Kuksha of Odessa
Encyclopedia
Saint Kuksha of Odessa, born Kosma Velichko ' onMouseout='HidePop("80942")' href="/topics/Kherson_Governorate">Kherson Governorate
, Russian Empire
- December 24, 1964, Odessa
, USSR) is a modern saint canonized by Ukrainian Orthodox Church
in 1995.
Saint Kuksha was in the family of Cyrill and Kharytyna who lived in Ukraine
(then part of the Russian Empire
) and had many children. In her youth, his mother dreamed of becoming a nun, but married from obedience to her parents. She had two more sons Theodore (Fedor) and John (Ivan), and a daughter, Maria. In his young years, Kosma made walking pilgrimages to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra
, traveled to the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
, to the far north Valaam
and Solovki
monasteries, and to Jerusalem and Holy Land
in 1895. Kosma lived in Jerusalem for 6 months and visited all the sacred places in Palestine
. On his way back, he visited Mount Athon. Before departing from Athon, the piligrims went to the archimandrite
of Saint Panteleimon monastery for a road blessing. Kosma expressed his will to join the monks there. The archimandrite consented and told him to return after one year, and gave Kosma a little icon of monastery patron saint, the great martyr Saint Panteleimon. This icon Kosma kept to himself until his death.
After returning to the Russian Empire
, Kosma visited elder Jona of Kiev, who was widely known for his clairvoyance and wonder working. The elder was receiving people in the court of Jona monastery and giving blessing to everyone. The elder approached Kosma, touched his head with the cross and said: "I bless you into the monastery! You will live on Athon!". Kosma's mother thanked God for her son's decision.
. There, pilgrims wished to anoint themselves with the oil from the lamps burning at the Holy Sepulchre. At that moment, the Lord's angel invisibly turned over one of the lamps and the oil poured out upon Kosma. People quickly surrounded Kosma trying to anoint themselves with the oil from his clothes. The event foretold that God's grace that poured upon Kosma so abundantly will be transmitted through him to many people.
A year after coming from Jerusalem to Athon, Kosma departed for Jerusalem again. For 1 and a half years, he served in turn at Lord's Sepulchre. Having returned to Athon, Kosma was appointed as guest-servant at the guesthouse for piligrims where he served for 11 years.
In 1912–1913 a heresy of Imiaslavie
emerged at Athon monasteries. Greek authorities demanded to leave the monastery from many foreign monks, including Xenophont, though he had no relation to the heresy.
. During World War I
(in 1914) father Xenophont and other monks worked as a "mercy brother" on the sanitary train on the line Kiev
- Lvov for 10 months, then he returned to the Lavra. There he served in Far Caves, kindled the lamps at the relics, redressed the holy relics, kept cleanness and order. He had an ardent desire to enter schema but was refused being only 40. So once at night having redressed the relics of Saint Siluan Xenophont took them in hands at kneeling next to his shrine he ardently prayed so that Saint Siluan would help him with tonsure in schema. And so Xenophont fell asleep by the morning, kneeling and keeping the relics in his hands.
he recovered.
On April 3, 1934 father Kuksha was consecrated into the rank of priest-deacon (hierodeacon
) and ay 3 same year into the ranks of priest-monk (hieromonk
).
officials, father Kuksha served at the church at Voskresenksaya Slobodka. In 1938, he was sentenced by the Soviet authorities as a "cult servant" to 5 years of concentration camps in the town of Vilma
, in Molotov Oblast (today Perm Oblast
), Ural
. And after this term ended, Kuksha was convicted to 3 years of exile. This way at the age of 63, Kuksha happened to be at hard wood cutting labours working 14 hours a day, in cruel frosts, receiving miserable and bad meals. Many priests and monks were imprisoned together with Kuksha. At that time, the post of Kiev metropolitan was occupied by vladyka Anthony, who, along with pieces of dry breads, sent the particles of blessed Eucharist Gifts. In this way, hundreds of convicted priests and monks took communion.
Kuksha was freed from the Vilma camp in the spring of 1943 on the feast of Saint George
and was exiled to a village nearby Kungur
in Solikamsk Oblast (today northern part of Perm Oblast). After being blessed by the bishop of Solikamsk
, he often conducted church services in the nearby village. In 1947 the exile term ended.
In 1951, Soviet authorities transferred father Kuksha from Kiev
to the Holy Dormition Lavra in Pochaev, in western Ukraine. In Pochayev, Kuksha served at the local wonder-icon of Virgin Mary. Besides that father Kuksha had to confess people. All who were coming to Pochayev tried to get for confession with Kuksha. During the course of 3 years, Kuksha conducted morning services at the Cave Temple.
At the end of April 1957, on the Passion Week of the Great Lent
, he was transferred to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Khreshchatyk, Chernovtsi Oblast
. There, elder Kuksha used often to repeat "Here I am at home, here I am on Athon".
In 1960, Chernovtsi women monastery was closed and the nuns were transferred to the men's Saint John Monastery in Khreshchatyk, whereas the monks were sent to Pochayev Lavra. The chief archimandrite Michael (in schema Mytrophanos) was appointed as parish priest not far from the village Khreshchatyk and father Kuksha was transferred to Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa. July 19, 1960 he arrives in that monastery where spends the last 4 years of his hard life. He was appointed to confess people and to help to take out particles from sacrifice breads during proscomidia - the initial part of the liturgy. The cell of the elder was next to Saint Nicholas
church.
Blessed Kuksha died on December 24, 1964 and was buried at the cemetery of the Holy Dormition monastery in Odessa.
After the collapse of the communist regime in the Soviet Union, elder Kuksha was glorified as venerable by the decision of the Holy Synod of Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1995.
Many were healed by his prayer
. For example, one woman got cancer, which appeared in the form of a blue tumour on her forehead. In such a state, she came to the elder. Saint Kuksha advised her not to undergo an operation, gave her the rite of confession, and after communion gave her a metallic cross which he ordered her to press against the tumor. The woman did so. After staying with the elder for 4 days, and receiving communion
daily, the woman returned home with her mother. She kept the cross to her forehead, and half way through the trip home, she realized that half of the tumor had disappeared, leaving only white empty skin. After 2 weeks at home, the second half of the tumor was gone, and the woman's forehead got whiter and cleaner, leaving no trace of cancer.
Saint Kuksha even cured one of his spiritual children without actually seeing her. The woman recovered from a mental illness without seeing the elder, the moment the elder read her letter to him, which requested that he pray for her.
Even in autumn 1993, there was a case of woman who got healed (from stomach disease) by soil from the Saint Kuksha's grave. In the same way a 72 year old resident of Odessa was healed. There are numerous witnesses when after rubbing the wounds with abscesses and swellings with soil from the grave of the saint they got healed and cleansed.
knowing the hidden things. He had a gift of spiritual judgment and discernment of thoughts. He was a great clairvoyant. To him the most deepest feelings that people could not understand themselves were discernible and he explained where they are from and from whom. Many were coming to him to tell about their sorrows and ask for advise and already beforehand was meeting them with the necessary answer and spiritual advise. It happened that when people were satnding at his doors and he used to call them by name having not met them previously in life. The hidden things were disclosed to him by God
.
Elder Kuksha was very humble and meek shining with love, patience
and compassion
. He was never afraid to expose the sinner not looking at one's rank or position, doing this subtly, with love to the God's image (human being) in order to awake his conscience
and move to repentance
. He had a sincere humility
when it comes to wisdom, avoided human glory, being even afraid of it. Therefore he performed the good deeds unnoticeable. He very much disliked conceit
(self-satisfaction, self-admiration). In a church full of people standing in lines for confession he used to take the last position and waited.
He used to overcome all the hardships in life by recollection of the Saviour's atonement for human race and His life-giving Resurrection.
, likewise to sprinkle the cell (room) with Holy Water.
Kherson Governorate
The Kherson Governorate or Government of Kherson was a guberniya, or administrative territorial unit, in the Southern Ukrainian region, between the Dnieper and Dniester Rivers, of the Russian Empire. It was one of three governorates created in 1802 when the Novorossiya guberniya was abolished...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
- December 24, 1964, Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, USSR) is a modern saint canonized by Ukrainian Orthodox Church
Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church is an autonomous Church of Eastern Orthodoxy in Ukraine, under the ecclesiastic jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate...
in 1995.
Saint Kuksha was in the family of Cyrill and Kharytyna who lived in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
(then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
) and had many children. In her youth, his mother dreamed of becoming a nun, but married from obedience to her parents. She had two more sons Theodore (Fedor) and John (Ivan), and a daughter, Maria. In his young years, Kosma made walking pilgrimages to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra
Kiev Pechersk Lavra
Kiev Pechersk Lavra or Kyiv Pechersk Lavra , also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine....
, traveled to the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra
The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius is the most important Russian monastery and the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church. The monastery is situated in the town of Sergiyev Posad, about 70 km to the north-east from Moscow by the road leading to Yaroslavl, and currently is home to...
, to the far north Valaam
Valaam
Valaam, also known historically by the Finnish name Valamo, is an archipelago in the northern portion of Lake Ladoga, lying within the Republic of Karelia, Russian Federation. The total area of its more than 50 islands is 36 km². The largest island is also called Valaam. It is best known as...
and Solovki
Solovki
The Solovki prison camp was located on the Solovetsky Islands, in the White Sea). It was the "mother of the GULAG" according to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn...
monasteries, and to Jerusalem and Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
in 1895. Kosma lived in Jerusalem for 6 months and visited all the sacred places in Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. On his way back, he visited Mount Athon. Before departing from Athon, the piligrims went to the archimandrite
Archimandrite
The title Archimandrite , primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholic churches, originally referred to a superior abbot whom a bishop appointed to supervise...
of Saint Panteleimon monastery for a road blessing. Kosma expressed his will to join the monks there. The archimandrite consented and told him to return after one year, and gave Kosma a little icon of monastery patron saint, the great martyr Saint Panteleimon. This icon Kosma kept to himself until his death.
After returning to the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, Kosma visited elder Jona of Kiev, who was widely known for his clairvoyance and wonder working. The elder was receiving people in the court of Jona monastery and giving blessing to everyone. The elder approached Kosma, touched his head with the cross and said: "I bless you into the monastery! You will live on Athon!". Kosma's mother thanked God for her son's decision.
Joining Saint Panteleimon monastery in Greece (1896)
In 1896, at the age of 21, Kosma arrived to Athon and became a novice at Russian Saint Panteleimon monastery, and was put in charge of altar offerings (prosphoras). In 1897, Kosma visited Jerusalem again, this time together with his mother whom he joined on her pilgrimage to Holy Land. Two remarkable events took place with Kosma while in Jerusalem. When pilgrims were at Siloam baths, Kosma fell in the water. Though there was a custom among all the pilgrims to bathe there, those who were unable to have children tried to enter first so that God would grant them children. This way people, smiling, started saying that Kosma would have many children. It did really happen: the future saint had a multitude of spiritual children. The second event took place when he was visiting the Church of the Holy SepulchreChurch of the Holy Sepulchre
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. It is a few steps away from the Muristan....
. There, pilgrims wished to anoint themselves with the oil from the lamps burning at the Holy Sepulchre. At that moment, the Lord's angel invisibly turned over one of the lamps and the oil poured out upon Kosma. People quickly surrounded Kosma trying to anoint themselves with the oil from his clothes. The event foretold that God's grace that poured upon Kosma so abundantly will be transmitted through him to many people.
A year after coming from Jerusalem to Athon, Kosma departed for Jerusalem again. For 1 and a half years, he served in turn at Lord's Sepulchre. Having returned to Athon, Kosma was appointed as guest-servant at the guesthouse for piligrims where he served for 11 years.
Taking monastic vows with the name Xenophont (1904)
Soon after Kosma was tonsured in riasophoros with the name Constantine and on he was tonsured into monks and given new monastic name Xenophont. His spiritual father was father Melchisedek who was an ascet in the mountains. He taught him the basics of spiritual and monastic life. Later Xenophotos used to recollect his life of that time: “I was eganged at monastic tasks till midnight and at 1 a.m. I ran to elder Melchisedek to learn prayer”.In 1912–1913 a heresy of Imiaslavie
Imiaslavie
Imiaslavie or Imiabozhie , also spelled imyaslavie and imyabozhie, and also referred to as onomatodoxy, is a dogmatic movement which was condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church, but that is still promoted by some affiliated with Gregory Lourie of the "Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church" , and by...
emerged at Athon monasteries. Greek authorities demanded to leave the monastery from many foreign monks, including Xenophont, though he had no relation to the heresy.
Kiev Pechersk Lavra (1913-1935)
In 1913 Xenophont settled in Kiev Pechersk LavraKiev Pechersk Lavra
Kiev Pechersk Lavra or Kyiv Pechersk Lavra , also known as the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, is a historic Orthodox Christian monastery which gave its name to one of the city districts where it is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine....
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
(in 1914) father Xenophont and other monks worked as a "mercy brother" on the sanitary train on the line Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
- Lvov for 10 months, then he returned to the Lavra. There he served in Far Caves, kindled the lamps at the relics, redressed the holy relics, kept cleanness and order. He had an ardent desire to enter schema but was refused being only 40. So once at night having redressed the relics of Saint Siluan Xenophont took them in hands at kneeling next to his shrine he ardently prayed so that Saint Siluan would help him with tonsure in schema. And so Xenophont fell asleep by the morning, kneeling and keeping the relics in his hands.
Tonsure into schema with the name Kuksha (1931)
The years passed. At the age of 56, he suddenly fell sick and many thought that he would not survive. It was decided to tonsure the dying into schema. On April 8, 1931, when being tonsured in schema he was given name Kuksha, after the ancient saint whose relics are situated in Near Caves. After tonsureTonsure
Tonsure is the traditional practice of Christian churches of cutting or shaving the hair from the scalp of clerics, monastics, and, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, all baptized members...
he recovered.
On April 3, 1934 father Kuksha was consecrated into the rank of priest-deacon (hierodeacon
Hierodeacon
A Hierodeacon , sometimes translated "deacon-monk", in Eastern Orthodox Christianity is a monk who has been ordained a deacon...
) and ay 3 same year into the ranks of priest-monk (hieromonk
Hieromonk
Hieromonk , also called a Priestmonk, is a monk who is also a priest in the Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholicism....
).
First arrest by Soviet authorities (1938)
After the Kiev Pechersk Lavra was closed by the decision of Soviet UkraineUkrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
officials, father Kuksha served at the church at Voskresenksaya Slobodka. In 1938, he was sentenced by the Soviet authorities as a "cult servant" to 5 years of concentration camps in the town of Vilma
Vilma
-People:*Vilma Bánky , Hungarian silent film actress*Vilma Bardauskiené , Lithuanian long jumper*Vilma Ebsen , American musical theatre and film actress, sister of actor Buddy Ebsen*Vilma Egresi , Hungarian sprint canoer...
, in Molotov Oblast (today Perm Oblast
Perm Oblast
Until December 1, 2005, Perm Oblast was a federal subject of Russia in Privolzhsky Federal District. According to the results of the referendum held in October 2004, Perm Oblast was merged with Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug to form Perm Krai.The oblast was named after its administrative center,...
), Ural
Ural (region)
Ural is a geographical region located around the Ural Mountains, between the East European and West Siberian plains. It extends approximately from north to south, from the Arctic Ocean to the bend of Ural River near Orsk city. The boundary between Europe and Asia runs along the eastern side of...
. And after this term ended, Kuksha was convicted to 3 years of exile. This way at the age of 63, Kuksha happened to be at hard wood cutting labours working 14 hours a day, in cruel frosts, receiving miserable and bad meals. Many priests and monks were imprisoned together with Kuksha. At that time, the post of Kiev metropolitan was occupied by vladyka Anthony, who, along with pieces of dry breads, sent the particles of blessed Eucharist Gifts. In this way, hundreds of convicted priests and monks took communion.
Kuksha was freed from the Vilma camp in the spring of 1943 on the feast of Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
and was exiled to a village nearby Kungur
Kungur
Kungur is a town in the southeast of Perm Krai, Russia, located in the Ural Mountains at the inflowing of the Iren and Shakhva Rivers into the Sylva River . Kungur was founded in 1663 and granted town status in 1781. It serves as the administrative center of Kungursky District, although it is not...
in Solikamsk Oblast (today northern part of Perm Oblast). After being blessed by the bishop of Solikamsk
Solikamsk
Solikamsk is a town in Perm Krai, Russia. It is the third-largest town in Perm Krai, with a population of It was founded in 1430. The name of the town is derived from the Russian words "" and "" .It is famous for its production of salt, in particular, potassium chloride, which is used as a...
, he often conducted church services in the nearby village. In 1947 the exile term ended.
Return to Ukraine (1947)
In 1947, Kuksha returned to the Lavra and with a great joy had been received by lavra brethren.In 1951, Soviet authorities transferred father Kuksha from Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
to the Holy Dormition Lavra in Pochaev, in western Ukraine. In Pochayev, Kuksha served at the local wonder-icon of Virgin Mary. Besides that father Kuksha had to confess people. All who were coming to Pochayev tried to get for confession with Kuksha. During the course of 3 years, Kuksha conducted morning services at the Cave Temple.
At the end of April 1957, on the Passion Week of the Great Lent
Great Lent
Great Lent, or the Great Fast, is the most important fasting season in the church year in Eastern Christianity, which prepares Christians for the greatest feast of the church year, Pascha . In many ways Great Lent is similar to Lent in Western Christianity...
, he was transferred to the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian in Khreshchatyk, Chernovtsi Oblast
Chernivtsi Oblast
Chernivtsi Oblast is an oblast in western Ukraine, bordering on Romania and Moldova. It has a large variety of landforms: the Carpathian Mountains and picturesque hills at the foot of the mountains gradually change to a broad partly forested plain situated between the Dniester and Prut rivers....
. There, elder Kuksha used often to repeat "Here I am at home, here I am on Athon".
In 1960, Chernovtsi women monastery was closed and the nuns were transferred to the men's Saint John Monastery in Khreshchatyk, whereas the monks were sent to Pochayev Lavra. The chief archimandrite Michael (in schema Mytrophanos) was appointed as parish priest not far from the village Khreshchatyk and father Kuksha was transferred to Holy Dormition Monastery in Odessa. July 19, 1960 he arrives in that monastery where spends the last 4 years of his hard life. He was appointed to confess people and to help to take out particles from sacrifice breads during proscomidia - the initial part of the liturgy. The cell of the elder was next to Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
church.
Death (1964) and canonization (1995)
In October 1964, the elder fell and broke a hip. Lying in such a state on the cold ground, he caught a cold and pneumonia. He never took medicine, calling the Holy Church to be the curer. He foresaw his own death. The spiritual daughter of the elder schema-nun A. used to recollect that the elder sometimes said: "90 years and Kuksha will be no more, they will bury him quickly quickly, take the shovels and cover". His words came true. He died when he was almost 90, at 2 a.m. The cross was set over his grave at 2 p.m. in the afternoon of the same day. The Soviet authorities, being afraid of the influx of the believers, gave 2 hours for the burial. News of the death spread quickly and even patriarch Alexiy I with worry asked why they acted so with the elder's relics.Blessed Kuksha died on December 24, 1964 and was buried at the cemetery of the Holy Dormition monastery in Odessa.
After the collapse of the communist regime in the Soviet Union, elder Kuksha was glorified as venerable by the decision of the Holy Synod of Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 1995.
Healings and miracles
All the cases of healings done by Saint Kuksha are so numerous that they cannot be all described or counted. He performed them almost daily throughout decades.Many were healed by his prayer
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
. For example, one woman got cancer, which appeared in the form of a blue tumour on her forehead. In such a state, she came to the elder. Saint Kuksha advised her not to undergo an operation, gave her the rite of confession, and after communion gave her a metallic cross which he ordered her to press against the tumor. The woman did so. After staying with the elder for 4 days, and receiving communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
daily, the woman returned home with her mother. She kept the cross to her forehead, and half way through the trip home, she realized that half of the tumor had disappeared, leaving only white empty skin. After 2 weeks at home, the second half of the tumor was gone, and the woman's forehead got whiter and cleaner, leaving no trace of cancer.
Saint Kuksha even cured one of his spiritual children without actually seeing her. The woman recovered from a mental illness without seeing the elder, the moment the elder read her letter to him, which requested that he pray for her.
Even in autumn 1993, there was a case of woman who got healed (from stomach disease) by soil from the Saint Kuksha's grave. In the same way a 72 year old resident of Odessa was healed. There are numerous witnesses when after rubbing the wounds with abscesses and swellings with soil from the grave of the saint they got healed and cleansed.
Character of Saint Kuksha and spiritual gifts
Saint Kuksha had a gift of clairvoyanceClairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
knowing the hidden things. He had a gift of spiritual judgment and discernment of thoughts. He was a great clairvoyant. To him the most deepest feelings that people could not understand themselves were discernible and he explained where they are from and from whom. Many were coming to him to tell about their sorrows and ask for advise and already beforehand was meeting them with the necessary answer and spiritual advise. It happened that when people were satnding at his doors and he used to call them by name having not met them previously in life. The hidden things were disclosed to him by God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
.
Elder Kuksha was very humble and meek shining with love, patience
Patience
Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties. Patience is the...
and compassion
Compassion
Compassion is a virtue — one in which the emotional capacities of empathy and sympathy are regarded as a part of love itself, and a cornerstone of greater social interconnection and humanism — foundational to the highest principles in philosophy, society, and personhood.There is an aspect of...
. He was never afraid to expose the sinner not looking at one's rank or position, doing this subtly, with love to the God's image (human being) in order to awake his conscience
Conscience
Conscience is an aptitude, faculty, intuition or judgment of the intellect that distinguishes right from wrong. Moral judgement may derive from values or norms...
and move to repentance
Repentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
. He had a sincere humility
Humility
Humility is the quality of being modest, and respectful. Humility, in various interpretations, is widely seen as a virtue in many religious and philosophical traditions, being connected with notions of transcendent unity with the universe or the divine, and of egolessness.-Term:The term "humility"...
when it comes to wisdom, avoided human glory, being even afraid of it. Therefore he performed the good deeds unnoticeable. He very much disliked conceit
Conceit
In literature, a conceit is an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs a poetic passage or entire poem. By juxtaposing, usurping and manipulating images and ideas in surprising ways, a conceit invites the reader into a more sophisticated understanding of an object of comparison...
(self-satisfaction, self-admiration). In a church full of people standing in lines for confession he used to take the last position and waited.
He used to overcome all the hardships in life by recollection of the Saviour's atonement for human race and His life-giving Resurrection.
Teaching and instructions of Saint Kuksha
Saint Kuksha advised to bless all the new things and products with Holy WaterHoly Water
Holy Water is the ninth studio album by hard rock band Bad Company, and their third with Brian Howe in place of Paul Rodgers as lead vocalist, released in June 1990. The singles on the album all received moderate radio airplay. These included "Holy Water", "Boys Cry Tough", "Walk Through Fire", and...
, likewise to sprinkle the cell (room) with Holy Water.