November 10/October 28 – memory of St. Job of Pochaevtranslated

The Monk Job of Pochaev lived in difficult years for Orthodox Rus', when on its western outskirts the Orthodox people of Volyn and Galicia were subjected to church and political oppression by Polish-Lithuanian magnates. The Monk Job witnessed the Union of Brest in 1596 and the unstoppable advance of Catholicism that followed, as well as the growing influence of Protestantism. Being the abbot of the monastery and enjoying enormous spiritual authority, the Monk Job used all his capabilities to combat heterodox and heretical influences on the people's consciousness, to strengthen Orthodoxy. The Monk Job (in the world John) was born in a region called Poputye, lying in Galicia between the Carpathians and the Dniester. His family, bearing the surname Zhelezo, belonged to a noble family who remained faithful to Orthodoxy. His parents' names were John and Agathia. From childhood, the future ascetic discovered a desire for monastic life.

At the age of ten, the boy left his parents' home and asked the abbot of the nearby Ugornitsky monastery to allow him to serve the brethren. With his zeal, he soon won the love of the monastic brotherhood, and the perspicacious abbot foresaw great spiritual gifts in him. On…