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Biography

Joseph the Much-Ailing of the Kiev Caves

Portrait of Joseph the Much-Ailing of the Kiev Caves

About Joseph the Much-Ailing of the Kiev Caves

Joseph was a fourteenth-century monk of the Kiev Caves. His Orthodox notice begins with a serious illness. It says that he promised to serve the monastery’s brethren for the rest of his life if he recovered.

According to the received account, he regained his health, entered the monastery, and received monastic tonsure. Prayer, fasting, and service to the community form the substance of his remembered life. He was buried in the Far Caves. His April 4 feast is accompanied by the collective commemoration of the Far Caves saints on August 28. The notice gives no precise birth or death year, and it does not describe the illness in medical terms.

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