Venerable Martyr Galaktion of Vologda

Venerable Martyr Galaktion of Vologda was born around 1535 and, according to his Life, descended from the princely Belsky family. When the Belskys fell into disgrace in 1542, the seven-year-old boy was secretly hidden in Staritsa, later making his way to Vologda where, concealing his origin, he apprenticed to a leather-worker. After being widowed following a brief marriage, he renounced the world and was tonsured, receiving guidance from the ascetic Irinarch the Recluse of Rostov's Borisoglebsk Monastery. He settled in a solitary cell on the Sodema River near Vologda, living in extreme asceticism, chaining himself and fasting strictly. Through his prayers during a drought, God sent rain. He urged locals to build a church honoring the Sign icon. In September 1612, during a Polish-Lithuanian raid on Vologda, he was found in his cell and brutally beaten, dying of his wounds. A monastery was later founded on the site. His feast is September 24/October 7.