotherhood gathered under him, and the monastery became a spiritual and educational center of Pomorye.

He reposed December 7, 1556, and was buried in the monastery he founded. He was glorified as a saint in 1579 through Abbot Pitirim and the monk Jonah, who compiled his Life. He is also venerated in the Synaxes of Novgorod, Karelian, and Arkhangelsk saints.