Saints of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

A Great Renewer of Christian Faith and Life

In the eighteenth century, there arose a great Saint and teacher of the Jesus Prayer in the person of St Paisius Velichkovsky.  A native of Poltava, which he always underlined whenever he signed his name, and of a noble Ukrainian family, Paisius left the Kyivan Academy to travel to Athos and Moldavia.  He studied and translated the Fathers’ teaching on the “Prayer of the Heart.”  His disciples included Orthodox Christians from ten nationalities, including Ukrainians and Hutsuls, which are listed separately.  He wrote a Monastic Rule which basically teaches the constant, unceasing practice of the Jesus Prayer, the reading of Scripture and the Fathers, work to support oneself and other points.  His Rule and teaching inspired and reformed monasteries throughout Ukraine, Russia, Mount Athos and Rumania where he is called “St. Paisius of Rumania.”