The Holy Monk Demetrius Prilutsky

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St. Demetrius was a prominent spiritual leader of Northern Russia in the 14th century and the founder of the Prilutsky Monastery in Vologda. Born into a rich merchant family, St. Demetrius became a monk in a monastery near Yaroslavl. He was reported to be very handsome and, being extremely modest, always concealed his face under his hood. Female parishioners made his life difficult as they were constantly trying to see his face. In search of a perfect place for solitary prayer, he moved further north and in 1371 founded the Prilutsky Monastery, which eventually grew into a major monastic center in Northern Russia. Yaroslavian merchants regularly visited Vologda on their way to Archangelsk, the only Russian seaport of the time, and they highly revered Vologodian saints.