Saint Varlaam (in the world Vasily Yefimovich Konoplev) was born in 1858 in the Yugo-Knauf factory of the Osinsky district of the Perm province into a peasant family of Old Believers without priests. From a young age, he sought the truth by studying the Holy Scriptures and reflecting on faith and schism. In the 1890s, through the sacrament of chrismation, he joined the Orthodox Church, along with his father and brothers, a total of nineteen people.
In November 1893, Vasily was tonsured into the rassophore and settled on the White Mountain, where those wishing for monastic life began to gather around him. On February 1, 1894, he took monastic vows with the name Varlaam, and on February 22, he was ordained as a hieromonk. Father Varlaam became the head of the newly built missionary monastery on the White Mountain, restored the Orthodox liturgical services, and paid attention to preaching.
In 1913, he was described as a wise and experienced leader to whom people turned in difficult times. He was distinguished by asceticism and kindness, and people from all over the Perm province flocked to him. In June 1917, the consecration of the Belogorsky Cathedral took place, attended by numerous pilgrims.
In August 1918, the Bolsheviks seized the monastery, desecrated the cathedral, and arrested Father Varlaam. On August 12 (25), he was shot, and many monks of the monastery also met a martyr's end. Their names were concealed by the authorities, and they were glorified in 1998 as locally revered saints of the Perm diocese, and in 2000, they were added to the ranks of the New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia.
