Venerable Kuksha of Odessa

Saint Kuksha of Odessa (secular name Kosma Kirillovich Velichko) was born on 12/25 January 1875 in the village of Garbuzinka in the Kherson region. In 1897 he entered the novitiate on Mount Athos, where he was tonsured a rassophore monk with the name Constantine, and later a mantle monk with the name Xenophon. During World War I he served as a medic and was taken prisoner by the Germans. In 1931, gravely ill, he was tonsured into the great schema with the name Kuksha and unexpectedly recovered. He labored at the Kiev Caves Lavra. In 1938 he was arrested and sentenced to five years in labor camps, serving time in the far north, including the Solovki camp, where he endured severe hardship. After his release he served at various monasteries, including the Pochaev Lavra (1953–1957) and communities in Crimea, before settling at the Dormition Monastery in Odessa, where he became a renowned spiritual father celebrated for clairvoyance, healing, and comforting countless pilgrims. He reposed on 24 December 1964. He was glorified as a locally venerated saint of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1994, and his relics were uncovered on 16/29 September of that year.