St. Sergius of Radonezh

As a boy named Bartholomew he could not learn to read, until an elder blessed him and he could. With his brother he went into the forests near Radonezh, built a small wooden church to the Holy Trinity, and lived as a hermit, sharing his bread with a bear. Monks gathered, and the Trinity Lavra grew. In 1380 he blessed Prince Dmitry Donskoy before the battle of Kulikovo against the Mongols and sent two of his monks to fight. He refused to become metropolitan, and he is the most loved saint of Russia.

• Feast: September 25 (New Calendar)
• Lived: c. 1314–1392
• Place: Sergiev Posad
• Relics today: Trinity Lavra, Sergiev Posad