Righteous
Venerable Artemy of Verkola
1532–1545
Righteous Artemy of Verkola (1532–1545) — a twelve-year-old boy killed by lightning in a field, whose incorrupt relics, discovered 32 years later, became a source of healing, especially of children.
Righteous Artemy of Verkola was born around 1532 in the village of Verkola on the Pinega River, into a devout peasant family, showing gentleness and diligence in prayer from childhood. On June 23, 1545, the twelve-year-old boy was working in the field with his father when a thunderstorm broke out; he was struck by lightning and died instantly. His superstitious fellow villagers took the sudden death as a sign of divine judgment and, without burial rites, left his body in a pine forest, covered with birch bark. About 32 years later, in 1577, a local sexton saw a light shining over the spot; the boy's body was found incorrupt and solemnly translated to the Church of St. Nicholas. Numerous healings, especially of children, began at his relics. By order of Tsar Alexis Mikhailovich, the Artemy-Verkola Monastery was founded at the site, and in 1649 his relics were transferred there.