St Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh (+1783)
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk, Bishop of Voronezh (in the world Timothy), was born in 1724 in the village of Korotsko in the diocese of Novgorod, into the family of the deacon Savely Kirillov (the new surname Sokolov was given to him later by the administration of the Novgorod seminary). The boy’s parents died early. After this his brother took on the care of the youngest child and at thirteen sent him to the Novgorod theological school. When the school was turned into a seminary, Timothy, as one of the best pupils, was accepted there at the archbishop’s expense. The blessed one studied diligently; he sold part of his food ration and bought candles so as to read books in the evenings. In 1754 Timothy graduated brilliantly from the seminary and was kept on there as a teacher, first of Greek, and then of rhetoric and philosophy. In 1758 the saint became a monk with the name Tikhon. In the same year he was appointed prefect of the seminary, and in 1759 he was transferred to Tver and made archimandrite; afterwards the blessed one was also entrusted with the post of rector of the Tver seminary; and on 13 May 1761 he was consecrated Bishop of Kexholm and Ladoga. In 1763 Tikhon was given the see of Voronezh. For four and a half years he governed his flock wisely.
In 1767, because of his shaken health, the saint was forced to give up the government of his flock and to live the quiet life of a monk in a monastery. In his retirement the blessed one loved to read the lives of the saints and the writings of the holy fathers; he knew all the psalms by heart and usually sang them on the road.
By tireless labour the Venerable Tikhon acquired the grace of contemplating heavenly things and of foresight. He foretold many important events in the life of Russia. For the day of his death the saint had his vestments and coffin prepared beforehand.
Tikhon of Zadonsk, a wonderworking Russian father, died on Sunday, 13 August 1783, at the age of fifty-nine. His canonisation and the uncovering of his incorrupt relics took place on 13 August 1861.
