July 19 is the day of the blessed death of Schema-Archimandrite Gregory (Davydov)translated

With the blessing of Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol, Schema-Archimandrite Gregory was born on January 20, 1911 (the date indicated on the passport, but it may be inaccurate) in the village of Zhikhorevo, Oryol province, into the pious family of Ivan Fedorovich and Anastasia Nikiforovna Davydov. There were ten children in the family. The father of the future elder was a cabinet maker and went with his artel to earn money. Schema-Archimandrite Gregory's mother, a deeply religious woman, was raised in a good patriarchal spirit. She got married with the blessing of her parents, almost without knowing her husband, who after the wedding took her to his family. From childhood, Gregory had a knack for peasant labor; he knew how to cook, sew, embroider, weave, knit - in a word, he was not afraid of any work. Moreover, any activity aroused his interest. Already from the height of his years, the elder instructed his children: in life you need to take on everything, because you don’t know what skills may be useful to you in the future. Knowledge of many crafts saved his life when he found himself in exile in Kolyma. Fasting was strictly observed in the family, and no exceptions were made for infants. From an early age, the mother taught her children to pray. At home, when she stood in front of the icons, she always placed them next to...