Zechariah the Faster

Saint Zechariah the Faster, also called Zachariah or Zacharias of the Caves, was a monk of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra in medieval Kievan Rus. He is known from an account in the Kiev Caves Patericon, compiled in the early thirteenth century from earlier monastic traditions. According to this narrative, Zechariah was the son of John, a wealthy man of Kiev. John and his companion Sergius had bound themselves in spiritual brotherhood before the icon of the Mother of God at the Caves monastery. On his deathbed John entrusted to Sergius a substantial treasure of silver and gold, to be delivered to Zechariah when the boy reached adulthood.

When Zechariah came of age and requested his inheritance, Sergius denied possessing the money. The two men went to pray at John's tomb in the Cave church. A voice from the grave declared that Sergius held the treasure. Overcome with fear, Sergius produced the gold and silver, which had increased in quantity. Zechariah refused to keep the wealth and gave it to the monastery. He then received monastic tonsure at the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.

In the monastery Zechariah became famous for extreme fasting and was therefore called the Faster. Tradition holds that he never ate food prepared over a fire, living only on raw vegetables taken in small amounts once a day. His abstinence and prayer were said to put demons to flight. He remained in this ascetic life until his death.

The relics of Saint Zechariah rest in the Near Caves, also known as Anthony's Caves, of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. He is venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church. His principal feast is observed on 24 March, and he is also commemorated on 28 September at the Synaxis of the Venerable Fathers of the Kiev Caves whose relics lie in the Near Caves. No precise years of birth or death are recorded; the events of his life are generally situated in the twelfth or thirteenth century.