Venerable Philip of Irap

Venerable Philip of Irap (secular name Theophilus) was born around 1493 and orphaned early. At twelve he entered the Komel Monastery under St. Cornelius of Komel, where three years later he was tonsured with the name Philip. Seeking solitude, he withdrew to the Vologda lands, settling on the Andoga River in the Irap tract, where he founded a hermitage dedicated to the Holy Trinity. He lived a strict ascetic life of fasting and prayer. He reposed on the feast day of his heavenly patron, the Apostle Philip — November 14. His year of death is given variously in the sources (1527 or 1537). His Life was composed by the monk German of the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery, who knew the saint personally and recorded his account; it was published and annotated by V. O. Klyuchevsky in 1879.