land. On his return, about 1013, he was divinely guided, in his search for a retreat, to the mountain near Kiev, where the metropolitan Hilarion had, when a simple priest, been wont to resort for solitary prayer and meditation; there, in the cave, two fathoms deep, dug out for himself by Hilarion, Anthony took up his abode and lived a hermit's life of fasting and self-denial. The fame of his piety spread through the land, and the people far and near revered him as a saint. Yaroslav and his son Isiaslav, with the court, came frequently to implore his blessing; and soon other devotees joined him, and dug their caves by his. As their numbers increased, Anthony appointed Barlaam to rule over them as abbot, and retired farther into the forest to be alone. A church and a cloister were added to the subterranean dwellings which burrowed far into the mountain, and by degrees other churches and an immense monastery, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, arose around and above the caves of the early brethren, in memory of which it was called the Petcherski.[1]
The prince and the great lords were prodigal of their riches in founding and endowing other religious establishments, but none, writes Nestor, one of its inmates, prospered as did the Petcherski, "created without silver or gold, of which Anthony had none, but by fasting and watching, by tears and prayers." Feodoceï, "humblest of the brethren," succeeded Barlaam. He completed the organization of the brotherhood according to the strict rules of the Studium monastery of Constantinople. As it was the first, so it became the most celebrated of the monasteries of Russia, and the source from which many sprang.
- ↑ From petchera, meaning cave or cavern.
