Venerable Therapont of Monza

St. Ferapont (Therapont) of Monza was a Russian ascetic of the late sixteenth century who labored in the Kostroma region. Nothing certain is known of his family or early life; he received monastic tonsure only in old age, at the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery in Kostroma, and spent barely sixteen years as a monk before his death. According to tradition, before his tonsure he had lived as a fool-for-Christ in Moscow, following the example of St. Basil the Blessed. Seeking greater solitude, he withdrew secretly to a wilderness spot on the Monza River in Galich district, where he gave himself to fasting and prayer. He appeared in a dream to two monks of the Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery, Adrian and Paphnutius, instructing them to found a monastery there in honor of the Annunciation. St. Ferapont reposed in peace on December 12, 1597; twenty years later his incorrupt relics were uncovered. He is counted among the Synaxis of Kostroma Saints.