Venerable Gerasimus of Vologda lived in the twelfth century and was a native of Kyiv. He pursued the ascetic life at the Hnylets Dormition Monastery in Kyiv, which arose on the site of the caves where Venerable Theodosius of the Kyiv Caves would withdraw for solitary prayer during Great Lent.
On 4 March, the saint received monastic tonsure with the name Gerasimus. Later, yielding to the requests of the brethren, he was ordained a hieromonk.
Setting out for the northern lands of Rus’, he built a hut on the bank of the Vologda River and devoted himself to contemplation of God and prayer. Local inhabitants began coming to him for spiritual guidance, and Saint Gerasimus built a church dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity. Beside it, he founded the Trinity Kaisarovsky Monastery, the first monastery in the northern lands of Rus’.
During his lifetime, Gerasimus of Vologda enlightened the Vologda region, converting those who still adhered to paganism to Orthodoxy and strengthening the faithful. Venerable Gerasimus peacefully reposed on 4 March 1178. After his death, his relics became a source of healing. The saint himself would appear to sick people who had never known him and instruct them to go to his tomb, promising that they would be healed of various illnesses.
