Q4348781

Pavel of Taganrog was born on 8 November 1792 in Krolevets, in the Chernigov Governorate of the Russian Empire, into a family of the Russian nobility. His father held the civil rank of collegiate counsellor. From childhood Pavel showed a strong inclination to prayer and the ascetic life. After the death of his parents he distributed his inheritance to the poor and to churches and adopted the life of a pilgrim rather than remaining in secular society.

For many years he wandered among the monasteries and holy places of the Russian Empire, including the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra and other major spiritual centres. In the 1820s he settled permanently in Taganrog, a port city on the Sea of Azov. There he lived in a modest house that contained a private chapel. He never received monastic tonsure and remained a layman, yet he followed a severe rule of prayer, fasting and night vigils and became known as a starets, or spiritual elder.

People of every social condition came to him for counsel, the healing of illnesses and the resolution of family and spiritual difficulties. Accounts from his lifetime attribute to him the gifts of clairvoyance and miracle-working; he is also said to have adopted at times the manner of a fool-for-Christ in order to conceal his inner life. Donations given to him were used for the poor, for the upkeep of his chapel and for the assistance of pilgrims rather than for his own comfort.

He died on 10 March 1879 and was buried in Taganrog. His grave at once became a place of pilgrimage, and reports of healings continued after his death. A chapel later rose over the burial site and in time became a church dedicated to his memory. In 1999 he was glorified as a locally venerated saint; his principal feast is kept on 10 March and he is honoured as the heavenly patron of Taganrog. His life is remembered in the Russian Orthodox tradition as an example of lay holiness and the starets vocation in the nineteenth century.