Athanasius Sakharov

Athanasius Sakharov was a Russian Orthodox saint and hymnographer, canonized in 2000.

Early life

Saint Athanasius Sakharov, birth name: Sergei Sakharov,was born on 2 July 1887, he was born in the Tsarevka Village in the Tambov Governorship. Throughout his early life Saint Athanasius and his family lived in the Russian city of Vladimir. Athanasius’ father, Gregory Zakharov, was a civil-ranking Court Councillor, whilst Athanasius’ mother, Matrona, was from a peasant family.

An image of a young, Saint Athanasius Sakharov, holding a Bishop's Crozier. The image was taken in 1889, when Athanasius was 2 years old.

Unfortunately when Athanasius was 1+1⁄2 years old, his father, Gregory Zakhorov died. After Athanasius’ father's death, Matrona's piety increased and she took on the monastic lifestyle, which greatly influenced Athanasius’ spiritual life. During this period, the boy was very keen on attending lengthy Church Services and Liturgies. Even though he was young Saint Athanasius considered himself a servant of the church and told all his friends and classmates his dreams to achieve priesthood. Impressively at a young age, Athanasius learned how to sew, which he used his skill to sew many Church vestments and he embroider many icon coverings.

Education

Athanasius Sakharov found his education difficult, he didn't slacken his efforts, but unexpectedly at the end of the school year he graduated at the top of the class. Impressively, at the age of 12 he wrote his first troparion to the Shuisk-Smolensk icon of the Mother of God.

Icon of the Shuisk-Smolensk Mother of God.

After finishing his Primary Education, Athanasius entered a religious seminary in his hometown Vladimir. As a religious seminary student, Athanasius displayed a talent at ignoring temptations. A clandestine chapter of the seminary ended, when one of its leaders died due to mishandling explosives. In the summer of 1901, revolutionary seminary students held a secret meeting later resulting in a riot amongst the students in December, when they went on strike refusing to attend the seminary. During this period, Athanasius was not interested in boycotting the seminary due to his refusal in taking part in Politics. Eventually after graduating the Vladimir Seminary, he transferred to the Moscow Religious Academy. During his stay at the Moscow Academy, he took on a monastic tonsure taking the name Athanasius after the famous Saint Athanasius of Alexandria. In 1912, Athanasius graduated the Moscow Academy with a degree in theology.