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{{Short description|Eastern Orthodox priest (1875–1964)}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
[[File:Saint Kuksha of Odessa.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Modern icon of Kuksha, in the style of older icons|[[Icon]] of Kuksha of Odessa]]
[[File:Saint Kuksha of Odessa.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Modern icon of Kuksha, in the style of older icons|[[Icon]] of Kuksha of Odessa]]
'''Kuksha of Odessa''', born '''Kosma Velichko''' ({{OldStyleDate|25 January|1875|January 12}} in [[Arbuzynka]], [[Kherson Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] – December 24, 1964 in [[Odessa]], [[USSR]]), was an imperial Russian priest and a [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]] saint who was [[Canonization|canonized]] in 1995.
'''Kuksha of Odessa''', born '''Kuzma Kirillovich Velichko''' ({{OldStyleDate|25 January|1875|January 12}} in [[Arbuzynka]], [[Kherson Governorate]], [[Russian Empire]] – December 24, 1964 in [[Odessa]], [[USSR]]), was an imperial Russian priest and a [[Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)]] saint who was [[Canonization|canonized]] in 1995.


==<span id="Life"></span>Early life==
==<span id="Life"></span>Early life==
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==<span id="Joining Saint Panteleimon monastery in Greece (1896)"></span>Joining Saint Panteleimon monastery (1896)==
==<span id="Joining Saint Panteleimon monastery in Greece (1896)"></span>Joining Saint Panteleimon monastery (1896)==
Velitchko arrived at Athos (with his parents’ blessing) in 1896, became a [[Novitiate|novice]] at Saint Panteleimon monastery and was placed in charge of altar offerings (''prosphora''s). He visited Jerusalem again with his mother in 1897. Two events occurred in [[Jerusalem]]. Pilgrims unable to have children tried to bathe first at the Siloam baths, so God would grant them children. Velitchko fell into the water, to the amusement of the people who began saying that he would have many children.<ref name=pravo/> The second event occurred when he visited the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], where pilgrims wanted to anoint themselves with oil from the lamps. While Velitchko was worshiping, the central oil lamp spilled its oil all over him. People quickly surrounded him, trying to anoint themselves with oil from his clothing.<ref name=pravo/> After returning to Athos, Velitchko was a servant at the pilgrims' guesthouse for 11 years.
Velitchko arrived at Athos (with his parents’ blessing) in 1896, became a [[Novitiate|novice]] at [[Saint Panteleimon Monastery]] and was placed in charge of altar offerings (''prosphora''s). He visited Jerusalem again with his mother in 1897. Two events occurred in [[Jerusalem]]. Pilgrims unable to have children tried to bathe first at the Siloam baths, so God would grant them children. Velitchko fell into the water, to the amusement of the people who began saying that he would have many children.<ref name=pravo/> The second event occurred when he visited the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], where pilgrims wanted to anoint themselves with oil from the lamps. While Velitchko was worshiping, the central oil lamp spilled its oil all over him. People quickly surrounded him, trying to anoint themselves with oil from his clothing.<ref name=pravo/> After returning to Athos, Velitchko was a servant at the pilgrims' guesthouse for 11 years.


==<span id="Taking monastic vows with the name Xenophont (1904)"></span>Monastic vows as Xenophont (1904)==
==<span id="Taking monastic vows with the name Xenophont (1904)"></span>Monastic vows as Xenophont (1904)==
Line 22: Line 23:


==First arrest by Soviet authorities (1938)==
==First arrest by Soviet authorities (1938)==
[[File:Saint Kuksha grave.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|alt=Grave decorated with plants in containers|Kuksha's original grave]]
After the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was closed by the decision of [[Ukrainian SSR|Soviet Ukraine]] officials, father Kuksha served at the church at Voskresenksaya Slobodka. In 1938, he was sentenced by the Soviet authorities as a "cult servant" to five years in the concentration camp at [[Vilma]], in Molotov Oblast (today [[Perm Oblast]]), [[Ural (region)|Ural]]. After this term ended, Kuksha was sentenced to three additional years of exile.<ref name=stjohndc/>
After the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was closed with a decision by [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Soviet Ukraine]] officials, Kuksha served at the church at Voskresenksaya Slobodka. In 1938, he was accused by Soviet authorities of being a "cult servant" and sentenced to five years in [[Vilva, Solikamsky District, Perm Krai|Vilva]] subcamp of [[Usollag]] labor camp of [[Gulag]] in [[Perm Oblast|Molotov Oblast]] (present-day [[Perm Krai]]), [[Ural (region)|Ural]]. At age 63, Kuksha and other priests and monks were working 14 hours a day at hard labour in cold weather and were poorly fed. Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev sent pieces of the consecrated Eucharist with other breads, so hundreds of convicted priests and monks could receive communion.{{cn|date=January 2020}} After his release from the camp (on [[Saint George's Day]] in the spring of 1943), Kuksha was sentenced to three years of exile<ref name=stjohndc/> in the village of [[Kungur]] in [[Solikamsky District]]. He was blessed by the bishop of [[Solikamsk]], and often conducted church services in the village.

At the age of 63, Kuksha happened to be at hard wood cutting labours working 14 hours a day, in frosts, receiving bad meals. Other priests and monks were imprisoned together with Kuksha. Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev sent, along with pieces of dry breads, particles of blessed Eucharist gifts. In this way, hundreds of convicted priests and monks took communion.

Kuksha was freed from the Vilma camp in the spring of 1943 on the feast of [[Saint George]] and was exiled to a village nearby [[Kungur]] in [[Solikamsk Oblast]] (today northern part of Perm Krai). After being blessed by the bishop of [[Solikamsk]], he often conducted church services in the nearby village. In 1947 the exile term ended.


==Return to Ukraine (1947)==
==Return to Ukraine (1947)==
{{refimprove|date=January 2020}}
In 1947, Kuksha returned to the [[Kiev Pechersk Lavra]] monastery. Four years later, Soviet authorities transferred him from [[Kiev]] to the [[Pochayiv Lavra]] monastery in western [[Ukraine]]. For three years, Kuksha conducted morning services in the monastery's [[Pochayiv Lavra#Buildings|cave churches]].


In late April 1957, during the [[Great Lent]]'s [[Great Lent#Holy Week|Holy Week]], he was transferred to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in [[Khreshchatyk, Chernivtsi Oblast|Khreshchatyk]], [[Chernivtsi Oblast]]. Three years later, the Chernivtsi convent was closed; the nuns were transferred to the monastery, and the monks were sent to the Pochayiv Lavra. Kuksha was transferred to the Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa on 19 July 1960, where he spent the last four years of his life.<ref>[https://mospat.ru/en/2010/07/20/news22229/ "His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia visits Monastery of the Dormition in Odessa", The Russian Orthodox Church]</ref>
In 1947, Kuksha returned to the Lavra and with a great joy had been received by lavra brethren.
In 1951, Soviet authorities transferred father Kuksha from [[Kiev]] to the Holy Dormition Lavra in [[Pochayiv|Pochaev]], in western Ukraine. In Pochayev, Kuksha served at the local wonder-icon of Virgin Mary. Besides that father Kuksha had to confess people. All who were coming to Pochayev tried to get confession with Kuksha. During the course of three years, Kuksha conducted morning services at the Cave Temple.

At the end of April 1957, on the Passion Week of the [[Great Lent]], he was transferred to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Khreshchatyk, [[Chernivtsi Oblast|Chernovtsi Oblast]]. There, elder Kuksha used often to repeat "Here I am at home, here I am on Athon".

In 1960, Chernovtsi women monastery was closed and the nuns were transferred to the men's Saint John Monastery in Khreshchatyk, whereas the monks were sent to Pochayev Lavra. The chief archimandrite Michael (in schema Mytrophanos) was appointed as parish priest not far from the village Khreshchatyk and father Kuksha was transferred to Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa. July 19, 1960 he arrived in that monastery where spends the last four years of his life. He was appointed to confess people and to help to take out particles from sacrifice breads during proscomidia - the initial part of the liturgy. The cell of the elder was next to [[Saint Nicholas]] church.

==Death (1964) and canonization (1995)==
[[File:Saint Kuksha grave.jpg|thumb|250px|Place of first inhumation of St. Kuksha]]
[[File:Saint Kuksha of Odessa sarcophag.jpg|thumb|250px|Sarcophag of St. Kuksha]]
In October 1964, the elder fell and broke a hip. Lying in such a state on the cold ground, he caught a cold and developed pneumonia. He never took medicine, calling the Holy Church to be the curer. He foresaw his own death. The spiritual daughter of the elder schema-nun A. used to recollect that the elder sometimes said: "90 years and Kuksha will be no more, they will bury him quickly quickly, take the shovels and cover". His words came true. He died when he was almost 90, at 2 a.m. The cross was set over his grave at 2 p.m. in the afternoon of the same day. The Soviet authorities, being afraid of the influx of the believers, gave two hours for the burial. News of the death spread quickly and even Patriarch Alexiy I with worry asked why they acted so with the elder's relics.

Blessed Kuksha died on December 24, 1964 and was buried at the cemetery of the Holy Dormition monastery in Odessa.

After the collapse of the communist regime in the Soviet Union, elder Kuksha was glorified as venerable by the decision of the Holy Synod of Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1995.

==Healings and miracles==

All the cases of healings done by Saint Kuksha are so numerous that they cannot be all described or counted. He performed them almost daily throughout decades.

Many were healed by his [[prayer]]. For example, one woman got cancer, which appeared in the form of a blue [[tumour]] on her forehead. In such a state, she came to the elder. Saint Kuksha advised her not to undergo an operation, gave her the rite of confession, and after communion gave her a metallic cross which he ordered her to press against the tumor. The woman did so. After staying with the elder for 4 days, and receiving [[Eucharist|communion]] daily, the woman returned home with her mother. She kept the cross to her forehead, and halfway through the trip home, she realized that half of the tumor had disappeared, leaving only white empty skin. After 2 weeks at home, the second half of the tumor was gone, and the woman's forehead got whiter and cleaner, leaving no trace of cancer.

Saint Kuksha cured one of his spiritual children without actually seeing her. The woman recovered from a mental illness without seeing the elder, the moment the elder read her letter to him, which requested that he pray for her.
Even in autumn 1993, there was a case of woman who was healed (from stomach disease) by soil from Saint Kuksha's grave. In the same way a 72-year-old resident of Odessa was healed. There are numerous witnesses when after rubbing the wounds with abscesses and swellings with soil from the grave of the saint they were healed and cleansed.

==Teaching and instructions==


==<span id="Death (1964) and canonization (1995)"></span>Death and canonization==
Saint Kuksha advised to bless all the new things and products with [[Holy Water]], likewise to sprinkle the cell (room) with Holy Water.
[[File:Saint Kuksha of Odessa sarcophag.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|alt=Kuksha's sarcophagus in a church|Kuksha's [[sarcophagus]] in Odessa's Holy Dormition Monastery]]
In October 1964, Kuksha fell and broke his hip. Lying on the cold ground, he caught a cold and developed pneumonia. Refusing to take medicine, Kuksha died on 24 December 1964 and was buried in the cemetery of the Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa. After the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]], he was glorified as venerable by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1995.
<span id="Healings and miracles"></span>
<span id="Teaching and instructions"></span>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
* ('''Russian''') {{cite web|title=Detailed biography of Saint Kuksha|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://www.otechestvo.org.ua/main/20069/2901.htm|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113054609/http://www.otechestvo.org.ua/main/20069/2901.htm|archivedate=13 November 2007}}
* ('''Ukrainian''') {{cite web|title=Venerable Kuksha of Odesa. Video 26 min.|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://www.glas.org.ua/projects/holylife/kuksha.html }}
* {{cite web|title=Detailed biography of Saint Kuksha|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://www.otechestvo.org.ua/main/20069/2901.htm|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113054609/http://www.otechestvo.org.ua/main/20069/2901.htm|archivedate=13 November 2007}} {{in lang|ru}}
* ('''Ukrainian''') {{cite web|title=Saint Kuksha. Short biography|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://orthodoxy.org.ua/ru/node/7001|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213701/http://orthodoxy.org.ua/ru/node/7001|archivedate=27 September 2007}}
* {{cite web|title=Venerable Kuksha of Odesa (26-minute video)|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://www.glas.org.ua/projects/holylife/kuksha.html }} {{in lang|uk}}
* ('''Russian''') {{cite web|title=Venerable Kuksha of Odessa. Biography and Akathist|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://book.nicenet.ru/Provoslavie/zitie/kuksha_odesskii.htm}}
* {{cite web|title=Saint Kuksha, a short biography|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://orthodoxy.org.ua/ru/node/7001|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213701/http://orthodoxy.org.ua/ru/node/7001|archivedate=27 September 2007}} {{in lang|uk}}
* {{cite web|title=Venerable Kuksha of Odessa, biography and akathist|accessdate=12 November 2007|url=http://book.nicenet.ru/Provoslavie/zitie/kuksha_odesskii.htm}} {{in lang|ru}}


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[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1875 births]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:1964 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Arbuzynka]]
[[Category:People from Mykolaiv Oblast]]
[[Category:People from Kherson Governorate]]
[[Category:People from Kherson Governorate]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints from Ukraine]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox saints from Ukraine]]
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[[Category:20th-century Eastern Orthodox priests]]
[[Category:20th-century Eastern Orthodox priests]]
[[Category:Victims of anti-religious campaign in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Victims of anti-religious campaign in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:People associated with St. Panteleimon Monastery]]

Latest revision as of 10:33, 20 December 2023

Modern icon of Kuksha, in the style of older icons
Icon of Kuksha of Odessa

Kuksha of Odessa, born Kuzma Kirillovich Velichko (25 January [O.S. January 12] 1875 in Arbuzynka, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire – December 24, 1964 in Odessa, USSR), was an imperial Russian priest and a Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) saint who was canonized in 1995.

Early life

[edit]

Kosma Velitchko was born on 12 January 1875 in the village of Arbuzynka in the Nikolaev Province of the Kherson Governorate to Kirill and Kharitina Velitchko. Although his mother dreamed of becoming a nun in her youth, she married to obey her parents. She had two more sons—Theodore (Fedor) and John (Ivan)—and a daughter, Maria, hoping that one of her children would enter the monastic life.[1]

During his youth, Velitchko walked to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra, the far-northern Valaam and Solovki monasteries, and Jerusalem and the Holy Land in 1895.[citation needed] He lived in Jerusalem for six months, and visited all of Palestine's sacred places. On his way back, Velitchko visited Mount Athos. Before leaving the mountain, the pilgrims went to the archimandrite of Saint Panteleimon monastery for a blessing and Velitchko expressed his desire to join the monks there. The archimandrite told him to return after a year, and gave him a small icon of Saint Panteleimon (the monastery's patron saint). Velitchko kept it for his entire life.[citation needed]

Joining Saint Panteleimon monastery (1896)

[edit]

Velitchko arrived at Athos (with his parents’ blessing) in 1896, became a novice at Saint Panteleimon Monastery and was placed in charge of altar offerings (prosphoras). He visited Jerusalem again with his mother in 1897. Two events occurred in Jerusalem. Pilgrims unable to have children tried to bathe first at the Siloam baths, so God would grant them children. Velitchko fell into the water, to the amusement of the people who began saying that he would have many children.[1] The second event occurred when he visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where pilgrims wanted to anoint themselves with oil from the lamps. While Velitchko was worshiping, the central oil lamp spilled its oil all over him. People quickly surrounded him, trying to anoint themselves with oil from his clothing.[1] After returning to Athos, Velitchko was a servant at the pilgrims' guesthouse for 11 years.

Monastic vows as Xenophont (1904)

[edit]

Soon after Velitchko was tonsured with the name Constantine on 5 April [O.S. March 23] 1904, he received the monastic name Xenophont. The Imiaslavie movement reached the Athos monastery in 1912–1913, and Greek authorities demanded that many foreign monks leave (including Xenophont, who was uninvolved).

Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery (1913-1935)

[edit]

In 1913, Xenophont entered the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery.[2] The following year, after the outbreak of World War I, he and other monks worked on the Kiev-Lvov railway for 10 months before returning to the monastery. Although Xenophont wished to reach the Great Schema, his young age (40) was an obstacle.

Great Schema tonsure as Kuksha (1931)

[edit]

Xenophont suddenly became gravely ill at age 56, and it was thought that he would not survive. Believed that he was dying, he was tonsured into schema on 8 April 1931 and given the name Kuksha (after a saint whose relics are in nearby caves). Kuksha recovered, and was consecrated a priest-deacon (hierodeacon) on 3 April 1934 and priest-monk (hieromonk) on 3 May of that year.[2]

First arrest by Soviet authorities (1938)

[edit]
Grave decorated with plants in containers
Kuksha's original grave

After the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was closed with a decision by Soviet Ukraine officials, Kuksha served at the church at Voskresenksaya Slobodka. In 1938, he was accused by Soviet authorities of being a "cult servant" and sentenced to five years in Vilva subcamp of Usollag labor camp of Gulag in Molotov Oblast (present-day Perm Krai), Ural. At age 63, Kuksha and other priests and monks were working 14 hours a day at hard labour in cold weather and were poorly fed. Metropolitan Anthony of Kiev sent pieces of the consecrated Eucharist with other breads, so hundreds of convicted priests and monks could receive communion.[citation needed] After his release from the camp (on Saint George's Day in the spring of 1943), Kuksha was sentenced to three years of exile[2] in the village of Kungur in Solikamsky District. He was blessed by the bishop of Solikamsk, and often conducted church services in the village.

Return to Ukraine (1947)

[edit]

In 1947, Kuksha returned to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra monastery. Four years later, Soviet authorities transferred him from Kiev to the Pochayiv Lavra monastery in western Ukraine. For three years, Kuksha conducted morning services in the monastery's cave churches.

In late April 1957, during the Great Lent's Holy Week, he was transferred to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Khreshchatyk, Chernivtsi Oblast. Three years later, the Chernivtsi convent was closed; the nuns were transferred to the monastery, and the monks were sent to the Pochayiv Lavra. Kuksha was transferred to the Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa on 19 July 1960, where he spent the last four years of his life.[3]

Death and canonization

[edit]
Kuksha's sarcophagus in a church
Kuksha's sarcophagus in Odessa's Holy Dormition Monastery

In October 1964, Kuksha fell and broke his hip. Lying on the cold ground, he caught a cold and developed pneumonia. Refusing to take medicine, Kuksha died on 24 December 1964 and was buried in the cemetery of the Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was glorified as venerable by the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1995.

References

[edit]
[edit]
  • "Detailed biography of Saint Kuksha". Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2007. (in Russian)
  • "Venerable Kuksha of Odesa (26-minute video)". Retrieved 12 November 2007. (in Ukrainian)
  • "Saint Kuksha, a short biography". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2007. (in Ukrainian)
  • "Venerable Kuksha of Odessa, biography and akathist". Retrieved 12 November 2007. (in Russian)