Laurence of Komel
Our Venerable Father Laurence, Abbot of Komel
Venerable · d. 16 May 1548, at the Komel monastery near Vologda
Commemorated 16 May — Repose at the Komel monastery
Laurence of Komel (†16 May 1548) was a disciple of Cornelius of Komel and, from 1538, abbot of his monastery of the Presentation in the Komel forest near Vologda — chosen unanimously by the brethren on the elder's own recommendation. He governed ten years, enlarged the monastery's charge by taking the small house of Koptevo under it in 1547, brought the community safely out of the way of a Tatar raid and back again when the danger had passed, and through all the business of an abbacy never gave up his own beloved labour of copying books. He reposed on the day of his commemoration, and is kept on May 16 with Cassian of Komel.
Disciple and abbot
Laurence was formed in the brotherhood of Cornelius of Komel (†1537, May 19), whose monastery of the Presentation of the Mother of God in the forest south of Vologda was among the most influential houses of the Russian north and possessed one of the earliest Russian monastic rules. His origins are not transmitted.
In 1538, the year after Cornelius's repose and on the elder's own recommendation, the brethren chose him unanimously as igumen. The Russian tradition remembers three things of his ten years' government:
- The Tatar raid. When Tatar bands came into the Vologda country, Laurence did what Cornelius had taught in the like case: he withdrew the monks from the monastery to a place of safety rather than expose them, and brought them back to their cells when the danger had gone by. It is recorded to his credit as obedience to his teacher's counsel, not as timidity.
- Koptevo. In 1547 the small monastery of Koptevo was placed under the jurisdiction of the Komel house, enlarging its responsibility and its lands.
- The copying of books. Through all of it he kept up the work he loved, transcribing manuscripts with his own hand — the unglamorous, indispensable labour by which the northern monasteries built their libraries and passed on the Fathers.
He reposed on 16 May 1548, and was buried at the monastery.
Feast and commemoration
May 16 (church date; Old Calendar civil May 29) — the day of his repose — kept together with Cassian of Komel. Both are local saints of the Vologda land, in Russian and OCA usage only; they are named also in the Synaxis of the Saints of Vologda. Cornelius, their master, is commemorated on May 19.
Hymns
Troparion — Tone 8 (common of a venerable father)
In thee, O Father, the image of God was preserved unimpaired, for taking up the Cross thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou hast taught us to despise the flesh, which passeth away, and to care for the soul, which is immortal. Wherefore, O venerable Laurence, thy spirit rejoiceth with the angels.
Original translation from the Slavonic
Iconography
Laurence is painted as a Russian monastic elder of the sixteenth century — bearded, in the dark mantle and cowl, holding a scroll — and, where the scribal tradition is remembered, with a book. He appears chiefly in the tiered composite icons of the Synaxis of the Saints of Vologda, in the ranks about Cornelius of Komel. No pre-1900 image of him has been located for this collection.
Disputed questions
The two Komel disciples kept on this day are distinct and are sometimes conflated. Cassian was abbot before Cornelius's death, during the elder's withdrawal to Lake Sura, and resigned when he returned (†1537); Laurence was elected in 1538, after Cornelius's repose, and governed until his own death in 1548. Neither is Innocent of Komel (March 19), a disciple of Nilus of Sora in the same forest. Laurence of Komel is likewise not Laurence of Turov, the twelfth-century recluse and bishop.