The Monk Gerasim Boldinsky, Gregory in the world, was born in 1490 in Pereyaslavl-Zalessky. Since childhood, he loved visiting the temple of God. After hearing about the ascetic life of St. Daniel of Pereyaslav, the thirteen-year-old boy tearfully asked to be accepted into the Goritsky monastery.
St. Daniel accepted Gregory as a novice, and later tonsured him into monasticism with the name Gerasim. The young monk diligently labored in fasting and prayer, helped his mentor build temples and cells, and also served the poor brethren with his craft — he was a shoemaker.
The fame of the ascetic's strict life reached Moscow. Together with the Monk Daniel, he was summoned to the capital and presented to the tsar. However, earthly glory weighed on the saint. After spending twenty-six years under the spiritual guidance of his mentor, St. Gerasim received the blessing to live as a hermit.
He settled in a remote forest near Dorogobuzh on Smolensk land. The saint endured attacks by robbers, hardships and hunger, but meekly endured insults and prayed for his abusers. For food, he hung a truck bed by the road, into which people passing by put bread. According to legend, the body was guarded by a raven, who drove away unkind people and wild animals.
Subsequently, the monk moved to Boldina Mountain. Initially, the locals met him with hostility: they beat and slandered him in front of the Dorogobuzhsky governor. The elder silently endured the bullying and prayed. At that time, a royal envoy arrived to the governor, who recognized St. Gerasim and respectfully asked for his blessing. The frightened governor repented, asked for forgiveness and donated funds for the construction of the monastery.
Those who desired a monastic life began to gather around the monk. Having received permission from Moscow, in 1528 the saint founded a cenobitic monastery in Boldin. In 1530, a church in the name of the Holy Trinity was erected here and cells for the brethren were built.
St. Gerasim founded several more monasteries: St. John the Baptist Monastery in Vyazma, the Vvedensky Monastery on the Zhizdra River and the monastery in honor of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin near Dorogobuzh. By the end of his life, about 140 monks were working in the Boldinsky monastery.
Before his death, the monk gathered the hegumens and the brethren of the monasteries he founded, told them about his life and gave them his last spiritual instructions. The saint passed away peacefully on May 1, 1554, at the age of 65. He was buried in the Trinity Cathedral of the Boldinsky Monastery, in the chapel of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.
In 1921, representatives of the commission for the liquidation of the relics opened one of the graves in the cathedral. The found remains were transferred to the cemetery outside the monastery walls. However, later serious doubts arose that the commission had discovered the true burial place of the monk.
In 2001, during archaeological work, an intact grave pit was found in the southern aisle of the destroyed Trinity Cathedral. On July 17, its exploration began, and the honest remains of St. Gerasim Boldinsky were found at a depth of more than three meters.
The authenticity of the burial was confirmed by its location, the monastic burial method, ceramics from the 16th century, the remains of an ancient wooden coffin-deck and found leather shoes. It is known that the monk was a tanner, so perhaps the shoes were made by his own hands.
The holy relics were transferred to the Vvedensky temple of the Boldinsky monastery. Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad blessed to consider July 20, when official conclusions were received about the ownership of the remains of St. Gerasim, as the day of the discovery of his venerable relics.
Venerable Father Gerasim, pray to God for us!