Saint Amfilochios of Potchaev (April 29)

Saint Amfilochios of Potchaev (April 29)

Saint Amfilochios was born on November 27, 1897 in the village of Ilovitsa, Shumshchina region, to the family of Varnavas Golovatyuk.

At baptism, he was given the name Jacob in honor of Saint Jacob the Persian.

Together with his nine siblings, he received a Christian upbringing. He inherited his zeal for prayer and church attendance from his mother.

In 1912, at the age of 15, he joined the army. During World War I, he was a nurse somewhere in Siberia. In 1919, he returned to his village, helping the sick who asked him for help.

On July 8, 1932, with the blessing of the bishop, he became a novice monk in Pochaev and after a while he was tonsured a monk with the name Joseph. In 1933 he was ordained a deacon and in 1936 a monk. In the meantime he also graduated from the Theological Seminary of the Pochaev Lavra. When he received the major schema he took the name Amfilochiοs. On April 6, 1957 he was named spiritual director of the Pochaev pilgrims.

In the autumn of 1962, the communists arrested him and imprisoned him in a psychiatric hospital. They released him thanks to Svetlana Alliluyeva, Stalin's daughter, whom the saint had cured of an illness.

He settled in his father's house. His miracles were countless and he had the gift of foresight and insight. Hundreds of people visited him every day. He often said to them: "Do you think I am a saint? I am a sinful man. The healings are due to your faith alone”!

In 1965 he moved in with a niece. In the courtyard of this house he also built a small chapel, where he prayed and blessed the water with which he healed the sick. He also built a very large table, where he invited the faithful to taste from his blessed table.

He lived for 77 years. There were many assassination attempts against him. He died of poisoning on January 1, 1971.