Venerable Paul the Obedient of the Kiev Caves

Venerable Paul the Obedient was a monk of the Kiev Caves Monastery whose relics rest in the Far (St Theodosius) Caves of the Kiev Caves Lavra.

As with most saints of the Far Caves, only brief late information about him survives; he is not mentioned in the early sources on the monastery, and the date of his life is unknown (the Church calendar gives the 13th–14th century, which the Orthodox Encyclopedia regards as unfounded). According to a manuscript from the Far Caves library used by Archbishop Modest (Strelbitsky), after taking monastic vows Paul fulfilled without complaint every task, even the hardest, given him by the abbot, and was never idle: in his free time he prayed or ground grain on millstones, wearing down his body by heavy labour while keeping unceasing inner prayer.

He was locally canonized in 1684–1690 under Archimandrite Varlaam (Yasinsky), when the feast of the Fathers of the Far Caves was established. His own feast on 10 (23) September was set between 1868 and 1875; he is also commemorated on 28 August (10 September) with the Fathers of the Far Caves and on the Second Sunday of Great Lent.