Venerable Alexius of Zosimova Hermitage (Solovyov)

Hieroschemamonk Alexius (Feodor Alekseevich Solovyov in the world) was born January 17, 1846, in Moscow, the son of a priest. For over twenty years he served as a married priest, including at the Dormition Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin; after being widowed and raising his son, he took monastic vows in 1898 at the Smolensk Zosimova Hermitage near Sergiev Posad. There he became one of the most revered spiritual elders of pre-revolutionary Russia. His name is permanently tied to a pivotal moment in Russian Church history: on November 5, 1917, at the All-Russian Local Council, the blind schema-monk Alexius drew the lot that selected Metropolitan Tikhon — from among three candidates — as Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia. After his hermitage was closed in 1923, the elder lived in seclusion in Sergiev Posad, continuing to secretly receive his spiritual children despite Soviet persecution. He reposed on October 2, 1928. He was glorified in 2000.