Venerable Ephraim of Novy Torg (Torzhok)

St. Ephraim of Novy Torg (Torzhok) was a Hungarian by birth from a noble family who, as a young man, entered the service of the holy Prince Boris Vladimirovich together with his brothers George and Moses. In 1015, when Prince Boris was murdered by order of Svyatopolk the Accursed on the Alta River, Ephraim's brother George died alongside him. Devastated by the deaths of the prince and his brother, Ephraim left worldly service and settled near the town of Torzhok on the Tvertsa River, receiving monastic tonsure. Around 1038, together with St. Arkady of Novy Torg, he built a stone church dedicated to the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb and founded the Boris-and-Gleb Monastery there, becoming its first abbot. He reposed on January 28, 1053, thirty-eight years after the martyric deaths of Princes Boris and Gleb.