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Exhausting your body by sleeping on the earth, praying, and keeping vigil, O Venerable one, / you dispelled all carnal thoughts / and become a copious stream of healing for those who come to you with faith; / O Barlaam, our Father, / pray to Christ God for the salvation of our souls.
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As a second Elijah, O Father, you brought down rain from the heavens, / for he brought down fire and astonished the king, / but you pleased your people and instituted a festival. / Great Novgorod takes pride in you, having your relics in itself, / preserving it unshaken by enemies, so that we may cry out to you: / “Rejoice, Venerable Barlaam, our Father.”
Saint Barlaam of Khutyn lived in the XII century, and was the son of a noble Novgorodian and spent his childhood in Novgorod. In his youth, retiring to the Lisich Monastery near the city, Barlaam was tonsured as a monk. Then he settled on a secluded hill above Volkhov, in an area called Khutyn, 10 versts from Novgorod. In his seclusion, Saint Barlaam led an austere solitary life, occupying himself with unceasing prayer, and keeping a very strict fast. He was a zealous ascetic in his labors: cutting timber in the forest, chopping firewood, and tilling the soil, fulfilling the words of the Holy Scriptures: "If anyone does not wish to work, neither let him eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Some of the inhabitants of Novgorod gathered around him, desiring to share the Saint's works and ascetical struggles. Instructing those who came to him, Saint Barlaam said, "My children, beware of all unrighteousness, and do not give in to envy or slander, don't be jealous, do not slander anyone. Refrain from anger, and do not practice usury. Beware of unjust judgment. Do not swear an oath falsely, but rather fulfill it. Do not indulge in carnal appetites. Always be meek and endure all things with love. This virtue is the beginning and the root of all goodness."
Soon a church was built in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord, and a Monastery was founded. The Lord granted him the gift of miracles and clairvoyance in order to serve his neighbors. As Saint Barlaam’s life was drawing to a close, by God's will, Hieromonk Anthony came from Constantinople. He was the contemporary and friend of Saint Barlaam. The Saint turned to him and said, “My beloved brother, God’s blessings rest upon this Monastery. Now I leave it in your hands. Watch over it and care for it. Although in the body I am leaving you, I shall always be with you in spirit.”
After giving his final counsels to the brethren, commanding them to preserve the Orthodox Faith, and to abide in humility, Saint Barlaam fell asleep in the Lord on November 6, 1192.
The Church remembers Saint Barlaam three times during the year: on the day of his blessed repose (November 6), on the first Friday of the Apostles' Fast, and on the third Sunday after Pentecost (Synaxis of the Novgorod Saints).
In Slavonic practice, Saint Barlaam is commemorated during the Proskomedia along with the venerable God-bearing Fathers who have shone forth in asceticism (sixth particle).
