Saint Methodius, Igumen of Peshnosha was the founder of the Peshnosha monastery. In his youth he went to St Sergius of Radonezh and spent several years under his guidance. Later on, with the blessing of St Sergius, he withdrew to a solitary place and built himself a cell in the forest beyond the River Yakhroma. Soon several disciples came to him in this marshy place, wishing to imitate his life. St Sergius visited him and advised him to build a monastery and church. St Methodius himself toiled at the construction of the church and the cells, “on foot carrying” wood along the river, and from that time the monastery began to be called “the Peshnosha.” In 1391 St Methodius became igumen of this monastery. At times he withdrew two versts from the monastery and struggled in prayer. Here also St Sergius came to him for spiritual conversation, therefore this spot became known as “Beseda” (“Conversation-place”).
St Methodius died in 1392 and was buried at the monastery he founded. A church dedicated to Sts Sergius of Radonezh and Methodius of Peshnosha was built over his relics in 1732. The beginning of his local veneration dates from the late seventeenth—early eighteenth centuries.
St Macarius is also commemorated on June 4.
