Venerable
Venerable Varlaam of Khutyn
? — 1192
Venerable Varlaam of Khutyn (d. 1192) — founder of the Transfiguration Khutyn Monastery near Novgorod, one of the most venerated saints of medieval Novgorod.
Venerable Varlaam of Khutyn (secular name Aleksa Mikhalevich) came from a noble Novgorod boyar family. Against his parents' wishes he was tonsured at the Lisitsky Monastery. Seeking strict solitude, he withdrew to the deserted hill of Khutyn on the bank of the Volkhov River, then reputed to be an unclean place. There he built a stone church of the Transfiguration and founded a communal monastery in 1192. Even during his lifetime he became renowned as a wonderworker and clairvoyant, foretelling the future and healing the sick. He reposed on November 6, 1192, and his relics remain incorrupt. Veneration of St. Varlaam became one of the most widespread cults in medieval Novgorod; besides his repose day, his feast is also kept on the Thursday after Ascension — a particularly solemn Novgorod celebration.