Venerable Martyr Vassian (Muromtsev) of the Pskov Caves

Venerable Martyr Vassian (secular surname apparently Muromtsev, hence his epithet) labored at the Pskov Caves Monastery in the 16th century as a monk-scribe and chronicler. He was a close associate of Hegumen Cornelius, participated in compiling the monastery's chronicles, and kept correspondence with Prince Andrei Kurbsky. In February 1570, during Ivan the Terrible's campaign against Pskov, the tsar suspected Hegumen Cornelius and his circle of treason; by tradition, the tsar personally killed Cornelius at the monastery gates, and Vassian was executed along with him. Both venerable martyrs are buried in the monastery's Dormition Cathedral. He is venerated in the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Pskov Caves and the Synaxis of Pskov Saints.