Venerable Savvaty of Solovki

St. Savvaty of Solovki was one of the founders of the Transfiguration Solovetsky Monastery. He was tonsured in 1396 at the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, then withdrew to Valaam, uncomfortable with the fame and veneration he received there. On learning of the uninhabited Solovetsky Island in the White Sea, he secretly left Valaam and, together with St. Herman, whom he met along the way, crossed to the island in 1429 — becoming the first monk to settle there. They raised a cross and built a cell near Sosnovaya Bay. After St. Herman's departure, Savvaty continued his solitary ascetic life; sensing his death approaching, he traveled to the mainland to receive Holy Communion and peacefully reposed on September 27, 1435, near a chapel on the Vyg River. St. Zosima later continued the work of founding the monastery. In 1566 Savvaty's relics were translated to Solovki, where they rest alongside those of Zosima and Herman. He is venerated as a heavenly patron of the Russian North.