Venerable · c. 1551–1651
Job of Pochaev
Venerable Job the Wonderworker, Abbot of Pochaev
New Calendar October 28 Old Calendar November 10
Why they are a saint
Job of Pochaev is remembered as abbot of Pochaev Lavra, defender of Orthodoxy in Volhynia, wonderworker. The years given for this life are c. 1551–1651. The New Calendar feast is October 28. This memory is kept in the Ukrainian Church; his feast keeps the memory of that ascetic path.
Life
Saint Job of Pochaev, in the world Ivan Zhelezo, was born around 1551 in Pokutia in Galicia. At ten he came to the Ugornits Monastery and at twelve was tonsured with the name Job. Around 1580, at the request of Prince Constantine Ostrozhsky, he was made head of the monastery of the Exaltation of the Cross near Dubno, which he governed for over twenty years amid growing persecution of Orthodoxy.
Early in the seventeenth century he settled in a cave on Pochaev hill near the Dormition monastery and was chosen its igumen. He worked alongside the brethren and ardently defended the Orthodox faith after the Union of Brest. He prayed the Jesus Prayer unceasingly, sometimes secluding himself in his cave for days. He reposed in 1651, over 100 years old; his relics were uncovered in 1659.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source names no specific patronage.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Job of Pochaev as a patron when they bear the name Job at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on October 28. Those who share his calling as a monastic also ask his prayers.
Prayer
O holy Job of Pochaev, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.
Do not confuse with Job the Long-Suffering (Old Testament, May 6).