Ambrose of Optina

Venerable

Commemorated October 10 · December 5

Our venerable father Ambrose of Optina (Russian: преподобный Амвросий Оптинский; properly Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Grenkov - Александр Михайлович Гренков, December 5 , 1812, Bolshaya Lipovitsa settlement, Tambov guberniya— October 23 , 1891) was a starets and a celibate schema priest ( iyeroskhimonakh ), canonized in 1988 by the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church . His feast day is celebrated on October 10 , and the finding of his relics is commemorated on June 27.